A/N – I'm kinda disregarding book 6&7. I didn't care for HBP and I couldn't even finish DH.
CHAPTER 3
Lunch with Dumbledore and Professor Snape wasn't as bad as Harry had thought it could have been. There was always an air of formality required of a student where Snape was concerned, so Harry decided to make it easy on himself by only speaking when spoken to and being polite as necessary. After a great meal, all three rose to leave when Dumbledore regarded Harry and said, "You may owl your friends if you wish, but there will be no time for visits during the summer. However, you may stay with the Weasleys for the last two weeks of summer before term begins if you desire. Now, I will leave you to have the rest of the day to yourself."
As Harry made his way to the hall he heard Dumbledore speaking, "Severus, a moment of your time, please."
Not wanting to listen, Harry walked down the corridor making his way toward the Gryffindor common room. Even though Harry had been down these halls for years now, it was odd knowing that there were only three people in the entire castle. There were no bustling students, classroom chatter, crowding in the hall...nothing. Only the sound of Harry's footsteps echoing down the hall could be heard. Harry smiled at this knowledge and began to run and shouting gleefully. The castle was all his.
As he came to the Fat Lady's portrait, he remembered he didn't know the password. When he took the last step up to her, she smiled. "Mr. Potter it will be lovely to have you during the summer. It can be quite lonely during the summer months. I will let you choose your own password until the beginning of term."
Happy at this news, Harry thought for a few minutes at what his password would be. It would have to be something that nobody could figure out. But why? There was no one here to figure it out really. So he said the most logical choice of password, "I think I'd like for my password to be my name. Is that okay?"
The Fat Lady just shook her head and said, "Very original, Potter. Nevertheless, since there is no one here but you anyway, I guess that will be fine. Password then, please."
Harry squared his shoulders, gave a great smile and said his own name, "Harry Potter."
Except for the lack of fire in the fireplace, the common room looked the same as it always did. The windows were all half open and a breeze was flowing thru the room. 'The house elves had done a great job with cleaning the place', he thought. Harry stretched his arms out on each side of him, spun around, and around with his eyes closed. 'All this to myself. This is going to be great!' He strode up the stairs to the boys dormitory and went straight to his room. It was always warm and inviting, but without his other dorm mates and none of their personal belongings there, it felt odd. Harry took the small luggage out of his pocket. With a swish of his wand, his trunk and all it contained, his Firebolt and Hedwig's cage were restored to full size. Harry spent an hour or so unpacking and settling in a bit. Then he decided this was a great day for flying and in 15 minutes time he had mounted his Firebolt on headed to the Quidditch pitch. With the wind sweeping thru his hair, it felt marvelous. Of all the things in the world, there was nothing better than the ability to fly. Not one thing compared to the freedom Harry felt on a broom when soaring thru the sky. Nothing could touch him when he was on his Firebolt. All the cares in the world were shed like an old cloak and left on the ground. Up here in the clouds was Harry's domain and he loved every minute of it. After two hours of practicing maneuvers, and playing an imaginary game of Quidditch, Harry was all sweaty and decided to make his way back to the castle. With his broom perched over his shoulder, Harry walked along the path. When a cool breeze blew on his back, he decided to sit for a moment on the beautiful manicured lawn. He looked over the beautiful green grounds. This was home. He gazed at the clouds and felt a tickle on his fingers. A little green snake not more than 6 inches long was scurrying over his hand to some unknown destination.
With his best manners and his parseltongue ability, he kindly spoke to the little creature "Hello, my name is Harry. Where are you going?"
Obviously startled to have something speaking to it, the little creature looked around and up to Harry. With a few swishes of its tongue, the little snake began to speak. "Hello, Harry. My name is Sasha. I am hunting crickets. How is it that you speak to me? None of your kind has spoken to me before."
Even though the castle is great all to yourself, it is always nice to have someone to talk with. "Nice to meet you, Sasha. You should know that very few of my kind are able to speak to you...in your language anyway. Do you mind if I hold you in my hand?"
Sasha answered, "No Harry you have the Light, I know I can trust you."
Intrigued at Sasha's answer, Harry gently let Sasha curl up in his hand and lifted her up to his face so that he could see her better. "What do you mean when you say I have the Light? Do you mean the color of my skin?"
Sasha made a sound that could only be construed as a snake giggle. "No, silly. I see the Light behind your eyes. It is truth that lives there. I can sense it on your skin and hear it in your voice. All creatures have senses to protect them against danger. Do you posses none of these senses, Harry?"
Harry thought for a moment. "Well, I suppose I do know when something will hurt me, or when I will get into trouble. Although sometimes I don't have the good sense to get out of the way. Sasha, I have to go back to my room now, and I suppose you will want to go hunt your crickets, hmm?"
Sasha uncurled from around Harry's wrist and moved back into his hand. "Yes, Harry. My meal awaits me in the grass. It was very nice talking to you. I live under the pile of rocks over there at the edge of the forest. Please come visit me again if you wish."
Harry gently let Sasha out of his hand and onto the grass. Harry smiled and told Sasha that he would like that very much and he watched her slither away. Dusting the grass off his legs, he set off for the castle.
After a nice long shower, Harry decided to write letters to Ron and Hermione telling them where he was. Digging out his parchment, ink and quill, he sat down on what would normally be Ron's bed.
Ron,
You won't believe where I'm spending the summer. You will never guess. Let me give you a hint...I'm sitting on what you spend more time on than anything else. Give up? I'm at Hogwarts and I'm sitting on your bed right now. Strange huh? All I know is that Dumbledore came to get me from the Dursleys yesterday and I'm going to be learning some additional things during the summer with Dumbledore. I don't know what I'll be studying yet, but my classes start tomorrow. The only people here for the summer are me, Dumbledore, Snape and one other student arriving in two days.
It's very odd to be here without you. The Headmaster says you can write me here, and that I will be able to spend the last two weeks with you at the Burrow if that's okay. He also said that there couldn't be any visitors here during the summer session, so I guess I'll have to just see you before the term starts. I went down to the Quidditch pitch today with the Firebolt and had a great work out. I hope I'm able to come up with some new plays for the team this year. Feel free to write me any time, because it gets kind of lonely without you here.
Later,
Harry
Harry rolled the parchment up, magically sealed it, and set it aside. One down, one to go. He wrote Hermione's letter in the same fashion, but left out the part about Quidditch, seeing it was unnecessary because Hermione wasn't a big fan anyway. Since Hedwig was nowhere to be found, Harry head down to the owlery. Tying the two letters each to a different owl and telling them to whom to deliver them, Harry let them go from the window. Harry left the owlery and strolled the halls slowly, enjoying the quiet stillness. He rounded a corner and saw the tail end of the Grey Lady; she was heading in the direction of the Ravenclaw common room. After a long walk, it was almost time for supper, so he made his way toward the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was cleared of the normal long house tables, and in the center of the hall was a single round table with four armed chairs around it. With Dumbledore, Snape and Harry there, one seat remained empty. Harry remembered. Malfoy was coming. The great prat! Of all the people Harry didn't want to see during the summer holidays, the top two would be with him at every meal. After a filling meal of roast beef, boiled potatoes, green salad and bread pudding, Harry sat lazily in his chair as he listened to Professor Snape telling Dumbledore about some potions he was concocting. One of which was an unstable potion that required the utmost care. Harry noticed that the Potions Master, who was normally void of any emotion, other than a hateful sneer to Gryffindors, spoke with almost excitement and pride at his undertaking. It was surprising really to see this side of him, Harry thought.
After finishing off his glass of milk, he turned to Dumbledore and when Professor Snape finished his last sentence, Harry said, "Excuse me, sir, may I be excused?"
"Of course, Harry. We will be starting your lessons tomorrow after breakfast. But before you go to bed I have a riddle for you that I'd like for you to think about." With a swish of his wand, a little piece of parchment appeared on the table, and Dumbledore read it to Harry.
"The thing all things devour:
Birds, trees, beasts, flowers
gnaws iron, bites steel
grinds hard stones to meal;
slays kings, ruins towns,
And beats high mountains down.
"I hope you will be able to come up with the answer on your own. Have a nice night, Harry." Dumbledore handed Harry the parchment with the riddle on it. With a belly full of food, and a mind full of an impossible riddle, Harry nodded goodnight to the pair of Professors and made his way up to his dorm room. Harry put on his pajamas and lay down on his bed with the riddle in his hand.
He thought aloud. "Hmm… all things devour...slays kings...beats mountains down. Well maybe water...all things need water and it would be able to ruin a town in a flood. But it wouldn't slay kings, would it?" Harry rubbed his forehead with his hand, thought, and thought about what could be the answer. He thought so much, he hardly felt himself drifting off to sleep.
A light breeze was blowing through the open window and even before Harry opened his eyes, he remembered he was at Hogwarts. He was home. His eyelids fluttered open and looked thru the open window. It was after dawn and a glance at his watch showed it was just after 6 am. Breakfast was in 2 hours, so Harry had plenty of time to get dressed. After putting on his glasses, he slung back his covers, and noticed as the little parchment with the riddle on it fell onto the floor. Harry read it one more time. '...beats high mountains down.' I don't know anything that would do that. Surely, it would happen after a very long time...a very long time. Time. Time is the answer. All things devour it in their lifetimes, it has the ability to eat away at iron and steel, it eventually grinds stones to meal, time takes away a bit of a person everyday...yes, yes that's it. It must be Time.'
Thoroughly satisfied that he'd found the answer to one of Dumbledore's riddles, the day was looking brighter. Harry figured since the whole of Hogwarts wasn't here, there would be no use for formal school robes today, so he made do with a pair of jeans and a navy blue t-shirt. Teeth brushed, hair combed (I still don't know why I bother, he thought), and everything else finished, Harry tied the laces of his shoes, picked up his wand, stuffed the parchment with the riddle on it in his pocket, and headed down and toward the Dining Hall in a leisurely fashion.
Entering the Dining Hall, Dumbledore was already seated and looked up as Harry came in. "Ah, my boy. I trust you slept well?"
"Yes, sir. It's wonderful to be back at home in my own bed. At least I feel like Hogwarts is more home to me than the Dursley's could ever be."
"We do grow fond of these walls through the years, don't we? Years of learning and thousands of students have walked these halls in search of knowledge. Some in search of knowledge that they will never find." There was a brief pause as Dumbledore looked on as if pondering the universe. "But no matter, did you find time to study the puzzle which I gave you last night, Harry?"
"Yes, Professor. I thought about it a great deal before I fell asleep."
"Well, that's alright, Harry. You had a long day yesterday and I should have known you would be too tired to ponder the mysteries of an old man's mind."
"But sir, I think I have the answer." Harry picked the parchment out of his pocket and began to read it to the Headmaster.
"The thing all things devour: Birds, trees, beasts, flowers, gnaws iron, bites steel, grinds hard stones to meal; slays kings, ruins towns, And beats high mountains down." Looking up into Dumbledore's eyes, Harry said, "Sir, I think the correct answer is Time, for only time can achieve all these things."
Dumbledore set his cup of tea on the saucer, leaned back in his chair, and studied Harry very closely. After a few moments, he smiled a genuine smile to the lad. "Yes, Harry. You are correct. The answer is Time. You surprise me once again."
At that moment, Professor Snape entered the Dining Hall and took the same seat as the night before. Light conversation through the meal was pleasant, and when breakfast was all finished, Professor Snape bid his goodbyes and set off once again to the belly of the castle.
"Headmaster, where will our lessons be taught and what subjects will I be studying this summer?" Harry asked with anticipation.
With a small nod, Dumbledore reached into his robe and pulled out the small glass ball filled with the blue and silvery swirls that Harry noticed on the old man's desk the day before. Dumbledore placed the orb on the now cleaned tabletop (house elves are wonderful creatures) and looked at Harry.
"Harry, this is a Memory Holder. Think of it as a miniature version of the pensieve. It can only hold one memory at a time. The caster can hold the Memory Holder and transfer one memory into its depths. The caster will still retain the memory in his mind, but the memory within the orb can be shared with others. I will demonstrate by adding one of my memories into the holder, and sharing it with you. All that needs to be done is to hold the orb, say the spell "implantium memorandai" and think of the memory. When the memory you wish to implant is finished, end the spell with 'finite.' The swirls in the holder are normally blue and silver at rest. When a memory has been implanted into it, the swirls will change into green and gold."
Delighted at the thought of something so simple, but so amazing, Harry just said the only thing he could think to say, "Wow."
Dumbledore picked up the glass orb, muttered the spell, closed his eyes for a minute, and then said the ending spell. Immediately the swirls changed into a beautiful sea of green and gold swishing around inside the ball.
"Now, Harry, when you wish to see the memory that I have planted into the Memory Holder, simply pick it up from the table and hold it in your hands and say 'repondre' and the memory will play in your mind. Don't worry my boy, you won't be able to feel anything, but sometimes memories implanted can be quite vivid depending on the strength of the emotion behind the memory. Feel free to try it when you are ready."
Taking the small orb from the table, Harry noted it was a lot lighter than it looked. After gazing at the swirls for a moment or two, he nodded at Dumbledore and said 'repondre.'
As if a filmstrip was activated in his mind, Harry's vision blurred and he could see a beautiful field of dandelions. A light breeze was on his face and the smell of lilacs from somewhere. He turned and looked into the beautiful face of a young woman. A stand of flowers crowned her head and her light auburn hair fell about the shoulders of her white dress. She was barefoot and holding a hand. 'My hand' Harry thought. They walked together for a bit and she was smiling, laughing, and pulling me thru the flowered field. She stopped abruptly and bent down to pick up a small white rabbit. She held the rabbit up to her face and tickled its nose. Her smile was beautiful and it filled Harry's chest with warmth by just looking at her. The sun was so warm and joy filled Harry's heart at the sight of her walking thru the meadow. Then Harry's eye's blurred and he was looking the tabletop of the Dining Hall. His eyes darted to Dumbledore.
"Who was she? The girl? I saw her in a beautiful field...her hair...it smelled of lilac and I could feel the wind on my face and the sun on my skin. That was amazing..."
Dumbledore smiled. "That was my younger sister, Ariana, on her sixteenth birthday. We were at our parents' home. The white rabbit was named Picket. She found the rabbit and raised it. That was a most happy day years ago. Tell me, Harry, could you feel any emotion associated with that memory?"
Harry thought for a second. "Yeah, it was like I was happy to see her...well, like happy to see her after a long time. She made me happy. Like...well, like being with her had always made me happy." Harry thought for another moment before continuing. "There was something else though." Harry put his hands to his temples and closed his eyes remembering what he saw, and what he felt. "She was happy, but there was more to it. She had a feeling of...something...like...well like sadness too. I can feel that she is sad about something. Something was going to happen...something terrible." As the memory played repeatedly in Harry's mind, he began to ask the memory in his head...'why is she sad...what is going to happen to make her sad?' A sudden pain came to Harry's chest. She is dying. She knows she is dying and she is sad about this. These are some of the last days she lives. She wanted to see her brother before she died.
Harry looked at Dumbledore knowingly, and placed his hand on the old man's hands. He asked softly. "How did she die?"
"Ariana was always a very kind and very passionate young woman, but even at her birth her body was weak. She had an incurable disease and she lived much longer than we thought was even possible. Only a few months after this memory, Althea died and I was there with her. She told me to always remember her with that memory of us in that field of flowers. And as long as she is remembered in that field as a living soul, then she never truly leaves me."
Harry was touched by his Headmaster's words and with the valuable memory, which he had shared. "Thank you for sharing her with me, Professor. I will keep her alive with me also."
"Thank you, young Harry. Today I wanted to show you that this memory holder could hold memories inside it and release them upon command as a demonstration. Part of what I want to teach you is sometimes referred to as psychometric reading, but it goes much deeper than that. All the earth contains a constant flow of energy, Harry. This energy is life and it lives in each and every thing, plant or animal. This energy is not limited to living things. As the energy flows through us and around us, it also flows through objects and walls. You have it within yourself to use your magic to tap into the flow of this energy. With enough practice, you can sense things and even ask the energy questions. Tell me, Harry, have you ever been sitting in a crowded room and felt that someone was looking at you?"
Harry remembered memories of sitting at the Gryffindor table and feeling like someone was watching him. He looked up to see Malfoy staring a hole right thru him with a sneer creeping up his lip.
"Yeah, Malfoy. I mean, I would be sitting at breakfast and I just knew he was staring at me. It felt like a drill thru my head. Is that what you mean?"
"Exactly," the Headmaster replied. "That was before you knew how to read the energy, but you felt it. Some feelings are stronger than others are. With touching objects, usually one can feel only the last emotion felt while someone was touching it. However, that is not always the case. Sometimes one can feel the strongest emotion ever felt by the person who owned or touched the object. For example..."
Dumbledore pulled a key, a dried up inkwell, and a scarf from his pocket.
"Here are three objects on the table. I want you to look at all three of them very closely. Pick up one that seems to be giving you the strongest feeling and hold it. Concentrate on pushing your magic thru your hands into the object and drawing emotion from it. Don't be discouraged if you feel nothing from one thing. Pick them each up one at a time and take as long as you need with each. You may begin."
Harry sat and looked at each little thing on the objects over and over. After several minutes, he reached out for the inkwell. He held it in his hands then closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself pushing imaginary magic back and forth between his hands. A little tingling sensation formed in his fingertips and slowly a little filmstrip in his mind began...it was light in the room and papers were shuffling on a desk. A pair of dainty hands reaches out for the quill and dips it into the inkwell, a quill is writing, the letters are blurry, reach out again for the inkwell and I tipped it over. It spills over the side of the desk onto the floor. I reach out to pick it up and I am wearing a green cloak. Harry's mind blurred and the memory was gone.
"Sir, I saw...well a quill was writing...and I spilled the ink...it went onto the floor...it's a floor in a classroom...my sleeves were green...green....it was Professor McGonagall's inkwell. She spilled the ink on the floor when she was grading our assignments. Is that right?"
"Excellent, Harry, excellent. You are much better at this than I had hoped. Please, try again with the other objects. Take your time if you need it."
Harry placed the inkwell on the table and looked at the other objects. They were a small gold key and a little bundle of a white scarf. He stared at them each for a few minutes and he reached out for the key. Harry laid the key on his palm and covered it with the other palm. He felt his magic go thru the key and the memory began. The key is in my hand. I am reaching out with the key and placing it in a small lock...the lock is on a cabinet...no, it is on a box...it's a box filled with letters, a beautiful jewelry box. I laid the key on the desk and started looking at the letters...I see many letters, and I am angry. I read the words and I become more and more angry. I am filled with rage...hatred. I want to hurt him...I want to kill him. There is a sound...voices...I am startled...someone is coming. I throw the letters back into the chest and slam it shut. I am panicking now...what if I am caught...I grab the key and put it into my pocket. I am in a dark closet now...I am looking thru the part in the door. I see a young lady come into the room and take off her sun hat...I am scared she'll find me. She sits to start brushing her long hair...she can't find me here...she can't...oh no...She's coming to the closet...
"Harry! Harry!"
Harry's memory abruptly stopped and he awoke to find Dumbledore above him. Harry is lying on the floor with the key gripped in his hand and he's breathing as if he's run a race.
"What the hell was that?! I had the key....I opened the jewelry box....the letters made me so angry...I wanted to kill someone....a lady came in the room and I thought she'd find me...I hid and I was afraid. What happened to me? And why am I on the floor?" Harry stared up into Dumbledore's kind face for the answers.
"Harry, I had to show you that not all memories are pleasant. Your reaction to a strong negative imprint on an object has to be controlled or you will lose yourself to the emotion printed onto it. It will help you if you clear your mind of thought before you try to draw energy from something and try to ground yourself in the present moment before letting yourself get caught up within the memory itself."
Dumbledore picked up the scarf and placed it back in his pocket. "That's quite good for today Harry. Using your magic this way has a draining effect on you. That will be all for our morning lesson. You have a bit of time before lunch and after our meal, we'll work on a few other things that I think you will enjoy. You are dismissed."
Harry stood and handed Dumbledore the small key and hoped he'd never see the thing again. With a nod to Dumbledore, Harry walked from the Great Hall out into the daylight and across the lawn toward the lake.