21 The-New-Chapter-Begins (I)

(A/N: Thank you for the amazing Reviews!! Guys, you are the best!!)

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~~Timeskip~~ (Almost one month later)

|Well… the moment of truth is here| Harry mumbled inside his mind as he took his robe. The robe pooled around his feet. His state of undress didn't even bother him in the slightest and without wasting any more time, Harry stepped forward to enter the Ritual circle he has prepared. He arrived at the center of the circle and sat down…

|Don't worry, Hadrian. Everything will be fine… We have reviewed everything multiple times| Lily assured Harry, who simply gave her a nod even though she couldn't see it.

|True… Well, let's get on with it| Harry said as he finally injected his Magic into the Ritual Circle, activating the Ritual. Harry immediately hissed in pain as his head started to throb. He barely stopped himself from grabbing his head in pain… He needed to keep sitting in his position or he might end up messing up the Ritual.

|Hadrian, you are doing good. Only a few seconds more and the pain will be over| Lily cooed softly, trying to comfort her son. She didn't know if Harry heard it or not, but she still continued to comfort him with her words.

Harry could clearly hear his mom's comforting words, for which he was quite thankful, but he was in no position to give her an answer. Right now, his mind was occupied with other things… like the pain in his mind. He was feeling like someone was drilling a hole in his head with a jackhammer and it wasn't a good feeling. He felt like his head was going to pop like a watermelon.

This was the second time he was going through a Ritual and he clearly remembered that the first Ritual didn't hurt him… In fact, he was feeling quite pleasant during the first Ritual even though he had to take a shower right after the Ritual was over. The first Ritual he performed was to clear the impurities in his body and then he decided to perform a set of three Rituals.

One Ritual for the Mind, one Ritual for the Magic, and the last Ritual for the Body. Three Rituals for three aspects of a being… According to Lily, there was the Soul too, but not much is known about the Soul, and Soul Magic is also kind of obscure so she advised him to ignore the Soul aspect for the time being and only focus on the physical aspects of his being. Additionally, Three is quite a powerful number, so he was bound to get great results after finishing the set.

Right now, Harry was going through the first Ritual of the Three… He was performing the Ritual for the Mind. The Ritual was supposed to enhance his Mind. Maybe that is why he was feeling so much pain in the head… After what felt like minutes for Harry, the pain finally stopped like it was never there and Harry slowly slumped on the floor while gasping for breath.

Hedwig who was sitting on the perch near the window hooted as she stared at Harry… If Harry didn't know any better then he would have said that he could see concern in her eyes, but maybe he was wrong and Hedwig was really concerned. Harry didn't know much about Magical owls, but from what he has read about them, they aren't supposed to be that smart, but if Hedwig was a Familiar candidate, then it would be a completely different matter.

Harry rolled around on the floor so that he could lie on his back… He was still gasping for breaths. |Mom, you there?| harry called out loudly inside his mind. He was about to start freaking out as he could no longer hear his mom.

|Yep… Right here, son. Didn't I promise that I will never leave you again?| Lily asked, but both of them already knew that it was a rhetorical question. |How are you feeling, Hadrian?| Lily asked with a hint of concern in her voice.

|I am fine… The pain is gone and all, but I don't feel any different| Harry said with a grimace.

|I would have been surprised if you could already feel the difference. According to the books, the Ritual is supposed to be subtle, but you will notice them when you need to flex your mind| Lily pointed out in an amused tone and Harry simply huffed.

|Anyway, I should be getting up… I do have an appointment| Harry mused as he pushed himself off the floor. Two days were left for the school to start and Harry decided to meet Jacklyn and have a chat before he could put her name in his guardian's place.

Jacklyn Harper is a Pureblood Witch hailing from the House of Harper. The House of Harper is a pretty new Pureblood Family with respect to the Pureblood Families from Britain as the Harper Family could only trace back their lineage to four hundred years. Fortunately, that was enough for the Harper Family to claim themselves as one of the oldest Magical Families, at least, in the States.

While the Harper Family was one of the oldest Magical Families in the States, they didn't hold much power in the Government as Pureblood Ancestry didn't mean shit in the States. The Harper Family won't be considered Purebloods in the first place if they were in Britain as the Harper family kept bringing Muggleborns into their Family through Marriage. Even Jacklyn should be considered a Half-Blood according to British standards.

While Harper Family didn't have much say in the Government, they did have a lot of gold, so the MACUSA couldn't brush them off and the House of Harper is known to produce powerful Wizard and Witches every generation or two. Apparently, Jacklyn is the strongest in this generation and that is one of the reasons why Harry agreed that it would be best if he choose Jacklyn as his guardian.

There was a powerful Family backing Jacklyn, so nobody would be able to make a move of them without fearing consequences. Yes, Harry will be putting himself at risk by tangling with the Harper Family, but it was better to tangle with the Harper Family instead of risking himself by choosing a nobody as his guardian. A lot of his enemies will back away after realizing the fact that he was under the protection of a powerful Family.

|You still have 7 hours| Lily pointed out in a bewildered tone and Harry simply hummed.

|True… Maybe, I should read something before leaving, but I do feel like taking a shower| Harry muttered thoughtfully inside his mind as he started to make his way toward the shower without bothering to cover himself.

It was 2nd August when Harry moved into his apartment. He would have needed more time to move if he didn't have the furniture or Norton. The overly excitable house elf helped out a lot, or moving so quickly would have been impossible. Carlson had tried to offer him a permanent room in Ilvermorny, but Harry politely declined the offer. Jacklyn had also offered him to stay in their manor, but once again Harry declined the offer.

After taking a nice, and long shower, Harry came out of the bathroom, dressed in a set of fresh clothes. Yes… Harry didn't know what he would have done without Norton. Harry made his way toward his desk and plopped down before releasing a content sigh. He grabbed the Charms book from the desk and cracked it open exactly where he had left the bookmark…

|I can't believe their curriculum is so advanced. It seems Albus has gutted the Hogwarts' education system| Lily grumbled in displeased. The Ilvermorny curriculum was simply more advanced than anything Hogwarts was offering and it wasn't the case with only one subject. Ilvernmorny was simply better in terms of education in every subject.

Neither Lily nor Harry knew if the Professors were capable enough to teach everything in the curriculum or not, but Harry could always learn on his own as long as he had the books for reference. The 1st year books of Ilvermonry not only included the 1st year curriculum of Hogwarts, but it also included half of the 2nd year curriculum of Hogwarts along with some more.

Lily was extremely glad that Harry opted to attend Ilvermorny instead of Hogwarts or his education would have been severely hampered…

|You simply can't blame Albus. He is only one man… If you want to blame someone, then blame the sheeple. After all, they could have protested when he decided to make the changes, but they happily followed him along| Harry pointed out and Lily had to admit, Harry was right.

No matter how much she wanted to blame Albus, she couldn't place the whole blame at his feet. He might have been the one to instigate the changes, but it was the sheeple who accepted the changes and decided to go along with them.

|By the way, have you thought about any contingency plans?| Harry asked after a few minutes of silence. Lily wanted to have some contingency plans in case the Harper Family decided to get Harry under their thumb and Harry completely agreed with her.

|Yes, I have, but none of them are any good. All of them include biding your time, so you can stab them in the back when the time is right| Lilt scowled and Harry simply shrugged.

|I guess, it is still better than nothing…| Harry trailed off grimly as he continued to read the book in his hand. He didn't know what was going to happen in the future, but he was determined to thrive… |Whatever it takes…| Harry repeated the mantra his mom loved to use…

|Whatever it takes…| Lily repeated inside his mind as she nodded her head in agreement…