Rising to power.

Nymphadora Tonks

Harry rubbed his eyes tiredly after temporarily removing his glasses. He could currently be found sitting alone in his dorm room with a multitude of books opened around him with random pieces of parchment covered in his notes strewn all over his desk. This wasn't a rare sight, especially in the Ravenclaw tower this time of year.

A smile graced Harry's lips as he remembered the mess he had caused in Gringotts for his meeting.

It was the beginning of June and the end of year exams were fast approaching. The exams weren't nearly as important compared to his fifth year OWL or his seventh year NEWT examinations, but they were a way for him to measure his capacity so that he can feel safe to continue with his independent studies. He was certain that he didn't need to study for his Transfiguration or Charms exams, nor did he think he would ever, but that didn't mean he could completely disregard his other subjects in favour of them.

So here he was, in his room, alone on this beautiful summer day, looking over all of his notes on the subjects he wasn't so confident in, making sure he knew everything the fifth years in their study group had told them they should know if they wanted to get excellent marks.

Ever since his return from Christmas break, Harry had spent most of his time either learning the spells and theory from the books Flitwick had given him, practising his rudimentary Occlumency skills by learning to clear his mind as quickly as possible, studying with Archades or watching the House Quidditch games. He had also, through Archades, become somewhat closer with Stephanie and Cedric, though he still didn't feel too comfortable around them yet; he just didn't know them well enough.

That's not to say he knew anything about Archades either other then for some reason he isn't living with his 'still alive' family, he likes to watch Quidditch, that he has lived with Stephanie's family since he was little and that he has a crush of monstrous proportions on said girl. However, having been forced to live, study and spend most of his time with the boy for the majority of the year, he can safely say that his presence was becoming less and less of a bother.

Magically packing away his books and notes with a flick of his wand, Harry decided on going for a walk after washing his face; he was naturally an active boy and being cooped up inside a dark room all morning and most of the afternoon just didn't sit well with him.

Passing several students on his way down studying in silence and trying not to disturb the fifth and seventh year students diligently studying for their OWL and NEWT exams, Harry opened the door to his common room and snuck out without anyone noticing.

The castle of Hogwarts, where magic was taught to children and performed by professors on a daily professor was not just a pile of rubble, clumped together to form a castle, it too was full of magic. Harry had, by accident, happened on a number of secret passages that cut his travelling time around the prestigious school by at least half that could be accessed by a number of different means. Of course, he had found most of these when the infamous Weasley twins were on several of their 'great escapes' from the caretaker Filch after one of their rather ingenious pranks. The two may not be academically impressive, but their ability to make people laugh was matched by no one.

Approaching the statue of Odbog the Weird, Harry tugged on his earlobe causing the fairly large stone structure to temporarily move aside, allowing him passage to a rather dark and winding tunnel that would lead him to a completely different section of the castle.

Exiting the secret passage by tapping the back of the statue on the other end of the tunnel, Harry stepped around it and found himself in a part of the castle that mostly had empty classrooms and deserted corridors. The school was initially built one thousand years ago as the only magical institution in Europe, so obviously, it catered to more students; now though, the excess space was just left deserted so that curious students could explore if they so wished.