A-Boy-Left-Baffled

Harry hissed in pain as he sliced his hand with a kitchen knife… This wasn't the first time he was experiencing the sharpness of a kitchen knife on his body, but this was definitely the first time when he was inflicting the injury on his own accord.

Blood started to drip from his hand and Norton could only stare at Harry in morbid horror from the crack of his fingers. Apparently, Norton couldn't watch Harry mutilate himself, so he covered his face with his hands and turned his head away, but Norton knew why Harry was doing this, so he couldn't stop himself from watching Harry from the crack of his fingers.

Harry held his bleeding hand over the Ward Stone… According to Lily, Harry not only needed to recharge the Ward Stone to empower the Wards of Potter Manor, but he also needed to gain control over the Wards. If Harry had a Magical Focus of some sort, then it could have been much easier for him, but bleeding on the Ward Stone would also work.

'Yes, I know it is crude, but it is the only option you have until you find a Wand to use' Those were the exact words Lily used during her explanation.

Harry had no idea how he was supposed to know if it worked or not, but the Ward Stone finally started to glow and after a few seconds of continuous blinking, the Ward Stone finally stopped glowing. Harry inclined his head in confusion as he wasn't sure if it worked or not, but before he could say anything, something happened.

All of a sudden, Harry became quite aware of everything inside the house and at the same, he could also sense the boundary around the Potter Manor… Harry did not know how to explain what he was feeling, but it felt like all of his senses have been expanded… Harry shook his head, no that wasn't right. He felt like he has acquired a completely new sensory ability.

"Master Hadrian, it worked!! Norton could feel the shift in the Wards!!" Norton exclaimed cheerfully and once again Harry cringed when Norton's voice assaulted his ears.

"Norton, is there a first-aid kit?" Harry asked wryly while holding his hand, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Oh no!" Norton gasped in worry and his hands flew to his mouth. "Norton does not know what a first-aid kit is, but Norton can stop the bleeding!" Norton declared as he raised his hand in the air and snapped his finger.

The cut on Harry's hand tingled and immediately looked down at his hand. The skin started to knit together as the wound started to close… Harry could only watch his hand in complete awe and fascination.

"Magic is awesome!!" Harry exclaimed cheerfully as he threw his hands in the air. Today was the best day of his life… Not only he was able to reunite with his mother, but he was also able to escape that wretched place. Harry was also excited over the prospect of Magic… Apparently, he wasn't a freak. He was a Wizard, just like his father.

"Norton, can you fix this too?" Harry took off his glass and extended it toward Norton, looking really hopeful. Norton stared at the glasses and snapped his fingers and the cracked lens was fixed. Harry stared at his eyewear in complete awe… The frame was still far from perfect, but he was fine with that. After putting on the glasses, Harry was about to thank Norton, but he froze when his stomach rumbled loudly, reminding him of his hunger.

"Oh no! Master Hadrian seems to be quite hungry! Norton will be quickly making something for Master Hadrian!!" Norton mumbled to himself in morbid horror and popped away before Harry could stop him.

"I don't even know where the kitchen is…" Harry trailed off as he released a defeated sigh and only then he remembered that he was aware of everything inside the house. Harry already found the kitchen and now he only needed to make his way from the basement to the kitchen… Harry decided to look for Norton, and he immediately found Norton inside the kitchen.

Apparently, Harry had to actively look for Norton to locate him… Unlike the rest of the house or its boundaries, he needed to actively search for the house elf if he wanted to find him. Harry arrived at the living room, making his way to the kitchen and that is when his eyes fell on a book kept over the fireplace.

'Harry, you need to find the Book of Guests kept over the fireplace. You need to remove all the names from the book. I do not know who we can trust, especially after Peter Pettigrew betrayed us' Harry remembered Lily's words and he immediately started to curse him internally.

How could he forget something so important?! Harry nervously made his way toward the Book of Guests… He was quite aware of the fact that Lily could watch everything he was seeing and hear everything he was hearing, so he started to wonder if she was going to be angry or disappointed at him for not remembering something so important.

Harry arrived at the fireplace and picked up the book from its stand… He opened the book only to find several names, written down on the front page and the rest of the book was completely empty. Harry recognized some of the names mentioned in the book from his mom's explanation. Names like Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Frank C. J. Longbottom, Alice Longbottom, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, and so on… Harry's anger bubbled when he read the name, Peter Pettigrew.

Peter Pettigrew is the reason why his father was dead and his mother was trapped inside him. Yes, Voldemort might have been the one to kill his parents, but it was Peter Pettigrew who was responsible for selling them out to Voldemort. Harry hated Peter Pettigrew even more than he hated Voldemort. He grabbed the quill on the stand and crossed over off the name, Peter Pettigrew with quite a bit of force and anger… After that, he started to cross off the rest of the names.

Harry released a tired sigh when he was finally done… He slowly closed the Book of Guests and placed it on the stand along with the quill… He turned around after giving the book another look and started to make his way toward the kitchen. There wasn't anything else he needed to do urgently, so he decided to take his time and explore the manor after filling his stomach.

Harry simply couldn't believe how his life turned around all of a sudden… All of a sudden, he got back his mother and a new home. He could eat as much as he want and no one was going to force him to do any chores. True, he would have preferred if he could meet his mother in flesh, but he wasn't going to whine about what he had…

Lost in his thoughts, Harry finally arrived in the kitchen… "Master Hadrian, you do not need to be here, Norton will be preparing the food, Master Hadrian needs to wait in the dining room" Norton said while waving his spindly arms.

"I thought I could help… Well, I want to help" Harry said in an unsure tone. While he hated all the chores he was forced to do at the Dursleys, he did like cooking and he wouldn't mind helping Norton with cooking even in the slightest.

"No! Master Hadrian won't be needing to help Norton with the cooking. Master needs to let Norton work!" Norton vehemently denied and to be honest, Harry was completely taken aback by Norton's vehemence.

"Okay… Then I will leave you to it" Harry said with an unsure look on his face as he left the kitchen. Once again, Harry found himself out of place as he didn't know anything about the Magical World. His mother's explanation had been brief and while she promised to teach him everything she knew in the future, Harry couldn't help but feel baffled.

With his mind filled with various thoughts, Harry finally arrived in the dining room and with a contemplative look on his face, he pulled out a chair and sat down. After nearly half an hour, plates filled with food appeared right in front out of thin air and Harry almost fell back from the chair in fright…

'I simply can't wrap my head around Magic' Harry mused as he picked the knife and fork from the table and he dove into his meal…

<Line Break>

Lily Potter stared at the cloudy screen in front of her with a contemplative look on her face… She was happy that her son was finally out of the reach of those miserable human beings, and she was also glad over the fact that her she was able to explain herself to Hadrian. She was over the moon when her son forgave her… It has been such a great day for Lily Potter, but she knew that she couldn't rest…

There was still so much she needed to do to keep her son safe… She was pretty sure that Albus Dumbledore would start looking for Hadrian as soon as he realized that Hadrian was no longer at Number 4 Privet Drive… Lily did not know what motivations Albus had for leaving her son at that wretched place, but she was sure that it wasn't anything good. After all, there was no reason to place him there, especially when Alice and Sirius would have been a lot better choice, any day, anytime.

Removing Albus Dumbledore from the Book of Guests wasn't going to stop the man from entering Potter Manor, especially with that infernal bird of his. She needed to make sure that the man didn't find her son, but how? And she also needed to make sure that her son was prepared for everything the Magical World can throw at him…

Yes, there were a lot of things Lily still needed to deal with… 'Whatever it takes…' Lily mused internally as she clenched her fists in determination…