Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all these other great characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I just play with them!
9. To the dungeons.
After sleeping most of the previous day, Harry woke up early. He got dressed, this time in his school robes. No matter if it was summer vacation, he didn't think showing up in his shorts and T-shirt would be a good idea. He went down for breakfast and was relieved to find that however early he was, Professor Snape had been even earlier, and was gone already. What he didn't like was that the large house tables were gone and there was only one table in the middle of the Great Hall. Whenever Snape was there, he would have to take a seat with the Potions Master.
After breakfast, and another quick visit to Hedwig, Harry went to his room and set to work on the Firebolt. It was the first time he had the opportunity to really use the broomstick servicing kit he had received from Hermione two years ago; up until now his broom had held up wonderfully and had only needed an occasional polishing.
He took his time, carefully straightening the bend twigs by hand, then reinforcing them with a charm from the manual. When he was satisfied, he polished the entire handle until it looked brand new.
Next, he sat down on his bed with the unfinished letters to Ron and Hermione he had been writing when Uncle Vernon had come in. He smoothed the creased parchment, then added another entire page, telling them all that had happened since his uncle so violently interrupted him.
The morning was just about over when he finished. Taking the letters with him, he did not go to the Owlery but to the kitchens, where he asked Dobby to mail them using school owls. He felt bad enough for Hedwig already, and he didn't want to use the school owls right in front of her.
Then he went to the Great Hall for lunch. This time, Snape was there.
"There you are. How are you feeling?" Only Professor Snape could make an inquiry to his health sound like a curse.
"Fine, thank you," Harry tried to sound cheerful, but failed.
"Good," Professor Snape replied, ignoring Harry's tone of voice. "You will come down with me after we eat, as I told you."
"Yes, sir," Harry answered.
Professor Snape did not speak again during their meal, and neither did Harry. Finally, Snape got up and Harry followed.
In the dungeons, Harry followed Professor Snape through the empty classroom into his office and private lab.
Professor Snape walked up to a door in the back wall of the lab and softly spoke a password Harry didn't catch.
"There is a large jar of mermaid scales that needs to be sorted," Snape said, stepping aside and pointing toward the open door. "Sort them by color, and make sure they don't have any nicks or scratches."
Harry was taken aback. He couldn't remember anyone ever being allowed into the store room itself. But as Professor Snape gestured impatiently, he walked in. The room was quite a bit bigger than he had expected. He looked in awe at row upon row of vials, jars and bottles. Where was he going to find mermaid scales among all these? He looked around in confusion, reading a few of the labels on the ingredients. He was about to turn back and ask Professor Snape, when he suddenly saw how the system worked. Magical ingredients like unicorn horn, dragon fangs and goblin blood were on the right hand wall, non-magical items like frog eyes, cat whiskers and caterpillars were on the left. Behind him, on both sides of the door, were racks of prepared potions. And he wasn't entirely sure, but he thought the items against the back wall were all rare items that needed special care and handling. The items were alphabetised among their own category.
Now that he knew where to look he quickly spotted the mermaid scales and took the jar into Snape's lab. To his surprise, Professor Snape did not yell at him for taking so long to retrieve the jar. Instead, he looked thoughtful and distracted.
"Here are some empty vials for you to use," Professor Snape said as he looked at Harry again, and handed him a tray of glasswork.
Harry set to work and to his surprise found it was not an unpleasant task. The mermaid scales were beautiful in color and texture, and it was easy to sort them.
After a while he looked up and frowned, puzzled at what he saw. Earlier, Professor Snape had set up two cauldrons, which seemed to be simmering. Meanwhile, he was gutting a large pile of horned toads. Harry stared, stopping his own work.
After a few moments, Snape looked up.
"What is it, Potter?" he asked.
Harry started out of his reverie. "Eh, I was just wondering," he stuttered, "Why are you gutting toads while you let me do this?"
"This isn't detention, Potter. No need to let you do all the dirty work. Unless you want to," Snape replied, gesturing at the greenish mess in front of him.
"No, not at all," Harry said quickly.
"Well, then. Back to work," Snape told him shortly.
Harry nodded and turned his attention back to the mermaid scales.
When he was done, Professor Snape handed him a large wad of centaur hair, instructing him to put a small amount in forty small vials. After that, he counted out frog eyes for the third year cough relief potion. None of the work was particularly unpleasant, but Harry thought he'd soon be bored to death if counting and sorting was all he'd get to do. But he didn't complain, considering there were many far worse things Snape could make him do.
Eventually, Snape looked up and announced it was time for dinner.
Professor Snape checked Potter's work, put away the potions he had brewed and finished by cleaning his lab table. He closed the door to the stores and stood for a moment gazing reflectively. Obviously, he'd sent Potter into the store room without telling him how it was ordered on purpose. He had watched carefully, and unless the boy was a much better actor than Snape gave him credit for, Potter had never been in the room before. Of course, that likely meant he'd sent one of his friends to get the Gillyweed for him, last winter. Snape wasn't sure what he thought about that. It was exactly what a Slytherin would do, but letting others take the risk didn't fit Potter. Well, he wouldn't find out more today.
He looked over to where Potter was cleaning the table he'd been working on, conscientiously scrubbing away an old stain Longbottom had made during one of his detentions. It'd been left when Snape had lost his patience and sent the boy out before he would give him another detention. He was never sure whom he punished more with those, Longbottom or himself. Contrary to what most students thought, he didn't enjoy giving detentions, not when it meant having to watch every single move the clumsy oaf made to keep him from blowing the entire place to smithereens. Even when he set him to cleaning Longbottom frequently managed to make a bigger mess, knocking things over or spilling suds. Now why was Potter cleaning it up? He must've noticed it was there when he got here.
"That is acceptable," he said grudgingly as Potter finished.
Potter looked up briefly, then replied simply, "Thank you, sir."
Damn, why did the boy have to be so agreeable?
Harry ate his meal in silence. He was used to not taking part in the conversation at the Dursleys, nor had theirs been very interesting to listen to, but at least it had been conversation of a sort. Sitting here in the Great Hall, with nothing but the sound of the two of them eating, was driving him nuts. Finally, he summoned up the courage to start a conversation. He was not going to spent the entire three weeks eating in utter silence.
"Professor Snape?" he ventured.
Professor Snape looked up. "What is it?" he asked.
"How come you're the only one here?" Harry asked. Seeing Snape frown, he thought it was probably not the best thing he could've started off with, but he could hardly take it back now. He quickly added, "I mean, I would've thought, you'd be the most likely to be…"
"He found out," Snape replied curtly. There was no need to say who, and Snape volunteered no more information.
Harry kept looking at Snape, and when no more came, he asked, "How?"
After another long pause, Snape replied. "He told me about a raid he planned on a Muggle school. Only Voldemort, Wormtail, Malfoy and I knew about it. It was either thwart their plan, or watch several hundred Muggle children burn to death in a building with the exits blocked."
Harry blinked. He'd seen the Muggle news report about the blaze that had completely destroyed a large primary school, coincidentally just as a fire drill was held and all the kids were outside, gathered on the sports fields and in the parking lot. Come to think of it, his scar had hurt, but not badly. Probably because there'd been no one who died.
"That was Voldemort?" he exclaimed.
"You really should read the paper more often," Snape berated him.
"And have it delivered to the Dursleys? That'd have gone over well," Harry pointed out, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.
Snape paused a moment, considering. "No, I guess not," he admitted.
Professor Snape turned his attention back to his plate, and Harry couldn't think of anything else to say. He quickly finished his dinner and excused himself. At least the thought of papers delivered reminded him of the fact that Hedwig was allowed out of her cage tonight. He felt more cheerful as he left the Great Hall.
Harry hurried to the Owlery and was greeted by Hedwig's hooting. He opened the cage and handed her a treat. She affectionately nipped his fingers, then plucked at his robe pockets until he gave in and handed her a second one.
"Go on, you can fly again, Hedwig," Harry told her.
He watched her as she spread her wings and, circling once around him, flew out through one of the many openings of the Owlery wall.
As she disappeared, he considered waiting for her. Nah, she'd looked healthy as ever, and after being cooped up for two days she might be gone an hour or more. He cleaned her cage –he wouldn't need it again any time soon, it was only for transport or, of course, for the Dursleys- and then hurried to the hospital wing when he saw it was time for his appointment with Madam Pomfrey.
Madam Pomfrey wasn't there yet when Harry entered the hospital wing, but she arrived soon after, brushing the soot from the floo system off with a brush.
"How are you doing, Harry?" she asked as she checked him over.
"Fine," Harry replied. "A little stiff in the morning, but that cleared up soon enough."
Madam Pomfrey nodded. "That was to be expected. It'll take a few days for it to go away completely. Not feeling too tired?"
Harry shook his head. "Not today. I slept all yesterday afternoon, though."
"Well, I did tell you to rest, it's nice to see my instructions are heeded for once," Madam Pomfrey remarked sternly, but she smiled as she spoke.
Harry grinned. "Yes Ma'am," he replied smartly.
"And how was the rest of your day?" Madam Pomfrey asked, more serious now.
"Okay," Harry replied noncommittally. He'd done his best to get along, and while he could hardly call Snape friendly, neither had the Potions Master snapped his head off, which was about all Harry could hope for.
"Good," Madam Pomfrey said. "I will be back on Saturday to make sure the last of the stiffness is gone. If all goes well I will allow you to fly after that. If you need me before then, you can contact me using the floo system. There is powder on the mantelpiece."
Harry thanked her and walked back to the dormitory, where he spent the evening reading and chatting with Nearly Headless Nick, who dropped by to see how he was doing.