Chapter 3
Minerva watched Albus explain to the staff what had happened and what action would be taken. They'd decided (on Poppy's demands) that the girl needed to remain in the Hospital Wing for quite sometime. Apparently, she was nearly catatonic, and Poppy had mentioned something about Post Traumatic Stress disorder.
Whatever that meant, Minerva didn't particularly care. All she knew was that Katherine was traumatized beyond words. Albus had tried very gently to get her to speak to them, but she would only open her mouth and make no sound. The girl had struck a cord with Minerva: she behaved like a cat. There wasn't a real reason this occurred to Minerva, it was simply the shape of her eyes and maybe a little bit in her stance. Katherine did have amazing reflexes- Poppy had tried to rest a hand on her shoulder and she'd moved faster then Minerva had ever seen anyone move. And after Albus and Minerva had left Poppy's office to speak with her privately, Katherine was curled up like a kitten on her bed, asleep.
"We are hoping that with time she will regain a stable mentality," Albus finished, serene as ever. Minerva smiled slightly at him. He'd always been good about giving information that was particularly bizarre. She had worried that if she had helped explain she might throw in some choice adjectives about how strange the situation was.
"What will become of her afterwards?" Babette Vector questioned. The wispy white-haired witch was adept as ever in finding faults in plans, which was probably due to her amazing Arithmancy abilities. Babette had always been that way, rather skeptical of everything and rather maternal towards the younger students. That was, in Minerva's mind, because she did not have to teach most of them.
"She will begin her schooling at Hogwarts and then when she has finished will be released into the wizarding world when she is of age." Horace Slughorn seemed to be satisfied by this and wasn't particularly curious about this girl. After all, if she was catatonic, how could she ever achieve greatness?
"What about finances? And she'll need a legal guardian. And- without a family Albus?" James Aisiling was one to think of the details. The sandy-haired Muggle Studies professor was amiable enough, but he was prone to over think situations.
"I'll be her legal guardian." Irma piped up suddenly. The entire table turned to look at her. Irma never spoke at the breakfast table, unless someone else spoke to her. It wasn't that she was unfriendly, it was simply that she was slightly socially inept. Irma herself didn't know why she'd said what she had. Perhaps it was because she considered herself indirectly responsible for the girl since she had appeared in her library. However, she did feel she was the best candidate for adopting the girl at the table.
Babette was old, much too old to look after a girl. Albus simply had too many enemies that would very likely use the girl against him. In the same respect, both he and Minerva would hardly have time for a child, being as they were Headmaster and Deputy of the school. Horace was something no one would wish on a child, especially if he happened to deem them unworthy of his little club. And James… well, James was probably a decent candidate, but Irma highly doubted he would know what to do with a young girl.
"Very noble thing for you to offer, Irma," Albus nodded his head slightly. "However, I do believe we should wait for a decision from Miss Rowsch herself before taking any action. Her finances will come from a fund the school has for students who don't have enough money to attend Hogwarts."
"How do you know she'll ever make a decision?" Horace asked, raising an eyebrow. "She's incapable now, what's to keep her from staying that way?" he queried. Irma wanted to slap him, and the wild notion crossed her mind that she could indeed, but it would be moot. It was a valid point, but she loathed in nonetheless.
"She will." James said simply, sparing a glance at Irma. He appeared to have realized she was a bomb ready to go off. Irma nodded slightly at him as a form of thanks. He knew her all too well.
Meanwhile, Poppy was in the Hospital Wing, directing a house elf to set a laden breakfast tray in front of Katherine. The girl was propped up in bed on Poppy's orders. The mediwitch believed that perhaps Katherine needed some more rest, more for her mentality than anything did. She'd been tortured, it made perfect sense that she'd be quiet, being so traumatized. Severe cases of post-traumatic stress disorder could manifest themselves as loss of voice, and intense fears of their own voice.
"Now Katherine, you must eat all your breakfast," Poppy sat down on the edge of the bed, began cutting the girl's sausage into pieces, and spread some butter and marmalade on her toast. "Get up your strength, love," she smiled affectionately. The man who had held the girl had apparently had no qualms about destroying the girl's mental state. Thanks to that, she'd reverted into a child much younger then what Poppy guessed was fourteen years, and young children needed affection.
Poppy watched as the girl very carefully and very slowly ate her breakfast, making mental notes along the way. She hoped to take the girl to the staff meals, in hopes of showing her that no one there meant her any harm but keeping extreme amounts of human contact to a minimum. It would be a controlled environment and therefore Poppy suspected good for Katherine.
The days passed, and Katherine began looking much more alert. She was beginning to realize that perhaps these people had no ill will towards her. Poppy would chatter incessantly to her, doing this or that in the Hospital Wing and attempting to get the girl to respond. Occasionally Katherine would nod her head slowly or look completely bewildered when she mentioned magic. Albus came down on a daily basis, just after lunch to speak with her. He was amazing at keeping the conversation afloat on his own, telling stories and explaining assorted things in the magical world to her. He always had Katherine's rapt attention and on occasion managed to get a smile to tremble on the ends of the girl's lips.
"I want to explain to you where you are, Katherine," Poppy paused, sitting on the end of the bed one day. "This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Witches and wizards are brought here at age 11 to study and learn to control their magic. It was founded by Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. They each have a house named after them, which students are sorted into in their first year. Hufflepuff is the best, naturally," Poppy glanced at her sideways and smiled a wry smile. "Though I suppose Irma- the woman who was here when you awoke- would tell you it's Ravenclaw and others would tell you the other houses."
A few more days passed, and a week and a half after she'd arrived, Poppy deemed Katherine ready to attend breakfast. The girl still didn't speak, but her face was more and more expressive and Poppy thought that perhaps someone who had stayed the summer on staff might quirk a smile out of her.
Poppy lead Katherine down to breakfast, watchful gaze on the girl's face as she stared with very wide eyes at the portraits and other things in the castle. The Grey Lady floated through the hall ahead of them and the poor thing turned pale white, obviously shocked.
"Yes, we have ghosts here. That's the Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's ghost," Poppy explained calmly as they entered the Great Hall. All eyes turned to them. Horace, James, Babette and Irma were already at the table.
"Hello Katherine," Irma said boldly as Poppy pulled out a chair in front of Irma for Katherine. Her grey-green eyes met Irma's briefly, looking slightly relieved to see one familiar face. Poppy introduced everyone at the table and smiled slightly as Albus and Minerva entered the room.
"Good morning, Miss Rowsch," Minerva said easily, slipping into place on the other side of the girl. Albus sat down next to Minerva and then peered over at Katherine as if she were of particular interest.
"Well, Miss Rowsch, a pleasant surprise," he smiled a friendly smile at her. Katherine smiled a little, staring down at the plate that Poppy was busily filling with food. In the back of her mind, Irma wondered if it were possible for the girl to consume that much. Babette, on the contrary, hoped the girl could eat more and put some weight on her. Why else would those eyes be so very large except for the fact that she was much, much too thin?
Horace regarded the girl over his breakfast, watching her sprinkle a generous amount of salt onto the eggs Poppy had forcibly shoveled onto her plate. He couldn't understand the timorous girl, and since it wasn't an immediate understanding, he didn't care about her. She was too timid to ever make anything of herself, he decided as she nibbled the eggs and shyly met Irma's ever-watchful gaze from across the table.
James, on the other hand, immediately wanted the girl to feel welcome into the group. He was worried almost with out realizing it. Most of the teenage girls he dealt with were hyperactive chatterboxes and this one seemed- not broken but in need of batteries. She was not talking at all. Probably nervous, he decided, as not a word of Poppy's warnings had sunk in with him.
"So how do you like the castle, Katherine?" James asked amiably, opting for her first name since she wasn't a student and he wouldn't have to be formal with her. "Had a chance to explore it yet?"
Katherine shook her head solemnly, glancing at Poppy a moment as if asking permission to respond. The mediwitch was watching the girl and James as she spread butter on a muffin, keeping an eye on the situation in general. She would never let her patient get too uncomfortable.
"Ah! I can fix that! I'll take you sometime to see everything." He smiled as he spread generous amount Bovril on his toast. Irma watched the entire exchange, seeing how Katherine referred to Poppy for practically every motion. Again, her inexplicable urge to counter authority seemed to kick in and she had stirrings across her mind about getting Katherine away from the witch.
"We'll see," Poppy said calmly, to Irma's further annoyance. The tone that Poppy had said it was rather discouraging to Irma and James and seemed to show that the medi-witch did not intend to let the girl out of her sight.
"The ceiling here reflects the weather outdoors, Katherine, and it looks to be a beautiful day," Albus glanced up at the ceiling as he poured himself another glass of pumpkin juice, eyes twinkling merrily. "Do you mind if I call you Katherine?" he added as an afterthought, smiling serenely at her. Katherine looked at him, barely meeting his eyes and shaking her head with a tiny smile. "Marvelous," he went back to his pumpkin juice.
There was a dim chatter through out every breakfast after that, which seemed to amuse Katherine. She would finish all the food Poppy had piled onto her plate and sit back sipping a glass of cranberry juice, watching the adults. The other adults made several small attempts at conversation and Katherine would merely nod or shake her head, occasionally mouthing the word yes or no but never making a sound.
Irma watched Katherine watching everyone a good two weeks after she'd arrived, finally finding someone else at breakfast who was not constantly talking very refreshing. Though Poppy had said she thought the girl might be a bit sub intelligent, Irma thought otherwise. She gave a sardonic smile and gently stretched her leg out to tap the girl's knee with her toe. Katherine's eerie eyes snapped up at her in a look of question, quashing any doubts that she had slow reflexes. Irma glanced at James, who was spitting out another one of his questionable theories about goblins and rolled her eyes. She had attempted to convey that she thought him ridiculous. Katherine smiled her tiny smile, apparently amused by this, and she nodded very slightly. The librarian let a smile slip fourth as well, having proved her theory that Katherine was quite able to comprehend things.
Irma went back to her breakfast with a satisfied smile, thoughts stirring on how to tell the medi-witch in a nice enough, yet still somewhat nasty way, that Katherine was indeed still compus mentus. She thought at first she imagined the small tap on her shin, but when she looked up to find Katherine's eyes fixed on her she tilted her head in question. The poor girl was the picture of nervousness, looking quite like a student who had just interrupted a rather frightening teacher to ask a question. The girl's eyes floated over to the pitcher of cranberry juice, which Horace had moved farther down the table to make room for the coffee. Irma understood immediately- much to her own surprise.
"Pass the cranberry juice, please." She said to Horace as he genially handed it to her. Irma speaking at the table was a rare occurrence so it had garnered the attention of the other morning patrons. She immediately passed it to Katherine to everyone's astonishment.
"Thank you." Katherine's voice was barely above a whisper and Irma would often wonder if she had imagined the whole sound of it. Color rose in the girl's cheeks as everyone blatantly stared at her. James was grinning from ear to ear and Horace's mouth hung open. Irma smiled, digging herself back into her breakfast at Poppy's look of disbelief in her own direction.
"Good for you, Miss Rowsch!" Minerva broke the silence with her hearty words of approval and a thin smile. Katherine's eyes were on her and a fleeting expression of thanks crossed her face as she watched the woman and everyone else return to their breakfast.
Poppy whisked the girl from the room before Irma could politely break away from conversation with Horace who was on about some book he'd read in the library. Fifteen minutes later breakfast was wrapping up. She frowned, making her way down to the Hospital Wing at a brisk pace, and her frown deepened when she saw Katherine staring at the window, sitting cross-legged on her bed, lost in thought.
"Poppy." Irma went into her office with out bothering the girl. Who was she to interrupt such a deep thought process? Poppy was behind her desk, scribbling furiously at a sheet of paper which Irma knew was Katherine's record. The mediwitch's eyes were on Irma's face, resentment mixed in with the usual fervor.
"May I help you Irma?" she asked rather acidly. The librarian sighed, looking down at the woman at her desk, who was tapping her quill on the table irritably.
"I'm taking Katherine to the library. We're not coming back till lunch." Irma said firmly, with conviction.
"Pardon?" Poppy sputtered, shock open on her face. Irma turned away with a satisfied smile, walking over to the girl and touching her gently on the arm. Katherine flinched, but turned her head and looked at the woman.
"Come on Katherine. We're leaving for a while." Katherine blinked at the words, looking over her shoulder at Poppy who stormed over, looking livid.
"The library?" Poppy hissed, pulling Irma back into her office with a force. Katherine merely sat on her bed, and Irma watched the girl jump when Poppy slammed the office door shut behind her.
"Irma!" the mediwitch was livid, obviously fighting for composure. "She cannot have any sarcasm! She is- she's got to be shown constant affection. You are not an affectionate person! She'll get the wrong idea from us- you'll terrify her more!"
"I will make myself affectionate." Irma argued, on her toes, both literally and figuratively. Poppy threw up her hands, infuriated.
"No Irma! You cannot possibly be warm and sweet to her! You'll scare her into- she's my patient!" the words were getting shriller and more wrought with emotion by the moment. Irma turned on her heel and opened the door again, making her way out. "You can't take her! She's my patient!" Poppy screeched, furious.
Katherine still sat on the bed, her eyes wide and on both women. Irma almost growled under her breath. "She couldn't just let me take Katherine out with out a fight, could she? The girl's terrified out of her mind now." Irma thought furiously.
"She's a girl! Not your patient!" Irma spun around to glare down at the witch who almost ran smack into her. She spared a glance at Katherine, whose lips had compressed at Poppy's words. "She's a brilliant girl whose mind is wasting away sitting here day in and out. You're destroying her mentally!"
"She can do anything she likes Irma-" Poppy's face had suddenly lost all traces of anger, and instead she looked rather sick. "You can," she looked at Katherine helplessly with an apologetic tone in her voice. Katherine merely stared at her, saying nothing.
"Good bye," Irma said in a slightly higher pitched voice, talking Katherine's hand and pulling the girl to her feet. The girl looked a bit leery, like she'd like to go hide in the corner rather than be near either witch, though she followed Irma as the woman sailed past Poppy. "We'll be back for lunch."
"Keep her safe!" Poppy cried as they reached the doors, as if she could think of nothing else.
"Naturally," Irma called over her shoulder, gentling her hold on Katherine's hand. The teenager didn't glance back, merely stared at her feet and let Irma lead her down the halls, away from the Hospital Wing. It struck Irma as strange, seeming to her that the girl allowed Irma to lead her blindly. The more she thought about it the more her self-esteem went up, thinking to herself that perhaps it was sign that Katherine trusted her in some way, shape, or form.
They walked further down the hall, up a staircase and further through the halls. Katherine's eyes progressively looked up and she stared in unabashed wonder at the portraits, which moved and chattered on their own accord. Irma watched in a slight amusement, still holding onto the girl's hand, which she decided was best. It allowed her to guide the girl and make sure she was still there. Irma had the incomprehensible thought that Katherine would simply cease to exist, most likely because of her sudden entrance into the world.
Irma thought rather angrily of Poppy's words. "I most certainly can be affectionate," she thought furiously. Katherine's eyes were still wide with wonder, and Irma couldn't help but smile. She gently squeezed Katherine's hand and the girl looked at her, a slow smile spreading languidly over her face.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice undoubtedly cutting through the air as they reached the doors of the library.
"No trouble at all," Irma murmured in response, placing a gentle hand on Katherine's shoulder and opening the door for her.
"What sorts of books do you like, Katherine?" Irma asked, finally releasing the girl's hand as they came into the library. Katherine looked at her, expression faltering into something a little bit more timid. Wrong question, Irma thought to herself. "Well, here's the history section," Irma pointed out each section and turned to look at her. "Find books you like… and check out enough to keep you for a week or so…" she let the unsaid words hang in the air between them: Poppy may not let the girl back for a while. Katherine nodded slowly, seeming to have caught this.
"I'll be doing paper work," Irma gestured to her desk. The girl nodded again and Irma left her, going to her desk, quill ready to write, head bent but eyes up, watching. Katherine looked at her for a moment and slowly, seemingly floated into the shelves. Irma watched for a while, waiting to see if she'd reappear quickly. She didn't, so Irma lost herself in paper work.
Her thoughts wandered from her work when she debated on equipping the Restricted Section with Vindictus Viridian's latest work. The man was pure evil in Irma's mind and she didn't know how anyone could be like that. In fact, how could anyone do anything to Katherine, that quite and very damaged girl- where was she?
Irma rose to her feet and paced the shelves, looking for the girl, half expecting not to find her. But there she was, curled up on the floor with Hogwarts: A History on her lap and looking particularly wide-eyed. Katherine's very thin fingers were extremely gentle as she turned each page of the book and Irma's heart went out to her. A child treating books properly was a rare one indeed. At that very moment Katherine was a keeper.