Slowly, Harry pushed himself to sitting as the sick around him was being spelled away by a flustered Madam Pomfrey. Her charm infused the area with a peppermint aroma that was gradually overtaking the vomit stench. For a fleeting moment, as he thought about what he'd eaten that morning, he was glad he couldn't see. His head was still spinning and acid burned his throat. He kept his hands splayed on the floor in an effort to settle the rotating room.

Gradually he became aware that he was in a hub of activity—people were rushing around him, some almost tripping over him.

A white-hot fury built in his stomach. "Why did you just push me in there? How can I know when it's time to exit the bloody fireplace if I CAN'T BLOODY WELL SEE?!" His fear and embarrassment had boiled up into a molten rage that erupted nearly as fiercely as the vomit had. And then he cringed, bracing for a blow. He had lost control and he was going to pay for it. He tensed, his breath coming in short gasps.

Madam Pomfrey sputtered, "I'm so sorry, Harry. You are absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking, sending a blind child through the Floo on his own… and why won't the Headmaster approve of adding an Egress to St. Mungo's, I don't know… "

"I am not blind," Harry seethed, but his rage had cooled. He had never known her to be so discomposed, and it startled him.

"Here, let's get you out of the corridor—we're in the way here, right in front of the Floo exit," she said, as she put a hand on his arm and attempted to lift him up. He stood unsteadily. He was still really dizzy and was having a hard time standing up completely—he kept listing to one side and then the other. The corridor was lit differently than Hogwarts and there didn't seem to be the same expanse of windows that made the hospital wing so impossibly bright. Harry felt around in his robes to find his glasses and put them on just in case they were headed somewhere brighter.

As he was still so out of balance, Madam Pomfrey ended up guiding him down the corridor with an arm around his shoulders and her other hand holding his awkwardly, her medibag thumping against his back with every other step. They entered a room that sounded large and crowded, filled with sobs, quiet sniffles, some cries of children and infants, barks, and other noises that he couldn't quite identify. Some people were talking in hushed tones to others who were asking quiet questions as if they were conducting interviews.

"Here's a chair. Sit here a moment," Madam Pomfrey backed him up to a chair and he slumped in relief into the chair when his knees hit it. "And here's a draught of ginger tonic to settle your tummy and cleanse your mouth."

She tapped the back of his hand with a goblet that she must have conjured since he didn't hear her open her medibag. He wrapped his hands around it.

"Drink it while I go check you in," she said and he sipped it while listening to her receding footsteps. The ginger tonic was spicy and bubbly, a sister to ginger ale, but more effervescent.

Harry listened to the people around him. Someone close by smelled pretty ripe. There was a man and a woman trying to soothe a hiccuping baby who'd break out into full-on wails, then be bounced back to fussiness. They had another kid with them who was running between the chairs making car noises with their mouth (he couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl). Their thudding steps came closer Harry until the child was at the seat next to him, pushing a toy over the surface of the seat. They stopped and were quiet.

"Hello," Harry said, turning his head in their direction.

"My car flies," the child informed him.

"Oh! Well, watch out for whomping willows, then. They're bad for flying cars," he joked.

The child made a quizzical sound and zoomed away, back to the safety of their parents from what Harry could tell.

The ripe-smelling person near Harry belched loudly and Harry turned his face away in an attempt to find fresh air, hoping he wouldn't start throwing up again. He took another gulp of the ginger tonic.

Harry recognized Madam Pomfrey's steps as she bustled toward him a few minutes later.

"All right, we're to go directly to Creature-Induced Injuries on the first floor," she said a little breathily while vanishing the empty goblet from his hand with a little pop. "Come along, they're waiting for us."

She grasped his hand, pulling him from his chair. He felt more steady this time and held onto her upper arm as they maneuvered toward the corridor.

"Healer Andy is going to see you," she told him as they walked. "Very respected healer, specializes in poisons and venomous bites."

Their footsteps echoed down the corridor, which wasn't as busy as the main part of the hospital, and eventually Madam Pomfrey slowed, opened a door, and ushered Harry through it.

Right away, they were greeted by a woman with a harsh efficiency that was punctuated by her scratching quill. She asked them to follow her to another room, where Harry found a perch on an exam table while Madam Pomfrey sat on a much shorter seat close by. The room was cold and smelled vaguely of the hospital wing, with the scent of some of the same antiseptic potions wafting through. The paper on the exam table rustled as he shifted, listening to the sounds of people moving through the corridor outside the room.

Harry wondered briefly about what Ron and Hermione were doing just then, wishing he could be with them.

Footsteps came down the hall, papers rustled outside, and then there was a gentle knock.

"Harry Potter?" said a soft, warm female voice approaching him. "I'm Healer Andy Tonks. I'm going to take a look at your eyes. I see from your chart that you've been in contact with Basilisk venom. Very rare, very rare." Harry was surprised that Healer Andy was a witch. He had been expecting a wizard.

"I'm going to touch your head and look into your eyes with a bright light," she warned as she muttered "Lumos." Even though he was braced for it, the light was too bright and he reflexively shut his eyes against it, tears squeezing out of the corners of his eyes. She adjusted the brightness, "Minus lumine," and he was able to open his eyes a bit.

"Hmmm," she murmured, her breath grazing his face as she peered into his eyes.

"I'm going to run some diagnostics now. Just lie down and relax."

She muttered "Nox" and the light in the room was reduced to the more comfortable haze cast by the strange cluster of lights at the ceiling. Harry laid down on the exam table while Healer Andy scanned him with her wand, the sleeve of her robes occasionally brushing up against him.

"Can you tell me about the encounter with the Basilisk? How big was it? I understand it was very old, possibly one thousand years old?"

"It was enormous, wide enough to fill a corridor at Hogwarts and nearly as long as the Great Hall."

"And you were pierced by a fang as well? Can you show me where?" Healer Andy asked.

Harry pulled back the sleeve of his right arm and ran his fingers over the spot, trying to discern where it had been.

"It was here."

Healer Andy's cold fingers traced over his arm.

"And a phoenix was there and provided tears, is that right?" she asked.

"Yes. But I didn't think about asking the phoenix for help with my eyes until later," Harry said.

"How much later?"

"I don't really know… ten or twenty minutes. Volde- er, You-Know-Who," Harry adjusted at the sharp intake of breath from Healer Andy, "was sucking the life out of Ginny and wanted to duel with me. I just didn't think about it right away."

"How did you get the venom in your eyes?" Healer Andy asked.

"I had pulled the fang out of my arm… and then I wiped my eyes with that hand to get the Basilisk blood out of my eyes because it stung so badly. But it could have been when I stabbed the Basilisk in the mouth with the sword—there could have been venom in the blood that came from the roof of its mouth. I don't really know." Harry blinked tears.

"So… you fought off the Dark Lord when you couldn't see? And revived Ginny Weasley and got her out of the Chamber?" Healer Andy's wonderment made Harry squirm.

There was a sound of parchment being unrolled, "And you're twelve?"

"Yeah. I mean, I was just trying to… not die…" Harry said.

"Yes, of course… Ah, well," she said. "I need to consult with another Healer. I'll be back in a moment." The door closed behind her and then opened again when Healer Andy asked Madam Pomfrey to join her in the hall.

Though their voices were low, Harry could hear the conversation through the door. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do to restore his vision, as you probably already guessed. Phoenix tears administered at once are the only possible antivenom as Basilisks are dark, dangerous creatures. This one was so ancient, the venom was that much more potent… He's really lucky to be alive and to have the small amount of residual vision that he has… Do you want me to deliver the news, or do you want to do it?" Healer Andy asked.

"I'll tell him," Madam Pomfrey said. "Thank you. It should come from someone he knows, I suppose. I was hoping… it was a foolish hope, but… he's just a child, and he's suffered so much already. I can't believe he has to deal with being blind, too, on top of it all. Poor dear." Madam Pomfrey blew her nose loudly.

She didn't come in right away. For several minutes, Harry lay on the exam table staring at the weird fuzzy lights floating above him that apparently were all that he would ever see again and felt as if the world were closing in on him.

He vaguely heard her come in and murmur his name. Her hand pressing on his shoulder finally brought him back fully.

"I heard," he said.

"Oh," Madam Pomfrey said. "Healer Andy is gathering some literature about adaptive charms and tools for blind wizards. Lucky that the term's almost over, exams have been canceled, and you'll be able to use the summer holidays to adjust… "

At this, Harry went rigid… the summer he had already been dreading just got abysmally worse. He curled into a tight ball and grabbed fistfuls of his hair. He wanted to pull off his skin… and he definitely didn't want to be Harry anymore.