Harry Potter and the Forests Secret Chapter 5: Bed Rest For Beginners, a harry potter fanfic

Chapter 5: Bed rest for beginners

The room fell silent as the house elves swept Harry away with a soft pop, to only Dumbledore knows where. Even Dumbledore seemed stunned that Harry had just left the way he did. Suddenly the room exploded with voices for the second time that night.

"Why are Dobby and Winky with Harry?"

"Who does he think he is, just leaving like that?"

"Where exactly is home? He hasn't been in his room for days? And now he suddenly appears there and goes for a run?"

Questions were being shot out like machinegun fire everywhere, and everything was rapidly descending into mayhem. Again it fell to Dumbledore to restore order, and when everyone was finally silent he spoke again.

"Listen up everyone. I know you've got loads of questions, but I'm afraid that I'm not the one to answer them. Harry is. Harry is staying with his uncle and aunt at Privet Drive although you may or may not see him often, I guarantee you that he's there. And therefore I need you to go there immediately, Kingsley, and take over Mr. Weasley's guard duties. As to why Dobby and Winky are staying with Harry, the two elf's couldn't survive not being bound to a family, and Harry has graciously accepted to take them in. This is also a great way for us to offer Harry some more protection, although I'm not sure Harry actually realise how far House elves will go to protect their masters. Now I think we should all leave Mr. Weasley here to get some rest as he will surely need it after tonight's ordeal."

They all looked at each other and muttered complaints, but none of them could mistake the tone in Dumbledore's voice for being anything but final. And so they all slowly walked out of the room muttering goodbyes to Charlie and shuffling their feet on the way.

Back in the apartment Harry instructed both of his house elves to go find Dumbledore and tell him all they knew, just as he had promised Dumbledore. As soon as the house elves had disappeared he stumbled into the bathroom. The magic he had done earlier had taken much more out of him than he had realised.

When he awoke the next day, he couldn't remember ever making it to his bed, and was confused to find himself tucked safely under the covers, dressed in a pyjama he didn't recognise. The pyjama was made in a soft silky fabric, and was in a beautiful deep red colour, with gold trimmings and it matched his bed perfectly. It wasn't anything like his own PJ's. They were, as all of his clothes, some of Dudley's old ones that he had inherited.

As soon as Dobby and Winky had left Harry's apartment, they sought out Professor Dumbledore. First they went to Hogwarts and looked for him in his office. When they found that he wasn't there they stopped in with the house elves in the kitchen and asked them if the headmaster was somewhere in the school. As that wasn't the coincidence, they left for the headquarters of The Order Of the Phoenix at Grimmauld Place. They found the old man sitting in a chair in the kitchen with his head buried in his hands in much the same way as Harry just minutes before.

Dobby cleared his troath in an apologetic manner, which resulted in the old man immediately focusing all of his attention on the two house elves. "Dobby and Winky are here to do as Master Harry Potter ordered us to, Professor Dumbledore, Sir. If it pleases you?" Winky squeaked.

"Yes Winky, I would like it very much if you would tell me exactly what you two experienced tonight." Dumbledore said in a way that sounded both excited and mournful.

When Dobby and Winky had finally finished their story, Dumbledore's expression was more than deadly serious. It looked as if he had just learnt that man could fly without a broom, which ironically enough, in a way was the case. "Are you two sure that's precisely what you saw? And he didn't even have his wand out?" Dobby and Winky nodded once each and there was a long silence. Then suddenly Dumbledore jumped to his feet and grabbed Dobby and Winky's small hands. "Would you take me to him immediately?" His voice was filled when concern, and the two elves didn't even look at each other before they snapped their fingers and brought Dumbledore with them to Privet Drive, more specifically Harry's apartment.

As soon as they arrived, they scanned the living room for any sign of Harry, but as he clearly wasn't there and they found it highly unlikely that he was in the training room, they peeked their heads into the kitchen and then rushed into the bedroom only to find it empty. For a moment they stood there looking at each other baffled, then they turned to share a worried glance and then crossed the hall to the bathroom.

The sight that met them made Winky let out a small scream, and when Dumbledore though about it later, he would swear he had heard Dobby swear under his breath. That was another first for the day.

Harry lay sprawled on the floor of the bath room, a mess of tangled arms and legs, and a small stream of blood running from an open wound near his scar, where he had apparently hit his head on the floor when he fell. It was obvious that even in his unconscious state he was having a nightmare as sweat was poring of his forehead and mixing with the blood in a rather large pool on the floor.

Dumbledore quickly bent down checked Harry's pulse, just for good measure, and then he turned to Dobby. "Go find Madam Pomfrey for me Dobby and bring her here, but make sure she doesn't now where she is being taken. And please make sure to arrive directly here in the bathroom, in that way there is less she can recognise. And tell her to bring a blood replenishing potion, a dreamless sleep potion, and whatever else she needs, when the patient has extensive magical fatigue. Hurry now! Oh and if she complaints Dobby, just tell her: Phoenix feather!"

Dobby left immediately only to re arrive only half a minute later with the strict healer by his side. Madam Pomfrey had a basket filled with potions in the hand dobby wasn't holding, but she nearly dropped it when she saw the state Harry was in. Almost instantly she whipped out her wand and began swinging it back and forth over Harry's limb body while muttering something under her breath. 15 seconds later when she was done, she muttered a quick spell and closed the wound on Harry's forehead with a flick of her wand. Then she turned to Dumbledore and with a very calm and very frightening voice she spoke a single word, that made both of the house elves jump backwards in fear. "EXPLAIN!"

Dumbledore however didn't cringe and simply looked tired when he spoke. "As far as I can gather he has almost depleted his magical reserves completely. And when he was sent home, he must have collapsed before he could get to bed. I'm afraid I wasn't aware what he had done before I sent him here. If I had known I would have called for you immediately Poppy." Dumbledore sighed and the sorrow in his voice softened Madam Pomfrey's features a great deal.

Pomfrey began administering potions to Harry while she had Winky clean his face and hair with a damp cloth. She started muttering, and it was hard to decide whether she was talking to her self or to Dumbledore. "I don't understand it. A boy his age doesn't know any spells powerful enough to so completely deplete him. They just don't. He would have to fire of spells constantly for hours to use this much magic and even then he would have still fainted much sooner." She paused in her mumbling and stopped pouring a purple very foul smelling liquid down Harry's mouth and then turned to Dumbledore. "How is this possible Albus? I know he have been trough a lot, but surely he doesn't know anything powerful enough to do this to him?" The concern in the mediwitch's voice was distinct.

Again Dumbledore sighed and once again he looked much more like an old man, than the mighty Albus Dumbledore. "I'm afraid I can't tell you how this happened Poppy. Partly because I truly aren't sure and partly because no one can know if my suspicions are true. What I can tell you though is that no he doesn't know any spell powerful enough to do this to him - if performed in the regular way that is."

"You know I hate it when you speak in riddles Albus, but I know that you probably got your reasons. As always. That put aside he needs complete bed rest for the next week. And when I get back to Hogwarts, I'll put a batch of potions together that he will have to take every day." She paused for a second, scanning the beautiful Gryffindor like bathroom for the first time. "Where are we by the way? Judging by the tiny bits and pieces I have heard of the boys family, this is not, what was it? Privet Drive, is it?" She asked with scepticism evident in her voice.

Dumbledore chuckled for a bit before he spoke. "Nothing ever misses your attention do it Poppy? Alas I can't tell you where we are. That is a very closely guarded secret; but I can assure you that the boy is still under the blood protection of his relatives. I will have Dobby take you back to the Hospital Wing, and wait there for you to gather all the potions Harry needs. Dobby will wait for you to finish and you'll instruct him regarding which potions young Mr. Potter here needs at what times."

"Not much Albus, not much. But why tell the house elf? Surely someone else will be looking after Potter?"

"No Poppy. Dobby and Winky are in Harry's service now, and I can assure you they are more than capable of taking care of him. Now I think you should return to the school and prepare the potions for your favourite patient here. And if it will sooth your worries, I will check in on the boy myself from time to time." Dumbledore said with a sad but at the same time merry twinkle in his eyes.

"I see. I will do as you ask Albus." Then she turned to Dobby and nodded at him. The house elf grabbed her hand and they instantaneously disappeared.

Dumbledore turned to Winky and explained to her the measures he wanted taken to ensure that Harry would keep his bed rest. When he had convinced the small house elf that this was indeed for Harry's own sake, he took out his wand, muttered about old men making stupid mistakes, and then he transfigured Harry's old, grey worn out Pyjama that had originally been Dudley's into a new silky Pyjama in a beautiful deep red colour with gold trimmings and "H. P." embroidered on the back.

Harry went to get out of bet, but as soon as he tried moving a muscle he yelled out in pain. Every muscle in his body hurt beyond belief, he realised that it even hurt to keep his eyelids open. In fact with every other second that passed he found another new part of his body that hurt. The final thing he realised before he fell into unconsciousness again, was that it hurt every time his heart beat. Dobby and Winky had heard Harry's cry of pain, and they rushed into the bedroom in time to see him fall back on the pillow with a grimace of excruciating pain on his face. The two house elves quickly helped each other force Harry to swallow the enormous amount of potions madam Pomfrey had instructed them make sure he got every 8 hours. The first one that went down was a very strong pain remedy, but to the faithful house elves great horror, it only managed to diminish the expression on their master's face, not remove it. They didn't dare give him another dose of the pain reliever, as Madam Pomfrey had told Dobby that this was the strongest pain reliever the Hogwarts potion master could produce.

Following the pain reliever were many different potions of different colour, smell, quantity and effects. Just to mention a few, there were a Dreamless Sleep potion, a blood replenishing potion and a potion to help his body restore its magical reserves. The potion didn't actually restore magic to the drinker; it merely stimulated the process of recovery.

The house elf's took shifts watching their master, but Harry didn't wake at all for the next 24 hours and they had to force feed him his potions and also a bit of soup to make sure he got some energy into his body. They even bothered Dumbledore with a barrage of questions the three times he came to check on Harry, but as soon as they saw the face of the old man fall as soon as he saw Harry, they realised that the Headmaster was just as worried as they were. Every time Dumbledore left he seemed more and more broken, and Winky and Dobby became more and more afraid.

For the next three days Harry only woke 3 times, and each time he was only awake long enough to register that someone was in the room with him, but that it didn't really comfort him, before he screamed in pain again, and passed out. After the three days had passed Harry was pale as a ghost and thinner than ever. The house elves hadn't been able to get Harry to eat anything but the odd bit of soup they could force feed him. During the three days Harry was out, Dumbledore continued to check in on him approximately every 8 hours around the time when he was fed his potions. On the third day he brought madam Pomfrey with him, blindfolded, and she declared that Harry was slowly regaining his magical resources, but that he would definitely have to spend the next week in bed, except that when he got too insistent that he was fine, that he should be allowed to walk around for 5 minutes at a time a couple of times every day. When she had explained everything to Dumbledore and the house elves, she got a dangerous look in her eyes, and started ranting at Dumbledore for not letting her take care of Harry, and demand the she would be allowed to see him twice every day.

As soon as she finished she discovered that she didn't hold the same power over the Headmaster here as she did in her hospital, as he firmly denied her "request". She was absolutely fuming when Dumbledore blindfolded her again and led her from the room.

On the fourth day Harry was awake long enough for him to get tired of his faithful House elves. They fussed about him from the moment his eyes opened, force feeding him every kind of nutrition known to man and wizard, bombarded him with questions, and generally annoyed the hell out of him until he simple collapsed from stress. The next time he woke, he was grateful to them though, as he clearly felt a bit better, now that he had something in his stomach. The second time he woke, he demanded that his elves would let him go to the bathroom, but they wouldn't budge, and finally they actually used their magic to press him back in bed. This just pissed Harry of and he yelled at them for a good 5 minutes, before falling asleep again from exhaustion with the words "I want to talk to Dumbledore…."

Finally on the fifth day Harry and Dumbledore got a chance to talk, as Dumbledore was there when Harry woke around noon. His eyes fluttered open and he found himself, half lying, half sitting in his grand four-poster in his bedroom. In the corner across from him his ageing headmaster sat in a grand armchair with his eyes closed and his fingers stapled against each other creating a triangle. To Harry he looked decidedly tired and worried and he felt a pang of guilt for once again worrying the old man. Harry wondered if his old headmaster was asleep; it certainly looked like it. His breath was slow and even, and he didn't move at all. Harry figured that since neither Dobby nor Winky were in the room, and Dumbledore was asleep he would exploit the situation, and slip of to the bathroom. Surprisingly enough he wasn't exactly dying to go, he merely had a strong urge.

However as soon as he made the slightest movement to get out of bed, Dumbledore had whipped out his wand, and was gentle but firmly pressing him back into his bed. "Good morning Harry. I'm glad you are finally awake; I believe we have a lot to discuss." Dumbledore's eyes were once again filled with that characteristic merry twinkle, but they also reflected an intense curiosity and a longing for knowledge.

At first Harry couldn't even speak, he was stunned by how fast Dumbledore had pulled out his wand, and pushed him backwards. He had not only not uttered a word, it also seemed like the only part of his body that he had actually moved was his wand arm. Harry was simply baffled that his headmaster was capable of mowing that fast. He just sat there for a couple of moments before he shook out of his stupor and declared: "I want to go to the bathroom!" and as an after thought added, "Please, Sir."

Dumbledore chuckled a bit and smiled genuinely at Harry. "As I said Harry I do believe we have a lot to talk about. Madam Pomfrey has also made it very clear to me what she would do if I let you leave your bed within the next couple of days – and frankly I would like to keep my backside intact if you don't mind?"

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the old man, as he pictured a very angry looking Madam Pomfrey chasing Dumbledore down the corridors flinging hexes after him like a mad man. It only lasted for a couple of seconds though as his lungs clearly wasn't ready for that kind of activity jet, and searing hot pain shot trough his chest with each now ragged breath. He didn't even have enough breath to yelp out in pain, but Dumbledore clearly noted his face scrunch up in pain as he quickly muttered a series of spells to ease his pain.

When Harry had finally calmed down enough to regain his composure, he looked his old headmaster dead in the eyes and pleaded with him. "I really need to go Sir. I promise I won't tell if you let me use the bathroom. I know how scary Madam Pomfrey can be. Please"

"I'm sorry Harry but I'm afraid that for once I agree with Madam Pomfrey. It will be for the best if you stay in bed. I can however relieve you of some – shall we say – pressure?"

"That would be great Sir, although I would prefer to use the bathroom my self."

Dumbledore for the third time pointed his wand at Harry and muttered a long and complicated spell in what Harry guessed must be Latin. Gradually as Dumbledore performed the spell he could fell the pressure lift and soon he was completely comfortable again and he nodded his thanks.

Dumbledore spent an hour discussing what had happened to Harry 4 days ago, and why he was lying in bed. Dumbledore explained that as you age, your reserves of magic increase, and that if you completely deplete those reserves your body itself will start supplying power for your magic if you continue drawing power for a spell. This resulted in cell damage trough all of the casters body, and this was why Harry was in such pain. Dumbledore assured Harry that all damage to his body had been healed, but it would still be weeks before he was strong enough to start casting spells again. He also informed him of how long he needed to keep his bed rest, and how much he was allowed to move about the first week. As Harry felt his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier, Dumbledore handed him a vial of Dreamless sleep potion, and assured him that he would be back the next day to check on him.

Harry slept for almost 24 hours and woke to find Dumbledore sitting in precisely the same chair, as he had yesterday, once again with his fingers resting on each other and with his eyes closed. He didn't feel like pressing his luck once again by trying to get out of bed, so he just watched the headmaster for any sign of him being awake. As he found none, he realised that for the first time he was actually hungry, and he softly called out for Winky. She immediately appeared at his side, and looked thoroughly relieved that Harry wanted her to bring him some lunch.

"Winky, I do believe it would be best if you brought Harry here some soup. We don't want to strain his body too much as of yet, and fluent food should do the trick for today, and tomorrow." Winky nodded her head towards Dumbledore and disappeared with a small pop. "And good morning to you Harry. I hope you feel a bit better today?"

Harry rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and put his glasses on. "Yes thank you professor. I fell slightly better. You looked like you were deep in thought professor, or maybe even asleep. Is something bothering you? I hope you don't mind me asking."

"Not at all, not at all. I was merely meditating a bit. I find that I can concentrate best if I close my eyes and press my fingertips against each other like so" He showed Harry the triangle again " I think it is time I tell you a bit about some other uses for meditation than just preparing yourself for Occlumency. You see Harry, not only can you lock away all of your thoughts easier in this way, but you can also sort trough your thoughts, feelings and memories and lock away those that are bothering you, or those that are not. Using this technique you will find that it can be easier to deal with things that are bothering you if you haven't got any distractions, or it can help you keep yourself together and focused in times of trouble."

Harry sat in silence for a bit and thought about this. "Are you saying professor that I could for example lock away all thoughts of the prophecy, Sirius, Voldemort and all the other stuff that's bothering me?" he said with a bit of hope in his voice.

"That is what I'm saying Harry, but I will warn you now, you must use this technique wisely. If you should choose to lock away all those thoughts, you will also lock away the feeling of purpose that you are currently feeling. You will have locked away all the things that are currently driving you towards your goal. And, this is very important Harry, it may all collapse on you at some time if you should choose to do this."

"If it can be so dangerous, then why are you telling me this professor?"

"For that exact reason Harry. I believe that you are an exceptionally gifted boy, and I have no doubts that you would have discovered this by yourself probably sooner than later, and I wanted to warn you of the consequences. Also I would like to urge you to use it to work trough your feelings and come to terms with your losses and your challenges. I will be here to help you if you should require assistance. Would you like to give it a go now?"

Harry regarded the old man with a good amount of curiosity. Was he for real? Did he really think Harry could master something as difficult as that? Harry vividly remembered some of his not so fortunate attempts at meditation, but he figured that asking a few questions at least wouldn't hurt. "Suppose I wanted to try this out professor, how would it work? And how would you be able to help me? I mean last time I tried this it was kind of like walking around inside my own mind. How can you possibly help me then?"

"Those are all very good questions Harry. I would ask you to trust me, but I think we need to work a bit on our relationship before that happens, so I will tell you. To answer your first question you would try to go into a meditative state just as you have done it before. Simply follow what you learnt from the book. I will talk to you all the time and guide you. Once you are completely calm, and enter the landscape of your own thoughts emotions and feelings, I will perform the Legilimens spell on you, and you will concentrate on letting me into your mind. This will feel strange at first, I can tell you that, but not in an intrusive way. You will not be able to see me, but I will be able to see what you see and I will talk to you in your mind. Together we will then try and sort through and process some of the things troubling you."

Harry considered this for a moment, and decided that he better ask one more question just to be sure. He found it wise to worry about his health for once. "Ehmm, Professor? Does this classify as doing magic? I mean I want to learn and all, but I really want to get back to my training too. I don't want to delay my recovery at all."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled madly at this and a warm smile spread across his world wary face. "I truly hoped you would ask about that Harry. You always were one of my cleverer students. These techniques actually do require a bit of magic. I do however have a very good reason for wanting to teach you this now Harry. First of all it will speed your overall recovery, and I must say I have ulterior motives too. Those I would rather we discussed in a couple of days though. Before you ask; I promise it will be soon Harry. I'm afraid our time is rather short. But back to the meditation. As I said it do require a bit of magic, but the amount required is indeed very, very small. In fact you need not perform a spell; it's more of a skill that wizards have, that enables us to dwell deeper into our own minds than muggles. The amount of magic needed is something of the equivalent of a tenth of a standard feather levitation charm. It is of course entirely up to you if you want to trust me on this Harry, and I must admit I'll understand if you don't. I'm quite aware that I don't entirely deserve it." Dumbledore's face fell as he spoke the last sentence and he actually looked down at his shoes.

Harry was astonished to see the old man look so sad, and even though he still didn't fully trust his old Headmaster, He really wanted a fast recovery. When he thought about it a bit more he realised that maybe Dumbledore deserved a second chance. He had after all been very kind to him in the last couple of days. Well actually he had always been nice to him.

Apparently Dumbledore though that Harry's silence indicated that he wasn't yet ready to trust him, and therefore he started to get up. "I'm sorry Harry. I understand your hesitation to trust me. I'll be back tomorrow." He was now fully standing, and started heading for the door.

Harry Hadn't realised that he had been thinking for so long. "NO, no. I want to trust you Professor Dumbledore. I want to give you another chance. Please come back. I didn't realise I took so long to answer –I'm really sorry!" The words just stumbled out of him, and when he finished rambling he realised that he really did feel sorry for not trusting his Headmaster. He didn't know why, but somehow that was how he felt.

Dumbledore turned slowly around and stared at Harry with obvious disbelief in his eyes. "You are willing to give me another chance? Thank you Harry. That really means a lot to me. Thank you!"

"You are welcome professor. I want to believe that everybody deserves a second chance – although I might find it a bit difficult to give Malfoy – or Lockhart a second chance. Before we begin, I think I would like to have some food."

"That sounds very sensible Harry. I guess Winky will be finished with your soup shortly."

Harry was about to call Winky when he remembered what Aunt Petunia always did. "Would you like to join me professor? I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem for Winky to make a bit more."

"Thank you very much Harry that would be wonderful. Why don't you just lie back for a bit and rest. I'll go help in the kitchen."

Dumbledore almost jumped from his chair, and practically skipped from the room, and Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. He figured that Dumbledore never really got the chance to cook. At school the house elves always did it, and he was probably too busy anyway. And at Headquarters it was probably always Mrs. Weasly who did the cooking. She never did like to have anyone help out. Harry felt a small sting as he thought of her but he quickly squashed it. He didn't want to loose his resolve. He WAS going to keep everyone at a safe distance from him.

Harry leaned back into his pillow and tried pushing all the thoughts crowding his head away, and soon he nodded of.

He woke again to the sound of someone softly calling out his name, and to the smell of a vide array of foods. Soon he was sitting in his bed turned a bit sideways contemplating all the delicious food Dumbledore and Winky had placed on a high table that was pushed up against his bed. There were loads of different soups. Actually there were more soups than Harry had ever seen in his life. And it smelled delicious. Gradually Harry realised that something was weird. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was definitely something that was wrong. Suddenly it jumped up and screamed in his face. Was Dumbledore standing up at the table? He couldn't possibly reach over the edge of the indeed very high table if he was sitting in an ordinary chair.

Dumbledore apparently followed his puzzled expression and then just laughed and lifted up the plain white tablecloth that Winky had draped over the table. To Harry's great surprise and delight, the old headmaster was sitting on a barstool, and gently rocking his legs.

Harry started to laugh, only to bend over and yelp out, as pain shot trough his lungs, throat, mouth, teeth and last but not least his heart. If his head had been raised up probably, he would have seen some wicked fast wand work once again, but as he wasn't he only heard Dumbledore quickly mutter a string of healing and pain relieving spells, followed by what definitely sounded a lot like a vary bad swear word.

Harry regained his composure enough to sit up straight again and meet the worried faces of his two trusty house elves and his Headmaster and friend. Friend? He wondered about that for a moment, and then realised that he was beginning to feel a bit more for the Headmaster. He would worry about that later. He gratefully accepted the purple bubbling potion that Dobby was stretching out against him, and downed it in one gulp. He recognised it as the strong pain Relieving potion that he had had so many times during the last couple of days. Than he realised that Dobby hadn't been there 15 seconds ago.

"Thank you Dobby. Where did you come from?"

"Dobby was just as masters other house... and …. Ehh" Dobby glanced up at the headmaster and then regained his self-control a bit "and doing a bit of work for Mr. Dumbledore. Yes that was what Dobby was doing Master Harry. Dobby felt that his Harry needed him, and now Dobby is here!" he finished with a huge smile, and only a bit of worry in his huge tennis ball eyes.

Harry carefully put on a wide smile. "I'm sure you were Dobby, I'm sure you were. Thank you for coming. I'm fine now, I really am. You can go back to what you were doing for professor Dumbledore. And remember Dobby – no punishing yourself!" Harry half yelled after him, as Dobby more or less bolted from the room. Harry figured that that was something else he would have to ask his new friend about soon.

When he had assured Winky that he was fine and she had left to carry out some work in the kitchen, he and Dumbledore sat in silence and ate for a while. Soon though they were chit chatting and Harry found he felt rather like he was talking to an old friend. Dumbledore seemed to enjoy himself too, but when they had just sat and talked for half an hour Dumbledore called Winky in and had her clear the table.

"Thank you for a delicious lunch Harry. It was most kind of you to let me join you. I think we need to get started, as I'm afraid I don't have all the time I would like."

"It's all right Professor. I'm actually anxious to get started too. I'm not entirely sure what we are going to do, but I really look forward to doing something else than just lying here."

Dumbledore gave a smile at this, and said. "I can imagine it must be tiresome to just lie there all day without anything to do. What I need you to do is let yourself relax completely, get comfortable and concentrate on your own feelings and memories. Just like when you have practised your Occlumency. When you are ready, give a small nod and we will begin."

Harry nodded, then lay back and closed his eyes letting himself relax. When he felt completely relaxed and focused, he gave a small nod. Soon he heard Dumbledore mutter "Legelimens" and immediately memories started flashing before his closed eyes. As fast as they had begun, as fast did they disappear. He heard Dumbledore's, inside his own mind, instruct him to start locking away the memories and thoughts which didn't bother him, in the same way he did when practising Occlumency. Harry found it was a tad more difficult moving around single thoughts compared to just a mass. Dumbledore worked with him though, and soon they had just a handful of memories left that bothered Harry in some way or another.

There was the memory of Sirius falling trough the Veil of course, a memory of lying in the dark in the cupboard under the stairs feeling all alone and scared, a memory of being hit by his uncle Vernon, the memory of Ginny lying as good as dead in the Chamber of Secrets, and finally the memory of Ron lying on the bottom of the lake.

Dumbledore helped him work trough the last four memories first. The way it worked, was kind of like being in a pensive, only Harry couldn't see himself, but merely observed the scene playing out from a birds point of view. Dumbledore was with him the entire time, speaking to him when he needed to get things out of his system. This technique was particularly helpful with the memories of Ginny and Ron, and how afraid he had been when he had thought he might loose them.

Working trough the memory of Sirius's death was far more difficult, but in the end Harry came to realise that there were no way it would help Sirius for him to feel neither guilty, nor for him to blame himself. Sirius was in a better place now, and he had been reunited with his best friend.

It was late afternoon when they finished, and Harry was so exhausted that he barely managed to stay awake to say goodbye to his professor, and hear that Dumbledore advised him to use this technique when ever he had a problem.