Unconscious Preparations
A couple of days had passed since Flamel had left the boys with quite a lot of homework, so during that time, they had practically disappeared, completely absorbed in studying.
And the day to return to Hogwarts was, quite literally, the very next day.
Because of that, Wanda sent Billy to look for Harry, who had locked himself away in the Potter Mansion.
Billy stepped out of the fireplace and looked around. He had always found his friends' method of transportation rather interesting, and especially the Potter Mansion itself. Although, technically, his first visit had not been particularly fun, but rather exciting in a way that was definitely not the good kind. Even so, he still came by from time to time to use the library. It could be said that, much like Hermione Granger, the two of them had become frequent visitors to the Potter Mansion's library.
Billy already knew the rooms by heart, so he had a clear idea of where Harry would be. He walked straight there after greeting Grey and Liz, who were in charge of the cleaning, as well as Mrs. Potter, who, in her golem body, enjoyed taking care of the house's plants, which she herself had decorated.
Billy walked down a corridor where the rooms were basically different kinds of workshops. He had always found it interesting how the mansion had now returned to being something like a large but normal house, unlike the tower it had turned into before, during the incident with the golden skeleton. That event had earned Red an almost permanent ban from the mansion.
Through one of the rooms that stood open, he briefly caught sight of the golem Fleamont used to move around, seemingly brewing some potions, completely focused on what he was doing.
Even so, Billy continued on to the room right next to it, which was the alchemy workshop.
He was about to knock, but he knew that many times Harry became so deeply absorbed in his work, with such absolute concentration, that he would barely hear anything. Because of that, Billy decided to simply open the door instead, though, obviously, with caution.
He peeked his head inside for a moment, just to make sure he could enter without anything exploding in his face.
The workshop was filled with objects everywhere, of all kinds. From circular artifacts that looked far too much like some sort of grenade, the kind it was better not to ask about, to what appeared to be golden arms and legs. In one corner, there was a large pile of golden golems. One of the walls was lined with a library dedicated exclusively to alchemy books and recipes. There was also a worktable equipped with every tool needed for alchemy. And finally, in the center of the room, stood what looked like a strange column, covered in engravings of all kinds of runes.
Harry was standing in front of that column, staring at it intently, a large book in his hand, completely lost in thought.
Billy looked around the workshop with interest. Everything there seemed fascinating, and most of it had surely been created by Harry.
"Harry. Mom said it's time for you to come back, it's getting late and we need to prepare everything for tomorrow," Billy said.
That snapped Harry out of his focused state, and he turned slightly.
"Late?" Harry said as he pulled out his pocket watch and checked the time. "Oh, damn… when did so much time pass?" he muttered, hurrying toward the worktable. He began gathering several things and tossing them into a trunk. Tools, objects he would need… even several books. "Did you guys already prepare everything?" Harry asked while continuing to pack, including that strange monolith that had been sitting on the table, still unfinished.
"Yes. Earlier today. Well, at least I did. Tommy probably hasn't finished yet," Billy replied as he looked around the workshop. He had never been inside before, since creating things was not really his thing, but books always caught his attention. Especially one in particular, which rested atop a pile of gold Galleons. "And this?" Billy asked, pointing at a book with a solid gold cover that was especially eye catching.
"Oh. That's golden magic, or something like that. It's a study that was created using leprechaun magic for making fake gold as a base," Harry explained.
"Magic to create gold?" Billy said with interest.
"Yes, but it's not very useful. It lasts even less time than leprechaun magic, so it's really only good for making pretty, temporary objects. Draco became interested in it after the incident with the golden bones," Harry said as he picked up the book and handed it to Billy. "If you want it, you can keep it. I'm not that interested in it," he added.
"For me?" Billy asked.
"You can take any book that interests you," Harry said with a smile as he continued packing things into the trunk. Harry never refused something his siblings wanted.
Billy looked at the book with a small smile and pressed it against his chest.
"And why did he become interested in that magic if it's not that useful?" Billy asked curiously. It sounded rather useless… though in his case, he was interested simply because all kinds of magic fascinated him.
After all, learning as much magic as possible was always fun, even if he already had the most powerful magic under his control.
Harry paused for a moment, a playful smile forming on his face.
"Maybe you don't know this, but we're actually very competitive," Harry said, gently shaking his head. "Hermione learned magic from Mom. It's not chaos magic, but it's similar to how we use telekinesis, and she learned to control it quite well. Then Daphne started learning ice magic from her mother, a special kind of magic that comes from her family. After that, there's us, whose family specializes in potions and alchemy. But in the end, Draco, even though he has magic that comes from his family, really despises it for being… dark, let's say," Harry explained. "So he's trying to find his own mark, so to speak."
Harry finished packing everything into the trunk and then, with a simple wand that he barely moved, it shrank and slipped into his magical bag.
"I see," Billy said.
"Well, he's not the only one. Uncle Edward and Sirius also despise their family magic quite a lot. Especially Uncle Edward," Harry said with a thoughtful look, recalling something from the past that brought him a brief sense of discomfort.
"The magical world really is quite strange," Billy commented.
"Yes, much more than you think," Harry replied, amused.
"Can I ask you something?" Billy said, looking seriously at Harry.
Harry simply raised his hand, signaling for him to continue.
"Why does it always seem like you're preparing for a war?" Billy asked suddenly. "You and your friends," he added, since if Draco truly wanted to have powerful magic for his family, it had to be for some specific reason. Besides, they were always creating dangerous things. Even the golems, which had started out as a game, had ended up becoming something very different. An army that was now literally piled up in a corner of the workshop.
Harry froze for a moment at the unexpected question.
"Wow… I hadn't really thought about it that way," Harry said, as he looked at the golems in the corner, the bombs on the floor, and the column they had brought back when they had trouble with the red haired woman and the golems. He also remembered how they had improved the golems' weapons, to the point where they surpassed any magical toy. That really was an army. And now, on top of that, he was researching how to create a zone without magic.
There were also all the constant preparations. Learning so many things at once, thinking about the future. But… was it really necessary to know so much? If they were already good at what they did, why push themselves so hard, without rest?
Harry lightly touched his forehead, deep in thought.
"Well… maybe it's because from the moment I entered the magical world, it wasn't really friendly to me. There was always danger," Harry said. "Even though Mom is always behind me, I'd like to be able to protect myself and my friends, if possible. And maybe they feel the same way," he added, feeling that this was the closest answer to the truth. "Maybe I have a bit of post traumatic stress," he said with a smile that, although it looked playful, belonged to someone who had just realized something and did not even seem to care all that much.
Even though he had always been under the safety of Wanda's power, what he had lived through in the magical world was not something just anyone could face calmly.
"Whenever you need help, now you also have Tommy and me. After all, you help us a lot too… we're brothers," Billy said, looking at Harry.
Harry looked at him and smiled slightly, ruffling his hair.
"Yes, I know," he said. "Come on, before Mom comes looking for us," Harry added.
Then, the two of them headed back home.
…
Next chapter: returning to Hogwarts, the safest school in the magical world.