As they walked past the map, Harry wished he could have looked at it on his own without everyone watching him because he was getting a little confused about the layout now that they were heading down another corridor.
Harry's mortification was ebbing as he listened to Hermione chattering on about how excited she was to check out the library. She was rushing a little and guiding him around people to get closer to the library and occasionally rising up on her toes to get a better look. Again, it sounded like big doors were being opened.
"Oh, Harry, it's an amazing library. So much bigger than Hogwarts!"
Her glee was barely contained. He could smell the books - they had a familiar dusty, musty aroma that reminded him of Hermione - in the best possible way. She was trembling under his hand as they passed through the doors into the room that felt big, but not echoey like the other rooms. The light was bright in here and Harry shut his eyes against it.
Healer Jordan was explaining the history of the library and how it came to be a part of the center. Hermione was twitching now and he knew that she was fighting with her nature to listen attentively to Healer Jordan and her desire to run to the stacks and start reading. He couldn't pay attention to Healer Jordan with Hermione nearly bouncing next to him.
When Healer Jordan said they could have a few minutes to explore the room, Hermione hastily took Harry's hand and placed it on her dad's arm and took off.
"Hi, Dr. Granger," Harry said awkwardly.
"Is there something you'd like to look at, Harry?"
"I dunno," Harry mumbled. "Is there something interesting nearby?"
"Well, over here there's a globe of the world and it is pretty large and all the continents are in relief. You might find it interesting," Dr. Granger said as his torso twisted away from Harry. He started walking toward it and Harry followed. Dr. Granger lifted Harry's hand off his arm and placed it on the globe. Harry's staff struck the base of the globe's stand at the same time and it announced: "The James Holman Globe of the World."
Harry was intrigued by the texture on the sphere and started following the texture with his fingertips. The aftí in Harry's ear started talking, "Dubai is a city in the United Arab Emirates known for… " as he moved his fingers, it continued to give him facts about the cities and countries that he found.
"That's pretty cool," Harry admitted.
He worked his way through the middle east toward India. He noticed that in addition to the audio provided by his aftí there were also braille notations and the rivers were etched in a different texture than the lines dividing countries. Mountain ranges were easy to discern by their distinctive texture.
One of the little kids from the family was also exploring the texture of the globe with a running dialog of what they were finding in a chirpy little voice, "here's the ocean where the whales sing, and here's a big mountain where the bears sleep in caves."
Harry was reminded of little Oliver Franklin Evans from the park in Little Whinging. The child wanted to spin the globe and it would lurch, but Harry would steady it with his hands and the child would stop the attempt. Harry wondered if Dr. Granger who was standing quietly next to him was giving quelling looks to the child.
Harry was in China following the Yangtze river to Wuhan when Hermione joined them again, breathless from her explorations.
Healer Jordan had indicated that they were going to continue the tour and Harry could hear the group moving toward the door.
"What did you find, Hermione?" Harry asked curiously as he grasped her arm.
"Oh, well, they have an extensive section in braille and a balance of muggle and wixen publications. Do you think they'll let me come here and study? There is so much I'd like to explore," she went on.
"It won't hurt to ask," Harry encouraged, a warmth spread through his chest at the thought of frequent visits from Hermione, even if it meant many trips to the library. It'll be way better than Privet Drive on any day.
"Yeah, I'll ask Healer Jordan before we leave," Hermione said enthusiastically, squeezing Harry's arm gently.
"I wonder when we'll get to the owlery," Harry wondered.
A voice behind them interjected, "That'll be at the end of the tour, Mr. Potter."
Harry recognized Godric Burbage's voice, and he realized that he was also the person who'd been keeping up the rear of the tour and the same person who'd been using the staff to navigate.
"You're blind, too?" Harry blurted out without thinking, and then added, "Mr. Burbage?"
"Yes," replied Mr. Burbage chuckling.
"Sorry. I just didn't know," he said hoping he didn't sound rude.
"It's okay. I'm a graduate of the Center and now I work here," explained Mr. Burbage. "After we tour the dorms and you meet your roommates, we can go down to the owlery and see if your owl has arrived."
"Thanks, that would be great," Harry said with relief.
They followed the group through the library entrance and back into the corridor, where Harry wondered how close they were to the kitchens because the aroma of cooking food seemed to fill the hallway, making him even more hungry.
"Oh, it smells like Shepherd's pie," Harry noted. "Mmmm."
"That does smell good," agreed Hermione.
"It smells like raw sewage if you ask me," muttered snorting girl, the wheels of her wheelchair clanged against Harry's staff as she passed them and he edged closer to Hermione, wondering if she was going to run over his toes.
Harry held back a snort of his own and then started to cough.
Hermione murmured, "Oh, please," in a sardonic tone. "Nobody asked you."
"What?" the girl challenged.
"Nothing," answered Hermione shortly.
"I thought so!" said the girl as she moved on.
The group had stopped again and Healer Jordan was addressing them.
"Before we go to the dormitories, we're going to stop by the Orientation and Mobility room, often called O&M," Healer Jordan was explaining. "Like the classroom spaces, the room can change to accommodate the lessons for the day, so make sure to check the layout of the room that will be posted outside before entering so that you don't walk into a swimming pool when you're expecting a running track," Healer Jordan laughed nervously at this, but Hermione stiffened.
"That doesn't sound safe," she said sounding more like Molly Weasley than a twelve-year-old girl.
"When has the wixen world ever been safe," Harry reasoned.
"Well, I guess that's true," Hermione said softly and turned her head. Harry suspected that she was glancing at her dad to see if he had overheard.
"Right now the O&M room is set up for swimming," Healer Jordan explained and then led the group through the doors.
Even before he entered the room, he could feel the humidity and heat from the room and hear waves breaking on a beach.
"Is it an ocean, Hermione?" he asked, closing his eyes against the painful light.
"Oh, yes… oh wow," she said and seemed spellbound.
As he stepped into the room, he sank into sand and could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin. Overhead, seagulls were calling and he could hear wind rustling through leaves that were high up in the sky.
"Are they palm trees? Are we in the tropics?" Harry asked in wonder. Ahead, he could hear the little kids shouting in glee as they ran toward the waves and their parents calling after them to come back. A flock of birds erupted into flight.
"Well, this is a load of crap!" exclaimed the snorting girl at the entrance to the room.
"Here, Ms. Lee," said Godric Burbage, "there is a panel to the right of the door, and if you press the button labeled 'ramp' it will pull up a walkway for your wheelchair. Just be mindful of the people ahead of you… "
Suddenly the sand under Harry's feet was moving and Hermione fell against him, they both pitched into the sand and prickly grasses. People were yelling, the seagulls were in an uproar and Godric Burbage seemed to have lost his cool and was laying into Ms. Lee who was shouting back at the top of her lungs, "How was I supposed to know it was going to do that? Why didn't you tell me?"
Harry had a mouth full of sand, he had lost track of his staff (which had shouted a warning, but there wasn't anything Harry could do except fall) and he was pretty sure he had smashed the sandwiches in his book bag. He sat up.
"Hermione, are you okay?" he asked feeling the sand around him, trying to locate her.
"I'm right here, Harry," she reached out and touched him.
"Are you okay, Harry? Hermione?" Dr. Granger was asking from near the doorway.
He must have been behind the upending Ms. Lee as they were walking into the room because it took him a moment to reach them.
Someone had grabbed Harry by his armpits and was hauling him up.
"Hey!" Harry exclaimed in surprise.
"Oh, sorry. I thought you needed some help up," an apologetic voice said near his ear, releasing him.
"I was just surprised," Harry explained, "a warning that you're going to touch me is nice, otherwise it is a big surprise to me."
"Right. Do you need help up?"
"Um, sure. Thanks," Harry stuck his hand out and the person grabbed it and Harry got to his feet.
Harry heard Hermione standing up, too, and brushing the sand off her clothes.
"I'm Harry by the way," Harry said introducing himself to the person who'd help him.
"I'm Bing Lee. Mei's brother. Sorry about that," he said softly. "She's having a really hard time."
"Yeah, it was an accident," Harry said, turning to Hermione he asked her again, "are you okay, Hermione?"
"Yes, just surprised," she replied.
Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and smelled Dr. Granger's familiar scent.
"You kids okay?" he asked.
"Yes, though I dropped my staff," Harry said. Harry heard someone walking through the sand nearby.
"Here it is," and Bing pressed it into Harry's outstretched hand.
"Thanks," Harry said as he swung it to the side to see what it was that dumped them into the sand. It sounded like a low wooden bridge - a boardwalk, that was now elevated a little over the sand.
The argument between Mr. Burbage and Mei had ended and other people were coming over to see if they were okay.
Healer Jordan seemed to be mediating between Godric and Mei. Mei's mother seemed to also be joining in. Then Harry heard Mei's wheelchair as it came down the boardwalk, sand grinding under the tires.
"Sorry," she said grudgingly as she went by. Her mother clunked along after trying to get her attention. "Mei, Mei!"
Harry shrugged.
"Like I said," Bing said apologetically over his shoulder as he stepped back onto the boardwalk, "she's having a hard time."
As his footsteps retreated, others came nearer.
"I'm so sorry about that, Harry!" Healer Jordan asserted.
"We're okay," Harry assured.
"Well, thank goodness for that. I should have brought up the boardwalk to begin with. Do you want to come down by the water?"
"Sure, let's go. I've never been to the beach before," Harry confided.
He didn't count the trip to the shack at sea when the Dursleys were being pursued by his Hogwarts letters. There really hadn't been a beach there. Just rocks.