Harry Potter and the Joke that Killed: Chapter Eight
A/N: *sitting at home on a Friday night like a boyfriendless loser, doing nothing. Suddenly realizes that there is something to be done! Runs to the bathroom, then comes back. THEN suddenly realizes that there is an eighth chapter to be written!* Thank goodness for FF.net, otherwise I'd have no purpose to my life, or any life to my purpose! Other than God, of course, who IS my life and purpose, but sometimes I'm a nerdburger and tend to forget that. ;)
OMG, Emma Malfoy, I'm on your favorites list? *great big teary eyes* THANK YOU!! Only one word to sum up your review: WOW! ;)
*Harry Potter pops up out of nowhere and starts singing that song "you don't own me. I'm not just one of your many toys. you don't own me." to the author.* And that ain't no joke. Even though it's quite a funny idea. Ha. Ha. Har.
* * * * *
Professor Callahan rushed over to Harry, who had collapsed on the ground after her spell had broken whatever curse had been on the broom. His precious Firebolt lie a few feet from him, still quivering and smoking slightly but otherwise unharmed.
Angelina Johnson came rushing in, still clutching her broom and the quaffle, breathing heavily. "I - came in - through the window - Harry - is he all right?" she managed to say in between gasps.
"I don't know, but what in Merlin's name is going on? Flying through a window on broomsticks, honestly, what do you call that?" Professor Callahan asked the girl, waving her arms about in exasperation before stooping to check on Harry.
"Quidditch, Professor, it was a match. I dunno what Harry thought he was doing, but - Oh Good Lord. He's got it." Angelina said, a sudden look of amazement on her face.
"Got what? Some sort of disease? A curse, a hex, what?" the teacher demanded, automatically assuming the worst.
"The golden snitch." Angelina replied.
"The hell?" Professor Callahan asked, shooting Angelina an annoyed look before replacing it with one of understanding. "Oh, the little walnut bugger, I get it now. Plowed through the window fetching it, did he?"
"I guess so, but oh! That means we've won!" Angelina shrieked. "We won! We won, we won, we won, we won, ohmigosh we won!" And with that she hopped aboard her broom and sailed out the door, all the while screaming 'we won!'
Shaking her head, Professor Callahan turned her attention on the boy at her feet. Harry was breathing rapidly and his eyes were squeezed shut as tight as could be. After performing a quick Status Mystronos spell, coming up with nothing, the teacher figured it must be fatigue. Picking up her comatose student, she made it to the door of her office before Headmaster Dumbledore met her there.
"What's going on, Professor?" asked the old man, taking Harry into his own arms.
"Quidditch, Albus, he broke through a school window catching the golden twitch." Professor Callahan answered.
"Snitch, Victoria, but that's not the point. Is there anything else wrong with him?" Dumbledore replied, taking Harry's pulse as he talked. When he finished he began walking briskly forward, still looking at Professor Callahan.
"Not to my knowledge, Status Mystronos came up negative, but I'd be out cold too if I used my own body to shatter a window. Hospital wing, I assume?" she said, following behind the flowing silvery hair.
"Right away." Headmaster Dumbledore replied, turning off into a secret corridor that would get them there faster.
(^*^)
Harry Potter awoke an hour later, still wearing his quidditch robes, with a splitting headache. Slowly he opened his eyes, and saw six blurred scarlet images standing in front of him. Someone handed him his glasses and everything came acutely into focus, including the pain in his head.
"Hey Harry, how're you feeling?" Fred asked.
"We won!" Angelina squealed.
"Thanks to you." George put in. Harry smiled around at his teammates, taking in their proud, beaming faces.
"Always seem to give a great show along with catching the snitch, you do." Lewis Mabblehauser stammered, patting Harry gingerly on the knee.
"We won!" Angelina squeaked excitedly again.
"Must've been pretty painful there, Harry. Talk about a die-hard fanatic. You gonna survive?" asked Alicia Spinnet.
"Oh, er, yeah, I guess so. That's the price you pay, right?" Harry answered, rubbing his temples.
"Usually you can turn on a dime, why'd you go through the window like that?" Katie Bell prompted.
"We still won." Angelina interjected. Harry got the feeling that if he ended up demolishing the whole school and somehow caught the snitch in the process, she wouldn't care in the least.
"Didn't you guys know?" Harry asked. They all shook their heads vigorously. "The snitch was inside the window!" Gasps and protests erupted, bouncing around in Harry's pounding head.
"Shh, be quieter, will you? There's a reason I'm in the hospital wing, you know." Harry declared, irritated. Everyone shut up immediately.
"It's just, well, that's not possible. The snitch can't do that, it just can't." George Weasley argued.
"Are you sure you just didn't see it's reflection on the window?" Alicia confirmed.
"I'm positive, I saw it flying around a wardrobe. The window must've been cracked or something, it just got stuck in." Harry suggested.
"Then why couldn't you just open the window and climb in, instead of breaking both the glass and yourself?" Katie inquired, looking at Harry like he did it on purpose to attract attention. As expected, that was the last thing Harry ever wanted to do, and it ended up happening anyway. Then Harry blinked, abruptly remembering the scariest part of the match.
"My broom, there was something wrong. I couldn't get it to slow down after the Wrongski Feint, I think that must've broken it." Harry answered, looking meaningfully into Katie's eyes until she seemed to believe him.
"Broken! Well, that's not good news." Fred said loudly, alleviate things a little bit. "I'd hate to see our seeker on one of the school's Cleansweep Sevens."
"Looks fine to me." Alicia remarked, picking the broom up out of the corner and looking it over. Placing it midair, it hovered there perfectly. She even dared to hop on and take a quick spin around the room, and it didn't so much as flinch in the wrong direction.
Just as Alicia was getting off, Madame Pomfrey came out of the white double doors and spotted her. "Young lady!" she gasped. "I'd like you to know that Mr. Potter here has paid dearly for his escapade with flying inside the castle, best you not start on it too. I think it's time you leave, Harry needs his rest now." The beefy nurse shooed Harry's teammates out the door, them getting in a few last waves before the door was shut.
Madame Pomfrey sighed, giving Harry an agitated glare. "Now, young man, I suggest you drink this remedy without so much as a pip or I'll have your Head of House down here faster than you can say 'snitch.'" Harry obliged, managing a smile after downing the nasty stuff, and snuggled under the covers once more.
That night, before dinner, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid came to visit their friend in the hospital wing. "Brilliant catch Harry, exploding through a window like that, gonna go down in history, that one is." Ron remarked as soon as he burst into the room. Hermione gave him a disapproving glare.
"He could have been killed, Ronald." she spat. Ron's freckles quickly melted into his reddening face, and he glared daggers at his shoes.
"But I didn't mean to, it wasn't my fault." Harry said, gaining both of their attentions from hating each other. "I think I broke the accelerator on my Firebolt, because after the Wrongski Feint it wouldn't slow down. I couldn't stop, and then I saw the snitch inside that room and went after it. I'm such a prat, I didn't even think about how the window would be in the way." Hermione looked concerned at this information, and Ron curious.
"Are yeh alrigh' there, 'Arry?" Hagrid asked in his gruff but warm voice, giant crocodile tears streaming from his tiny, beetle-black eyes.
"Oh, I'm fine. A bit shaken up from speeding along uncontrollably, but otherwise I'm fine. That'll teach me to be a speed demon, right?"
"I don't know, Harry. do you think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might've.?" Hermione asked, leaving her question off at the end. But they all knew what she meant.
"At Hogwarts? Come on Hermione, use your head." Ron said, for once correcting his brainy friend.
She pursed her lips and tapped her toe at him in annoyance. "I was just saying that -"
"No you two, set'le down. Yeh don't want Poppy a'comin in 'ere an' getting all riled up." Hagrid ordered, and Ron and Hermione shut up. Harry knew that it was just their way of worrying about him, though.
"We won though, isn't that great?" Harry said after a silent pause.
"Yeah, Gryffindor's two hundred points up! We're a shoe in for the house cup." Hermione remarked, and Ron nodded.
"That's great, at least we got the lead in exchange for my seeking exploits." Harry said, rubbing his shoulder where it had been forced through the window. "D'you think I'll be able to come to dinner tonight?"
"Dunno, 'Arry, Poppy seems pretty fussy about yeh. 'At is, fussier than usual." Hagrid answered with a wink.
"Professor Dumbledore says I should ask Harry how he feels first." the nurse replied, marching through the double doors as Hagrid made his statement. Harry heard the big man mutter 'speak of the devil' under his breath, and stifled a laugh.
"I feel fine, really, for having just gone through a window." Harry said, sitting up and looking at Madame Pomfrey expectantly.
"Nonsense, I know for a fact that you have a splitting headache and won't be able to walk straight for a couple hours. Honestly, the Headmaster thinks you kids can bounce back like the dickens." the nurse griped, bustling over to Harry and feeling his head.
"Oh, but you see, I can!" Harry responded, leaping out of bed and jumping up and down. But the woman had been right, the pain in his head doubled and he swayed dangerously back and forth when the bouncing ceased. "You see? I'm f - fine." Harry said, sitting back down on his bed.
Madame Pomfrey glared disapprovingly at her charge, then shook her head. "Promise me you'll at least take it easy," she ordered. "Oh, who am I kidding? That's as unlikely as asking a Whomping Willow not to whomp. Go on, scurry off now, before I change my mind and use the Body-Binding curse to keep you here." Harry smiled at her warmly before getting up and, with the assistance of Ron and Hermione, walking out of the room.
Hagrid stayed behind in the hospital wing to talk to Madame Pomfrey about getting an ointment for a rash he'd received recently. "Can't 'magine where it came from, I'm on'y 'lergic to min' leaves an' Parry-Bee'le Juice, I haven't used 'em in a potion lately."
"Probably got mixed up in the food somehow, I'll just give you a quick shot and it'll be cleared up in no time." The nurse answered, bustling into the storeroom and emerging seconds later with a hypodermic needle.
"Sh-shot?" Hagrid stammered, his voice squeaking in a terrified way. Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled pitifully at the big man before turning around and leaving.
The three of them went down to dinner, walking slowly to accommodate their injured friend. "I don't know Harry, I seriously think you should write Sirius about this." Hermione recommended on the way.
"It's nothing, I was just being thick and reckless. Relax, I don't want Sirius coming up here and endangering himself because his godson is an imbecile." Harry answered, wanting her to lay off. The last thing he wanted right now were suspicions that Voldemort was after him personally again.
"All right, but he told you to write him if anything strange happened. Anything, don't you think this qualifies?" Hermione persisted.
"I had a bologna sandwich for lunch today, but you don't see me writing him about that now do you? Please, Hermione, he's my Godfather. I think I have the right to choose what information is positively useless to him." Harry argued
"Aargh, honestly! Harold James Potter, sometimes you are completely brainless!" Hermione erupted, throwing up her hands. Then she stomped off, muttering something that sounded like 'boys' under her breath.
Ron looked at Harry, and raised an eyebrow, deciding that it would be best if no words were said. So they walked to the Great Hall in silence.
By Monday Harry felt nearly one hundred percent again. His shoulder ached, but it was nothing a Soothing Spell wouldn't numb. Students were going absolutely berserk over Harry's antics with the window, though, randomly clapping him on the back when he passed by in the crowded halls. Even Professor McGonagall reprimanded him with a half amused look on her face. So Harry was astounded when he received a letter over his porridge one morning saying that he was going to serve his detention that following night.
"I can't believe it, that wasn't even my fault!" Harry whined, throwing his letter down into Hermione's pancakes by accident.
"You still broke a window, mind you. And an imported one at that, I'm surprised they don't make you pay for it." Hermione reprimanded, removing the syrup with a Cleansing Spell and holding it out to him. Harry shot her a look, and savagely grabbed the detention slip from her hand.
It said for Harry to meet the Professor on duty at the Diggory Greenhouse at ten o'clock, in order to serve his sentence. Grumbling, Harry trudged down the stairs and out the castle doors at ten 'til, cursing anything he could think of. His broom, the snitch, even cabbage ended up receiving blame for Harry's punishment. Rounding the corner of the greenhouse, Harry spotted the slouched silhouette of Severus Snape's body waiting for him.
"Hello Potter." he spat, his thin lips curling up into a devilish smile. Inside Harry was groaning wildly, but, not wanting to make his situation any worse than it already was, he sighed and followed the hated professor into the dark night.
(^*^)
At ten o'clock on a Tuesday, there was only homework being done in the Gryffindor common room. All mad partying about the Quidditch team's win had become rather redundant over the weekend, and it was back to the mundane school life. Hermione and Ron were busy working on their Transfiguration homework, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were engrossed in a game of wizard's chess, and George, Fred, and Nancy were working on a business proposition for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The twins and their partner were huddled together, whispering intensely.
Then George pulled a small candy out of his bag, labeled with a note that said 'don't eat me.' Thinking it was some sort of a new invention from Nancy, he smiled knowingly at his brother, smartly unwrapping the acid green taffy-like candy and popping it in his mouth and handing him the note.
"What's this?" Fred asked, looking at the note quizzically, before it curled up at the ends like it was burning and in a puff of smoke, disappeared. Nancy shrugged.
"I dunno, I thought it was from you." she answered.
"Huh?" Fred said quickly, whipping his head around and bunching up his eyebrows worriedly. "I thought it was from you!"
"Oh God." Nancy whispered, and Fred and her slowly turned to look at George. But he wasn't there.
He had fallen to the floor, his eyes rolled back in his head with pain, convulsing and retching madly. Nancy glanced at his feet and saw to her horror that they were melting, his shoes lying abandoned next to him filled with an acid green goop. There was a lime vapor coming off of him, traveling slowly up his body, melting his pant legs and exposing bare bone, before that melted too.
Fred knelt down to his brother and shook him frantically, but he didn't show any signs of acknowledging him.
"Help! It's happening again, he's cursed, oh dear- HELP!" Nancy shouted, gaining the whole common room's attention. Several others began shouting at the top of their lungs, and Neville ran right out the portrait hole. Ron ran forward and saw what was happening, and his mouth dropped open, crying out soundlessly.
Realization jolted him into action, and Ron grabbed his wand and performed the Status Mystronos spell. A picture played in his head of a poisonous green lava-like substance snaking its way up George's body. He had no idea what he was doing, but something took over and the counter- curse came out of Ron's mouth.
The lime vapor was put out and George laid there, his legs melted up to his knees, his pants fused in with the skin on his thighs. It was a sickening sight.
Suddenly Professor Callahan burst into the room, followed shortly by Neville. "What's wrong?" she said, immediately dashing over to the red- haired boy on the floor.
"A - a curse, Acideratorr, I did the Status Mystronos and countered it, but oh, look at him. he melted." Ron explained, the horrified expression he was displaying being copied by his teacher. A single tear fell from his face and landed on his brother's hand.
George was immovable, his legs had merged with the carpet making it impossible to transport him to the hospital wing. Neville was sent off again to get Madame Pomfrey, while Professor Callahan performed all the healing magic she trusted herself to do correctly. The first thing she cast was a Pain-Relieving spell, and George's face relaxed a bit.
Ron slowly stood up and gazed down at the scene; his brother half- melted into the rug, Professor Callahan checking vital signs, and Nancy Freeston sobbing and clutching George's hand. Not being able to take it any more, Nancy turned away and stood up, and Ron gathered her up in his arms. She wept into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly, and Ron squeezed the former victim even tighter. One thing was running through his mind over and over, besides the vision of the green lava killing his brother: why?
Professor Callahan glanced around and began giving orders. "Hermione, go get Headmaster Dumbledore, Fred, apply this to George's head, Harry Potter, go to my office and get my black bag, you know where it is."
"But Professor, Harry's not here." Hermione said, pausing just before she was about to run out of the room.
"What? Not here, where in the world is he then?" the teacher asked, glaring at Hermione and looking very irritated.
"You know, he's serving his detention tonight." Hermione explained, taking a confused step towards her professor. But her worst fears were confirmed with Professor Callahan's next words.
"What detention?"
* * * * *
A/N: Double whammy cliffhanger! Oooh, are y'all going to hate me! Tee hee, this is so fun. I know something you don't know. the conclusion to what exactly is going on here! You're probably confused beyond belief, about what's up with Harry's so called 'detention,' George's curse, and who precisely is doing this to our beloved Gryffindor's! Hahahahahaaaa, you'll find out soon enough, my dearies. Soon enough. But for now just sit tight and wait for my continued installments, I swear they're coming as fast as they can!
If you've got any guesses to what's going on, I'd love to hear them and tell you how far off you really are! Or, if you're clairvoyant, you might be right on the money, who knows? Review, review, review, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Love from, Saranimal HaloGal5@aol.com
P.S. Does anyone know any really good Competitive Acting monologue websites? I'm looking, but there's so much crap to sift through. Lemme know, thank you so much!
A/N: *sitting at home on a Friday night like a boyfriendless loser, doing nothing. Suddenly realizes that there is something to be done! Runs to the bathroom, then comes back. THEN suddenly realizes that there is an eighth chapter to be written!* Thank goodness for FF.net, otherwise I'd have no purpose to my life, or any life to my purpose! Other than God, of course, who IS my life and purpose, but sometimes I'm a nerdburger and tend to forget that. ;)
OMG, Emma Malfoy, I'm on your favorites list? *great big teary eyes* THANK YOU!! Only one word to sum up your review: WOW! ;)
*Harry Potter pops up out of nowhere and starts singing that song "you don't own me. I'm not just one of your many toys. you don't own me." to the author.* And that ain't no joke. Even though it's quite a funny idea. Ha. Ha. Har.
* * * * *
Professor Callahan rushed over to Harry, who had collapsed on the ground after her spell had broken whatever curse had been on the broom. His precious Firebolt lie a few feet from him, still quivering and smoking slightly but otherwise unharmed.
Angelina Johnson came rushing in, still clutching her broom and the quaffle, breathing heavily. "I - came in - through the window - Harry - is he all right?" she managed to say in between gasps.
"I don't know, but what in Merlin's name is going on? Flying through a window on broomsticks, honestly, what do you call that?" Professor Callahan asked the girl, waving her arms about in exasperation before stooping to check on Harry.
"Quidditch, Professor, it was a match. I dunno what Harry thought he was doing, but - Oh Good Lord. He's got it." Angelina said, a sudden look of amazement on her face.
"Got what? Some sort of disease? A curse, a hex, what?" the teacher demanded, automatically assuming the worst.
"The golden snitch." Angelina replied.
"The hell?" Professor Callahan asked, shooting Angelina an annoyed look before replacing it with one of understanding. "Oh, the little walnut bugger, I get it now. Plowed through the window fetching it, did he?"
"I guess so, but oh! That means we've won!" Angelina shrieked. "We won! We won, we won, we won, we won, ohmigosh we won!" And with that she hopped aboard her broom and sailed out the door, all the while screaming 'we won!'
Shaking her head, Professor Callahan turned her attention on the boy at her feet. Harry was breathing rapidly and his eyes were squeezed shut as tight as could be. After performing a quick Status Mystronos spell, coming up with nothing, the teacher figured it must be fatigue. Picking up her comatose student, she made it to the door of her office before Headmaster Dumbledore met her there.
"What's going on, Professor?" asked the old man, taking Harry into his own arms.
"Quidditch, Albus, he broke through a school window catching the golden twitch." Professor Callahan answered.
"Snitch, Victoria, but that's not the point. Is there anything else wrong with him?" Dumbledore replied, taking Harry's pulse as he talked. When he finished he began walking briskly forward, still looking at Professor Callahan.
"Not to my knowledge, Status Mystronos came up negative, but I'd be out cold too if I used my own body to shatter a window. Hospital wing, I assume?" she said, following behind the flowing silvery hair.
"Right away." Headmaster Dumbledore replied, turning off into a secret corridor that would get them there faster.
(^*^)
Harry Potter awoke an hour later, still wearing his quidditch robes, with a splitting headache. Slowly he opened his eyes, and saw six blurred scarlet images standing in front of him. Someone handed him his glasses and everything came acutely into focus, including the pain in his head.
"Hey Harry, how're you feeling?" Fred asked.
"We won!" Angelina squealed.
"Thanks to you." George put in. Harry smiled around at his teammates, taking in their proud, beaming faces.
"Always seem to give a great show along with catching the snitch, you do." Lewis Mabblehauser stammered, patting Harry gingerly on the knee.
"We won!" Angelina squeaked excitedly again.
"Must've been pretty painful there, Harry. Talk about a die-hard fanatic. You gonna survive?" asked Alicia Spinnet.
"Oh, er, yeah, I guess so. That's the price you pay, right?" Harry answered, rubbing his temples.
"Usually you can turn on a dime, why'd you go through the window like that?" Katie Bell prompted.
"We still won." Angelina interjected. Harry got the feeling that if he ended up demolishing the whole school and somehow caught the snitch in the process, she wouldn't care in the least.
"Didn't you guys know?" Harry asked. They all shook their heads vigorously. "The snitch was inside the window!" Gasps and protests erupted, bouncing around in Harry's pounding head.
"Shh, be quieter, will you? There's a reason I'm in the hospital wing, you know." Harry declared, irritated. Everyone shut up immediately.
"It's just, well, that's not possible. The snitch can't do that, it just can't." George Weasley argued.
"Are you sure you just didn't see it's reflection on the window?" Alicia confirmed.
"I'm positive, I saw it flying around a wardrobe. The window must've been cracked or something, it just got stuck in." Harry suggested.
"Then why couldn't you just open the window and climb in, instead of breaking both the glass and yourself?" Katie inquired, looking at Harry like he did it on purpose to attract attention. As expected, that was the last thing Harry ever wanted to do, and it ended up happening anyway. Then Harry blinked, abruptly remembering the scariest part of the match.
"My broom, there was something wrong. I couldn't get it to slow down after the Wrongski Feint, I think that must've broken it." Harry answered, looking meaningfully into Katie's eyes until she seemed to believe him.
"Broken! Well, that's not good news." Fred said loudly, alleviate things a little bit. "I'd hate to see our seeker on one of the school's Cleansweep Sevens."
"Looks fine to me." Alicia remarked, picking the broom up out of the corner and looking it over. Placing it midair, it hovered there perfectly. She even dared to hop on and take a quick spin around the room, and it didn't so much as flinch in the wrong direction.
Just as Alicia was getting off, Madame Pomfrey came out of the white double doors and spotted her. "Young lady!" she gasped. "I'd like you to know that Mr. Potter here has paid dearly for his escapade with flying inside the castle, best you not start on it too. I think it's time you leave, Harry needs his rest now." The beefy nurse shooed Harry's teammates out the door, them getting in a few last waves before the door was shut.
Madame Pomfrey sighed, giving Harry an agitated glare. "Now, young man, I suggest you drink this remedy without so much as a pip or I'll have your Head of House down here faster than you can say 'snitch.'" Harry obliged, managing a smile after downing the nasty stuff, and snuggled under the covers once more.
That night, before dinner, Hermione, Ron, and Hagrid came to visit their friend in the hospital wing. "Brilliant catch Harry, exploding through a window like that, gonna go down in history, that one is." Ron remarked as soon as he burst into the room. Hermione gave him a disapproving glare.
"He could have been killed, Ronald." she spat. Ron's freckles quickly melted into his reddening face, and he glared daggers at his shoes.
"But I didn't mean to, it wasn't my fault." Harry said, gaining both of their attentions from hating each other. "I think I broke the accelerator on my Firebolt, because after the Wrongski Feint it wouldn't slow down. I couldn't stop, and then I saw the snitch inside that room and went after it. I'm such a prat, I didn't even think about how the window would be in the way." Hermione looked concerned at this information, and Ron curious.
"Are yeh alrigh' there, 'Arry?" Hagrid asked in his gruff but warm voice, giant crocodile tears streaming from his tiny, beetle-black eyes.
"Oh, I'm fine. A bit shaken up from speeding along uncontrollably, but otherwise I'm fine. That'll teach me to be a speed demon, right?"
"I don't know, Harry. do you think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named might've.?" Hermione asked, leaving her question off at the end. But they all knew what she meant.
"At Hogwarts? Come on Hermione, use your head." Ron said, for once correcting his brainy friend.
She pursed her lips and tapped her toe at him in annoyance. "I was just saying that -"
"No you two, set'le down. Yeh don't want Poppy a'comin in 'ere an' getting all riled up." Hagrid ordered, and Ron and Hermione shut up. Harry knew that it was just their way of worrying about him, though.
"We won though, isn't that great?" Harry said after a silent pause.
"Yeah, Gryffindor's two hundred points up! We're a shoe in for the house cup." Hermione remarked, and Ron nodded.
"That's great, at least we got the lead in exchange for my seeking exploits." Harry said, rubbing his shoulder where it had been forced through the window. "D'you think I'll be able to come to dinner tonight?"
"Dunno, 'Arry, Poppy seems pretty fussy about yeh. 'At is, fussier than usual." Hagrid answered with a wink.
"Professor Dumbledore says I should ask Harry how he feels first." the nurse replied, marching through the double doors as Hagrid made his statement. Harry heard the big man mutter 'speak of the devil' under his breath, and stifled a laugh.
"I feel fine, really, for having just gone through a window." Harry said, sitting up and looking at Madame Pomfrey expectantly.
"Nonsense, I know for a fact that you have a splitting headache and won't be able to walk straight for a couple hours. Honestly, the Headmaster thinks you kids can bounce back like the dickens." the nurse griped, bustling over to Harry and feeling his head.
"Oh, but you see, I can!" Harry responded, leaping out of bed and jumping up and down. But the woman had been right, the pain in his head doubled and he swayed dangerously back and forth when the bouncing ceased. "You see? I'm f - fine." Harry said, sitting back down on his bed.
Madame Pomfrey glared disapprovingly at her charge, then shook her head. "Promise me you'll at least take it easy," she ordered. "Oh, who am I kidding? That's as unlikely as asking a Whomping Willow not to whomp. Go on, scurry off now, before I change my mind and use the Body-Binding curse to keep you here." Harry smiled at her warmly before getting up and, with the assistance of Ron and Hermione, walking out of the room.
Hagrid stayed behind in the hospital wing to talk to Madame Pomfrey about getting an ointment for a rash he'd received recently. "Can't 'magine where it came from, I'm on'y 'lergic to min' leaves an' Parry-Bee'le Juice, I haven't used 'em in a potion lately."
"Probably got mixed up in the food somehow, I'll just give you a quick shot and it'll be cleared up in no time." The nurse answered, bustling into the storeroom and emerging seconds later with a hypodermic needle.
"Sh-shot?" Hagrid stammered, his voice squeaking in a terrified way. Harry, Ron, and Hermione smiled pitifully at the big man before turning around and leaving.
The three of them went down to dinner, walking slowly to accommodate their injured friend. "I don't know Harry, I seriously think you should write Sirius about this." Hermione recommended on the way.
"It's nothing, I was just being thick and reckless. Relax, I don't want Sirius coming up here and endangering himself because his godson is an imbecile." Harry answered, wanting her to lay off. The last thing he wanted right now were suspicions that Voldemort was after him personally again.
"All right, but he told you to write him if anything strange happened. Anything, don't you think this qualifies?" Hermione persisted.
"I had a bologna sandwich for lunch today, but you don't see me writing him about that now do you? Please, Hermione, he's my Godfather. I think I have the right to choose what information is positively useless to him." Harry argued
"Aargh, honestly! Harold James Potter, sometimes you are completely brainless!" Hermione erupted, throwing up her hands. Then she stomped off, muttering something that sounded like 'boys' under her breath.
Ron looked at Harry, and raised an eyebrow, deciding that it would be best if no words were said. So they walked to the Great Hall in silence.
By Monday Harry felt nearly one hundred percent again. His shoulder ached, but it was nothing a Soothing Spell wouldn't numb. Students were going absolutely berserk over Harry's antics with the window, though, randomly clapping him on the back when he passed by in the crowded halls. Even Professor McGonagall reprimanded him with a half amused look on her face. So Harry was astounded when he received a letter over his porridge one morning saying that he was going to serve his detention that following night.
"I can't believe it, that wasn't even my fault!" Harry whined, throwing his letter down into Hermione's pancakes by accident.
"You still broke a window, mind you. And an imported one at that, I'm surprised they don't make you pay for it." Hermione reprimanded, removing the syrup with a Cleansing Spell and holding it out to him. Harry shot her a look, and savagely grabbed the detention slip from her hand.
It said for Harry to meet the Professor on duty at the Diggory Greenhouse at ten o'clock, in order to serve his sentence. Grumbling, Harry trudged down the stairs and out the castle doors at ten 'til, cursing anything he could think of. His broom, the snitch, even cabbage ended up receiving blame for Harry's punishment. Rounding the corner of the greenhouse, Harry spotted the slouched silhouette of Severus Snape's body waiting for him.
"Hello Potter." he spat, his thin lips curling up into a devilish smile. Inside Harry was groaning wildly, but, not wanting to make his situation any worse than it already was, he sighed and followed the hated professor into the dark night.
(^*^)
At ten o'clock on a Tuesday, there was only homework being done in the Gryffindor common room. All mad partying about the Quidditch team's win had become rather redundant over the weekend, and it was back to the mundane school life. Hermione and Ron were busy working on their Transfiguration homework, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas were engrossed in a game of wizard's chess, and George, Fred, and Nancy were working on a business proposition for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The twins and their partner were huddled together, whispering intensely.
Then George pulled a small candy out of his bag, labeled with a note that said 'don't eat me.' Thinking it was some sort of a new invention from Nancy, he smiled knowingly at his brother, smartly unwrapping the acid green taffy-like candy and popping it in his mouth and handing him the note.
"What's this?" Fred asked, looking at the note quizzically, before it curled up at the ends like it was burning and in a puff of smoke, disappeared. Nancy shrugged.
"I dunno, I thought it was from you." she answered.
"Huh?" Fred said quickly, whipping his head around and bunching up his eyebrows worriedly. "I thought it was from you!"
"Oh God." Nancy whispered, and Fred and her slowly turned to look at George. But he wasn't there.
He had fallen to the floor, his eyes rolled back in his head with pain, convulsing and retching madly. Nancy glanced at his feet and saw to her horror that they were melting, his shoes lying abandoned next to him filled with an acid green goop. There was a lime vapor coming off of him, traveling slowly up his body, melting his pant legs and exposing bare bone, before that melted too.
Fred knelt down to his brother and shook him frantically, but he didn't show any signs of acknowledging him.
"Help! It's happening again, he's cursed, oh dear- HELP!" Nancy shouted, gaining the whole common room's attention. Several others began shouting at the top of their lungs, and Neville ran right out the portrait hole. Ron ran forward and saw what was happening, and his mouth dropped open, crying out soundlessly.
Realization jolted him into action, and Ron grabbed his wand and performed the Status Mystronos spell. A picture played in his head of a poisonous green lava-like substance snaking its way up George's body. He had no idea what he was doing, but something took over and the counter- curse came out of Ron's mouth.
The lime vapor was put out and George laid there, his legs melted up to his knees, his pants fused in with the skin on his thighs. It was a sickening sight.
Suddenly Professor Callahan burst into the room, followed shortly by Neville. "What's wrong?" she said, immediately dashing over to the red- haired boy on the floor.
"A - a curse, Acideratorr, I did the Status Mystronos and countered it, but oh, look at him. he melted." Ron explained, the horrified expression he was displaying being copied by his teacher. A single tear fell from his face and landed on his brother's hand.
George was immovable, his legs had merged with the carpet making it impossible to transport him to the hospital wing. Neville was sent off again to get Madame Pomfrey, while Professor Callahan performed all the healing magic she trusted herself to do correctly. The first thing she cast was a Pain-Relieving spell, and George's face relaxed a bit.
Ron slowly stood up and gazed down at the scene; his brother half- melted into the rug, Professor Callahan checking vital signs, and Nancy Freeston sobbing and clutching George's hand. Not being able to take it any more, Nancy turned away and stood up, and Ron gathered her up in his arms. She wept into his shoulder, squeezing him tightly, and Ron squeezed the former victim even tighter. One thing was running through his mind over and over, besides the vision of the green lava killing his brother: why?
Professor Callahan glanced around and began giving orders. "Hermione, go get Headmaster Dumbledore, Fred, apply this to George's head, Harry Potter, go to my office and get my black bag, you know where it is."
"But Professor, Harry's not here." Hermione said, pausing just before she was about to run out of the room.
"What? Not here, where in the world is he then?" the teacher asked, glaring at Hermione and looking very irritated.
"You know, he's serving his detention tonight." Hermione explained, taking a confused step towards her professor. But her worst fears were confirmed with Professor Callahan's next words.
"What detention?"
* * * * *
A/N: Double whammy cliffhanger! Oooh, are y'all going to hate me! Tee hee, this is so fun. I know something you don't know. the conclusion to what exactly is going on here! You're probably confused beyond belief, about what's up with Harry's so called 'detention,' George's curse, and who precisely is doing this to our beloved Gryffindor's! Hahahahahaaaa, you'll find out soon enough, my dearies. Soon enough. But for now just sit tight and wait for my continued installments, I swear they're coming as fast as they can!
If you've got any guesses to what's going on, I'd love to hear them and tell you how far off you really are! Or, if you're clairvoyant, you might be right on the money, who knows? Review, review, review, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Love from, Saranimal HaloGal5@aol.com
P.S. Does anyone know any really good Competitive Acting monologue websites? I'm looking, but there's so much crap to sift through. Lemme know, thank you so much!