Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 77: Goblin silver

Harry and Aminah walked out of the library together after their braille class. Aminah was headed to Council along with most everyone else, but Harry had a mind healer meeting with Besel. He felt a bit singled out, but tried to push down that feeling.

He walked the short distance to the Mont Blanc classroom with Aminah and hung outside the entrance for a little bit after she went in, hoping that Gemma would come by before he needed to go to meet with Besel. He kept casting the Reveleo memento spell to see if she was approaching, but she must have already gone in. It was right across the hall from the Braidwood room where she was learning BSL.

After a bit, he decided to head down to Healer Jordan's office. Maybe if he had time, he could duck into the owlery and see if Hedwig was back. He knew that she couldn't possibly be back yet, but it was something to do.

When he reached the owlery, he walked across the threshold and held his breath against the stench for a moment to delay the impact.

"Oh, are you here again?" the man in the painting greeted him.

"Um, yes," replied Harry walking up to the perch, hoping to hear Hedwig's familiar hoot. He angled his ear up, listening for her growling, but only heard other owls shifting on their perches.

He then Navigant'd to the window to listen to the sounds of the city below.

"Why do you bother with looking out the window when you can't see?" the portrait asked him.

Harry tensed his shoulders trying to deflect the judgment of the portrait.

I don't have to answer his stupid questions.

Down below in the heat of the day, the city was teaming. He could hear car horns, people yelling, trains, and planes speeding through the airways. The city was pulsing in contrast to the quiet sounds of the owlery behind him. There were aromas, too, that came up on the hot wind—diesel and baking bread, curry and fish, the tarmac and the damp-basement odor that had to be the Thames.

He Tempus'd his staff and decided he better head over to Healer Jordan's office. He wondered what they'd talk about today.

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Harry was feeling a little weak as he was leaving the meeting with Besel. He had talked for a good hour and a half about what happened in the Chamber and the month that followed at the Dursleys and how it all made him feel. He didn't realize that he had felt so much and going through it all again made him feel that he had been running for hours. Now he was spent. He was glad it was almost time for dinner. He was hungry.

"Oh, Harry, could you come here for a moment?" It was Healer Jordan who asked him.

"Sure," he found his way to her desk—just outside the little room where he and Besel had been meeting.

"How was your time with Healer Geller?" Healer Jordan asked.

"It was... " he paused, searching for a word to describe it, "fine." It wasn't really 'fine' but he couldn't come up with anything else that wouldn't lead to more questions.

"Good, good," Healer Jordan responded and Harry got the feeling that other things were on her mind. "Go ahead and have a seat. I have talked to Professor Dumbledore... "

Harry caught his breath as he sank into the seat.

She continued, "... and he's going to send your head of house Professor McGonagall to visit the Dursleys with us this evening. He's asked us not to involve the Ministry of Magic at this point."

Harry was taking shallow breaths. He put his hands under his legs in an attempt to stop them trembling.

"I'm telling you this not to distress you... " He felt the implied, even though it clearly is... in her pause, "but because I think it is important that you know what is going on as it concerns your welfare."