Harry Potter, Heir of Gryffindor
Impressions of Romania
When Harry entered the Headmaster's Office that Thursday evening for his Maturo Auctus Training Professor Snape was sitting rigidly in one of the chairs facing the Headmaster's Desk. Harry glanced over at his Potions Professor and fellow spy for the Order of the Phoenix and nodded. "Severus," he said in greeting.
Severus glanced up. "Harry," he said almost cordially.
When Harry had settled himself in into one of the other chairs and turned his attention to Albus the Headmaster sighed tiredly and Harry could sense the old man's fatigue. "We have a problem, Harry," Dumbledore said.
Harry looked up expectantly, hoping his mentor would elaborate. "Severus," Dumbledore said, turning the floor over to his Potions Master.
Snape shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I fear my cover may have been blown. As a member of the Dark Lord's inner circle I should have known everything about the planned attack on you long before it happened. However, the only information that was revealed in my presence was that an attack was being planned. And even then I fear that the information may have been inadvertently divulged.
"You recorded Sunday's meeting accurately. However, as you noted, no date was revealed. I have no doubt the attack will take place; I just don't know when."
""But . . . how?" Harry asked.
"We do not know," Dumbledore said gravely. "Which is why we must ask you to dedicate a portion of each evening to surveillance. I do not want you to neglect your studies or wear yourself out, Harry, but we really do need your help in this matter. I hesitate bringing this up because it is usually viewed as an incredibly complex task and I do not wish for you to burn yourself out but one of the Ethereal Abilities I studied, but was never able to master, is the ability to store an Ethereal Memory in a crystal ball, much as we store a regular memory in a pensieve. The primary difference being that you do not necessarily have to 'experience' the memory to record it. According to the texts, all you need do is establish a connection between your conscious, ethereal self and the sphere and tell it when to begin and when to stop recording. All you have to do, then, is observe and the crystal will record the event for later viewing and study."
Harry nodded his head. "Yes," he said. "I read something about that towards the end of that book you gave me while I was reading it Sunday afternoon."
The Headmaster's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Tell me, Harry," he asked. "Have you finished it yet?"
Harry blushed slightly and looked down at his hands for several seconds, keenly aware of the two men who were watching him with renewed interest. "That's just it, sir. I read it while I was practicing my Ethereal Magic and as soon as I turned my attention towards the book all of the information in the book, as well as all of the experience behind that information made itself known to me. I still remember most of it because I didn't know what to think so I stored it in my brain before going back and reading the book. It took me less than an hour to read the entire book from cover to cover and everything I read just reinforced my first impressions."
"Ah," Dumbledore said sitting back in his chair and gazing contentedly over his half-moon spectacles at Harry. "You have stumbled upon one of the wondrous advantages of Ethereal Magic. By merely touching a book you can become aware of all of the information it holds. And if the author has first-hand experience with the subject matter you will become aware of it was well."
"I guess I wouldn't get much out of Lockheart's books then would I," Harry mumbled.
Severus snorted at this and the Headmaster laughed out loud. "No, I'm afraid not, Harry. You would have gotten the information but I am afraid you would have gotten very little experience."
