The next morning, Harry awoke at four as usual and activated the time feature, which made the room glow for a second then stop. He noticed two clocks appearing on the wall opposite to the door. One was labeled "ROOM" and the other labeled "OUTSIDE". The latter seemed to have stopped. After thinking on it, he decided it was put there to remind him of the out side time.

The next three days that came were spent solely on training. 15 days in the Book with Godric. He spent the time with his mother training in Occlumency, meditation and discussing his life as outsiders.

When the OUTSIDE clock struck 10, he went down to make an appearance. He told Petunia the he has acquired a way to have food in his room, and that he would eat lunch only with them, which was fine by her.

Harry made lunch and worked in the yard. When they were eating, his uncle cleared his throat, "Fr…. Err… boy; we have received a letter from your kind yesterday, even though it was sent the proper way. Why did we receive that notification?"

Harry thought a little, and then said, "Um, I think that's my OWL letter. They sent it to ensure that I don't hide my grades from you incase they were inadequate enough, by your standards, to make me retake my fifth year."

His uncle considered it for a moment, exchanging a look with his wife, "And what are we expected to do about them? What are OWLs, any way? Are you to receive more birds like yours as a reward?"

Harry chuckled, "no, uncle Vernon. OWLs are an evaluation system, much like the GSC to you. And I think you should do nothing abut them, I received the second highest mark in my year anyway."

Vernon continued, "And that's another question we need to ask. How would you have failed three of your subjects and still have the second highest mark. In addition, how come you achieved an all time record five times and still there was a student who had more points?"

Harry thought for a moment and then said, "I got the second highest score because I err, and 'over achieved' you might say in many subjects. I mean I received extra credits in them because of my actions over the years. The subjects I failed were irreverent anyway. The other one who scored more than me, was simply because she took more subjects"

Vernon seemed struggling with himself to continue this conversation, "And what about the all time part? Just how long do you keep record of your scores?"

Harry tried to remember Binn's lessons, "I think about fifteen hundred years. Our examination procedures date back before the time of King Arthur, though still adequate."

Vernon seemed shocked at this, "You mean to tell me that you hold five records over fifteen hundred years' worth of students?"

Harry blushed at this, "Y…Yes uncle Vernon"

Vernon seemed to debate something, "Fine boy, you can go to your room today after you finish the yard work and you may work only an hour a day in the garden, starting tomorrow, with the same deal."

Harry was happy at this; he could add another day to his training this way, "Alright, thanks uncle Vernon."

At 2 o'clock, Harry went to his room and activated it right away. He found his mother petting Hedwig. She looked at him smiling, "You have some letters to reply to, Harry."

Harry nodded smiling, retrieved a quill and a stack of parchments, and started to think of whom to write to first.

Hey Gred and Forge.

Thank you two for your letter, unpleasant as it was. Do not worry about Hermione though, she wrote to me the same day telling me bout every thing. She even signed in blood.

Now, Ron is the one I need to pay back, so here is what I want you to do.

He then proceeded to explain in detail what he wanted them to do to get back at Ron for betraying him.

He then wrote another letter to Ron.

In his letter to Ginny he wrote,

While I accept your sisterly love, Ginny. I am sorry to say I cannot return it. You see, with me being a boy and all, I can only give you brotherly love.

Brotherly yours,

Harry J. Potter

Harry decided to write Luna next.

Dear Luna,

You do not know how touched I was by reading your letter.

I love you too Luna, deeply within my heart. But my life is not simple. I have Voldemort on my back to deal with, and I just learned that my family has asked, no ordered, me to marry at least four wives.

Please, Luna. I want you to consider this carefully. For I'll be heart broken if you say no, but it'll break my heart more if you say yes while you're not happy with it.

Truly yours.

Harry.

His letter to Hermione was short and to the point

Hermione.

While I am angry, I am not mad. I will not hold it against you. Keep with them for now and go to Gringott's on the first at 10 am. Just show this letter to the goblins.

Harry.

Harry poured his heart in his letter to Tonks.

Dear Tonks.

No, I will not call you Dora until I am sure.

Please, do not promise me something you do not want to give me.

I have feelings for you, Tonks, and it will break me to find you only feel pity towards me when all is settled.

So please, do not reply to this letter unless you really mean it. If you want to visit, you can come spend the weekend here. I have a warded room that even Mad-eye cannot see through. You can come between 10-12 am on the 15th.

Yours,

Harry.

After signing it, Harry pondered on what to write in his next letters.

Narcissa Malfoy.

Meet at Gringott's for the will. Decide there.

H.J.P

Dear professor McGonagall.

I think I'll take the next courses.

DADA – Charms – Transfiguration – COMC – Magical Theory; as regular classes.

Moreover, I'll take the next courses

Potions – Dueling – Animagus – Apparition – Healing; as self-study subjects.

I have no intention on learning Occlumency, though I'd appreciate it if you keep that a secret.

Sincerely,

Harry Potter.

P.S. I'd like to thank you for all the effort you put forth to help me.

Then, came Harry's most difficult letter. After conversing with Higgy a little over it, Harry took a knife and pricked his fingers, he let five drops fall on the top of the parchment. Higgy put a few charms on it, and then he started writing.

Bellatrix,

I acknowledge your plea. You can use the blood drops on the parchment to your ends. I used a charm to prevent anyone but you from even seeing this letter using the blood signature on your letter. Another charm will ensure my blood remains intact and ready for use. I also put a charm on it that will bring you to me, just apparate with the letter in your hand, it'll bypass all wards.

You have three options. All ending with the same result; that you come here on June 30th.

One, you stay where you are until the day you are to come to me.

Two, you leave that place on your own, and come to me on the 30th.

Three, you come to me right away, right here where I can offer you refuge. I'm under wards that the cooperation of both Dumbledore and Voldemort can't bring down.

H.J. Potter.

Harry then called Hedwig to him, "hey girl, can you deliver these letters for me?"

She hooted in reply and stuck her leg up for him.

He started tying the letters to her while saying, "These two letters go to the twins, give them the first one and wait until they read it, then give them the one with Ron on it. You can them deliver Ginny's letter, Hermione's, Luna's, and last Narcissa's letter. Then come back, don't wait for replies. Alright girl?"

She hooted in agreement, then hopped to Bellatrix's letter and stared at Harry in a silent question.

Harry shifted nervously, quite remembering his fourth year, "You see girl, and I have to give it to another bird to deliver. I'm sorry"

She screeched at Harry and flapped her wings in obvious indignation.

Harry tried to calm her, "Hedwig, try to understand, this letter is going to Voldemort's base, I can't let you go there, and you might be spotted. You're too precious to me to risk this"

Hedwig's gaze softened and she flew to Harry's right shoulder and nipped at his ear. Suddenly, Fawkes flew to Harry's other shoulder and started what seemed like talking with Hedwig. Harry often wondered why Fawkes never left his room since he appeared the first time, but let it be, since Fawkes did not get in the way and kept to himself.

While Harry appeared confused, Higgy was staring at him in wonder. If her suspicions were correct, then this would be a great turning point for Harry. "Harry, no matter what happens, I want you to stare right a head of you and never move"

In his confusion by the strange scene, Harry could only nod at this.

Suddenly, both Hedwig and Fawkes bit on his ear hard enough to draw blood. Harry winced but stayed still. He felt the two birds drinking his blood. They lowered their heads, placed their moist eyes over the wounds, and cried on them. There was a sudden flash of light and Harry felt something being forced in his head, though it was not unpleasant. It felt like a loving caress.

Harry looked at his right shoulder, but to his surprise, he did not find Hedwig, he found a pure while bird with black outlines to its feathers, the bird looked like a phoenix, though a bit larger than Fawkes was. Speaking of which, Harry looked at his other shoulder, but instead of Fawkes, he found a pure black bird with white outlines to its feathers, it was the same shape and size of the one to his right. Harry panicked, "Mother, what happened to Hedwig and Fawkes?"

Instead of Higgy, Harry heard a musical female voice, "I'm right here, my Harry. I just changed shape" the bird on his right shoulder nipped his ear. The voice came back, "I always wanted to be your companion, but I couldn't. Your magic was too much for me. Therefore, I had to wait in order to share the link with you, with another animal. Fawkes chose to share with me. Right now, I want you to call me Isis. I prefer that name to Hedwig. However, I can revert back to my owl form; you can call me Hedwig then."

Another musical voice, male this time, said, "I'm Fawkes, Harry. Though I'd prefer you call me Osiris in this form, I also can revert back to my previous form, you can call me Fawkes then."

Harry's confusion increased, "How can I hear you?"

Higgy answered, "That, Harry, is because they forged a link with you, as your companions. I do not know what they are telling you, because I am not part of this link. But I could tell from your face."

Harry asked, "But, what is a companion link?"

Higgy thought for a bit, "A companion link is one of the forms of blood magic. Two magical beings can forge this link between each other. The one magically weaker is to drink blood of the stronger one, then giving them their tears in return. This forges a link between them, so intimate, that it is considered by those who shared it more intimate than the acts of physical love between lovers. One such link was between a kind of magical horses and the great eagles of the old. Companions can mate each other, though that would be impossible in your case. Such acts led to the existence of Hippogriffs, Centaurs, and many other magical creatures. The most notable one was between the great eagles of the old, and the great lions of the old, which produced the greatest and most powerful magical creature, the Golden Gryffin."

Harry's confusion increased, "but Hedwig was just an owl, she wasn't magical."

It was Isis who answered him, "actually Harry, I was magical, I was a part snow owl, it's a magical type of owls with very little magical ability, except being able to live in very low temperatures."

That actually made sense to Harry, who always thought Hedwig was not an ordinary owl. He directed his thoughts to Higgy.

"Wasn't Fawkes Dumbledore's companion?"

Here the answer cam from Osiris, "First I was Dumbledore's familiar, not his companion. Second, I accidentally defecated on his desk a while ago."

Harry, who has researched about phoenixes as thoroughly as he could, having his hide saved by one a couple of times, knew what that meant right away and burst out laughing.

He still had more questions though, "but why did you change shape? And why does Osiris seem bigger than Fawkes, and why do you have two shapes?"

Isis answered him, "it all comes down to one answer Harry, you. Your magic had two independent parts in it. One I linked to, and one Osiris linked to. The reason we are bigger, is to help our bodies contain the large amount of magic in them. We are about twice as strong as normal phoenix, and easily the most powerful phoenixes ever. That's the reason we have two forms too, as bonding to you didn't lose us our previous powers."

Higgy approached him smiling broadly, "congratulations my son, day by day you prove your worth to the title you are due, I wish I was the one to give you such title, and I'd have given it to you right away." She then hugged him while the two phoenixes sang.

Harry took a moment to enjoy his mother embrace, then said, "alright Isis, you can take that last letter, just don't be seen in phoenix form." He had noticed the rest of the letters attached to her leg still, he tied the letter to Bellatrix to her. She hopped off his shoulder and disappeared in a burst of flames. Harry heard Osiris mutter quietly "show off" and chuckled.

Ron was living his summer in an almost euphoric state. He felt that the world was going his way at last, he joined the Order when Harry didn't, became a prefect, and was about to receive training that would make Harry look liken a squib next to him. Moreover, he planned to ask Hermione out when he saw her next, just to spite Harry, he knew he didn't like her that way, but the thought that Harry might be interested in dating her made her interesting to him.

He heard the door opening, and saw the twins enter. Fred had a letter in his hand that drew his concentration. When he looked on it, he missed the devious smirk that appeared on his brother's face.

Fred said, "Brother dearest, your friend Harrykins sent you a letter. But his owl left quickly, she seemed in a great hurry to deliver some official looking letter."

Ron was intrigued and snatched the letter from Fred to see if Harry said anything about it. In his hurry, Ron forgot to ask the twins to leave.

Dear Ron.

Thank you for your letter, and have a pleasant trip.

I have great news for you mate, guess what. Some people contacted me and offered me some training. they are a very special group that promised to raise me to a higher level than Dumbledore in just two years. I accepted. I asked them if you and Hermione are allowed to join, but they said you do not have enough potential. sorry mate. Any way, we agreed to meet at Gringott's. They said they had a portkey ready that would leave with or without me at nine tonight. I will stay in the leaky cauldron for now so I will not be late.

Bye mate, see you in two years.

Your friend

Harry

P.S. they are called "The Order of the Imperial Dragon." fancy, huh?

Ron unconsciously repeated aloud, "The Order of the Imperial Dragon?"

Fred jumped, "The Order of the Imperial Dragon? What about it? Any one is joining?"

Ron looked at Fred, "yes, Harry said he's joining"

George bounced up and down while shouting happily, "that's great, great. It's said that they didn't find enough potential in Dumbledore, and that their last apprentice was Nicholas Flamel, and the four founders before him"

Ron's mind came to a halt at this information. 'Harry potter becoming great, greater than Dumbledore?' that would be something he could never match up to, he had to put a stop to that.

He ran down leaving his two smirking brothers in his room, they took the letter and left.

Ron ran down to the fireplace, threw some floo powder and shouted, "Headmaster Albus Dumbledore" the flame turned green and Dumbledore's head appeared in the fire.

He said, "Ronald, what seem to be the problem?" seeing the troubled look on Ron's face

Ron replied in a hurry, "Harry, professor, he's taking training with The Order of the Imperial Dragon, he said that his dead line is 9 o'clock. He'll be staying in the leaky cauldron till then, please stop him sir"

Ron returned to his room with a smug look on his face, he did not find Harry's letter. He ran to the twin's room and asked them about it, they told him it was a kind of security parchment that burnt after being read.

Ron shrugged in indifference; he was not going to keep it anyway.

Dumbledore took his head out of the fire so fast it almost cracked on the mantelpiece. He looked at his watch and saw that he had only 20 minutes. He muttered a long incantation to open the floo connection, which alone took five minutes. He shouted his destination, and was transported to the inn. He ran from the fireplace to tom shouting, "where is Harry potter"

Tom calmly responded, "not here professor, do you want a drink?"

Dumbledore ran to him and took hold of his collar, shouting in rage, "where is he?"

Tom looked scared, "please professor, Mr. Potter hasn't been here since the summer before his third year."

Dumbledore let go of him at once muttering, "I apologize" and walked off followed by the surprised gazes of the onlookers, who included a reporter who vowed to keep from publishing this until it was suitable.

Dumbledore hurried to the bank, he waited till some goblin saw to him, it was now five minutes to nine and he was in quite a hurry, he said to the goblin," I'm Albus Dumbledore, guardian to one Harry potter. I want to know if Mr. Potter has any appointment with any one, goblin or other wise today in the bank."

The goblin looked at him the asked him to wait a few moments. Four minutes later, the goblin retuned to him and informed him the Harry had no appointment in Gringott's anytime soon with anyone.

Dumbledore was dumbfounded for a moment, he knew that in Gringott's no disguise can fool the goblins, so he was sure that Harry wasn't due to arrive today, since portkeys required goblins to give their consent if they activate in the bank. Unless ... his thoughts trailed a bit, until the horrific realization came to him, he, the great Albus Dumbledore, with too many titles to count, was pranked. And by a schoolchild no less. still, could Ronald have made it all by himself, he had to be sure.

He hurried out of the bank and apparated to the edge of the wards around Harry's home, he thought, 'damn you Fawkes, I'd have been sitting in his room by now.'

He rang the bell; the boy's aunt opened the door. She sneered at seeing him, 'stupid bitch', he thought

He put on his pleasant face, "good evening, Mrs. Dursley. I need to speak to Harry please." he said

She answered snidely, "upstairs first door to the left"

He smiled at her and left to Harry's room. When he knocked, he was not expecting the sight that met him.

Standing in front of him was someone he barely knew, there was no way possible that this young man standing in front of him right now, to be the same scrawny kid he saw off last week. If this was Harry all right, then he needed to act quickly to stop whatever was causing such a change to him. A healthy boy is more difficult to handle than a scrawny little boy is. He could not just ask him to stop whatever he was doing because it will look suspicious. Instead, he would try to see what it was and hope to sop it from the sidelines.

Harry was sitting in the room reading, when it happened. The room returned to its original state. Fawkes reverted to his previous form, and Higgy disappeared.

He sat confused, but a mere second later, he heard a knock on the door.

Harry opened it to see a face he would have preferred he never saw this summer the face of Albus Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled at him and said, "Hello, Harry."

Harry put a face of someone miserable that saw one of the few cheers in his life, though he would prefer nothing more than smashing the old man's face, and replied, "Hello, professor."

Harry put thoughts of grief filled days in his outer mind layer, as Occlumency taught him. He began to think of his mind as a two-layered onion. The outer layer would reveal what should be revealed, due to the environment, and reactions with it.

The inner layer is the true composition of the onion. Every proper thing it should be.

A sniffing animal will only smell what the outer layer smells like. But if said animal would plunge its claws in it, it can see, detect, and even eat what is hidden behind the outer layer with ease.

And Dumbledore was sniffing the air, looking for any lies Harry would tell him, he knew that. Though, Dumbledore did not know he did.

Dumbledore asked Harry cheerfully, "Harry, my boy. How have you been?"

Harry answered in sadness, "I'm fine professor."

Dumbledore went right to the point, "Harry, what do you know about The Order of the Imperial Dragon?"

Harry thought for a minute, "I don't know, professor. Though, I remember hearing about it some where."

Dumbledore noticed Fawkes standing on the chair behind Harry's desk preening his feathers; he walked towards the bird as he said, "Hello, Fawkes". Fawkes never stopped preening as he simply gave Dumbledore his back. Dumbledore still tried to approach, but Harry held him back saying, "I would advice against it, professor. The next one would stick permanently to your nose."

Dumbledore turned to Harry in surprise, "And how do you know about the first one, Harry?" he asked.

Harry somberly said, "aside from his taking permanent residence in my room the last few days, the fat drop of glowing droppings that appeared on my desk the moment you stepped in." Dumbledore could detect nothing from Harry but sincerity, as if the boy was sorrier for his condition than he was.

Harry then asked, "Why did you come now though, professor? Is anything wrong?"

Dumbledore dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "don't worry over this my boy. It was nothing. Enjoy your summer." And then he left without looking back.

When the room was finally restored, meaning Dumbledore was far, Harry collapsed on the floor laughing helplessly.

Dumbledore stormed in Headquarters looking every bit furious as he felt. In the kitchen, he found the twins talking quietly and Ronald stuffing his face as usual. He snarled, "Come with me, Ronald come with me you two as well."

They went to the drawing room with Dumbledore sitting staring up at Ron and the twins until they shifted nervously.

He said harshly, "How could you lie to your brother, and give him a fake letter in pretence it was from Harry?"

The twins looked panicked and said, "we didn't do it professor we just delivered Harry's letter to Ron. We did nothing more."

Dumbledore did not see the usual fake innocent look they had when they played pranks at school, so he rounded on Ron and said, "Then it's you Ronald. How could you lie to me and tell me Harry was leaving, when I found him sitting peacefully in his room playing with Fawkes?"

"I swear professor." said a panicked Ron, "I only told you what I found in the letter and what the twins affirmed to me"

Fred retaliated, "we only said that when you told us Harry was joining that order. How could we have known otherwise?"

Dumbledore, seeing the obvious truth in the eyes of the twins, was led to believe them. He did not bother to check Ron's point of view. He said harshly, "Ronald I was expecting better from you. With all the responsibilities you have now, you should have acted more maturely. I will allow you to stay in the order; however I will suspend your training and have your sister trained in your place"

Ron walked sadly to his room, while the twins apparated directly to theirs. They warded it against spying and collapsed on the floor laughing hysterically.

That day at two in the morning, many people received some peculiar letters. Among them was a werewolf named Lupin he smirked in obvious happiness at the blackened Hogwarts letter. He recognized the different seal of the Brotherhood of Mischief where the house mascots resembled clowns, and the letter seems to be a bit charred. A prank to remember was played and the brotherhood saw fit to inform the previous Hogwarts pranksters. He was the last one to play a prank that earned publishing by the Brotherhood.

In the same time, Harry received a similar looking letter but instead of the details of the prank, a magical binding oath of secrecy was present. When he asked his mother, she told him a most peculiar story

Back when Hogwarts was first founded, each one of the four founders had a secret and was very insistent on keeping it. Strangely enough, it was the same secret for the four of them. Each one had a mischievous streak in them combined with their best qualities.

When they merged their essence to form the sentient being of Hogwarts, the combined mischievous streaks made the castle quite the troublemaker. That explained the moving staircases, the fake doors, and all the strange things that happened in its halls.

When the founders left and the castle gained independency, it managed to locate all the troublemakers in the student body. Each one of the students received a letter like the one Harry received to swear on keeping the organization of mischief a secret.

When Harry signed the letter in his blood the contract transformed into a long list with comments from all the living members of the brotherhood. One in particular stood out when he read it. It said ever since he was a seventh year, no one has ever managed to prank Dumbledore. Thank you son, you brought the warmth of laughter to an old woman's heart.

Harry was surprised, because this comment matched what he suspected to be the head of the examination committee. When he finished, the letter again transformed into a group of pixies that was especially hard to get rid of. He had to learn the hard way that all the letters from the Brotherhood contained one prank or another.

Harry spent the next three days waiting for Tonks' reply; he grew more and more desperate each passing day. He thought with hope that she might have decided to just come over without replying, he set to tell his aunt about her on Friday.

"Aunt Petunia," He started, "can I talk to you for a second?"

She looked at him in almost wonder, they boy did not lie when he said the growth spurt for his kind was fast. It was as if he kept in his room working out for a month at least each time she saw him, instead of a day.

"What is it?" she said in a tight tone.

Harry replied quietly, "A friend of mine asked to stay for the weekend here, I thought, now that lady Higgy is staying with me, that she can change the room to fit us both. When I asked her, she made my room into a three-room apartment. It just needs to recharge for two hours a day, we will come down then. Therefore, I came to ask you if she could stay."

His aunt answered snidely, "alone with a girl in your room, boy? I don't think so."

Harry was beginning to feel despair, though he did not show it, "But, aunt Petunia. Lady Higgy will chaperone us, and she's an adult woman who works in our law enforcement."

Petunia thought over it for a moment, "If that's the case, I'll allow it. Only if I see your room and it is to my satisfaction. And she's to have lunch with us, no excuse accepted."

Harry smiled, "none present, aunt Petunia. Thank you."

Therefore, foregoing his chores for the day, Harry took his aunt to inspect his room. To her, the single room looked in better condition than the rest of the house, but it was unnatural. Therefore, she could not ask him to leave it.

She said, "alright boy. This is acceptable. When is she to come?"

Harry answered; hope lacing his voice, "Tomorrow between 10 and 12 in the morning."

His aunt scrunched her face and said, "Just make sure she's presentable." Then she left right away.

"Yes, thank you aunt Petunia." He answered.

Harry reflected back on his training these last few days. With Godric, he already has mastered martial arts and was half way through mastering sword fighting. According to Godric, he would be a fully qualified warrior before July at this rate.

His weapon of choice was the sword, followed closely by the staff. Godric told him that he would have his sword when he claimed his place as the millennium warrior. If the sword found him worthy, Excalibur will be his.

In Occlumency, Harry has mastered and was due to begin the next stage, the mind fort. It was the most basic form of mind protection against direct intrusions. It was the method Snape was using. If Harry understood this completely, then he has just found why Snape was so bitter. This method involved him envisioning his memories as a fort, built of walls of his worst memories. The disadvantage of that art, was that in order not to fall out of practice, one had to live his worst memories a few times a week. That would lead anyone down the road of darkness.

Dumbledore and Voldemort use another, more advanced method called mind wrapping. It involves hiding the mind fort with a clear area, much like Occlumency. That would help them keep their fort up just by practicing Occlumency, the checking their fort only once a year.

When Harry was discussing this with Higgy, she told him that the ultimate protection from intrusions was by mind warding. That method involves applying various wards on the mind fort; much like one would do an actual castle.

In meditation, Harry reached the second part. Where he could access his inner resting place. It was a place of pure peace and quiet. In addition, it was the place where the Imperius charm pushed one's conscious mind when applied. Because very little things can disturb some one there. It took Higgy regretfully cursing him with a crucio to make him get out of it for the first time.

For Slytherin's book, Harry completed the first stage. Where he took a complete stock of his life and analyzed it.

He discovered that every hardship he passed was partially caused by Dumbledore, with at least forty percent involvement.

The second stage was to find out the how and why parts. And he had a feeling that he was about to find out on July first

During the reevaluating his life, Harry analyzed the times, he performed accidental magic. He came to the conclusion that his body had the ability to channel magic better than most wizards did. This led him to ask if he could perform wandless magic, when he asked his mother she said that yes, he could, but he had to master all the aspects of Helga's book first.

He also took time to master all the spells he came across since his first year. With Rowena's exercises, he could remember the spells much better, and grab the theory much faster.

It was now lunchtime on Saturday, and Harry dejectedly set the table. When it was quarter to twelve, the doorbell rang. He ran to the door and opened it only to stare in surprise at the person standing on the other side.