Burning an additional hour talking to Daphne about martial arts wasn't a plan in his day, but it brought him close enough to her to begin to smile in his presence. Not enough to show her teeth, just a gentle tilt that felt warm, the supposed Ice Queen was much warmer once you found the magic buttons to press to make her talk. With the promise to spar one day settled, he had remembered all he wanted to from the books he checked out, the curse knowledge would be something he'd have to review. But for now, he could focus on at least the first year's worth of spells, already knowing a few uses he could get out of three of the eight he had, unlocking, mending, softening charms, all great ones to start with.
The wand lighting charm was something that came easily to him, practicing that while he walked through the hallways, heading for a magic practice classroom. It had dumies, puzzles, as well as several obstacle courses to help hone spell casting, though rarely used outside of mandatory class visits. Once he entered one he wheeled out one of the enchanted dummies, pointing his wand at the wheels, Harry did the locking charm on them. It took him three times with the right wheel, by the time he failed three times with the left, he noticed a change in the flow of mana, it seemed his breathing while it didn't weaken his magic, strengthened it. Once he reached the height of his breathing before he was to release air, his magic moved with a bit more force, allowing him to lock the final wheel, putting distance between him and the puppet. He tries the severing charm multiple times without relying on his breathing trick, first getting the wand movements down until they felt comfortable before he started to perform the magic.
After four tries an invisible blade pulsed out to leave a deep two-inch wound in the dummy, only for the wood to shift as it magically mended itself shortly after. Continuing to practice each of the eight spells until he got them down, the biggest reason for failing the wand movements since it was hard to write how the wrist moved. Once he found the tricks, his casting became much easier, making his way through the Wand-Lighting, Softening, Severing, Locking, and finally the unlocking spell. Then he had to take a break from practicing since his mind was becoming sluggish, slowing down how fast he could determine if his spells worked. With magic training done until his mind recovered he left the training room, heading for the headmaster's office.
There were a few things he wanted to check before he continued further, he wanted to determine the kind of Old Dumbles he ended up with: Good, Evil, or fanfics making him strange. As Harry approached the gargoyles leading to the Headmaster's office, they didn't ask for a password, merely parting to the side to allow him entry with silent eyes that followed him up the stairs. As he ascended the small curved staircase to the waiting room, it was adorned with a few of the more old, famous trophies of Hogwarts, as well as rewards from old professors, headmasters, and students. He took some time to look around for any of his parents, their friends that he knew, or even old noseless himself, but he found none except one.
A Quidditch award given to the Gryffindors with his Father's name, the biggest on it, only because he was the captain, but Harry noticed a difference. Compared to other trophies with the Captain's name slightly bigger, they weren't as big as his father's was on this trophy, just as he was thinking why...
He felt a presence get near him, the reflection of Dumbledore stepping into the glass of the case holding the trophies, his eyes a soft as they gazed at the back of Harry's head. ''I keep that trophy up here in particular because of its meaning, that year your Father did his very hardest to be a good captain, from training, helping study, all the way to practicing indoors in bad weather. The whole team asked for it to be only his name on it this time, but he refused all of them, saying even if it was thanks to his efforts, it was the efforts of others that helped it blossom."
His words held a bit of age to them, but a deep power Harry recognized, like a wisened old sect Master if he used 'presence' alone, Albus' strength raised him to the peak of Gold Dust. Being able to create a gash 30 feet long through stone that was quite deep, something deeply impressive to find in this age Harry lived in.
Not that this world used such a measurement.
"I'm glad to see that my Father had a mix of good traits and bad, though I'll be sure to do him proud either way by becoming the first-ever first-year seeker." Harry's joke amused Albus as he patted Harry's shoulder with a still firm hand, showing even despite his old age, he had some strength left in the old bones of his.
''If you do achieve such a feat, I imagine it'd make him feel very smug, your mother Lily however, would hope you remained safe... But alas, what brings you to my office today Harry, unless you truly only entered to admire some old man's sentimentals?"
''No, I actually wanted to talk to you about using some of my trust fund, while I could begin to send letters to the Bank from here, I'd rather be introduced to a goblin that you trust, Headmaster. It's a sizable sum that I could never hope to spend, but I'd like to fund a few projects, research, as well as an upgrade to my accommodations, and available training areas.''
The headmaster raised his thick white brows some at the prospect, nodding as he released Harry's shoulder to turn and walk towards his office. The doors opened silently for him as he crossed into the much more homey office than the other teachers, looking more like a conversation sitting room than an office. With gizmos, whistling gadgets, a few thingiemajigs that resorted the bookshelves constantly, Falks, the beautiful bird, looked tired as it stayed in a relaxed loaf. The soft, clear trills of its breathing became soft like snores, before chittering as its eyes opened and it slowly blinked as it looked around, whistling down shortly after.
''I can introduce you to a goblin I trust, of course that much is easy, but tell me about what else you want to change, is your stay in Hogwarts not up to your expectations?''
''Far from that, I just wish for a private room instead, a place I can study in peace, a training room for my body, my spells, as well as my mind. As well as get a section set away for a practice club I'll establish for dueling, even if it's just going over the fundamentals of dueling magic without practicing it until a teacher has free time.''
At the words spoken the old man seemed to relax some, seeming genuinely worried that Harry was having a hard time he nodded. ''I can prepare these things for you within the next few hours, as for a place to train many skills, there exists a place already." He settled into his chair with a soft sigh as he relaxed, his left lower drawer of his desk opening as a simple-looking brass key floated out of it. Taking it, Dumbledore weaved a few magical spells, Harry watching as the strong wizard didn't use a wand to enchant the key.
''Here, a key to the Room of Requirements, as long as you think hard of the room you want, put this key against any door, and it will lead you to the Headmaster's private section of the enchanted space. I don't use it anymore, given I'm so busy running around playing a political balancing act, it's only right someone else makes use of the enchantment, though if the Crystal in the middle gets dim, you let me know, alright? Only I or Fawkes has the level of energy to do so.''
Harry took the key as it was handed over, staring at it for a moment before he looked back to the headmaster. "This sounds like a pretty big magical thing you're just handing over?''
''Handing over? A sum of 80 Galleons a month makes it a rented opportunity, that will handle the ingredient cost to keep your potion and material room stocked." The headmaster hummed, not needing to discuss price since it was genuinely a great price; most small costs were done with the house elves' magic. Even now, Harry could tell a portion of galleons was removed, while it might seem like quite a lot to others, it wasn't to Harry. No one was privy to how much his trust fund vault gave him, not even the goblin who managed his vaults knew he was receiving a staggering 10,000 galleons a year. While it was quite the sum that would build up to even more once he graduates, then receives the rights to the family vault itself, he'll gain a yearly salary of 34k a year.
While a little over 8k of it would be used to keep everything giving him money afloat, he already had plenty of ideas to start earning more money.
''As for the Goblin contact, I'll need to think of one that gets along with the Potter's Account Manager, while he doesn't need to; I've learned goblins who work well together are quite dangerous.'' Albus chuckled softly as he took a lemon sour candy from the bowl, sliding it a bit forward to offer some to Harry, who took it for later, liking sour things.
''By tonight, I'll have your new room prepared, along with your stuff moved, you'll feel your key vanish during Supper, but don't worry, it'll just be me updating the enchantments to allow you into the room.'' As he sucked on the candy a bit longer Albus raised to stand, pushing it to the side as he began to speak again.
''Though with that I must abide you allow me to see you out, Young Harry, I sense the call of the council near even no-.'' As if on cue, his words were interupted by the beautiful barn owl that swooped in, arcing through the air in a sideways twirl, looping upside down before coming around to land peacefully on the high-backed guest chair... with a letter.
"Ah...'' Albus sighed softly as he didn't even bother it a look as he continued to walk with Harry out of the office, as they walked through the trophy room, once they reached the top, Albus stopped.
Harry turned with a small smirk as he knew what kind of Albus he had now, an old man who was doing his best to fight for a world that was working against him.
''When you get some time, could you train me on how to help you deal with the tedious tasks of your titles? I know what takes up most of your time is foot traffic, I'll always be looking for ways to earn a few favors from you, Old-Man!'' With that he left the Headmaster in his office, chuckling as Harry descended, only then, when he passed the Gargoyles did the left one speak up, its voice rather soothing for grating stone.
''Thank you, He Who Survived. It had been some time since the Headmaster last laughed.''
''Well you get word to me if he's ever needing another, even a badass like him needs a drinking buddy now and then." Harry smiled at both of them, even the silent one, as he left, with magic training still on hold, and he noticed the candy helped. Instead of his body accepting the harmful ingredients of the candy, it seemed to become excess energy that burned into magic to help him recover. With plenty of time left in the day to burn and no prior commitment until the night feast, he takes his new key directly to the room it gives him access to, placing it into a keylock of one of the many doors.
He thinks of a 'Forge to craft weapons and molds in.' three times as it stated before entering, stepping into what looked to be a strange mix of a few things. For one, the scene around him was of an old warehouse Harry worked in, the familiar wood, single hole in the far left eastern part of the roof. But the items he requested were placed in the way that his Cultivator would've placed them, for now he planned to make some golden needles. One of his first steps of many to not only heal his body, but to rebirth it into a body worth being judged as a cultivator, even if it's just Body for now.
....Where would he get the gold you ask? Well he's rich with a trust fund of ten thousand galleons a month, that even the great father whimpering Draco can't boast for he? Is Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived
(A/N) If you see a point I can improve, let me know, if you have any questions about terms, or items used, comment, and I'll answer as soon as I can! My upload schedule for this is subject to change, but I want at least two chapters every week, more if I can find more time than usual to write!