This will be the last chapter I post until aft next Wednesday the 16th, as it is crunch time for finals and I will have four essays due between now and then. Wish me luck everyone!
Also, in case anyone has been counting, this chapter was nearly double the last one, which was the longest chapter to date. Let me know if you guys prefer shorter or longer chapters. As always, not beta'd
Ron wasn't able to summon any creatures that night, or the next morning. However, he was able to levitate and throw rocks, and before they headed back on Sunday morning Ron was very proficient at creating and manipulating fire. One time, he almost managed to throw a lightning bolt at Harry, but that was only after Harry had goaded him about not being very good at mana magic. The air was saturated with static electricity, but Ron was ultimately unable to do anything with it.
"Ron, you need to stop worrying. You have this down pat. You're a natural. I wasn't able to do this kind of stuff for weeks after finding out about it. Neville still can't do anything like we've managed so far. Just relax, you'll get it sooner rather than later." Harry was getting a little tired of stroking Ron's ego. Despite Ron's success, he was still intimidated by the power that Harry seemed to wield easily.
"Easy for you to say. You're the one pulling miracles out from your sleeves like it was nothing. You killed a bird dragon thing with a touch! I woke up for that part. You saved the whole school and they don't even know it!"
"And they're not going to, right Ron?" Ron looked away from Harry's green gaze. "Right Ron?" Harry emphasized Ron's name again, like he had heard Molly Weasley say it on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. No one could know that this magic could get to be that dangerous. If the teachers got wind of it, Harry would have to give it up, and he might leave the school and go back to the Dursleys before doing that.
Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But it would be something drastic like that.
Harry wanted to get better at summoning before heading back to school, so he left Ron on Saturday afternoon to practice his fire-throwing. The two of them were getting to the point where he was creating knives and swords made of fire, but Ron wanted, as Harry had said when they arrived, to throw lightning bolts from his hands.
Harry headed off into the Forbidden Forest covering the mountain. The destruction wrought by the fire and the elementals had barely cooled, but Harry could see evidence that this was not the first time the mountaintop had been bathed in fire. He could see old dead burnt branches further into the treeline, and Harry realized that this was a cycle, how the fire of the mountain's energy led to a rebirth of the forest. He saw how these two very different lands were connected, and wondered if this was true for all or just them.
Harry recalled a lesson from Urza's book. Urza said that magic was change, in its very essence. Maybe this was what he meant. He passed a meadow in the forest, and noticed that this meadow, a source of white magic, had a copse of trees in its center. He wondered how many centuries before the whole of the meadow was absorbed into the forest. He could feel the power in the transformation, and wondered if the energy was any different from the green magic he pulled from the Forbidden Forest in his fight with Voldemort. He pulled the mana to him, and noticed it was a mix of white and green magic. Harry wondered what other combinations there were out there.
The mana was starting to burn a hole in Harry's mindscape. He tried to picture a large animal, like a moose or a stag, to burn off the excess energy, when he saw a squirrel. Instantly Harry thought of another squirrel to play with it. This did not burn up much energy, and Harry was unable to think of anything other than squirrels. Without thinking, Harry created an entire army of squirrels, one large enough to fill the clearing the size of a football field. Harry laughed at the image, and that drew the squirrels' attention from each other directly to him. Suddenly the idea of thousands of squirrels wasn't so funny to him, and Harry decided this would actually be a fairly effective way of subduing opponents. The thousands of eyes and the gleaming teeth of the rat-like creatures was unnerving, and Harry was sure while the image of Voldemort being buried under a flood of squirrels was indeed a funny one, it was no less an effective weapon, and unbeatable for sheer psychological edge.
Harry, his thoughts beginning to turn grim, headed deeper into the forest. Now that Voldemort was definitely back and Harry knew that he was destined to fight the older wizard, Harry felt the study of mana had become merely a search for weapons. Harry had never been as good at something like he was at this. He wanted to explore it. Harry wanted to understand this strange and exciting concept. He wanted to live his life not having to look over his shoulder scared of what Voldemort might bring against him. He had heard that Voldemort had followers that bribed their way out of Azkaban, the wizard's prison. How could he defeat the darkest wizard of the age and his army by himself? How could he keep them down if there was a government that allowed itself to be bribed by mass murderers? Why would he even want to?
Because it would be the right thing to do. Blast if that wasn't always going to be a problem
Unnoticed by Harry, he was being followed. Many somethings clicked and clattered their way to him, and the dying light reflected on more eyes than would be found on a wolf.
Harry reached another knot of trees, and decided this would be a good time to try and summon that tree-creature again. He pulled mana into himself as he thought about that night with the unicorn. He never got a good look at it, but it looked like a tree with the face of an old man embedded into the bark of the trunk. The face had a beard made of moss, the face twists in the bark, the eyes knotholes…
A skittering sound made him halt in his visualization. Realizing he would not have enough time, he directed the mental energy to the trees around him and began to pull the mana from the mountain to combat this new threat. From nothingness a flaming sword emerged and attached itself to Harry's right hand. His other hand crackled with electricity that was eager to be released. Harry was briefly surprised that whenever he was in a fix mana and spells seemed to come naturally to him, but he had no time to think about it. At least a dozen spiders the size of large dogs were moving through the woods around him, and Harry needed to thin out their numbers.
Harry thrust his sword forward, and a lance of flames erupted from it towards the nearest arachnid. Harry found the elemental's spell was easy to cast and didn't take up much energy. It certainly was effective, as the acromantula found out. It made a brief shriek as it was immolated, but that was all. Still eleven more to go.
The next one wasn't going to wait for Harry to come to it. It jumped the width of the twenty foot distance between the opponents and made to impale Harry on its fangs. Harry was ready though, as he made a slicing motion that cut the creature from thorax to abdomen. The two halves twitched as they fell around Harry. Ten more.
This is when things got surreal.
Apparently when Harry was summoning mana he was more successful than he thought. When a trio of acromantulas tried to circle around Harry to attack him from behind, they did not anticipate the trees coming to his defense. At least four tree-folk came to Harry's defense, ripping up their root in their zeal to squash these bugs. Hearing the commotion behind him, Harry turned away his enemies in front of him to see a tree-man take a boulder that was unearthed by the tentacle-like roots and heft it into its branches. It then slammed the rock down so hard that spider guts landed fifteen feet away on Harry's shoes. Another two took a spider into their branches, then pulled the poor creature in half. Body fluids rained down on the roots of the tree-folk, probably enriching the soil. The last tree-folk and the last acromantula squared off. The spider attempted to jump past the tree to get to Harry, but the tree was able to swat it out of the air and knocked it off into the darkness. From the squelching sounds it made when it landed, something broke. Harry turned back to the seven remaining spiders.
He had turned back just in time. In the two seconds that Harry took to make sure he wasn't going to be attacked from behind, a spider came forward and almost bit him. Harry took his sword and chopped one of the offending spider's fangs. It screeched, and Harry had to grab his ears at the sound it made before it popped something. It retreated.
Harry could see the six remaining spiders. They were all advancing slowly in unison. Harry needed something big to take them out. He imagined a bomb made out of destructive red mana placed in the middle of the group of eight-legged creatures. Harry pumped mana into it until the object in his mind's eye was pulsing with power. He then released it.
The blast sent him flying backwards into the trunk of one of his mobile trees. Maybe there a little too much power there. That was three, there were still three fully intact spiders and the one whose fang Harry chopped off.
Insomuch as Harry could tell, the remaining opponents were having a hard time deciding what to do next. Harry, beginning to tire, sent a bolt of lightning at one of the spiders, but it missed. The raw empty feeling of overusing mana began to eat at him. Harry was feeling tapped out. While he might have been a white mana battery, he was mostly using his red offensive magic, and needed more practice pulling the right amount of power into himself so as not to overtax his abilities.
That lightning bolt, however, was enough to scare the arachnids into retreating. Evidently Harry was a meal they would only be able to eat in greater numbers. The defanged one stood on its hind four legs and chittered something in its language at Harry, then turned around and disappeared into the blackness. Harry was too tired to do anything other than lift a finger at the display. He flopped to the ground in the middle of his tree-folk, and went to fall asleep. He'd talk to Ron in a couple of hours.
Before he fell completely asleep, Harry saw one of the tree-folk learn over to another and whisper. It was the pair of trees who had ripped the acromantula apart. His last thought before sleeping was the idea that, "Maybe they were complaining about spider guts in their roots."
He would have been interested to learn that the actual conversation was very different.
"Is this the one who will awaken the mana in this world? This is the second time I have been called to protect him." Spoke one.
"This must be the one. None since the gemmed one have been able to make us walk with the fleshlings," said another.
The first tree grunted, an interesting sound for a creature with no diaphragm or lungs. "He's going to need to get better at defending himself. He has power and the will to use it, but he lack discipline. He needs to be more mindful of his surroundings."
"That much is clear Ras, but that is not for us to teach him or even say. We must do as he asks, and only that until the gemmed one returns. That young one has a task in front of him, and I wonder if it will break the poor sapling."
"Saplings can be bent, but they will then grow crooked. This one must grow straight and true. He will need something to lean on to keep him on the straight growth. I hope he has found it, or he will be as big a threat as the evil one shall be."
"Even then, our cause is his, and so we will follow him until he no longer has need of us. But neither day is near, and the sapling's heart, for now, remains pure. There will be no more talk of this. Rest must be had now." And with that, the trees were silent and unmoving as the rest of the Forest.
Harry awoke in near complete darkness. He could hear Ron calling for him, and the cries were tinged with desperation. Harry felt within himself and that he was able to summon the energy for flight. He pulled his wand from where it frequented rested these days, up one of his long sleeves. He cast a sonorous charm on himself and sounded out, "I'm here Ron! I'm fine, just knackered." Harry heard Ron yelp as he was startled, and realized Ron was closer than he thought. Harry cast a spell of flight on himself, and cleared the tree line to look for his friend. Ron, relieved, sped over to Harry on Harry's Nimbus. Harry patted his friend on the shoulder and said, "Let's head back to the campsite. Even after that nap I'm still tired. We'll head back to the castle in the morning. Did you make any more progress?"
Ron moaned. "I've been looking for you for ages! I saw flashes and booms from where I saw you head into the woods, and the first thing you say to me is, 'Have you been practicing?' I swear you're worse than McGonagall or Hermione."
Harry laughed. "You take that back," echoing the first conversation they had upon coming out here. "And my question still stands. I left you to practice. If you want to hear about my adventures with squirrels or my fight with a dozen giant spiders I can now summon up whenever I want, it will have to wait until after you've told me what progress you've made. We didn't come out here for our health. For some reason, it's easier to summon mana out in the woods. Don't waste our time here."
Ron grumped, but eventually admitted that after Harry had left Ron had played on Harry's Nimbus. Once Ron had heard the echoes of the battle, he had gone looking, but the woods and the canyons of the mountain made it difficult to figure out where the sound was coming from. Ron had been looking for about an hour before Harry had woken up.
Harry figured that Ron was unlikely to work on this power by himself. Whether it was because he didn't care or because Harry's presence made it easier for the red-headed boy was unclear to Harry, but Harry was inclined to believe that it was the latter. Harry was a white mana battery, and Hermione was unable to move beyond what she was first able to do when she got home without Harry there helping her and leading her through. Once she was able to reach a new plateau of understanding, though, Hermione was able to completely blow Harry away with her grasp of concepts. She was able to talk theory with Dumbledore for hours on end. Harry was no slouch when it came to intellectual exercises, especially now that he was saturated with blue magic. That magic was specifically associated with scholastic intelligence and research, which made it perfect for Hermione. However, Harry didn't care as much as the headmaster and his female friend as to why and how mana worked. Harry was far more concerned with what he could do, and how to do more next time.
Since Ron was unlikely to try and learn on his own, Harry decided to spend the time they had left catching up with his first friend. Harry found that Ron was bored with Dean and Seamus. "All they want to do is argue about stupid things, like which girls have the best legs or is the most likely to give it up. What the hell is that supposed to even mean? We aren't supposed to even think about girls for a couple of years yet. What would they even know what to do with a girl anyway? Seamus said that Parvati was up for a quick gobbler anytime. He's lying through his teeth, probably, right?"
Harry nodded and smiled at the appropriate places in Ron's stories, even adding grunts of dismay at Ron's tales of pranks played on the group of friends by other students. Harry however was having as hard a time relating to Ron as Ron was to Dean and Seamus. Harry had never thought of girls like that. Of course, the only girls he had any experience with were Hermione, the Chaser girls and the teachers. He barely even knew who Parvati was, and he wasn't sure he could pick this Lavender out of a line up without her Gryffindor tie. He realized that this research, while interesting, made him an unintentional outcast. He would have to do something to fix that in the near future. He came to this school hoping he'd be like everyone else. Now that that option was clearly out the window, he might as well try and make friends while being different.
Harry and Ron decided that the only reason they might want to stay out on the mountain in the cave would be to avoid Neville's snoring in the dorms, and after Harry's tale of the spiders Ron was able to convince Harry to return to the castle. Thus, they headed back to Hogwarts in high spirits. While nothing of the weekend had gone like either one had planned, they both felt their time was better spent for it. They were closer, they had any number of new tricks up their sleeves, and they had a whole day and night to relax.
Unfortunately, some of the other students had other plans.
As the two of them made it to the Quidditch pitch, they could see a large number of black-robed students spread out over the grounds. Harry and Ron could see the groups were looking in the deeper remaining drifts of snow, looking for something. Oddly, they could see no teachers helping, as search this size had to be official.
Harry and Ron circled around to the Quidditch pitch to drop off the Nimbus and sneak into the castle away from the hubbub, but it was not to be. As they reached the entrance hall, it seemed the entire Quidditch team plus Dean and Seamus appeared out of nowhere and accosted them. There was a great deal of yelling, most of it unintelligible, and there wasn't a teacher in sight to help. The commotion finally calmed down enough for the twins to be able to shout, "WHERE WERE YOU?"
Harry and Ron looked at each other. Ron finally responded, "We were in the forest. Near the mountains. Why?"
The twins seemed to puff up at this, and Wood stepped in before they could kill their brother. Katie moved forward during the confusion and asked the pair, "And you didn't let anyone know where you were going? You missed practice and no one could find you anywhere! It's only 6 weeks before the next match against Hufflepuff! We thought the snakes took you out of the running!"
Harry was confused. "I cleared this with McGonagall. Didn't anyone ask her where we went? Or any of the other teachers? They all know I have permission to leave the grounds at any time."
Sheepish looks were cast about. It was clear to Harry that they did indeed ask the Transfiguration Professor, but they hadn't believed her. Ron, though, had more immediate concerns. "Nobody told mum, right?" Nobody looked at him. "Right?" his voice squeaked.
Either Fred or George spoke up. "We may have sent a letter asking her if you were at the Burrow sick with something contagious when we couldn't find you. You weren't even with a mile of the castle mate."
Ron groaned. He knew he was going to catch hell for this with his mum. He was lucky if she would only send a howler. She might even come to the school to yell at him in person.
Harry was struck by a thought. "How did you know we weren't in the castle? What made you look for us? We were only gone one night."
Seamus answered this one. "We wanted to talk to Ron about something in class. I didn't want to have to go to McGonagall to hear it again, and Ron managed to get the spell to work. I was hoping he'd be able to explain it." No one believed this for a minute, but that was his story and he was sticking to it. He probably wanted Ron to convince the twins to help with a prank, but he wasn't going to tell them that.
Harry had had only one of his three questions actually answered and the last one was a lie. He was starting to get annoyed. "So why was it that Fred and George were so sure we weren't in the castle?" He gave his teammates an extra hard glare. They wilted, but remained silent. "Am I going to get an answer sometime this century?" Even the rest of the students looked at the twins curiously. Harry shook his head. "Fine. Don't answer. I'll just force it out of you later. Now why wasn't anyone listening to McGonagall when she told you not to worry?" All the other students looked behind Harry.
"Because, Mr. Potter, I could truthfully say I had no idea where you had gone or when you would be back. All you did was say that you and the youngest Weasley would be out of the castle for a time and I quote 'not to worry.'" She gave an imperious sniff. "Really, Mr. Potter when a student says something like that all a teacher can do is worry. I know you have certain extracurricular activities, but involving Mr. Weasley here was not part of the plan, and we heard an awful noise last night from the forest. I feared the worst."
Ron grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah that was my fault. Sorry."
Professor McGonagall sighed. "I take it, Mr. Potter, that Mr. Weasley here is now part of your extra studies as well?"
Harry answered, "That's up to him, Professor. I can't make do extra studies if he doesn't want to."
"I want to!"
"Then you're going to have to do well in everything else in order to keep up your eligibility. I expect your grades to be as good if not better than they were before. Now, curfew is approaching, and you all should return to Gryffindor tower. Mr. Potter, stay behind please."
The larger group sulked off. Harry could already hear Seamus pestering Ron to tell them what he and Harry were doing in the Forest. Ron had been sworn to secrecy, but Harry wondered what Ron would tell in place of the truth. Harry waited in the entrance hall, expecting to be told off.
Surprisingly, nothing of the sort happened. "The headmaster wishes to see you. Something about a theoretical question he hopes you might have an answer to."
Harry wasn't too surprised, but he was annoyed that he had to deal with Dumbledore's curiosity right now. He was hoping to talk to Hermione about heading further away from the castle with her. He was hoping that she might have better luck like Ron did accessing mana deeper on the grounds. He shrugged. There was always next weekend.
Harry made his way to the Headmaster's Tower, pausing to make a face at Filch and to wave to Hagrid in the distance. He gave the usual candy password ("Mars Bars," at Harry's insistence) and made his way past the gargoyle and up the stairs. He didn't have time to knock before his name was called, and Harry once again wondered how it was the headmaster always knew who was on the stairs. He swore he would find something in mana magic that would let him see magic and enchantments.
Harry entered the spacious office where he could see Hermione petting Fawkes. At the same time she was leafing through a tome about two feet wide, a foot tall, a foot wide and bound in metal plates. He didn't look up as Harry entered. Harry didn't mind, he was used to this from her. Dumbledore, on the other hand, stood up and greeted Harry very enthusiastically. "Harry, my boy, how are you? Was your trip successful for young Mr. Weasley?"
Harry smiled at the enthusiasm the ancient wizard was showing. One would think it was he who was learning a new style of magic, but Harry was able to reign in his amusement. Hermione had scolded him the last time he had laughed in the elderly man's face after asking too many questions. Dumbledore took in stride, and was not perturbed. In fact, he was more amused at himself and then at Hermione's reaction than anything else.
"It went well, Professor. Ron is a natural. That passage you found about magical temperaments is what made me include him in the first place. Ron was able to lift a two ton boulder within ten minutes of learning that one does not need a wand to work magic. He was even able to work with and create fire before we left."
Dumbledore beamed at this, while Hermione looked disgruntled. While she was proficient at creating gales and ice, she really hadn't progressed much beyond the stage she was at when she got home for the holiday. Levitating books is useful, but Harry seemed to be able to do whatever he wanted, and Hermione wasn't used to this jealous feeling.
"Ahh, that's good. But what was that explosion I heard last night? I could have sworn I saw something fly over the lake…" Dumbledore was fishing. Harry decided to tell him what happened. Better that he be prepared for an incident than to be caught off guard.
"Ron accidentally summoned a creature that was too powerful to control. I managed to use some black magic and destroyed it. The good news is I got a couple of very powerful creatures out of the experience, so I can use them in dire circumstances." Hermione was slightly distraught. She had never managed a summoning, and she had very little direct control over her mana magic. She was able to cast NEWT level spells, but she wanted to do the impossible like Harry seemed to be able to do on a regular basis.
Harry noticed Hermione's quiet distress, and turned to her. "Hermione, I know you've been having trouble with this, but I think it's the magic. I have an idea. Tell me, how many books have you read?"
"978," she answered promptly.
"What's the square root of the product of the two smallest prime integers?"
"2.449489." Now Hermione frowned.
"What are the average grades of the last 7 sets of Prefects and Head Students?"
"The trend has a decline in the number and quality of NEWT grades. The highest grades went from eight outstanding NEWTS with Arithmancy and Ancient Runes as electives, to six exceeds expectations NEWTS with Muggle Studies or Care of Magical Creatures as electives." Now Hermione was excited. She knew where this was going. Dumbledore was still ruminating over the declining grades of his supposedly best students.
"Do you think you could have possibly been able to answer all those questions without being able to access blue magic?" Harry asked his friend triumphantly.
"No! So this means I'm already using the magic to make my mind that much more powerful! I could take whatever electives I want here! I could have the highest grades ever recorded! Oh this is wonderful!" Hermione looked ready to bounce out her seat.
"Now it's time to ask a hypothetical. If someone who has never been able to use a type of mana magic, changes locations and suddenly can, what does that mean? Assume instruction and processes are the same." Harry sank into a chair, elbows on knees with an intent expression.
Hermione thought for a moment, her brow scrunched up, when her face cleared and understanding shown on her face. "You mean you think that someone is blocking the people her from accessing mana? Who would do such a thing? For what purpose? How would they know what to do?" Hermione realized that each question she asked had no answer, at least for the moment.
Harry shook his head. "It's kind of worrying to know that not only is someone aware of mana, block is able to block the connection to the land. The why is obvious. Someone thinks that mana magic is dangerous for his or her plans, and doesn't want anyone to use it. That person must think that wand magic will be easier to control, and that person would be right. The entire world uses one type of magic, and most people know how to prepare for and counter it. This mana magic is either very new or very old. My money is on old. Lands have been changing for millennia, and it must have been a pretty clever ruse to convince every single magic user on the planet to switch to a wand."
Harry stood up and began to pace. His audience, young and old, was thinking hard about what he had said. If what he said was true, then everything they knew about magical history would have been based on a lie. "I think everybody at this school would be able to use mana. I think it's part of what makes us magical. I think Urza was right, and that it's silly to think that magic is based on a wand. The magic comes from us, and the wands just focus them. This may be a magic even Muggles can do. If this darkness that I'm supposed to fight is the reason, then that means I might have to recruit the whole of the wizarding world, maybe even the Muggle world, to fight it." He sat down. "Or we could just be blowing smoke. It could be just that proximity to the students is what's causing the interference. Who knows?"
Hermione was confused. She had not heard the prophecy. "Darkness? What darkness? What are you talking about?" but nobody answered her.
Dumbledore nodded at his student. "Those are some very good deductions Harry. While we may not know what the prophecy means for some time, I think it may be best to act as if the darker option were true. We must begin to look for objects that may be able to block the drawing of mana. While I have no idea what those may be, we can develop spells that allow us to see enchanted objects, and possibly their function. Hermione, you and I will be working on this in your time off from classes." Here he turned to Harry and Hermione. "I want you to continue working with mana, but I do not want you neglect your studies in wand magic. I want to keep your ability to use it a secret for as long as possible, and it is a poor workman who neglects a technique because one way is easier than another. Keep studying in the library. If it comes down to you, I want you, Harry, to try and defeat Voldemort using wand magic. If he is the lesser threat, and the greater one is watching, there is no need to broadcast your abilities."
Harry and Dumbledore both would be interested to know what was happening deep in the dungeons of the castle. There, Percy was leading another, a young Muggleborn witch named Penelope Clearwater, to a darkened corridor to do things that teenagers are wont to do. At least, that's what Penelope thought. Percy had something a little different in mind.
Penelope was a shy girl, and she had a crush on the quietest Weasley. She could tell that the boy was both intelligent and ambitious, but he was also quite cute, and he was a pureblood who never made her feel like less of a witch because of her heritage.
"Where are we going, Percy? Couldn't we have just gone to the Astronomy Tower?" She was starting to get a little nervous. Percy would never hurt her like that, so he must just be looking for someplace out of the way, right?
"That's the easiest way to get caught in this school. I swear Filch likes to take his lunch breaks up there and watch the children make their way to the top. Then he just camps at the bottom for them to come back. I'm sure he just has a stack of premade detention slips. No, this is much better. Trust me."
"I do trust you. It's just, where are we going? I've never been this deep into the castle before. Are we almost there?" She didn't like this part of the castle. When she did patrols near here she always felt there was something watching her. Here, deeper into the section, that feeling was magnified.
"It's this room here. Trust me, nobody will find us here." Why did that sentence make her fear for a moment rather than excite her? She shook her head. Percy was always a perfect gentleman. He would never take advantage of her like that.
Percy led her into the room, then turned around and started setting up privacy spells and a locking charm on the door. That left Penelope to admire the décor of the room. She noticed the many candles, the knife on the floor, the bloodstains. Everything in her said she should leave, get away, get help…
But there was a presence in the room. One that held her captive off to the side of the room where she stood. She wanted to get away, but something held her there, stilling her feet.
Percy moved to the center of the room, disrobing on the way. Penelope, in her many moments of fancy deep in the night, had wondered about the shape and texture of his body. For the most part, her thoughts had been pretty accurate, but she never would have been able to guess about the many slash marks and cuts on his skin. As she watched, Percy added another mark to the skin on his arm. The blood dripped into the bowl, where it hissed and spat. Penelope shuddered as the presence seemed to grow closer. She heard Percy chant.
"Hear me, o perfect creator, from your most imperfect servant. Hear me, o merciful creator, from a servant that deserves no mercy. Hear me, o beautiful creator, from this ugly and rotten servant of the flesh. Hear me, Yawgmoth! Hear me, o perfect creator, as your servant waits for instruction!"
A chime sounded. With all her heart she was hoping this was just a dream. She hoped that this was a sick game that Percy dreamed up. But when that dark presence that she felt since she reached the corridor suddenly surged in her mind and forced her to grab her head in her hands, she knew that the rest of her life had been a dream. This was the only that was real in her existence. The she heard it.
Child
The force of that single word brought her to her knees in pain, but all of a sudden that meant nothing to her. The sound of that single word was the most beautiful thing she had ever heard. She would do anything to have it look on her with favor. She would rather die than disappoint it. It was her new god, her whole reason for being. Blood dripped from her nose onto her uniform, but such trivialities were unimportant. The voice was talking again.
Prepare the chamber. Allow her to ascend
As soon as she heard it the voice left her. She felt bereft. Despite the pain she wanted to hear the world of her new Master from morning to night. She looked at Percy, and saw he too wished to prostrate himself in devotion to the Voice. Reluctantly, Percy stood up. He moved and touched a stone, then another. He moved in a complicated pattern, seemingly playing an enormous piano, and when he finished there was another chime.
The stone wall opposite her slid away, as if on greased rails. The moving wall revealed a hallway sinking deeper into the castle. Her fear and reticence gone now, Clearwater stood and almost rushed to the gap, pausing only to help Percy put on his robes. She asked him, breathless, "What's going to happen next?" Her eyes were dilated in her excitement, and she almost dragged Percy with her to the door. Percy only smirked in response.
"You'll see. This is what I was shown when I first pledged myself to him." How different he had been then. Filled with the dreams of being Minister of Magic, Percy strove to be the best prefect possible. Exploring the deepest parts of Hogwarts to find miscreants, he found this place, and the master found a willing servant. Now Percy's dreams were a little different.
Percy and Clearwater walked down the hallway. It didn't look like the rest of the castle, and it looked like it was hewn from the bedrock rather than built with stone like the rest. Clearwater and Percy paid no attention to the décor. Their eyes were fixed at the end of the tunnel, where they could just make out a grotto. This was a natural formation, formed eons before Hogwarts. The two agents could feel the power of the chamber, and quickened their steps. They entered the cave, and saw two things. The chamber was dominated by a sunken pool filled with a liquid that pulsed and moved without outside impetus. The other main feature of the chamber was further back from the entrance. A dais, seemingly grown from the rock, backed itself onto the wall of the cave. Drawn on the walls was a perfect circle, with the edge just barely resting on the top of the raised platform. Lines, drawn with geometric precision radiated outward from the dais on the floor and the wall. Strange words and symbols were etched into the rim of the circle, ones that would hurt the eyes the longer one looked at them. There was a console made of stone and crystal off to the side, where it was out of the way of the path to the dais. There were more of those symbols on the face of the console, and an eye could catch the crystals and words glowing with their own light.
Percy and Clearwater paid no mind to the other object in the room. Their minds were captured by the liquid in the middle of the room. Percy, moving silently, disrobed his fellow prefect. Clearwater helped, but could not contain her curiosity. "What is that?"
"That, my dear, is glistening oil. It is the fountain of youth. All imperfections, all blemishes, physical and mental are washed away. Enjoy this. I have been here only once, and my reward for helping you see the light today is to bathe with you. Clearwater turned to Percy. He had shed the robe he had hastily put on in the summoning chamber. He too stood naked. Her eyes moved over his body. Where once she would have gasped in dismay at the many scars from cuts and slashes on his skin, she could only admire his devotion to the Master. She hoped that one day the master would allow her to show her devotion to Him in such a way. She let Percy enter the pool of liquid first. As she watched the scars washed away, leaving smooth skin in their wake. Percy seemed stronger as well. He stood taller, and held himself straighter. Clearwater sunk her body step by step into the pool, and as she walked into deeper levels she felt a joy and pleasure she had never felt before in her short life. No experience was quite like this, and it felt better than those quiet nights in the dorm room when everyone else was asleep when she would whisper Percy's name. If nothing else, she loved her new Master for this, and she would do whatever it took to feel this again.
"Drink it. Take it into you and completely accept it. Bathe yourself inside and out with it. Begin your path to become the perfect servant to our Lord!"
Clearwater cupped her hands in the oil, and brought it to her lips. Drops fell from her hands, and she noticed the scar she had from the time she cut her hand in Potions class was gone, like it had never happened. She wondered what this oil would do to her if she drank it. The more she pondered it, the more the need to find out grew inside of her. She lifted her head back and poured the oil down her throat. Instantly she felt a burning sensation. It was washing away the impurities of her flesh, making her into the most perfect servant she could be. She closed her eyes, and felt her body start to change. The smell of the glistening oil filled her nostrils, and the burning continued.
Life after the incident after the holidays continued as normal as possible for a school for magic. Ron was blasted the next morning by a Howler from his mother, but a letter sent home explained the situation. This didn't stop the Slytherins from making fun of the boy, but Ron was able to hold his temper. The Gryffindors won their game against Hufflepuff in less than five minutes, despite all the fouls called on the lions by the referee, Severus Snape. Objective bystanders would have been impressed at the sheer number of things he supposedly would have been able to see and called the Gryffindors on. But after that, there was little of note. After months of trying, Hermione finally overcame her block on the mana magic when Harry took her to the other side of the lake from the school.
"I don't like this Harry! I really, really don't like heights! I hate them!" Hermione clutched Harry's Nimbus 2000 in a death grip while Harry himself guided the broom to a safe place to settle down for the day. This time, he thought things out ahead of time, and told McGonagall a general idea of where they were going. He then let others, including Neville and Ron, plus the other students she was tutoring in various subjects that she wasn't going to be available this early April weekend, and no they were not allowed to come along and ask her questions, she had her own work to get done. They both were dressed for the warm day, in t-shirts and jeans. Harry of course was wearing hand-me-downs from Dudley, so it was a little big, but Harry had been wearing it for years, and was finally growing into it.
Harry chuckled to himself, very quietly so his friend couldn't hear him and decide he was making fun of her. Despite being able to fight back with red mana magic, Harry was reluctant to get on the girl's bad side. Even at twelve, she was a remarkably formidable witch, and the purpose of this trip was to make her more so.
Harry wasn't sure what they would be focusing on this trip. He knew Hermione was most comfortable with blue mana, and this was the greatest source of it in easy reach. "Blue magic is the source of my flying powers. It's a really easy spell. Maybe when you're done here today, you'll be able to fly without a broom too! Oi, don't be like that," He said as Hermione closed her eyes in fright, "There's nothing to be scared of. This spell takes practically nothing to cast, or to maintain. I can snap this spell off in the middle of a firefight, and I did last time Ron and I went out into the woods to try summoning again." Ron had summoned another pair of fire elementals. Ron needed to take them out himself, otherwise Ron wouldn't be able to summon them and have them fight for him when the time came. Harry had the snatch Ron out of the line of fire before he was roasted. Ron was eventually able to pull the fire away from the elementals and suffocate them, but it was a near thing.
Harry continued, "It seems to me that the best way to pull mana to fuel these powers is to be in situations when we most need them. Hermione, I don't want you to be mad, but we may have to do something similar." Hermione looked frightened at that, but she didn't respond. Harry privately thought she might throw up if she opened her mouth again. Luckily, they reached a spot where Harry felt would be far enough from the castle to easily draw on mana. He set Hermione down on the banks of the lake, where she leapt off the broom and hugged herself.
"I really didn't like doing that." She said quietly. Harry lost all mirth he might have felt at his friend's plight, and became serious for her sake. He knew the best way to get her mind off of things that might upset her was to teach her something new. He straightened up, and went into his best lecture mode voice. Having heard Hermione and Dumbledore, he felt he had learned from the best.
"As you know, blue magic is based on the powers of water. At its base, blue magic focuses on sea dwelling animals and many birds. Urza mentions it also focuses on the mind, as a mind can be calm and peaceful, turbulent and choppy or a mixture, all with depths unknowable at first glance. Blue magic users, Urza says, are the best researchers and teachers, as the essence of blue magic is knowledge of the unknown. You, Hermione, are both of those people, and you are the best at learning things in this school." He paced as he said all of this, affecting a lofty, scholarly tone. By the end of Harry's short speech, Hermione was giggling at the image he presented. Harry smiled. Mission accomplished.
Hermione sighed, after giving Harry one last smile. "You're so patient with me. I tried to ask Ron what he had done that was so different and he nearly bit my head off trying to explain it. It might have been the way that worked for him, but it would never have worked for me." She frowned. "Neville still can't actively work with mana, but we know that the energy is powering his spells and abilities. You're the only one I can go to for advice about this stuff, and you make it look effortless! It's frustrating." She huffed.
Harry knew he couldn't laugh. If he laughed she would pull out a hex from some ancient Defense book and nail him someplace where it would do the most damage. "Well, that's why we're here, right? To see what works best for you. We can keep coming out here until you get it. I'm sure we'll figure something out before the end of today though."
Harry pointed out towards the water. "I want you to pull the mana from this lake into yourself. I know you know how to do that. That's not your problem. Your problem is that blue magic usually manifests in ways that are not the most obvious. Why don't we stick with the most concrete examples for now? Summon a bird. Make it appear perched on your hand."
It appeared that Ron and Hermione were having similar difficulties. When Hermione opened her eyes, she found an enormous albatross squawking at her. Frightened, she threw up her hand and the bird took off. Harry, acting quickly, told her, "This is your chance. Capture it, make it yours!" Hermione nodded. She flung out her hand, and the bird was covered in ice. It started to fall towards the water. Before it could land, she used her telekinesis to bring it back to her. Harry was treated to the unique sight of the bird with the six foot wingspan shrinking and getting drawn into his friend's head. It was a little disturbing, and Harry knew that she would want to continue. He could hardly blame her. The first creature capture was such a rush.
Hermione was astounded, and she looked at her hands in wonder. She spoke quietly, "I did it," then again, shouting, "I DID IT!" she jumped around the shore, and leapt into her friend's arms. Harry, stunned at being hugged for the first time that he could remember, numbly closed his arms around her. She quickly left his loose embrace, too excited to stay still. She started skipping around Harry, chanting, "I did it, I did it, I did it." When she looked back at Harry, he was still wearing a shocked expression. He saw her looking, and tried to school his features, but could react in time. "What?" She felt a little defensive. This was why she was out here, right? Surely he wasn't shocked at her success?
"Nothing!" Harry cleared his throat. "I was caught by surprise. I didn't know what it-I wasn't ready for the hug."
"Oh!" Now she blushed. "It's okay right? I was just excited, it's not weird or anything?" She had liked it, but boys could be weird about hugs from girls. At least, that's what she had heard.
"No no no, it's fine. I just never… I wasn't ready for it, that's all." Harry wished she would just drop it and get excited about the next summoning. "So what else can you imagine? I bet you've got all sorts of things you want to see in person!"
But Hermione wasn't the smartest witch of her age for nothing, and she hadn't reached the point in her life when she would know when it would be better to not have a question answered right away. "Harry, you began to say something. Was that…was that your first hug?" please say no, please say no…
Harry scoffed, in that quick, forceful way that tells everyone that not only are the next words out of the person's mouth going to be lies, but something that the speaker desperately wishes were true. "What? No! Of course I've been hugged. Loads of times. All the time." Harry knew he couldn't fool her, and he hated that he had to try, but was desperately hoping she wouldn't press further. He opened his arms.
Hermione nodded and was silent, but didn't hesitate to go back into his arms and hug him tightly. Harry could hear her sniffing, but no tears fell, for which he was grateful. She hugged him tightly for a minute, and Harry allowed himself to get lost in the gesture. When the time came when Harry thought she might want to get back to training, he loosened his arms around her. She however held him tighter, and refused to let go. She let out a slight gasp, and Harry felt her hand moving slowly up his back. Harry realized that the t-shirt he was wearing was quite thin, and it was possible she felt the raised flesh on his back. He cleared his throat, and tried to step away again. This time she let him, and she surreptitiously wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. They were quite red.
She drew herself up, and spoke with a shaky tone of voice that grew strength as she talked. "Okay, so what's next?" Harry was grateful to her for being able to refocus so quickly, and not bringing up what she most likely was guessing about him.
"Um, we should focus on spells that do damage. Blue doesn't have that much in the way of direct damage, but it has some. Try and bring about a wind to push the water around. Make a small storm or something."
Instantly Harry knew he made a mistake. The wind went from near dead to instant heavy storm, and icy rain was falling all around them. Harry felt a presence in his mind looking for something, and he thought of Uncle Vernon for some reason. Within a blink he saw him, as he had pictured him, standing in the water in the middle of the squall. A shark appeared in the water, and attacked Uncle Vernon. Another shark tried to take a chunk out of the man, and they began to rip him apart. He screamed, but the sound was strangely muted and tinny. Harry was forced to think of the rest of the Dursleys, and in the real world he saw Petunia skewered on a spike made of ice, and saw Dudley running from an aggressive walrus. Hail continued to pelt the pair of students, and the wind swirled around them. Vernon appeared again, whole and seemingly none the worse for the wear. The next moment he was attacked by some sort of monster. It seemed to be all mouth and teeth and eyes and it easily swallowed and started chewing the rotund man. The cries again seemed to come from far away, but there was no mistaking the agony on the man's face. Petunia was ripped apart by wild dogs. Dudley was beaten to death by large, indistinct figures. Vernon was whipped raw. Petunia was stabbed. Over and over visions of Harry's relatives dying horrible deaths.
The visions weren't all of violence. Harry saw the Dursleys accepting him as one of their own. He saw another family, what looked to be Hermione's parents, hugging the two of them and smiling. He saw Hermione getting the Head Girl badge, and Harry saw himself smiling at her. It was a different smile than the one he normally wore when looking at her, but Harry was hard pressed to tell the difference. He looked to where Hermione was standing, and saw that she wasn't watching any of them. Instead, she had her eyes close, and as Harry watched, she became slightly see through. The whole of the world was changing from what harry knew to be true. He saw a combination of the library at Hogwarts, what must have been Hermione's bedroom, a beach in the tropics somewhere and other places he did not recognize. They were all flashing by with barely enough time to make sense of them. And they were getting more solid while the lakeside was getting less real-looking.
Harry found himself in a movie theater with Hermione at his side, she was laughing at something he said, not paying any attention to the movie. She looked older, sixteen or so. Another change in scenery had Harry sitting at a round table with Hermione and her parents. Harry went to try some of the food on his plate before he realized none of it was real.
It hit Harry then. He had to stop Hermione before one of them got lost in her illusions. Hermione was already barely visible and fading fast. Harry had to move fast before he lost track of himself and her. He tackled her, but she was already insubstantial. He moved through her, and found himself in a room much like the Dursley's sitting room. There were differences, though. Here it was clear it was a room that was meant to be used, not displayed. The furniture was more worn, and there were knickknacks on the counters and on the mantle. Images of a young girl Harry thought was Hermione were in nearly every picture. Each picture showed a different event: In what looked to be a spelling bee, the girl was taking first place. In another, Harry could see her on a farm riding a horse. There was another where the child was petting a cow and looked very uncomfortable. Then Harry saw a picture with her and her parents.
It was Harry and Hermione. They were the girl's parents.
It was then that Harry looked down. He was standing much taller than he usually did, and the feet he saw were not encased in Dudley's old trainers. The shoes were dress shoes, and Harry saw that he was wearing nice slacks and an emerald green jumper. They were much nicer than anything Harry had ever owned, and he was confused.
Why would Hermione make a fantasy world where the two of them were married? She never said anything about anything like this before. Harry shook his head. It was irrelevant. He had to get himself and Hermione out of here before…before…Harry guessed staying here, no matter how nice, would be a bad thing. He had no idea what would happen, but it couldn't be anything good.
Harry called throughout the house, "Hermione? Where are you, Hermione? We have to go!" He didn't want to say where they were going, as he didn't want to spook her, and he didn't know the imaginary child's name so he couldn't call for her. Luckily, he heard a voice say, "In the kitchen dear!" Now all he had to do was figure out where the kitchen was. He passed by a window that overlooked a front lawn with a garden. He saw an azalea bush that needed replacing and some weeds in the flower bed that needed to be gotten rid of. He was about to try and make a mental note to take care of it when he had more time when he shook himself and forced the thoughts from his mind. "Damn those Durselys, they have me gardening even in times of danger."
He moved through the house towards the back. He could hear humming and could smell some sort of tomato dish cooking. His experienced mind automatically identified the smells of basil, garlic and sautéed onions mixed in with the strong scent of fresh tomato, and he wondered if whomever was cooking could be convinced to add some mushrooms to the sauce. He rounded the corner, but stopped and leaned against the doorway. There he could see a slender but beautiful woman leaning over the counter. Between her and the counter there was the girl in the photographs, happily making homemade pasta into spaghetti. There was a pile of ones already done and set to dry, and it looked like they were working on the last batch. The child's face and arms were covered in flour, and the woman had spots of flour on her blouse. They both were smiling widely, and they looked utterly content. Harry was reluctant to interrupt them, until he remembered why he was here at all. He cleared his throat, and they both turned to look at him.
"Hermione," he started, but he was interrupted by a speeding bullet that ran over and attached itself to his legs. Harry was briefly annoyed that she got flour all over his trousers, but the smile on her face made it hard to stay mad.
"Daddy," the girl yelled, "Look what we made! Do you see? We made pasta and pisketti!"
The woman smiled, and corrected her, "Spaghetti, dear, remember? I swear love, we've been trying all day, but she seems determined to do things her own way."
Before he could stop himself, he asked, "Remind you of someone?" The older version of Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled as she did. Harry found himself smiling back despite his best efforts.
Harry was doing his best not to get caught up in the illusion, but it felt so real. Harry had always wanted a family that loved him, and if he couldn't get it as a child, why not have it as an adult?
He shook his head again. It didn't matter, none of this was real!
He tried to speak again, but this time Hermione cut him off. "I know what you're going to say, and the answer is no. You spent too many hours cooking at the Dursley's house, and I refuse to allow you to cook again while I can help it. So sit down and be quiet, and in about fifteen minutes we'll be able to enjoy this meal your daughter and I have been working most of the day to make!"
Harry couldn't help himself. "Your sauce is boiling over." Hermione, panicked, dashed back over to the stove and stirred the sauce frantically, hoping it would not burn. An acrid smell told her she was a little late, but the meal was still very salvageable.
He stood up from the table at which he was forced to sit by a very determined young woman. He gently pushed her aside, and went to stand behind Hermione. She sensed his presence, and sighed and leaned back against him. Harry took a deep breath himself. This part was going to be difficult, and required some finesse.
"Hermione, love, do you remember our first Halloween at school together, in first year?" First he had to see how much of the real world she remembered. Although Harry had no idea what a wizarding house looked like, he could see electric appliances. From what Ron had told him about his home life, wizards didn't use electricity. He couldn't see his or Hermione's wand anywhere, and no wizarding photos anywhere. She might think that we are Muggles, Harry thought.
"Sure I do, Harry. Best day of my life, you saving me from that troll. I got to meet the real you, the Harry who was willing to jump on the back of a troll to save a bossy girl you weren't even friends with. I say, Harry you do know how to make an impression on a girl." Hermione said all this without looking up from her work at the pot. She gave it a final stir, then kissed Harry's cheek. Okay, now another test.
"Right yes. But what did we do the next year? I can't recall." Harry kind of wanted to know. How do you top that?
Now Harry could see Hermione frown. "I don't remember. But it was before you and I got together. That was in the middle of our third year." She smiled hugely. "It was so romantic. You asked me to Hogsmeade in the middle of the Great Hall. It was so sweet, you even brought me flowers."
Okay, Harry thought, she's made false memories. Time for the all-important question. "Do you remember that time down on the lake, where you hugged me, and then asked if that was my first hug?"
"Yes I do. Honestly Harry, getting you away from those Dursleys was the best thing that ever happened to you. Honestly, the things I would do to that Vernon if he was still alive, I'd be put in jail for half of them. The brutality of that man! I'm so sorry you were put through that, and I'm so happy I could be there for you." She put a hand to Harry's face and looked into his eyes. Harry was having a hard time looking away. "Why do you want to know all these things so badly?" Harry knew taking this fantasy world away would hurt her, but he had to keep going.
"But what happened after that? What did we do right after?"
"Well we went back to the castle, I went to the Owlry and sent an owl to my parents who started legal action against the Dursleys. Then we had to wait a bit for the paperwork to go throught but we got a temporary injunction keeping them away from before we could have an investigator go through and verify your stories. Honestly Harry, a cupboard? I almost didn't believe it, but I knew you would never lie about such a thing. You'd never lie to me." She gave him a smile as she snaked her arms up around Harry's neck and gave him a kiss on the other cheek. Harry was happy she gave him such an opening. Now to break her heart.
He took a deep breath and made the plunge. "Okay, Hermione. You know I would never lie to you?" She nodded, her face becoming more concerned. "Well, what if I told you that we were still at the lake? What would you do if I told you nothing of what you see is real? You and I are still twelve and eleven, and we never left the lake. All of this is an illusion you made up."
Hermione looked shaken, then angry. "Don't say that. Don't disrespect my affection for you by lying to me. Especially in front of our daughter!" She pointed at the young girl sitting placidly at the table.
Harry had only one thing to say to that. "What's her name?"
Harry looked his friend dead in the eye. Hermione's mouth open briefly, then shut. She opened her mouth again, and tried to say a name she did not know. Harry could feel rain on the back of his head. But he had to keep focused on Hermione. She had to believe him and end this illusion otherwise they might never be able to leave.
Hermione looked more and more distressed as the conversation went on. She looked at the girl, still sitting at the table unconcerned, and Hermione whispered, "I don't know. Why don't I know my daughter's name? Why can't I think of it?"
Harry answered, as gently as he could, "Because she's not real. That doesn't mean you'll never have a daughter, just that you don't have one today. Because our eyes are the only real things here. You were in the middle of summoning up a bunch of illusions, and we got caught up in them. Please, Hermione, you are the one with the power here. Bring us back." But Hermione wasn't listening anymore. She was shaking her head, chant no over and over.
"No. I don't believe you! This is real! Our life together is real, I know it! Don't tell me I don't know what's happening!"
Harry sighed again. There was only one option now. "Then I'm sorry Hermione. You leave me no choice." Harry summoned the ambient blue magic into him, and launched his mind at Hermione's. He hated to do this, and had sworn he would never invade his friends' minds, as it was a huge invasion of privacy. That was a breach in trust he might never get over if it happened to him, and he didn't want to be on the other side of the argument unless he had a choice. He delved into his friend's mind and sought out her access to mana. He could see there was a huge draw on it, and saw Hermione was going to burn herself out if she didn't stop these illusions soon. Harry thought for a moment, and cut Hermione's access to the memories of the land. It wouldn't be permanent, just long enough to…
The kitchen flickered once, twice, then a third, and then completely disappeared. In its place was the lakeside, which had understandably looked like a hurricane had gone through it. Trees and branches were strewn about, and the giant squid was waving its tentacles in pain. Harry could see many scratches and cuts on the creature, and he figured they must have come from debris.
Harry turned to where he figured his friend was, and found her sitting on a boulder faced away from the lake. She had her head in her hands, but she didn't appear to be crying. Harry walked over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She stiffened, but didn't move her head from her hands. She spoke, "I really messed up, didn't I." She said it like it wasn't a question, just a statement of fact.
"Did I ever tell you about Ron's first summoning?" Harry asked airily. "Ron decided that he was going to pump so much mana into it that he summoned a bunch of fire elementals and a fire bird thing called a Crimson Hellkite. Set the forest on fire and nearly blew up the mountain. I had to kill the Hellkite before it could escape and attack the school. It was a pretty scary half hour. I nearly died," he finished unconcernedly.
Hermione huffed out a laugh. Her head peeked out from her hands, and Harry could see she was indeed crying. "Yeah, but at least you didn't go into your best friend's mind without his permission to get a look at the person that made his life so horrible that he didn't know what it felt like to be hugged, among other things." She looked away again, into the Forest. "At least you didn't all but declare your love for him," she finished quietly.
Harry wasn't sure what to say here, so he winged it. "I don't know, the house was kind of a nice touch. Your garden needed work though. There were weeds everywhere. Didn't look good at all." She laughed at that, and Harry felt that was a positive step. He continued. "The kid was kind of cute. But what kind of little girl doesn't like cows? I thought all children loved animals."
Hermione snickered. "I was bitten by a horse when I went to a farm as a toddler. After that I never liked farm animals. I guess the illusion made my feelings about those things show up in our daughter-. " She stopped there, mortified at the thought of talking about that part of the fantasy. Harry, showing unusual restraint and foresight, did not pursue it. Instead, he mere reached down and grabbed one of her hands and squeezed, saying nothing. Hermione squeezed back, and the two of them looked into the forest for a while.
After about five minutes of silence, Harry felt he had to say something to ease her mind. "Hermione, that world…" She looked up, frightened. "It was a bit much, but it wasn't necessarily bad, you know? Like, it's too much for now, but later, who knows? Just…don't think too hard on it, okay?" She nodded furiously. She was glad he didn't bring up the invasion of his mind. "And about the going into my mind thing…" Drat, "It's okay. Sometimes our emotions get the better of us when it comes to magic. If anyone's going to be going through my head, I'd rather it be you. You'd probably take the best care of it. Can you imagine what Snape would be like if he could read minds?" Harry gave a little laugh, and after a moment, Hermione giggled as well.
Harry looked around. "Well, that could have gone better, but it wasn't a bad way to get over your mental block. We should head back. It's getting late." Hermione nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She moved over to the broom, not happy about her transport, but she was eager to leave.
Harry had to tease her one last time before they left. "Are you sure you don't want to try flying without the broom?" The glare she sent him could have frozen a fire elemental. But Harry just chuckled, and he flew them back without further incident.