Harry Potter and the Peverell Legacy

Book Two of the Heritage Series

Chapter One

A Warrior in Training

The Black Lodge was an old hunting Lodge that was owned by the notorious Black Family in Bulgaria, it hadn't been opened to people for almost two centuries but its renown had never been forgotten. Mainly due to the expansive grounds that were filled with all manner of creatures that the high society witches and wizards used to hunt for sport.

Within the lodge was a boy of sixteen who has been brought to the hunting lodge for training by his adoptive father to develop his survival skills but also hone his duelling capabilities.

Harrison Black-Potter was not what you would consider a normal teenager, he was famous and his story a legend. Although he despised that fame due to why he had gained it and what he had lost. But beyond that fame he was also a powerful and skilled wizard, and that power and skill was still growing.

Following the battle within the Department of Mysteries, Sirius Black had decided that it was time for Harry to go through the rigorous training that most old families put their heir through. He however decided to turn that training into something more akin to what he had received under the tutorage of Auror Alastor Moody when he'd joined the Hit-Wizards.

The training was extreme, dangerous and vigorous but its results were extremely effective and they didn't require months to work. They created a sink or swim situations and the experienced learnt from either had meant the difference between defeat at the hands of an enemy or defeated but living to try again.

The first lesson Sirius taught was to always be on your guard, he had managed to take Harry from Kings Cross Station to the Lodge and through an extended apparition without a fight. Once they had landed he had then sent an arrow through his sons calf.

Understandably Harry had been furious, and his face flushed both with pain and anger but Sirius was not done and he began to send other spells at Harry forcing him to defend himself and push through the pain.

Their duel had lasted only twenty minutes, secretly this was because the apparition had taken a lot out of him and the pain from Harry's wound was making him feel sick, the family magic was not his friend in that moment.

"That was your first lesson." Sirius said as he stopped sending spells at Harry, "Always be on your guard in public, never let yourself be taken against your will. Your second lesson, be sure to always heal yourself when you can. You do not want to get it infected, leave a trail of blood or draw attention to a weakness." He then had seemingly disappeared.

The moment he was gone, Harry had fell to the floor and began to examine his leg and cursed very loudly at the now seemingly absent Sirius Black. The curse he had used on his leg was infamous among quidditch fans, a small hunting arrow was stuck in the muscle of his calf.

He used a vanishing charm to remove the arrow to prevent further damage, but immediately his leg throbbed and he felt sick and blood spurted out of hole it had left.

Just as was about to use the diagnosis charms he had learnt in the DA that year to probe the injury he heard something moving fast and then the underbrush behind him rustled and moved, something very large, grey and toothy shot towards him.

Even through his shock and pain his wand raised towards the creature and with a great bang a stunning charm hit it and it fell with a large thud and he got a good look at it and have never seen such a beast.

It had a wolf-like head with a large pink hairy nose and no discernible eyes, its body however was like that of a rat and its wormlike tail was the twice the length of its body. It was not a creature he recognised from his books or classes which only made it scarier given how he didn't know its behaviour or how it hunted.

With the creature stunned he turned he attention back to his wound, he cleaned the wound with a spell which stung and made him hiss, another spell sealed the wound into a red puckered scar that was partially healed. This he had learnt from the healing lessons in the DA, it wasn't perfect and new that even partially healed it could still get infected or reopen so he cast "Fasciaturarire".

A bandage wrapped itself round his calf, given his choice of healing spell he would have normally used a poultice under the bandage but given he didn't have one he would just have to make do without one for now, he needed to leave the area and try and find a somewhere more defendable but he also knew he would need to learn the forest.

Sirius had reappeared half an hour later and had actually inspected his wound and nodded impressed, "You knew more about healing than I thought. Good." Was all he had said, "Now we duel again, you need to keep me at a distance while dodging every obstacle you see in this forest."

They had duelled over a massive distance and seen all manner of creatures that had run in terror from the noise and lights they were making. The sun had set and the forest at night made Harry twitch at the slightest sound, the daylight had revealed numerous dangerous creatures and the thought of what nocturnal creatures the Lodge had only made him shudder.

Eventually Sirius had stopped their second duel, although Harry thought that might be because Sirius was exhausted which he found odd. He himself was looking forward to getting some sleep but Sirius had then turned sleep into yet another lesson.

"You will not be sleeping in the Lodge on the hill, no you will sleep in the forest here. You will need to find a safe place and keep yourself safe. In the field, aurors must often sleep rough when following leads, especially deep surveillance.

With that Sirius had left him alone, surrounding by the shadowy forest where the small amount of moonlight played tricks on your eyes and he saw a threat in every dark place.

Fear of the unknown made Harry move away from that spot, no location could be secure if Sirius knew where it was so he moved deeper into the forest. He was exhausted but after an hour he was forced to stop at the base of a large tree.

Nowhere in this forest was truly safe, there were creatures everywhere and in the dark, he was more likely to find one or injure himself. Any light he cast would also draw attention to anything in the area.

He limped around a wide area of the tree creating a perimeter of proximity charms; it would alert the caster when triggered to any life forms that entered the specified area. Once done he sagged down at the base of the tree and he snuggled up to the tree and on himself for warmth and closed his eyes.

The next two days Harry and Sirius had spent duelling extensively, Sirius attacked him using his surroundings, from the trees and rocks, to the leaves and vines. Everything was a weapon in a duel and a duellist had to learn how to use them.

He was using his skills with charms, defence and transfiguration extensively and it tested his knowledge of the magic he had learnt. Sirius had the advantage here but Harry wasn't going to be beaten by him.

One obstacle Harry found was hunger, Sirius had shaken his head sadly and told him he wouldn't bring him food from the Lodge he would need to find it in the forest. "In the field, an Auror must be able to sustain themselves on what they can find, summon or create. You have magic, now use it."

Sirius had left him alone most evenings but he had come out in the early hours hunting Harry sometimes, and given his use of family magic could always find him which Harry thought unfair but couldn't defend against.

After seven days of wandering the Lodges grounds and catching only a few hours' sleep each night, Harry had eventually found an exposed area of the Lodge near a stream. There was a large rock formation which formed a natural cave.

Cautiously he had approached the cave knowing that an animal could possibly use this for a den as it would offer shelter and protection. He had found a few caves during his small amount of time in the forest but they had all been inhabited, he sent several spells inside to startle anything inside and his luck seemed to be in as there was no creature inside.

He edged into the cave slowly, with his wand lit and a curse on his lips. His heart was racing because he expected a bear or wolf to jump at him at any moment even when his magic said it was empty but once he found the back of the cave he was relieved to see it was truly empty.

It wasn't overly large, but it offered great protection as it was entirely of stone all around and it was dry but was also cold. Realising that this was the best safe location he had found so far, he set about making it as good as he could make it.

The cave entrance was a vulnerability so from another part of the forest he levitated a large boulder which he used to block the entrance. He used magic to flatten the cave floor which had not been easy, and then the last work he had done on it was to create a stone door in the back of the cave as a way of escaping.

Eventually content that he had done everything he could, Harry conjured a blanket and cushion and tried to rest but it was too cold inside the cave and the darkness felt suffocating. So, from loose rocks he created four stone bowls into which he poured the bluebell flames Hermione had taught him in his first year of school.

The flames were smokeless, odourless, and waterproof. The flames gave some heat to the cave and because of them he soon fell asleep much more comfortable than he had for an entire week, only the lack of food had soured his night as his belly rumbled.

Sirius's lessons had continued every day after that, he had then stopped Harry eating berries and other such edible plants and Harry was soon getting desperate. His duelling had gotten sloppier and his temper was frayed and his magic had turned darker.

At the end of day nine Harry was desperate. He was getting ready to curse Sirius into the next life but as he walked through a large bramble bush looking for anything edible when a Rabbit dashed out in front of him in fright. Acting on instinct only, Harry dived and managed to grab hold of the back of the creature just before it was out of his reach.

"Stupefy" he said, and the rabbit went limp in his arms. He looked at it carefully. He couldn't kill a rabbit, no matter how hungry he felt. He had killed one in the forest at Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure that he could do it now, that had been to save Tonks' life but this was a selfish need.

He placed the rabbit back on the forest floor but he didn't leave. He sat looking at it with his wand tapping his leg as he had a battled his own mind. After what had felt like days; his resolve hardened and he hit the animal with a bone breaking hex at the neck. He felt bile rise up in his throat at the thought of what he had done and he almost threw the dead rabbit into the forest, but his hunger was too great.

He had never had to cook an animal before so he wasn't entirely sure what he needed to do. First, he skinned it with magic, as he was certain you didn't cook it with its skin and fur still attached. Next, he used a cutting charm to slice open its belly and used a summoning charm to pull out the entrails. He cooked it on a magically revolving spit over a fire he started, and when it had browned he took his first bite.

It was one of the best things that he had ever eaten, he even thought to himself that the Hogwarts feasts could not compare to the taste and flavour of this cooked rabbit. He felt very satisfied with himself as he had managed to cook and prepare a rabbit from scratch with no training. It had helped that he knew how to cook from his time at Privet Drive, and he had also seen his uncle once prepare a chicken from Aunt Petunia's free-range chicken coop phase.

"Good." Said a voice from behind him which had made Harry spin in alarm and his wand was pointing directly at Sirius.

"How long have you been there!" Harry demanded.

"Long enough to have seen you just prepare your own dinner, you did better than I did. I failed this test and gave myself food poisoning and it was nasty." Sirius said proudly, "You have until tomorrow before your next test begins."

Sirius left the forest and Harry didn't linger. He extinguished the fire and began to move. The many animals in the forest were dangerous and some of them stalked each other to steal kills and the smell of the blood would attract some of them.

But before he left the spot, he picked up the rabbit skin, he would use that to make a thick rug for his cave if he could the cold stone on his back wasn't helpful when it came time to sleep.

The next morning Harry awoke early and immediately picked up his wand, wary of an attack, but everything was quiet. He left the flames lit hoping it would warm the cave while he was gone as the temperature had dropped that night but he knew those fires would need renewing by the evening.

Leaving the cave always felt like a chore as it was his safe place, but he couldn't linger as if he did Sirius would only track him here and probably destroy it just teach him a lesson.

New lessons had then begun, each day Sirius drew him to a location within the Lodge signalling by loud bangs and sparks in the air. He would give Harry a choice of two options, the first had been a large basket of food on one rock and a bag of clothing.

When he had arrived, he had been very hesitant thinking it was a trap, but when Sirius had seen him he had nodded.

"Good, you scouted this clearing before you approached. Before you are two prizes, but you may only choose one. You need to think not only about your current needs but also think what you could have need of in the future."

Sirius had left him alone in the clearing looking at his two options, and Harry had pondered it for twenty minutes. The food basket of bread, meat and fruit had made his belly rumble longingly for proper food. The cloak and change of clothes were also needed, his current clothes were filthy, torn and worn and they did not offer him much warmth in the night.

He tried to out think Sirius and try and take more than one but they prevented all his attempts of manipulating them. He thought about it carefully weighing up his needs. Food was important to him but the food wouldn't last him long and he was able to hunt for food and forage for edible plants. Warmth and clothing was something he couldn't get for himself so he made his choice and picked up the bundle of clothing. The moment his hand touched it the food erupted into fire and was gone in a moment.

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