Everything as Clear as Mud
Saturday dawned slightly overcast, but clear enough at ground level for good flying, which the Trio discovered as they arrived upstairs in the Great Hall for breakfast. Their "dungeon time" today had been singularly undemanding, or at least it was for the boys. Hermione, of course, had simply continued with the care and feeding of her pet potions, and Professor Snape had explained some of the interactions of the ingredients as they were added. That "five day window" between the two cauldrons really illustrated the dynamics and process as each step gradually modified the potion. Hermione mused that it was kind of like watching a plant grow with muggles' "time lapse" photography.
Ron and Harry were just a tad disappointed to find that they only had "book work" assignments, no brewing, for this morning. Ron had to review some sections of text, and do the questions in the back of the chapter, on some techniques he had described dismally in last week's classroom homework. Harry's assignment took him further with interactions between pain potions and inflammation potions. Professor Snape knew this was a "Quidditch Saturday", and wasn't going to risk any brewing disasters based on the boys' being distracted by anticipation.
Quite out of character for him, he stopped the boys at 7:00 saying, "that's enough for now. You can finish that up tomorrow. Go ahead and get changed. I can hear you squirming from here. Go!" and Ron and Harry grinned as they slammed their books shut, shoved everything randomly into their bags, and "quick-marched" out the door. Severus just shook his head, and convinced himself he was glad to be rid of them for the next 23.5 hours... though he was beginning to enjoy their company. Nonsense! - he shook his head at this last thought. What was he saying?
Pavel and John were also keyed up for the upcoming match, but for slightly more complex reasons. Yes, they indeed looked forward to watching Harry play, and rooting for him. But John would be on his own broom, adding a "Safety Officer" to the play, backing up Madame Hooch who was referee. Of course, his interest would be as much outside and around the stadium as within it. Pavel, on the other hand, would have to sit in the "Faculty Box" alongside Albus as a "disinterested spectator", as he was attached to no house. Only a handful of people at Hogwarts knew of the relationship between Harry and the Professor... really just the faculty and Harry's roommates. They needed things to stay that way for the time, as they knew word would get to Voldemort through some of the students and their Deatheater parents, otherwise. As long as Voldemort had contact with Petrov, it would be in Harry's best interest for his Apprenticeship to remain unknown.
As much as everyone hoped this game would just proceed without incident, Pavel and John's team lived by the maxim: "Hope for the best, and plan for the worst." Everyone was on high alert readiness for any attempt or attack on Harry, as he was exposed in the game, and visitor spectators were permitted on the grounds. The Professor just kept flying circles at the boundaries, pacing, and maintaining an air of professional disinterest among the excited children around him, while the school migrated from the Castle down to the Stadium. He walked a complete circuit around the exterior of the Stadium, while everyone took their seats, and finally stepped through the entrance curtain on the ground at the Headmaster's Stands, then back out at the seats, last. All were seated already, and he took a back row seat to have the most complete view of all the action.
Just as Pavel was settling into his seat, Oxsana made gentle contact with him, "Dr. Konstantyn? Am I disturbing anything?"
"No, Oxsana, this is a free moment. What is it?"
"Well, sir, we don't have comprehensive results yet, or anything profound to report except that as you've suspected, Petrov is apparently holed up somewhere called 'Knockturn Alley', and sends his minions off to do his bidding. BUT it appears that he has met with at least one Deatheater of Voldemort's there, though he never touched him or interacted enough to mark the sod. I just have an image of a face for you, if it helps."
"Everything helps, Oxsana. What does this... 'creature'" - he refused to use foul language even here - "look like?" And in his mind's eye there formed an elegant, patrician gentleman's face. White hair, long and neatly tied back. Condescending expression, bejeweled hands, elegant cane - probably housing a wand or a blade. In his vision he did not hear him speak, probably Petrov had kept a silencing charm up, even against his own bodyguards. "Thank you, Oxsana. Should I see him, there is still nothing I can do directly about it, as this is not my jurisdiction, but at least I can recognize the threat. Keep at it. I look forward to a full report when you are ready."
"Yes, sir. We're on it," and he felt her smile and a quick hug as they broke the connection. Pavel began scanning the faces he could see in the stands, looking for his quarry. But to no avail... nothing. And then Madame Hooch began the festivities...
There was no rivalry as fierce as that of Slytherin and Gryffindor house. Pavel was pleased to see that Harry had his mouthpiece in and his armor active. Both teams were talented and clearly practiced hard. They were very skilled. The Slytherin team had superior brooms, and he saw Draco was playing Seeker for them. He knew these were not unrelated facts. But Gryffindor's riders seemed to hold their own well enough.
The play was brutal full-contact, as body checking and dangerous bludger shots were taken routinely. Slytherin made effective use of a "flying wedge" formation, and showed no hesitation to ram an opponent into a wall or tower support if the Gryffindor player did not pay close attention to evasion.
Pavel thoroughly enjoyed watching the play. Harry assisted the Chaser when he could, and helped guard other players as he "vamped", circling steadily to try to get a glimpse of the Snitch. He also varied his flight path, vertically and horizontally, knowing the snitch could appear anywhere, and not to be predictable to the opposition.
But suddenly, the Bludger began following a path no Beater had created. It turned about in midair, and... though Harry saw it and shouted a warning... it ripped into Wood's broom, splintering it and sending Wood spinning earthwards. The Bludger continued on towards Harry, just as Harry caught sight of the snitch near Malfoy's head. Harry started his full speed charge towards the Snitch, ducking the Bludger as its momentum carried it towards Malfoy.
Malfoy ducked the Bludger, looked towards Harry, spotted the Snitch, and the chase was on. Malfoy and Harry rode, broom to broom, chasing the Snitch as it made it's way into the walls of the Stadium. The Bludger chased after them mindlessly, breaking through walls and supports as it went.
John was helpless to intervene, even though he paced them, flying laps in ovals above them, able to see them between the inner and outer Stadium walls. To try to fly in there with them would only increase the danger and complicate the situation.
Pavel "partitioned his mind", invoking an ability to immerse in three separate streams of consciousness - more if needed - to join with Harry's mind and "see through his eyes" , to do the same with John so that he had an "overhead view" as well, and - most importantly, to scan the minds of everyone in this Stadium, to see who was controlling that Bludger. It would be simplicity itself for him merely to destroy it, and he "pondered heavy" as they say, about doing just that, but he calculated that between Harry's skill and his armor, the higher priority task here was to let the Bludger be and find out who, specifically, is trying to kill Harry with it.
In that next moment, a very rare event occurred. Herr Doctor Professor Pavel Konstantyn was mentally stopped in his tracks, by "confusion". He was looking upon facts he considered "impossible", and yet there they were. He had discovered the man to whom his "Deatheater Image" belonged. He was standing not two meters in front of him, sharing the Headmaster's Box... Lucius Malfoy. Pavel had entered above and after him, so had not seen his face nor his cane. Now, Lucius clearly intended harm, in fact, intended the death of Harry Potter. Further, he had, indeed consorted with Stoian Petrov. Those facts were clear to Pavel. BUT... the "impossible" part was... he had absolutely NOTHING to do with this Bludger. He was as confused as Pavel. In fact, he was at this moment, consumed with fear of that Bludger, since it threatened his own son, as well as Pavel's. The overwhelming resonance of harmonic terror... between Pavel and this man so clearly a deadly enemy... had so jarred his senses it was like the sound of "painful feedback" through an amplifier. It stunned him for a moment.
Suddenly, the Snitch hung a left, bursting through the banners of a tower, Harry leaned into the turn, and as Draco tried to follow suit, the leading edge of his broom caught a crossbeam sending him cartwheeling out onto the Pitch. He landed hard on the grass, knocking the wind out of him and falling back with the impact.
Harry closed on the snitch, reaching out with his gauntleted right hand to catch and grasp it, as the Bludger made a vicious swipe towards him and pummeled through his forearm, knocking off his gauntlet and breaking both bones above the wrist. Both Pavel and John heard and felt the screech of pain that accompanied the impact, as their channels were wide open to Harry in case he'd needed to speak. Pavel silently thought, "The fool boy!" as Harry only tucked the broken arm into his robes and accelerated towards the Snitch, ultimately flying by seat alone as he reached out to grab it with his left hand.
Successfully grabbing the Snitch, but overbalancing on his broom, Harry rolled inverted, and skimmed along the ground eventually coming to a stop in the sand. As he triumphantly held the Snitch aloft to show all that the game was won, the Bludger caromed straight down at his head. He ducked away just in time, as it bounced to plunge at him again from the other side, bounced again and came at his legs for a third attempt. Ron and Hermione led the pack of spectators running towards him on the playing field, and Hermione cast a "Finite Incantatem" at the Bludger while she ran. It exploded in pyrotechnics as they reached him.
Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and Professor Lockhart were the first to arrive, as both John and Pavel had reached the field as well, taking positions on either side but meters away from Harry, guarding against whatever unknown threat was attacking him. They could tell that no one with Harry meant him harm, so they were focused outwards, towards the boundaries or visitors at the time.
They'd been paying little attention to the crowd gathering around Harry, as they mentally filtered people coming on the pitch, so they didn't attend too closely when he'd told Hermione that his arm was broken, which they knew... or when Lockhart offered to fix his arm straightaway, which Harry declined because he thought Lockhart was an idiot, which they also knew... Of course, Lockhart mangled the healing spell, removed the bones between Harry's elbow and wrist, then tried to minimize the situation by pointing out that Harry had no pain, and clearly, there were no bones broken. It wasn't until Hagrid shouted in exasperation, "Broken? There's no bones left!" that John and Pavel turned, just in time to see Lockhart bend Harry's wrist back double, and release it to bobble back and forth as if on a spring.
It was very fortunate that three things coincided in that moment. One, there was no actual threat present in the Stadium trying to harm Harry. Two, John took charge of Harry to transport him to the Infirmary for Madame Pomfrey to tend. Three, Albus came up alongside Pavel and put a very firm hand on his shoulder saying, "let's go to the Castle, Professor..." as Pavel's shock and rage had stunned him into immobility. His first reflex was to blast Gilderoy Lockhart into an alternate dimension, his second was to remove EVERY bone from his body and just let him lie there in an awkward puddle, and his third was to regain his composure before doing anything at all. Fortunately Albus' presence moved that third reflex up into first position, and he allowed himself to be led away quietly.
"Come along, Pavel, we shall go join them in Poppy's presently. John is with him, Harry will be fine."
It frustrated Pavel no end, that to maintain their "cover", he could not appear more than an "interested teacher" as Harry was treated and dealt with. He could not even speak his mind to that idiot Lockhart. Of course, he mind-spoke with the boy immediately, "Harry, I won't ask 'are you all right', because that is a ridiculous question in the circumstances. Instead I'll just ask, do you need or want anything I can do?"
It gave him great relief to hear Harry laugh in response, "Did you see me get the Snitch? Were you watching?!"
"Yes, I was... you daft boy! You were being attacked by a rogue Bludger at the time. Did you consider letting the Snitch go, under the circumstances?"
"Heck no, sir! Where'd the challenge be in that?" and there was nothing but mischief in Harry's tone. Pavel had never been so pleased and grateful to be teased as he was in those minutes. "I tell you what, though Professor... if you want to do something for me? How about you turn Lockhart into a Newt? That would make my day!"
Pavel had to laugh in response, "that's 'turn Professor Lockhart into a Newt', Harry. And I'm afraid the school has rules against transfiguring students... or faculty... as punishment. Professor McGonagall warned me of that when I started here."
"I'll bet she'd make an exception right now," Harry giggled.
"I bet she would," Pavel thought... silently.
"We're here now, Professor," indicating his arrival at the Infirmary. "I'll see you soon, I'm sure."
"Yes. We'll get you home shortly."
Pavel returned to his quarters and sat in his study, meditating to recover his composure and ponder all that he'd seen and learned today. It was still a mystery to him, how events had transpired as they had. He still had his "observational channel" open with John, and saw Poppy administer Skele-grow to Harry, warning him that regrowing bones would be a painful process, and that she wanted to keep him overnight for observation.
After all the visitors had wished him well, had their "We Beat Slytherin" Party, and gone their way, John convinced Poppy that Harry would be safer and more secure in their quarters. They weren't sure about the nature or source of this attack on him, so if she would dispense the proper dosage of potion into John's care, he would see to its administration. If there were any problem or change in the night, they could send for her immediately. As Poppy had no concerns about problem recovery, she thought that would be fine, and let John take Harry and his medicine home with him, late that afternoon.
When John and Harry got home, Pavel was in his Study, but the door was open. The boys walked in through Harry's door, and John called out - more from form than any necessity - "Papa, we're home!" Harry said he wanted to take a shower and change clothes, but John asked him to wait up a little bit.
Harry stopped, already halfway to his room, and turned towards John with a confused look. "OK, how come?"
"I'm going to fix your arm, Little Brother," John replied. "Come sit at this table with me."
Harry complied, confused but obedient, saying, "I thought this was going to take until morning, with this potion."
"It would, with that potion. And it would hurt like crazy, too. But I'm a Life Wizard, Harry... I can fix that without all the other steps. Come sit, face me, and take my hand like we were going to arm wrestle."
Harry sat facing John, and had to use his left hand to place his rubberized right into John's fist. Neither of them could keep from laughing as the forearm just dangled, waving under John's hand like a banner in the wind.
"Now, watch," John said, as he closed his eyes, and golden light glowed along his arm and hand, then took over Harry's hand and started to creep its way along to the elbow. "Push on my fist... arm wrestle me." Harry tried pushing John's hand down, and his arm seemed to inflate, rather like a balloon toy. He felt the strength and solidity return, as his muscles and ligaments again had bone with which to connect. Before a minute had passed, he was shoving on John's arm as if he'd never been injured.
"Wow! John, that's so COOL! Can you teach me that?"
"Maybe, one day, Harry. Depends on where your skills lie eventually. You may even outdo me in the Life arcanum one day.
"Hey, John. Can you make me stronger? Strong enough to beat you at arm wrestling?"
John laughed and dropped his voice to say, "Yes, I can Harry... but not with Papa home."
"I HEARD THAT!" came the Dracula-like bellow from the Study.
"Of course, he did," John whispered to Harry. And they both cracked up, laughing. "Now, Harry, you can go shower and change. I thought it might be a little easier with two working hands."
"That's for sure... thanks, Elder Brother!"
"Go soak your head, Squirt," John sent him off to get his clothes.
John went in to the Study while Harry went to one of the apartment's two bathrooms. One bathroom had a big, Roman style bath tub that you felt like you could swim in, with powerful jets that tickled a bit when they were on full blast. The other bathroom had a misting shower you could make into all kinds of style of rain or mist, with hand wands to jet water anywhere you liked. The shower could function either manually or magically, depending on how much time you wanted to take. After the beating he'd taken in the game, Harry changed his mind and decided on a bath, just luxuriating in the soothing warm water.
While Harry was occupied, Pavel and John closed the Study door and compared notes on the days' events. They opened their memories to one another, caught up on the news from Oxsana, and came... to no conclusions whatsoever. They were still right where they started, with nothing making sense. They did contact Oxsana, and shared the identification of Lucius Malfoy with her, along with what intelligence Pavel had gathered on him from Albus after the game. Still, it was clear that he was totally innocent of the attack this afternoon. He certainly wouldn't have used a method that nearly killed his own son as well.
Mentally checking on Harry, and finding that he was having a wonderful time in the Roman Bath, having set the soap dispenser to "bubbles", and then the Jets to "maximum", Pavel groaned into his hands to see that his bathroom was now floor to ceiling suds. The room looked like a washing machine gone wild, and without magic would take an hour to clean properly. But he couldn't be angry at the boy. This fun, a safe home, bathing as long as he wanted... these were still all "new" things for him. Well, Pavel would make the effort not to "spoil" him, but it was truly tempting for a boy with such a good heart... but he'd let the bathroom slide, this time, with but a casual warning.
"What would you think of Auntie joining us for dinner tonight? We've got to keep the boy home until morning at least, so no one sees his healed arm," Pavel suggested.
"I think that would be great, Papa. And what about Ron and Hermione? They were scared to death for Harry, and it was Hermione that finally disposed of that Bludger."
"Good idea. Harry won't feel as cooped up with them here, and I don't think they've had an actual meal with us yet, have they?"
"No, sir."
So Pavel quested for Minerva, found her again marking parchments in her classroom, and asked if she would care to join them for dinner, and perhaps invite Ron and Hermione. She accepted heartily, and thought that a wonderful idea for Harry, and said she'd send word to Albus. They agreed to meet at 6, which would give Harry time yet to finish bathing and dressing... along with a bit of time to set Pavel's bathroom back in order.
Pavel summoned Wilfried and asked if he would be so kind as to provide dinner for six, at their dining table at 6:15, along with assorted refreshments. Whatever was being served in the Great Hall would be just fine, there was no need to go to any extra trouble.
"Of course, Master Konstantyn, I'll be happy to."
"One moment, Wilfried, if you please..." John interrupted. "Papa, may I suggest we serve enough food for 8, rather than 6?"
Pavel looked confused a moment, "Of course, if you like, son. Have we more guests I'm forgetting?"
"No, sir, not at all. It's just... well, clearly you've never observed Ron Weasley at supper before."
"Ah, I see..." Pavel smiled and nodded. "Then if you please, Wilfried? Danke sehr!" and the little elf popped away, all happy.
And John opened the Study door as they waited on Harry and their guests...