Ok pace back and forth three times, while thinking about what you want.

I set my feet and began pacing, thinking about the problem I was trying to solve. I had only been awake and dressed for about an hour, but it was already almost dinner the day after my first transformation and I had slept most of the day away. Soon, someone would come retrieve me to take me back to Privet Drive.

I want to be free from the Trace, before I go back. I thought, projecting my need, as I remembered the last day I spent casting spells in the Shrieking Shack. My casting could improve so much over the summer, if I could get rid of the trace, or get around it.

Before I realized I had paced three times in front of the blank wall, movement caught my eye, and I turned to see a plain door materializing out of nothing. I slowly walked forward, admiring the dark brown stain the door had and the black accents decorated around it.

Of course, the last thing to materialize was a door handle. A solid one, that I had to yank on to get the door to open. Naturally, it wasn’t a small door to open, nor were the hinges greased…

Maybe that’s what I desired.

What I found was not what I expected. Harry in the books, while teaching Dumbledore’s Army, had always gotten a large auditorium style room to teach his classmates. This was nothing like that. This was what I would consider the perfect office to work and study in. There was a mahogany desk in one corner of the room, with bookshelves behind it stuffed full of magical tomes and textbooks. Directly opposite of that, was a fireplace with an already lit fire in it. Then finally there was a smaller doorway that I walked through to find a small chamber with nothing but a straw man hung up on a post, obviously a target for practicing spells.

Eventually, I made my way to the desk, where a single small leather bound notepad lay. I picked it up, and unwound the leather strap that held it together.

‘November 3rd, 1643

Father passed away today. It has been difficult focusing on anything but that fact. Mother wrote that she would come fetch me for the funeral, in two days time.

Beyond my grief, this does not bode well for our family. Uncle will use my youth as an excuse to take control of the Lordship. Already, mother plots on how to prevent such a thing.

I see no way of stopping him now…’

I frowned, not seeing the relevance of what was effectively someone’s diary. I asked the Room of Requirement for a way to subvert the Trace, not for a grieving boy's darkest thoughts.

‘Pop’

I jumped and turned to the source of the apparition. If I had better trained reflexes, I would have drawn my wand from my holster. All I managed to do was get my hands up in front of me to protect me.

Who could Apparate directly into the Room of Requirement?

“Master?”

Of course it would be Dobby. I thought as my eyes fell to the tiny form of the elf in front of me.

“Dobby?” I asked, slightly confused and a little bit more than still surprised at his sudden appearance.

“Sorry, master. But Professor’s Snape was looking for you’s sir…” Dobby stated while his two pointed fingers touched each other in front of his face, nervously. I had been around him long enough now to know that he was feeling nervous about something.

“Did he say what he wanted?” I asked, ignoring his meekness for the moment.

“He seemed worried, sir.” Dobby answered, but did not elaborate. No doubt, Snape didn’t deem him worthy of the knowledge as to why he needed me.

“Thanks, Dobby. I’ll go find him now.” I told the elf, turning away from him and heading towards the door of the Room of Requirement. Another small pop told me that Dobby had already teleported away before I reached out and pushed the door open.

Just in case, I slipped the notepad I had just been reading into my pocket.

----------------------------------------

It was an odd, yet familiar, feeling to get the letters of Ron and Hermoine. On one hand, I was not the same person that I was. These were children, with different priorities and different mindsets than me now. On the other hand, they were my friends and I could remember all of the time we spent together. Everything from causing mayhem or sneaking in the restricted section to everyday assignments from Snape and McGonnogal.

In the end, I decided that I would at least try to keep up my friendships with them. They had been good friends, and it wasn’t their fault that I am who I am now. Or that I am what I am, I should add. So I wrote back to them, and told them how my summer was going. I kept it PG, and didn’t mention any of the events I had with Vernon or Petunia.

I also didn’t mention my first transformation. I specifically dodged the vague questions they asked about that. It wasn’t that I was hiding it from them, it was just that I believed they should be spared about knowing that pain. Maybe that could be considered hiding it from them, now that I thought about it. But I didn’t want their pity, and I didn’t want them to know how painful it was.

That, I saved for Remus.

‘Dear Professor,

I would like to let you know that I forgive you. I know it won’t mean much to you, because at the end of the day, you won’t forgive yourself. It’s a shame, too. You’re a good man. You’re the best Defense teacher I had, and you taught me a powerful spell that most Wizards and Witches fail at as a second year.

I forgive you for forgetting to take that awful potion. It tastes like chalk and oysters, doesn’t it? Bloody awful the stuff is. Even after one month of the stuff, I am pondering the idea of just forgetting to take it myself. Might be worth it…

Enough with the pity, though. I’m writing to you in the hopes that it assuages what I know must be massive guilt.’

‘snap’

My ears, which continued to grow more and more sensitive to the noise around them, picked up the faintest apparition that I had ever heard. I already knew who it was, I had been expecting him since I heard the news. The awful and unexpected news.

I picked my quill up to write down just one more line, before I had to leave.

Even though I know it’s too late…”

----------------------------------------

“We stand here today, to mourn the tragic passing of our dear friend, Remus Lupin.”

I stared at the gravestone in front of me with a stone cold look on my face, as Dumbledore spoke. We stood in the Godrick’s Hollow cemetery, not 20 yards from where my parents were buried, and some of Dumbledore’s relatives as well. I bought this spot as soon as I heard the news.

Tragic passing? Is that what you call a suicide?

Dumbledore had fought me on paying for the headstone, and the grave spot. But unfortunately for him, I didn’t ask permission. I simply wrote a letter, found the final amount, and had Dobby deliver the payment in full. I don’t even remember the cost, now that I think about it.

The past few days had been a blur.

Madam Malkins had, thankfully, taken an emergency fitting for the funeral. The acromantula silk that made up my custom tailored black robes was some of the most comfortable and well breathing clothes I had worn in any life. The enchantments on them were worth learning, in my opinion.

I couldn’t help the ache that started in my chest and seemed to seep up into my throat. Yes, I had memories from another life that should have overridden most of Harry Potter during our merge. But I couldn’t ignore the attachment I still had to the man that was currently buried in the dirt beneath my feet.

My mind supplied a fake memory of me growing up with my father and mother, and beside us were his best friends. The Marauders. Remus, Sirius, and even that treacherous rat Pettigrew.

I might have called him uncle in another life.

That thought caused the ache in my heart to increase.

“…Unimaginably kind, to everyone he crossed paths with…”

Dumbledore was still talking, it seemed. I tuned out his speech, and instead focused on the sniffles behind, and beside me. All of the women, and most of the men had handkerchiefs in their hands and were dabbing at their eyes. I was one of the only few not actually crying, which was taking almost all of my concentration not to do.

Be the most dependable person at your fathers funeral…

Those words had stuck to me in both my lives. Most people break down when they mourn. Family members become inconsolable, and lost to their grief. It was my job, as no one had ever seemed more capable or willing, to be the rock that the wave of grief tried and failed to break.

Then again, perhaps it was just my damned pride.

Either way, my shoulders were squared, my nose was high, and my face was stoic. Hermoine’s hands latched onto my arm, and her head leaned on my shoulder.

Had this been different circumstances, I would have realized that I was now a full 3 inches taller than her when we had always been the same height growing up. I would have contemplated how my new werewolf physiology was improving on my body and fixing the malnutrition of my younger years. All of these were just thoughts in the back of my head, not yet realized.

Ron, bless his heart, stood on the other side of me doing his best not to break down. He wasn’t succeeding very well. His shoulders kept shaking at random moments, and his face would contort into a mournful one for a few moments before he schooled himself. We now stood at the same height, something I could never boast before this summer.

And we still have another month before the term starts…

Molly wailed behind me, almost causing me to wince at the loud sound. She was a good woman, even if she was overbearing and nosy. But at the end of the day she loved, and she loved hard. She was willing to take in an unrelated boy with no family, feed him, put a roof over his head, and I would respect that until I died.

There was a shift in the air, and Hermoine untied herself from my arm and neck causing me to pay attention to what was going on around me. Everyone either had their wand out or was getting it out and pointing it to the sky, just like they had done in the movies when Dumbledore died.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

I twitched my wrist, and clenched my fist when my wand shot into it. Warmth spread throughout me, almost chasing the aching sadness away, when I was reunited with my wand. I raised it to the sky, just like everyone else did. Once we all had our wands up is when it happened.

Magic poured off of Dumbledore as he twirled his wand around his head like a circle. It was the first time that I had ever been able to sense magic before it was cast. It felt like a warm blanket settling over my shoulders. Instantly my mood changed for the better, and the aching in my chest left me completely.

My ears told me that it had affected everyone else the same way, because the sniffling and crying stopped. And then a single light protruded from Dumbledore’s wand, to raise into the sky above us.

But it wasn’t as simple as that. I felt him cast the spell, in intimate detail, and my mind provided me with the simple adjustment to the Lumos spell. I summoned my own magic, and wordlessly cast the small Lumos spell, nearly at the same time as everyone else. It was dramatically easy to focus my intent and will in that moment, and it resulted in a successful first, soundless, cast.

Light shot into the night sky beside my own, mimicking the stars that would have been there if clouds weren’t blocking them. The memories of Remus teaching me the Patronus Charm surfaced into my mind's eyes. And I couldn’t help but smile at the memory. The feeling of my first successful cast sent a euphoric feeling through my body.

I’m not sure what came over me, but my wand traced the familiar pattern he taught me at the same time that I latched onto that euphoric memory.

“Expecto Patronum…” I said faintly, while pouring my will and happiness into the spell.

The lights from earlier seemed dim to the brilliant white mist that shot out of my wand into the sky above us. It was more than I remembered the night I saved Sirius and myself. Soon it began to coalesce into a shape. A shape that I expected to form into a stag with brilliant antlers.

It did not.

When my patronus graced the world, it was a massive and majestic wolf that bounded around the sky for a moment before racing towards the clouds above us, providing light to the surrounding area. I smiled as I realized that my patronus had changed in the short time since I had last cast it.

A wolf huh? Fitting for this setting, and a fitting one for me.

As I finished the thought, the wolf patronus disappeared from the world, and it's warm light disappeared with it. It was my final farewell to Remus, and I hoped that he would feel it in his next life.

I continued to stare into the sky until my ears told me how unnaturally quiet it was in the cemetery. When I looked down, and around me, I saw that everyone was staring at me with smiles on their faces. It was then that I realized I had just cast very powerful magic outside of the school grounds, and would most likely be catching an underage magic case soon.

“That was beautiful Harry, thank you.” Dumbledore said from his place beside the head stone. I could do nothing but nod at him, as the ache in my heart returned for the man that had taught me more than any other.

I returned the hug that Hermoine tried suffocating me with. “I’ve got to get back, sorry I couldn’t stay longer.” She said as she wiped her eyes and walked away to where Professor McGonnogal stood waiting.

That seemed to be the queue for everyone to begin leaving, because before I could interact with Shacklebolt, Snape, Tonks, or some of the other random people that were in attendance, they began leaving and apparating out.

“Sorry mate. We’ve got to go too.” Ron said beside me.

“It’s alright, tell everyone I said hi and that I miss them.” I told him, before we nodded at each other and he walked away to where Arthur, Molly, Percy, The Twins, and finally Ginny stood.

“Would you like to stay a while, Harry?” Dumbledore asked, appearing next to me without me realizing it.

I looked at him, and then in the direction that my parents were buried. We had arrived early, just so that I could see them and talk to them for a while. Dumbledore had given me a few moments with them while he walked through the graveyard. I knew he had visited his own family's graves, even though he didn’t offer the information.

“No sir.” I told him quickly. “Dobby.” I summoned, leading to the elf appearing beside me with a questioning gaze.

“He can take me home professor, stay and be with your family.” I told him before I reached out towards Dobby.

Dumbledore didn’t move when I said that, and the twinkling in his eyes disappeared just as Dobby teleported us back home.

----------------------------------------

I closed the fourth year transfiguration textbook, and rubbed my eyes. That was the third time that I had read all the way through it, and I was aching to try out some of the transfigurations. I had memorized all the calculations, and even tested a few that were in the footnotes to try.

It was the last textbook of the year for me to read through. 3 months cooped up in my room reading and studying had been hard on me. I had yet to receive my newest purchases from Flourish and Botts, which were the fifth year textbooks so that I could study ahead.

Now what? I’ve already worked out this morning, I’ve read through every year's material and brushed up on my theory. If only I could begin casting…

That’s when I remembered the leather bound notebook that I had taken from the Room of Requirement. I reached down to my desk and pulled out a drawer before digging around and finding the notebook.

I opened it up, and began reading. It proved to be just as boring as a textbook.

----------------------------------------

‘It seems that I will have to take my OWL’s early to achieve emancipation. However this means I will need to learn an entire year’s worth of material over this summer. Yet the Trace stands in my way…’

I perked up at that, realizing that was exactly what I was trying to do. I was trying to get ahead with magic over the summer, and needed away around the Trace. Had this boy found it?

…mother theorized that a powerful enough invisibility cloak could be sufficient to hide an underage wizard's magic, depending on the enchanter. But even we cannot afford such a luxury…’

I slammed the book in my hands and frowned. An invisibility cloak could hide the user's magic? How was that possible? It was designed to make the wearer invisible, not ward them.. or did it?

Does the invisibility enchantment apply to literally everything? Even the wearer's magic? I thought as I pondered the idea. It was too good to be true, if it was indeed true.

That would mean I had the tools to cast all summer, and it’s been sitting in my trunk.

I got up from my seat, not believing the story, and moved to my trunk. I searched through it for a moment before I found the cloak that had been in my family for generations.

Why haven’t I experimented with this Deathly Hallow yet? I wondered, wanting to slap myself upside the head.

I picked it up and grabbed the edge before unfurling it and twirling it around my body, letting it settle on my shoulders. In under a second, my wand was in my hand, and a spell was on my lips.

I paused for a moment. What if this boy's mother was wrong? What if her theory was just that, a theory? Was she grasping for straws, or was this a well known aspect of invisibility cloaks?

There is only one way to find out, I suppose…

I summoned my bravery and courage before twirling my wand in the appropriate pattern before focusing my intent. “Accio.” I said as I looked at the leather bound notebook on the table.

It flew towards me, and since my arms were in my cloak, I failed at catching the object before it cluttered and fell to the ground before me. I stood there for a moment, looking around awkwardly, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did.

I raised my wand to try another spell but paused before I did. Maybe I should wait a couple of days before I start casting enough to get me expelled and then some.

But I itched to use my wand. I stayed under the comfort of the Invisibility Cloak as much as I could from then on.

It was comforting in a weird way.

----------------------------------------

“Alohomora.” I said while pointing my wand towards the front door. It had been weeks since I began casting under the protection of the Invisibility Cloak, yet no owls or letters had come, summoning me to the Ministry. Somehow the Leatherbound Book was right about my Cloak.

The Cloak was draped around my shoulders, dragging the ground behind me when I heard the click of the door. I reached out and opened it up, before flicking my wand behind me. The door closed and locked, without me having to say the incantation.

It was something that I had been using religiously the past few weeks to close and lock the door to my room without getting up. After the practice, the words just stopped coming out after about the fourth day and yet the spell still worked. In fact, even some of the wand motions were thrown out the window. So much so that it looked and functioned as a single spell.

Soon I found myself in my room and once again I flicked my wand, closing and locking the door. After I threw the Invisibility cloak on the bed, I began undressing. Once I made it to my pants, I yanked them down.

“Ah.” I hissed as I pulled my hand back and grabbed it.

On my palm was a cut that was already beginning to bleed. I slung my hand around to get rid of the pain, but my dumbass self didn’t realize I would send blood flying all over my bed, and onto the Invisibility Cloak. A piece of a twisted metal button could be seen on my pants around the waistband, the likely cause for my small cut.

Immediately, I felt something… drape over my magic and soul. It was warm, encompassing, and almost… alive.

I stood there and tensed up as I expected an attack to happen. Was that a ward that someone had just placed over the house? Had someone followed me home on my late night excursion?

My eyes found the newspaper sitting on my desk.

‘RIOTS AT THE WIZARDING WORLD CUP!’

I had declined going to the Wizarding World Cup due to the fact that I had transformed only a few nights before and felt a little ‘under the weather’, telling Arthur Weasley to invite someone else, or to sell my ticket.

Truth be told, I didn’t want to make a public appearance, nor did I want to be there when the Death Eaters were causing riots and hunting people like me, or Hermione. None of my friends had been harmed, thank goodness. I hadn’t even pondered the need to protect them when I had declined the ticket.

As I stood there, waiting for the Death Eaters to move or do something, I strained my ears to hear anything outside the house. I heard nothing. After a time, I tried a different avenue.

I closed my eyes and I reached out to the shroud I could feel over me.

That’s when I felt it literally drape itself around me, on my skin. I opened my eyes and raised my wand, preparing to defend myself from whoever was touching me.

Except I couldn’t see my arms, nor my wand, or any other part of my body.

I panicked and reached towards my chest, trying to feel for it. Thankfully, my hands hit my chest and I could feel myself. I hadn’t disappeared or anything like that. I was just invisible.

My eyes looked over to my bed to find my Invisibility Cloak.

It wasn’t there.

I reached to my arms, and although I could feel something wrapped around them, I couldn’t grab anything but skin. Then I reached up to my face, and once again I could feel my skin without any problems. There was nothing there.

Panic gripped me.

Ok calm down, let’s try a different approach.

My mind switched its focus from my skin to where I could feel my magic and the shroud covering it. I did my best to separate the two, pushing the shroud off of my magic. Immediately I became visible again, abating the panic and anxiety inside my chest.

Although one thing was odd. I was wearing pants again. Black, straight, dress pants that were ridiculously comfortable. In fact, they looked, and felt, just like the pants I wore to Remus’ funeral, and a couple of times after that.

What the fuck is going on?

I reached down and peeled the waistband up, to find an answer to the odd events of the past few minutes. There, on the waistband was the normal patterns of red and black of the Cloak of Invisibility. I had seen the patterns a hundred times before, while sneaking around Hogwarts with Ron and Hermoine.

Everything clicked in my mind.

“This warrants testing.” I murmured.

----------------------------------------

‘In conclusion, after accidentally spilling my blood on the Cloak of Invisibility, I became …bonded to it. I can now summon it at will, and it will take the form and color of an article of clothing of my choosing, should I provide accurate enough focus and will.

I have found that pants are the easiest choice, and will be substituting them for the Cloak of Invisibility for the near future. This does mean I will have to learn the cleaning charm soon, as I will not have time to wash them everyday.

By far the most interesting part is the abilities it provides. With a simple change of my magic, I can become completely invisible at will, without the need to hold the Cloak over my head and body. This frees up both of my arms, concentration, and ability to cast unimpeded. The implications of such a thing is… astronomical and I’m not sure if I myself have grasped them yet.

Will test further.’