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The Inner Eye of Harry Potter 

Chapter 1 — The Gift of Sight

October 31st, 1988

Eight year old Harry Potter loved spending time with Auntie Sibyll the most.  She had come when he was five, in the middle of a thunderstorm.  Some bad words were exchanged between her and Uncle Vernon, but before he threw her out, she gave him the names of two horses that would win the next day at the racetrack.

She came back the next day and Uncle Vernon didn’t mind having her around so much.  Every so often she would give him the name of a horse or the winner of a football match and Harry’s uncle would smile and thank her.

It’s how she came to live in the smallest bedroom at Privet Drive.  Vernon allowed Harry to move from his tiny cupboard and share that room with his Auntie.

His ‘real’ aunt and uncle told all the neighbors that she was a ‘New Age’ cousin of Petunia’s and generally kept the neighbors from talking to Auntie Sibyll.  Harry didn’t care, he loved Auntie Sibyll.

She told him he was a Wizard.

Auntie Sibyll showed him her magic wand and made his castoff teddy bear into a brand new one.  She even made it come to life and chase him around the room.

Harry's ‘adopted’ aunt claimed that she wasn’t a very powerful witch, but she was a Seer.  For a short time, she taught at the magical school where Harry would go in a few years.  Harry wasn’t sure why, but he got the feeling that she didn’t like teaching there.  She told him that people without the gift of sight, were jealous of those who had it and that they could believe in Magic, but they couldn’t believe in Divination.  Harry didn’t know who Minerva was, but he already didn’t like her and hoped that she wasn’t still teaching there when he went to Hogwarts.

Auntie Sibyll kept a magic book that every day would record every single word she said and every night all the pages would go blank and it would start all over again.  When Harry got better at reading she let him help her look through the book and look for any of her predictions.

She always gave him a piece of chocolate when he found one.

According to her, Harry was going to be a very special Wizard, so one day her book told her to go find the boy. She knew it was time to leave Hogwarts and come teach Harry, because if someone in his generation would have the gift of sight, it was probably going to be him!

There was a prophecy about him being the one to defeat an evil wizard and something about a power that the Dark Lord knows not.  Auntie Sibyll was certain that it was Harry’s psychic abilities, so she left that school to come and find him and personally teach him.

She taught him so many things — how to read the cards, palmistry, and how to throw the dice.  Harry especially loved throwing the dice.  He also learned to read tea leaves and the proper use of a crystal ball.  Every Halloween his new auntie would give him a special gift.  When he was five, she gave him his very own set of cards and dice.  He’d thought today she would bring him a crystal ball, but instead she gave him his very own magical recording book.  Harry hadn’t made a prediction yet, that they knew of, but Auntie Sibyll said it was only a matter of time.

"What do you see in your cup tonight, Harry?"

"Two wiggly lines and an arrow."

"If you hold your cup in your proper hand which way does the arrow point?"

"That way towards the wall, so it points north!"  Harry exclaimed.

"Omens pointing north are always a good sign.  The wavy lines indicate change.  So we can expect change, but in a good way.  Last night you asked the cards how you were going to do on your Geography test today.  How did you fare?"

"The card said I would do well and I did!  I almost got full marks!"

"That’s very good dear.  What did you miss?"

"There was a question to identify a country and name an animal that lived there.  I got Peru right, but the teacher had never heard of a Peruvian Vipertooth before and made me sit in the corner when I told her that they did too exist!  Everyone laughed at me!  I don’t think she’s a very good teacher…" Harry pouted.

"Harry, the Vipertooth is a dragon.  Non-magical people don’t think they exist and it’s important that you don’t talk about magical creatures to people who don’t have magic.  You must remember that in the future.  How did your cousin do?  I seem to recall that the cards said he wouldn’t do well at all."

"He got caught cheating off of Piers’ paper!  They sent him to the office and everything!  Aunt Petunia is really mad at him.  I guess he shouldn’t have made fun of my card readings, huh?"

The woman with large glasses looked back at him. "No Harry, mocking the powers is never a good thing."

Harry didn’t bother to mention that he was pointing at Dudley when the teacher saw him cheating.  In this case, the powers needed his help, but maybe that was the way it was meant to be, and Harry wasn’t about to argue with the powers.

***

"Good day," Harry heard a woman's voice in the parlor.  "I am here to take Mr. Potter shopping in Diagon Alley and introduce him to the Wizarding world."

Petunia walked up the stairs and opened the door to the room.  "Sibyll, there's one of your kind down there.  Will you please deal with her?" 

Harry followed Sibyll into the hallway, but stayed at the top of the stairs as his aunt descended.

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary, Professor McGonagall.  We have already purchased everything Harry will need two days ago."

"What are you doing here?"  The Scotswoman barked in surprise. 

Auntie Sibyll shrugged and answered plainly, "Where else would I be?"

"You live here?"  Harry immediately doubted this woman's skills.  She didn't seem very observant.

"Yes."

"Does Albus know?"

"I spend my time attempting to commune with the higher powers, not Albus Dumbledore."

"You're no blood relation to the Potters!  Albus will most certainly hear about this!  Do not think for one second that he will approve!  I can only imagine what nonsense you have filled the boy's head with!"

"I think you should leave now, Minerva.  Tell Albus Dumbledore whatever you wish, but if he is as powerful as you truly believe, he would already know that I live here."

Harry watched the angry woman disappear with a crack.  Sibyll told him that it was called Apparition, but she wasn't very good at it. 

That evening, Harry met Albus Dumbledore.  Harry feared that this old wizard would make Auntie Sibyll leave.   Instead, he changed his robes into regular clothes and invited everyone out to go bowling.

After notching a score of one hundred and fifty in the first game and losing to Uncle Vernon's two thirteen, the old man sighed and handed a ten pound note to Vernon, "Sadly, my many endeavors prevent me from working on my game as much as I'd like."

While they waited to bowl, Dumbledore asked Harry all sorts of questions.  Harry did his best to answer.  Most questions that dealt with Arithmancy, Numerology, Divination, Herbology, and Magical Creatures, Harry was certain he got right.  He struggled with Charms, Potions, and Transfiguration.

After losing two more ten pound notes, the Headmaster sat down with Harry and his Auntie Sibyll at a table while Vernon, Petunia and Dudley ate pizza at another one.

"Would you like to learn magic at Hogwarts, Harry?"

"I've learned a lot from my Auntie.  Can I have her teach me?"

The old man scratched his beard, "She's done a good job teaching you many subjects, but you do need a good foundation in all the disciplines taught to really make your mark on the world, Harry."

Harry knew that the powers said he would go to Hogwarts, but just because they said it didn't mean he had to like it.

"Alright sir, I'll go."

***

As Harry waited for the Patil sisters to be sorted, he rolled his four-sided dice once more.  The answer was another two, but did it mean he was going to the second table which would be Ravenclaw or to where the second sister was sorted, to Gryffindor.  Harry wasn't certain he wanted to go to a place where Minerva McGonagall was in charge.

He should have consulted the cards.  Dice have a tendency to be ambiguous.

The people murmured as the McGonagall woman said his name.  She urged him forward towards the Hat on the stool.

"Go ahead and put me on, so that we can get through this."  The talking hat said rather bored.

"How much exactly do you see when you're on someone's head, Mr. Hat?"

"I see anything I wish to see, for I am a thinking cap."  It answered with a flourish.

"In that case, I can't put you on my head.  There are prophecies and probably many other things in my head.  It would be an offense to the powers that be if you were allowed to view them."

"Mr. Potter.  Put the Sorting Hat on your head this instant!"  McGonagall's tone left no room for an eleven year old to argue.

Of course, Harry was not the usual eleven-year old.  He shook his head no.  "Auntie Sibyll says offending the powers is wrong and I'm certain this will offend them."

The old woman leaned in very close, so that only Harry could hear her.  "I do not care what that crazy bat has told you.  You put that hat on right now, or so help me…"

"Is there a problem, Minerva?"  Dumbledore glided up next to them.

"Potter doesn't want to put the Hat on.  Apparently, Sibyll's influence."

"Ah yes, fear that any hidden prophecies might be disclosed."

Harry sighed in relief.  At least the Headmaster understood.

"Well Hat, ask Mr. Potter three questions and make your decision based on his answers.  Harry, please answer to the best of your abilities."

The artifact seemed lost in thought for a moment.  "Fancy yourself a Seer, eh?  Very well.  Brave or foolish enough to stand your ground against McGonagall seems rather Gryffindor.  Who will win the next Quidditch World Cup?"

Harry searched his mind for what Auntie had predicted.  "I haven't made a prediction on that event yet, but my Auntie says the winner will have green in its colors."

"That narrows the field down to at least a dozen of the contenders."  The artifact scoffed.  "Question two, will Professor Quirrell last the entire year?"

"I'll have to ask my cards."

Chuckling, the Hat answered, "By all means."

The Headmaster was kind enough to point out the man in the turban.   Harry felt a twinge of pain when the two locked eyes.  He looked away, but he could still sense the feeling.  Quickly he shuffled the cards and drew.  Harry looked at the card — The Devil.  

"I don't believe so.  The Devil indicates lack of control over one's life."

"Interesting, but a fairly easy prediction to make, Potter, since no one has been able to hold the post since Merrythought.  Question three — you have a galleon, a sickle, and a knut.  In front of you are four students, one from each of the four houses and you need to hire them for a task.  Who do you give the coins to and why?"

"What task am I hiring them for?"

"They're going to help you wrestle a Troll.

Harry stopped to think for a moment, "I'd give the galleon to the Slytherin, but only after we're done.  The sickle to the Hufflepuff, and the knut to the Gryffindor."

"Why?"

"Based on house traits, the Slytherin would need the most convincing.  The Hufflepuff would work the hardest and deserve something substantial for their effort, and the Gryffindor would charge right in anyway, so a knut is about right."

McGonagall snorted at the slight to her house and Harry knew exactly where the Hat was going to put him.  The answer was obvious.

"Why nothing for the Ravenclaw?"

Harry smiled.  "They'd help me because I'd be in their house already."

The Sorting Hat laughed, "You're an odd bird, Potter.  Fortunately, I have a place for odd birds and those who know the answers before they are asked - Ravenclaw!"

***

"Class, you will be Transfiguring a matchstick into a needle. Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"Why?"

"Because that is today's lesson," she replied in a terse manner.

"No, I mean why would I need either a needle or a matchstick? It seems rather odd. I mean, I have a wand and if I wanted to light a fire, I'd conjure a flame. If my shirt needed sewing I could use a seamstress invocation. So why would I need a needle?" It amazed Harry that this woman was so mean to Auntie Sibyll, when apparently all Transfiguration consisted of was turning things he didn't need into other things that he didn't need. He sincerely doubted that he'd run into a situation where he'd need to turn a desk into a pig.

"Mr. Potter! That is not the point. This is an introductory lesson into the art of Transfiguration."

"Can we turn it into something different? Maybe a quill? We always seem to need those. I keep losing mine." Harry said casting a glance at Terry Boot. When Harry did a card reading for him, the Avatar he drew out of the deck was 'The Thief.' Harry was getting suspicious.

"Matchsticks into needles! You will need to replicate the pattern exactly as I have instructed." The woman's lips pursed and her next words looked almost painful coming from her mouth, "Yes, Mr. Potter?"

"If we need to exactly replicate the pattern wouldn't Transfiguration be more of a science rather than an art? Art is open to interpretation, whereas science is not."

"Two points from Ravenclaw for your cheek! Now begin!"

Angered Harry tried the spell and his matchstick gained a sort of silvery hue. He reminded himself that this was supposedly 'real' magic. Somehow, it was a bit lacking.  Reaching into his book bag, he opened one of Mr. Lockhart's household charms books. Auntie had always told him what a great wizard Mr. Lockhart was.  That's where the spell was. He quickly reread the passage and looked at his matchstick. The incantation was the Latin word for 'to write' and the wand movements were simple enough.

It cost Ravenclaw three more points, but Harry really needed a replacement quill.

***

"I challenge you to a duel!  Tonight at midnight in the trophy room." Draco Malfoy hissed.

Eleven year old Harry Potter looked up at Slytherin boy and at his fellow Ravenclaws seated around him.  He had been engrossed in a card reading when the boy approached with two others that rivaled Cousin Dudley in size.  They were the same ones trio interrupted his meditation on the train with nonsense about blood superiority.  The powers above do not care about blood when it comes to the pure art of Divination!  "I’m sorry were you talking to me."

"You heard me Potter.  Choose your second or be known as a coward."

"You should try meditating.  It helps to clear the mind of anger.  I would suggest counseling.  You don’t seem to be adjusting to school life well.  Do you miss your family?"

"Don’t mock me, Potter!  We will duel tonight."

Harry quickly gathered his cards and shuffled them with practiced ease.  Auntie Sibyll had given these to him for his fifth birthday.  As a seeker of true knowledge, it was important for him to develop a relationship with his cards and dice.  The more he was in tune with them, the clearer his answers would be.

"If that is what you truly wish, Draco.  We can find out who wins right now.  Sit and let the cards tell of the results, or continue standing, it matters not."

Several people around Harry groaned.  It wasn’t his fault that both the cards and his crystal ball had predicted that none of his housemates would finish as the top student in their year; they doubted his skills.  Auntie had warned him how cruel the environment of Hogwarts could be to one gifted as he.  "Our first card is the Trickster.   That’s never a good sign.  Obviously, you do not come to me in good faith."

"Are you calling me a liar?"  The young man sputtered.

"No.  I am merely making an observation based on the card that fate has provided."  Harry dealt the next four cards "A false battle?  You obviously are not to be taken at your word.  The tamed hound?  That is certainly an odd card to turn up here.  It doesn’t make much sense.  This next card symbolizes triumph and the final card is my Avatar in the deck.  Well you can’t get more certain than that!  The cards indicate that you do not duel in good faith, but I will triumph regardless."

"I’ll make you eat those cards after I beat you tonight."

"Why should I bother even coming?"

"What?" It was surprising that a boy with such a fair complexion could get so red.  Surely that couldn’t be healthy.

Harry was mystified at the Slytherin’s misdirected anger. "I’ve already won.  There is little point in showing up if the outcome is this certain.  If you insist, I could roll the dice to verify the results, but the powers that be can become offended if you continue to ask the same question after they have provided such a clear answer.  They may visit vengeance upon both you and me."

"Speak like a normal person, you git!  You’re just scared of me and trying to get out of being humiliated.  I’ll show everyone the fraud you really are!"

Harry shook his head and rolled the dice hoping that the spirits would not punish him for this disbeliever’s arrogance.  "Four of the five runes are aligned with me.  I win again.  Do you require further proof?"  Even Dudley had a better grasp on these things!

"This is what I’ll do to you!" Draco’s hand swept the table knocking dice from the bowl and cards into the air.  He snatched Harry’s Avatar card into the air and held in his hand beginning to crinkle it.

"What is going on here?" a tiny voice inquired.  

"Professor Flitwick, Potter threatened me." Several of the voices protested Malfoy’s obvious lie.

Harry breathed deeply trying to ignore his anger at the damage being done to his Avatar. "He’s lying.  He wanted to fight me in a duel tonight at midnight in the trophy room." 

Flitwick’s eyes narrowed looking intently at Draco.  "Is that so?"

"Of course not, sir.  I would never suggest dueling and certainly not after curfew."

With a blank expression, Harry reached into his bag and pulled out his magical ledger and handed it to his head of house, who recognized it and reread the last page.  The charms master looked up at the boy already a head above him.  "Mr. Malfoy.  You will put that card back on the table now.  Ten points from Slytherin for challenging a student to a duel.  Ten points from Slytherin for conspiring to be out after curfew.  Five points from Slytherin for damaging another student’s possession and five more points for lying to a teacher.  You will serve one detention with Mr. Filch for every ten points I have taken.  Mr. Potter, five points to Ravenclaw for being prepared with this book and for being truthful."

Malfoy sputtered at Flitwick’s rebuke until the Professor locked eyes with him again.  "Are you waiting for more detentions, Mr. Malfoy?  Should I Firecall your father and describe your behavior to him?"

The Slytherin student fled as Harry frantically tried to smooth the crinkled card.  A few of the others sheepishly helped him recover the rest of his goods.  Still even a few more smiled at him and congratulated him.  It was much better than the usual odd looks he received, though Harry couldn’t understand why?  He guessed it was because he had won a duel.

***

"Excuse me.  We need to leave." 

Hermione Granger turned to see that bizarre Ravenclaw boy, Harry Potter inches away from her tear streaked face. 

"This is a Girl’s Water Closet!" 

"Yes.  But it is also an ominous place.  According to the cards, it might be the tomb, the prison, or the battleground, and none of those places sound very good.  The two faced man is plotting tonight.  We should go.  You can cry elsewhere if you’d like?" he offered helpfully.

"Leave me alone!" she protested as he dragged her out of the bathroom.  For a smallish boy, he was quite strong and determined.  He pulled her into dark area by the staircase and told her forcefully to be quiet.  She’d never seen such intensity from anyone before and was stunned into silence.

Two minutes later, a troll lumbered into the hallway and Hermione sucked in a breath and fought the urge to scream.  It stepped into the bathroom and Harry cast a Locking charm on the door and walked out to sit on the steps.  She was so confused!  Sniffing loudly, she walked out next to him.  "You know the Locking charm already!  We’re not supposed to learn that until third year.  I know the Unlocking charm."

"It seemed like a good spell to know.  Every night, I go into the library and roll the dice.  That tells me what row shelf and book to select.  I then roll again and turn to that page.  This spell was the one I found last night.  It seems destiny knew I would need it today."

Hermione watched as the odd boy pulled his runic dice out of their pouch and pressed each one to his lips before returning them to the pouch.  She supposed surviving a deadly curse could leave lasting brain damage.  She wondered if Muggle medicine could do anything for him.  Skeptically, she said, "I don’t know if I believe in dice throwing."

"Did you believe in magic before you got your letter?"

"That’s different!"

"No, it’s not."

"Yes, it is!"

***

Albus Dumbledore was a worried man.  It was two in the morning and many teachers were assembled in the staff room.  He regretted returning James Potter's invisibility cloak to the lad.  "Has anyone been able to locate Mr. Potter?"

Professor Flitwick looked awful.  "The only thing I could find by his bedside was a piece of parchment next to his magical ledger.  It had ‘Save the Unicorn.  Save the World.’ written on it.  The ledger had already blanked itself for the day.  Surely, he wouldn’t have gone into the forest?"

Those in the room paled.  The idea of a barely trained first year out alone hunting for something that was supposedly killing unicorns shocked them.

Snape snorted, "Here I was just beginning to believe that he wasn’t like his worthless father."

This drew several angry glares from the rest of those assembled. Dumbledore acted.  "Quickly, we must divide into search parties!"

"I reckon there’s no need for that, Perfessor," Hargrid said butchering his words as always.

The others crowded around the window looking out onto the grounds.  There in the moonlight was a centaur being followed by almost a dozen Unicorns.

***

Harry shifted feeling the strong arms carrying him.  "Welcome back, youngling."

Harry blearily opened an eye.  A bare-chested man was carrying him.  "Hi, I’m Harry."

"I am Firenze.  You’ve done a great thing tonight.  The unicorn you saved brought me to you.  Mars is no longer bright."

Harry realized the "man" carrying him was actually a centaur.  He looked into the sky.  "Mars still looks bright to me."

This caused Firenze to stop and scan the sky.  "Mars seems obscured at the moment.  Are you certain?"

Harry looked again before sheepishly taking his glasses off and cleaning them on his cloak.  "Sorry, there was a smear on my glasses.  You’re right Mars does seem dark. I can’t see Uranus, can you?"

"No, but I can smell it." Both laughed at a timeless Astronomy joke and the centaur continued, "You possess a great gift Harry.  Use it well."  Firenze said setting him on the ground and handing him the two wands and Harry's invisibility cloak.

Harry looked up at the centaur towering over him and back at the herd of unicorns escorting them.  "I was thinking the owl I use really belongs to my Aunt Sibyll.  Do you think one of the unicorns would be my familiar?"

"No, I do believe under most circumstances they only allow young maidens to approach them."

"Oh, darn.  How about you?  I bet no one’s ever had a centaur for a familiar before.  I’d rather tell jokes and talk about Astronomy and Astrology with you than pet a cat or a rat’s hair."

The centaur guffawed.  "It’s a tempting offer and I would almost accept just to see the look on Bane’s face, but I’m afraid I will have to decline.  Something tells me that this will not be the last time our paths cross.  Ah, good evening Albus, I believe this one has strayed from your herd?"

Harry moved slightly closer to the centaur, somewhat afraid of the Headmaster’s wrath.

"Indeed, he has.  Mr. Potter, what have you to say for yourself?"

Firenze interceded gesturing to a unicorn with a poultice wrapped around it, "Be lenient on him, Albus.  He destroyed the monster that was killing the unicorns.  That one there is only alive because of Harry’s actions."

"What was it?"

Harry spoke up.  "It was Professor Quirrell, sir.  He was trying to drink the unicorn's blood.  I used the disarming charm and got his wand from him, but he grabbed me while I was trying to cancel the spell on the unicorn.  When he did, his hands started burning.  He pulled his turban off and there was another face on the back of his head.  It started screaming at me, I grabbed on again and he fell backwards onto the unicorn’s horn.  I’m real sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt him."

The Headmaster’s brow furrowed as several of the teachers murmured.  "Harry what happened next?"

"His body just kind of dissolved into a mist and the mist had the face of the other man.  He spoke to me and said that he would kill me like he did my parents and he flew right through me.  I must have passed out then, because the next thing I know, Mr. Firenze is carrying me out of the woods."

Harry felt momentarily dizzy under his headmaster’s gaze.  It was a very strange feeling.  He sometimes had that feeling around Professor Snape.  Finally, Dumbledore spoke.

"Professor Flitwick, will you escort Mr. Potter to the Infirmary?"

Snape and McGonagall both said, "He should be expelled."  It caused an awkward moment of silence where both looked at each other.

"No, I think not.  It appears that young Harry has once again faced Lord Voldemort and prevailed.  No doubt he was intending to take the stone.  Severus, please go and verify that it is still safe."

Harry was about to say he was sorry to Professor Snape for thinking that he was the two faced man, but it occurred to Harry that even if he wasn’t, he was still an arse.  He turned back to Firenze.  "Thanks for bringing me back.  Are you sure you don’t want to stay and be my familiar?"

"No, perhaps another day."  Firenze answered turning and leading the herd of unicorns back towards the forest.

Sighing, Harry watched his future familiar head back into the woods.  It would take time to convince the centaur, but he would be here for several years.  Professor Flitwick gently tugged his hand.  Harry stopped when they got next to Dumbledore, "Sir, I’m awfully hungry.  Could you spare a lemon drop?"

Harry really liked lemon drops.

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