Boy and the Begining

Even in later years, Harry would have to admit that being eaten by a giant stone penguin with a magic freezing tractor beam was right up there as one of the more unusual entrenches/kidnapping to happen to him and was harbinger for one of his, as he had come to expect with anything related to penguins and radish wearing people, one of his more unusual adventures.

When the…whatever the stolen penguin was, had stopped the clickety-clank and humming sounds of what Harry would later discover was its decent underneath the surface of both water, sandy bottom, and bedrock, he found that he was once again able to control his limbs, and shot into the air. Though, given his surroundings, he had nowhere much to go.

He was surrounded by the rounded interior belly of the stone beast as it were, and he could see no way out, though he knew that there had to be an opening somewhere by which he was swallowed through earlier.

It took a great deal of hunting around, feeling along the wall, until he discovered what appeared to be a hatch, though not placed in the position he was swallowed through. This hatch was placed at the base of the belly and was just large enough for a single person to walk comfortably through.

Seeing as it was his only possible avenue of escape, he sighed, girded himself and reached out to touch the hatch to feel for some sort of latch to open it. As soon as his hand touched the surprisingly warm metal, he felt a tingle along his skin, and when he hastily removed his hand, he'd left behind a glowing pink handprint.

The handprint brightened for a moment, then sank into the metal and the door opened soundlessly.

"Well, no guts no glory," Harry sighed as he stepped through the door.

He had only a second to take in the softly lit Victorian style foyer, of all things, when a familiar figure appeared in a ball of sparkles.

Given the slightly transparent edge to him as well, this was also appeared to be another projection.

"Ah! My esteemed heir!" none other than Rigor Rhubarb intoned grandly, his radishes swaying happily, "if you are hearing, and seeing me now then you have come across one of my vast network of hidey holes, as my third wife liked to call them, though my second husband called them pits of wasted time," Rigor chortled.

"With the magic that you are now imbued with, I left various messages from myself that activate when you have entered one of these facilities, mainly because my magnum opus was created in many of these spots. As my magical heir…did I mention that? You being my magical heir?- You are entitled to these places and all that is in them. It may not be the titles, estates and other boring riff raff that the rest of my fellow purebloods value, but I assure you is just as priceless," he waved his arm grandly," now, as you enter each section or room, the magic I imbued within this projection is given the ability to recognize it and I shall explain the room and contents it holds, now shall we begin?"

Rigor gestured towards an archway gilded in a rim of golden penguins with cherub wings.

Since Harry had no choice if he wanted to eventually find a way out, he adjusted the straps on his trusty pack (rather glad that he had somehow kept it on his person) and ventured forth.

After the rather ostentatious austerity of the foyer, suddenly walking into a giant circular grotto was a rather unexpected discovery.

The grotto was also rather large; looking like it could fit one or two soccer stadiums comfortably within its roughly rounded circumference. The room was lit with an odd greyish-green glow that Harry discovered came from some sort of moss that grew along the walls and ceiling, giving everything a rather eerie glow. There was a plain, sturdy catwalk wide enough to support two people walking abreast that wound around the edges of the softly glowing pond-lake below him.

"The Vault, as I refer to my grandest hidey-hole," Rigor began explaining as Harry began walking the catwalk, "holds the largest crop of gillyweed known to man," he gestured downward.

Sure enough, Harry saw a vast tangle of what looked to be to a bundle of slimy, grey-green rat tails in the water.

"As I am sure you know, it is an extremely rare and hard to cultivate magical plant native to the Mediterranean Sea. When it is eaten, the fortunate individual grows gills and webbing between the fingers and toes, allowing them to process oxygen from water and navigate underwater more easily, rather handy when lost at sea. I used this plant quite extensively in my travels, especially when I studied the beauteous penguin in its natural habitat, with lots of heating charms of course. There is some debate among Herbologists as to the duration of the effects of Gillyweed in fresh water versus salt water, as there is also the individual nature of the consumer's magical core, body size, native decent, metabolism, and health that makes testing a large pool of test subjects difficult, but the effects of gillyweed in fresh water seem to last about an hour. While salt water varies between 1-2hours." (1)

Harry looked with greater interest at the ugly crop that could certainly come in handy. He made a mental note to harvest a few jars to play around with later.

"Gillyweed was first discovered by my ancestor, Elladora Ketteridge, she was the first witch to discover the properties of Gillyweed, although that glory grabber Beaumont Majoribanks was credited with it about a century later," Rigor grimaced in distaste at the mention of the usurper to his family line's ancestor, "despite the fact that she nearly suffocated after eating the plant, only saving herself by sticking her head into a bucket of water, she saw the potential in the plant and despite Majoribanks getting the credit, my family soon outstripped them in quality and supply. This is one of the largest and most potent batches of gillyweed, planted from a cutting from my ancestor's first crop. It adds a good 10 minutes to the initial recorded time underwater, and the waning stage is much more gradual, giving the more idiotic and the absent minded sorts ample warning for when they are reaching their time limit."(2)

Harry finely came across another hatch, and repeating his actions from earlier, stepped through.

Unlike the first two, this room was small, about the size of the Dursley kitchen, and just as tall. Like the others, it was rounded (he sensed a construction theme going on here) but it was also empty but for odd symbols that were strewn all over the place.

"Ah! The Cleaning Room! One of my more useful inventions, if I do say so myself," Rhubarb extolled delightedly, "designed with a 300 year magical warranty, excellent after coming in after handling some messy business or other, keeps the rest of the Vault clean."

Wondering what the man meant by that, he soon found out as all his cloths, his bag, and everything not attached to his body suddenly vanished in a flash of white light. Harry let out a squeak of surprise. (3)

"That handy feature transports all objects and cloths into the next room where they won't be damaged or get in the way of course."

Before Harry could, uselessly of course, demand what the projection meant by that, Harry was suddenly deluged in a wall of suddenly appearing lavender coloured liquid with electric blue wiggly fizzy things that swam about his body.

Harry was too startled to call up his magic, and was tossed around willy-nilly, as the odd (though strangely breathable material) began invading areas that Harry never even thought about. It was like being a lone sock tossed into a vigorous washing machine full of tingles.

When the liquid vanished,leaving Harry gasping and shaking from the shock of it all, another set of symbols glowed briefly, before Harry was buffeted from all sides by powerful, and invasive, gusts of warm air.

When it was done, he was lowered to the ground, and he stood there, shaking, as Rigor explained:

"The Cleaning Room was designed with a 3 stage process: the redirection of non-essential objects and cloths, the second stage of a thorough cleansing of the body, everything from Hair to teeth, to skin and all in-between by my patented Clean-All half potion half magical spell imbued into the walls with a self-replicating charm to ensure continual supply- the essence of gillyweed is essential, as it makes sure the bather is able to breath during the process- and the final stage is several drying charms, warming charms and breeze maker charms and vanishing charms that are combined using runes to thoroughly dry and remove any residue from the washing liquid. Yes, this room came close to being my first magnum opus. The problem was that I was unable to get rid of the side effects. Never could figure out how it removed body hair and the inability to grow more from the nose down. Though my first wife appreciated the side effects I suppose."

Harry let out a squawk of outrage at that. Sure enough, the fine fuzz of barely there arm hair was gone. He had a sneaky suspicion that he wouldn't be expecting any chest hairs when he grew older either.

Still, when he calmed down, he supposed that he at least wouldn't have to worry about shaving. It seemed troublesome anyway. His uncle had always arrived at the kitchen table with shaving nicks and bad smelling after shave. Once he felt that he was not over all bald (he still had his eye lashes, eyebrows and wild black hair) he soon overcame his outrage and shock and quickly made his way to the next room, a small bathroom sized area with empty closet rods that Harry suspected were once used for cloths and where one changed and collected their things after that little clean up. Harry dressed quickly.

The next hatch opened up into an even more daunting sight.

It was like walking into a large stone honey comb/maze.

There were doors of varying sizes, shapes and colors and not just hatches this time. Small windows that Harry would discover later that only allowed one to see from inside their various rooms, all positioned in unusual places such as the floor and the ceiling as well as the walls.

"This is the Nexus, the central point by which one can access all the rooms of the Vault," Rhubarb explained giddily, "several pocket dimensions, and undetectable extension charms make it a bit of a tricky number to navigate, so I installed a rather useful spell to provide my heir, should you ever find this place, that I call the Touring Spell, after all it is only polite to show someone around, and this way you get to see everything and you won't get lost, though it is a onetime only spell and will wear off after the tour is over, though methods of finding your way around will be explained at the end of the tour, enjoy!"

There was a sudden jerk on Harry's shirt, as if he were grabbed and tugged forward at a rapid pace by a large invisible hand (4).

"Try not to use any magic while the spell is active, a test crup lost its skin that way, poor thing, never did work out the kinks," Harry may not know what a Crup was but he was the type to appreciate warnings that literally saved his skin, stopped fighting the spell and allowed it to tug him forwards towards the first door, resigned.

Ooo ooo ooo

The first room on his tour was, in fact, a wide open field. It was the same size as the grotto, and slightly hilly with fruit trees that grew intermittently, and yellow green grass that waved lazily in the artificial wind.

"This is one of the various habitats that I have in the Vault," Rhubarb explained, "I have always had an interest in the conservation of animals, both magical and otherwise, and was one of my Masteries that I achieved over the years," he pointed to a large flock of what looked like ostriches, though with a reddish plumage instead of the customary black. They were lazily feeding from the trees or brooding over nests as Harry watched them as he flew overhead (the spells doing not his own).

"These are the FireWing ostriches of South Africa. My grandfather, Urglise the Singed, was the only successful breeder of them before the species was nearly wiped out by overzealous wizards who over hunted them for the value of their plumage, blood and body parts in various highly rare potions and rituals. My grandfather's flock was the last of them, so after he died I moved the remaining birds to the Vault. They are rather simple creatures to rear really, the key is to feed them yellow plums and keep a steady supply of the trees on hand. A happy Firewing ostrich is a wizard whose balls live to be unsinged for another day, as my grandfather used to say." (5)

Sure enough, the last thing Harry spotted was an ostrich shooting a ball of fire from under its wing at a pile of yellow fruit for a group of keenly watching and hungry chicks, before he was whisked away through a hatch embedded in the artificial skyline.

Ooo ooo ooo

The next room was a collection of cubicles that held tiny beds and other small furniture that were obviously vacant.

"After I was shamed by the fools in the Ministry," Rhubarb explained, less jovially, "my eldest son seized control of the bulk of the family assets, with the exception of the Vault and a few other places that held my labs and academic outposts, and along with becoming the new Rhubarb lord, he took possession of all the house elves that I had working here. I was left only old Tiggy, the good loyal House elf that you have already met."

So that was what the name of the creature was that beaned him with that orb and nearly drowned him.

"These were the house elf quarters. At one time, the elves served up to 300 here, more than Hogwarts, though it is my understanding that my son gave many of them to Hogwarts to serve the school as he didn't need them, unable to enter the Vault without the key," here he winked at Harry, "which is why much of the Vault remains undisturbed by my unlearned off spring, though preserved and attended by a rather complex set of enchantments to ensure everything is clean and running smoothly."

Fortunately the Touring spell was quick in this rather sad looking place and he was quickly dragged off to another room.

Ooo ooo ooo

The next room Harry entered was not as large as the Firewing ostrich habitat, but it was vastly tall. Harry was just surprised that it didn't reach the surface, and suspected that it was possibly a combination of how deep Harry was and the magics that Rhubarb had mentioned earlier that influenced space.

It was a tall room with deep magenta coloured walls, absolutely covered in mirrors.

"The Mirror Room! A rather delightful collection that I acquired from my Aunt, Berta Yarklark, on my mother's side who was a lovely woman, believed herself to be the descendant of Narcissus from Greece, poor chap, and had a rather interesting mirror collecting fetish, magical or otherwise. I inherited the collection after she committed suicide, poor thing, not wanting to face the horrors of seven years bad luck after she broke one of her mirrors."

Harry was lead around the tall ringed wall of mirrors. Some mirrors were so horribly gaudy that they made his eyes hurt while Rigor happily pointed to this mirror and that, shooting off random histories that boggled Harry's mind, such as:

"Ah! There is the mirror that once belonged to Hegar the Horrendous who was a rather inept overweight Viking that liked to keep his helm as shiny as possible to induce blindness in his enemies…" (6).

"Oh! And there is the wall mirror that belonged to an unfortunate girl that was locked away into a tower by her crazed mother. Her hair was said to be nearly indestructible and gave eternal youth those who brushed it…"(7).

"Now there is a handsome mirror, caused no end of trouble with the Ministry in its infancy when a witch used it to spy on people and kill all those who the mirror showed her to be more beautiful then she…" (8).

"…And, yes, I do believe that is the mirror said to contain the malicious poltergeist of a woman who was brutally murdered and has a habit of haunting then killing its owners. This mirror was last recent edition of her collection, took a while to exercise the spirit…"(9).

And so on and so on it went down the line until Harry's head was so full of mirror related stories (and confirmations on a few that he had already read about in his studies and now had confirmed as being partially true) that by the time the tour was over he had a bit of a headache, even if it was rather fascinating.

Ooo ooo ooo

There was a room he was dragged into that held enough paintings and statues fill at least five art galleries and a few museums. Some of the pieces Harry was told by the Rhubarb projection were hundreds to thousands of years old. Some of them even moved! One picture of an old woman pouring herself a cup of wine even winked at him and told him that she was free in about a decade if he ever wanted a little "fun." Harry hastily sidled away as soon as politeness allowed.

There was a smaller room right beside that one that held an art studio. Here Harry spent a great deal of time, what was allowed to him from the spell, experimenting with both mundane, and definitely not normal paints of the magic variety (one tube of grass green told him primly that it was not to be mixed with crimson red unless he was going for the effect of mud on his canvas).

Rhubarb told him that he had tried taking up painting, but found that fine arts were not his forte, and Harry was treated to the projection's sulking countenance until he moved onto the next room.

Ooo ooo ooo

The next room thankfully turned out to be a huge kitchen. The spell actually gave him a 2 hour's break here, he was informed, to use the facilities (there was a small working bathroom off to the side) and have a little something to eat and a bit of a rest.

Fortunately, while the kitchen was bare, he did have food on him, so he made a quick repast of fruit and dried fish with a bottle of water. By the time that he was caught up in the spell again, he was much more relaxed and clear headed.

Ooo ooo ooo

Room after room he sailed through for days.

He would get breaks every so often, an hour here, 30 minutes there. Fortunately the touring spell also gave him time to sleep, about 8 hours each day, though only when he came across one of the numerous spare bedrooms, offices, or recreation rooms.

He saw things that he never would have imagined, such as that one room that was made entirely out of preserved pineapple jello. Apparently it was abnormals that introduced the concept of the popular concoction to the normals, that he learned were called muggles, and Rigor's lot were called wizards and witches.

He saw more habitats, a fair few of them containing various species of Penguins, these frigid places Harry made sure to have his warmest coat on hand. They were fortunately quick.

There were other habitats, such as fields containing strange bird-horse hybrids that Riot explained were called Hippogriffs, Harry learned the benefits of bowing that day, and was allowed to spend a bit of time getting to know the herd (since they were his now, and there was a mind boggling thought!), they were rather nice an impressive once Harry showed the proper respect.

There were habitats that held fiery pits that contained sizzling salamanders and hissing Ashwinders, giant cave like forested places with giant spiders that the projection called Arcumantulas, making Harry wonder if they were distantly related to the one he met in Africa.

Harry ended up in rooms that held vast swaths of richly colored cloths, and was not allowed to leave by the spell until he had chosen a robe, or a pair of boots or a hat. By the time he was through with them he had a full set of wizarding attire that he was assured was both comfortable and fashionable. Rigor's reasoning was that no magical heir of his should be without fine cloths to proclaim his station in life, etc.

Harry shrunk them and stowed them away. He supposed if he ever came across one of these wizarding communities that Rigor alluded to, which probably was highly likely since he often referred to a "Wizading World" on more than one occasion, he could at least blend in. Harry had read about witches and wizards of course, they were teeming throughout literature.

During his adventure in the land of rooms as he came to mentally refer to it, he had come to wonder if perhaps maybe he was a wizard?

It could be possible, after all, they were magical humans, and he supposed he was a magical human. But the way that the man talked about things, or some of the things he was shown, such as the Room of Wands which held the Rhubarb family wands (self-updating) and droned on about how the wand makes the wizard, (or any wand varnished with the juice of the family namesake) he also talked about this spell, and that spell and potions ingredients when they were in what Riot bragged was the largest storehouse of potions and potions ingredients known to wizardom.

All these methods of how wizards used their magic, methods he recognized from some fictions even, but all methods that Harry never applied to his own magic, beyond intent and will perhaps, though he'd never had to use a wand, or some other magical or magically imbued device. Harry eventually came to the conclusion that wizards were possibly some form of magical human, and He himself was human enough looking that he might be one, at least, was somewhat sure he was human, since normals were humans and his mother was related to normals (unless she was adopted? Hmmm… now there was a pleasant thought) still, whatever he was, even if the possibility was high that he was a wizard, the way that he used his power and the way that he was coming to understand how these wizards worked their magic appeared to be vastly different, as he didn't use things like potions or wands or spells to work his magic. He was at least confident enough he could pass as off as one in a crunch if he ever venture into their territories which he assumed from Rigor's talk, existed and were extensive. He even wondered if some of those hidden places that he had seen during his trouble might have been them.

Well, it was a question for another day he supposed.

Ooo ooo ooo

By the time that a week nearly passed, Harry was sure he must have been in the largest enclosed environment known to man.

He was beginning to despair of ever being able to fly in the sky again, lost forever in a mad (though brilliant) wizard's place, lost forever like the man's third wife's favorite parakeet Bagel who had never been recovered, only for its tiny bird bones to be found in the skeleton of some large lizard in the Nexus outside of a room that contained a town made from, and peopled by, candy by Harry some years later (10).

It was while he was taking a break in a room with a large glass orb filled with miniaturized tornado's that he was informed suddenly by Rigor that he had only one more room to go before he would return to the Gillyweed field where he would be free of the spell, and an exit would appear, relieving Harry greatly.

"The Artifact Room!" crowed the man, as he gestured to a room that was more like an area found in a museum were several shelves and pedestals sat in neat rows that held a wide variety of odd objects, "nowhere will you find a greater collection of rare magical items! Each perfectly preserved under a magically constructed bell glass to ensure that the more temperamental artifacts won't take issue with their neighbors or adversely affect the observer, …rather temperamental, a few of them!" the man chortled, as Harry strolled slowly deeper into the place.

Harry, of course, had little to no understanding or experience with Rhubarb's people or his world, but he had a sneaky suspicion as to why most of these things were so rare, examples of the numerous inventories included:

Consi gohedge slippers- has the ability to make people run at superspeed. (11)

These sounded useful to Harry, though the fact that they were large, bright blue, and fuzzy gave him pause, but he figured it couldn't hurt to have around, so he removed the slippers (Rhubarb informed him helpfully that as the man's magical heir, whatever that met, he had the ability to help himself to anything Harry wanted from the vast collections found in his secret lair)- he then shrunk the slippers and placed them in a Ziploc bag.

Toh Teef Maracas- has the ability to make opponents dance the flamingo while maracas are being shaken. (12)

That had the possibility to be highly entertaining, not to mention useful for quick getaways, even if it was rather odd. So, promising to test them out later on an unsuspecting group of drunks, he also pocketed them.

Cat's Cradle Gloves- has the ability to weave any substance in to form of choice.

This was much more practical, and would certainly eliminate the necessity of stealing cloths later, it bore testing. He pocketed them.

Bugdar band- gives wearer the ability to grow ant antennae.

Harry blinked at that. Not knowing what he could find useful about them, he left it be.

Sasvero tea kettle- has the ability to make any one who drinks from it have vertigo for one hour.

Again, not exactly useful to Harry, though the pattern was a lovely rainbow-ish glaze combined with a dark ceramic.

The Nokmey Brand- a brand with a combination of Chinese words and number contained in the center of an alchemist symbol surrounded inside the  symbols by 3 runes. When the brand is placed on the base of the spine, where the tailbone begins, it will magically brand the tiney grouping of symbols into the flesh permanently. On the next rising of the sun, the wearer will have grown a prehensile monkey's tail.

Warning: this is a permanent alteration that cannot be removed magically or mundanely.

Second warning: It only works for the magically able. (13)

Harry had to admit, he was very interested in this. What little boy or girl wouldn't be tempted? And better yet, he actually had an excuse, since he often sat in trees…still, who knew what sorts of trouble having a tail may cause? He bit his lip, his fascination warring with his pragmatism. He eventually just decided to take it with him anyway, and figure it out later.

Gourd of the Roar- a gourd that when uncorked releases a roar that has the ability to cause an earthquake within a half mile radius.

Harry was not looking to level buildings, so he passed that one quick enough, though he had to admit to being a bit curious about it.

The Reverse Ostrich shovel- when the blade of the shovel is forcefully stabbed into the ground, it causes the earth to open up directly under opponent for 30 seconds and bury him up to his chin.

Not really useful as he wasn't looking to bury anyone, so pass.

Omega bracelet- when worn it allows the wearer to be immune to electrical based attacks, spells, or natural or manmade electricity.

Oh yeah! This one was definitely on Harry's take list! For a boy who flew at possible lightning strike height and lived outdoors in general a fair bit, he could see definite uses for that. He slipped the bracelet on, a silver piece meant to look like entwined lightning bolts, yet delicate enough to not be to ostentatious and actually fitted itself to his wrist!

Gemini needle- when a user pricks their finger with the Gemini needle, it creates a double from 3 drops of the user's blood. The user can use their double to do certain activities that the original don't have time to, and when the user touches their double, it dissipates the double and the memories from it will be absorbed into the user's mind.

Warning: the effect will only last for 24 hours, if you do not touch your double before time limit is up, the information they held is lost. Further, the double will not have the ability to use magic, as magical cores cannot be duplicated.

This would be useful for studying. He would be able to have his double study or hunt or explore while he did something else. It was worth the blood spilt, provided it never became too much. He added that to his supplies. though he did wonder what a "magical core" was.

Bullseye Monocle- gives the wearer 1 minute of perfect aim.

He supposed it could be useful for hunting, but one minute wasn't very long, unless he timed it. Seemed more hassle then it was worth unless he decided to assassinate someone or something, so he left it be.

The Tartar Nose Ring- gives the wearer the ability to never smile while wearing it

Warning: wearer will look perpetually sour or grumpy in appearance. (14)

Harry chuckled, shaking his head. He was perfectly fine with his facial expressions. He left it under glass and moved on.

The Perrier Cup- this 250ml cup has the ability to continuously refill with any liquid that was poured into it beforehand (be sure to say out loud what it is to log in the drink).

Warning: for unknown reason, it does not work on Worchester sauce. Avoid adding this and anything with the sauce as an ingredient, such as Himmel's anti-choke lozenges (for a full list see below). It causes the cup terrible indigestion and wont replicate.

Another highly useful tool! Harry wouldn't have to constantly find water sources to refill his supplies when they became low! So he took the cup.

Gum- a muggle origin device that simulates chewing candy, but for some reason are not able to swallow. If swallowed, it retains its consistency, remaining undigested.

Warning: chew to long and the flavour disappears and it is hard to get off the bottom of footwear and in hair as it is also resistant to vanishing charms and cleaning charms.

Harry just raised his brow. He suddenly wondered how often Rhubarb got out into the world of Normals to think that Gum (Bubba Nubba cherry in this case), was something magical. He moved on, still shaking his head.

Portkyn Patch- this eye patch gives the wearer the ability to see through walls with whatever eye is covered.

Oooo! Another useful trinket! Yoink! And into the bag it went!

Sloth Net- induces a deep lethargic effect in those who have been covered by the net.

Warning: if used on enemies, make sure the entire body is covered, as it only works on the bits covered by the net.

Might be useful again for hunting but with his abilities, but it wasn't really necessary for him.

The Marx Mats- a set of five placemats that induce witty and entertaining conversations at dinner tables for up to five people.(15)

Warning: do not use a mat singly as it induces talking to oneself once out in public.

Another pass, Harry didn't have dinner parties.

Chaplin Suspenders- gives the wearer the ability to conform one's body to whatever space, no matter how small or awkward.

Warning: don't wear on the Knight Bus, as it induces a cancelation effect on both elements until they are separated. (16)

Harry was not sure what the Knight Bus was, but he figured he wasn't likely to run across it, so he added the suspenders to his outfit. he felt slightly tingly at first but that soon dissipated and he shrugged it off.

The Nogad Earrings- induces disinterest in all those who happen to look at the wearer of the earrings until they are removed.

Warning: you must wear both to obtain effect. Does not work on unicorns, snakes, and Doxies.

Useful, definitely, thief that he was at times, and the constant danger that he was in, and the many windows he peeped through on the sly made this a useful item. So in they went to his bag.

Tibbles Toothpick- this item repels all species of birds within a 3 mile radius when held between the teeth of user. Once removed, birds return.

Warning: may attract housecats.(17)

Harry liked birds, so he passed on that.

Fiddler's Filaede' Violin- gives the player the ability to control all feline type species, or a mild compulsion in part felines while being played.

Warning: it must be an actual melody. Any player that does not know how to competently play will induce all feline species, including part felines, to attack the player.

Again, another pass. He liked cats, but he was not a violin player, and wasn't keen to trust his luck.

So and so on down the line. He gathered a few more things and steered clear as much as he was able to of others such as Mutter Mimble's Face Beard, able to control the minds of unfortunate wearers, and spawn when others pet it (18). He finally reached the end of the tour when he felt the tug that had been constant all week disappear from his person as he stood before a final hatch.

On the other side he was relieved to find the familiar eeriness of the Gillyweed field.

"Alas! It seems my lovely tour has come to an end!" Rigor exclaimed, taking off his hat and grandly bowing, "you will find that the exit is a silvered circled just to your left. The magic of the transporter rings will read your intent to leave and deposit you back in the last location that you were in before your invitation."

'Invitation my arse!' Harry thought sourly.

"Just stand in the rings and say "Exit!" and it shall handle the rest."

Harry spotted the rings a little to the right. Before he did though, he took out a large head sized jar that he acquired from the Jar Room (best unbreakable preservable jars! One of my cousin Mabel's creations) and lifted a large wad of the gillyweed (looking even more…interesting) out of the water, and hovered it into the jar, snapping the lid closed and shrinking and putting it in his bag then stepped into the centre of the ring. Before it activated, Rigor gave him his last messege.

"To return to the Vault, merely say "Vault Hooo!" while wearing this ring," a simple grey band of metal with the silhouette of a penguin appeared magically on his left pointer finger, "this will bring you to the reception room and it will also guide you to any room that you need to find, good luck and safe journeys my heir." With a final bow the projection disappeared in a shimmer of pink sparks.

Harry tried removing the ring, but found that it had become part of the skin on his finger some how. shrugging, he left it alone.

The the large blue ring engraved on the floor hummed to life with a bluish glow when he stepped in the center of designated area and Harry said clearly "Exit!"

He was suddenly surrounding by six large metal-like rings that pulsed a blue light and then when they lowered back into the ground, disappearing as they went, he realized he was standing on the beach he had been…invited from (19). The section of the beach must have been rather unpopular as Harry managed to find his towel and book where he had left them a week ago, though they were partially buried under the sand. He dallied only long enough to give his things a brisk shake, shrank them, then lifted into the air and gave a glad cry as he embraced the sky with relief.