When he reached Healer Jordan's office Harry deliberated about if he should knock on the door or just wait out in the hallway until she came looking for him. Finally, he sucked in a nervous breath, and then stuck out his hand to find the door and softly rapped twice on it.

It opened and Harry stood there for a second, thinking that Healer Jordan would greet him. When she didn't, he said, "Hello?" to the void before him.

"Come on in, Harry!" her voice came from a distance, as if she was across the room, so he walked in hesitantly.

"I'm just finishing up with another resident, so go ahead and sit in a chair and I'll be with you in a moment," she said.

Harry stood there for a moment, and then said, "Navigant empty chair" to his staff and found one of the chairs in the waiting area to sit in.

He minimized his staff, but didn't put it in his pocket. He sat twirling it between his fingers as he tried to calm his beating heart—he felt he'd been called to the Headmaster's office. He wished he had something to do while to take his mind off the waiting. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to concentrate on reading at this point and anyway, all he had to read were his textbooks and the leaflets.

He thought about what he had in his staff—after all, he had emptied his trunk into the staff. He opened the compartment and uttered, "Accio exploding snap cards" and held out his hand. The pack of cards that Ron had given him landed neatly in his palm and he closed the compartment on the staff and put the staff in his pocket. He could smell their distinctive faintly burnt odor and felt the well-worn deck remembering the cover image that had Egyptian stylized-eye that seemed to shimmer through a patina of tarnished gold. He could feel the raised image on the cards and ran his finger over the eye a few times. He untied the string that held the pack together and started feeling the cards to see if he could discern the images on the other side, but they didn't seem to be embossed in the same way that the cover image was. They were essentially blank to him.

Harry heard Healer Jordan again and realized that she must have cast some kind of silencing charm so that he couldn't overhear the conversation. It sounded like they were coming this way, so Harry tied up the cards again and stowed them in his staff. He shook it out to extend it, but didn't stand up, instead placed it in front of him and leaned against it.

"Thank you very much, Healer Jordan, I really appreciate your time," Martha was saying as she walked toward the door.

"It's no problem, Martha, that's why I'm here," Healer Jordan reassured.

"Okay, well thanks! Oh, and… Hi, Harry," Martha greeted.

"Hi, Martha," Harry responded and then he heard the door open and close behind her.

"Harry, I need to step out a moment before I meet with you. I'll be right back," Healer Jordan said.

"Oh, okay."

"You can help yourself to tea while you wait. Ask your staff to show you the way to the tea service," she said as she walked away, to the back of her office area.

"Okay, thanks," Harry said to her receding footsteps. He stood up and said, "Navigant tea service" and then went over to what turned out to be a tea cart. It had similar charms on it as the buffet in the dining hall, and by passing his hand over the cart, he was able to locate the cups and saucers, the teapot, sugar, and milk. He poured himself a cup of tea, though he got a fair amount in the saucer. He found the napkins and mopped up the mess before adding sugar and milk. He stood by the tea cart sipping his tea because he wasn't sure he could walk back to his chair with the delicate teacup teetering in the saucer without dumping the whole thing while he used the staff to find his way.

He heard a door opening at the back of the office and footsteps and the distinctive noise of a staff tapping. Mr. Burbage, Harry guessed.

He turned toward him, his teacup rattling a little in his hand.

"Hi, Harry," Mr. Burbage greeted before Harry had a chance to say anything.

"Hi, Mr. Burbage, uh—how did you know it was me?" Harry said.

"I've set up my staff to recognize people I know and alert me to their presence when I enter a room. Also, I knew you'd be meeting with Healer Jordan this afternoon. I'll show you how to cast that charm this afternoon. It's really handy," Mr. Burbage said.

"Okay, that's cool," Harry said, still feeling a little wary after their last exchange during the storm.

"Yeah. Hey, I'll see you at the training later this afternoon. I'm going down there now to set up," Mr. Burbage said as he walked away.

"Okay, see you then," Harry said and took another sip of his tea.

Healer Jordan came back a few minutes later and carried Harry's teacup to her desk while guiding him to the same seat he had sat in the last time he met with her in this office.

Yesterday—that was only yesterday, he realized with a bit of a shock. It seemed like a long time ago.

"Okay, Harry, as we talked about yesterday, it seems like there is a gap in your understanding of the Center and how things work here. I had sent the material to your guardians with explicit instructions that they should share it with you and it seems like that did not happen. Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" Healer Jordan asked with a concerned tone.

"No," Harry answered quickly, thinking about similar questions in Primary that had led to questions that brought the wrath of Vernon down on his head. He felt the blood drain from his face and pool in his innards.

Healer Jordan didn't say anything and Harry felt the silence stretching uncomfortably as if she were simply sitting there staring at him, waiting for him to say more.

He twisted his hands in his lap and tried to come up with an exit strategy.

"My aunt and uncle… " he started talking to his hands, faltered and then turned his face toward her again. "My aunt and uncle are muggles and they really don't understand the magical world at all. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding… "

"Well, that could very well be, Harry," Healer Jordan's voice was kind, but thoughtful… as if she stepping carefully through a bog, trying to walk only on the firm bits of land. "I am going to visit them and interview them. I have some concerns about your condition when you arrived yesterday."

"Interview them?!" Harry sat up suddenly. "What do you mean, concerns about my condition?" He realized he was shouting and tried to bring his voice back down to a more moderate level.

"Harry, you had a number of bruises on your body that frankly make me wonder about your treatment at home," Healer Jordan said.

"I just ran into a lot of things. I mean for Merlin's sake, I can't see and I keep bloody running into things like door jambs and tables," Harry said, his voice breaking.

"You had bruises that look like fingers on your arm," Healer Jordan said.

"Well," Harry drew in a deep breath. "Sometimes my uncle doesn't know how hard his grip is, that's all, and he's not used to having to guide me—so he was a little rough. He'll get better at it."

"That may be the case, but I'm still going to go talk to them."

"Please don't do that," Harry said as evenly as he could manage.

"Why, Harry?"

"They are scared of wixen—it'll just make it worse."

"It'll make what worse?"

"I can't… " Harry said, feeling suddenly exhausted, and slumping back into the chair. It was deeper than he imagined and he fell back with a bit of a yelp. He struggled to sit up again.

"I promise you that I will do everything within my power to not make the situation worse for you. I will consult with Mr. Burbage whose father was a muggle and perhaps he can come along with me to help with their fear of the magical world."

There was something in Healer Jordan's voice that made him believe her conviction that she would not make it worse for him. He clung to that thought and nodded though the tightness in his throat made it uncomfortable.

"Okay, once I'm able to arrange the meeting and talk to them, I will inform you. And then I will meet with you afterward to let you know how it went," Healer Jordan explained.

Harry's response, a quiet "okay," was barely audible.

"In the meantime, here is the information that I shared with them that you haven't had a chance to go over yet. A lot of it, you learned on the tour, I think. When you read through it, though, I think you'll find some of the missing information, such as how to find different pathways in the various settings according to your needs. You'll also learn a lot of useful tips today about how to use your staff to its fullest effect." She explained as she pushed a scroll into his hands. It felt heavy—as if it were really long. He sighed.

"And Harry, I'm going to set up some meeting times in your schedule with our mind healer," Healer Jordan paused at an exasperated moan from Harry. "This is standard procedure for anyone who has undergone a trauma such as you have. Many of the Center's participants find great value in working with a mind healer. I hope you'll approach it with an open mind. I know this has been a lot for you to take in. I'll recommend that you find a quiet spot in the library or the courtyard to read over the material about the Center before you meet with Mr. Burbage for your lessons on how to navigate with your staff."

"Okay, thank you," he said quietly as he stood up. He heard her clearing away his half-drunk cup of tea as he navigated toward the door with the heavy scroll in his hand.