DISCLAIMER: That part of this world and those characters you've seen before belong to their Creator: JKR. The rest is mine - although I cannot quit my day job as I make no $$$
A/N: As promised and even quicker than I said, here is part II of Chapter 47…
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN (B): AWAKENINGS II
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23rd, 1989 - ST. MUNGO'S HOSPITAL LONG CARE WARD, LONDON, U.K.
For the three young people who considered Potter House their home, it seemed that time was flying by. They lived in both the magical and non-magical world and with the magical world in an uproar, their time in public was mostly in the much quieter Muggle world. Their time in the magical world was spent at Black Manor, Camp W, and the homes of their magical friends. Places like Diagon Alley were avoided simply because it seemed there were protests there almost daily. Of course, this had meant that their Christmas shopping was done mostly in Muggle London, but they were sure no one would really mind.
They had been exceedingly busy for people their age. Clarice spent two days a week at the clinic. For all of them, three days a week were spent at Camp W and many nights preparing for those three days. Time was spent at Black Manor as well as they were taking lessons with Lord Black and, to Hermione's great pleasure, spending time in the vast Black library. Hermione did not know it, but between the Black library and the Potter library, she and the others had access to perhaps the most comprehensive collection of magical works in Britain.
By the end of September, they had completed their "Missions" for the year. Two horcruxes were gone. Luna's Mum had survived her accident and she and her unborn children were doing quite well. Despite everything else, they wanted something else to work on. If there was one drawback to the Watanabe School it was that one got used to being busy all the time. That, and their biggest distraction from working on something, Sirius Black, had been away for two months on holiday with his new wife.
Of their own accord, they set themselves on a new mission. This was one that Sensei had mentioned as a possibility but it had also been suggested they needed more time in school for there to be success. While the three did not doubt that might be the case, they could still get a start on it. This mission was to help their friend Neville if it was at all possible. Specifically, they were going to find out if there was any way to cure Neville's parents who were currently in the long term spell damage ward at St. Mungo's and whose condition was deemed permanent.
Clarice had taken advantage of her visits to St. Mungo's following the accident to Jasmine Lovegood. During Jasmine's stay in the Hospital, Clarice had been her Healer of Record, supposedly a visiting foreign Healer who had happened to be passing by on a tour of the magic sights in Devonshire when the accident had happened. The one nice thing about more than a fair few witches and wizards was they did not ask a lot of questions. This might also be why Magical Britain was as messed up as the three youngsters thought it was.
Neville's parents' charts said they had been admitted to the long term ward following prolonged exposure to the Crutiatus Curse that had resulted in permanent catatonic states. Something from her Healer training told Clarice that the diagnosis made no sense. During her visits to Neville's parents, she performed her own examination of the subjects and her results contradicted those of the Healers on the ward. Her results did not show the decreased brain activity of a person who was catatonic. If anything, the two Longbottom's minds seemed to be normal, if agitated, under magical examination.
Clarice further learned, thanks to the Black library, that the persistent condition was not one associated with even prolonged exposure to the Curse. While there had been patients who did suffer an apparent mental collapse after days of magical torture, their catatonic state was temporary. The patient either recovered consciousness or died within six to ten weeks. There was not one case of a victim of the Curse being rendered insane on a permanent basis, certainly not for eight years, and yet here were two whose condition was unique. Moreover, the records they were able to obtain showed that the attack and torture of the Longbottoms had taken at most five hours, not the days necessary to create the mental collapse. Something else had happened to the Longbottoms that day. The big question was what.
Once again, there was an answer in the Black library, although this time it was Hermione who stumbled upon it. Hermione had decided that she was going to study for a Mastery in Spell Crafting when she returned to Japan. The great thing in her mind about having access to the private libraries of two ancient houses was she also had access to their families magical journals. It was a popular misconception that families, especially old families, kept large books on their ancient, private magics, both spells and potions. First of all, not every generation had a witch or wizard who experimented with magic. Even where they did, it was not required that they actually write down and keep their discoveries. While it was true that some families had a scholar at one point or another that tried to compile the centuries of their private magic into a single tome, this was not a common practice. In most instances, one had to have access to centuries of personal journals and sift through the day to day musings and observations to find a magic spell that the author had either created or discovered and deemed worth recording.
What was both interesting to Hermione and more than a little annoying were how many of the spells were actually common knowledge, although she assumed that centuries ago maybe they were not. A fair few of the spells she found in the Potter and Black journals seemed either impractical, unreliable, inefficient as compared to more common spells, or just plain silly. Still, she found spells she had not seen before that seemed like they would work and was surprised as to how many would be considered dark or harmful. Even the Potter family, long associated with Light Magic, had more than a few really nasty spells in their journals. Hermione surmised that these vicious spells were invented and kept secret to defend against attacks. As the spells would not be known to an assailant, it would come as a nasty shock.
One spell in a Black journal from the mid-fifteenth century piqued her interest. It did not have a name, for most private spells were not named. Also, like most private spells, it was meant to be cast without incantation. Again, this both increased the surprise should it be used and would prevent all but those family members who knew it from using it against them. This spell supposedly trapped its victim within their own mind and was said to resemble the effect of the Dememtor's Kiss, without actually separating the soul from the person. The spell had a counter-curse, but the only one she was able to find required that it be cast with the same wand that cursed the victim in the first place. Hermione was certain there was another way to lift the curse, it was just that the spell was so rare, no one bothered to find out how.
Lord Black confirmed that it was possible that his cousin Bellatrix LeStange might well have come across that spell as a youth. He doubted she had taught it to anyone. Bella shared nothing. But if Bella knew that spell, it was possible she had been the caster and it was possible that the spell was the real reason for the Longbottoms' condition.
Six people now stood in the long term ward at St. Mungo's in a small screened cubical that contained two patients: Frank and Alice Longbottom. The patients' eyes were open, but neither one was responsive, just as Clarice and the others expected. Along with Clarice, Harry and Hermione were Neville, his Gran and their friend Luna. Clarice and Hermione explained what they believed had happened to the Longbottoms and Neville's Gran Augusta was doing her best to maintain her composure. She was incensed that these "children" had been able to come up with a working theory while the people charged with the care of her son and daughter-in-law seemingly had done little or nothing. Her ire was not directed at the children. That Neville had such friends and that he himself was developing similar skills was more than she had once hoped for. Her ire was directed at the adults who were either too lazy or too incompetent to try and help her family.
"So what's the plan?" Augusta asked.
"Well," Hermione replied, "if we are right, we should be able to find out through Legilimency. We might even be able to make contact with them. Although for now, that is about all we can do."
"Y-you can do that?" Augusta asked. In Britain this was a rare skill that few mastered.
"Gran," Neville said, "we all can to one degree or another. Harry, Hermione and Clarice have five years more experience than I, and I have three years with this. Against an undefended mind, I can gain some access."
"But you're not going to do it?"
"We'll see."
"We feel we might get better results," Clarice continued, "assuming we're right, if first contact is made by someone they do not know. If you or Neville were to go first, there is a possibility they would either react with some form of hostility or believe they are losing it altogether. Remember, if we are right, they have been alone in there for eight years, so it is best to limit the shock." Clarice was going to monitor the patients to determine their reaction to the "procedure." Harry and Hermione would be the ones trying to make contact.
"And you?" the formidable woman asked turning towards Luna.
"Neville and the others were there for me when my Mum almost died," Luna said. "I am here for my friends."
Augusta nodded.
Harry found himself in the middle of a black void with a large, white door being the only object visible. He had seen this before, or at least something like this. It was not an uncommon form of active occlumency defense against an unwanted mind probe. It could be a trap or a trick to keep him away from what he sought. But he also remembered what his Mind Magic Professors had told him. Sometimes a door is just a door.
Still, he approached with caution just in case. If it was a trap and unless this mind's defenses were exceptionally well prepared, he would be able to detect it without setting it off. Mind traps could be a problem, he knew. His own were. His defenses were designed to either block an assailant, expel them with varying degrees of force, or lure them into a trap which would allow him full access to their minds through most of their shields. This last defense was just that. Only one persistent and good enough to bypass his other traps would get that far. Knowing this, caution was prudent.
It was just a door.
Harry opened it and found himself in a grand entry not unlike the entry into Black Manor. The space beyond, which he could only guess was a mind space, looked like a Manor House. Slowly he walked in, peeking into the various parlors and salons on either side of the entry hall.
"May I help you, Young Master?" a high pitched voice asked.
Harry looked at the source and saw what looked to be a House Elf. She was maybe three feet tall with the large and soft eyes common to her kind, along with the caricature for a nose and bat like ears. This was a mindscape, Harry knew. A dream of sorts created by the person whose mind he had entered. Based upon his conversation with Hermione, he was certain this was not the trick of an occlumency defense, but a place that made the person feel less like a prisoner. The elf was not real, but probably existed in this place to stave off a sense of loneliness.
"Er, yes," Harry replied. "I was wondering if the Mistress was at home?"
"She never leaves," the Elf replied. "She does not entertain. Are you expected?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm a friend of her family. I was in the neighborhood and decided to pop by for a visit, if the Mistress will see me."
The elf seemed to nod in understanding. "I shall inquire, Young Master. Please take a seat in the parlor to your right."
Harry nodded and did as he was told. The room was comfortably furnished and looked like it was designed for teas and meeting guests, but Harry had the sense that unless said guest was purely a figment of the occupant's imagination there had not been any. Upon the walls were paintings. Most were landscapes of one sort or another. The portraits he saw he would guess were family, primarily because the largest was of a younger Alice and Frank Longbottom with a baby boy in the young woman's arms.
"May I help you?" a voice asked. The voice was cold, suspicious and almost hostile.
Harry looked up and saw a young looking Alice Longbottom in the door standing there with her arms folded. Whether her posture was defensive or defiant was hard to tell. Remembering the lessons in courtesy he had learned both from the Grangers and more recently Lord Black, Harry stood.
"Lady Longbottom, I presume?" Harry said with a slight bow.
The woman nodded. "I am. You're my jailor, I presume."
"Jailor?" Harry asked in some confusion.
"I will admit I did not expect a mere boy, but considering I cannot escape from this place and am quite unarmed, I suppose even a boy would do."
"No Ma'am, not a jailor. Do you know where you are?"
"A Manor of some sort. I woke up here ages ago and cannot get out. If not a jailor, who are you? Aside from Deedee and Farschal the elves, I've had no company."
"My apologies, Ma'am. Harry James Potter at your service," Harry said with a deeper vow.
The woman seemed to pale and go weak at the knees and quickly made for a chair. She sat down and placed her face in one hand.
"James and Lily's boy?" she asked.
Harry nodded.
"That's not possible," she said. "You're only a day older than my Neville and he's just a baby!"
"We all were once," Harry said.
"I've finally gone round the twist, haven't I?" she said more to herself than to Harry.
"I can assure you, Ma'am, you seem quite sane under the circumstances. We expected some degree of disbelief which is why I am here and not Neville."
"Neville? Where is my son? How is he?" she seemed almost desperate.
"Perhaps I should explain?" Harry asked. "May I sit?"
Mrs. Longbottom nodded.
After Harry sat down in a chair across from his hostess he continued. "I'll begin by answering one of your questions. This," Harry said waving an arm indicating the room they were in, "is a mindscape."
"That almost makes sense," Mrs. Longbottom said, "considering. But how is this possible? Where am I really? What day is this?"
"What is the last day you remember," Harry asked remembering Clarice had told him not to reveal too much at one time.
"November 14th, 1981," she said. "Neville was visiting his Gran and Frank and I were at home when we were attacked by four Death Eaters. We gave them a fight, but they eventually took us down and began torturing us. I blacked out and woke up here. Never even saw who they were with those infernal masks, but one was definitely Bellatrix LeStrange."
Harry nodded. "She was. The others were her husband, his brother and Barty Crouch."
"The Head of Law Enforcement?" Alice asked in shock. "He was a Death Eater?"
"No," Harry said. "A right nasty piece of work, but no Death Eater. The Death Eater was his son."
"What happened?" Alice asked.
"The Death Eaters who attacked you were captured by a team of Aurors that day. Three of them have been in Azkaban ever since. The Barty Crouch you knew was arrested last year for facilitating the escape of his son and for the false imprisonment of Sirius Black…"
"But he betrayed James and Lily Potter!" Alice protested.
"He never stood convicted of any crime," Harry said in a calm tone. "Until a year ago, he was never even given a trial. He was acquitted in minutes when the real traitor was revealed and confessed to everything."
"And who was that?"
"Peter Pettigrew."
"But Black was a Death Eater! That whole family was!"
"Lord Black is not marked. Nor was Sirius. Sirius was and is my godfather. While in theory he could betray my parents, you know better than I do that as my godfather he could never betray me. Besides, my father and I are members of the Black Clan, as is Arthur Weasley for that matter. Not to mention Andromeda Tonks, none of whom I suspect you would consider accusing of being Death Eaters. According to Lord Black, I am second in line behind my Godfather to assume the title Lord Black. Obviously, being a Death Eater was not necessarily a Black thing, although a fair few were. Lord Black is going to disown the lot of them for betraying the family, but that's neither here nor there.
"Now, as I said this is a mind scape…"
"So where am I really? What day is today?"
"You and your husband were admitted to St. Mungo's on November 14th 1981 and treated for physical injuries from your duel and for what the Healers believed was long term exposure to the Crutiatus Curse…"
"That's not possible! It was an hour! Two at the most!"
Harry nodded. "Yet your symptoms were consistent with that diagnosis. When you and your husband failed to recover, you were transferred to the long terms care ward in March of '82. You've been there in a bed next to your husband ever since."
"How long?" Alice pleaded.
"Today is December 23rd, 1989," Harry said.
"Eight years?" she replied in disbelief.
Harry nodded.
"My Neville is nine?" she asked in a small voice.
"As am I," Harry said.
"And my Neville? How is he? Where is he? Whose taking care of him?"
"Neville lives with his Gran," Harry said. "He's one of my best friends and is doing quite well, actually, although he does miss his parents. He is currently sitting beside your physical self here in St. Mungo's."
"And where are you?"
"Standing next to you."
"You're not really here with me?"
"This is a mindscape. What you see is a mental projection of myself. I hope it is an accurate one. Have never bothered to look at a mental mirror as it were. Am I wearing glasses?"
She nodded.
"Messy, black hair like my Dad? Eyes like my Mum?"
She nodded again.
"Interesting. "I'll have to remember to tell Hermione that."
"Hermione?"
"My best friend," Harry said. "My sister and I live with her and her parents. Well, actually she's adopted but that's another story altogether."
"Sister?"
Harry nodded. "She's about a year younger than me."
"I didn't know you had a sister."
"Few did."
"So that's where Dumbledore sent you after it happened?"
Harry shook his head. "No. My sister and I were separated that night. She was left for adoption in the Muggle World and I was sent to live with my Mum's lovely sister," Harry said sarcastically.
"But that can't be! Lily and James made it clear that those people should have nothing to do with you!"
"Dumbledore felt otherwise," Harry said with a shrug. "Told everyone it was in my best interests to live where he had placed me. The Muggles put people like him in jail for a long time for less."
"I can't believe he would…"
"You and your husband were placed in this ward on his authority," Harry said. "We learned that today when we looked at your records. If you must know, they make no effort to cure people here. This is the Ward for hopeless cases. Obviously, as you are here in this mindscape and seem quite sane, you case is not hopeless. Difficult, but not hopeless."
"Why would he do that? It makes no sense."
"Why would he ignore my parents' Will? Why would he ignore those who knew I was not to be sent to live with my mother's sister? As head of the Wizengamot, why did every suspected Death Eater get tried while my Godfather, who was unmarked, was the only person locked away without even being charged? We can only hazard a guess, although we believe it has something to do with a prophecy. We know what it is and it is so vague that only a fool would act upon it in any way, yet it would seem two fools did."
"I cannot believe…"
"With Sirius behind bars and you and your husband given up for lost, every person who knew they had been named as my potential guardians in the event something happened to my parents was out of the picture. That being the case, I was truly an orphan and the ward of one Albus Dumbledore. A Muggle who treats their dog the way my aunt's family treated me would be in jail. If Dumbledore did not know about how I was treated for almost six and a half years, he's an idiot. If he did know, then he is no better than the man who killed my parents. Worse even. They say the Killing Curse is quick and painless…"
Alice thought to say something but clearly changed her mind. "And how did you come to get out of that situation?"
"My Aunt's husband beat me mercilessly and the lot of them left me for dead. That was about a year and a half ago. The Grangers found me or, more accurately, I passed out crossing the street right in front of their car. They got me to a hospital. While there, my sister arrived as well. Her adoptive father had died of cancer and she and her Mum were in a car crash. Her Mum died and she wound up in the same hospital as me. As we were both orphans in the Muggle world, they placed us with the Grangers. We are both quite happy there, although I'm probably more so than my Sis. Her parents, like the Grangers, were decent people."
"And your Aunt?"
"She and her family did the world a big favor and died in a house fire while I was still in hospital."
"I'm sorry."
Harry shrugged. "Not your fault, Lady Longbottom."
Alice sat there for a while thinking. She had so many questions about Harry and what had happened but finally decided now was not the time.
"Okay, so I'm in a mindscape while my body lies in a bed in St. Mungo's," she finally said. "And you are here and real, or as real as anything in this place. How? Why should I believe that?"
"You've never imagined me before, have you?"
Alice shook her head.
"And you do know of a way for one person to mentally project themselves into the mindscape of another, yes?"
She nodded, then glared at Harry. "But that's impossible! You're only nine! Very few people are even capable of Legilimency, and NONE of them are children!"
"In my brief time in this life and world, I have learned that what's true for magical Britain is not necessarily true elsewhere. Were this country not my homeland, if all of my friends lived elsewhere, and if my currently family wanted to, I'd be shot of this backwater. The Grangers know Hermione, my sister and I are magical, as are all of our friends. They want the best education for us and they found it. It's not here in Britain, but on the far side of the world. When we went back for our second year, we brought our friends with us, to include Neville.
"Occlumency and basic, permissive or passive Legilimency are required to pass the I.C.W. O.W.L.s in Mind Magic. Mind Magic is one of the required courses we take from day one at our school."
"So you're telling me you're using Legilimency and have your O.W.L.s at age nine?" Alice said in disbelief.
"I am here, aren't I?" Harry said. "Unless you want to believe you're dreaming, can you offer any other explanation?"
Alice shook her head. "Either you're telling the truth or I'm nuts."
"One of my professors once told me that when you eliminate the likely and the probable, whatever is left, however improbable must be the truth."
"It's still hard to believe," Alice said shaking her head.
"If you see time as immutable," Harry replied.
"Time compression?" Alice asked.
Harry nodded.
"But that's illegal!"
"Not where we're going to school," Harry said, "at least not for the school."
"How long?"
"We attend school there for a month. We experience fifteen hundred days, or four years and forty days. Every three hundred days is a single academic year, so we get five years of education each summer."
"How many summers have you been there?"
"Two," Harry said.
"And how far along are you in school?"
"I've taken my O.W.L.s, N.E.W.T.s and have a Master's Certification in Defense."
"Defense?"
"Combat Magic."
"Excuse me?"
"Similar to Auror training, but with little emphasis on law enforcement and loads on dueling and unit tactics and such."
"Why that?"
"I thought it was pretty cool," Harry shrugged.
"So, you're done with school then?" Alice asked.
"Not hardly," Harry said. "We also attend non-magical classes. I've only just finished Secondary School in that track. Next summer, I return for University and to begin work on other Master's Certificates."
"Others?"
Harry nodded. "Did real well in Potions and like that, so that's one. I'm currently debating between Curse Breaking and Warding – at least as far as which one I'll start once I have my Potions Mastery."
"Do you have a wand?"
Harry nodded. "Got it overseas at the school, although at least through O.W.L. levels, we were also expected to do everything wandless as well."
"They teach wandless magic?"
"It's required for top level I.C.W. exams," Harry nodded. "Both the mind arts and wandless magic are easier for young people to learn…"
"But we were always told those were hard…"
"And they are for an adult witch or wizard," Harry said. "And consider who told you."
"Just about everyone."
"Ministry propaganda," Harry said. "If you wait until you're seventeen to start learning, then they're right. It's almost impossible to learn by then. But young people do it instinctively. It's actually easier at my age to learn that than wand movements and incantations, although I seemed to do well enough at that as well."
"Just how old are you?" Alice asked. "I'm sorry, but I have to ask."
"No problem," Harry said. "Physically and magically, I am nine. Under that schools time magic, we age at normal speed even though we experience fifty days for every one normal day. By count of days experienced, however, I have experienced about seventeen and a half years."
"So, you're no more powerful than a nine year old?"
"Actually, I am in the top one percent it seems with regard to magical potential, so I am quite powerful for a nine year old. But, you know that magic matures slowly until puberty and much more rapidly during and after. Compared to an adult, I am still a kid. I'm just a kid with the equivalent of ten years of education and training. From a skill standpoint, I am well ahead of others my age – at least those who are not going to school with me."
"And my Neville?"
"Neville is a summer behind Hermione Clarice and I. He took his O.W.L.s already. All outstandings, I believe. He was Honors in Herbology and had With Distinctions in Potions, Defense and maybe one other."
"Honors? My Neville?"
Harry nodded, "He ranked twelfth in his year."
"That's not so great," Alice frowned. "When I was at school that would have been top twenty percent…"
"It was in the top three percent there," Harry said. "There were over four hundred students in his O.W.L. year."
Alice smiled for perhaps the first time. "My Neville," she said softly. "Can … can I see him?"
"Soon," Harry said. "When we are finished and assuming Hermione does not finish first…"
"Hermione? What does she have to do with seeing my son?"
"She's trying to make contact with your husband as I have made contact with you as we speak."
Alice nodded. "Okay, Mr. Highly Educated Boy," she said with a slightly mischievous smile, "what did happen to my husband and I?"
"Bellatrix LeStrange used a private Black family curse on you," Harry said. "Hermione found it when reading through the Black family journals."
"You have access to those?"
Harry nodded. "Lord Black has granted us access to his library."
"There's bound to be dark magic in those journals," Alice said with trepidation.
"Actually, no more so than some of the private family magic we've found in the Potter journals."
"So what did this curse do?"
"Trapped you in this mindscape," Harry replied.
"Can you get me out?"
"I'd like to say yes," Harry said. "All I can say right now is we are working on it."
He could see a tear in her eyes.
"The only recorded way to break the curse is with the caster's wand," Harry said. "If your colleagues in the Auror's followed procedure when they chucked Bellatrix in Azkaban, they snapped it."
"So there's nothing…?"
"I said we are working on it," Harry replied somewhat forcefully. "Just 'cause the Blacks never bothered to find another way does not mean there isn't one. If the spell had destroyed your mind, well we wouldn't be talking and there would be no hope. But you and I are here, so there must be a way. As Hermione says, there's more than one way to skin a cat."
"What's that?"
"Muggle expression."
"So what now?"
"We make copious notes, visit and ask more questions maybe, research all we can here. When we return to school in July, we talk with noted experts in their fields, research in those libraries which contain magic not taught here or published for that matter. Hermione is confident if we do not stumble upon a way to get you out before then, when we return next August, we should be close."
"Until then?"
"Neville will probably visit you like this quite often. He's eager to meet his real parents and this way, while not perfect, is far better than before."
Alice nodded. "Thank you, Harry."
"Haven't done anything yet."
"Well, that's not true now, is it? You have shown me I am not alone anymore. You and the others are trying. Seems that is more than anyone else has done for us."
Harry nodded. "You're welcome. Now, with your permission, I'll take my leave and see if Neville is available."
Alice could only nod. Harry could see the tears in her eyes as he faded from her mindscape.
Alice watched the spot where the boy she had never bet before had been standing. For the first time in she did not know how long, she had at least a little hope for the future. She did not hear the new arrival until he spoke.
"Mum?"
Alice Longbottom turned and saw her son for the first time in eight years.