14.
"Who was attacked?" Snape demanded.
"Justin Finch-Fletchley and nearly headless Nick." Professor McGonagall replied, too harassed to call the ghost by his proper name.
"They're both Petrified?" Snape asked, already knowing the answer.
Professor McGonagall nodded.
Snape groaned.
"Bloody awful timing!" he exclaimed irritably under his breath. As if he didn't have enough to deal with at the moment.
"Sorry?" said Professor McGonagall, looking surprised.
"Nothing."
*
It was midday before Snape had the opportunity to tell Dumbledore what he had discovered about Vivian's curse. He found the headmaster gazing out the window with his back to the door.
"Sit down, Severus. I hope you're feeling better." He said, without turning round. Snape seated himself in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"You've found out something about the curse?" Dumbledore asked after a pause, turning to face Snape.
"It's Malus Infinitas." Snape said flatly.
Dumbledore gave him a sudden piercing look.
"Claudia's curse?" he asked. Snape nodded.
"She shouldn't be alive." He said, "You know what Claudia was capable of."
Dumbledore seemed lost in thought for a moment. At last he said
"Does Vivian know?" Snape shook his head.
"I'm not the person to tell her." He said, "Anyway, I didn't want to alarm her."
Dumbledore nodded.
"I don't think we should tell her just yet." He said. "But she must know soon..."
Snape returned to the matter in hand.
"The situation makes no sense." He said. "The girl should have died." Dumbledore said thoughtfully:
"So there must have been something different in how the curse was inflicted-"
"-or something different about the victim." Snape finished. "I don't know what to do next." He continued, "We're dealing with the impossible." He felt a wave of hopelessness sweep over him. Only with Dumbledore could he show how baffled and discouraged he really was.
"Our very existence is impossible, Severus." Dumbledore said. "But in this instance I think the solution may lie in Vivian herself. She's a talented girl by all accounts, very gifted. Her parents, after all, were exceptional. There may be a clue there...but at the moment the best course is to send a sample of her blood - I presume you took a sample? - " Snape nodded "-to St Mungo's as soon as possible. And the best thing you can do is to go upstairs, have a hot bath and go to bed. You're obviously exhausted, and there's nothing more you can do whilst you're recovering from that curse. Nasty business, by the way."
Snape nodded.
"I'll live." He said. He wondered whether to tell Dumbledore his suspicion about who was really to blame, but decided not to. He had no proof after all, and there was no guarantee he would be believed.
"I'll send the sample of her blood to St Mungo's tomorrow," he said. Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"They'll tell us what we need to know." He said. He gestured to a paper, which lay on his desk. It was Vivian's admission paper to Hogwarts.
"Curious that Miss Leroux's middle name should be Estella," he mused, with a whimsical smile, "rather suggestive, wouldn't you think? I wonder...She has power...yes...if she had been damaged..."
"What is it?" Snape asked. Dumbledore shook his head.
"Just a thought." He said. "'A star danced when I was born.'" He added softly.
*
Vivian, lying upstairs in bed, had little to do but wonder about what was wrong with her, what Snape was planning on doing next. Tomorrow she would be allowed to get up, no doubt Snape would be especially nasty to her in lessons, but she had a feeling he might use other ways to get his own back as well. It would be like him, she thought. Well she would just have to be on the look out. After all, it was only a few days until the Christmas holidays, maybe by next term Snape would have forgotten about it.
About an hour later, Harriet and Diana came in, chattering about the recent attack. With them was Hermione Granger, who they said had asked to come and see Vivian to see how she was.
Harriet and Diana sat on one of the beds, talking between themselves, whilst Hermione went over to Vivian's bed.
"How are you?" she asked curiously. "I would have come before, but I've been so busy lately..." Vivian wasn't to know Hermione was busy preparing a polyjuice potion to get inside the Slytherin common room, if she had she would have been very interested.
"I'm fine," Vivian said, "actually I can get up tomorrow."
"Won't you have missed lots of work?" Hermione asked.
"No, Diana's been bringing me her work, so I have all the notes on what I'm supposed to have studied. She thought I was mad..."
Hermione smiled.
"Just sensible." She said.
"I suppose you know all about those rumours, then?" Vivian said, feeling faintly curious. Everyone was talking about Harry Potter's newly discovered ability to speak Parseltongue, everyone was saying he was the heir of Slytherin, especially after the recent attack on Justin and nearly headless Nick; Vivian didn't think it was at all likely, but she seemed in a minority.
At Vivian's words Hermione looked suddenly serious.
"People are so stupid!" she exclaimed, "As if Harry could possibly be Slytherin's heir! It's ridiculous!"
Vivian nodded.
"I didn't think he was." She said, "He just doesn't seem convincing as an evil psychopath."
"Well I'm glad someone thinks so!" Hermione said. "As if Harry hasn't had enough to deal with!" with an effort she changed the subject. "But what happened with Marcus Fowler? I heard Professor McGonagall say something about it, but no one in Griffindor knows why he was suspended. "
Vivian wondered whether to tell Hermione what had really happened, and decided she didn't dare.
"He cursed Snape." She said, "I can't say I blame him, myself."
Hermione nodded, but her face was serious.
"I know Snape's a nightmare, but I think Marcus must have done something awful, everyone's being so secretive about it. Snape is a teacher, after all. You can't just go around cursing teachers because you feel like it."
"Or even because they deserve it." Vivian added. "You're probably right though."
There was a pause. Vivian was feeling rather uncomfortable. What would Hermione say if she knew who had really cursed Snape?
"I thought you might need some light reading, so I got you this from the library." Hermione said, after a short pause, producing a book from her bag. "Seeing as you've got that strange curse of yours and all..."
Vivian looked at her sharply.
"How did you find out?" she asked.
"It's obvious really," Hermione said airily, "I mean you've obviously got something wrong with you, everyone knows you've been ill. Well your father was a brilliant auror, so that suggests a curse, if he was dealing with You-Know-Who's supporters. And there's your skin - I've never seen anyone as pale as you, ever."
"Neither have the Slytherins, apparently." Vivian replied. "They've been calling me "Paperface" since I got here!"
"You've just got to ignore them." Hermione said sympathetically. "They're probably just jealous. They've had it in for Harry since he came here, but you've just got to ignore it. That's why I first got the book out actually, I thought there might be something in it about his curse or why he survived or something."
A bell rung somewhere in the castle and Hermione looked at her watch.
"I'd better go." Hermione said, "Merry Christmas! Have a good holiday if I don't see you." Vivian, like almost everyone else at Hogwarts, was going home for Christmas.
"You too." Vivian said, "Merry Christmas!"
As Hermione left, she turned over the book she had left. On the cover were the words: "So you've survived a curse - what now?"
Absently she opened the book, and found herself staring at a picture of her mother.
"Who was attacked?" Snape demanded.
"Justin Finch-Fletchley and nearly headless Nick." Professor McGonagall replied, too harassed to call the ghost by his proper name.
"They're both Petrified?" Snape asked, already knowing the answer.
Professor McGonagall nodded.
Snape groaned.
"Bloody awful timing!" he exclaimed irritably under his breath. As if he didn't have enough to deal with at the moment.
"Sorry?" said Professor McGonagall, looking surprised.
"Nothing."
*
It was midday before Snape had the opportunity to tell Dumbledore what he had discovered about Vivian's curse. He found the headmaster gazing out the window with his back to the door.
"Sit down, Severus. I hope you're feeling better." He said, without turning round. Snape seated himself in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"You've found out something about the curse?" Dumbledore asked after a pause, turning to face Snape.
"It's Malus Infinitas." Snape said flatly.
Dumbledore gave him a sudden piercing look.
"Claudia's curse?" he asked. Snape nodded.
"She shouldn't be alive." He said, "You know what Claudia was capable of."
Dumbledore seemed lost in thought for a moment. At last he said
"Does Vivian know?" Snape shook his head.
"I'm not the person to tell her." He said, "Anyway, I didn't want to alarm her."
Dumbledore nodded.
"I don't think we should tell her just yet." He said. "But she must know soon..."
Snape returned to the matter in hand.
"The situation makes no sense." He said. "The girl should have died." Dumbledore said thoughtfully:
"So there must have been something different in how the curse was inflicted-"
"-or something different about the victim." Snape finished. "I don't know what to do next." He continued, "We're dealing with the impossible." He felt a wave of hopelessness sweep over him. Only with Dumbledore could he show how baffled and discouraged he really was.
"Our very existence is impossible, Severus." Dumbledore said. "But in this instance I think the solution may lie in Vivian herself. She's a talented girl by all accounts, very gifted. Her parents, after all, were exceptional. There may be a clue there...but at the moment the best course is to send a sample of her blood - I presume you took a sample? - " Snape nodded "-to St Mungo's as soon as possible. And the best thing you can do is to go upstairs, have a hot bath and go to bed. You're obviously exhausted, and there's nothing more you can do whilst you're recovering from that curse. Nasty business, by the way."
Snape nodded.
"I'll live." He said. He wondered whether to tell Dumbledore his suspicion about who was really to blame, but decided not to. He had no proof after all, and there was no guarantee he would be believed.
"I'll send the sample of her blood to St Mungo's tomorrow," he said. Dumbledore nodded approvingly.
"They'll tell us what we need to know." He said. He gestured to a paper, which lay on his desk. It was Vivian's admission paper to Hogwarts.
"Curious that Miss Leroux's middle name should be Estella," he mused, with a whimsical smile, "rather suggestive, wouldn't you think? I wonder...She has power...yes...if she had been damaged..."
"What is it?" Snape asked. Dumbledore shook his head.
"Just a thought." He said. "'A star danced when I was born.'" He added softly.
*
Vivian, lying upstairs in bed, had little to do but wonder about what was wrong with her, what Snape was planning on doing next. Tomorrow she would be allowed to get up, no doubt Snape would be especially nasty to her in lessons, but she had a feeling he might use other ways to get his own back as well. It would be like him, she thought. Well she would just have to be on the look out. After all, it was only a few days until the Christmas holidays, maybe by next term Snape would have forgotten about it.
About an hour later, Harriet and Diana came in, chattering about the recent attack. With them was Hermione Granger, who they said had asked to come and see Vivian to see how she was.
Harriet and Diana sat on one of the beds, talking between themselves, whilst Hermione went over to Vivian's bed.
"How are you?" she asked curiously. "I would have come before, but I've been so busy lately..." Vivian wasn't to know Hermione was busy preparing a polyjuice potion to get inside the Slytherin common room, if she had she would have been very interested.
"I'm fine," Vivian said, "actually I can get up tomorrow."
"Won't you have missed lots of work?" Hermione asked.
"No, Diana's been bringing me her work, so I have all the notes on what I'm supposed to have studied. She thought I was mad..."
Hermione smiled.
"Just sensible." She said.
"I suppose you know all about those rumours, then?" Vivian said, feeling faintly curious. Everyone was talking about Harry Potter's newly discovered ability to speak Parseltongue, everyone was saying he was the heir of Slytherin, especially after the recent attack on Justin and nearly headless Nick; Vivian didn't think it was at all likely, but she seemed in a minority.
At Vivian's words Hermione looked suddenly serious.
"People are so stupid!" she exclaimed, "As if Harry could possibly be Slytherin's heir! It's ridiculous!"
Vivian nodded.
"I didn't think he was." She said, "He just doesn't seem convincing as an evil psychopath."
"Well I'm glad someone thinks so!" Hermione said. "As if Harry hasn't had enough to deal with!" with an effort she changed the subject. "But what happened with Marcus Fowler? I heard Professor McGonagall say something about it, but no one in Griffindor knows why he was suspended. "
Vivian wondered whether to tell Hermione what had really happened, and decided she didn't dare.
"He cursed Snape." She said, "I can't say I blame him, myself."
Hermione nodded, but her face was serious.
"I know Snape's a nightmare, but I think Marcus must have done something awful, everyone's being so secretive about it. Snape is a teacher, after all. You can't just go around cursing teachers because you feel like it."
"Or even because they deserve it." Vivian added. "You're probably right though."
There was a pause. Vivian was feeling rather uncomfortable. What would Hermione say if she knew who had really cursed Snape?
"I thought you might need some light reading, so I got you this from the library." Hermione said, after a short pause, producing a book from her bag. "Seeing as you've got that strange curse of yours and all..."
Vivian looked at her sharply.
"How did you find out?" she asked.
"It's obvious really," Hermione said airily, "I mean you've obviously got something wrong with you, everyone knows you've been ill. Well your father was a brilliant auror, so that suggests a curse, if he was dealing with You-Know-Who's supporters. And there's your skin - I've never seen anyone as pale as you, ever."
"Neither have the Slytherins, apparently." Vivian replied. "They've been calling me "Paperface" since I got here!"
"You've just got to ignore them." Hermione said sympathetically. "They're probably just jealous. They've had it in for Harry since he came here, but you've just got to ignore it. That's why I first got the book out actually, I thought there might be something in it about his curse or why he survived or something."
A bell rung somewhere in the castle and Hermione looked at her watch.
"I'd better go." Hermione said, "Merry Christmas! Have a good holiday if I don't see you." Vivian, like almost everyone else at Hogwarts, was going home for Christmas.
"You too." Vivian said, "Merry Christmas!"
As Hermione left, she turned over the book she had left. On the cover were the words: "So you've survived a curse - what now?"
Absently she opened the book, and found herself staring at a picture of her mother.