Epithalamium (Harry Potter for grown-ups)

Chapter Twelve

"Now that the snow has melted, I thought we could take today's lesson outside," Professor Dumbledore said.

"Outside?" Minerva asked.

"Yes. The day is rather warm for March, and it provides a good opportunity to move to the next phase in your training."

"Really? What is it?"

"I think we'll wait and discuss it when we get to the spot I have in mind," he said, smiling at her enthusiasm. "I think you will need a slightly warmer cloak, however," he said when she put her over-robe on. "Allow me?" he asked, brandishing his wand.

"Be my guest."

He pointed his wand at her, saying, "Pallium Profundus." She felt her cloak grow heavier and warmer.

He donned his own thick cloak, and they set out down the path past Groundskeeper Ogg's hut.

"Where are we going, Professor?" she asked. They had an unspoken agreement that during her lessons, even they believed if no one were around to overhear, she would address him thus.

"There is a spot just inside the Forbidden Forest that I think will suit our purposes quite nicely, Miss McGonagall," he answered.

"But . . . isn't it dangerous?"

"Not when you're with me," he reassured her.

A few minutes after entering the forest proper, they came to a small clearing.

"Ah, this was the spot I had in mind," said Albus. Minerva looked at him expectantly.

"Now, my dear, I will ask you to get down on your hands and knees," he said.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, and he said, "I realise the ground is a bit wet, but we can Scourgify your robes afterwards. I need you to feel the forest floor under your hands for this exercise."

She did as he asked and waited for his next instructions.

"First, I would like you to clear your mind as you have been doing. When you have done that, I ask you simply to feel. Allow your senses to experience the forest—all your senses: sight, sound, smell, touch—even taste, if you are moved to it. I will tell you when to stop. You may begin whenever you are ready," he told her.

Minerva automatically began the exercise to clear her mind. Closing her eyes, she focused on the sound of her own respiration, eventually tuning it out. She began her sensual exploration of the forest with the palms of her hands, feeling the wetness and the cold, and the rough texture of the pine needles against her skin. She flexed her fingers, enjoying the feel of the moist soil oozing thickly between them, going up under her fingernails.

Albus watched, fascinated, as she did this for several minutes.

She was impelled inexplicably to bury her nose in the soil, feeling its grainy dampness with the sensitive organ, then drawing back slightly to inhale its loamy scent. There were other odours there too, feral and meaty, that she could not identify. She realised she was allowing her conscious brain to intrude on the sensory experience, and she quickly refocused on the odour itself without thinking about it. She allowed the layers of scent to permeate her olfactory organs, and a primitive portion of her brain recognised one of the smells as blood. It raised in her a strange yearning. Her tongue flicked out from between her lips and barely contacted the small mound of soil her grasping fingers had created. The taste was slightly sweet and metallic. She kept her tongue extended, tasting the intriguing scents that teased and tantalised on the breeze. When she finally retracted it, she could feel the grit on her lips.

She began to allow sounds to penetrate her focus: birds twittering a few yards off, their shrill voices rising and falling according to their proximity, and felt a desire to move toward the sounds. Just as she was about to sprint off, another sound, this one low and threatening, seemed to arise from beneath the ground and stopped her. She cocked her head, listening, crouching low to the ground. At last, she opened her eyes and was nearly blinded by the shocking brightness. She shut them immediately and waited a few moments before opening them again. There were colours and shapes dancing in front of her, but they were hazy, and the images overlapped. She blinked several times, then the visual disturbance was gone.