7 Advanced chapters on Patreon: Fiction Haven
===
The event passed quite quickly for Harry. His foul mood was soothed by his winning bet. Instead of 2,000G, he won 8,000G for his bet. The reason behind it was quite depressive—many of the betting people were dead—but a win was a win in his book. Being 40,000 pounds richer made him answer the questions from the Aurors and the media quite civilly.
"Are we ready to leave, Bella?"
"Yeah, but Lily is…"
Bella trailed off as she looked at her protégé up and down. She just realized Harry was bare-chested. With a flick of her wand, she conjured a clothe to cover for his body. Harry didn't have a chiselled physique that made women droll, but his physique still had a certain allure to women. Bella didn't feel right letting anyone see his body.
"Then, let's go."
Bella was about to remind Harry that his mother wanted to meet him but let it go once she spotted his glimmering eyes. Harry was in a good mood and she didn't want to ruin it by making him meet his irresponsible parents.
Muttering an apology to her friend, Bella activated her Portkey. They were instantly back at 12 Grimmauld Place. Harry separated himself from her. He seemed to be eager to do something. Not forgetting Harry had an injury to heal, Bella struck him with a Stupefy. Harry's reaction stunned Bella, but the teenager could only stare at her disbelievingly before falling asleep.
Bella picked Harry up and took him to his room. She took off his clothes and cleaned him with a spell. Taking a healing potion, she unwrapped the bandage around his stomach and splashed the potion on his gouged flesh. It made Bella wonder how Harry could fight without wincing. While Harry had never been a whiner, she was sure his pain tolerance shouldn't be that high.
"Full of mystery, aren't you? Maybe, I didn't know you as much as I would like to think," Bella muttered as she caressed Harry's head with a smile.
They had been together for five years. Bella knew more about Harry than his parents did. However, after what happened today, she doubted she knew much about him. It seemed to her Harry hadn't quite believed her to confide everything in her. It saddened her slightly.
"Well, whatever. We could get closer from now on!"
With an enthusiastic smile, Bella left the room. Three hours later, Harry woke up with a start. His initial thought was that Bella had betrayed him, but he quickly calmed down as he assessed his situation. He scolded and reminded himself that the universe was not the same universe he knew. After all, this universe had Harry Evans instead of Harry Potter.
Getting off his bed, he put on some clothes and walked out of the room. The moon was shining in the sky, so he didn't want to delay the Unlimited Rizz Work ritual any longer. He got out of the house and headed for an empty, remote ground. Once he was there, he pointed his wand at the ground and carved the necessary Magic Circle.
"Oh, shit. Where did I put the Veela's hair?" Harry fretted when he finished the Magic Circle. At that moment, Kowalski spoke up.
Inventory:
Veela's hair
Harry was relieved to find Kowalski having the inventory feature. With a thought, Harry took out the hair and swallowed it. He found himself disappointed when it tasted like hair. He activated the Magic Circle and let it do its job as he basked in the moonlight. Warmth spread from his core to his entire body. The sensation made him feel cleansed.
When the ritual was done, Harry felt beautiful. He had a strange conviction that he was extremely charming. He couldn't confirm that as he didn't have a mirror with him, but he could tell his skin was fairer than it used to be. Other than that, there was no noticeable change to his body.
Upon returning to the house, Harry quickly stood before a mirror. Only then could he note the changes to his body. His jaw sharpened and his cheekbones were higher than before. His eyes were brighter than before and his gaze made one instinctively submit. He looked gorgeous, for the lack of a better word.
"I need to put some muscles," Harry remarked, not particularly impressed by his looks.
Sitting on his bed, he finally picked up the thing he had put on the back burner for quite some time: figuring out what he should do next. The last thing he remembered before coming to this world was writing a scathing review of a fan fiction that had a good premise but absolutely shite execution. He blamed the author for the brain farts.
"Well, that is as far as I can remember."
Quickly accepting his last life as a lost cause, he recalled the earliest memory he had in his brain. It was about the small Harry shielding his brother from the second Avada Kedavra from Voldemort. The first one had killed Sirius, but the second one rebounded and killed Voldemort instead. In return for taking the Killing Curse; he was rewarded with a scar.
"The original Harry has died, so I am no longer a Horcrux, right?"
True.
Fortunately for Harry, he was right in his assumption. Kowalski was kind enough to tell him. Unfortunately, he still had to fight against Voldemort. Although the public had made the wrong assumption of who the Boy Who Lived was, Voldemort knew Harry was the one. A leisurely life was not something he could have.
"Then, I will get as strong as Kowalski let me."
Good.
A decision was made, backed up by the multifunction otherworldly aid. The next thing he thought about was what he should do with his family. After three hours of sleep, he realized how cringe-worthy his action toward Lily was. Then again, he couldn't bring himself to accept her any time soon.
Dumbledore said that prophecies were self-fulfilling most of the time. Voldemort's action left his family no choice but to adhere to the prophecy as the lunatic was intent on breaking it. In a way, Harry could understand their decision to separate him from his brother. What he couldn't understand was why he was left behind. Either Lily or James could have taken care of him.
Even if the roles were reversed, Harry wouldn't have accepted his parents' behaviours. What kind of parents leave their child behind because of a prophecy? At least, he wouldn't have done that if he were his parents.
Their decision was worsened by the fact that they completely forgot about him. The Dursleys had raised him without any support from his parents. They weren't properly compensated until Bella picked him up. They didn't make him feel loved and at home, but they were way better than his parents. Most wouldn't even raise someone's spawn without compensation.
"Yeah, I don't think I can reconcile with them soon. I prefer to be alone."
Recalling the look of nonchalance on his parents' faces at the end of his Fourth Year made Harry grit his teeth involuntarily. His Occlumency reigned in his emotions, immediately calming him down. Laying on the bed, he sighed as he stretched. A couple of minutes passed until he decided he needed something to eat.
Harry got out of his bed and went to the kitchen. Bella had just returned a few minutes ago, so he found her standing before the counter. Bella was only clad in an oversized white shirt that belonged to him. The upper part of the shirt was left unbuttoned, allowing Harry to glimpse at the bountiful mounds shaded by it.
"Hi, Bella," Harry cooed in her ear as he hugged her from behind. His husky voice came out of nowhere, slightly startling him.
"Yip!" Bella shivered as his breath tickled her neck and his touch tingled her spine. "H- Harry, you are startling me!" she scolded meekly.
"Well, it's not every day I can claim to have caught the Head Auror off guard," Harry smirked, causing Bella to shiver again.
Not liking being manhandled, Bella turned around and jabbed her finger at Harry's chest. She was about to scold the young man when she looked at his face. Her scowl left her face and her body turned rigid. Although she knew Harry had always been attractive, she didn't know he was unbearably attractive until this moment.
Harry quirked an eyebrow at Bella's glazed eyes. A wry smile grazed his face as Kowalski chose this moment to speak.
Quest: Make Bellatrix Black call you Daddy!
Reward: Pinnacle Combat Skill
Mistaking Harry's smile as something else, Bella's face flushed, forcing her to avoid Harry's gaze. Harry was too busy looking at the absurd quest to register her state.
Aid: Top Gear
Prerequisite: Train with Bellatrix Black!
Sighing as he accepted his fate, Harry thought about making Bella call her Daddy. He believed she wouldn't hesitate to do that given her nonchalant personality but decided against that.
"I am thinking of becoming a Dueller for side hustle. Can you train me?"
"Uh, yes. I will free some time for you."
That knocked Bella out of her stupor, but her eyes now held a weird glint that unsettled Harry.