Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 36: Birthday
Three months later, on July 30th, Harry was finally going to visit the new training area that Morgan had prepared for him.
He grasped the pendant hanging around his neck and activated it. A moment later, he left his house and appeared inside a massive chamber.
"Whoa…" He felt truly impressed by the sight, and this was not something easy to accomplish.
What the room lacked in complexity, it compensated for with its sheer size. From where he was standing to the other side, it must have been almost a thousand feet, and its square shape meant that it was equally wide as well.
The floor was made from smooth grey stone, while on the walls, he could still see the raw stone that had been carved out to create this chamber.
Magical lights had been placed all over, so it didn't lack illumination.
Harry looked up and estimated that the roof was at least half the size, so around five hundred feet tall.
"Very impressive indeed. I would be able to use any spell I want in here without fear of accidentally hitting anything. Mmm?" Harry felt the object in his pocket vibrating.
He took it out and opened it up. It was a pocket mirror, but instead of showing his own reflection, he saw the face of Morgan in it. Her lips curved into a smile, and she began to speak.
"Do you like it?" she asked. Because of the seal, she was unable to leave the territory around her shop, so Harry had to come alone, bringing with him a two-way mirror so they could communicate.
"Yes, its sheer size alone is imposing."
"It's more than just big. There are hundreds of enchantments on those walls. They would prevent you from breaking the chamber apart if one of your spells ends up hitting them, but they will also prevent anyone from finding it."
Harry already knew a few things about this training area.
It was located deep inside the Black Wood of Rannoch, right beneath Rannoch Lake.
This forest was a place of extremely high magical density, which, combined with the enchantments, would prevent the Ministry of Magic from detecting any unusual fluctuations, even if Harry were to use his most destructive spells.
"But be mindful that you are underground. If you somehow collapse the chamber… you are fucked," Morgan reminded him in her usual sweet tone.
He couldn't teleport inside or outside the chamber by normal means, only by using the Portkey hanging from his neck.
Harry glanced to one side of the chamber, where there was a small hole.
"You mentioned an emergency exit."
"Yes, just in case, I ordered to install a set of stairs that would take you to the surface, if you really mess things up or destroy your Portkey," Morgan said.
"You really put a lot of thought into this," Harry commented. "And it couldn't have been cheap either."
"What do you think? It was bloody expensive! And I'm not made of gold, you know? My reserves are limited," Morgan complained. "Now don't forget your part of the deal."
"I won't. Give me a bit of time to practice here, and I will soon remove those chains from you."
"I can't wait." She made a gesture with her hand. "Get to it, then."
"Wait, I'm curious about something," Harry said. "Who did you hire to build this?"
"Goblins, of course. If you want something done quickly and discreetly, you hire goblins to do it," Morgan said.
"Goblins built this?" He had met some goblins in the past, but at the time they were extremely primitive compared to humans, and they had only made some minor achievements in the field of metalworking.
"They didn't build it by themselves. They have some humans who work for them. Goblins are more expensive to hire, but they don't care about Ministry laws, so they guarantee the confidentiality of their clients. That's why I like dealing with them more than with people," Morgan explained.
"I see." Harry would never have thought of hiring such creatures to do this job. "Looks like I still have much to learn about this modern world."
"You do, but right now you have another job," Morgan said. "Once you are done with that, go ahead and buy more books if you like."
Harry chuckled. "Of course, my lady. I will get to work immediately."
"Hmph!" Morgan closed her side of the mirror and ended the conversation.
Harry went ahead and stored the mirror before taking out his wand.
The emerald-colored focus shone with barely restrained power in his hand, as if it were impatient to be used.
"Sorry for making you wait." Harry made a quick motion with it. "Let's start with something simple… Ignis Draconis!"
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, someone was having a very stressful day.
When Professor McGonagall entered the Headmaster's office, she found him staring at a confused-looking owl.
"Why aren't you flying? Go already!" Dumbledore shouted at the bird, and it got startled but still didn't fly away.
"Albus, what are you doing to that poor owl?" McGonagall asked.
"Mmm? Oh… Minerva." The Headmaster glanced at her, sounding surprised that she was there.
"I was just… tomorrow is his birthday."
McGonagall needed a moment to realize who Dumbledore was talking about. Tomorrow was going to be the last day of July, and it would be the eleventh birthday of Harry Potter.
The Boy Who Lived had been missing for months now, and Dumbledore was the only one still expecting him to show up somehow.
"Albus…" McGonagall realized that the Headmaster was attempting to send Harry Potter an owl with an invitation to the school.
But of course, the bird was very confused, as it was unable to locate the recipient of the letter.
"Fly away already. Find him!" Dumbledore shouted at the owl.
What he didn't know was that Morgan had placed a powerful charm on Harry to prevent him from being located by such means. So the owl couldn't get any idea of which direction it had to fly.
McGonagall sighed. "Albus, I believe it's time for you to accept it. Harry Potter is gone…"
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