Chapter 13
Ginny was getting frustrated. It had been almost two months since Harry had begun to learn the most amazing things from the goblins. Two months and she still couldn't move that blasted marble! Now to top it all off, as of this morning, Harry could read better than she could! How was that even possible? Last week he had still been sounding out words and stumbling over anything with more than two syllables, and then BAM, he was reading the financial section in the newspaper her father had left on the table! And understanding it!
She sat with him everyday to practice meditation, but always either fell asleep or ended up just watching Harry has he practiced. It was important that he practice, and he always did anything else she wanted to do the rest of the time. She just wished she was making the progress that he was.
"Good morning, Harry. Are you ready to be tested today?" Griphook greeted him as he portkeyed into his office.
Over the past two months, Griphook had instructed Harry on the creation of his mindscape. Teaching him how to interact with it and what elements needed to be added to an effective mindscape. Today Griphook would be testing Harry on what he had learned and implemented. If the test went well today Griphook would began to teach him goblin magic!
"Yes, Sir!" Harry said excited.
"Alright, I will try to enter your mindscape. I want you to try to block me." Griphook explained.
Harry nodded. Griphook had told him about Occulmency and Legilmency. What he was learning was similar to those wizarding arts. While Occulmency was about obscuring the thought, the goblin concept of the mindscape built defenses to protect the mind. The goblin version of Legilmency was also different. Goblins cast a thread of their consciousness towards the mind they want to see and snuck inside. Harry became aware of a thread of consciousness and sent his own to meet it.
Griphook had begun the test the moment the boy nodded. The boy was a real prodigy; Harry sensed him the moment he touched the boy's mind. He felt around the boys mind looking for a weakness. He found several cracks and nudged at them causing Harry to notice the weakness and shore it up. None of the weaknesses were enough to get through with out acting like a battering ram, but it was better to fix them now in safety rather than wait for potential danger.
When the goblin was satisfied that there was no easy way into the boys mind, he pulled back. "Good, good. We'll need to check often in the beginning to keep those cracks closed, but I am confident that no creature can see your mind now without you at least knowing that they are there. Next we will work on those that will try to force there way in. Remember this young one. Knowledge is the greatest power! Guard your mind fiercely."
Harry was thrilled. He had passed his first test! "Now," continued Griphook, "We begin build defenses. Reach your mind for mine and I will show you the defenses around my mindscape." Harry did as he was told and felt the goblin's mind grab his.
At first he struggled. "Be still, child! We will learn that skill later. For now you must not fight. You need to see to learn." Harry relaxed and allowed his mind to be pulled in to the goblins. It was a disconcerting feeling.
Next thing Harry knew he was standing in a cave next to Griphook. Along the walls were rows of iron goblins armed with every imaginable weapon. "These are my first line of defense." The goblin told him. "If anyone succeeds in forcing their way into my mind, these statues would attack them. Do you know what happens to a being when their consciousness is killed in a mindscape?"
"Do they die for real?" Harry guessed.
"No. The body can live without the mind, but it is a useless existence. If the thread of consciousness is large enough, the body will never wake. If it is small, sometimes the body will wake and not remember everything, perhaps not anything. Remember child; always be careful when you enter a mind. If the mind is prepared you may be in great danger. In time, I will teach you how to bring defenders with you when you enter."
Harry nodded. The warning issued, Griphook continued his tour. The two walked deeper into the tunnel where vaults were on each side. The vaults had labels. Harry looked at the goblin and asked, "These are like the vaults in Gringotts! Are they part of your library?"
"Very astute, my boy." Griphook praised. "Yes, this one is my skills vault."
"Skills, this is the place you put knowledge about abilities, right?" At the goblins nod, Harry continued grinning like a loon. "I put my letters in my Skills room yesterday, and this morning I didn't have to sound out my words! I could read smoothly and understand better."
"Congratulations, Harry. If you spend a few moments each night organizing your rooms you will find this is true in all areas. If you file information you read into special areas within Knowledge it will move forward more readily when you call for it. We will practice this often so that you can learn faster." Griphook replied.
The two continued on. As they went Harry asked many questions and Griphook pointed out things until the goblin was satisfied that the boy understood. Harry found the return trip back to his own body as disconcerting as the first. He decided then that he would rather stay in his own body if possible. Organizing his mind this was extremely valuable and defending it was as well, but there was to many dangers in looking into others minds. "Mr. Griphook sir, what kinds of letters were on your vaults?"
"That was the goblin language, Gobbledygook. When your mindscape is ready, I will teach you." Griphook smiled, the boy was a sponge. Every time he heard of something new he wanted to learn it. "Now I would like to see what you have built in your mindscape. I will reach my consciousness for yours. Grab hold of it. Then sink into your mindscape and I will come with you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Harry felt the goblin and imagined his minds hand touching the goblins. Then he sank into his mindscape, he called it Ginny's Palace or just the Palace for short.
Griphook stood in the middle of a mythical paradise. Looking around him at the place Harry had created, he could tell that it had been crated by a child. Everywhere he looked things defied reality. There were saltwater creatures in a freshwater lake, life size dragons that were made of velveteen, pink and blue unicorns with wings. There was a wall built around the garden. That was good; it could be developed into a primary defense and the various animals could be used as guardians.
"Show me your rooms, Harry." He instructed.
"I hid them, is that ok?" Harry asked.
Griphook nodded, "Of course, remember that my vaults were in a mazelike cave guarded by goblin warriors. The harder your rooms are to find, especially your Memory room, the more time you have to prevent intruders from reaching them."
Harry smiled, pleased that he had done well. "I put the Skills room in the house. I modeled it after the Burrow and used Ginny's room. My Memory room is at the bottom of the lake. I have a castle and mermaids down there. The dolphins let me hold on to them and ride down. It's too far to go with out them, but with their help I can hold my breath. And my Knowledge room is in a castle I build on that cloud up there. The dragons or unicorns fly take up me there. Which one do you want to see first?"
"Tell me Harry, why did you choose to protect your Memory and Knowledge rooms for well but leave your Skills room in the house where it is easier to get to?" Griphook asked.
Harry thought about this for a moment before answering, "Well I didn't want the rooms together because then if someone got in, they could see everything quickly. Like in the lesson you taught me, things in the mind move so much faster, so if someone got in and I did feel it I wanted them to have to look for important stuff, not put it all together. Then I thought that anyone who tried to break into my mind would be after my memories or knowledge instead of my skills, so I made those to harder to find."
"Very well, Skills room first then" Griphook said, "Lead the way."
Griphook was impressed with Harry rooms overall. In each one he made minor suggestions on organization, but what the boy had done was a far better start than most practitioners made. As he was getting ready to teach the boy to release him, Harry spoke again.
"Can I show you something else before you go? I locked it in the shed. I don't know what it is, but I know it's bad. I found it in my memories before I put them in the lake, but it's different. It's real. The tigers helped me lock it up, and they've been guarding it since. It's angry and scary. I want it to not be here anymore."
Griphook was worried. He knew this boy story. He knew what the child had been through. What if Voldemort had done something to the boy before he was destroyed? "Show me." He commanded.
Harry lead the goblin to a normal looking garden shed. The closer he got he realized that while the shed look normal it was anything but. It was more of a bunker, armored on all sides. In front of the only way in or out were two massive tigers. One stood and walked to meet them.
"The prisoner has been screaming again, Harry." The tiger said. Griphook stumbled for a moment, could all the animals in Harry's mind talk?
"Mr. Griphook is going to go see it. Will you take him to the cage? I don't want to be near it." The tiger nodded and turned toward the door. Harry yelled "Mr. Tubbins!" and one of the dragons landed. Harry walked towards it and untied a key from the dragon's leg. The key unlocked the padlock on the door. Then Harry spoke to the door, "Safety."
Once the door opened the tiger spoke again, "Follow me, sir." and walked into the shed.
Griphook was amazed at the prison he had been through and terrified by what was being held there. He had just sent Harry back to the Burrow for the day after assuring the boy that he would do some research. The boy seemed content that his mentor would solve this problem.
Griphook had followed the tiger into the shed and through a series of dark tunnels until he had come to an oubliette of sorts. He was sure the boy did not know that he had locked the monster in his mind into the most feared type of prison in history. Oubliettes had been created as an inescapable prison.
The tunnels ended in a deep pit. Caged at the bottom was a humanoid creature, blackened and knurled, screaming and cursing that he be released. This was not spell residue; this was not a curse. He would have to do some research, but he was terrified that he knew what that thing was already.