"Er, thanks," Harry finally managed to respond with a squeak. Visions of Aunt Petunia and Professor McGonagall facing off in the kitchen—wand and frying pan drawn—were circulating through his head.
Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing…
"Are you sure you know what you're getting into?" Harry asked, leaning closer toward the Professor.
"Oh, Harry. Those muggles are no match for me," Professor McGonagall said with a snort.
"Have you ever lived with muggles before?"
"Actually. Yes. My father was a muggle."
"What?!" Harry sat back. "An actual muggle… not a muggleborn?"
"An actual muggle. He was a minister."
"Er. Well. The Dursleys… they're not really representative of most muggles…"
"Harry," she interrupted forcefully. "I am not worried about myself. I am concerned about you. About the conditions you've been forced to endure… "
Professor McGonagall sniffled, sounding as if she was close to tears and Harry had to resist the sudden urge to summon his broom from his staff and fly away. His fingertips tingled with the desire to fetch his broom.
"Er. It's not that bad," Harry tried to assert. "It was actually a bit better since…" he waved a hand toward his eyes.
Professor McGonagall blew her nose forcefully, making Harry jump.
"Well, later we can talk about the particulars. At this moment, I must make sure that there is no way that the blaggard can penetrate the wards. By Circe's girdle, if it isn't one thing, it's another." She stood up and walked away briskly, leaving Harry alone in the dining hall.
He couldn't help but grin to himself. She had just berated him for wandering around the Center without a companion and now she had left him alone. He wasn't about to bring it to her attention.
Nio stirred at his belly button and whispered something unintelligible in Parseltongue. Harry poked at his food a little more, but wasn't able to eat much. He sent his tray back to the kitchen and fished his staff out of his pocket. It felt so good to have it again.
He shook it out and opened the storage compartment, summoning his broom for just a second to make sure it was okay, and then put the muggle cane and his invisibility cloak in the staff.
He made his way out into the corridor, not really sure where he was headed, but when he found himself inhaling the heady aroma of shaved wood and the sulfuric remnants of silver casting, he realized why he was there.
"Figora?" he asked at the entrance.
"Harry! I'm so glad you're okay," the normally gruff voice was transformed by delight as Figora approached him and clasped his elbow in greeting that also served to guide him to a spot at a nearby table where she filled a cup with a fragrant tea that made Harry think of mangos and pushed it against his knuckles. "It sounds like you had a harrowing time in those tunnels. And success as well! What an amazing feat… to find the source of that nulling magic and return it to its proper place… what with bumbling Aurors, murderous villains, and scores of serpents everywhere… Septima filled me in."
"The snakes helped us…" Harry said, feeling defensive as he took a sip of the tea. "Is this a mango tea?"
"Well spotted! Most wixen can't identify the key ingredient over the black tea!"
"Oh, well, Lieutenant James Holman shared a mango with me when we were on the HMS Eden. It was heavenly."
"Oh and I know what you mean about the snakes. Septima! She does have a snake phobia. I think the adventure has given her a new perspective on serpents. You look like you need something? What can I do for you?"
"Well, I was just thinking that it would be handy to be able to store my staff like I do my wand… is it possible to have them both in the same holster?"
"Hmmm. Are you sure you'd want them both on the same hand? Wouldn't it be easier to have your staff on your right hand and your wand on your left?"
"I hadn't really thought of that… but I use both in my right hand," Harry explained as he transferred his staff to his left hand and flicked out his wand from the holster. He held it palm down on the table.
"We'd have to alter the enchantment if they are both in the same holster, so that you could flick out the one you want," Figora said, taking his right hand and turning it so that the holster was facing up. She muttered spells under her breath and Harry felt the tingle of magic coursing through the holster where it was touching his arm. She ran rough fingers over his forearm, tracing the holster as it was fastened to his arm.
"You can't see it when it is on my arm?" he asked, lifting his face toward her.
"No, it's enchanted to be undetectable. But because I know it is there, I can feel it."
"I don't really feel it… it is nice how it doesn't get in the way."
"It is one of my more brilliant inventions, if I do say so… and it didn't fall off, did it? When you were in the null zone?"
"No, it didn't!" Harry's eyes went wide with amazement as he thought of that. "My wand fell out because it changed size, but the holster stayed on my arm, even though I used magic to buckle it."
"Right, it was held in place by the belts, not by magic, you just use a spell that animates the objects to move when you need them to fasten, but otherwise, it is held in place by mundane forces. Go ahead and try it."
"You did it already?"
"Yep, your staff fits here," Figora said as she guided his hand holding it to the spot in the holster. Harry fumbled for a bit as he struggled to line it up, but then it was magically sucked into the right spot with a satisfying snap.
"Oh, that's brilliant! How do I get it out?"
"It's the same flick, but you stick your thumb out to the right when you want your staff instead of your wand. That's right, just like that."
"So, one at a time, right?"
"Yeah, it's safe guarded so that you won't drop them," Figora explained while Harry practiced flicking one out and then the other and putting them back.
"That's brilliant! Thank you!"
"No problem! That's one less thing for you to lose if you're in another null zone."
"What? I thought that was the only one!" Harry said, sitting up tall.
"Well, they are very rare. I doubt we'll ever encounter another one again. Not even once in a blue moon, as they say."
"Well, I hope not. I hate what it did to my staff! And thank you for repairing it. I thought it would be weeks before I got it back."
"There wasn't much I could do while we were waiting after I got better… and it was a relief to be busy and away from that Auror. What a tool. I did make some modifications… so if you do encounter a null zone again, it shouldn't break your staff again. It is like the protections on your holster… rooted in the mundane so that if the magic disappears, your things won't just spill out."
"Oi, really? That's brilliant! Where would they go?"
"They'll be vanished to a safe spot that you can retrieve them from later when you have your magic restored. It is here in the Center and it doesn't matter where you are… they will be kept safe."
"Though if that had happened this time, we wouldn't have been able to use my invisibility cloak," Harry reflected.
"That's true. It was a life-saver," Figora agreed. "The chances of you encountering another null zone are pretty slim, I'm sure."
"Yeah, you say that… but I have rotten luck."
"Or given the number of times that you've survived what would have killed most people, you might say that you have brilliant luck. Either way, we could figure out a way for you to carry your invisibility cloak… some way that you could always have it close by.
"That'd be handy," Harry said, stirring his tea.
"And you could use it to conceal your snake friend. It might keep you from having to constantly deal with all the raging ophidiophobia out there."
"Off-eye-dio- what?"
"Ophidiophobia. Fear of snakes."
"Oh, I need to remember that," Harry sighed. "Why are people so afraid of snakes?"
"I imagine some of it has to do with natural instincts, since somes snakes are poisonous… and some of it is based on superstition and misinformation."
"The whole serpent in the garden of Eden thing?"
"Hmmm," Figora hummed while a quill scratched on parchment.
"Are you sketching out a design?"
"Mmmm. Just some ideas. I think I'll consult with Nicolas. He might have some thoughts. I'm thinking that maybe a pouch or a locket with an undetectable, extendible charm like the staff… something that you could wear on a chain, but with enough of a cloaking charm that it would extend to your snake. Hmm. I've got to think about this. Your snake moves around a lot, yes?"
"Well, yes, but you wouldn't know it at the moment. He's busy calling the hogs at my belly button!" Harry laughed as he touched the lump of snake resting against his stomach and pulled his fingers away when Nio twitched in response. "Thanks for the tea. It was good. I'm going to check on my friends. See if they are up."
Harry stood up and flicked out his staff from his arm holster, smiling as it landed in his palm. He shook it to expand it to it's normal size.
"Certainly, come back later and I'll let you know if Nicolas and I have figured out a solution for your cloak."
"I will, thanks!" Harry muttered the navigation spell, asking his staff to direct him to Aminah. He was surprised when it directed him toward the reception area instead of their dormitory where he thought she would be… sleeping.
In the reception area, he did not find her. Instead, a drowsy Godric greeted him.
"Oh!" Harry said with surprise. "I asked my staff to guide me to Aminah."
"Ah, well, she just left with her mother. I suppose it is fine for me to tell you that they are headed to the ministry on behalf of Mr. Khan."
"Is he still imprisoned? Is there anything I can do? I can give them my memories!" Harry's staff smacked against the base of the reception desk.
"Sadly, the ministry is often perplexed by nonvisual memories. But they have Healer Jordan's and Mr. Khan's. It should be sufficient. Don't fret, Harry. Justice will be done. I'm confident."
"Well, I'm glad you are. I'm not so sure. Aminah thought they might not listen… because her father's foreign, and Healer Jordan's black."
"Ah, true. Just as we face preconceived ideas about who we are and what we are capable of because of our blindness, so does Mr. Khan because of the color of his skin, his religion, and his country of origin. And sadly, Healer Jordan as well, even though her ancestors came with Catherine of Aragon from Spain—they were notable mages of the Spanish court. We will have to be vigilant and make sure justice is actually served."
"How do we even do that?" Harry felt frustration boiling in his gut. When had things actually been just?
"We use the power we have," Godric said. "And we stand together. Look what you all were able to do down in those tunnels."
"I don't know why everyone keeps saying that… it was a lot of stumbling around and guesswork."
"Exactly. You used the power you had… you were resourceful. You worked together," Godric said enthusiastically.
"You make it sound heroic. We were just trying to survive. We were slipping and sliding on ice, I broke my cane a million times, it was cracking my head on doorways, people collapsing left and right, and hiding in holes."
"And yet you survived, you freed your friends, you convinced snakes to help you, you kept Aminah's father from being blamed for everything…"
"Well, that hasn't actually happened yet…"
"And you sent the null thing back to its origin. You restored balance to the universe!"
"I didn't do it alone!" Harry shouted.
"Exactly my point."
"What?"
"Listen, Harry. I know you're not that thick. You and the others, you worked together. You played to your strengths. You used your resources. You didn't focus on what you can't do. You were true to what you can do."
"Well, when you put it like that…"
"Precisely. Listen, I'll let Aminah know you were looking for her when she returns," Godric said as he fed parchment into his Brailler.
"Thank you. I appreciate it."
"Are you heading to class then?"
"What? We're having classes today?"
"Of course. We lost two days to the whole null thing."
"I don't even know what my schedule is!" Harry said, as his pulse fluttered in his throat like an errant moth.
"No worries. I have it here," Godric said, flapping a piece of parchment so that Harry could hear it.
Harry ran his fingers over the familiar patterns of the braille. He was relieved that he still could make out his schedule even with a couple days of practice lost in the tunnels.
Heading out into the corridor again, Harry muttered, "Tempus." He was pleased to discover that it was a quarter of an hour before Core Strengthening and Balance with Ms. Midgeon. He'd have time to give Hedwig the bit of breakfast he'd saved for her.
He squirmed when Nio shifted at his belly button, almost laughing out loud as he passed through the threshold into the owlery.
"Well, aren't you a chipper little squirrel this morning?" the portrait on the wall by the door exclaimed.
Harry just walked by, pretending he didn't hear, even as he felt his neck growing warm. The portrait whined in complaint. He navigated to the perch in the center of the room as the owls murmured lazy hoots and growls, shifting on the rafters above. He collapsed his staff and snapped it into place on his holster with a small smile.
At his belly, Nio convulsed and hissed, "Sthei! There is danger here. We must leave at once!"
"Oh, Nio! You're awake! I'm just visiting… oh. Yeah. I didn't think of that. Just stay put. I've got some treats for Hedwig and then we'll be on our way." He sighed wishing that his two friends liked each other.
There was a burst of air as wings snapped open followed by a descendent swoop; Harry closed his eyes against the stirred dust as Hedwig settled on the perch by his face.
The snake burrowed down beneath Harry's waistband of his trousers and Harry let out an involuntary guffaw, then dug in his pocket for the bits of sausage he'd saved for Hedwig. She sharply pecked at his hand and Harry jumped back.
"Sorry, Hed. I didn't mean to leave you for so long. How did you manage while the Center was cut off from magic?"
"Cut off from magic!" the portrait behind him exclaimed. "How is that possible? Magic is in everything. It can't be cut off!"
Harry pursed his lips and tried to ignore the blustering portrait.
"Though that does explain the odd shift from morning to the dead of night in a blink of an eye… I thought I had fallen asleep," the portrait went on talking to itself in a low murmur.
Harry inhaled a gasp. He hadn't even thought about what would happen to the portraits in a null zone.
"Is Lieutenant Holman okay?" Harry asked.
"That old blind muggle!? Why are you asking after him? I have no idea, not a normal portrait, is he?"
"Never mind," Harry said, wondering who'd he have to ask to find out. Was the portrait always on the ship? When would the Egresses open again? He turned back to Hedwig and tried to soothe her ruffled feathers. She grudgingly accepted his overtures and nuzzled into his hand.
Nio's hiss to hurry up and get out of the foul-smelling place caused Hedwig to startle and jump on her perch. One of her wings clipped Harry in the face, sending his glasses flying off his face and they clattered on the wood floor.
Harry went to his knees and started feeling the floor where he thought they had landed and stopped abruptly when his fingers encountered wet gooeyness.
"Ugh!" he uttered as he sat back on his heels in disgust, resisting the urge to shake the slime from his fingers. He flicked out his wand and then regretted it instantly because now it was also coated in owl droppings. "Oh, crap."
"Quite literally," the portrait agreed.
"How do I use my wand to clean my wand?" Harry wondered to himself. He gingerly held his wand in his left hand and pointed it at his right hand, muttering the cleansing charm. He thought about his wand being scoured as well as he did it and ran his fingers over it.
"Oh, that did it," he said, pleased with the results.
"Accio glasses," he muttered and then cleaned them, too, when they were whisked into his hand. He placed them back on his nose and pushed them up to the bridge. The sun was now filling the room with bright light and it was a relief to have his glasses filtering the light and making it bearable. As he stood up, Nio hissed in complaint at being squished. Hedwig grumped and flew back to the rafters.
Harry exchanged his wand for his staff and walked to the window where the early morning air brought the scents of London up to the tower. He felt it chasing away the musty damp of the tunnels that lingered in his crevasses. Nio urged him to leave the owlery and Harry agreed that he needed to head to class. As he passed over the tingling threshold back into the corridor, he wondered if this meant that all the Egresses were up and running again or it was only the ones that were within the Center.
oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo
Nio's whispering tongue in his ear brought Harry to the surface of consciousness and he listened, trying to determine if he was the only one still in the gymnasium after Ms. Midgeon's class. He remembered settling into the last pose, corpse pose, gratefully.
"Sthei, are you going to sleep here? It doesn't feel like a very safe place… all open and exposed. Those owls aren't so far away."
"Nio, the owls aren't going to eat me!" Harry muttered, rolling onto his side.
"But they'd like to eat me. I could hear it in their dreadful hooting."
"I told Hedwig to leave you alone… and all snakes, for that matter."
"But that doesn't mean her friends will…"
"True."
"Ah, Harry! You're awake!" Ms. Midgeon's voice came from a distant corner of the gym. She gathered up some papers and tapped them on the table. "I let Besel know that you were still sleeping. She said that she'd catch up with you later."
"What about the others? Tony, Arig, Gordon?"
"They went on to their next session. You have some free time."
"Hmmm. That's novel," Harry said, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Could I go out to the park?"
"No, that Egress isn't open yet. You have to stay within the Center. We're still working on making it secure."
"Oh, all right." He sent his mat back to the storage area. He decided not to change out of his exercise clothes and summoned his trainers and socks out of his staff.
Harry decided to head toward his dormitory with the hope of finding Aminah or Gemma there. As he rounded the corner, he heard hard-heeled footsteps approaching him with determination. He lifted his face toward the sound, trying to decide if it was Healer Jordan or Professor McGonagall and then he remembered to ask his staff. His shoulders sank a bit as Professor McGonagall was announced in the aftí in his ear.
"Harry! I just realized that I left you without a guard! Why didn't you tell me? After everything that has happened!" Her words flew at him like snowballs.
"A guard? I was fine, Professor McGonagall," Harry said with a small shrug.
"Well. I see that. But still, you should have told me," she said as she fell into step with him.
Harry paused and cocked his head toward her, trying to figure out what she was doing.
"I'm going to my room," Harry said with a question in his voice.
"Well, and I'm coming with you. Like I said, you're to have a guard. I talked to Healer Jordan about it, but I think she's still trying to secure the Center."
Harry's staff let him know that the door to his dormitory was to his right. He turned toward it and then stumbled when Professor McGonagall somehow stepped in front of him and he ran into her. His staff warned him, but the message didn't reach his brain in time.
"Oomphf!"
"Oh, dear. I was trying to help, but I see I muddled things," Professor McGonagall said as she grabbed his elbow in an attempt to steady him.
"It's fine," Harry huffed.
"Let me get the door," Professor McGonagall said and Harry stopped in his tracks, afraid he'd run into it. He swept his staff to locate the entryway and ended up smacking the professor with it.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" he said as his ears heated up.
"No worries. The way is clear now," Professor McGonagall sounded flustered.
Harry was still thinking about how awkward it was to have Professor McGonagall follow him into his dormitory that he didn't register her gasp as they entered the room.
"Harry, duck!" she shouted as something grazed his cheek.
oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo
Author's Note: A reader a while ago asked why Harry always put his staff in his pocket instead of using a holster like the one he had for his wand. I can't for the life of me remember who it was... but thank you! What a great idea. Why didn't I think of it?