Chapter [XII] On Death's Bed
"S-Someone had knocked me out earlier with a knockout spell, I think... I-I don't know what spell they used but I saw two people sneak into the room before I was knocked out," Nurrizq panicked, his sentence alone enough to send Jamieson into a panic.
The two quickly did a thorough search around the room, looking into every corner to see whether anything had been stolen or if they'd set something up for a prank or a way to hurt the two. "N-Nothing here," Jamieson called out once he finished searching the south end of the room, "Same," He hears a muffled voice as a response once his only roommate currently available had finished searching the room.
"Let's just sleep and continue tomorrow, alright? When it's brighter," Jamieson yawned, the lack of light in the room wasn't much of a help. The two then climbed back into their beds, agreeing to continuing in the morning where they'd be able to see better, Jamieson tried his best to push the thought to the back of his head, trying to get proper sleep. He hadn't had another instance of the 'lifelike dream' he had a few days ago so it wasn't as hard for him to sleep as it was previously.
Come morning, Nurrizq woke up feeling somewhat tired from last night's mega feast added by the sudden realization of what had happened to him in the afternoon. The boy climbed off of his bed, intending to wake up the only other person in the room to continue their search, only to be horrified by what he saw.
"No," Nurrizq cried, running to one end of the room end, throwing up quite a lot, trying his best to control himself. It took a solid 2 minutes for him to finally stop, a simple glance over at Jamieson's bed was enough to send him to another fit of vomiting. The boy ended up sitting on the floor and bawling his eyes out.
Once the poor boy had finally gain control of himself, he managed to grab his school-issued broom from underneath his bed, trying his best to not look at Jamieson's bed as he poked the boy awake and yelling, "Jamieson! Wake up!"
Confused, Jamieson's eyes fluttered open. Getting poked by something hard and cold wasn't exactly what he'd expect to wake him up that day, accompanied by what felt like millions of things all over him, his confusion growing into horror upon realizing...
He was literally covered with maggots, from his head to his toes, every inch of the surface of his bed was covered in maggots of all species, colours, shapes and sizes. Jamieson blinked a few times, wondering how he got into the predicament, until the realization finally hit him hard. He began hitting away at his arms, holding back his vomit. "W-What do I do?!" Cried Nurrizq, both of them now in a purely panicking state. "T-Take me to Madam Abbott, please," Jamieson cried, his body now stinging, itching and being generally uncomfortable in almost every crevice.
"Get up!" Nurrizq shouted, picking up an unused blanket as Jamieson crawled off his bed, running to another corner of the room, one not already covered in Nurrizq's own vomit, literally letting all hell loose.
Nurrizq stood behind the poor boy, he himself disgusted by all the maggots still clinging onto Jamieson's body and clothes. Only when the boy finally stopped throwing up did he creep closer. "What's with all the noise?" Samuel yawned as he entered the room, pushed aside as Nurrizq—who had wrapped his blanket around Jamieson— ran past them, both boys going straight for the Infirmary.
"Madam Abbott, please, open up!" Nurrizq cried, Jamieson was now being overwhelmed with so many different sensations, from his head ringing, to loud noises, to some parts of him stinging and feeling cold to another being numb and somehow hot at the same time, he doesn't even know where they were.
"Isn't it a bit early for...?" The matron yawned, her sleepiness immediately disappeared upon seeing how disfigured the student in-front of her was and how much of a wreck the other one looked. While Jamieson was feeling quite literally a hundred sensations, he was unaware of all the discolourations and how disfigured or swollen parts of his body were.
"Vermis Depulso" The matron chanted, Nurrizq immediately running a distance upon realizing what she had casted. A bright yellow light flashed forth, flying towards Jamieson, effectively banishing every single maggot that had clung onto his body and clothes the entire time they were sprinting towards the infirmary. Nurrizq then caught up to the matron, purposely squashing the maggots on the process as they entered the infirmary, with Jamieson still being unresponsive due to how overwhelmed his senses were.
"Oh dear me, I'll have to knock him out," The matron cried, 'Stupefy' she cast afterwards, realizing Jamieson would be better asleep than having to feel everything he was feeling at the moment. "Aquavirius, Fire-eaters, Cutis Comedentis maggots! Some of these are illegal!" Madam Abbott exclaimed in anger, recognizing all of the symptoms of touching the substances these maggots excreted, she immediately began by treating the burns on Jamieson's skin.
Aquavirius was a brain-shaped slug, which if touched could frazzle one's brain with overstimulation, able to effectively fry it if touched for too long. Fire-eaters on the other hand, were bright crimson red moths usually living near volcanoes since, as their name hints, they thrived off fire or heat specifically, their maggots produce a type of slime which heats up incredibly fast. Cutis Comedentis slugs, simply translated as skin eater, were slugs generally used in body decomposition by the wizards, able to quickly tear through skin. These three were among hundreds of other kinds of monstrosity unleashed upon an innocent student.
Samuel scanned the room in pure disgust, two puddles of vomit on one side, Jamieson's bed covered in hundreds of different maggots, some he was able to identify, others he saw for the first time. 5 years in Hogwarts had shown him far more disgusting things, so he wasn't too bothered by it... though he wasn't too disgusted by the sight, his blood was far beyond boiling.
"What the hell," Graham cried, his voice low and filled with animosity as he entered the room, both of them waken up by the commotion. It was rather quiet in the tower, both of the boys vomiting and crying loudly with their dorm doors open was enough to wake them both up, though Samuel was the first to leave to check on them, he thought they were suffering from over-eating the night before, not this.
Not wanting to see such a sight any longer, Samuel summoned 5 house-elves who immediately destroyed the maggots, cleaned up poor Jamieson's bed and the whole room in general. "It's gotta be those two idiots again," Samuel growled, sitting on Jamieson's previously desecrated bed.
"I know. We couldn't prove it was them before, though," Graham growled, remembering how many times he'd warn the specific two to leave him alone. Out of all the 'fangirls' he's had, there were only two who had ever been so disgusting, Graham wondered why the sorting hat even put them in Gryffindor.
"We need to do something, Graham! They went after Jamieson this time," Samuel hissed, remembering how screwed up the younger boy was as they ran out. Graham nodded, now feeling guilty for roping the poor boy into this. Part of him didn't want anything to do with Jamieson on the first day they met, fearing these two would go for him, but something about the young boy was just magnetic.
"I... I don't know if there's much we can do, Samuel. I mean, if we weren't prefects I'd have had a go at them by now," Graham cried, obviously stressed out. They'd targetted Samuel so much, the boy had adapted and basically became immune, knowing how to deal with them, but now that they're prefects and the two were targetting someone else, they couldn't do much.
"Nurrizq, what happened?" The two approached Jamieson's roommate at the infirmary, a bit worried after seeing how Jamieson's bed was covered with a curtain around. Their blood boiled once again, upon hearing about what had happened, it finally made sense to Graham, "That's why he came to my room," He growled, piecing things together.
"Can you identify the two, Nurrizq, if I were to ask you to?" Samuel asked sternly, the boy nodding with nervous written on his face.
"Now we just need evidence. With a witness, we'll finally have them exposed," Samuel exclaimed, their happiness soon quashed into anger again, Nurrizq letting out a whimper once Madam Abbott pulled the curtains back after she had done all she could. All they could do now was to wait for the various potions she'd use to take effect.
"What the hell," Graham hissed, clenching his fist hard enough to for him to actually feel pain, accompanied by a horrified gasp from his partner.
If anything, the poor boy looked worse than when they brought him in. Only small patches of his body remained the original colour, with parts of him still swollen here and there. "Madam Abbott, he'll be alright, won't he?" Samuel managed to squeak out, wanting to break down at the sight in-front of him. They've been through hell with the two, but they've never seen them go this badly at someone.
"I... I-I think I'm gonna go, I can't," Nurrizq cried, leaving the room quickly, even he felt guilty for letting a flimsy knockout spell get to him.
"Listen, I'm only sharing this with you since I know you two are the closest to him, that and you're prefects," Madam Abbott began, nremembering how Jamieson hung with the two whenever Frona and Leonidas weren't around.
"The truth is, chances of him surviving is far too low," Madam Abbott began, horror slowly filling the two older students at the realization. "A lot of the substances have seeped in too deep into his skin. Based on what Nurrizq told me, they might've released the maggots while he slept, meaning by the time he woke up, the slime would've pierced deep into his skin. Given by what I saw, it's only a matter of time. He needs to wake up to drink more potions and I can't force him to do that, too much brain activity will destroy what's left of his brain. Even then, I'm not very sure how long he'd have even if he were to drink the potions," She finally ended, a tense silence fell upon him once she left for her office, both older students stood frozen in anger mixed with fear.
After a short while, Graham moved towards the wall, taking a deep breath and with possibly the loudest, most furious yell he could muster, his fist flew towards the hard brick wall. "Graham!" Samuel cried, running towards the angered man, whose face was practically red with anger.
"Episkey," Samuel chanted, pointing his wand at Graham's bloody knuckles, part of him quite scared at the fact that Graham managed to break parts of the wall he had hit. "I can't do this anymore, Samuel. Screw it, I'm gonna get revenge on those two, I don't care if I lose my Prefects position," Graham growled, resting his fist on the wall, looking down with seething anger.
"You can't Graham. You worked hard for this position! You know graduating as a prefect is gonna be a big help later on," Samuel cried out, reminding Graham the reason why he even dreamt of becoming a prefect at Hogwarts. Students earn a certificate if they graduated as a Prefect, one that makes them stand out among the others from their year, meaning they'd have higher chances of better jobs, which he needed to turn his family's life around.
"We can't do much, Graham... But I know who can," Samuel sighed, a bit regretful for what he was going to do. "I'm gonna go get Frona and Leonidas. I'll have to write them a letter," Samuel piped up, his Gryffindor partner shutting his eyes in silence, knowing full well that was the only other thing they could do rather than wait for Jamieson's demise.
"Stay here, alright? In case anything else happens or if there's an update," The black-haired boy instructed, sprinting out of the infirmary and towards the school's owlery.
"Professor Dolevia," Graham breathed out, standing sadly next to Jamieson's bed as her, along with three other professors who he identified as the headmaster, the professor of their potions class, the teacher of their divination class and the professor of their herbology class walked in after the other.
"It's worse than I thought," Professor Delovia whispered under her breath, her old eyes filled with sadness and fear. "Oh merlin," Ajax cried, stopped by Professor Ancum when he tried to lunge forward and hug the unconscious boy.
"Come now, my colleagues. We need to discuss this with Madam Abbott," Professor McDuffel gently placed a hand on Ajax's shoulder, gently tugging him. "I need to hear every bit of info after this," Ajax growled at Graham, who nodded slowly in response, watching the quarter drift into Madam Abbott's office, he decided to eavesdrop with a simple 'ear growing' spell, knowing full well it worked once he could hear everything clearly.
He sat silently, listening to their exchange in suggestions for the cure, with various herbs, potions and even charms. "Now, we need to narrow it down. Jamieson's body is weak enough as it is, attacking him with various charms and potions could hurt him more than it would help," Madam Abbott warned, the room soon falling into silence afterwards.
"I... I have a suggestion," Ajax then spoke up, breaking the tense silence between them. "During my years as a magizoologist, we did a lot of researches on forbidden mythical creatures at one point. We found that basilisk blood, along with phoenix tears, can expel any and all foreign substances from anyone's body..." He trailed off, Professor Ancum soon piping in, "Why didn't you publish it then? It would've made a great research article," he asked curiously.
"The thing is... It's far too risky. If the substances aren't mixed properly, it could end up expelling all of your blood in the blink of an eye," He ended, the silence in the room returning along with the tenseness.
"To begin with, where will we find basilisks? It is illegal to breed them let alone find one. Second, it's too risky. The boy is already weak enough," Professor Dolevia chimed in, their conversations soon heating up as they began debating about the various different medicinal herbs and potions they should and could use.
Graham, on the other hand, had heard enough. Now he knows they needed basilisk blood, but where? He'd never even seen one before, he'd have thought they were mythical creatures if they weren't taught about it. Sitting beside Jamieson's bed, the more he stared at the unconscious boy, the more his blood slowly boiled at the thought of someone daring to hurt him.
"Graham," A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. Turning to the left, Graham noticed Samuel had finally returned. the boy didn't even notice Samuel's return since he was so lost in his thoughts. "I've sent the letter. Here's to hoping they get back soon," Samuel sighs, only to be met by silence.
"I can't believe they really went for Jamieson this time," Graham did his best to fight back his tears, ultimately failing upon realizing this was all technically his fault. He'd completely forgotten about the existence of the two crazed fans of his seeing how silent they'd been for months. "What if he doesn't make it through, Samuel?" Graham cried, hugging his partner tight, feeling Samuel pat him gently as he hugged back "Nonsense. He may be young, but he's strong, alright?" He breathed out, trying his best to console his boyfriend.
"The professors are discussing about their options right now," Graham frowned, wiping the last few drops of tears off his cheeks. "Is... Is it looking good?" Samuel asked, looking at their unconscious brother laying on the infirmary bed, looking worse every second.
Graham shook his head, explaining what they'd come up with, "...they said something about a basilisk blood concoction, the thing is... where would we find basilisks?" He exclaimed in irritation, both of them falling silent as they tried to rack their brains, trying to find where one could find such a mythical creature.
Time crept ever so slowly that day, with Professor Ancum, Professor Sprout and Madam Abbott testing out different concoctions of potions and cures on Jamieson's many blisters, wounds and discoloured patches of skin, some of them seemingly working ever so slightly, the others showing no effects at all.
The duo tried to help as much as they could, simply turning into herb-fetchers or cauldron-stirrers as the three professors continued discussing and trying new combinations, by the time dinner time had arrived, Jamieson had only looked slightly better than he did when he arrived that morning.
For Samuel, who was tasked with fetching Jamieson's two close friends after they'd send a responsive letter saying they'd arrive the first thing the next morning, he couldn't be any more anxious to see the two at Hogwart's docks the next morning.
"Samuel!" Leonidas cried, practically leaping off the boat, "You almost tipped be me over!" Frona anxiously shouted, shoving her blond friend once she'd caught up. "Whoah... This place is beautiful," Leonidas breathed out, noticing how beautifully decorated the halls of the castle were. "What happened to Leonidas? I couldn't get proper sleep thinking about it," Frona sighed while admiring the beauty of the castle, her messier-than-ever hair proving her statement.
"I... I think it's better if you see him for yourselves," Samuel breathed out, his voice breaking as he spoke. Yhey soon broke out into a full on sprint, the two young students barely able to enjoy the Christmas-themed decorations as they ran towards the Infirmary. The professor's progress that morning was completely impeded, with Jamieson looking worse the next morning compared to the day before.
"This isn't good. This means that the substances have seeped much deeper than I initially thought... I'm sorry professors, I'm not sure how long he has left," Madam Abbott stated out, the two younger students hearing it just as soon as they'd enter the infirmary.
"Leonidas, Frona! What're you doing back so early?" Professor Ancum asked, shocked to see the two since they weren't supposed to be back for another two days. "We heard about Jamieson, what happened?" Frona asked, seeing how his bed was covered by a curtain, their hearts sank as Graham explained what had happened.
"P-Please, let us see him," Leonidas pleaded, wanting to see what had happened to their close friend. Before the professor could answer, at the same time Ajax returning into the infirmary after taking care of a few things around the castle, mostly trying to get rid of the rumours about Jamieson's misfortune.
"Professor Ancum, Professor Sprout, his vitals are dropping," Madam Abbott cried out in surprise, the sudden dip in the boy's condition startling her, forcing her to pull open the curtain, revealing a much worse looking student. At that point, he didn't even look human anymore. Swollen all over, his skin discoloured to the point he looked like a child had painted him with many different colours of paint. Two floating crystal orbs had a thin glowing string attached to Jamieson's body, one glowing dim indicating his ever-so-weakening brain, the other pulsing slightly, showing his heart was giving out.
"NO!" Frona cried, Samuel catching her just in time as she tried to leap forth, "No, no!" She sobbed into the older boy's robes, who had to hug her tight, turning her so she'd face him instead of seeing Leonidas.
"T-This... This isn't fair... What did he ever do?!" Leonidas yelled, his voice evident with fear, Graham literally gripping onto the boy with full force. Neither of the staffs could ask them to leave, they were too busy trying to keep the poor boy alive.
"Madam Abbott, use my life force," Ajax immediately piped up, rolling up his sleeves and whipping out his wand. "Professor Sage! You can't, you'd be at risk of dying! He'd be taking far too much of yours," Madam Abbott cried, the two elder student snow intrigued by what she meant, all while trying to console and hold onto the two younger ones.
"Then we share the burden," Professor Ancum stepped up, copying the younger professor's movements. "Let me do it too," Professor Sprout volunteered as well, only for Madam Abbott to frown, "I'm sorry Professor Sprout, I can't let you. You're far too aged," She sighed, Professor Sprout frowned, seemingly taken back by her words.
"Plus, this spell needs two people to cast, and I'm not sure I trust students to be part of it," Madam Abbott's eyes scanned over the four students beside Jamieson's bed, the four then rushed to one side of the bed.
Soon, the two younger students collected themselves, forcing themselves to stifle their cries as they turned their eyes towards the four Hogwarts staff, wondering what spell they were going to do to save their dying friend.
Shutting his eyes, Ajax extended his right hand, palm up with a clenched fist, he pointed his wand at his wrist, chanting out with a calm tone, "Est vita mea tua," Wincing at the pain as his veins began to glow crimson red, almost the same colour as blood. Professor Ancum soon followed, copying Ajax's movements except with his left hand, "Est vita mea tua," He breathed out gently, his own veins glowing the same colour.
Professor Sprout and Madam Abbott then proceeded to raise their wands, with Professor Sprout remaining silent as the tips of all four their wand glowed bright red, a quick moment of silence fell between the four, followed up by Madam Abbott chanting, "Vitaetionem," The four students somewhat awed by how two airy light blue string had conjured from thin air, one end tying itself around the male professor's arms, both connecting in the middle and tying onto Jamieson's wrist.
Ecstatic was an understatement for everyone in the room upon seeing the crystal orbs glow brighter than before, with the heart orb pulsing stronger.
"Remember, Professor Sage, Professor Ancum. Should either of you want to break off the tie, you will both be broken off as Jamieson will take far too much from one person," Professor Sprout warned as Madam Abbott seemingly walked straight through the airy magic string between the professors and Jamieson. "That... was my first time performing that spell. I mean I'd learn it with Madam Pomfrey but even she never used it," madam Abbott admitted, rather giddy.
The professors had pushed beds closer to Jamieson, since they couldn't stray too far to avoid forcefully breaking the tie, which could lead to severe consequences for all three of them.
Once the situation finally calmed down, the two seniors took their two young friends out to leave the professors to their jobs, "There has to be something we can do to help," Frona frowned, her heart still broken upon seeing the state of their friend, both of them now feeling extremely guilty for leaving their friend alone for Christmas.
"There is," Samuel whispered as they walked over to a corner, making sure nobody else was around.
"I know Jamieson has told you about him hearing snake hisses, right?" Graham asked, his voice stern, the two younger students nodded. "This... This is a risky move, but those might be basilisks, which we need the blood of for his cure. I didn't know where we could find basilisks, until I remembered about what he had told me," Graham continued, an air of silence falling onto them.
"But... what if they're not?" Leonidas asked, his voice hinting both hope and anxious. "I did a little bit of research. Harry Potter-Diggory, Jamieson's great grandfather, the one who ended the 2nd wizarding war, opened a secret chamber in this school and found a basilisk inside," He stated, remembering a history book he had read, backed up by what they were taught in History of Magic. "You mean... The chamber of secrets? That's absurd! We don't know where it is, and even if we do, none of us here except Jamieson could speak parseltongue..." Frona cried out, remembering how they'd discuss about the chambers before, they didn't think they'd be the one who had to open it.
"Frona and Leonidas, that's where you're coming in. You two will have to look around for clues and such. Samuel and I... we'll be dealing with the culprits," Graham sternly said, his partner looking at him with confusion. "We will?" He asked, surprised to hear Graham say those words.
"Yes. They've gone too far, Sam. It's time we fought back," The boy growled, receiving a nod from the younger students, who didn't even bother asking why they'd get the more dangerous task. "C'mon Leo, we gotta start at the library. Surely there's something there," Frona grabbed the blond boy's hand, sprinting down the hall towards the aforementioned place, while Samuel turned towards Graham with confusion. "How exactly are we gonna deal with the two?" He asked.
"Remember the time turner in Ms. Goosander's office? Well, we better start brewing the Polyjuice potion," Graham smirked, a mischievous smile forming over Samuel's face. "Ooh, we haven't done anything this bad for a long time," He grinned, both of them setting off in different directions to start gathering ingredients for the complicated potion. Though as complex as it was, they'd successfully brewed it in their 3rd year for pranking purposes.