Harry Potter and the Battle of Hogwarts

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Chapter Twelve-

Deep Concentration and a River of Colour

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The next day, Harry and Hermione were allowed out of the Infirmary as long as they promised to keep it easy for the next few days. They walked in silence down to the Great Hall after changing and getting their things from the Common Room. Harry was still feeling confused about his feelings, and he didn't know how to act around her. Hermione, for some reason, was avoiding his eye, keeping her head down.

They entered the Great Hall with a group if Ravenclaws, many of them staring at Harry and Hermione, whispering behind cupped hands. They pretended not to see, angrily walking to the Gryffindor Table, where Ron, Neville and Ginny were eating.

“Why is everyone talking about us? What happened?” Hermione said as soon as they sat down, Harry throwing a glare at a Hufflepuff boy who had clearly said his name as he walked passed. Ron finished what he was eating and turned to her.

“Everyone somehow heard about what happened in the forest, even though Dumbledore told the others not to tell. They made up this whole story about You-Know-Who and Harry duelling in the forest, with you as hostage. They all think that both of you were seriously injured, and had to spend weeks in the Hospital Wing. People are so stupid.” Ron said with a shake of his head, turning back to his food. Harry pulled some toast onto his plate, buttering it thickly with honey, before shoving it in his mouth.

“Did you tell Ginny about you-know-what?” Harry said in Ron's ear after swallowing his food. Ron's face reddened slightly and he glanced at Neville.

“Yes, but Neville overheard and wants to do it as well. I couldn't exactly say no...” Ron said nervously, shifting his gaze between his two friends. Harry nodded slowly, glancing at the second boy of the prophecy. What could it hurt?

“I suppose that's OK...” Harry said with a nod, while Hermione's eyes flicked to the other side of the hall.

“What about Luna? You don't suppose she'll want to do it as well. She did come with us to the Ministry last year, and it would be weird not to ask her.” Hermione said, watching Harry's face. He thought about it and smiled, as Ron's face screwed up.

”Do we have to?” he whined.

“Yes.” Harry said with a grin. He liked Luna and wanted to know her more. She was one of the people that helped him after Sirius supposedly `died'. “Hey, Neville, Ginny, do you still want to do what Ron told you about last night?” Harry asked them, taking care not to draw attention to them from the other students around them. Both of them nodded eagerly. “You don't mind if Luna does it as well, do you?”

“Luna? No, it's fine. She's nice.” Ginny said, chewing on the end of a piece of celery. Neville nodded as well.

“I don't care as long as I can still do it with you!” he said, his light eyes shining with excitement.

“Ok. Ginny? Can you ask Luna later today, and tell her to meet us tonight at seven in the corridor of the Room of Requirement.” Harry said.

“OK, Harry. I'll tell her in second period; we have Transfiguration together.” Ginny said with a broad smile as Harry nodded, grabbing an apple from a bowl on the table.

Their first class of the day was NEWT Level Charms which most of the sixth years were doing. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville entered the Charms room and found seats in a long row at the front, chatting quietly until small Professor Flitwick entered the room.

“Your last two years at Hogwarts are going to be your hardest yet. The Advanced NEWT classes will test you to the height of you ability, including Charms. This year, you will be doing such charm-work as the Adhesive Charm, Bewitching and Body-Enhancing Spells, and others like it. We will start off on the Adhesive Charm; who can tell me how it works?” Professor Flitwick said in a tiny voice. Hermione's hand flew in the air. “Yes, Ms Granger?”

“The Adhesive Charm is used to glue objects to any surface excluding liquid. It cannot be broken except by the caster.” She said as if reading from a textbook.

“Very good, five points to Gryffindor.” Flitwick said with a warm smile. “The incantation is Adglutino and the wand movement goes like this.” They spent the next fifty minutes trying to master the charm. Harry managed to make Ron's robe stick to his chair, so when he stood up it ripped a hole, revealing his maroon underwear. Harry, Hermione and Neville dissolved into laughter, while Ron sat down, his face burning red.

“Reparo!” Hermione said through a fit of giggles, taking pity on the poor boy. Ron refused to talk or even acknowledge Harry for the rest of the day.

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Dinner came and went, with Harry scrambling up to the dormitory to grab the Animagi book and Marauder's Map, and back down again to meet the others in the hallway of the Room of Requirement. Ron had finally gotten over his embarrassment in Charms class, now finding it quite hilarious.

“Where's Luna?” Harry said as soon as he had stopped beside Ginny.

“Here.” A soft voice called. They turned to see the blond-haired Ravenclaw skipping down the hallway, the radishes in her ears swinging erratically. Harry grinned.

“Good. I think if we just walk up and down the hallway thinking of the ingredients and a room to practice, it should appear. Let's go.” Harry said as the group nodded and moved off as one. On their third passing, a door appeared on the lank expanse of wall. Harry looked around to make sure no one else was approaching, before reaching out, clasping the cold door handle and twisting it. The door opened silently, and Harry walked in.

The room was large with a high ceiling and tall walls. Half the floor was grass, while the other was a smooth, grey stone. One wall was covered in shelves full of potion ingredients, while another was packed with thick books. A large cauldron sat in the middle of the stone floor, containing water, with an empty grate sitting beneath it. They walked in with open mouths, looking around in silent awe.

“Whoa.” Ron said, walking over to a floor-length mirror placed on a far wall, that stretched for many meters either side. Hermione immediately went to the bookshelf.

“It's full of animal books, normal and magical!” she said. “I wonder what animal I'll be.” Luna had gone to inspect the potion ingredients, while Ginny was looking in the cauldron with a wrinkled nose. Harry was inspecting the grass, amazed that it was real.

“Do you want to read the bit about the practice before the potion?' Harry asked, turning to Hermione. She nodded.

“C'mon and sit down in a circle and I'll read it out loud.” Everyone nodded and found a dry spot on the grass, looking expectantly to Hermione. She began to read out the passage about the Theoretical and Practical Transformation; what mind techniques needed to be used, how much will power was needed, and the over-all work needed to accomplish the transformation.

“So, what you're saying is that we need to meditate to try to reach into out mind and find our inner animal?” Ron said slowly, his face scrunched up in thought.

“Yes,” Hermione said with a nod, “we need to sit in complete silence with our eyes closed, breathing slowly to get our heart-rate down. When that happens, we need to find our centre -”

“Our what?” Neville blurted.

“Our centre. It is the middle point of our mind and body, the point where our magic is created and stemmed from. It is the centre of our being, the place where we can find complete calm.” Hermione answered.

“Oh,” Neville said softly.

“When we find it, we will experience a trance that only our minds can break - nothing else, no one else.” Hermione said, looking up from the book. “When this happens, our inner animal is supposed to appear in our mind and we have to tame it somehow.” Here, her face grew puzzled.

“Tame our mind animal?” Ginny said with confusion. Hermione nodded.

“Yes. Only those that can tame the animal can become Animagi. Those that can't, well... will never be able to transform.” There was a thick silence, as everyone comprehended her words. Neville had gone white, while Ron was looking slightly green. Harry didn't know what he would do if he was unable to tame his inner animal when everyone else could. He would be devastated.

“Don't worry,” Harry said, “we all should be able to do it.” His words were not only spoken to lessen everyone else's fears, but also his own.

“So when are we going to do it?” Ginny asked after a few thoughtful minutes.

“We don't have time tonight, maybe tomorrow after dinner?” Harry said.

“That should be good, because we have Quidditch Try Outs on Thursday and we can't miss out on those!” Ron said with a steady shake of his head. Hermione rolled her eyes behind his back, making Harry smile.

“So tomorrow it is.” He said, standing to stretch out the cramps in his legs.

“What about the DA?” Luna said in her dreamy voice. “We were expecting a meeting this week, about if you're continuing it or not.” Harry looked to Hermione who shrugged.

“I'll change the date on the coins to make a meeting Friday evening. Spread the word to those who've lost they're Galleons; we'll give them new ones later.” Harry said, trying to remember where he out his coin.

“Good!” Luna said with a broad grin, her protruding eyes glittering in excitement. “I will look forward to have you teaching again, Harry.” This time, Ginny rolled her eyes with a silly grin, Harry catching his laugh before it could erupt from his mouth.

“So do I, Luna.” He couldn't stop smiling.

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They were back in the Room of Requirement, sitting in complete silence. They had been in there for nearing half an hour, eyes closed; trying to experience the trance Hermione had told them of. Harry kept opening his eyes only to find Ron doing the same; they both grinned and stifled giggles, before quickly shutting their eyes as Hermione opened her lids to catch them in the act.

Harry took a deep breath, clearing his mind of all emotion and thought just as he had been taught in Occlumency. Thoughts of Occlumency made him remember his meeting with Snap on Thursday night; he could've sworn in anger. That was the same night as Quidditch, hopefully the two didn't clash.

Ok, I have to let go of everything and find my centre. Harry thought with a deep breath. There was silence for almost an hour, the only noise the deep, steady breathing of his friends as they searched for their own centres. Harry was deep inside himself, in complete darkness. He was travelling through his body, searching - searching for the middle of everything. He soon found white lights, floating in the dark. They fascinated him; floating in the air, suspended on nothing but the shadows.

They grew larger and closer, coming together to make a trail leading into the dark depths of Harry's being. He followed them, discovering small beads of colour - emerald, gold, silver, blue and ruby. They were separated into individual roads of colour; like a rainbow. Harry found himself being whisked along the coloured stream, tumbling, drowning in the strange river.

Finally, after what seemed an age, Harry was pushed over an invisible ledge. He and the dancing beads of light cascaded like a waterfall. Below him was only darkness. He kept falling, hands trying to grasp what wasn't there.

Suddenly something appeared in the distance - a great, pulsing shape. As he neared, he discovered it was a group of spheres, each a separate colour but none the same shape. They writhed and moved around, changing positions. Sometimes, one of the balls would throb, growing in size - or another would pulse and become smaller. Harry couldn't slow his descent, instead, he sped up. He was barrelling towards the coloured heart, each river of colour attached to one of the throbbing spheres like blood-filled veins.

He finally fell into it.

It was the strangest feeling. Falling through a magnitude of colour. It was everywhere - it was everything. Harry couldn't see the ground beneath him or feel the coloured beads drifting through his body. His blood was singing with freedom and magic. His head pounded erratically in rhythm with his heart. He was no longer falling, but sitting in the air which seemed to be solid, while the coloured lights danced around him.

Suddenly, the solid mass beneath him fell away, and he spiralled down, down into nothingness. A black hole opened, sucking all into its abysmal belly - including Harry.

All went dark.

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Disclaimer - I do not own Harry Potter and never will.

Okay, it is a seriously crappy chapter. And I know it was meant to be out on Friday but stuff led to more stuff which evolved into tremendous stuff - you get the picture.

This chapter was meant to be nice and long, explaining heaps about the `centre' in Harry, his inner animal (?), taming his inner animal (?) and loads more. But, you know about stuff - it needs to be done. I will update on Friday - if I don't I will understand if I get burnt to a crisp by the flames you're sure to fire my way. And that chapter will be longer and better, and I will make it have some Harry/Hermione fluff for everyone who loves that stuff!

Sorry for this crappy chapter.

Thanks to those that have reviewed and continue to do so, please?

Bye

DW