Reflections

Chapter 30

The ringing of the little alarm clock on her nightstand rescued Ginny from her torturous dream of what could have been. At first, she'd had the dream every night after breaking up with Harry, but for the last week or so she'd been able to sleep a bit better.

She'd almost regretted her decision a couple of times when she saw how miserable Harry was, but she was convinced that he'd see things her way in time…that they weren't meant to be a couple. For both their sakes, she hoped he'd see it sooner rather than later, for she'd be miserable as long as he was miserable.

Groggily, she pulled on her dressing gown and slipped her feet into her fluffy yellow slippers before stumbling down the stairs to the kitchen. The sound of someone crying stopped her from continuing her quest for breakfast. The sound came from the parlour and as she stepped through the doorway, she saw Gavin leaning on a narrow table set against the wall under a large hanging mirror. She thought he would've been at the Transit Dome to say goodbye to Mayumi.

A Japanese delegation, headed by the emperor himself, had arrived in Concordia on Imbolc. Now, eight days later, they were leaving again and taking their heir with them. The call of her ancestors had been too hard to ignore. Mayumi was leaving the Order of Illumination.

The agreement had been reached a couple of days ago, after Mayumi's conditions had been met. Part of the conditions for her return had been the complete absolution of Shinji and Yuriko for their helping the Order with Matsu. She'd also managed to nix Matsu's suicide sentence, though her sister didn't seem too happy about it. Ginny had a feeling she would rather have killed herself than live with her shame.

As it was, she wasn't going back to Japan. She'd asked Commander Ironheart to grant her asylum until the expedition for the Mirror Realm set off in mid-November. She'd got the idea after reading Andy Chubb's recently published book about Pecos Bill's adventures in the Mirror Realm, and decided to seek her fortune in that realm and start with a clean slate. The old wizard himself had decided to return for good as well, since the changes in his native realm had proven too overwhelming for him. For her part, Ginny felt like joining them too. It almost hurt too much to be in Harry's presence, knowing that they could never be together.

"Are you all right?" she asked, walking over to the table and easily throwing her arm around his shoulder. It felt odd doing so, since most men she knew were taller than she was.

"Not really. She was the one, and now she's gone. Someone like me can't marry a Japanese princess." He sniffed, mopping at his teary eyes. "I don't know what I'll do without her."

Ginny turned him around and pulled him into a hug. "It'll pass!"

"I doubt it. But I suppose I'll learn to live with it, though being apart from her will be hard," he sighed. "I can't believe you chose to be apart from Harry."

Ginny pushed him away. "That's different," she said sharply.

"Yeah, you were even closer. Why are you doing this? Everyone can see you're both miserable." Gavin stepped in front of her to look her straight in the eyes. She'd charmed her uniform boots to add an inch and a half to her height, but without them she was barely an inch taller than Gavin, right at eye-level. She averted her gaze.

"It's for the best."

"I fail to see your logic. Everyone is miserable and you say it's for the best?" Gavin gave her a puzzled frown.

"Don't you see?" Ginny pleaded. "If he and I are to be together, I want—I need—to be the first one in his heart. Of course I would've shared that place with my children…our children, but Holly isn't mine. Everything was so perfect until she turned up. Then it all fell apart. I know it's selfish and petty of me to think that, but I can't help it. I can't even explain it, I just know it's how I feel. And I could never have asked him to send Holly away just so we could be together. Knowing Harry, he might have actually done it, but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. So I decided to back off. I'm sure the hurt will lessen over time. I know it doesn't sound like I'm making any sense, but—"

"You're making sense. I know how you feel," Gavin said sadly. "I never would've asked Mayumi to turn away her family for my sake either. For me, everything fell apart when I found out she was a princess. I knew it would only be a matter of time before they'd come to take her away form me."

Ginny felt a rush of gratitude towards Gavin for his understanding and hugged him tightly for a moment before releasing him. "Have you eaten?"

"I'm not really hungry," he said listlessly.

"Neither am I. But I force myself to eat anyway. There's no need to let the body suffer along with the heart, is there?"

Gavin smiled. "Want to keep your friends off your back, do you?"

"If they see I'm losing weight, they'll be all over me. I just want to be left alone."

"That makes sense," he relented. "All right, I'll have a bowl of cereal."

While they were having breakfast, Ginny heard the front door open.

"Gavin?" Lilia's soprano voice called.

"In the kitchen," Gavin answered.

Moments later, Lilia Rosaria and George Ramos strolled into the kitchen, arm in arm. After their second date, the two had decided that a relationship in the traditional sense would lead to disaster. However, it was obvious that they were more than friends. Lilia had called it a modern relationship. Of all people, it had been Gudrun who'd cautioned the younger witch, saying that it would only be a matter of time before either partner would begin craving more than their relationship offered, and that one or both of them would be hurt in the process.

"Why weren't you at the Transit Dome?" Lilia asked Gavin.

"I already said my goodbyes."

"Really? When?"

"Earlier," Gavin replied tersely.

"But—"

"Excuse us," Ramos interrupted Lilia's line of questioning and pulled her out of the kitchen, brushing past Galatea as she came in.

The tall witch bid them a good morning and began rummaging around in the kitchen, fixing herself a rather large breakfast. She had recently entered her third trimester, and the bulge in her belly was becoming more and more prominent.

Then Ramos and Lilia returned and sat down opposite Ginny and Gavin. Lilia glanced at Gavin again but held her tongue. Ramos must have told her to let him be. After a few minutes of work, Galatea loaded her breakfast onto a tray and carried it out of the kitchen.

"Jeez, didn't your mother breastfeed you?" Lilia snapped at Ramos, looking extremely annoyed and more than a little jealous after Galatea had left. Ramos had been staring at Galatea almost the entire time while she'd been fixing her breakfast. Her belly wasn't the only thing that had become more prominent, and Ramos had clearly noticed. Even though it hadn't been obvious due to her height, Galatea had already been respectably endowed before her pregnancy. But she'd grown almost two cup-sizes since then.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know damn well what!"

"Pregnant women fascinate me."

"Bull! That witch you were staring at last week wasn't pregnant! I'm not good enough for you?"

Ramos looked scandalised. "What witch?"

"The one outside the Quidditch shop!"

"There was a witch?"

"Don't tell me you didn't seen her!"

"I remember seeing the sale on broom maintenance kits and the new Relampago."

Lilia suddenly looked uncertain. "You mean you weren't…?"

"I may have been looking in someone's direction," Ramos said diplomatically. "But I wasn't looking at her."

"Oh…" Lilia blushed. "Uh, would you like anything to eat?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Ramos said coldly, looking offended.

"Well, I'd, better go change," Lilia said awkwardly and left the kitchen.

Ramos slumped in his chair and released a big breath.

Gavin looked up from his cereal and smiled. "The witch, was she pretty?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ginny rolled her eyes. She knew all about the so-called 'man killer' questions. According to men, women could sometimes ask a question to which a yes or no answer wouldn't do. If they were to answer no, the women wouldn't believe them. And if they answered yes, it would be even worse. Examples of these questions were: 'Do I look fat in this dress? Is my butt too big?' or 'Is she prettier than me?' She'd overheard Bill and Charlie talk about it when she was nine. Apparently the trick was to answer evasively and, in case of the last question, to have a good story ready and pretend to be offended by the suggestion that they'd been looking at anyone else. "It's all right. I grew up with lots of brothers. I know all your secrets. Lilia may have believed it because she only has sisters, but I can see right through you. Don't worry, I won't tell Lilia!" she added with a grin, when she saw Ramos blanch. Then she rose and left the kitchen to go upstairs. She had to start at the Citadel in less then an hour for a very special project.

"Okay, so there was a witch. I don't know what was wrong with me. I had to do my best not to stare. She must've been part-Veela. I mean, damn she was…" Ramos' hushed voice faded away quickly as the distance increased and new voices entered her range of hearing. "…care how I feel!" Lilia's grim voice came from Gudrun's room. "I know we're not exclusive or anything, and I don't care who he looks at when we're not together, but…" The voice was muffled as Ginny closed the door to her own room. She shook her head. It looked like Gudrun's prediction was coming true.

*

Hermione looked at the tiny, disc-shaped crystal shard in front of her. She, Ginny, Aberforth and Commander Ironheart had developed it. A similar one with different functions had been implanted in Mayumi's skull on the surface of the brain, to protect her from the Imperius Curse and warn the Rangers if anyone tried to use any mind-affecting spell or potion on her. It had been a necessary procedure, since Mayumi knew a lot of sensitive information about the Order, and it had still been a better option than selective Memory Charms that would have left gaping holes in her memory.

The one in front of her however, had a different purpose. If they'd done everything right, this one would suppress the parasitic personality inside Ranger Quist's mind indefinitely. That way they could take him out of his unconscious state and let him function normally until a permanent cure could be found.

"Good morning!" Aberforth said brightly upon entering the special ward, accompanied by Ginny.

"Morning, Hermione," Ginny said. "When do we begin?"

"As soon as Lieutenant Gaal and Captain Sharif get here," Hermione answered. The two senior Rangers would be taking over Quist's care and keep an eye on developments, provided that their plan worked, of course. Hermione and Aberforth would be put back in charge of finding ways to destroy the Periapt of Absolute Power, or to find a way to remove it from Wolfe, if he managed to bond with it.

As they deciphered the manuscripts, they'd discovered that the stone could literally merge with its possessor. Merlin had been able to remove it because of his special power, which had allowed him to distinguish Zerbino from the assimilated wizards. But an alternative had to be found, since there were no super sorcerers like Merlin there to help them.

The manuscripts had also revealed that Merlin had taken the stone into the Mirror Realm, but that an Archidiaconus had gone looking for the stone after Merlin had returned, hoping to harness the stone's power for the family. Unfortunately, he'd found it. For the next couple of centuries, the Archidiaconus family had done their best to marry as many known descendants from Mind Readers as possible. They had literally tried to breed the ability into the family, so they'd have someone who could use the stone.

Hermione shook her head. Luckily, the attempts had been abandoned and long-forgotten when Durandana Duvallier, Commander Ironheart's great-grandmother and a granddaughter of an Archidiaconus from the main branch of the family, manifested the inborn mind reading ability.

She was brought back to the present situation when Gaal and Sharif arrived. Quist hovered behind them, strapped to a floating stretcher.

"Good morning, everyone!" Sharif said. "Hermione, I see you got the aural analysers." He nodded to the small table that held a few artefacts they'd use in the procedure. "Right then, let's start!"

Sharif grabbed a pair of goggles that would allow him to see the results of his spells within Quist's body. Gaal had a pair that was specialised for artificing. He'd be checking if the shard worked properly. Aberforth put on the goggles that could detect the minutest shifts in magical auras of both living things and inanimate objects better than any spell could. Ginny and Hermione would be monitoring his vitals and brainwave activity, ready to jump in and help Sharif if Quist's body were to reject the implant.

Quist was transferred to a special reclining chair. Straps appeared around his legs and arms to restrict his movement. Then Captain Sharif took position behind his head with the tiny crystal shard. He waved his wand while muttering an incantation for an Insertion Charm. He touched the shard with his wand, turning it into a bead of light. Then he pressed his wand against Quist's temple, twisting it this way and that and manoeuvring the shard into position inside Quist's skull. When that had been accomplished, Gaal took Sharif's place and worked to activate the shard.

The telemetry Hermione's station was getting from the chair showed an immediate increase in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as a drastic change in brainwave activity. Another mirror screen, which had been keyed to receive telemetry from the aural analysers, showed how Quist's aura was changing slowly. The filthy purple that indicated possession was slowly lightening. The screen spilt in half to show the telemetry from the goggles Sharif had now donned. It was identical to Aberforth's, so at least they knew the analysers were working properly.

The following twenty minutes or so were tense as the purple aura gradually cleared up until only the barest trace was visible. When it became clear that it wouldn't clear up any more, the decision to bring Quist back to consciousness was made. Captain Sharif injected him with a powerful restorative, and Hermione saw its effects as it spread through Quist's body. Moments later, the Texan's eyes opened.

He squinted as he looked around, trying to limit the stinging to his eyes caused by the light he was no longer used to. "Is it gone?" he asked with a raspy voice.

"No," Captain Sharif said earnestly. "But there's a good chance that we can keep it from interfering with your mind."

"Will it ever go away?"

"We're working on it," Gaal said.

Quist's eyes came to rest on Ginny. "How long have I been out? I don't know her. Is she Gravenstein's sister? Who's the old guy?"

Sharif laughed. "No, but she certainly could have been. You've been out for about ten months, and her name is Ginny Weasley. The old guy is Aberforth Dumbledore."

Quist frowned and muttered to himself before a look of recognition appeared on his groggy face. "Right, the girl Potter dreamt about. Pity he went evil like that. Did you get him?"

"That was an impostor," Sharif laughed. "The real Harry came back and destroyed him. It's a long story."

"Ah, right. So it's okay between you two now?" Quist asked Ginny.

"It will be," Ginny replied. Hermione noticed that she suddenly looked haunted. In a way, she was haunted. Lots of situations would confront her with the past, whether she wanted to face them or not.

"A lot has happened," Sharif said. "I'll tell you all about it later. Right now I need you to be patient, because we'd like to run a series of tests to make sure that the P.P.I.—Parasitic Personality Inhibitor—works properly. It'll take a couple of hours, but if we're satisfied in the end, you're basically free to roam and eventually resume you duties, if you want to."

"Some of the tests will be highly unpleasant," Gaal warned.

"Anything will be a welcome change to ten months of oblivion," Quist said sardonically.

*

"They should've left me in that coma! Man, did some of those tests hurt. But I'm glad to see you guys all the same."

"Ten months of sleep just made you soft, Bill," Khan teased. "Not to worry. We'll whip you back into shape in no time."

"You're lucky you're a wizard," Harry said. "That physical conditioning potion you took fixed you up overnight. It would've taken ages for a Muggle to recover."

"So when can we expect to see you back in training?" Faust asked.

"They still want to run some more tests to make sure this crystal thingy in my head can really keep the parasitic personality trapped. And after that, there are some people I need to talk to first," Quist said. "Ten months is a long time to put your life on hold. Wolfe was only out for about half that long. Where is he, by the way?"

Harry didn't have to say anything and neither did the others. Their gloomy expressions said it all.

"No…not Wolfe!" Quist groaned. "When? How?"

Harry wasn't sure if they should tell Quist exactly what had happened. Many other Rangers besides Galatea were still unaware of the truth. He decided he'd leave the decision up to Captain Faust.

"October…Azkaban. He went back in time to save Harry's life, and Ginny's," the captain said. "But he broke a lot of rules in the process. The Dementors sucked out his soul when they recognised him."

"I don't believe it!" Quist erupted. "Whatever he may have done, he did for a good cause. He shouldn't have been punished. What was Ironheart thinking?"

"Wasn't here," Khan grumbled. "Anyway, there was little he could've done. But at least Aberforth Dumbledore fixed Nomvete's skewed perception and interpretation of the code."

"That won't bring him back."

"Unfortunately, we can't undo all the evil we have done," Faust sighed.

"I know that as well as anyone in here," Quist said morosely. "How…how is Padma? God, if I'd thought there would have been any other way to warn you about my possession, I would've done so. But that hardly makes it right. I need to apologise to her. I really liked her, you know. I…" He stopped when his voice grew too rough with emotion.

Padma…Harry had nearly forgotten about her. He didn't know how well she was coping with what Quist had done to her. Apparently she was stable enough to have a roommate, and Perse hadn't reported anything out of the ordinary about Padma.

"She might not be ready to see you. It was a terrible experience for her," Faust said.

"What about a letter?"

"That would be safer." Harry nodded.

"So, Potter…what exactly happened to you anyway? You disappeared in India, and then what? Captain Sharif told me the evil you wasn't really you?"

Harry then recounted the story again. He didn't mind going into details, since he hadn't told the story in a long time. It actually helped him remember some things that he'd forgotten. He decided to tell Quist about Holly as well, thinking that it'd only be a matter of time anyway before Quist would find out on his own.

After he was done, Quist looked appropriately impressed. "Pecos Bill…I don't believe it, he's still alive after all these years. I was named after him because he's my ancestor, you know? Not that it's special or anything. My great-great-great grandma was his ninth wife, and he married lots of times and had lots of kids. In Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, there isn't a pureblood or half-blood native to the area who isn't a descendant of his."

"I believe he visited your great-grandmother when he was promoting his book in the United States." Faust nodded. "She's one of his last surviving grandchildren."

"Yeah, a hundred and thirty-one years old, and she isn't showing any signs of quitting," Quist said fondly. "I can't wait to read that book."

Harry was very curious himself. According to what Chubb had told him in a letter a few months ago, he'd only seen the Immortals' Circle. It was an area roughly the size of France, which happened to be the most dangerous place in the Mirror Realm because mortal magic didn't work properly there, and because of the temporal vortexes. Outside the circle, there were countless civilisations of magical creatures, and magic seemed to work almost normally.

"Sorry to be the one to break up the visit, but Harry needs to start his training," Khan said seriously.

Harry sighed. He'd learnt a thing or two from Merlin's memory, but with Khan and Riyadi's help, he'd refined it immensely. Even so, he still had a long way to go before he'd be good enough to face Wolfe. Khan had always said that Wolfe was much better than he'd ever let on in training, as evidenced by the mere fact that he was still alive when Harry went back for him in India. Surviving that long in unfavourable conditions demanded superb skill. Khan had even speculated that Wolfe might have defeated Skaras if those caves hadn't been so narrow and unfamiliar to Wolfe. If they'd been out on the surface, it would've made Apparating much easier, giving Wolfe more favourable possibilities to choose from.

"Later, then," Quist nodded as Harry and Khan left the ward to go to the training hall.

"I wasn't planning on going to the training hall today," Khan said out of the blue. "You haven't been progressing quickly enough, and Aceng and I feel we might have to take a shortcut."

"What?" Harry asked, incredulous and a bit insulted. "I've been working really hard at this. How fast do you and Lieutenant Riyadi expect me to learn things anyway?"

"Oh, that's not what I meant," Khan said apologetically. "You've been doing as well as can be expected…better even. The problem is that we might not have enough time to teach you more advanced fighting techniques the traditional way. We'd like to take you to a reflecting master so you can gain the necessary knowledge in an immersion pool."

Harry had heard about immersion pools and reflecting masters, but he'd never seen any. These wizards explored the many feats of magic that could be accomplished with mirrors, be it directly or indirectly. The immersion pool worked by literally immersing a person in the relevant subject matter, which consisted of the thoughts and experiences of experts on the subject, accelerating its mastery. The process had been described like bathing in a pensieve full of instructional memories and absorbing the knowledge. Unfortunately, there were downsides as well. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Weak minds have been known to collapse," Khan nodded. "That isn't something you need to worry about, of course, but we are aware that certain recent developments in your life may have left you more vulnerable. The decision, therefore, is up to you."

Harry grimaced. Khan had been referring to Ginny, of course. "Will the damage be irreversible if one's mind collapses?"

"I've been told it isn't."

Harry made his decision. "I'll take my chances. If I don't master this stuff in time, I'll be hurt for sure when I face off with the dark general. And I doubt I'd survive that."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"All right. Then we're going down to the maintenance bay. I've got a Portkey ready."

Harry frowned. "Just like that? Won't the reflection master need time to gather all the necessary thoughts? And what does a reflection master know about fighting?"

Khan shook his head and smiled. "Already done. Captain Faust, Aceng and I have taken turns interviewing several martial arts experts and collecting the necessary data. The Kung Fu people weren't too thrilled because Kung Fu is all about devotion. They didn't like the fact that you'd learn it via a short cut. But when I told them the knowledge would fade after a while and that it was for a really good cause, they chose to help us out."

"What good will this do if it fades after a while?"

"Don't worry. It'll last for about a year. That's plenty of time for us to teach it to you more adequately. And in the meantime, you'll already have the necessary skill."

"Teach me how? Won't I already know everything?"

"Actually, the reflection master told me he can lock away the knowledge inside your mind and out of your immediate reach, to be activated only by thinking a specific code-thought. That way it won't interfere with your proper training."

"Handy…" Harry said.

Just then, Gudrun rounded the corner at the intersection. She'd come from the medical wing and was beaming. When she reached Harry and Kahn, she spontaneously reached over and hugged both men in turn.

"All right, Gudrun?" Harry asked, immediately realising that it was probably a stupid question, since Gudrun's expression was one of pure delight.

"Everything's great! I just came back from a check up with Serafina. I'm four weeks pregnant! I can't believe it! I thought we'd missed the opportunity because they'd worked Matt and I so hard when the time was right. We had to be very creative with scheduling our meetings. It must've happened when…" Gudrun trailed off, grinning sheepishly.

"Four weeks, eh?" Kahn grinned. "Well, if it's a boy, you can name him Boreas."

"You know?" Gudrun gasped.

"Everybody who talks to Serafina regularly knows how you and Matt disappeared into the Boreas for fifteen minutes when you should have been fixing it. Everyone drew the same conclusion when Rachel Esklove turned up in the mess hall and told Serafina that you sent her away for twenty minutes."

"Rachel!" Gudrun smiled ruefully. "Telling everyone…I'll have to get her back for that."

"Or you can thank for her for turning a blind eye by naming the kid Rachel if it's a girl," Khan grinned.

"Rachel…that could work. But I'm not so sure about Boreas." Gudrun laughed. "I was thinking something less classical. Oh, that Portkey you needed is ready. It's on the second shelf to your right when you walk into the Portkey room. I gave it a green neon label so you can't miss it. Will you be using it soon?"

"We're headed there right now," Khan said.

"Good luck," Gudrun smiled. "Now, I've got to tell Matt…and don't tell anyone else about this. I only wanted to tell Matt now and wait for the first trimester to be over before I told anyone else, but I couldn't help myself! Oh, what am I talking about…Serafina's probably spreading the word right now."

"Then you'd better hurry, if you want to be the one to tell your husband," Khan said.

Gudrun followed his advice and set off at a fast pace.

A slight feeling of anxiety came over Harry as they neared the maintenance bay. He didn't want the added stress of bumping into Ginny at that moment. Fortunately he didn't, and he reached the Portkey storage room without incident.

Khan excused himself for a moment, telling Harry that he'd be right back, and left Harry alone for a minute or two before returning with a pouch. "We'll need these," he said.

Their Portkey took them to a room filled with all kinds of magical mirrors. Most of them were complete, although there were several in various stages of creation. A chubby young witch with a very long blonde hair worn in a braid brushed passed them, ignoring them as if they weren't even there.

"As I live and breathe! All right, Harry?" an excited voice behind them said.

Harry turned around and recognised the face, though he couldn't immediately place the young man. He'd filled out quite a bit since Harry had last seen him. "Dennis Creevey?"

"That's right! Welcome to Paris."

"Paris? That's where we are?"

"Location, location, location. That's what Master Karoli always says. I hope I'll become a reflection master someday. Only the best make it past reflection adept. I'm a novice apprentice."

"I heard you wanted to become an Auror," Harry said, remembering what Hermione had told him. "Didn't it work out?"

"I was doing well enough, but I decided it wasn't my thing. This is much more interesting."

"What about her?" Harry nodded towards the blonde witch. "Is she an apprentice too?"

"Yeah, but not of mirror magic. Her name's Michele Delacour…Gabrielle's cousin on her dad's side. She's an artist, paints magical portraits. We share the premises with Gabrielle's mum, who is the master painter."

"Dennis?" a rather deep but distinctly female voice boomed. It came from the stairs that lead down into a cellar of some kind.

"Yes, Miss Gravenstein, our visitors have arrived."

"Well, get them downstairs, boy!" the woman said. Harry noticed she had a heavy German accent and wondered if she was related to Heidi. This was further reinforced when they arrived downstairs and saw the woman. Though her facial features were a bit less delicate, she shared the same unusual red hair and brown eye combination with Heidi, and—Harry realised with another pang to his heart—Ginny. The main difference was that this woman was as tall as Matt, although she wasn't thin and awkward-looking like the women that height tended to be. She was normally proportioned, suggesting a dash of giant blood, though it had to be less than Helga's since she was within the human height range.

"Hello Ilse," Khan greeted the woman. "This is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Ilse Gravenstein, junior reflecting adept and Heidi's sister."

"Half-sister," Ilse corrected. She gestured to a darkened corner, where an even larger woman was sitting in a rocking chair, knitting a sweater by hand while two more sweaters were being knitted by hovering needles. Though she was sitting down, Harry estimated her to be roughly Helga's size. "My mother."

The woman muttered a greeting in German but otherwise didn't acknowledge their presence.

"She is senior adept, but this is her day off. She likes to knit," Ilse continued. "I shall take you to the master now, yes?"

"That's all right! I know the way," Khan said.

"See you later, Harry!" Dennis said cheerfully as Khan led Harry deeper into the cellar. They came upon a large mirror about eight feet tall and four feet wide.

"It's like any magical barrier. He's expecting you, so you should be able to step right through."

Harry nodded. But not wanting to crash into an unyielding surface, he placed his hand against the mirror first. He was satisfied when it slipped right through the surface, and he followed with the rest of his body. On the other side there was a narrow spiralling stairwell that led them down even further. The walls were not lined with torches. Instead, magical mirrors were bolted to the ceiling, acting like skylights. Harry could even see clouds floating past inside them.

The reflection master could very well have been an older version of Snape, though his nose was even more beak-like and his greasy hair was liberally streaked with grey. He also had a respectably long grey goatee, separated into two thick braids.

"Ah, you have arrived. Good. We will proceed." No introductions or pleasantries. He simply pointed to the pool, which was about ten feet across, lined with polished steel plates that were pieced together to form a slightly faceted mirror. Next to the pool was a screen. "Behind the screen there is a special garment you must wear inside the pool. Remove your clothing and put it on."

Once behind the screen, Harry took off his uniform and underwear and stepped into a silver bodysuit. It seemed a little loose at first, but it quickly began shrinking to fit him snugly…very snugly, revealing the details of his musculature and…other things. He imagined he looked like a trapeze artist, or one of those weird Muggle fruitcakes who danced in cages at some of those night clubs. When he looked into the mirror on the inside of his screen to see how ridiculous he looked, however, he only saw his hands. He could still see his body when he looked down, but in the mirror it was invisible.

"Hey Harry, are you done yet?"

"I look like a fairy!" Harry complained as he stepped from behind the screen.

"I assure you the suit's properties are of a functional nature," the master said. "Style or lack thereof has nothing to do with it." He flicked his wand and something that looked like an emergency stretcher made out of aluminium foil came floating out of the corner of the chamber.

"For your peace of mind, I will first explain how the immersion pool works," he continued. "You will lie in the pool. As you can see, it is only three feet at its deepest. That clear jelly-like fluid you see is a potion that conducts the thoughts and memories through the pool and allows you to absorb them. Not only does it do that, but it also allows you to breathe through your skin instead of your mouth and nose, and conditions your body to cope with and execute the knowledge of martial arts instructions, for example."

Then he showed Harry the pouch Khan had brought along and took out something that looked like a diamond. "These are crystalline memories. You have seen the liquefied kind in pensieves. I will put this into a slot on the back of that mirror—" he gestured to a large umbrella-shaped mirror hanging on the ceiling on their right "—which will hang over the pool once you are in, and it will release the memories into the pool. The mirrors in the pool and the large one above it will reflect the subject material towards you again and again until everything has been absorbed. I have about two thousand hours worth of instruction in these crystals. The pool accelerates learning one hundred-fold for the average person, which means twenty hours in the pool in total. The average mind needs a rest after about four hours, but that is variable. I have had clients go on for as long as six hours. Any questions?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then lie on the stretcher. It will lower you into the pool. You will feel weightless, and you will float at a depth of eighteen inches."

Harry barely felt a thing as he was lowered into the goo, which was only slightly cooler than his body temperature. It was an odd sensation. He tried to breathe experimentally; felt like he was breathing, yet he knew no air was coming though his nose or mouth. The goo didn't impede his vision too much either, and he could clearly see the large mirror being lowered over him. Seconds after the mirror had taken up its position, Harry was blinded by a flash of white light reflecting off of it. When he opened his eyes again, he didn't see the mirror, but instead saw flashes of thoughts and memories. It seemed incomprehensible at first, but after a few moments it all made sense to him and he began to absorb the information He felt like he was having dozens of epiphanies a minute. If only normal learning was that easy.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when the mirror over him was finally removed. It seemed like he'd only been floating in there for five minutes, but his sudden hunger suggested he'd been in there much longer. The sliver stretcher slipped into the fluid and slid under him. As he broke the surface, he suddenly felt the urge to breathe again, but the fluid clogged his airways. A single heave and cough was enough to clear his mouth, and he blew the remaining fluid out of each nostril by pinching the other shut.

"Congratulations, Harry!" Khan's voice sounded a bit distorted, and Harry realised that some of the goo still had to be clogging his ears. "You broke a record. You were in there for ten hours straight! How do you feel?"

Harry briefly closed his eyes. The information swirled through his head. Then he opened his eyes and beamed. "I know Kung Fu!"

***

Gogirl: The fight between Harry and Wolfe will happen in this fic. And again I say that it is not a red herring. Only one will emerge from the battle. I know it is hard to believe me with my track record, but I'm telling you the truth.

bane: I agree, ;-) The Periapt/Amulet of Absolute Power does sound a tad corny. Unlike Tolkien however, I don't have the time (nor skill) to invent my own language and thus give the Periapt a more exotic name. As for you writing efforts, keep trying. I saw your thread on GT. The advice given there was sound. For the answer to your second review, see my answer to Gogirl's review.

BigDaddy753: Hey, Ironheart couldn't help himself. The instincts were too strong.

Lord Dreadnault: Truthfully, I haven't decided if Harry manages to pull off the PF transformation. And don't worry about Ginny. She isn't completely beyond reason. As for your second e-mail, I know an ex-publisher. He told me that the story, (with alterations to turn it into an original fic) would have potential, but that I still need lots of work on my technique and lots of material prior to writing a novel. (I only have a skeleton plot and make things up as I go along from there…hardly optimal for writing.) But I still have plenty of time to improve.

nycgal: Whew, four hours is a long march.

LadySiri: Anatomically means with regards to anatomy. I read your story, and I'm taking my time writing an analysis about it. (With your permission, I'll send you an elaborate e-mail about it) I also read the reviews they left you. They're not flames, except for one telling you that your type of story has been done before. That one was the closest to a flame. Phantom Reviewer and Anolinde were actually trying to help you.

jona: Yeah, the narrative in that scene was rather heartrending, eh? When will you finish DoR?

Jake: I think Ginny's behaviour in OoTP is exactly what Ron meant in CoS, about never shutting up normally.

Angel of the Flames: Hmmm, did you come up with that quote?

Foxfur: 1) Though this won't make the screen, in my notes Matt is a distant relative of Merlin's, but not a descendant, since in my universe Merlin never had any children. 2) Your theory on the development of the story is way off too. ;-) The Amulet subplot will be resolved in this story. 3) LOL, no, what's happening between Nicolai and Mary is love. Even though Nicolai entered puberty early, he's still too young to manifest his incubus powers, and Mary's too young to be affected by them. So that's not where the attraction comes from. The fact that he saved her life did influence her behaviour, and she does trust Nicolai deeply. As for the swimming lessons, she'd be comfortable if they start in the shallows, right?

Calen: Are you just baiting me or are you really too stupid to understand the justification for Ginny's behaviour?

Jane Grey: I agree that the Pulp Fiction conversation and this chapter in general don't add a whole lot to the plot right away, but they will become relevant in the third story. :-)

CatatonicReaction: What's a particle accelerator?

Casual Reader: Yes, Nicolai will be more important in the third story.

Lioness-07863: No, the similarity is purely coincidental. I didn't take it from the mummy.

Stefanie: They would go in November and return with the full eclipse in December. But that was December 2002, and the epilogue of EaL and MW up until chapter 28 were still 2001.

Blue Roses: Am I crazy? I've wondered about that many times. But the reason why that comment about my writing only for reviews stung so much was because it was written by a loyal reader and reviewer. If it had been an anonymous person I would have shrugged it off.

Petals: I'm planning a total of 36 chapters, epilogue included.