Author Note:
Some people were asking me in DM about the immortality of Harry. Like he is immortal so what's the point of the story if he doesn't have to worry about every dying so just fuck Voldemort right?
I am sorry for not explaining that properly but Harry is immortal in the sense that he won't die because of his age. However, he could very die on a battlefield or car accident or any other type he just won't die because of his age ever. That's what I meant by immortality.
If some parts are written twice please excuse me for that because I have just switched to Scrivener. PeacefulHarmionian gifted me Scrivener 3 thanks for that, it really is just amazing. So, that's why for some chapters things might be messed up. Sorry for that.
Hope your doubt is cleared and you enjoy the rest of the story!
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April 1989,
Merging soul changed a lot more than just changing his personality, as Harry had thought. When he returned, he realised he was a century-old man who had reincarnated in his seven-year-old body. He had thought that by merging his soul, he would just become a mixture of both in personality. But truly, he never knew his full extent. He never fully knew its effect on his emotions, feelings, and personality.
He had just thought that it would be just for his personality, saving his parents and mixing his traits from both of his souls, but it was a lot more than that. It was, in a sense, his rebirth. In addition, his younger self was also a lot more powerful and prominent than he had thought, but it made sense after all. In more senses, he was trying to possess his younger self, much like the Horcrux.
When Harry thought about it in depth, he realized that his younger soul was much stronger and more prominent because of it. It was not giving in to his older and much more powerful soul because it was also very strong. His younger self became strong because of the Horcrux. Horcrux had been haunting his younger self for nearly 6 years. It had kept the piece of Tom's soul at bay.
His mother's protection, thankfully, hadn't thought of his older soul as a threat and attacked it. And it was one of the reasons that his younger and older souls were able to merge. His younger soul hadn't fought against its older self but fought for dominant traits in the character, and as a result, a different boy was born than his younger or even older self.
Harry wasn't certain about his mental age because it was very complicated that way, but it wasn't seven, nor was it above a hundred, but it wasn't something that Harry was sure about. And to be honest, it wasn't much of his concern right now. He had gone to his primary school in the last 2 years since he came back.
Interacting with all the younger kids had been awkward for some time. It had taken him some time to get used to it, but later he had found that he enjoyed it. He found that he also liked to play nonsense games sometimes, and he liked to run around and do some childish things too.
He found that he wasn't all serious as he had been in the future. He liked to be a child now, and he felt like that, so he deduced that his age wasn't much now. He was confused now because he liked playing tag sometimes with other kids, but also, in his mind, he knew that it was foolish and a waste of time. He was preparing for war but still liked to sometimes just lie down and relax.
It was confusing how he could be a child and a war veteran at the same time. Maybe it was the consequence of the soul merging? He didn't know, but he thought that it was quite a favourable outcome. Now he didn't have to worry about his interaction with his peers or anything like that. He wouldn't have to put on a fake act about his interaction with them now because it would be natural for him.
He knew that he was not the man he was when he stepped through the veil, and he wasn't also the naive kid, but an entirely different person now. Which was fine with him. He was a lost person in his life after the war. He had lost so many people in his life that he was full of grief, regret, and loneliness, but his younger self had a lot of hope. It was also lonely, but it was different.
Now his regret has turned into his determination to do things right now. He didn't want to end up as he had. He didn't want to be alone this time. He wants to have a family. He wanted to have all the people he cared about close to his heart.
Another thing that had now changed was his feelings for every person his future self had interacted with in the future, like his feelings for Hermione. Before his soul merging, he was sure he had loved her, at least at some point, but now he wasn't sure.
At first, it was hard for him to get over it, but he tried to move on, and, at some point, he thought that he loved another person too. But before he could have explored it, she was also taken from him. He had tried to move on because he knew that Hermione would never have wanted him to be just stuck with her memories and never move on. It was difficult; it wasn't easy to move on from a person who had been at your side since your childhood. The person who had been his rock in his rough life at Hogwarts, a person that he had relied on most, but at some point, he had thought that he had moved on and loved a different person. But he never got to explore it as she was also taken from him.
He had lost hope after that. He had stopped trying to find any kind of relationship and just moved on in his life. But his heart always had a place for them, but now it had changed.
Now, his feelings had changed. He wasn't sure that he loved her, or any other person for that matter. His younger self refused to acknowledge the feelings that his older self had. He refused to have the same feelings because he understood that he didn't want others to have control of his decisions. He didn't want anyone, including his older self, to take his decisions. He didn't want to make his relationship based on those memories, but he wanted to make his memories and feelings for the people he would meet.
He would learn from the mistakes his future self had made, but he refused to just live based on them. Sure, he would make use of those memories and the power he now had to change things as they were in the future. He would learn from the mistakes his future self made, but he wouldn't do everything based on those. He knew it was his life or a second chance at life, so he was going to use it. He wasn't going to just waste it over.
He would learn from his memories, and he would be cautious of people, but he was not going to just make decisions based on them. The words that death said, '...don't just judge people for how they behaved last time...' This was the last advice that Death had given him, and therefore he was going to keep that in his mind.
But those were concerns for later; right now, he was preoccupied with other matters. The very next morning, after he had suppressed the wards of the Ministry, two years before, he had taken control of the House of Dursley's. With some compulsion, oblivation, and the Imperius Curse, they were all but under his control.
And from that day, he got Dudley's second bedroom, which he expanded magically for him but also warded against anyone entering there. He used Parseltongue to ward off the room so that only someone who could speak Parseltongue would even guess that it was there. The runes and wards he had used were not discovered until the next fifty years or so. And then he carried out his tasks.
After that, his first goal was to get into his best body shape. He had started to eat a nutritious, balanced diet every day. Harry's trunk was one thing that was one of the main things that helped him.
His trunk contained a compartment for him, which he had made for himself. The trunk that Harry carried had a widely used Extension Charm on it. In the future, Harry himself did all the spellwork himself. He had made his trunk his safe. It contained every single wealth of the Potter Family and Harry's, along with the Potter-Black-Peverell Family Library. He made the safe in his trunk as there wasn't much property owned by the Potters and Harry wasn't very comfortable with the Black Houses in the future. The Potters only owned a manor and a cottage in Godric Hollow. The cottage was illegally taken by the Ministry and turned into a fucking 'historical site'.
The Potter Family Manor was the place where Harry lived in the future. The elves had always kept the place well maintained. The only concern was the wards of the house, and Harry had to recharge them and make them stronger. He had added some of the best wards he had known. Peverell's Family only had an old manor left. The manor was under heavy wards, and he was sure that he was the first person to enter it in centuries. Even though the place was safe, it was ruined, and also the area where it was made is a very busy location now. It was heavily populated by muggles around here.
Even though, because of the wards, nobody could see it or enter it, the place had lost its beauty. Also, all the noise had made it a place that Harry couldn't enjoy. He was also against destroying the Manor, the link to his family, so he left the Manor as it was. So, he made his vault in his trunk, and also made himself a safe house in it. He made it because it was not uncommon for him to be undercover and hunting some dark wizard. Therefore, sometimes hiding the suitcase comes in handy. It was also the case that he carried all the supplies he needed for his own use with him in the trunk.
But Harry used his trunk in case of an emergency and always kept everything in full stock. It was because if something bad was to happen, he was found to have everything he would ever need. He had stocked his trunk with all of his comforts and constructed a potion lab, a duelling room, a library, a gym, a ritual room, and other structures. He had also filled his kitchen in the trunk with every type of food he had found and put it in under the preservation charm. Now he could just always duplicate the food and eat as much as he wanted. [1]
Harry used the gym every day to get into the best shape. He knew that his body couldn't develop muscles at that age, so he kept the workout in the gym light for now. Light workouts, nutritious food, nutrition potions, and other dietary supplements were all that got him a healthy body.
He was now taller than an average child at his age, and while his muscles were still developing, he was stronger than other students were going to be at Hogwarts. With the help of his physical training, he had increased the stamina that was surely going to help him. He also no longer wore any glasses. He brought muggle lenses and charmed them with the charms that would put Moody's magical eye or Dumbledore's glasses to shame. His scar had also faded now, just as he had in the future after the Horcrux was removed.
But it wasn't enough; he needed to get stronger and fitter, and that is how rituals came into play. He knew that Voldemort had done many rituals in his youth to gain some advantages over anyone else, and therefore he would need to. It wasn't the only reason that Harry wanted to do them. No, he has to do them to reach the level of power he had in the future. He needed to be on the level so that any dark lord arises, and he would be able to defend himself and his loved ones.
Rituals were some unnatural magic, but they weren't totally against the nature of magic. But they did produce some unnatural effects on the body, soul, magic, and mind too. The rituals were dangerous, but there were many rituals that were worth the danger.
Many people, including Dumbledore, have performed rituals in their youth. He got to know about it from the portrait of Dumbledore, that some rituals can be done to improve a person's body, mind, and magic. But there was also a line to be drawn on when to stop. Horcrux creation was also done by ritual, which involved murdering people in cold blood.
Harry knew that that's why he was cautious about which ritual to perform. He had found a lot of rituals that could be done to increase one's potential without having to make big sacrifices, such as blood or other ingredients, which Harry didn't have a problem getting.
He performed some rituals that helped him to get in better touch with his magic. Some of the rituals that he did contain a cleansing ritual that gets rid of all the abuse that Dursley did to him. The ritual needed blood in exchange for what it promised, but as it wasn't a ritual that was related to necromancy, it was safe for Harry to perform.
Then he performed a ritual to improve his physical features and the symmetry in his face and to remove other irregularities in his body, making him more charming. Harry didn't care about that, but it was a very important ritual because symmetry in the body helped in duels. And a charming personality never hurts and could provide additional help, just as did Tom got.
Another ritual is to increase his stamina and reflexes. Then another ritual would lead to an early growth spurt and improve his overall body composition. Harry knew that he was a late bloomer in terms of his physical growth during puberty. It was not until his sixth year that his growth spurt hit. He certainly remembers the comment Hermione made about him being fanciable. Well, it certainly won't hurt if he becomes a little more perfectly handsome, maybe?
Next was ritual, which increased his mental capabilities and strengthened his hold on Occlumency, enhancing his creativity and problem-solving skills.
Then there was a ritual that would help him connect better with his magic, mind, soul, magical core, Animagus forms, emotions, and everything about him. It would allow Harry to get better control over his magic. He would be able to decide more easily how much power to use in spells. This increases his performance in a duel, as he won't magically tire himself out. The duels, like the one with Dumbledore, Voldemort, or some other dark lord, would go longer than others and would require him to not magically tire himself out.
There were healing rituals, as Harry knew that he was very prone to injuries, therefore it was a very important ritual for him because it would boost his healing abilities. His body would heal faster than others', and it would also increase his stamina and immunity to other diseases. So, he had to do a set of seven very powerful rituals.
The ingredients needed were: his very carefully stored phoenix tears from his Animagus form in his trunk, uncursed unicorn blood (without forcefully taking it, it can be purchased from Knocturn Alley at a good amount of price), some amount of elixir of life and some other venom and poisons. [2]
Those seven rituals were some of the most significant rituals, as spending too much time being injured won't do any good to him. Harry also knew that war was inevitable, and he was going to be at the centre of it. Having the boost to get healed far faster than others was going to be a very big advantage.
Lastly, was a ritual that bound all the effects of the rituals he performed that would help him to perform at his best and optimize the link and sync between his body, mind, and soul.
The rituals were all successful and went without any difficulty. He was in one of the best conditions that he had hoped for. He then started to work on his Animagus form, and it was also a success because of the rituals. Being in so much sync with his magic, mind, and body, it wasn't much harder for him to get into his old forms.
But what surprised Harry was when he found another form, and it was nothing very special, but very ordinary.
A raven.
A very ordinary raven
Harry figured that it was again because of the soul merging. When he had flown again, carelessly around, he just remembered how much he loved it. The younger self in him was excited about the same, along with another thing that Harry had desperately wanted since he was a kid; to be normal, to be ordinary.
Harry chuckled. He knew that he was far from an ordinary child, and now even more so. He was the Master of Death. He was a time traveller. He was even a freak among the freaks. But it seems that his younger self was as stubborn as he was in the future and therefore still determined to be ordinary, which wasn't possible.
Still, he welcomed his new form. After all, he loved flying, so it was a new addition to his family, and now he could fly without drawing much attention to himself and also spy on others. So, it was pretty useful.
Thestral, his other form, was also a useful one, but some wizards could see it, and also, they were big, so they were of no use in spying. And as for the Phoenix form, it drew too much attention to himself that he couldn't spy even if he wanted to. The Basilisk also had a similar problem as many people had warded their homes against snakes entering as they can be dangerous to them. So it could cause Harry problems when it came to spying, but now that he had his Raven form, he could easily go and spy on people because manors and homes were rarely warded against birds.
Harry has to remind himself that his main enemy wasn't Voldemort or any other dark lord that came, but rather the society of wizarding Britain and, to some extent, the whole world too.
Voldemort was born in the first place because of how pureblood society was. How squibs were treated and what was the behaviour of the Gaunt Family. He got support because of what the purebloods thought of the muggle-borns and half-bloods.
And just seeing the entire situation like this, Voldemort seems to be a very small issue. He had been fighting dark wizards, criminals, and other dangerous people for more than a century when he approached the veil, and Voldemort wasn't even close to the most dangerous one he had fought.
It wasn't because Voldemort wasn't capable; no, it was far from that. He only defeated Voldemort because of sheer damn luck, Hermione, and all the planning that Dumbledore had done. His role in righting wasn't much, but with others in the future it was different. Everything that Harry achieved after the defeat of Voldemort was only because of his hard work, determination, knowledge, and planning.
With no Hermione by his side to make plans for him or to give him any knowledge from the books by reading them, He had to read all the books and also make plans himself instead of her. As a result, Voldemort was not one of his primary concerns; he had to defeat him, but it wasn't his primary goal.
Harry's thoughts drifted to the old headmaster. In changing the wizarding society, either Dumbledore would be his ally or his enemy. He wanted the former, but it wasn't for him to decide.
Dumbledore had manipulated his life, and he didn't like Dumbledore much, but the man had been one of the greatest men of his time. But like every other hero, a tragedy was needed for him to be the hero, and his tragedy was his family.
In the future, after all the manipulations were revealed by Dumbledore to him, he was angry with Dumbledore, and for some years he hadn't talked to the Headmaster's portrait. But after some time, he came to him and talked to him about the headmaster's life before he became the wizard everyone knew.
Dumbledore's portrait had told him everything he asked because he was in portrait form and under the Headmistress' instruction to speak the truth without making twists and turns. From there, Harry learned that Dumbledore carried a burden, a burden that Harry couldn't have imagined himself carrying. He and Dumbledore were similar in many ways, and one of them was their guilt management. If anything bad were to happen, they would both find a way to blame it on themselves.
In Dumbledore's case, it was the death of his sister. Dumbledore blamed him for everything that happened on the day his sister died. Of course, Harry had asked him for the truth about what happened on that day. And after learning everything, Harry couldn't find himself blaming a single person there. Harry couldn't fault Dumbledore for having dreams. He couldn't fault Dumbledore for loving someone. No, he could never do that. He would be a hypocrite if he did so because he also had loved.
Despite everything that happened between Harry and Dumbledore, Harry could never say that Dumbledore was a fool. Harry, who had always admired Dumbledore, knew that he was the wisest man that he had ever met.
Even after travelling the whole world and meeting some of the most accomplished witches and wizards in their times and fields, he had never met anyone as wise as Dumbledore. Hermione was the most brilliant person he had met. Her skills at learning new things and researching were just amazing. Maybe his perspective was skewed because he loved her, but Dumbledore was the wisest man he had ever met.
And that pushed Harry, it really did. Harry wanted to learn what made Dumbledore the man he had become in the latter part of his life. During his travels across the world, he came across many witches and wizards who had suffered during the time of Grindelwald's terror. From them, he learned how terrified they were and how no one would come up and fight against him and stop him until Dumbledore finally did.
He asked Dumbledore what came to him that it took him almost two decades to fight Grindelwald. Dumbledore told him everything about the blood pact between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, their situation, and everything. And after knowing that both Grindelwald and Dumbledore loved each other, the respect Harry had for Dumbledore grew.
Yes, many would have been disgusted that Dumbledore was even associated with the man, but not Harry, because love was just like that. After he understood the depth of his feelings towards Hermione, he realised just how far he was willing to go for her. The meaning of what Dumbledore said earlier made a lot more sense later.
Love is a powerful thing. You, most of the time, can't decide who you fall in love with. And once you are in love, you, most of the time, aren't yourself. It was the power that Voldemort did not know. That's what Dumbledore said. Back then, just because of his loyalty to Dumbledore and trust in him, Harry had accepted the answer. But later on, he just realised how much it was true, how love was the most powerful force.
He would have thought of Dumbledore as foolish when he gave him the answer to defeat Voldemort as the power of love. But when a person, such as himself or Dumbledore, who has lost everything they care about in life, realises what true love is and how powerful it is,
He couldn't imagine ever fighting against Hermione. He couldn't imagine what he would have done if he put himself and Hermione in the shoes of Dumbledore and Grindelwald. He couldn't think that he would even be able to fight against her, even after two decades or two centuries. He simply couldn't. [3]
Dumbledore told him that Grindelwald's terror was spreading and there were not many people standing up and opposing him, and then the choice between doing what was easy and what was right came. If Dumbledore hadn't intervened, Grindelwald would have won, but he would never have targeted Dumbledore. They were never enemies before Dumbledore confronted him and decided to do what was right instead of what was easy.
Harry had been deeply affected by the whole truth that he had come to know. His respect for Dumbledore grew because of what he did. People like Rita would always try to drag his name into the mud of how Grindelwald and Dumbledore were friends and even loved each other (if she came to know about it), but Harry knew the truth now. Dumbledore was a true hero in the war against Grindelwald. He made the biggest sacrifice that many people won't even acknowledge, but he did.
He also understood why Dumbledore became what he did in the last of his years. He saw the rise of Tom. Heck! He brought a young boy to Hogwarts and educated him. He saw Tom grow up. And again, he blamed himself when he came back as Voldemort, again saw nobody rising against Tom and everyone looked up to him to defeat Voldemort. Therefore, his task became to defeat Tom.
Hearing the prophecy both gave him hope and terrified him. He knew that he was losing; he couldn't defeat Tom. He may be more powerful than Tom and have the Elder Wand with him, but he was getting old, and his speed wasn't what it used to be some fifty years ago. And Tom was young, a very cunning young adult with a speed that was very admirable, and nobody could match him in the whole of Britain.
Dumbledore knew that they were just barely holding on, and he was sure that they would lose if the war went on some more time. He was getting old, and he didn't know how much he would be able to hold on to. So, when the prophecy came to light, it gave him hope to win the war, but it also terrified him.
It terrified him because it stated that person would be Tom's equal, and that was what could have been the opposite of what Harry was. If things went differently and, by chance, the subject of the prophecy had joined Voldemort then? It would have been the end of not just wizarding Britain but the whole wizarding world because the prophecy made them both Tom and the person who could defeat immortals.
Both can only be defeated by the hands of others and in no other way. And that's why Dumbledore tried his best so that Harry would get love, the thing that Voldemort never got, and therefore make them different. But things hadn't gone like that, and it was just all by luck that Harry hadn't turned out like Voldemort and purely the opposite of him. Some manipulations that Dumbledore needed were all it took for him to plan the downfall of Tom, even if it meant losing his own life.
Another thing that Harry realised about Dumbledore was that he was a researcher and not a soldier like himself. Dumbledore's all-forgiving attitude was not what one should expect of a man fighting against a Dark Lord. The methods of Dumbledore were also not what the opposite side should have been. Dumbledore's methods made the 'light' side suffer more than the 'dark' side, and Harry knew that if they had to win the war, then this had to change.
And he wasn't talking about the war just against Voldemort, but against society. He understood that Dumbledore was a researcher, and therefore he shouldn't get involved in the fights. He was much like Hermione. He knew that she would never be able to kill anyone. He knew that she was more than capable of doing so, but she wouldn't because she was also a researcher. She also liked to learn and solve mysteries, but she was also no fighter.
No, he wasn't saying that she couldn't duel or that. It was far from that. Both Dumbledore and Hermione were some of the best duellists he knew, too, but the thing was, they wouldn't be able to take anyone's life. Hermione, maybe because she was far too loyal. She may possibly even take a person's life to save someone she loves. But he knew that she would never be able to get over the fact that she killed someone, and the same was for Dumbledore.
And that made them different. Dumbledore wasn't ruthless and a soldier, but rather a researcher, a teacher, or a mentor, but not a fighter. And that was fine. Dumbledore could just stay away from the war and do what he did best, which was to teach instead of doing something that he couldn't. He was only engaged in both wars because no one was there to take the charge. He needed to fight because there was no one else that was taking charge.
He knew that people would ask questions of Dumbledore about why he didn't fight, but the thing was, Dumbledore didn't owe anyone anything. If anything was, then the whole wizarding world owed Dumbledore. And they owed so much that they couldn't even think of it. If he hadn't stepped up and made sacrifices, then Grindelwald would have been closer to completing his goal instead of being locked up in a prison.
Harry knew that and was also grateful for that, but now things had changed. He would have to talk to Dumbledore someday about his time travel, and then it would be clear to him if they would work together or not.
He knew that his methods might not be liked by Dumbledore, but some of them were necessary. They were necessary to ensure the betterment of the wizarding world. He knew that Dumbledore may not like his plan to kill all the Death Eaters or the sympathisers of any other dark lord.
He knew that prisons could be broken into, and it wouldn't do any good to them if the prisoners simply escaped. Any murderer and rapist that doesn't feel any remorse should be killed right away. In the muggle world, it was nearly impossible to tell whether or not a person regretted his or her actions. But that wasn't the problem in the magical world, simply use truth serum or a magical oath to ensure that the person never repeats the same act and let magic punish him.
What would all the representatives of Wizengamot be doing when Aurors would be risking their lives to protect the innocents? They would be sitting on their lazy arses in their manors, away from the war and bloodshed. While the common people would suffer, they would either be relaxing in their Manors behind the protection of family wards or joining the dark lord in harming them. Harry would make sure that it didn't happen. He would make sure that all the representatives would be working on giving every single captured Death Eater a fair trial and working for the betterment of the people of Britain. He won't just let them relax while all the rest of the wizarding world would be fighting a civil war.
Moving on to the next problem, Harry also started to plan what he was going to do just after he entered the wizarding world again. He was aware that he was still underage, so he would be unable to claim his seat of Potter-Peverell House in Wizengamot and lobby members for Sirius's trial. He knew that he couldn't do much right now as his age was only 9.
He had thought of a way of getting a very valuable ally and getting Sirius free too. It was a risky plan, but he had thought that he might do it next year. That was the best course of action, and if it went well, he would gain a powerful ally and also get Sirius free.
He can't capture Pettigrew, because Percy Weasley is at Hogwarts right now with his pet rat, and it wouldn't do any good if someone saw him there. Even when Percy comes back, he can't go and get Pettigrew, because it would cause a lot of problems. In the summer, there would be around 9 people in the house because Charlie and Bill visited Burrow on occasion, therefore assuming the worst-case scenario.
He would have to stun them all, take Pettigrew with him, and then wipe their memories. Then he would have it delivered to Amelia Bones because he couldn't trust anyone else to get Sirius justice. But even then, he wasn't sure that Sirius would get his trail. The Minister was totally in the pockets of Lucius Malfoy right now, and until that was the case, getting Sirius a trial was almost impossible.
Lucius would never let Sirius get free. He would do everything in his power to keep Sirius in prison because that's how Draco would become Lord Black. Slimy git.
Therefore, he knew Pettigrew would have to wait; he would get what was coming for him, but not now. So, he moved on to his next target, and that was to remove one of the Horcruxes of Tom.
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Author's Notes:
1) Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration only states that one cannot conjure food out of thin air but one can transform, enlarge or multiply it. So, that's why Harry would just multiply the food that he had preserved
2) I will explain in later chapters that from where Harry got the elixir of life.
3) Please remember the last line very carefully I am going to use this later on in Master of Death Series.
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