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Harry Potter and the Celestial Zone
Chapter 10
9th July 2005


"A Siamese twin? Are you sure Harry? Gran never said anything like that." Neville was confused. Harry never acted like this, he was usually calm and collected, not specially excited or anything, "I can ask Gran if you want, but I really think you've got the wrong person." Harry frowned; for the briefest moment there, he'd been absolutely sure he'd felt a severed connection that was simply flying around in the ambient magic.

"I'm very sure Nev, I'm now actually good at Legimency, and I'm a slightly Empathic. Just now I got the feeling that you have a trailing connection that was severed. I opened my Legimatic channels and found a sort of hole in your mental aura, which indicates a missing link. That's why I get the feeling you had a Siamese twin; so ask your Gran. It may help to mention that if you really did have a twin, I could find a way for you to break through your apparent near-squib state."

Neville was shocked at that and quickly ran off. Harry sighed, hoping he was actually right on it this time, and returned to breakfast. Ron looked up, "Where'd you go Harry? And where's Neville? Haven't done something to him have you?" Harry laughed, "No Ron, Neville has a very important letter to send. I just reminded him." Hermione studied him and gave him 'the look' that said "you will explain it to me later". Harry chuckled, "Right then people, a reminder, 9 tonight in the Room of Requirement. We have an important DA meeting to attend."

Kwangkwangkwang

Harry sat on a cushion, looking around as the room filled up. He'd been pestered for this lesson for a while, ever since he humiliated Malfoy before the Start of Term feast; he mentally reviewed what he was going to tell them. He'd start them off with the lecture and meditating, then move them up to the Whirlwind Illusion when they were ready, and then Lightning Flash, and eventually the Thunder-light Vibration.

"Ok people, settle down; most of you have been asking for this lesson, so I'm going to get to it now. We've all learned the Patronus Charm, so as long as you practice it, you'll be fine. First off, the power I've shown various times this school year are based on a certain level of understanding. You understand, you can show; you can show, you can do. The more you understand, the more you can do.

"To begin with the theory, the Celestial Zone has 10 main 'powers', one of which I am the heir to. There's the Celestial Demon, Lord Dream Cloud, Sage of Infinitives, 2 Exponents, and 5 Celestial Creatures. The Celestial Creatures are basically titles; Green Dragon, White Tiger, Red Phoenix, Jet Tortise, and Golden Nymph. The rules regarding them basically state that the skills cannot be taught outside the heir. I am the heir to Green Dragon, which is why I said I couldn't teach you what I've been using.

"Even then, the Spirit Sword, the personal weapon that forms when you reach a certain power level, is difficult to attain, and the general rule is one in 60 that actually get there. Before that though, there are basic skills that are still powerful that I can teach you. Before we even get there though, the basic understanding must come first. The being of the Way is abstract; the Nature of the Way is Natural. In combination, we are therefore trying to create a Natural Way.

"We will start with meditating on those lines. Two hours a week aren't enough though, if you are serious about learning, then it is expected that you will meditate everyday, for a minimum of an hour, apart from the two hour DA sessions. Anyone who feels this is just too boring, let me know when you find an extra classroom, and I'll see about helping your dueling technique. Someone please keep time here."

Kwangkwangkwang

The DA session was a success; only a few didn't want to do the meditation stuff, so Harry tutored them in Defense and Duelling. As he'd expected, none started floating, the sign of Inner Activation, so he didn't have to worry about teaching the Whirlwind Illusion yet.

"Alright Hermione, I can tell you want to talk about something; Roof alright?" Not waiting for an answer, he grabbed Hermione's arm and jumped out the window, where he used the Whirlwind Power to take them up to the top of Gryffindor Tower. He set them down gently and conjured Butterbeer, "I guess it's Neville right? Well, I sensed he is the surviving half of a Siamese twin set. The impact is that the Red Phoenix is the result of Siamese twins separated at birth and being trained for the position.

"That his twin's now dead is no problem, since it's history that Red Phoenixes gave up half themselves to further their power. If I can, I will have Neville start Phoenix training as soon as the academic year ends. At Christmas I will visit Phoenix, Zi Yan, and Wei Qi. They all came by at some point or other because Xing Yun's the first among them to actually have an heir, and they all expressed their desire to jump the band wagon.

"Selected those three for a reason though; Neville is the reason on Phoenix, while I've picked Ron on Wei Qi's side, and well, you on Zi Yan's side. Wei Qi is a chess fanatic, so Ron should get along well with him, Neville I've explained, and you're the smartest around, therefore Zi Yan. Of course, all this hinges on you all showing potential for the Celestial Arts."

Hermione cocked her head in consideration, "I don't know Harry, it all seems real fun and everything, but what if I don't want to? I mean, my parents won't want me to you know?" Harry smiled at her, "They don't matter Herms, haven't you noticed why I went to Gringgots?" Hermione blinked, "wait a minute, how could you get your inheritance? You're not 17 yet!"

Harry grinned, "Exactly! What I've learned is a years worth on me, which is a normal person's 3 years. Being a Celestial Creature heir, I get access to the Creature Caverns, where time goes faster. Therefore, I've lived a year more than I should have, which is where I got a power surge and all." He grinned at her even more, "IE, you don't have to spend no time with your parents. I'm sure Zi Yan wants time with Wang Chan any way, so you can arrange it."

Hermione sighed and leaned against him, "just give me time to think about it alright?" Harry smiled, "Sure, you can come meet her if you want." Hermione nodded against him and moved close.

Kwangkwangkwang

"Captains shake hands; I want a good clean game you lot. Fouls carry double penalty this time." Ron looked like he was going to break the Slytherian captain's arm while Malfoy himself seemed to mirror the sentiment, or at least try to. Harry glanced round at the mostly first string players; a poll had put the second string out for fear of the Slytherian tactics, so Hermione now took Keneth's spot on the Chaser trio.

Harry grinned round; most still hadn't gotten used to his non-broom flying, which he himself loved. Flying was great, but to travel at extreme speeds without a broom was an incredible feeling.

Malfoy didn't know what hit him; first he's following Potter to ensure the brat didn't get near the snitch, but then notices him taking a quaffle pass and going for the score. Snorting in disgust, Malfoy whipped round to find the Weasel bitch going for something on the ground. Streaking off against an impossibly fast Firebolt, the Malfoy heir nearly plowed into the ground when Ginny pulled up and went for the quaffle in a Slytherian chaser's hand.

Harry laughed, "What's up Malfoy? Can't bring yourself to leave the ground for a while? C'mon, surely Daddy's new Nimbus 2004 can get you up? Or did he use his 5% in Fire?" Malfoy pulled himself off the grass and streaked at Potter, intent on breaking the bastard's face. Unfortunately for him, Harry still felt he was too slow, and batted his fist aside lazily as Madam Hooch's whistle sounded. Malfoy wasn't giving up though, "stay still you ass and take it like the man you're supposed to be!"

Harry sighed, "If you don't stop, they're likely to suspend you from quidditch you know?" Malfoy didn't listen though, and continued. Harry flicked his wrist and Draco landed about 30 feet away, obviously stunned. Madam Hooch strode up, "Mr. Potter, 10 points from Gryffindor for use of magic outside class, rules. Mr. Malfoy, you are hereby suspended till further notice." Malfoy, just coming round after Harry's awakening spell, jumped up, "You can't! My father won't allow it!" no one listened though, and Hermione flew up for the penalty.

Hermione started further back than usual, and streaked straight at the Slytherian goal, quaffle in hand; "She shouldn't be so near, it's not enough time to make the shot!" Ron was definitely worried; one lucky shot was one thing, but twice? "AND SHE SCORES! 110-40 TO GRYFFINDOR! LIONS FOR THE CUP!" Dean had taken over the commentary from Lee Jordan, with almost no transition problems. Ron scowled at having his belief shattered, "at least she made it."

With Malfoy gone, the match soon ended with a Gryffindor win 300-100, and Malfoy was seen yelling at Professor Dumbledore, who seemed to be quite perturbed by what was being said to him.

Kwangkwangkwang

Things went quite normally after that, the last matches of the dueling tournament before the Christmas holidays didn't feature anything particularly interesting, except when Malfoy decided that beating a fourth year was wonderful. That nobody, even the Slytherians, listened to him was a testament to his failure.

"Hermione? You going home for Christmas? 'Cause the twins are taking Mom and Dad to Africa." Ron, was way ahead on account of the food. Hermione responded evenly though, "Yes I will be, but not at once. I've made arrangements so I don't have to go immediately. I have something else to do before I go any way." Harry caught up, "but I'm staying, so we can study together! Ain't that great, mate?"

Ron scrunched his features, "I think I'll try to go with the twins then, I wonder where Ginny's going." Ginny wasn't around, though Harry knew she was going with Neville to visit his gran and parents. His mood sobered at the thought, even though death wasn't alien to him; on the bright side though, Neville's gran had indeed admitted to the existence of a late twin of Neville's, which coupled with the boy's advances in the Celestial Arts was a dead ringer for phoenix training.

"So Harry, when you taking me to see ZY?" Harry was brought out of his day dreaming by Hermione tugging on his sleeve, "perhaps just after the others leave, or maybe when Ron leaves with the twins, or we could wait a day or two first." Ron jumped in, "where you two going?" Harry smiled at him, "Hermione is getting close to mastering the spirit weapon, so I'm taking her to meet Zi Yan, the current Western White Tiger. Around then I will speak with Phoenix about training Neville, so we'll see how he next powers come along."

Ron was put out at that, "nothing about me? I'm even closer to it then either of them! And I'm better at Defense to boot." Harry sighed, "don't delude yourself Ron, you're not as close as either of them. Be realistic, Neville's almost as good as you are, and Hermione's got a larger spell repertoire than nearly every person in the school. I do have someone in mind, but you must be realistic first." Luna chose that moment to step in, "that's right Ronald, you can't improve if you don't recognize where you really are."

Kwangkwangkwang

"Ronald, you must practice if you want to improve you know? Practice makes perfect, just like the practice we've been doing in the astronomy tower, those broom cupboards on the 3rd floor..." Ron apparently couldn't take it anymore, "Alright, I get it. I must practice to get better. But I'm just as good as Neville definitely, I mean, for all his improvements, he still can't even aim a wand straight!"

Luna smiled at him; they were in the room of requirement because Ron didn't agree that his spiritual abilities were lower than Hermione's and Neville's. So far, Luna had convinced him that Hermione had the distinct chance of going further than any other because she had the most brains. Ron had readily agreed when he heard that, but couldn't accept his inferiority to Neville Longbottom. Of course it didn't matter that Neville and Hermione were close to completing the Quick Lightning and starting on the Thunder-Light Vibration while he was still completing the Whirlwind Illusion; no, definitely not.

"Tell you what Ron, I'll see if Neville will consent to a duel with you. No spells, only the Whirlwind Illusion; how's that?" Ron finally agreed, just as Neville walked in with Harry just as Neville was saying, "I'm sure of it Harry, it was a ball! Definitely a ball!" Luna quickly let them know there were others in the room, "Neville, could you do me a favor?" Neville, the obliging person he was, quickly agreed to a match.

"Whirlwind Illusion and Inner Universe understanding only; you will not use anything further than that. No spells, no killing, no physical weapons. You may begin." Ron jumped immediately, using the Whirlwind to speed his movements, "Whirlwind Turn and slice!" Neville evaded gently, "Whirlwind Illusion. Rising calm, Whirlwind Palm." Ron turned just in time to take the open palm strike to the chest."

"That's cheating! Turning kick of the Whirlwind!" Ron launched into a spiral of power directly at Neville; unsurprisingly, Neville didn't react accordingly, "Whirlwind Illusion, Illusion saber." Ron again sliced trough air, and got tagged on his right shoulder by the saber. Harry announced the hit, "2-0 to Neville. Just 3 more Ron, hope you still have it in you."

That stunned Ron, such a short time and he'd already taken two hits. He knew the importance of a hit; in chess, just one good take and you'd lost. He calmed down and analyzed the battle so far; he attacked at the best of his abilities whenever he could, but Neville seemed to evade his all the time. Was he that fast? Taking a last gamble, Ron switched tactics and stood his ground, waiting.

Neville smiled, Ron learned fast; "Wind Illusion, aerial shower." Like all the other attacks and strikes, this was a softer strike that was more an insult to the opponent than anything else, but for this fight, with just the Whirlwind to work with, it was good. Ron had indeed learned from his earlier mistake and used the Whirlwind Illusion to hide himself as much as possible. However, his ability to utilize the Whirlwind was not as great as Neville's and so he quickly ran out of room to run and got tagged; fortunately for him, Ron managed to get in a tag of his own with a Wind Cutter technique that compressed air to form a blunt knife at least.

Harry noted this and clapped his hands, "Alright, Neville wins 3-1; Ron got in one tag at the last moment before Neville got his own in. Every fight here is important not because of the proving of power, but because you are given the opportunity to learn. Neville took the softer stance and waited for Ron to attack, and Ron learned this at the end. Good fight guys."

Ron and Neville bowed and turned, then noticing they actually had a small crowd of spectators, "Ah, sorry Harry, you're right; Nev's way ahead of me." Harry smiled; yes, Ron was learning, "that's right Ron, but you'll get there soon. Practice well, you have potential." He turned to the rest of the room, "right then, we've just witnessed a good display of understanding of the Whirlwind Illusion formula. As we will soon be splitting up for the winter holidays, I decided we'd take a break from the usual practice.

"What we will be doing today, is exploring the different levels of strength, and the various realms of power." Everyone grabbed cushions, and soon everyone was clustered round a large circle, where Harry waved his hands and diagrams came up before he started speaking, "Now, we of course first have the level of attaining a Spirit Sword. I personally feel everyone here has the potential for that, even if not for going further.

"The Spirit Sword on its own is very powerful, if used properly it can easily go against a solid reductor curse, just not so often. Then next level involves a combination of power of the sword and that of your internal energies; this is known as the Amalgamate of Sword and Body." The diagram expanded to show the integration of sword power and bodily energy flows. Hermione raised a question here, "If the power to create the sword resides in you, how come the energy actually reintegrates itself?" Harry smiled, "It doesn't. It's true that the energy originates in you, but when you attain the spirit sword, it's like an overflowing of power. This power then coagulates outside your body and forms the Spirit Sword.

"That it can be summoned is only because the power originates from you, and not that it goes out into the ambient energy. This becomes much more so when you reach the next level, which is that of Celestial Forces and Man Amalgamation. In this, you integrate energy from the surroundings with yourself, and is a changing force in your Spirit Weapon. Whereas the Body and Sword combination produces a stifling aura that causes fear in everyone around, the Ambiance and Man combination stills that volatility and inspires an air of respect."

Neville then raised a question, "so exactly how do we get there?" Harry frowned at that, "I'm not sure. I haven't actually gone further than the Body and Sword Amalgamate, though I believe I'm nearing the next level. It is actually an almost unique path to breakthroughs; the top 2 exponents went through a form of realization, while I went through a power surge handling to gain my level. Most others just keep practicing their school of Arts and eventually make the breakthrough.

"That is the level that most don't make. The transition from Spirit Sword to Body and Sword are fairly close levels. If you have a mark on your forehead, it changes; like mine changes. Otherwise, you'll get your own mark when you reach the level. The Celestial Forces Amalgamate strength also produces a visible aura that can be controlled more tightly as you advance in control and understanding. I believe it actually stands a fair Crutatious or two at once at its highest levels; but I'll let you know when I get there.

"The level after that I believe is commonly confused. Some think it's either Heaven and Man as One, or Man and Earth as one. Man and Earth is actually the higher level, because the Aura of 9 Heavens that is accessed through Heaven and Man Amalgamate has a finite number of uses. The Aura basically heals you to full health and power as long as you're alive enough to use it; when applied directly to the body, the strength level again changes your Spirit Weapon, and boosts your power output by a factor of between 2 and 5 depending on your level.

"This strength is most useful with multiple enemies. Though the earlier strengths allow you to attack several at once, it greatly diminishes the effectiveness of the power. Instead, the Aura allows you to split more power among more opponents." Someone asked from the back, "So we're simply applying more power?" Harry ran his hand through his hair, "Yes. The Aura allows you to heal much more as well, so yes you can fight more."

Harry looked around, he could tell that many didn't think they had a chance of getting to this level and so didn't feel they had a stake in this. He himself knew the feeling, not believing he'd ever get as powerful as Xing Ling or Chi Xue, which he had a chance at now. He studied his audience again, "I know the feeling that you'll never get to that stage, but even if you don't, you'll at least know what you're up against if you do go up against someone using it.

"On the other hand, most don't go so far up if they can help it. I haven't ever used a high power if I can win without it. Any way, the last one, Man and Earth, is actually Man, Nature, and Heaven as One. It is the absolute hardest to get to and only Xing Ling and rumored Xuan Hua Hui Kuan have gotten there. Xing Ling believes there's a higher level, but nobody knows about it yet. As far as she knows, the strength level allows almost constant healing in a fight, though she can't use it for too long yet."

Everyone seemed to twitch again, "constant healing? Isn't that a cheating thing?" Harry didn't know who it was, but he himself shared the sentiment, "actually, because it can be only used for a short time, you just have to hold on long enough and you'll get a chance to get a good hit in." He glanced round, it was quite a bit to take in, "Alright I know I've given you quite an amount to take in, so just keep training over the holidays, and I'll see you after alright?"

Kwangkwangkwang

"You ready Hermione?"
"Just a minute Harry."

"Right, now hold on tight." Harry closed his eyes and concentrated; it was very different taking someone along by Celestial Teleportation, and took a lot more power. Still, his practically immense power core allowed it.

"Wow Harry, don't knock why don't you?"
Hemione turned round and saw the a purple haired woman with the largest bust she'd ever seen in the arms of a handsome young man wearing, well, practically nothing. Of course, that the woman was nearly naked didn't actually make a difference, really. Harry however, seemed to keep his wits better, "Sorry about that Chan, I haven't had too much practice at dual teleportation. Let us know when and we'll come back." And he steered Hermione out the cave.

"Well, that's Zi Yan, the Western White Tiger and her romantic partner, Wang Chan."


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A/N: Don't get the names? Well neither do I really, but then again, they're really not that pertinent to this story. R/R please?