AN: For those who truly dislike Tina, this will be the chapter with the most of her in it. After this she will move back largely into the background until Book II; but as you will see, I was bringing her story to intersect with something else.
Goblin Magic
"I don't think this is a good idea Lucius."
"If we lose the Black vote then our power center in the Wizengamot will be completely compromised." Lucius responded, growing annoyed at his wife's reticence.
"I still think you are underestimating Sirius and Andromeda." Narcissa returned.
"Then see if you can get in contact with him and discover his condition, you are family after all." Lucius answered dismissively, "I will still be going to see Mister Diggory later today. We cannot afford for our political agenda to be completely shut out."
Your political agenda, Narcissa thought to herself, but she said, "Good luck then, husband. I shall see about visiting Sirius in St. Mungos."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Hey Sirius, I brought some company with me." Remus announced as he opened the door to his friend's room and Tina entered followed by Petunia.
"Hi Sirius!" Tina called out as she pulled a chair from the corner to his bedside.
"Tina, be respectful." Petunia said, "It's lovely to see you again Sirius, how are you feeling today?"
"I'm feeling fine Petunia. But seriously, it's okay if she calls be Sirius." He grinned, "Honestly, whenever the healers call me 'Lord Black' or even 'Mister Black' I look over expecting my old man to be at the door."
"How about you, kiddo?" Sirius asked Tina after glancing down and confirming that she was still armband-free, "You getting along better with your magic?"
Tina looked at the floor and Sirius drew his gaze back to the other two with a raised eyebrow.
"She was doing fine when she first got home." Remus explained, "But she started getting fatigued again after we worked on casting some magic. Even though we haven't done any wandless practice since we left. Strictly wanded spells."
"She was too tired to go play with her friends yesterday, so we brought her in." Petunia added, "I wrote Professor Flitwick again, he said he would meet us here this afternoon with a goblin healer that he contacted after the last time. Andromeda is taking care of the requests that Professor Flitwick's specialist had."
"Are you for real?" Sirius asked, his eyes as wide as saucers, "I didn't think St. Mungos ever allowed healers from outside. Especially if they aren't human."
"The fact that Tina is more precise with what wandless magic she can use than every healer in the hospital probably had a lot to do with that." Remus muttered, "Most of them are convinced that her wandless casting has to be related to her affliction somehow. Mind you, for the most part they think that it's because she's a muggleborn using wandless casting more than anything else. Thank Merlin for Healer Fawley, he and Andromeda were the only ones that were actually trying to figure out a cause that isn't blood related."
"Uncle Moony, are we gonna see Healer Fawley again today?" Tina asked.
"Whoah, whoah, Uncle Moony?" Sirius asked in mock offense, "If you're trying to earn yourself a Marauder name you aren't gonna get it by forgetting to call me by mine."
"Uh," Tina looked at Remus for confirmation, "Okay Padfoot!"
"Sorry," Remus said when Sirius looked at him funny, "we weren't sure if you would react to being called that or not. Tina has been quick to adopt new aunts and uncles, otherwise."
The girl in question grinned at that, but repeated her question.
"I think so." Remus answered, "Andromeda wanted to limit how many healers got to be present when Professor Flitwick's contact gets here, so I think he might be the only one besides her present."
"Good." Tina said, just a little too forcefully.
"None of the others were rude to you, were they?" Petunia winced at the worry she heard in her own voice.
"A little." Tina answered with a shrug, "It was like what Hermione said people were talking about her. There was one man who came by and said they should bind my magic or something like that, but Aunt Andi yelled at him and I didn't see him again."
"I promise, that won't happen." Remus said, barely above a whisper, "Stupid bigot shouldn't be working as a healer."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
The Last Time
"Get that bastard out of here!" Tina heard Miss Andromeda shout before she turned back and flicked her wand.
After that, the only person Tina could hear was the healer that was right next to her.
"Don't listen to him," The woman said with motherly concern, "he doesn't know what he's talking about."
"I don't know what he said." Tina answered to placate the healer while she tried to read Miss Andromeda's lips. She was really mad and yelling at two of the other healers now after they tried to stop a really short man from entering the room, "Is that Professor Flitwick?"
"That is correct." The healer answered, "He will be over here in a moment. I'm afraid it is causing a scene because a few of the others were offended when Healer Fawley requested that he be brought in from Hogwarts."
"Why?" Tina asked, the picture of innocence.
"Well," the woman demurred, "besides the fact that he is not a healer, but a professor of charms, he is also part-goblin. As far as I know, no one knows just how much goblin he is, but there is a lot of prejudice against magical creatures practicing medicine on humans."
Tina frowned, no wonder Harry and Hermione thought the magical world was backwards. Her mummy and daddy had taught her for as long as she could remember to never judge people because of how they look.
"Oh, if you don't want him to examine you we can send him away." The healer said hastily, misinterpreting the frown.
"That's silly." Tina said, "I don't even know him yet! But Harry likes his class the best, so I bet I'll like him!"
Now it was the healer's turn to frown, she was one of those that didn't particularly appreciate the professor pretending to be a healer, but wasn't willing to voice those concerns. She didn't have long to worry about concealing her displeasure because Flitwick made a good show of ignoring all the commotion surrounding his presence and went straight to introducing himself to the girl he had come to meet.
"You must be Miss Polkiss," he said as he extended his hand, "it's a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Professor Flitwick, Mister Dursley and Miss Granger have told me quite a bit about you."
"Harry says your class is his favorite," Tina answered as she took his hand, "I'm Tina, it's nice to meet you."
"Do you know why I've been called here today?" He asked, receiving an earnest nod back, "Well, for now I want to be there when those bands are taken off in a few minutes. Then I'll watch you cast some spells, both with and without your wand if you please, and see if I can provide some insight. The healers have already ruled out anything in your home or lifestyle that could have resulted in this happening."
"Okay," Tina answered, holding up her arms, "I really don't like these things. But I guess they aren't as annoying as they were to start with."
It took a few minutes to clear the room of unnecessary healers, quite a few were interested in the chance to study how wandless casting affected a young person's magical development. Or at least that's what many of them were convinced was happening. Filius Flitwick knew one thing for certain though, that wandless magic was not the direct cause of whatever was affecting her. That was just ridiculous, wizards had performed magic without foci for millennia before they were first invented!
"That's so much better." Tina sighed once Healer Fawley finished removing the armbands.
"The magical discomfort didn't continue the whole time did it?" Fawley asked, "I thought you said it had gone away after a few hours."
Magical discomfort? Flitwick's eyes widened, that lasted a few hours?
"Well… it came back whenever I focused on the armbands again." Tina confessed, "So I spent a lot of time talking with Sirius-er, Mister Black. He's Harry's godfather, he's really funny and tells great stories now that he isn't sad all the time."
"I taught Sirius Black and Harry's father both." Flitwick returned, understanding that the girl was alluding to Sirius' dementor exposure. Even then, it was surprising that he was well enough to laugh and tell stories this soon. "They both knew how to fill a room with laughter, when they weren't tormenting their fellow students with pranks."
"What should I do now?" Tina asked as she flexed her fingers. Flitwick's well-trained senses let him feel the pulse of magic she was calling up as she did, "Do you want me to lift something?"
"Well," Andromeda answered, having joined them a moment ago after running out most of the looky-loo healers, "the other healers are setting up a small ward here in the room that will keep anything we do from potentially interfering with the rest of the floor. Then Professor Flitwick and I are going to run some tests while you cast spells for us."
"While she examines you when you cast with your wand, I will be doing so while you cast without it." Flitwick explained further, "Goblins do not tend to use foci when working magic. I am not at all as adept as a true goblin, but I can feel magic better than the average pure-human wizard."
"That's really cool." Tina said as she held up her hand, "Can you feel this?"
Her hand glowed softly with a white light and the charms professor clapped excitedly before his grin fell a little.
"Are you okay Miss Polkiss?" He asked, glancing between her face and her hand, "It's as if there's some kind of block on your magic."
When Tina gave him a confused look and didn't answer he gently took her arm in his hands and began running his fingers along the lines of her magic. He was right, though he didn't understand what the cause could be, her magic seemed to be blocked or stunted in some way.
"Try casting with your wand," he said, "I assume it's here?"
"I have it." Andromeda said as she offered Tina the instrument, "To avoid any other variables, please cast a Lumos charm. A white light, if you please."
Tina stared at her wand for almost a whole minute before she said the incantation, causing it to light up with a soft, steady light. She gave a sigh of frustration when it came out green again, the wand must assume green is her favorite colour or something, but decided not to try and fix it.
"Oh my." Flitwick said as he studied the light emitted from the tip of the wand. Andromeda and the other three healers were all casting diagnostic spells on her as well.
"There isn't any block." Andromeda said after finishing her diagnosis and turning to Flitwick, "What did you see when she cast with the wand?"
"Just what you said," he answered, "I thought I would be able to find the problem by examining how her wand compensated for it. But it was like there was no block at all when she cast the second time."
"Does that mean I'm okay?" Tina asked, growing more confused by the minute.
"As far as we can tell, it means that you're okay to cast with your wand. It's behaving exactly as it should be." Andromeda replied.
"It's supposed to feel like this?" Tina exclaimed, waving the wand and causing a shower of green and red sparks to shoot from the tip at one of the healers, "Oops." She said as she lowered the magical foci before she accidentally hurt someone.
"Do you not like your wand Miss Polkiss?" Flitwick asked, "It honestly seems perfect for you."
"No," she admitted, "I don't like how it feels. Like I don't have control anymore."
"Control?" Andromeda asked.
"Of my magic." Tina answered, "I don't like feeling like something else is controlling it."
"But Tina," Flitwick asked with a wan smile, "even if the wand is controlling your magic, don't you control your wand?"
The girl frowned as she looked at the length of wood in her hands. It was hers wasn't it?
"I guess so." She concluded tentatively.
"Well then use it with pride and surety." He responded, "Show me how a true witch wields her wand."
Tina grinned as she tightened her hold on the wand, both physically and magically, and gestured it at an empty table and chair in the corner while incanting, "Wingardium Leviosa!" She and Uncle Moony had found through trial and error that when she was especially excited or emotional it paid for her to say the spell, just so that she could keep her focus.
The table lifted off the ground (without the chair, much to Tina's dismay), but Flitwick frowned as he held the girl's empty hand. The block was there again, much smaller than before but still noticeable.
"You saw it too?" Andromeda mumbled to the professor. The other healers looked at her strangely, clearly they aren't as sensitive to magic as she. She'd never before considered that since she was one of the most 'muggle' healers at St. Mungos, she was probably the most adept at magical sensing. She may not be able to simply feel the magic like Professor Flitwick, but her diagnostic spells were apparently a little more precise than her colleagues'.
"Is something wrong?" Tina asked, "That felt better than before."
Better? Flitwick and Andromeda shared a look before the latter took it upon herself to ask.
"Tina, do you really prefer the second cast to the first?"
"Uh-huh."
"That is not good, you should be aiming more for whatever you did the first time." Andromeda said, "Professor, do you have any idea why this would happen?"
"No, could you cast a levitation charm without your wand now Tina?"
When she did so, the block appeared to be back at full strength. Whatever was going on, her wand was apparently doing a fantastic job of compensating for it.
The healers spent an hour examining the girl as she cast spells both with and without her wand with short breaks between. After all of it though, they could do nothing more than send her home; Andromeda Tonks planned to check in on her periodically to make sure that she didn't end up in a bad state again while more research and thinking was done.
There was one thing that everyone agreed on, though. No wandless magic!
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Minister, I understand your hesitation." Lucious Malfoy placated the man.
No, I don't understand! He shouted in his mind even as he said it, as much money as he threw at Fudge, why was he so cautious now? Had Amelia Bones scared him that badly?
"If you understand, then what can I do for you Lucius?"
"I understand that you cannot be seen to be taking a stance against the Lord Black after what happened to him at the hands of the previous administration, all I am asking is for you to stand by and not choose a side." Lucius moved his cane from one arm of his chair to the other, creating a loud crack when he brought it down on the stone and drawing the minister's eyes back to his own, "You must agree with me that the man is likely shaken by his tenure in Azkaban, his mental state needs to be confirmed before he is in a position to legislate. If you do not think I am the right one to voice it, never fear, I am joined in this by traditionally liberal families as well."
Cornelius raised an eyebrow at that, 'liberal,' was the politically correct way to designate 'light' families, "Well, if such is the case, then I will certainly not be standing in the way of a motion that reaches across the aisle. But I will require one concession, Lucius."
"Are the donations I've made to your friends' campaigns not concession enough?"
"No." Cornelius answered, sounding much more confident than he felt, "I want to make sure that the Boy-Who-Lived doesn't go to the Prophet again and accuse me of attacking him or his family." Lucius wasn't sure where this was going, but already didn't like it, "I want a signed promise form you and any other family you are working with not to bring up werewolves in the Wizengamot, particularly Remus Lupin, until after this thing with the Black seat is settled. Agree to that, and I'll let you do whatever you need to to ensure that we don't have crazies voting in the chamber."
Whatever I need? "I can work with that, Minister. Would you like to draft the letter of promise, or shall I?"
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Why are we hurrying?" Tina whispered to Remus. She hadn't been specifically told to be quiet, but something about the situation told her that they shouldn't be drawing attention to themselves. Just moments ago, a parchment airplane had flown into the room and unfolded itself in front of Uncle Moony. He had led them all out of Padfoot's room and into the corridor as soon as he'd finished reading it.
"We don't want half the hospital coming to scrutinize the goblin healer that Flitwick is bringing. That message was to let me know that he will be here soon." Remus quietly explained, "Plus, it's rather unorthodox for a muggleborn to use one of the ritual rooms. We don't want someone trying to block us out of spite."
"Heck, Andi asked me to let her book it under the name 'Black' because doing it under 'Potter' would have made people talk." Sirius added as he followed behind them, struggling a little to keep up and talk at the same time. He had finally been allowed to walk around the hospital without a cane a week ago, and he was sincerely hoping that he would be getting out of there soon.
"Why do we need a special room?" Tina continued asking questions, "What does it do?"
"Because we don't want people trying to eavesdrop, a ritual room is understood to be too dangerous to just loiter around. Normally it would be for dangerous, volatile, or long-duration procedures; as well as things like exorcisms, where any sort of audience would cause problems." Remus explained, "This way we should have some guaranteed privacy."
When the quartet arrived at the ritual room they were met with a few visitors they weren't expecting.
"Mum, Dad?" Tina asked when she saw her parents, "I thought you weren't allowed to be here today?"
"Professor Mcgonagall arrived a few minutes ago." Angela explained as the girl hugged them, "The healer Professor Flitwick contacted for you decided that he specifically wants us here. Professor Mcgonagall is in there right now with Andromeda and the goblin healer confirming that it will actually be safe for us to be there through whatever he is planning to do."
"Both Andromeda and Filius believe that it will be safe." Mcgonagall said as she emerged, "Be careful, the fact that he requested one of these rooms worries me, even if he assures me that there won't be any actual rituals being performed. It is usually only dark families that use them, no offense Sirius. How are you by the way? I'm so sorry I haven't come to see you yet."
"It's alright." Sirius said as he gave her a hug, "I'm doing a lot better recently, though. Padfoot certainly helped a lot."
"But I thought you are Padfoot?" Tina asked.
"There's a long explanation for that, which we'll tell you after your session with this healer." Remus offered, "A great story like that sounds like it might be a passable reward for being good while the healers look at you, what do you think?"
"Promise?" Tina's pout was turned to maximum, eliciting a quick nod, "Okay!"
The goblin healer that Flitwick contacted for them was ancient, Tina couldn't even imagine how old you have to be to look like that. His skin hung off his face and his eyebrows drooped over his eyes so far she wondered if he had trouble seeing. Oddly, he wore red robes, rather than the solid black clothes that she always saw at Gringotts or the green that the other healers were wearing. As they got closer she noticed something else too, the symbol (on his shoulder rather than his chest) was the regular staff and snake she was used to from the non magical world rather than the ivy-covered staff that the St. Mungos healers wore.
"It's nice to see you again, Miss Pokiss, though I wish it were under better circumstances." Flitwick said, stepping forward once they were all in the ritual room and the door was sealed behind them. "How are you feeling?"
"Better than last time, thank you." She answered without really looking at him. The really-old goblin was studying her from under his droopy eyebrows. Or at least she thought he was, it was kind of hard to tell, even from this close. Regardless, she felt like he was testing her. After a brief moment, she held out her hand to the ancient healer.
"It's nice to meet you sir, I'm Tina. Thank you for seeing me today."
The goblin took her hand as the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly, "Schongr young one, greetings, you show great respect for your age."
"Th-thank you sir, my daddy taught me to thank people that offer to help me."
The goblin nodded as he took his other hand and ran it along Tina's arm while he spoke entirely in the goblin language to Professor Flitwick, who seemed to be embarrassed by whatever the older goblin said. A moment later though, while Flitwick was bowing in apology to the older goblin, Tina felt the tingle of her magic pull along her arm; even though she wasn't trying to use her magic at all!
"Rusche, Calm girl!" The healer hissed at her when she flinched and tried to pull her arm away. Angela and Timothy tensed behind her, but Andromeda and Flitwick both motioned that all was well.
"How did you do that? I don't like it!" Tina said as she struggled futilely with the old healer, somehow what he was doing was making her too weak to pull away.
"What is he doing?" Healer Fawley asked Andromeda and Flitwick, he hadn't had time to be briefed on what the old goblin had planned. The fact that the goblin hadn't introduced himself, neither to the other healers nor to his own patient, hadn't ingratiated him to the others at all either.
"He is pulling on your magic, Miss Polkiss." Flitwick explained, "If you really do have a block, then he will feel it directly this way. Goblins' magic is often tainted by things they encounter while raiding ancient tombs and vaults. Because of that, Laeknr, Goblin healers, are very adept at detecting and fixing ailments of the magic."
"O-oka-ay." Tina continued to flinch as the Laeknr moved his fingertips to different spots on her arm and shoulder.
"Relax, child." He reiterated, "I will not hurt you."
"H-how can I relax when you d-do that?" She stuttered, seeming to be in a slight amount of pain now as though she were being stung.
The goblin released her arm at once, his eyes managing to widen enough to be noticeable, "Enschuld, apologies." He said softly as he backed away. Once the girl had nodded and her parents had moved forward to console her, the Laeknr moved over to Flitwick and began whispering to him in goblin language, which the part goblin translated for the other two healers.
"What was it like?" Moony asked Tina after the group has sat down behind the warded partition in the safe area, a place for 'necessary observers' to stand to be out of the way during actual rituals.
"Uh… have you ever poked yourself with your wand?" She asked back. When he gave her a weird look, pulled out his wand, and tried exactly that she giggled, "It felt like that, I guess. Over and over, and sometimes really hard."
"That didn't really feel all that strange though." He answered after he'd poked himself a few times, "I think my sensitivity is a little higher than the average wizard because I spend so much time in the muggle world. But that just feels like a little tingle on my skin, it's not painful at all."
"The Laeknr would like Tina to come back into the ritual ward." Andromeda told them as she peeked her head around the translucent barrier that served as a partition, "But the only wands allowed inside the ward are Healer Fawley's and my own, as well as Tina's. So if you want to join us, Remus, you'll have to leave your wand here."
The goblin was busy laying rune stones in a circle in the middle of the ritual ward when the family returned. He didn't acknowledge their approach, so Tina took the chance to ask Professor Flitwick about something she'd thought of when Uncle Moony had to leave his wand behind. It could have just been an oversight, but his name wasn't mentioned.
"Professor?" She asked the little man who was holding extra stones for the Laeknr, "Do you need to go put your wand away too?"
Flitwick choked when she asked, and the Laeknr dropped the stone he was placing. He hissed something that Tina was positive wasn't polite, and grabbed the stone back while glaring at Professor Flitwick.
"Sorry sir, I didn't know." She mumbled, taking the hint that there was some reason that the Professor must not have brought his wand with him this time.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Mister Crouch, I know we haven't always seen eye to eye."
"Is that how you would put it, Mister Malfoy?" Crouch spat back, "What are you doing in my home? I'm retired! No more looking over your shoulder for Moody and me anymore."
"Could we perhaps sit down and speak civilly?" The Lord Malfoy asked, "I assure you, I will not be wasting your time."
"What do you want then, Malfoy?" Crouch asked again after his house elf, Winky, had delivered tea and biscuits, "Just looking at you disgusts me after that fiasco with Black. Innocent? Bah! He's just as dark as the rest of his family! As dark as you, Mark or otherwise."
"All of that may be true," Lucius smirked internally, but kept his face neutral, "but something you and I can both agree on is that the mentally unsound have no place on the Wizengamot."
He didn't have to say anything more, Crouch took his words and ran with them. The man may not be in the Ministry anymore, but he was still the head of House Crouch. At least for as long as that House was allowed to retain it's seat.
"Ten years is a long time to spend among the dementors." Crouch muttered to himself, "But it won't matter, Black's cousin convinced Amelia and Cornelius to take my position at the Ministry. With no heir, it is only a matter of time until the Crouch vote is replaced on the Wizengamot with a family that is going to live past the next couple decades."
"Actually, if we do this, then the Black vote will be suspended." Lucius explained, "If I pull my voting block's support for your family's removal, then there wouldn't be enough left to pass the motion. If you help me deal with the werewolf problem afterwards, then I could be persuaded to argue that the Crouch family still has more to give to Magical Britain."
"Werewolf problem? That Lupin beast?" Crouch thought about that for a moment, "You are already working with Diggory, aren't you?"
He frowned when the other man smirked and nodded, but his curiosity got the better of him, "Tell me more."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Relax girl, let the magic flow!" The Laeknr once again admonished Tina while she worked at wandlessly levitating a chair in front of her without doing any of the nebulous things that her healers said were wrong, "You strangle it! Let go."
After ten minutes of being repeatedly told to, Tina finally 'let go.' But it wasn't in the way the goblin meant, her spell cancelled and the chair clattered to the floor, "I don't understand," she said, her face red from a combination of exertion and frustration, "I'm just making my magic do what I want it to, aren't I? What am I doing wrong?"
The elderly goblin visibly frowned as he sorted through the human language for the words to explain. Failing in his endeavor, he once again turned to Flitwick to translate. The charms professor's face scrunched in confusion multiple times as the Laeknr explained his thoughts, by the end his visage was a mask of worry.
"Perhaps you would like to go sit down and take a rest while we discuss things, Miss Polkiss?" Flitwick offered before he explained what had been said.
"NO! I want to know too!" Tina shouted back; well, tried to shout, she was still fairly out of breath after spending several minutes trying to force her magic to work the way the healers wanted it to, "Don't send me away if you are gonna talk about me!"
"If you didn't want her to be here for the explanation you could have come up with a more tactful way of going about it than that." Petunia admonished the professor, "Have you figured anything out?"
"His opinion is that Miss Polkiss should see a mind healer." Flitwick said after a moment to consider how to address the issue, "He believes her magical block to be psychosomatic."
"He thinks I'm crazy?" Tina whispered sadly.
"No, not at all." Flitwick responded hastily, "I imagine it just means that you have some kind of fear or other rogue emotion that needs to be addressed. Unfortunately, he won't even speculate as to what the trouble with you could be, other than to be sure that the problem is in your mind. Laeknr do not like to step outside their area of expertise, he insisted that a true mind healer be the one to go further. Though he said a human mind healer would be more appropriate."
"One thing after another," Timothy muttered, "how much will a mind healer cost? Is that like a psychiatrist? All these specialists are probably going to get expensive."
"As far as I understand either field, that is a fair comparison." Andromeda offered.
"And don't worry about how much it may cost, Timothy." Petunia said as she placed a kiss on Tina's head, "Everything will be fine. Taking care of her magical needs is my job, remember?"
Andromeda and Fawley spent the next hour trying off and on to find a different, more immediately treatable, reason for the girl's condition, but were ultimately forced to concede that the Laeknr was probably correct. Somehow, the girl's mind was interfering with her magic on a large scale. Her wand was bypassing the mental block almost entirely, but even that failed if she actually directed her attention to it, and only casting on impulse wasn't going to work once she was in school.
While her parents were conferring with Andromeda and Fawley about a possible next step, Tina took the chance to speak to the Laeknr alone one more time.
"Sir?" she asked, trying to politely get his attention since it looked like the ancient goblin was sleeping.
He shifted, clearly hearing her, but didn't respond so she pressed on, "Thank you for coming to see me today. I was wondering if you could tell me your name?"
"Firewound." He answered as he looked up at her, triggering a question that Tina almost immediately regretted.
"Is that your real name? It doesn't sound anything like when you were talking to Professor Flitwick." Tina slapped her hands over her mouth as soon as the words had come out, her eyes wide as saucers.
Did I just insult him by accident? Oh no! It hadn't occurred to Tina until she heard their language being spoken that all the goblin names she knew sounded weird, and English. They also didn't sound like names at all, especially because they were so… gross most of the time… but if they were just nicknames then that would (sort of) make sense. But if the goblins did that then there was probably a reason for it too.
'Firewound' stood up at that point, if he didn't look so intimidating it might have been funny that he was technically lower to the ground than when he'd been sitting in the chair. He opened his mouth, and the sounds that came out were like rocks and gravel rubbing together. Tina was positive that he'd just said his real name, but there was no way she could understand that, let alone say it!
"I'm so sorry, sir." She said, bowing like she'd seen the professor do earlier, "I should have known there was a reason you didn't use your real name all the time."
"Our true names come from the Earth." Firewound answered slowly, before taking her hand again and dipping his head back to her, "Your respect is good. I would be told when you are well."
"Thank you, sir, uh-I will." She said, unsure how else to respond.
With a final nod to Tina, Firewound made his way to Professor Flitwick and spoke once more in the goblin language, "I want to know when the girl is well again, Warrior."
"I did not expect you to be so interested, I shall inform you. Thank you again for coming, Ancient One."
"Have you spoken to the Potter Heir about helping us?"
"He does not think of such things. He is only a few months older than Miss Polkiss here." Flitwick replied, taking the change of subject in stride, "But I think he could be an ally. Give it until the summer, at least."
Firewound nodded imperceptibly and took his leave, Healer Fawley guiding him to a special floo intended to preserve the privacy of those who used the ritual rooms.
"Professor Flitwick, did he not like you very much?" Tina asked once the pair had left.
"It isn't that, not really. It is concerning my mixed heritage. Many goblins are not impressed that I went into duelling rather than politics," he explained with a sigh, "as though I was ever going to be very good at that."
"Tina, Healer Fawley is also going to see about a mind healer." Petunia added, "He hopes that they will be able to meet you, just to talk, before we go home today."
"On a happier note," Sirius interjected, "not everything you and Fawley were talking about was Tina. Did I hear you say earlier that I could get out of here today?"
"We needed to know you wouldn't have an issue with being around random active magic, but today has shown you're right as rain." Andromeda answered, "Your body at least, those nutrient and muscle rehabilitation potions worked wonders. The tests that were run this morning were your final examinations before you got cleared to leave. I think Healer Denning is going to sign you out this afternoon."
"Awesome, can I stay at your place Moony?"
"That wouldn't be the best idea. If we needed help it wouldn't be close." He answered, "The Lodge doesn't have a floo connection and I hardly have any wards up. The mobile phone Petunia gave me still just barely gets a signal through it."
"I'll… pretend I know what that means." Sirius sighed, "I was really hoping I wouldn't have to go back to Grimmauld yet."
"Don't worry Siri, Remus is having you on." Andromeda clapped him on the shoulder, "We have somewhere for you. There's a family living on Potter Isle, but the second cottage is empty. You, and Remus when he isn't helping Petunia, are going to stay there while you get yourself in order. Temperance has agreed to cook for you as long as you aren't a bad influence on her children."
"Me? A bad influence?" Sirius looked hurt, "Never!"
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"What do you mean he isn't here anymore?" Narcissa fought not to shout at the receptionist, "My cousin is recovering from ten years of dementor exposure, where is he?"
"Lady Malfoy," the receptionist responded, trying her best to remain polite, "Lord Black was released to an Andromeda Tonks with the permission of his primary healer."
"Madame, Lord Black's recovery has been nothing short of miraculous," a nearby mediwitch added, "he was moved because his healers thought a change of scenery would help him overcome his trauma; and that is all that St. Mungos can say at this time."
Oh dear, Narcissa thought to herself, I warned him.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"It's been nice to talk to you, Tina, thank you for answering my questions."
"It's okay ma'am." Tina answered, still profoundly uncomfortable around the mind healer, Jeanette Withers.
"Can we talk again next week?" She asked, smiling and politely showing no outward sign of noticing the mistrustful looks she was getting from the child, "I would like to meet somewhere you feel more secure if that's alright. Can I visit you at home and we can talk there?"
"You can't come home." Tina said quickly, "It's not safe!"
"You don't have to worry about that Tina, I promise. Healers have to swear a special oath to protect their patient's secrets. Especially mind healers."
"Um, okay."
"Is she always that insecure?" Jeanette asked Tina's mother while her father bought her an ice cream in the hospital cafeteria.
"No, we've known since we learned she was a witch that we needed to protect our residence because we live near the Dursleys. But while she always understood that she had to keep her magic hidden, it was never something that seemed to bother her. That… that started after Christmas. When that Pettigrew man tried to kidnap her. We haven't said anything to her about it yet, because it hasn't been very long; but she hasn't invited any friends over to our house since the incident."
"Oh my, I haven't gotten a chance to read the file that Jed gave me but I suppose that's in there?"
"Jed?" Angela looked puzzled, "Oh, Healer Fawley. Yes, we told the healers about that last time we were in, but they ended up ruling it out."
"Well, we can both see where that sort of thinking landed her."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
Lord Black's New Lease on Life: Miraculous Recovery or Dark Revival?
Following up on the story of a potential scandal concerning the werewolf Steward for the Potter Family, this reporter has uncovered startling new truths in the still-developing story! In the days following Christine Polkiss being rushed into St. Mungos the girl was seen frequently entering and exiting the room of Lord Sirius Black, who is currently recovering from a decade of dementor exposure. She often spent hours at a time there, sometimes without a Healer present. Now, three weeks later, Christine joined Lord Black and others in one of St. Mungos 'Ritual Rooms.' What exactly happened in the room remains a mystery. Following their departure, Lord Black was released from the hospital citing a recovery that was 'nothing short of miraculous.'
But while Lord Black and his party celebrate, young Christine Polkiss has been placed in the care of a mind healer, likely due to the trauma of whatever she experienced in the ritual room. How did Lord Black's body recover from a decade of dementor exposure and the abuses of Azkaban prison in only two months? Is he simply made of sterner stuff than the average wizard? Or is something more nefarious afoot? The timing of his recovery and the young girl's decline leave many questions that this reporter will not rest until she has found the answer to.
"How did she get this information?" Andromeda Tonks demanded of the hospital registrar, "I thought there was no media allowed on the same floor as Lord Black's room?"
"We don't know ma'am, we have checked our logs and questioned all the healers in his ward, as well as the ones above and below. No one remembers seeing Miss Skeeter or any other reporter anywhere in the hospital."
