Hey everyone Clover here. I wanna let everyone know that I have permission to post this story here. I was given permission by my friend and roommate Meggie182000 who's working with DARKAMY1 on this story over on deviant art. Anyways updates on this story are going to be slow. All characters belong to their respective owners. Please feel free to review.
Chapter 4: Healing Time
Hyacinth/Lockhart panted as he/she walked through the corridor with Ginny on his/her back, nearly tripping over the shedded Basilisk skins in the corridor several times.
He/She breathed heavily as his/her vision blurred and became more unfocused, but he/she managed to get back to the collapsed rock wall and dropped to his/her knees, the poison finally getting to Lockhart.
With his last breath, Hyacinth immediately left Lockhart's bloody and gory body.
She then stuck her astral head through the rocks, and was surprise to see that Ron was the only one there, still unconscious with a bandaid put over his left eye and Axel nowhere to be seen. 'What on earth?' Hyacinth thought as she pulled back and floated over to Ginny, who was waking up.
"W-Where am I. What happened to me?" Ginny said as she tried to sit up, but fell on her knees half way with her hands on her throbbing head. Then she saw Lockhart lying on the floor and ignoring the pain in her head, immediately crawled to his side to Wake him up, but screamed and backed away from him when she couldn't feel a pulse or hear him breath, he was dead.
Suddenly, footsteps and voices were heard behind the rocks. "Over here!" Axel's voice called from the other side of the rocks while Ginny sat there trying to keep her breathing under control.
"Professor Lockhart?! Ginny?! Are you there?! We heard yelling, are you ok?" Axel called through the rocks. "I'm here and i'm find. But Professor Lockhart... He's dead!" Ginny called out afraid, She had no idea where she was, but she wanted out, now.
Meanwhile, Hyacinth phased through the rocks and saw that Axel was back, and he brought Professor Mcgonagall and Snape with him. He also had his mangled metal arm in a sling.
She and Axel made eye contact for a moment, and Axel managed to make a couple of the fingers on his metal arm twitch towards Ron. Understanding the message loud and clear, Hyacinth immediately possessed Ron, knowing that the mind control potion's effects would surely be negated by the head blow, like most mind control things usually would, and She'll need to work on creating some fake memories before he completely wakes up.
The first one was following Lockhart and Axel to the restroom and hearing a loud boom just outside. The next was finding the huge exposed pipe and sliding down. The third was a confrontation between Axel, Ron and Lockhart and then Lockhart agreeing to let Ron come along, and the last one was of the cave in and getting hit by a rock and instantly being knocked out.
While she does all that, Snape and Mcgonagall combined their magic and removed the rocks safely, revealing a scared Ginny and the corpse of Gilderoy Lockhart not far from her. Instantly, Mcgonagall went to Ginny's side to help her on her feet and keep balance. "Are you alright miss Weasley?" Mcgonagall asked. "I think so, yeah. Aside from the shacking legs and pounding headache i mean" Ginny said while trying to stay up.
Meanwhile, Snape went to examine Lockhart's dead body just as Hyacinth came out of Ron, having finished implanting the fake memories, and he came to.
"Ginny?" Ron murmured weakly as Axel helped him up. "Ugh...ow...Is Ginny okay?" Ron asked while putting a hand against his hurting forehead, while Axel helped him stay on his feet. "Ron?" Ginny said, surprised to see her brother here here. "Ginny! Oh thank god your alright." Ron exclaimed while limping over to his sister and making sure she really is alright.
"Yeah I'm okay, but what about you? You look terrible" Ginny said when observing her brother: He was dirty from the dust and humidity in the tunnel, he obviously obviously has a leg injury since he was limping and his left eye was completely covered with a bandaid.
"I'm alright, don't worry about me." Ron said smiling while giving his sister a hug.
"Axel?" Ginny said when she saw the beat up Hufflepuff over her brother's shoulder. "Hi Ginny, glad to see you're alright." Axel said while waving with his good hand.
Ginny could see that Axel had a few scrapes of his own to, his prosthetic arm was ruined, he was also dirty from the humidity in the tunnels and he was covered in dirt and dust from the rock fall. 'What the hell has happened to them already? Did i cause all this?' Ginny thought, worried that she had done something awful, but can't remember what or why.
"Lockhart's dead. His left arm is covered in Basilisk venom, along with this book." Snape finally said while holding the charred and venom soaked remains of a black book up in the torch light so they can see it.
"Wait, that's my diary!" Ginny exclaimed. "Your diary?" Snape questioned. "Yes, I got it from Flourish and Blotts before school started. Now that I think about it, these weird memory gaps that I've been having started when I got it." Ginny said, making Snape and Mcgonagall both looked concerned.
Mcgonagall was concerned about the memory gaps and Snape was concerned that a student might have been carrying around a dark item.
"Ms. Weasley, as soon you've been looked over by madam Pomfrey, I want you to report to the headmaster's office for questioning about you're diary." Snape said, then conjured a stretcher and strapped Lockhart's body to it.
"O-Okay." Ginny said, then Mcgonagall lead the way back towards the pipe where Fawkes was waiting for them. "Mr. Creek and Mr. Weasley, why did Lockhart bring you down here?" Snape suddenly asked when they stopped. "He only intended to bring me sir. He said that he'd take care of the monster while I got Ginny outta there, but we didn't know Ron was following us until we were already in the corridor. We got separated by the cave in though." Axel said as Ron leaned on him and Ginny for support and Hyacinth floating just above them.
"Ron, you really followed them down here just to save me?" Ginny asked, normally Ron was a hothead who would unintentionally fight with Ginny or there other siblings. Sometimes it seemed like Ron just didn't care at all for them.
"Of course I did! I wasn't gonna let some monster hurt my little sister and get away with it!" Ron said, showing his more protective side, making Ginny smile at him, 'I guess he does care after all.' Ginny thought.
"Alright then, everyone grab each other's hands and everyone hold on tight, Fawkes will pull us all up and out of here.'' Professor Mcgonagall explained.
So everyone joined hands, but Ron had to tie himself securely to Axel's sling since he was holding onto Mcgonagall's arm with his good hand while McGonagall and Snape each hold one of Fawkes talons, and soon everyone was up and back in moaning Myrtle's bathroom, then heading through the halls to the hospital wing.
"My goodness, everyone take a seat. I'll take a look at you as soon as I've looked at Lockhart!" Madam Pomfrey said she had gotten word of Lockhart taking a pair of students with him into the chamber in order to search for Ginny, "Don't bother madam Pomfrey, he's dead." Snape said calmly and without sympathy for the man.
"What?! How did he die?!" Pomfrey asked shocked. "Apparently, there was a Basilisk in the chamber and Lockhart got stabbed by one of its fangs while fighting it." Snape said while gesturing to the wound on Lockhart's arm.
But wanting to be sure of those claims, Madam Pomfrey immediately examined the body and took a pulse, and after confirming that he was indeed dead, she immediately went to examine the others.
Ginny was first since she was the one who had been in the chamber and looked like she was recovering from an illness, then it well be Ron. While she does that, Axel sighed in his corner as he looked at his mangled prosthetic, it took a long time for him to get used to it, and now it will cause his family a fortune to get fixed. He was so in trouble when he gets home.
"Hey Cheer up Axel, who knows, maybe they'll be understanding as to why your metal arm got that way." Hyacinth said when she saw his downcast face and got closer to him. "I hope you're right Hyacinth, i sure hope you're right." Axel whispered back to her, sounding worried.
"What are you whispering about young man?" Madam Pomfrey asked when she finished looking over Ginny, who was alright for the most part, but apparently has a sprained ankle, which would explain why she was having trouble standing.
"Oh nothing ma'am! Just talking to myself!" Axel said, a slight pink tint to his cheeks. "*Nods, then turns to Ron* Mr. Weasley its your turn, let's first look at that eye of yours." Madam Pomfrey said as she walked over to Ron.
She managed to get the bandage off Ron's eye without pulling the red head's eyebrow off and examined the cut, which started above Ron's eye, went over it, and stopped on his cheek. "Alright, it can definitely use a good cleaning and then some stitches, aside from that i don't see any permanent damage or other signs of any other injuries." Madam Pomfrey finally said.
"And will it affect my vision in anyway in the future?" Ron asked, voicing his concerns. "I don't think so, worst case scenario you'll need glasses when you get older." Madam Pomfrey said as she cleaned up the cut. "Oh thank goodness." Ron said while letting out a sigh of relief.
"Ok, this might sting a bit." Madam Pomfrey said while taking out a light purple potion and putting some on a cloth before applying it to the cut. "Ouch, what's that potion gonna do?" Ron asked, wincing at the burning sensation the potion is causing.
"It's to clean the cut and numb the area around it so I can stitch it up." Madam Pomfrey said while finishing the cleaning and taking out a needle and some thread. "Have you had stitches before?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "Yes once, when I was eight. I fell on the pathway near the backdoor of my house and I bashed my chin on the stone." Ron said, remembering that incident. 'and I'm still sure that Fred and George pushed me.' Ron thought angrily.
A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey smiled as she finished stitching Ron's eye up, then took a look at the rest of his injuries. As it turns out, the fibula in his right leg was broken, and the fact that he was even able to stand, let alone walk at all, was actually surprising.
"You'll also have to have your leg in a cast for a few days until Professor Snape can brew a new batch of skelegrow, and you'll also need some crutches to move around until then." Madam Pomfrey said before waving her wand over Ron's leg, making a cast appear and a pair of crutches after that. Then she moved onto Axel.
"*Makes a Tch noise when seeing the broken prosthetic* I'll need you to remove your robes and shirt so I can take a look and remove your prosthetic Mr Creek.'' Pomfrey said, causin Axel to gulp at this. "Oh don't bother with that ma'am, I can remove the prosthetic on my own." Axel said as he began undoing his makeshift sling, but was stopped by the midwitch.
"Absolutely not! As the head materian I have to remove any prosthetics that a student or staff member may have, especially one as damaged as this one." Madam Pomfrey said, looking rather mad about that.
Axel met her gaze for a few minutes before he finally backed down. "Alright fine. Just be warn that what you're about to see isn't exactly pretty." Axel said as he completely undid his sling and then pulled his robe off with one hand, showing that by doing this, he also reveals to have a prosthetic leg. Then he removed his t-shirt to reveal that several scars was on the front of his body, the worst was a large scar that slashed roughly from his right collarbone all the way to the left side of his ribs. What was left of his shoulder stump also had quite a bit of scar tissue on it.
Madam Pomfrey gasped once she saw everything. "Almost all these scars were from the train wreck that I lost not only my arm, but also my leg." Axel said "What about your chest scar?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "I'd rather not talk about it. But now you understand why i would have prefered to take my prosthetic off myself, right?" Axel said, making Madam Pomfrey nod at his worry, but the rules are the rules, she has to do it herself.
With in other flick of her wand, she loosened the screws that was holding the prosthetic to the joint where the wires connected to the nerve endings, then unhooked the wires with her hands sense she feared that using magic with this part well cause a short circuit and damage the nerves. Once all the wires were off, Madam Pomfrey remove the arm and set it aside. "You'll have to have it fixed soon and have someone else put it back on. Until then, this well help you get over the rest of the school year." Madam Pomfrey explained while touching his stump with her wand, causing a temporary, fonctional and silver arm to form.
"Woah." Axel exclaimed while holding both arms in front of him, really impressed with the craftsmanship. He then touched the silver arm and was surprised to feel that it felt like flesh instead of metal.
''Now don't get to attached to it, its only temporary. It well disappear within the beginning of July or so.'' Madam Pomfrey explained while Axel tested his arm by opening and closing his fist. "Well then, can you teach me how to create these temporary arms myself?" Axel asked hopeful as she finished patching him up.
"*Smiles Sadly* I'm truly sorry Mr. Creek, but I'm not aloud to. That spell is reserved for Professional healers only. Why do you want to know?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "*Sigh* When my younger sister Amy was 6, she lost her left arm from the elbow down. I just wanted to see if I could help her get through her growth spurts. Since that's when a new model of her prosthetic's made and she's left without it until the end of the spurt. I just wanna help her get through it." Axel said while looking at his hands.
Madam Pomfrey nodded at this. "And how old is your sister?" Madam Pomfrey asked. "She's ten, she'll be eleven in June." Axel answered. "*Smiles* good, because while i can't teach you the spell, i can make an appointment at Saint-Mungo so that you and your sister can receive longer lasting limbs like those given by a more experienced healer and on a regular bases, for a small fee of course." Madam Pomfrey said, causing Axel to perk up, and Hyacinth, who was hovering over them the whole time, got closer in curiosity.
"That would be great! It would really help the both of us!" Axel said smiling, then heard Hyacinth whisper a question to ask the midwitch.
"Oh, and there wouldn't happen to be a spell to create temporary legs as well would there?" Axel asked Hyacinth question as if it were his own, though he himself was curious about this too.
"I believe so. But like i said you would have to pay a fee for every limb replaced, about 7 Galleons per limb, which in English pounds should be 30 pounds each." Madam Pomfrey explained, making both Axel and Hyacinth flinch, 30 pounds per limb was pretty expensive. ''*Saw him flinching and smiles reassuringly* but there is a way to get your family a discont for families with tight budgets, previted that you get yours and your sister's medical documents, a note from your doctor that authorises a change of medical personal and a trained healer, like myself, that can speak for you to the hospital's and health departement of the Ministry's higher ups.'' Madam Pomfrey explained.
Axel nodded. "I'll first have to owl my parents about this to see if it's alright with them, but i'm sure they well gladly accept." Axel said. "Very well, and you don't seem to have any other injuries asides from a few scrapes. However, just to be on the safe side, I would like to perform a full scan of your body, just to make sure you don't have any sprains, cracks, or fractures." Madam Pomfrey said, making Axel simply nod sense it wasn't and won't be the last time he's had to have an injury scan done.
" I need you to stay perfectly still and take deep, even breath, ok?" Madam Pomfrey said to the young man, making Axel nod and close his eyes. His breathing became deep and even, almost as if he put himself into a trance.
'This state he put himself into, it's almost like he's done this before.' Madam Pomfrey thought as she performed the scan.
"Alright, everything's in perfect order, you and your friends may leave now." Madam Pomfrey said after reviewing the scan and saw that nothing else was wrong.
Axel then brought himself out of his trance with an easy sigh. "Thank you, Madam Pomfrey. Have a nice day." Axel said and was about to grab his robe and shirt when Madam Pomfrey stopped him and gave him a pair of pajamas, doing the same for Ron and Ginny too.
"Not so fast Young man. All of you are staying here for the night. No arguments" Madam Pomfrey said, causing the 3 students to grunt in annoyance, but comply none the less.
While they change, Pomfrey prepared Lockhart's body for travel to Saint-Mugo's morgue, then she left to send an owl to the ministry with letter, warning them of what happened at the school.
All this time, Hyacinth watched everything from the sidelines, but now she was bored. "Hey Axel, what should I do now that everything's done?" Hyacinth whispered while hovering near Axel. "You should go back to your body. You'll Wake up pretty soon and should get used to your muscles and joints again before then." Axel whispered, causing Hyacinth to nod and fly to phase back into her body.
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5 days later...
A group of Saint-Mugo healers finally arrived at Hogwarts and immediately walked into the hospital ward. A little further away from the school's grounds, another group was advancing towards the castle. This group consisted of a man, a woman and a young girl missing half her left arm from the elbow down with a prosthetic attached to the stump.
Inside the infirmary itself , Ron was up and about on crutches along with Ginny, the two were visiting Hyacinth and Hermione along with Axel when the healers walked in. "Oh thank goodness your here! I've been waiting for you for weeks." Madam Pomfrey said to the group of healers with relief, and a bit of anger for being so late.
"Hey Poppy, good to see you again, and sorry for our tardiness, work at the hospital has been crazy these past few months thanks to in incident with some rabid Wyverns in Wales. 65 people send to us badly burned and in need of skin grafting and antibiotics potions for Wyvern bite infections, can you imagine that." The healer at the front of the group explained while rubbing his neck sheepishly, but still serious.
The man in question was tall with tan skin, obviously of Egyptian origin, with black hair and a patch over his right eye.
"*Gasp* Dear Merlin, no wander you of all people are so late Ammon! Well no matter, you and they others are here now, we can finally start." Madam Pomfrey said while shaking hands with the Egyptian healer.
"Agreed, So where's the patient in a magic coma?" The man said smiling as he looked at the petrified students, as well as Ron, Ginny, and Axel's injured bodies, with Axel still having a few bandages on his face. Madam Pomfrey was about to answer when a girl with blonde hair that was tied back into a braid, hazel eyes and wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a prosthetic arm from her elbow down on her left arm, barged in. "WHERE IS HE?!" The girl yelled, making everyone jump.
"Uh oh." Axel said while trying to hide behind Ron and Ginny. The girl then ran past the healers and Madam Pomfrey, ran through Ron and Ginny and finally threw an uppercut with her prosthetic hand, hitting Axel under his chin, causing his head to snap back and for him to fall to the floor.
Axel immediately wiped his mouth as he got up, The force of the punch causing him to bite his tongue, and the impact was already leaving a nasty bruise. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING YOU IDIOT?!" The girl said before throwing her arms around Axel in a hug. "You could've been killed, Axel." The girl said, breaking down into tears.
"A-Amy, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry." Axel said while returning the hug, a few tears of his own running down his face.
"Goodness, are you alright?" Ammon said while immediately coming over and examining the damage from the punch. "I'm fine it's not the first time I've been punched." Axel said while laughing, the bleeding already stopping.
"That is a nasty bruise though. Here, i'll fix it" Ammon said before taking out his wand and waved it over the bruise while chanting a spell in his native tongue.
"*Feels the magic works and sighs happily* Thank you sir, it wasn't necessary, but i still appreciate it." Axel said, making Ammon nod before turning his attention back to Madam Pomfrey, who lead him and the other healers over to Hyacinth.