11 Performance Review

I groaned as I woke up to bright sunlight right on my face. It was almost noon, by the looks of things. I sat up to a searing pain in my arm. I grimaced and glanced around the room, to see a half asleep Dobby who had jerked awake upon seeing me. I motioned him to wait and closed my eyes.

The fifth path activated and blood flowed out of my right eye. The veins in my body bulged as my magic flared. I focused a lot of magic towards my broken arm and waited for the healing factor to do its work. I exhausted the fifth path once again for the day, but at the end of it, I was healed. There was some soreness left in my arm, but it was nothing unbearable.

I then took a bath and changed to fresh clothes. Dobby had removed the blood soaked outerwear during my sleep. But I was still felt dirty. I felt like I was covered in blood and it took a long time in the shower for me to finally feel clean. I used the time to clear my mind with occlumency as much as I could. I could hear someone shuffling outside every now and then. But nobody in the house dared disturb me.

Once I was freshened up, Dobby had laid a hearty meal on my bed. The poor dear seemed so exhausted. Despite what I had told him, he must not have rested much.

"Go and sleep Dobby. I do not want you until tomorrow morning," he was about to say something, but I stopped him. "You went above and beyond what was required of you. I will not see you crumpling in exhaustion. Take a break, you've earned it. I will manage by myself till then."

He nodded and then popped away after almost crushing my knee in a strong hug. My stomach rumbled and I devoured the meal with fervor. After I was done, I picked up the Daily Prophet, eager to see what they made out of my rescue attempt. I was sure that the Bones women wouldn't have given out my identity, they now owed me after all.

What I read was disturbing. I did not know that my survival from Voldemort's hand would have such an effect on him. He had become quite vicious. It was to be expected in hindsight. Canon Voldy did not have time to process the implications of a second failure with a killing curse. This one, on the other hand would have been bubbling in a towering rage for almost three weeks.

He had single handedly demolished Azkaban and freed all his sycophants and made the island pretty useless now. He had killed all the Aurors over there, freed all the prisoners and killed those who would not join him. Finally, he had cast fiendfyre on the prison and left with the dementors for good measure. The fire had raged on for the whole night and consumed anything and everything on the island. The only reason the ministry even knew what happened over there was because of the data sent by the surveillance instruments, before the place burnt down. The prophet went on about how the ministry would now need to put in a lot of resources and manpower for a new prison.

Peachy. A showing of power indeed. Should have known that his public failure in the ministry would not have done well for his ego.

Right below the grim tale about the prison was the aftermath of the Bones raid. The paper reported that Amelia Bones had been attacked and some unknown third party had saved her. Thirteen Death Eaters were brutally killed, one escaped and one was dropped outside the ministry. All the information they got was from Susan Bones since apparently Amelia Bones was in a critical condition. This was a bit strange, I knew that she got hit straight on with a powerful cutting curse. Unless it was some really nasty variant that hadn't been used much, it should have been quite straightforward to fix. Time consuming, yes, but not as critical as what the paper hinted. I would need to check up on her.

Other than that, they were speculating whether this unknown person was acting as a part of a group or was it just a single person acting for revenge. It did mention that since there was no body found apart from the thirteen, either the vigilante had been taken by Bellatrix, or that both of us had just retreated.

I felt immense guilt when reading about the Vance raid, since she had been struck dead by a team of Death Eaters and the order had only arrived at the last moment and had still managed to capture three of them, one of them was decapitated by moody while another seemed to have some broken ribs. The third one was simply stunned. All three were under order custody now.

It felt wrong, to have just left her as an overthought; to discard her like I would a chess piece. But in that position, there was not much I could do. Any preemptive action taken by the ministry would have tipped the assholes off. The order knew the attack was coming, at least Dumbledore did, I thought they would have done something better at least. And this raised another question. There was no mention of Dumbledore in the fight. Did the old coot visit the Gaunt shack and get himself killed, as was supposed to be his fate in this universe? He did promise me that he would take me with him for the hunt, but I knew that he thought himself above others and knew best. I hoped that was not the case. I was sorely tempted to go to Little Hangleton and comb the place for the shack. But I would wait. He was coming here in two days after all.

Overall, the paper was shocked with the vicious nature of the well timed attacks and questioned the ministry on not being able to do a single thing about even one of this attacks. The one that got thwarted was by an external party and it was the DMLE's head, to make matters worse.

I put the paper down and let out a long sigh. It was time for retrospection.

I killed people. I hit them in the back, gave them no chance to defend themselves. Frankly, I slaughtered them. But these were terrorists hell bent on killing innocents for no good reason. And they would kill me without a second thought. This was a war and what I did had to be done. It also helped that I did not have my memories of my past life.

Despite Harry's deep moral code, the meshing of the personalities had brought out a very cold side. And when I had integrated the memories and experienced it all in my dorm, I had relived Quirrell's death. Unlike my younger other self, I had relived those memories and also introspected on them at the same time. The thing that helped the most was that I knew about the afterlife and I was pretty damn sure that these monsters would be sent to hell without any fuss on the department's part. My mission was Voldemort, weakening his troops would help me fulfill my mission. They deserved death, I didn't. I reiterated this several times and plopped on the bed. I was doing a good thing, they would have killed so many families otherwise.

The callousness towards killing scared me, but I told myself again and again that I would not harm innocents and only the Death Eaters. I had to be more careful though. I knew that they would later on use the imperious on innocent people like Stan Shunpike and drag them along during the raids. I knew this one was clean of innocents because of the information from the spiders.

Speaking of spiders, all of them were now gone because I had used up every ounce of my magic and collapsed after the fight. By all rights, I should have taken a lot longer to recover from this, but it seemed that the fourth path kept absorbing excess energy beyond its storage capacity and funneling it to my body. It only stopped when I was full. I knew that I had begun recovering magic faster after the reawakening, but I attributed it to the changes made by the department, not as it being a passive ability of one of the paths. At that time, my magic recovery rate would have felt even more different because of the horcrux removal as well, so I had not given it much thought.

Now that the spiders were gone, I would need other modes of gathering information though. There was a lot to be done. And it would be better if I first retrospect on the battle and see what the immediate concerns were.

First, I had executed the surprise attacks well. Although, if I'd have homed the rocks correctly, I'd have taken out even more of them before the fight even began. I must look into alternatives and not be so adamant on only developing my charms, transfiguration and defense. A solution which employed runes and potions would have been effective for the surprise attacks. Just more to learn, I reckon.

Hirudo, was a blessing. If I did not have the knife, I wouldn't have had such an easy time. And I relied on my paths quite a bit as well. The thing was, there was a lot of improvement to be done with regards to my paths as well. I had to decide what to do with the remainder of the summer. Do I fix my deficits in my overall magical knowledge or do I better myself in my control of the paths?

Continuing the DA would be a prudent move because I needed more allies. And I suppose I could use that time to learn more magic then. I did not understand why canon Harry discontinued the DA, but it was a tremendous way to get more allies and to whip them all up to shape. That settled it. I would learn more magic in Hogwarts. But I will ensure that I fixed the glaring flaws during the summer. I would fix the glaring flaws and then focus on the paths.

I would use the fifth path to ensure that I become ambidextrous by the end of the summer. No way was I going to be caught off guard like last time. Moreover, I would also ensure that I learnt a few offensive spells wandlessly. What I would spend the bulk of my time towards were the paths.

For the first path, I would need to ensure that I could cast the illusions despite the mind protections of my opponents. I knew that I was still far away from performing the 'real' illusions, so this was a flaw I would seek to fix now. I understood that I would need to be a better legillimens in order to do that.

There was nothing I could do with the second path apart from use it to learn and understand magic better. As for the third path, I would need to work on efficiency and also on unlocking more creatures to summon.

There was one thing with regards to the fourth path that I would need to work on extensively. The sudden disorientation while switching it on or off, due the fluctuation in my magic was not pleasant mid fight. I would need to get used to the fluctuation and not give openings like that.

For the fifth path, I realized that the time limit would extend the more sturdy my body was. I reckon it was time to push my physical training even further so that I would not be limited to a measly fifteen minutes per day.

The sixth path needed no other change as I would still use it extensively to improve my mind magic.

With the plan set, I got up and cast an illusion on myself and on the room and then apparated to Diagon Alley.

After an enlightening discussion with the apothecary, I purchased a boatload of potions which would act as supplements for my workouts. He said that only aurors and professional quidditch players used it, which was a shame since physical fitness went a long way towards an efficient flow of magic. These potions were far more effective than any muggle supplements that were permeating the market in my old world. I would need to formulate a better workout plan in accordance with these as I did not want to lose my flexibility in my quest for muscles.

Unfortunately the potions with a rather offensive nature were severely regulated, as was felix felicis. No matter, I would get my hands on felix felicis from Slughorn anyway. I was banking on Snape's book to supplement my potions knowledge after all.

I thought of searching around in Knockturn, but in the end, I returned home without doing so. Getting into the apothecary itself was quite cumbersome as he was in the process of boarding up his shop and switching to owl order business. This was not like two weeks ago where people were milling around in Diagon. The alley looked deserted and Knockturn was overrun with regular auror patrols. I did not want to tangle with the ministry just yet. Time would come for that when my illusions were stronger.

Once I returned home, I stashed the potions into one of the empty compartments in the trunk and went downstairs. It was already close to dinner time. I had spent most of the day going over the battle and noting down my mistakes and the areas which needed improvement. The rest of the time was spent at Diagon, so I was quite famished now.

Upon seeing me, the Dursleys immediately stiffened up. I especially loved how Vernon was always angry, but would never open his mouth due to his fear. I smirked and pulled a chair and joined them in the dining table.

"Oh don't worry, I am not here to eat. I'll go outside and have food. But before that, we need to discuss a few things."

They just nodded in response.

"Good. I will continue to talk, it will not be pleasant. You will listen, nonetheless. At the end, you may ask me a few questions. Got it?" They nodded yet again, although I could tell that Vernon was bursting at the seams. "Eat," I ordered as I made myself comfortable and drew my wand. I summoned a can of coke from upstairs and let it float nearby. I stashed my wand back into the holster and plucked the can from the air and opened it.

"As you know, the dark wizard who killed my parents is back. What you don't know is that we are currently in a state of war. That destroyed bridge, the 'tornado' in West Country, the murder yesterday near the Prime Minister's house, all done by the followers of said dark wizard." All of them were shocked at this proclamation. I drained the can and then banished it wandlessly to the trashcan.

"Since he failed to kill me time and time again, he will be coming after me. Which puts you in his crosshairs as well. I am sure Dumbledore must have mentioned some of this in the letter when he dropped me off here," they nodded dumbly, deathly pale by now as they realized the amount of danger they were in.

"The protections in this house will last as long as I call it home, till my seventeenth birthday. As you know, I will turn sixteen in a fortnight. Which, frankly does not give you much time. You see, under ordinary circumstances, I would have returned here once next year to ensure that these protections will last throughout the year. But, I am not so sure now."

"What?" Vernon seemed to finally find his tongue.

"What I mean is that I am unsure if it is worth it. I will be returning to Hogwarts after the summer, where I don't need the protections around the house. So, it seems pointless to return here just for a month after that." No need to get sucked into the debacle that was the seven potter escape from this shithole.

"So you won't be returning after this summer?" asked Petunia.

"Oh I'm not going to be spending the rest of the summer here. You see, Dumbledore will come in two days to take me elsewhere."

I let that sink in before continuing.

"You have a choice to make. I have made arrangements with Gringotts, ask Petunia later what it is," I said as Vernon was about to ask something.

"Like I was saying, I have made certain arrangements with Gringotts to ensure that they expedite the process of the purchase of a residence, given that you give up this house in return."

"Now see here! You will not steal this-"

"Silence!" I bellowed as I called upon Hirundo and slammed it on the table. Vernon shut up immediately, looking at the knife.

"Are you daft? Don't answer that. The goblins of Gringotts have connections with the muggle world. They will ensure that you will get a new house. You will get the deed and all that bureaucratic tripe, so don't you worry about being duped. You will only sell this house once you have the new one in hand."

"Lily always said that the goblins were greedy but fair," mumbled Petunia. Both Dudley and Vernon looked at her in shock.

"Yes. They are tricky blighters, but they will honor a deal as long as we don't try to renege them. Else they'll gut us. Anyway, you won't have to interact with them. You will be interacting with a muggle real estate agency who work with the goblins."

"What is the other option?" asked Dudley.

"Oh, that's quite simple. You stay here, I'll leave, and then when the protections gradually erode, the Death Eaters will come knocking. Trust me, you will beg them for death before they actually do the deed."

They all gulped once again.

"Let's be honest here. You don't care about me. And frankly, I don't care about you as well. And for all that you did to me, I had quite a lot of fun taking my revenge these two weeks. But I am not as heartless as to not warn you about your impending fate. Nobody deserves the Death Eaters. And despite the bad blood we have, you kept me within the blood protections all these years. So, I will not leave you to their mercy unless you want it that way"

"So, move or die?" he stated meekly. I wondered if he had already begun his path to redemption like canon Dudley did at the very end.

"I'm sorry but that's it. But I give you my word that if you chose to accept my offer, I will ensure that you'll all be in a new home by the end of this week."

"We need to think about it," said Petunia after a few minutes of silence. Vernon immediately turned towards her, his eyes blazing. I already knew that he will not agree to this. Hmm, passive possession it is. I will later on, give him directives to follow what Petunia wants, in this matter. If they want to kill themselves, who am I to disabuse themselves of that notion?

"You have till morning," I said and got up, recalling Hirudo as I walked out of the main door.

I could faintly hear Dudley saying that he believes me. Huh, saving him from the Dementor has really done wonders to him. But of course, for a non-magical without any mind protection, being exposed to a couple of Dementors in such proximity would have been life altering.

I shut the door behind me and walked briskly. I could hear a rusting sound, which I was sure was someone from the Order under an invisibility cloak.

"Wotcher Harry," whispered Tonks from right next to me.

I smirked and walked towards an empty alleyway.

"Remove the bloody cloak Tonks. How long have you been here anyway?" I knew that the order did not give much care about the goings on inside the house, and I had the place chock full of illusions anyway.

"Just started my shift," she said as she pulled the invisibility cloak off and stashed it inside a pouch.

"Mokeskin?" I asked, tilting my head towards it.

"Yeah. So, what are you doing out, at this time?"

"Dudders is on a diet again. I came out to get some real food."

"And they let you go just like that?"

"They still think my mass murderer Godfather is alive. Gives me an edge over them," I said, feigning a sense of melancholy.

"He was the only Black I was proud to call family," she said morosely. "How are you holding up Harry?"

"As well as can be," I started walking and gestured her to follow.

"Tell me you've tried muggle food."

She harrumphed, "My dad is a muggleborn, of course I've tried it."

"Good. Pizza works for you?"

"Are you asking me out on a date mister?" she teased.

"And steal you from Remus? God no." I snorted.

"What? How? Who told you?" she sputtered.

"I have my sources. So, pizza?"

She grumbled and scrunched her face, "Fine. Let's go."

I chuckled and lead the way to the new pizzeria that opened next street.

"Did Remus say anything about me?" she asked meekly.

"Haven't talked to the man for quite a while Tonks."

"It's just that… he keeps jilting me whenever I ask him."

"He'll come around. His loss if he doesn't, honestly. And, he just lost his last friend. I suppose he needs more time," I said sagely.

The rest of the dinner passed peacefully as Tonks told me what the order had been up to and about the attacks that had happened. She had a lot to say about the Bones attack and how half the ministry was in uproar about the dead purebloods. The other half was apparently delighted that someone singlehandedly took out so many death munchers.

Once we were done, she turned invisible once again and took her spot outside while I went upstairs.

A few hours later, when I was deep in mediation, using the sixth path to even further fortify my mind, a loud pop broke me out of my reverie. I immediately flicked my wand to my hand and pointed it at the source of the sound, a bone breaker ready to go.

"Noddy comes in peace," said a disheveled Noddy. He was looking better now and even though his injuries from last night were not completely healed, he seemed to be in a good enough condition for moving around. I lowered my wand as I skimmed through his surface thoughts. This was not an impostor.

"Little Miss wants to speak with you," he squeaked.

"Just a minute," I said as I layered an illusion on the bed and placed a notice-me-not on the door and window.

"Take me to her, Noddy," I said and grasped his hand.