Not a single character of my own yet.

Grief, Deceptions, and Hope for Freedom

Part 11 : Spiritual Aides

Harry had 'asked' the room for a book that would give them spells that would help them expend their magical reserves. The text that appeared was the Guide for Examiners: Defense Against the Dark Arts Newt. For an hour they poured their magic into alternating shields and stunners, ending with the Patronus spell. Neville's mist was far more substantial and seemed close to a form. When Harry asked if Neville had changed memories, the other boy shrugged with a smile and said that his devil's snare had already rooted. Harry had wanted to see if he could perform another Patronus without dispelling the first. However, the stag was far more misty than it had been, and he had to spend his energy into making it more substantial. He found though, that after the first Prongs was dismissed the second had been stronger, and he felt happier.

Neville and Harry agreed to spend an hour each morning and two after dinner exerting their all. Neville had gone back to the greenhouse to tend his cuttings, a little after seven. Having time to spare before the ghosts would be joining him, Harry pulled out the Families book and resized it, as well as his interlibrary loan book. He had read all the blood ward sections, the second half of the book contained the desperate protections. With the time on his hands, and Remus at his disposal, Harry had no doubt Sirius's suggested reading list was well thought out. So now that he was fairly certain that the blood wards were useless, he set out saving the second half of the book to the reserve section of the book. Tomorrow he would be able to chose another book on his walk before breakfast, Mental Arts, or How to keep a Manipulative Headmaster from realizing he blew up his Pedestal.

There were 300 pages to save, so Harry was going through at a good clip, but luckily his book slipped a bit and he got a good look at page 498. With an illustration of a squalling infant settling and even smiling upon receiving a glowing unicorn, the page was titled Patronus Pals. Harry hit save on the page, with a grin. The Pals were essentially transfigured toys with layers of charms to hold the sense of peace and happiness of the patronus with charms to repel dark energy. The book gave an account of a child being saved from a dementor attack, at the picnic the family had attended only the people closest to the baby and the child and their toys hadn't been approached by a dementor. While the parents had shot off Patronuses, the only explanation for the child playing on the other side of the park with other children being safe had been the unicorn she had insisted she bring with her to the sandbox. Harry smiled, tomorrow he'd get his first teddy bear.

Harry had finished the book and was working on transfiguring the label he'd torn out of his shirt into a bear when the ghosts came in. He'd only been expecting the Bloody Baron and Sir Nicholas but Professor Binns accompanied them. "Mr. Potter, Heir of Gryffindor, may I present the Baron and the Professor."

"Pleased to see you again."

Professor Binns glided ahead of the others a bit, "Not more than I. Imagine if you can dying choosing to be a ghost to finish your major work, your dream, your piece of immortality – only to be forced into a half-state teaching only about goblin wars." The ghost threw up his hands, "And not even the more accurate accounts, or with contrast from the goblin point of view! No! Pure ministry drivel that I had been campaigning to correct on the Exams for my whole career!"

"All that dreck was forced on us by Dumbledore!" Harry shook his head, "No, better for him, it was the ministry, so he could still appear pro-goblin politically without the students learning anything in class."

The Baron gave a deep laugh, "I knew you were in the wrong house, young heir."

"Yes, Mr. Potter, it seems the man I thought was my trusted colleague has served to make my beloved subject a farce." Professor Binns, though he looked downcast still had more animation than he had in the five years Harry had sat his class.

"So do you get to move on once you finish your book on the Chamber of Secrets?" Harry asked.

Binns looked at Sir Nick, "I see the knight has given you hints. No," the Professor smiled at Harry, "I'm revising Hogwarts: A History. Starting with the accounts of the founders, and I need your help to access Slytherin's diaries."

Sir Nicholas spoke, "Surely you wondered why Myrtle didn't avenge herself, or reveal who had been in her bathroom your second year?"

Harry groaned, "Did he put any protections on the entrance or go down there himself?"

The Baron laughed, "Of course not, Harry, after all unless one leaves open the door, how can the prodigal son return?"

Harry looked sharply at the Baron, "They're allied?"

Sir Nicholas spoke quickly as sparks began to appear in the air near Harry, "No. A poor choice of phrase."

The Baron said, "Not allies nor poor choice of phrase, Riddle was a favorite of Dumbledore until the boy demanded to stay at the school, in his third year."

Nicholas replied, "You mean until the boy uncovered the texts of the Founders in the library, exclaiming over his heritage."

"So are there more books?"

Binns replied, "Of course."

oOOo

A little while later with a command issued by Harry but made up by Binns, Sir Nicolas and Professor Binns were off to search the school and Dumbledore's estates respectively for the books of the Founders. Harry was left alone with the Slytherin ghost, "So why didn't Dumbledore take all the books out of the library rather than hiding them?"

"Before there were bookplates, there were automatic return charms. Three weeks off the shelf, then to return no matter how far, or in case of damage about to occur – too warm or wet, and back they'd go. However, Dumbledore is skillful with obliviate so he was able to take some by having Riddle perform a countercharm only a Heir could use. But he was patient, and forgot that boys start saying no, and forgot the countercharm would expire without exposure to an heir every so often."

"Not to mention if he had bookplates of his own he might not have noticed."

The Baron looked thoughtful, "Perhaps that will be the best place for the others to look next, to see which of the Founders' books Dumbledore has put his personal plate in. Yes, it would likely help you see what the Headmaster found most interesting."

"So young Heir, what do you need most?"

Harry pulled at the cuffs of his robes. "Time. I've not been able to go through half the stuff I have to read, let alone figure out what it all means." At Harry's pronouncement what looked like two large hourglasses appeared on the wall, one filled with black sand, the other with silver.

At Harry's shocked look the Baron said, "Have you forgotten so quickly? This is the Room of Requirement, anything it can grant within the confines of these four walls without breaking laws of magic or nature can be granted."

Harry stood and walked up to the hourglasses, "So what can these do? If it has to be within the confines of the room, I don't think this is a time-turner."

"No, not something so sloppy and inelegant as a time-turner, for that can break nature's laws. And the price young Heir is some of the user's magic."

Harry turned to the Baron alarm written on his features.

"Not permanently, but the effects are more pronounced the more you use a time turner. In your case, it merely served the purpose you and Mr. Longbottom aim to fulfill, depleting your stores for replenishment and growth over the summer. However, in Miss Granger's case she needs to see someone in St. Mungo's, a specialist, to be able to recoup her full potential."

Harry turned back to the hour-glasses, "Is Madam Pomfrey able to help her, but won't?"

"The girl needs a full healer. There are reasons a full physical from a Healer is required as part of the bylaws of this school, though only Ravenclaw and Slytherin heads of house uphold the requirement presently. A healer is far more skilled than a Mediwitch, and can diagnose past ills and their causes. Abuse, bullying and ailments yet to present symptoms can all be read under a trained Healer's crystal wand."

"Are visits to a Healer expensive?"

"Yes, though if for a required school physical the charge is waived. It is no wonder the Healers have made Dumbledore a honorary Healer."

Harry wanted to bang his head against the wall. So many checks on the power of the Headmaster, and he had not only managed to slip past each one but to garner praise and unquestioning support from so many. "Every time I think there cannot be more it dumps on top of me." Harry shook his head, "So, Sir Baron, how can the room give me more time, because I have the feeling there is even more going on here than I thought."

The Baron explained how to spell the hourglasses to gain time in the room. The hourglass with black sand represented the outside world, and the silver sand time in the room. To make each second in the room last longer, he needed to only tip the black glass as close to vertical, that would still allow sand to escape as possible. Time had to pass outside, for it would break nature otherwise, so the best Harry could do would be a hour per second, or 150 days in one hour. The discussion of the significance of this was filled with more shocks for Harry.

"So unless I take an age slowing potion, which the room can only provide me with because Dumbledore didn't destroy the Stone, I will age and reach my birthdays in this room. And if I turn 17 the ministry will be notified, and thus Dumbledore, but for each day I age in the castle the stronger the wards. And the wards are weak, because someone put preservation charms on the tombs of the founders and the heirs buried in the crypt, and they stopped burying the heirs there."

Unprepared for the extra complications, Harry chose to slow time only for the duration of a night's reading, starting with the letter from the attorney who had been in charge of the Potter Trust before 1981, the one who kept his distant French cousins from taking his inheritance.

oOOo

Yes, perhaps it is a bit cliche to manipulate time for Harry, but it's the Room of Requirement! What does Harry need more than time to figure out how complicated the spiderwebs he's caught in are? Especially when he doesn't want to wake the spiders, he has to stay still to stay alive and himself long enough to get free.

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