Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Potter and the memories of old
A/N Well I had a horrid time these last few months and hence the delay in updating. I failed my 12th grade so I was kind of grounded but I will never abandon my story.
I have decided not to make it Harryharem since it does not go with the story. I don’t want to reveal too much but I will make it Harry/many just not all at once and there will be absolutely no slash so please don’t even ask for it. I had earlier asked for a beta but I didn’t get a chance to see if any one replied so I will ask again. If any one wants to beta this story please mail me.
Thoughts – ‘’….’’
Harry sat in his room meditating, he had just had a talk with the Dursley’s and he was sure they had no room to retaliate anymore; he had struck at their weakness. The Dursley’s prided themselves over being ‘normal’ and had proof of them doing something which was highly unusual. But the Dursley’s were not something which was worrying Harry. What was worrying him was how he had used an unforgivable curse, how maliciously he had dealt with the dursley’s and that was now playing on his conscious. ‘Was he becoming like Voldemort? Was he turning dark? ’ this was a question that kept popping up in his head.
Harry knew he couldn’t do this alone he would need somebody who would be able to keep him grounded. So he kept himself from reviewing Voldemort’s memories lest he goes down the same dark path as his adversary.
Not being able to review Voldemort’s reminiscences for the time being left Harry with little to do. He had already finished the homework for the following school year with little difficulty. After pondering for some time Harry decided that he needed to visit Flourish and Blotts.
Now that the Dursley’s were not causing him any hindrance, going to Diagon alley would be fairly simple. All he needed was a bit of money which he was sure he could ‘ask’ Uncle Vernon to lend him. So making up his mind he went downstairs where he found surprisingly no one. Scratching his head Harry wondered where everyone had disappeared. He quickly went up to his aunts room and checked her closet where he found only a few clothes much lesser then there would normally be which confirmed Harry’s suspicion, the Dursleys had abandoned him. ‘Sheesh! I was going to have some fun with them and they decide to abscond’ Harry thought disappointed. At any other time he would have wished that the Dursley’s would leave but right now he had the upper hand and he had thought about getting some revenge on them for all the years they had made him do all the house work.
The Dursley’s leaving had left Harry with a major problem, he had no muggle money and getting to Diagon alley would be a pain. ‘Well I will have to use the imperious again’ he thought morosely. Sighing Harry left for Diagon alley.
It was a busy day in Diagon alley, being the first day of the week it was bustling with all kinds of witches and wizards. This suited Harry as it would be easy to get lost in the crowd. He remembered to keep his hair down and hide his scar and few people knew about his sudden growth spurt which made him look more like fifteen so it was unlikely that anyone would recognize him. He casually walked towards Gringotts, easily blending in with the busy crowd and amazingly he reached Gringotts without interruption. The bank itself seemed to be over crowded and Harry had to wait behind a long queue. After quite some time it was finally his turn.
‘What can I do for you?’ the goblin asked gruffly.
‘I would like to visit my vault’ Harry replied politely.
‘And do you have your key’ the goblin asked to which Harry handed him a golden key.
Looking at the number on the key the goblin sharply looked up at Harry’s scar then he motioned for a goblin to come to him whom Harry recognized as the goblin he had met when he first visited Gringotts but couldn’t recall his name. The goblin on the counter had a whispered conversation with the goblin he had summoned whose eyes widened slightly at the end of the conversation. The goblin looked up at Harry and said ‘Follow me sir’. Harry slightly confused at the goblin’s behavior followed the goblin to the carts.
Harry greatly enjoyed the cart ride and was quite disappointed when it ended early. Once inside his vault he took out his money pouch and completely filled it with a handful of galleons which didn’t even seem to cause a dent in the ever rising pile of galleons. Harry decided to ask the goblin about the increase in the galleons in his vault.
During the cart ride back to the surface Harry asked the goblin about the increasing amount of galleons in his vault to which the goblin simply said ‘Interest’ which more or less answered Harry’s question.
Harry had never needed any muggle money before so he didn’t know anything about the exchange rates. He knew he would need muggle money to feed himself and other daily necessities and he also intended to do some much needed shopping. After reaching the surface he asked the goblin where he could exchange some galleons for some muggle money to which the goblin took him to an empty counter with an old goblin at the desk. Harry was quite surprised at the personal attention he was receiving from the goblins. It was only much later that Harry found out why he was being treated differently to the other customers at Gringotts.
Harry was quite surprised to discover that 1 galleon was worth 50 pounds. Harry exchanged 100 galleons for 5000 pounds which he supposed would be enough for his shopping and daily needs.
After leaving Gringotts Harry headed straight for Flourish and Blotts. Entering the shop he went straight to defense section since it was his favorite subject. He quickly shifted through the various topics finding very few books that interested him, until he found a book that caught his attention ‘Defensive Wards’ by Louis Potter. It was a pretty thin book and after flipping through the pages Harry learned that the publishing date was 1903. He did a quick mental calculation and came to a conclusion that it must have been his great great grandfather. He added the book in his book cart which already contained standard defense books for the 3rd 4th and 5th year. Defense of the mind went next into the ever increasing pile of books.
From the corner of his eyes Harry could see a witch constantly peeking glances at him. Harry suddenly became more cautious and decided to change section but as he turned around a corner he crashed into the same witch who stumbled and fell over him. Groaning Harry tried to get up but found himself in an awkward position with the witch atop him and her breast pressing against him face. The witch finally coming to her senses hurriedly got up from above him and helped him up. The whole ordeal had caused the fringe of hair hiding his scar to move exposing it which the witch quickly recognized and squeaked in surprise. Thankfully the defense section was at the back of the shop and no one had seemed to notice the disturbance. Harry quickly put a hand over her mouth and made a pleading motion with his eyes which thankfully the witch understood and relaxed.
“Tonks’ the witch introduced herself sticking out her hand while continuously looking at the ground, all the while blushing furiously.
Blushing himself Harry introduced himself even though he was sure she already knew who he was.
Harry looked around awkwardly as the witch didn’t move. Judging the witch’s age he tried to start a conversation.
‘Umm… do you go to Hogwarts?’
She stared at him surprised.
‘No I’m an auror in training’ She replied smiling at him warmly.
Something about her smile caused Harry’s heart to skip a beat; she was not a really pretty witch but there was an outlandish beauty in her features.
‘So which books you looking for’ the witch asked looking at the books in his cart.
When Harry looked at her strangely she quickly replied ‘I work here part time’
‘Oh, well I just finished with the defense section and was about to go to the transfiguration section when we err crashed’
‘Transfiguration is my favorite subject, maybe I could help you out’ she said cheerfully.
‘Sure’ Harry replied smiling.
Harry followed her to the transfiguration section and couldn’t help but admire her shapely rear.
‘Which books you looking for’ she asked flipping through a few titles.
‘Till fifth year’ Harry replied paying more attention to the witch then to what he was saying.
Tonks simply raised her eyebrows and added the books to his already full cart.
‘You like reading ahead’ she asked smiling; she had noticed him checking her out but did not want to point it out. Surprisingly she liked the attention which she was receiving.
Harry suddenly realized he had been staring and looked at the ground mortified.
‘Don’t worry people seem to do that often’ Tonks said with wink which seemed to further embarrass Harry.
Harry began to stammer an apology but Tonks waved it off. Soon the witch’s cheerful
Nature caused him to openly talk with her. He added Defensive Transfiguration and Transfiguration for the fun loving. His cart seemed overfull with all the books and Harry decided that would be enough for 1 shopping trip.
‘That’s all?’ Tonks asked as Harry began to cart his way to the cashier.
‘Yeah enough for a day’ Harry said smiling.
‘It was nice to meet you Tonks’
‘Same here’.
Harry paid the cashier and was about to exit the shop when a section caught his eye. It was opposite the cashier’s desk and had a Miscellaneous Board labeled on it. He walked up to it and started looking through the books. The titles looked pretty interesting, especially one which read ‘Aura reading a rare talent or a learnable art’. He decided to add it to his book list.
Finally as he was about to leave the shop Tonks met him at the entrance.
‘Hey my shift just finished you want to go to Florence Frotesques Ice cream shop’ she asked him with a twinkle in her eye.
Harry looked at her flabbergasted, ‘’did she just ask me out on a date.’’
‘Sure’ Harry stammered out.
Further surprising Harry she linked her arms with his and dragged him out of the shop.
Reaching Florence Frotesques she abruptly dropped his hand and looked at him apologetically. By now Harry was completely confused. ‘’Is she insane’’
Seeing the confounded look on Harry’s face Tonks rapidly said ‘some of the people were beginning to identify you and I thought you didn’t want to be recognized so I….’ she stopped mid sentence blushing.
Understanding dawned on Harry. He stood there and looked at Tonks for a few seconds not knowing when his brain shouted at him ‘Thank her for saving your skin you fool’.
‘Thanks, you saved me a lot of trouble’ he said smiling in a way which he hoped would put her at ease.
Tonks seemed to brighten up considerably and to the utter surprise of Harry her light brown hair became bright pink.
‘How did you do that’ Harry asked, surprise evident in his voice.
‘What?’ Tonks asked.
‘Your hair color changed’ Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing.
‘Oh, I’m a metamorphmagus’ she said meekly, afraid to see Harry’s reaction.
‘What’s that?’ Harry asked, he truthfully didn’t know what a metamorphmagus was.
‘You don’t know’
Harry shook his head.
‘It means I can change my appearance at will.’
‘Cool!’ he said amazed.
Tonks laughed at Harry’s reaction. His reaction was different than what she had expected. Most people would be disgusted or would look at her hungrily but Harry didn’t react like any of them.
‘You’re different Harry’ she said smiling.
‘Thanks’ Harry said not knowing how to react to the bizarre compliment.
‘Aren’t you a little too tall for your age, you look more like fifteen’ she said when they had sat down to eat their ice creams.
‘I had a little accident last year’ he said evasively which was not missed by Tonks and she did not pursue it any further.
Time seemed to pass like water when they were talking. Harry couldn’t believe he could speak so freely with anybody let alone with somebody who he had just met. Tonks felt the same, she was known as an uncouth girl by most male auror corps but with Harry she felt she could freely express herself, even though it was only the second time she had seen him, the first time being when he was a toddler.
Tonks casually glanced at her watch and gave a squeak.
‘He’s going to kill me.’
Harry just looked at her perplexed.
‘I’m sorry Harry I got to rush, I’m seriously late’ with that she got up and abruptly left.
‘You can owl me if you want’ was her parting comment.
Harry just shook his head, smiled, paid and left the shop and began the journey back to privet drive.
Privet drive during sunset appeared to be a medieval housing society, with the orange glow reflecting of the peeling paint on the houses. Harry looked at no. 4 and for the first time in his life he thought it looked beautiful. For the first time Harry admired his garden work, he swept his hand over the lilies and smiled wistfully. He wondered what a big influence the Dursley’s had been in his life, because of them he had forgotten to see the simple beauties of life. Without the Dursley’s privet drive didn’t seem to be a bad place to live in.
After finishing his self-cooked dinner Harry began to go through the books which he had bought that day. He picked up the slightest book first which was ‘Defensive Warding’ by Gerard potter. As Harry began to go through the book the more impressed he became by each page. All the wards were pretty simple and competent. One of them was the anti-theft ward, which was as basic as a third year spell but could block almost all known unlocking charms.
But warding had a flaw in it, it depended on the amount of power the wizard put into it, so anyone with enough power could break through almost any ward. This is where blood wards and the more obscure kind of wards came into play.
Like blood wards could only be passed with someone who had the same blood or who intended no harm to person being warded. The only flaw in the blood wards was that a person with the same blood could easily cause harm to the warded. So it was a ward used when the family members completely trusted each other. Then there was the cuadra ward, it was a ward used on wizards who had fluctuating levels of magic, its main aim was to limit the amount of power the wizard can use. When Harry read about this ward he became suspicious. It was just the type of thing that could have been used on him by Dumbledore. After the chamber incident Harry’s magic had become much more stable and Harry suspected that the ward had been broken then. Halfway through the book Harry’s eyes began to droop and he fell asleep on the sofa, for the first time he would sleep peacefully at no 4 privet drive.
Harry woke up as the first rays of sunlight graced his face. It was a habit he had developed very soon in his life or was rather forced to develop it due to the Dursley’s. After doing his morning duties Harry remembered he had to buy groceries as the Dursleys had left nothing. Sighing he left to go to the department stores.
On his way to the grocery store Harry found many people jogging which gave him an idea. Harry realized even though he had grown tall due to his sudden growth spurt his body was still out of shape. So he decided to enroll in a gym, without the Dursleys it would be no problem and he had enough money to pay for it. So on his way back from the grocery store he registered for the gym and also for a martial arts class which was in the same building as the Gym.
After cooking himself a nice breakfast Harry got ready to begin reading. Hermione’s rubbing of on me Harry thought smiling. He had a hard time deciding which book he wanted to read since he had so many to choose from. Reluctantly he began the tedious task of making himself a schedule which Hermione had kept nagging him and Ron about last year.
In his schedule he had left the mornings for casual reading so he picked up ‘Aura Reading a rare talent or a learnable art’ – By Elena Lovegood.
Harry was completely engrossed by the time he had read the first chapter, which was just an introduction on aura reading. Aura reading as the title suggests is just that reading magical auras. Every magical being had different auras. Auras have different colors, and each color has significance. Like brown suggests that the magical being has healing properties.
Auras could tell if someone was under a glamour charm, it could also identify an animagus. Like an animal with a blue aura would suggest that it is not an animal but a wizard disguised as one.
There was an author note at the end of the introductory chapter, it said.
‘It is said that aura readers are now extinct but I tend to disagree, I believe that aura reading is not a special talent but it is something that can be learnt by any wizard who has a disciplined mind. In the next few chapters I shall explain how one can learn to read auras and how to utilize the ‘mage sight’.
After reading the first chapter Harry wondered that other people must have read this book but he had never heard anyone ever mention about aura reading not even Hermione and the book was not even hidden it was actually in the first section of the shop. That made him wonder whether the author was just another fake like Lockhart and had written just some crap. After pondering on it for sometime Harry decided that he had nothing to lose so he might as well read it.
One of the first necessities for aura reading is a calm mind, so meditation is the first step. There are many ways to meditate but the best way is to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, then to listen closely to all the noises around you and to picture in your mind the surroundings. A natural aura reader will find this extremely simple and should easily complete this step. After opening your eyes every thing around you will look much sharper.
Harry tried this exercise and was surprised to see that his surroundings did indeed look much sharper. Harry then looked at his books and was completely surprised when his books glowed bright yellow. Harry thought he must be seeing things so he closed his eyes and opened them again, this time the room didn’t appear that sharp. Picking up the book he read the paragraph again, it had said nothing about things glowing. Harry again tried doing the exercise and again he found his books glowing. Harry quickly went to his room opened his trunk and took out his other books, he repeated the exercise and again the books glowed. Did I just learn aura reading Harry thought bedazzled? To confirm his theory he took out his broom and he had to shield his eyes from the multicolored hue that was surrounding the broom. He had done it, he had learned aura reading. He quickly went and looked at the book again, after the first paragraph of the second chapter the book had complete gibberish printed in it, bewildered Harry looked through the book again but found nothing sensible written after the first paragraph. Out of the blue Harry got an idea.
He did the meditation exercise and then looked at the book and just as he had thought a red mark appeared on the page he was reading. Harry gave himself a pat on the back and touched the red line with his wand. There was a flash of light and then suddenly the words in the book started arranging themselves.
Harry smirked and sat down to read again, whoever the author was must have been a genius he thought.
Congratulations you have found this book’s secret; you must be a true aura reader. This was done as a step to ensure that the secrets of aura readers are not revealed and so that only a true aura reader would be able to read this book. The next few chapters will give a detailed description of how you can use your skill and what different color codes mean.
Harry continued reading for some time but had a tough time comprehending different color codes. Each color had more than one meaning and it depended on the aura reader to figure out what a particular color code meant. Like a black aura over a subject suggested it was a dark artifact but it also meant a few other things, like It suggested blindness.
After confusing himself for some time he gave up and decided to look it up later on. Meanwhile he kept turning his mage sight on and of and with each time he was becoming more proficient at it.
Next on his schedule was Transfiguration, he began reading the third year text. After two hours of tedious reading Harry made himself a nice lunch. While he was eating his eyes fell on the television. The television had always fascinated Harry but he had never had the opportunity to see it. He put on the television and began skimming through a few channels. He settled on a news channel which was reporting about a mass murdering criminal who had recently escaped prison. A picture of the criminal was flashed and something about the man caused Harry to jump. The man looked thin and ragged with long black hair hiding his face.
‘Sirius Black a mass murderer has recently escaped a prison in Germany and has been spotted in England. If anyone hears from said person or even gets a glimpse of him please report him immediately as he is an extremely dangerous person. Do not try to approach him under any circumstances doing so will be endangering your life.’
The name sounded familiar to Harry but he couldn’t remember ever meeting this person.
After spending sometime pondering Harry gave up trying to remember and switched the channel to watch something more light. He stopped his search on a movie channel and leisurely relaxed on a cozy couch, which until recently belonged to his oaf of a cousin, and settled for a nice nap.
‘Rrrrrrrrrring rrrrrrrrrrring’ Harry jumped hearing the door bell. Irritated he went to see who was at the door. To his surprise it was a pretty girl of about fifteen with a bouquet in her hand, ‘Is Mrs. Dursley there.’ She asked politely.
‘I’m afraid but Mrs. Dursley is not there at the moment’ Harry replied stifling a yawn.
‘Oh I'm so sorry to bother you, but can you give her this bouquet.’
‘Sure, did you have any message for her’ Harry said remembering his manners.
The girl smiled cutely at him, ‘Tell her Happy Birthday from our family’s side.’
Saying this she turned and was about to leave when she turned around and looked at Harry curiously, ‘Don’t mind me but I've never seen you before.’
‘No problem, anyways I’m mostly not there as I attend a boarding school in Scotland and am there for most of the year. I’m Dudley’s cousin Harry.’ Harry said extending his hand which the girl shook. ‘Carmen’ she replied smiling and left.
Happy to have made a new acquaintance Harry returned to his scheduled reading.
The next morning saw Harry jogging to the gym. The gym instructor had him partnered with a girl who coincidentally turned out to be the same girl who he had met yesterday.
‘Hey! Harry’ she said recognizing him.
‘Hello Carmen’ Harry said smiling.
‘Newcomer’ she asked smirking. Harry nodded rolling his eyes which caused her to giggle.
‘Don’t worry it’s only my second month here.’
With that they began their workouts. Very soon Harry found out that he liked seeing women in a gym costume especially Carmen. Her gym costume hugged her body and showcased her developing curves extremely well. Harry also noticed her other features, she had light brown hair which was tied in a horse ponytail and had a few freckles across her face. Her eyes reminded Harry of Hermione and her skin had a nice creamy color.
Carmen herself was checking out Harry, and she liked what he saw. But what took her breath away were his eyes, they were an intense green and matched perfectly with his dark hair. She realized she was beginning to have a crush on him and it had not even been a day since she had met him.
They were taken out of their reverie when the gym clock chimed signaling the end of their session.
‘So where are you going now’ Carmen asked as they were leaving the gym.
‘To the martial arts class, it’s just around the corner.’
Carmen just stared at him for a few second and said ‘guess this is coincidence day, even I’m going to the same place’.
‘Cool then we can practice together’ Harry said enthusiastically and laughing at the same time. Carmen just smiled at him caught his hand and dragged him to the martial arts class.
Harry had asked for a rapid course since he did not have much time and now he regretted his decision. Martial arts class didn’t turn out to be as easy as Harry had thought it to be; actually by the end of the class Harry had quite a few bruises. Now Harry regretted asking Carmen to be his partner. Carmen was really good at martial arts and had given Harry a tuff time by landing a few kicks at not so comfortable places, and to make matters worse the martial arts teacher was turning out to be another McGonagall.
‘Sorry about that, I really get into it sometimes’ Carmen apologized after the class and as an afterthought she added ‘you were actually very good for a fresher’
Harry just groaned a reply which caused Carmen to giggle.
‘So where to now’ she asked.
‘Home’ Harry said wiping his sweat. Carmen face dropped hearing his reply; she was really enjoying his company. Seeing her change in mood Harry quickly added ‘you can come for breakfast if you wish there’s food enough for both of us.’
‘Are you sure’ she asked hesitating; it won’t be good to get her hopes high.
‘Sure as can be.’ Harry said smiling warmly.
They made small talk on their way to the Dursley’s.
‘So how do you know the Dursley’s’ Harry asked Carmen while they were eating breakfast.
‘My mo owb beuby parlor mrb dursby rebular custober’ she replied her face stuffed with food causing Harry to laugh. Carmen quickly swallowed and looked down embarrassed. ‘Don’t worry I have friend who does that often’ Harry said smiling.
‘So what were you saying?’
‘We just moved in here last year and mum opened a beauty parlor since then Mrs. Dursley has been a regular customer’ Carmen said smiling. She seemed to do that a lot around Harry.
‘You are great at martial arts’ Harry said changing the subject.
‘Thanks, I have been practicing for a few years’ she replied.
‘I can help you, if you want’ she asked eagerly.
‘That would be great’ Harry said excited on the outside. Inside he was thinking that the girl was acting a bit strange, his sixth sense was telling him there was something fishy going on. Harry quickly turned on his mage sight and looked at her; there was no glow around her. He sighed in relief; at least she is not from the wizarding world. Then another image came in front of him and it clicked. Carmen was beginning to act a bit like the girls at Hogwarts who had a crush on him. She was beginning to like him. He inwardly smirked, ‘this could get interesting.’
‘So I’ll meet you in the evening’ Harry said as he walked her to the door.
Carmen smiled at him and surprising him and herself she kissed him on the cheek.
‘Thanks for the breakfast’ she said meekly and practically ran home mortified by her kiss, afterall she had just met him.
Harry touched his cheek, smiled and returned to his tedious schedule, bewildered at the unfolding events.
The most interesting prospect of all this was that he could have just found himself something to occupy his free time with.
A/N Well I know it’s quite a boring chapter but hopefully the next will be better and don’t forget to review.
Since its holiday time I’ll update quite frequently. I seriously need a beta so please if anyone’s interested mail me. Next chapter will be out by….. Monday.
I have decided not to make it Harryharem since it does not go with the story. I don’t want to reveal too much but I will make it Harry/many just not all at once and there will be absolutely no slash so please don’t even ask for it. I had earlier asked for a beta but I didn’t get a chance to see if any one replied so I will ask again. If any one wants to beta this story please mail me.
Thoughts – ‘’….’’
Harry sat in his room meditating, he had just had a talk with the Dursley’s and he was sure they had no room to retaliate anymore; he had struck at their weakness. The Dursley’s prided themselves over being ‘normal’ and had proof of them doing something which was highly unusual. But the Dursley’s were not something which was worrying Harry. What was worrying him was how he had used an unforgivable curse, how maliciously he had dealt with the dursley’s and that was now playing on his conscious. ‘Was he becoming like Voldemort? Was he turning dark? ’ this was a question that kept popping up in his head.
Harry knew he couldn’t do this alone he would need somebody who would be able to keep him grounded. So he kept himself from reviewing Voldemort’s memories lest he goes down the same dark path as his adversary.
Not being able to review Voldemort’s reminiscences for the time being left Harry with little to do. He had already finished the homework for the following school year with little difficulty. After pondering for some time Harry decided that he needed to visit Flourish and Blotts.
Now that the Dursley’s were not causing him any hindrance, going to Diagon alley would be fairly simple. All he needed was a bit of money which he was sure he could ‘ask’ Uncle Vernon to lend him. So making up his mind he went downstairs where he found surprisingly no one. Scratching his head Harry wondered where everyone had disappeared. He quickly went up to his aunts room and checked her closet where he found only a few clothes much lesser then there would normally be which confirmed Harry’s suspicion, the Dursleys had abandoned him. ‘Sheesh! I was going to have some fun with them and they decide to abscond’ Harry thought disappointed. At any other time he would have wished that the Dursley’s would leave but right now he had the upper hand and he had thought about getting some revenge on them for all the years they had made him do all the house work.
The Dursley’s leaving had left Harry with a major problem, he had no muggle money and getting to Diagon alley would be a pain. ‘Well I will have to use the imperious again’ he thought morosely. Sighing Harry left for Diagon alley.
It was a busy day in Diagon alley, being the first day of the week it was bustling with all kinds of witches and wizards. This suited Harry as it would be easy to get lost in the crowd. He remembered to keep his hair down and hide his scar and few people knew about his sudden growth spurt which made him look more like fifteen so it was unlikely that anyone would recognize him. He casually walked towards Gringotts, easily blending in with the busy crowd and amazingly he reached Gringotts without interruption. The bank itself seemed to be over crowded and Harry had to wait behind a long queue. After quite some time it was finally his turn.
‘What can I do for you?’ the goblin asked gruffly.
‘I would like to visit my vault’ Harry replied politely.
‘And do you have your key’ the goblin asked to which Harry handed him a golden key.
Looking at the number on the key the goblin sharply looked up at Harry’s scar then he motioned for a goblin to come to him whom Harry recognized as the goblin he had met when he first visited Gringotts but couldn’t recall his name. The goblin on the counter had a whispered conversation with the goblin he had summoned whose eyes widened slightly at the end of the conversation. The goblin looked up at Harry and said ‘Follow me sir’. Harry slightly confused at the goblin’s behavior followed the goblin to the carts.
Harry greatly enjoyed the cart ride and was quite disappointed when it ended early. Once inside his vault he took out his money pouch and completely filled it with a handful of galleons which didn’t even seem to cause a dent in the ever rising pile of galleons. Harry decided to ask the goblin about the increase in the galleons in his vault.
During the cart ride back to the surface Harry asked the goblin about the increasing amount of galleons in his vault to which the goblin simply said ‘Interest’ which more or less answered Harry’s question.
Harry had never needed any muggle money before so he didn’t know anything about the exchange rates. He knew he would need muggle money to feed himself and other daily necessities and he also intended to do some much needed shopping. After reaching the surface he asked the goblin where he could exchange some galleons for some muggle money to which the goblin took him to an empty counter with an old goblin at the desk. Harry was quite surprised at the personal attention he was receiving from the goblins. It was only much later that Harry found out why he was being treated differently to the other customers at Gringotts.
Harry was quite surprised to discover that 1 galleon was worth 50 pounds. Harry exchanged 100 galleons for 5000 pounds which he supposed would be enough for his shopping and daily needs.
After leaving Gringotts Harry headed straight for Flourish and Blotts. Entering the shop he went straight to defense section since it was his favorite subject. He quickly shifted through the various topics finding very few books that interested him, until he found a book that caught his attention ‘Defensive Wards’ by Louis Potter. It was a pretty thin book and after flipping through the pages Harry learned that the publishing date was 1903. He did a quick mental calculation and came to a conclusion that it must have been his great great grandfather. He added the book in his book cart which already contained standard defense books for the 3rd 4th and 5th year. Defense of the mind went next into the ever increasing pile of books.
From the corner of his eyes Harry could see a witch constantly peeking glances at him. Harry suddenly became more cautious and decided to change section but as he turned around a corner he crashed into the same witch who stumbled and fell over him. Groaning Harry tried to get up but found himself in an awkward position with the witch atop him and her breast pressing against him face. The witch finally coming to her senses hurriedly got up from above him and helped him up. The whole ordeal had caused the fringe of hair hiding his scar to move exposing it which the witch quickly recognized and squeaked in surprise. Thankfully the defense section was at the back of the shop and no one had seemed to notice the disturbance. Harry quickly put a hand over her mouth and made a pleading motion with his eyes which thankfully the witch understood and relaxed.
“Tonks’ the witch introduced herself sticking out her hand while continuously looking at the ground, all the while blushing furiously.
Blushing himself Harry introduced himself even though he was sure she already knew who he was.
Harry looked around awkwardly as the witch didn’t move. Judging the witch’s age he tried to start a conversation.
‘Umm… do you go to Hogwarts?’
She stared at him surprised.
‘No I’m an auror in training’ She replied smiling at him warmly.
Something about her smile caused Harry’s heart to skip a beat; she was not a really pretty witch but there was an outlandish beauty in her features.
‘So which books you looking for’ the witch asked looking at the books in his cart.
When Harry looked at her strangely she quickly replied ‘I work here part time’
‘Oh, well I just finished with the defense section and was about to go to the transfiguration section when we err crashed’
‘Transfiguration is my favorite subject, maybe I could help you out’ she said cheerfully.
‘Sure’ Harry replied smiling.
Harry followed her to the transfiguration section and couldn’t help but admire her shapely rear.
‘Which books you looking for’ she asked flipping through a few titles.
‘Till fifth year’ Harry replied paying more attention to the witch then to what he was saying.
Tonks simply raised her eyebrows and added the books to his already full cart.
‘You like reading ahead’ she asked smiling; she had noticed him checking her out but did not want to point it out. Surprisingly she liked the attention which she was receiving.
Harry suddenly realized he had been staring and looked at the ground mortified.
‘Don’t worry people seem to do that often’ Tonks said with wink which seemed to further embarrass Harry.
Harry began to stammer an apology but Tonks waved it off. Soon the witch’s cheerful
Nature caused him to openly talk with her. He added Defensive Transfiguration and Transfiguration for the fun loving. His cart seemed overfull with all the books and Harry decided that would be enough for 1 shopping trip.
‘That’s all?’ Tonks asked as Harry began to cart his way to the cashier.
‘Yeah enough for a day’ Harry said smiling.
‘It was nice to meet you Tonks’
‘Same here’.
Harry paid the cashier and was about to exit the shop when a section caught his eye. It was opposite the cashier’s desk and had a Miscellaneous Board labeled on it. He walked up to it and started looking through the books. The titles looked pretty interesting, especially one which read ‘Aura reading a rare talent or a learnable art’. He decided to add it to his book list.
Finally as he was about to leave the shop Tonks met him at the entrance.
‘Hey my shift just finished you want to go to Florence Frotesques Ice cream shop’ she asked him with a twinkle in her eye.
Harry looked at her flabbergasted, ‘’did she just ask me out on a date.’’
‘Sure’ Harry stammered out.
Further surprising Harry she linked her arms with his and dragged him out of the shop.
Reaching Florence Frotesques she abruptly dropped his hand and looked at him apologetically. By now Harry was completely confused. ‘’Is she insane’’
Seeing the confounded look on Harry’s face Tonks rapidly said ‘some of the people were beginning to identify you and I thought you didn’t want to be recognized so I….’ she stopped mid sentence blushing.
Understanding dawned on Harry. He stood there and looked at Tonks for a few seconds not knowing when his brain shouted at him ‘Thank her for saving your skin you fool’.
‘Thanks, you saved me a lot of trouble’ he said smiling in a way which he hoped would put her at ease.
Tonks seemed to brighten up considerably and to the utter surprise of Harry her light brown hair became bright pink.
‘How did you do that’ Harry asked, surprise evident in his voice.
‘What?’ Tonks asked.
‘Your hair color changed’ Harry said as if it was the most obvious thing.
‘Oh, I’m a metamorphmagus’ she said meekly, afraid to see Harry’s reaction.
‘What’s that?’ Harry asked, he truthfully didn’t know what a metamorphmagus was.
‘You don’t know’
Harry shook his head.
‘It means I can change my appearance at will.’
‘Cool!’ he said amazed.
Tonks laughed at Harry’s reaction. His reaction was different than what she had expected. Most people would be disgusted or would look at her hungrily but Harry didn’t react like any of them.
‘You’re different Harry’ she said smiling.
‘Thanks’ Harry said not knowing how to react to the bizarre compliment.
‘Aren’t you a little too tall for your age, you look more like fifteen’ she said when they had sat down to eat their ice creams.
‘I had a little accident last year’ he said evasively which was not missed by Tonks and she did not pursue it any further.
Time seemed to pass like water when they were talking. Harry couldn’t believe he could speak so freely with anybody let alone with somebody who he had just met. Tonks felt the same, she was known as an uncouth girl by most male auror corps but with Harry she felt she could freely express herself, even though it was only the second time she had seen him, the first time being when he was a toddler.
Tonks casually glanced at her watch and gave a squeak.
‘He’s going to kill me.’
Harry just looked at her perplexed.
‘I’m sorry Harry I got to rush, I’m seriously late’ with that she got up and abruptly left.
‘You can owl me if you want’ was her parting comment.
Harry just shook his head, smiled, paid and left the shop and began the journey back to privet drive.
Privet drive during sunset appeared to be a medieval housing society, with the orange glow reflecting of the peeling paint on the houses. Harry looked at no. 4 and for the first time in his life he thought it looked beautiful. For the first time Harry admired his garden work, he swept his hand over the lilies and smiled wistfully. He wondered what a big influence the Dursley’s had been in his life, because of them he had forgotten to see the simple beauties of life. Without the Dursley’s privet drive didn’t seem to be a bad place to live in.
After finishing his self-cooked dinner Harry began to go through the books which he had bought that day. He picked up the slightest book first which was ‘Defensive Warding’ by Gerard potter. As Harry began to go through the book the more impressed he became by each page. All the wards were pretty simple and competent. One of them was the anti-theft ward, which was as basic as a third year spell but could block almost all known unlocking charms.
But warding had a flaw in it, it depended on the amount of power the wizard put into it, so anyone with enough power could break through almost any ward. This is where blood wards and the more obscure kind of wards came into play.
Like blood wards could only be passed with someone who had the same blood or who intended no harm to person being warded. The only flaw in the blood wards was that a person with the same blood could easily cause harm to the warded. So it was a ward used when the family members completely trusted each other. Then there was the cuadra ward, it was a ward used on wizards who had fluctuating levels of magic, its main aim was to limit the amount of power the wizard can use. When Harry read about this ward he became suspicious. It was just the type of thing that could have been used on him by Dumbledore. After the chamber incident Harry’s magic had become much more stable and Harry suspected that the ward had been broken then. Halfway through the book Harry’s eyes began to droop and he fell asleep on the sofa, for the first time he would sleep peacefully at no 4 privet drive.
Harry woke up as the first rays of sunlight graced his face. It was a habit he had developed very soon in his life or was rather forced to develop it due to the Dursley’s. After doing his morning duties Harry remembered he had to buy groceries as the Dursleys had left nothing. Sighing he left to go to the department stores.
On his way to the grocery store Harry found many people jogging which gave him an idea. Harry realized even though he had grown tall due to his sudden growth spurt his body was still out of shape. So he decided to enroll in a gym, without the Dursleys it would be no problem and he had enough money to pay for it. So on his way back from the grocery store he registered for the gym and also for a martial arts class which was in the same building as the Gym.
After cooking himself a nice breakfast Harry got ready to begin reading. Hermione’s rubbing of on me Harry thought smiling. He had a hard time deciding which book he wanted to read since he had so many to choose from. Reluctantly he began the tedious task of making himself a schedule which Hermione had kept nagging him and Ron about last year.
In his schedule he had left the mornings for casual reading so he picked up ‘Aura Reading a rare talent or a learnable art’ – By Elena Lovegood.
Harry was completely engrossed by the time he had read the first chapter, which was just an introduction on aura reading. Aura reading as the title suggests is just that reading magical auras. Every magical being had different auras. Auras have different colors, and each color has significance. Like brown suggests that the magical being has healing properties.
Auras could tell if someone was under a glamour charm, it could also identify an animagus. Like an animal with a blue aura would suggest that it is not an animal but a wizard disguised as one.
There was an author note at the end of the introductory chapter, it said.
‘It is said that aura readers are now extinct but I tend to disagree, I believe that aura reading is not a special talent but it is something that can be learnt by any wizard who has a disciplined mind. In the next few chapters I shall explain how one can learn to read auras and how to utilize the ‘mage sight’.
After reading the first chapter Harry wondered that other people must have read this book but he had never heard anyone ever mention about aura reading not even Hermione and the book was not even hidden it was actually in the first section of the shop. That made him wonder whether the author was just another fake like Lockhart and had written just some crap. After pondering on it for sometime Harry decided that he had nothing to lose so he might as well read it.
One of the first necessities for aura reading is a calm mind, so meditation is the first step. There are many ways to meditate but the best way is to close your eyes and take a few deep breaths, then to listen closely to all the noises around you and to picture in your mind the surroundings. A natural aura reader will find this extremely simple and should easily complete this step. After opening your eyes every thing around you will look much sharper.
Harry tried this exercise and was surprised to see that his surroundings did indeed look much sharper. Harry then looked at his books and was completely surprised when his books glowed bright yellow. Harry thought he must be seeing things so he closed his eyes and opened them again, this time the room didn’t appear that sharp. Picking up the book he read the paragraph again, it had said nothing about things glowing. Harry again tried doing the exercise and again he found his books glowing. Harry quickly went to his room opened his trunk and took out his other books, he repeated the exercise and again the books glowed. Did I just learn aura reading Harry thought bedazzled? To confirm his theory he took out his broom and he had to shield his eyes from the multicolored hue that was surrounding the broom. He had done it, he had learned aura reading. He quickly went and looked at the book again, after the first paragraph of the second chapter the book had complete gibberish printed in it, bewildered Harry looked through the book again but found nothing sensible written after the first paragraph. Out of the blue Harry got an idea.
He did the meditation exercise and then looked at the book and just as he had thought a red mark appeared on the page he was reading. Harry gave himself a pat on the back and touched the red line with his wand. There was a flash of light and then suddenly the words in the book started arranging themselves.
Harry smirked and sat down to read again, whoever the author was must have been a genius he thought.
Congratulations you have found this book’s secret; you must be a true aura reader. This was done as a step to ensure that the secrets of aura readers are not revealed and so that only a true aura reader would be able to read this book. The next few chapters will give a detailed description of how you can use your skill and what different color codes mean.
Harry continued reading for some time but had a tough time comprehending different color codes. Each color had more than one meaning and it depended on the aura reader to figure out what a particular color code meant. Like a black aura over a subject suggested it was a dark artifact but it also meant a few other things, like It suggested blindness.
After confusing himself for some time he gave up and decided to look it up later on. Meanwhile he kept turning his mage sight on and of and with each time he was becoming more proficient at it.
Next on his schedule was Transfiguration, he began reading the third year text. After two hours of tedious reading Harry made himself a nice lunch. While he was eating his eyes fell on the television. The television had always fascinated Harry but he had never had the opportunity to see it. He put on the television and began skimming through a few channels. He settled on a news channel which was reporting about a mass murdering criminal who had recently escaped prison. A picture of the criminal was flashed and something about the man caused Harry to jump. The man looked thin and ragged with long black hair hiding his face.
‘Sirius Black a mass murderer has recently escaped a prison in Germany and has been spotted in England. If anyone hears from said person or even gets a glimpse of him please report him immediately as he is an extremely dangerous person. Do not try to approach him under any circumstances doing so will be endangering your life.’
The name sounded familiar to Harry but he couldn’t remember ever meeting this person.
After spending sometime pondering Harry gave up trying to remember and switched the channel to watch something more light. He stopped his search on a movie channel and leisurely relaxed on a cozy couch, which until recently belonged to his oaf of a cousin, and settled for a nice nap.
‘Rrrrrrrrrring rrrrrrrrrrring’ Harry jumped hearing the door bell. Irritated he went to see who was at the door. To his surprise it was a pretty girl of about fifteen with a bouquet in her hand, ‘Is Mrs. Dursley there.’ She asked politely.
‘I’m afraid but Mrs. Dursley is not there at the moment’ Harry replied stifling a yawn.
‘Oh I'm so sorry to bother you, but can you give her this bouquet.’
‘Sure, did you have any message for her’ Harry said remembering his manners.
The girl smiled cutely at him, ‘Tell her Happy Birthday from our family’s side.’
Saying this she turned and was about to leave when she turned around and looked at Harry curiously, ‘Don’t mind me but I've never seen you before.’
‘No problem, anyways I’m mostly not there as I attend a boarding school in Scotland and am there for most of the year. I’m Dudley’s cousin Harry.’ Harry said extending his hand which the girl shook. ‘Carmen’ she replied smiling and left.
Happy to have made a new acquaintance Harry returned to his scheduled reading.
The next morning saw Harry jogging to the gym. The gym instructor had him partnered with a girl who coincidentally turned out to be the same girl who he had met yesterday.
‘Hey! Harry’ she said recognizing him.
‘Hello Carmen’ Harry said smiling.
‘Newcomer’ she asked smirking. Harry nodded rolling his eyes which caused her to giggle.
‘Don’t worry it’s only my second month here.’
With that they began their workouts. Very soon Harry found out that he liked seeing women in a gym costume especially Carmen. Her gym costume hugged her body and showcased her developing curves extremely well. Harry also noticed her other features, she had light brown hair which was tied in a horse ponytail and had a few freckles across her face. Her eyes reminded Harry of Hermione and her skin had a nice creamy color.
Carmen herself was checking out Harry, and she liked what he saw. But what took her breath away were his eyes, they were an intense green and matched perfectly with his dark hair. She realized she was beginning to have a crush on him and it had not even been a day since she had met him.
They were taken out of their reverie when the gym clock chimed signaling the end of their session.
‘So where are you going now’ Carmen asked as they were leaving the gym.
‘To the martial arts class, it’s just around the corner.’
Carmen just stared at him for a few second and said ‘guess this is coincidence day, even I’m going to the same place’.
‘Cool then we can practice together’ Harry said enthusiastically and laughing at the same time. Carmen just smiled at him caught his hand and dragged him to the martial arts class.
Harry had asked for a rapid course since he did not have much time and now he regretted his decision. Martial arts class didn’t turn out to be as easy as Harry had thought it to be; actually by the end of the class Harry had quite a few bruises. Now Harry regretted asking Carmen to be his partner. Carmen was really good at martial arts and had given Harry a tuff time by landing a few kicks at not so comfortable places, and to make matters worse the martial arts teacher was turning out to be another McGonagall.
‘Sorry about that, I really get into it sometimes’ Carmen apologized after the class and as an afterthought she added ‘you were actually very good for a fresher’
Harry just groaned a reply which caused Carmen to giggle.
‘So where to now’ she asked.
‘Home’ Harry said wiping his sweat. Carmen face dropped hearing his reply; she was really enjoying his company. Seeing her change in mood Harry quickly added ‘you can come for breakfast if you wish there’s food enough for both of us.’
‘Are you sure’ she asked hesitating; it won’t be good to get her hopes high.
‘Sure as can be.’ Harry said smiling warmly.
They made small talk on their way to the Dursley’s.
‘So how do you know the Dursley’s’ Harry asked Carmen while they were eating breakfast.
‘My mo owb beuby parlor mrb dursby rebular custober’ she replied her face stuffed with food causing Harry to laugh. Carmen quickly swallowed and looked down embarrassed. ‘Don’t worry I have friend who does that often’ Harry said smiling.
‘So what were you saying?’
‘We just moved in here last year and mum opened a beauty parlor since then Mrs. Dursley has been a regular customer’ Carmen said smiling. She seemed to do that a lot around Harry.
‘You are great at martial arts’ Harry said changing the subject.
‘Thanks, I have been practicing for a few years’ she replied.
‘I can help you, if you want’ she asked eagerly.
‘That would be great’ Harry said excited on the outside. Inside he was thinking that the girl was acting a bit strange, his sixth sense was telling him there was something fishy going on. Harry quickly turned on his mage sight and looked at her; there was no glow around her. He sighed in relief; at least she is not from the wizarding world. Then another image came in front of him and it clicked. Carmen was beginning to act a bit like the girls at Hogwarts who had a crush on him. She was beginning to like him. He inwardly smirked, ‘this could get interesting.’
‘So I’ll meet you in the evening’ Harry said as he walked her to the door.
Carmen smiled at him and surprising him and herself she kissed him on the cheek.
‘Thanks for the breakfast’ she said meekly and practically ran home mortified by her kiss, afterall she had just met him.
Harry touched his cheek, smiled and returned to his tedious schedule, bewildered at the unfolding events.
The most interesting prospect of all this was that he could have just found himself something to occupy his free time with.
A/N Well I know it’s quite a boring chapter but hopefully the next will be better and don’t forget to review.
Since its holiday time I’ll update quite frequently. I seriously need a beta so please if anyone’s interested mail me. Next chapter will be out by….. Monday.
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