Hermione tapped her shoulder. "Over there, I think."
He was relaxing on a bed of bubbles, flicking them out to bounce and make bright dinging noises as they clanged away into the distance. His lazy smile seemed to light the fog. "Everyone ready? Unlike last time, this will be different. Before, I brought you all into a special section of my mind just to protect myself." He stood as the bubbles floated back into the mix before waving a hand. One bubble that looked like all the others floated in from below the floor. "Now however, I found out how to backup my mind. I don't have to worry about anyone accidentally damaging it, so everyone can come on in."
Terry seemed concerned. "What if we find out something you don't want us to know?"
Green eyes seemed to dim. "Anything dangerous should be locked away. If someone or something tells you to back off, I would do so." They focused almost too sharply for Terry's comfort. "My defenses may not be impressive to some, but don't underestimate them. They are DESIGNED to be underestimated, so heed my warning. Jim is a nice person, but he will protect me."
Getting several nods of acknowledgment, Harry waved everyone closer. "Now, everyone touch this particular bubble. At the current time compression rate I believe we have about... well, I am not really sure. If I was by myself, I would say around a day per fifteen minutes. However when we did this before, it was like a day every... I don't know, forty five? Hour? Time acts weird here. It seems to change based on how rested I am, how many people come in, and what we are doing."
Several sets of hands touched the jewel like bubble, which felt like slightly wet stone.
Susan looked up when she smelled lily flowers. They sky was full of tall, fluffy clouds... her shoes had somehow vanished, and her toes were in rich soil and soft green grass. The grass seemed to go on forever...
There was a golden lake, one that acted like sunset was continuously making it golden and soft.
And there was... Oh. Well, she guessed that Jim lived in the village near the giant golden snail. Terry was first to start. "Harry... Is there a village of ducks in your mind?" Several eyes turned to the boy, who was sitting on a bench near the lake. "More like a military academy of ducks, but yeah. Happened when I was younger, if that makes it easier for you to handle mentally."
Padma smiled. "I like ducks!" Her smile faltered a little when the eyes turned her way. Harry on the other hand had a huge smile. "I KNOW, Right? Ducks are awesome." "Quack."
Terry stared at the duck with military shades sitting next to Harry.
Hermione waved.
"Hey Jim! Everything going alright?" "Quack." Hermione, Susan, and Hannah turned to Harry. He seemed confused... oh. "Sorry, he said 'Yes'." He shook his head. "Well, he actually said a lot more than that, but it took me a few years to get the lingo down. The longer version was something a bit insulting to non-snail-eating giants who don't pay nearly enough respect to upstanding vampire-duck kind."
Everyone's eyes turned to Jim. He shrugged.
Seeing a duck shrugged seemed to somehow make everything worse.
Harry clapped. "SO, we are all currently in Hogwart's Library, in my head. Who wants to see the library in my head which is currently in a Library?"
Padma raised a hand. "Can the duck come?"
Jim gave a wings up to Harry. "Oh, he likes you. Everyone to the Purple room!" Everyone followed Harry (Some experiencing various levels of 'This is neat' and 'What have I gotten myself into') as he began wandering apparently aimlessly into the grass.
Before they had gone far, Padma raised her hand (The one not currently carrying Jim... when had he hitched a ride?). "Harry, can you check my core really quickly? I want to do the moving stuff thing."
He paused, and turned, his eyes glowing a deep and bright green, like gems. "Sure, this shouldn't take too long." He pointed at her chest. "Go ahead and take a look. Here, everyone should see threads now."
Padma looked down and... oh wow. Inside her was what looked like a pink puzzle piece, shaped like a strange bean. There was a HUGE rope that seemed to go off into the distance, and a few tiny threads. She looked up and almost jumped, unaware Harry had gotten so close to her. He hummed. "This line..." His hand touched the rope. Her mind suddenly filled with memories of Parvati, her sweet sister. The years of hugs, eating ice-cream under the stars, seeing their first balloon... Harry grinned. "I think this is a connection between you and your sister, Padma."
She didn't even realize she was smiling until Harry smiled back. "Well, clearly we will have to keep that going. I think you are strong enough to have three additional ropes, so you can learn the stuff that the other girls are. I will just have to cut back on the number of threads. Is that alright?"
She nodded. Padma was not sure why, but this connection was important. It should be protected... and thankfully she could somehow feel that Harry understood that.
Harry tried to ignore Hannah's giggling. Seriously, that girl was TRYING to make him blush. "Ok, this part is the easy one." Before Padma could ask anything she looked at Harry and saw a WALL of green cords coming towards her.
It felt like the wind was blowing through her hair, her body wrapped in covers on a snow covered beach, warm and toasty with crisp air flowing in her lungs. Her body felt like it was relaxing, like unknown stresses were put aside... and more, she could FEEL her sister more, like she was closer to her heart.
As the feelings faded she realized that Susan was looking worried. After a questioning look she pointed at Padma's eye... oh. She was crying. "It's... no, I don't feel bad, it... like I got my sister back somehow. You know?"
Harry seemed more winded somehow. "Wow... that... huh. That was more of a drain than I thought it would be."
Padma looked at her core... it was now four ropes strong, although the one leading off was now looking more like a cord than a rope. The pink sphere was not as fuzzy as Hermione's or Hannah's, but the ropes looked thicker and seemed to move roughly as she willed them.
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