Basilisk Eyes

Chapter 81: Tree house

Harry was glad that Healer Jordan had allowed him to walk in silence from the workshop to her office—he didn't feel like talking. He was listening intently to the new sound of his staff as they made their way through the corridor. The stone in the corridor sounded different from the stone in the workshop. He supposed it was the shape of the corridor. The tone of the new tip reminded him of how Hermione had described the corridor on his first day—like they were deep underwater.

He could hear when they reached the doors to the dining hall before they passed through them and listened to the way the tinging of his staff bounced off all the furniture in the dining hall as well as the high ceiling. He wondered if he was also hearing the difference of being in a room with large windows versus the corridor which didn't have any windows. He remembered that the dining hall looked out over the courtyard by the owlery. He thought about visiting Hedwig, but decided he'd go after he rested. He was just so tired.

Healer Jordan led Harry to a little room at the back of her office that he hadn't noticed before—it was near the one he'd been in before when he was recovering from his face plant.

They stood in the threshold while she explained a bit about the room.

"Harry, this is a little tree house. Here's the ladder you'll climb to reach a small wooden deck with railings that is about six feet up in a tree."

She placed his hand on a rough ladder rung that felt like it had been made out of tree branches.

"There are some chairs against the railings—that might be a nice place to sit and drink your potion—you can also request a tea service with sandwiches by tapping the table three times and telling it what you'd like. Straight ahead of you, about two yards from the ladder, you'll find a little door and you'll likely need to duck to get through it without hitting your head. Inside is very cozy, with most of the space being taken up by a large bed with lots of pillows and blankets. Directly across the room from the door and right up against the bed, is a large window that doesn't have any glass—it has a frame, so you can't fall out while you sleep, but it is open to the forest surrounding the tree house. The tree house is protected from the elements—so you won't get rained on. It is warded in a way that alerts me and others at the Center if you're experiencing any kind of distress. There is a wind chime that will sound when it is time for you to get ready to go to your next class," Healer Jordan said.

"How high up is the ladder?" Harry asked.

"It's actually a short ladder, so just four rungs until you reach the deck. You can't climb down to the forest floor on the ladder, it just comes back to this room. The tree house is also protected like the gangplank on the ship to keep people from falling off."

"Okay, thanks."

Harry collapsed his cane and put it and the potion in his trouser pockets and then grasped the rungs of the ladder and climbed up onto the deck. He was glad to find that the ladder sides extended all the way up to railing height, so he still had something to hold onto before he stepped from the ladder onto the deck.

He stood for a moment breathing in the cool forest air—it smelled pungent like it had rained recently. A soothing breeze lifted the hair on his forehead and the back of his neck.

He shook out his staff and listened to the silver tip on the wooden planks of the deck. It was a really different sound than the stone of the Center. He used his staff to find the chair and small table by the railing and sat down to drink the potion. It was still warm and was as delicious as it had been earlier. He sat for a little bit listening to the sounds of the forest. It was alive with chirping birds and the scurrying of small animals—squirrels he guessed. He wondered if he'd be able to hear the rustling of a snake from up here... and if he was in a forest that had snakes.