Disclaimer: I own the plot, I own all the characters that aren't mentioned in the books, so on, and so on. I don't own anything you recognise from the books or film. Oh, and I don't own Zshar-ptitsa. That's a mythological creature from Russian folklore, which is like a Phoenix.
I don't own Regina, either. ^_~
This chapter's quote is extremely fitting with the last chapter and this one...
A big, big thank you to The Red Dragons Order, who gave me a beautiful drawing for a cover! ^_^ It's gorgeous, and you WOULD be able to see it at www.ryshora.fateback.com, but it was too big to be uploaded. Please, e-mail me for it!
Warning! This chapter's extremely boring, but it explains nearly everything here, so you should read it. A lot of the characters in this chapter will be major characters, so I had to fit them in! The story will pick up again soon, never fear...

New Spell Guide:
Mutare Elementa - Change Element
Predecerus - A take on predecessor
Transfero Memoria - Transfer Memory
Destructo Incantatum - Destroy Enchantment

Chapter 9:
Of Gryffindor and Guides.

Any situation worth understanding is confusing.
~ Anon


"In fact, the power has been in your family for the past five hundred and two generations, starting from me.
"Godric Gryffindor."

~ ~ ~

It was not surprising that Harry then did his best fish impression, by staring open-mouthed at the supposedly dead, world-famous man who also happened to be his five-hundred greats grandfather.
It was also not surprising that Godric found this entirely amusing.
"Is something wrong?"
Harry spluttered incomprehensibly for a few moments, before finally managing; "Aren't you dead?"
Godric pinched his hand. "No, I definitely felt that. I think I'm alive. So sorry, I do apologise."
Harry dragged his jaw up. "But aren't you meant to have. . . well, died, nearly a thousand years ago?" Godric Gryffindor nodded cheerfully.
"That's right. I mean, I didn't die, but I could hardly stay there forever. It would look a little suspicious. So, when I decided I was ready, I faked my death and spent the rest of my life working with DEUS; which I'd been with since I was fifteen."
"You mean," Harry gulped, "people in DEUS are immortal?"
This time, it was Rain's turn to answer. "Not quite. Normal members age normally and die at the usual age for their species. However, Masters and The Five are seen as having too much experience and wisdom to lose. A de-aging spell or potion takes care of it, until they retire or die on a mission."
"I was already the Master of the Vocarine Society ages before I 'died'." Godric further explained. "Although with the de-aging spell, I didn't grow any older, I cast an illusion to make it look as though I was. Soon I had outlived the other Founders of Hogwarts, so I 'died', and continued working at DEUS."
"I joined a few years ago," Rain explained, "I'm just a normal member; a Water Elemental. Rose, sitting next to me, is the Summoned creature who inhabited Sterling's jewel. She'll be returning soon to her true form, and back to her own Plane."
Harry looked at the black-haired woman. "So that's where I know you from? I thought you were familiar."
The woman shrugged her shoulders. "I'm surprised you recognised me. The last few days I had to come back here so Godric could make a Human body for me. It's a lot more suitable than a birds'."
'So that's why she was missing.' Harry mused, and voiced another question. "So what's my power, and my friends'?"
"You have the same power that's been passed down our family for generations." smiled Godric. " The Summoning power, which means you'll be in the same section that I lead.
"Your friends - Ron and Hermione, I believe? - are in different sections. Mr Weasley is a Fire Elemental, and and Miss Granger is a Seer. A Near-Future Seer to be exact; there are many types."
"They don't get their powers from genetics though." Rain added. "In many planes, being the seventh son of a seventh son, or the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter automatically gives you Elemental powers, and the type you get tend to match your personality.
"Seeing, however, is a random talent. It's quite rare, and it could come to anyone. There is a pattern to it, however; the ones who have the Sight are usually people who are nearly always around someone Gifted. Since she was friends with two Gifted, it's only natural that she developed a Gift of her own."
"A bigger version of 'setting an example and bringing out the best in others'?" Harry asked in amusement, feeling something wrong with what Rain had said, and the woman gave a small laugh. "Exactly. The Society of the Sight, which deals with Seers, is split into different sections. There's the Past Division, which is for those who can See far back and the Preceding Division, for those who See things that didn't happen very long ago.
"Then there's the Present Division, which is obvious; the Imminent Division, for those who can See into the soon-to-come future, and the Distant Division which handles those who See far into the future. Your friend is in the Imminent Division."
"There's something I don't understand," Harry frowned, realising what felt wrong. "My friend Ron. You said that seventh sons of seventh sons get Elemental powers. But Ron's the sixth son, not seventh. He shouldn't have any powers."
Rain shook her head certainly. "No, he definitely is the seventh son, otherwise he wouldn't have the powers. Perhaps there's a brother you don't know about?"
"Maybe." Harry answered doubtfully, and Godric spoke next. "Well, I have some important business to attend you, and so does Rose. Harry, however, will be shown around by Rain. You need to know where to go, and get a feel for the place. I'll see you around, hm?"
With a pop, he Disapparated out of the room. Rose got up, and stalked to the door, muttering something about show-offs and laziness.
Rain rolled her eyes. "Looks like they've decided to let me handle everything. Okay, this is the first time I've been a Guide, so cut me some slack. First, are there any other things you want to know about how DEUS is run, before you go on the grand tour?"
Harry nodded. "Who are The Five?"
"The Five," Rain explained, "are the five most powerful of all DEUS, and lead it. Only the Masters answer directly to them. The Five, at this time, are Merlin and Erowin - who are actually from your Plane - Isis, Zshar-ptitsa, and Talla. But you won't see them for another three years."
"Why not?"
Rain was quiet for a moment. "Basically, when you join DEUS for your first year of training, you're known as a Student or Apprentice. In your second year of training, you're called a Sorcerer or Sorceress.
"When you've finished that, you have a big ceremony called an Initiation, along with everyone who's finished training, where you see the Five. After your Initiation, you're a full-fledged member, and your title is Mage. The only things higher than a Mage is a Master, or one of The Five. Any more questions?"
"Yeah. Where are we? The building, I mean."
"Glad you asked." said Rain proudly. "The DEUS Headquarters in based in Plane with no other life forms - apart from DEUS members. We're currently on the fifty-third floor of the DEUS mansion, in one of the Planes. The plane we're in right now is populated only by DEUS members; there's about twenty thousand living here. In total, there're around eighty-thousand members scattered around Planes."
"There are eighty-thousand?"
"Probably a bit more, now." Rain explained. "We get an extra hundred or so Apprentices each year. Ready for the tour?"
Harry stood up. "Yeah. What are you going to show me?"

~ ~ ~

As it turned out, a lot of things. First, Harry was shown around the Society of the Vocarine, and taught the different meaning of the signs on the doors.
"S.V," Rain told him, "stands for Society of the Vocarine. Each Society has a different letter for their final word; like Sight or Incendium; so if you get lost, just look at one of the plaques, and you'll know which section you're in."
The Society corridors had quarters for the Mages, training areas, research areas, transport areas and entertainment areas - something that Harry was quite astounded at. Instead of just having Muggle or Magical games, they also had some kinds of things that Harry had never seen or heard of; which must have, he decided, come from other Planes.
It was when Rain led him to a normal sized door at the end of the main corridor, however, that Harry got really interested.
Through it, was the fifty-third floor's main hall.
Whereas everything in the Vocarine section had been white, red and gold, the hall was decorated in light blues and creams, much like the Apprentice Room. A wide, grand staircase swept and curved down as far as Harry could see, down to a chequered black and white floor on the first storey.
In this hall, a chandelier hung from the ceiling, made of thousands of tiny, sparkling crystals, and a group of plush seats sat in one of the corners, and against one of the walls.
Of the other three walls, one was not there; the staircase took it up, one held the door they had just come through, and one held the stairs up to the next level.
Harry took this in, gawping all the while, and Rain looked amused. "You get used to it after a while." she said to him, leading him up the stairs to the next floor. "Below are all the other Societies, one to each floor. The top floor is where The Five are."
Harry looked around him as they ascended to the next hall. It looked the same as downstairs, although the chairs were in different places, and the stairs were in a another wall. "Where are Ron and Hermione?"
"The Fire Elementals are on the twenty-second floor, and Seers on the forty-third." Rain replied. "You can use a transport room to go, or you can learn to Apparate. For now though, you'll have to use the stairs."
Harry winced inwardly on hearing this. He wasn't even sure that he wanted to join, and she was telling him all this. He voiced his thoughts. "What happens if I don't want to join?"
"No-one's said 'no' yet, but if you did, you'd go back and never come here again. We'd have to take your Gift away as well." she added. "Are you thinking about not joining?"
"The thought had crossed my mind." Harry admitted, as they continued climbing. "Where are we going?"
"To the second from top floor. I'm going to show you what Summoners can do." Rain answered, smiling at something. "You'll see when you get there, and you can make your mind up about joining then."
With that, they reached what Harry thought to be the seventieth floor. This time, there were doors set on two of the walls, rather than just one. Rain pointed to the door that was coloured a light bronze. "That's the simulation and information room. You can find about the different spells and Summonings you can perform in there."
The door opened, and what appeared to be a lynx trotted out, following a girl with snakes in her hair. On a closer glance, Harry realised that the snaked were not merely in her hair; they were her hair. 'A Medusa.' he thought, watching the two chatting about something.
They glanced curiously at him as they passed, and continued down the stairs that Rain and Harry had just come from.
"That was Jin and Lyssa." the girl said, noticing Harry looking after them. "Jin; the cat-like one; is an Apprentice Summoner. He doesn't have a Guide, because he knows all about it - his family have been Summoners for three generations, and he used to come here. Lyssa, the Medusa is a Shapeshifter. I think Jin's acting as her guide."
"You know them?" Harry asked curiously, and Rain shook her head. "No, but when the other Summoner Apprentices were in the Apprentice Room, I started talking to Jin. He said he was going to be showing a girl called Lyssa round."
Harry stood by the woman's side, as they started walking again and stood in front of the door. "How come everyone speaks the same language? If there's so many Planes, you couldn't have everyone coincidently speaking English."
Just as Harry finished speaking, the door slid open and allowed them through. Another long corridor, reaching out; this time in shades of light yellow and bronze.
"There's a charm on the mansion. You're not speaking the same language as each other, but the neurons in your brain are sent to the right word equivalent in your language so that you can understand." Rain said. "Okay, this is the door. Just go in." she said cheerfully.
Harry opened the door, and entered.

~ ~ ~

There were a lot more people in here, than in the desolate corridors and hallways. About ten people - Human or otherwise - were scattered round the room, some tinkering with small glowing objects on a long counter running along one of the walls, some sitting on black, high-backed chairs, staring blankly at small screens in front of each of them.
"Just sit in one of the chairs, and your power level will be measured." Rain told Harry, as he glanced about the room. "Then you'll see on the screen the different things you can accomplish with your power at the moment."
Harry looked back at her, puzzled. "Power level?"
Rain rolled her eyes. "You don't know that? Your power level is your strength in your Gift. It's similar to your Magic power level; Magic and the Gift are two separate things. The higher your power level, the stronger you are, and the more you can accomplish with your Gift. Just sit down."
Following her command, Harry lowered himself into the nearest chair. It was quite comfortable, though not as much as the couches in the Apprentice Room. The black - unidentifiable - material was soft, and melded to his his back instantly.
"Now what?" he asked her, seeing that the screen in front of him wasn't showing anything.
"Now, touch the screen. Press your hand against it."
Harry reached out and did so. The screen flashed white faintly as he touched it, and then reverted back to an almost yellow. He took his hand away, and looked down at the screen.
"Four hundred and sixty-two?" he said, pleased with his level. "Is that good?"
"The average," Rain informed him, "Is three hundred and eighty. Your score is excellent. And not to forget, after training you'll be at an even higher level." She reached down to touch the screen, allowing Harry to see the green and yellow octopus marking on her hand, its eight tentacles entwining round each other.
She tapped the screen, clearing it, and it brought up a menu, in black writing. "You can check anyone's file on this. Power level, Spirit Form - what you would call an Animagus Form - name, Plane, anything." She looked at him sternly. "However, every time you look someone up, it's recorded on the logs, so you can't misuse it."
Harry looked through the menu. There were a range of choices; 'Files', 'Statuses', 'Research', 'Information', and 'Maps' being a few Harry managed to see, before Rain tapped again on the word 'Information'.
The screen now changed to a list of what Harry recognised as some of the Gifts the three had mentioned before. Watchers, Seers, Fire E-m., Water E-m., Shifters, Summoners - Rain touched 'Summoners'.
"What are you doing?" asked Harry, as the screen shifted again to a long list of words, spaced out neatly.
"I've told you; I'm showing you what Summoners can do." Rain said, looking down the list. "These are all the known spells for Summoners. All the things you can call up, as it is."
Harry checked her face to see if she was joking, and looked back at the screen. "There must be hundreds!"
"These are only the ones you can perform at the power level you have right now," was the reply. "But you'll be able to learn different ones as you get more powerful. Obviously, you won't be learning all of these."
"Why not?" Harry asked, almost sorrowfully. Al these spells; these Summonings; and he wouldn't be learning them all?
"Although your power has increased, you're still going to be training hard. It's like in your school; there are millions of spells, but you only learn a few, select ones." Rain said. "You could learn some spells in your free time, of course."
"Definitely." murmured Harry, looking down the list. "Lightning?" he said suddenly, as he caught sight of a particular one. "Is that a sort of golden lightning?"
Rain arched an eyebrow. "Like the one in Hogsmeade? Don't look so surprised, of course we were keeping tabs on your powers. We stop once you join DEUS, of course, but we knew immediately about the lightning.
"The answer is yes, like the golden one."
Harry frowned. "Why did I Summon it? I didn't even know I could."
"Emotion." shrugged Rain. "It's just like normal magic. In a state of heightened emotion, such as anger or shock, you can lose control." She looked at him. "So, do you want to join, or don't you want to join? You become powerful enough to deal with whatever you want on your own Plane; but in exchange, you have to help us whenever something goes seriously wrong among the Planes. Well?"
Harry was silent, thinking about his choices. He breathed a sigh. "I don't want to make a choice until I know what Ron and Hermione are doing. Is there some way I can ask them?"
The woman nodded. "We can check the Seer and the Fire Elemental floors. They'll probably still be down there."

~ ~ ~

After hearing how far away the two floors were, Harry was glad that Rain decided they should use that floor's transport room.
It seemed that each floor had a decoration scheme of white and another colour, which, in the case of the Aid floor, which they were on, had green, unlike the Vocarine's gold.
The Aid floor; of which the members were known as Watchers; was also a lot more hectic than the Vocarine's, which Rain attributed to a problem with one of the Planes.
"One of the Watchers decided to slack off for a week, and the Plane that was under his jurisdiction got some problem with a white hole that wasn't meant to exist." she explained. "I think it was Plane oh-eight-hundred or something."
Seeing Harry's stare, she elaborated, "All Planes have a number. The Plane I come from is six-two-eight-nine-four-four. Yours is one of the earliest; Plane oh-four-six-one."
She stopped in front of a green outlined door, which held the plaque,

S.A : Transportation Room (N)

"The N stands for 'Normal', meaning Apprentices and Mages, rather than Masters." Rain told him, and then, looking at the door, said "Open."
At this, the door slid to the side, and Harry realised, too late, that you only had to say the word, and it would open. Feeling a little stupid for trying to pull the door the last time, he entered.
It was a lot less spacious than the Master's transport room, was Harry's first thought on seeing it. Instead of five of the raised circles, the room (slightly larger) fit ten or eleven of them in, although for all intents and purposes, they looked the same as the others.
"Just stand on one and say 'Seers'." Rain ordered him. "And make sure all of you is inside the circle."
"What happens if it isn't?"
"Well," answered Rain, "whatever's in the circle goes to the Seers floor. Whatever's outside, doesn't. So, for example, say your hand or arm was sticking out. . ."
Harry turned a faint green as he imagined the consequences. "So it's like splinching yourself?"
Rain looked confused. "Never heard of it. I suppose it's just in your Plane."
Harry shook his head. "It's when you Disapparate wrong, and you leave part of yourself behind." Harry explained. "Gryffindor did it in the room."
"That's what it's called? I didn't know, not many people here can do it. We prefer to travel in other ways." Rain explained interestedly, stepping up onto one of the circles. "Like this, for instance. Seers."
Silently, she disappeared.
Following her example, Harry took his place on one of the raised sections. "Seers." he said loudly, and he too vanished.

~ ~ ~

It was much the same as before; a strange sensation - although it felt more like he was gong down, rather than within - and the black and greys, finally changing to the white of the Seer floor's transport room.
This time, however, it only took three or four seconds instead of ten.
This room had the white, and had the extra colour of a pale orange. Harry stumbled off the circle, forgetting the step, and looked across to the nearby transporter, which Rain was just getting off.
She headed for the orange-outlined door, and told it to open, exiting as soon as it complied. Harry rushed after her to keep up, realising that he was meant to follow, entering the main corridor of the forty-third floor.
"Why are we here?" Harry asked, running to keep up with the Elemental's long strides. "I mean, the chances of just happening to find her walking down the hall are pretty slim."
"We're looking for a Locator." was the reply. "Those are Seers that are specialised in finding people. With the help of one of them, we should easily track down your two friends."
It took only a few minutes to find a Locator: he was a tall, lanky man named Gyle, which made Harry guess immediately that he wasn't from Harry's Plane.
Gyle seemed to know immediately where Hermione and Ron were; Hermione was in the DEUS library (which Harry personally felt wasn't very surprising) and Ron was on the Summoners floor, waiting in the Vocare Room for Harry to return.
It was agreed between Harry and Rain that they should first collect Hermione, and talk as a group in the Vocare Room for Ron, which meant another trip to the Transport Room. This time to the library, which took up a whole storey - floor twenty.
Rain waited in the Transport Room, while Harry entered the library, looking for Hermione.
The library was, to say the least, huge. After all, when you had an infinite number of Planes for books to be written in, what other size could it be?
Hundreds of bookcases, reaching from the floor to the ceiling, each with thirty tall, spacious shelves. There seemed to be a hundred books to a shelf, such was the quantity of them.
Harry took in the stretched white shelves and their slightly curved edges in an instant, noting the way they trailed from one side of the room to another.
He stopped gazing at the vast expanse, and looked around for his friend. There were few people around; Harry noticed a glimpse of movement further ahead, but whoever it was moved briskly out of sight.
A pair of unidentifiable beings were skimming through a thick, brown leather-bound book which was cracking at the edges, and one of the few sounds was the sound of voices ahead and to the right - one of which Harry quickly identified as Hermione's.
Harry moved as if to run to her, and caught himself as he remembered where he was. 'You're in a library!' he chided himself silently, and walked as fast as he dared in the direction of the girl's voice. The beings glared at him as he passed, and whispered to each other in harsh, clicking tones.
As he moved forwards, passing four of the intensely white cases, Harry twisted his head round the fifth.
Hermione was there, chattering quietly, but excitedly, to a faintly green-skinned girl.
Blinking in disbelief, Harry looked again. Yes, he was right the first time; the girl had snakes for her hair. She was laughing and chatting with Hermione, not looking more than sixteen years old. But then, as Harry remembered immediately, people were recruited into DEUS at fifteen, so she probably was sixteen.
Harry walked fully round the corner, exposing himself to the view of the two girls. "Hi, Herm'." he said in greeting, not sure of what else to say, and betting that 'Who's the snake-girl?' might not go down well, or leave a good first impression.
The Medusa, for that was what Harry was certain she was, turned to look at him, and Hermione beamed happily. "Harry, have you seen all these? A collection of just under three-hundred years worth of books from the known Planes! Isn't it incredible?" she whooped, and Harry hid a smile.
"Yeah, great." Harry started, but before he could get any further, Hermione butted in.
"This is Lyssa by the way, she's a Medusa." Hermione stated proudly, and Lyssa rolled her eyes to her serpents, and gave a small, sarcastic wave.
The Human girl continued her energised trilling. "Can you believe it? Me, a Seer. Me! I mean, I thought it was all just a load of rubbish, with Trelawney, you know, but me! Me! A Seer! Perha-"
Now it was Harry's turn to interrupt. "Herm', do you think you could come to the Summoners' floor with me?" he asked, looking pointedly at her. "Ron's already up there, and I don't want to make my choice without seeing what you two are doing first."
Hermione gave him a blank look and then looked pleased. "Oh, right. Well, I know what my choice is. I'm definitely joining."
"How can you say that?" Harry asked, surprised. "You don't know what Ron and I'm doing yet."
Hermione looked angry. "I can make my own choices, you know."
Harry held his hands up in surrender. "I didn't mean that. I just thought that you'd want to know what Ron and I were doing, before you made your mind up.
"You two can go to the Summoners' floor if you want," Lyssa told them before Hermione could retort. "The tour's just about finished, anyway."
Hermione swiftly agreed to go, calming down as Harry led her away into the transport room, where Rain waited for them.
"Your Guide is a Medusa?" Harry asked in disbelief as they walked along. Hermione nodded. "Yes. But it's perfectly normal in her Plane. There aren't any Humans at all; the Medusas can be Wizards."
Harry was interested now. "She's a Witch?"
Hermione fidgeted slightly. "Not exactly. She's in a Wizarding family, but she's a Squib. That's why she's so glad to be a Shifter - it makes up for her lack of Wizarding powers, and because DEUS members have their power increased, she can even do simple spells." She paused for a moment. "Of course, her Plane's spells are different to ours."
Harry gave a small chuckle. "You're really getting into this, aren't you?"
"Well, she's already a Sorcerer, so she told me a lot of things." Hermione acknowledged a little sheepishly. "And you have to admit, it is fascinating."
"That's true." Harry admitted as they reached the transport room.
"So, what's your Guide like?" asked Hermione as Harry told the door to open.
"A Water Elemental-" Harry started, but the door complied to the order at that moment, and he decided that it would be rude to talk about his Guide in front of her.
They walked in.

~ ~ ~

There was a quick greeting between Rain and Hermione, but within half a minute they were on their way to the Summoners' Floor, and two minutes after that, they were in the Vocare Room, where Ron sat waiting.
Ron stood up the moment they entered, looking excited and nervous. "Guys! I've been waiting here for a while, 'cause, you know, I thought we should talk about the, you know, the choice, whether we shoul-"
Hermione cut him off. "Yes, we do know. Harry hasn't made up his mind yet, but I'm joining, regardless of what you two do." She squared her jaw in determination, and glared at the two boys, as if daring them to disagree with her.
Harry recoiled under her sharp look, and settled himself in the sofa opposite Ron, seeing that the Guides were outside the room. Hermione stopped glowering at them, and sat down next to Ron.
"So what do you want to do?" Ron asked immediately. " Hermione's going to join, but I'm not sure."
"What happened to the 'reckless and rash'?" Hermione teased, and then turned serious. "It does sound like it's not all fun and games. I mean, there's two years of hard training; I asked Lyssa - my Guide -" she added, seeing Ron's questioning look, "and you get trained in all sorts. Not just your power, but with weapons, unarmed combat, everything. If they call you to go on a mission, then you have to go; and they're usually extremely dangerous."
Ron looked seriously worried now, and Harry himself was doubtful. What if he was useless, or was found out by someone? Anyone at Hogwarts could discover it if he joined.
"However," Hermione then added, "I asked about the good sides too."
Ron and Harry leaned forwards.
"Firstly," she began, "we can use any of the facilities here, whenever we want. Library, computers, anything. Plus, we can use our Gifts outside of missions and we can come here whenever we want."
Ron wrinkled his forehead, thinking hard. "So we could, say, use our abilities to get our O.W.Ls?"
"There's no reason why you shouldn't." Hermione replied. "I'm joining, whatever happens. The library was incredible, and that was only the first room of it; and being a Seer is much too good an ability to just pass up." she beamed proudly.
"So that's one yes." Harry supplied. "Ron? What do you think?"
Ron was silent for a minute. "I dunno. . . it's a pretty big thing to just make a split-second decision on, but I think I want to join. Maybe just for a while, to see what it's like." He didn't sound as sure of himself as before, but Harry knew why he'd chosen to join.
As a brother to five - no, six elder siblings, Ron had always been overshadowed by his brothers. Having his own special aptitude would make him feel less surpassed by them.
"So that just leaves Harry." concluded Hermione. Ron looked expectantly at his friend, and Harry looked round slowly at the two.
"Well. . ." he finally said, "if you two are joining, then I don't see how I couldn't. But there's some big things." he said quickly, as he noticed the identical grins spreading over Hermione and Ron's faces. "First of all, I don't have a clue how we're meant to keep this a secret. If we disappear off, every however-many-days -"
"On Wednesdays and Saturdays at midnight." Hermione interrupted. "That's when we come here."
"Right then," Harry continued, "if we disappear every Wednesday and Saturday, someone's bound to notice. And Dumbledore knows just about everything that goes on in the castle; even if no-one in our dorms sees us," he finished seriously, "Dumbledore will know we're going off somewhere, and he may try to stop us leaving Hogwarts."
Ron shrugged, and gave his thoughts. "I'm pretty sure they'll have that worked out. I mean, it's not just us who have to 'disappear' from somewhere. All the other Apprentices have to as well. And if they can sort everyone out, with no problems so far, don't you believe they could do the same for us?"
"That's it!" Harry said suddenly. "After you two left, I asked Ro- Sterling, how I was going to go to Astronomy as well. She said that I wouldn't have to catch up on lessons, and that no-one would have noticed me missing."
"That's it, then." announced Hermione triumphantly, ignoring Ron's confused look. Neither of them had told him about Rose speaking; or even that Sterling was Rose, Harry remembered.
"So, Harry?" Hermione asked eagerly, her eyes glinting.
Harry gave up. "Okay." he relented. "I'll join."
Ron gave a whoop of excitement, and Hermione stood up suddenly. "Brilliant!" she squeaked, sounding very unlike her usual self. But then, Harry decided, if you'd just discovered that you and your friends are going to get new powers and join a universe spanning society, would you sound normal?
Ron's eyes were shining. "This is great!" he crowed, pumping one fist in the air. "I'm going to trash everyone at the O.W.Ls this year -"
"Ron, don't you think you're taking this a little lightly?" Harry asked desperately. "I mean, it's good to get new powers and all, but it's dangerous."
Hermione seemed to take notice of it. She regained some of her composure, and frowned at Ron. "Harry's right, you know. We shouldn't be taking this so - so - frivolously." Ron stared at her for a second in astonishment, and then sighed. "Yeah, I know. It's just - you know, I've finally got something to be proud of, and I just want to take advantage of it."
Hermione opened her mouth, but just as she was about to reply, a knock on the door came, and it then opened.
Rain appeared at the open doorway. "Have you decided yet?"
Harry took a final glance at his friends, before turning back to Rain, and answering. "We're joining."

~ ~ ~

The four of them; Harry, Hermione, Ron and Rain entered the Transport Room, and the teenagers each chose a raised circle - what Hermione informed them was technically called a Trans-Ring - to stand on.
"Just say 'Home'." Rain told them, watching from in front of them. "Tomorrow night, use the Floo powder to get here again. Just use the same words as last time."
"What about people missing us?" Hermione asked anxiously, and Rain groaned.
"I knew I'd forgotten to tell you something. Okay, when you get back, use the spell Transfero Memoria on your copy." she explained hastily. "That will transfer the memories of the lessons that your copy went to, to your own memories. That way, you won't have to catch up on anything.
"After you've finished doing that, use Destructo Incantatum to eliminate it."
Hermione's faced changed to one of understanding. "You've created copies of us?"
Rain nodded. "They act like you, but they don't really think for themselves, so don't hesitate to destroy them. They'll automatically be created when you come here, so you won't miss anything; the only way anyone can tell the difference from you and your copies, is by a blue 'D' shape on the palm, instead of your Spirit Mark." she explained immediately.
"Useful." Hermione muttered, just loud enough for Harry and Ron to hear, and then said loudly, "Home!"
For a second, she was bathed in a pale white light, and then without a sound, she was gone, along with the glow.
Following her example, Ron said the same, and he too was gone a moment later.
"Home." Harry said loudly, Rain watching him closely. Her look was different than usual; cold and brutal, but a second late it had changed back to its normal, cheerful self.
And then that expression, too, was gone, along with the room, as a white blush rose in his vision, the feeling of Within following, along with the luminous glow changing itself to the blacks and greys, from his first travelling.
These feelings and visions continued for a sixth of a minute, before Harry felt himself being spat out of the flames of the Gryffindor Common Rooms fireplace.
He was shoved roughly out of the crackling green warmth, and into the dark, red carpet as soon as he arrived; struggling to regain his balance (and dignity). Ron grabbed one of his arms, and pulled him further upright.
"Thanks, Ron." Harry gasped, adjusting his glasses, which had slipped nearly off his nose during the journey, even though it had been smooth.
Hermione was seated in one of the large armchairs, eyes shut, nearly asleep, reminding Harry that they had been away for - how long? It felt like hours, and, as Harry looked at his watch to check, he saw that it had been.
They had left at about ten o'clock, and it was now nearly half past one.
"We missed Astronomy." Hermione yawned out, eyes still closed. "We'd better find our copies and get to bed."
Ron snorted. "Looks like you're comfortable enough there." he muttered, and headed to the staircase. "I'll check the dormitories," he said as he left. "After Astronomy, they probably went there."
Hermione remained silent as the minor jibe, and for a moment Harry thought she had finally succumbed to sleep. A moment later, she proved him wrong by lifting herself shakily and stumbling sleepily to the stairs. If the clones are there, Harry realised, we won't be able to go the girl's dorm, after all. Hermione will have to do it herself.
Following the girl, he carried himself up the stairs, starting to feel the weight of his tiredness dragging him down. Now that the excitement of DEUS was over - for a while, at least - the tiredness which had been previously kept at bay, had charged in with a vengeance.
On the fifth flight up, Harry and Hermione parted ways, heading to their respective dorms with only a muffled 'g'night' from Hermione.
In the boys' dorm, Ron had collapsed on his bed. Harry tapped him on the shoulder, and Ron opened an eye and looked at him. "Your copy's in your bed." Ron muttered, so the other boys wouldn't wake. "The memory spell's really tiring, though." He closed his eye again, and was silent; Harry guessed that he had fallen asleep.
Harry paced over to his own bed, silently as possible, and stood by it. A figure could be seen under the sheets, looking exactly like himself. He paused, watching his double breathe in it's sleep, and brought out his wand.
He pointed it at the sleeping boy- no, he couldn't think of it like that, or he'd never be able to do it - and whispered, "Transfero Memoria."
The wood of the wand lit up for a second, and then dulled just as quickly as the memories of what 'Harry' had seen and done entered the real Harry's mind. Leaving Gryffindor Tower for the Astronomy lesson with Ron's copy. Learning various stages of the Moon and planets. Leaving, an hour later, back to Gryffindor Tower, joking with Ron about one of the Ravenclaws in the lesson. Tumbling into bed and falling asleep, exhausted.
And that was the moment that Harry realised that his copy didn't know he was a copy.

~ ~ ~

He stood for a second, running through the memories that he had transferred. They were not only memories of what 'Harry' had seen, said, and done, but what he had thought and felt.
Knowing that he couldn't kill this boy who was, in a way, himself; and yet he couldn't let him live; Harry froze, unsure of what to do, his wand still held to the copy.
It was quiet all round the tower, broken only by a sudden whispering behind him. A second later, the copy's eyes snapped open in shock.
Another second later, the copy was gone.
Harry swung round, not knowing what he expected to see. Ron lowered his wand. "Sorry mate." he apologised. "I had a hard time doing it myself."
Harry looked back at the now empty bed. "You killed him?"
"He wasn't really alive." Ron argued. "He just thought he was."
Harry glared at him, and opened his mouth to speak. "No." Ron said first. "You wouldn't have done it. You couldn't have. And then where would we be? No way to explain why you had a copy, or where you'd been; he might have killed you. Don't argue."
As Harry thought about this, he realised that Ron was right. He wouldn't have been able to do it, and having his copy around would hardly be easy to explain away.
"Yeah. You're right." he sighed, and Ron nodded. "Go to bed." Ron replied, and swung himself back under the covers.
Harry remained where he was for a moment longer, and then dragged himself under the sheets of his bed.

~ ~ ~

It was seven o'clock in the morning when Harry awoke, and the sunlight was streaming in through the two windows of the dorm. Picking himself off the bed, he showered, dressed and headed down for breakfast, leaving Neville alone in the dorm to sleep in.
Hermione was at the table, saving places for Ron and Harry when he arrived. "Where's Ron?" Harry asked, sitting down next to her. The rest had done him good, and he felt much better than the previous night.
"He's over at the sign-up sheets." Hermione informed him, nodding in the direction of the posters. "There's new ones up for Quidditch try-outs. The heads of houses posted them this morning."
Harry glanced over. A small crowd of chattering second-years, with a few elder pupils scattered here and there, were gathered round the wall. Ron emerged from the group, grinning broadly as he fought his way past a pair of seventh years.
"I did it!" he announced proudly as he reached the pair. "I signed up for Quidditch try-outs as a keeper."
"No-one mentioned try-outs to me." Harry frowned as he reached for a plate of sausages. "When are they?"
"This afternoon, although it's only for Slytherin and Ravenclaw, though. Plus, only the heads of houses choose, so you don't have to go."
Hermione's head shot up. "The heads choose? I thought the teams did."
Ron stifled a grin. "Yeah, well. It's all because of Malfoy, isn't it? They know the teams can be bought with money instead of skill, so they've given the jobs to the teachers."
"Pity. I was hoping to help choose." Harry sighed. Ron rushed in. "Never mind. Tomorrow's the first Quidditch match - Slytherin versus Ravenclaw." He chewed thoughtfully on a bit of bacon. "Is it me, or does this bacon taste funny?"
Hermione and Harry looked at him questioningly, and Ron amended, "Not. . . weird, really. Just a bit softer than usual. And it has a sort of tang in it."
Before anyone could reply, his eyes bulged wide, and with a tiny pop, there was a pig sitting in his place.
A pig with red hair, freckles, and a moustache.
And then, before Harry could even take this piece of information in, there were loud pops, sizzles, bangs, and flashes of light from around the hall.
When Harry could see and hear again, a few moments later, the first thing he noticed was that there were an awful lot of animals and multi-coloured people sitting around.
Then, Professor McGonagall, her face a brilliant red in rage, slowly stood. "Just who," she said, her voice soft and dangerous. "is responsible for this?"
Everyone's hands, but the trios, went shakily up in the air.

~ ~ ~

Sorry it took so long to bring out. My muse went on strike, I couldn't get on this PC (*glares at brother and homework*), and I'm trying to run through the chapters of the two other fics I'm writing. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon, although I can't promise anything, and Quidditch tryouts are coming soon! Never fear, I haven't forgotten the Curses or Duelling Clubs, either.