A/N

Long time no see! Sorry about that but life seems to find ways to interrupt!

Please enjoy the next chapter. I've taken the decision to change speech in a foreign language, e.g. French, to italics within double speech marks. It should be clear when this differs from thoughts and any reading from books. If I have time I'll go back and change it in previous chapters.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, no matter how much I wish to. All works in this piece of fanfiction are done at no monetary gain of my own. The ownership of Harry Potter still lies with J. K. Rowling.

(I may have missed the disclaimer in chapters 1 - 4 but this stands for them too obviously)

Chapter 5 - The Pursuit of Power

The book called to him. Not magically, but on a deeper level, the promise of the knowledge within too great to ignore. The aged leather, smooth in his hands as his eyes poured over the words within.

Much like its lesser cousin, potions, ritual magic has the ability to transmute magical properties into tangible, permanent effects on the intended receiver. Great weight is impressed upon the user to partake in the ritual correctly and emphasis is placed upon the importance of the runic carvings and the quality of necessary ingredients. Greater still is the importance placed upon the upper limit of rituals to be completed. Like all magic this ceiling can be determined through…

Harry read on through the pages and pages of warnings, the sheer number of them making him slightly unsettled. Partaking in any was something he resolved to think upon in greater detail, not willing to jump in too quickly. His rash decision to blindly trust the book on blood magic had gone well but he didn't quite want to push the infamous Potter luck. A quick flick of his wrist and a muttered tempus spellsaw smoky, white numbers coalesce at the tip, 08:45.

Standing up he quickly moved back to the room he had claimed and placed the tome in his trunk. Withdrawing a clean tee and pair of jeans he freshened up in a sink provided by the room. Glad it was Sunday and that the excitement of the night before meant many were still in bed, he strode down the quiet corridor, tapping his wand in a pattern on the bricks between the northern and eastern corridors, revealing a passageway that led down to the third floor.

Harry quickly made his way down to the Entrance Hall where Fleur was waiting for him. She spotted him instantly, shooting a brilliant smile his way as he drew closer. Her hair was down, spilling over one shoulder of her thick jumper.

"Good morning, 'Arry," she started. "Was everything okay last night?"

"Bit of a mixed bag really," he replied, moving into the Great Hall. All conversation halted for a second at their entrance, furious whispering broke out amongst those present, not so subtly glances fired his way. "I'll tell you once we've sat down."

Taking a seat at the end of the Gryffindor table despite the venomous looks shot his way, Harry began loading his plate eagerly, starved from his recent escapades. Placing a selection of berries in a bowl he had conjured, Harry dug into his scrambled eggs on toast.

"Can you put a privacy ward up please?" he asked, most of his breakfast finished.

Nodding, Fleur twisted her wrist elegantly, a barely audible pop the only alert Harry had to the wards placement.

"So, the bad news is that I was right," he began. "The rest of my housemates and so-called friends wouldn't hear my side. They didn't really give me a chance to explain but to be fair I didn't try all that hard. To them I have cheated my way into the tournament, and they made it clear that they're against me."

He gazed out of a window across the hall, thinking back on the argument with Hermione and Ron. Pulling his thoughts back together he looked back at Fleur, who had stopped eating, patiently waiting on him to continue.

"I had a blowout outside the Common room with Hermione and Ron. It kinda brought to a head all the frustration that I've been and clearly they've also been feeling lately. After that though you're never going to believe what happened…"

Filling in Fleur between bites of his breakfast, he told her of his discovery of the room, venturing back to the tower ("Tres bien, 'Arry! Mastery of the disillusionment charm is brilliant!"), and hesitantly told her how he protected his trunk. Worried how she would react, he found his worries were unfounded.

"Do not be so worried, 'Arry." Fleur waved away his concerns. "I meant it when I said we'd get through this together. You made the right choice in protecting what's yours. Besides, the continent is much more liberal than Britain in its magic use. Blood Magic isn't banned in France, only frowned upon. Something my family does not share the view of. Magic is magic and the intent behind its use is the only distinction that should be made between right and wrong."

Fleur took a deep drink of her coffee and nibbled on a croissant, watching him carefully.

"I really can't tell you how glad I am to hear you say that. It was just too useful not to take advantage of," he said, resolving to show Fleur the tome he had recovered this morning.

"Can we go up there after breakfast?" he asked. "There's something else I want to show you and I think we can also configure the room for training too."

"Oui, of course," she replied happily. "It's good we'll have somewhere private to train."

Unfortunately at that moment, the basic privacy ward highlighted its undesirable trait, namely it was one way. Sound could enter but not leave the ward.

"Hey, Potter!" came the call from a certain blond headed Slytherin. "Has the pride of the lions broken apart already? They're clearly cutting their losses early."

The small group of cronies backing Malfoy up laughed on cue, as Harry stood and turned to the group. Fleur surreptitiously brought the ward down a moment before he responded.

"Aw Malfoy, I didn't know you cared about me so much! Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be just fine, hopefully you can sleep better at night knowing that."

Harry had found out long ago that not rising to the bait and instead turning it back on him was the best way to deal with the blond bigot. Evidently the boy wasn't the brightest as he always came back for more.

"What? You know that's not what I meant, Potter!" a blush had started to creep up his cheeks.

"'Arry, who is this boy?" Fleur queried.

Harry was interrupted before he could reply.

"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. Surely you would have a much better time with me than scar head there? After all, I'm clearly the better choice."

Fleur raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin imperiously before turning back to Harry.

"I didn't know you were a ventriloquist, 'Arry? You said all that without opening your mouth, I'm impressed," Fleur shot him a small smirk before facing Malfoy once more. "From where I see eet 'Arry is by far the better choice, leetle boy. Now leave us be, we were talking before you interrupted."

Malfoy had steadily been turning redder as Fleur spoke, his gang shifting on their feet unsure what to do.

"My Father will-"

"Yeah yeah your father will hear about this, come on Draco at least get some new material this is getting boring," Harry shut him down before he could get going again. "Now you'll have to excuse us, places to be, things to do. You know how it is," he clapped him on the shoulder before moving him out of his way, leaving the Hall with Fleur at his side.

Making their way up to the seventh floor Harry filled Fleur in on Malfoy and how he seemed determined to antagonise him throughout school.

"I don't understand why he doesn't realise that I won't rise to his taunts, but I guess that's for him to decide."

Fleur hummed before responding. "His family is known in France. They fled during la Terreur in the 1700s, taking masses of gold with them and damning all their allies to hellish ends. They aren't popular, as you can imagine."

Reaching the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, Harry told Fleur how to open the room, showing her in the process he'd worked out the night before. Moving inside he let her take in the room he had occupied last night.

His footsteps were soft on the carpet as he crossed to his trunk, flicking it open and withdrawing the last two books he'd received from the room last night.

"This is the blood magic text I found." he said as he thumbed through it. "There's definitely some things I would want to do from here, like tying my wand to my bloodline."

"The other thing I wanted to show you is through here though," Harry thought hard upon the room he found the ritual tome within, and the same door appeared a dozen feet in front of him against the wall.

Entering the room, he showed Fleur what was left of the ward puzzle and how he had solved it before showing her the text itself.

"'Arry this could be the leveller we are looking for. I've heard about rituals from Maman, but they fell out of use because of the risks," her face had a thoughtful expression upon it. "If they're done right then I can't see why you wouldn't make use of them though. Unlike blood magic, the disuse of rituals meant your Ministry didn't ban them completely."

"Completely? What part isn't allowed?" Harry queried.

Fleur shook her head, silver hair swaying gently. "It's not that parts aren't allowed, it's the materials needed. Some of the rituals call for restricted materials whilst others are just incredibly rare."

"Ah," was his succinct response. "And if we need to double everything then… For both of us I mean…"

Fleur cupped his cheek with a soft, perfectly manicured hand, his eyes finding her own, a soft look within them.

"I am Veela, 'Arry. Our physiology forbids any change, my magic would fight these rituals and would do it violently. If you do them you'll need to do them alone," her eyes softened some more. "But I'll be with you every step of the way. We can work on the Arithmancy and Runes together and I shall help you find the materials. My family has contacts in France that may help with some ingredients. That is if you want to go through with them?"

Harry considered it. He really did need every advantage he could get in order to make up for the gap in experience and knowledge of the other champions and his own, but these could be incredibly dangerous. He looked down at the tome once more, thinking of what he'd read this morning.

Rituals are best performed in sets. Based upon the properties of a magic that each number possesses it is in this author's opinion that performing rituals in sets of 3 or 7 are the most effective. A set of 3 rituals is inherently more safe and powerful than a set of 7 although the versatility that a set of 7 could provide may outweigh the benefits of a set of 3.

He had read on to find the proposed set of three rituals.

The Set of Ascendance is primed to affect the user's mental, physical, and magical ability. Magic must always be the last in the set to be altered as the body must be able to withstand the considerable change from within. The first ritual, the Rite of Vigorous Vitality will imbue the user with peak health and vastly alter their physicality. Minor injuries will heal swiftly and the body as a whole will be much more resilient. The body will have the ability to reach its peak much easier but will still require dedication and hard work from the intended user. The second ritual will affect the mind. The Mind's Clarity Enchantment, will remove the users' mental deficiencies, instead replacing them with vastly improved recall, increased attention span and highly superior intellect and cognitive ability. The last ritual of the set is the Arcane Nexus Attunement. Upon completion the user's connection to magic itself shall deepen, increasing magical prowess and expanding awareness of the deepest of natural forces, this ritual is the most dangerous, highlighting the danger of altering raw magic itself.

Looking up again, he had made his decision. Fleur's face was filled with acceptance of his choice before he had even made it, reassuring him that he had made the right one.

"I'll do it. The set of three sounds the most promising to me but we will need to explore every minute avenue of possibility before carrying any of them out. We can put out feelers for the raw materials today and then iron out the details."

Fleur beamed at him. "But of course, do not worry 'Arry. We'll get it done. Together. Now though, we should find a training space for us to work in."

The duo moved back to the room Harry had claimed as his bedroom.

"I'm going to try something," Fleur said. She screwed her eyes up tightly. After a moment the door back to the seventh-floor hallway disappeared, replaced with a much simpler wooden door.

Opening her eyes, Fleur strode towards the door, beckoning him to follow. They came out into an entranceway with the grand door to the Room of Requirements in front of them and another door on their right.

Fleur pushed the door open easily and they were greeted with a bright swathe of natural light. A domed skylight sat above the centre of the large room, making the polished marble floor gleam brightly. Several alcoves jutted out of the pentagonal hall, each with a different purpose. A library sat within one, a potions lab within another. Shaking off his wonder at the room, Harry turned back to Fleur. "What did you ask for?"

"Just for a place to learn and train that was separately attached from your bedroom. This is so much better than I had hoped."

The duo made their way to a table in the library alcove, taking a seat in plush, leather, high backed chairs. For the next couple of hours they worked on a rigorous multi-facilitated training schedule.

"We need to split this up into sections. I'm tempted to go with class work, research, practical magic and training," seeing his confusion at the last two Fleur elaborated. "Practical magic focusses on spell casting, accuracy, repetition and mastery and so on. By training I mean purely exercise. I remember you saying you wanted to keep in shape without quidditch this year and this way you can do that but also improve your duelling stamina and other things."

Nodding, Harry replied. "I like the plans, class work is easy enough to plan as we can just add the normal class blocks in with a few extra for homework. I want to be able to do research in the evening after dinner. That way I can do a mix of practical and training before breakfast and after classes."

"Bon, now, let's have a look at what we need for the rituals."

Retrieving the tome, they gathered round it, looking at the requirements for the first ritual.

"Well, it looks like it can be broken down into ingredients, runes and arithmancy," began Harry. "Thankfully the ingredients shouldn't be too bad. Hippogriff feather and murtlap essence I can get here on the grounds and the Dragonleaf extract I can order although it'll be expensive. Together they provide the reflexes, endurance and strength that the ritual should provide."

"And here, 'Arry," Fleur said, pointing to the next page. "The first of the rituals provides the base for the following two. A simple equilateral triangle must be used with the ingredients on each corner. On each line there must be a single rune." pointing to two runes on the page she continued. "These two must be placed on the upward lines of the triangle whereas a single rune of unique meaning to the user must be placed on the baseline of the triangle."

Harry could only think of one rune with great symbolism to who he was, and it was the one engraved upon his forehead. Luckily for him and for the ritual, the rune sowilo symbolised invigoration, dedication and persistence, all that the ritual either boosts or requires. It was perfect and linked to him in ways Harry didn't quite understand yet.

"Right, I'll need to send off a quick letter-" a piece of parchment, quill and ink appeared in front of him, "-to the apothecary for the Dragonleaf extract but if we aim for next Friday night, depending on getting what we need, that'll give me the weekend to recover."

Writing the letter quickly, Harry folded it and stood up.

"I'll be back in a little while. I'm going to go and post this."

"Say hello to Hedwig for me," was Fleur's response, already engrossed in a book on advanced charms.

The next week flew by. There wasn't a moment where Harry wasn't busy or planning something. Mealtimes were spent talking through advanced theories with Fleur and planning the first ritual. The Dragonleaf extract had arrived on Thursday as he had hoped and left the drawing of the runes as the only thing left to do.

Classes this week had been lonely, but Harry didn't mind. The glares and whispers were just like his second year all over again and didn't bother him too much. Snape looked slightly gleeful at the prospect of Harry's potential impending doom, a sight highly disturbing in itself. Harry had also caught Moody sending him several appraising glances. He was definitely on Harry's list of suspects purely from his position alone. Dumbledore may trust him but all three of his DADA teachers had tried to harm him so far even if Lupin's was inadvertent.

Outside of class he spent most of his time with Fleur. Their friendship seemed to take the increased time together in its stride. Her help with research had been invaluable and together they had laid out a more in-depth plan for the lead up to the first task.

Whilst not researching more on the rituals, he was training. Physically the room provided all the material he needed. An indoor running track had appeared in a side room complete with weights in the middle including squat racks and benches. Full facilities were attached including a shower and plunge pool. Even being immersed in Magic for the better part of the last few years it still astounded Harry. 'Is there a limit to the room? How big could it get?' he wondered, resolving to test it in the future.

His morning runs were very very slowly increasing in length and speed as he gained his stamina and whilst his strength was lacking it would hopefully be addressed with continued strength and conditioning training. His magic was feeling more responsive as he honed his intent in his spells. He found that by better understanding his connection to his magic, the response was much more efficient.

He had been working on casting accuracy by firing offensively at duelling dummies the room had provided to him and also refining his finesse through different exercises. Things like levitating multiple objects simultaneously and then arranging them mid-air or multiple conjurations.

Setting that aside for now his thoughts turned towards the main event of the week. The ritual. Both him and Fleur had read the ritual through several times, expounded to each other their understanding of the steps and then made sure they both knew exactly what should and shouldn't be done.

He stepped into their training room and moved to where Fleur was under the skylight. Harry was dressed in a plain white cotton robe, entirely mundane with not an ounce of magic within it. The ritual required the only magical thing to be within the triangle the user themselves.

"Here you go 'Arry," said Fleur, handing him a long piece of white ritual chalk. "We'd better get this started."

"Thanks, can you check my work over when I'm drawing please?"

Harry carefully drew three small circles, equal lengths away from each other in a triangle before connecting them by a single straight line. He then drew the runes present in the ritual tome on the two upper lengths of the triangle, having to redraw them several times to ensure their correctness. There was no margin for error, everything had to be perfect.

He moved to the bottom of the triangle and began to draw the final rune. The same rune that stared back at him whenever he looked in the mirror. Finishing the last line of the rune, it began to glow a faint gold along with the other two. He stepped back and placed the chalk on a nearby table. Taking the three ingredients he placed each on a point of the triangle. Removing his wand holster and putting it beside the chalk he drew in a deep breath before turning to Fleur.

"This is it then," he said. "Remember, you can't interfere until it's over. And we know it's over when…"

"When the chalk fades to black, permanently etching the markings into the ground," finished Fleur, eyes full of worry.

"Hey, it'll be fine," he reassured, taking up one of her hands and squeezing it gently. She gave a soft smile in return.

He let her hand drop and moved to the centre of the triangle. He got down onto his knees before sitting back on his heels. He closed his eyes and drew his arms out from his sides holding them out, palms facing upwards.

He reached within himself, searching for the spark of his magic. It reacted playfully, coiling around his consciousness as he grasped it, drawing it forth to his hands. A soft glow began to emanate from the chalk lines, the runes now glowing red. Harry slammed his hands into the ground in front of him and the lines of the triangle exploded with light. The three ingredients he had gathered erupted in purple magical flame, quickly wasting away to nothing.

A searing pain grew from within him, his skin feeling as if he was pricked all over by needles. The light from the circle seared his eyes even though they were shut as a dull pain grey, building pressure behind his eyeballs. A sudden burst of pain overcame the one building from his core pulling a harsh scream from his throat. He fell sideways, lying within the triangle as the pain overcame him, the last thing he could remember was the cold stone of the ground meeting his head.

Fin

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a like and a review!

All the best,

SOB