Chapter 36 – A Mine of His Own

Harry was sitting on the ground with his back against the side of the ore cart. He was going to have a serious talk with Wrotkill about the prohibition on magic. If he had had either of his wands with him he wouldn't have been sitting around for the last two days with nothing but water to drink. Harry's stomach rumbled again and he thought he hadn't been so hungry since he had first left the Dursley household. The remaining torch on the wall flickered a bit and Harry fervently hoped that the little space he was in wasn't running out of oxygen.

Harry had thought that his shift yesterday – whoops, make that the day before yesterday had gone really well. He had found a galleon sized piece of jade that he just couldn't place with the other magical gems. He had found that some of the magical gems he had found were more attuned to him somehow. Or was it he to them?

Harry had decided to really try finishing earlier. He had dug and loaded the ore cart at a good pace; it was almost full when Harry threw the shovel on top of it and began pushing the cart to the dumping point. Harry finally admitted that there might be some bit of truth in Hermione's opinion about his muscles. It was getting easier to move the cart along the tracks. Harry had talked himself into just thinking that the wheels had loosened up with use but maybe there was another reason.

Shoveling and dumping out the second cart of the day, Harry had returned to the mine face and took a good look at his progress. He had dug almost forty feet farther than his original starting point; and a good three feet today. He had not been surprised when he found out that the bracings, tracks and torches had advanced automatically as he dug away and found more gems. Harry had looked in the gem bucket and saw that it was almost a third full just from today's digging. He would have to ask Wrotkill if he could follow the buckets someday and see how the raw gems were refined and shaped. Maybe that was going to be a lesson when he had all the gems he needed.

Harry took a couple of long sips of the cool water and wondered if he could talk Hermione into the Room of Requirement and the magical hot tub for a bit. It would be nice to take a long hot soak and ease his muscles. Harry smiled as he thought it wouldn't hurt his eyes much to look at Hermione in her bathing suit either.

Harry pulled out the portkey the Wrotkill had given him and prepared to go back to Hogwarts. Before he could trigger it however, it flew out of his hand! Harry watched it fly away down the tracks and finally land in the hands of Dobby! Harry tried summoning it back with an "Accio Portkey" but Dobby blocked the little effort Harry made with his wandless spell.

"Dobby is very sorry Harry Potter. You must not return to Hogwarts. I have heard how you have already lost your Miss Wheazy. You and Miss Hermoney are in danger if you return to school. Harry Potter must stay away."

"Taking my portkey won't stop me from going back and protecting Hermione Dobby. Wrotkill, the goblin wizard, knows that I am here and he will eventually come and fetch me."

"That may be true your wizardness but I have watched him and you. He doesn't check on you very often. If he does not come to see you for a handful of days then you have avoided danger for almost two months back at Hogwarts. I am sorry Harry Potter but this must be done to keep you safe!"

Dobby gestured at the ceiling and the fifty yards of tunnel between Harry and Dobby collapsed with a crash. Harry had started to run at Dobby but found he had to dive into the empty ore car to protect himself from a few flying chunks of corbamite.

"Dobby? Dobby?" Harry called for the little house elf for a while but soon realized Dobby was now out of hearing range because of all the corbamite or Dobby had left the mine totally.

Harry grabbed the shovel to attack the collapsed tunnel but quickly put it down when he did the math. His five by six by 15 foot section of tunnel wasn't even going to be close to holding the debris that the collapsed tunnel held. He had a choice of trying to dig a narrow escape tunnel out through the cave-in or staying where he was and hoping that Wrotkill would come to check on him soon. Seeing as the collapsed section was probably very unstable, Harry settled down to wait.

Waiting grew boring very quickly. After the first hour Harry detached the torches from the wall and had extinguished all but one of them. He wasn't too sure about cave-in procedures but he thought that getting rid of most of the objects that burned up the oxygen he needed to breathe was a very good idea. He ended up burying the discarded torches under piles of dirt.

The nice part of being trapped was that Harry had a lot of time to think about some of his ongoing problems. He mentally scratched out a rough reply letter to Sirius and thought of a few things that he wanted Remus to look into for him. He also thought of a lead in reading the gem properties guide that Wrotkill had given him.

Six hours into his stay at the Corbamite prison, Harry was hoping that Hermione had noticed his absence and had not gotten lost in her reading. Fifteen minutes had passed at Hogwarts what with the time differential and Harry started expecting Wrotkill or maybe Dumbledore. He would have been glad to even see Fawkes with the phoenix's sense of humor. But nothing happened. Harry tried banishing the Corbamite in the collapsed tunnel again but had the same disappointing results.

At eight hours Harry gave up waiting for a bit and tried to get some sleep. He used his gloves to rest his head on and remembered his bed at Hogwarts. He got a couple of horrid hours of sleep disturbed by remembered nights of the cupboard under the stairs at the Dursleys. The air around him when he woke up wasn't stale so Harry thought there must be some fresh air coming through somewhere.

The temperature in his little world had increased a little while Harry was sleeping and he spent a lot of time drinking water when he first woke up. That led to an uncomfortable couple of minutes until Harry thought about digging a shallow latrine pit to do his business in. A banishment spell didn't take care of his piss so Harry quickly buried the latrine pit up again.

Harry tried to keep himself busy as he felt the temperature gradually increase. With little ventilation from the rest of the mine, Harry's own body heat was increasing the temperature around him a little at a time.

He went fishing into one of the buckets after a bit and found a couple of the bigger gems. Starting with just hand, Harry started tossing the gems in the air and catching them. He worked himself up to having four going at once and then switched over to try handling them with two hands. Thanking his seeker reflexes and coordination, Harry taught himself to do a passable job of juggling in just over an hour. Harry dropped the gems in back in the bucket when he got bored with that activity. He sat and drank some more water. Harry was actually getting a little tired of that also; some pumpkin juice or a butterbeer would taste divine to him at this time.

Twenty four hours had passed in the mine and Harry knew that only an hour had passed back at Hogwarts. Harry started worrying about Hermione. What if Malfoy had waylaid her? What if Peeves tripped her and caused her to fall down a stairway? Harry let his imagination run away with him until he realized that he was panicking himself. Harry got up and walked around a bit till he could calm down. He ended up sticking his hands in the water bucket for a while to see if he could absorb the water that way.

Harry had been going through the second round of running the alphabet with songs in his head when something wondrous happened. He felt and heard Hermione's wonderful voice mentally. He didn't wait to wonder how that had happened but passed on his message. He breathed a sigh of relief as Hermione hurried to inform Dumbledore.

Wrotkill appeared a minute or two later. He did not look pleased; but it was hard to tell with a goblin. He stared at Harry for a full minute and then turned and stared at the collapsed tunnel.

"Well Haagjeh, this should not have happened."

"No sir. It was…" Harry paused. It was a pretty strange tale and he wasn't sure what Wrotkill would think of it. But he told him all about Dobby anyway.

"Most unusual. We had not thought about elves of any sort being able to get in here. And you allowed your portkey to be stolen."

"Sir, if I had been allowed my wand, I might have been able to retrieve it and stopped all this mess from happening." Harry didn't want to seem like whining but he at least wanted to express his annoyance about not having his wand handy.

"It is partially my fault for not checking on you more often. This was an unforeseen occurrence. I don't blame you for this Haagjeh; our regular miners will clear this tunnel in the matter of a few of your days. Consider it a small break in your training." Wrotkill fished in his pocket and brought another portkey out to hand to Harry. "You will take better care of this one?"

Harry bowed low to the goblin. "Yes Master Wrotkill. I'm sorry I have been troublesome."

"It is to be expected when one deals with human wizards. Take hold of my hand. Your headmaster is waiting for you."

Harry held on to the wizards arm and they were transported back to an office at Gringotts. He almost staggered at the temperature difference between the bank and what he had gotten use to at the mine. Harry was glad to see Dumbledore with Fawkes on his shoulder, anxiously looking at him.

"Are you all right there Harry?"

"I've been better Headmaster." Dumbledore looked at the small wizard who more resembled a stack of muggle orange sherbet ice cream than a human being at this point. Harry was covered from head to toes in orangeish dust and only the sweat marks on his face and body betrayed a hint of the real color underneath.

Dumbledore gave a bow to Wrotkill. "Thank you Master Wrotkill for your assistance. We had fears that young Harry may have gotten lost somewhere along the way."

Wrotkill smiled in that particularly unpleasant way. "We goblins are not in the habit of losing our apprentices. They may do themselves in along the way but that's their learning hazard."

Dumbledore turned back to Harry. "We'd best get back to school. I'm almost positive Miss Granger is pacing herself into a rut back at the infirmary."

Harry bowed to Wrotkill one more time. "Thank you Master Wrotkill. I'll return to the mine in three days and resume my task."

Wrotkill nodded his head in agreement but then spoke. "You may bring your wand Haagjeh but it is only to be used in self-defense. In the meantime I shall work on making the mines elf proof."

Harry grinned a little but acknowledged the comment wearily. He grabbed Dumbledore's arm and Fawkes flamed them away from the bank.

Xxxx xxx

Harry had no sooner let go of Dumbledore's arm than he was swarmed under by a brown-haired beauty. "I'm ok Hermione, really I am. Just tired."

Harry pushed Hermione away and saw that they were in the Hogwarts' infirmary and Madame Pomfrey was none too happy. "Hermione your robes, they're going to get all dirty."

"I don't care.. I'm just glad…"

"Miss Granger, would you please let me look at Mr. Potter?" Hermione blushed and apologized to the healer. Madame Pomfrey took one look at Harry and scowled. "Are you bleeding or have you broken anything Mr. Potter?"

"No ma'am."

Madame Pomfrey waved her wand and a towel and robe appeared in her hand. "Shower first. Get cleaned up and let the water run for a bit. It doesn't take a trained medical eye to see that you're probably dehydrated. Come back out when you are clean and we'll do a proper checkup."

Harry nodded sheepishly and handed his glasses and watch to Hermione. He kicked off his boots and socks and walked barefoot toward the small bathroom trying to keep the towel and bathrobe from turning orange.

Madame Pomfrey shook her head and headed back to her office. That left Dumbledore and Hermione watching the bathroom door for Harry's reappearance.

"Miss Granger… Hermione?"

"Yes Professor Dumbledore?"

"Thank you for informing me that Harry was overdue from coming back. I am curious, however, how you knew that Harry was trapped by a cave in caused by Dobby? I thought you and Harry had lost your mental connection."

For once Hermione was speechless. She didn't know where to begin with all the factors that were involved in a proper answer to that question. "I…perhaps.. Maybe you ought… I think that a proper answer should be discussed in your office after Harry receives medical clearance and maybe a meal."

Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling as he responded to Hermione's flustered response. "Ah, another good story then. If Harry wasn't in danger so much of the time, I would like to write these down somewhere as a reminder of his very interesting times here at school."

A shiny clean Harry emerged from the showers holding the wet towel around his dirty clothes. He looked a little ragged as he clutched the robe around him but walked steadily toward the pair that was waiting for him.

"That's a lot better" Harry said. In the next instant his stomach rumbled loud enough to have Madame Pomfrey come out her open office door. "Sit anywhere Mr. Potter."

Madame Pomfrey did a basic diagnosis spell on Harry and told him he was fit enough to leave after he took an invigoration potion. Harry gulped down the white liquid and hoped it wouldn't upset his empty stomach.

Hermione called for Patchum and asked him to get a new set of clothes for Harry out of his dresser. By the time Harry had finished his medicine Patchum had returned from Harry's room. Harry took the clothes and went back to the bathroom to change. When he came back out he was informed that Hermione and he would be having lunch with Dumbledore in his office. Harry shrugged his shoulders; he didn't care at that point where he had to eat. He just knew he was going to rival Ron's appetite for a change when he finally sat down to eat.

Dumbledore asked a few questions of Harry on the way to his office but was for the most part silent. They came across Ron and Luna in one of the corridors. Luna came up and gave Harry a small hug and said she was happy that he had returned safely. Ron, of course, was totally bewildered by anything his girlfriend said but just smiled. They parted company and Hermione saw that Luna had a pair of trainers tied and thrown over her shoulder. She made a note to find Professor Flitwick soon and talk to him about the 'hide and seek' game that some members of his house were playing with Luna.

There was a big platter of hot sandwiches and a pitcher of cooled pumpkin juice waiting on for Harry and Hermione when they got to the headmaster's office. In spite of Harry's need, he remembered to pour a glass of juice for Hermione before he got one for himself. He downed his glass in three big gulps and poured himself another one before sitting down and reaching for some food.

As he watched his two students dig into their lunch, Dumbledore thought it was a very interesting time to be a Headmaster. He wasn't sure if it was the random confluence of stars and planets or not but he was very sure that everything revolved around the young wizard that sat before him.

"Harry, you and Miss Granger have raised a number of questions in the last couple of hours and I am quite intrigued as to how you got your mental connection back."

Harry looked at Hermione for a second and then spoke. "I am sorry for withholding something from you Professor Dumbledore but I've recently come into possession of something astounding. And I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with it next."

Hermione stood up and briefly turned her back to the headmaster. She handed Harry something and returned to her seat. Harry took a look at what he had in his hand and then pushed it across the desk to Dumbledore.

The headmaster looked for a very long time at the ring that sat on his desk. He made a casual wave with his hand and the ring emitted a very solid musical note. Dumbledore reverently picked up the ring and stared at it for a second. He stood from his seat and came around the desk. He performed a deep bow before handing the ring back to Harry. "Your ring, Lord Gryffindor!"

Xxxx xxx

Harry did something very "Harry' like in responding to the headmaster. He smiled and blew a raspberry. "Let's not have any of that yet, sir. I'm still Harry and I'm still only 12 years old. I'll be a student here for another five years and I don't want to have all that formality be a part of my life until I really have to."

Dumbledore nodded as he regained his seat. "As you wish Harry. Perhaps we ought to talk a little about disguising or hiding that ring."

"Actually sir, I was hoping for a more of a panel discussion about the properties of this ring. Could I interest you and Professor McGonagall into possibly taking a field trip to a very seldom visited corner of the school tonight?"

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose briefly as he considered the new puzzle and invitation that Harry offered. As he nodded, he wondered why Miss Granger was having a tough time restraining a giggle.

The three made arrangements to meet after supper and then Dumbledore had to rush off to his Potions class. Harry and Hermione followed him out of the office and headed for the Room of Requirement for a much needed talk and maybe a proper nap.

Xxxx xxxx

The Weasley twins were curious. Very curious. They had been watching their sister's ex-best friends since the DADA accident. They were concerned that a similar bout of forgetfulness might find Harry and Hermione. They also knew that Harry had been mysteriously disappearing from the grounds for a couple of weeks; not for very long but for 5 minutes or so every day. And today he had been gone for over an hour and a half. So when Harry and Hermione had put their books away and walked out of the common room after supper, Fred and George thought the only reasonable response was to follow after them.

They watched as Harry and Hermione met Dumbledore and McGonagall by Dumbledore's office and carefully followed the group down to the second story. Things were getting interesting again. Even more than Harry's first year. Harry had recently even voluntarily gone and seen Snape; it was totally unheard of for a student to go to Snape's quarters without a serious detention being involved.

There was a small grinding sound from the corridor ahead but when the twins turned the corner the students and Professors had disappeared. The only open door to be seen was the one to the girls' bathroom. Fred knocked on the door and cautiously went in after calling out a warning. He was looking around and checking the stalls when George followed him into the room.

"You do realize that if Filch finds us in here that we'll be in detention for a bit?"

"Never happen. The old squib is even less likely to come in here before curfew than Dumbledore is. I don't know why we're looking for Harry here."

"Harry?" The twins were looking around for the source of the voice when a head poked out of George's chest. "Is Harry here then?"

George's eyes had almost exploded off his face as he looked down to see the top and back of the girl ghost's head and shoulders. He also looked a little green. Fred wasn't sure what to say either but put a smile on his face. "Hello, I'm Fred Weasley and the person you're sharing space with is my brother George. Have you seen Harry Potter this evening Miss… sorry I've missed your name."

"My name is Myrtle. Ginny didn't tell you about me? She told me all about her brothers."

George was still trying to step carefully away from being in the same location as Myrtle. "No she hasn't but she had an accident lately and has forgotten a lot of her friends."

"That explains why she hasn't brought Harry back to see me. Nobody wants to see or remember me. Poor, sad Moaning Myrtle." The ghost began crying and the sobs began echoing around the bathroom.

Fred went to a put a comforting hand on Myrtle shoulder but it went right through the ghost. "I'm sorry that Ginny hasn't come to see you Myrtle. We'll tell her we saw you and that she should come and visit."

Myrtle reached up and rubbed her eyes to dry her ghostly tears. "I get so lonely here. It was nice having the girls run through when they were writing in that diary. I miss seeing them all."

Fred and George were edging their way slowly toward the door and freedom. "It's been real nice meeting you Myrtle. We'll come back again but we must be running now…homework, yes, we have homework to do."

Myrtle watched Ginny's brothers pick up the pace of their exit and quickly disappear. She wondered if it would be any fun following them back through the halls and talking to them. They were a good looking pair of blokes. Myrtle giggled as she went to float on one of the washbasins. Maybe Harry would show up tonight.

Xxxx xxxx

Dumbledore was shocked as Harry bent the ear of the wyvern and a passageway opened in the wall. The headmaster had walked these halls for many a year and thought he knew all the secret passages there were. He nodded and let Hermione and his wife enter the corridor before him.

Old style torches flared into life as Harry closed the wall behind them and led the way down a flight of steps. They came to another blank wall and Harry reached for another switch. He pulled it and the wall swung open to reveal another room beyond.

Harry had a mischievous smile as he bowed to his companions. "I have the honor and pleasure of showing you something truly remarkable. May I present the Abode of Strength, Godric Gryffindor's private rooms?"

The expression on Professor McGonagall's face was one of wonder and awe. Albus had only told her that Harry had a surprise for them. She looked around the old room and wondered if she would have to have a word with Mr. Potter and Miss Granger about springing a surprise of this magnitude on an older witch.

Harry had reached out to hold Hermione's hand as they walked toward the massive desk on one side of the room. McGonagall was still trying to take in the contents and the significance of the room when Dumbledore touched her arm and held out an elbow for her to take. He led her to the desk where they joined Harry and Hermione.

Taking a deep breath, Harry turned and made a short bow to the picture on the wall. "Grandsire … Godric may I present two of the finest people I know. They have aided and guided me since I began school last year. This is the current headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, and the current head of Gryffindor House, Professor Minerva McGonagall."

"Welcome to my little home. I think the five of us have much to discuss!"

Hermione had been ready with a chair and slid it into position when Godric responded to the four of them and Professor McGonagall sat down in sudden shock!

Godric laughed the expressions of the four before him but did note that Harry and Albus Dumbledore had wide grins on their faces.