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The Ancient One opened up another portal and returned to the location from before. She said, "If you are already learned in magic, do you have a specific branch of interest?"

Harry nodded and said, "Before I answer, what do you know of my mutation? There is still plenty about it even I don't get."

"There was much that eluded me as well. But I could see that you have a pocket dimension within you that can store objects and energies."

Harry was somewhat thankful his body's status as a stable obscurial was not discovered. His actual mutation kept his Obscurus form the same as his human form which was what allowed him to gain levels and revive after death. The Inventory seemed to be an add on like the pause function and menu. However he had no problem with people thinking his inventory was his mutant power for now.

Harry said, "I call it my inventory. Anything I put inside it becomes a part of me but separate from me. I also somehow gain a complete understanding of whatever I place in there. If I place a book in there, I have access to all that is written as if I memorized the image and text of every page. I can also gain an understanding of how something works if I place it in there."

Harry waited a few moments for the Ancient One to understand the implications before he continued. "Because of this, I like to place technology and magic items in my inventory to figure out how they work. I like to make things which have been called Artifacts. That spell grenade I used earlier had the power of twenty Patronus Charms stuffed into it which forced the magic to condense into a critical mass before exploding out."

The Ancient One could easily see how useful and how dangerous such an ability could be. It also allowed her to recall what Wong had told her. She said, "Wong told me you said to him, 'I've read everything.' And earlier you said you've memorized every wizard magic. How many books do you have in that inventory at the moment?"

"Not as many as I used to. Memorizing information from a book is much easier when it is in my inventory. But I don't forget what I've memorized so if the book was borrowed I return it after memorizing it."

Harry took a breath before saying, "So, because of my inventory, I've become interested in the branch of enchanting and artifact creation. I recently got all the books on Goblin enchanting so I want to further my study into that."

The Ancient One was curious how Harry had gotten enchanting tomes from the Goblins as they were known for never disclosing their methods. More than a few relics in the Sanctum were forged by Goblins so she knew the quality of their work. The only reason they allowed it was because Harry promised never to share it and if he ever broke that promise all the gold he possessed would be forfeited to the Goblins and he would become their employee for the remainder of his days.

She said, "Artifact creation requires precise control, a structured mind, a thorough understanding of magic, and a lot of imagination. I can see why you would be interested, but the truth of the matter is that Artificers are few and far between in all of recorded history. There hasn't been one in the Sanctum for centuries and most of the well known ones of the past are never human. Why do you think that is?"

"Because humans aren't strong enough?"

She shook her head, "Not quite. It is because humans are not long lived enough. The amount of time the true masters have put into the study and practice of their craft far exceeds a human's lifetime. Even for the humans who are long lived through various means and gifts, few if any would be interested enough in artifact creation to devote themselves to it enough to reach the skill of the ancient masters."

"Oh." He really couldn't think of another response.

A few Sorcerers in training noticed Harry being escorted by the Ancient One through the foyer. According to Harry's map the portal had taken them somewhere in the mountainous region of Asia. He'd have to explore a little for his map to fill out and get more details.

The Ancient One found the one she was looking for and said, "Ahh, Kaecilius. There is someone I'd like you to meet."

After a quick introduction and request of the man, the Ancient One left the pair to their own devices.

The man called Kaecilius was also a British Citizen and more than happy to show his fellow countryman around. He said, "You are by far the youngest disciple I have ever seen here."

Harry said, "I think there was a question there but I'm not sure I heard it."

Kaecilius smiled wryly and said, "We all have a reason to be here. I am here for truth. Some are here for healing or strength. I cannot think of a reason for one so young as yourself to be here."

"Oh, that. Well I just happen to love magic and I figured I could learn it here. I also like helping people and magic will probably help with that."

The fellow British national frowned disapprovingly. "Magic is not something that should be sought on a whim."

"Maybe," Harry answered.

Kaecilius showed Harry around the temple and the notable features of each building. Meditation rooms, library, cafeteria, and living quarters. He told Harry that evening practice would begin in an hour and if he wished to start his training it would be wise to observe.

The manager of the living quarters gave Harry a room number that would be his sleeping quarters for his stay. It was larger than he thought but that could have just been because he was small. It has a small shower, a bed, a table, and even a window.

Harry set his stuff down there and let Goose out of her carrying case. Harry set a litter box and bowls for food and water in the space below his bed along with a charmed pet bed that stayed warm. Harry also used transmutation magic to reshape the bottom of his door into a cat door. Although transmutation was far more difficult than transfiguration, it was permanent so the door would not change back.

Goose filled herself with water and promptly used the cat door to leave and begin the investigation of her new surroundings.

And lastly Harry cast a powerful security and locking charm on the door. What made it useful was that people wouldn't even know it was locked with magic as the magic he used to cast it was undetectable.

Harry was surprised they didn't have any robes for him but it was more of a didn't have any robes in his size thing than not having anything at all. Harry couldn't transmute clothing very well and using transfiguration would saturate the clothes in exotic energy which had its own problems. Luckily the simple clothes he bought were acceptable and he would have his own robes in a week.

Harry returned to the spot Kaecilius told him would have evening practice and found that several disciples were sparring already.

Harry sensed Mr. Grumpy's approach from behind him and set his hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry was tempted to try a judo throw but was too short to make it work and he never practiced it before. Mr. Grumpy, or Mordo as he was called, seemed disappointed Harry hadn't flinched.

Harry said, "We meet again Mr. Grumpy. I'm Harry by the way."

"And what pray tell are you doing here, child?"

"Well Mr. Grumpy I was taking my cat for a walk. Have you seen him by the way? Orange tabby cat, about two hundred eighteen years old? Shoots terrifying tentacles from its mouth? Her name is Goose."

"Think you're funny do you? This is no place for a child."

"I can tell. All the No Children Allowed Posters really convinced me. I supposed I should be on my way. Do you know the bus fair for a ride from here to London?"

The man took a deep breath and shook his head. He was not oblivious to the fact that Harry wouldn't be here unless he was allowed to be here. He just didn't like those who didn't take training seriously and loathed those who relied on others to protect themselves. Children usually fit both criteria and he wanted to see how easily Harry got scared.

Suffice to say, he was impressed. No flinch, not backing down and even standing his ground when directly confronted.

"If you truly intend to learn here, child, then you must understand that you will fight. If you are not strong enough when that day comes, you will die."

Mordo kept his hand on Harry's shoulder and felt his heart rate. What he discovered surprised even him. There was no reaction. No fear, no nervousness. It was as if Harry was being informed of something as mundane as the weather.

Harry said, "That is true whether I learn here or not."

Still no increase in pulse. Mordo couldn't determine lies though magic like the Ancient one could, but he had his own tricks. He could sense and if he needed, draw in energy from others during physical contact. With his hand on Harry's shoulder he was confident he would feel if he was lying or if he was genuine.

"Very well Harry. I am Karl Mordo. When receiving my instructions here you will address me as Master Mordo."

Harry turned to face him and gave a polite bow, "Thank you Master Mordo."

He released his hand from Harry's shoulder and nodded. He had at least confirmed he did not lack in resolve. He was also able to clearly see the child's aptitude as Harry already had a heart palace that looked far stronger than it should considering it was only a few months old. The Heart Palace Technique was both the most difficult and most rewarding form of Energy Control. Until now, the only current practitioners were himself and his teacher, the Ancient One.

The main reason why he was so skeptical was that, in a sense, Harry was too good to be true. Mordo believed that the enemies of Sorcerers were the enemies of balance, and Sorcerers needed strength to kill them. Harry was talented and young and perhaps some decades in the future would become a strong Sorcerer to protect the balance and natural order of the world.

Only time would tell.

Once the practice session began, Harry sat to the side and watched. Mordo and the one called Wong would walk through the rows of acolytes rating their progress and giving advice when needed. The main practice each day was feeling out and controlling Dimensional Energy.

Harry determined at that point that the energy sync trick he stole off Mordo was only used by Mordo and the Ancient One. Through his senses he felt that the trainees didn't have a small piece of Dimensional Energy that synchronized to the signature of their life and soul. The other masters did seem to have an accumulation of Dimensional energy within they could use to control external energy, but it was an indirect control instead of a direct control. They would simply keep practicing with the hope that some energy would stay in their body as they practiced with it.

Harry thought the way Mordo did it was a good trick and wondered why it wasn't taught more often. He had no idea that the Ancient One used her foreknowledge to determine whether or not a student would be capable of learning it or not beforehand. If not, they were not taught it. If they could learn it, they were taught that method and that method only. The Ancient One thought only Mordo and her successor Stephen Strange would ever master the Heart Palace, but she was pleased to be wrong.

After asking a few questions Harry had something of a game plan. This place not only taught magic but martial arts which incorporated magic. He didn't want to be noticed so easily so he would spend whatever would be a normal amount of time practicing energy control before 'finally' getting the hang of magic and learning the fun stuff. Until then he would work on his Warrior Path Rank and try to get it to twenty.

In his spare time Harry decided to work on his enchanting studies and study his new toys. It wasn't just the Goblet of Fire he could analyse. Harry already got into contact with Nicolas Flamel and told him he had his stone. The ancient alchemist told him to keep it but not tell anyone. The letter stated that many different forces both magical and mundane had been after him for many years due to that stone and it was only recently that he asked his best student to look after it for a while so he could have a break. The circumstances however convinced him the stone was better left missing and if no one knew Harry had it, he should keep it that way. He also told Harry he had enough elixir to get his affairs in order and would soon be on his way to the 'Next Great Adventure.'

The end of the letter stated that after they died he would leave all his books to Dumbledore and Harry could ask to borrow them if he wanted. That however wouldn't be for a few years so he had to make due with what he had. The composition of the Philosopher's stone itself reminded Harry a bit of his spell grenades when they reached critical mass. The arrangement of the exotic energy densities within the stone was like a large amount of spells compressed into critical mass then solidified before it could blow. The critical mass exotic energies would have different properties compared to the energies prior to going critical.

However under no circumstance could Harry carelessly take it out of his inventory. The sheer density of exotic energy would destroy every electronic within a hundred feet and he had been told there were ways of tracking the stone's energy presence. Those ways had been why the Flamels rarely got a moment of peace and why they requested Dumbledore to look after it for a while. Harry even learned that the stone was in Gringotts for a time and someone tracked the energy of the stone and broke into Gringotts to find it. Luckily it had been moved hours before but at least now Harry had some understanding of why Dumbledore didn't bother hiding it. The fact that Harry had the stone yet the means to search for it came up with nothing meant that Harry for some reason was able to block the energy presence of the stone. It was only due to this the Flamels decided to let him keep it.

Thanks to that, Harry hadn't taken it out even once since he got it. Thankfully he didn't need gold or the Elixir of Life.

And so Harry's days of training began. The first thing he would do each day was enter the library, discreetly place several books into his inventory, then pause and read them all. Few were in English but many Wizard tomes also covered a variety of languages and Harry had long since mastered most forms of communication, written or otherwise.

Once Harry had memorized the contents and gone over them enough he would unpause and return them to the shelves and pick a book to bring to his room. Unfortunately the librarian became quite suspicious of him always coming and going and Harry had to lie and say that he was referencing something from the books he borrowed.

The books were part esoteric, part crossword puzzle, and part reader's digest. Harry really did enjoy them. Many wizard books read like dictionaries. Full of information and you'll never use 95% of it while 99.9% of it referenced itself.

Much of the information did in fact overlap with what Harry had already learned which allowed him to cut down on paused time comprehending it. That and the fact that his Scholar Path broke through to rank 20 allowed him to learn and comprehend what he learned much more smoothly.

After a month Harry figured he watched the forms enough and started participating in the morning and evening exercises. Surprisingly it did increase his Warrior Path even though the movements gave him no strain. Though Harry felt the increase in his Path Rank came not from his own movements but from the observation of the others. Harry used his energy sense to follow the path of channeled energies within the various disciples as they practiced. Through constant observation Harry was building up his own intuition of how energy traveled through a person's body as they fought meaning one day he might be able to predict a human's movement before they moved.

Sure, he could do it with a dragon or a basilisk, but that was because they were huge and practically saturated with energy. A human is small and the relative energy within was weak, barely noticeable like a speck of dust on the air.

Two months later Harry tried Battle Meditation for the first time since coming to Karmar-Taj. It was awkward.

Harry's battle meditation automatically generated foes made of the energy he chose to absorb which matched his level as long as it was within the range. Harry had obviously chosen to absorb Dimensional energy since having more made controlling it a bit easier and it had a range of level 50 to level 200.

Today the monsters oddly enough looked like a green spectral Slenderman. It was creepy as hell and its arms would often shift between clawed fingers and sword like appendages.

Harry did his best to fight using a sword and shield of dimensional energy rather than something he conjured using wizard magic.

Partway through the fight Harry heard from behind him, "Hello Harry."

Somehow or another the figure of the Ancient One had materialized behind him. Of course unexplainable situations were no cause for rudeness according to his mother so he said, "Good evening Ancient One, how are you?"

Harry had to duck under a decapitating slash and strike the monster's knee. The problem with the Slenderman wasn't it's durability, fast attacks, or often unpredictable movements. It was his height. It was at least double Harry's height meaning Harry had no real way to get a headshot without leaving himself vulnerable.

The Ancient One responded. "I'm doing very well, thank you for asking. You see I was meditating in the Astral plane and I sensed a minor convergence of dimensional energies so I thought I'd have a look."

Harry used his shield to parry another attack and did a half spin before bashing his shield into the monster's legs, sending it toppling down. Harry said, "I see, did you find anything interesting?"

"I did in fact. The Dimensional energy seemed to coalesce into a green stranger, an uncommon resident of certain dimensions. They are considered quite dangerous and many a dimensional traveler has met their end before them. I've never seen one in the Astral Plane before."

Harry used the moment the monster tried to get back up to pierce its side. He could have gone for the head but that always left him open for a counter attack while attacking the side forced the monster to guard. Harry said, "I see. That does sound dangerous. What do you think should be done?"

She continued observing Harry's fight for another minute or so. Since the monster matched Harry's level it wasn't something he could really hold much back on. True, he wasn't using wizard magic or his artifacts but he was looking to grind his Path proficiencies, not jump up in level. If he rose in level too fast without ranking up his paths then one day he would find he was too weak to fight monsters of the same level.

After another moment the Ancient One said, "Well the situation seems like it will resolve itself without any intervention. On an unrelated note, we haven't spoken since your arrival. Once you have some time, I'd like to invite you for tea."

Harry threw his sword into the air, conjured an energy knife, stabbed into the monster's foot and caught his sword before chopping the bound leg off. He said, "I will never refuse an offer to tea Ancient One." He was British, he liked tea. It was genetic.

After a few more moments he killed the creature which promptly dissolved into energy his body greedily absorbed. Was he pretty sure the Ancient One was watching? Yes, yes he was sure she was watching. But he couldn't just pretend this didn't happen so he might as well deal with it.

Harry finished his battle meditation and woke in his body. He made his way from his residence into the Ancient One's Chambers where the tea was already being poured. Harry sat down respectfully and lifted the cup but waited a breath so he could savor the aroma. Afterwards he took a small sip, then a longer one. Yup, good tea.

Harry asked, "Is that honey?"

"Why yes. Do you like it?"

"Yes, it's very good."

She nodded and said, "So how have you adjusted so far Harry?"

Harry took another sip and answered, "It's better than Hogwarts."

"Why is that?"

"It's probably just me. The teachers were very good at what they taught," Harry thought of Quirrel, Snape, and the Ghost Professor and added, "Most of the time. But they never taught me anything I didn't already know. It was too dangerous to ask since I was watched by people who wanted me dead so it was mostly self study while I pretended otherwise. I suppose it wasn't the best learning environment for me."

The Ancient One nodded. She had in fact done as Harry expected and did her research on Harry Potter. Everything matched what he told her yet it seemed he left quite a bit out as well. His antics of broadcasting the defeat of the most evil Dark Lord in the magical world's history on a television was certainly unique.

The awkwardness of the meeting was harming Harry's preteen soul so he simply said, "So, I'm guessing you want to know what that was."

"Yes, I would in fact. Would you like to tell me how you generated a being from another dimension composed out of Dimensional energy you then absorbed after defeating?"

Harry considered how to word the answer and after a moment said "I'm not sure how it works but I've been calling it Battle Meditation. I can sense energy but I can't just absorb it, it won't let me. When I meditate the energy somehow turns into something I can fight. After beating it I can then absorb the energy. I can choose what energy I absorb, but I have no control over what actually forms. I've been doing this for a while now."

"You can sense different forms of energy in the world around us?" This was surprising and usually impossible.

In order to sense a specific form of energy, often you would have to blindly connect to it first and absorb it and if you got lucky over time and absorbed enough you'd be able to feel it then use it to feel the same type of energy around you. If you weren't lucky you could spend years trying to absorb something you can't even feel and find out you were never absorbing anything to begin with.

Most Mystics who had formed connections with multiple types of energy strong enough to sense it did so through making contact with the master of the dimension that form of energy originated from. For example, if one wished to be able to cast bolts of pure heat energy to fire at an opponent, one could connect to the realm of Balthakk. The resulting spell was called the Bolts of Balthakk.

The Sorcerer Supreme tended to be the one who forged the most and the strongest connections with other dimensions thus granting the greatest power to defend the earth with. The problem with this approach was that it led to far too many deaths for the liking of the most recent Sorcerer Supreme which was why she locked many books which taught how to connect to the masters of other realms.

Harry however could do it in reverse. He could sense an energy, then absorb it without needing to make contact with the masters of other dimensions.

The Ancient One asked, "What types of energy have you absorbed using this method?"

"Exotic Energy, Dimensional energy, Fire energy, Sun Energy, and Nature energy," Harry easily listed off.

"Can you tell me what type of energies you sense here?"

"You mean in this room or in you?"

The Ancient One raised an eyebrow and said, "What exactly do you feel within me?"

Harry closed his eyes and concentrated. "Darkness surrounded by nature, fire, ice, light, and of course pure Dimensional energy. The others are synchronized with your life and soul like Mordo and myself are with Dimensional energy but the Darkness is not synchronized. In fact the other energies seem to be arranged around it to suppress it." Harry frowned as he noticed something else. Not a presence but an absence. He said, "You don't have any time energy in your body. How does that work?"

The Ancient one was so surprised at the last line she nearly spit up her tea. Thankfully Harry's eyes were closed so she would never have to admit to it. She asked, "You can sense time energy?"

Harry opened his eyes and said, "Yes, but I'm much too weak to absorb it. So why don't you have any?"

Harry noticed that the Ancient One seemed reluctant to speak of it so he added, "I won't tell anyone since you're keeping my secret too."

The Ancient One gave a weak smile. That was like comparing an atheist and a devil worshiper who were hiding in a holy city. Both secrets were bad, but one simply did not compare to the other. Sorcerers did not like Witches and Wizards, but those who had contact with the Dark Dimension were to be killed on sight. She herself enforced that order.

However she doubted Harry was the judging type so there was little point in hiding something he already knew. In fact, she felt that Harry may have known since they first met. It was better to explain now then it was later once Harry had acquired certain reading materials.

"The reason I lack Time Energy is due to the influence of the Dark energy you sense. I've been stealing it from the Dark Dimension, a place beyond time and death."

She expected some disgust when she told him of her sin, and she received it. But not at the admission of her sin. Harry only looked disgusted when she mentioned that the Dark Dimension was beyond death.

She was curious so she asked, "Does that offend you Harry?"

"A place beyond death? Of course it does. Life has no place existing in a place beyond death."

She held back her smirk that Harry's opinion seemed to match her own. Immediately she realized how odd that was as she was almost 800 years old and Harry was twelve. Twelve years old children should not be so accepting of death. Then again, he did say something about dying and returning a year later.

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Chapter 19 Secrets of the Sorcerers

Since Harry didn't react negatively to her admission she decided to continue. "The purpose of the Sanctums is to protect the earth from other dimensional threats. The master of the Dark Dimension is one of the strongest threats. He seeks to drag the whole of the earth into his dimension. Should he succeed, the planet will vanish from orbit around the sun and the sky will lack both time and meaning. The Dark Energy will saturate the body of every living being transforming their form while granting them endless agony. Such beings are in so much pain they cannot comprehend meaning so are called mindless ones. They do not age and will not die naturally but I think we can both agree that is beside the point."

Harry frowned and said, "So are you going to become a mindless one?" That would kinda become an issue he figured.

She shook her head at the question, "No Harry, at least not with the elemental formation I have preventing the Dark energy from tainting and saturating my flesh. In this way I can escape age and protect the world for as long as I can. I can also use the energy to dominate ambient dimensional energy."

She demonstrated this by having the dark energy surge within her causing a black diamond to appear on her forehead. She then waved her hand around and caused the three dimensional space of the room they were in to expand, contract, and fold in on itself like a kaleidoscope before reverting to normal. Harry felt the Dark energy within her force the Dimensional energy around them to submit to her control.

Harry said, "So you are using the resources of the enemy to make yourself stronger even though doing so is much like balancing on a knife? I'm guessing you don't want anyone else to do the same."

She nodded, "Very few would be capable of using Dark Energy while restraining it. Among those of Kamar-Taj, I believe Mordo would be the only one capable of doing so. He would never do it of course and I cannot ask him to. Neither would he would ever forgive me for doing it myself. He is too rigid." She wasn't guessing either. She had that conversation with Mordo several times but she never saw a positive outcome when viewing it prior to the conversation so it never actually happened from Mordo's perspective.

Harry nodded. He said, "Last year I had to compete in a dangerous competition and my school wasn't allowed to help. When I asked the headmaster if I could borrow some books from his private collection, he said he could not allow me to as that would be considered assistance. He then told me he didn't know if any books from his collection were missing and if I found any around the castle to return them when convenient. He then left me alone in the room with his collection saying I could let myself out when I wished."

The Ancient One smiled and easily recognized the act as something Albus Dumbledore would do from the rumors she heard of the man.

Harry continued, "Rules exist for a reason but reason itself does not always exist. When reason fails you, sometimes rules get in the way."

The Ancient One added, "Flexibility is important. Truth is that I hate having to use energy from the dark dimension. Because as you have said, I have not synchronized with it, it feels foreign and filthy. I have lived with that sensation for hundreds of years now and I still cannot stand it."

Harry felt a shiver of revulsion imagining such a thing. He said, "If there was another way to retain your life, would you use it?"

The Ancient One shook her head. "It is too late. Over the years I have found a few alternatives. Each has their own price of course but I've found that it was no use. I once found the actual Fountain of Youth. I was so pleased when I found it. I was ready to completely expel the Dark Energy from my body and had even found a way to offset the price of continuous usage of the fountain. It was then that reality came crashing down around me. When the Dark energy left my body, it was completely wracked with pain. My body had existed for so long without time it could no longer survive it. No matter what I attempt, my body would die shortly after ridding myself of the energy."

Harry considered the implications and realized the Elixir of Life would be useless in this situation as well. In a very real sense, the Ancient One's body was no longer alive. An Elixir that brings life may actually make her condition worse.

The Ancient One noticed Harry's frown and inwardly smiled. Harry's knowledge likely included a few ways to beat death which was why he asked. She was happy that even knowing what she had done, he was concerned for her and even wanted to help.

"Don't concern yourself with me Harry, I have long since accepted this."

Harry asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

The Ancient One paused instead of immediately replying in the negative. There was in fact something Harry could give her, a piece of information that she always wanted to know but always terrified her.

"Perhaps. If you can, I'd like you to answer a question. What happens when you die?"

Harry considered the question. He always thought somewhere deep down he wasn't supposed to tell people things like that. However there was no warning, no pop up, no bad feeling when he thought about telling her the truth. In other words, the decision was entirely on him.

"My death was in no way standard, but I don't mind telling you what I figured out. When you die, your soul and your sense of self, your identity as it were, must part. But the sense of self can't part unless it is well rounded. After death you'll experience what you need to become well rounded depending on the type of life you lived. A child who was never loved will experience a lifetime's worth of love. A person who got away with many wrongs will experience appropriate punishments to balance that person out. Once you have become well rounded, your soul will leave your sense of self and reincarnate. The sense of self will then become one with Death. I don't know what happens after that since I got the Heaven package but had to return to life."

Harry had long since figured out that the echoes of his mother and father he stayed so long with were both Death itself. Many pieces of information they had given in retrospect wasn't information his parents would give. Like why would his father, the heir of an ancient wizard family, tell Harry that the wizarding world was too small for him? That meant it was Death all along. Harry didn't know why, but he knew that Death had given him an immeasurable gift he wouldn't have traded for anything in the world. Because of this, Harry would never allow others to disrespect Death.

When Harry looked back to the Ancient One after finishing his monologue, he saw that she was crying. A moment later she grabbed a napkin to wipe her tears and said, "Thank you Harry."

When she heard what happened after death, she actually didn't think of herself. She thought of all the hundreds of friends, allies, and partners who died so long ago. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting for an answer, but she found that after hearing it, she felt a peace she never knew.

There was however one thing that stuck out to her. She asked, "Harry, how long were you on the other side?"

This wasn't the first time Harry had thought of this question. At first, he figured it was a few years, perhaps some decades. But after spending time alive in a place time could be measured, he slowly realized how wrong he had been. He blamed television and video games. He probably watched every episode of every show that existed on cable at the time at least twice and replayed every video game until he got bored with them perhaps a dozen times.

"Several hundred years I think," he answered.

The Ancient One froze for a moment before a smile crept across her lips. Then she started laughing. It was a full, deep, light hearted laugh and went on for a full minute before she eventually calmed down.

Harry had dealt with Sirius enough to have patience for this kind of thing so he calmly waited until she was done.

Once calmed down she said, "I'm sorry Harry. It's just that many of your perceptions closely resemble my own. I thought it should be impossible for someone of my years and a twelve year old to have so much in common. But now it makes sense. That would make you the closest person to my own age of Kamar-Taj."

Harry figured if he had gone this far, he should go for broke. "Since you told me your big dangerous secret, I think I should tell you mine."

"Being a Wizard training as a Sorcerer isn't dangerous enough for you?" She asked with mirth.

Harry smirked, "Nope that was the distraction for the really good stuff. What do you know about video games?"

Harry and the Ancient One spoke until morning and then late into the afternoon. Only after it had finished did the Ancient one realize it may have been the longest conversation of her lifetime. She rarely had conversations with someone she didn't already know the content of and she had to admit finding out things you completely weren't expecting one after another was something she rarely if ever experienced.

Harry told her all he could think of and she agreed to help him get stronger as discreetly as possible. Harry told her of his video game powers and Dumbledore's theory about the Deathly Hallows being absorbed into him. After testing out a few aspects of his powers she made her own training schedule for him. Before this point, Harry did not understand the possibilities and benefits of the Heart Palace technique he stole from Mordo. Once the Ancient One explained it to him he was eager to test it.

Not including Dark Energy from the Dark Dimension ruled by Dormammu or Time Energy, there were thirteen standard types of energy used by Sorcerers for the most common and practical spells. Harry intended on absorbing enough of each to add to his Heart Palace and synchronize all the energies together. Harry was quite happy to know that this technique was originally created by the Sorcerer Supreme Merlin prior to his acceptance of that position to fuse Exotic energy with other forms of Energy.

Harry's first goal was Nature energy. It was used to create storms and powerful gusts of winds in a spell called Winds of Watoomb.

The Ancient One would also take Harry to the Mirror Dimension once a week to spar. Watching the woman fold citiescapes like origami paper made Harry wonder if he could do something similar with transfiguration.

During one sparring session, she said, "Harry, why do you use a short sword? I understand why you used it before, but you are growing taller and it is no longer a good fit for you. Sorcerers often use small weapons or long staffs in magic combat. A short sword doesn't have enough benefits to use in magic combat."

The next week Harry faced her with a maniacal grin and materialized a giant sword longer than he was tall and wide enough to hide behind.

The Ancient One said, "That's.. Not quite what I had in mind."

Harry's response was a wider grin.

She shook her head and muttered under her breath, "Why do I even bother."

Oddly enough the massive sword worked pretty well. It got bad if the construct broke but Harry's constructs were pretty solid. Weapons materialized of Dimensional energy didn't have weight but they did have momentum. That meant a thick sword took more effort to swing but had more force behind the strike.

Harry decided to spend the next few level ups on STR. He was ending up a jack of all trades on the stats but since the actual power behind combat came from the Path Ranks, he didn't mind as long as he put the effort into grinding each out. Besides, higher STR meant higher physical resistance to damage and Harry was more likely to get stabbed than he was to get hit with a bolt of magic lightning.

With more strength and his Eldritch Heavy Sword as the Ancient One called it, Harry had a much easier time against monsters during battle meditation. Harry also went to an internet cafe and found a video of some practitioners using a heavy sword so he could figure out some proper techniques to use with it.

After Harry's third month he finally joined the other students in open practice of dimensional energy. Mordo accepted that Harry had gotten the hang of it after three months and would occasionally give advice or a small demonstration.

One day Mordo said it was time to spar with Harry and told him to summon a weapon. Harry smiled and summoned his heavy sword. Mordo looked both fascinated and insulted at the massive weapon. He got out his Staff of the Living Tribunal and his Vaulting Boots of Valtorr.

Master Mordo was more than a little surprised when Harry's construct did not shatter at the first strike of the staff that could smash concrete without difficulty. Harry kept the blade moving around him while he moved around the blade. Doing so allowed him to strike out, then shield himself with the sword and strike out again. The Ancient One told him it reminded her of waves crashing on the beach. Harry decided he liked it and called the fighting style Tidal Sword Style.

Mordo used his boots to jump against the air but Harry could sense the ripple of magic that preceded each step so every use of the boots telegraphed Mordo's next move allowing Harry to counter it before it was made.

Although it looked like Harry was holding his own, that was just because of how much Mordo was holding back. He had no intention of crushing Harry, he was just looking for weaknesses in the use of his heavy sword to determine if it was worth using or not. So far he was quite surprised.

Not that Harry was going all out either. Harry had already once told Mordo he was strong for his age so Harry was using about one and a half a standard adult's worth of strength and speed. Using Dimensional energy to move your body for you increased strength and speed by a large factor but Mordo wasn't doing it so Harry would fight at just above human level for now.

Harry would swing his giant sword to attack or move under it or behind it to defend. Harry watched a number of videos with tower shield users to incorporate how they worked around their shield to fight and the Ancient One had no problem painfully pointing out the weaknesses of Harry's styles.

Mordo had seen enough of Harry's unusual defenses so let up and showed some openings so he could see Harry's attacks. Harry swung from the left to bisect Mordo who jumped to dodge. The swing itself though instantly stopped below Mordo and twisted up with an edge that promised Mordo a painful landing. Mordo used his boots to take an air step but Harry jumped to follow and swung up with the added force of the jump. Mordo once again used his boots to dodge and watch the enormous blade pass him by.

Harry was both interested and annoyed by those boots. From what Harry sensed, they used electrostatic discharge to gather water vapor and solidify it for a moment to be used as a step. Valtorr was a god-like being who had power over clouds which only sounded weak but really wasn't. Water vapor could be gathered into mist using Valtorr's power which could conceal, blind, and even imprison others. Water could be gathered into a miniature storm cloud which lightning could be called forth from.

When Harry landed after Mordo's final dodge, the master put his staff away and said, "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Video games Master Mordo. I play a lot of video games." Harry easily answered.

The man smiled and shook his head. "I have seen spears, axes, knives, chakrams, swords, whips, kamas, and fans. That however was a first."

Harry smiled and said, "So how'd I do?"

Mordo nodded, "Promising."

It seemed one word of encouragement was all the master of the mystic Arts allowed himself for the twelve year old and Harry decided to be happy he got even that.

Though he continued training each day he still stayed in contact with the magical world. Hermione's owl Hedwig would drop off letters for him as the Sanctum in London which Harry was fine with as he would have felt bad for the bird if she had to fly all the way to Asia every few weeks.

Remus Lupin had returned to England after hearing from the papers about the tournament and Dumbledore hired him on the spot as the new Defense Against the Dark arts teacher. Hermione said he was great since not only was he practical, but he was actually willing to give her some advanced lessons when he saw how far ahead she was along with Neville. She also said that once a month Sirius would show up at Hogwarts and teach Lupin's classes for him, though she did not explain why. Sirius had written that Mooney wanted to meet his honorary nephew when he had the time.

Sirius himself had been going out on a few dates with Amelia and they were getting closer and catching up on lost time. Seems he had already had enough of the bachelor life.

Harry also kept himself up on the latest news in both business and technology. He could pretty much disassemble and assemble any tech on the market blindfolded and could write the operating system of any computer without difficulty. He was also getting familiar with all the names of the business world, their specialties, interests, and markets.

The more he read about business the less he wanted to do with it. It was a cruel world where lives were made and destroyed by the thousands and tens of thousands on the whims and greed of those who lacked the slightest bit of compassion. Harry could put the cause of more suffering to some of these groups than he could lay at the feet of Voldemort and all his death eaters. But at the end of the day it was a resource and if one day he failed to do something because he hadn't cultivated the resource when he could have, he likely wouldn't forgive himself.

For his side projects Harry had already become quite the craftsman. He didn't use a forge or hammers but magic and imagination. There was a spell that could turn iron into clay and back. Harry could then mold, shape, and press the clay before stretching it to create the grain lines then carve out the details and return it back to iron before heating and tempering it. Harry could place the finished produce in his inventory to check the details and see what worked and what didn't.

Harry used the Goblin techniques as a base but used his own talents and skills to build up from there. Legally, Goblins were not allowed wands and they weren't fantastic at wandless magic. Harry had their techniques and his own magic and the insights from the books of Kamar-Taj.

It didn't take long for Harry to finish the library of Kamar-Taj. The apprentice section anyways. The library was split into three sections, the apprentice section, the master's section, and the Sorcerer Sumpreme's private collection. In order to hide this, he still borrowed one book every four days from the apprentice section which made the librarian stop glaring at him as he thought Harry was finally reading properly instead of just skimming. Oh the irony.

The Ancient One said that once Harry had mastered the content of the apprentice section, she would grant him access into the Master's section. This meant however that he needed to fully comprehend the whole of the apprentice section, not just have it memorized which even for him would take a while.

Harry was tempted to do it her way since he probably could within a year, but where would the fun in that be? All Harry had to do was find a specific time when the library was empty so he could sneak in. For others this would be tricky or would require breaking specific rules like the No Dimensional Portals in the Library rule. Harry didn't need to break those rules though, he had a better way. In Harry's room was a large painting of Dogs Playing Poker. When Harry tapped it three times and said a password, it would change to a map of Kamar-Taj and show the location of everyone in the temple. Using it he could easily find a time when no one was in the library and sneak in. Harry had long since figured out the secrets to the Marauder's Map and mailed it to Neville since he didn't need it afterwards.

The volumes in the Master's section really was where the good stuff was. The true names of specific deities who could be invoked during spellcraft to empower some of the more esoteric spells. Histories of ancient figures who did extraordinary deeds. Descriptions of ancient artifacts, relics, and treasures. Details about the various realms and the beings who ruled them. There really were a lot of nice things in there.

Six months after starting Harry got a Sling Ring and learned to use it. The next day he returned it.

From what Harry understood now, a Sling Ring used dimensional energy to harden space, making it brittle. When using the right technique, it was possible to overlap the brittle space with another space then drill a hole from the brittle space behind it to the space that overlapped it.

A Sling Ring was very important, not just for travel, but for the use of the Mirror dimension. It required a lot of power to shatter space and allow one to travel into or even bring others into the mirror dimension, but that was the only requirement. Getting out however could not be done without a proper portal made by the Sling Ring. Even the Ancient One could not return from the Mirror Dimension without a Sling Ring.

Harry didn't need it. The Sling Ring Perk allowed him to harden and overlap space without the ring and creating a portal wasn't difficult after he had the trick down. Harry created a fake Sling Ring so others wouldn't get suspicious though.

According to the Ancient One, it was possible to make a portal to other planets, other realms, and other dimensions.

The Ancient One herself showed Harry how to properly access the Astral Plane and even showed him the various dimensions so he could get a feeling for the energy of each. Harry could actually enter battle Meditation within a dimension in the astral plane so he was no longer limited to only terrestrial energies.

There was a very specific reason the Ancient One decided to teach Harry everything she could think of. It was not free, nor was it from the good of her own heart. It wasn't to make him the Next Sorcerer Supreme either. No, she had something else in mind. She knew that she was going to die before she taught everything to the one who would succeed her and she made Harry swear to pick up where she left off. She also wanted Harry to be a back up plan in case Kamar-Taj ever fell and there was no one left.

In one tutoring session Harry asked her, "How come all the warnings for spells come after the spell in most books?"

She gave an uncharacteristic shrug and answered, "These books were not written in a single sitting. Many would create a spell and test it. If they survived the test they would write the spell down. The consequences of the spell would be learned later in the long run and written some time after the spell or ritual was first created."

"Can't someone just re-write the books with the warnings first?"

"No we cannot I'm afraid. Many books were acquired from donations and there is a strict rule against copying the book to ensure the content only rests within the originals. Another problem is that if someone did copy the books and a mistake was made, the consequences could be disastrous if the spell or ritual was performed from the incorrect copy. Such circumstances have in fact occurred more than once which is why no one copies or edits or re-writes the books."

The original volume was very important to magic users but less so to Harry. A normal Sorcerer would not be able to memorize the angles and lines specific types of mandalas required for magic circles but Harry translated those lines into Arithmancy and numbers allowing him to properly and accurately memorize even the esoteric spell circles better than if he just used eidetic memory to imprint them in his mind. His knowledge of university level math like linear and non-linear algebra and calculus and differential equations helped turn those lines into formulas.

An average day at the temple began with waking early and having breakfast before morning practice. Harry would then spend until evening on various projects and finish in time for evening practice where Harry would do forms with his heavy sword. Harry had no intention of actually using it against a strong enemy, it was just useful for form practice and building the right muscle groups. Harry did intend on using a large sword but not the mammoth he swung for practice.

To be honest, he just liked swinging it to see the expressions on people's faces. Kaecilius and Mordo always made the best faces when they saw him. He had yet to get an expression out of Wong though.

Harry was growing fond of long swords but not something taller than he was. He had in mind something halfway between a zanbato and a dodao. A long single curved clever edge type sword a bit longer than a longsword with a wide blade and longer than normal handle for both single handed and dual grip strikes. It was long enough to attack as he pleased, sharp enough to bisect a man or beast in one strike, yet light enough to use quickly with his strength.

When the Ancient One saw Harry use it for the first time he could tell she was relieved Harry seemed intent to use the heavy sword only for training and pranking. Harry could easily use the Tidal Sword Style he was coming up with on the lighter blade as well though he had to add more forward and back steps to take advantage of the speed he could use to strike.

After training Harry would meet the Ancient One in the Astral Plane where she would teach him various things and familiarize him with various planes. She could not show them all of course. There were more planes of existence than there were people alive on earth. But she did at least show him the important ones. During the exploration they would find some energy within Harry's range and he would initiate battle meditation and defeat the monster that generated. In this way Harry was collecting many different forms of energy and within a few years he had confidence to store enough to form a connection to it and synchronize with it, thus adding that energy to his spell weaving capabilities.

The lessons themselves weren't entirely one way either. Harry knew much about the relatively small hidden world of witches and wizards and would tell her about the various potions, spells, and abilities they had. She couldn't stop herself from smiling the first time Harry turned into a Snowy Owl.

Harry even promised to add a wizard section to the library of Kamar-Taj at some point. They couldn't use exotic energy, but they could learn about it as there were other beings, both mortal and otherwise who could use it. The list and properties of various potions was also useful and Harry intended on leaving a means to mail order potions for the temple and some wizard gold to pay for them. He would even leave some wizard robes and directions to Diagon Alley and how to access it in case they needed to buy things directly from wizards and maybe set the Sanctum up with its own account at Gringotts.

Every weekend Harry would meet the Ancient One in the Mirror Dimension and they would spar. Although Dimensional energy could be used to increase the physique, how much it could increase it by was actually determined by the strength of mind and the physique itself. A stronger mind could increase strength to the limit without harming the body. Without enough mental discipline, forcing the body too far with dimensional energy would cause damage and possibly make the body explode. However, the stronger the body, the more energy could be added without detonation.

In this way, it wasn't a bad thing that Harry was increasing all his stats as his magic stats increased how much he could strengthen his body and his physical stats increased how much his body could take increasing before it broke.

One time Harry tried to strengthen his body with Dimensional Energy beyond his limit and he ended up tearing himself to pieces and exploding in front of the Ancient One. She was most concerned until she saw his remains turned to dust and re-assemble back into himself. Though she could tell from his gritted teeth how unpleasant the experience was. She was even able to hold herself back from handing out the obligatory 'I told you so' as she was the one to warn him of the dangers of overexertion. That time anyways. She would not let him off without an 'I told you so' if there was a next time.

In this way a year passed before anything interesting happened. Harry was more surprised than anyone that it took a full year for something big to happen. Still, Harry didn't expect his first fight as a disciple of Kamar-Taj to be against someone with a kink for magic jewelry.

The day started out normal enough until the temple received a certain guest. Harry wasn't able to get the full details but it seemed the guest was there to warn the Ancient One that a group of suspicious men wearing robes bearing a specific mark had been active around Mt. Wundagore. It seemed that since their arrival, there had been earthquakes that were occurring with more and more frequency.

The Ancient One gathered the masters and left for Wundagore shortly after.

Harry confirmed with his map that the library was empty and likely would remain so for a while so this would be a great time to borrow a few texts. The first half of his plan worked, no one stopped him from entering the deepest parts of the library. It was unfortunate however that he felt someone approach less than a minute after he came in.

The first thing that stood out to Harry about this new presence was not that it was unfamiliar nor that it was powerful. No, what stood out more than anything else to Harry was then ten sources of energy the presence brought into the library.

Harry stood in a corner and used wizard magic to make himself invisible. There were other spells he knew that would work but since his wizard magic was undetectable and there was nothing in the library that would be harmed by the exotic energy released, it was the better choice.

The man who entered wore an unfamiliar green robe with golden flames embroidered across the edges. He looked to be in his late thirties and of Asian descent along with shoulder length black hair, well trimmed facial hair and sharp eyebrows. On the finger of each hand was a unique ring and Harry's senses told him they were the sources of energy he felt. Not only that, they were perfectly attuned to the man himself.

The library Harry was hiding in contained some of the most dangerous and esoteric knowledge in existence. The new arrival took one look around and ignored it all, venturing instead to a nondescript wall.

He took out a piece of what looked to be advanced technology and activated it. Light shone from the silver disc like object and the nondescript wall seemed to fall away and collapse in on itself.

Harry paused the world and walked over to the new opening.

It wasn't difficult to realize this man was an intruder. There was even a distinct chance the masters leaving was orchestrated by this man. Harry took a look at the man's rings in paused time but none were familiar to him. He also took a good look at the device which seemed capable of cracking magic locks. Harry had no idea how that could work which was really saying something. His technical know-how may not be in the top ten of the planet at this point but it should at least be in the top hundred.

And last but certainly not least, Harry inspected the newly opened space the mysterious intruder had come all the way for. He nearly fainted. Within the small space was a book on an altar. Not surprising as this was a library, but it was a book that Harry recognized. Bound in unfamiliar leather with a red dragon emblazoned on the cover. It was the Grand Grimoire.

The Grand Grimoire was something as Legendary as it was Infamous. Centuries ago, a powerful alchemist and sorcerer found the original text of both the Greater Key of Solomon and the Lesser Key of Solomon. These texts included instructions on how to summon and command almost every powerful demon in existence and contained various details on each one. Rather than use them for personal gain, he spent centuries studying it and experimenting with them and poured all the results into a single tome. The book he wrote contained not only the knowledge he gained from both manuscripts, but also knowledge he gained from demons he summoned and experimented with along with spells and rituals he learned from other dimensions he used his knowledge to travel to.

It was not the most powerful book in the universe nor the most dangerous. Oddly enough, that was what made it perhaps the most valuable. It was pretty much the most user friendly book of all the books that could grant great power. It was no monkey's paw. It gave exact details on how to summon and control demons without error and included all the proper warnings and precautions. It built up from the knowledge of Solomon who used demons to build his temple.

At least that's what most believed. No one knew who authored it or what happened to him after all.

Harry obviously couldn't let the man have it. The intruder wasn't being loaned the book for a good cause after all, he was clearly here to steal the bloody thing.

When Harry realized this would likely come down to a fight, he deeply cringed. This wasn't an open field or empty plain. No, this was the Master's Section of the Kamar-Taj Library with the Ancient One's Private collection chained up on an adjacent wall.

What did this mean? Well, even he couldn't repair books that had been burned to cinders. Also some of the books contained magics of their own and Harry didn't know how they would react to his wizard magic.

Harry never considered that he had the option of just letting the man leave. It wasn't in his nature. The fact that he wouldn't be able to hide the evidence of the fight was also obvious. However it was acceptable. He had been able to stay low for the last year and it was longer than he expected to be honest.

After spending as much time as he could think of coming up with various plans, Harry unpaused and said, "Excuse me, but who are you?"

The man turned to face him but only showed a moment of surprise at Harry's age. He made a fist and Harry felt psionic energy from one of the man's rings start surrounding the area. The intruder said, "Forget what you have seen and leave at once."

Harry's innate mental protection prevented the mind control from having any effect but it did answer Harry's question of how he got to the library in the first place.

Luckily there was a difference between casting a spell yourself and using a tool to do it. When using a tool, you wouldn't know if the spell failed.

Harry started walking further into the library to one of the doors in the back. This led him to walk right past the man who silently observed the 13 year old child.

Harry first tried an overpowered banish spell to send the intruder to the wall but he instantly shifted his stance to endure the force and only moved back half a foot. Though Harry's spell energy couldn't be sensed, the man saw the tells of an attack beforehand and braced himself accordingly.

A beam of cold and what looked to be a laser beam shot from two of the man's rings and Harry barely had time to dodge. He was relieved when he sensed they only struck a wall and not a book but he didn't expect the gaudily dressed villain to strike first without a proper introduction monologue. Maybe he could squeeze one out of him.

Harry conjured a shield and short sword with dimensional energy and said, "If you're going to check something out, I'll need to see your library card."

He sneered and said back, "I shall take what I want and no child shall get in my way." He fired off a compact burst of space Harry tried to endure but it shattered his shield like tissue paper and sent him back crashing through three different bookshelves and into the far wall with a crack that would shatter the bones of any mortal.

At this point Harry was in a lot of pain but very grateful he had placed so many stat points into STR. Sure, that really hurt, it was like a few hundred sticks of dynamite going off in his face, but it only cost him a fraction of his health.

The intruder didn't bother to check if Harry was alive and returned to the book. Though he opened the door he didn't remove the security yet so the book wasn't simply something he could take. He took out a few more pieces of high end tech and he set them to work removing the spells that kept him from his prize.

Harry was taking potion after potion from his inventory and gulping them down.

*Ping*

[Recovery Potion has recovered Health.]

[Healing Potion has increased Health Recovery speed by 15% for ten minutes.]

[Wit Sharpening Potion has increased INT by 5% for ten minutes.]

[Hardening Potion had increased physical defense by 20% for five minutes.]

[Strengthening Potion has increased STR by 5% for ten minutes.]

Unfortunately most potions could not be used with others but Harry had these ones brewed specifically for stackable use. The downside was that they only had a shelf-life of an hour after they were brewed before the effects expired but since Harry kept them in his timeless inventory, that wasn't much of a downside.

Harry quickly realized why his banishment spell didn't work. It used his magic to push his target away and was less effective the heavier the target. However magical energy also counted towards weight. This man's ten sources of energy were all considered massive so pushing him was much harder. That also meant that many spells such as Stunners which don't work well on stronger opponents would do nothing. Those energy sources were tuned to the man's life force and were practically a part of him. Energy wise the man's total energy was like a hundred and fifty Dumbledores. Even Harry's Stunner Grenades wouldn't be able to put him down.

Luckily his plan worked. He would have dodged that shot if it were lethal but the result was about as ideal as he could get. He got some distance from the man and he wasn't paying attention to him. Harry observed through his energy sense the man breaking the security barriers and Harry cast a silencing charm on his surroundings. He then opened a portal to the Sahara desert and waited.

Once the security had broken, Harry poured as much power as he could into the spell and shouted, "Accio Grand Grimoire!"

The book rocketed past the man thanks to the verbal casting and made its way into Harry's hands. Faster than any Olympic sprinter the intruder dashed at Harry who ran into the portal he made earlier with the man following behind.

The man practically growled, "Give me the book child!"

Harry said, "No thanks. How about an introduction since I hate to be rude. I'm Harry Potter, a minor practitioner of magic."

"I am the Mandarin, and if you value your pathetic life you shall kneel before me and surrender the book!"

Harry was shocked at the introduction, "The Mandarin?!" he cried out.

The man seemed pleased at the surprise, but Harry continued and said, "You call yourself a form of dialect? How would you feel if I called myself the British?"

Once he realized he was being insulted he growled through his teeth again and made a fist that shined with magical light.

Harry wasn't finished of course. "Do you have a sidekick or rival called the Cantonese or the Hunanese?"

"Enough!" he shouted and fired a stream of terrible flames Harry sensed were as hot as the sun. Harry jumped out of the way as the sand that was beneath him changed into molten glass and Harry fired his Endless Cutter Stream from the Mandarin's left. Instead of dodging it he simply faded into the ethereal allowing the spell to pass harmlessly through him.

He returned to solid form and said, "You are no sorcerer. A Wizard then? No matter. No one is a match for the Mandarin."

Harry wanted to point out if that were true he wouldn't have come only after the Ancient One and the other masters left. As if sensing Harry's intention to say something insulting the Mandarin preemptively fired a beam into the ground which caused the sand around them to shape itself into various mounts and obstacles and walls. This suddenly made dodging much harder.

Harry fired off his slow moving Expanding Cutter Sphere and ran to the side. The Mandarin fired the same concussive beam he used on Harry earlier at it which caused the sphere to detonate into a barrage of cutter spells which sliced up many of the surroundings and forced the Mandarin to seek shelter behind a wall.

Harry used the moment to conjure a source of eternal flame and expanded it before granting it form. It became a semi truck sized dragon and sought out the Mandarin. Eternal flame was something only Harry or someone like Dumbledore could cast, but not even the latter could combine it with transfiguration magic to create something as powerful as Fiendfyre but not as deadly to the caster. Well, he probably could with some preparation, but definitely not on the fly. Having the power of Elder Wand strengthened magic helped.

The dragon quickly found the Mandarin and sent out a blast of eternal fire dragon breath.

Harry teleported behind the man and waited for an opening. With his newfound knowledge of dimensional energy, Harry was able to change the procedure for apparition into something smoother, safer, and more powerful. Though he couldn't use it everywhere as it still tended to fry electronics in the area.

The dragon of living eternal flame proved no challenge to the Mandarin who fired a beam of pure cold energy which not only beat back the dragon breath but consumed and snuffed out the dragon itself.

Harry used his short sword and the opening to try and slice off the Mandarin's arm, but the man's seasoned sense of battle warned him in time and though Harry struck far faster than a normal human was capable of, the Mandarin only received a small cut on his forearm from the dimensional blade.

The Mandarin quickly struck out with his fist forcing Harry back a step but the strike was followed through by a series of blows Harry felt were each capable of denting steel and crushing stone. Harry realized that getting close was not so great an idea as this man was a master martial artist far beyond the level of Mordo and Kaecelius. Though Harry's short sword allowed him to make the most of his speed, each of his strikes were dodged, blocked, or even parried through unarmed combat techniques.

Harry missed a step while being forced back and the Mandarin used the opening to strike Harry's chest with enough force to crack the stone skin his potion gave him.

The Mandarin looked over Harry once more and said, "Impressive for a child but you will not be saved by this. You will die for your insolence and there is nothing that can save you." He shot a bolt of lightning which Harry's shield was able to block long enough for him to dodge the rest, but the lightning was followed up by a searing beam of light which struck Harry's shoulder.

Harry conjured a dozen knives in the air with wizard magic but used some principles of dimensional constructs to create them faster. Harry then banished them all at the Mandarin who merely smirked.

A whirlwind rose up from the Mandarin and steered the knives off course. A moment later a wall of black stretched out from the Mandarin and engulfed the area in a dark energy that hid all light and energy signs, even from Harry's senses.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was coming next and Harry jumped to the side to avoid another concussion beam which fragmented the hardened ground like an explosion. Harry threw a Patronus grenade into the air and ran to the side based on memory. He couldn't see or sense anything but he remembered what it looked like before the Mandarin took away the light.

Luckily the man didn't think Harry could do anything against his darkness so three seconds after Harry tossed his grenade, the zone of dark energy was dissolved by the massive dragon of light. The Mandarin fired several beams at the dragon but they all passed through him. Harry wished it would pretend to fight or release some of that light dragon breath as a distraction, but a Patronus would only take the initiative to fight against darkness.

Harry concentrated and said, "Bombarda Maxima," firing an explosion shot at the Mandarin's feet. He noticed it just before it crashed into the ground and jumped against a nearby pillar he created earlier to get some distance from the blast.

Before Harry could fire another explosion shot the ground began to shift and form into another walled off area. Harry turned to run away from where he sensed the Mandarin coming from but the floor he was on suddenly cracked and he lost his footing. The Mandarin fired his beam of cold at the floor and suddenly Harry's feet were encased in ice.

"This game has gone on long enough. Goodbye, Harry Potter."

Harry sensed the ring the man used to turn intangible charge up. Whatever he was about to do was likely his ultimate finisher.

Harry could only respond, "About time." Harry grabbed the book he kept under his shirt behind his back and tossed it into the path of the beam the Mandarin had just fired.

The beam struck the book and the Mandarin saw the red dragon cover and the book itself turn to dust with a flash of bright magical light.

"Noo!"

Harry used his strength to free himself of the ice and said, "I was hoping you'd have something that could destroy the book. Goodbye."

Harry threw a small ball at the ground which turned into white smoke and teleported away. A bolt of lightning blasted through the smoke in the next instant which scattered it, but Harry was already gone.

Harry popped a few miles from the site and paused. The only way to win was to kill that guy or destroy the book. The problem was that both were impossible for Harry. Harry didn't have a counter to the Mandarin's intangibility and the man had more powerful magics and was far superior a martial artist. He wasn't just fighting Harry, he was seeing through him. That last combo wasn't luck. He knew where to create a spot of fragile ground to break and cause an opening.

Destroying the book was just as hard. Legendary books like the Grand Grimoire couldn't be destroyed normally. If Harry had been turned to dust in that flame attack, the Grand Grimoire would simply have been lightly singed though through the heat of the sun.

That last beam was different and Harry felt it. The Ancient One made sure Harry could recognize disintegration energy as it was one of the surest one shot kills that existed. Harry's instant death protection wouldn't protect him from disintegration. Disintegration was also something that could in fact destroy the Grand Grimoire.

And that was exactly how the Mandarin had been fooled.

Before grabbing the Grimoire Harry had conjured a duplicate that was as magically dense as he could make it. The moment Harry entered the portal, he placed the Grand Grimoire into his Inventory and placed the copy under his shirt. The duplicate had no content in the pages of course but the cover looked identical.

When Harry originally paused to think up his plan, he realized that if he simply tricked the man into leaving, he would likely come back. He had to think the book was destroyed or when he tried to take it again he would bring an even greater force of destruction.

His first plan was to pretend to use a spell to destroy the book himself and die in the process. Unfortunately this plan failed the moment he put the book into his inventory and was greeted by a pop up message.

[Unique Item 'Grand Grimoire' will drop from inventory upon death.]

Because of this Harry would either need the Mandarin to destroy it or Harry would somehow have to convincingly destroy the fake himself.

Since he was still paused, Harry decided to go over the pages of the Grand Grimoire. He already had it, so might as well right?

Harry spent what was likely several weeks going over the content. It was by far, the most advanced book he had ever read. He memorized the characteristics of every powerful demon and how to summon, bind and command most of them. Not surprisingly the means were all very complex, had a large probability of failure, and would likely corrupt the soul of the user.

Harry had no interest in summoning demons. He found the descriptions, traits, and powers of the various demons an interesting read, and the summoning rituals themselves were insightful, but Harry would never use any of them except for reference. If nothing else, he'd be able to recognize a summoning ritual if he saw one in the future.

There was however content which did interest Harry. The book contained magics which used dimensional energy as a base differently from the magics of Kamar-Taj. These spells were created by beings from other worlds and contained their insights and histories. They also contained various warnings about their use of course but there were some instances where the spells might be useful as long as the proper precautions were made.

After fully comprehending what content he could and memorizing verbatim the content he couldn't for later, Harry opened a portal back to Kamar-Taj's library.

He wasn't surprised to see the Ancient One and Mordo already there.

The Ancient One smiled seeing Harry and said, "You look to have seen better days Harry."

Harry looked down and only then noticed a part of his robes were burned and there was a black burn on his shoulder where the laser struck.

Harry shook his head and said, "I'll live."

Mordo practically yelled, "What happened here? Who did this?!"

Harry said, "He called himself the Mandarin. Came for the book over there. The leather one with a red dragon on the cover."

Harry saw Mordo soundlessly mouth the words 'Grand Grimoire,' while beginning to look pale.

The Ancient One noticed Harry's lack of panic and after considering the circumstances and knowing the possibility of Harry not knowing what that book was to be zero, understood the situation was already resolved.

Before she could say anything Mordo shouted, "What happened!? Where did the Mandarin go?"

Harry realized that they both recognized the name so Harry said, "I tricked him into firing a disintegration beam of some kind at the book and escaped."

The Ancient One's eyes widened only for a moment in surprise but Mordo was not nearly as subtle. His jaw was hanging neatly from his mouth.

The Ancient One said, "Harry looks like he could use some healing, follow me."

The Ancient One was fully aware that Harry did not in fact need healing, but Mordo didn't need to know that and she was curious for the details. She did not see this event coming perhaps because Harry was involved, but as it turned out well she didn't mind it.

The pair made their way to the Ancient One's room and Harry pulled out a tea set for them from his inventory. Exquisite tea takes more than a few minutes to brew and loses quality quickly but a timeless inventory allowed him to have some whenever he wanted and it was already as good as the Ancient One's. One of her secret uses of the Eye of Agamotto was to see when she would need tea to be ready so she could prepare it in advance. This was why her 'ready made' tea was better than most people had in their lives.

The Ancient One took the cup Harry poured for her and said, "Thank you Harry. Now please go over what happened today."

Harry gave her the details, not bothering to hide that he was sneaking into the Master's Library or his map. He was pretty sure she knew and Harry hadn't touched her private collection. As of yet anyways.

He told her of the items the Mandarin used to break the security and Harry's plan. He also told her the details of the battle and that the book was in his inventory.

She finished her second cup of tea by this point and said, "And it's safe to assume you've memorized the contents."

Harry nodded. "Mostly for reference. I wouldn't be surprised if I encounter a demon at some point so those details will be helpful. The requirements for commanding demons though are not something I can ever do though so no demon army for me."

"Oh, and why is that?"

Harry frowned, "You haven't read it?"

She shook her head. "Many of the restricted tomes or the ones in my private collection were placed there to prevent the temptation the knowledge offers. I have succumbed to temptation before so I am not willing to risk it again."

Harry realized that this meant many of the books in her own collection may have content she was unaware of.

"There are several ways of commanding a demon without staining or selling your own soul, but they all require risks which have the potential to harm countless others or materials which I am not willing to use such as the pure souls of others. Solomon for example was said to use a signet ring to command demons that was gifted to him by God, but the truth was that he was an alchemist and crafted the ring himself."

Harry left the rest unsaid but implied. If the Ancient One was surprised, she did not show it. Solomon once held the title of Sorcerer Supreme, but that title simple means the holder must be powerful enough to defend the earth, it doesn't mean the holder has to be good.