The Cupboard Series 3: Potter Haven

Chapter 10

It'd taken Harry a couple of days, but finally he was happy with the timetable that he'd put together. Dropping his quill beside the parchment, two objects that he planned to replace with normal pens and paper the next time that he went into the village, he surveyed his work.

Things back in the magical world seemed to be getting crazier and at the moment there was a glimmer of hope that one day, definitely not any time soon, he might actually be able to return.

Sirius' last letter had told him that he'd hired one of the best lawyers in Britain to help him beat the charges that Harry was charged with, although he did caution that, due to the seriousness of performing accidental magic in front of so many muggles, that it was going to be an uphill slog. Hopefully, the fact that Madam Bones had charged Professor Dumbledore and, as she'd put it in her letter, 'his recklessness was hopefully going to come back to bite him firmly in the ass' would help Harry's case later.

The latest couple of editions of The Daily Prophet had also flummoxed him. Gone were the constant disparaging articles written by Rita Skeeter calling for his head for putting their world in such danger. Instead, articles written by a Marcus Waynesbury, reminded the wizarding world of his past 'heroic deeds'. It wasn't until he'd received a letter from Daphne explaining that her father now owned controlling interest in the newspaper that he understood why the change had occurred.

But even if the adults back in the wizarding world were attempting to fix things for him, Harry was very aware of the seriousness of the charges that had been laid on him, including the refusal to comply with a direct order by the DMLE to surrender himself. Almost daily letters and pleas to come home or at least to tell them where he was by Sirius, Remus, Minerva, not to mention his friends, were soundly ignored. There was no way that Harry was going to trust that his luck would change. Especially not after ten years with the Dursleys and the latest year where the vast majority of Hogwarts was so aggressive towards him.

No, it was clear to Harry that his safety came first. And that meant keeping his whereabouts a strict secret known only to himself and to Dobby. It also meant that if he wanted to continue learning magic, then it was up to him to teach himself. Thus, the timetable that he'd just finished putting together.

Harry let his eyes rove over his work. In a tribute to Hermione, every subject was colour-coded for ease of understanding. He'd tried to keep his days balanced, delegating Transfiguaration, Charms and Defence Against The Dark Arts to different days (Monday, Wednesday and Friday, respectively), as well as spreading out those new subject that he thought sounded a bit gruelling – Ancient runes, Arithmancy and Enchanting.

From flicking through the book on the Mind Arts and the section on animagi in the Marauder's journal that he'd been given for Christmas, he saw that both disciplines were long term and potentially very draining, so they were spread far apart as well – one on Monday, the other on Friday.

When it came to deciding his timetable, Harry'd taken a long time to eventually decide that three subjects a day, Monday to Friday, for two hours each (except for Muggle Studies which only needed an hour at most to read the next chapter in the textbook) should be more than enough. That meant that he could easily fit in fifteen subjects a week. With his normal seven Hogwarts subjects plus the four electives, that meant that he could choose an additional four areas from the many extra subject on his shelves that Hogwarts no longer offered. That, too, took a long time to decide; there were simply so many great options.

In the end, he'd filled his timetable with:

Monday – Transfiguration, Mind Arts, Ancient Runes

Tuesday – History of Magic, Herbology, Potions

Wednesday – Charms, Arithmancy, Astronomy (at night)