Unexpected Help
Harry was given a room at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters later that day and he sat down to write a letter to Cho. He had already written one when he had arrived in London but he wanted to tell her everything. She was his one and only, she had to know everything that went on. Harry remembered how in his sixth year at Hogwarts he had sung a cover of 'Zero' by the Smashing Pumpkins, at the Christmas Feast changing the lyrics slightly so that it applied directly to Cho. Henceforth, Cho loved it when he referred to her as his 'One and Only'.
He smirked as he sat down and reminisced that time. maybe he could write another song for Cho, yes, another rock and roll cover or maybe even a soppy ballad. no. He had to get this business out of the way - the needs of the many were greater than the needs of the few. He began to write a message on a piece of parchment he had brought with him and got out his eagle feather quill:
Dearest Cho,
It turns out that this illness is worse than could be imagined and
it means I will have to be away for quite a while. Because of this, I
will be coming back to visit you habitually. Did you know that they have
harpies guarding the Department of Mysteries now? It came as such a shock
to me. And, although this is somewhat secretive, they also have
manticores in charge of some of the safes (they hold documents, all the
treasure is at Gringotts).
This illness really is terrible and you remember Maggoty Malfoy's old
crony, Vincent Crabbe? It turns out he's a potion genius and he can help
in curing this illness. hopefully. I will need to talk to him and us lads
don't hold grudges as tightly as you females so hopefully he'll co
operate when I describe the situation. He always seemed like a dumbass to
me at Hogwarts didn't he?
Well I should get some sleep, I'll be up early the next morning to see
Severus Snape, who'll be coming with me to see Crabbe. I miss you so
much, my love it's only been a few hours and it's too much for me
already. Say hi to Sirius and Aunt Vena for me.
Remember you're my one and only.
Yours truly,
HarryPotter.
That was okay, Harry thought. He folded it up and woke up the tawny that was snoozing in the corner of the room. It had been put there by Neville's house elf, Charky who was so shy, she didn't even meet eyes with Harry, and mumbled awkwardly when they met.
And so, he threw the owl off into the night and stretched to read up on the Sickness, discovering that the only other kind of epidemic like this was the Black Death of the 14th Century. Eventually falling asleep after a couple of hours of reading.
Harry woke up next morning face down on the desk in his room whilst reading up on the Oriental Rat Flea that caused the Plague. Taking his glasses off, he got up and got changed, this would be the day where the fate of the Magical Folk would be decided, depending on whether Crabbe would help them.
He went to get breakfast at the local restaurant near the Headquarters. There was an invisibility spell all around the buildings, which is why he needed a pass to get in. To an ordinary Muggle it was a damaged building site.
Neville met Harry as he was about to go back to the Ministry Headquarters.
"Neville!" Harry suddenly said, "I was just about to come and get you."
"Harry you could have dined in the Ministry for free! There was no need to go and eat from a Muggle café."
"Well the thing is that I only feel comfortable around Muggles," Harry mumbled.
The Minister just smiled and urged Harry to follow him. When they got the end of the street he clicked his fingers and suddenly a black taxi appeared.
"To Hogwarts please," Neville said climbing into the back seat with Harry behind him.
The taxi began driving, "But Neville Hogwarts is miles away, it'll take forever to get there by car."
Mr Longbottom just smiled and said, "Oh really? Then how come we're here? And look there's the onerous Whomping Willow."
Surely enough, before them was an ancient castle that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and in the distance was a tree thrashing about threateningly in every direction.
"That'll be all, cabbie," the Minister said dropping 19 sickles into the taxi drivers hand.
"Harry you can wait here, I don't want to loiter here it's term time you know."
The Minister disappeared into the castle for a few minutes and Harry just took a walk along the grounds. He found himself at the Quidditch pitch; there had been new goals added and new stands for spectators since he had attended Hogwarts.
He imagined himself as he flew along the skies years ago on his Firebolt that Sirius had given him. He remembered how he was the Seeker and flew like a bird through the skies, he could be as light as a butterfly but as quick as a sparrowhawk.
"Potter?" Professor Severus Snape's voice hauled Harry out his thoughts.
"Professor!" Harry said suddenly, "how are you?" "Working for years in this castle hasn't helped my self esteem I can tell you that Potter."
"So are we all ready to go?" Neville said clapping his hands together.
"Yes Longbottom, but where is Vincent nowadays?" Snape said coldly, even after Neville had been made Minister of Magic, he had failed to show any more regard than he had done at school.
"Well he's currently residing in Paris, near the Notre Dame Cathedral strangely enough."
"So we can just apparate to the Cathedral?" Harry asked.
Neville nodded.
And a minute later Harry was stood right by the colossal building, next to Snape and Neville coming in a few seconds later.
"Right," Neville said brushing dust off his suit, "we need to find a bistro nearby called 'Le Grand Loup'"
And so Neville walked over to a traffic warden and said, "M'excuser madame, mais vous pouvez m'aider s'il vous plaît?"
"Oui Mais bien sûr!" she replied
"Où Le Grand Loup est s'il vous plaît?"
"C'est seulement là-bas," she said pointing to her left, "Côté de la banque, vous pouvez le voir?"
"Oui merci beaucoup madame!" Neville said with a jovial wave.
"It's just by that bank over there, that place with the blue sign," he informed Harry and Snape.
Harry and Snape followed, utterly amazed at how much Neville was capable of in terms of communication.
"Neville did you have to learn French before you came here?" Harry asked nervously.
"Oh of course not!" he laughed, "I just put an interaction charm on my tongue and voila! Je parlez francais parfaitement!"
They approached the bistro and saw how nicely everything looked. Neville went in and spoke to one of the waitresses, asking for a Vincent Crabbe. After a few minutes, he came back outside, shaking his head.
"Sorry guys, I guess we missed him, the waitress had a very strong Parisian accent and I couldn't make out all of what she was saying."
"What's the point of talking in French anyway, Longbottom?" Snape cut in, "everyone in the world speaks English as a second language anyway."
The Minister didn't have time to argue.
"Oh bother," he carried on as if Snape had not said anything, "There must be someone here who knows where he is right now, we need him as soon possible!"
At that moment, the same waitress that Neville had been talking to came out again and started conversing with him, looking as if he had misunderstood her. A few minutes later, he laughed as the waitress went back into the bistro.
"It seems we had a misunderstanding, fellas," Neville said jovially, "Monsieur Crabbe is inside she says but we will have to wait until midday as he works at a fruit and vegetable stall during the day."
Harry sighed and exchanged troubled glances with Snape, this could turn out to be harder than was premeditated.
"So what shall we do for two hours, Minister?" Harry asked.
"Well we could just wander around Paris for a while but I shall have to leave you to it I'm afraid, I've arranged an appointment with the Minister for Magic of New Zealand. The Sickness is pretty bad there too."
He turned away to apparate but then added, "Oh and don't go near the cathedral, you know what happens to magical folk when they go near consecrated buildings." With that he apparated away.
"What happens when we go near cathedrals?" Harry asked Snape.
Snape sighed exasperatedly, "Well you see, magic and celestial things don't mix, and so you could get badly hurt if you go into a church. Some people catch fire, others get struck by lightning, but worst of all you get this feeling that stops you from breathing, most terrible Potter."
Harry looked up at the Notre Dame Cathedral and thought about how it must feel to be struck down by lightning and to stop breathing. And so Harry spent the hours walking around Paris, but not straying to far from the Cathedral. Snape made the excuse that he was too old and so he sat outside Le Grand Loup ordering coffee after coffee. He eventually fell asleep even though there was enough caffeine inside him to keep a drowsy tortoise up for a good few days.
Eventually midday came but still no sign of Crabbe, Harry had joined Snape outside the bistro and was sipping on what they called 'Chocolat Chaud' which Harry guessed was chocolate milk but it was actually a liquid chocolate drink.
Eventually the waitress came outside and started talking in fast French, but Harry told her how he could not understand her. She could not speak either so she just said , "Crabbe? Il est à l'intérieur" she said motioning inside.
"I think she's trying to say he's inside the bistro, Professor," Harry said shaking Snape awake.
"Okay okay, I'll get the chimaera tails by Monday Headmistress," Snape said sleepily.
The waitress led the two inside the bistro to a room upstairs where there was a small, dusty office. On the door it said 'Vincent Crabbe le Propriétaire'. The waitress knocked once on the door and a loud coarse voice called "ENTREZ!"
Inside the office it was very stuffy but also very bright and there was a beautiful view of the Cathedral from the windows behind the desk. The man in the seat was large and had messy, unkempt hair that was slicked to the side.
"Que voulez vous?" he said without looking up from the letter he was reading.
The waitress spoke to him and Crabbe looked up, disbelieving.
"Professor Snape!" he said getting up to shake his hand and then added, "What's he doing here?"
"Now, now Vincent, Potter is here to help us," Snape said reassuringly, "However it is your help that we need."
"Me?" Crabbe said laughing, "What am I good for? I'm just a Potions Teacher at Beauxbatons Academy and run a green grocers and coffee house the rest of the time."
"Well that's the thing, Vincent," Harry said, "It's your potion making skills that we need."
So they sat down with some coffee brought by Amandine, the waitress who was constantly beaming flirtatiously at Harry, and the two explained the situation to Crabbe.
At the end Crabbe finally said getting up off his chair and walking around the room, "Well, if the Ministry is relying on me to cure this illness, but what makes them think I can do it?"
"I don't think anyone has told you this Vincent," Snape said turning to face him, "but you received the highest marks in the NEWTs for Potions at Hogwarts than any other student for four hundred and twenty six years. It's a real shame that so few students excel at the subject."
"I blame the teachers," Harry said grudgingly.
"What? I'm the best student at Potions that Hogwarts has ever had? Well that explains why Beauxbatons even took me on, I was thrilled to bits when they told me I had the job and now I know it was because I'm the best! Hear that Potter? I beat Granger!"
"But Crabbe there are more pressing issues at hand, the Great Sickness for one, they say it could kill off the magical folk if we don't treat it in time."
Crabbe stopped pacing and rubbed his hands together.
"There's only one way we can cure this illness."
"What you know how to, you mean really?"
Vincent looked down at Harry, "It's fairly hypothetical Potter, and pretty complicated nothing you'd understand. HA!" he laughed, "Even that Granger couldn't do it!"
"Well what is it, man?" Snape asked impatiently, "Tell us!"
".It's a longshot but I think the cure lies in the Aestheticism Potion."
Harry was given a room at the Ministry of Magic Headquarters later that day and he sat down to write a letter to Cho. He had already written one when he had arrived in London but he wanted to tell her everything. She was his one and only, she had to know everything that went on. Harry remembered how in his sixth year at Hogwarts he had sung a cover of 'Zero' by the Smashing Pumpkins, at the Christmas Feast changing the lyrics slightly so that it applied directly to Cho. Henceforth, Cho loved it when he referred to her as his 'One and Only'.
He smirked as he sat down and reminisced that time. maybe he could write another song for Cho, yes, another rock and roll cover or maybe even a soppy ballad. no. He had to get this business out of the way - the needs of the many were greater than the needs of the few. He began to write a message on a piece of parchment he had brought with him and got out his eagle feather quill:
Dearest Cho,
It turns out that this illness is worse than could be imagined and
it means I will have to be away for quite a while. Because of this, I
will be coming back to visit you habitually. Did you know that they have
harpies guarding the Department of Mysteries now? It came as such a shock
to me. And, although this is somewhat secretive, they also have
manticores in charge of some of the safes (they hold documents, all the
treasure is at Gringotts).
This illness really is terrible and you remember Maggoty Malfoy's old
crony, Vincent Crabbe? It turns out he's a potion genius and he can help
in curing this illness. hopefully. I will need to talk to him and us lads
don't hold grudges as tightly as you females so hopefully he'll co
operate when I describe the situation. He always seemed like a dumbass to
me at Hogwarts didn't he?
Well I should get some sleep, I'll be up early the next morning to see
Severus Snape, who'll be coming with me to see Crabbe. I miss you so
much, my love it's only been a few hours and it's too much for me
already. Say hi to Sirius and Aunt Vena for me.
Remember you're my one and only.
Yours truly,
HarryPotter.
That was okay, Harry thought. He folded it up and woke up the tawny that was snoozing in the corner of the room. It had been put there by Neville's house elf, Charky who was so shy, she didn't even meet eyes with Harry, and mumbled awkwardly when they met.
And so, he threw the owl off into the night and stretched to read up on the Sickness, discovering that the only other kind of epidemic like this was the Black Death of the 14th Century. Eventually falling asleep after a couple of hours of reading.
Harry woke up next morning face down on the desk in his room whilst reading up on the Oriental Rat Flea that caused the Plague. Taking his glasses off, he got up and got changed, this would be the day where the fate of the Magical Folk would be decided, depending on whether Crabbe would help them.
He went to get breakfast at the local restaurant near the Headquarters. There was an invisibility spell all around the buildings, which is why he needed a pass to get in. To an ordinary Muggle it was a damaged building site.
Neville met Harry as he was about to go back to the Ministry Headquarters.
"Neville!" Harry suddenly said, "I was just about to come and get you."
"Harry you could have dined in the Ministry for free! There was no need to go and eat from a Muggle café."
"Well the thing is that I only feel comfortable around Muggles," Harry mumbled.
The Minister just smiled and urged Harry to follow him. When they got the end of the street he clicked his fingers and suddenly a black taxi appeared.
"To Hogwarts please," Neville said climbing into the back seat with Harry behind him.
The taxi began driving, "But Neville Hogwarts is miles away, it'll take forever to get there by car."
Mr Longbottom just smiled and said, "Oh really? Then how come we're here? And look there's the onerous Whomping Willow."
Surely enough, before them was an ancient castle that was Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and in the distance was a tree thrashing about threateningly in every direction.
"That'll be all, cabbie," the Minister said dropping 19 sickles into the taxi drivers hand.
"Harry you can wait here, I don't want to loiter here it's term time you know."
The Minister disappeared into the castle for a few minutes and Harry just took a walk along the grounds. He found himself at the Quidditch pitch; there had been new goals added and new stands for spectators since he had attended Hogwarts.
He imagined himself as he flew along the skies years ago on his Firebolt that Sirius had given him. He remembered how he was the Seeker and flew like a bird through the skies, he could be as light as a butterfly but as quick as a sparrowhawk.
"Potter?" Professor Severus Snape's voice hauled Harry out his thoughts.
"Professor!" Harry said suddenly, "how are you?" "Working for years in this castle hasn't helped my self esteem I can tell you that Potter."
"So are we all ready to go?" Neville said clapping his hands together.
"Yes Longbottom, but where is Vincent nowadays?" Snape said coldly, even after Neville had been made Minister of Magic, he had failed to show any more regard than he had done at school.
"Well he's currently residing in Paris, near the Notre Dame Cathedral strangely enough."
"So we can just apparate to the Cathedral?" Harry asked.
Neville nodded.
And a minute later Harry was stood right by the colossal building, next to Snape and Neville coming in a few seconds later.
"Right," Neville said brushing dust off his suit, "we need to find a bistro nearby called 'Le Grand Loup'"
And so Neville walked over to a traffic warden and said, "M'excuser madame, mais vous pouvez m'aider s'il vous plaît?"
"Oui Mais bien sûr!" she replied
"Où Le Grand Loup est s'il vous plaît?"
"C'est seulement là-bas," she said pointing to her left, "Côté de la banque, vous pouvez le voir?"
"Oui merci beaucoup madame!" Neville said with a jovial wave.
"It's just by that bank over there, that place with the blue sign," he informed Harry and Snape.
Harry and Snape followed, utterly amazed at how much Neville was capable of in terms of communication.
"Neville did you have to learn French before you came here?" Harry asked nervously.
"Oh of course not!" he laughed, "I just put an interaction charm on my tongue and voila! Je parlez francais parfaitement!"
They approached the bistro and saw how nicely everything looked. Neville went in and spoke to one of the waitresses, asking for a Vincent Crabbe. After a few minutes, he came back outside, shaking his head.
"Sorry guys, I guess we missed him, the waitress had a very strong Parisian accent and I couldn't make out all of what she was saying."
"What's the point of talking in French anyway, Longbottom?" Snape cut in, "everyone in the world speaks English as a second language anyway."
The Minister didn't have time to argue.
"Oh bother," he carried on as if Snape had not said anything, "There must be someone here who knows where he is right now, we need him as soon possible!"
At that moment, the same waitress that Neville had been talking to came out again and started conversing with him, looking as if he had misunderstood her. A few minutes later, he laughed as the waitress went back into the bistro.
"It seems we had a misunderstanding, fellas," Neville said jovially, "Monsieur Crabbe is inside she says but we will have to wait until midday as he works at a fruit and vegetable stall during the day."
Harry sighed and exchanged troubled glances with Snape, this could turn out to be harder than was premeditated.
"So what shall we do for two hours, Minister?" Harry asked.
"Well we could just wander around Paris for a while but I shall have to leave you to it I'm afraid, I've arranged an appointment with the Minister for Magic of New Zealand. The Sickness is pretty bad there too."
He turned away to apparate but then added, "Oh and don't go near the cathedral, you know what happens to magical folk when they go near consecrated buildings." With that he apparated away.
"What happens when we go near cathedrals?" Harry asked Snape.
Snape sighed exasperatedly, "Well you see, magic and celestial things don't mix, and so you could get badly hurt if you go into a church. Some people catch fire, others get struck by lightning, but worst of all you get this feeling that stops you from breathing, most terrible Potter."
Harry looked up at the Notre Dame Cathedral and thought about how it must feel to be struck down by lightning and to stop breathing. And so Harry spent the hours walking around Paris, but not straying to far from the Cathedral. Snape made the excuse that he was too old and so he sat outside Le Grand Loup ordering coffee after coffee. He eventually fell asleep even though there was enough caffeine inside him to keep a drowsy tortoise up for a good few days.
Eventually midday came but still no sign of Crabbe, Harry had joined Snape outside the bistro and was sipping on what they called 'Chocolat Chaud' which Harry guessed was chocolate milk but it was actually a liquid chocolate drink.
Eventually the waitress came outside and started talking in fast French, but Harry told her how he could not understand her. She could not speak either so she just said , "Crabbe? Il est à l'intérieur" she said motioning inside.
"I think she's trying to say he's inside the bistro, Professor," Harry said shaking Snape awake.
"Okay okay, I'll get the chimaera tails by Monday Headmistress," Snape said sleepily.
The waitress led the two inside the bistro to a room upstairs where there was a small, dusty office. On the door it said 'Vincent Crabbe le Propriétaire'. The waitress knocked once on the door and a loud coarse voice called "ENTREZ!"
Inside the office it was very stuffy but also very bright and there was a beautiful view of the Cathedral from the windows behind the desk. The man in the seat was large and had messy, unkempt hair that was slicked to the side.
"Que voulez vous?" he said without looking up from the letter he was reading.
The waitress spoke to him and Crabbe looked up, disbelieving.
"Professor Snape!" he said getting up to shake his hand and then added, "What's he doing here?"
"Now, now Vincent, Potter is here to help us," Snape said reassuringly, "However it is your help that we need."
"Me?" Crabbe said laughing, "What am I good for? I'm just a Potions Teacher at Beauxbatons Academy and run a green grocers and coffee house the rest of the time."
"Well that's the thing, Vincent," Harry said, "It's your potion making skills that we need."
So they sat down with some coffee brought by Amandine, the waitress who was constantly beaming flirtatiously at Harry, and the two explained the situation to Crabbe.
At the end Crabbe finally said getting up off his chair and walking around the room, "Well, if the Ministry is relying on me to cure this illness, but what makes them think I can do it?"
"I don't think anyone has told you this Vincent," Snape said turning to face him, "but you received the highest marks in the NEWTs for Potions at Hogwarts than any other student for four hundred and twenty six years. It's a real shame that so few students excel at the subject."
"I blame the teachers," Harry said grudgingly.
"What? I'm the best student at Potions that Hogwarts has ever had? Well that explains why Beauxbatons even took me on, I was thrilled to bits when they told me I had the job and now I know it was because I'm the best! Hear that Potter? I beat Granger!"
"But Crabbe there are more pressing issues at hand, the Great Sickness for one, they say it could kill off the magical folk if we don't treat it in time."
Crabbe stopped pacing and rubbed his hands together.
"There's only one way we can cure this illness."
"What you know how to, you mean really?"
Vincent looked down at Harry, "It's fairly hypothetical Potter, and pretty complicated nothing you'd understand. HA!" he laughed, "Even that Granger couldn't do it!"
"Well what is it, man?" Snape asked impatiently, "Tell us!"
".It's a longshot but I think the cure lies in the Aestheticism Potion."