203Chapter 1: The Graveyard.
Harry Potter stood in a graveyard, his leg bleeding and torn from an Acromantula bite and bruises formed over most of his body. A deep cut ran down his right arm from when Peter Pettigrew cut him, taking his blood as part of a ritual to return his Master back to life. His breath came in heavy gasps as he fought to push the glowing ball of light stuck between his and Lord Voldemort's wands.
The sound of Phoenix song echoed through the graveyard, though the only ones there to hear it stood in a circle around the cage of light that surrounded Harry and the Dark Lord. The Death Eaters cried insults to Harry as they worshipped their long absent master.
Sweat fell into his eye as he bent his entire will into forcing the ball of light back toward the monster in front of him, his muscles ached, and he gave his head a shake to push away the urge to give up and sleep. He would win this battle of wills and he would escape back to Hogwarts, somehow.
Deep groans sounded around the graveyard and Harry noticed the Death Eaters stop their jeering of him, startled shouts echoed throughout the graveyard as the Death Eaters started firing spells outward.
Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from the ball of light, he knew that if he did Voldemort would win this battle of wills and kill him in an instant.
'My Lord, there are Inferi!' called one of the Death Eaters, Harry didn't know his name, but he had been one of those that Voldemort had tortured as they arrived at his summons for his cowardice after the last war.
Harry saw Voldemort's eyes widen, and the snake faced man glanced away from Harry to see what his servant had told him of.
He took this chance and pushed everything he had left at overpowering the ball of light, pushing it right up to the end of the Dark Lords wand, but not quite touching it.
Voldemort turned back to glare at Harry for a moment before tearing his wand away from the connection, breaking it and batting Harry's spell away.
Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw people, or rather half decomposed people, tearing out of their graves and leaping upon the Death Eaters, a few of them having already pulled to the ground by the walking corpses and were being torn apart while the Death Eaters watched in horror.
'Fall back, we have achieved our goals.' Voldemort called to his followers as he turned sending a cruel smirk at Harry as Voldemort and the Death Eaters surrounding him twisted on the spot, apparating away.
Harry stood alone in the graveyard, beaten bloody and battered, his wand in hand as dozens of walking corpses closed in around him.
In the back of his mind he knew something bigger than Voldemort's rebirth had just occurred.
Shaking his head to clear away the thought and the blackness invading his vision, Harry ran to Cedric's body which lay where it fell, the groaning of the walking corpses around him grow louder as they came closer.
Only a few meters away as Harry slid beside Cedric's body and pointed his wand at the Triwizard Cup that lay about ten meters away.
'Accio Triwizard Cup!' Harry shouted, the darkness encroaching on his vision grow heavier.
Searing pain tore through Harry as jaws clamped down on his shin, his vision clearing at the sudden pain, he stared at the corpse as it bit down hard on his leg, tearing away at the bone and Harry screamed.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the glowing Triwizard Cup speeding toward him and hoped his hunch was right as he wrapped his wand arm around Cedric's body and caught the speeding trophy with his left.
In an instant, Harry felt himself whirling through the air via Portkey again until with a heavy thump, they landed on a raised platform surrounded by a sea of people who stood in shocked silence as Harry screamed again, the corpse attached to his leg tearing into his leg with an unholy strength as its claw-like fingers tore into his flesh.
Harry didn't see Dumbledore banish the corpse away from him before setting it aflame. He looked up at the old man standing above him but before he could say anything his world went black.
Harry saw flashes, images of being hovered through the entrance hall of the castle and hushed murmurs around him. Then the smell he associated with cleanliness invaded his senses and he knew without a doubt that he was in the hospital wing.
Harry opened his eyes to see the pristine white of the hospital wing in Hogwarts, Madame Pomphrey hovered near his leg, where the corpse had bitten him.
At the end of his bed stood the tall form of Professor Dumbledore, the old man looked worried as his blue eyes followed Pomphrey's progress on his leg.
Across from him, in the far corner of the infirmary was someone laying on a bed, but it covered them with a white sheet so Harry couldn't see who they were. His inspection of the room halted as he heard Pomphrey speak.
'Professor, this leg has been seriously damaged. It will take days to recover to a point where I am comfortable even letting him out of the bed. What happened down there?' the matron asked, her eyes never leaving Harry's leg.
A rush of gratitude rose inside him for the nurse, she had always been the one to put him back together after one of his near-death experiences. Guilt gnawed at him for giving her so much work to do over the last few years.
'Poppy, I don't know what happened, only that somehow, an Inferi attached itself to Harry's leg and Harry also returned Cedric Diggory's body to us.' Dumbledore paused, stroking his beard with a hand.
'What happened before that point at the moment is a mystery.' The headmaster said, his voice lacking the usual confidence and mischievousness it usually held.
'Professor?' Harry said, his voice little more than a croak, his throat dry and raw.
Dumbledore and Pomphrey's gaze darted up to Harry's before Pomphrey turned back to her work on his leg, putting out a hand in front of the headmaster before he could say a word.
'Headmaster, I need to work on him, I must ask you to hold off on your questions until I am confident in his health.' The matron said in a no-nonsense tone that Harry noted the headmaster closed his mouth after hearing her.
A grin find its way to his face as he saw the headmaster silenced by the mistress of the infirmary.
'Mister Potter, you have somehow outdone yourself once again with your injuries. Sometimes I swear you do this on purpose.' She grumbled and Harry let out a sigh.
'I promise Madame Pomphrey, I don't. Trouble just finds me.' He defended before she huffed and continued waving her wand toward his leg.
Harry sat up on his bed, propping himself up with his arms to get a better view of what the older woman was doing. He saw his leg with the Acromantula bite had a bandage wrapped around it, though the bandages were red from blood. There was another bandage on his arm where Pettigrew had cut him.
'Mister Potter, you will have a scar from the cut on your arm. They used Dark Magic to create that wound.' Pomphrey said, having seen Harry inspecting his wounds.
'Also, the Acromantula bite will scar as well. The venom, mixed with the ambient Dark Magic of where you were combined to make that wound unlikely to ever leave you.' She continued with a sigh.
Harry noted a note of regret in it that worried him.
'What about the other bite? From the, Inferi was it?' Harry asked, looking to Dumbledore for confirmation, to which the headmaster gave a grim nod.
Pomphrey let out a heavy sigh, waving her wand toward a wall of shelves on the other side of the infirmary, a handful of potions vials sped toward her.
She levitated them to his bedside table before moving back to his leg, unstoppering another vial and levitated the potion out of the vial. Like a conductor in a symphony she spread the potion across the wound which burned in agony for a moment before the feeling faded.
'Take those potions Mister Potter, they will help in the healing process. I have done all I can.' She said before moving to his side, waving her wand above his chest and tutting at whatever she learned.
'Mister Potter, you exhausted your magical core. That alone should take you at least a week to recover from, however you have somehow recovered from that in record time.' Madame Pomphrey paused, waving her wand over his head before letting out a huff.
'I have so many conflicting readings coming from you that most of my diagnostic charms are next to useless. Some of them are telling me you are dead, which you are not.' The Matron sighed again, laying a hand on Harry's forehead and wiping away his messy hair.
'You, young man are staying here until I sort out all of this mess and I will have no complaints Mister Potter. Your friends can join you here for a time, but you need to rest.' She commanded and Harry gave a sigh of his own before reaching out to his bedside table and grasping one vial that lay there, unstoppering it and swallowing the liquid within with a cringe at the bitter taste.
'Poppy? May I ask him some questions now?' asked the Headmaster with a slight smile on his face that Harry took for amusement at the Healers stern behaviour.
'Oh, if you must headmaster, but not too much, he needs to rest.' She replied before giving Harry one last pat on the head and moving out of sight into the back room of the infirmary.
Harry noticed they were not alone in the room, at some point Professor Moody had arrived and stared at Harry with an intensity that was unnerving, both his eyes bore into Harry, neither leaving the boy.
'Harry, can you tell me what happened tonight? Start in the maze if you could.' Dumbledore asked, his voice soothing.
Harry let out a breath, casting his mind back to earlier in the night, the maze seemed so long ago, so much had happened since then he had almost forgotten what had happened in the task.
'In the maze, I seemed to avoid the creatures placed in it. I heard some of what the others faced, but only came across the Skrewt and the Acromantula. But toward the end of the maze I heard Fleur scream, so I went to find her and saw her being tortured by Viktor, I didn't know it at the time, but it was the Cruciatus that he used.' He paused, remembering the terrible sound of Fleur's screams, something he hoped never to hear again.
'I stunned him, which stopped the curse and I sent up red sparks and waited until Professor Flitwick arrived to take Fleur and Viktor out of the maze. I didn't want to leave her alone in the maze with all the dangers in it. There were some pixies that tried to take her that I had to deal with before the Professor arrived.' He paused again before sighing.
Dumbledore placed a hand on his shoulder.
'It's okay Harry, take your time. Everything you tell us will help to resolve this situation.' The headmaster said with a soft smile that Harry couldn't help but return. He took a deep breath before continuing.
'After that, it was just Cedric and I left and we found the Cup together, after fighting the Acromantula. He refused to take the cup, saying that we both deserved it. After a few minutes I agreed, and we took the cup together. I should have just taken the cup myself when he offered it to me.' Harry paused, a tear falling down his cheek.
Moody growled as he leaned against the empty bed beside Harry.
'We took the cup and discovered it was a Portkey, and it had taken us to a graveyard. Before we knew what was going on Peter Pettigrew killed Cedric, he used the Killing Curse Professor. I can't believe I let him live last year.' Harry let out a sob as the guilt tore through him.
Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder gave him a connection to the real world, but didn't hear the words the old man said as Harry sobbed into his hands, tears flowing down his cheeks.
The headmaster conjured a handkerchief before passing it to Harry who took it with a nod of thanks.
Harry wiped his eyes and blew his nose, trying to pull himself together and continue.
A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up and saw the Headmaster wearing a soft smile, but Harry noticed the man's gaze held, understanding deep within those blue orbs.
Harrys gaze fell back down to the white linens he sat on, linens that toward the end of the bed bore bloodstains and muck of the events of the evening.
So many thoughts whirled through his head that he closed his eyes, squeezing them shut to block out the emotions threatening to overwhelm him, his hands clenched on the sheet he sat on and his breaths came quick and shallow and tears pooled in his eyes again.
'Potter, drink this.' Pomphrey commanded and Harry accepted the vial of a blue liquid pushed into his hands. Without a thought Harry poured the potion in his mouth, swallowing it with a shudder at the bitter taste. His world settled around him and he released a sigh and lay back on his bed, a shiver running through his body as the potion calmed him.
'I'm sorry professor.' Harry said with a frown as he clenched his jaw as he thought of his actions.
'There is nothing to be sorry for my boy. More experienced wizards than you have suffered from shock after an ordeal like yours.' Dumbledore soothed, his hand on Harry's shoulder again, his thumb moving back and forth in a calming motion as Harry nodded.
Harry felt the effects of the potion in his system, how it dulled his emotions and was eternally grateful to whoever had created the potion.
Then he looked up and saw the headmasters face filled with concern and closed his eyes and released a sigh before continuing his story.
'The next thing I knew, they strung me up against a statue and Pettigrew was performing a ritual with a cauldron, a baby that wore Voldemort's face, the bone of his father and my blood.' Harry paused and saw a look cross Dumbledore's face that sent a chill of fear down his spine, even through the effects of the calming draught.
Dumbledore's face was pale and drawn, he looked every bit his hundred and fourteen years of age.
But the headmaster shook his head and Harry blinked, to see the headmaster looking just as he did before, putting the thought aside for later, Harry continued.
'Then, in place of the cauldron, he stood. Voldemort.' Harry explained, seeing the impatient expression Moody wore as his eyes never leaving Harry's.
'Voldemort dropped to his knees and screamed in what looked like pain, it looked like the worst pain I could ever imagine as he writhed on the ground, but then pain erupted in my scar and it felt like it was on fire, like someone was stabbing me with a burning sword straight into the scar.' Harry told the two older men.
His eyes staring at his leg, watching as Pomphrey returned to it and waved her wand over it for a moment before leaving again with a soft smile.
'I must have blacked out for a while because the next thing I remember was Voldemort releasing me from the statue and giving me my wand. Death eaters surrounded us. He called them by name, but they all wore masks.' Harry paused, he could feel the calming draught struggling with his emotions and the thought entered his mind about whether it was normal to feel the potion working on him.
'We duelled, and he was just toying with me, that much was obvious. Though he hit me with the Cruciatus a few times and I threw off his Imperious curse.' Harry said, smiling up at the grim-faced ex Auror that only grunted and nodded for Harry to continue.
'Then our spells collided and created a cage of light, I swear I heard Fawkes inside it. Between us there was a ball of light, connected to both our wands and I forced the ball near Voldemort's wand. I only pulled it off because he got distracted, he broke the connection and left me all alone in the graveyard, surrounded by the Inferi who until then seemed to have captured and killed a few of the death eaters.' Harry paused, the memories flooding into his mind.
'Sir, the Inferi… they ate at least two death eaters. What are they?' he asked and saw his hands shaking on his lap as he watched Dumbledore let out a breath.
'Harry, the Inferi are dead bodies reanimated and controlled by use of magic. They often possess an unholy strength and will follow any directions given to them by those who animate them. They are ghastly puppets.' The headmaster said, with a small frown on his face.
'You said the Inferi only came after Voldemort returned? They weren't already present?' Dumbledore asked and Harry shook his head.
'No sir, I saw them out of the corner of my eye while He was distracted in our duel. They pulled themselves out of the ground during our duel and they caught the death eaters unaware as they were watching our duel.' Harry explained and saw the headmaster nod his head, running a hand through his white beard.
'Harry, Inferi don't return by themselves. Right now I can only assume that the Inferi were reanimated by the ritual that brought Voldemort back to life, but more as a side effect. Otherwise the Death Eaters would have known about and expected their arrival.' The headmaster said and leaned back in his chair beside Harry's bed.
Pomphrey interrupted the headmaster, returning to Harry's side and setting down a tray full of potions vials on his bedside table.
'Professors, I must insist you both leave him be until tomorrow. He requires his rest and cannot answer any more questions until then.' Pomphrey glared at the two older men and raised her brows toward the door in a clear signal which both men followed, Moody releasing a growl as he went.
Moments later, the hospital wing was quiet, with only Pomphrey bustling around him, waving her wand over him and tutting to herself.
'Now Mister Potter, take those potions beside you and rest.' The matron commanded and Harry hurried to comply.
Taking a red potion before following it up with the other five before finishing with a purple potion, swallowing the whole thing Harry lay back on his bed and felt heavy irresistible waves flow through his body, and the feeling of sinking into a soft feather mattress came over him.
The last thought through his mind was that he had never been on a feather mattress before.
Harry watched as he saw his body leapt up from the bed and throw itself to the floor beside him, his hand darted out to his bedside table and scooped up his wand and in an instant Harry watched as a prisoner inside his own body as the sound of onrushing death crashed into his bed that he had lain on moments before.
The bed shattered, it fell apart in pieces as Harry's body leapt to its feet and his hand made complicated wand motions and fired spell after spell at Professor Moody who wore a shocked expression before returning fire with his own wand.
'What is happening here?' Harry called out, but no sound left his mouth, though a thought returned to him, as though inside his mind.
'Be calm young one, I will explain the situation after this foe is bested.' A voice boomed through Harry's mind and he watched in fascinated horror as his body moved on its own accord and battle Professor Moody who was tossing unforgivable spells at Harry like they were candy.
Harry watched as his body ducked and dove through the infirmary, weaving through the beds and debris of the battle before sending a series of spells he didn't recognise until a stunner erupted through his wand and knocked Moody into the wall beside the entrance of the hospital wing.
As Moody lay still on the floor, Harry watched as his body dropped to the floor, the overwhelming need to sleep dominated his mind again and everything went black.
Harry opened his eyes to find himself in his room in Privet drive. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and a thrill of fear rushed through him at being back with his relatives. His breaths came in shallow gasps and his eyes darted around him, noting every corner of the room, the open window and the closed door.
He glanced around the room, feeling something was not right.
'This is an interesting abode young one. Where is it?' came a voice from behind him. Harry spun to see a man where there was not one before, during his first sweep of the room.
The man was tall and broad, his mane of black shoulder length hair was thick and matched with his thick stubble gave him a roguish appearance. His face wore a confused expression as he glanced out the window to cars parked in the street and up to the light bulb above him, before reaching out to touch it.
Harry stared at the man, moving his body to present only his side to the unknown man, facing the window in case he needed to escape the situation.
'Who are you?' Harry asked, his eyes narrowed toward the man who pulled his hand away from the light bulb for a moment before turning to face Harry, his hands open wide and held in the universal sign of peace.
'My name is Godric Gryffindor, I am your ancestor. I came to be in your mind because you are the only one in this world that has any blood connection to me.' The man answered and Harry stared at the man in disbelief, his eyebrow raised.
'Godric Gryffindor? Is inside my mind?' Harry asked before running a hand through his hair and clenching his jaw.
'Of course, he is, I'm dead. I must be, did Moody kill me or was this whole night a dream? What the hell is happening to me?' Harry muttered, closing his eyes and taking a breath. The panic and fear from his conversation with Dumbledore surfaced, filling his mind.
Godric sighed and gestured to the bed.
'Okay, this will take some explaining I see. Please take a seat while I try to get this to make sense for you.' The tall man said as he leant up against the wall.
'I have been dead and in Elysium for a long time. What year is it?' Godric asked, cocking his head to the side, then saw the calendar on the wall.
'Nineteen Ninety-Five? Assuming you're using the same timescale that was being used in my time, that means it's been almost a thousand years since I died.' Godric mused before nodding to himself.
'If that is the case young one, then I have been in Elysium for a thousand years and I have come back to the world of the living to help you protect it from spirits that have escaped Tartarus.' Godric explained and Harry stared at the man before blinking.
'Okay, assuming this isn't a dream or that I haven't died after the events of the night. Though why am I at Privet drive? I should be at Hogwarts?' Harry asked, frowning as he tried to make his memories match.
Godric cocked his head and ran a hand through his hair as he sighed.
'Okay, so starting with the basics then. You haven't died, though you almost did. This is sort of a dream. We are both real, but we are in your mind, that is why we are in this place. I thought the place you were raised would be the most comfortable for this conversation.' Godric explained, before staring at Harry in confusion as he released a bark-like laugh.
'This place making me comfortable? You have no idea.' Harry snarled before releasing a breath, feeling himself calm a small amount by the action he continued.
'Okay, assuming this is real… ish…' Harry hesitated before continuing.
'What is Elysium? And Tartarus? Aren't they from Greek mythology?'
Godric quirked an eyebrow.
'They are where spirits go after death, Elysium for the good souls, those who did good things in life. While Tartarus is where the villains are sent after death, those who did horrible things to others. The Greeks knew their stuff, they preceded the Romans who are the ones who created wands and developed modern magic, also the reason we use Latin in spell casting.' Godric explained before pausing and shaking his head.
'Sorry, we got off topic there for a moment.' The man said before pacing across the floor, a hand running through his hair.
'When the one you call Voldemort was returned to the world of the living, the ritual that they used triggered an event. This event weakened the gates of the underworld which allowed powerful spirits to escape the underworld. I sensed my old enemy escape Tartarus, and I knew I would have to follow behind him, to stop him from harming innocents in this world.' Godric spoke, a shadow passing through his face as he spoke.
Harry watched the man talk and wondered whether this wasn't some crazy dream. He hadn't ever had one so detailed before, or so direct.
'So, what will these spirits do if you don't stop them?' Harry asked, wondering why the dream could feel so real and how he could think during it, he'd never been able to think during a dream before.
Godric paused, cocking his head at Harry as he met his eyes for a moment before giving Harry a grim smile.
'If we don't stop these spirits, they will wreak their vengeance upon this world for the countless years they were tortured and imprisoned in Tartarus. They will rampage across this world likely driven mad by their time in Tartarus, which you may as well think of as Hell.' Godric said with a sigh.
'Do you remember the pain you felt in the graveyard? Just after the revival ritual?' Godric asked, his voice soft.
Harry shuddered at the memory of the pain, he could only nod, not trusting himself to resist throwing up if he spoke.
'That pain came from a piece of Voldemort's soul as it was torn from your mind and returned to him. The pain he endured in that moment was worse than your own because he must have had multiple pieces of his soul separated from his body, though why he would do that to himself I don't know. Perhaps he thought it would stop him from dying, which I suppose it did when you think about it.' Godric trailed off in thought before blinking and shaking his head again and met Harry's gaze.
Harry stared at the man, a hand going to his scar that as he touched it, it was raw to the touch, like it had been just made.
'Wait, I had a piece of Voldemort's soul inside me? How?' Harry asked, his face white at the thought. Godric nodded with a grim smile.
'Yes, but all of his soul pieces have returned to him now, I don't think their connection to the items he placed them in was strong enough to resist the underworlds pull.' Godric explained, watching Harry's face as he listened.
Harry ran a hand through his hair as he massaged his temples, trying to soothe the headache tearing through his skull.
'What does this mean though? Is he stronger with all his soul back together?' Harry asked, eyes wide as his mind raced. Godric shrugged.
'I don't know, but I know that he is vulnerable now.' He said and smirked at Harry's expression.
'He has no soul anchors left, so if he is defeated then he will go straight to Tartarus, like he should have the first time you defeated him.' Godric explained and Harry nodded, not knowing what else he could do.
Harry stared at his hands for a moment before meeting Godric's gaze.
'What old enemy did you follow up here?' Harry asked, cocking his head as he watched the scowl cross Godric's face.
'Salazar Slytherin, he was once my brother in all but blood. I sensed him escape Tartarus, but the gates of Elysium were not as damaged at those of Tartarus so most of myself is in Elysium, but I have been able to send a portion of myself into your world, hoping to connect to someone of my blood.' Godric trailed off, a scowl on his face.
'But all I could find was a young boy, you. There are no others of my blood. I could have connected to another mind, but our blood connection will be stronger than any other I could make to this world.' Godric paused, as if considering his words with care.
'I suppose the main reason I chose you over another is that you have the power inside you to make use of my magic. Though I should probably say that your inherent magic power will enable you to learn Battle Magic, which is a style of magic that causes a massive drain on your magical core when used.' Godric explained and Harry blinked before cocking his head at the other man.
'Battle Magic? Magical core? Inherent magic power? What are you talking about?' Harry asked, frowning to himself.
Godric sighed.
'They don't teach those terms at Hogwarts?' he asked, incredulous.
Harry shook his head.
'I haven't heard them, though I grew up as a muggle, so I guess I may have missed any common references to them?'
Godric closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh that Harry was sure he could feel frustration from the man.
'Okay, let's try it this way then. Your magical core is inside every living creature, it changes depending on what creature it is. Magical creatures like dragons have larger and denser magical cores than non-magical creatures like a cat. Are you following so far?' Godric asked, as if he were talking to a child, a rather dull child.
Harry clenched his jaw at the tone but held back his frustration with the man in front of him.
'Yes, but what about muggles, or squibs? I thought they had no magic?' Harry asked and Godric gave a soft smile.
'Muggles and squibs have magical cores, but they are too small to use magic, if they had no magical core they would die, like anything else. But to put it simply, the larger and denser your magical core, the more magical power you have access to. Make sense?' Godric paused, waiting for Harry to answer.
Harry cocked his head with a frown.
'So, if a cat had a magical core like a glass of water, a dragon would be like a lake?' Harry tried for an analogy that Godric grimaced at before giving a hesitant nod.
'More or less. The analogy over simplifies the whole process, but it'll do for now. Using the same analogy, a normal wizard or witch in your era has a magical core like a glass of water and yours is closer to a pond.' Harry grinned at the compliment but frowned as he saw Godric's jaw clenched.
'Is that bad?' Harry asked.
Godric sighed and huffed, scowling at the floor.
'Wizards and witches in your era are weak, their magical cores are undeveloped, and they lack the refinement that we created Hogwarts to develop. But I suppose I am lucky that your inherent power is enough to work with.' Godric said, though his tone implied it was not as much of a compliment as it sounded to Harry.
'So, how much magic does Battle Magic require then?' Harry asked, eager to change the topic.
Godric gave a smirk that sent a shiver down Harry's spine.
'Using the same analogy, you need a lake.'
Harry stared at Godric, a frown on his face as he opened his mouth to speak, then closed it as his mind whirled around the concept.
'That means you know a way to increase my magical core?' he questioned, still unsure how the man could consider him potentially able to use Battle Magic, if he didn't have the power to do so.
Godric wore a lopsided grin that hinted at mischief and Harry couldn't help but be on edge.
'That's exactly right, however. You're not ready for any of that just yet. But you will be soon.' Godric said with a soft smile.
Harry let out a breath before he heard Godric continue.
'While we are in your mind young one, time moves slower. We can talk for sixteen hours in here, while in the outside world only eight hours will have passed.'
Harry stared at Godric before rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands, and he took calming breaths.
'How?' he asked, still covering his eyes while controlling his breathing.
'It's something to do with the speed of thought, in here, the mind is unencumbered by the body. Your mind and magic can function at their best.' The man said, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder.
A shiver ran through him and Harry found his breaths coming a ragged gasp as his headache grew. It was all too much, and a tear slid down his cheek, he scrunched his eyes shut, but still more fell. Everything was happening too fast, the maze, the graveyard, Cedric, the ritual, the duel, the Inferi, the hospital wing, this dreamscape, Voldemort's soul piece, Godric bloody Gryffindor's heir and host body. It was all just too much.
'What do you want to do young one?' Godric's voice broke through Harry's thoughts.
Harry opened his eyes and met the gaze of the man standing in front of him, Godric's brown eyes watched Harry with concern.
'You have enormous potential and with my help, you can reach that potential.' The founder stated before he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.
'What do you want most in life? Vengeance? Peace and Quiet? Love?' Godric asked and Harry stared at the man, a soft frown marring his face.
'Should you wish it young one, I will find another to inhabit and prepare them for the coming evil unleashed upon this world.' Godric finished, letting out a sigh as he broke Harry's gaze before facing the window.
Harry ran his hands through his hair, relishing the comfort the mostly subconscious act brought. He couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with everything, but the questions were valid. Harry closed his eyes and thought hard on what he wanted in life, a question he had never asked himself. He had considered what career might be interesting, but that was it he had never thought harder on the issue. But now? It was now the time to make a choice.
Harry stood from the bed, gave a heavy sigh and drew in a breath.
'I will fight. Though I do not yet know what I want in life, I only know that I will fight, not only for myself but for my friends.'