I've been trying to post at least once per day, but yesterday was so busy I didn't have time to write a full chapter. Then after that, writer's block punched me in the face. Sorry about that. Anyway, this one got away from me a little bit, Dumbledore is kind of hard to write. I did my best though. Let me know what you think!

While they were relaxing outside, Harry took the time to tell his friends what he'd talked about with Dumbledore. When he brought up the idea that he thought that Dumbledore had set things up so Harry had a chance to face Voldemort, Will was somewhat upset by the notion.

"I hope he didn't." Will said, "I would hope a person with so many children's safety in his hands wouldn't be so callous."

Harry frowned, "I thought he did it because I have a right to face Voldemort. He's come after me and my family several times now. I don't think he's just going to stop."

"Yes," Will said, "But I would think that if he was going to do such a thing, he would have to have it in a safer environment. I know Voldemort is unable to touch you, Harry, but he could still use magic on you. If Dumbledore was setting something like that up, he should have at least given you some training, some sort of magical protection, heck, a suit of armor, something. I know you have a right to face him, Harry, but your safety is important too. And it's also Dumbledore's responsibility to make sure you are safe. If he set this up, he's failed at one of his basic duties as Headmaster."

Harry frowned, but nodded.

After spending part of the day outside with his friends, Will excused himself to Dumbledore's office. He knocked, and Dumbledore allowed him entry. As he entered, he noticed the sorting hat sitting on one of the shelves, and what must be Fawkes sitting on a golden perch.

"Here for your chat with the sorting hat, I presume?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling.

The rip at the brim of the sorting hat opened, and the hat spoke, "I did say that I wanted to speak to you again, but I get the feeling you've something to ask me, as well."

"Yes," Will said, "I wanted to ask you about the Sword."

"Hmm?" The hat said. It must be playing dumb.

"The sword of Gryffindor, I know you have it," Will said, "It's going to be needed soon. You don't need to give it to me, I'm not sure if I'm worthy of it or not, but it can certainly go to Harry."

"I see," The hat said, "I'm afraid I can only give that out when it's truly necessary. It was part of the enchantments used to place it inside of me, you see. Only a true Gryffindor, in a time of great need, can pull out the sword."

"I get it," Will said, "I was hoping we would be able to get it more easily. I didn't want Harry to have to fight the Monster of the Chamber of Secrets one on one again. We will need the sword later, for destroying the Horcruxes."

"The sword of Gryffindor can destroy a Horcrux?" Dumbledore asked. Will had forgotten he was there. Will looked over at Dumbledore. He'd sat down at his desk, and looked to be in the middle of some paperwork.

"Not by itself," Will explained, "If it was imbued with Basilisk's venom, that would do it." He stopped, considering, "But I suppose that any goblin forged blade imbued with Basilisk's venom would do it. There's no need for it to be the sword of Gryffindor, I guess." He turned to nod at the sorting hat, but one other thing struck him. "Actually, there's one more thing."

"Yes?" The sorting hat asked, when Will paused.

"I don't mean to step on your toes," Will started, "But I was hoping you'd consider sorting a student somewhere else next autumn."

"Oh?" The hat asked, and if the hat had a face, Will was sure it would be irritated.

"Luna Lovegood," Will went on, "You originally sorted her into Ravenclaw, but she had a hard time there. Ravenclaws may be smart, but they have a hard time seeing past their books sometimes. For someone like Luna, it ended up being a rather hostile environment for her. I was hoping you would consider putting her in Gryffindor. I could watch over her more easily there. I know she's brave, I'm sure she'd make a wonderful Gryffindor. Or even a Hufflepuff, she's very loyal, and they'd be more welcoming of someone who's so different. I just-"

"I'm going to stop you right there," The hat said, "I think I get the picture now. This Lovegood girl, she is somewhat out of the norm, yes?"

"She sees the world through different eyes, is how I would put it." Will said.

"I think I understand my own reasoning for putting her where I did," The hat said, "Sometimes I put a student in a house that I think would be good for them, one that would allow them to grow as a person. What I must have done for Luna, is put her somewhere where she fits, certainly, but would also allow her to help others to grow. By interacting with someone who...how did you put it?...sees the world through different eyes, it would allow some of the literal minded Ravenclaws to learn to have a more open mind. I guess my gamble didn't have the effect I had hoped."

"No, it ended up with her isolated and bullied." Will said, frowning, "Plus, it's not really fair to her to use her for others' growth. What about her own? She's here to learn and grow as well. She's not a teaching tool."

"I suppose you are right," The hat shuffled a bit on it's shelf.

"You're being rather forthright about this," Will said, confused, "Everything that I've read said that you never admit when you're wrong."

"Oh, but I can't be wrong if I haven't done it yet," The hat said, grinning at Will, "I may decide to take your words into account this time, and I may not. Only time will tell."

"I see, that's all I can ask for, really," Will said, then felt something land on his shoulder. He turned to look and saw beautiful red feathers. Fawkes must have flown over.

As Will watched, Fawkes let out a warble, and then a clear note rang out. A warmth flooded him, and he felt some of his guilt and insecurity fade away. He let out a surprised laugh.

"Thanks, Fawkes." Will said.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Nelson?" Dumbledore had looked up at Fawkes' song, "I usually only hear that kind of call when something is troubling someone."

Will paused, "Yes, I suppose so," He said, "It's just something Voldemort said, back when we were fighting him. I know it's silly…"

"It's not silly to feel, Will," Dumbledore said, "And we can't control our emotions any more than we can control the passage of time. We can only change the way we view them." He gestured to an open chair facing his desk, "Sometimes it helps to talk about them."

Will shrugged, careful not to jostle Fawkes too much, and walked over to sit on the chair. "Okay, I guess what's bothering me is that Voldemort said he and I weren't too different, in that we were both inhabiting bodies that aren't our own. I know he's a monster that doesn't care about what happens to others, but what does that make me?" Will looked down at his hands, "Am I a monster?"

Dumbledore stroked his beard thoughtfully, "You said you were sent here, in order to help, yes? You were given a choice, and your choice was to help others. I think that's very honorable, Will."

"But what about the original Will?" Will asked, "Shouldn't he have been given a choice as well? I know he can't make a choice, he's gone, but I still took his body without his permission. Isn't that wrong?"

"I think that thinking like that proves you're not a monster, Will." Dumbledore said, "You worry about others, and the effect your actions will have on them. Does someone who does that sound like a monster to you?"

Will considered Dumbledore's words, "I suppose not," Will said slowly, "But what about Will's family? What happens if or when they find out? That I'm not Will? Will they reject me? And if they do, where would I go then? I wouldn't be able to afford to go to Hogwarts anymore." That would truly be a disaster. Fawkes released another note, and Will felt a bit better.

"Let's not count our chickens before they hatch, alright?" Dumbledore said, nodding to Fawkes, "Or in this case, phoenixes." He gave a chuckle, "There's no way to tell if that will ever come to pass, or what their reactions would be if it did. But if it did, and their reactions were as bad as you feared, there are options open to you."

Will thought about his talk with Harry earlier. "I have one more thing to ask you, Professor, then I'll get out of your hair. Did you set it up so Harry would have a confrontation with Voldemort?"

Dumbledore looked surprised, "No, I didn't. Why would you ask such a thing?"

Will sighed, "Something Harry said earlier. Anyway, if you didn't, why were the traps around the stone so easy to get through that a bunch of first years could do it?"

Dumbledore smiled, "The enchantments around the stone weren't meant to be too difficult. What they were there for was to slow any intruders down. You must have noticed, that it took you some time to get through all of them, correct? The keys and the chess match, especially."

Will nodded thoughtfully, "It was a trap. Not for us, but for Voldemort. You wanted it to force him to spend as much time as possible figuring out the traps, so that it would allow for someone to arrive and hopefully stop him."

Dumbledore nodded, "Preferably myself. The room with the mirror at the end is nearly impossible to escape from without help as well. I suppose you noticed that you couldn't pass through the walls in astral form?" Will nodded, "They were unbreakable too. The only way out was through the fire you came in from, and the potion only lasts for a few minutes. It would have taken Voldemort much longer than that to figure out a way to get the stone out of the mirror."

"So, we didn't need to go down there in the first place."Will realized, "You had everything handled."

Dumbledore nodded, eyes twinkling, "You all were very brave to do so though. But, once you were there, that changed things. It gave Voldemort more to work with. Harry's selflessness allowed Voldemort to get the stone much quicker than I anticipated. Thankfully, you both were able to keep him distracted long enough for help to arrive. You even managed to banish Voldemort's spirit by yourself. That's no small feat."

Dumbledore rifled through a drawer for a moment before pulling out some copies of the same book and setting them on his desktop, "These are five copies of Protection Charm Your Mind, By Franciscus Fieldwake. It should be enough to get your friends started."

Taking the books, Will took this as his cue to leave. He thanked the Headmaster and headed for the door. Stopping just short of it, he looked at Fawkes, who was still on his shoulder.

"I have to go now, Fawkes," He said, giving him a little stroke. Fawkes leaned into his hand, cooing.

"He does seem inordinately attached to you," Dumbledore commented.

"I've been told I radiate an aura that creatures related to death like," Will said. He pet Fawkes a bit more as he walked over to his perch. Once he reached it, Fawkes gave Will a nuzzle before hopping off of his shoulder and onto the perch. Will gave him another skritch, then after excusing himself to Dumbledore again, he left.

As he walked, on his way to find his friends, he looked over the books Dumbledore had given him. Franciscus Fieldwake had a lot of helpful suggestions for new Occlumencers. It seemed like his method was mainly to use meditation and mental techniques to trap, trick, and otherwise misinform Legilimencers to keep them from your true thoughts. If done right, a Legilimencer might have no idea you even knew they were there. A lot more subtle than the brute force method Snape tried to teach Harry. It also took a lot more practice, it could take months to even get through the first stage of setting up your mind palace. Thankfully, they had time.

Will handed out the books, and sat his friends down.

"These books will help you form defenses around your mind, so anyone trying to read your thoughts won't be able to." He said, gesturing to the books they were now holding.

"There's magic that allows people to read minds!?" Ron asked, shocked.

"That's a serious invasion of privacy," Hermione said, frowning, "Thank you for getting me this."

Neville nodded, "Where'd you get this? It was probably somewhat expensive."

"I asked Dumbledore," Will said, "He gave them to me. I thought they might be useful, seeing as we don't want too many people finding out our secrets. Voldemort already knows about Astral Projection, and I'd rather he didn't find anything else out."

Harry nodded, "When Will and I had our confrontation with Voldemort, he seemed to know what I was thinking, I guess he must have been reading my mind. That's how he knew so much."

"It's probably a pretty good intimidation tactic," Will said, "Knowing what your enemy will do before they do it. I just don't want it to work on us ever again."

"You think he'll come back!?" Neville yelped, "I was hoping with whatever Will did to him, we'd seen the last of him."

"Sorry, but I don't think so." Will said, "And there's no way he's going to take this lying down. He'll continue to try to regain a body until he's stopped for good, or it actually happens. I just hope it's the former, not the latter."

Hermione had been frowning at the book while they had been talking. She looked at Will for a moment, then spoke, "You seem to have been planning this for a while. I've noticed that you've been pushing some of us to do better in school, too."

This was true too, Will was sure Harry wasn't the only one of this group who'd done better this time than in his memories. Neville, with a wand of his own, had proven rather adept at transfiguration, though not as good as Hermione. He wasn't a slouch in his other classes either, though he would probably always be a bit nervous in potions.

Will had found that he himself was rather good at Defense Against the Dark Arts, with defensive spells coming naturally to him. He suspected he'd be rather good at healing spells as well. He would probably always be a bit bad at History, though who really was good at that class with the teacher they had (Hermione not included.)

Ron hadn't let himself be left behind, either. He had complained a bit at first about all of the studying, but had doubled down when praised for his work. Will suspected he was rather proud of having someone be impressed with something he'd done, instead of being compared to his brothers.

"Are you setting us up to be soldiers?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

Will was momentarily shocked, but shook it off, "No, I just want you all to be able to protect yourselves from whatever comes for you. The magical world may be wonderful, but it's also dangerous too."

Hermione scrutinized him a moment, then nodded. "I see. We should probably head to bed now. We can try out some of these meditation techniques before going to sleep. Will, you'll be pulling us out tonight, right?"

Will nodded.

"Well, let's get started! We've been talking for awhile now, so I bet our roommates are asleep." Hermione smiled at all of them, "See you in a bit." She got up, and headed to bed.

"She's right," Will said, "It's probably a good idea to try out the exercises before sleeping. I suggest you all do that." Will got up and held out one hand to Harry, and the other to Neville. Pulling them up, he offered another hand to Ron. Once Ron was up, they all headed to their dorms.

Appearing in his astral form, Will decided to check on Hermione first. That way, she'd be able to watch the process and hopefully answer her own questions. He floated down to the common room and up the girl's staircase. Since he wasn't in a male body, the stair slide didn't activate. He floated up until he found the room labelled first years, and stuck his head inside. Hermione's bed was on the right, closest to the door, he'd recognize that hair anywhere. Concentrating on his bond with her, he gave it a slight tug. Her soul sat up, just like Harry's had done so long ago.

{Will?} Hermione said, {What's going on? My legs are stuck.}

{I can only pull you part way out,} Will said, {You've got to do the rest. Don't forget to leave a connection back to your body, okay?}

Hermione nodded, and wriggled her way out. Astral-Hermione looked like astral-Harry did, herself, but glowing gold and transparent. She floated upward, trying to maintain balance.

{You don't have to struggle so much,} Will chuckled, {Your astral form automatically moves the way you want to, flying is pretty easy.}

{I'd rather be on the ground,} Hermione said seriously, {I don't like heights.}

{Are you afraid of heights? Or afraid of falling?}

{Aren't those the same thing?} Hermione asked.

{Not in astral form, they're not,} Will said, {If you're afraid of heights, you'll always be uncomfortable while flying, no matter what you do. But the fear of falling is simple, while flying in astral form, you don't fall if you don't want to. There's also no feeling in your stomach, like you get on roller coasters either. That's why I think Harry likes flying on his broom best. He likes the wind in his hair, the rush of adrenaline, you don't get that with astral projection.}

{I see,} Hermione said, {That's actually very helpful.} She floated upright, then turned to face Will. {Let's go get the others, then we can talk.}

{Okay,} Will said, then they floated to the first year boy's dorm, where Harry was waiting for them in astral form.

{Took you long enough,} Harry said, then he saw Hermione, {Oh, you went to do Hermione first?}

{I figured she'd want to watch the process, something new to learn, ya'know?} Will said.

Hermione nodded, {You figured correctly. Now, why can't I hear Harry?}

{Oh, you need to form a bond together,} Will said, {Reach out with your mind and feel for each other, remember how the bond feels with me.}

Harry and Hermione nodded, and began trying to form a bond, while Will formed a bond with Neville. They were making scrunchy faces, it was kind of funny.

{Okay, got it!} Harry said, and Hermione nodded.

{I heard you that time,} Hermione said, then turned to Will, {Now what?}

Will focused on the bond with Ron, then gave it a gentle tug, and repeated the process with Neville. Their souls sat up, half in and half out of their bodies.

{What the-} Ron said, surprised. He looked around, and spotted Will, {A little help here?}

Neville was distracted by his glowiness. He was turning his hands over, looking through them. After a moment, he saw Will and jumped. {Will, is that you? You look… different.}

{Okay, focus you two,} Will said, {You need to figure out how to get the rest of the way out yourselves. Don't forget to leave a connection back to your bodies before you leave it. That's very important.}

Neville got it pretty quick, and Ron was not too far behind him. They floated upwards, looking around.

{Okay, now what you guys need to do is to focus on forming a bond with Harry, reach out mentally, it'll feel very similar to how it feels to talk to me.} Will had them connect with Harry, then with Hermione, then with each other.

{Okay, one last step, you're going to want to connect to Hogwarts.} Will said. {It's a bit overwhelming at first, but you get used to it. It's pretty useful, it allows you to feel where the others connected to the castle are, and talk to them when you're close by.}

Everyone nodded concentrated. One by one, they cried out in shock as they connected to the Soul of Hogwarts. Hermione first, then Neville, then Ron.

{This is incredible!} Neville said, {I've never experienced anything like this before.}

{They're kind of scattered all over the place,} Ron said. {I can feel people in all directions. Well, not above us, but you know what I mean.}

{Who all is connected to Hogwarts?} Hermione asked.

{The ghosts are, they use the connection to keep themselves connected to this plane. If they didn't they'd move on to the other side.} Will explained, {The House-Elves as well, but I'm not sure why they're connected. I haven't had a chance to talk to them yet.}

{House-Elves?} Hermione asked, {I'm not familiar.}

{They're servants,} Neville explained, {A race of beings that get joy and fulfillment out of serving others. The bond the master/servant relationship creates gives them the energy needed for them to perform magic. There's some in the kitchens here, I believe.}

{But are they paid? Do they get sick days? Are they free to choose who to serve?} Hermione asked, frowning.

{Hermione, I think you're asking the wrong questions,} Will said, sighing. He hoped he could nip this in the bud, {They don't want those things. Why don't we go talk to them and see what they think, okay?}

Hermione nodded, and everyone headed off to the kitchens.

I didn't end up getting to the leaving feast, there was more than I expected in this chapter. Next, the house elves in the kitchens, and this time the leaving feast. Maybe.