Title: clueless

Author: Lythanie

Pairing: unknown

Warnings: could become slash or not, WIP

x-x-x-x-x chapter 3 x-x-x-x-x-x-x

The morning sun tickled the young man's face and lit the room in which he was sleeping. The furniture was made from a warm cherry wood. The bed was a queen sized four-poster bed with dark blue sheets. Harry lay in the middle of the bed wrapped in the soft sheets.

A melodic trill echoed through the room.

Harry pulled his blanked over his head trying to block the trilling out.

"Fawkes, stop it. Let me sleep..." Harry mumbled half-asleep when the trilling continued for several minutes.

A chirp answered him.

"Fawkes?" Harry was instantly wide awake and sat up.

Another amused trill later Harry stared at the end of his bed...or the magical bird that perched on the end of his bed to be more precise.

"Fawkes? What are you doing here? I thought you were gone after you had taken me to Gringotts." Harry asked bemusedly.

The beautiful phoenix flew the few inches to Harry's shoulder and started preening his hair. Harry smiled at this and stroke the colourful feathers.

"Master will need a perch for his birdy. Breakfast is ready to be served." Reg quipped as soon as he had popped into the room. Harry yawned and got up carefully. Fawkes was still perched on his shoulder.

"Fawkes, if you don't want to go under the shower with me, I suggest you seek yourself another perch." Harry chuckled at the affronted chirp that followed his suggestion.

Though Fawkes left the shoulder and flew over to the sole chair in the room. The bedroom was by no means a bedsit that was supposed to be usual for youth. It was a plain bedroom. There was no desk or television or anything else that he had seen in Dudley's room or he knew from descriptions of his dorm mates. The bed was the most dominant furniture in the room without filling the room completely, a beside cabinet stood on both sides. But apart from that there were only a tallboy, the chair where Fawkes sat and a wardrobe which was probably a clothes closet where he could walk in comfortably. The rest of the furniture was in the same warm cherry wood and the style fitted perfectly into the house. There was no rug on the wooden floor. Yet it was not cold because of the summer but Harry guessed it had either a charm or an in-floor heating for the winter months. Harry sighed and turned around to walk into his bathroom. He had been surprised to find that he had two bathrooms. One for guests near the library and his own bigger bathroom connected to his bedroom. It could not compete with the prefect bathroom back in Hogwarts but it suited him quite well.

While the former owner of the house had willed his clothes to be donated to charity, everyday things like towels, bed linen and wash clothes had stayed in the house. It was not quite Harry's style but it would suffice for now. Harry took a quick shower and pondered about the things he had to buy today. There was no way that he could avoid shopping. He had taken only the bare necessities with him from England. He would need several sets of clothing, magical and mundane, ranging from jeans and shirts to socks and underwear. He wondered if he could get most of this next door but Harry was wary in trusting a wizard to know about normal clothes.

His short information about New York had also told him that he needed not only casual clothing but also dress clothes and sports wear if he wanted to keep fit.

He dressed quickly in fresh clothes and ignored the empty feeling of his bedroom. It may be his home now but he had not much possessions to fill it with. He put the invisible cloak, the dagger from Sirius and his photo album in a secret safe in the tallboy. It was protected by several wards and could only be opened by him after he was keyed into the magic of the house.

He would never be Harry James Potter again but that did not mean he would forget his roots.

*.*

His official story of his life was now more boring in comparison to his old life. He had grown up sheltered away by his father and squib aunt in the Prince Manor in England where he had been kept secret from the public eye. He had been homeschooled so there were no records of him beside his register in Gringotts, the ministry and Healer Redsmith. Of course the records were rewritten curtesy of the goblins. They emphasised that the papers were clean and not forged.

They had given him a depth scan to list any injuries and health problems he had ever had. Harry had thanked the fates that his relatives had not been physically abusive. That would have been hard to explain when he had been kept secret for safety.

He had been slightly malnourished for a while because of an eating-disorder that was not uncommon within the family. A lot of Princes had tended to forget to eat when stressed or distracted. Children got in accidents while playing or the odd encounter with bullies. Harder to explain had been his injuries from Hogwarts. Drained at age of eleven was explained with an experiment gone wrong. Children were after all curious creatures and a homeschooled boy with a squib as guardian and a lot of difficult books was bound to try the wrong spell one day.

He had gotten the broken arm during a flying accident and the trainee healer had made a mistake. The accident with the sword had been realistic enough to fool the wand crafter. At the age of thirteen he had encountered dementors that had been quite believable as the stupidity of the British Ministry from that year was well known. It was not hard to guess that one dementor had gotten away while Harry had secretly visited his father during holidays. Severus Snape had always been a very private man and the only other who could deny Harry's presence at Hogwarts with his father was already dead. Dumbledore would never be able to tell anyone if his Potions Professor had been visited by his son and even his portrait could not renounce it.

At the age of fourteen his aunt had taken him to a dragon reserve and he had been injured there by one of the young dragons and had been caught by surprised by a few dangerous creatures while hunting potion ingredients in the woods outside of the manor. The Princes had not been able to know that suddenly the peaceful forest had become home of few dangerous beasts which had a venom that resembled the effects of the Cruciatus Curse. And at the age of fifteen he had met Delores Umbridge who had not believed that he had not been a student or that he was indeed Snape's son so she had him tortured with a blood quill to tell no lies. Everything else could be explained with the war.

Harry was just glad that the Avada Kedavra Curse could not be listed by any diagnostic spell. That would have been quite hard to explain how his scan could show the curse twice on a living person and a special treatment curtesy to the goblin healers had been able to heal the scar on his hand from the blood quill. It was a shame that it had not been that easy to remove the lightning bold scar on his forehead.

All in all it was a life of a homeschooled wizard who had a great amount of bad luck to be at the wrong place during a difficult time in the UK. With the loss of his father Harry had no reason to stay there anymore and left.

That was his official life story. The truth about his past would stay between the goblins and himself.

*.*

Harry stepped into his kitchen and blinked at the sight of pancakes with maple syrup. It was not quite something he was used to. A memo pad together with a biro lay next to his plate. Obviously Twinkle or Reg had heard his muttering about the things he had to buy.

"Do Master wish to read a newspaper?" Twinkle asked while serving him orange juice.

He could watch Reg making tea in another corner of the kitchen. At least he had not to go without his tea. He had become rather fond of the hot beverage and had become his favourite drink next to butterbeer.

"Yes please, do you have any recommendations?"

Harry sat down and enjoyed the juice and the pancakes.

"Magical New Yorks is a local paper that focus on the area magical and mainstream wise but has only few sections that looked further into the world. The Daily Whizz covers more of the United States of America and has a good international section but it's mostly about the magical world. Magical Times is an allround paper with sections about national and international, mainstream and magical world as well. Former master had subscribed to it."

"Sounds good, please get also the Daily Prophet. I'd like to know what's going on over there." Harry nodded.

He prefered a widespread newspaper that did not focus on the magical nation. The Daily Prophet covered only magical Britain. It had been difficult to get more recent information in Hogwarts about other countries or even the mainstream part of Britain.

"Master Harry, your tutor Jason is arriving at ten o'clock and Master's goblin has sent an owl with the book recommendations. How do you wish to proceed?" Twinkle reappeared and handed him the two newspapers and the letter from Griphook.

Harry just skimmed the letter and handed it back to Twinkle. For once he would exploit the fact that he had house elves.

"Look up the titles in the library, put the books on the desk in the study and tick them off the list, please. The remaining titles will be a good practise for me to contact publishers and wholesaler. And I'd like something light for lunch, prepare for two persons because I don't know how long it will take to get us through the computer thing."

He had no idea what Mr Jason was going to teach him but at least he knew the basics already. They had been shown the functions of a computer in primary school and he had been allowed to use the computer in the library. He also had played the one or other hour at Dudley's old computer after he had managed to repair the "broken" one in the second bedroom. Harry had almost laughed himself silly when he had noticed that the main plug had been loose.

Harry finished his breakfast and skimmed through the papers while drinking his tea.

The newspapers were filled with stories about everything from the newest political debate up to events, births and death announcements. The American government already knew about the wizarding world and integrated them as any normal citizen. But the mainstreamers were bound by a magical contract to keep them secret.

The main article of the Daily Prophet was unsurprisingly about himself or to be more specific his last will. He was high praised for the reparations to the Goblins that according to the ministry had saved them again from a new war with the goblins. It was a good thing that only the goblins knew the truth.

Skeeter had even written a second article about the will and Harry could almost see the pout. It was official not allowed to write a biography about him without a special permission from the goblins. Harry had to thank Ragnok for this little detail to keep the slandering of his name post "mortem" to the minimum. The author had to take an oath to write the truth and was allowed to see his memories that were stored in Gringotts. Rita would never get the rights for his life story.

He was still lost in thoughts when the wind chimes announced a visitor. They were charmed to act as regular doorbell in addition to the shop function. They were keyed to him and his house elves so he could "hear" them even if he was not in the shop part of his house.

He folded the newspaper and walked into the shop part. The house was old and initially not meant to be a shop so there was only one entrance for shop and private wing. Maybe he should look into his options for a side entrance. It could become quite annoying to carry his shopping bags or other things through the shop if he had to leave the shop during the opening times. But Twinkle had assured him that the opening times in US were more flexible than in the UK.

Harry opened the door to let Mr Jason into the house. The man was a bit older than Harry and was dressed casually. The short dark blond almost brown hair was even and his beard had been trimmed perfectly.

After the short introduction Jason did not dally and rushed Harry through the functions of the modern technology. He was very pleased that Harry was not a complete newbie. Together they worked out what computer he would need for which part of his new life and they even exchanged ideas to include ebooks and an online shop. Then they had the discussion desktop computer versus laptop. What would he need? And how could he link everything together but also how he could keep them separate.

In the end Harry had quite a collection that he would not need probably but he took it nevertheless. Jason did not take money for the instruction as he was not an official teacher but he set the tutor sessions off against the new equipment. In the end Harry had an ebook-reader but only for testing purpose, a tablet PC, a notebook and a desktop computer in addition to a list with compatible smart phones that he did not sell himself. The network and everything was fitted to him but Jason had been adamant that he could test everything for a few weeks before deciding what of the new electronic toys he wanted to keep because he had a right to return unsatisfactory products.

Harry stared at his new gadgets after Jason had left for a long time. Finally he shook his head and turned to his light lunch and his to-do-list.

A few hours later the young man had ordered his books and had introduced himself to a couple of his contacts of the publishers. Two or three had been even glad to hear about his intentions to continue the Prince traditions but they had pointed out that he should take his exams before reopening the bookstore.

*.*

He had also managed to pay his neighbours a visit and was currently discussing with Alexander his new looks. Alexander held the opinion that Harry could not wear completely mainstream clothes in a magical shop and Harry pointed out that he could not wear traditional robes in a mainstream shop. Royal Letters was both. In the end they created his very own style – a stylish mix out from the best parts of both worlds. It looked a bit gothic but with a tad more colour. Harry could order everything he needed without running through countless shops. Dress robes, suits, casual clothes and even sports wear and pyjamas were ordered.

When Harry could leave the shop finally he was exhausted and he was glad that he had not to carry everything home yet. Most of his clothes were custom made and needed a few more days but the first few sets were collected by Twinkle and Reg immediately – without any command.

"Becoming lazy, my dear Harry? Don't you think you could have managed the few steps to the next house alone?" Alexander teased his bemused neighbour.

"I don't think they would have let me.." Harry shook his head.

"Yes, they are quite eager when they have chosen a family to serve."

"Bad for them that they need the serving to stabilise their mind and magic but I can need the help." Harry shrugged.

The goblins had explained him why the house elves were happy with their lives even if most modern beings no matter if humans, goblins or other magical beings saw it as slavery. Ragnok had even thought that Dobby had maintained a demi-bond with Harry to stay somewhat sane. Harry thought that this little information would have been useful for Hermione to know.

*.*

The time passed by quickly after the first few days and Harry found himself buried in work. Twinkle and Reg paired up together and threw him out of his study whenever he really needed fresh air. They had even gone behind his back together with Griphook and arranged full membership in a fancy fitness center for him where he was even able to swim regularly and it was almost next door in the mainstream world. The five minute walk to the building was nothing.

In the evening of his last exam day he was exhausted and questioned himself over and over again why he had chosen the first examination date possible.

Harry did not know what had influenced him but learning was easier now. He did not care if the destroyed horcrux, the better learning atmosphere, the blood adoption or even a removed block was responsible for this but he was abled to work through his text books with alarming speed.

Two days after his first meeting with his neighbours his wand had been ready. It was beautiful with five cores. The ebony wood was laced with emerald.

Calliope Zelandre had explained patiently that he needed wood and gem to adjust to his unusual talents. He was quite powerful but sensitive to the changes of magic. She was the first one to explain to him that the tingles he had always felt were proof of this.

Then they had gone through his list of abilities. The magic sense allowed him to feel the magic and trained he would probably be able to see the magic like wards and spells and curses. It would be perfect for his shop and work as mediator between the two worlds. If trained his sense would allow him to feel other magical beings even children. His parselmouth abilities aside he was also an untrained animagus and a minor metamorph. It meant that he had the potential but could not change his form till he had learnt it properly and his metamorphmagus ability was limited on his hair length or more likely on his not changeable length. If he concentrated enough he was able to change the length of his head hair but he was not even able to grow a beard ever much to his disappointment because he had hoped that it could make him look older.

But he had no time to train them or even recognise anything beyond his text books and tutors for the practical parts of magical exams. The list with his abilities would have to wait.

Day after day went with similar routine. Waking up, shower, breakfast, learning, lunch, learning, getting thrown out of the house with his gym bag by Reg and Twinkle. On Sundays he was invited to Alexander or Madame Zelandre for dinner. They met every Sunday for dinner to discuss their week and to keep contact in busier times and were happy to include him as their "middle" neighbour.

His exams came and went faster than Harry had thought.

X-x-x-x-x chapter 3 end x-x-x-x-x-x

AN: Wow you guys are really really great. I'm quite surprised about the amount of readers, favs, alerst and reviews for this story even after the first chapter. I can't say thanks enough. I'm glad you liked it and I hope that you won't be disappointed how the story will evolve. It is my first try at writing cross over so bear with me and the slow start that I'm creating ;)