𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐃𝐎𝐌

Chapter 4

It was another hot day. The sun felt glorious on Harry's skin. He walked lazily over the drying grass toward the pile of rocks where Sasha lived. Harry plopped on the grass and looked around for his little green friend. She was nowhere in sight, so he just laid on his back and looked up at the sky and started thinking of his very strange morning lesson. Energy and magic flowing thru objects around him. He could sense it and feel memories buried in each thing he had touched on the table. ‘I wonder why I couldn't feel those things before? Maybe I didn't know how. Maybe I didn't realize that the memories were there. Could my perception of those things be because of my dissention?’ Harry lazily let thoughts fill his mind and he never felt the little green snake crawl up over the ankle of his jeans and over his belly.

"Hello Harry. It is good to see you again."

Now aware of his tiny friend curled up on his chest, Harry propped up on his elbows in the grass. "Hi, Sasha. I was just lying here thinking."

With several flicks of her tongued tasting the air Sasha said, "Your heart is heavy, Harry. There are many thinks you are thinking of at this time. I sense you are searching for something. Answers, yes, you are searching for answers. What answers are you searching for, Harry?"

Harry thought for a moment. He was searching for answers? He didn't realize he was searching for answers. "I don't know. I had a school lesson today and I guess, well, I don't know how to feel about the lesson. I learned today how to touch something and feel, well...feel and see memories from it." Harry thought about how the lesson went. Why was Dumbledore teaching him this? How would this help him? What good could come of psychometric readings? It seemed a little like Divination to him, which had never been his favorite subject, anyway. "I guess you are right, Sasha. I guess I'm searching for the answer of why I need to learn this kind of skill. I don't understand how learning that would help me."

Sasha curled around herself a few more times on Harry's belly before looking up to him. "There is a purpose for every thing, Harry. Every creature, rock, and breath holds a reason for being. I have seen your kind and most of them seem very hurried. They don't stop to notice me. They cannot see things around them for their own will. They rush through the days never stopping to really see things for what they are."

Harry sat up and reached out his hand to hold Sasha in his palm while she continued. "The days pass so quietly that your kind never really grasp the time and hold it. Time can be felt. Each moment holds life within it. If we do not live the life in that moment, that life dies and cannot ever be recaptured again."

Pondering Sasha's words, Harry sat in deep thought. Time. That was the answer to Dumbledore's riddle. Maybe he was trying to impress on me the importance of my time. Maybe he was trying to help me understand that time can be either treasured or hated. Maybe I should learn that time can be short, as with Althea, her time was all to short. Dumbledore was trying to get me to understand that I should live each moment of my life, each little piece of time, savor each moment, and take life from the seconds that pass. Harry remembered Dumbledore telling him in his first year at Hogwarts when he was looking into the mirror of Erised. ‘...it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live...'

"Sasha, I think I'll walk down to the lake. Would you like to come with me? There's water there...maybe there are some water bugs, or crickets...?"

"No, Harry. I must soak up some sun from my rocks. I will feed in the evening. Come to see me again." With that, the curious little snake scurried away into a waiting pile of rocks.

Harry took a nice long stroll along the lake. The waves were calming, the sun was warm, and Harry was left with his own thoughts.

Up in his dorm, Harry washed up for lunch. Still thinking of his early morning lesson, Harry wandered the castle on the way to the Great Hall, peeking in the empty classrooms on his way. Just outside the Great Hall Harry heard voices. Putting his back up against the wall and straining to hear the voices, Harry listened.