Chapter 161

Journey of the Mind

Note from J.M. Jackson: Okay, so first, I'm sorry I didn't publish yesterday. I got some bad news about a friend who has passed away, so I was thrown through a loop.

Second, I have some important news story wise. Finally, after writing for so long, I've finished the story! I'll start publishing two or more chapters a week, but the end is in sight! I feel proud of being able to write this story for so long, and I and Dododum are both so very grateful to all of you for reading this story, and joining us on this journey.

I'm working on a new story as we speak, so I do hope that you'll join us for that adventure as well when it's published. In the meantime, please enjoy this story, and thank you for being such amazing fans.

I'm hoping to get my novel published this year, entitled The Demon Destroyer, and soon I'll also have a website up and running as an author site, where you can keep up to date on all my writing projects.

Sirius was pacing as Minerva and Healer Walton was standing next to Lily's bed, with another Healer by Ginny's bed. A third bed had been put in the room for Nagini, who had been found in her room, and had been unable to be woken up.

"Anything?" Sirius asked, for the tenth time in the last few minutes.

"Sirius, you need to let us work. I know you're worried, but please, give us a few moments. Jodie, that is, Healer Walton is one of the best in the world," Minerva said.

"Thank you, Minerva," Jodie said, not taking her eyes off Lily, whilst slowly waving her wand over Lily's still body. "I must confess, I've never seen anything like this before. She's alive, and by all tests, she should be awake. Her mind is active, and her motor neurons are firing up, as if she was talking, walking, and thinking."

"Even people in Coma's don't display this level of brain activity," Doctor Jim Silsby, a muggle doctor who was friends with Lana, said. He had been brought in to help as he was a neurologist, so Lana had asked Rufus to allow her to explain everything to him. He had gone with her, and now, a day after Lily and Ginny had collapsed, they were trying to figure out what had happened. Thankfully, Rufus had managed to magic up the equipment that Jim needed to run scans and monitor Lily, Ginny, and Nagini.

"Do you have any theories?" Remus asked, frowning as he stood there, his arms crossed.

"Honestly? Not a single one. I mean, I'm still getting used to the idea of magic, so for all I know this could be something related to your world," Jim said, frowning as he looked at the scan results. Part of the house had been magically expanded for the room they were in, which included a lot of the medical equipment.

"I think you might be right, Doctor, but how this has happened, I don't know," Jodie said, frowning as she stopped waving her wand. "All three of them are alive and well, but I think they're trapped in their own minds."

"I've never heard of such a thing. How can it be possible?" Rufus asked.

"I have a theory," Crouch said. "And it is only a theory, but it could be related to Lily and Ginny's bond. I mean, it's the only thing I can think of, but it doesn't explain Nagini."

"This is weird," Jim said, as a new printout was made from the scanners. "Have a look here. Do any of you know about brain wave patterns?" Jim asked.

"Not a damn thing," Sirius admitted.

"I do," Lana said. "They're electrical activity patterns, and they're unique to everyone. Like a person's fingerprints, no two patterns are alike. That's what the EEG is for, it measures them."

"I understand that," Jodie said.

"Good, 'cos I didn't understand a bloody word of what you just said," Sirius said, his eyes still on Lily.

"Regardless, have a look at the EEG readings of each of the ladies," Jim said, pinning all three scans on a board in the room.

"That… that's impossible," Lana said, her eyes widening.

"I would agree, but the evidence is there," Jim said, as Rufus looked at the patterns.

"You said everyone's pattern is unique," Rufus said.

"They are, so how all three of them are now the same, I don't know. This definitely has to be to do with your world, because there is nothing that I've ever heard of that could do this," Jim explained.

"What does that mean? That their minds are connected?" Remus asked.

"As much as I can tell, yes," Jim confirmed. "But I have no idea how, or what's going on inside their minds."

Lily groaned as she opened her eyes, trying to shake the feeling of dizziness and pain that she felt, forcing herself to sit up. "What… what happened?" she asked weakly. When she didn't get a response, she managed to force her eyes open, and immediately recognised where she was.

She was in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, which confused her. How did she get there? What had happened? She looked around and saw Ginny and Nagini in beds next to her. Lily got up, and went to Ginny's bed, gently shaking her.

"Ginny? Ginny, wake up," Lily's voice was full of urgency. She allowed herself a sigh of relief as Ginny began to open her eyes. "Thank Merlin," she said.

"Lily? What… what's going on?" Ginny asked, as Lily helped her sit up.

"I have no idea," Lily replied. "I mean, it looks like we're at Hogwarts, somehow."

"That's not possible," Ginny said, frowning as she rubbed her eyes.

"I know," Lily agreed, going to Nagini's bed, just as she was starting to wake up.

"Lily?" Nagini asked, confused. "What… what happened? Where are we?"

"What do you remember?" Lily asked.

"I… I went to bed last night… and now I'm waking up here… wherever here is," Nagini said.

"Somehow, we're at Hogwarts. We need to get out of here, quickly," Lily said. "Snape's in charge here, and we don't know if we can trust him. If we can't, then Riddle could be here."

"Where… where are our wands?" Nagini asked, checking herself and her pockets.

"No idea, but if we were brought here, chances are they've been taken," Lily said, checking for her wand holster, which wasn't on her arm.

"How should we get out of here?" Ginny asked, forcing herself out of bed. Lily could tell she was a little dazed and confused, but she was pushing past it.

"From here? We'll need to try and get to the hidden passage that leads to Hogsmeade, or we can try and get outside and get past the Whomping Willow, and get to the Shrieking Shack," Lily suggested, thinking quickly.

"I don't know this place, so you'll have to lead the way," Nagini told them. Lily nodded as the three of them immediately ran for the exit. As they neared Madam Pomfrey's office, Lily frowned, seeing it empty.

"Wait, this doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't Madam Pomfrey be here?" Lily asked.

"Maybe because Snape knows she'd help us escape?" Ginny suggested. Lily nodded; that made perfect sense.

As she opened the door, leading the way out and into the corridor, Lily frowned again, hearing no sounds, which didn't make sense. If it was daytime, then there should be students around, and sounds echoing of people going from place to place.

"It's too quiet," Ginny said, echoing Lily's thoughts.

"Something's not right here," Lily agreed, as they reached the end of the corridor. She led the way to where the entrance hall was, and found it empty of all life. "Okay, so something is definitely wrong. We can see its daytime, from the windows and the light, but there should be some students, teachers, or even Mr. Filch somewhere," Lily mused.

"Agreed. Maybe we're not actually at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked.

"You think this is some sort of trap? Maybe Riddle found us?" Lily asked.

"That wouldn't surprise me," Nagini told them. "I mean, I know he can do a lot of different things, some of which I'd never have thought possible."

"Okay, so what do we do?" Ginny asked, as she walked carefully around the entrance hall.

"We need to look around and see if we can find a way out of here," Lily said. "Maybe we can find wands, or something we can use as a weapon, if Riddle is around, or if this is some kind of trap."

"We should stick together," Nagini suggested. "Unarmed, we'll need each other in case there are traps."

"Agreed," Lily said. "One question; where do we start?"

"Maybe we should start with Dumbledore's office?" Ginny suggested. "I mean, usually that's the heart of the school, isn't it?"

"I've not got any other ideas, so yeah, let's go for it," Lily agreed, leading the way. As they walked through a set of doors, however, they found themselves in Slughorn's classroom.

"I'm guessing this wasn't meant to be here?" Nagini asked, as Lily and Ginny looked confused.

"No, we're meant to be in a corridor," Lily replied, her eyes narrowing as she looked around. "What's going on?"

"Good question," Ginny replied, clearly just as confused. "I know the staircases move, but I've never known the doors to lead elsewhere."

"Are you sure this is Hogwarts?" Nagini asked, as she picked up a potion vial on a shelf.

"Less and less," Lily replied, shaking her head. "Wherever we are, it's not somewhere we want to be. I mean, we're wandless, and we could be in some sort of trap, or maze."

"If we take the door back out, will we end up where we were before, or somewhere else?" Nagini asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but whilst we're here, I can make some potions to help us," Lily said. "I've been studying potions a lot, and if we come across an enemy, we're going to need some sort of defence or weaponry."

"Like what?" Ginny asked.

"Garrotting gas, for a start. You throw it, and anyone who inhales the smoke will choke and suffocate. The more of it in a vial, the larger the area and the stronger the gas. There's a certain amount that will be fatal almost immediately," Lily replied. "Professor Snape taught it to me in one of our classes."

"Okay, well, that's something," Ginny said, as Lily began to gather up the ingredients she needed.

"I can also make an exploding potion, that should give us an advantage if we're attacked," Lily said, as she took the ingredients to a cauldron, using a nearby piece of flint and a dagger to create sparks to light the fire.

"I can make a fatiguing fusion," Nagini said, as she grabbed a number of ingredients as well, lighting a second cauldron.

"Now I feel useless," Ginny commented, rolling her eyes.

"You can see the recipe for the Garrotting gas in my mind, love. You make that whilst I make the exploding potion," Lily suggested.

"Good idea," Ginny smiled, taking ingredients from Lily's table and lighting a third cauldron, all three of them focused on making the potions.

It wasn't too long before the three of them had made an ample supply of potions for their use and left the potions class. As Lily feared, leaving the classroom took them to a different location, a corridor near Minerva's classroom.

"Okay, so this is where I'd go if Aunt Minnie was around," Lily said, as they looked around for anything they could use. "Why is the place so empty? Are we the only prisoners here?"

"Probably, but we could try and smashing through the wall instead of a door. Might take us to the corridor we want to be in, instead of halfway across the castle," Ginny suggested.

"Maybe, or it could just hurt us," Nagini replied. "This feels… well, it definitely feels like a trap."

"It's something, that's for sure," Lily agreed. "But we need to do something. Let's turn a couple of desks over and use it as a shield."

"A shield is good," Ginny agreed, as the three of them began to upturn the desks, creating a barrier. As soon as the three of them were behind the desk, Lily took out a vial of the explosive potion and activated it by shaking it in a specific way. She then threw it, and the second it struck the wall, it created an explosion, tearing through the wall and sending debris flying. All three of them kept their eyes closed as they ducked down at the far end of the room.

As the smoke began to clear, Lily popped her head up, seeing the hole in the wall, which led to the corridor outside – Lily hoped – the transfiguration classroom.

"Okay, that worked," Nagini smiled. "Good work on the potion."

"Thanks. Thanks Snape; he taught it to me," Lily said. "Let's get going. If there's anyone around here, I think they heard that."

"That's strange. There was just a spike in their brain wave patterns," Jim said, frowning. "It's similar to an adrenaline spike."

"And yet they've not even moved," Jodie said. "There definitely has to be some kind of… I don't even know how to describe it."

"Sounds like they're having some kind of adventure in their mind," Sirius said. "I've seen it, on muggle tv shows."

"Really? Muggles have things like that?" Jodie asked. Sirius nodded.

"My favourite science fiction comedy show is called Red Dwarf, they used a machine to link minds, to save their ship, and their friend," Sirius commented.

"Couldn't you use magic to do something similar?" Lana asked. "I mean, I don't know much about your magic, but I've seen some incredible things."

"I mean… it might be possible," Crouch said, frowning as he looked at Lily. "It's not something usually done, and I'll need to do a little research first, but if I can modify Legilimency a little, I might be able to enter their mind scape, but it's dangerous."

"If there's a chance of helping them, we need to take it," Sirius said. "I'll help, and I'll go in too."

"As will I," Rufus added. "We've got a lot to figure out first, so start your research, Barty, and see if you can find a way to do this."

"I'll let you know as soon as I know anything," Crouch said, turning and leaving the room. Sirius took hold of Lily's hand.

"Come on Lily, you can do this," Sirius said softly.

"I still don't understand how any of this is possible. How did they find us?" Nagini asked.

"I wish I knew. We didn't even get a warning, so something went badly wrong with our shields and spells," Lily said, as the three of them walked briskly through the corridors, trying to avoid going into classrooms or opening doors.

"Where do you think the others are? In similar traps?" Ginny asked.

"Maybe, I don't know though. I mean, I want to think they're safe, but I'm trying to not think worst case," Lily replied, as they reached the entrance hall. "Great, we're back here again. I swear we didn't go through any closed doors or changed locations, or did I miss something?"

"Guessing we all did," Ginny said, pointing to the large double doors at the front of the castle. Lily's eyes widened as she froze in place as she saw someone standing there, looking at them.

"Okay, something really weird is going on," Ginny said.

"I would tend to agree with that statement, Ginny," the newcomer said, with a small smile at the group.

"How is this even possible? I mean, you… I watched you…" Lily stammered, but the newcomer simply stepped forward.

"You did, but right now, you're in a place where nothing is true, and yet everything is also true," the newcomer said. Lily felt confused, but that was typical of most statements made by Albus Dumbledore!