Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor

Impressions of Romania

When Harry entered the Headmaster's Office that Thursday evening for his Maturo Auctus Training Professor Snape was sitting rigidly in one of the chairs facing the Headmaster's Desk. Harry glanced over at his Potions Professor and fellow spy for the Order of the Phoenix and nodded. "Severus," he said in greeting.

Severus glanced up. "Harry," he said almost cordially.

When Harry had settled himself in into one of the other chairs and turned his attention to Albus the Headmaster sighed tiredly and Harry could sense the old man's fatigue. "We have a problem, Harry," Dumbledore said.

Harry looked up expectantly, hoping his mentor would elaborate. "Severus," Dumbledore said, turning the floor over to his Potions Master.

Snape shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I fear my cover may have been blown. As a member of the Dark Lord's inner circle I should have known everything about the planned attack on you long before it happened. However, the only information that was revealed in my presence was that an attack was being planned. And even then I fear that the information may have been inadvertently divulged.

"You recorded Sunday's meeting accurately. However, as you noted, no date was revealed. I have no doubt the attack will take place; I just don't know when."

""But . . . how?" Harry asked.

"We do not know," Dumbledore said gravely. "Which is why we must ask you to dedicate a portion of each evening to surveillance. I do not want you to neglect your studies or wear yourself out, Harry, but we really do need your help in this matter. I hesitate bringing this up because it is usually viewed as an incredibly complex task and I do not wish for you to burn yourself out but one of the Ethereal Abilities I studied, but was never able to master, is the ability to store an Ethereal Memory in a crystal ball, much as we store a regular memory in a pensieve. The primary difference being that you do not necessarily have to 'experience' the memory to record it. According to the texts, all you need do is establish a connection between your conscious, ethereal self and the sphere and tell it when to begin and when to stop recording. All you have to do, then, is observe and the crystal will record the event for later viewing and study."

Harry nodded his head. "Yes," he said. "I read something about that towards the end of that book you gave me while I was reading it Sunday afternoon."

The Headmaster's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Tell me, Harry," he asked. "Have you finished it yet?"

Harry blushed slightly and looked down at his hands for several seconds, keenly aware of the two men who were watching him with renewed interest. "That's just it, sir. I read it while I was practicing my Ethereal Magic and as soon as I turned my attention towards the book all of the information in the book, as well as all of the experience behind that information made itself known to me. I still remember most of it because I didn't know what to think so I stored it in my brain before going back and reading the book. It took me less than an hour to read the entire book from cover to cover and everything I read just reinforced my first impressions."

"Ah," Dumbledore said sitting back in his chair and gazing contentedly over his half-moon spectacles at Harry. "You have stumbled upon one of the wondrous advantages of Ethereal Magic. By merely touching a book you can become aware of all of the information it holds. And if the author has first-hand experience with the subject matter you will become aware of it was well."

"I guess I wouldn't get much out of Lockheart's books then would I," Harry mumbled.

Severus snorted at this and the Headmaster laughed out loud. "No, I'm afraid not, Harry. You would have gotten the information but I am afraid you would have gotten very little experience."

Several minutes later, after talking around the subject and discussing what should be recorded with both Severus and Harry, Albus turned to Harry and, with a serious expression on his face, asked, "So, are you willing to give it a go, Harry?"

Harry hesitated briefly then, after glancing at Snape, said, "I'll do my best. But what about Severus?"

Snape scowled. "I will still be attending the meetings, Po . . . Harry, because while you will be recording I will be interpreting your recordings for the Order."

Harry could tell that a part of Snape wanted to insult him for missing this detail but he let it slide. If they were going to work as a team then there was no need to aggravate his partner any more than absolutely necessary.

Standing up and walking over to a cupboard, Professor Dumbledore withdrew a small wooden box and handed it to Harry. "Here you go," he said. "This particular ball has been wiped clean in anticipation of you acceptance. You will have to program it to your particular frequency for recording purposes and restrict access to its contents to myself, Severus, Minerva, Alastor and, of course, you. We do not want too many people to know that we are able to spy on Tom in this way."

Opening the box Harry found a finely polished, clear crystal sphere, roughly five centimeters in diameter, nestled in a dark green velvet cradle. He could feel the raw energy radiating from deep within the heart of the crystalline structure and reached out with his mind to touch and examine its properties. What he found was the living, breathing consciousness of a stone. It was a very primitive and very subtle form of consciousness that he somehow knew would be easily frightened and intimidated if he did not take his time and gradually introduce himself to its presence.

Over the course of the next hour, totally oblivious to the goings on in Dumbledore's office, Harry introduced himself to the consciousness within the stone and began building a working relationship with its structures. When he was satisfied with the form their relationship had taken he bid it good rest and withdrew. Looking up into the expectant eyes of his mentor he sighed and said, "This presence will work just fine. We've met and introduced ourselves and I explained what we are trying to do. The stone has agreed to cooperate to the best of its abilities and will do as I ask."

Both professors looked curiously at Harry so he went on to explain how the spherical stone was alive and how its consciousness existed on a level that was so subtle that most humans - indeed, most sentient beings - could not sense it. He then described the nature of the stone's consciousness and the working relationship he had built with it. Snape was skeptical at first and sniffed disdainfully at several of the points Harry was trying to make but gradually came to accept what Harry was telling them. When it was all over two hours had passed since his arrival in the Headmaster's Office and he was beginning to feel the strain of the day's activities as they took their toll upon his body.

After shaking his head briefly to try and stay awake, Harry looked back up and asked, "Is there any place in particular you would like me to observe as a test case?"

Recognizing Harry's level of fatigue and not wanting to push him any harder than absolutely necessary, but at the same time needing the kinds of information only this kind of remote viewing could provide, Albus said, "If you feel up to it, Harry, I would like to know the exact nature of the situation in Romania. I have spoken with Charley and, based upon his recommendation, am very tempted to send you over there to help them at the end of the month. But I need to know everything I can about the situation so that appropriate security measures can be taken."

Harry nodded. "Yes, sir," he said tiredly. "Is there anything else?"

Albus smiled softly. "Just one more thing, Harry. You might want to get a good night's sleep on Friday and review your notes on your Maturo Auctus."

Harry looked up curiously. "As you know," Albius continued, "everything you studied during your Maturo Auctus is in your mind waiting for you to either need it or be reminded of it. The first duel on Saturday between you and Neville and Remus, Nymphodora, Kingsley and Alastor is simply a demonstration to show the rest of the student body how to fight and defend themselves. The second duel, between the two of us, has been arranged so that I can essentially force your hand and help you bring some of those lessons to light. The only stipulation is that you will not be allowed to use any of your elemental abilities."

Harry ran his fingers through his hair and stood up, clutching the box with the crystal ball in it firmly. Yawning, he said, "Yes, sir." Then, as he turned to leave, said, "Could you tell Remus I am going to be spending the night on my trunk. I want to get to work on this thing as soon as possible and I don't want the guys asking too many questions."

Albus chuckled. "Ah, yes, your trunk. I have been meaning to ask you about that but another time, perhaps. Where will he be able to find you?"

Harry turned as he reached the door and looked back at the Headmaster. After thinking for a second or two he said, "Seventh chamber, down the ladder and straight across."

Albus nodded his head and turned his attention back to Severus as Harry opened the door and left his office.

Ron looked up as Harry opened the seventh chamber of his trunk and asked, "What's up, Harry?"

Turning around, Harry looked tiredly at his second friend in the wizarding world and said, "Homework. It looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time in this trunk from now on so . . . I guess."

In his trunk, Harry walked into his bedroom and gently placed the box containing the crystal ball in the center of the top of the small dresser at the head of the far side of his bed. He didn't really know why he did it except that Albus wanted it kept secret and even though only he, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Ginny, Dobby, Winky and Remus were currently allowed in his trunk he didn't want to take any chances of it being seen and asked about.

After opening the box and briefly reaching out to the crystal's consciousness he laid his wand on the dresser next to it and got ready for bed. As he pulled the covers over himself Harry fell into a deep meditative state. Even though he was physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted he found it easy to keep his mind alert while his body went to sleep. Focusing on the tasks outlined it a chapter on rejuvenating the physical body through ethereal magic while it slept, even if the soul was actively participating in another ethereal exercise, Harry reestablished his occlumency wards, set his internal alarm for 4:30 and initiated a sequence of ethereal events that would allow him to awaken refreshed and ready to face the day. To the outside observer, however, it would look as though Harry's body had begun to glow, surrounded by a soft, golden halo of light.

Harry reached out and contacted the stone's soul again and, after a brief dialogue, relaxed and began expanding his sphere of conscious awareness. In a few, short minutes he was aware of the whole of Great Britain. Expanding his awareness even further he soon became aware of France, Germany, Spain and the whole of Western Europe. Going still further he became aware of the Baltic States and the fringes of Eastern Europe. Focusing his mind on the spiritual signature of Charlie Weasley - The emotional impression he had received upon meeting the second oldest of Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's children - he found himself being drawn towards a series of high altitude valleys surrounded by snowcapped peaks.

The first things he became aware of, besides the setting, of course, were the dragons. There were literally hundreds, if not thousands, of them, filling the various valleys and nesting on the hillsides. It was well past sunset but because of the puffs of flame issuing from the mouths and nostrils of several of the older dragons an eerie red glow illuminated most of the battlefield, for it truly was a battlefield.

Several dragons were in the air with riders guiding them into combat against an onslaught of giants, dementors and Death Eaters. There were also several witches and wizards on brooms on both sides of the conflict as well as a number of ground troops. Hexes, curses, jinxes and charms were flying everywhere. There were casualties on both sides and the injured littered the ground between the sleeping dragons. He could see comrades in arms gathering the injured up into their arms and apparating away to field hospitals, for the less critically injured, or to the dragon preserve's main hospital complex, for the more serious injuries.

He watched as two giants tried to disrupt the sleep of a particularly large nesting female. She roused briefly and snapped at the giants who lumbered away but returned moments later to try again. As they approached a second time, bearing enormous spears to use against their prey, a dragon and rider swooped down from above. The dragon issued forth with a stream of fire that reduced the giant's spears to ashes. As the first dragon snatched up one of the giants in its claws and carried it away a second dragon swooped down and captured the other.

The riders of these two dragons directed their charges to carry their captives away from the battlefield and drop them in a ravine that was far enough away that these two giants would not be able to rejoin the battle any time soon. Harry sensed a desire to kill the giants but an unwillingness to do so, on the part of the dragon keepers, because the giants were, after all, an endangered species and even though they were currently allied with the Death Eaters the dragon keepers did not want to make them go extinct.

The dementor problem was complicated by the fact that very few of the dragon keepers could produce a corporeal patronus and while they were fighting both dementors and Death Eaters they had to provide both cover and protection for those field medics who were trying to treat and rescue their injured comrades. At one point Harry watched in horror as a defender went down after being hit by a cutting curse and a dementor reached him before anyone could even get close enough to help. He heard the man's screams and felt the agony of his fear as well as its intensity as the dementor drew nearer. He finally had to turn away as the dementor bent down to kiss the man.

Harry forced himself to turn off his emotions as the battle raged. He spent the next several minutes visiting the different areas of the battlefield, memorizing the lay of the land and studying the tactics used by each side. If he was going to travel to Romania to teach his charm to the dragon keepers then he wanted to know what he was getting himself into.

After recording almost an hour of some of the most intense fighting he had ever seen he stopped the recording and severed the link with the crystal and returned his consciousness to his trunk.. He knew the images he had seen would haunt him until he deposited them in his pensieve but he had other things he wanted to do before returning to his body. He spent the next several hours doing his homework, reviewing his notes from his Maturo Auctus and reading books from his private library. He found that the more he read while using Ethereal Magic the easier it became and the more accurate his initial impressions became.

By the time his internal alarm went off and he was forced to return to his body he had completed most of the homework for the following week and read thirty books from the Defense section of his library. Some of the spells he had learned were fairly ancient and he doubted that several of them had been used in at least a hundred years.

After getting dressed, since he knew he had a few minutes before Remus' arrival, he entered his study and, pulling out his pensieve, deposited his memories of the battle in Romania. Remus descended the ladder into his trunk while he was in the process of removing the last of these memories and, as Harry finished the procedure and moved to return his pensieve to its cupboard, he noticed that his friend was watching at him with an expression of concern on his face. "What is it, Harry?" the werewolf asked.

Harry returned his pensieve to its cupboard and locked it then turned around to face his friend. "Romania," was his one word answer."

"That bad?"

Harry grimaced slightly then said, "Worse."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Later. Let's go train."

Remus nodded his head and the two friends climbed the ladder to begin the day.