Breaking Chains And The Next Phase

To most, this may sound narcissistic, but I would like to pat my past self on the back specifically for choosing the Merlin returned perk because it is paying dividends as over the past week, I have been practicing my magic control, and so far, things have been going well as I have been able to hold a Lumos without it fizzling out while also discovering new ways to use it such as a means of increasing the brightness. 

In addition to using it as a means of accessing different light sources and intensities, such as using Lumos to blind enemies and taking light from other people using Lumos.

While this may not seem impressive, this is the first step as eventually, I may be able to absorb other different light sources in addition to more esoteric light spells such as the Patronus charm, among other things. I can see it now: a group of wizards huddling in the dark, and suddenly, all their Lumos spells go out all at once. Actually, upon second thought to quote my nephew, he would believe that line to be quite cringe. 

But regardless, I can more accurately determine where the various curses and chains are in my soul. To put it in perspective, I could barely recognize where they were now. 

It's like trying to look through somewhat see-through soup. Other than that, having to deal with the Dursleys is definitely a test of sanity, and while I most likely understand that due to the nature of the infinite Multiverse, there are possibly versions that are nice people. 

These ones are like active grenades. Or it would be more specific to label them as active mines instead because one wrong step and they just explode.

Vernon or the mammoth is the worst, and Dudley only seems worse when he's around him as he is copying his behaviors, which I attribute to him being young, with Petunia being more calm-minded, but even that is not that impressive. If this were a normal world and I could actually relatively claim child abuse, they would lose every case 10 out of 10 times. 

But I've had to deal with worse or at least of the same intensity because, let's just say, people back then weren't very highly spoken for street rats.

Luckily, I also have perks working to repair my body, as I can see myself getting healthier with each passing day. It's not much, but it's enough not to make me feel like I just got rolled over by a car when I try to do some basic exercises. 

Thankfully, I have somehow managed to eat out some basic treatment, most likely due to the fact that I've been waking up earlier. It's funny how my military training has stayed with me spiritually. I have been waking up early around the same time and doing the same stretches for the past almost a century now.

Now that I've made decent progress on Lumos, I've decided to broaden my horizons, specifically with Accio, which will help me to make up for my smaller size. Now that I think about it, the spell is basically a very limited version of telekinesis, was it? 

Essentially, the spell allows a person to pull nearby objects. It's unknown, at least to myself, whether or not it's based on weight or simply how much Magic one can use. I've been practicing in the little cover they call a room, simply trying to pull a small rock I found outside to me.

Any noise that's made is attributed to the broken stairwell, so they can't blame me, and I may or may not have pretended I could use the force. But enough pretending. On another note, the voices have become clearer as I have been able to hear whispers from the Potters, and while the two deceased parents wanted to ask why I am here, I literally could not answer that. Specifically for the fact that I can't mention anything about the jump chain, as anything I try to say comes out as unintelligible noise.

Eventually, they gave up, and when I asked why they were still on this plane, Lily said, "Well, the way we died left a scar on our soul due to the killing curse, so until Voldemort dies, we are kinda stuck." 

James then added, "Also, if you could check up on the other Marauders, that would be very beneficial, as Lupin, Sirius, and Peter may have been targeted."

Upon hearing that rat's name, I may have grown a bit angry, as betrayal was one of the worst crimes in my eyes. Back when I was fighting in the war, I would sometimes hear talk of betrayals on both sides and what it led to their unit's deaths or capture. To be honest, when I talk to someone about my belief in betrayal, they say I have trust issues, and after all this time, I believe them.

After seeing my expression, James asked, "Is something wrong? Does it have to do with any of my friends?" Looking at him, who to me looked like white mist, I told him, "To be entirely blunt, Mr. Potter, your friend Peter betrayed you because you see, when your friend Sirius, whom you made the secret keeper for the Fidelius charm, decided to give Peter the job expecting the death eaters to go after him and not Sirius he made a mistake. About halfway through the war, your friend Peter, out of fear, joined the Dark Lord and betrayed your side and gave you three up to save himself."

To people that say ghosts, even though they are dead or not terrifying, ironically dead wrong as the wailing of Lily and James caused my ears to bleed, and after noticing my state, they stopped as ghost Harry patted me on the back. Thankfully, they did not become wraiths or Inferi due to the negativity, but I then explained how to truly kill him, and they calmed down.

"But this may or may not be correct, so we are going to need to have a plan in case the info is wrong, but knowing Tom, he would not do things much differently." As I rambled on about the information, I knew the Potters may have looked concerned, but I could not tell as, again, they looked like sentient mist. But for now, the training continues as James has even given me some tips.

Specifically on how to use various spells like Leviscorpus, which he used quite often, as well as other spells, but in terms of utility, I see some uses as it's a perfect opening or closing move. Although I did not need to know what Snape's underwear looked like when he used it on him. Lily was less than amused by it while Harry looked or at least felt happy to be here, which is sad that he dies and is happier.

The routine continued: waking up doing morning chores, heading to school, doing afternoon till late night chores, and then training in the shed or under the stairs. Thankfully, the Dursleys have mostly left me alone, and to be honest, they actually seem somewhat if not a percentage, happier, which is mostly due to me controlling how my Magic affects the world. 

Because apparently, due to the pure volume of Harry's Magic, he would have random accidental Magic, which, while never causing injury, was a constant reminder to the Dursleys of how much of a freak Harry was, at least in their eyes.

I haven't been able to test parcel tongue just yet as there are no snakes around here, and I do not want to attempt more powerful Magic just yet. I don't want to do it when the Potters are around, but I will if I have to. While I don't think of myself as very considerate, I am willing to do what I need to do. Because if I leave this world without having a dragon claw in my hands, I have failed. 

Thankfully, the Potters are not around all the time, just enough to give me advice when it comes to Magic, especially Lily, who was very adept in charms magic and various rituals. When I told her about the curses, she was not very surprised. 

She mentioned how Dumbledore never really made her feel safe and even gave me some advice on how to shift them. Currently, the plan is to shift them to the Horcrux inside my soul, and since Voldie can't leave, the curses will remain with me but not affect me.

The preparations took a couple of days as it only required some magic circles and charms and wards. This was so easy because the curses latched on to Lily's protection, and since she could manipulate that protection with my permission, moving the curses was a simple process. 

Now, after a week and a half, I have prepared the ritual for the transference, and all I needed to do was give some blood to grant permission for them to be modified, and with that, I cut a small cut on my finger, and the blood drips onto the circle, and as it glows red, I step inside.

Upon stepping in, the red glow intensifies, and nerve-like tendrils crawl up my arms and enter my body. Upon doing so, I focus on shifting the curses within me, and as I enter the soul space, I see the tendrils enter the sea. 

It feels like nonstop crawling along my spine, and as they enter the water, it begins to glow, and the tendrils overlay the chains formed at the bottom and are then pulled by the tendrils out of the water and begin to crawl their way towards the Horcrux and upon touching it the small gremlin tries to scream. 

Still, the creature simply wheezes out louder, and the tendrils transform into chains and wrap the Horcrux in almost a chokehold.

The thing continued to thrash about and wheeze loudly, which, in all honesty, was rather unsettling, but as the minutes wore on, the tendrils disappeared as the Horcrux stared at me with utter contempt, but I just gave it a little wave. Soon enough, the transfer ritual was complete. 

And it definitely shows as once I left the Soul Space, I stared at the ground where the ritual was completed, and I said, "Scourgify," the spell reacted immediately as the blood and markings were cleaned without a trace.

Smiling, I looked to the Potters as I said, "Thank you truly. This will make things so much easier for me." The Potters simply smiled, with James saying, "We did nothing. It was all you, but with all of this, I think we are ready, and while we may not pass on until you kill Voldeshorts, this is your journey, not ours."

I gave them a nod, and they disappeared. And while I could summon them back, they had done enough, and it was time to learn what I could do. Firstly, now that I have access to my soul Magic, I take a look around my soul and find where the trace is. That tracks where young Wizards do their spells when underage, and when I find it, I essentially muffle it. 

When I go to Hogwarts, I won't keep the muscle on as I don't want to seem suspicious for not using any magic when I'm at school, but when I go on vacations, or I am outside of Hogwarts in general, I will put the muffle back on.

However, I felt another connection, and as I reached out, a small portal opened up in front of me. As I pulled the item out, I saw the wand meant for me, and as I held it, I felt an incredible amount of power as the wand accepted me. I don't even have to mutter the spell name; I use an Accio spell to pull a hammer to my hand. I then put the hammer back and smiled, feeling the accomplishment of two weeks of work.

"So this is how it feels to be free and with magic of all things, and now its time to make some changes around here," I say to myself as I enter the home. As I enter, making sure to remain silent, I enter the room of Vernon and Petunia and subtly manipulate their minds to make it so that they treat me with indifference and not outright malice. 

The process itself takes a couple of hours, as I don't want to seem too obvious with my mind magics. If anyone wonders why I simply don't change their minds, be more positive towards me. It's a backup plan in case anyone were to notice the changes in the Dursley family's behavior.

Since I know I'm under watch, said spies can't know that the Dursleys have been mentally manipulated, and so I suddenly reach into their minds and make it so that while they'll never care for me, they shall treat me with indifference and act as if I'm simply not there. 

Most would think this would be worse, but I would rather be a child who is not noticed than a child who is abused for being noticed too much.

Also, I get the location of one thing I've been looking for, specifically the location of Diagon Alley, from Petunia's mind, and while she had been there with Lily only twice, it is enough as I simply wish to make sure that the location remains the same. Now that I have 100% certainty, the next phase can begin. But for now, I return to the shed not after manipulating Dudley as well and begin to Simply practice, and since it is a weekend, I don't need to worry about going to school.

Taking my wand from my space, I hold it in my right hand, with it being my dominant hand, and I practice the various ways to cast spells, from the waves and stabbing motions to various dodges and other movements. 

Dark Lord is beginning to take effect as my movements become more fluid and my spells more imaginative. If I were to compare any feeling to what I was experiencing, it would be like a person who had been constantly lifting heavy weights finally being able to let go and bask in the fact that he's been lifting those weights for so long.

The hours droned on and on, and soon, the sun began to rise. As it did so, I went to bed after repairing any damage with Reparo with a smile on my face and my wand in my hands. Next stop, Diagon Alley.