Chapter 24 – A Day in St. Mungo's (Lily).

I was bleeding. My chin was very sore. I had a headache. I think I broke at least one tooth. I was bleeding from somewhere inside my mouth. I bit my tongue when my chin hit the floor. I certainly wasn't the most injured of those from the fight. Maxwell was hit by the AK, even if only one foot was struck. Was that enough to kill? My third attacker had bled a lot.

Dad told me that Sectumsempra was a horrendously effective legal curse. Draco had survived his use of it only because Snape had appeared almost immediately and performed exactly the correct healing magic. He was ashamed to have used it. He never would have used it, had he known what the curse did. He had been in a blind rage at the time and not thinking correctly. He thought blind rage was required to make it work.

Aamber said she bit two of my attackers. How deadly could that be? Aamber was bigger than she was, when Aagog declared her too young to be a danger. I told Aamber that she would need to identify the two she bit. Certainly, the two who hadn't almost bled out. Hugo saved my life. He must have been enraged to see those thugs attacking me. Otherwise, his curse wouldn't have the result it did.

I wasn't the most severely injured, but a doctor came to me right away. The benefit of being Apparated to hospital by the Minister. Doctor White gave me a quick look. He used a spell which decreased my pain. Mild concussion. My jaw wasn't broken. He stopped the bleeding from my tongue. He fixed two teeth. He healed the gash in my chin. Then asked for my help.

"I need you to remove your curse from the two who are inert. I don't think they are injured but would like to be certain of that. I need your spider to identify the persons she bit. I have the antidote you provided. We stock our own. "

I encouraged Aamber to sniff and identify the two she bit. I expected them to be the two whom I had cursed, but the second attacker whom Aamber bit was the guy Hugo had used Sectumsempra on.

I told Doctor White that I didn't feel safe removing my curse, unless the two attackers were under constant guard by Aurors. "They tried to use the Avada Kedavra on me," I explained.

Hermione agreed to assign two Aurors to guard them and another to protect me, while I healed. I reversed my curses. Doctor White left me to rest. Minister Hermione stayed to talk.

"I worry about Hugo. I don't think he is in any danger. The student he attacked used the Avada Kedavra. He was aiming at you but got Maxwell. Don't worry, Maxwell will be fine. I think it will upset Hugo when he learns how close he came to killing your attacker. The attacker may still die. The doctor said it was a remarkably close thing. That was before he knew about the spider bite. Whether he dies or not, Hugo will be affected. He will also be a target. Well, a bigger target than he had been. Before he was a way to hurt me. Now he will be the target for Slytherin revenge. I could tell that Hugo was in a fury when he defended you. That's partly my fault.

"When Hugo vanished, he was looking for me. He found me. He is upset that I kept him off the Quest team because I see him as a coward who can't defend himself. He used Sectumsempra instead of the 'Off!', which you used, to make a point. It was a statement that he could fight and was brave enough and bold enough to spill blood. I shudder to think that I pushed him to that. He is calmer now. He is also worried that you will think badly of him and avoid him, after he said he loved you. You have been his best friend forever and it will crush him if you abandon him."

"I love him too," I confessed.

Aunt Hermione smiled. "In that case, I'll leave you to your recovery and go tend to Hugo's emotional condition."

Mum and Dad visited me. I told them exactly what had happened, including why I happened to be sitting outside the Gryffindor portal.

Dad reacted violently to the part about the Slytherins being a guerrilla army prepared to wage war against us and owning the Halls of Hogwarts. "That won't stand! I'll send as many Aurors as Neville needs to keep the Slytherins under control. I am beyond tired of their attempts to terrorise the rest of us. The Ministry received a message promising a war of bombs to follow the attack on you. The shopkeepers in both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley are prepared for trouble. Aurors are watching the shops. Gringotts has trebled their guard and an Auror is on the roof. We are watching the known troublemakers. If they want war, then I am prepared to give them war. So is Director Shacklebolt. Prosecutor Longbottom isn't going to go lightly on your attackers. Using the AK on a first year is not a school prank. It is murder and will be treated as such. Their wands tell the story."

Dad glared at my attackers. They glared back. At least the two whom I cursed glared back. The guy whom Hugo cursed did not look good at all and wasn't at all able to glare at anybody. I didn't have to worry about my attackers coming after me. I was allowed my wand and Mum and Dad stayed with me all night. Doctor White stopped by for a little more treatment, and I had two hours in one of the charging ovals. My injured attacker was in the next oval. I kept my hand on my wand the whole time, but he seemed completely out of it. He was still in his oval when Doctor White said I could return to the castle in time for breakfast. I was better, but not fully healed. I would have to drink my breakfast.

Hugo was sitting at the Gryffindor table, looking upset. I sat next to him.

"I've been answering questions from the Aurors and Mrs. Longbottom since you last saw me. I don't think she is going to prosecute me. It was a close thing. She suspects that I wanted to kill that Slytherin. She and the Aurors kept asking me why I used that particular curse. They asked, 'How did you even know such a dangerous curse. You're just a first year.' I told them that it was the first curse I thought of. I admitted that I was truly angry and not thinking clearly. I should have used 'Off!' because it's a lot quicker and easier to say. I used the first curse that popped into my head. I was thinking 'enemy' and Dad told me this was a curse to use on enemies when he told me about it. Mrs. Longbottom wasn't happy with me. Neither was Mum. She spoke up to defend me, telling the Aurors 'this is a clear case of acting to protect an innocent from death. She told Mrs. Longbottom that. Mrs. Longbottom told her that she must stay out of it. Then she asked me more questions. It was horrible. They took my wand. I'm incredibly happy to see you again and even happier that Mum says you told her that you love me back. That's all I need to get through this."

Some students were finished eating and preparing to leave the Great Hall. Headmaster Longbottom stopped them.

"Attention! I know you don't like hearing from me, what seems like every other day, but I have some important announcements. Please return to your seats."

A little grumbling, especially from the Slytherin table, but all returned to their chairs.

The Headmaster summarised the attack upon me. I am thankful that he mentioned neither my name nor Hugo's. "There were four attackers, all Slytherin upper levels. They used the Avada Kedavra in their attack. They failed. Three were captured and will be prosecuted. They can expect multiple years in prison. The fourth is still in hospital and may die. If he lives, he also faces multiple years in prison. The four were spouting rubbish that 'Slytherin Rules the Halls of Hogwarts' and that they were a guerrilla army, which had just begun to fight. That fight ends now! I asked Professor Slytherin to inspect Slytherin House very minutely. I, Professor Sprout, and four Aurors joined him in that inspection. We found; a new secret room with lots of alcohol, marijuana, harder drugs, the illegal love potion, poison, galleons, and two notes from parents, who were encouraging and attempting to direct the mayhem. Those parents have been arrested and are now in prison. In searching all of the dormitory rooms, we discovered an 'attack plan' - that's what it was titled, fighting knives, spare wands, more love potion and poison, handcuffs, a small bomb, and two more notes from parents demanding that their children cause absolute mayhem at Hogwarts over the next two weeks and promising supporting action in Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and 'popular Muggle buildings'. Those parents are also in prison. I have expelled eight more Slytherin upper-level students, not counting the four responsible for last night's attack. I am this close, to sending all of the upper-level Slytherin students' home." From where I was sitting, I saw no gap between his thumb and forefinger.

"Professor Slytherin has worked extremely hard to keep Slytherin House in check, but contraband is smuggled in while he has a class to teach. I also witnessed, during our inspection, two students threaten Professor Slytherin that he could be murdered in his sleep. Needless to say, those two Slytherins, both upper-level Witches, have also been sent home. Going forward, there will always be two Aurors in Slytherin House. Any students outside Slytherin House after dinner will be expelled. These expulsions will all be permanent. If you couldn't follow the rules this year, I don't want you here next year. Do I make myself clear?"

He did. There were boos, hisses, and thrown food from the Slytherin table. Students at the other three tables applauded. A Slytherin seventh year then rose and announced in a very loud voice: "In that case, please notify whoever must arrange for the Hogwarts Express to pick us up after dinner. I speak for all of us when I tell you that we choose not to stay. We will not live in a Slytherin House which you have turned into a prison."

"Arrangements have already been made. If you leave, don't attempt to return in future terms. You won't be welcome. Hogwarts will not be the base for your guerrilla army of terrorists and murderers. That concludes my remarks. You are all excused."

Apparently, Headmaster Longbottom expected one last day of attempts to terrorise us. A dozen Aurors were outside the Great Hall. They asked each Slytherin if they were staying or leaving this evening. Those who were leaving had their wands confiscated and were escorted back to Slytherin House to pack.

It was a pleasure to walk the halls without the presence of the upper-level Slytherins. It was comforting to pass three Aurors, stationed at key points along the path to our classes. We had two classes with the first level Slytherins, but they were very subdued and caused no problems. Professor Slytherin gave them the look in his class. Having seen how he and the Aurors searched Slytherin House, none of the Slytherins gave him any crap and his discussion of Horcruxes and Harcruxes was extremely informative. He emphasised, "For those of you who might be tempted to extend your life by imitating Voldemort's awful deeds, let me remind you that Voldemort died at the age of only seventy-one and that nobody thought he looked young for his age. I've lived years in the less-than-whole state in which Voldemort's Horcruxes left him. I can assure you that it's not a lot of fun. It has taken incredible effort to become as human as this shard who stands before you. My resurrection was governed by two Harcruxes and one Horcrux. Far better than all the Horcruxes Voldemort created. Living forever is impossible. With our current medical knowledge, including the new charging ovals, a Witch or Wizard who takes reasonable care of their body can live two-hundred years, without need of Harcrux or Horcrux. Please, give that some thought."

Only the first- and second year Slytherins were present at lunch. They looked confused and kept looking warily at the professors and the other tables. Their table was almost empty. There were a normal number of second years, but the Sorting Hat's new rules meant very few in the first-year class. It seemed that at least a few of the first- and second years were confined to Slytherin House, after deciding to leave on the evening run of the Hogwarts Express. The buffoon who challenged Slytherin in our first Dark Arts class was among the missing.

As we were eating, Hugo held out his hand to me. I squeezed it. We ate quickly and went out on the lawn. It was sunny and we stayed close to the castle, so we didn't break Hogwarts rules. We also didn't have a blanket. We just sat on the grass, beside a big tree, held hands and snogged.

I thanked Hugo for saving my life. "I'm sure that neither Maxwell nor your Auror could have gotten there in time to save me. I was completely helpless - almost knocked out by the dive from the other AK. If the guy hadn't taken time to taunt me and you had arrived a second later, I'd be dead. I owe you my life."

Hugo blushed from his hairline all the way down to where his robes covered his lower throat. I felt the need to turn the focus upon myself, so that Hugo could get his blushing under control. I told him about my experience, while we camped in the park inside seid space, of guarding the tent, while Freddie James and Iona were doing whatever inside. I explained how hard I had tried, but failed, to prevent Rose from forcing her way into the tent, to be followed almost immediately by Dad. No immediate explosion, although Rose seemed unhappy when she left the tent. Dad, Freddie, and Iona were all smiling when they left the tent several minutes later. All seemed fine, Freddie seemed just a little cool toward me, after telling me I was a terrible guard. I thought he understood how unstoppable Rose can be. He was warming back up to me, until there was a huge fight between Iona and her Aunt McGonagall. After that, Freddie acted very cold toward me, like I wasn't his sister. Hugo let out a soft whistle as I reached this point in my tale. I told Hugo that the aftermath had been very awkward for all of us. Freddie blamed me for letting Rose into the tent. She's much bigger than me. There was nothing I could do to stop her, but Freddie, both made me feel guilty and avoided me whenever possible. He told me that the ruin of poor Iona's life was down to me. It seemed so unfair. That's why I couldn't ask Freddie for help when you went missing. I needed to talk to you, but there were way too many students in the Common Room to talk to you there. I didn't feel I could talk to you in front of Freddie and Iona. They were snogging something fierce.

"I'm sorry that I just abandoned you. I needed to talk to Mum. I saw her leaving the Great Hall and followed her. I needed to hear from her lips why I wasn't allowed to go on the Quest. Her explanation didn't help much. She said she was limited in how many students she could take, and it wouldn't look good if she chose me. She said my turn to explore seid space would come. She's sorry that I felt bad to be excluded and that she made me feel less capable than you or Ivanka. She said there are limits on what a Minister can do and dangers in appearing to favour their own families. Ministers had to make many problematic decisions. Sometimes those decisions hurt those whom they loved with all their heart. I'm still not sure she thinks I'm not brave enough to not have been a burden to her team."

"That's silly. You saved my life, didn't you? You took on a guy who is six years older, and plenty mean. You're a hero!

"Not everyone thinks that. I felt like a criminal. The Aurors and Prosecutor Longbottom were mean to me. They think I tried to kill that Slytherin."

"You were entitled to. He was attacking me with the AK. You could have legally used the AK against him, but you didn't."

"Mum did nothing to help."

"She couldn't"

"That's wrong."