None of the four could say exactly how long they had been walking down, but it felt as though they had descended at least a thousand meters.
Just as even Harry began to wonder whether their earlier deductions had been wrong, Hermione suddenly gave a soft exclamation. Then she raised her hand, and a glow appeared on her fingertip.
"Hey, Hermione, how come you can use magic?" Ron looked astonished, though a moment later he seemed to sense something himself.
The other three tried it, and sure enough, all of them could use magic again.
"What's going on? Have we left the area that restricts magic?" Harry asked in surprise, watching the flame dancing on his fingertip.
"Harry, see if we can go back now," Ron said at once.
The others all nodded. Only Black Ginny, hidden deep within Ginny's soul, narrowed her eyes slightly.
Harry nodded at once too, and with a thought, summoned the McGonagall Bird.
Then, nothing happened.
"I can't summon the McGonagall Bird here..." Harry shook his head, then waved his wand and rapidly chanted an incantation, trying to open the Dream Realm Gate.
But once again, nothing happened.
"What's wrong?" Ron immediately asked when neither of Harry's two attempts produced a response.
"This place doesn't seem to connect to the Dream Realm..." Harry said with a frown.
The other three frowned as well.
If this world really lay between reality and dreams, as Harry had said, the only way out was through the Dream Realm. Apparition alone certainly would not get them out.
But now that Harry could not open the Dream Realm, how were they supposed to get back?
"Let's... keep going down for now..." Harry tried again, and when it still had no effect, that was all he could say. "The restriction on