Harry Potter Breaking Free

Snicker…giggle….giggle

Both Fleur and Harry turned to look at Appoline as the woman slowly but surely unraveled into a childish fit of happy giggles. Turning his body back towards Fleur, Harry pointed back at her mother as if the woman's amusement vindicated him.

"My mother laughs at all of my father's dad jokes," Fleur pointed out in a deadpan voice. "She's not what I'd call a discerning audience."

"Well I think it's funny in a sarcastic kind of way," Harry defended with his arms crossed. "I also think it's my Mindscape, so it's my opinion that really matters."

"Your spiritual center has what amounts to a smart ass no trespassing sign on the front door," Fleur pointed out, with her own arms crossed and her chin up in the air. "Sue me for thinking it's in poor taste."

"Oh well pardon me for the rudeness of my welcome," Harry drawled, in a voice just oozing fake concern. "I imagine your Mindscape rolls out the red carpet for any passing Leglimancer who decides to drop by."

"If by rolling out the red carpet you mean an endless sea of white-hot flames then you'd be correct," Fleur replied with a noticeably smug expression on her face. "Veela are naturally defended against mind intrusions. Our Mindscapes can become very... warm... at a single moment's notice."

"Huh," was all Harry could think to reply to what he'd just learned. It was a cool enough little factoid that he almost forgot how annoying Fleur was currently being... almost.

"Achoo...achoo"

Both Harry and Fleur turned around when their staredown was interrupted by some very fake coughing sounds.

When the two teens looked in her direction, Appoline gestured for Harry to focus on a stretch of space off in the distance. "Are those really what I think they are 'Arry?"

At Appoline's direction, Harry scanned the area, and then started grinning in a moment of fanboy enthusiasm. "Oh! Yeah. I created a couple of star destroyers and the Death Star from Star Wars, as well as the starship Enterprise from Star Trek to serve as the welcome wagon out here. I'm not really all that sure how effective all this will be against a powerful Leglimancer, but they do look damned cool."

For about two minutes, Fleur and Appoline just stared out at the scenery, as they grew more and more accustomed to life in free-fall. The moment ended when Fleur suddenly remembered that they had business to attend to, and she floated over to 'Arry's shoulder. "Can we get this show on the road now 'Arry?"

After nodding in silent agreement, Harry quickly started floating the three of them down towards the planet. While they were clearly moving very fast, for several moments it felt like the planet was merely growing in size rather than getting closer. Soon enough. All they could see in front of them was white painted metal and it felt like any second they were going to crash like bugs against its surface. That's when it happened. A ridiculously massive, layered and fortified blast-door opened up to admit them.

"Arry... Just who do you think is trying to break into your mind?" Admittedly Appoline was awe struck, but she was also confused as to why Harry would bother with such a grand undertaking.

"I created my Mindscape to be this big and this heavily fortified for three reasons," Harry began, while lifting up three fingers. "The first reason is because there's at least one extremely strong wizard out there who wants in here (Harry gestured towards his own head while dropping a finger). The second reason is because I was stuck in the Hospital Wing at the time with nothing better to do and as it turns out I'm extremely good at this stuff. The third and most persuasive reason… is because my magic is insistent that all of this is necessary."

As they approached the planet within the shell, the ladies were further floored by how beautiful Harry had managed to make it all. It was a full sized and fully developed planet with different climate zones, ecosystems, rainforests, oceans and deserts. It even had cities with varied architecture styles and shapes. It was also very, very empty... Harry might be good at imagining things into existence in his Mindscape, but even he'd never be able to populate a world full of free thinking individuals. To do so would be the work of a hundred lifetimes and it'd also be completely pointless. That begged the question though...

"Why 'Arry?" At this point, Fleur was looking at Harry like he might just be a lunatic.

By studying Fleur's facial expression, Harry belatedly figured out what Fleur was trying to ask. "Ah, I see. I created an original planet and made it impossibly huge and complex. Why do you think I did that?"

"So the things that are important are well hidden?" Appoline was scanning the world they were flying over with a completely mesmerized expression on her face. Nonetheless, she still managed to add her thoughts to their conversation.

"Yes and yet no at exactly the same time. Everything you see before you is a red herring," Harry replied happily. Every single inch of this planet is just waiting to explode with traps and magical creatures. The buildings are all what they appear to be, but at a mental prompt from me this entire place can become a death trap. As he spoke, Harry gestured to a forest well outside of any urban area and over the next minute they flew towards it. They finally landed in an empty field next to a large but nondescript Boulder.

"Ah, I see… So this massive spectacle is an equally massive waste of both time and effort..." Even as the unpleasant words slipped from Fleur's mouth, she was looking around at everything that they passed...

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