The Celestial Guidance

by FlyingPixie (Lady Lyssa)

Disclaimer: Everything in this fic belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. Everything you do not recognize belongs to me! (That makes me feel so special :D)! If I were her, I would be writing the Half Blood Prince in a small café, rather than sitting here, typing on fanfiction! The idea of Nedra's training comes partly from DBZ.

A/N: This story takes place in Harry's sixth year, after OotP. H/G, R/Hr, PG-13 rating.

I would like to say, once and for all, that all ideas that do not come from J.K Rowling's books are my own, unless stated in the disclaimer. In my reviews, I had someone point out that I had taken one of my ideas (the one about spells either being good or bad) from another fic (one, I would like to point out, that I have not even read!). Please, a spell being good or bad is not an idea. Its a way of thinking. Just for the record, I had planned to use that in my fic for the longest time, and came up with it myself. Perhaps we think alike! Now, on to the story...

Gravitational Pulls

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

- Chinese Proverb

Hogwarts' current Potions Master sat at his desk, staring in disbelief at the marks before him. How can it be? There has to be an explanation. For the umpteenth time that very day, he flipped the exam over and re-read it. There has got to be a good explanation. Suddenly, without warning, the mark on his left forearm began to burn. He hissed in pain and stood up, grabbed his mask, ready to Apparate; exams forgotten. He could still remember his fateful meeting with his 'Master', asking to once again be admitted into the Death Eater fold.

(Flashback)

Snape apparated at once to Voldemort's hideout. A cold, biting wind blew ferociously around him as he walked towards the skeletal figure before him. His black robes billowing in the wind, he knelt down to his 'Master', head down as a sign of respect. His Master's rules had been well engrained into his head, if nothing more. Snape noticed that he was the only one who had been summoned. This was definitely not a good sign.

"Severus. You have disappointed me greatly. Why have you not answered my previous summons? You are a traitor." Voldemort's snake-like voice, spoken barely above a whisper, was enough to make the bravest man quiver with fear. Now was the ultimate test. Would he believe him?

Snape crawled towards his Master and kissed the hem of his robes. How he desperately wished he could be anywhere but there at the moment. "My Lord, I apologize, for I was held-back. Dumbledore somehow managed to discover that I served you, my Lord. He did not mention who had told him. I had to sway the old fool, my Lord, until he believed that I was spying for the Light. It worked my Lord. The bumbling fool believes that I will leak your information to him, my Lord." Dumbledore and he had gone over the plan many times. Did he believe him?

Voldemort seemed to sense his fear, but as this was something he had come to expect from all his followers, he only smiled. When Snape looked up at the other being's pale, inhuman face, and red slits as eyes, he knew what was coming. Voldemort needed a Potions Master, and one of his caliber was hard to come by. However, there would still be a horrible price to pay.

"I am still disappointed Severus. You must learn to do better next time. Crucio." Snape tried to hold his screams in, but after several minutes his heart-wrenching screams could be heard for miles...

Salazar led a thoughtful Harry up many winding corridors and staircases until they reached Nedra. Her chestnut hair was tied back in a long braid. She leaned against a wall, at ease with herself. She smiled as she saw the two approaching. The fact that Salazar had brought Harry here himself was a good sign: they had gotten along. Quite rare... Nedra smiled, lighting up her face. Salazar was a good friend of Kael. She trusted her husband, and she had learned to hold great respect for the green-clad man as well.

She nodded once, and Salazar, after a quick word to Harry, departed, leaving the two of them alone. She couldn't wait to see how this one handled things. She motioned for Harry to follow her. Opening the tall, mahogany door, she entered the training area, Harry close in tow.

"Be careful Harry." With these quick words of wisdom and a smile, Salazar left Harry and Nedra alone. Not understanding what he meant, Harry followed Nedra into the room. He had barely any time to examine his surroundings when a foot collided with his back and he was sent flying across the room. His body hit the opposite wall with a resounding smack!

"What a way to make an entrance Harry," Kael's deep voice could be heard. He had positioned himself right behind the door, and it was he that had lent to Harry's present predicament.

Not wanting to show the two how much that had hurt him, he stood up, entering the best defensive pose he could think of. Nedra's smile didn't help much either.

"Lesson one, be more aware of your surroundings! You have to always watch where you are going, and be aware of those around you. You can be attacked anywhere, anytime." This time, it was Nedra's soft voice that spoke. Her philosophy couldn't help but remind him of Moody.

Not five seconds later, Harry lay sprawled on the other side of the room. He had spent so much attention on Nedra that he hadn't noticed Kael sneak up behind him. For a large man, standing at 6'7", he sure moved silently!

"Tut tut! We were of the impression that you were smart. Fooled twice by the same trick! You have got to pick up on the lessons!"

Harry stood up, albeit not as quickly as before, and faced the two trainers from hell. They stood side-by-side, and Harry was happy that he had both in his line of vision. This is definitely going to bruise tomorrow!

During the several minutes of silence that ensued, Harry had a chance to look around (while still keeping one eye on his trainers). The room was the largest he had entered thus far. It had dark, blue walls, and a polished-wood floor. The room was not as bright as the Potion's lab had been, probably owing to the fact that there weren't too many magical items in the room.

Nedra was the first to break the silence, "Today, I will be your trainer." With a quick wave of her hand, Harry's attire changed from the usual robes he wore in this World, to a comfortable pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"First off, catch me," Nedra said.

Kael apparated soundlessly away as, seconds later, Nedra was off running, braid waving behind her.

Shrugging, Harry set off after the older woman.

When Snape apparated, it was inside a large hall in which Voldemort conducted most of his meetings. The few hanging candles on the wall proffered the only source of light in an otherwise desolate, dark room. The shadows seemed animated and alive, dancing across the walls, adding to its morbid effect. The fire in the grate behind the skeletal figure provided neither warmth nor light, an odd thing. Snape knew from experience that this particular fire was enchanted to remove all warmth from a room, rather than emanate it. The ceramic tiles that covered the walls and floor were of the darkest shade of black imaginable. In short, this was a perfect hall in Voldemort's eyes.

Snape joined the rest of the Death Eaters in a semi-circle. He bowed down before his Master, curious as to why they had been called. When the last few stragglers had arrived, and a few Crucio's had been given out, Voldemort officially called the meeting to order.

"Death Eaters, rejoice, for I have found the second key that will enable me to reach my full potential and attack Hogwarts once and for all! In addition to the Blood Raven crystal I obtained last spring, I now have the Chain of Saberitus."

Voldemort held the chain up for his followers to see. The chain in question was an elaborate, finely crafted piece of jewelry. From the fine, delicate, silver chain hung three ringlets. One blue, one red, and the center one purple. The three rings, which had originally shone brightly, were now dulled by Voldemort's immensely evil power.

Snape made a mental note to tell Dumbledore about this. Is this chain can somehow help Voldemort attack Hogwarts...

Harry was out of breath, and had a major stitch on his right side. He had been running for twenty minutes, and was exhausted. Nedra, on the other hand, wasn't even out of breath. Harry had also noticed that, despite the great distance between the two runners, she hadn't put any effort into the competition, and had been jogging. Harry, on the other hand, had been running as fast as he could at the start (which still did not match Nedra) and had slowly tired as the race wore on. Harry had amazing agility and short-term rushes of speed, but was horrible in long-distance running of any kind. He had never conditioned his body properly.

To Harry's great dismay, every time Nedra had to turn around because she had reached a wall, he couldn't simply cheat by running across. The room, or so he thought, was magicked so that he had to follow the same path that she had taken in order to catch her. This essentially meant that she could pass him, and he would have to do several laps to catch up!

Having no choice but to give in, Harry stopped running. He bent over, panting, trying to regain his breath. The pain that racked through his body from Kael's kicks hadn't helped to solve any problems. Up ahead, Nedra doubled back to reach Harry.

"Don't worry. That was really great for your first try," Nedra motioned for Harry to walk alongside her, to alleviate the pain in his muscles. "However, I would like to know. Why didn't you catch me?"

Nedra's question startled him. What is with everyone on this council and their bizarre questions? "I couldn't catch up to you, because you are so much faster than I am." What an obvious answer.

"Why do you think I'm faster than you?"

"Because you've trained your body to get used to this type of running?" Harry's answer was more of a question, but Nedra overlooked the minor detail.

"Yes, that is exactly correct. We must condition your body as well. During a wizards' duel, you will have the advantage if you do not tire as easily."

With a wave of her hand, a portal appeared before them. Harry had to squint his eyes against the glaring light before him. The circular entrance had red lightning bolts zapping over its surface. Harry was confused: what did this have to do with anything?

"This, Harry, is a Portal, designed by Merlin and myself, which will allow you to train under harder circumstances than would be available under our normal environment. The Dream World is not very versatile, which is why we need the Portal to travel to a different, more versatile dimension. The draw-back of this Portal is that time does not travel faster in the other dimension, which is why it will not be used all the time."

"What do I have to do?"

"You will begin training in an environment with an elevated gravitational pull."

"Wouldn't that have serious draw-backs?" Harry asked, confused.

"No, another good things about the Portal. Your body will not suffer any of the side effects commonly associated with increased gravity. The only difference will be that your muscles will have to work much harder, and will thus become stronger."

Satisfied with that explanation, Harry was ready to go. At Nedra's signal, he walked into the Portal (she had assured him that the lightning was for effect alone). He stepped through the Portal... and into the same room as before. He had been expected something... he wasn't sure what, but definitely something more interesting. As he went through, he felt, and saw, the blue magic that indicated healing course through his body. His pain had been relieved!

Harry saw Nedra walk in behind him. It was then that he felt the dimensions' effects. He felt himself being pulled down, and it was more of a struggle than normal to hold himself upright.

"The gravity's current pull, in comparison to the Earth's pull, is only 1.5. I suggest you quickly get used to it, because the level will be raised every once and a while! In the meantime, try to walk properly."

Harry took a few tentative steps forward. He felt like a toddler learning to walk for the first time. His steps were slow and awkward, and weren't perfectly straight. After about twenty minutes, he had managed to walk properly.

"Great, now try to jog." Harry sighed. Nedra was not going to go easy on him. Pulling on his reserves of strength, he began a slow, steady jog, ignoring the pain shooting through his protesting legs.

Nedra set the pace as she ran alongside Harry, dispensing small bits of advice as they ran to improve his running and lessen the pain. After having done several laps of the room, she slowed them to a walk.

"That was very good. I'm glad you're getting the hang of this so quickly. Remember to loosen your shoulders like I told you too. This is enough for today, because your muscles still have to adjust to the change and I don't want to seriously injure them."

Harry smiled; glad that it was finally over. As interesting as it was, the increased gravity was killing his muscles. With yet another wave of the hand, Nedra waved another Portal.

Once through, Harry almost ran to the other side, his muscles having to adjust to the freedom of regular gravity. He danced for joy, his muscles happy not to have any thing to push against!

Nedra and Harry left the room. As they made their way towards Helga's room, they talked about various training routines that he could practice while awake, to strengthen his muscles even more.

A/N: Thanks for your reviews everyone! They really made my day! Or my week... Whatever! I can't believe I made 100! (FlyingPixie dances for joy around the room) I can't believe it! So quickly too!

I'm so sorry that this chapter had to be short, especially after breaking the first hundred, but my teachers thought it would be funny if I could have tons of homework on the week-end of Open House, which meant that my entire Saturday was taken up at school, in dress uniform (a kilt, tie, vest and white, long-sleeved shirt)! I was dying of heat. Not that I'm complaining or anything...

So, I was so worried that I wouldn't even have a chapter, let alone a short one, but I managed to finish my Science Lab, Religion Journal and Assignment, and English Response, decided not to do my French, and am procrastinating doing my History Notes, all for you guys! Hope you enjoyed it!

Now, on the review responses:

Phoebe-H: Thanks for the reviews! Glad you've enjoyed the story so far! Your reviews are so helpful to me! I will listen to you... eventually! Gotta love the randomness. As I always say: you have to be crazy to be an author!

Harry/Ginnyfan4ever:

FlyingPixie: Are you insulting royalty? I happen to be royal too by the way, and I don't enjoy this behavior! Butler! Bring her to the dungeons!

Butler: At once, milady. (drags a kicking and screaming girl to the dank dungeons of doom)

Harry/Ginny: You can't do this to me....

FlyingPixie: laughing Just watch me!

Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

Lady of the Dragons2: True, Harry is very powerful, but not as powerful as Merlin, who is the most powerful wizard of all time! And yes, there is a reason explaining Salazar's history! Dont' you worry! Thanks for the review!

Dr. Gero: An award goes out to you for giving me the longest review yet! You will see eventually, but the training does effect his body, despite the fact that he is sleeping (magic, such a great tool!)! I would feel bad for him otherwise. Then again... not all of those bruises would be real. For now, I will stick to what I have now. I might try the Yahoo! Group later on. Thanks for the review! And yes, he will learn Legilimency (by Nalani and Mandara).

Potterluv123: What is an update list?

totallystellar: Please read the A/N at the beginning of the chapter, because I was talking about you. I have not read the fic you spoke about. I am totally against stealing other people's hard work. Perhaps we had similar ideas? Great minds do think alike! Thanks for the review anyways.

Tanydwr: Okay! Once and for all: there are no escaping brains from Department of Mysteries. He was cleaning up the mess caused by Ron and the others! So ya, it was from the fifth book! Don't worry, I confuse myself too! Thanks for the review, and I hope it cleared everything up!

Kattieluvsshoes: Thanks for being my 100th reviewer! I can tell by your review that you read my chapter very well and looked at the inner meaning! lol Thanks for the review, and I hope to get some serious ones soon Kattie!

Thanks for all the reviews! Please review this chapter as well, I love feedback!