Quidditch Finals
A/N: First chapter was WHERE. Second chapter was WHO. Third chapter was WHAT. This chapter is HOW. This is the longest chapter so far, and the one which no one expected.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Harry Potter characters, Harry Potter objects, Harry Potter actions, Harry Potter ideas, yadda yadda. Anything you recognize here belongs to her highness J.K. Rowling so don't sue. Pretty please?
Chapter 4: Infirmary
Harry woke up, feeling nauseous. All he could see was white. He waited for it to clear up, but he fell asleep before it did.
A few hours later, he woke up again, in a different bed in the hospital wing. Slowly he turned his head, and saw another bed shrouded in a white mist -- apparently what he had been in before. Harry could barely move his arms and head, and his legs not at all.
Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "Sleep, sleep! You need your rest." Harry saw a small glint of worry in her eyes, and was instantly terrified. Through all of his strange injuries, she had been her busy, impersonal self. If she was even slightly worried, Harry must have very little hope. But for having small chances, he felt alright. Just -- deadened, floaty, dull: not quite there. Harry relaxed a little.
Madam Pomfrey waved a flower under his nose. He started to fall asleep. "Wait!" he cried. "What happened to me?"
"You broke your back, neck, and leg. You'll be alright." But Harry noticed she said that rather half-heartedly. He fell asleep.
~ * ~ * ~
Talk filtered through the halls. Tension had flooded people's minds like a river after a rainstorm. Students whispered in the dormitories, hallways, and classrooms: "Harry Potter?" "He broke his neck!" "Again?" "No, not again! He's NEVER been hurt this bad!"
The Slytherins were beside themselves with glee. Draco Malfoy was telling anyone who'd listen (just Pansy Parkinson) that he knew that Harry Potter would eventually come to this. (Parvati had broken up with him when the jerk started laughing about how Harry looked, lying on the ground.)
The whole school was buzzing. Famous Harry Potter -- crippled.
Famous Harry Potter lay in the hospital wing, day after day. Madam Pomfrey tried potion after potion, she tried spell after spell, trying, to no avail, to fix his back. She had struggled to mend his neck while he was unconscious, and the leg was easy, but Harry back just wouldn't heal. Pretty soon Harry lost hope. He thought he would never move his legs again. But his nurse would not give up that easily.
Everyone Harry knew visited him twice a week, often more. Hermione and Ron saw him twice a day, and they would have come more often, but Madam Pomfrey would not have it. "How can you expect this boy to heal if he can rest? Now, OUT!"
Over Harry's month's imprisonment in the hospital wing, Ron and Hermione became quite close. Worried, friendly meetings in Hogsmeade turned into romantic dates. Harry knew nothing of this.
McGonagal announced in class that there was another Hogsmeade trip coming up. "And I hope you all have successfully transfigured a stone into an ice creme cone before you go! This will count in your exams! Dean Thomas, see me after class. Your cone is rock solid and would break the teeth of any person foolish enough to try and eat it."
Hermione had no intention of going, of course. Her ice cream cone had a small chip, and she needed to fix it. But Ron met her outside the classroom, and kissed her lightly on the cheek, and she just dissolved.
"Are you going to Hogsmeade, Hermione?" he asked. He smiled. How she loved that smile! It was the same as the cocky grin, but somehow the wild-haired red-head always made it to suit the occasion.
"Oh, alright, Ron," she sighed. "Let's go see Harry, then stop by the library. I do believe you need to work on your Panpot Charm ..."
He laughed. The Panpot Charm turned iron cooking utensils into gold, and five seconds later, back again with a bang -- a completely useless spell.
Hand in hand, Ron and Hermione walked up to the hospital wing to see Harry.
~ * ~ * ~
An owl swooped into Sirius's cave, dropped a letter, and swooped out. He grabbed it and tore open the envelope with his teeth. Under the Hogwarts crest, a note read:
"Dear Sirius,
"I hope all goes well with you and Buckbeak. I am fine, though Fawkes has a small pimple ... I think the second week after rebirth is always the hardest ...
"Harry still remains no worse, and also no better. Minerva McGonagal and I have created a contraptiony thingamabob and would like you to come to Hogwarts to sort out some details.
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus,
Dumbledore."
Sirius snorted. Buckbeak looked up from his rabbit carcass. Dumbledore wanted him to come to "sort out some details." The Azkaban escapee knew perfectly well that Dumbledore had the "contraptiony thingamabob" totally finished and ready for Harry's use. He just wanted Sirius to be there to see it, and for Harry's moral support. So five minutes later, a big, friendly black dog snuck under a trapdoor in the cellar of Honeydukes.
Albus Dumbledore met Sirius in the Great Hall. Three Ravenclaw second years would wonder about their Headmaster's pet's sudden appearance and disappearance for a while, but no one else was present. In Dumbledore's office, Sirius saw that several of the portraits of past Headmasters looked rather irritated.
"The haven't been getting much sleep. I've been working on this." He handed Harry's godfather what looked like just a jumble of steel rods and leather straps, but when straightened out, looked like they could hold a pair of legs. "They stretch to any size," Dumbledore went on. "They respond to your mind, like real legs. You can walk, sit, climb stairs or ladders, lie down -- they are very flexible, but not fast."
"Well, still better than being paralyzed in the hospital wing. Could he grip a broomstick with these?"
Silence. Sirius turned to look at Dumbledore. There was no happy twinkle in his eyes. "No," he said slowly. "Unless he gets a miracle, Harry will never fly again."
A/N: First chapter was WHERE. Second chapter was WHO. Third chapter was WHAT. This chapter is HOW. This is the longest chapter so far, and the one which no one expected.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Harry Potter characters, Harry Potter objects, Harry Potter actions, Harry Potter ideas, yadda yadda. Anything you recognize here belongs to her highness J.K. Rowling so don't sue. Pretty please?
Chapter 4: Infirmary
Harry woke up, feeling nauseous. All he could see was white. He waited for it to clear up, but he fell asleep before it did.
A few hours later, he woke up again, in a different bed in the hospital wing. Slowly he turned his head, and saw another bed shrouded in a white mist -- apparently what he had been in before. Harry could barely move his arms and head, and his legs not at all.
Madam Pomfrey bustled over. "Sleep, sleep! You need your rest." Harry saw a small glint of worry in her eyes, and was instantly terrified. Through all of his strange injuries, she had been her busy, impersonal self. If she was even slightly worried, Harry must have very little hope. But for having small chances, he felt alright. Just -- deadened, floaty, dull: not quite there. Harry relaxed a little.
Madam Pomfrey waved a flower under his nose. He started to fall asleep. "Wait!" he cried. "What happened to me?"
"You broke your back, neck, and leg. You'll be alright." But Harry noticed she said that rather half-heartedly. He fell asleep.
~ * ~ * ~
Talk filtered through the halls. Tension had flooded people's minds like a river after a rainstorm. Students whispered in the dormitories, hallways, and classrooms: "Harry Potter?" "He broke his neck!" "Again?" "No, not again! He's NEVER been hurt this bad!"
The Slytherins were beside themselves with glee. Draco Malfoy was telling anyone who'd listen (just Pansy Parkinson) that he knew that Harry Potter would eventually come to this. (Parvati had broken up with him when the jerk started laughing about how Harry looked, lying on the ground.)
The whole school was buzzing. Famous Harry Potter -- crippled.
Famous Harry Potter lay in the hospital wing, day after day. Madam Pomfrey tried potion after potion, she tried spell after spell, trying, to no avail, to fix his back. She had struggled to mend his neck while he was unconscious, and the leg was easy, but Harry back just wouldn't heal. Pretty soon Harry lost hope. He thought he would never move his legs again. But his nurse would not give up that easily.
Everyone Harry knew visited him twice a week, often more. Hermione and Ron saw him twice a day, and they would have come more often, but Madam Pomfrey would not have it. "How can you expect this boy to heal if he can rest? Now, OUT!"
Over Harry's month's imprisonment in the hospital wing, Ron and Hermione became quite close. Worried, friendly meetings in Hogsmeade turned into romantic dates. Harry knew nothing of this.
McGonagal announced in class that there was another Hogsmeade trip coming up. "And I hope you all have successfully transfigured a stone into an ice creme cone before you go! This will count in your exams! Dean Thomas, see me after class. Your cone is rock solid and would break the teeth of any person foolish enough to try and eat it."
Hermione had no intention of going, of course. Her ice cream cone had a small chip, and she needed to fix it. But Ron met her outside the classroom, and kissed her lightly on the cheek, and she just dissolved.
"Are you going to Hogsmeade, Hermione?" he asked. He smiled. How she loved that smile! It was the same as the cocky grin, but somehow the wild-haired red-head always made it to suit the occasion.
"Oh, alright, Ron," she sighed. "Let's go see Harry, then stop by the library. I do believe you need to work on your Panpot Charm ..."
He laughed. The Panpot Charm turned iron cooking utensils into gold, and five seconds later, back again with a bang -- a completely useless spell.
Hand in hand, Ron and Hermione walked up to the hospital wing to see Harry.
~ * ~ * ~
An owl swooped into Sirius's cave, dropped a letter, and swooped out. He grabbed it and tore open the envelope with his teeth. Under the Hogwarts crest, a note read:
"Dear Sirius,
"I hope all goes well with you and Buckbeak. I am fine, though Fawkes has a small pimple ... I think the second week after rebirth is always the hardest ...
"Harry still remains no worse, and also no better. Minerva McGonagal and I have created a contraptiony thingamabob and would like you to come to Hogwarts to sort out some details.
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus,
Dumbledore."
Sirius snorted. Buckbeak looked up from his rabbit carcass. Dumbledore wanted him to come to "sort out some details." The Azkaban escapee knew perfectly well that Dumbledore had the "contraptiony thingamabob" totally finished and ready for Harry's use. He just wanted Sirius to be there to see it, and for Harry's moral support. So five minutes later, a big, friendly black dog snuck under a trapdoor in the cellar of Honeydukes.
Albus Dumbledore met Sirius in the Great Hall. Three Ravenclaw second years would wonder about their Headmaster's pet's sudden appearance and disappearance for a while, but no one else was present. In Dumbledore's office, Sirius saw that several of the portraits of past Headmasters looked rather irritated.
"The haven't been getting much sleep. I've been working on this." He handed Harry's godfather what looked like just a jumble of steel rods and leather straps, but when straightened out, looked like they could hold a pair of legs. "They stretch to any size," Dumbledore went on. "They respond to your mind, like real legs. You can walk, sit, climb stairs or ladders, lie down -- they are very flexible, but not fast."
"Well, still better than being paralyzed in the hospital wing. Could he grip a broomstick with these?"
Silence. Sirius turned to look at Dumbledore. There was no happy twinkle in his eyes. "No," he said slowly. "Unless he gets a miracle, Harry will never fly again."
