On Days Like These

*Friday 17 June 1988*

I was finally all better. It took several more weeks than originally planned to sort out my condition. The goblins were horrified when they realized I had a soul shard of Voldemort in my forehead.

The initial tests by Mr. Soothsayer were just preliminary tests and observations for establishing a procedure for the healing regimen. Somethings take priority over others. Like fixing the malnourishment before fixing the scar tissue build up. Then finally the skeleton. The skeleton would be fixed in parts. Some bones would need to be vanished and regrown. The arms and legs are fairly easy, it's the spine, skull, and ribcage that pose a challenge. For that procedure I would be put to sleep for about a week. Soothsayer could detect a few different magical signatures within me. Thus him keeping me confined to the Leaky Cauldron for the entire process. I was spending millions of galleons for the process, I was not going to screw that up by gallivanting around London and robbing criminals.

The reason changing the skeletal structure with new bones was not an issue is because the body changes every 10 or so years. The only thing not understood by both the normal and magical doctors completely was the brain. The mind was a bit easier to delve into for the magical community, but the physical brain was still a bit of a mystery to both.

A fortnight after I was told to not take any potions and eat as much as possible, I was to head to Gringotts. I was told to enter from a side entrance and present the token and letter given to the clerk on duty around 08:00. The in-depth scans and observations would be done at that point in time.

Soothsayer could still detect 2 distinct magical signatures on me. Upon closer inspection and consultation with other doctors and Head Curse-Breaker Patricia Rakepick, it was determined to be some sort of embedded dark magic. It was not possible to do anything about it without knowing what it was exactly. A letter to the Department of Mysteries, and 2 days later it was determined I was a living Horcrux. Further investigation showed that ancient and pure magic was used to protect me from the killing curse. The Unspeakable called in for an assessment was having a field day studying my scar and the effects it was having on my body. The residual magic from what was determined to be my mother's sacrifice, was keeping the soul shard contained. Removing the soul shard would also remove mother's protection. It was not possible at this point in time to remove one and have the other remain. Not without spending months researching a young boy and possible doing irreparable damage to him.

It was decided that the Horcrux would be removed immediately. An untainted ritual room was setup in Gringotts. The goblins and Unspeakables set up the ritual. A goat was brought in and placed on one of the nodes of the ritual array. I was told to wear simply a cotton shirt and trousers and sit in the other node. The ritual was initiated by the Unspeakables while the goblins stood guard with halberds and crossbows.

The ritual cause me a severe headache and I had an intense fever for a few hours afterwards. The unlucky goat was shot with a crossbow bolt and the body destroyed by Fiendfyre. The ritual room was sterilized and returned to its initial condition.

I was put in one of the beds of the hospital and put to sleep. I woke up with 2 goblins and an Unspeakable standing at my side reading the observation notes. It was a week of observations before another set of in-depth scans and observations were done. Finding only one magical signature coming from me, the most boring and painful weeks of my new and short life began.

Today I am finally done with the healing process. The goblins and Unspeakables were cooperating studying the effects of prolonged exposure to dark magic. I would have monthly and later annual checkups with them. I spent the last week under observation. I was allowed to walk around the hospital, as long as I had a guard. I was honestly feeling much better four days ago. Now I am calm, refreshed and content. I don't have to wear glasses anymore. The proximity of the Horcrux to my eyes was deteriorating my eyesight. My eyes now shone an enchanting emerald green. Now I go back to the Leaky Cauldron, and wait for Sirius to be given a clean-ish bill of health. Long term exposure to Dementors is not something one gets over in a few months.

I could go into London and Diagon Alley pretty freely from there, but I wanted to stay at one of the penthouses my parents had in London. A thing I learned is that most rich magical families have at least one property on the mundane side of things. Some of them have not gone to check up on them for a long time, while the more recent purchases are enjoyed mostly by Muggleborns and half-bloods on vacation. The purebloods would never admit it, but they do have undisclosed properties to run away to in times of need.

All that aside, I now had a Property in London, which means I didn't necessarily need to buy one. I can rent it out to Damien Gilchrist and have an income coming in for Potter Holdings Pvt. Ltd. I also need a plan for setting up a separate company for my alter ego. A simple investment firm will give me a broad range of allowable activities. Setting up another corporation in the Cayman Islands will also be necessary. A consulting firm will accomplish that purpose. I'll need to look into corporate and tax laws. I'll use a lawyer but knowing a little bit beforehand is best. Makes later decisions easier.

*Monday 27 July 1988*

I was given a clean bill of health by Soothsayer and an attending Unspeakable. I could do most activities children my age participated in, even in the muggle world. I decided I am going to join a cricket club. Most probably in Surrey county, or the MCC Cricket Academy. (A/N Marylebone Cricket Club, situated at Lord's Cricket Ground.) I have the money, why not use it to not only have fun, but build connections for later in life. I also want to start practicing Karate. I tried to kick and punch, but the feeling I had before, I don't have it now. Healing my body doesn't mean I have all my previous abilities. Skills and knowledge, sure, the ability to perform them at the same or higher level as before, not so much. I might also go to one of the parks and play football with the kids. Just say I'm homeschooled or something.

Running around and being physically active is more my thing. I wasn't a particularly studious child. The only reason I read engineering at university was because I wanted to become a fighter pilot. When that fell through I didn't know what to do with my life. Slightly hungover I signed up for the Royal Marines. It was the dumbest yet most rewarding decision of my previous life.

So in this life I'm going to something completely different. I am going to go play sports and have fun as much as I can. I will still attempt to get into the Royal Air Force as a fighter pilot. But I won't be too hung up on it. I have so much to do, and I also need to stay alive. For the sake of the world.

I'll look into a proper karate dojo, later today. I need to start developing my foundation, previous experience will definitely help. Now that I am trying to do more physically exerting activities, I feel a bit off, like my body is not responding the way I want it to. Now, to write a letter to Sirius Black.

*17:00*

Writing a legible letter takes a lot longer than I imagined it would. I wrote to him requesting a meeting and a visit to see him. It will be for the best if I can establish a working relationship with the man.

These things take time, I will give him as much as he needs. He would have been a fictional character in my previous world, here he was a real person. A person with hopes, dreams, regrets and desires. More importantly he was my godfather.

I faintly remember him being a laid back and snarky person from the movies. He was also fiercely loyal and protective of his family and friends. I would like to help him find some happiness. I also need to break his unshakable loyalty to Dumbledore. For that I would need to know who cast the Fidelius Charm on Godric's Hollow. I don't know if that little fact came to light during the trial.

A benefit of Sirius agreeing to take up my guardianship is that Dumbledore has no power or sway over me. I need to know who the man is before I can trust him, usually people who use the term "greater good" are ones to avoid. "The greater good" is just another way of saying "for my benefit."

I sent the letter using Gringotts' services. The eagles are very efficient. I asked about getting one for myself, they said I would have to get my own, Gringotts was not in the pet business. That poured cold water on my plans and dreams. The pet shop in Diagon Alley didn't have any trained eagles on hand either. The Owl Emporium was actually the last place where I thought I would find an eagle. I was bit lucky in that I could try around the end of July beginning of August. That's when the fully trained juvenile birds come in. I could get an eagle just as a pet, but it would be very time consuming to train the bird to deliver messages. It's just that Gringotts has priority on the eagles and they usually buy all of them on sight.

The manager and I got to talking and one thing led to another, and now I had a random jet black egg that hasn't hatched in the expected time frame. It was a few week overdue. It came from a Verreaux Eagle. It was slightly larger than average, about 4mm taller and wider than the rest of the clutch. The eagle in question was raised in Morocco's magical community. The owner just gave me the egg for 5 knuts. I could see he just wanted to get rid of it, but also wasted to break even on the investment. I didn't mind, I paid, received a box in which the egg was incubating in, and left.

*After Harry left the shop*

The mangers form changed of that of an elegant bronze skinned man. He had black hair and eerie amber eyes. He is an incubus, sent by Lilith to give Damien/Harry something to do besides screwing women in hotels.

Done transforming, the incubus snaps his fingers and the real manager appears. He's tied up and unconscious.

"Now to wake him up meddle with his memories a bit." The incubus says to himself.

Done with whatever he needed to do, he departs for Ibiza. He got a vacation out of this little errand.

*20:00*

Arriving at my room in the Leaky Cauldron, I realized the fact that I did not know anything about hatching or raising raptor chicks. I went to my trusty SHOP and bought a set of books and instructions. Reading the instructions first, I bought an incubator that not only warms but turns the egg 90 degrees every 2 hours. I had to get one that was enchanted by magic, as there were no power outlets in the room.

Once the egg was placed inside, I set the temperature to auto, the box the egg came in was also enchanted to maintain the optimal temperature. The temperature readout on the gauge was 42.3° C. Ok I need to verify this from the literature I just bought.

*03:00*

Holy hell, what did I get myself into? Based on everything I've read, the egg might not even hatch. Not only that, but with everything I've invested into the project, I want it to hatch.

I also bought a book on hatching magical creatures. It was actually more straightforward than a normal bird egg. They needed the temperature range specified, and a lot of magic. The best way would be incubating the egg from the flames of any magical wood. Or if the witch or wizard in question wants a familiar bond with the creature, they have to inject the egg with their own magic. Keeping it as close as possible to themselves for as long as possible.

Ok first I need to know how to manipulate my magic, the easiest answer is a wand. I can geet one from the SHOP, and another one from Ollivander's in a few years. But I don't wand a silly little stick. There are options for staffs and glaives, halbreds, and swords. But they are too damn expensive. A wand fitted for me is £5000 or 1000 galleons. The price for a wand from Ollivanders is 7 galleons. If that wasn't enough, the staffs easily go up to £1,000,000 as a starting price.

The reason I was hesitant to get a wand was because in books I had, it was stated that most wands and other foci were a crutch. A crippling crutch. Over reliance on your foci is a good way to end up dead.

I wanted my experiment to succeed, so begrudgingly I bought a wand. If I was going to do this then I was going to get the best possible wand. It cost me 2500 galleons. It was a heavy jet black wand with gold inlays. The inlays formed a hexagonal helix. It was completely smooth from base to tip. No breaks or deformities along the body and handle of the wand. It tapered from 5 cm above the handle to the tip. The tip was a 5mm rounded point. The handle hade exquisite inlay and marquetry work. The name of the wand, Samael's Glory.

*Hell*

Belial: My Lord and Lady, why did you craft that idiot a wand using your blood? You could've used any of our blood, we would have readily offered.

Lilith: Oh hush, it's a matter of Grans' protection. Also the Elder Wand won't hold a candle to it. As long as he learns how to use it properly, he'll become a master wizard in combat.

Belial: I see, apologies My Lady, My Lord.

Lucifer: I still need to write an instruction manual for the lad. Or at least a warning of what not to do.

Lilith looks over at Lucifer as if he's a complete moron.

Lilith: Do it now. -She said with a glare.