Disclaimer: Nope, it's not mine. Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except the concept for this one, and that belongs to Pixel and Stephanie Forever, who henceforth shall be known as the One True God of Harry Potter Fanfiction. I'm adding one concept, and one concept only
Eventual Ron Bashing, not sure about the other Weasleys, Gred and Forge are good, guaranteed. Main pairing is Harry/Hermione. Not sure how everyone else will fit in.
Pixel's challenge can be found at the end of the last chapter of The Great Hogwarts Road Trip, but to refresh people's memories:
1:Harry gets cursed off his broom by Draco, during a quidditch match.
2:Harry lands feet first
3: When Harry gets to the Hospita Wing, he finds out he's missing a leg.
4: Madam Pomfrey is unabe to regrow Harry's leg, due to extensve damage
5: Ron abandons Harry, and everyone else supports Harry
6: Somehow, Harry gets found hovering on his broom. (Pixel, if you're reading this, and explanation of that point would be appreciated!)
7: Pairing is Harry/Hermione AKA H/Hr
A Perfectly Good Match Ruined
Gryffindor Vs Slytherin was never a good match to watch. It was even worse to play in. Not that the Gryffindors played a dirty game, far from it. While they did manage to commit their fair share of fouls, (actually, quite a few less than their fair share, but they did commit the occasional foul) it was the Slytherins' playing method that made this match one to dread. Well the Slytherins' playing,, and the famous Gryffindor/Slytherin rivalry, which never seemed to be put to bed.
In hindsight, many agreed that the disaster should have been seen coming. After all, Draco Malfoy and his goons had dressed up as Dementors in order to try to fool Harry during third year. Fortunately, Harry had managed to overcome that obstacle, and the students had shied away in terror of Prongs, Harry's Patronus. Unfortunately, Prongs would be of no such use in this incident, and poor Harry's legendary Seeker reflexes were equally redundant.
Why? Draco had shot Harry in the back with a blasting spell, probably Rictusempra, from the apparent results. Bombarda would have blown a hole through the much-loved Seeker, as would Reducto.. If Harry had seen it coming, everyone agreed he could have dodged it…. they expected. But it was now a moot point, as the spell had knocked the boy off his broom.
Harry's terrified screams as he somersaulted through the air from Merlin-Alone-Knows how high, going Merlin-Alone-Knows how fast. Albus Dumbledore tried desperately to slow the boy's descent, even as he knew he was probably too late. Miraculously, the speed-reduction spell had caught Harry when he was upright for once, slowing his speed only very slightly. Thus it was that poor Harry crashed feet first into the hastily cushioned Quidditch Pitch.
Of course, Madam Hooch's whistle blew at once. Normally, a game wouldn't have stopped for an injured player, but in this case, where one player had cursed another, the decision to stop the game was uncontested, although some Slytherin players and students were expressing disgust at the abrupt ending of the game. Their new head of house, Horace Slughorn, quickly shut up the dissenters, especially his team members, by informing them that he would not hesitate to forfeit the next match if they did not start showing something resembling sportsmanship, and respect for their fallen opposition member. He also automatically and permanently removed Draco from the team, citing dangerous play, wanton foul committing, and behaviour unbefitting of a Slytherin as his reasons for removing the boy.
In a move which amazed a lot of people, Albus Dumbledore actually not only agreed with Slughorn's decision, but stood up to Lucius Malfoy, and with the help of the school board, was able to make the decision final. Not only that, but, with the support of Slughorn, Albus made it official: Gryffindor had won the match, as they had been in the lead when Draco's disgusting foul had occurred.
Poppy Pomfrey was one of the first people on the scene, and she conjured a stretcher almost on autopilot, before levitating her patient onto it, and starting out in the direction of the Hospital Wing, despite Harry's protestations that he was more than capable of walking himself there. Poppy refused to reply, instead speeding up her footsteps, and levitating the stretcher as fast as was safely possible. When the doors of the Hospital Wing finally came into view, Poppy and company moved through them as fast as they could, and Poppy guided the stretcher to a bed which was very familiar to the patient.
"No, Mr Potter, you are not going anywhere. Now just lie there and let me see what I can do to fix the damage that stupid boy has done to you!" Poppy exclaimed in frustration, pushing her patient back down onto the bed. Harry slumped backwards, admitting defeat. He had taken one look at his lower body, and realised why Madam Pomfrey hadn't let him walk up. HE LITERRALLY COULDN'T WALK!! Not with one leg missing from halfway down the thigh.
Harry started to shake, as shock and blood loss set in. Poppy grabbed a blood replenisher, before hastily cauterizing the wound stump. Only fragments of Harry's right leg could be found, and reattaching the leg was deemed impossible. Harry seemed to take this news in stride, after a few seconds of horror. When the question he asked did not receive a positive answer, however, Harry started to panic.
"Ok, so you can't reattach the leg. That's OK, we can deal with that. You can use magic to regrow it, right?" "Sometimes, yes, Mr Potter. This, sadly, is not one of those times. I'm really sorry, lad, but there's too much damage for that." Poppy replied, mournfully. She then had to consider fetching a calming draught, as Harry appeared to be having a panic attack.
While most of the Gryffindor team were trying to calm and soothe their Seeker and captain, the team's Keeper, and Harry's long-term best friend, Ronald Weasley, was loudly voicing his opinion that Harry should be automatically ejected from the team, and possibly even Hogwarts and the whole of the Wizard World, as no-one wanted a crippled maniac with delusions of adequacy. Although he was shouted down by most of the team, and indeed most of the school, Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins were loudly agreeing with every word Ron said. Upon being informed of this, at a later date, both parties would claim that everyone slips up sometimes, and that maybe there was hope for the so-called opposition.
Unfortunately, Ron's cruel words had played right into poor Harry's low self-esteem issues, and it took a powerful calming draught, and the presence of Hermione Granger, (The third member of the so-called Golden Trio), along with the other members of Gryffindor House, and anyone else who was willing to stay, to convince Harry that he was wanted and needed at Hogwarts. The thing which finally clinched it for the bespectacled teen was when Daphne Greengrass came up to visit him, several hours after the incident, and informed him that he'd "damn well better get well soon, because we need to have a Re-match."
At Harry's look of confusion, the teenager elaborated: "Slytherin don't begrudge Gryffindor being automatically awarded the match, we were going to suggest it ourselves. But the Slytherin team wants to be able to beat the pants off you Gryffindors, or lose to you-Merlin forbid", the girl added "-after having played a proper game, not after having one player too injured to continue, and another sent off in disgrace. So we're going to hold Seeker tryouts-" at Harry's surprised look, the girl calmly stated that Malfoy was off the team, and hopefully out of the school, the slimy little scumbag,"-while you get well and get a new leg, and then Slytherin challenges Gryffindor to a pride match. Not for the cup or anything, but just to prove between ourselves that whichever team wins won fair and square."
Daphne smirked at the shocked look on Harry's face, before adding: "Not all Slytherins are slimy and evil like Snape and Malfoy, Potter. Just like not all members of the other houses fit their stereotypes. as well as you fit Gryffindor's." When Harry nodded, mumbling an apology, Daphne waved one hand dismissively, before leaving the boy with one final thought. "If it can't be regrown, the Muggles seem to have a fairly good idea, and our world is using it too. If Pomfrey can't regrow your leg, then just pull a Moody."
Taking a breather, mainly to allow the other teen to assimilate what had been said so far, Daphne continued: "But whatever you do, get back on two feet, as soon as you can. We need you, Potter. I know the Wizard world in general, and Slytherins in particular haven't been very good to you over the years, but we need you. And not just as the BWL, either." At Harry's confused look, Daphne rolled her eyes. "Boy-Who-Lived, doofus," she elaborated, before continuing, "We need you as a person, as the Seeker of our opposition team, as Snape's pet target, so he doesn't bully the Slytherins who don't fit in 100% and in every single one of you other thousand roles, not least of which is best friend to Granger."
Daphne's show of support was what changed things, not least of which was Harry's attitude. The boy dived into finding out about prosthetic limbs with added vigour, even contacting Alastor 'Mad-Eye" Moody for advice, and presented his findings to Madam Pomfrey, who checked them over, before contacting a magical prosthetics company. Harry would have to go to St Mungos for regular physiotherapy and to learn how to use the new limb, but he could be fitted with a magical prosthetic. Soon, they expected, with a lot of hard work, Harry Potter could lead as normal as possible a life for an involuntary amputee.
