Chapter- 13 : Scars Part - 2

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Except home. He wanted to go home.

Harry balled his fists and rubbed his eyes. His mind was like an angry cauldron, bubbling with a myriad of emotions and on the verge of boiling over, emitting noxious fumes that obscured most of his thoughts.

He took a deep breath, and then another. Going home, that was his goal. Nothing else mattered.

He didn't quite believe Dumbledore's assertion that there was no way back. At least not without proof. He should research it, find answers, go to the library. Unfortunately wearing these hideous borrowed glasses for even an hour resulted in a headache so reading was not an option until he acquired better ones. And if he was buying essentials, a matching wand was a definite must too. Living amongst his kidnappers he would need a weapon that worked.

Which brought up a dilemma: to buy things he needed money and currently he had not even a knut to his name. Of course Dumbledore had mentioned hiring him to teach yesterday and he could go to his office right now and demand an advance.

He grimaced. Him and the Headmaster, alone in an office. The man was quite an accomplished Legilimens and desperate for information; a dangerous combination.

He should have asked for money yesterday. If he were to do so now it would feel a lot like begging for help and he was adamant not to show any weakness. Next time they called for a meeting he'd rake everyone over the coals and demand plenty of compensation, but until then it would be best if he could make do.

Well, the Room of Requirement had provided him clothes and glasses and a wand, maybe it contained some money as well. It was the best idea he could come up with for now, so minutes later found him marching up and down a seventh floor corridor focussing on needing the Room of Hidden Things.

Ancient solid wooden furniture formed the foundation for stacks of junk ten feet high. A path meandered through the piles of mismatched items, disappearing around the corner. Without an end in sight it resembled an endless forest of desks, chairs, armour, books, clothing, frisbees, empty bottles, magazines and so much more.

A shiver crossed Harry's spine as he suppressed an instinctual need to check the room for Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. He could vividly remember being chased by fiery animals between the stacks. It was not a fond memory.

A few deep breaths helped him steel himself and he got out his badly matched wand. "Accio galleons." He waited, but nothing happened. Maybe he needed more power? "Accio sickles." Still nothing. "Accio knuts?"

When he wasn't pelted with money he clenched his teeth to hide his disappointment. Maybe wizarding money was protected against summoning? "Accio money pouches."

To his delight several came flying out of nowhere and he handily caught them all. The happiness didn't last long when he noticed how light they were. His suspicion was confirmed when he turned the bags inside out one by one. They were empty.

In hindsight it wasn't quite so surprising. The elves probably collected all the money people lost and added it to the Hogwarts vaults. This room was for useless things. Money was never that.

Dammit.

He really didn't want to approach Dumbledore from anything but a position of strength and needing something from him desperately was anything but that.

Well... While he didn't possess anything of his own, he was currently standing in a room full of lost and discarded items. Surely some of these were worth a little money?

He took a deep breath and gathered his magic to overpower another Summoning Charm through his mismatched wand. "Accio jewellery!"

This time there was a response as several shiny objects came flying in his direction, followed by crashes from deeper in the room when entire boxes dislodged themselves and took flight, destabilizing long held piles of junk in the process.

He was grinning widely as he watched the small pile of glittering metal and precious stones form until his instincts screamed at him and he dropped to the floor. His heart missed a beat as he saw what appeared to be a silver circlet soar by. It reminded him viscerally of another piece of jewellery in this very room that too was silver and meant to be worn on the head. Never before was Harry so glad that something was charmed against summoning.

Ravenclaw's diadem.

One of Voldemort's bloody Horcruxes was practically within reach.

His breath sped up and sweat broke out on his forehead as one of his more frequent nightmares appeared to come true.

Merlin, Voldemort was still alive. He needed to get down to the Chamber immediately for a fang-

With a jerk he wrenched his head to the side, looking away from the thing and dragging his body after it until he was completely turned and standing with his back to the pile, panting and shaking.

No! Voldemort was dead! He had fucking killed the bastard and nothing anybody could do would bring him back to life again.

Distantly he realised he was almost hyperventilating and he focused on his breathing to the exclusion of all else until he was merely breathing heavily and dropped his head in his hands.

Seeing and talking to people looking like people he liked back home was nothing like being forced to face the fact that there was someone walking around wearing the face of his most hated enemy. An enemy who still had Horcruxes.

Suddenly furious again he twirled on the spot and with an overly large wand movement not unlike swinging a golf club banished the innocent circlet deep into the room and out of sight.

Maybe if they were nice to him he'd tell them where to find the diadem before he left. For now he had a pile of jewellery which looked like it would earn him a few galleons.

Still, best to be cautious. After all, considering the fact that it was stashed here maybe some of it was enchanted – and not in a good way. If he hadn't known Ravenclaw's diadem was a Horcrux it would have looked just as harmless as the rest. The thought made him shudder.

Resolving to be careful Harry shrunk down the bigger items until everything fit in three of the money pouches and put those away in his robes. It was time to get to work.

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If you're eager to delve deeper into the story, consider joining my Patreon for exclusive content and early access to new chapters

30+Advanced Chapters there.

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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