What really is time?
*back at Gringotts
Eventually after much discussion between Andi and Ragnark and the multitude of cursebreakers that had practically swarmed the room after they had finished reading the results of Harry's Magical test/medical Exam several decisions were made the most significant of which occurred when Ragnok the 7th appeared in the room seemingly having portkeyed from England.
In short order there were decisions made that Harrry would need to remain in the care of the Gringotts Goblins for at least a few days, the bulk of which time would be spent in the equivalent of a time dilation field where the cursebreakers and healers could do their work. Normally this would not be allowed but due to the nature of the magics affecting Harry and the persons suspected of casting them it was decided that there was no choice.
They had also contacted the Duchess and advised her of the findings, and that they would be unable to accept her hospitality for the next week at the least. They also informed her of the most significant finding of which she had apparently already become aware of as it seemed the young Gabrielle was already suffering the withdrawal effects from the partially formed bond. After some further discussion and the agreement of a magical oath from the Goblins they had agreed to allow Gabrielle to stay with Harry in Gringotts time room to allow them the opportunity to at least confirm that the bond was a true bond and not a pseudo bond formed by the life and death experience and avoid accidentally creating an obscurial.
While this was going on, the Duchess would also be working on her initial promise to grant Harry, Andromeda and the Tonks family sanctuary amongst her duchy. She had already come to the realisation that they were likely to be long term residents despite the collective hopes that they would not form a soul bond so young, and that there was every chance that the pair would remain bonded and soon unable to stand long periods of separation.
All in all it only took a few hours but eventually Gabrielle returned to Gringotts this time accompanied by an elf who called herself Mipsy who was to accompany them into the time room just in case and who was floating several large space expanded crates.
Making their way into the room after being assured by Andi that she would return as soon as she could and in more than enough time to be there for when the Goblins opened the door, and Andi being assured by the almost half a dozen goblin healers and one very adamant elf that they would take good care of both Harry and Gabrielle they seal the door activating the time dilation runes imbedded into the bedrock surrounding the chamber.
Much like a divers atmospheric chamber it takes several hours of real time to get up to speed and for the time dilation to take full effect. Time that the Goblin healers are unable to risk using for anything but the most mundane things as they can't risk the changing rate of dilation affecting the rate of the rituals or the delicate potions they will need to brew.
Ultimately this lends the time to being used for other productive uses as the goblins take the time to hand each of Gabrielle and Harry different learning crystals that imbue knowledge through legillimancy eager to see just what the change is after they have removed the bindings on Harry's magic and being well hewn scientists that appreciate the benefit of having a control sample.
The goblins eagerness, the depth of the vaults Harry is heir to, and Andromeda's consent to spend as much money as needed to get the job done right mean that over what feels like almost a week Gabrielle and Harry are both bombarded with Crystal after crystal, some designed for conscious interaction and others designed to work on the subconscious while they sleep, literally absorbing the knowledge by the magical equivalents of diffusion and active transport. One of the side benefits to this is that it gives Gabrielle and Harry a common enemy in their preadolescent desires to escape work and learning, and have fun; something that helps nurture the slowly growing affinity they have for one another.
Eventually however the room reaches its target speed and stabilises, it is here that the hard work really begins as over what feels like several months the goblins begin to tear down every binding on Harry's magical core, allowing his core to stabilise between each and for the strain to lessen. Initially he had wanted to get it over with quickly, a one and done situation but after hearing the goblins explain the risks to everyone present should something go wrong Harry eventually gets on board with the original plan from Andi and Ragnark
To everyone's surprise though, ultimately the time between sessions does shorten, and it is after the third month in the time dilation room that they realise what it is. As it turns out, having Gabrielle so close has an unexpected side effect. It is well known amongst wizards that Veela have an allure, and amongst Veela the truth that this is less a hormonal effect and more a para-legillimency effect is known. There is a hormonal element but generally it is known amongst Veela that the effect is more tied to the magic and mind of the Veela producing it and the wizard on the receiving end.
What no one had accounted for was that being in proximity to a partial soulmate bond for so long and facing the stress inducing goblin learning practices together would cause the level 1A bond to strengthen and stabilise not just to a level 1b stabilised bond but to a Level 2 Cross initiated and stabilised bond. In effect this stabilisation of the bond driven by the shared stress and cooperation had caused their magic to intertwine beyond what was normal for young bond mates their age and their magical cores being in so close proximity for so long had attuned and commingled slightly. This meant that whenever the bonds on Harry would snap and his core would become unstable and start to react the small amount of his magic bound to Gabrielle's core would cross react, essentially acting as a vaccine against the instability and providing his magic a scaffold to rebuild and re-stabilise itself.
It is this that ends up knocking nearly a month off their expected cleansing and ritual schedule and allowing them to reach the point of removing the soul drain far sooner than they had anticipated. What they find however when they attempt to remove the Horcrux and the soul drain lodged within his scar is discouraging as the magic has been there for so long that it has started to entwine with his magical core and signature.
For several weeks after the first failed attempt at the ritual there is a sense of morose melancholy throughout the room as the goblins try and modify the ritual in the hopes it will work. Surprisingly enough though it appears that once again fate has a plan for the young duo as it is after several days of watching Harry become more and more resigned to his eventual death and suffering with the soul shard that Gabrielle proves to be the catalyst for change.
As it turns out, despite her age, Gabrielle's Magic had already decided to be as stubborn as any full-grown Veela (something her mother might have suggested in the past based on her temper), and her Veela magical instincts were not willing to watch the man they declared as her lifemate die a slow and agonising death before her eyes.
This discordance in her magic naturally left her feeling unsure and in need of comfort something that she was only too happy to seek out pressed close to the body of her lifemate allowing his magical signature to wash over her and hers to burn away some of his own melancholy.
Eventually, however, things ended up coming to a head when the second attempt at the ritual was only partly successful, and midway through the ritual, the wraith birthed by the soul shard was half loosened from Harry, it's inky blackness clinging to the scar despite what seemed like the entire magical strength of the goblins pulling it away. Seeing her mate literally fighting for his soul this causes something in Gabrielle to magically snap, and without hesitation she launches herself into the pentagram past the desperately grasping hands of one of the goblins who tries to stop her and with feathers sprouting on her arms and decidedly avian features she grabs the base of the wraith as it enters Harry's scar, her hands burning hot as waves of flames cloak her like a Phoenix.
Immediately Harry seemingly goes limp and the wraith for its part starts screaming, in her panic at seeing Harry collapse the last inch of control in Gabrielle's body snaps and the transformation becomes complete as she becomes one of the youngest Veela in history to achieve the full Harpy transformation. With the magic now roiling off her in waves and her magic cloaking both her and Harry in passion fire she screeches and tears the wraith that is now bubbling and melting between her fingers out of the scar one inch at a time before eventually flinging it to the floor in disgust where the waves of her own magic and the concentrated magic of the goblins bombard it turning it into naught but dust and memories.
Seeing the enemy destroyed Gabrielle quickly loses the adrenaline that had been allowing her to maintain the magic of her transformation and in short order both she and Harry find themselves crumpled side by side in magical exhaustion on the stained floor of the chamber.
It takes nearly two whole days for the pair of wixen to awaken and in that time none of the goblins dare to seperate them or even get too close. One of the goblin healers having experience with wixen suffering magical exhaustion had scanned them and found the pair were in some sort of self reinforcing loop, the magical exhaustion of both being combatted by the presence of the other and seemingly accelerating their recovery. Not wanting to risk harming the pair and frankly completely out of their depth given the scale of the events they're witnessing the goblin eventually decides to simply have Mipsy levitate them over to a sleeping pallet and leave them there together with one of the healers on watch to make sure they continue to heal and recover.
When they do awaken it would be fair to say that Harry feels like he had something torn out of his body and the wound cauterised while Gabrielle feels not too dissimilar to what she imagines a post transformation werewolf must feel like with every fibre of her being protesting the very idea of movement. Despite this though that is not all that has changed and it soon becomes clear that Lady magic must really have plans for these two when it becomes obvious after several minutes of completely non verbal communication and several confused goblins that their bond has surged again and now they're hovering more around a level 3 bond, what most call a Marriage bond, as connected as they can go without being fully magically mature, with effects of literal soul melding as they begin to share attributes and magical abilities.
This naturally sends the goblins on a spiral of investigation as they try to rapidly identify exactly what had changed, never having had opportunity to witness a soul bond before, let alone one that seems to be rapidly growing by leaps and bounds in a way that would normally take years. By this point it is truly getting hard to know where one ends and the other begins and both Harry and Gabby find themselves unconsciously sharing memories from their past, something Harry is initially embarrassed by, not wanting her to see him so vulnerable, so abused. But Gabrielle quickly puts an end to that, her own emotions and thoughts bleeding into Harry's mind as she expresses just how much she is in awe of his strength, of his spirit, and just how much she wishes she could go back in time and meet him sooner, before magic itself had to intervene and burn the ever loving hell out of those that had abused him.
As time passes and the goblins forget their initial timeline in favour of new learning, Gabrielle and Harry grow closer still; by the time the goblins have all their data and trigger the cool-down and release process, they've reached the point most couples do after decades, the fact that they can literally feel each other's thoughts feelings and emotions helping them grow closer exponentially.
The goblins however not one to waste opportunity continue to feed them both knowledge and information as the room returns to the normal time stream, amazed at the way they seem to be sharing information, that which one learns quickly being learnt by the other and the understanding each gains being enhanced as well.
By the time the chamber eventually does open, almost a year has passed on the inside for them and a full week nearly double what had been initially planned has passed on the outside and both Harry and Gabrielle are far different to how they had initially entered the chamber, the least of which being the knowledge they now possessed, on par with wixen far older and ready to leave their schooling