The Farther Shore: Part IV – The Achilles Project
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Sorry this took so long to appear; I've been away. The next part will be finished more quickly, I hope.
Disclaimer: Just about everything is the property of J K Rowling.
~
In a circular room in the topmost tower of Hogwarts, William Prewett and Andrea were peering into the scrying ball. Remus was sitting with closed eyes, trying to maintain the spell whilst they worked, and Lady Irene de Beale was scribbling notes. William had decided they should put their forced stay at Hogwarts to good use, and so they had been working on this all morning. Finally they had set up this spell
'Hurry up … I can't keep this spell going much longer,' Remus murmured, his knuckles white around his wand. Though Andrea had tried to make him rest after the full moon last night, he had insisted on working just as normal.
Andrea was looking very carefully into the globe of hazy mist from one side, and William watched from the other.
'There … did you see that?' he said, his voice tense. In the globe, a strange formless shadow appeared. 'He's there somewhere. Hold on, Remus, if you can.'
Remus nodded silently.
'Oh! Look!' Andrea's fingers around the base of the globe twitched in response to a surge of power. 'That's it! We're almost there,' she breathed, and her eyes lost their focus as she stared into the globe.
The combined magic of the four of them was focussed on this attempt. If it worked, they would have a spying device set up in the Dark Lord's headquarters. From that, they would be able to learn a great deal more about Voldemort. It had been the work of several months to set up the conditions for the spell, and now they were almost there.
The magical field they had created suddenly wavered and shook. Remus held his breath as he struggled to maintain it. Then the scrying ball snapped black fire, and Andrea jerked her hands away as if she'd received an electric shock. The ball shattered and glass flew around the room. William leapt away, and Remus slumped back in his chair.
'What is it?' gasped Lady de Beale, dropping her quill and springing to her feet.
'Voldemort.' William needed say no more than that. Andrea turned to Remus.
'Are you all right?' she asked nervously. He raised a hand weakly to his head, breathing raggedly.
'Yes … I'm fine. Just … caught me unawares.' He took a deep breath. 'How could Voldemort have done that? He must have breached the defences.' Suddenly he was on his feet, his weariness shrugged away. 'He could be getting into the castle now.'
Andrea turned pale. She knew this had been a mistake. As they stared at each other, panic driving all other thoughts from their minds, a tremor shook the castle. Andrea clutched the table.
'He's doing something somewhere in the castle,' said Lady Irene in a taut voice. 'Was it because of our spell?'
'I don't know,' said William. 'I hope not.'
Remus looked up at the picture of the castle that hung on the wall, and muttered something under his breath. He examined it, tapping the frame with his wand.
'Minerva's classroom,' he said abruptly. 'Whatever's happened, that's where.' Andrea saw his face was tense. 'I'm going down to have a look.'
'I'll come with you.' Andrea followed Remus out of the room and running through the castle, her hair prickling at the dark shadow that filled the air. Surely Minerva would be all right.
As suddenly as it had come, the miasma lifted, and the atmosphere seemed less oppressive.
'He's gone,' Andrea said unnecessarily. Remus nodded and came to a halt outside a door. His face was pale. He flung the door open, and dashed in.
Inside, all was turmoil. The room was full of students, some sitting at their desks speaking rapidly in alarmed voices, and a crowd of others was circling around the desk. Every head turned as they entered.
'Return to your seats,' said Remus in a surprisingly commanding voice. Andrea went straight to see what they were looking at, and gasped. On the floor behind the desk, lying motionless and ashen-faced, was Minerva.
For a second, Andrea simply stared, horror-struck. How could anything have happened to Minerva, one of the most powerful witches alive? Then she dropped to her knees beside her, and felt feverishly for a pulse, for her life-signs, for anything. She let out her breath in a soft hiss when her questing fingers found a slow, feeble pulse in her neck.
'Minerva?' There was no response.
'Is she – alive?' asked Remus, who was bending over her shoulder.
Andrea nodded, glancing back at him. 'Yes – but I don't know what – I can't tell what's wrong with her.' She looked at Minerva more calmly. There was not a mark on her, nothing to show for the attack she had sustained, but her aura was fading. Although Voldemort had now departed, something was slowly draining her life away. She could feel the malevolence beating against her mind.
'What happened?' she asked of the world at large, standing up for a moment.
All the students began to talk at once. Remus looked sternly at them.
'Only one of you. Yes, go on.' He gestured at a prim-faced girl sitting at the front of the classroom.
The girl stood up, looking both self-important and worried.
'Well, we were making notes, and Professor McGonagall was demonstrating how to turn a knitting needle into a fork, and…'
The class had been well behaved although it was nearing lunch hour, for Minerva always had complete control of her classes. They were finishing off a topic, and Minerva had explained the procedure to them in detail. She had just finished with this, and was about to demonstrate it one more time. She raised her wand, and as she began the spell, sparks shot from the end. Minerva had looked startled, and then her hand trembled. The wand flew up in the air, still sparking like a live wire. The class gaped, whispering to each other, 'What's she doing?' Then a black jet shot out in her face as she raised her hands feebly to defend herself. There was a crash of thunder, and the room felt very cold all of a sudden. Minerva gave a dreadful scream, staggered back and collapsed on the floor. A few red sparks flickered over her, and then the wand fell beside her. The class were horrified; they crowded around her, but she did not move or respond.
'… and then you came in,' the girl finished. Andrea reached out to pick up the wand that lay beside Minerva. Her fingers tingled. She dropped it as it burned her hand.
At that moment, the door swung open, and Professor Dumbledore entered.
'Oh, Remus, good. And Andrea.' His eyes flickered around the room. 'Is Minerva all right?'
Remus and Andrea looked at each other. 'No.'
Moving more quickly than would have been expected from such an old man, Professor Dumbledore crossed the room and knelt down. The students watched raptly.
'It's the wand,' he said almost at once. Andrea nodded. She could feel it now, draining Minerva of her strength. He picked it up, and winced as it burned in his hand, but did not drop it. Instead, he held it very firmly, and spoke words than Andrea did not understand. With hyper-sensitive fingers, she could tell that it had stopped harming Minerva. She let out a sigh of relief.
Her eyes still fixed to her mentor's face, she said, 'She won't get any worse now. But I think the students should leave.'
Dumbledore nodded, and Andrea could hear Remus speaking calmly to the class. As they left the room, two more people came in.
'What's going on?' demanded the terse voice of Severus Snape. Andrea raised her head, and saw him staring accusingly at Remus. She half-heard his hurried explanations. Behind Snape another woman entered, whom she recognised as the matron. She hurried over to where Dumbledore stood.
'Oh, Dr Wood, you're already here. Good. Will she be all right?'
Andrea's hands were moving in a shielding spell around Minerva, and she did not speak for a moment. Madam Pomfrey watched in amazement, beginning to understand why such a young woman was head of the Halls of Healing.
Andrea finished the spell, and said, 'She won't get any worse now. But I don't know…' her voice trailed off.
'Why don't you bring her up to the Infirmary?' suggested Madam Pomfrey.
'Yes, right.' Eager to be of use, Madam Pomfrey conjured a stretcher, and helped Andrea lift the woman onto it. Professor Dumbledore had been watching them intently. Now he bent down and rested a hand on Minerva's forehead. A look of concern crossed his face, but he said nothing.
'What about Hogwarts?' asked Snape with a fleeting glance at Minerva's face. 'The defences …?'
'They're fine. I repaired them first of all, that's why Remus and Andrea got here before me.'
Andrea lifted the stretcher with a wave of her wand. 'Well, we'd best get to the Infirmary.' She had no hesitation in taking control in a medical emergency, despite her normal shyness. Madam Pomfrey led her up through the castle, leaving the others standing talking in the classroom. In a few words, Andrea explained to her what had happened.
'But … how could You-Know-Who have channelled an attack through her wand?' gasped Madam Pomfrey. 'That's impossible.'
'Evidently not.' Andrea was still running through the lengthy pharmacopoeia she held in her mind, searching for something that would help Minerva, but she came up with no answer.
'In here,' said Madam Pomfrey, still sounding flustered. She led Andrea and the stretcher into the quiet Infirmary. 'There's a side room where she can go. It's shielded from Black Magic.'
'Good.' Andrea looked appraisingly at the shielding spells. 'She'll be all right in here, I think. You've done a good job.'
Madam Pomfrey looked pleased. The inner room was small and dimly lit. Carefully, Andrea moved Minerva from the stretcher to the bed, and made her as comfortable as she could. Madam Pomfrey bustled about straightening the furniture and clearing off the shelf by the door.
'Is there anything you'll need?' she asked when she was done. Andrea hesitated. She had no real idea of what to do for Minerva.
'No, I can summon whatever I want from the Halls.'
'Well, there's a still-room through there where you can mix things up, and my stores, if you do need something.' A bell rang outside. 'Excuse me.' She bustled away to see who was there, leaving Andrea with Minerva.
She lay on the bed utterly still and her face was white. Andrea winced a little at the expression of horror her face was wearing. How, how could the Dark Lord have attacked her? She who was one of the most powerful witches around? Andrea forced herself to concentrate. She reached out and felt for the aura around Minerva. With careful movements of her hands, she began to strengthen it.
After almost an hour of intense concentration and effort, the aura around Minerva was strong enough for her to leave her alone. Andrea had no idea what else to do. It was some kind of curse or intensely powerful hex that had left her in a coma, and none of the standard methods for lifting curses had taken any effect.
Dumbledore came in quietly.
'How is she?'
Andrea looked up hopefully. Perhaps he would have a solution. 'No better, but no worse,' she said.
With a heavy step, Dumbledore went to look at her. He laid a wrinkled hand on her forehead, and murmured something. Minerva did not respond. He sighed.
'If there's anything that can be done for her, I don't know what it is.'
Andrea drew in her breath sharply. If even Professor Dumbledore didn't know what could be done, what hope was there that she would be able to cure her?
'Still, there's always hope,' he continued. 'The curse may wear off, or perhaps we'll think of something. But I don't think it would be wise for you to take her up to the Halls, if you were considering it. Here is safest from further attack.'
'Yes, of course.'
'You've done a good job on her aura,' he observed. 'We're lucky you were here.'
Andrea said nothing for a moment as she straightened the sheets. 'What was Vol - Voldemort doing with her wand?' she asked after a moment, stuttering nervously over the name.
'It was a powerful Dark Curse. He channelled it through her wand, somehow. It's safe now, I've cancelled the spell he used, but it wasn't easy. She should be able to use her wand as normal when she recovers, though.'
'When she recovers,' Andrea thought. More like 'if.'
'Good,' she said aloud.
'Until then I'll have to do something about her classes, I suppose. And Gryffindor. Hmm…' He looked pensively at Andrea for a moment, and then smiled. 'Well, if you've finished here you may as well go and help Remus and the others with the Achilles Project. Irene tells me you were nearly there when Voldemort chose to interfere. They'll need your help. Poppy will keep an eye on Minerva.'
'Right.' With a final glance at Minerva, Andrea left the room.
Up in the tower, she found Lady Irene and William Prewett trying to salvage what they could of the spell. As soon as she entered, they both asked, 'What happened?'
Andrea took a deep breath, and began to explain. As she spoke, a look of horror crossed both faces. When she came to the end, they were silent.
'Will she be all right?' asked William slowly.
'I hope so.' Andrea looked around at the shattered glass that was neatly swept into a pile, and at the debris from the spell. 'Do you think it was because of us that he attacked now?'
Lady Irene's eyes narrowed a little. 'I imagine so. We were getting very close. I think that was intended to be a distraction for us. It certainly worked.' She looked at Andrea's face. 'But don't fall into the trap of blaming yourself for Minerva's attack,' she added. 'We were all doing our best.'
William had picked up one of the charts. 'Actually, I don't think we've lost that much. Look at this.' He brandished the chart under their noses.
Lady Irene nodded slowly. 'That's good.' Andrea couldn't quite see what they were interested in, and she said as much.
'Oh, but look here.' William pointed with the tip of his wand at the chart. 'That's the trace Voldemort left on the magical fields. And look at this.' Andrea nodded. 'You see?'
'So… we can use it to find out where he came from?'
'That's right. Black will find this interesting – you know that he's working on the exact location of Voldemort's stronghold. It's not what we were intending to do, but it's certainly useful.'
The door opened, and Remus came in. He looked unexpectedly cheerful.
'Dumbledore's asked me to cover Minerva's classes until she's better,' he said.
They all turned to look at him. 'Oh … that's good,' said Lady Irene, working a spell to clear up the glass.
'Transfiguration? I didn't think that was your area?' asked William thoughtfully.
'No, it's not. But I can probably cope with school work anyway.' He smiled to himself. 'I've done a fair bit of Transfiguration in the past.' He met Andrea's eye. 'How is Minerva? Dumbledore only told me that she won't be better for a while.'
Andrea gave a sigh. 'No, I don't imagine she'll recover for some time. The curse is very unusual, and equally strong. It's amazing she survived at all.'
Remus' expression was serious, but he said nothing.
'Well, we may as well see what we can get done,' said William at length. They all took up their wands and began to discuss the problem facing them.
~
In the evening, Andrea was swamped with enquires after Minerva. A number of the students had recognised her as the Healer, and she was approached by at least twenty different people about the attack. Finally she fled back to the Infirmary to escape their worried faces and probing questions. Madam Pomfrey was thankfully occupied elsewhere, and Andrea was alone in the little room where Minerva lay. She paced up and down, her mind racing around in circles. But she could think of nothing to do, and after a while she returned to her room to try and sleep.
When she awoke, she was sure that she had known the solution, in her dream. But as soon as she opened her eyes, the half-remembered dream melted away like snow in the sun. She sighed heavily. It would come back. If there had been anything at all. She looked around at the room miserably, and pulled on her riding cloak. Perhaps it would help if she went out into the fresh air.
Riding Altair cheered Andrea up immensely. As they soared above the amazed students practicing Quidditch on the pitch, and rose above the Forest, she felt much better, although it was a chilly day and the wind bit into her cloak. It was with reluctance that she returned to the school and left Altair to his own devices.
She climbed the stairs to the Infirmary. Madam Pomfrey greeted her as she entered.
'Have you had any further thoughts about Minerva?'
Slowly, Andrea shook her head.
'Well, never mind,' said Madam Pomfrey, but her face showed her disappointment. 'It'll come to you, I'm sure. I was looking in my textbooks last night, but there isn't anything about this type of attack.'
'No, there wouldn't be,' replied Andrea. 'It's almost unknown. I can't think of any other recorded incident, at least in peace-time, when anybody was attacked with their own wand.' She opened the door to Minerva's room.
There was no perceptible change since last night. Andrea sat on the side of her bed and stared into her still face, wondering what the answer might be. She ran through all the routine checks again, but nothing was different. There was no clue to be found here.
~
In the corridor as she went downstairs too early for supper, a gaggle of young girls stopped her.
'Please, Dr Wood, can you tell us when Professor McGonagall's going to be better?' asked one.
Andrea frowned. 'I'm afraid I can't discuss it,' she said. 'It's confidential medical information, and I'm not permitted to talk about such things.' Her tone was final, and they dared not question her further as her eyes flashed with irritation.
She went into Minerva's classroom, wondering if there was anything to be found there. Remus was sitting behind the desk, correcting a heap of papers with tired eyes.
'Oh, Andrea,' he said, looking up startled. 'Good to see you. How's Minerva?'
'Don't ask,' sighed Andrea. 'The entire school is pestering me about her. She's no better, and I don't know what to do.' She looked around the room as if hoping for the solution to be written on the wall. Remus looked sympathetic.
'I thought I knew – I had a dream and I was sure of the answer, but then I woke up. And I can't remember it.' She paced over to the window restlessly. 'It's driving me crazy. I feel so useless, looking at her, and I can't think what I can do…'
Remus got up wearily and joined her at the window.
'It'll come back to you, try not to worry about it.' He leaned on the ledge with a sigh. Andrea looked at him and bit her lip.
'Oh, Remus, I'm sorry,' she said miserably. 'Here you are worn out, and all I can do is moan about my troubles.' She was no good as a Healer, she thought. First Minerva, and now Remus, she couldn't seem to get anything right today. She flicked her wand, and a chair appeared behind him.
'Sit down.' He was only too glad to obey. 'You really shouldn't be working so hard.'
'Oh, I'm all right,' he protested, pale-faced. 'And I love the teaching already. It's wonderful.' His eyes became animated.
Andrea smiled. She was beginning to forget what Remus was when she talked to him, and when she remembered, it was less of a jolt. It surprised her that she could get used to him so quickly.
She looked around the classroom again. Minerva's wand still lay on the desk, and she winced a little. Surely, surely she would be able to remember what she had thought of. It was the only hope. But what if there was nothing to remember? As if he had read her mind, Remus said, 'It'll be all right, Andrea. Don't worry.'
Andrea looked at him unconvinced.
~
Remus cleared away a sheaf of papers and began to prepare his lessons for tomorrow. Today was his sixth day of teaching, and he still loved it, even the tedious marking. But his sixth day of teaching also meant the sixth day since Professor McGonagall had been attacked, he told himself. Still there was no change; she was sunk in a deep coma. Remus turned the pages of a book with a frown. After a while he sat back and looked out the window at the distant hills, smiling to himself. He did not hear the door open.
'Dumbledore told me I'd find you here.' Sirius Black strode into the room, seeming to fill it. 'Hard at work, I see.'
'Oh – Sirius – what are you doing here?' His reverie broken, he looked at his friend.
'League business. I'm getting closer to Voldemort's headquarters. I hear you've had troubles here. Is it true that Voldemort attacked McGonagall last Tuesday, and she's in a coma?'
'Yes, it's true. It's not been easy these past few days. But Andrea's taking care of her, and I'm sure it will be all right.'
'Andrea?'
'Dr Wood. The new member of the League, you know. She's staying here as well, and she's a brilliant Healer.'
'Oh, yes, I remember.' He looked at Remus with narrowed eyes. 'And a rather pretty one too.'
Remus said nothing, but his face betrayed him.
'Don't you think so, Remus?'
He looked at the books in confusion. Finally he said, 'Oh God, yes, of course, you're right, Sirius. But what can I do? She'd never want to have anything to do with a werewolf, and I don't blame her.'
For a moment, Sirius looked as if he didn't quite know what to say. Then he sat on the side of Remus' desk, sending papers flying.
'Don't be silly. Any woman would be lucky to catch you.' He waved his arms expansively, trying to make Remus smile. 'What more could she want?'
Remus only sighed. 'A lot. Someone she doesn't have to hide from once a month, someone who can get a normal job and take care of her, someone – anyone – who isn't a werewolf.' He shook his head. 'Anyway, I'll be all right, I guess.'
Sirius grinned. 'You'll be more than all right, Moony, believe me. Hey, does this Potion thing mean that we won't be going on any more midnight adventures?'
'We haven't exactly had much time for them recently anyway. Not with James so wrapped up with his Lily.' A wistful look crossed his face. 'Lucky James.'
'Well, they were made for each other.' Sirius smiled appreciatively. 'Why don't you come down for supper? There's no sense sitting here staring out the window. I'm starving.'
'Right.' Remus followed Sirius from the room.
Around the High Table, the emptiness where Minerva usually sat on Dumbledore's right was still felt. Sirius winked at Remus and steered him towards a seat opposite Andrea. He took the chair beside Remus.
'Evening,' he said, not to anyone in particular.
'Hello,' replied Andrea. 'Sirius Black, isn't it? You're not one of the faculty as well, are you?'
'God, no. I'm here on business for the League. I'd be useless as a teacher. Not like Remus here.'
'Hmm, yes, are you still enjoying it, then?' she said, turning to Remus. Sirius smiled to himself.
'Definitely. I don't know when I've liked any work so much. It's a shame it's under such circumstances.' His eye fell on Minerva's chair.
Andrea sighed. 'I tell you, Remus, I still haven't a clue what I can do for her. Last night was the same as well, I thought I knew, and then I didn't. It's going to drive me crazy. And then I worry that I'm just imagining it, and there's no cure.' She took a deep breath. 'Still, perhaps time will sort it out. I shouldn't worry you with these things.'
She picked at her supper, and Remus took the opportunity to look at her. There was a weary expression on her face, and her white cloak was askew.
'It's silly of me to talk about my work so much,' she said. 'What kind of League business brings you here, then?' She looked back at Sirius. 'William Prewett had a few things we found from the Achilles Project he thought you should know. Did he ever mention them to you?'
Remus listened to the sound of her voice as she talked to Sirius, and to the other people around them, about the League and Hogwarts and the news of the latest attack on the French Bureau Magique. The meal was over all too quickly, and everyone rose and left in different directions.
~
Andrea went up to the Infirmary. In the side ward, all was very still. Even the slow rise and fall of the blankets over Minerva was barely noticeable. Andrea too was still, standing at the window staring into the empty sky, grey with cloud. She had tried everything, tried it over and over again. Nothing worked. Not even Dumbledore knew what could be done for her. He had identified the curse she had been put under, but that was no help. She didn't even have to look at Minerva's pallid face, she saw it in her mind all day long. And she knew of nothing she could do.
TO BE CONTINUED…
The next part will be called 'Flower of Venus.' Hopefully it'll be finished soon.
Blaise.
2nd March 2000