On The Hunt: Chapter 4 (1/2)

The warm summer descended upon the British Isles with a peculiar vehemence this year. Although lacking in blistering sun rays, the clouds above cast the ground in high humidity, prompting bucket loads of sweat.

Harry Potter sat on his bed, his legs stretched outward, as he leafed through the book the headmaster had given him out of his obscure collection. A rather thick tome with a leather binding, it was a book normally referred to apprentices pursuing their masteries in Transfiguration. Two more books of a similar kind rested on the table, one covering Advanced Charm work and another dealing with curses and counter curses.

He was a little bit surprised when the headmaster had given him those three books, and even more when he forbade him to share anything contained therein with anyone else. However, the reasoning made complete sense to him. All three books belonged to the headmaster’s collection, and he had made various modifications to the original text which required a certain level of power and finesse to put into application, something not everyone had. One minor oversight and a person’s magic could be severely affected.

Harry knew why the headmaster included his friends in that list. Ron, for all his abilities, was not a wizard capable enough to exercise that level of control over his magic, and Hermione, while overly book smart, was even less so. Considering her never-ending curiosity and the urge to be better than everyone, Harry fully understood where the old wizard was coming from. It was better to hide the fact from them instead of exposing them to the possibility of hampering their magic.

He was extremely grateful to the headmaster for the level of trust, and the least he could do was honour it.

Currently, Harry was going through some advanced battle spells that he could employ in a, well, in a battle. It was a fascinating read, and it only confirmed what Harry had suspected for quite some time. Magic bent to one’s willpower. There had to be an intent, but as long as one didn’t have the willpower to enforce that intent, it wouldn’t amount to much. That was why all the great wizards of the past had one thing in common – sheer willpower when casting spells.

The spells demonstrated therein would be a huge boon to their war efforts, he reckoned, as his mind travelled back to that meeting in Dumbledore’s office. It was a revelation, for sure. He had always felt comfortable while using magic, despite not having concrete theoretical knowledge, and now he realized where it came from. It felt like cheating, to be honest, but the headmaster was right as well. His life wasn’t fair, so why should he play fair?

Harry was brought out of his musings when a pebble hit the glass window. He shut the book close and pushed all three in the drawer beside his bed. Scooting to the side, he climbed down and walked over to the window. As he looked down, he sighed.

Nymphadora Tonks, or more accurately, Tonks, was someone who Dumbledore had set up at Number 5. In his own words, to keep him company over the summer holidays until he had to stay there. The house had been vacant for the past few years and the headmaster had rented it out so that she could stay.

She was a weird woman, he thought. Agreed that her name was not a common one, but he did not think it was so bad. She could shorten it to Nym or Dora and it would have worked, but she was strictly against anything to do with a combination of those alphabets. Like he said, totally weird.

Tonks, as she preferred to be called, was his only connection to the wizarding world during the summer. Sick of the rag that was the Daily Profit, because that’s all that it was, profiting from the pain of others, he had denied getting a subscription and as such, he was unaware of whatever was unfolding in the Wizarding world.

His thoughts went back to his best friends, and the fact that they had not written anything significant to him. He knew they were staying together, their letters implied that at least, but they didn’t tell him much. That perturbed him slightly, that his friends were keeping secrets, but when he realized he was withholding things from them as well, it didn’t seem fair to get mad at them.

Tonks became his only connection to the events unfolding in the wizarding world. The young auror would visit him frequently, and they would talk about various things. While their interactions had been fairly awkward in the beginning, they seemed to get comfortable around each other over time. The woman used to actively flirt with him, and Harry admitted that if he hadn’t been smitten with someone else, he might have thought about giving the young metamorph a chance.

She was also the niece of his godfather. Turns out, Sirius’ elder cousin Andromeda was her mother, and given the fact that his grandmother Dorea was born a Black as well and was Andromeda’s aunt, that made them distant cousins. It was heartening to know he had some relatives close by, however distant they might be.

As he looked down, he saw Tonks waving excitedly, gesturing to ask if she could come over. Harry held his hand up in the universal gesture of ‘wait’ before turning around and walking out. He went downstairs and saw that the Dursleys were watching TV.

‘How the fuck do they watch that all day long!?’

Harry shook his head in exasperation and cleared his throat. Vernon and Petunia turned their head around and their expressions soured.

“What is it?” Petunia muttered with a distasteful tilt of her lips that made it seem as if she was sniffing shit.

“Tonks is coming over. Don’t worry, we’ll be in our room and you won’t be disturbed.”

Their faces soured further on hearing her name. If there was anything the Dursleys abhorred the most, it was anything unnatural. And Tonks was anything but natural. With her hair constantly cycling through various colours which she intensified deliberately in front of his lovable relatives, it was no wonder the Dursleys thought the worst of her.

“Fine,” Vernon grunted, “but no funny business under my roof, you hear that? I don’t want my house tainted any more than it already will be.”

“I do,” Harry nodded and walked away. He had a few choice words for his uncle for his parting remark but relented. There was no use in arguing with an imbecile like him.

The Dursleys and he had had a very hostile relationship ever since he could remember. Although it never got physical, the treatment he had received under their tender care over the years could be termed as nothing but severe abuse. He had been a shut-in his all life, and it was only after he left their house and went to Hogwarts did he learn how to stand on his own feet.

His first summer back from school and the Dursleys could see how he had already changed. It helps when you go through a harrowing experience like the one he had, killing his first man. However, possessed he might have been, the fact remained that he had killed someone. Something like that leaves an imprint on your psyche, and Harry was no exception. The first time they had tried to exercise their usual dominant hand over him, they had gotten a taste of what was to follow. Vernon still carried the marks from those blisters on the back of his arm.

Since then, they had learned not to cross him. Harry had given them the deal to leave him be, live their own lives, and only grant him his meal like any normal person would do, and they would be free to forget that he even lived there for a few months. Although initially reluctant to part ways from their free labour for a few summer months, they agreed. The situation could be best described as a cold war, although calling it war was somewhat extreme, Harry thought.

Bidding Tonks entry, he shut the door behind him and pulled her with him. Once they reached his room, he closed the door and locked it. He couldn’t help but groan when he saw the mischievous expression cross her face. He knew what was coming.

“Ooh, in a hurry, are we? My my, I didn’t realize you’d be so bold, Harry. Dragging me up to your room and even locking it? What would people think?” She whispered, mocking him by acting overly shocked as she cupped her cheeks.

Harry looked at her with a sigh.

“You know, if you wanted, you could’ve just said and I’d have been all over you, hotshot,” she winked as she planted her admittedly bubble butt on his bed, leaning back and pushing her larger than normal tits out, and Harry couldn’t help but glance.

“Ooh you want these, Harry? They won’t mind, you know?” She whispered seductively as she cupped her tits, pushing them together and making them even larger. Harry couldn’t help the tightening in his pants as he saw those jugs strain against her top.

“All you have to do is take the plunge, big boy, and you could do with me whatever... you... want...” She giggled, her perfect teeth shining under the light as Harry stared for a moment.

“You’re incorrigible,” he muttered as he pulled the chair out and sat down, deliberately crossing his legs. Tonks noticed and giggled. Harry glared.

“Okay okay, you’re so much fun that I can’t help it.”

“Glad to know I’m your personal source of amusement,” Harry deadpanned.

“That you are, I won’t lie,” Tonks admitted shamelessly, and Harry shook his head.

“Moving on,” he said loudly, trying to shift the trajectory of their conversation, “how’s the situation over there?”

“Ugh, do you really want to know?” Tonks groaned.

“Yes, I do, now spill.”

“Fine,” she sighed exasperatedly, “it’s the usual slander campaign against you and the headmaster for those idiotic lies being perpetrated to incite fear and paranoia among the masses, and to gain public sympathy and support to boost their own ego and fulfil their malicious intentions.” Tonks finished sarcastically.

“This Fudge really is a nutcase, and to think I somewhat liked him when I met him first.”

“That he is,” Tonks nodded sagely, “the idiot is tarnishing the name of Fudge. Now I always avoid ordering it at Fortescue’s.”

“Err... good for you,” what else could he say to that...

“Anyway, expect to move to the new place on your birthday. Don’t ask, I won’t say where it is, just know you’ll know everything once you get there.”

“Alright, a few days more are nothing.”

“Exactly,” Tonks nodded. The pair sat for a few minutes in silence, munching some snacks that Harry had asked her to bring with her.

“Say Tonks,” he began after a while, and Tonks looked up with her mouth full of chips.

“What?”

“Do you know mind arts?”

Tonks swallowed before looking at him seriously.

“That’s an obscure branch of magic, Harry.”

“I know, do you know it though?”

“I have above average shields if you want to know, and yes, I’m fairly competent in the offensive branch. Why do you ask?”

“I want you to test my shields,” Harry admitted, looking resolutely at her.

Tonks’ eyes widened slightly.

“You’re dabbling in the mind arts? Already?”

“When you have the darkest wizard of the generation after your life, you have to dabble in forbidden and obscure knowledge. Don’t worry, Dumbledore has guided me through the process, and I’ve practiced it enough for quite some time,” he lied. In reality, he had actively devoted himself to Occlumency only over the summer and the last few days of his fourth year, but there was no need to tell her about the conversation he had had with the headmaster in his office after the final task.

“You sure?” Tonks asked sceptically, looking slightly unsure.

“Very sure. I just want to measure my progress.”

“Alright then, don’t worry if you can’t keep me out though. Just keep practising.”

Harry nodded.

“Ready?” She asked, pulling out her wand and pointing it at him. Harry gripped the arm of his chair and nodded.

“Legilimens!”

He felt more than he saw something strike against his mental shield and suddenly it was over. Looking ahead, he saw Tonks with her eyes shut tightly as she rubbed her head as if to thaw a headache.

“Merlin! How are you so good already? That shield felt like it was made of iron and I banged my head against it... owww...”

“I guess I’m good?” He asked, scratching his cheek and Tonks opened her eyes.

“Good? You’re bloody brilliant!” She exclaimed, her headache seemingly forgotten, “I’ve never seen someone as young as you having such strong shields. As far as I know, it might not be one of the strongest but surely it is much better than I expected. You’ll detect an attempted intrusion from a master Legilimens easily and able to stop or at least significantly delay his focused assault,”

Harry’s eyes widened. “You’re not joking?”

“Harry,” Tonks deadpanned, “when I joke, my hair turns baby pink. What colour is it now?”

“Pink,”

“There you go.”

Harry stared at her. Tonks saw him staring at her. She let him stare at her. Okay, he was staring too much now.

“Hey!” She clipped her fingers in front of his face, deliberately pulling his blanket up to her chest as if covering her modesty.

“You pervert! Is that any way to stare at a woman? Locking her in your room with yourself? I should’ve guessed your nefarious intentions,” she finished, a fake frightened look on her face, her hair a deep pink.

Harry didn’t justify her with a response. However, he surely did chuck his sock at her face. Her idiotic shriek coaxed out a laugh from him, and he wondered how quickly she was able to change the mood around herself.

The rest of their time together was spent joking around, eating snacks, learning spells, and talking about their lives. At least it was a semblance of normalcy in an otherwise turbulent world that was awaiting him in not more than a week.