Chapter 54 : Unveiling Mysteries and Pursuing Truths

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It wasn't that he needed any ingredients this time no; he could order most of the stuff he wanted -with the exception of that darned mystery herb!- but he always wanted to visit the country himself. He poked at his food faking discomfort while wondering how Harry would react when he told him they were going to India. He smirked; that would be something else worth capturing in film for sure!

Harry was sitting on the kitchen table in Potter Manor, waiting patiently for his brother and father to return from the Quidditch field. He was munching on his breakfast slowly, biding his time. His mother was in her room getting ready and Sirius with Remus were bound to arrive any moment now. The green eyed wizard sighed studying his wand. Today was the day he was heading to Diagon Alley with his family -and some of the Weasleys, probably Ron and the twins, maybe even Percy but he rarely stayed with them anyway- to shop for his and Adrian's first year at Hogwarts.

It wasn't that Harry wasn't excited at the notion of going to Hogwarts; no! It was something that he had craved since he was five and understood what Hogwarts was. But going to Hogwarts had a number of implications chained to it; for one, he would have to spend his months away from the castle he called his home for more time than he had ever been used to, returning there only for summer holidays; he was going to miss the place he grew up the most. Then there was the fact that he would have to keep up appearances all the time. It felt odd knowing that he was six inches taller than his brother but had never been able to actually witness it as the glamour worked just fine on reflective surfaces. So he could feel he was taller, he could feel his shoulders were wider, he could feel he wasn't the scrawny boy that looked back at him from the mirror. He just couldn't see it. At least his eyes were unchanged, Harry noted as the emerald green stared back at him everyday, the only truth in a visage made of lies.

He allowed himself to think back to those past two years. The trip to India had been a blast for sure; he had loved the country to bits and Severus had even taken him to visit the Indian Ministry of Magic, located in the legendary -thus unplottable and Muggle-proofed- Black Taj Mahal. It contained one of the most celebrated libraries in the orient, and a pure treasure for alchemists across the globe. Egypt, had been another favorite for certain.

Severus had been a hit too, Harry thought chortling; the potions master had finally loosened up towards the fairer sex and -when outside the country- had even flirted back, much to Harry's amusement. He was so different under the disillusionment charms, healthier and much happier, the shadows in his eyes disappearing when away from the public eye. And he had enjoyed the changes in his person himself, even if there were a few incidents that Harry had been sworn to never mention again; that little issue with the druid woman from Ireland last spring for example and her vow of abstinence. That had gone well.

Harry remembered the scene and almost chocked on his orange juice while recalling Severus's expression as he walked in their room the morning after. He was as pale as a ghost and muttering things such as "And how should I know?" or "What type of covenant demands abstinence these days? Not even the bloody Sisterhood does that!" Harry had sworn to never allow him to live it down. Neither that nor the incident with that Duke's daughter who may or may not have been engaged. Severus in return, had sworn to never allow Harry to live down his reaction to the birds and the bees talk that Sirius gave him and his brother that June as part of their preparation for Hogwarts, so Harry deemed they were even.

If only people could see the real Severus… Oh, they would be shocked to next Sunday! Harry had the feeling they would be shocked if they knew the real him too, even excluding the Boy Who Lived thingy. He had kept busy the past two years, earning two more apprenticing marks, one in White magic -apparently all healing spells counted as such- and one, surprisingly, in Blood magic.

Both Severus and Harry where confused over that fact until the potions master went all out and did some extensive research on the subject with Nicholas's help. Blood magic was an assortment of spells, charms, potions and, apparently, alchemy; Harry had studied bits and pieces of that area of magic through the years and once he started reading on sigils, the balance tipped and he was deemed an apprentice. Since then he had done a bit of research and found out what exactly separated Blood magic from the rest; it was rituals.

Harry was fascinated by the thought; a ritual was a type of incantation that did not require a wand and was much lengthier than a spell or a curse. What was more interesting was that rituals were rare; Harry was still in the process of searching the library for any ritual that might be found inside its pages with little luck so far; that didn't mean he would stop though! Besides, blood magic had a great connection to wards and that brought him just a step closer to a plan that had started forming in his mind when he was but seven years old…

His persistence had aided him in more than one situation and more recently, in his study of alchemy; one of the greatest surprises he got from his lessons with Nicholas was that metal transformation -even when it involved gold- did not require the philosopher's stone. The alchemist had informed his pupil of that detail after the Christmas holidays this year and Harry had almost fainted. Nicholas had given him an assignment; he had stated that they could continue with theory but if he wanted to practice, truly practice alchemy, then he would have to make at least one speck of gold in his lab.

The green eyed boy had taken the assignment to heart and spent every single free hour he had to spare in his lab until, three months later, he emerged with not a speck as requested, but an ingot of the precious metal, two inches wide and four inches long. Nicholas had been overjoyed and congratulated him while Severus had celebrated the event with an impromptu trip to Italy for the weekend.

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