I created Chillinger,but Madame Pomfrey doesn't belong to me.

35.

CHILLINGER, POPPY, IRMA AND SNAPE



Ishmael Chillinger supposed it was a good thing that he did not see an arrow

sticking out of his chest when he opened his eyes. Instead, the beauteous

Poppy Pomfrey was there. Sometimes he found himself thinking about her in

quiet moments, wondering what she was doing. Wondering if she had ever inhaled the

steam from a-

"You're lucky to be alive,you know," she said.

"I know," Ishmael said, grinning, even though it hurt. "That which does not

destroy me makes me stronger." He sat up. "I feel extraordinary," he said,

swinging his legs off of the bed.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I have papers to grade."

"Oh,no," Madame Pomfrey said,"Just lie down and relax."

"I've been trying to relax. I can't relax," said one of the other Chillingers.

"I suppose I feel relaxed, but I dunno..."

"How did you get the arrow out?"

"Well, Willy carried you in here. He kept these two busy while I dissolved the

shaft of the arrow with some Flesh-Resistant Acid. Then,I was able to assess the

situation. The arrow missed your heart by several inches. However, I was able to get

it out with no trouble at all."

"You know, there should be more women named Poppy."

She arched her eyebrow.

"So far, the only one I'm aware of, besides you...an American Muggle writer named

Poppy Z. Brite..."

He closed his eyes for a moment; when he opened them again, she was standing

over him. She held a spoonful of green liquid. He wanted her to climb on top of him

and-

"Here," she said. "This'll help you sleep."

He closed his lips over the spoon and swallowed the liquid.

"What were you doing in the Forbidden Forest, anyway?"

He smiled, already feeling sleepy.

"I like to live dangerously," he said.

He closed his eyes; in a moment, he began to snore.

---

"Irma? Irma, are you here?"

"Yes,what is it?"

Irma Pince looked annoyed; being a librarian looked like an easy

job, but it wasn't; it could be pretty nerve-wracking sometimes.

Irma didn't look happy to see her; as far as Poppy knew, she had

never done any damage to any of the library's books.

"I was wondering if you could help me...I have been racking my

brain,trying to figure this out..."

"Well,what IS it?"

"Who originally said 'That which does not destroy me makes me stronger'?"

"Well,that's easy," Irma said. "I don't even have to look it up. That's

Nietzche."

"Friedrich Nietzche?"

"No,my next-door-neighbor Billy Bob Nietzche. Of course, Friedrich Nietzche.

I'm not an expert-Professor Snape is the Nietzche scholar. Ask him anything."

"Irma,didn't Nietzche also say something about living dangerously?"

But she was gone.

---

Five minutes later, she ran into Professor Snape.

"Madame Pomfrey," he said, with a slight bow.

Severus Snape could be so charming without even trying sometimes.

Then again,what snake wasn't?

"Do you have a moment?"

"Only a moment," Snape said.

"A moment is all I need. Madame Pince told me to

ask you this...it's about Nietzche."

"Nietzche?" Snape asked. "What would you like to know?"

"Did he say something about living dangerously?"

"Yes, he did. 'The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the

greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously.'"

"I see."

"I never saw you as a Nietzchean," Snape said.

"Oh,no," Madame Pomfrey laughed. "Not me. Professor Chillinger."

"Chillinger," Snape said.

Whoever fights monsters, he thought.