Chapter 10 - Training Montage

(Word Count: 4,025)

In the end, Harry signed the contract and it was decided that Arcturus would resign as Head of House immediately, allowing Sirius to take the position. When Harry takes his OWLS, he'll take up his position as Lord Potter. When he takes his NEWTs, Sirius will resign and hand the position of Lord Black to Harry. As much as Sirius wanted to help Harry out, he didn't want the position for any longer than he had to be.

Together, they went to the ministry and filled out all of the appropriate paperwork for the adoption into the Black family. Considering that Sirius was already his legal guardian as his Godfather and the new Lord Black, it was rather easy.

As soon as the adoption process was completed, Harry received a new perk:

Black Family Magic: You have been adopted into the Black Family line. You have been adopted into the Black Family line. Curses are 50% more effective. You are more resistant to the corrupting influence of Curses. You can enter Black Family sites and not be impeded/maimed by the wards.

It wasn't as powerful as the Potter Family perk, but it was lucky that he even got anything at all. He supposed that it was because he had a bit of Black in him already.

After the adoption was completed, they filled out all the paperwork for heirship of both houses. The news that Harry Potter was going to be both Lord Potter and Lord Black was out the very next day.

With the news out, they sent an invitation to Andromeda to see if she would like to return to the family. Arcturus even sent an apology letter. They received a reply a couple of days later that said, “No.” Sirius and Harry had to go talk to them in person explaining the current state of the Black family, and that they would not be requiring anything of her or her daughter. They managed to convince them to agree to come back. Since then, the Tonks would occasionally come to visit Harry and Sirius.

After being adopted into the black family, Harry, Sirius, and Remus had moved into Grimmauld Place. Arcturus went back to live in the Black Manor, and would visit somewhat frequently to make sure Harry was being taught properly in the things he needed to know to fulfill his future obligations.

Now that Harry was living here in Grimmauld place, he questioned if he should take Slytherin's Locket from Kreacher. However, he was only just learning magic, and was very new to Occlumency. He didn't want to touch any of the horcruxes yet, not until he was a lot more experienced. Even Dumbledore, someone experienced in many fields of magic, fell victim to the compulsions of the horcruxes. They were not something to approach so casually.

The locket was being kept safe by Kreacher anyway, so it wasn't going anywhere. It was better to just ignore the matter for now. Harry had plenty of time to get it when he was ready.

Tonks, when she was home for holidays or summer, would be at Harry's place more often than not. She would tell Harry her stories of crazy encounters she has in Hogwarts. Stories of how she would sometimes impersonate teachers, how she accidentally threw a venomous tentacula plant onto Snape.

There were also stories about some cursed vaults, and fighting dark wizards. Which made Harry a bit confused. There was some mention of these “cursed vaults” in some fanfics that he had read before, but he had thought those were things made up by the fans. It took a while searching through his memories, but he eventually remembered the time reading some wiki articles about these vaults. They were from a game or something.

~~ ITW,H ~~

“Stupify! Haha, you're getting old, Sirius!” Harry called as Sirius dodged around a red beam. 

“Ha! That was great, Harry! But don't let yourself get too overconfident!” Sirius jabbed back, casting a silent chain of expelliarmus, stupify, a full body bind.

“Protego!” Harry hastily put up a shield, which blocked the expelliarmus, but broke apart when hit by the stupify, letting him get hit by the full body bind.

Harry’s arms snapped to his sides as he was forced rigid, his mother's wand falling to his side, and he slowly tipped over, falling flat on his face.

From his awkward view of the floor, he could see Sirius's foot as he came to his side.

“Awww, is wittle Hawwy stuck on the gwound?” Sirius mocked, enjoying the moment before he released the spell.

“Oh, Shut up,” Harry grumbled, as he rubbed his nose. “Did you have to use the body bind? I can't feel my face.”
Sirius just chuckled. “Come on, it's time for our etiquette lessons.”

“Right… Why do you have to take them with me?” Harry teased. 

The smile slowly faded as Sirius sighed. “I realized that I needed to grow up. I need to take care of you now, and I can't let James and Lily down again,” Sirius said seriously.

The smile fell off Harry's face. “Well, I can say that you've been doing a great job so far.”

~~ ITW,H ~~

Harry sat in the Black library inside the Black Manor. Not in Grimmauld place, which is their townhouse basically, though it was lived in year round by Sirius’s family, but the actual large manor of the House of Black. This was where Arcturus came to live in seclusion when the rest of his family began following Voldemort. He had essentially kicked out everyone to Grimmauld.

He was thinking about his system that he had gotten. One of the great things about it was that it supplied great theoretical knowledge of the classes he put levels into, and of spells he placed skill points into.

This led him to having a great in depth knowledge of the Mind Arts, Occlumency, and Legilimency. Theoretically, he was fine. What he was lacking in was experience. No one had ever used legilimency on him, and so he didn't know how he would fare.

The problem is, he didn't really have anyone he could trust to do it. The only ones he knew for sure that could use legilimency was Dumbledore and Snape. There was no way in God's great earth that he would let Snape even try to enter his mind. Dumbledore… Well, he wasn't that bad, and seemed genuinely shocked to hear how abusive his relatives were. So this wasn't a dark lord Dumbledore he was dealing with.

All the same though, Harry didn't know if he could bring himself to trust the man enough to practice mind arts with him.

Arcturus probably knew Legilimency. It made sense that some of the lords of houses would know it. Then again, there was no indication that any of the other death eaters, many of which were lords of their own houses, knew anything about the mind arts. It was an extremely rare and niche branch of magic. So much so, in fact, that even though he had looked all around the library, there were no books on the subject.

After a long debate, he decided to take a leap of faith. He went to talk to Arcturus.

He knocked on the door to Arcturus’s study.

“Come in,” Arcturus said through the door.

Harry stepped into the study. It was a large room, as far as study rooms go, lined with bookshelves along one wall, and a huge desk. Along the wall to his right, was a large map of the manor grounds.

Harry did a double take. It was like the Marauder's map! On it, he could see him and Arcturus in the study, he could even see Kreacher shuffling about in the basement. Cassi, Arcturus's personal house elf, was in the kitchens.

“Useful, isn't it?” Arcturus spoke behind him, startling him out of his wonder. “It lets me keep an eye on everyone inside the grounds.”

“Yeah, it's ingenious. My dad and Sirius made something similar, but for Hogwarts,” Harry said without thinking.

Arcturus huffed. “Did they now? I suppose Sirius must have gotten the idea from seeing this map here.”

“Anyway, I came to ask about the mind arts. Do you have any books on occlumency and legilimency?” Harry asked.

Arcturus looked intrigued. “Where did you even hear about those? Not very many people even know about those branches of magic, much less practice them.”

“I found a book called ‘Living with legilimency,’ it was about someone being a natural legilimens. I found it very intriguing and wanted to learn how to do it myself and defend against such intrusions,” Harry said.

“Very smart of you, Harry.” Arcturus debated for a moment, studying Harry's face. “Very well. It requires incredible discipline and patience to learn it. So far, you've shown me a great deal of maturity, so I'm inclined to let you try.”

He stood up from behind his desk and took a book off of one of the shelves. He handed it to Harry.

Delving into the Mind, by Quinnatus Westible. It will be good to see how the knowledge from his system compares to the books.

“Read through this, and return in a week. We will practice both occlumency and legilimency. While you're at it, try to get Sirius to learn it. I don't believe his father ever taught him.”

“I will. Thank you, Arcturus.”

Arcturus huffed. “Now, get out of my office.”

~~ ITW,H ~~

“Dora, you can't just barge into my room like this,” Harry said. It was now winter break for her, and the Tonks family were all spending the holidays in Harry's beach house. Over the course of their time together, Harry had begun calling Nymphadora, “Dora” because he felt that calling her by her last name was a bit impersonal for a good friend.

He had tried ‘Nym’ once, but it was too close to ‘Nymph’ and he had gotten several stinging hexes for it.

“Aw, is wittle Hawwy embawwased?” Dora laughed.

Harry snorted, “You sound too much like Sirius, Tonks. That's not funny.”

Dora's face morphed into Sirius's. “Is this better?”

Harry cringed. “No! I did not need to see Sirius as a teenage girl first thing in the morning.”

Dora sensually ran her hands down her sides. “What's the matter, Harry?” She said in Sirius's voice, “See something you like?”

“Oh, Merlin kill me!” Harry stopped his ears with his hands and rolled over.

They both laughed it off. “Anyway, I came to get you! It's Christmas! Don't you want to open your presents?”

“I'd rather get my full 8 hours of sleep in, then my coffee, then I can think about my Christmas presents.”

“Scrooge,” Dora pouted, “How are you not excited about presents?”

“Call me Grinch while you're at it,” Harry sighed as he pushed past her to get to the bathroom. “But fine, you win. I'll be down in a few minutes.”

“Yes!” Dora skipped out the door.

Though he needed his coffee, Harry was excited for this christmas. It would be his first Christmas with actual family.

Downstairs, he found Dora organizing all the presents into piles.

“Wotcher, Harry! Here, all these ones are yours!” She said excitedly.

“Don't we need to wait for everyone else to wake up?” Harry asked.

“Nah, who knows when they'll wake up? In the meantime, we've got presents to open!” Dora said, and she began tearing into one package that he could only hope was hers.

Harry looked to his pile. He noticed one package that looked familiar. It was the same package that was in the movies, where the original Harry had received the invisibility cloak. There was a note that said pretty much the same as the movies, but this time it said that it was from Dumbledore.

Eagerly, he tore into that one first. He pulled out a shimmering silver cloak. It was smoother than silk and seemed to flow around his hand as he picked it up. Harry marveled at the ethereal texture of his new cloak.

A notification popped up as he held the cloak, he got a perk:

The Invisibility Cloak: While wearing the Cloak, as a cloak, you can choose to become undetectable at will even if you’re not completely covered. Alternatively, you may use it as a blanket to cover multiple people. When undetectable, you are completely undetectable from any charm, spell, or ward. No spell can touch you including the Unforgivables.

Harry grinned. This was much better than in the books or movies.

“Woah, Harry! Wotcha got there?” Dora came over, marveling at the shimmering fabric. “Please tell me that's what I think it is!”

Harry responded by throwing the cloak around himself, where he disappeared from view.

Dora stared at where Harry vanished, gaping. “No bloody way Harry just got an invisibility cloak for christmas! Who was the daft fool that gave it to him?”

Meanwhile, Harry crept around to her side and tickled her. “Ahh!” She jumped. “Hahahaha, Harry! Don't do that! Stop it!”

They wrestled to the ground, the invisible Harry still tickling Dora. “Hahaha, Harry, stop! I'm gonna pee my pants, you wanker!”

Harry threw the cloak off, grinning cheekily. “Hahaha, who knew you were so ticklish?”

Dora, still lying on the floor breathing hard, glared at him, “Why you! I'll get you back for this!”

She leapt up off the floor and snatched the cloak out of his hands. She threw it around herself and she vanished. Harry's grin fell off his face. Uneasily, he searched the room for any moving furniture. “Now, Dora, we can talk about this!” 

Suddenly, hands grabbed him by the pits. “Ah!” Harry collapsed under the tickle attack.

Dora pinned him to the ground, sitting on his stomach, and continued without mercy.

“Stop! Hahahaha, I can't breathe, Dora! Get off!”

Five minutes later, they were both sitting on the floor gasping for breath, red faced. Dora was still sitting on him. Harry looked up at her, her face flushed, and he was momentarily struck by how beautiful she was. Her curves, and her beautiful deep brown eyes looking down at him.

Until she shifted her weight, and Harry was suddenly very aware of their position and somehow became even redder. “Okay, you can get off me now.”

She seemed to realize just what he was feeling, because she hopped up straight away with a blush.
They sat in silence for a moment before Harry had a thought. The awkward revelation he had was forgotten. He lifted the cloak. “Hey, you want to go wake up Sirius?” They grinned at each other.

~~ ITW,H ~~ 

“$Hey there, little guy, what are you doing here?$” Harry hissed to the snake.

“$I smelled something tasty, and I'm hungry.$” The snake responded.

Harry crouched down in front of the large snake. It was a mundane snake, nothing magical about it. He and his family, Sirius, Remus, and the Tonks family, had all decided to take a lake day one summer and were in the middle of having a picnic. Without thinking too much about it, he opened the picnic basket and took out some chicken and gave it to the snake.

“$Here you go, buddy.$” Harry said.

“$Thanks,$” The snake bit into the chicken leg and slithered off.

Everyone else stared at him. Sirius, Remus, Andromeda, and Ted gaped. Dora was grinning wickedly, as if she had just gained one over on him. He didn't like that look. It was likely that she would use this as ammunition in teasing him about becoming the next dark lord or something.

This encounter was small and brief, but it did remind him that he was a Parselmouth. In the books and movies, it didn't really serve much purpose besides opening the chamber of secrets and Slytherin's locket.

Could he use it for other things? Now that he remembered, his Parselmouth perk in the system said that a snake familiar would be twice as powerful if he got ten levels in the Magizoology class. That wasn't something to scoff at. 

~~ ITW,H ~~

“This is disgusting,” Harry said, “how long did you say again?”

“A full month!” Sirius said, grinning ear to ear.

“And I can't do anything to change the taste?” Harry groaned.

“Nope!” Sirius said, popping the “p” cheekily.

“While we can't help with the taste, there is something we can do,” Remus said. “Here, open your mouth, I'll stick it to the roof of your mouth for you. That way, it'll be out of the way when you talk and eat.”

Harry opened his mouth wide and Remus applied the sticking charm to the mandrake leaf, sticking it to the roof of his mouth. “This way, it'll also stay off your taste buds for the most part, though it does soak into your spit, it's better than nothing.”

“Cheer up, pup,” Sirius said, smacking him on the back, “believe it or not, you get used to the taste eventually.”

“I doubt it!” Harry sighed. “This will totally ruin my coffee.”

“You're an addict, Harry,” Sirius scoffed.

“Hey, it's much better than pumpkin juice, honestly,” Harry said.

One month later, they finished the potion. Luckily, inside the cliff by the beach house, there was a nice cave that the marauders had used to collect the dew needed for the potion. They collected the dew for his potion there no issue. Several weeks later, there was finally a proper lightning storm.

Eagerly, Harry dashed to the wine cellar, where they had stored his potion. He pointed his wand to his heart. “Amato Animo Animato Animagus!” And he drank the potion.

Instantly, in his mind, his animal form appeared.

~~ ITW,H ~~

Months of practice later, Harry finally felt confident enough to do a full transformation. Sirius, Remus, and Dora were spectating. Dora was especially curious, because he had refused to tell her what his animal form was.

Harry's body began contorting as it shrunk down and began sprouting feathers. His clothes began turning black and seemed to meld into his skin. When the transformation was finished, Harry looked himself over, making sure everything was in place. He was a large crow. Completely black, smooth feathers. The only difference with a real crow was his shockingly green eyes.

“Caw!” He cried out, flapping his wings in victory. His new form was awesome.

“Bloody hell, Harry. I wanted you to get some birds, not become one!” Sirius said.

“Awe, man!” Dora whined. “He’s got such a cool animal! Why'd I get a ruddy jack rabbit?”
Dora had come back this last summer and had learned that Harry had become an animagus. She had insisted on going through the process too. She had just recently taken the potion and learned her form.

“Hey, don't dismiss the rabbit out of hand, they're fast little buggers, and can blend in easily,” Remus said, taking on a teacher's tone.

“Oh, shut up, Uncle Remus,” Dora grumbled.

“Hey, you're even lucky you’ve managed to complete the ritual in time. Any later in the summer and you would have had to leave for Hogwarts instead,” Sirius said.

“Caw!” Harry called, they looked back at the bird Harry. He was flapping frantically around on his back, trying to right himself. He had jumped, trying to fly, but had flipped over instead.

He shifted back, and stood up. “Hey, I think rabbits are cute. Your animal form's great!”

~~ ITW,H ~~

“Arcturus, are there any rituals that would be good for me to do while I'm young?” Harry wondered. Rituals were a huge deal in a lot of fanfics, so he might as well see what his options were.

Arcturus paused to look at him, then folded up the Daily Prophet he was reading and placed it aside. “Harry, ritualism is not a matter to take lightly.”

“I know, and I won't do anything that I don't fully understand the consequences of. I merely want to know what my options are, if there are any. Are there any rituals that I need to do before I hit 10 years old? Or before Hogwarts?”

The time period between 10 and 21 is a time of magical development for a witch or wizard. This is due to a variety of factors, including a deepening connection with magic, and puberty and the growth of the body. There was also some numerology that Harry didn't fully understand.

Arcturus furrowed his brows in thought, “It's been a long time since I've read up on ritualism, as most of them have been banned. Are you sure you're willing to do something illegal?”

Harry scoffed. “Even if it is illegal, I'd rather take any advantage I can get. You know I'm already an illegal animagus.”

Arcturus nodded. “Good answer. However, I must ask that you keep this between the two of us. Do not tell Dumbledore, Sirius, anyone. Understand?”

Harry nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now, if I recall correctly, there was indeed something significant about turning 10. There was a ritual that signified the culmination of the first decade of life, and the entrance into the time of growth for a wizard. I'll look into it and see if it's safe.”

~~ ITW,H ~~

The night before he turned 10, Harry popped over with Tripsy to Grimmauld place. Arcturus opened the door and stepped out to meet him. “Are you ready, Harry?” He asked.

“Yes,” Harry said. He turned to Tripsy, “Tripsy, I need you to keep this all a secret for me okay? You must not tell anyone.”

Tripsy nodded fervently, “of course, young master Harry, sir! Tripsy won't tell a soul!”

“Good, you can return for the night,” Harry said, and the old house elf popped away.

“Take my hand, Harry, we must be off.” Arcturus extended his hand.

Harry took it, and immediately felt a pull in his navel as they apparated away.

They appeared in an open field, where some grass had been cleared away and a large circle of salt was drawn. Candles were illuminating everything, set around the set up. A moment later, Kreacher popped in holding what looks to be like a niffler. It was unconscious, likely spelled asleep. Harry had a bad feeling about that.

“Take off your clothes and step carefully into the center of everything. Do not disturb any of the salt, or the whole ritual will be ruined,” Arcturus instructed.

Harry did as instructed and carefully in the dim light of the candles, he made his way to the center.

“Sit down and get comfortable. This will have to last until midnight. Now, repeat after me…”

Together over the course of 2 hours, they went through the process of various chants and burning incense. As time passed, Harry felt like something was building up inside him. Magic was accumulating, waiting for something. He checked his status page and there were a full 50 points being used for something.

When it was close to midnight, Arcturus passed him the sleeping niffler along with a small dagger. “On my mark, you plunge this dagger into the Niffler's heart. There must be no hesitation. You must kill it precisely at midnight. Here, I've marked where you should stab to kill it quickly.” Sure enough, there was a patch of fur missing.

‘Sorry, little guy. I won't waste your sacrifice,’ Harry thought.

The moment just before midnight, Harry struck.The Niffler spasmed, and died precisely at midnight. Luckily, it didn't wake up.

His magic exploded out of him, only to be contained within the circle of salt and redirected back at him. That was all he could see before he fainted.

Harry woke the next morning in his bed. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and carefully examined himself. He didn't feel any different.

Tripsy popped in. “Young master Harry, Sir! Tripsy took you home last night, and made sure master Harry was clean and comfortable so master Harry could rest easy.”

“Thank you, Tripsy,” Harry said, “But I don't really feel any different.”

Harry pulled up his status screen, and sighed in relief. He did get a perk after all.

Magical Growth: Gained from a sacrificial ritual. During your formative years, your natural growth in Power is doubled.

It wasn't immediate power, but it was definitely a snowball effect as time passed. Not to mention, the original Harry in the books and movies was already a powerful wizard.