Knowledge is Power

Disclaimer/Plot/Author's Note: SEE FIRST CHAPTER

Dedication: I'd like to dedicate this story to my good friends: my recommended reads are Saviour of Magic by Colt01, For Love of Magic by Noodlehammer, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Less Wrong, Partially Kissed Hero by Perfect Lionheart, Harry Potter and the Daft Morons and Angry Harry and the Seven by Sinyk, Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin by The Sinister Man, Harry Potter and the Rune Stone Path by Temporal Knight, A Study in Magic and A Study in Magic: The Application by Books of Change, Dark and Light by Pleasedial123 and Harry Potter: My Life Is My Own by Sashian

Pairings: Eventual Harmony; Others TBD

Normal Speech

'Thoughts'

/Parseltongue/

Review Answers:

Setokayba2n: Horcruxes still exist in this universe;

Palletboy2001: I don't actually know, but there's time to decide;

Tahkaullus01: Interesting thought and it does seem appropriate, doesn't it?

"With this magic, someone, and I have my suspicions as to who they are, but someone has tried to unite their mental, physical and spiritual magical energies with young Mr Potter: in other words, Miss Granger…"

"Someone else's mind, soul and magic lives inside of Harrison?" asked Hermione, earning a surprised look from Flamel.

Before he nodded slowly, his eyes filled with a mixture of pride and amusement even as he looked away from the thunderstruck youth;

"Oh Albus, I like this one."

Chapter 27: Three, Two, One

Harry's 'Hogwarts'

To Harrison's amazement, the dream-Hogwarts, whatever or wherever it was, seemed to be just as real, well-detailed and perfectly-made, formed and built as the real deal.

The moving stairways were real; the portraits were real and moving, just like they did at Hogwarts; the suits of armour and the gargoyles were real.

Even the classrooms were real, though when Harrison peeked inside one, he found nothing more than an empty room, which confused him, but he didn't think too much about it. Instead, still confused by what he was experiencing, much less the explanations of how it was all happening, Harrison did the only thing he could think of doing at that moment.

He followed the…he didn't know what to call him: spirit?

Apparition?

Mental projection?

Imaginary friend made real?

Whatever he was…whoever or whatever he was, he looked and sounded like James Potter, Harrison's Father, so he chose to follow him, his Father, up through the strange Hogwarts remake, though as they climbed the stairs, Harrison was a little surprised to find their footsteps leading them up towards a very familiar chamber.

"Hang on," said Harrison, his eyes narrowed even as he followed his Father along the familiar corridor and towards the same portrait. "Why are you leading me towards the Chamber of Pride?"

"It's your home," said James, stopping outside the Chamber's entrance; however, just as Harrison went to give the password, his eyes widened when he saw his Father snap his fingers, commanding the portrait to open with nothing more than a whisper of his magic, even as he went on.

"Or, at least, it's where you feel most-comfortable, so I figured it was the right sort of place for our little chat…unless there's somewhere else you might like to go, kiddo?"

"No…" answered Harrison, walking into the Chamber, which didn't just look the same as his home away from home.

It even smelled like it, right down to his own scent of sweaty clothes and empty potions bottles, herbs and other resources from his research in the study, not to mention the almost constant smell of fresh vanilla and lavender that usually greeted Harrison whenever he walked through the portrait hole. "Here's fine, I guess."

"Great," said James, moving towards a spare seat before he asked, "In that case, won't you sit down?"

Taking a seat next to his Father, who seemed as comfortable as Harrison often felt in the Chamber, the young sorcerer cleared his throat before, looking to James, he asked the first question that came to mind.

Though, in truth, it was the one question he'd wanted to ask ever since he'd seen his past-imaginary friend transform into said man. "Are you real?"

"In here? Yeah," answered James, indicating the Chamber for emphasis before his expression softened slightly as he looked to Harrison before he added, "But out there, I'm dead, Harry…"

"I…I prefer Harrison," admitted the young sorcerer, earning a soft laugh from James.

"What? No exceptions, not even for your old man?"

Blushing at the dry humour, Harrison lowered his eyes before James went on, "Anyway, as I was saying, out there, I am dead and, before you ask, so is your Mum…and, I'm sorry to be the bearer of even more bad news, little buck, but even in here, she's…she isn't with us or, if she is, I haven't found her, so…anyway, the fact of the matter is that the both of us died on Halloween Night, a little over ten years ago now, but, thanks to a little prep work, a touch of desperation and, of course, my desire to see my boy survive what happened that night, part of my spirit endured and came in here…though not without a little complication."

"What complication?"

"Well," admitted James, linking his hands together while he also crossed his legs, resting his linked hands on his knees as he went on, "Before I explain that bit, you should know a little more about the ritual I used to make this possible. It's a very old ritual that should only ever be performed either in the direst of circumstances or with a medium powerful enough to endure all that implies."

Looking up at his son once again, James cleared his throat before he continued, "It's called a Ritual of Unification and, as a whole, is one of the most-powerful infusion rituals that a person can perform: so much so that, several centuries ago, the Ministry of Magic labelled it a top-class level of how dangerous it was and banned the practice of the magic from everyone save one family: one so powerful and so old they were masters of the arts of the Soul and the powers of Life and Death."

"Ours."

"Not exactly," admitted James, shaking his head before he explained his point to a now-curious Harrison, "Before our family became known as the Potters, we were known by another name, which dates back even further and is the legacy of one of the oldest and, I don't mean to sound boastful, but they're also, quite possibly, the most powerful magical bloodline still living…namely because they live in you, Harrison."

Leaning forwards in his seat, Harrison frowned before he asked, "Who are…or were they?"

"They were known as the Peverell Family," answered James, earning a shiver from his son, almost as though invoking the name itself was enough to chill Harrison right down to the core, even as James went on. "And, like I said, their magic, and their blood, was the only one who could practice such a dangerous art after the ruling was passed. Even then, I didn't find it until the very last day we were alive, your Mum and me; but there isn't a day that's gone by where I'm sad that it did happen."

Resting both hands on his lap, James looked deep into the fireplace, which seemed to burn brighter than it usually did, while James continued his tale, "I don't actually know if you know this yourself, Harrison, but we'd gone into hiding because word reached our ear…"

"I know about the attack and the prophecy," explained Harrison, cutting off James with a stern, darkened tone to his voice, earning a surprised, but also amused look from his Father as he nodded.

"Of course, you do; the whole revelation's part of the reason you're in here, after all."

"Trapped?"

"Not exactly," said James, indicating the realm around them as he explained, "By rights, you have the freedom to leave this place and do with it as you see fit: however, you lost control of your temper and broke one of the final seals on your magic, seals put there as a result of my own foolhardy desperation to protect my boy and help him see his manhood, which sounds weird, but that's what I did. Anyway, as a result, your magic drew you in here and led you to me so you could learn the truth. Now here you are, and here I sit, and here we go with everything you deserve to know, Harrison, but if you want to leave, you can."

"No," said Harrison, looking around once more as he told James, "I…I want to know the truth, Father, and…and although I've never even heard of what you're telling me about, I…I know, if I go now, I'll always wonder, so…so please, tell me more."

"All right," agreed James, looking back into the fireplace as he cleared his throat before he went on, "Anyway, you know about the attack and why we went into hiding, so I'll skip the prologue and go straight to the Main Event. When we were betrayed by Pettigrew, may he burn in hell for what he did to us and to you, I began working on the ritual, but it was complex, dangerous and took more time than I had. So, in a bid to speed things up, I invoked the Family Magic itself, calling on the Great Magic within our blood to help me, which was just as dangerous because, in order to power the ritual, I needed to sacrifice my greatest strength and weapon against the Dark Wanker."

"Your magic."

"Bingo," said James, a note of warmth lacing his words as he continued, "I sacrificed my own magic, using it to power the ritual, before I shed blood into the ritual area just as Voldemort came after us. Hoping to give the rite a few more minutes, I screamed for your Mother to take you and run, but I know she didn't: as for that snake-faced son of a bitch, he mocked me and, as he'd done before, he tried to get me to submit and serve the greater good as a real pure-blood wizard would do."

Smiling like a sly fox, James chuckled dryly as he remarked, "I told him to stick it where no woman will ever touch him, which, of course, pissed him off royally: he didn't even bother trying to mock me again. He just cast the Avada Kedavra Curse and, wham, bam, thank you, ma'am: I was dead and gone…or so he thought."

"The…the ritual worked?" asked Harrison.

"Yes," answered James, before he shook his head as he added, "And no: it worked because, in the moment I felt that damn curse destroy my body, my mind and spirit felt like they were being pulled in a whole other direction. At the same time, I felt my magic coming back to me, but before I had a chance to investigate it, I heard your Mum screaming…I knew he'd killed her and, without my body, I was basically a phantom with nothing left to give…save my power."

Suddenly, Harrison remembered his trance in the duel with Draco, as well as how he'd told Hermione he couldn't remember how he had survived, let alone vanquished Voldemort.

As though reading his boy's thoughts, James smiled proudly before he nodded, "I see that sharp mind of yours, which has strength that helped it grow and develop thanks to the rite, in case you were wondering, but I see it's figuring it out by itself. Lily would be prouder than proud could be to see you being such a clever little guy, Harrison…"

While Harrison blushed at the compliment, James cleared his throat as he went on, "But yes, as you're figuring out, I did the same thing to that freak of nature that I did to Lucius Malfoy's little bastard: I poured my magic into you, as the ritual allowed me to do, but instead of giving you power, per se, the magic actually created what you might call a second personality…a sort of drone state that worked its will, my will, through whatever was needed to make the scenario come out in your favour. I don't know how this happened, but I know it did and, when it did, not only did my magic become part of this new state of yours, but my mind and soul with it…hence why it takes on the form of this other me, or other you, as you knew me when you were just a little kid."

"So…" said Harrison, remembering what Neville and Hermione had told him about what he'd said during the duel, even though he couldn't actually remember it himself. "Everything I said between my blood being shed in that duel and Malfoy yielding the duel to me…that was you?"

"Yes," said James, nodding in response while he cleared his throat as he explained, "And also what happened with Voldemort was me too: you see, when I poured my magic into you, Harrison, the baby you, I mean, it found some other force trying to invade and, in the process, it created a sort of power-up effect that made my spells far stronger than they should be. Of course, I didn't realise this; I only saw my boy being threatened, even after that deformed dickhead decided to betray his own word and still kill you, even after your Mum…after she…"

"Sacrificed herself," said Harrison, nodding himself while James looked stunned as his son told him, "I remember that, as much as I might not want to sometimes, I do: what I don't remember is what came next, so that was because of you and this Unification Ritual?"

"Yep," said James, indicating himself before he gestured to Harrison as he explained, "That's what the ritual did: even though my only intention was to give you my magic, the collision of magical forces and my added sacrifice of blood and magic from my own core augmented the rite, turning it into what's known as the Three-Stage-Cross-Unification, because you didn't just get my magic, Harrison: you also got my mind and my soul, both of which now live inside of you, in here, in your…your…I don't know what you'd call this."

"My Mind Palace?" asked Harrison, earning a laugh from James as he shrugged ruefully.

"I guess that's one thing you'd call it, yeah," admitted the former Lord Potter, a note of amusement in his voice as he looked back to his son before he continued, "Here, in your Mind Palace, I exist, but, unfortunately, and I know you might be thinking it, so I'll say it now. No magic, not even that of our family, can revive the dead, Harrison: I'm stuck here, inside the Palace, as nothing more than…well, let's call me a guide, an observer and, if and when you need it, an aid to help you understand everything you're capable of."

Here, James ran a hand through his dark hair before he added, "The one thing I can't do, mostly thanks to your magical power causing the seal that divided us to break, allowing your magic and mine to combine in full, thus completing my original intention from ten years ago, the one thing I can no longer do, even if you let me, is work my will through you. Now, all the power I originally intended to bequeath unto you is yours, Harrison, and you are the master of that power, even my old favourite, the Lightning Whip…I know you've wanted to know about that one."

He winked at Harrison as he said the last part, earning a blush from his son while James drew in a breath as he continued, "As for the rest of me, I can only really talk to you in here, but thanks to this side-effect, your mind is safe from intrusion. You actually have better Occlumency barriers than Dumbledore and Snivellus combined and, trust me, keeping either one of them out is no easy feat, but thanks to what I did, you can manage it."

As Harrison smiled in response, James leaned forwards as he explained, "Now the rite's been completed, you also have the ability to once again feel what you feel when you experience certain things. I know those Muggle bastards, the Millers, took that from you and, to be perfectly honest with you, kiddo, what you did to them was sheer genius: a page, almost-literally, out of the Marauders' playbook if ever I saw it. But now, you have been set free thanks to Neville and that lovely lady-friend of yours; trust me, when the time comes, tell her she's got my blessing."

"Dad!" groaned Harrison, though it wasn't until later he realised how…how childish he sounded when he said that.

"I'm just stating a fact, kiddo," added James, winking once again as he continued, "Also, you're going to feel much stronger, as in magical maturity strong, so be sure to watch your emotions regardless and learn to trust in all the power you have, not just what you've read about. And if you ever need advice, or even a safe sparring partner, you just go into a meditative state and come in here…I'll be waiting."

While Harrison nodded, James took a breath before he added, "One last thing: now you know about the prophecy and everything, don't let it define you and, if Albus wants to prove himself as your friend and ally like he was ours, you tell him that he can start by getting your godfather out of that rat-hole reserved for the worst of the worst. Of course, if you find Pettigrew, aka Wormtail of the Marauders, that's a bonus."

"But Pettigrew's dead, isn't he?" asked Harrison, earning a chuckle from James as he shook his head.

"No, the rat's alive, Harry…I know he is; I just haven't been able to figure out where he's hiding, but now, with what I've given you and what you will find out for yourself, I know you can find him and, when you do, kick his ass and tell him we're waiting for him on the other side."

Harrison just nodded before James took a breath, heaving a long, deep sigh before he asked, "Now then, do you feel ready to go back?"

"I do."

As he said the words, Harrison saw the world around him slowly fade away, only to be replaced by a single door in front of him, as well as his Dad, who indicated the door before he smiled, "There's the door; it's up to you to open it, so…good luck, Harrison."

Taking hold of the door handle, Harrison turned to his Father with, quite possibly, the first warm smile he'd ever shown another person as he gave him a wink similar to the one James had shown his boy.

"It's Harry."

Then, he opened the door…

Knowledge is Power

Real Hogwarts

When Harry – who made the choice to go by Harry once again from then on, unless it was for official reasons – felt his body's strength and weight return to him, he smiled when he felt someone holding his hand, accompanied by a familiar female voice, "So…you're saying Harrison unleashed the power of this…this ritual thing with that magical shockwave?"

"That's correct, Miss Granger," a wizened, but unfamiliar voice replied, the sound of which made Harry's blood run warm with power and a sense of intimidation, almost as though he knew the speaker was not someone you wanted to cross.

"Will he ever recover?"

Before he could stop himself, Harry feigned a groan before he asked, "Why don't you ask him yourself, Hermione?"

Opening his eyes, he saw and heard Hermione gasp in shock before, as though she was unable to stop herself, she hugged Harry for all he was worth, earning a laugh from the young sorcerer as he wrapped his arms around her, earning another gasp from the brunette while he added, "Hey."

Parting from the hug, Hermione saw Harry smile at her before he told her, "And, from now on, my friends call me Harry, Hermione; only the toffs in the Ministry call me Harrison and, even then, when I let them."

"Harry?" asked Hermione.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," laughed Harry, earning a tearful smile from Hermione before she hugged him again.

When he didn't flinch, she seemed to tighten her hold on him, almost as though she wished to bury herself in his robes, while Harry looked up to see Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey, Neville and an unfamiliar elderly gentleman, who nodded once before he said, "We are well met, Harry Potter: I never thought I would see the day where I would witness another Emergence, but you have given me that great honour."

"Thank you, sir," said Harry, inclining his head out of respect before he asked, "Forgive me, but I don't believe I've had the honour?"

"This is Nicolas Flamel, Ha…Mr Potter," said Dumbledore, earning a surprised look from the young boy before he bowed his head again.

"Then it is an honour, Master Flamel."

"The honour is mine, young man," explained Flamel, looking to Dumbledore before he added, "And now, with all tasks at hand fulfilled, I will take my leave, Albus: you should also be aware that I have retrieved my property and we will talk about your blind arrogance at another time. For now, this is a time for joy for young Mr Potter and his friends, so I will say good day."

"Nicolas." With a tip of an invisible hat to Harry, who returned it with a final curt nod, Flamel left.

Once he was gone, Dumbledore left to speak with Madam Pomfrey, leaving Harry, Neville and Hermione alone on the bed, the latter of whom seemed to indulge her favourite pastime of getting straight to the point as she asked, "So…who was it?"

Laughing at her frankness, all the while guessing that someone like the Headmaster or Master Flamel had been responsible for them knowing what had happened to him, Harry eased himself into the pillows of the Hospital Wing before he smiled at his two best friends.

"Trust me, you're never going to believe it."

Chapter 27 and, hooray, it looks like the Harrison of old has become the Harry we know and love, but new-and-improved and reborn with everything we love about our boy, but it begs the question: what's next for the Child of Four Houses and his friends?

Also, will Harry be able to discover the means of filling in the blanks behind certain lost parts of his life so that he can share his future with those who love and respect him for who he is?

Keep Reading to Find Out

Next Chapter: The end of the first year brings a sense of normal to everyone, even Harry, which surprises him; at the same time, he has a decision to make, as well as a favour to ask and a future filled with more unknowns than he's used to that he will need to be ready for;

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