Chapter 2 - Back in time, Great Master Harry Potter Sir! Part 4.

Harry shifted his attention back to his breakfast. He saw Neville look at him with a touch of concern in his eyes. He tried to give a reassuring smile back, hoping Neville picked up that he did not wish to talk about his ponderings. To his credit, Neville picked it up the hidden message and gave him a short nod. He focused on finishing his breakfast, with the occasional small talk with his surrounding housemates. Harry held his silence about the happenings of the Chamber of Secret last night.

Then he noticed Ron starting to explain the story with some exaggeration. He narrowed his eyes for a second, finished what is remaining of his breakfast and walked out of the Great Hall at a brisk pace. Neville glanced at the retreating form of his godbrother with some concern.

Strike number two for Mr. Ronald Weasley. Harry sighed as he walked out of the hall. He then walked to an empty classroom.

"Dobby."

"You called Great Master Harry Potter sir?"

"Must you insist on calling me that?"

"Don't be ridiculous Great and Venerable Master Harry Potter sir, of course Dobby insists!" Dobby exclaimed with no small amount of exasperation, flailing his little arms about.

Harry sighed and then smiled at the antics of the elf. He ignored the smirk on Dobby's face and inquired, "Two things Dobby, well one thing that I should have mentioned earlier, can you place privacy wards whenever I call you?"

"Dobby already does that sir, after all Master Harry did say Dobby got to play sneaky-sneaks. Dobby even sealed this room so nobody can come in," he said with a hint of pride for anticipating his master's needs. Harry's eyebrows rose slightly at Dobby's declaration. 'Bloody hell, those rules were definitely a good idea and Dobby is damn good at what he does.'

He nodded and said, "Thank you for that Dobby. Your proactive actions make me proud that you are my elf," Dobby stood a little taller and his face lit up with happiness at the recognition for his work.

"Dobby can you ask the house-elves in Hogwarts for a place where I could practice magic without anyone knowing about it, including the Headmaster knowing about it?"

'Got to justify how I found out the room, leave an evidence trail and all that jazz. Pretty sure I am going to tell Hermione at some point, and she can easily tell when I lie anyways. That girl will strip me to pieces until she gets the truth.'

"Yes, Master Harry Potter sir, Dobby will be right back sir," and with a snap, crack, and a pop, Dobby disappeared from his sight. A few minutes, the exuberant elf made his appearance again. He exclaimed, "Master Harry Potter sir, Dobby found a place sir. Dobby will pop us to where the place is and Master Harry will have to open it," Harry nodded, knowing exactly where the house-elf will lead him.

Dobby then popped him over to the blank wall opposite the tapestry illustrating Barnabas the Barmy and the trolls. Dobby then explained to him how to open the room. Harry thanked the elf, and the elf popped away.

'Death did say to use the room to learn mind magic and that there is a pleasant surprise waiting for me if I used the room for that purpose.'

He silently requested for a room to learn mind magics. When he entered the room, he was flabbergasted. He was not taken off guard by the appearance of the room. The room looked like a mix between the Hogwarts Library and the Gryffindor common room.

No, he was by no means surprised with the appearance of the room. What left Harry flabbergasted was by the Sorting Hat situated at the center of the room atop a pedestal. 'The Sorting Hat! The Hat is my surprise?

"Mr. Potter, Welcome to the Room of Requirement! Lady Hogwarts informed me that there was someone seeking the room to learn the delicate art of mind magic. So here we are," The Sorting Hat's voice reached his ears, and snapped him out of his daze.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows. He asked warily," What is the real reason for you agreeing to teach me mind magic?"

The Hat chuckled, "You, Mr. Potter, were chosen by the Sword of Godric Gryffindor, which equivalent of being recognized as worthy by Godric Gryffindor. Of Moral fiber, Nobility, Courage, Fortitude, Intelligence and Magical Power, you are the ideal Gryffindor. If Godric were alive, he would jump at the chance at taking you as his protégé."

"Weren't you the one trying to put me in Slytherin?"

"Who says that one can't be the protégé of both Salazar and Godric."

"Every current Slytherin and Gryffindor alive."

"Then they are misled fools. You are, after all, a parselmouth and have sufficiently displayed cunning and ambition. Sometimes opposites are two sides of the same coin Mr. Potter. To accomplish your ambitions, you need the courage to press forward. You need resourcefulness in establishing your nobility Mr. Potter. To me, they are one the same."

Harry went silent. That does make sense when he puts it that way. But all of this means nothing if he blurbs every detail to the Headmaster. Harry inquired, "So how much of our dealings are you going to tell our Venerable Headmaster?"

The Hat chuckled, "By your tone Mr. Potter you seem not to hold Albus in high regards. Quite the opposite of the current public perception, maybe I should have ignored your wish and placed you in Slytherin instead? No, none of what you reveal to me will be revealed to anyone, even Albus, without your permission of course.

The Founders when they enchanted me, they made sure to add safeguards such that secrets of an individual student, a professor, or even a headteacher are not privy to unwelcome ears. There are some secrets better left unheard and unveiled. As the muggles would say, let the sleeping dogs lie. Each student, especially the pureblood students, enter Hogwarts bearing a myriad of intentions, secrets, and other valuable information. Leaking any of that information would cause pointless strife Mr. Potter. I am, after all, an instrument of Lady Hogwarts. Her will is to maintain the peace inside her walls.

The hallowed grounds of this school host much of the formative years of many a great witch or wizard of our society. Thus, the Founders deemed it vital to minimize any possible means by which school authority can manipulate impressionable young children, such as yourself. Of course, there are ways to slither by some of enchantments and rules. No protection is a perfect protection after all. So no, I will not reveal anything to Albus."

Harry nodded and felt a sense of relief. 'If he is going to be teaching me mind magic, he will learn many of the secrets I hold. With this, it gives me enough assurance that my secrets remain as they are. Until he is proven otherwise, I will have to take his word. After all, Death did recommend me to do so anyways.'

"If that is the case, then I am most grateful for your help. Before we begin, what is your name?"

"I insist on being referred to as The Hat. After all, I am the pinnacle of all hats and enchanting. I am The Hat most supreme," The Hat replied in a pompous tone. Or what one could consider as pompous for a hat.

Harry felt his eyebrow twitch slightly at the arrogant response he received. Three odd characters in less than a day. Death, Dobby and now The Sorting Hat. Meanwhile, out in a pocket dimension separated from the rest of the Universe, Death sneezed.

"Before I introduce you to the subtle art of mind magics, I need to look into your mind. Mind magics are dependent on the state of the user's mind. Thus, it is vital for me to observe your mind, including your memories to gain an understanding of your mind."

Harry hesitated. His mind contained vital information about the future. 'But then again, reading under the lines, you cannot learn mind magic effectively without supervision. Either I am going to have to trust a human or bind them to secrecy with an Unbreakable Vow, which is extremely fickle magic. Or, I am going to trust an ancient artifact that already is bound to secrecy. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess.'

Harry sighed, "I need your word despite whatever you see, you are not to inform anyone without my consent."

If The Hat were human, he would have rolled his eyes. The Hat quipped in an exasperated tone, "Mr. Potter, I already know 11 years in your life. I know of your adventures here in Hogwarts over the last two years. How many more secrets do you really hold?"

'Only the happenings of the next five years, including information on a falsely incarcerated godfather, everything related to Riddle, manipulations of one Albus Dumbledore, and a conversation with Death about the threads of Fate and trying to fulfill a destiny written by Fate herself . All in all, nothing much really if you think about it.'

"Just giving you a heads up, you will not like what you see."

"I'll be the judge of that Mr. Potter. Now do be a good lad and wear me."

Harry walked towards The Hat and placed The Hat on his head. The Hat then examined Harry's memories. To his great surprise, The Hat came across memories of events into the future. He saw through the Sirius Black debacle, the Triwizard Tournament, the death of Cedric Diggory and the resurrection of Lord Voldemort, the abandonment under his childhood torturers after experiencing the cruelty that would drive fully grown men and women to insanity, much less a fourteen year old. The Dementors and subsequent farce of a trial. The Ministry incompetence throughout Harry's fifth year and his torture at the hand of Umbridge and then the mental torture in the guise of learning occlumency. The Hat watched in wonder at the resistance of the students, in horror at the fiasco and the Department of Mysteries, and at anger at the timing and the implication of Dumbledore's revelation of the prophecy.

'Albus was setting the boy up to die this whole time! The only hope we have, and that ignorant old fool set him up to die! Love is the power he does not know my wrinkled and saggy Hat bottom! Fuck is he going to do Albus, make love to Riddle on a sweet moonlit night in the Forbidden Forest, amidst the centaurs and unicorns? He wanted the boy to go off himself at the first chance! No, it is the sacrificial magic of his mother he was counting on. But that troglodyte does not even comprehend the necessary prerequisites to even weave such magic!'

The memories continued much to his horror. The summer before the sixth year and the persuasion of Slughorn to retake his position. Draco Malfoy and his many attempts to kill Dumbledore, the pure stupidity in just giving Harry near useless memories rather than teaching the boy to fight the monster and his band of misfits. The revelation of Horcruxes shook The Hat to the core. The scuffle about the potions book confused The Hat. The frustration that the young Potter had over the dismissal attitude towards his suspicions of Malfoy. The fake horcrux and the death of Dumbledore. The hunt for Horcruxes, Malfoy mansion, the break in to Gringotts, the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry's Death, the conversation with Death and finally, time travel.

"Well, shite."

"I did give you a warning."

"Saying you will not like what you see is not even an adequate enough warning to any one of those incidents let alone the entire collection."

Harry shrugged and gave the hate a smirk, knowing that no matter what he said, there is nothing in the world that would prepare anyone for the memories of his original timeline. A heavy silence permeated the room for a few minutes.

"Mr. Potter, watching those memories confirms why you were favored by the Sword Gryffindor. It takes an indomitable will and spades of courage to live the life that you did," The Hat said with a hint of admiration directed at Harry.

Harry did not react. For all Harry cared, he now has another chance to make sure those horrors never plague Magical Britain again. Or at least drastically reduce any casualties.

"So, the Horcrux in your scar is well and truly gone?"

Harry have a nod, "According to Death, yes."

"That removes a major obstacle in teaching you mind magic Mr. Potter. Horcruxes, if attached to a living vessel whose intent is to fight against the maker of the horcrux, tend to disrupt the growth of the vessel. Therefore, teaching a vessel should done with extreme caution. The mental torture that Severus inflicted upon you ensured that you could never form occlumency shields ever again," The Hat explained.

Harry's blood went cold. "So that two-faced greasy bastard made me suffer for no reason?" he spat.

"I am not sure that Severus himself understood what he did. I believe he thought that by battering your mind ruthlessly, your magic would respond to the outside stimulus by safeguarding your mind, much like responsive accidental magic," The Hat explained in a neutral voice. The Hat continued, "Of course, Dumbledore knew that this approach would not work. The likelihood of some sort of safeguard forming is quite low under that method for a normal person, with you who has a Horcrux in you, that approach just solidified the hold that vile magic had on you.

There are two reasons why I think Dumbledore strengthened that connection. One, Dumbledore might have been trying to get you to see more visions to extract more information from Riddle. After all, any vital information would help in the war effort. Alternatively, he might have used the weakening of your mind as bait for Voldemort, who would use it to bait you. Reviewing what I learnt from your memories, the latter is more likely. I think he was trying to influence Voldemort to make a play out in the open and end the stalemate."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. At this point, he should be numb from all the attempts White Whiskered Wanker carried out to maneuver him like a pawn meant to be thrown away. To find that the death of his godfather might be a consequence of the said Wanker infuriated him. No wonder Grindelwald turned out to be a Dark Lord and attempt to kill everyone after dating that sanctimonious git. Probably just took out his pent-up emotions on the world.

He opened his eyes and tried to focus on the task at hand, learning mind magic. He took off The Hat and placed him back in the pedestal at the center of the room. He asked, "What's your plan to teach me?"

"Well Mr. Potter I do not think it is beneficial for us to get started today. I do not think after the discussion we had it would do any of us good to start today. Let us postpone our first lesson to tomorrow. By the way, make sure you do not use any magic today. After all, you just travelled back in time and bonded with an elf. Until tomorrow, do have a nice day."

Harry nodded, knowing full well what The Hat said was true. His mood was dampened by their conversation and if he understood what The Hat was trying to point to, any distractions would hinder his path to mastering mind magics. As he reached for the doorknob, The Hat spoke one last time.

"Oh, and Harry? Welcome back."