Chapter Seven

It didn’t take long for the novelty of being back at Hogwarts to die off.

Sure it was great being able to prevent certain things.

Neville didn’t fall off his broom as he was more confident due to having a wand that matched him and friends from the study group.

There was no Hermione crying in the bathroom and thus didn’t need saving from the Troll.

For the most part it was one of the most relaxing years he had had at Hogwarts.

Even Quirrell's lessons proved beneficial.

As he stuttered through Harry got practical training in defending his mind from someone other than himself.

This was because Voldemort simply couldn’t help himself.

Sure this resulted in his scar burning and him suffering migraines after each lesson.

But the benefits easily outweighed the costs.

Other than that however his lessons began proving pointless.

Mostly due to the fact his classes were simply too easy for him.

To rectify this he would go to the Room Of Requirement.

There he began sitting through the upcoming lessons in his Pensieve.

He also did the next assignment also.

As such it didn’t take long for him to begin working quite a ways ahead of his supposed peers.

And boy was that a sobering thought.

The first time around he would have been desperate to be seen as “just Harry”.

This time around he had zero time to devote to such thoughts.

It also didn’t help that he had a Dark Lord to prepare for.

One he was determined to defeat on his own merits this time.

And not through a fluke of magic beyond was his control.

But even then it wasn’t like he was being intellectually challenged.

Thus he decided to do something that never even occurred to him the first time around.

And that was to become an Animagi.

Thus he sent Hedwig out with an owl order form to Slug & Jiggers.

That way he would gain the Mandrake leaf, and the ingredients to make the inner animal revealing potion.

Of course he ordered some other items too.

This was to cover the purpose of his order.

That way there would be little chance of them figuring out what he was trying to do.

And so the moment Hedwig came back with his order he began the process of becoming an Animagi.

First by sticking the Mandrake Leaf to the roof of his mouth.

The result of which were his dreams becoming almost LSD like.

Harry was also glad he used his memories of the timeline to pick the perfect time to undergo this stage of the process.

Thus he went from full moon to full moon without the worry the weather would hinder him as it would most others attempting to become an Animagus.

From there creating the potion with the saliva filled leaf was relatively simple.

What came next was a waiting game for Harry.

Where he patiently kept up the process of chanting the animagus spell with his wand pointed at his chest each sunup and sundown until there was a lightning storm.

This process took close to three and a half months to occur.

Fortunately Harry knew of the New Years Day storm of 1992.

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So he only had to keep up the routine until then.

Thankfully by then he had regained his Cloak over Christmas.

And he had also played along with Dumbledore.

As such he had once more seen the Mirror Of Erised.

Amazingly enough his innermost desire had changed since he was previously this age.

No longer does he desire family alone.

But not just family but also friends.

He saw Sirius whole and happy.

Remus, Tonks, and baby Teddy.

All of his friends from the study group were happy and smiling.

Even Dobby, Winky, and Kreecher were shown in the reflection.

All of whom are able to live peacefully without the threat of supposed Dark or Light Lords actions affecting them.

The only downer came when he realised that it wasn’t this Hermione but “His” Hermione that was shown to him.

His love for her hasn’t diminished even slightly.

And so it was like a punch to the gut seeing her reflected smiling and flirting with his mirror self

The longing he felt staring at that was similar to the longing he felt the first time seeing his parents.

“It’s just the Mirror’s curse” Harry reminded himself as he tore his eyes away.

Harry then thought that other than that heartbreaking moment everything else the Mirror showed was a great reminder to Harry for what he was fighting for.

Of course Harry knew he wasn’t alone.

This was proven when he felt what was obviously Dumbledore encroaching upon his mind using Legilimency.

Harry easily Occluded his mind and showed Dumbledore exactly what he wanted to show him.

Which was what he saw in the mirror the first time around.

That way the Headmaster would think he was still the same little boy longing for his lost parents.

This continued for a few days until Dumbledore made his appearance.

And just like last time he hid behind his Grandfatherly demeanour while warning he would be moving the mirror.

Harry then returned his focus fully back to learning to become an Animagi.

And upon drinking the potion under the storm he then experienced a vision of what his inner animal truly was.

As such it didn’t surprise Harry that he was some kind of bird.

His love of being in the air being one of his most defining traits.

Something he had missed deeply this year due to him not being on the Quidditch team.

But what truly shocked him was the fact he had two inner animals.

It really shouldn’t have come as a surprise however as with the shard of Voldemort's soul housed within his scar he essentially has two souls in one body.

And thus the potion revealed the inner animal of the Voldemort shard too.

And to no surprise to Harry it was some kind of serpent.

Once the vision ended Harry then had to research exactly what each of these animal forms were.

His Snake form that came from the Voldemort shard turned out to be a Puff Adder.

A highly venomous viper.

What shocked him however is that his bird form turned out to be the Brown Snake eagle.

The natural predator of his Snake form.

It was all very ironic in Harry’s opinion.

He then spent the remainder of the year learning to transform between his forms at will.

Obviously the Eagle form came easier to Harry.

But he was nothing if not determined.

And thus he continued until he could transform into his Snake form with just as much ease and speed.

Along the way there were obviously a few mistransformation.

Sometimes Harry got stuck partially transformed.

Thankfully he had the forethought to think of this.

He would use the Time Turner to have two of him there.

The younger him would hide under the Invisibility Cloak while the older him would transform.

Should an incident occur the younger him would revert the older him back to his normal form.

Ever the fast learner for anything practical it only took a few of these missteps for Harry to figure things out.

The whole process had the unforeseen effect of greatly improving his skill in Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall began praising him during every lesson.

Often saying he inherited his Fathers natural talent in the discipline.

This made Harry feel proud.

Like he was living up to his parents expectations.

Or keeping some part of their legacy alive.

Obviously he didn’t want to ignore his Mothers influence either.

Thus he began trying harder in charms too.

When he realised that he also had just as much potential for Charms due to him being able to produce a corporeal Patronus at thirteen.

This in turn gained him the favour of Flitwick.

And because of that he would find himself talking to the man often outside of classes.

Mostly talking about Harry’s Mother and her time as Flitwicks apprentice.

But also sometimes such as the man’s duelling experience.

The hope was for Harry the man would teach him how to duel eventually.

His hope that with formal tuition he would be able to cross the chasm of skill that lay between himself and Voldemort.

But that was a thing for later.

What mattered for now was that with him doing so well in other classes it made him regret only putting most of his focus on Defence the last time around.

It didn’t take long for Harry to stand head and shoulders above the others of his year.

Only his study group were able to keep up even remotely.

Thus the year soon came towards its end.

The end of year exams were so easy they were pretty much an afterthought.

Then came the night when Dumbledore “flew away” on a broom towards a meeting with the Wizengamot.

Harry sighed realising that tonight would be the night he would be forced to confront Voldemort again.

A confrontation he was certainly not looking forward to

But one he would endure nevertheless.

And with a look of determination Harry began preparing himself for the inevitable.