Twins: A Different Life (Book one)

Seven

Harry had lessons with Merlin once a week and the aged Warlock had been delighted to find out that Harry did, in fact, have some hidden abilities.

The boy shared his ability and could cause and manipulate lightning, which meant that Harry had the ability to master the element of air; something he would do overtime. He also had the ability to master the element of fire too, a welcome surprise, however, Merlin Harry had warned Harry that he wasn't likely to master either element before his eleventh birthday but that only made Harry more determined to try. Merlin had also told Harry all about his Godfather and his mate and showed him how to access the subconscious link that Merlin had opened. It had made him so much happier to know, though he couldn't help but feel a huge sense of loss at not seeing either Sirius or Remus.

Much to Godric's delight, Harry had shown an exceptional ability to fly a broomstick, not only that, the boy seemed to have no fear of attempting anything and everything whilst in the air. It was like he was born to fly, and by the first month of him being on a broom he was already flying around the pitch standing up - something neither Rowena nor Helga was pleased about. He carried his talent over to riding animals too, horses and hippogriffs seemed to adore the boy and he grasped how to ride them properly within another month; having particularly fun in testing the hippogriffs to the length of their flight ability and loving every second of it. Rowena was less than impressed when she caught him flying past the Astronomy tower and Godric's ears were still ringing after the hour-long lecture she gave him. She didn't find out about him putting Harry on Hercules, his Griffin familiar, however, something Ric was thankful for.

Helga worked with Harry in Care of Magical Creatures helped him when flying he loved animals too. When Harry was nine, he was informed that he would be expected to learn how to do some of his spells non-verbally, and instructed by Helga to do so. Sur[risingly, it was Helga who was best at non-verbal spells, and as she was a highly adept teacher, she went through all of his basic magic with him until he could do it silently, and then they would advance. Godric, Rowena and Salazar came together once a week and taught him how to combine Transfiguration, Defense, Charms and Offence into duelling, teaching him to never rely on one branch of magic and to always keep moving.

He picked up on the movements surprisingly quickly and his reflexes were almost inhuman, much to their amazement, and it wasn't long before he had started to incorporate his daggers into the dues. Salazar had gifted him with a stunning set of goblin made daggers, they were pure black with vicious curved blades and beautifully carved hilt finished with two sparkling marquise-cut emeralds. As they were goblin made, they're resistant to pretty much anything, only taking in that what makes it stronger, and Harry had found that he was able to slice spells in half, as well as deflect them with the blades. His and Salazar's secret of Parseltongue was discovered by the others when Harry accidentally handed in his Arithmancy homework written in Parseltongue, Sal had found it hilarious when Harry had brought it to him and was sure to remind the child of it as much as possible.

Besides this and other incidents including accidentally blowing out a wall, his Mind Magic had to be advanced further, Salazar had already taught him how to build a mindscape and Harry's wasn't basic but it wasn't as detailed as it could be, only being Aphelia's home and it wasn't fully connected. He developed his mindscape into layers and weaved layers of defences into the actual scape rather than just protecting it from the outside, he had his first corridor which had nasty tripwires and then a Parseltongue password door that led to the home of Salazar's Basilisk familiar, Aphelia, who he had slithered around to protect the viewing pool he created in replacement of Aphelia's pool/ The basilisk was the only protection in the hall, but then, she was a basilisk and it would take something close to a miracle to get that far into his mind anyway, and they would still have to face a basilisk.

In the end, there was a statue of Sal and another Parseltongue password opening that led to stone stairs that would flatten into a slide, like the female dorms, unless you tapped the right stone before you took a step. It wouldn't be too dangerous if only it didn't lead directly to a study and the momentum would carry the intruder straight into a burning fireplace. The study was identical to the one Sal owned when he was down working and spending time with Aphelia, the only difference was Harry wasn't big enough to fit the growing basilisk and Sal's was. There were bookshelves everywhere and every book that could be seen is a book Harry had read, and he was able to go back and read them whenever he pleased.

There was also a tall ebony display cabinet that was filled with hundreds of phials, each shelf was of a different year and organised by the month and then by person. It was a charming cabinet, of course, expanded on the inside so much that Harry could walk into and have better access to his memories. However the cabinet was also a trick, An intruder could pick up memory but they would be unable to view it even if they poured it out if they did that then it would simply vanish and reappear on the shelf where it had sat before. The only way to view the memory was to discover the correct bookcase, guess yet another Parseltongue password and entered a bare room with only a viewing pool in the centre.

It was a technique Salazar had created himself and it was a mix of things. The first, looping, was where the memory would return back to its shelf - something it would also do once the memory had been viewed. The second, connecting, was where the mindscape was fully connected to the body and soul had acted as the link to the viewing pool - usually, when a pool was used, the one who's memory it was had to form a magical link to play the memory of others. The final, vanishing, was where the memory would vanish if it was poured or release in any other place except the pool, and it was poured or released in any other place except the pool, and it was difficult because it was formed as a ward in Parseltongue by Salazar and it had to be cast on the entire cabinet, the entire study, entrance cabinet, the entire study, entrance chamber and corridor so the memories were not shown anywhere else. It was the hardest thing Harry had ever done in his mind and it took him almost a year to have it perfected, but once it was done he was so pleased.

Salazar had also made him strengthen his defences protecting the entrance to his mindscape, and Harry had gotten extremely bored so he thought of something new. It had taken him six months to perfect, but when he had finished it, it had left Salazar stumped. It was a completely white space, there was nothing else except blankness and seven doors one behind the other, seven being the most powerful magical number. Each door had either a password, a ward, a sequence or riddle that had to be completed. The passwords were two words and each word was a different language and on both the first and last door. The sequence was tapping on the correct symbol in the correct order, but the catch was there were either some symbols that were thrown in to trip the intruder up. The riddle was written on the door and they would have to speak the answer to get it to open and the door in the centre, door four, was warded with everything he knew and would have to unlock before they could pass. Salazar had been confused, the doors were not blocked off and it was possible to go any door and anytime to unlock it.

Salazar had merely gone through the last door, he cracked the password - as all magic leaves its' traces and he knew Harry enough to know the words he used! - and expected to be sent through to the next layer of defence. Instead, he had walked through the door and was met with the white space again, only this time one of the doors was open. After several hours of the man not being able to work out what had happened but knowing there had to be a way forward else Harry would have shut of his own mind and would be in comatose. Harry had finally relented and explained to Salazar that, in order to break the looping illusion, all of the doors must be open and then the intruder had to walk through the last door to move one. It was based on the vaults at the bottom of the school, where seven keys had to be found and used before it would open, it didn't matter what order just as long as they were all unlocked one after the other.

Salazar had been impressed and had set about creating the same for his own mind. The mastering of his own mind had also helped him master his animagus transformation with Ric, he had a black phoenix form which made him immune to most poisons and venoms, enabled him to heal at a much rapid rate and he never got sick and gave him the ability to travel through flames. He and Salazar had spent over a year working out a way to allow him to use his flames whilst human. When Harry was ten, the Founders and Merlin finally sat him down to explain the events of Samhain that had cause Merlin to do what he did, Harry understood that he was not born from this time, that there had been an attempt on his life and he would eventually have to return to his own time, he just didn't know why.