The-Friend-In-Need

~~Harry's Apartment~~ (July 4th, 1994)

Harry groggily opened his eyes and blinked rapidly as the sunlight filtering through was too much for his eyes to handle after waking up from sleep… He groaned as he rolled over onto his back only to find a tent on his duvet. He groaned softly as he slowly sat up.

Recently he has been waking up with a hard-on, but it was yet to become an issue as it would usually go away after some minutes. Harry rubbed his temples and grabbed his glasses and Wand from the nightstand.

|Good morning, mom| Harry greeted his mom as he released a yawn.

|Good morning, Hadrian. How was your sleep?| Lily greeted him back cheerfully, making Harry wince in guilt. His mom could no longer sleep and he had been sleeping like a baby.

|Don't you feel bad for not being able to sleep anymore?| Harry asked glumly and Lily simply shrugged off his concern with an amused snort.

|Yes, I do miss sleeping, but it's no longer an issue. It's not like I don't have anything to do here… I love the library you built. Even though I no longer have a body, I still love learning| Lily reminded him in an amused tone.

In the last two years, Harry has been steadily progressing his Occlumency. The Sherlock Holmes books helped, but he was nowhere close to finishing his Mind Palace, and without finishing his Mind Palace, he couldn't progress his Occlumency anymore. Only a couple of months ago he finally finished the library in his Mind Palace and since then he had been storing all of his memories related to books in the library in the form of books.

He wanted to do something for his mom since she couldn't sleep. He was quite aware of the fact that his mom still loved reading books or seeking knowledge, so he knew that his mom would love the library he was building inside his mind. Giving her access to his Mind Palace was also not that hard and just like he expected, his mom loved the gesture and she pulled him into her arms for a tight hug.

|I am glad that you love the library| Harry said as he finally removed the duvet and climbed down from the bed. His feet landed on the floor and he stretched his body… He released another yawn before he started to make his way toward the bathroom.

After finishing his morning rituals and taking a shower, he finally walked out of the bathroom wrapped around in a towel. He walked up to his wardrobe and started to get dressed in a pair of fresh clothes… After having the 'TALK' two years ago, he had started to feel rather uncomfortable whenever he bared himself since he knew that his mom was watching him, but those feelings disappeared throughout the last two years.

After he was finally dressed, he started to make his way toward his study desk… In the last two years, he also finished up to the seventh year curriculum of his core subjects. In his third year, he opted for Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, and Magical Theory. He also finished up to the seventh year curriculum of these subjects and he decided to give Xylomancy a try on his own, but only after a year, he gave up since Xylomancy is really wonky.

And as for Astronomy, Muggle Studies, and Care of Magical Creatures, he didn't even bother to give them a try…

Astronomy was completely useless from his point of view and he knew everything he needed to know about the Muggle World… Yes, he had become somewhat disconnected from the Muggle World after running away from the Dursleys, but he still visited the Muggle World from time to time so he could still move around in the Muggle World without drawing too much attention.

He also found Care of Magical Creatures completely useless for him… He already knew everything about Magical Creatures he needed to know… Avoid any Magical Creatures that are classified XXXX or above and that was enough. Creatures classified as XXX were also dangerous, but he was confident that he could kill them if it became necessary and he wasn't planning to go looking for dangerous Magical creatures in the first place.

As for the remaining elective subjects, he was planning to learn all of them… At least on his own. He still had two years to make his decision… He wasn't able to acquire books from any of the shops as he was still too young, but Jacklyn decided to help him out by buying the books for him…

Harry arrived at his desk and raised his brows in curiosity when he noticed the letter on the desk. It was a letter from Jacklyn… He picked up the letter and started to wonder what she wanted to talk about when they had already planned to meet in the evening so that she could buy the books for him. Harry quickly opened the letter and plopped down on his chair.

It seemed that Jacklyn wanted to discuss something with him… He put down the letter and grabbed a parchment to write a reply, but he stopped when he felt Jacklyn trigger his Wards. Apparently, she was already here. Harry immediately started to wonder what she wanted to talk about since she was already here… Harry stood up and started to make his way toward the door…

Harry opened the door and found Jacklyn already waiting for him outside the door. The girl beamed at him and pulled him into a hug… She knew that there were Wards in his apartment, so she also knew that he wouldn't miss her arrival. "Good morning, Harry" Jacklyn greeted him as she ruffled his hair after she finally pulled away from him.

"Good morning to you too… Did you already have breakfast?" Harry asked, only for Jacklyn to shake her head in denial.

"Good, let's see what Norton is making" Harry said as he welcomed her inside. Jacklyn smiled and followed him inside the house. The two of them arrived inside the kitchen and found Norton already working on breakfast. He was making mac and cheese. Norton didn't know Jacklyn was going to visit, so he served the duo some coffee as he started to prepare another serving.

"Harry… I need your help" Jacklyn blurted out with a sigh after taking a sip from her cup. Norton's coffee was always so satisfying… Their house elf could never match this flavor even after she brought her house elf to talk with Norton so that her house elf could learn from him.

"Sure. What do you need?" Harry asked with a smile as he nodded his head in satisfaction after taking a sip from his own cup.

"I need a training partner. You know that I am going to try my luck in the trials, don't you?" Jacklyn asked only for Harry to snort in amusement.

"I would have been surprised if you weren't planning to participate…" Harry grinned in amusement only for Jacklyn to roll her eyes at him

"Yes, you know me so well…" Jacklyn drawled blandly… "Well, either way, my mentor finally decided that he is too old to train me anymore and I am not going to look for someone else to train me at this stage" Jacklyn explained her situation and Harry nodded his head in understanding.

He could also understand why Jacklyn wasn't looking for another trainer… Her new trainer would try to install his own techniques and style into her and she was simply too old to change her techniques or style…

"Okay, but I won't be able to help you after school starts" Harry immediately agreed to help her as he knew that he would also make a lot of progress while helping her.

"You don't have to worry about that. If we talk with Headmaster Kent, then I am sure that he will allow you to skip school since you will be also participating in the Under Fifteen Tournament" Jacklyn explained with a grin and Harry had to admit, she was right. Carlson was already nice to him, but after the interview where he praised the man, Carlson became more nicer to him.

"That could work…" Harry mumbled as he tapped his chin with a thoughtful look on his face. "Though I think Brittany won't be happy" Harry pointed out and Jacklyn sullenly nodded her head. Just like Harry, she is also a bit of a loner and even though she does have some friends besides Harry, none of them were close to her.

Jacklyn seemed to think for a bit before an idea finally popped into her mind. "We can always use one of the training rooms in school for our training" Jacklyn suggested and Harry already knew that Carlson wasn't going to deny the request.

"Okay… So, when do we start?" Harry asked excitedly.

"As soon as we can… The trials are going to take place in seven months" Jacklyn answered. "I was hoping that we could go and meet the Headmaster today. What do you think?" Jacklyn asked as she took another sip from her cup.

"Sure, Let's visit him after breakfast and we can also buy the books on our way back, but is he going to be at school today?" Harry nodded his head as he agreed to visit the Headmaster today, but he wasn't sure if Carlson was going to be at school or not.

"...To be honest, I don't know, but I wouldn't mind a short trip" Jacklyn answered with a scowl after a few moments of silence. Harry also shrugged after hearing her answer and he was about to take a sip from his cup, but all of a sudden he froze when a certain idea popped into his mind.

"Jacky, you know how to make a Portkey, don't you?" Harry asked slowly, making Jacklyn shuffle uncomfortably in her seat…

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