Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
The days went on since Vincent Crabbe had discovered the Aestheticism Potion and soon enough, all the sufferers of Satan's Eyelid in the world were cured of it, although a lot more people gave the influenza side effect to others than the Sickness itself. The Minister of Magic of New Zealand had paid him a generous sum of Wizard Gold for giving all the drug companies in New Zealand the recipe for the potion. He had gotten a lot more money from other drug companies, the other Ministries of Magic and from newspaper interviews. His fortune was increasing at such an alarming rate that the Gringotts Goblins were constantly busy rushing hither and thither with his gold, having to open up several accounts for him.
Harry was now back at home with his wife, Cho, who was over the moon to see him arrive after weeks and weeks. Sirius and Professor Cumae had left a faerie charm on the house and now there were lots of bright little creatures that would open doors, change clothes and even cook for the Potters.
Cho had been discussing children, and was wondering if Harry wanted them too.
"We've been married three years now, Harry," she said, "most couples jump straight into bed on the wedding night!"
"Well we're not most couples, Cho," he said, "I'm not sure that I am ready for them right now."
"Come on, I won't stay fertile all my life!" she said, "Look we can go to the family planning centre today and see what happens from there, okay?"
Harry nodded gravely, of course he would do anything for his Cho but having a child was a really big decision.
"Well, Mr and Mrs Potter," Dr Lumen at the 'Happy Families' family planning centre said, "it appears that we have discovered some rather anomalous yet unfortunate results from your tests."
"Well what is it, doctor?" Cho said, "Is there some kind of problem?"
Harry sighed, this couldn't be good news, he could feel it in his bones.
Dr Lumen sat down and took her glasses off, making a faint smile in her young face.
"I'm afraid that you can't have children," she said sighing, "It seems that both of you are very infertile and it seems that you can never naturally conceive."
Cho just looked at Harry and began sobbing uncontrollably, falling into his arms.
"However, it is possible to adopt children you know," Dr Lumen added, "there are plenty of orphaned and abandoned children that need the individual love that they don't get at group homes."
But Cho did not want to listen to Dr Lumen, she wanted to carry her own child. And so the Potters left the family planning clinic that day, upset with broken spirits.
That night Cho went to the kitchen and sat down with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and muesli, while watching a late night film called 'Fear' starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg. Although she hated both of the actors, she found that its dark storyline was a comfort in her dark hour, and with 'Have it all' playing in the background, she was feeling really down.
Then suddenly a newsflash appeared, interrupting the film.
"We are sorry to interrupt this program but there has been an enormous outbreak of a new illness, called Serpentine Myopia."
Cho increased the volume and leant forward, chewing more slowly on the muesli.
".this illness is so named due to the blindness in the early stages and the serpentine worms that appear under the skin and live inside the lining of the small intestine. It seems there is no known cure and even Dr Vincent Crabbe who quelled the Satan's Eyelid Epidemic is pessimistic about success in finding a cure. So far all the doctors can do is give sedatives to sufferers to ease the pain."
Cho turned the television off and sighed. She had to stop feeling sorry for herself now, there were people who had much bigger problems than her; there were people who would never be able to even see their loved ones let alone have children. She decided that she was going to go and help these people, there was no cure but she could at least go and help them in person.
Cho got up and began to go upstairs when Harry came bounding down in a frenzy, running past Cho and switching the television on.
"Oh so you've heard about the new epidemic?" she enquired.
Harry turned back at her quickly and said, "Yeah I knew that but Dr Crabbe just phoned me and said that there was a pirate broadcast with Draco Malfoy in, he seems to have something to do with it."
And sure enough, there was Malfoy's sneering face on the television, clad in robes of amethyst velvet, he began to speak, "This is Lord Draco Malfoy of Malfoy Manor. I'm sure you all know me already and so I won't beat about the bush. IT WAS ME! It was me who brought about the new illness, Serpentine Myopia. How did he do it, you say? EASY! I have this!" he said brandishing an enormous book that had some unknown language on the front.
"Yes, all I needed was to spread another illness after that filth Crabbe quashed the other one, but not this time! Do you want to know why? BECAUSE HE'S HERE WITH ME! And would you look at that, he has the illness too! He'll be dead by the morning," he then looked down and a forked tongue came out of his mouth quickly, "So Minister, I give you a proposition - you either give me control of the Ministry of Magic. or I will kill all the magical folk in the world!" He ended the transmission with a malicious laugh, and then the television returned to the late night film that was on.
Harry looked at Cho, then simply uttered, "Hmm."
"Is that all you can say? The Ministry's last hope has just caught the illness and that's all that comes to your mind?" she said loudly.
"That wasn't Vincent Crabbe in that transmission," he said.
"What do you mean? Of course it was him! Didn't you see his face?"
"That book that Malfoy was waving about, it looked like a black magick book. I don't know if you know this, but Dark Magick is a lot stronger than White Magic, the possibilities are endless. And one of the things that you can do with such power is create illusions."
Cho frowned at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
"The real Vincent Crabbe had only just phoned me and informed me that he was in the Ministry Headquarters, he even gave the phone to Neville for a few minutes. So Malfoy's obviously got his wires crossed."
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go to the Ministry Headquarters!" Cho said.
Harry looked at her cautiously, "Honey, I don't want you to get involved, I'll ask Sirius and Vena to come and."
"I DON'T BLOODY NEED BABYSITTING, HARRY! I am a grown woman and can look after myself or are you still living in the fifteenth century? I shan't speak to you again if you leave me like this, and if you do, I will go anyway, you hear?"
Harry sighed, "Come on then, take a pinch," he said offering a pot of Floo powder and going over to the fireplace which he lit with his wand.
She took a pinch and as the flames turned a light jade, she jumped in shouting, "THE MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS!"
Harry jumped in after her.
At the Ministry, Harry's speculation was confirmed - the real Vincent Crabbe was at the Headquarters and that others with him assumed that it must have been an illusion.
The Minister was quite surprised to see Cho with him. But nonetheless, gave her the job of putting a protection spell on the Ministry Messengers and Dr Crabbe.
Neville left straightaway to make a national announcement.
"Magical folk of Britain! This is Neville Longbottom your Minister. Here is what you should all do to stop this illness spreading further. There is no point in trying to treat it now, it is a dark magical illness which we cannot understand and so I implore to all to bring together all the victims and seal them off, any people with them must be brought in too. This may seem like a drastic measure but it is the only way we can overcome it. PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!" he boomed, "As for Dr Vincent Crabbe, he is alive and well, Mr Malfoy merely created the illusion that he had the illness, but it is far from true. And so I end on this sad note, Adieu."
Neville made his way back to his office but as he did, Dr Crabbe came running towards him.
"Minister! Minister! I think I know where Malfoy is!" He cried leaping towards him.
"What?" Neville said, utterly confounded, "How? Where?"
"I saw the stone walls behind him and they're of the secret hideout we had found when we were schoolchildren, I still know the way!"
"But Vincent, I can't come with you, I need to go to New Zealand for a conference with the Minister there. They do seem to have bad luck there."
"I've got it!" Crabbe exclaimed, "Harry Potter! He's the most able person I know to come with us, but we will need more people, the more the better."
Harry had been informed and agreed to go, Hermione Weasley, who was an Auror for the Ministry had also been called up as well as Cho who proved to know more about dark magick destruction than any other person available at the Ministry. There was also a group of 12 Aurors that had been brought in.
The whole party was brought together and Crabbe was declared leader.
"Okay everyone! We will be venturing into the underground tunnels of Sousoll, near Wales. It will be a difficult journey and there may be the odd dragon so we must all be prepared for this as it could prove to be fatal."
And so the expedition to the Tunnels of Sousoll took place.
The days went on since Vincent Crabbe had discovered the Aestheticism Potion and soon enough, all the sufferers of Satan's Eyelid in the world were cured of it, although a lot more people gave the influenza side effect to others than the Sickness itself. The Minister of Magic of New Zealand had paid him a generous sum of Wizard Gold for giving all the drug companies in New Zealand the recipe for the potion. He had gotten a lot more money from other drug companies, the other Ministries of Magic and from newspaper interviews. His fortune was increasing at such an alarming rate that the Gringotts Goblins were constantly busy rushing hither and thither with his gold, having to open up several accounts for him.
Harry was now back at home with his wife, Cho, who was over the moon to see him arrive after weeks and weeks. Sirius and Professor Cumae had left a faerie charm on the house and now there were lots of bright little creatures that would open doors, change clothes and even cook for the Potters.
Cho had been discussing children, and was wondering if Harry wanted them too.
"We've been married three years now, Harry," she said, "most couples jump straight into bed on the wedding night!"
"Well we're not most couples, Cho," he said, "I'm not sure that I am ready for them right now."
"Come on, I won't stay fertile all my life!" she said, "Look we can go to the family planning centre today and see what happens from there, okay?"
Harry nodded gravely, of course he would do anything for his Cho but having a child was a really big decision.
"Well, Mr and Mrs Potter," Dr Lumen at the 'Happy Families' family planning centre said, "it appears that we have discovered some rather anomalous yet unfortunate results from your tests."
"Well what is it, doctor?" Cho said, "Is there some kind of problem?"
Harry sighed, this couldn't be good news, he could feel it in his bones.
Dr Lumen sat down and took her glasses off, making a faint smile in her young face.
"I'm afraid that you can't have children," she said sighing, "It seems that both of you are very infertile and it seems that you can never naturally conceive."
Cho just looked at Harry and began sobbing uncontrollably, falling into his arms.
"However, it is possible to adopt children you know," Dr Lumen added, "there are plenty of orphaned and abandoned children that need the individual love that they don't get at group homes."
But Cho did not want to listen to Dr Lumen, she wanted to carry her own child. And so the Potters left the family planning clinic that day, upset with broken spirits.
That night Cho went to the kitchen and sat down with a bowl of vanilla ice cream and muesli, while watching a late night film called 'Fear' starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Wahlberg. Although she hated both of the actors, she found that its dark storyline was a comfort in her dark hour, and with 'Have it all' playing in the background, she was feeling really down.
Then suddenly a newsflash appeared, interrupting the film.
"We are sorry to interrupt this program but there has been an enormous outbreak of a new illness, called Serpentine Myopia."
Cho increased the volume and leant forward, chewing more slowly on the muesli.
".this illness is so named due to the blindness in the early stages and the serpentine worms that appear under the skin and live inside the lining of the small intestine. It seems there is no known cure and even Dr Vincent Crabbe who quelled the Satan's Eyelid Epidemic is pessimistic about success in finding a cure. So far all the doctors can do is give sedatives to sufferers to ease the pain."
Cho turned the television off and sighed. She had to stop feeling sorry for herself now, there were people who had much bigger problems than her; there were people who would never be able to even see their loved ones let alone have children. She decided that she was going to go and help these people, there was no cure but she could at least go and help them in person.
Cho got up and began to go upstairs when Harry came bounding down in a frenzy, running past Cho and switching the television on.
"Oh so you've heard about the new epidemic?" she enquired.
Harry turned back at her quickly and said, "Yeah I knew that but Dr Crabbe just phoned me and said that there was a pirate broadcast with Draco Malfoy in, he seems to have something to do with it."
And sure enough, there was Malfoy's sneering face on the television, clad in robes of amethyst velvet, he began to speak, "This is Lord Draco Malfoy of Malfoy Manor. I'm sure you all know me already and so I won't beat about the bush. IT WAS ME! It was me who brought about the new illness, Serpentine Myopia. How did he do it, you say? EASY! I have this!" he said brandishing an enormous book that had some unknown language on the front.
"Yes, all I needed was to spread another illness after that filth Crabbe quashed the other one, but not this time! Do you want to know why? BECAUSE HE'S HERE WITH ME! And would you look at that, he has the illness too! He'll be dead by the morning," he then looked down and a forked tongue came out of his mouth quickly, "So Minister, I give you a proposition - you either give me control of the Ministry of Magic. or I will kill all the magical folk in the world!" He ended the transmission with a malicious laugh, and then the television returned to the late night film that was on.
Harry looked at Cho, then simply uttered, "Hmm."
"Is that all you can say? The Ministry's last hope has just caught the illness and that's all that comes to your mind?" she said loudly.
"That wasn't Vincent Crabbe in that transmission," he said.
"What do you mean? Of course it was him! Didn't you see his face?"
"That book that Malfoy was waving about, it looked like a black magick book. I don't know if you know this, but Dark Magick is a lot stronger than White Magic, the possibilities are endless. And one of the things that you can do with such power is create illusions."
Cho frowned at him, trying to comprehend what he was saying.
"The real Vincent Crabbe had only just phoned me and informed me that he was in the Ministry Headquarters, he even gave the phone to Neville for a few minutes. So Malfoy's obviously got his wires crossed."
"Well what are you waiting for? Let's go to the Ministry Headquarters!" Cho said.
Harry looked at her cautiously, "Honey, I don't want you to get involved, I'll ask Sirius and Vena to come and."
"I DON'T BLOODY NEED BABYSITTING, HARRY! I am a grown woman and can look after myself or are you still living in the fifteenth century? I shan't speak to you again if you leave me like this, and if you do, I will go anyway, you hear?"
Harry sighed, "Come on then, take a pinch," he said offering a pot of Floo powder and going over to the fireplace which he lit with his wand.
She took a pinch and as the flames turned a light jade, she jumped in shouting, "THE MINISTRY HEADQUARTERS!"
Harry jumped in after her.
At the Ministry, Harry's speculation was confirmed - the real Vincent Crabbe was at the Headquarters and that others with him assumed that it must have been an illusion.
The Minister was quite surprised to see Cho with him. But nonetheless, gave her the job of putting a protection spell on the Ministry Messengers and Dr Crabbe.
Neville left straightaway to make a national announcement.
"Magical folk of Britain! This is Neville Longbottom your Minister. Here is what you should all do to stop this illness spreading further. There is no point in trying to treat it now, it is a dark magical illness which we cannot understand and so I implore to all to bring together all the victims and seal them off, any people with them must be brought in too. This may seem like a drastic measure but it is the only way we can overcome it. PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE!" he boomed, "As for Dr Vincent Crabbe, he is alive and well, Mr Malfoy merely created the illusion that he had the illness, but it is far from true. And so I end on this sad note, Adieu."
Neville made his way back to his office but as he did, Dr Crabbe came running towards him.
"Minister! Minister! I think I know where Malfoy is!" He cried leaping towards him.
"What?" Neville said, utterly confounded, "How? Where?"
"I saw the stone walls behind him and they're of the secret hideout we had found when we were schoolchildren, I still know the way!"
"But Vincent, I can't come with you, I need to go to New Zealand for a conference with the Minister there. They do seem to have bad luck there."
"I've got it!" Crabbe exclaimed, "Harry Potter! He's the most able person I know to come with us, but we will need more people, the more the better."
Harry had been informed and agreed to go, Hermione Weasley, who was an Auror for the Ministry had also been called up as well as Cho who proved to know more about dark magick destruction than any other person available at the Ministry. There was also a group of 12 Aurors that had been brought in.
The whole party was brought together and Crabbe was declared leader.
"Okay everyone! We will be venturing into the underground tunnels of Sousoll, near Wales. It will be a difficult journey and there may be the odd dragon so we must all be prepared for this as it could prove to be fatal."
And so the expedition to the Tunnels of Sousoll took place.