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Punishment

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"Gellert Grindelwald.....Former Dark Lord".

Harry stumbled backwards and was about to fall when he was caught by Grindelwald's guards. Jerking his arms, he freed himself of their unnaturally strong grips. Harry immediately looked around for any outlet that he could use as a means of escape.

"At least let me explain." Grindelwald started. Harry had by now come to the conclusion that he couldn't escape if Grindelwald didn't want him to. No other choice left, Harry nodded his head.

"The final battle....between me and Dumbledore took place on the streets of Hogsmeade. The thing about final battles, Harry, is that they always have a conclusion, one way or the other. And this one didn't turn out well for me.

I was defeated by Dumbledore and I will not go into the details but let me tell you this. Even at the final point the battle could have gone either way. But Alas, Dumbledore got the better of me, he disarmed me.

I knew that I could never face Albus Dumbledore without my wand, so I just stood there, defeated. I played right into Dumbledore's weakness. He could never murder, don't get me wrong, he would order for someone to be executed within seconds, but he could never kill someone with his own hands, As if that is any different.

But Dumbledore was a vile bastard. 'There are worse things than death' he told me and stripped me of the one thing I was proud of, my magic. I was left as a squib much like yourself with a magical core inside me but no magic to call upon. He then portkeyed me to a muggle area. Though with illusions, he made it appear as if I had turned to dust.

I knew I could not return to the wizarding world. They would hunt me down like dogs. So I stayed in the muggle world which is a story unto itself. But it is enough to say that I had a very close look at the lives of Vampires and Werewolves mingled in muggle crime. And as a squib I began to feel the neglect that they felt from the magical world.

Nevertheless, the first few years were the worst of my life, after that I began to settle, plan and build. Since then, for over five decades, me and my organization have been preparing for a day to fight for equality if not superiority over wizardkind. I have gathered squibs, vampires and werewolves (he gestured to his body guards) and even a few wizards to join me and we form what we like to know as the Brotherhood.

Five decades is a long time Harry. And believe me, we have used the time to our advantage. The element of surprise will aid us and we will be successful. And now young Harry, you can either join us or walk away without any memory of the brotherhood."

Harry contemplated the pros and cons of joining the brotherhood. But who was he kidding? Right here was an opportunity for him to be what he had always wanted. A part of something big and important. But the deciding factor was the thought that John wasn't involved in it in anyway, so he joined.

Right after Harry agreed, Grindelwald used Ligilimency on him and after a short struggle, broke through his mind, when Grindelwald came to the memory of Harry's acceptance, he felt the emotions and decided that Harry was loyal. He broke out and nodded at Harry who was holding his head in his hands.

"You are now a member. As your first assignment, I ask you to improve your occlumency skills during the summer. Though you may be able to block normal attacks, your mind can not yet face the brunt of a full blown legilimency attack. We shall meet again in your next year."

Harry still had a lot of questions and a big headache but before he could ask anything, Grindelwald and his bodyguards disappeared in a blast of smoke, that strangely wasn't suffocating in the least. Cool! Harry thought, maybe I would be able to do that someday. A smile graced Harry's face as he made his way back to the castle.

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Harry sat in the last compartment of the Hogwarts Express, alone. He let out a sigh, it would've been good to have a friend right about now. He shook his head and used his occlumency to clear his mind of negative thoughts. He needed to look at the future now.

He was now a part of the brotherhood. He would be important, more important than John could ever be. And Harry promised himself that. And it was when Harry was high on that thought that John entered the compartment.

"What do you want?" Harry asked harshly. John looked taken aback, "I had come to apologize you brat! But now I don't think I will." John said. Hermione spoke up from behind him, "We just wanted to help you Harry, you don't have any friends in Slytherin so maybe we could be your friends from now on."

Harry stood there stunned. If there was one thing he hated more than neglect, it was pity. And it was one of the reasons he didn't like Remus Lupin too much. "As if I need your friendship," Harry dismissed them both.

Ron Weasley came bursting into the compartment, and grabbed Harry by the collar, "Listen you snake, your brother is a hundred times the person you are. So show a little respect." Ron snarled in what he assumed was supposed to be a menacing voice.

Harry had had enough of this. He twisted the hand that grabbed his collar and Ron released it with a yelp, with his other hand, he punched Ron straight in the face. He heard Ron's nose break and let him go, facing John he already had his punch an inch from John's face before he stopped it. This could have severe repercussions at home, he wasn't a slytherin for nothing.

"Out now!." He whispered and if anybody else had been close enough besides him and John, they would've recognized it as parseltongue. John nodded, fear shown in his eyes, that voice had scared him. He grabbed Ron and motioned to Hermione and left the compartment.

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Harry sat on a sofa in the living room while his parents paced around. They had been quiet at the platform and had sent John to his room as soon as they had arrived.

"Why do you have to make this so difficult for us Harry?" His mother questioned. Harry looked at her as if she was crazy and didn't even bother answering. "One month...that'll be your punishment." his father said aloud. When Lily looked at James questioningly he explained.

"It's an old pureblood punishment for children. Harry is to be locked in his bedroom (bath combined) for one month. The house-elves will provide food and that is it." James looked at Lily, daring her to question his ability to punish his own child. But she resolutely nodded in the end.

Harry had been outraged. That meant he couldn't visit either Master Li or Adam for a whole month! He had also planned to fly in the Potter manor quidditch pitch this summer (alone of course). Furthermore, he wouldn't be able to even access the Potter Library, which was his only lifeline at home. He knew there was no use arguing with his father, so like a good Slytherin, he already had a plan forming in his mind.

"I'm not even a wizard! Why do you seek to apply those stupid rules to me?" Harry questioned, seemingly outraged. "Well you'll have to follow them if you live under our roof!" Harry humphed and stormed out.

Harry heard his mother half-heartedly pleading with his father to let him go of the punishment. And in the end his mother would always give up and agree. It had happened like this since a long time. Hopefully that would give him some time to get a few books out of the library.

Quickly running into the Potter Library, Harry went straight to the section, his parents had locked down. "Tibby" He called out a house-elf. He asked the house-elf to open the door to the "restricted" section. He was still rightfully her master and she had to obey, so the house-elf broke down the wards and opened the door.

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Harry heard his father mutter spells and he could feel his dagger pulsing at the ward being put up around his room. He sighed as he glanced over at the dusty tome at his bedside table. At least he had managed to nick Mind Magicks.

He heard his father giving specific orders to the house-elves. Harry punched his pillow. But the frustration wasn't done yet as he punched it again and again and again. Finally when he was getting tired, he jumped off his bed.

Harry looked out the window. He opened it as the wind blew at him. He gently extended his arm but found it to be blocked by an invisible barrier. Harry let his arm drop and cleared his mind. The gentle wind hitting his face helped in soothing him. After what seemed like a long time Harry heard a crack from behind as he turned to face a house-elf with his food.

After he was done with his food, Harry opened up the tome on Mind Magic. Flipping over the long forewords, Harry finally came upon the introduction.

Mind Magics are an entirely different form of magic rather than a simple branch. It is also one of the most powerful forms of magic. A magical being is born with magic in his heart (Usual wand/wandless magic reserves), in his blood (blood magic) and in his mind (mind magic). These three along with Soul Magic (which is also responsible for the magical core) form the four fundamental inner forms of magic.

The average magical person without any knowledge of mind magics uses only around one thousandth of the magic of his brain which gives them a better memory than muggles. Mind magic utilizes the magical part of the brain.

A person who truly understands mind magic and can use it efficiently is called a mind mage. Mind Magic allows a person from breaking into another's mind to blocking it to creating illusions to modifying other peoples' memories and the list goes on. The use of mind magics has decreased with time as Wand Magic is being preferred more due to it's easy use. This has resulted in many types of mind magics to be lost.

I write this book with the intent to give away all the knowledge that I have acquired over the years relating to mind magic. In the hope that such a precious branch of magic will not be wasted away. I have no fear of anyone misusing it, for anyone who can learn it will have gained the right to use it in anyway he/she wants.

Harry was stunned. He didn't even know other forms of magic existed. This was the stuff that should've been taught at Hogwarts. He made a mental note (quite literally using Occlumency) to look up the different forms of magic in the library at Hogwarts. Since he could learn occlumency, it meant that he could use all mind magics, and maybe even other forms of magic!

Excited at the prospect, Harry flipped the page to the first Chapter. He smirked at the title....how predictable. Occlumency

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Two weeks.....Two weeks had passed since Harry had been locked in his room. And he was absolutely furious with his parents. If only he had another place to stay, he wouldn't have to return to this home. He would ask the brotherhood if they had an available place.

Speaking of the brotherhood, he was by now fairly confident that no one could break through his occlumency shields. He had finished the first chapter in the Mind Magics tome and that had helped a lot. He was dying to move onto the next chapter...Legilimency.

But Harry felt as he ate breakfast that he deserved a break. He had been working most of the time for the past two weeks on his physical training (the few he could do in the room) if not on his occlumency.

Harry lay back on his bed, stretching to relax. It was then that he heard a knock on the window. Looking at it, he saw an owl trying to get in. Quickly getting up, Harry opened the window to allow the owl entry. He took the letter attached as the owl took a nip form his breakfast before flying out.

Harry tore the envelope to find two pieces of parchment. Harry read the first which looked like a familiar writing style.

One of the many benefits should you accept to be my apprentice.

S.S

Now that he knew it was from Snape, Harry eagerly looked at the other parchment. It had the logo of Flourish and Blotts on top it.

The owner of this charmed parchment is allowed any book from the Potions section of the prestigious store Flourish and Blotts, free of charge, as Mr. Severus Snape will be required to pay for them at the end of every year.

There were signatures of the owner of Flourish and Blotts and of Snape in blood at the bottom. 'Wow' thought Harry. He quickly went and opened the book on apprenticeships that Snape had given him. His decision was already made (added by anger at his parents), now he just had to choose the type of apprenticeship.

....

At dinner time that day, Harry had finally chosen the type of apprentice he would become and the bond that he would undergo with Snape. It was a moderate type of bond, not like a strong one that could bind his will to his master and not such a weak one that the master or student could break any time. The bond would require both Master and Student willing or unwilling if it wanted to be broken. And the master would be required to care for general health and education of his apprentice.

The good thing was that while Snape could require Harry to learn something, he couldn't limit Harry's learning or forbid him to learn something. Moreover Harry didn't want a mental link with Snape, no thankyou as one strong type of bond provided.

The matter decided, Harry started to add shields to his mind a last time before he would move on to legilimency the next morning.

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Harry was doing his push-ups and there was sweat all over his forehead. He had done well to keep doing his exercises. His Legilimency had also progressed enough for him to be able to read a person emotionally.

His time being locked up was up. And anytime his father would be coming to lift the wards. He would never forget this. His mother had occasionally come by and asked if he was doing okay, but always from outside the door. John had also come once to gloat about a new nimbus broom he had received. But this was the first time his father would come.

Harry went to take a bath and when he came back, he found his father standing in the door way. His father stood there expecting Harry to go in a fit of rage but Harry kept quiet. Harry tried to read his father's emotions but found a barrier. 'Well, aurors probably learn Occlumency as part of their training.;

He wasn't a bloody emotional gryffindor. He didn't even look at his father as he made his way out. He found his mother sitting in the living room and she looked up as Harry entered. He got a mild headache as soon as he tried to read her emotions. 'There were so many!' he thought. But Harry paid her no heed as he made his way out of the house.

First things first, he needed to visit Adam.

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Harry waited until the coast was clear as he made his way into Adam's house. He found Adam looking out the window in his small bedroom. Harry looked around the room and thought that the calming draught had probably worked. Adam's room now looked more like one belonging to a normal child. He clenched his fists, it still didn't mean his uncle wouldn't pay.

Adam looked around and caught sight of Harry. A smile graced his face as he ran towards Harry. "Guess what Harry?" He asked in excitement.

Harry thought for a moment but then relented, "What?"

"I'm a wizard too Harry just like you! I got my Hogwarts letter a week ago!" Harry smiled as he looked at Adam. 'Not really Adam, you're the wizard, I'm just a squib.' He thought.

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A/N: Yeah I know it wasn't as long as some of the others but bear with me, the next chapter will be long and will be out really soon, I promise. 

Next chapter: Master Li...Diagon Alley...finding a place to live...And return to Hogwarts

I have another question: Should I involve muggle crime and/or guns etc into the story? Werewolves and Vamps are definitely in by the way.