"Bravo! Harry. Nicely done." Helga praised.
Harry currently was practicing blood magic, a branch of magic forbidden by most Ministries of Magic centuries ago. Any person found practicing it would get a 5 years in prison at a minimum if done in Britain. The sentence would increase with the reason of use. According to them, it was an extremely dark use of magic. But, what they never mentioned was that Blood magic was perhaps the most useful branch of magic in case of protection.
Protections formed by blood magic were the most powerful protection one could provide. Most wards on old manors and castles had blood magic wards in them. Salazar and Helga had theorized that Harry had survived the killing curse due to a combination of Sacrificial and blood magic. Also the Dursley home was protected by blood wards put up by Dumbledore.
Harry was practicing the most basic of blood magic. A simple blood lock. By this, he ensured that only he or his descendants could open his trunk, well the one he was practicing on.
"Yes. It was perfectly done. Now strengthen the trunk."
Harry started drawing more symbols on the trunk wood to make it nearly unbreakable. It would be able to withstand almost all physical attacks without breaking. It would be easier to break a thick stainless steel wall than the trunk if done correctly.
His other studies were going well. He had started practice of Wards, curse breaking, Parselmagic, Elemental magic along with the blood magic. Helga and Salazar had made him ward and curse a dozen different boxed, all of which looked same. Then they had shuffled it and Harry had to break the curses and the wards on the boxes. It was the best they could do with current resources.
He was the top of his classes as usual except in subjects of Astronomy, Herbology and History. He simply did not give that much attention to those subjects. He was still in top 3 regardless of his laxity for those subjects.
Currently he was having trouble in Occlumency. Finding his core was proving tougher than he had imagined. He had started this from the second week of March. It was mid-May now. All he had done was see glimpses of his core for the briefest moments a few times
On a positive note, he could finally use his mage sight to see magic. It left him with a headache if he did it for more than five minutes at a stretch. The sight of magic was fascinating. He could see enchantments in a sense on the walls of the castle. He could make out the faults in a ward. He could check if an object was cursed or not by just seeing it.
He had achieved it after a ritual he had done on 20th March. It was a simple ritual which would have bettered his eyes and ears. He could now see at night and view things farther than he could before. He could pick up the smallest movements. Also his hearing had enhanced. When people thought he was out of hearing range, he could actually hear them clearly. It was beneficial for spying. It had a side effect of allowing him to use the mage sight, a skill in which he was not making progress.
The trunk glowed golden as he finished drawing the symbols with his blood as ink and then channeled magic into it, incanting a few words in Greek.
"It looks like it was successful. Try hitting it with some brute force." Salazar said.
Harry conjured a sledge hammer and brought the Hammer down on it using brute force. The hammer collided with the trunk but it did not even make a crack. A normal trunk would have been easily broken with half the force Harry had applied on it.
"Excellent. Well done. This would be enough for today."
"Good evening, Mr. Potter. Please come in." The Charms professor said. It was the third Sunday of May and Harry had reported at 4PM for his dueling lessons from Professor Flitwick.
"Good evening professor."
"Please have a seat. I need to talk to you about something." Flitwick said. Harry raised an eyebrow at that. They usually went straight to the dueling room adjoining the office. But he took a seat.
"Mr. Potter, I have been tutoring you in the art of dueling since the last three months. And I must say that you are an exceptional student and you would give the best duelist a run for their money even now."
Harry smiled. "Thank you sir."
"You are most welcome. But as I was saying that you are an excellent duelist and I would like you to consider this." The professor said handing him a leaflet.
Harry looked at it. It was a dueling competition, the U-18 ICW World Dueling league to be exact.
Harry's eyes widened. The biggest dueling league, held every 4 years, well for the people under 18 years of age that is. The adults(those above 18 years of age, as per ICW guidelines) had their own version which was even bigger.
Harry had expected Flitwick to send him for a competition, but not this one. He had expected something like British Dueling Championship, Champions Cup, CMDR (Commonwealth Magical dueling ring), or even the European League. Not this.
The U-18 ICW World Dueling league was the Olympics of dueling. A championship amongst the best duelers.
"Professor, are you sure? Like, this would be my first competition. And you are sending me to this? The most prestigious competition. Who would even select me to represent them?"
It was necessary for a country or a certified organization to sponsor and select a duelist, atleast for the U-18 version. The adult version had duelist only from countries. One couldn't just show up and start dueling.
"I would sponsor you as my apprentice."
"Sir, only countries or organizations can sponsor a duelist."
"You are correct, partially that is. There is a rule that states that a person who had won the ICW World Dueling Championship, singles more than thrice is certified as a master and can sponsor a single duelist in U-18 to compete if they wish. I have won it five times. In my career I have won 5 singles, 3 doubles and 1 group Championship in this league. So you can go as an individual, representing me as an apprentice."
Harry did not know that rule. Professor Flitwick was the only person to win that Championship so many times and was a revered figure in the Dueling Competition. To be taught by him was considered an Honor. To represent him was even a bigger thing.
"So, if I go, I will represent you in Singles as your apprentice?"
"Yes. The same way Alberic Wenlock did when he was 16."
Harry leaned back in his chair. It was a HUGE opportunity. If he won, he would become the youngest person to win the competition. Currently the record was held by a person from India who was 14 years and 3 months old when he won, which was 48 years ago.
"I am in sir." He finally said.
Flitwick smiled in triumph. "Mr. Potter, I will make sure you are trained sufficiently to win it. We have nearly two months to prepare. After that, we will continue training for the ICW World Dueling Championship(Adult version). I would love to become known as the teacher of youngest World Dueling Champion, if things go my way."
"I would not disappoint you sir. I promise"
"Good. I expected nothing less."
The following three weeks were pure torture in a sense. Harry had to use the time turner almost everyday to get some extra rest. Salazar and Helga had also eased his studies for the time being but still continued with his morning exercises and a single subject a day. He had a very busy schedule taking into account the U-18 WDL preparations and his third year exam revisions.
It was more of the League preparation that left him drained and in pain. Flitwick was a slave driver. Flitwick was hell-bent on making Harry win. He had proclaimed a week ago that Harry would most likely win the competition but he wasn't taking any chances. Harry himself was determined to win it. He would make his parents, Salazar, Helga and Flitwick proud.
His exams had gone well. Once again the DADA was the most interesting exam. Remus had made an outdoor course. Each obstacle contained something that they had learnt through the year. Harry completed the course in 1 minute 14 seconds. Next was Daphne at 3 minutes 48 secs followed closely by Susan at 3 minutes 56 secs. Harry was proud of his girlfriends. Hermione had nearly aborted the course at the last task- the Boggart but Remus convinced her to try again.
His relationships were going well. He had gone out on a few more dates with them by now individually and even twice on a three-way date. They usually ended in them snogging in the end. Him dating Susan was official, Daphne was a secret. Their usual dueling sessions also ended in snogging nowadays. He had two happy girlfriends.
Sirius had sent him a letter informing him of his discharge from the Hospital. He still had to take potions for next six months but was fit enough to be discharged. He had written how the medicines and the mind healer had helped him a lot. He also had a cottage in Somerset ready for them to move in. Harry was not going back to the Dursleys.
Currently he was walking towards the Gryffindor tower through a lesser used passageway after a leisurely fly. Their exams had ended and they awaited results. In four days by this time he would be back with Sirius in their new house.
He suddenly saw a figure walking towards him. It was a lady. She was very thin; her large glasses magnified her eyes to several times their natural size, and she was draped in a gauzy spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.
It gave her a typical look of the astrologers in fairs. He recognized her as Sybill Trelawney, the Divination professor at Hogwarts.
"Harry Potter." She spoke in a mysterious type voice.
"Professor Trelawney."
"What are you doing here, my dear?"
"Returning to the Gryffindor tower. I have heard that you do not usually leave your tower. Do you need some help?" He politely asked.
"Yes, I do not do it often. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye. But today while I was crystal gazing, I saw myself walking down this passageway and meeting someone..."
Harry raised his eyebrow but said nothing. What did she want with him? He didn't even take her class.
"Would you like me to read your palm?" She suddenly questioned.
"Err... why not?" He said not wishing to be impolite.
She took his right hand and started tracing lines on his palm while he stood there a bit creeped out.
"You have great danger ahead of you. And a deadly foe. I also see a great victory that you will soon achieve. And..."
She suddenly stiffened. Her eyes glazed over. Light green smoke started to come out of her mouth. Harry flicked his wand into his hand. 'What the bloody hell was going on?'
"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT.
THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS,
ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS.
TONIGHT A SERVANT SHALL COME TO KNOW OF HIS SURVIVAL.
AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER.
THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID,
GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN EVER HE WAS.
BUT THE STUDENT OF THE GREAT TEACHERS WOULD BE THERE
TO PUT A WRENCH IN HIS PLANS
AS EQUALS THEY SHALL MEET ON THE BATTLEFIED,
THE FATE OF THE WORLD THEY SHALL DECIDE.
TONIGHT… BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVANT…
WILL SET OUT… TO REJOIN… HIS MASTER…"
The smoke vanished. She blinked. Harry stood frozen.
"What happened my dear?"
"Err... No-nothing Professor. I was just saying that- err... that I needed to go to the- to the loo. Sorry!"
Harry rushed out of there. He needed to tell Salazar and Helga of what had happened.
Harry found himself aboard the Hogwarts express on June 12th. He had stood first again in his year. The express was heading to London. Harry was in for a very busy next summer.
Till 22nd July he had 4 hours of daily practice for the tournament. 2 hours in the morning and 2 in the evening every single day under Flitwick. On 23rd, Harry, Sirius and Flitwick were to take a Portkey to France where it would be held.
He had told Ron, Hermione, Daphne and Susan about this and requested to keep it under wraps. They had all congratulated him and wished him luck. Well, Susan and Daphne had even promised to give him rewards if he won. By their tone he knew exactly what kind of rewards it would be.
He currently was practicing Occlumency exercises to keep his mind calm. He had finally been able to keep the image of his core stable a week ago. He would hopefully complete the stage 6 before the competition. He was really excited to find his Animagus form. He hoped it was a useful animal.
On another note, Salazar and Helga had told him not to worry about the prophecy. The art of Divination was a bit... imprecise. They told him that there were thousands of prophecies in the DOM, just lying there and gathering dust. It would do best not to dwell on it. To take his mind off it, they decided to teach him apparation. It was a damn useful skill.
They had not done the useless ministry method of Destination, Determination, and Deliberation. He was taught the old method- Wrapping your magic around you and visualizing the destination. The magic wrapping technique was loads better as it was silent and did not give a nauseating feeling to the user. It also prevented splinching unlike the usual method that was used these days.
The best part was now he could travel within Hogwarts without needing Dobby. It was possible due to the ring of Hogwarts.
Soon the train pulled into the station. Harry saw Sirius and walked towards him. To his surprise he was standing with Amelia.
"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed hugging him. Sirius looked loads better. He looked like a Lord should. The medication had helped.
They broke off the hug. Harry turned to Madame Bones. "Good afternoon, Amelia."
"Harry." She gave him a smile.
" Are you waiting for Susan?"
"Yes."
A few moments later they spotted Susan coming towards them.
Harry suddenly had a brainwave. "Sirius, as soon as I say let's go home, Apparate me immediately. Do not wait." He whispered.
"What are you planning to do?"
"You'll see."
"Auntiee!" Susan hugged her aunt.
"Sue."
"Lord Black. A pleasure." Susan said as Sirius kissed her knuckles.
"Pleasure is all mine. Call me Sirius please."
Susan smiled and turned to Harry.
Harry grinned at her and kissed her passionately straight on the lips. As they broke the kiss, Harry saw Amelia's gaping face.
"Bye Susan. Let's go home Sirius."
Sirius took Harry's arm and they disappeared with a pop.
"WAIT. urggh..." Amelia said, still looking at the spot they had disapperated from.