Title: Year of Discovery
Chapter: (4) The Discovery Dimension ; Breathe
Author: Laen
Beta: hazeleyes15
Summary: When given a chance to embark on a new journey away from the Wizarding world once and for all, Harry takes it. However, each hero has a task, and Harry learns the hard way that he can't escape his destiny.
Disclaimer: If you honestly think I'm J.K. Rowling, I'll take it as a compliment.
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In life, people are rarely given a chance to change their destinies. They grow up the way they do, struggling through the curve balls life has thrown at them.
"Fate has decided to give you a different path, Mr. Potter," ; darkness soon filled his world.
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Harry opened his eyes slowly and blinked rapidly, taking a few seconds to adjust to the sudden light. His muscles felt sore, yet relaxed. As he got up from where he lay, the Gryffindor noticed that he was no longer in town, like he recalled before he fell unconscious.
Looking carefully at his surroundings, Harry came to the conclusion that he wasn't at at his new flat. The room looked too... pure; the walls were a shining white colour.
"Awake, I see?"
Whipping his head to the left, Harry found Kazu standing just a few feet away from him, dressed in combat clothing.
"What happened?" Harry asked, raising his hand and ruffling his hair.
"You were attacked." The Dragon Master replied.
A light groan escaped Harry's mouth, and the boy-who-lived fell back in bed before pulling a blanket over his head.
"I must have the worse luck in the world..."
"Rest assured, young Gryffindor, it is not you who has the bad luck. You've been offered a different opportunity, as opposed to your final month of summer relaxation."
The blanket Harry had been hiding under froze in place, and after two seconds Harry sat back up.
"What opportunity?" He asked, deciding to hear the man out first.
"To train."
Harry blinked twice, and a light look of confusion appeared onto his face as he raised his eyebrows and stared at Kazu as if he were mad.
"And who exactly would train me? Don't tell me you've got Dumbledore lined up behind door number one there."
Kazu smiled gently, before shaking his head.
"You'd be trained by me, learning the knowledge of... everything."
"Everything?" Harry questioned.
"Indeed," the man answered.
"And how is that possible? I thought I'm supposed to return to muggle schooling come September. That leaves less than a month to prepare, unless you expect me to train and attend school at the same time?"
"Anything's possible, Harry. In the end, all it comes down to is how much you want to achieve that goal."
There was a moment of silence, before either of the two spoke.
"What would I have to do?"
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[August 2nd, Start of Day 1]
"Welcome Harry, to the Discovery Dimension. Here is where you will spend the next three years
training. In this dimension, time lapses much faster compared to the real world. Every minute you spend in here is
equal to one second out there. A year spent in here is equvilant to almost six days. We have 30 days before Scotland
High opens. Out of those days, you'll be spending 18 of them in here, training. After those three years are
complete it will be up to you to decide what you want to do with your remaining summer. May your training
begin."
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[August 2nd; End of Day 1]
Harry stumbled into the washroom and went straight for the tub, barely making it there before throwing up the contents he had eaten earlier that day. Turning the water on, he splashed some water on his face before collapsing onto the ground.
A pounding sound reverberated in his mind, refusing to slow down, and Harry knew that his heart rate was still beating rapidly. The Gryffindor took slow, shallow breathes and thought back to what Kazu had said that morning after breakfast.
"The first and last lesson you will have, is to learn how to breathe."
At first Harry didn't understand what the Dragon Master meant, especially since he had been breathing his entire life. However, after being ordered to run lap after lap after lap Harry finally understood.
"You must learn how to breathe properly... regardless of what the situation is. Any moment where you forget to breathe is a moment of weakness."
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Harry cleared his mind and just focused on his breathing.
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[August 2nd; Beginning of Day 35]
A little over a month had passed since Harry had began his training. Since than, he had been working on his breathing method, as well as improving his fitness and reaction time. Today, he was to practicing his defence skills, once again.
Stretching his arms and legs quickly, so that he wouldn't be extremely sore after the lesson, Harry uncapped a bottle of water and took a sip from it, letting the hydrogen and oxygen molocules into his system. His pre-meditation was interrupted though, when a ball of flame suddenly shot towards him.
Dropping the water bottle - but not before putting the cap back on, Harry flipped out of the way of danger. He landed on his feet, but moved almost immediately as another fireball had been thrown at him.
The activity continued for several minutes, and Harry soon found the room partially filled with smoke. He kept low to the ground, remembering the lessons he had learned in muggle grade school about there being more oxygen near the ground, as opposed to above when there was smoke.
The tactic worked, and Kazu praised him for his improvements.
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[August 4th; Midway through Day 164]
"As you know, during a battle, wizards and witches rely heavily on their wands. They rely so heavily that a lot of
the times, they are defeated the moment they have been rendered wandless. This is where you will, once again, prove
yourself to be different from the rest. Close your eyes and breathe, young Gryffindor, for it is your time to learn
wandless magic."
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[August 6th; Midway through Day 276]
"Defence against the Dark Arts is not all that you need in order to defeat Riddle, Harry. That is why I've
been training you in wandless magic. It's like what I told you last lesson: sometimes the best defence is an
offence, and sometimes the best offence is the hidden card you have up your sleve. For the next few months you'll
be spending some time reviewing and learning about Transfigurations, Charms, Potions, Ancient runes and Herbology. The
Wizarding World won't know what hit it once you return."
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[August 9th; Midway through Day 439]
"Raise your sword a bit higher there. Stop. Good. Now move your right foot a little bit... stop. There, you're in the right stance. I'm going to attack you now. Block with the technique I taught you earlier today. Ready? Go!"
Sounds of swords clashing were soon heard, and although Harry struggled to block every single one of Kazu's attacks, overall he had managed to do decently.
He remembered to breathe.
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[August 11th; End of Day 582]
One year, seven months and seven days; that was how long Harry had been in the Discovery Dimension... give or take a few hours or days. On some level it was a good thing Harry had decided to undergo this training: time no longer made that big of a difference to him anymore.
So much had occurred since everything had began, and according to Kazu, Harry had only began to tap into his potential power. That statement alone was amazing, as Harry could now run several miles without needing to catch his breathe, mastered the art of Swords fighting, read almost every magical book there was to read in the Discovery Dimension library, as well as gained enough knowledge to ace his NEWTs. Inbetween all of that, he even somehow learned how to properly block his mind from curious individuals.
That was when Harry knew that tomorrow: he would begin his training to become an animagus.
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[August 14th; Start of Day 741]
Training was important; it was what helped Harry prepare for his destiny, to help him mature. Life wasn't just all about training thought... it was also about more. It was at the end of day 740 did Kazu realize that Harry had been missing out on something very important during his time in the Discovery Dimension: having fun.
"Morning Kazu," Harry greeted the Dragon Master. "So, what's on the agenda today?"
There was a moment of silence before an answer was given.
"It's time for you to start crafting some personal, magical equipment. You'll be learning how to build a new broom for the next week."
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[August 15; Midway through Day 800]
"No! You're moving too slow! Anticipate where I'm going to aim next!"
BAM!
"That's the fourth time I've gotten it in! Come on Potter! Get your act together!"
Harry spread his arms out and loosely planted his feet onto the ground. He had to save this one. Everything depended on it.
Kazu shot, and Harry dove to the far, top left.
BAM!
"That's five! Five suicides you owe me Potter. Up and at them! Com'on, get a move on! We still got four more sports to go through here."
Harry clentched his fists and glared at the talented Kazu; Harry hated playing football with him. He'd get his revenge though... basketball was next.
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[August 18; Near the end of Day 1019]
It was almost over; Harry couldn't believe it. Training had finally reduced bit by bit in the last few days, and as Kazu and Harry sat down to eat their dinner, the topic of departing was brought up at last.
"Time's passed quickly, eh?" Kazu asked before taking a sip of his pumkin juice.
"Yeah. I can't believe we're just over two months away from finishing." Harry admitted to the Dragon Master.
"Think you'll be ready for the 'real world'?"
"Hah, I think the question is if the 'real world' is ready for me," Harry laughed, shaking his head lightly.
A few minutes passed in silence as the two ate away at their food. In the end it was Harry who spoke first.
"Kazu, did you erm... include any training to help improve my social skills?"
The Dragon Master raised his head from his plate and glanced over at Harry.
"No, is there a need to?"
Harry frowned at the response, but nevertheless, nodded his head slowly. There were just 76 more days left to spend in the Discovery Dimension before he was to return back to normal time. For some reason the idea of returning back to society felt weird. Harry had resided in the Discovery Dimension for so long with just Kazu as his sole companion that the thought of communicating with other individuals seemed almost impossible.
"If you wish, you can remain here longer and adjust." Kazu offered. "The game room has that collection of DVDs that you've yet to go through. Perhaps viewing some television shows that are supposed to relay real life issues can help? Maybe learn from the characters within the show? The mistakes they make and the experiences they endure?"
"That would be brilliant!" Harry said with a smile, "Maybe then I can figure out why girls are so confusing!"
Kazu laughed and shook his head. "I don't think that'll ever be possible, Harry."
"Aw well, can't blame a bloke for trying, right? Worse case scenero, I spend more time training and reviewing so that I'll be more prepared."
The Dragon Master smirked, reminding himself to not reveal what he already knew.
"That's always a thought, more training..."
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