Harry woke in his tent, though calling it a tent was like calling a palace merely a guest house. This had been the cheapest tent Harry could find when he went looking in Diagon Alley last year. It had four bedrooms and three water closets, a kitchen, a lounge, a library, and a massive pantry brimming with preservation charms. It even had a fireplace that could be set as a Floo connection, not that Harry had.
Top of the line models had included swimming pools, interior and exterior water fountains, ballrooms, dueling chambers, magically lit rooms for growing herbs or food plants, and indoor Quidditch pitches. So much ridiculousness.
Four bedrooms was more than enough for one wizard.
Harry hadn't been to London once this summer and didn't miss it so far. He could buy anything he needed in Godric's Hollow, which was a short bicycle ride away. He'd bought the bike when he first got off the train. It was lovely to have, another thing he hadn't learned as a child.
He walked outside and looked at the foundation of the Potter home, Godric's Hall. He'd been beavering away until now just to get it exposed. He had been trying to preserve whatever he could, which hadn't been easy. The lands were overgrown in a beautiful, tangled way. He left as much as he could while trying to give himself space to work around the foundation.
Harry had learned enough to make a few guesses. If the Potters had had elves, they had perished in the fire or perhaps later. They certainly hadn't been in any condition to maintain or repair things after.
None of the lands showed signs of people on them, at all, not for plundering building materials or taking the fruits that would appear later in the summer or even the hay from the fields. The outermost wards over the property were still keeping the non-magical away.
The house was ruined, but the lands were protected. So sad news mixed with the good.
All the materials to put this house back together were likely still here. They would be weather damaged, fire damaged, but all present if inconveniently collapsed into the basement or cellar.
Harry was finally ready to start pulling materials out of the pit. He had cleared away flat, vegetation-free areas to store it which were the less-beautiful areas of the grounds, the ones that had been lawns rather than gardens or orchards.
His cutter, Diviso, had become one of his better spells from all the practice. Though he'd been practicing all of them, even Fulmenifer. He could use it outside without hurting himself now. It had taken a considerable amount of practice to develop that control over lightning.
And no one on the outside said a peep, sent an owl, or made any noise whatsoever. It was almost as good as being under the protections of Hogwarts, so far.
Now he would get to further refine his levitation and stacking skills. This wasn't quite the adventure he had planned, digging out a ruined house was more work and less adventure than he had hoped. But he had found something of interest from some of the stones that hadn't tumbled into the foundation. For there were a few stones that were covered in runes.
He didn't know anything about runes yet. He had taken Madam Spurl's advice and decided to study the subject. He had three books that he'd ordered by letter, but he hadn't made much progress through them. He had discovered that permanent enchantments and protections were largely considered a Master's topic in the field, so not for someone first starting out.
Well, Harry had been working on his patience. And he rarely turned down a challenge. He'd been working on some of his adventuring spells for more than a year now and he kept practicing them, even when he couldn't seem to improve them. More practice, more effort, and he usually got there.
Harry looked at the pile of materials waiting for him inside the foundation. "Not going to lift themselves, are they?" he asked himself.
He'd best get started before the day got too warm to work. Cooling charms helped, but the sun at its peak could sap anyone.
He wanted to make a good go of this. Headmaster Flamel had put the idea of rebuilding this house in his mind. Harry didn't know if he could – and certainly not at his present age – but he could make a start. This was a project that would span years.