Chapter 103 - Longing

"Oh please," Hermione gave him a sharp look, and she wanted to say that Cloud had high expectations of Harry teaching others what he had learned, but then she glanced towards Ron and decided not to say anything for a while.

Since she came back, Ron was either angry with her or ready to argue at any time, which she had no interest in. She had no idea what was going through his head, but it seemed he had a problem with Cloud, so she didn't mention him by name all so much. Luckily, she had a few friends like Ginny, who would hear her babble on about Cloud to her heart's content.

"It's not a bad idea," Aerith rested her head on Tifa's body, her legs curled up on the lounger, her hands wrapped around them, "It would be good too. At least, Harry would have more people who might not believe him outright but would be cautious. The biggest problem right now is that people aren't cautious enough. Wizards, who aren't cautious, would become an easy target for Imperius Curse. This is when the ones ready to fight against it, like Sturgis Podmore, were put under the Curse and made to try and steal something from the Ministry."

"Sturgis Podmore? Isn't he a member of the Or—"

Ron shut his mouth, getting a furious and panicked look from Hermione, who looked around to check if someone had heard it.

Hermione leaned forward, "How do you know? He was put under Imperius…well, that makes sense. Right, Harry?"

"It has made the most sense till now," Harry nodded. He had heard from Hermione, who got the news from Newspaper.

"Well…" Aerith placed her finger on her lips, "Tell no one, but my bloodline allows me to see the future and souls and talk to the departed."

"Yes…you said…you were Half…."

"Cetra. Last of my kind," Aerith pressed her lips, "I thought I had lost these abilities as a child, and after seeing something a few years before, we came to Hogwarts."

She was talking about the First Timeline, not that they would know of it, "And when I saw Harry's Parents warning me of him being in danger, I realised it was not all gone. It was there, and while I can't access them at will…I did try Divination seriously this time and managed to Divine what happened to Sturgis. I am still practising it, and hopefully, I might be able to Divine the locations of Horcruxes soon."

"You could do that," Harry hopefully asked, and Aerith shrugged, breaking his hopes.

"Who knows. I tried again, and I divined this – Look at the trolls, learning to dance they are. Look Three Times and make a wish in your heart. To want what you truly need—Turn to see. What you seek shall be beyond the doors you see."

Hermione was already writing down the words in hopes of making something out of them, "What did you try to divine?"

"Anything, really," Aerith moaned, "It was a failure. Where do I find Trolls who are learning to dance? Are their such trolls?"

Ron snickered, and Harry had lost all hopes, but Hermione's eyes were shining, "I don't know. But I'll ask around. Divinations are never straightforward, but yours…it's important what it says here. To want what you need? What do we need?"

"So much, but this is something like that. You will never find trolls dancing, and so you can never see them three times," Ron shook his head pessimistically, "There is no way we are going to find anything like that."

However, two days later, they were standing in front of a painting with trolls dancing, holding their clubs, and Neville with them.

"Hermione said, and I remembered that I have been here before," Neville blinked, "You said a painting with Trolls dancing. This is it, right?"

"Right," Ron muttered, "Blimey! There is one! What do we do now?!"

"We are looking, aren't we?" Harry pointed forward, "Do we blink?"

"Wait, wait, one at a time," Aerith raised her hands, "We will blink to see and…um…what do we need again?"

"To know the truth? That your Divination wasn't wrong?" Tifa muttered.

"How about a…."

"Toilet?" Neville softly said, "I need one right now."

Harry covered his face, but while Aerith was giggling at the suggestion, "Ok. Let's go with that. Neville, you must summon a toilet for yourself."

"Ok," Neville slowly blinked three times and then turned around, but there was nothing, much to everyone's disappointment.

"Ok, how about coming and going out of the area? Walk in front of it, and then take a turn, returning and making a turn. Three times, right?" Tifa suggested, and Neville hastily went to the corner, coming back, looking at the painting, taking urgent steps. He did it three times and was about to turn when his footsteps stopped.

He gaped, looking at the wall that was shifting, and a door appeared in front of them. His hands trembled, and he opened the door, looking at the bathroom inside, "Is this… happening?"

Aerith's eye shone with blinding light, "Neville, hurry up about your business, and then come out. There is something I want to try."

Tifa's face brightened as she hugged Aerith's arm, "Are you thinking what I am?"

"I am," Hermione's eyes met them, and Harry said, "I think we are all thinking the same thing."

Though, he got strange looks from the three girls, who burst out laughing, trying to suppress it.

"What?"

Ron looked at his friend, shrugging, as oblivious as him. It took a while before Harry put together what the three had in common, and he came up with a possibility that would send them into a fit of laughter, "I didn't mean that!"

"We know, we know," Aerith giggled, finding it hard to surpass her laughter, and she laughed much like the other two, much to Harry's embarrassment.

They only stopped when Neville came out relieved, and she walked three times, thinking of what she needed, and the door reappeared, which she opened, revealing a room with a large bed, sofa set, and study table.

She called them in and rushed inside, looking at the bathroom, "It's big, and there's a bathroom too, with a big bath. This is perfect."

"Perfect for what? It's not like anyone's going to live here," Ron looked around the big room.

"Won't someone," Aerith covered her face, "The Sling Ring is with my things. I am going to bring it."

She had only said it when she and Tifa both heard a message from Echo.

[If you are going to see Cloud, then the System suggests you check Log #6003. Or, you might be in for a surprise of a lifetime.]

Tifa raised her eyebrows, exchanging a look with Aerith, "How about you guys see what else you could get from here? There is a problem we must attend to urgently."

She took Tifa's hand, walking with her, marching off, leaving behind a confused group. Hermione looked over, and she was torn between staying or knowing, but in the end, she too went after them to know what had happened. She followed them to their room, sealed as soon as she entered.

"What happened?"

Aerith called her over, knowing that Cloud had told her about the System, among other things, "Echo says that we should see Log # 6003. It's as if something major had happened, something we should know about before seeing him."

"Log #6003?" Hermione blankly asked while Tifa confirmed from Echo if Hermione could see it, and she told them that she could if she was taken to the party. Which they did, and they started the log without explaining much.