Harry was also not foolish enough to think that he was currently capable of properly taking on a group of seventh years at a time. He would either get torn to bits, or would accidentally electrocute them all to death, thanks to his poor grasp on wandless magic. Neither option had seemed overly appealing.
Hermione had initially tried to stop people from bullying Harry, though her increasing workloads (as well as her jealousy of Harry's sudden success) had prevented her from being overly effective. As for Ron, he, along with Seamus and Dean, were too busy spending most of their time in the common room (or other public areas) talking loudly about how they would soon be selected as the victorious champions of Hogwarts.
Thankfully, Tonks and Hestia had stopped many people from insulting Harry. Many people had by now seen Harry conversing happily with the two Aurors, and quickly assumed that they might end up playing favourites with him.
If anything, Hestia and Tonks did the opposite; they made him get to classes on time, and also reprimanded him harshly when they saw him nearly pull his wand out on an older Slytherin student. They two had given him the same explanation as Salazar, stating that someone of his stature would get in serious trouble for such an offense.
The three of them occasionally talked about their pasts with one another; Harry told them a small bit about his horrifying adventures, and they told him about theirs as Aurors. The stories they told him were significantly more detailed than his, but Harry did not regret keeping it brief.
If Harry was being honest, the only reason Harry had told them about his adventures was because they seemed to already know a great deal about them. Perhaps it had something to do with being an Auror, it wouldn't surprise Harry.
Either way, Harry only clarified a few questions they had on his adventures. He was not particularly interested in retelling any of the tales, particularly the ones involving Sirius or Riddle. The former involved him admitting to helping the most wanted man alive escape custody, and the latter was rather disturbing. He also made sure to keep out any mention of Voldemort, for what he felt were obvious reasons.
Harry had not yet gone so far as to tell them about his childhood. He had only told Salazar, and that was in part because he was a portrait (though also because his ancestor genuinely cared). Besides, while he liked the two Aurors, he did not trust them enough to reveal such things.
Answering a few of their questions about his adventures had somewhat backfired; Hestia had soon asked for his schedule, and the both of them were now making sure that he was always where he was meant to be. Thankfully, he was still allowed full access to the chamber (due to his Invisibility Cloak). Harry was growing to like the two Aurors, but still refrained from telling them certain things about himself. After all, they still did work for the ministry.
"Can you re-explain what you said about why my wandless magic keeps manifesting in lightning?" said Harry, turning back to the portrait.
Salazar sighed.
"Elements in particular are an excellent way to release saturated magic." explained the portrait, "Be it lightning, fire, or any other; it matters little, although I admit the two I mentioned are the most common. It is the simplest form for magic to take, and is therefore the form it will assume when intent, power, skill, or something else is lacking. That is why occurrences such as sparks, or perhaps flames, are often observed when children fail to properly use magic."
"And what did you say about Mage Magic not really being an ability?"
"A Mage is a person who carries a sort of mutation in their magical core, which is the same case for a mutation's only noticeable difference from the core of a normal wizard is that it gives a witch or wizard a greater capacity for wandless magic.
Instead of an incantation, wand motion, visualization and magical prowess, Mage Magic, or your wandless magic, requires intent, visualization, willpower, and magical prowess, and perhaps hand motions. Being a Mage merely means you have a much greater capacity for wandless magic, nothing more. Because the mutation is a good thing, people assume that it must be an ability rather than a mutation. They can not seemingly grasp that not all mutations are bad."
"But then why did you call it an ability?" Harry asked weakly.
The portrait shrugged.
"So that you would be able to understand it. Besides, you probably wouldn't have taken it well if the first thing I told you upon meeting you was that you had a mutation. But forget about all this Mage business, we won't be starting this till next year at the earliest."
"But we'll still have the discussions, right?" Harry asked.
"There is no way I would teach you if we did not have these discussions, so I suppose the answer is yes."
"Alright, fair enough. Moving on, I was wondering why we haven't done any rituals other than the first two."
"That is because your body requires time to fully adapt to the changes of your previous rituals."
"But the two of them finished like a - " started Harry, before the portrait interrupted him.
"The rituals finished a week ago." Salazar corrected, "Your body will not have finished adapting for another month at the least."
"Alright then, fine. I have to go soon, the delegations should be here in a few hours."
"Inform me if you spot anyone of interest. And spend more time with your friends." said Salazar, "It is not wise to grow too attached to a portrait."
"Don't flatter yourself." Harry replied cheekily.
"Either way, my point stands. You said you were slowly drifting off from them, it is not wise to walk alone, particularly when you are still much weaker than your opponents."
"I know, I know." said Harry hastily, "I'll spend more time around them. But if Ron doesn't shut up about the tournament, and Hermione about my sudden increase in talent, I'll have a hard time."
"If they are as you say they are, make new friends." Salazar said in an uncaring tone.
"They've been with me since the moment I came here." defended Harry, "I won't abandon them."
"Perhaps it is the fact that they have been by your side for so long that blinds you to their flaws." the portrait commented, "In your haste to find people who care for you, you overlook the many issues they hold. Take your godfather, for example."
"Sirius is a good man." said Harry, getting angrier by the minute.
"Perhaps he is, perhaps he isn't. But you wouldn't know that, would you? After all, you must have spent a grand total of, what, two hours in his presence?"
Harry's shoulders slumped in defeat. He understood the point the portrait had made, even if he didn't like it.
"I am not saying that he is bad," said Salazar gently, "I am saying that you should look at things from an outsiders point of view. From that view, your two friends do not appear as they should, and you know little about your godfather."
Harry nodded slightly, listening sadly to the portrait's every word.
"From that same point of view, your two Auror friends seem to be very excellent candidates for friends. They seem to care about you more than your scar, which is a bonus. They show no jealousy, only compassion and care. You have also mentioned that you are growing close."
"In a way, I guess." said Harry, "Although I'm not sure if I'm close to them, or I'm just not close to anyone else."
"Grow closer to them." instructed Salazar, "Not for the fact that they are Aurors, although I suppose that is useful as well. Do it because they seem to truly care, from what you have told me, of course."
"Yeah, okay." Harry responded quietly, "I better head out now, the delegations will be arriving in an hour, there's going to be an evening feast. The last thing I need is to be seen in the girl's lavatory right now."
He paused for a moment, before turning to Salazar.
"Why did you put the entrance to the chamber in the girl's lavatory?"
"I didn't." said the portrait casually, "There wasn't any 'plumbing' in my time. You just used to pull your robes down and - "
" - Alright, I got the gist! And how did Riddle find it?"
"He told me that he had been searching for it since his second year. He eventually began to grow desperate in his search for the chamber. He systematically checked every room in the school he knew of. All that was left at the time was the bathrooms, the headmaster's office, and the staff offices."
Harry chuckled quietly at the idea of a teenage Voldemort getting caught by a group of girls in their bathroom. It was a rather amusing visualization.
I would rather Riddle give me the scar on my forehead than scar me for life. Poor girls.
He said goodbye to the portrait, and began his journey back to Gryffindor tower.
.....
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