A/N: Disclaimers are still stupid. Of course, that doesn't change my non-ownership of Harry Potter…
"It's almost like he was in league with them, and now he's trying to build our trust!"
Harry was more than just a little shocked at Dumbledore's accusation. He'd helped in the fight, after all, and given no indication that he was untrustworthy! He supposed that Dumbledore's worry about what secrets Harry might have known could have set the man on edge, but right now he needed to worry about damage control. To his surprise, however, he wasn't the first to speak in his own defense.
"Albus, calm down. Let's not jump to hasty conclusions about a man who has just helped us a great deal. Unless I miss my guess, he was quite instrumental in the fight which knocked me out?" the headmaster spoke in a placating tone.
Albus turned to Harry, mistrust clear in his expression.
"I fought in the war, remember? I know how these guys fight." Harry wasn't sure himself exactly how he'd known an ambush was coming, but he did know that it wasn't too unusual for him to dodge attacks he shouldn't have been able to anticipate. Years of auror work had taught him that. "I've also developed an…instinct almost, for when I'm in danger. I don't know how, I just…know when an attack is coming at me. It's gotten to the point where sneaking up on me is nearly impossible." Harry hoped that telling them that would help. Especially since that, unlike the rest of his story, could be proven.
"And how did you know magic that would work on the headmaster? Do you have some sort of medical training, or are you simply familiar with the magic that was used?" Albus sounded more than just a little bit suspicious.
"I have some medical experience. I picked it up as I went, really, there weren't always healers on the field. This particular spell I used is one I learned after a friend of mine was nearly killed by an unusual strain of magic. I suspect it was the same people, or people related to the attackers today who attacked him, especially since the same counter spell worked on this magic." That was a surprisingly plausible theory, actually. He'd been with Ron when he was attacked, and the enemy had fought in a similar manner to the men lying on the hospital beds, although there had only been one assailant, and they'd disappeared as soon as Harry hit them. He still didn't know how that had been done, since every type of magical transportation he knew of had been warded against in the area. That was actually what he and Ron had been investigating, since the wards had no reason to be where they were, in the middle of a forest. But if someone could travel in time, and suddenly appear in the middle of Hogwarts like these people had, they could probably defeat all the wards that had been up in the area. Was that incident related to this one somehow?
"See Albus, there is an explanation here. Now kindly lay off of the man who has proven nothing but helpful so far," Dippet said. Harry couldn't deny his actions looked suspicious, given what Dumbledore had said, but he was grateful that someone believed him. He just wished that Dumbledore would believe him. Harry really wanted the one familiar face in the past to be a friendly one, not a distrusting one.
"Wait, are you wasting my time here? The headmaster appears to be in perfectly good health to me!" the nurse had finished with her other patient, and come over to treat the headmaster. As Harry turned to look at her, he was quite shocked to see another familiar face. He hadn't noticed earlier, due to her extreme youth and his own distraction, but this was a young Madam Pomfrey! Fresh out of school, if her appearance was anything to judge by, but unmistakably the same witch who'd treated all of his school injuries. Harry was so shocked he forgot to speak, though Albus picked up the slack.
"Perry here apparently knew a few tricks that I didn't. He also seems uncomfortably familiar with the enemy, although he has been fighting them for some time, to hear him tell it."
"You know your medical spells then? Maybe we should touch bases then, I'm still fairly new at this, and you might even know something I don't!" Madame Pomfrey apparently hadn't noticed Dumbledore's tone, and thought that Harry, or anyone who knew their healing, was okay. Well, that was one familiar and friendly face, he supposed, until she realized how trouble-prone he always was. Maybe as a professor he had more hope of staying clear of the hospital wing? No, he had already been attacked after less than a day back at Hogwarts. He was doomed.
"I doubt I know more than a trained mediwitch," Harry said gently, "my knowledge is more limited to keeping people alive long enough to be treated by people like you."
"Oh…I'm not a full mediwitch, I'm just a nurse," Madam Pomfrey appeared a bit bashful at being called a mediwitch, "and at any rate, what did you use to revive the headmaster? I wouldn't have had too many ideas where to start, to be honest."
Harry noted the change of subject, and also knew that a mediwitch was little more than a nurse with a whole hospital at her disposal in the wizarding world. Both were technically healers, and the only real difference was the equipment at their disposal. But he wasn't going to push the issue, if she was as fresh out of training as he imagined, he could see her being quite nervous. He'd been the same in his early years as an auror in training, and even as an auror, at first.
"Have you heard of Egyptian Hylesion?" he asked. That was what Hermione had called it anyway.
"Egyptian what? No, wait! Isn't that some sort of absolutist magic? Not generally useful for anything other that extremely faint curse residue?" Apparently Madame Pomfrey had heard of it.
"It's quite handy for hard-to-detect magic. Most of the time other things will do a better job, but in cases like this one, it's the only thing that works. These guys," Harry gestured to the witches and wizards lying on the bed, "use magic that doesn't interact with most forms of magic. That's why it was going through shields like the one the headmaster tried to defend himself with. But the absolutist nature of this Egyptian stuff will interact with it. Once I cast the detection spell and figured out what was going on, I just cast a purging spell, and the headmaster woke right up."
Madam Pomfrey looked stunned. "I never paid any attention to Hylesion after I was tested on it, because they said it wouldn't be very useful. I guess that was my mistake…you have to teach me everything you know!" she looked both eager about learning it, and a bit chastised at the idea that she'd been overlooking a branch of magic she shouldn't have.
"Well…I actually only know the two spells. They're difficult enough, and I figured I could leave the rest to…the healers," Harry very nearly said 'to Hermione,' but that might not be the best of ideas. It wasn't the most common of names, and Harry didn't want Dumbledore finding out about people long before their births.
"Still, I need to know about this, it's clearly enough of an issue to be worth more than just a passing grade on a test. I may have to study on my own for details, but until I find a good book on the subject, consider yourself my official tutor. If these people can get into Hogwarts, I need to be ready to treat any victims," Madam Pomfrey certainly wasn't the old matron he remembered, she was a young, eager witch, who reminded him more than just a little bit of Hermione.
Harry turned to the headmaster and said, "Well, it would appear my skills are in high demand around here. I may not have a choice but to stay." Albus still looked suspicious, even after Harry's detailed explanation of his knowledge. Oh well, it would probably take some time for Albus to trust him, considering his history with Grindelwald. Albus was no fool, and apparently he was very slow to trust people.
"Well, the term doesn't start for another month, so we have plenty of time to settle those matters. In the meantime, I need to talk to you about the holes in our defenses. These intruders appear quite dealt with for now, but the question of how they got in remains unanswered," Dippet said, raising an eyebrow at Harry, likely suggesting he go into a bit more detail about how he'd gotten in.
"Well, first I have to ask, did you detect only five intruders? We couldn't tell without you whether we'd dealt with all of them," Harry replied, remembering why they'd gone to the hospital wing in the first place.
"I'd have to visit the ward stones to be sure, but I'm fairly confident no unaccounted intruders wandering about. Five intruders was about what it felt like the wards were alerting me to, although their detection prevention was impressive. Perhaps we should head in the direction of the ward stones as we discuss the holes in the defenses they provide?" Dippet was determined to get to the bottom of the intrusions, if nothing else. Harry supposed that made quite a bit of sense, in the warlike atmosphere he'd landed in.
"Well, as long as you bring this one back here, I suppose I should let you go. Mr. 'it's just a scratch' Welton over here does still need some looking after," Madame Pomfrey gestured at the man she'd been treating. He moaned in what was probably supposed to be an indignant manner. Harry could sympathize all too well with the man, although it appeared that the old, near-constantly irritated nurse he was familiar with hadn't fully reared her head yet. She was young still, with plenty of time to weary of tending to the wounds of people who never seemed to avoid danger.
"I'll be back then," Harry said, turning to her, and reflecting that he wasn't actually supposed to know her name yet, "By the way, my name is Perry, Perry Hauter. And you are?" He extended his hand to shake.
"I'm Poppy Pomfrey, but you should just call me Poppy, especially if you're going to be teaching me," she shook his extended hand.
"I'll remember that then, Poppy," he said, only slightly disoriented that he wouldn't be calling her Madame Pomfrey. He supposed that calling her that as an adult would sound a bit weird. "Now, shall we be off?" he directed his question at Dumbledore and the headmaster, the latter having gotten off the bed.
"Yes, let us go to the ward stones. You have some explaining to do, and I some maintenance, unless I miss my guess," the headmaster said, leading the way to the door. Albus followed them, frowning. Harry had little doubt that they'd be discussing the safety of bringing a stranger to see the ward stones long before they got around to discussing in detail his methods for bypassing the wards' detection.
Oh well.
A/N: Shorter chapter, busier week. My weeks are getting hectic and I'm beginning to have to sacrifice sleep just to get these chapters out on time. Just a warning, I may not do that in the future, although I will do my best to keep my (failing) weekly upload schedule. At any rate, I'm now in the same position I was in last Saturday night, so I'm going to stop typing and upload.
ir7, you have nothing to worry about. I have a hard enough time reading good slash fics, and I generally stay away from the genre, as I'm not a fan. Most of you probably noticed that cannon pairings were intact, and they will stay that way throughout the whole fic. I'm personally a sucker for some good cannon pairings, in almost any universe. Harry will (he hopes) befriend Albus Dumbledore, but they'll only be friends, for many reasons besides just my lack of interest in such a pairing.
At any rate, I'm now in the same position I was in last Saturday night, so I'm going to stop typing and upload.
Best of wishes,
feauxen