[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
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Christmas has come in the blink of an eye.
Most young wizards have already packed their bags and are ready to board the Hogwarts Express to go home and enjoy the holidays.
Harry finally decided to stay at school.
There was really no point in returning to the Dursleys' house. Every Christmas, many of the Dursleys' relatives would visit. Most of them sided with Uncle Vernon.
Most of these relatives didn't like Harry, and Harry didn't particularly like them either. In fact, aside from his cousin Dudley, Harry had little affection for the Dursleys.
Given that, Harry felt it would be better to study magic at school and improve his magical abilities rather than go home for Christmas. Besides, he could also stay with Ron.
Apart from his bad relationship with the Dursleys, there was another reason Harry was reluctant to return: he could no longer use magic in front of Muggles. Additionally, underage wizards were not allowed to use magic anywhere except at school, Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade.
This rule begins when young wizards enter school, and their names are officially recorded in the admission book.
Harry and Hermione had practiced magic at home without supervision before the start of school. This was rare because young wizards usually couldn't master magic by practicing alone before going to school.
But that wouldn't work in the future. Many young wizards from Muggle or mixed families were not happy with this.
However, the rules of the academy and the Ministry of Magic were not something young wizards could defy.
Ron, of course, was very happy that Harry was staying at school. Although he had three older brothers who remained at Hogwarts, none of them played with him.
Taking advantage of the last two days before the break, Harry taught the meditation technique to Hermione, Ron, and Neville.
Ron was learning a lot.
Building a clear symbol in the mind wasn't easy, let alone keeping it pure and changing its color. It required a high level of concentration.
Ron's mind wasn't bad, but he always had a lot on his mind, so it was difficult for him to focus.
In contrast, Hermione learned to meditate very quickly. It was almost as if Harry had handed her the worn ticket, and she had read and learned it instantly. It took only two or three tries for her to get it right.
This made Harry a bit jealous. It had taken him seven or eight tries to finally succeed. Hermione was really good at concentrating. That's one of the reasons she could memorize so many textbooks and extracurricular materials so easily.
But, to Harry's surprise, Neville also completed the meditation easily, even faster than Hermione. He entered a meditative state for the second time.
The only problem was that Neville, already a bit clumsy, looked even more awkward while meditating. He sat there with his eyes wide open, so wide that Harry and the others almost thought something was wrong with him.
After two days of trying, Hermione and the other two clearly felt the benefits of meditation.
Although they didn't have Harry's magical sense, which allowed him to see magic clearly, they could begin to feel their own magic. In a meditative state, they could almost feel their magical power growing.
"This is great. I was worried I'd be bored when I got home and couldn't use magic. This is so much better." Hermione said cheerfully and gave Harry a big hug.
The professors also seemed to relax a little with the arrival of Christmas.
Except for Snape, who had already earned the title of "Enemy of the Students," and Professor Binns, who was a ghost and therefore destined to be relentless, the other professors just taught a few small tricks in class, and the atmosphere in the classroom became much more relaxed. Even Professor McGonagall, who was always very serious, was no exception.
However, the amount of homework was not reduced at all, and in fact, it increased a bit.
But considering the entire Christmas season, the workload wasn't that heavy.
Most students who were going home to have fun stayed up all night during the last two days to do their homework, avoiding the dreadful situation of having to study a lot again once they arrived home.
But for Harry, Ron, and the others who planned to stay at school during the break, it was more casual. It would be very difficult to finish these tasks in just two or three days, but if they took twelve or thirteen days, it would be very easy, unless it had to be handwritten.
So, the two completed the hardest part of the assignment, which required Hermione's and Padma's help, and then had some fun.
Harry was now considered an expert at wizard's chess, Gobstones, Exploding Snap, and all sorts of gadgets from Zonko's joke shop.
Two days before Christmas, Hermione and her friends left the school by train early in the morning.
After a day of wild fun, Harry and Ron returned to the dormitory exhausted.
Falling into bed, Harry habitually meditated for a while, which was very helpful for enhancing his magical power and promoting sleep.
But just as he constructed symbols in his mind and changed their colors to enter a meditative state, as he usually did, he did not enter the complete relaxation he had before, as if he had entered a wonderful state of weightlessness where he couldn't even feel his body.
This time, he entered a marvelous place.
It was an entirely white room, and Harry felt somewhat familiar with it because it closely resembled the small room he had. However, this room was not exactly the same as the original.
The furniture in the room was very similar, with a small bed, a small desk, a TV, a game console, and a small bookshelf.
But the room was much larger than his, almost ten times bigger. As a result, the original size, when placed in this room, appeared tiny in the corner.
Additionally, on the walls of the room, there were hundreds of silver objects that glowed like stars.
"What is happening?"
Harry felt a bit strange and couldn't help but scratch his head.
Harry was stunned, then raised his hands. Yes, he could see his hands, feet, and body. He also had a solid presence in this room. However, he was wearing a pure white suit, which he definitely didn't own.
"A spiritual world!"
Harry suddenly realized there was some incomplete memory of this situation from Neil. It was very fragmented, but it was mentioned. When one's mental power reaches a certain level, they can enter their own spiritual world.
Meditation in the spiritual world is called deep meditation.
There are many meditation methods in the Aegean world, many of which allow wizards to enter deep meditation from the start. But Harry didn't know how to do that. He couldn't use the meditation method that Neil used.
He had always used the most basic meditation method, but he never imagined that a few years later, he would also enter the spiritual world.
Harry was very happy. According to his fragmented memory, this type of deep meditation was more effective than regular meditation. In fact, deep meditation could replace sleep. It allowed wizards who had deep meditation skills to evolve much faster than those who couldn't enter deep meditation.
"So, can I meditate here?"
Harry was about to try it, but then noticed something out of place.
In the corner of the room, under the small desk, which now seemed even smaller, there was a red thing.
The thing was shaped like a hairless monkey or something similar, with rough, dark red skin, its hind legs bent, and its front paws touching the ground. Its body was very thin, and it was staring at Harry with a pair of scarlet eyes, looking fierce and cruel.
"What the hell is that?"
Harry was startled by the fierce gaze, but the creature seemed to be more afraid of him.
The moment Harry's eyes met the creature's, it immediately shrank into a corner, still looking at Harry.
"Why is there something like this in my spiritual world?"
Harry almost unconsciously wanted to cast a spell. But he had no wand.
"Huh?"
Harry was sure that his hands were empty at that moment, but suddenly, he had a wand in his hands. Moreover, it was his magical wand. He had been playing with it every day for the last few months and was very familiar with it.
Then.
A red light shot out. This was the offensive magic that Harry was most familiar with at the moment.
The red creature screamed and tried to dodge, but the space under the desk was too small.
It dashed, but seemed to hit something and ricocheted violently. However, because of this, Harry's magic didn't hit, as the golden barrier that blocked the creature also blocked the magic from outside.
"Huh?"
Harry realized that as soon as the creature tried to leave under the desk, a nearly transparent golden wall appeared beneath the desk, blocking the creature.
The wall disappeared, but Harry still saw it.
"So, this creature can't get out?"
Harry cast another spell, but this time it was blocked again by the golden wall.
"It seems there's something preventing this creature from leaving while also blocking things from entering."
Harry felt a bit relieved when he realized this. After all, he would be in deep meditation there, and if the creatures started running around, who knew what would happen.
Neil's memories about this were very fragmented and sparse, and Harry didn't know what it was or how to deal with it.
He sat on the bed, pretending to close his eyes and meditate, but in reality, he was spying on the creature. However, the creature remained curled up in the innermost corner, motionless.
Harry thought about it, and the adventurous gene of a Gryffindor emerged at that moment, and he tried to meditate.
In this spiritual world, it was much easier to enter a meditative state. Harry quickly entered the out-of-body sensation he had experienced during meditation.
When Harry woke up again, it was already early the next morning.
Today was Christmas Eve, and the school would have a dinner that probably wouldn't be very lively, since most of the students had already left.
That wasn't Harry's goal.
The point was that he clearly felt that his magical power and mental strength had increased significantly. This improvement would likely last at least a week or more than usual.
Deep meditation is truly effective. And that creature really didn't seem to have any effect on him.
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