Chapter 17

Hospital Wing

When Harry awoke, it was a slow process. He started thinking again first, but was still without any of his senses. Then, he got his hearing back.

"I can't believe he's still not awake!" he heard Hermione say worryingly. "It's all my fault that we brewed this potion in the first place. I can't believe I was so stupid to suggest this."

"Hermione, don't worry," said Ron, who was in fact having a hard time keeping the worry out of his own voice. "He'll be okay. He's still breathing and everything. The potion's got to wear off soon. And don't go blaming yourself, you told us to stop making the potion..."

Then Harry heard Ginny speak up, "I really hope that he is all right."

Harry, who had been focusing all his mental energy on moving his body in some way, finally regained feeling, and control of his body. He opened his eyes, and was relieved to find that he also had his sight back. Apparently, he had come fully back into his own senses.

He was relieved for a moment, but then, to his great irritation, he found that he was in the hospital wing. Nobody was looking at him though, instead looking concernedly at each other, so he said, in a voice that was rather weaker than he would have liked, "How long have I been out?"

Each of their heads snapped toward him quickly. Hermione looked immensely relieved. "You're awake!" she yelled excitedly.

"It's" Ron glanced at his watch, "3:00 Saturday afternoon. So you've been out for almost a whole day."

"And it's a good thing you woke up when you did too," said Ginny. She then glaced around to make sure Madame Pomfrey wasn't anywhere to be seen before lowering her voice and saying, "Hermione was about to make us confess that we gave you a mind-reading potion, because Madame Pomfrey didn't seem to know what was wrong with you."

"Well, you can't blame her," said Ron, sounding himself almost surprised that he was sticking up for Hermione, "If Madame Pomfrey knew what was wrong with you, maybe she could have had a better idea what to do to fix it."

"But anyway," said Hermione, also seeming rather shocked that Ron had sided with her for once in an argument about confessing something to a professor, "it doesn't matter now, because you're okay. You are okay, right? Not dazed, or confused? You're not suffering from memory loss or anything, are you?" she asked, still somewhat worried.

"No, I'm good, I think," Harry reassured her.

There was silence for a moment. Then Ginny asked tentatively, "Well, obviously, the important thing is that you're okay, but... Did you get any information out of Malfoy?"

Harry was about to launch into explaining the confusing way in which Malfoy had glanced over at the Gryffindor table when Harry asked him about Wormtail, but just as he was about to begin, the door to the hospital wing opened, and none other than Dumbledore stepped inside.

Dumbledore's expression was hard to read when he saw Harry lying there, surrounded by his three friends. His words hardly helped decode his facial expression, however, as he simply said, "Ah, yes... I had expected you would be waking about now. I would like to have a private word with you, Harry," finished Dumbledore, glancing meaningfully at Hermione, Ginny, and Ron.

Harry was somewhat taken aback by this. Harry and Dumbledore's last private meeting certainly hadn't gone as well as could have been hoped for, but instead had left Dumbledore's office in shambles. And what did Dumbledore mean when he said he expected Harry would be waking soon? How could he know when Harry would recover? He couldn't know when Harry's condition would end unless he knew what had caused it. And if Dumbledore knew that Harry had been drinking an illegal potion... Would Harry be punished for trying to find out where Wormtail was lurking?

From the worried looks that Ron, Hermione, and Ginny shot him as they left the room, it seemed that they all thought punishment was a distinct possibility.

When Harry looked back at him, Dumbledore said, "I already have a pretty good idea what you were trying to do, Harry. When I heard that you had gone unconscious without any apparent cause (no wounds or evidence of curses being cast, and, of course, your friends were not terribly forthcoming with information), I was suspicious that you might have taken a potion. So I asked around, and found out that you and Hermione had been asking to make complicated potions for your classes, potions that just happened to have ingredients in common with a certain mind-reading potion, and that Hermione checked out a very advanced potions tome from the library. I was just curious as to whether you actually had been able to make contact with young Mr. Malfoy."

Dumbledore really did seem to know everything. It seemed impossible to keep a secret from him. However, Harry was still apparently planning on trying to do just that. "I- I-... I don't know what you're talking about, Professor," said Harry, his voice shaking slightly. He had had somewhat of a hard time trusting Dumbledore after the previous spring when he found out how much Dumbledore had been hiding from him. But he still felt very uncomfortable lying to him.

"Don't worry, Mr. Potter. I would not punish you for something like this. If I am not mistaken, your desire to read Malfoy's mind was well-founded. And the fact that you had not seen fit to come to me before trying it seems to suggest that I have not quite proven myself worthy of your trust," Dumbledore looked very saddened as he admitted this, and paused for a moment before continuing. "But from now on, I strongly suggest that you come to me for advice before trying anything so dangerous. For instance, had you come to me with your plan for reading Malfoy's mind, I would not have stopped you from doing it. I would, however, have been obliged to inform you that the skill you were trying to master would take years of training, was rather dangerous, and probably would not actually tell you anything. So I ask you again. Were you even able to make contact with Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes..." Harry said tentatively, "I was able to use his senses, and I heard his thoughts. I stayed long enough to ask him one question, and I know he heard it, because he responded... But I can't understand why he looked over at the Gryffindor table when I asked him where Wormtail was..."

Dumbledore looked impressed, "I'm surprised that you were able to hear some of Malfoy's thoughts and use his senses... But I am most certain that he did not hear you when you tried to ask him a question. That would certainly take some very advanced training, to make yourself heard in someone else's mind, even with the aid of a potion such as the one you took. It must simply have been a coincidence that Malfoy seemed to be answering your question. Now I trust that you and your fellow potions-makers will be more careful in the future with attempting magic that is too complicated for you. Even the best of wizards must understand that they cannot attempt such complicated stunts without learning how. But at least your efforts, misguided though they are, are aimed toward the right goal. I trust that from now on, you and your friends will come to me first if you have such dangerous ideas. I assure you, I will do nothing to inhibit you, because doing so may make you more reluctant to come to me in the future. However, if you come to me with a plan that is dangerous to yourself or your friends, I will be sure to advise strongly against it. After all, you are the only one who has the power to topple the dark lord. You must not treat your own safety so carelessly as you have been. The potion which you used, when it backfires because the user is unable to control it, as it did with you, normally allows the imbiber to wake up in less than a day. But sometimes..." his voice trailed off so that Harry could only guess that sometimes the prospective mind-reader never woke up at all.

"Yes, Professor," said Harry, cautiously, relieved that Dumbledore had not told him simply to behave like a good little boy and let the dangerous stuff to his elders. Dumbledore seemed to be treating Harry almost as an equal. And where Dumbledore was concerned, that was not a compliment to be taken lightly.

"While I'm here," said Dumbledore, his tone lightening a bit, "I might as well tell you something else that I think you should know. With Voldemort again on the rise, I would find it advisable that, unless you plan to return to your aunt's house this Christmas break, you should stay at Hogwarts. Although the Weasleys have kindly invited you to their home, I find it better if you would stay here. It would be safest. But," finished Dumbledore, "it will ultimately be your choice."

Harry appreciated that Dumbledore at least put on the act of giving Harry the final say. He was almost tempted to choose to go with the Weasleys just to test Dumbledore's word, but decided that he ought to take Dumbledore's advice. He might as well choose his battles. After all, he normally stayed at Hogwarts over the Christmas holiday anyway.

After Harry was done talking to Dumbledore, he was allowed to go back up to the Gryffindor common-room, after a cursory check-up by Madame Pomfrey. She seemed to be quick enough to let him go, perhaps figuring that he'd probably land himself back in the hospital wing soon enough anyway.

After Harry had told Ron, Hermione, and Ginny about his and Dumbledore's discussion, Ginny quickly said, "Well, then, of course, we'll stay as well."

Ron and Hermione nodded fervently.

"Are you sure your parents won't mind you not going home?" asked Harry.

Hermione shook her head that they wouldn't mind, and Ron smiled, saying "My Mum would be absolutely furious if we left you here alone for the holidays."

Later that night, when all four of them were working on their homework assignments, Harry saw the magical bit of parchment he had received from Lupin flash him a new message in Ginny's handwriting. Apparently, the reason she had written the message to him this way instead of saying it out loud was so that Hermione and Ron wouldn't hear, because it said,

"It's good that we'll be here without much interference over the holidays. It should give us the perfect opportunity to get Hermione and Ron together. I still can't believe that they haven't seen it themselves yet. But the way Ron was comforting Hermione when she was taking the blame for rendering you unconscious and the way he stuck up for her when I called her out for being ready to go to a teacher... If it weren't Ron, I'd say it was exceptionally sweet the way he's behaving. Have you noticed they've been bickering less? This will be easy!"

Harry tapped the paper with his wand to clear it before Hermione or Ron could read it, and then looked at Ginny. She was looking back at him with a glint of mischief in her eye. Somehow, Harry thought it would be rather fun trying to play match-maker with Ginny. And he had to admit, the choice of couple was excellent.

A/N: All right, I might as well admit, as you've probably read the chapter already if you're reading the author's note at the end, that this chapter is definitely not my favorite. Frankly, I'm not sure that it's very good at all. But it needed to be written so that later, more interesting chapters can be written. So come on, review, will ya?