Harry Potter, The Stone and the Scorpion Chapter 5: Sickness
"Why aren't you doing anything." Harry had his fingers gripped tightly around the bar at the foot of the bed.
"There isn't anything we can do Harry." Madam Pomfrey said quietly. "We don't know what is wrong with her."
"Then why aren't you looking." Harry snarled. He couldn't look away from the bad in front of him. Lying on it, her skin deathly pale, lay Pythea. "Why aren't you doing something? Her heart's getting slower."
"You can't know that Har-"
"HOW MANY EYES DO I HAVE!"
"I... Harry please." Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "There is nothing I can do. Professor Snape is trying to-"
"He's failing. He won't find anything." Harry snarled. "There's nothing on that god damn ring!"
"Then there is nothing that can be done."
"I just need to do something!" Harry shuddered with nervous energy.
"Until we know what the ring did to her we cannot fix it."
"Then..." Harry breathed. "Then we need something that fixes everything!"
"Harry nothing like that exis- Where are you going!"
Harry stomped out of the hospital wing as fast as his injured leg would carry him and barged past the clustered marauders.
"Where are you going Harry?" Ginny yelled at his retreating back.
"Out."
"We should come with you to-"
"No." Harry snapped as he tried to put some distance between himself and his friends. Unfortunately none of them were down a leg and could keep up with him easily.
"Harry this is for Pythea isn't it?"
"No. I'm going for a walk in the park with the fluffy bunny rabbits."
"Harry let us help you!"
"Go away you bloody-"
"You promised you wouldn't do this any more Harry." Neville broke in suddenly. Harry froze. He had.
"I did." Harry turned slowly. "Does anyone know how to climb mountains?"
"Harry where are we?" Hermione panted.
"Mountain." Harry barked as he stabbed his hiking pole into the ground and stomped on. Beside him the gaunt shape of Morfin shook in what could have been a silent chuckle.
"She meant specifically." Lucy Kingston was up ahead, the only one of them who seemed to be actually enjoying the climb. "Those buildings down there look like we're somewhere in the middle east?"
"Turkey." Harry winced as he slipped on the loose rocks and had to catch himself on his pole. "North Anatolian. That's where we are specifically. Where we are relatively is 'Not high enough'"
"Where are we headed to Harry?" Lucy squinted up at the snowy peaks ahead. "What are we trying to find?"
"You'll see by nightfall." Harry tried to ignore the stabbing pain in his leg as he forced himself higher and higher. "We need to be at the snowline by the time it gets dark or we won't see them."
"I hope you don't want to get to the top Harry." Hermione was still trailing. "We don't have any oxygen or proper clothing."
"Not to the top." Harry glanced up. "Probably. Anyway I thought you'd climbed before?"
"In Wales, with my parents. Hiking a little." Hermione glanced down the long trail they had followed. "Not like this."
"Well you volunteered so live with it. I'm having a worse time of it than you." Harry glanced up ahead and shook his head. "The path's blocked with rocks this way. We need to go... that way. For a while at least. Then we can track back, along the ridge."
"What ridge?"
"You can't see it yet. It's past the cliff." Harry pointed with his stick. "Looks like we have to scramble just for a bit then it's a good path. Keep up that... then... over past that cliff..." Harry trailed off, the other two marauders were looking at him strangely. "I can see because of the eye. You knew that."
"What's it like?" Lucy asked quietly.
"You get used to it. Like walking around seeing double, except one of the doubles is see through. Makes you dizzy when you spin too fast." Harry paused for a moment to catch a breath. "Come on... we've got a long way to go and Thea's dying."
They hiked up into the snowline, Harry didn't let them stop until they could see snow on all four sides. When they could he cleared a circle around them and heated the ground so they would be warm.
"Why don't we just have a fire?" Lucy sat down cross legged on the ground.
"Because then we won't be able to see." Morfin chuckled darkly.
"He's right. You're going to need to see in the dark and you won't with a fire right next to you." Harry smiled slyly. "I can only look in one direction and I'm not taking chances."
Harry sat down, looking in another direction and waited. Slowly it got darker and darker. At least the moon was out, that helped a little. Now all they had to do was watch...
"What are we waiting for?" Hermione asked quietly in the darkness.
"Fire. Look for fire."
"Oh...!" Hermione's eyes opened wide with shock. "Are we looking for-"
"Yes. Now concentrate and keep looking."
"Have you ever been there before-"
"No." Harry glared out into the darkness, waiting for a sign. The night air grew colder and colder... whispering past the four seated figures. Morfin was muttering something in parseltounge up his sleeve. Harry wondered for a moment if he had been right to bring him. No... of course he had to. Without someone to apparate them it would have taken them ages to get up this high. Couldn't apparate the rest of the way though. Funny things happened if you tried.
"There!" Lucy pointed off into the distance. "I saw a flash, like a firework."
Harry turned and squinted off in the direction she was pointing. His eye zoomed in to it's fullest and...
"That's it. Good show." Harry stood and lit his wand. A spark in the darkness. "Come on."
"We're going there now?" Lucy shook her head. "You want to travel around in these mountains at night!"
"By morning it'll have moved." Harry explained. "And besides, it isn't night for me."
Harry started off into the black, with Morfin following silently. Hermione looked at Lucy and gulped, before lighting her wand and following them into the murk. It was a terrifying journey, following Harry's unwavering path across the tops of cliffs and along scree filled paths in the dead of night. Hermione kept telling herself it was for Pythea, for Harry's friend. She even tried to look forward to the site they would see at the end. But it wasn't enough to counter the fear.
Every rock that skipped away from her feet sounded like a crack of thunder.
Ahead of her she could hear the strange man Morfin muttering, behind were the steady, solid tramp of Lucy's boots. Occasionally the girl behind her would reach out and lay a steadying hand on her shoulder, making her jump. Hermione was grateful for the gesture, she just wished Lucy would give her some warning.
"This is it." Harry's voice was like a knife through the blackness. Up ahead she could see him crouching beside a rough crack in the rock, just large enough to fit a man. As she watched the inside flashed like there was an explosion deep inside, but it faded again in a moment. Hermione breathed deeply, trying to keep calm.
"Nervous?" Harry asked quizzically. "Don't be. After all we're a group of teenagers going into a spooky cave in the middle of the mountains in the dead of night with a mass murderer. What could possibly happen?"
In the dark, Morfin grinned like a tiger.
"Harry..." Lucy narrowed her eyes. "Stop that."
"You've got nothing to worry about." Harry grinned. "They'll even be other wizards inside. Come on, lets get to it. I want to back in Hogwarts by morning."
Harry slid into the crease in the rock and dissipated from view. Hermione steeled herself, then ducked in after him. The cave was really more of a tunnel, crawling forwards in a straight line. Of course what it really was was probably some sort of magic doorway that connected two different places entirely. Hermione found herself looking at the walls to try to see the joins. Up ahead the flashes were becoming more frequent and a steady red glow was growing between them. Hermione felt excitement grow, she was really going to see it... really going to...
"We're here." Harry stepped out of the tunnel ahead of her, giving her a full view as she pulled herself out of the rock. Her mouth dropped open as she saw what lay before them...
"Merlin's... something!" Before them the cave opened up into a deep valley, like an axe wound in the side of the mountain. Towering walls rose up on either side of them craggy and full of more caves and pits. In the small strip of ground in the middle there was a grove of what looked like olive trees twisty and ancient like they were older than the mountain itself. But that wasn't the most amazing thing. Flying above them in great sweeping curves, and nesting in the rock... hundreds of them... filling the valley with fiery light and making the whole place fool like a living fireworks display. Filling the valley with song, and the echoes of song...
"Phoenixes." Lucy Kingston breathed in wonder. "You brought us to the nesting ground."
"Yep." Harry nodded. "Since we don't know what Thea's got we need something that heals almost everything. Phoenix tears is a good bet."
"They don't cry for just anyone Harry." Lucy pointed out. "Otherwise every hospital in the world would have gallons on the stuff."
"There's at least one that'll cry for me. Fawkes." Harry squinted up into the brilliant flaming sky. "We just need to find him."
"Easier said than done."
"Why don't you two ask."
Ask? Hermione scratcher her head. It was only when Harry pointed that she realised they were not alone in the valley. Down by the trees there was a group of four wizards clustered around a tent, one of them was looking through a telescope while another was jotting down notes in a large heavy book. Further down the valley, on a flat table shaped rock that jutted out of the leaves, was another group. These wizards were all in black robes and were clustered around a weird bird shaped idol. They were down on their knees and seemed to be chanting.
Worshippers. Hermione realised. Worshippers and researchers.
"Why don't you handle the nerds." Harry pointed at Hermione first, then turned to Lucy. "And you handle the wierdos. It'll go round and and see what I can spy with my little eye."
"And me?" Morfin cracked his neck.
"You stay with me." Harry turned to walk off.
Hermione shared another look with Lucy before they began picking their way down towards the trees. Even though she knew that a girl's life was at stake Hermione couldn't help but feel awe and wonder at this place. Going off in the at the drop of a hat, climbing mountains and visiting amazing magical sites. Was this what Harry's life was like all the time?
Below her one of the researchers looked up and noticed her. He rolled his eyes and started towards her.
"Please don't disturb the birds. Try to not use flash photography, they can confuse it with an attack. If you're camping please don't play loud music-"
"We're not tourists." Hermione held her hands up.
"Oh, then you'll be with the other weird bast- believers." The researcher pointed back into the trees.
"I'm not-"
"Mind the bonfires and the flayed goats."
"I'm not one of them!" Hermione said in exasperation. "We're here to get-"
"Ah, you're here to get Phoenix tears. The other reason people come up hers." The man rubbed his forehead. "Let me guess your friend or your mother or your boyfriend is sick and you think tears are the only cure. I hate to tell you this but-"
"We know they don't cry for everyone but we think if we can find one specifically it will."
"Really?" The researcher finally looked slightly interested. He glanced up at the cliff where Harry was just visible edging up a thin path, peering into cliffs. Several Phoenixes had begun following him interestedly, hopping from rock to rock eyeing him with beady eyes. "Who are you guys anyway?"
"Well that's Harry Potter, and we're his friends." Hermione smiled at the shocked look that appeared on the researchers face. His three friends looked up too, forgetting their notes for a moment. Hermione felt like kicking herself, of course she should have said that first. "We're looking for a phoenix called Fawkes."
"We... we don't record names. How could we? The phoenixes don't talk." The man kept glancing up at the cliff where the shadowy figure of Harry had gone out of site into a cave. Another phoenix flew over to join the small flock that was following him. "We don't record names I don't... I don't know if we can help."
"He would have come here during summer last year, he left England in June." Hermione explained. "When he left Hogwarts he looked like he was in his third month since a burning day so when he reached you he might have been in his fourth or fifth.. He's a male, with a wingspan slightly above average."
"I... we'll check." The researcher turned and hurried over to their workbench where he cracked open a heavy book of notes and began flicking through them. Hermione followed him and began reading over his shoulder. Everything was recorded, burnings, arrivals, odd behaviour. If Fawkes was in the valley he would be recorded here somewhere.
"What about that?" Hermione pointed suddenly at an entry hear the middle of the page. "That one fit's the time frame."
"Y... yes. Yes." The researcher nodded. "Phoenix number 713. It would be that one wouldn't it." The heavy book was slammed closed and the man turned towards the cliff wall. "I'll take you there."
Hermione set off following, sending micos to Harry and Lucy. She and her guide reached the cliff wall and began climbing up a thin winding path. Lucy caught up to them when she was halfway up.
"You found him?" Lucy was out of breath. Hermione nodded. "Good, those other wizards were weird."
They climbed further up around the rocks, passing many perching phoenixes. The birds eyed them as they passed, but did not follow. After a few minutes they reached a short ledge with a large cave.
"This is 713's nest." The researcher pointed into the rock. "He should be in there. But it looks like you friend found him first."
All around the edge of the ledge, phoenix were perched, looking in. None of them were singing, none of them were making any sound at all above the rustling of their feathers. They were just watching. Another flew in and alighted at the end of the row. It trilled softly, then went silent like it's brethren.
"I've never seen them do this." The researcher said softly. His hands twitched like he was looking for a notepad. Hermione steeled herself, and stepped into the cave.
It opened out in the back into a small dome, the floor littered with sticks and leaves. The remains of past nests. Morfin was crouched at the back, he made no move when they entered. He was staring at the same thing they were. The tableau in the centre of the cave.
Harry was down on his knees, his walking stick discarded beside him. His eyes level with the eyes of the phoenix in front of him. He wasn't moving or speaking either, the only sign that he was alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest. The phoenix, Fawkes, was shivering. A large part of it's back was bald and scabby and it's wings looked shredded. There were feathers all around it, an unnatural moulting, and it's head drooped on it's long neck.
"713's been like this for a while." The researcher said quietly. "That's why I said I knew it'd be him. He hasn't burned since he got here and he's due. Long overdue. If he doesn't burn before winter hits then..."
"What happens if a phoenix doesn't burn?" Lucy asked softly.
"We don't really know. That's part of the reason we're watching him."
"Could he..." Hermione swallowed. "If he goes for long enough without a burning day could he... die?"
"It's possible." The researcher answered sadly. "We don't think it's ever happened before. The other phoenixes have been avoiding this cave, up till now at least. It's very interesting behaviour, I was thinking of writing a paper on-"
"Shh! Something's happening." Lucy pointed towards the centre of the cave.
Without moving from his spot, Harry had reached out his arm and was slowly stroking the side of Fawkes' head. The golden bird trembled for a moment, then leant it's head into Harry's hand, cooing softly. Harry reached back with his other hand into his bag and came back with a small glass bottle. He held it carefully to the side of the phoenix's face.
Everyone in the cave watched, awed, as first one shiny tear dropped into the glass. Then another. All the while Harry kept stroking Fawkes' head with his fingers, and kept eye contact. Another drop in the glass. Another. The glass slowly filled to the brim with glittering liquid before finally Harry took it away and carefully capped it.
Fawkes collapsed out of Harry's hands, dropping onto it's rough nest. It was as if the emotion had been too much for it. Fawkes just lay there as Harry put a quick sealing charm on the tears and turned to the marauders.
"It's done."
"Harry how did you do that?" Hermione asked, wide eyed.
"We talked. About old times." Harry shrugged. "He's lonely."
"I wonder if phoenixes could fight those dead men Voldemort has." Lucy mused. "That could be really useful."
"Phoenixes don't fight for anyone but their masters." Harry shook his head.
Hermione remembered the flock that had gathered outside and had the twinging suspicion that might not be true.
"Anyway. We should go now. Come on." Harry sat down again and reached out a hand to Fawkes. "He's offered to be our ride home."
"Is he well enough to do that?" Hermione stepped forward.
"He's fine. He's depressed not sick." Harry motioned them towards the bird. Hermione sat and placed her hand on Fawkes' tail. Lucy did the same and Morfin slunk out of the shadows to join them.
"Thank you for helping us." Hermione turned to the shocked researcher and waved with her free hand. "Sorry I couldn't stay to see more of your work. Maybe I'll come back some time."
"O...Ok?"
Flames rose about the marauders and everything dispersed.
Snape was just snipping a small piece of hair from the dying seer (he needed to do more tests) when two loud noises disturbed his concentration. The first was a rushing explosion. The second was-
"HARRY POTTER WHAT IN MERLINS NAME-"
"What? No one's ever appeared in the middle of the hospital wing in a gout of flame before?" Harry replied glibly to Madam Pomfrey as he stood from his position on the floor. The phoenix behind him made a sound somewhere between a trill and gurgle and turned as if to leave.
"Fawkes!" Harry stepped in front of the phoenix and crouched back down to meet it's eyes. "Thank you."
The phoenix bowed it's head a little.
"You know, there's something I've learnt recently. Something my friends are trying to beat into me." Harry smiled wryly. "Destroying ourselves for the ones we love is never the right choice."
Fawkes fluffed his feathers and bowed his head. A moment later flames sprung up around him and be vanished. Leaving ash behind.
"I hope he's alright." Harry stood and turned towards the bed. "How is she?"
"She is getting worse." Madam Pomfrey visibly pulled herself together. "We still haven't found the curse effecting her."
"When you left I wondered where you had gone." Snape folded his arms and nodded towards the burn mark on the floor. "Now I see. You should have warned me before you left."
"Do you think it'll work?" Harry ignored Snape's words and lifted small bottle out of his pocket.
"I think it is worth trying since you have it."
"How non-committal." Harry moved shakily towards the bed. Snape could tell he was trying to keep calm. "What do I do? Let her drink it or... or let..."
"Give it to me." Snape held out his hand calmly. Harry slowly reached forward and dropped the tears into the outstretched hand. Snape leant down and softly tilted Pythea's mouth open wih his thumb. He undid the stopper and allowed three drops to fall onto her mouth. Snape waited. You had to allow the tears a little time to seep into the flesh then... another three drops. Then wait.
He continued until the bottle was empty, upending the last few sparkling drops with a whispered prayer of hope. He handed the bottle back and put his fingers to the little seer's neck. All day her pulse had been slow and weak. Now...
"Nothing happened." Harry took the words out of his mouth. Words that sounded even darker than the truth behind them. "It didn't work."
"No." Snape took his hand away. "It did not work."
"Maybe it just hasn't taken hold yet." Lucy Kingston suggested.
"The effect would have been instantaneous." Snape shook his head.
"I so thought..." Harry whispered. "I put everything on this... She's going to die."
"Harry stop." Snape fixed his eyes to the tear filled ones in front of him. "It is not over yet. This tells us something. There are very few things phoenix tears do not heal, now that we know it is one of them-"
"Stop." Harry shook violently. "Stop trying to make me feel better. I gave her the ring and it's killing her and I can't do anything to stop it."
"There are still avenues of investigation that-"
"SHUT UP!" Harry shouted so violently that Madam Pomfrey stepped back in fear. Snape Didn't move.
"Harry. I will not baby you." Snape spoke slowly. "Yes, a portion of the responsibility for what has happened is yours. You gave her the ring. But another portion is mine. I worked with that ring for days and detected nothing that could have caused this. I told you it was safe. What has happened is also my responsibility and believe me when I say I will not have another death on my conscience. While she still breaths I will continue to believe she can be saved. As should you. Now... I am taking some of her hair to Paris, to a world expert on things such as this. I have worked with him before. I am hopeful. As for what you should do... I suggest you stay here. And if you have any more fool notions about running off to distant parts of the world in search of some miracle cure..." Snape took a deep breath. "... I suggest you pursue those notions to the fullest because that is what you are best at, and that is how best you can help your friend."
Snape lapsed into silence, waiting. After a few moments Harry slowly nodded.
"Good." Snape turned and walked from the hospital wing, the lock of hair he had cut still in his hand.
Pursue your fool notions to the fullest.
Harry slowly walked out of the hospital wing. No one tried to stop him.
Running off to distant parts of the world in search of some miracle cure
There was no such thing as a miracle cure. If there was everyone would use it. Harry found his feet moving of their own accord, taking him on familiar routes.
Fool notions
I am a fool. Harry found the door he had been looking for and got out his wand. It was locked of course, but not even this door was too hard to crack. In a few minutes Harry had the charms down and pushed open the door to Snape's office.
Running off to distant parts of the world
Snape was the one in Paris. Harry closed the door quietly. He wouldn't be disturbed. His eye zoomed around the small room and came to light on one of the desk drawers. Harry checked it for enchantments then slowly pulled it open and picked up the ring from inside.
Destroying yourself for the ones you love is never the right choice.
Too bad it's the only choice left.
"There is no miracle cure. Not without knowing what's wrong with her." Harry whispered into the dark surface of the ring. "Only one living person knows what curse is affecting her. And I need to talk to him."
Slowly, with trembling hands, Harry slid the ring onto his finger.
