Chapter 3: Our Home

Harry met his Master under the fruit trees where strange birds flitted about, never staying on one branch too long. The trees were weird, in Harry’s 11-year-old opinion. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but something about them wasn’t normal besides their purple leaves, free-flowing amethyst sap, or the strange bulges in the limbs. Touching one seemed like a bad idea, even if the plump fruits hanging low from their branches made his stomach rumble.

 

The pale moon was so bright it burned his eyes and hadn’t changed much since he arrived. He slept better than ever before, but it was still night.

 

“Good morning, Harry; how did you sleep?” His Master asked, seated on a swinging bench reading a newspaper in the moonlight. The apprentice hadn’t thought much about it the night before, but his Master looked like he belonged in this place.

 

“Good sir, my master, how did you sleep?” Harry asked and lowered his head, ready for punishment.

 

He felt a cold hand settle on his shoulder. “Look up, Harry.” He did so and stared into the too-deep blue eyes of the man made of darkness. “It was just a slip; everyone does it. Do you know where we are?”

 

“Your home master,” Harry said.

 

“Our home Harry but let me rephrase that. Where in the world are we, Harry?” Master asked.

 

Harry mulled over the question and remembered what he could about geography. They were at the very bottom of the southern hemisphere. He knew the continents enough to slowly go through them until he found the answer.

 

“We’re in Antarctica.” His Master nodded, and for once, Harry felt good about getting the correct answer. It was a feeling he had never experienced in class before.

 

“Do you know why it's still night?” Harry felt his stomach rumble and stared at one of the fruit dangling in jumping distance. “Oh, you’re hungry. I did promise to teach you how to hunt, but this is a good time to teach you about our home. So go ahead and grab it.”

 

His Master didn’t eye smile, and that clued Harry in; learning tells helped Harry escape more than one beating. Instead of jumping, Harry paid close attention to the tree. Under the moonlight, it appeared still, but Harry understood it could also be coiled like a spring. It was too dangerous and not worth the risk; there was a reason why the birds constantly jumped from branch to branch. Harry straightened up and gave his Master his full attention.

 

“Good, very good, you deserve a reward.” His Master snatched the fruit from the tree and leaned away from dozens of whipping branches. Seams appeared in the branches before they opened, revealing lines of backward curved thorns similar to snake fangs. Amethyst sap dribbled from them, and Harry realized that was where the sap he had seen came from. The world became stranger as Master tapped the tree, and it froze. Then Master tossed him the fruit.

 

“I thought you wouldn’t give me any more handouts,” Harry said.

 

“You did a good job, so pass a little test for me, and you can have it. When you encounter something new, observe it, preferably from a safe distance. Bravery is for dead fools and heroes; you will assess the situation and decide whether a risk is worth it.” His Master pointed to a sapling of the same plant with tiny fruit hanging from its branches. “Try to take its fruit without destroying that one or dropping it.”

 

Harry approached the sapling slowly, ready to move at any moment. With a thief’s touch, he reached out, always ready to dodge, and touched one of the fruits. The sapling didn’t move. When he grasped it firmly, the tree didn’t react, and he pulled.

 

Whips of branches lashed out at him even as he moved. He wasn’t fast enough and felt pain as they ripped through his oversized shirt and cut into his chest. Harry raised his arms to defend himself, and the branches rained down on him. The pain grew worse as a stinging swept through him.

 

The sapling moved quickly and wrapped around Harry’s body like a constrictor while his Master watched impassively. Harry knew he wouldn’t be saved. It was getting hard to breathe, and pain shot through his body from the sapling's cuts with its whipping branches. If Harry didn’t do something soon, he would die. Unfortunately, his Master still wouldn’t do anything even when Harry was sure he would die.

 

Harry looked again, and his Master had returned to his newspaper. The pain continued to shoot through Harry’s body, and he felt hot and mad. A seething heat escaped his lips as Harry felt a greater pain sweep through his body, and with it came strength. It filled his young limbs with more power than he had ever felt before, and he pushed against the constriction.

The sapling screeched as the air heated up and the ground tightened around Harry’s feet. Even with his arms forced against his side Harry found leverage where there had been none and worked against the sapling. The pain from the sapling’s attacks subsides, replaced by the pain of his Master’s skills, no of Harry’s skills. A force pushed the sapling off Harry in a shout, and the boy tackled the sapling.

 

He let go of the fruit in his hand, and his Master touched the sapling, and it froze. “You failed, so you only get the small fruit from the sapling for breakfast. Once you have your prize and distance from a dangerous close-range enemy, get some distance. Demon trees are known to be slow at chasing prey once you’re out of range of their limbs and you have what you want get distance.”

 

After the fight with the sapling, Harry felt completely spent, so he grabbed the small fruit and took a bite. It was sweet and helped put more gas in the tank. Unfortunately, after only a few bites, only a seed remained. Harry stared at it despondently; he wasn’t sure if he wanted more trees that attacked people in the world.

 

“I bet you’re wondering why it isn’t cold here in Antarctica.” His Master said.

 

Harry didn’t think that at all, but he became curious after his Master mentioned it. “I didn’t like that it was so cold, so I warmed the land around us. Then I grabbed a few animals and added them along with some trees, herbs, and grass I liked. Do you know how I did it?” Master asked.

 

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“Your skills,” His Master laughed at that like it was the funniest thing in the world. 

 

“A good guess, but I’m not diversified or specialized enough to warm hundreds of miles of land. Scripts are the answer, Harry; they let us do things our normal skill sets can’t manage. They are the foundation of our bond and the key to skills themselves. I advise in your self-study that you some time learning them. Why don’t you check your skills?” Master asked.

 

Harry opened up his menu and took a look.

 

Harry Potter

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Giant Power: Beginner 4%

Leviathan Power: Beginner 4%

Ent Power: Beginner 4%

Mecha Power: Beginner 4%

 

“They all went up. How am I using all of them?” Harry asked.

 

If his Master had a mouth, the shadow man would be smirking. “They are the primary elements and a matching set. Together they make you stronger, more flexible, sturdier, heal quicker, and hit more precisely.” His Master picked up a fruit, touched its top, and slid his finger down its circumference. Then he peeled away the skin to show unblemished meat. “There are many applications for the primary element power skills, and the more you use them, the stronger they will be.”

 

“It hurts,” Harry said.

 

He didn’t know if he had ever felt something as terrible as the power skills.

 

The shadow man sighed. “The pain is to be expected. Your body is getting used to the power. Now come on,” His Master tossed him a rifle. To Harry’s astonishment, he caught it easily; it wasn’t even heavy. “What did you think I would let you hunt for the first time with your bare hands? Maybe in two weeks if you show promise.” Harry followed his Master slowly.

 

…

 

Harry lay in bed, exhausted but satisfied. He filled up on meat and spent a few hours in the gym punching a bag, and his skills went up without activating them. That was the weirdest part; Harry felt much stronger, and the increase was even greater when he activated them. Finally, for the first time in his life, he went to bed full and satisfied, and his Master gave him some comic books to read for fun. Harry got to have fun.

 

He wasn’t perfect, the sapling kicked his butt, and he missed the first shot. When he finally killed something, he cried. Harry didn’t know why but he bawled his eyes out in front of his Master, who only patted Harry’s back. Then Harry made a mess of the hare he killed by trying to skin it like Master did a peel. Harry couldn’t cut a straight line to save his life. But the meat was good, and Harry’s Master cooked it.

 

Harry opened his first comic not belonging to Dudley and read about spiderman. It reminded Harry of his life except for his caring aunt and uncle. Uncle Ben was much better than Uncle Vernon, and it was a shame he died. The lesson with great power comes great responsibility stuck with Harry as he went to sleep; it was a concept he wanted to believe in. He planned to ask his Master more about it.

 

Harry Potter

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Apprentice To Zoran 1%

Skills

Dragon Power: Beginner 6%

Giant Power: Beginner 6%

Leviathan Power: Beginner 6%

Ent Power: Beginner 6%

Mecha Power: Beginner 6%

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