Everyone was back in the library, spelled for privacy again. They had chosen a table hidden by some shelves this time... apparently some of the other Claw's had been curious about a bunch of children staring quietly for a few hours.
Harry ran a hand through his hair. "So... I am not really sure how I first made my mind scape. It happened when I filled my brain with magic and tried to repair damage when I was a kid." Susan noticed his hand was shaking slightly. "I am not sure how much magic I used, or the effects really. What I DO know is that much of my body has been altered or healed by my magic at one point or another."
He looked smaller than Susan was used to. Harry normally felt like a huge old tree, something that had always been there and knew why it existed... but right now he seemed unsure, far too young. She gave him a supporting smile which he was able to somewhat return.
Hermione gave him a quick hug. "Let's move onward Harry. If we can't reach our mind scape the way you did, can you help us?"
Harry hesitated... could he? 'Wisdom, what do you think?'
'Well, Jim and I talked about it for a few hours since this conversation started. If you pull one of their ropes into their mind and go with them, you can probably help them get started.'
Well, that wasn't perfect but it would be better than letting anyone just wander into his friend's minds. Harry gave a subtle nod. "Well, it will have to be done one person at a time, and it will probably be much different than mine." He leaned into the table, resting his chin on his hands. "Who wants to go first?"
Hermione had barely heard the question before her arm was in the air. "OOH ME! I want an internal library."
Terry was looking at Hermione like she was nuts. He turned to Hannah. "How many libraries does she want exactly? She has our homeroom, this library, even the one in Harry's head."
Hannah shrugged. "She's a claw. What did you expect?"
Hermione had already swapped seats with Padma to sit next to Harry. "Shush you guys, I want my books."
Harry was trying not to grin, but he was honestly looking forward to seeing what Hermione would build. He knew he loved books, but she was almost married to them. He reached a rope into her, gently wrapping his threads around her orange rope and leading both toward her brain.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Oh wow, that felt... interesting. As she looked into Harry's green eyes she felt a warmth just below her neck, as if a fuzzy scarf had been heated and wrapped around her. Keeping her face as calm as possible, she felt the heat rolling up her spine, closer...
As it reached her brain the world took on an orange haze before everything faded away.
She turned rapidly. She was waste deep in a deep orange ocean, one that seemed to have no floor. There was no sky, just orange fog... but she didn't feel scared. This was just how the world was.
To her left she saw a green glow build up. It grew like a crystal, layers after layer expanding and stretching. She drifted closer, watching the gem glow with a heartbeat. A sudden flash caused her to blink... Oh.
"Hey Harry. I guess we are here then?"
"Not sure really. I have a blindfold on." Oh. Yeah, it was a deep green one.
"Why?"
Harry shrugged. "When I first came to my mind I didn't think to make clothing. Took me a few months to even consider it."
He heard an 'EEEP' and gave a small grin. "Yeah, anyway... anything you think of will appear here. Including clothing and tools and stuff." He tried to ignore the sounds of cloth rustling. "So... can I take off my blindfold?"
"Of... Yeah. Of course. Why shouldn't you?"
Harry pretended to not notice her massive blush or slightly ruffled clothing as he took his blindfold off.
He looked around. "Oooh, I like this." He looked into the water before his eyes got really wide and he quickly put his blindfold back on. "OOPS. Um. Ok, we need to have you make a place now."
Hermione floated near him. "Why the blindfold again?"
Harry's cheeks were blushing again. "Well, you haven't sorted or stored your memories... and this ocean is made of them."
Hermione looked down... oh. There was her in a princess dress... there was a neighbor dog... a leaf she had liked when younger...
Oh my. Thank goodness Harry was fast looking away. "So... what should I build?"
He shrugged. "I built what made me happy. Imagine a place that feels important or special to you."
She relaxed, floating in the sea. Special?
Drifting through her mind was her old room, back before they had to move to a bigger house. She didn't have bookshelves yet, just piles of books on her bed, on the floor, everywhere. When she was sad from kids teasing her, she would make stacks of books and just hide in the middle, like a fort. She had even put a blanket on top. She flinched a little remembering the names kids would call her, how mean they could be when she said something too mature or used words they hadn't heard before. The stupid arguments she would have...
When she won those arguments, they didn't want to be her friend. She wasn't good at being wrong, at letting others do better or try something if she felt she could do it better. Even when she expected the kids to be impressed with what she knew, like the adults were... they were just mad that she had out argued them.
The books had been there, when her friends left her.
She felt arms wrap her in a hug. She didn't open her eyes, she didn't even know when she had started crying... she was just grateful Harry had been there, here, when she felt so alone suddenly. At some point she realized he was talking... whispering things.
"...ok, you are ok, everything is safe, you are safe, just relax, nothing is wrong, everything is fine..."
She smiled through her tears and hugged him a bit tighter. Having a friend made the whole world seem brighter.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Harry rubbed her back until she stopped crying. He remembered years before his defeat of the daemon, dark years. Alone in the dark, in that hell, he had wanted someone to do this. To hug him, to tell him it would be fine. That someone cared. Not doing so now when he could feel her sadness was unthinkable.
As he felt her stop, he looked around. "Well, I must say I am still a bit surprised. You REALLY like books."
Hermione wiped her eyes and began looking around.
It was her cave! Towers of books made walls on all sides, with book stalactites and stalagmites of literature creating an odd feeling of wilderness. Well, wilderness made of books.
Harry helped her stand up, and they began to wander, not really saying anything. In the back of the cave was more and more novels, books, stories.
She reached a hand up and touched the spine of one of her favorite books when she was seven. The book seemed to fall into her hand, and a new book showed up behind it with a new topic.
"This... Oh Harry, this is amazing."
Harry grinned. "No, I have a feeling what will be amazing is what is OUTSIDE the cave."
Hermione followed Harry to the entrance... and stood stunned, mouth open.
Outside, a reading light was clearly acting as a sun. Her cave was part of a mountain, and before it was a huge forest... all made from books. Scrolls hung from the book-stack trees in vine form, a lake of loose-leaf paper was actually rippling from what appeared to be origami fish trying to eat paper folded flies.
Harry grinned. "Well, this place is... really neat. But I am not so sure you can get here when sleeping."
At Hermione's glance, he pointed downward. "See how your rope is connecting? Being here is using a good amount of your power. I would say you can spend about an hour or so of real world time here without a break. From what I can feel, time dilation isn't that much ether... two minutes here is about one out there, give or take. That may go up if you visit more often, like it did for me."
She gave him a desperate glance. "So how much time do I have left?"
He shrugged. "Right now I am feeding this place power from my core too. I think that is how you ended up with those paper fish, bugs, and those folded cranes." He pointed at what looked to be a bird in a nearby tree. It however was busy watching the fish.
"Anyway, feel free to start organizing. Don't try and sort all the books out here, just build someplace safe, and you can duplicate ALL the information out here in your new home." He pointed at one of the trees that looked sickly. "You can also contain things like that. If I had to guess, that tree is a collection of some of your bad memories."
She nodded. Even from this distance, she could feel that tree's presence. There were several of those in this forest.
Harry shrugged. "I personally built a room that represented the worst times of my life and placed all the bad stuff there, shrunken and marked with when and where it happened." He also pointed at one of the branches that seemed to be dripping. "You can also create containers and collect the goo from the really bad memories. That goo is emotions, and it lets you handle the memory without feeling anything once you wring the emotions out of the thought."
Hermione looked at her hands. "How come I can't see my threads here?"
Harry shrugged. "You could only seem them in my mind because I gave you guys access to my eyes while in my world. Your body doesn't have that skill... but you still have the ropes, just like always. You can practice control here just like in my head. It is more of a feeling thing here though."
He watched with a grin as she began lifting random books (Although she kept missing the target more than a few times, since she couldn't see her work now).
"So... I am just going to relax here while you build a house or something. Could I borrow a book to read?"
Hermione gestured absently. "I got plenty of them."
He coughed. "Well, some of these are books, but many are memories. I would feel better if you just handed me so I would KNOW I didn't see something you didn't mean me to. Especially since you haven't had a chance to decorate, as it were."
Settling into a chair of books with a copy of "Hogwarts: A history (And comments by Hermione)", her memory of reading her favorite book, Harry relaxed and tried to ignore the sounds of construction going on.
He didn't want to see what she was doing, as he knew the mind was a very personal place. If she needed him she would ask, and that was enough for Harry.
~~~Core Threads~~~
It was a half hour later, and Harry stood with a sigh. "Hermione, I need to get going. We have been here around 15 minutes."
"WHAT? No, I just got started." Hermione looked at the foundation she had created. She was going for a castle she had always dreamed of as a child, but she was NOWHERE near completed.
"Yeah, but I can't just sit here, I have to get the others started as well."
She got a look on her face that made him feel guilty inside... but he couldn't ignore his other friends. He paused... "Hey, how about we compromise? I could leave my connection here until you want to get rid of it, but leave mentally. That should give you power to keep on working until dinner-time, without me having to sit here."
Hermione gave him a HUGE hug. "Can you? Heck, could you just leave a connection to your mind in general so I could stop by if I have questions?"
He shifted. "Well, not permanently, I don't think. But I guess I could convert my body into a doorway, since one end of this rope is already in your mind I can just move the other one to my world." He gave her a surprisingly stern look. "Now, don't abuse this, ok? Leaving an opening into my mind... well, this is a big deal to me. I will be trusting you."
Hermione gave a subdued nod. She hadn't even thought about what she had asked for... and it made her feel good inside that he had accepted anyway. She had too much to do here anyway, since all the building blocks were made of books she had to use law texts and history books as bricks. Something really thick.
Harry saw her dropping back into design mode as she again began duplicating and lifting blocks of books into what seemed to be a giant foundation. He grinned, and began focusing on himself.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Hannah was the first to realize Harry had started moving again. "Well how did it go? Everything was fine, right? Did it hurt?"
He laughed slightly. "Relax Hannah, breathe. It went perfectly, and Hermione is working on her mind right now. There was no pain, but we did learn some stuff." He held up a hand and began counting off. "First of all, if I am not there Hermione can only go into her mind world herself for about an hour. Then her magic reserves empty and she needs a break. Secondly, I can provide power for her to stay as much as she likes, and we just found out that I can leave a connection without sitting around doing nothing."
He grinned at Terry. "As much as I like books, it was getting a bit dull waiting for OTHER people to finish stuff when I was not able to do anything."
Harry flicked another finger. "Thirdly, her world has changed slightly since she first made it. She already has at least three types of wildlife, although none seem to be Jim level intelligence." He dropped the hand and leaned back. "Finally, I can change my presence into a doorway in people's mind and connect it into my world. Jim is monitoring my end now, so if she stops by when I am busy helping you guys he can let me know about it."
Padma seemed really interested at this point. "So... can I go next? I really want to see my world."
Harry sighed as the remainder of his friends began arguing about order. Now that they knew it was safe, going second was a huge priority for them. Still, it was hard to not be a bit excited himself... it felt like he was closer to Hermione than before, and he looked forward to connecting with the rest of his friends.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Two boys looked over a huge stone floor, filled with sticks and hoops.
"So Terry..."
"Yes Harry?"
"I notice you have a lot of Quidditch stuff here."
"Yes I do."
"Is that a Quidditch pitch?"
"Which one?"
"You know what, I am just going to head back. You good?"
Terry reached out, a golden broom appearing. "Oh yeah."
~~~Core Threads~~~
Harry and Padma were interrupted by an annoyed 'Quack'.
He paused, ducks falling out of his lap. "Uh... yes Jim?"
'Quack.'
He looked at Padma, who had wide eyes. "I have to go. Apparently I was in here for a while."
Padma sighed. "Well, too bad. I guess I have to build some safe place anyway. Want to help me clear a path through the kittens?"
Harry shook his head. "It took us thirty minutes to get through the puppy puddle, kitty canyon would take too long I am sure." He pushed various baby animals out of his lap. "I got to get going I guess." He looked longingly at the ocean of animals. "But I can come back some time, right?"
~~~Core Threads~~~
Harry decided to never talk about the inside of Hannah's mind. She was VERY grateful that he had fixed her core, if the statues meant anything.
It wouldn't have been so bad if she would just lay off the teasing when he blushed. Still, some part of him appreciated her attention. It felt good for someone to like being around him.
Still he found the city she created interesting. It was apparently based on her home town, but she couldn't quite remember it all... and it made it REALLY confusing. This ally came out of a window into a house that was actually a street...
Honestly it felt like her world was twisted into itself, as if all the exits were actually walls. Somehow he felt that it was much deeper though, like there were layers he just couldn't see.
It didn't help watching Hannah walk on the walls while he relaxed on a ceiling.
She kept pacing. "You can tell me, Harry. Do you think I am too weird? I mean, this is a bit much, right?"
Harry shrugged. "I find this interesting. I may copy the concept in my world somewhere, in fact." Seeing her disbelief he grinned. "Hey, don't forget who has a Snail HQ filled with vampire ducks."
He faded out of her world listening to her giggles.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Susan was sitting in what looked to Harry like a giant court room. She noticed him looking. "Ah, this place is part of the Ministry. My Aunt brought me here a few times, and I want to do that stuff one day. You know, bring people to justice and stuff."
Harry relaxed in a seat, which oddly enough had the Potter Crest on it. "Well, you know I could be a cop or something... but I really want to help people. Maybe be a medic or something. Or whatever magical people call it."
Susan grinned. She seemed much more confident surrounded by this world. She quickly smashed a gavel on the table. "SO MOTE IT BE! Sir Harry of the Potters shall be a medic, thus says the court."
He grinned and stood, pointing at the judge. "OBJECTION!"
She stood and pointed back. "DENIED!"
He tried to point harder and stood on the edge of the next chair. "BACON!"
Her next phrase fell apart. "Wh... What?"
Both hands raised, he turned to the empty room like a boxing champion. "With a win by default, Bacon has defeated the challenger!"
Susan tossed her gavel. "NOT FAIR!" She pointed to an empty witness bench. "The witnesses will disregard bacon as it was out of order!"
Harry crossed both arms, smug. "Bacon is never out of order."
Apparently Susan could make snowballs in her world. And was a dang fine shot.
~~~Core Threads~~~
Diving through a door marked with a purple S logo, Harry wiped snow off the back of his neck, even though his smile seemed a few miles wide. He had never had a snowball fight in a courtroom before, but he would need reinforcements next time.
He turned as he noticed Wisdom coming up from the lower floors. "So how goes their mental defense?"
Harry stared for a moment. "Oh, right. I may have been side tracked at some point."
His hand waved, and a green sheet of threads appearing above each door with a new one showing in front of him. "Attention everyone: Wisdom kind of reminded me that we are suppose to be building protections and stuff, so people can't break into our minds. In case I forgot to mention it, each of your world has memories in them that you should either protect, hide, or whatever. You can also duplicate them, so I would suggest having a hidden safe room in case someone tries to alter, add, or mess with them. If you need me, just call for Jim. As long as our doors are active he can pass it onto me."
He heard a few statements close to "No problem Harry's" and one "Holy crap, baby flamingos" which he was pretty sure was Padma. Close enough.
Harry fell into a relaxing chair, accepting a cup of tea from Wisdom. It was a memory, but a dang good one really. "So, what do you suggest for defense? Is the bubble collection enough for now?"
The silence felt a bit much. He looked up at her, seeing her biting her lip.
With a sigh, he put the tea to the side. "Relax Wisdom. Any suggestion you give I will at least think about."
She sat down next to him, watching the doors. Her hands were rubbing each other as if she wasn't sure what to do with them. "Well, I think we need to create another aspect."
Wisdom glanced at the boy, seeing him also watching the doors. Eventually he spoke, not looking at her. "I assume this one would be... darker than yourself and Jim?"
She nodded. "You have been... repressing. The lake of emotions has helped a lot, but all the little things have been held back for too long. Righteous anger over that bastards actions, hatred for your past, all the obvious stuff you would expect... but also the simple things. When Vernon looks at you like you are less than others, when other children shunned you for your intelligence, even stuff like when you were bumped into on the street and they didn't apologize."
She passed Harry a thin booklet. "Here are my reasons why I think you should make an avatar of your aggression."
He smiled, holding the document for a moment before placing it aside. "I trust you, Wisdom. I mean, who else can I believe than myself? And if I think I need an outlet for my... darker side, then so be it." His face took a firmer stance. "Where should he stay? He would not enjoy being here, surrounded by the light."
She shrugged. "He can visit of course, but I thought he could live in the outer realm, the fog where the world bubbles float. That way he could help defend you before anyone has a chance to even look inside one of the crystals."
Harry sighed. "Well, I know that I grow weary of keeping on alert. Since the attack I have been... edgy."
Wisdom nodded. "Jim and I noticed. We thought you may find more inner peace by giving your anger a way to converse."
His eyes dimmed before he turned to her. "Well, we don't need to use Voldemort's darkness for this. I have plenty of my own."
~~~Core Threads~~~
He stood in a large stone circle with a sand floor. Surrounding the circle was the majority of the Duck Avengers, Jim, and Wisdom.
In a large pile were copies of the worst of Harry's memories. Eight years of abuse, of pain. On top like some sort of sick topping, were all the slights, the newest stuff, even the nasty words of Draco Malfoy.
Harry was dressed in all black as he raised his arms. With a deep shudder, he began to wrap all the memories with thick ropes of green light.
PAIN.
THOUSANDS, no more... every memory. Bones were breaking, skin was tearing, his blood was boiling.
He began to release more. His determination to not let this rule him. His fear of what he could become. His pride of how he had improved his situation.
And his Rage. The feeling of pure red anger, especially the night he found out who had taken his first loved ones away, away before he even had a chance to love them.
Tears of blood joined his hands as black mist began covering the pile.
Revenge, even some dark desires for power. Harry let them all out, pushed them and accepted it... this was HIS dark side, the parts that he had never wanted to accept, never wanted to admit lived in his heart.
He felt Wisdom press her hand on his right shoulder. He took comfort even as he cried harder, pushing loneliness into his pain, along with a small amount of his desire for love.
As he came to, he saw black shoes.
Taller than Harry, skin taunt as he loomed. The man before Harry seemed to be dying of hunger, each bone pressing to be free. His shirt was a fine black silk, his pants slick and dark as night, and around his neck was a bright green necktie.
But more important than all of this was his eyes. Deep inside his thin face were two empty black expanses. Deep inside the darkness of those eyes were two embers of bright green.
His face was flat. Not a snarl, no fangs showing. Almost unemotional, as long as you didn't look into his eyes.
His hand reached toward the boy. "Now now, young sir. We are not one to lie in the soil."
Harry gripped the hand without pause and raised himself, as the skeleton-like figure began to tidy Harrys clothing.
Wisdom paused before putting on a smile and holding out her hand. "Hello! I am Wisdom, Harry's love of learning. What is your name?"
The man raised himself to his full height before lightly gripping her hand, bending, and kissing her knuckles. "Lovely to meet you miss. You may call me Wrath." He waved his hand, and dark ropes, so dark they almost looked striped with black, provided two elegant chairs and a table.
Harry took a seat while Wrath stood behind it. Harry looked at Wisdom. "Wrath has always been there when I needed him. It is why I wanted to have a different profession really."
Wrath nodded as he reached forward to provide Wisdom with a dark liquid in a crystal tea cup. "Indeed. Master Harry and I have been together for years, and although we may have a less... active relationship in the future I have no doubt I will be of service in the future."
Wisdom tasted the liquid... it was a strange thing, not a memory of tea she knew. At her raised eyebrow Wrath gave a small smirk. "I may have made my own blend of the Master's favorite teas. It may not exist in the waking world, but it has always been one of my favorites."
She almost choked on her drink. "Always? How long have you been here?"
His eyes, mere pin pricks of light, seemed to smile. "My name may change, but anger has been here for a very long time. Although I must say it is very nice to have companionship now."
Somehow Wisdom knew he was not just talking about her and Jim. Harry's friendships may have prevented something terrible, by allowing Wrath to find some sort of peace.
Jim walked up to the table and nodded to Wrath, who returned it. The duck began drinking out of a third cup.
Harry looked toward the sky. "Wrath, would you mind guarding the outer realm? The darkness where my worlds fly?"
Wrath straightened his tie somehow and stood straighter. "Of course my Master. It would be an Honor."
Harry finished his tea, placing it on the table. "Will you need a new weapon?"
Wrath's right arm became covered in pitch black ropes that spun like a drill. His face though showed no expression. "No sir, our favorite will be fine."
Harry nodded as the tall man faded away, to assume duties in the dark. Turning to Wisdom, his face seemed somehow to be less tense, like he had finally placed something down that he had been lifting for a long time. "Well Wisdom, what shall we read today? I believe Jim has training to do and our friends are still busy in their own worlds."
She absently passed over a memory about some of the more common household spells as she tried to calm down. Wrath had a presence that sort of insisted everyone notice him, even when he was silent.
Harry patted her hand as he took the book. There was a reason he rarely introduced people to his darker side. Right now though was a good time, and as he reviewed information about dusting charms he found he was beginning to look forward to seeing what his friends would create in their mental worlds.