It took him three hours to realize that his new life was very real; he was Harry Potter, a name that was easy to accept since his old name was also Harry Potter, albeit for an entirely different reason, of course. His grandfather was an orphaned pot maker. While living in a small village, he was lucky enough to eventually get internet access. Allowing him to read many things, one of course which was Harry Potter, he could tell the universe he was in was different, since much like in his old life. This life, he was still an Orphan, but it had changed slightly; instead of starting Hogwarts at the age of Eleven, it was 21, considered a college. It had made the once awkward stage of life pass into the self-discovery stage, with the addition of hormones, magic, alcohol, even drugs... His new life would be a blast!
While his past with the Dursleys was very real as well as a situation that still greeted him, instead of worrying about it for now, he focused on the school year of learning magic ahead of him. Along with the screen that appeared shortly after he began to relive memories, at the time too much had been pouring into his head for him to register it, but it was a simple holographic blue screen.
[Cultivator 'Long Dao Tao' Memories of the first four stages.]
When he thought about accepting the memories, his mind shifted again, this time however, it was like viewing a movie of another's life, a very personal aspect. Through it, he learned the first four stages of 'Cultivation' from these memories, Qi Grasp, Qi Breathe, Qi Formation, Gold Dust, as well as the technique that will get him there.
'Heavenly Breath' is a technique that requires breathing in a certain way, manipulating the Qi around him while he exercises to cleanse the vessel. Once he stepped into the Qi Grasp stage he'd be able to just meditate to gather it, but working out seemed to bear the best results for short spans of time. With these memories came alchemy knowledge, formation knowledge, a sprinkle of weapon making, hidden weapons, movement arts, and finally an unarmed attack technique. While the tool knowledge had nothing special to say about it, the attack technique was called the 'Grand Willow Art' which reminded him of the willow tree in the grand Hogwarts yard.
The three movements arts he learned were one for while he was 'mortal', the first two major realms were unable to do anything incredible, but from the third up. He had to learn how to move while incorporating other footholds, such as walls, ceilings, and the tips of swords. If he used it properly, the final technique was the first stepping stone to learning how to 'fly'.
Fluttering Winds, Chasing Demons, Seven Heavenly Steps, as the memories settled into his head, he found himself naturally entering the breathing as described in the technique. While it made him experience some pain in his ribs, he knew it was from unhealed wounds. Thankfully, the sooner he gets better at breathing, the sooner he begins to heal naturally. Sitting up in his bed he looked to his left where Ron lay scattered in his massive bed, it had been two weeks since school had fully started, plenty of shenanigans had already started because of it. Just last night, there was a huge party that Harry had avoided due to a headache, while he believed it was caused by the scar it was truthfully because the new 'Takeover'.
To his left was a sleeping Neville who looked the picture of sleeping royalty, all three of the men in his dorms including himself, were handsome but not fit. They only had their faces going for them with Ron having quite a decent height, Neville's shoulders were quite broad naturally as well, giving him a wider look. While he knew the books, movies, and even a few fanfictions of Harry Potter, he knew all that was out the window, a college-level Harry Potter scenario wasn't something he had read. Even if he had spent those last few hours lying around in his bed like a zombie, he actually was waking up bright and early at six AM sharp. Getting out of bed took some time, only because with the way he breathed now, getting his pants from his trunk caused a bit of pain that he took slowly.
Getting dressed for the Saturday, he almost forgot his wand, only remembering to grab it because the memories of being the cultivator felt naked. Retrieving it from his nightstand, he found it in a new wand holster, unsure of where it came from he watched as it automatically attached to his waist. The leather strap expanded many inches to encircle his slender frame, attaching snugly before adjusting to being subconsciously perfect for him to draw out quickly. He had done some studying in the two weeks he was here, but not in-depth, not enough to notice the enchantments used to do what was happening.
Knowledge in artifact creation helped him at least notice the quality; it was actually very comfortable, so it was an enchantment with effort put into it. As he walked down the stairs leading to the common room, passing a few scores in the stone wall of numerous things from tic-tac-toe games. To point boards, beautiful high-detail dragons, deciding to do it for others on his way down, he tapped the archway of the stairwell, the stonework rippling like water before becoming clean like a shaken Etch-A-Sketch. Magical walls like this were quite common in the grounds, being able to write in the air was a level of magic control most weren't at yet.
Not quite aware of it yet the memories of the cultivator helped his control immensely, just knowing how to make talesman, use them, and not blow himself up came with a great deal of control. The common room was decorated in Gryffindor memorabilia from many years; the oldest trophy was only from fifty years ago, he took a moment to truly appreciate the beauty of the castle he stood in. While the lion den around him screamed party animals, it had a warmth to it he enjoyed, even without the memories of Harry to help him fit in, the 'energy' of the place was great, with the many shades of red and gold, it was beautiful. It would be easier to set up passive barriers here in the future, a piece of knowledge he stored in the back of his mind as he headed to the feast hall.
As early as it was the hall was quite empty with most students at the Huffle Puff table, they were sitting in a large group near the end, doing homework it looked like. With a Slytherin couple sitting at the very end with the girl on the man's lap, they seemed to keep it PG, other than the occasional kiss. As he moved to take his usual seat at the table, he counted out by the steps he took to get here, and as he relaxed, a House Elf appeared beside him.
''Greetings, Young Potter!'' It greeted him quite excitedly as it smoothed its chef's outfit, as if it already didn't look like the picture of cleanliness despite not being the prettiest to look at. ''What can I get started for you this morning?''
''Something healthy meant to encourage a diet to get all that I need.'' When he said that, the Elf became like a soldier to salute him seriously, before vanishing with an audible pop that wasn't there when they appeared. Just as Harry turned to the table, he found a breakfast scramble spread before him. There was bison meat, he could tell from the smell, eggs, some peppers, and some seasoning to give it a mild smell. The flavor however, was nothing to scoff at, performing not only for what he asked but satisfying the stomach he was used to dumping slosh into.
Making a note to arrive at breakfast earlier more often so he can eat to order, he uses scourgify to clean the plate and silverware, expanding his magic only to see it in action. As he did they soon vanished from in front of him. He left the great hall after breakfast to head for the library, where he would study the profundity of spells this time. As he ascended the stairs to head for it, he came to the moving staircase; the feeling of them shifting beneath him was an ecstatic feeling, having not needed to take a path to them before from the Dormitory.
The breathing is starting to get easier not because he's healing, but because it's more natural; it's been a long time since he had to manually breathe like this. When he entered the library, he found Madam Pince, her steel grey eyes made a sharp look at him. Before seeing he was one of Hermione's friends, while he usually got somewhat loud, he never harmed the books, so she gave him a friendly nod. One he returned as he went to the spell book area, taking the book for the first three years which were available to him. He carried them to the large tables within the library that could fit upwards of fifteen students, only one of the twenty had a student at it, a beautiful Slytherin woman by the name of Daphne Greengrass.
While most wouldn't know what she was probably doing he did, since her sister was a Maledictus Cursed child, a poor thing for a beautiful woman...
There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head, brought upon him by the memories of cultivation, when he dealt with the occasional demon while on missions. The curse he knew from the media was similar to one he knew in cultivation, going to take a few books, he noticed already starting to look worn about the topic. He had a strange set of three paths that appeared with each step he took, like each set of memories he had gave him a choice for every one he could follow. As it stood, he could make use of his Alchemy knowledge to assist her, get in her good graces, and use her family's connections to fund his future research. He was a Potter, so he did have money, of course, but one thing he knew of Cultivation was how resource-intensive it was; better to spend someone else's money than his own, so he could keep it as a 'rainy day fund'.
After he got the five books he wanted, three being spells, two being about curses, the fifth more accurately targeting blood curses. As he sat at his own table, he started to flip through the first yearbook, some of the spells he already knew, scourgify was such a spell. Originally a third-year spell, it was changed to a first-year spell, given as it made cleaning up after students much easier if they did it themselves, though the occasional delerious vomit would slip through the cracks, the wards held strong to clean it automatically. The entire grounds of Hogwarts are under multiple charms to keep up its beautiful appearance, sturdy castle walls, beautiful gardens, clean corridors, and spotless abandoned classrooms. While Mr. Flitch was considered the janitor, it was more so his job to be extra eyes on students, as well as to check all the Mana receptacles which the ward used to power itself.
While most ambiently charged like the ones looking after the large abandoned wings of Hogwarts, the more active ones, like the Feast Hall, classrooms, and dormitories, could drain completely. Only meaning that Flitch would need to report it to someone, usually an older student who helps him, or a teacher who has the magical reserves to refill the receptacle, which is just a beautiful blue crystal in different shapes. Even if he flipped through the pages, he could retain them in his memories, finding it much easier to remember things he focused on, as well as easier to pick up things he usually wouldn't. Just as he finished flipping through the first book, moving onto the second one, in a small fifteen minutes, he heard the soft sound of an enchanted chair scooting smoothly over enchanted wood.
The beautiful stoic Daphne stood looking down at his choices of book, having pulled the chair across from him out to smoothly sit into it, the noble etiquette dripping from her even casually. She set her more advanced curse book focusing on the Maledictus and its victims down, crossing her hands demurely in her lap. She made direct, steely blue eyes with him, her platinum blond hair making her breathtaking without mentioning her curvy body.
''Interested in curses?'' Her words were spoken without a hint of her intentions, let alone an emotion other than cold detachment, not surprising since in the 'Sacred 28 Family and their Secrets' book. It was known that the Greengrass were some of the best Occlumency practitioners around, the Father of the lady sitting before him earning enough through dueling, Occult, and legedemecy competitions alone to become one of the wealthiest...
That's before his legendary shrewd merchant-like behavior, even Harry, a once-mighty cultivator, could not help but bow his head to!
''A passing one, as the boy who lived, I feel like I'll end up dealing with them if I'm not careful.''
''Better to be prepared for the worst than to be caught with your hands tied.'' She spoke words of wisdom quite easily despite his colors not matching hers, while others had issues with crossing houses, it seemed less intense than the media made it. Bad only during competitions.
"Couldn't agree more on the first part, but I can't on the latter part since being caught with my hands tied, means I had a reason to need them tied.'' His soft chuckle got the smallest of smirks from her that quickly vanished, her physique relaxing some in the Library chair as she raised a hand to the book she had been reading.
''My own interest in curses is personal; my sister suffers from the Malidictus curse, while my father has all but given hope, I won't.'' Even through her intricate levels of mental protection, he could sense a cold edge of determination in her tone that sent a tingle down his spine.
''It's a serious curse to be born with, while I'm not expecting I'll find the cure, I'll try my best to find who can. How old is your sister?'' It was the nicer way to ask 'how long does she have', while it wasn't lost to Daphne as to why he asked it, her fingers pulling back slightly in a slow flinch.
''She turns 21 on February 21st.''
''I see... It's good to formally meet you, Daphne Greengrass, I'm Harry Potter.'' He reached across the table to offer his hand to her, no sass, no snarky look or remark, just a soft hand that shook his with a noticeable firmness in it.
''Train with the sword?'' Harry's question seemed to ignite a spark in the cold eyes that once regarded him as another Lion; now she was starting to travel down a continuously interesting path to discover one of many secrets of Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived.
(A/N) If you see a point I can improve, let me know, if you have any questions about terms, or items used, comment, and I'll answer as soon as I can! My upload schedule for this is subject to change, but I want at least two chapters every week, more if I can find more time than usual to write!