In the middle of the shocked silence that followed Arig's introduction, there was a wave of water that splashed over everyone who was seated in the semicircle around Mei's tank. She had disappeared dramatically through her portal. Healer Jordan quickly cast a drying spell and as the warmth settled over them, she addressed the group.
"Before you comment, please listen. Arig has requested that I have this conversation with all of you in his presence. He is very much aware of the prejudice that Lycanthropes encounter in the wixen world. Just like you, he is adapting to a dramatic and unexpected alteration of his body and the way that he goes about his everyday life, and at the same time, he has encountered fear, ignorance, and shunning for something that was foisted on him in the most brutal and traumatizing way.
Unfortunately, it is not widely known that the effects of the full moon on a Lycanthrope can be controlled and rendered harmless with the Wolfsbane potion—mostly because it is a complicated and expensive potion that most Lycanthropes don't have access to. We are trying to change that here at the Center.
You have my absolute assurances that you are in no danger while you're rooming with Arig. You are in no danger of being exposed to the Lycanthropy contagion nor to the dangers of a fully actualized werewolf.
The next full moon is on Saturday, July 3rd. This week preceding the full moon, Arig has been taking the Wolfbane potion which means that he will transform, but peacefully and sleep through the full moon. For extra precaution, he will stay in a warded and heavily armored room for the weekend of the full moon—and this is at his request—because he is very concerned that you feel safe in his presence and during his transformation.
All of your parents and guardians have been notified and have signed secrecy agreements. I'm going to ask you each to make a vow of secrecy as well and understand that you are not to share information about any of your fellow residents.
It is my expectation that you will welcome Arig and make him feel at home at the Center, just as you have been welcomed. Arig, is there anything else that you'd like to add?"
"Uh. Well, I guess. I asked if I could be placed in the dormitory with you all because I thought you might be a little more accepting of me than the older folks, even though I'm technically a bit older than you. I am eighteen. Um, do you have any questions?" Arig added nervously.
The room was quiet except for the lapping of slight waves against the sides of Mei's tank.
Harry was too shocked to think of any questions. His brain was still wrapping around the concept of the werewolf. He remembered someone commenting on the werewolves in the Forbidden Forest, but he hadn't taken them seriously.
"Welcome to our dormitory, Arig. I'm sorry to hear about all that you've been through. It sounds rough." Gemma was the first to speak.
"Thank you, Gemma," Arig's voice broke a bit when he answered.
"Yeah, man. I can't imagine," Tony said.
"Arig, thank you for sharing your story with us. I know that's hard. I… I'm nervous about sharing a room with a werewolf, to be honest. But I also know that Healer Jordan wouldn't put us in danger, so I'll try to get over it," Aminah added.
Harry felt like he should say something, but nothing that was coming to his mind sounded good and he kept rejecting it.
"Yeah, welcome to our room and the Center. In the morning there's a bright flashing alarm that talks and wakes us up, so don't be surprised by that," Harry said.
The others laughed nervously.
"How do you… oh, yeah, you can see bright light. I forgot," Arig said.
There was another loud splash as Mei resurfaced.
"What did I miss?" she said.
"Well, pretty much everything," Tony stated.
"Yeah, well, I needed to think. Arig, welcome to life as a semi-human creature. It sucks. Thanks for making my life seem like a poffle of puffskeins," Mei said.
"Mei, I've asked the others to make a vow of secrecy to protect Arig's privacy and I am asking the same of you," Healer Jordan said.
"Yeah, okay," Mei said.
"Okay, well, thank you all for welcoming Arig so warmly. It is late and you all need to get to bed, but Harry, may I have a word with you before I go?" Healer Jordan asked.
"Um, sure?"
Healer Jordan vanished the chairs as the others made their way back to their areas. Harry wasn't sure why Healer Jordan wanted to talk to him and if they would need to go somewhere private to speak, so he stood awkwardly by his bed running his fingertips over the carving on the post, following the tendrils that spiraled up.
"Okay, thanks for waiting, Harry," Healer Jordan said, coming over to where he was standing. "I'm going to cast a privacy charm so that we can speak here. Is that okay?"
"Sure, do you want to sit in the chair over here?" Harry invited, motioning to the new chair in his space.
"Yes, thank you," Healer Jordan said and sat down after she had muttered the spell. He heard the silence enclose them as the sounds of the room were shut off. Harry trailed his fingertips on the bed, and then found the desk chair. He pulled it out so that he was sitting across from Healer Jordan.
"Harry, I told you that I would tell you when I had made arrangements to visit your guardians."
"Yeah?"
"Well, I've contacted them and Mr. Burbage and I are going to visit them early tomorrow morning."
"Oh, okay." Harry shifted in his chair. He really wanted to tell her not to do it, but he had a feeling the more he argued against it, the more determined she'd be.
"I also wanted to check in with you and see how your feeling this evening. Healer Geller said that you were feeling better after you slept. Are you hungry at all? Would you like another nutrition potion?"
"Yes, I'm feeling a lot better, thanks." Harry was embarrassed to have her attention focused on him like this. "Um, yeah. I would like another one of those potions. They are delicious."
Harry heard some bottles clinking and she put a vial in his outstretched hand.
"Have you ever fainted before like you did this afternoon?"
"No, I don't think so," Harry answered, thinking about when he fought Quirrell, but that was different.
"Okay, please let me know if you're experiencing anything like that again."
"Okay… I'm sure it was nothing," he mumbled.
"I'll let you know about the meeting with your guardians when I return, okay," she stood up, so he did, too.
"Okay, thanks Healer Jordan."
"Thank you, Harry," she said as she canceled the silencing charm and left his area. Her quick footsteps went over to the other side of the room and he heard her checking in with Arig.
He sat for a while mulling over what he imagined his Aunt and Uncle's reactions would be. He wondered if they were going to visit before Uncle Vernon went to work.
Healer Jordan had moved on and was talking quietly to Aminah. Harry drank the potion, licking the lip of the vial to get all the delectable drops. He yawned. He was more than ready now for bed. He tempus'd his staff and found that it was later than he realized and he stifled another yawn.
As he was gathering up his clothes from his wardrobe (they were still damp from his trip to the south seas with Mei) he discovered that the school robes and his winter jacket were neatly folded on the floor of the wardrobe. He put them back in his staff and went into the bathroom and summoned all his dirty laundry from the staff.
Whoa, my socks stink! he thought.
He asked his staff to direct him to the laundry chute that Aminah had described and shoved them in. He had one more T-shirt and trousers and one more pair of socks and pants, then he'd be out of clean clothes. He hoped that the laundry service was as fast as Aminah described. He changed into his pajamas, slippers, and robe and brushed his teeth.
oO0OooO0OooO0OooO0Oo
Harry was just coming into consciousness when the chiming bell went off in the morning. It wasn't quite so surprising this time.
"It is 6:30 am and the dining hall will open for breakfast at 7 am. Breakfast will be served until 8 am, classes start at 9 am. Your schedule has been updated," said the clear voice.
Harry could hear a vibrating noise in the room as well and figured that Gemma's bed had been charmed to vibrate with the alarm. He smiled and stretched. He felt actually rested for the first time in a long time.
There was a groan that Harry thought might be Arig and some loud splashing noises from Mei's side of the wall. He was really glad that he was no longer being awoken by droplets of water on his face.
He heard Tony groan, too. "Someone turn that blasted thing off!"
"I turned it off yesterday," Harry said, rolling over and gathering his warm blankets around himself in a cocoon.
"MMmrph," Aminah grumbled.
Harry heard Gemma's footsteps, different though they were without shoes, on the tile. The alarm shut off (to the muttered sighs of relief from her roommates) and then her footsteps came over to his area. She shook his shoulder, his back was to her.
He rolled over and smiled at her, "Thanks for turning off the alarm!"
He extracted himself from his tangle of sheets to sit up.
He offered her his palm and she wrote, "N-O" space "P-R-O-B-L-E-M" space W-H-A-T" space "C-L-A-S-S-E-S" space "T-O-D-A-Y-?"
He rubbed his eyes with his knuckles and stretched again. "I don't know. Why don't you look?"
He heard her picking up the paper on his desk and slid his legs off the bed, rooting around for his slippers.
She tapped his hand with the paper so he took it. He ran his hand over the incomprehensible braille, then listened as Godric spoke in his aftí again. He felt around his desk trying to find his staff until Gemma moved it against his fingers. He summoned his anagnóstis and the notebook and pencil out of it. He handed the notebook and pencil to Gemma and asked her where she was going to be today and then paid attention to what Godric was saying as he ran his fingers over the braille.
Harry Potter's Schedule
Wednesday 30 June, 1993
7 am Breakfast
9 am Self-defense with Agatha Midgeon in the O&M room
10 am Navigating with your staff with Mr. Burbage in the O&M room
12 pm Lunch
2 pm Braille with Madam Flamel in the Library
4 pm Meet with Healer Geller in Mind Healer office.
6 pm Dinner
She flapped her schedule in front of him and he grabbed it and read it with the anagnóstis.
Gemma Boot's Schedule
Wednesday 30 June, 1993
7 am Breakfast
9 am Self-defense with Agatha Midgeon in the O&M room
10 am Balance with Agatha Midgeon in the O&M room
12 pm Lunch
2 pm BSL with Corbin Huw in the Braidwood room
4 pm Council with Healer Jordan in the Mont Blanc room
6 pm Dinner
"Hey, we're going to be together for self-defense! And in the same room all morning. That's good!" Harry said.
She tapped his arm, "yes!" and then waved across his palm and jumped up and left and he gathered that she going to get ready for the day.
He put everything back in his staff and listened to see if anyone else headed to the bathroom. He heard Gemma enter the bathroom on the other side of the hallway, and figured that he could go to the other one. He shook out his staff and started walking toward it when he heard Arig's crutches alternating with one footstep on the tile floor. He stopped as Arig approached.
"Hi," he said as the pivoting metal sounds approached. He guessed that they were the kind of crutches that had arm rings from the sound they were making.
"Hi, Harry," Arig greeted.
"Go ahead, I'll wait."
"Hey, thank you. I'll be quick!" Arig said as he went by Harry and into the bathroom on the left side of the hallway.
Harry went back to his desk to write a response to Ron's letter while he waited.
He got the ruler, pencil, sharpener, and pad of paper out of his staff and started to write.
"Hi Ron, Thanks for writing again. No fire, just water. It will be great to see everyone on the weekend. Thanks for the note about the magical eyes. I'll look into it (ha ha). The address is 56 Charing Cross Rd, it has a magical entrance—the Pernel Flamel Adaptation Center. Tell it that you want to enter. What time on Saturday? I'll meet you at the reception area. Tell Ginny not to worry. I'm okay. Harry." He listened to it and corrected the spelling of Perenelle with the help of the anagnóstis, then he rolled it up and put it in his staff.
He listened to the sounds of his roommates starting to stir for the day and then decided to look at the Louis Braille book again. Instead of reading it with the anagnóstis, though, he decided to try to figure out some of the braille. He used the anagnóstis to read the words on the cover and then felt them carefully trying to discern the letters. He found that the "r" and "i" were the easiest for him to pick out of the letters, but it was really hard to tell the letters apart. He sagged a little wondering how he was going to learn to read by touch.
Finally, he heard the toilet door open and realized that it was Gemma who was out first. He put away the book and other things in his staff and then asked his staff to take him to the available toilet.
Mei was splashing around in her tank when he closed the door and asked his staff for a description of this toilet. It was a mirror image of the one on the other side of the hallway with all the same features. When he was taking a shower, he accidentally pressed against a button that he hadn't noticed before that brought out sponges on poles at various heights that seemed to fill with suds. He guessed that they would be useful if you didn't have arms and pressed the button again to make them go away. Another button conjured a stool that caught him in the back of the knees and almost made him fall, but he steadied himself on the shower wall before pressing the button again and making it disappear. He decided to stop messing with the panel and just wash his hair.
He dressed in his last set of clean clothes—dingy baggy hand-me-downs from Dudley (the Indica color charm confirmed that they were a dull gray)—and brushed his teeth and hair.
Gemma was waiting for him when he emerged from the toilet, her hand fluttering against his arm.
"Are you ready to go down to breakfast?" he asked.
"Yes," she tapped against his arm. He heard Arig's crutches and lifted his head so that he could talk over Gemma's head. "Are you ready to go down to breakfast, Arig? Want to walk down with us?"
"Sure, I'll join you. Hey, should we make sure that Aminah is awake first, though? It seems like she's still sleeping."
"Yeah, good idea," Harry agreed. He heard Arig moving over toward Aminah's area and then he gently said, "Hey, Aminah? Are you awake?"
"Mrupmphh."
Gemma left Harry's side and he imagined that she was helping Arig wake up Aminah who didn't seem to be a morning person.
Harry could hear the shower going in the other loo, so figured that Tony was in there as Mei seemed to still be swimming in her tank.
"Hey, Mei, we're going down to breakfast, are you ready?" Harry asked.
"Naw, you all go down. I need to wake up a little more. I'll wait for Tony and Aminah," she said in a surprisingly pleasant voice.
"Okay, see you down there."
Mei snorted in response.
Gemma was back and tapping the back of Harry's hand for sighted guide. He took her arm and collapsed his cane. He heard Arig's crutches behind them and gathered that they felt like Aminah was awake enough to leave her.
"So were you both at Hogwarts?" Arig asked them as they went out into the hallway.
"Yeah, well, I was. Gemma was supposed to start last year, but she was sick, so she hasn't been to Hogwarts yet," Harry answered.
"So, you're the real Harry Potter, then?" Arig asked.
"Yep, I guess so," Harry said.
"What happened? Is it okay if I ask?" Arig said.
"Um, you didn't hear already?" Harry stalled.
"No, nothing."
"Well, I had a run-in with a big snake in the dungeons at Hogwarts and some venom got in my eyes," Harry said.
"How big of a snake?" asked Arig.
"A Basilisk."
"Seriously? I thought those were a myth."
"Nope. Just rare, I guess."
Gemma stopped. She tapped the hand that was on her arm.
"What is it, Gemma?"
"She wants to know what we're talking about. I guess she couldn't see your slips of paper," Arig said.
"I was telling Arig about how I was blinded by the Basilisk in the dungeons in Hogwarts," Harry told Gemma. "The venom got in my eyes. Dumbledore's phoenix, Fawkes, was there and helped heal me, but I guess not before the venom damaged my optic nerve."
Harry felt Gemma grab the slip of paper by his mouth.
"That's wicked bad luck," Arig said.
"Well, I could have died, so I don't know, I guess it could be good luck, too."
"Gemma's saying not to talk anymore until we get to the dining hall because she doesn't like being left out of the conversation," Arig said.
"Sorry, Gemma," Harry apologized.
She tapped his hand and then started walking again. They walked in silence—the only sound was Arig's crutches.