OFF TO HOGWARTS.....
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Harry climbed into one of the horseless carriages. Ron and Hermione
followed. The train ride had been very quiet. Harry had a hard time saying
goodbye to Sirius. Tonight was the night Harry found out if all those
mixers had worked. Tonight was the night...
The carriage lurched forwards and into the cold night air. Hermione was
staring at Harry.
"It'll be okay Harry." She said quietly. Harry snorted with doubt. The rest
of the ride was silent. Harry climbed out of the carriage when it came to a
stop. He made his way into the castle. He heard murmurs, whispers and
giggles as he climbed the front steps. Harry just ignored them. Ron and
Hermione ran to catch up to Harry. He was already half way to the hospital
wing. Hermione grabbed his arm before they went in. Their eyes locked for a
moment, then Hermione released him. Harry stepped into the hospital wing.
Madame Pomfrey was waiting for him.
"I'm so sorry about what happened dear." She said quietly. Harry shrugged.
"Dumbledore asked for some pictures of the wounds." Madame Pomfrey said
quietly.
"Pictures?" Harry asked. She bit her lip and nodded. Harry groaned and
undressed. He was just in his boxers. He was rather uncomfortable while
Madame Pomfrey snapped pictures. She began to heal up his wounds.
"Broken ribs, fractured knee...splintered wrist!" She tutted. She was
mending up the last of the cuts when she said something that Harry wished
she hadn't.
"Damn muggles and their child abuse." Madame Pomfrey spat. Hermione clapped
a hand to her mouth and Ron went very pale. Harry closed his eyes and
leaned back. Madame Pomfrey finished up and told him he had to stay the
night...to see if he transformed. Harry pulled on his pajamas and climbed
into bed. Hermione and Ron were staring at him.
"They...they beat you?" Ron asked. Harry looked at him, then looked away
quickly.
Ron and Hermione didn't know what to say. Ron was about to ask Harry if it hurt, when Hermione elbowed him in the stomach. A couple of hours later, Dumbledore appeared. "Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, the feast is not yet over. Why don't you go have something to eat so I can have a little talk with Harry." Dumbledore said quietly. Ron and Hermione nodded and left the hospital wing. Dumbledore settled himself in a chair next to Harry. "Harry..." He began. Harry closed his eyes. "If the mixers did not work..." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry gave an involuntary shudder. "There is a new medicine that can be administered. It is given in heavy doses and can only be given to first stage patients." He said quietly. Harry looked at him. "What does it do?" He asked, his voice shaking. "It is the cure. But, only for first stage patients. If it is not administered immediately after your first transformation, you will forever be a werewolf." He said quietly. Harry's hands were shaking. "Now, I am very sorry to tell you that you cannot stay at the school tonight." Dumbledore said sadly. Harry looked at him. "There is a friend waiting for you in the Shrieking Shack." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry nodded. Dumbledore placed something on the bed. It was Harry's invisibility cloak. "I thought you might want to avoid being seen." He said with a small smile. Harry nodded and got up from the bed. He pulled the cloak over him and disappeared. He and Dumbledore made their way to the whomping willow.
Harry and Sirius sat silently in the Shrieking Shack. Neither knew what to say... Sirius was there to become Padfoot, in case Harry transformed. That way, he could prevent Harry from hurting himself. Sirius watched as Harry rocked back and forth, eyes budging, sweat trickling down his face. It scared Sirius to even think that Harry could be a werewolf...even if there was a cure. Harry would still have that horrible experience. It was nearly midnight when something happened. Something Sirius and Harry had both been dreading. Harry had been pacing the room, when he went rigid. Sirius stood up quickly. "No...no...no..." He begged. Harry began to shake. His feet were turning into paws. His robes were ripping. There was a look of pure agony on his face. He let out a scream of pain. Sirius quickly turned into Padfoot. By the time he had, a fair sized werewolf stood in front of him. The wolf snapped it's jaws and lunged forwards. Padfoot darted to the side and missed the bite. The werewolf rounded and turned back to Padfoot. Harry! Sirius thought desperately. The werewolf's eyes no longer became hungry and blood thirsty. He could hear what this dog was thinking. Just calm down Harry... Sirius whimpered. The werewolf hesitated, then slowly walked towards the dog. Padfoot back off, afraid the wolf might lunge forward. Lay down! Sirius thought quickly. The wolf bended it's hairy legs and sprawled out. It was staring at the dog hungrily. Drool spilling onto the floor, teeth barred. Padfoot just circled the beast, knowing that inside it was a boy. A poor, helpless, harmless boy. The night was very long. Several times, the werewolf decided it was tired of laying down and lunged forwards onto Sirius. Dawn was breaking when the werewolf started to change. It's claws were replaced with fingers, it's paws with hands. The wolf started to howl out of pain. Eventually, the howls turned to screams. Harry collapsed onto the dusty floor. His robes were torn to shreds. Padfoot turned to Sirius and rushed to the side of his godson.
Sirius tried to wake Harry, but knew it was useless. He remembered Lupin's transformations. Sirius glanced at his watch, it was quarter to six in the morning. Dumbledore told Sirius he would return to check on Harry at six. Sirius lifted Harry off the dusty floor and placed him onto a sofa that had chunks missing. Harry wasn't wearing his glasses. Sirius went and found them. They were across the room. Sirius sat nervously with Harry. If Dumbledore didn't hurry, it would be too late for the antidote. Suddenly, there were footsteps. Dumbledore appeared, but he wasn't alone. Lupin was with him. They immediately saw Harry. Lupin groaned and Dumbledore bowed his head. "Come on, we need to get him up to the school." Sirius said hastily. Dumbledore nodded. They conjured a stretcher and placed Harry on it, his invisibility cloak folded under him. Sirius changed into Padfoot and they all left the Shrieking Shack.
They crossed the damp grounds. There were no students out yet, but Hagrid was in his garden. He stared as Harry passed on the stretcher. "Lord n' behold!" He cried. It took Dumbledore a couple of minutes to calm him. He told Hagrid that Harry had had a scrape with the Whomping Willow. Hagrid was relieved to hear that it wasn't anything serious...but it was. The hallways were pretty empty in the school. They made their way up to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was waiting, to see if anything had happened. She closed her eyes and shook her head when she saw Harry. "He'll be out of it for a couple of days, then the medicine will have it's fun with him. I'd say a week before he's released." She told Dumbledore as they removed Harry's torn robes. Soon, he was in his pajamas and had a large needle in his arm. There was a tube connected to the needle, which was pushing a thick, gloppy green liquid into his arm. Padfoot rested on the bed next to Harry. He licked his hand sadly and whimpered. Lupin was sitting in a chair, his face in his hands. Dumbledore was just staring at Harry, wearing the saddest expression. No one said anything.
It was around lunch time when Ron and Hermione came bursting into the hospital wing. They hadn't seen Harry all day and feared the worst. They spotted Lupin and then peered behind the curtain. They saw Harry lying motionless in the bed. "Oh god..." Ron muttered. Hermione stiffled a sob and ran from the hospital wing. Ron chased after her. Harry started to stir. Padfoot lifted his head off the covers and stared at Harry. So, did Lupin. One of Harry's eyes opened. "Poppy!" Lupin yelled. Madame Pomfrey came bustling over. "I'll go inform the headmaster." She said quickly. She dashed from the room. Lupin closed the curtains around the bed and Padfoot changed to Sirius. Harry opened both his eyes now. He groaned. Sirius hurried to his side. "Hey kiddo..." He said quietly. Harry was really sore. It felt like he had taken a whole bottle of skelegrow, not just a little. "It happened, didn't it?" He groaned. Sirius bit his lip and nodded. Harry began to take deeper breaths and he lost all his colour. He wasn't going to cry, he wasn't going to cry... "But you know, you'll take the antidote and you'll be fine!" Sirius said quickly. Harry closed his eyes. They heard the hospital wing door open. Sirius quickly changed to Padfoot. Dumbledore pulled back the curtains. Harry opened his eyes. "I thought you said he would be out of it for a few days..." Dumbledore said to Madame Pomfrey. "Out of it doesn't necessarily mean sleeping. I meant...help up. In bed...that sort of thing." She said hastily. Dumbledore nodded and forced a smile for Harry. Harry scowled, closed his eyes and shook his head. Not even Dumbledore could make him feel better...
Harry was still quite sore, but the side effects from the antidote were overwhelming him. Harry was sick at least three times a day, he felt excruciating pain, he became so weak he couldn't lift a quill, he had night sweats, coughing fits and sometimes, he would just pass out. This medicine was even worse that the mixers! Ron and Hermione were visited him as often as they could. Padfoot never left Harry. Harry had asked Hermione to check a book out of the library for him. A book about this antidote he was taking. Harry found out, that only eighty out of one hundred cases had been cured. Harry and Sirius had gotten into a bit of a fight about this. Madame Pomfrey had left for a meeting with Dumbledore, so Sirius was in human form. "Why didn't you - tell me?!" Harry demanded during a coughing fit. "Harry calm down! You're getting yourself worked up over nothing!" Sirius said hastily, trying to calm Harry. "Nothing?!" Harry coughed. "There's a twenty - percent chance I'll - stay the way I - am!" He choked. The bickered back and forth until the hospital door opened. Then, Sirius had to turn back to Padfoot.
Madame Pomfrey appeared. She bustled over to Harry's bed. "How're you feeling?" She asked quietly as she checked to see how much more of the antidote there was. "Not very - good." Harry coughed. Madame Pomfrey looked sympathetically at him. "Well, the antidote is almost drained, then you'll just have to deal with the side effects." She said quietly. "How many more days - do I have to - stay?" Harry choked. "Two to three." She smiled at him, then hurried to tend to a boy with a horn growing from his forehead. Harry layed back on his pillow and closed his eyes. Maybe this was a dream...or a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare.
"Harry..." Someone was shaking Harry. He was lying on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow. He was so tired and so sore...what had happened the night before? Something that drained all the energy from him. "Harry, come on, wake up." The person continued to shake him. Two strong hands rolled Harry over. Harry had dark circles under his eyes and he was really pale. Though he didn't open his eyes, the light burned his eyeballs. Harry tried to turn over, but someone stopped him. "Wake up! Open your eyes!" Harry lazily opened one eye. Everything was blurry. He quickly closed it again. There was a long sigh, then Harry heard the curtains around his bed being shut. Harry felt two hands grip his shoulder. "Come on son, wake up." Sirius whispered. Harry stirred, then groaned. "Lemme sleep." He mumbled. Harry heard muffled laughs. "Come on kiddo..." Sirius said in that affectionate sort of way. Harry groaned and reached for his glasses. He slipped them on his nose and stared at Sirius. "You scuzzy dog...you get me with that every time." He smiled weakly. Sirius winked at him. Harry looked around. There were some people standing around his bed. Harry recognised Dumbledore and Lupin, and then his eyes fell on a woman he didn't recognize. Harry instinctively grabbed Sirius's arm. His grip wasn't very tight though, he had very little energy. Sirius smiled. "Don't worry about her, it's the guys out there that you should worry about." Sirius said in a hushed voice. He motioned behind the curtains. Harry nodded weakly. Sirius changed back into Padfoot. "Harry, Cornelius Fudge is here." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry rolled his eyes. "There are some other people here as well...wizard judges and such." Dumbledore said pointedly. Harry stared at him. Dumbledore glanced at Sirius, then back at Harry. Harry understood. "Okay..." He said, not really understanding why he was needed. Dumbledore placed a frail hand on the woman's shoulder.
Ron and Hermione didn't know what to say. Ron was about to ask Harry if it hurt, when Hermione elbowed him in the stomach. A couple of hours later, Dumbledore appeared. "Mr Weasley, Miss Granger, the feast is not yet over. Why don't you go have something to eat so I can have a little talk with Harry." Dumbledore said quietly. Ron and Hermione nodded and left the hospital wing. Dumbledore settled himself in a chair next to Harry. "Harry..." He began. Harry closed his eyes. "If the mixers did not work..." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry gave an involuntary shudder. "There is a new medicine that can be administered. It is given in heavy doses and can only be given to first stage patients." He said quietly. Harry looked at him. "What does it do?" He asked, his voice shaking. "It is the cure. But, only for first stage patients. If it is not administered immediately after your first transformation, you will forever be a werewolf." He said quietly. Harry's hands were shaking. "Now, I am very sorry to tell you that you cannot stay at the school tonight." Dumbledore said sadly. Harry looked at him. "There is a friend waiting for you in the Shrieking Shack." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry nodded. Dumbledore placed something on the bed. It was Harry's invisibility cloak. "I thought you might want to avoid being seen." He said with a small smile. Harry nodded and got up from the bed. He pulled the cloak over him and disappeared. He and Dumbledore made their way to the whomping willow.
Harry and Sirius sat silently in the Shrieking Shack. Neither knew what to say... Sirius was there to become Padfoot, in case Harry transformed. That way, he could prevent Harry from hurting himself. Sirius watched as Harry rocked back and forth, eyes budging, sweat trickling down his face. It scared Sirius to even think that Harry could be a werewolf...even if there was a cure. Harry would still have that horrible experience. It was nearly midnight when something happened. Something Sirius and Harry had both been dreading. Harry had been pacing the room, when he went rigid. Sirius stood up quickly. "No...no...no..." He begged. Harry began to shake. His feet were turning into paws. His robes were ripping. There was a look of pure agony on his face. He let out a scream of pain. Sirius quickly turned into Padfoot. By the time he had, a fair sized werewolf stood in front of him. The wolf snapped it's jaws and lunged forwards. Padfoot darted to the side and missed the bite. The werewolf rounded and turned back to Padfoot. Harry! Sirius thought desperately. The werewolf's eyes no longer became hungry and blood thirsty. He could hear what this dog was thinking. Just calm down Harry... Sirius whimpered. The werewolf hesitated, then slowly walked towards the dog. Padfoot back off, afraid the wolf might lunge forward. Lay down! Sirius thought quickly. The wolf bended it's hairy legs and sprawled out. It was staring at the dog hungrily. Drool spilling onto the floor, teeth barred. Padfoot just circled the beast, knowing that inside it was a boy. A poor, helpless, harmless boy. The night was very long. Several times, the werewolf decided it was tired of laying down and lunged forwards onto Sirius. Dawn was breaking when the werewolf started to change. It's claws were replaced with fingers, it's paws with hands. The wolf started to howl out of pain. Eventually, the howls turned to screams. Harry collapsed onto the dusty floor. His robes were torn to shreds. Padfoot turned to Sirius and rushed to the side of his godson.
Sirius tried to wake Harry, but knew it was useless. He remembered Lupin's transformations. Sirius glanced at his watch, it was quarter to six in the morning. Dumbledore told Sirius he would return to check on Harry at six. Sirius lifted Harry off the dusty floor and placed him onto a sofa that had chunks missing. Harry wasn't wearing his glasses. Sirius went and found them. They were across the room. Sirius sat nervously with Harry. If Dumbledore didn't hurry, it would be too late for the antidote. Suddenly, there were footsteps. Dumbledore appeared, but he wasn't alone. Lupin was with him. They immediately saw Harry. Lupin groaned and Dumbledore bowed his head. "Come on, we need to get him up to the school." Sirius said hastily. Dumbledore nodded. They conjured a stretcher and placed Harry on it, his invisibility cloak folded under him. Sirius changed into Padfoot and they all left the Shrieking Shack.
They crossed the damp grounds. There were no students out yet, but Hagrid was in his garden. He stared as Harry passed on the stretcher. "Lord n' behold!" He cried. It took Dumbledore a couple of minutes to calm him. He told Hagrid that Harry had had a scrape with the Whomping Willow. Hagrid was relieved to hear that it wasn't anything serious...but it was. The hallways were pretty empty in the school. They made their way up to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey was waiting, to see if anything had happened. She closed her eyes and shook her head when she saw Harry. "He'll be out of it for a couple of days, then the medicine will have it's fun with him. I'd say a week before he's released." She told Dumbledore as they removed Harry's torn robes. Soon, he was in his pajamas and had a large needle in his arm. There was a tube connected to the needle, which was pushing a thick, gloppy green liquid into his arm. Padfoot rested on the bed next to Harry. He licked his hand sadly and whimpered. Lupin was sitting in a chair, his face in his hands. Dumbledore was just staring at Harry, wearing the saddest expression. No one said anything.
It was around lunch time when Ron and Hermione came bursting into the hospital wing. They hadn't seen Harry all day and feared the worst. They spotted Lupin and then peered behind the curtain. They saw Harry lying motionless in the bed. "Oh god..." Ron muttered. Hermione stiffled a sob and ran from the hospital wing. Ron chased after her. Harry started to stir. Padfoot lifted his head off the covers and stared at Harry. So, did Lupin. One of Harry's eyes opened. "Poppy!" Lupin yelled. Madame Pomfrey came bustling over. "I'll go inform the headmaster." She said quickly. She dashed from the room. Lupin closed the curtains around the bed and Padfoot changed to Sirius. Harry opened both his eyes now. He groaned. Sirius hurried to his side. "Hey kiddo..." He said quietly. Harry was really sore. It felt like he had taken a whole bottle of skelegrow, not just a little. "It happened, didn't it?" He groaned. Sirius bit his lip and nodded. Harry began to take deeper breaths and he lost all his colour. He wasn't going to cry, he wasn't going to cry... "But you know, you'll take the antidote and you'll be fine!" Sirius said quickly. Harry closed his eyes. They heard the hospital wing door open. Sirius quickly changed to Padfoot. Dumbledore pulled back the curtains. Harry opened his eyes. "I thought you said he would be out of it for a few days..." Dumbledore said to Madame Pomfrey. "Out of it doesn't necessarily mean sleeping. I meant...help up. In bed...that sort of thing." She said hastily. Dumbledore nodded and forced a smile for Harry. Harry scowled, closed his eyes and shook his head. Not even Dumbledore could make him feel better...
Harry was still quite sore, but the side effects from the antidote were overwhelming him. Harry was sick at least three times a day, he felt excruciating pain, he became so weak he couldn't lift a quill, he had night sweats, coughing fits and sometimes, he would just pass out. This medicine was even worse that the mixers! Ron and Hermione were visited him as often as they could. Padfoot never left Harry. Harry had asked Hermione to check a book out of the library for him. A book about this antidote he was taking. Harry found out, that only eighty out of one hundred cases had been cured. Harry and Sirius had gotten into a bit of a fight about this. Madame Pomfrey had left for a meeting with Dumbledore, so Sirius was in human form. "Why didn't you - tell me?!" Harry demanded during a coughing fit. "Harry calm down! You're getting yourself worked up over nothing!" Sirius said hastily, trying to calm Harry. "Nothing?!" Harry coughed. "There's a twenty - percent chance I'll - stay the way I - am!" He choked. The bickered back and forth until the hospital door opened. Then, Sirius had to turn back to Padfoot.
Madame Pomfrey appeared. She bustled over to Harry's bed. "How're you feeling?" She asked quietly as she checked to see how much more of the antidote there was. "Not very - good." Harry coughed. Madame Pomfrey looked sympathetically at him. "Well, the antidote is almost drained, then you'll just have to deal with the side effects." She said quietly. "How many more days - do I have to - stay?" Harry choked. "Two to three." She smiled at him, then hurried to tend to a boy with a horn growing from his forehead. Harry layed back on his pillow and closed his eyes. Maybe this was a dream...or a nightmare. A horrible, horrible nightmare.
"Harry..." Someone was shaking Harry. He was lying on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow. He was so tired and so sore...what had happened the night before? Something that drained all the energy from him. "Harry, come on, wake up." The person continued to shake him. Two strong hands rolled Harry over. Harry had dark circles under his eyes and he was really pale. Though he didn't open his eyes, the light burned his eyeballs. Harry tried to turn over, but someone stopped him. "Wake up! Open your eyes!" Harry lazily opened one eye. Everything was blurry. He quickly closed it again. There was a long sigh, then Harry heard the curtains around his bed being shut. Harry felt two hands grip his shoulder. "Come on son, wake up." Sirius whispered. Harry stirred, then groaned. "Lemme sleep." He mumbled. Harry heard muffled laughs. "Come on kiddo..." Sirius said in that affectionate sort of way. Harry groaned and reached for his glasses. He slipped them on his nose and stared at Sirius. "You scuzzy dog...you get me with that every time." He smiled weakly. Sirius winked at him. Harry looked around. There were some people standing around his bed. Harry recognised Dumbledore and Lupin, and then his eyes fell on a woman he didn't recognize. Harry instinctively grabbed Sirius's arm. His grip wasn't very tight though, he had very little energy. Sirius smiled. "Don't worry about her, it's the guys out there that you should worry about." Sirius said in a hushed voice. He motioned behind the curtains. Harry nodded weakly. Sirius changed back into Padfoot. "Harry, Cornelius Fudge is here." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry rolled his eyes. "There are some other people here as well...wizard judges and such." Dumbledore said pointedly. Harry stared at him. Dumbledore glanced at Sirius, then back at Harry. Harry understood. "Okay..." He said, not really understanding why he was needed. Dumbledore placed a frail hand on the woman's shoulder.