Rising to power.

The Disease.

Hey guys! Regarding this chapter so many of my readers told me that Harry shouldn't have the disease but I decided to keep it because it is an important part of his character development. Anyway, review and I always appreciate constructive criticism but please no hate. Have fun. Now without further ado . . .

Harry awoke in his bedroom with a groan, his vision blurred and his head throbbing for reasons not pertaining to his spectacles sitting innocently on his nightstand. Every breath he took seemed to only increase the throbbing sensation; it was at such a level that if there was any sound being made in his room, he was sure he wouldn't be able to hear it.

Flicking his wrist, finding that every action he performed only caused the throbbing in his head to increase, he drew his wand (which is attached to the holster on his wrist at all times) and cast a silent summoning charm to call the silver flask sitting on his bathroom sink to him.

The action, unfortunately, wasn't as successful as he would have liked. Apparently, the axe that was firmly lodged in the back of his skull hindered his concentration a little, making casting almost impossible, forget about silent casting . . .

Flicking his wrist again, he shakily got up from his bed, grabbing his spectacles from where he remembered he placed them, and stumbled towards the bathroom. His vision was filled with large blurs and a whole array of colours he couldn't make sense of while his head felt like his brain was being forcibly ripped apart while two, super loud, speakers were stuck on the side of his head and sending a continuous thumping sound into his eardrums.

Felling for what he knew to be the doorway to his bathroom, he pushed the open door violently out of his way and stumbled to the sink. Resting his hands on the basin, he felt around the sink for the silver flask he knew would make this pain go away – this was the last time he'd go to sleep with that damn flask so far away from him.

Finally, his hand made contact with a cool, heavy and metallic object, roughly the size of his wallet, not too far from the basin. Unscrewing the silver lid, he put the flask to his mouth and took a gulp of the thick and salty liquid within.

The effects began to take effect rather slowly, but it was noticeable. At first, his vision began to clear up while the throbbing in his head remained, but slowly, the massive throbbing began to disappear while after his vision was returned to normal.

Harry exhaled loudly and looked at his reflection in the mirror, completely naked save for a pair of boxer briefs. Sure, his body remained physically in tact, and he didn't experience nightmares due to prolonged exposure to the Dementor's mood sucking aura, but that didn't mean he left the prison unscathed.

"That's why Occlumency is a Ministry regulated art of Magic I guess . . ." and indeed, it was. There was only one way to stop a Dementor from penetrating your mental defences and sucking all the good thoughts out of your mind, and that was to erect a strong barrier around it using Occlumency while clearing your mind of all thoughts and emotions.

There was one problem with that however, while it did stop the horrific, nightmare inducing images the Dementors got off on showing their prey, it did put massive amounts of strain on one's mind. Three and a half weeks of reinforcing his mental defences with his own magic while the hellish creatures relentlessly slammed against them with the subtlety of a battering ram didn't do much to help his situation.

Luckily, the first attack occurred during his check-up with his personal Medi-wizard at Saint Mungo's – provided by the English Quidditch association, of course - after his release. The magical doctor had quickly given him a potion and grilled him as to what exactly happened during his stay in Azkaban.

Apparently, he had contracted a self-imposed magical malady called 'Dolorius Occlumathornia', which basically meant that without his medication, he'd have a constant, severe migraine. It occurred when one channelled too much magic around their brains for prolonged periods of time.