I own nothing but the plot, and not even all of that.
Headmaster Dumbledore left the Great Hall after dinner and was walking the hallways of Hogwarts, thinking. He was anxious for the children to depart for their Christmas break. He pondered for a moment how odd it was for him to feel that way. He was normally delighted for the halls and classrooms of Hogwarts to be filled with students. First year muggleborns, with their eyes wide open as they experienced the magical world for the very first time. Seventh years about to graduate as young men and women with the world ahead of them. All of these, and every manner of student in between, were gems to him. At this particular time, though, he could not wait for them to leave.
It was not because he didn't want them here, of course. He just did not want them here as he and the teachers tore the castle apart to try and find the beast of Slytherin. It had killed once, fifty years ago. It had petrified several back then as well, before disappearing back into legend. Now, it had emerged again. He was determined there would be no more victims if he could possibly help it. He truly wished he could haul Lucius Malfoy into the Wizengamot chambers and find the truth once and for all. It wasn't legal, though. Even if he hadn't stepped down as Chief Warlock last year he wouldn't have been able to get enough votes to make that happen. All he had as evidence that Lucius was involved at all was the second hand word of a house elf, and a rather unstable one at that from the description of him.
The sound of the casting of spells drifted down the hall. It was coming from the defense classroom. Knowing that there were no defense classes scheduled for this time, he decided to investigate.
"Serpensortia!"... "Alarte Ascendare!" "Blast it!" the voice of Professor Lockhart exclaimed. "Finite Incantatum... Vipera Evenesca!"
The headmaster entered the classroom to find Professor Lockhart standing in the middle of the room with his wand in hand.
"Serpensortia!" Lockhart cast, and a black rat snake burst from his wand to land on the floor before him. "Ok," the defense professor said, his brow furrowing with concentration. "Alarte Ascendare!" A golden beam of light sped towards the snake, splitting into many beams which surrounded it to form a cage of light it could not escape from. "I don't understand!" Lockhart fumed.
"Gilderoy?" Dumbledore said, making his presence known. "Is something the matter?"
"Headmaster," Lockhart said, startled. "Oh... I'm... just trying to figure out what went wrong."
"You are referring to how your spell reacted with the snake young Mr. Malfoy conjured?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes," Lockhart said, frustration evident in his voice.
"Are you certain you did not simply make a mistake in the heat of the moment?" Dumbledore asked. Lockhart gave him a suspicious look.
"There is absolutely no reason that my spell failed at that moment," he insisted. "It should have contained the snake, not thrown it at the boy! I have been trying to duplicate what happened for days now, but it doesn't seem possible. I cannot make a snake fly into the air using this spell, or any variation of it. I do not understand how it happened." Dumbledore suddenly had a thought.
"There does seem to have been something very unusual going on that evening," Dumbledore said. "Young Mr. Malfoy's spell did not go as planned either. According to Draco, he attempted to conjure a grass snake no more harmful than what you just produced. He somehow ended up with an extremely dangerous viper. Then, moments later, your spell, which should have caged the snake, instead launched the reptile at Mr. Potter."
"What is it you're suggesting, Headmaster?" Lockhart asked.
"I have been studying magic for over one hundred years, Gilderoy," Dumbledore said. "It occurs to me that never, in all of that time, have I seen a conjuration gone wrong produce a better result than what was intended."
Harry was trying to sleep. He was in his bed in the Hospital Wing, and was about to go stir crazy. According to Madam Pomfrey, he would be released in the morning if all of the tests she was running came back negative for any trace of the venom or the symptoms it had caused. Finally, after tossing and turning until after midnight, he opened his eyes and sat up to get a drink of water from the glass on his nightstand, only to bump into a very long nose that had been right in front of his face.
After a short yell of surprise, he focused his eyes on Dobby the house elf.
"Dobby!" he whispered, "What are you doing here?"
"Why will Harry Potter not go home?" the little elf asked in his high pitched voice. "It is too dangerous here for Harry Potter."
"I told you before," Harry said. "I will not leave my friends in danger. It is not the Jedi way. You took me to safety before, and Master Toma was left to face that danger on his own. Now he's frozen, and it will still be many months before he can be revived. If you want to help, then tell me what we're facing!"
"Dobby thought his snake would be enough to make you see the danger, but you still stayed in Hogwarts."
"Your snake?" Harry asked. "You did that?" Dobby nodded, sadly.
"What was the point in saving me, only to try and kill me later?" Harry asked.
"Not kill you!" Dobby wailed, "never kill you, only grievously injure, to show Harry Potter the danger of staying here." Harry noticed that Dobby had emphasised the words 'show' and 'danger' prominently, then stared intently at him.
"Dobby, are you trying to tell me that the snake from the duel is somehow related to the what attacked Toma?" Harry asked. This, unfortunately, triggered Dobby to attack himself by beating himself about the head with a a handy bottle of potion. Harry yanked it out of the elf's hands with the Force. He replaced the bottle, then grabbed Dobby by the shoulders to keep him from grabbing another one.
"Dobby mustn't say!" the elf sobbed.
"I understand," Harry said, trying to comfort the elf. "I understand that you can't say." He tried to think of a way that Dobby could give him information in a way that he wouldn't have to beat himself senseless or try to injure himself. He couldn't come up with anything.
"Time is running out," insisted Dobby. "She won't sleep long, and she is angry!"
"Who is she?" asked Harry. "Why is she angry?"
Dobby just stared hard at the sound of approaching feet, snapped his fingers, and disappeared. Harry shook his head in disgust at himself. He knew Dobby couldn't outright say it, and he had just blurted the questions out without thinking.
Madam Pomfrey walked onto the ward and noticed Harry sitting up, awake.
"And just what do you think you're doing, young man?" she asked. Harry explained to her about Dobby, and how he had just disappeared right before she arrived.
"You go back to sleep," the mediwitch instructed. "I'll let the Headmaster know, don't you worry about that."
"You wanted to see me, Headmaster," Draco asked. He had been terrified of another visit from his father when he was told to go to the headmasters office, and was relieved to find only Dumbledore and Professor Snape waiting for him.
"Yes, indeed," answered the Headmaster. "I have a rather unusual request for you. I would like for you to attempt to conjure a snake for me. Please try to conjure the same type of snake you wished to produce the evening of your duel with Mr. Potter. I believe you said you had tried for a common grass snake?"
"Yes, Headmaster." Draco looked to Professor Snape and received a subtle nod, telling him to comply. He took out his wand and aimed for the center of the room.
"Serpensortia!" A two foot long snake leapt out of his wand and coiled itself up. It was dark green with a bright yellow band behind its head.
"Very good," Headmaster Dumbledore said. He vanished the snake with a wave of his wand. "Now, I would like you to try again, but this time, please conjure the snake you actually produced the evening of the dueling club."
"Are you sure, sir?" Draco asked. "After what it did to Potter…"
"I assure you," Dumbledore responded, "that between Professor Snape and myself, we will be able to contain the animal."
Draco turned back to the center of the room and took aim again. He tried to visualize the snake that had bitten Potter.
"Serpensortia!" Another grass snake, nearly identical to his first conjuration, landed on the carpet. After three such tries, he was only able to produce a common grass snake, though the latter two had patterns in their scales that showed his effort in trying to reproduce the viper that had bitten Harry.
"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy, that will be enough," Dumbledore said.
"What does this mean, Headmaster?" Draco asked. "How was I able to do it in the duel, but not here?"
"I would not worry about that, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said. "It is not uncommon for stressful situations to affect our magic in unusual ways. I would prefer if you did not attempt that particular conjuration again, though, just to be on the safe side."
"Yes, Headmaster," Draco promised.
"Are you planning on telling him he was not responsible?" Professor Snape asked. Draco had been sent back to his dormitory and it was now only Dumbledore and Snape in the headmaster's office.
"Inform him that the house elf his family owns is not only far more magically powerful than he is, but has also gone rogue and is is seemingly trying to frame young Mr. Malfoy for attempted murder?" answered Dumbledore. "No."
"Then you do not believe the elf was attempting to warn Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.
"I do believe it," answered Dumbledore. "I am, however, not convinced that is how the Malfoy family would take the information."
"I was not suggesting we tell him about the elf," Snape protested, "but it is not fair for him to believe he was responsible for Potter's injuries. That responsibility clearly belongs to that fraud Lockhart."
"I appreciate your diligence in protecting the students of your house," Dumbledore said, "but I'm afraid we cannot risk losing the only potential source of intelligence into Lucius Malfoy's plot." He gave Severus a stern look. "As for Gilderoy, surely you are not still blaming him for his spell going wrong?"
"He is the the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, and he cannot contain a single snake?" Snape retorted.
"I'm afraid you cannot have it both ways, Severus," Dumbledore sighed. "If Dobby interfered with young Mr. Malfoy's conjured snake, then he also interfered with Gilderoy's attempt to contain it."
"Since you are continuing to blame the boy for the snake, then," Snape responded, "should I not continue to blame Lockhart for the mess it caused? To continue the ruse?" Dumbledore have Snape a piercing look.
"That is far more than enough of that," Dumbledore admonished him. "Must we have another discussion of your future here?"
"No, Headmaster," Snape answered. His tone was not apologetic, though, and his lip cured into a sneer as he left the headmaster's office.
Dan and Emma Granger were setting up their Christmas tree and discussing the school they sent their daughter to. The letters they had received from Hermione this year were quite troubling to them. The idea that something could 'petrify' someone for months and was still loose in the school was did not sit well with them, and they were definitely feeling some buyer's remorse over the fees they were spending on sending Hermione to this supposedly wonderful school.
"How can we send her back there?" said Dan. "It's been one thing after another. Giant troll trying to clobber her with a club, possessed maniacs trying to kill us all, kids getting kidnapped by their own teachers, chess sets trying to kill her, and that was just last year. I think when she comes home for Christmas we just keep her here. She's not that far behind in her schooling, and she'll have little difficulty in catching up in a normal school."
"I know, dear. But you do have to admit, she's happier than she ever was before she went there," Emma said. She was troubled as well by all of the strange things her daughter reported, but also remembered how Hermione was before she went to Hogwarts. She was a painfully shy bookworm who didn't seem able to make a friend.
"She's happy because of Harry," Dan countered, "not because of Hogwarts. We might even be able to convince the boy to leave that loony bin as well."
"Yes," Emma said, "she's very happy to be friends with Harry, but I think there's more to it than just that."
"You think they're more than friends already?" Dan asked, aghast at the thought. Emma slapped his arm, lightly.
"No, I don't," she said, "but I don't think that's as far away as you're hoping." Dan rolled his eyes.
"It can take as long as it wants," he grumbled.
"I'm talking about her belonging somewhere," Emma said. "For the first time in her life, she's with at least some people who understand her besides us. And sometimes even I don't understand our daughter. Besides, you like Harry."
"I do like Harry," Dan said. "I just wish they were happily being friends somewhere other than at that school. I'm not happy that Toma is in some sort of coma. Harry says they were attacked, and the perpetrator is uncaught. I'm even less happy about our daughter being in the middle of another situation like last year."
"Perhaps it's not as bad as it sounds," Emma said, trying to find the balance between their genuine concern about the dangers of the school and their daughters insistence on staying there.
At that moment, the fire in their fireplace roared up unexpectedly. The flames turned from a warm yellowish orange to a bright emerald green. Albus Dumbledore's head appeared in the flames.
"Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Dumbledore said, "I wonder if you can spare a moment of your time."
Dan and Emma looked at each other, worried about some new development.
"Is there something wrong, Headmaster," Dan asked.
"Not wrong, exactly," Dumbledore replied. "There is just a bit of an issue with Harry's plans to see you this Christmas holiday, as well as a question that I have. May I come through?"
"Of course," Emma said. When they purchased the new house, they made sure to buy one with an enormous fireplace for this very purpose. The flames grew higher and Albus Dumbledore walked through them. With a wave of his wand, he cleaned the ash off of both his robes and the floor. Emma had gone to the kitchen, and now returned with a cup of tea, which she served to the headmaster.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said, taking the tea. "I have always disliked speaking through a fire. The taste of burnt wood stays in my mouth for hours."
"What is the problem with Harry coming here, Headmaster," Emma said, frowning. "With Toma in a... Well, with him petrified, we were really looking forward to Harry visiting."
"Not to mention the fit Hermione will have if she has to leave him there," added Dan. "Especially since this creature is apparently still on the loose."
"Yes," Albus said, "it is rather concerning. We have upped our security as much as we can, and have a good idea of what the creature is. We are planning on having an exhaustive search performed while the students are away from the castle."
"So what's the problem?" Dan asked.
"With Mr. Kendet indisposed, that leaves Harry without a guardian looking out for his interests and safety," Dumbledore said. "After the incident, the Jedi sent some... assistance in the form of a squadron of soldiers. Harry is technically in charge of these soldiers until Mr. Kendet awakes." Dumbledore looked uncomfortable with this situation.
"So why is that a problem for him coming here?" asked Dan. He knew about Green Squadron from Hermione's letters, and had no problems whatsoever with the thought of soldiers guarding Harry. He knew that his daughters best friend would insist they guard Hermione as well.
"Even though Mr. Potter is in in command of them," Dumbledore explained, "they are understandably concerned about him going off campus without them. They are insisting on escorting him here. These are not normal soldiers, though, and I'm afraid that their appearance would be rather unusual."
"Unusual for wizards, or unusual for muggles," Emma asked. She was remembering seeing a wizard in a tuxedo top and pajama bottoms in the Leaky Cauldron once, and wanted to know if Dumbledore had simply never seen a camouflage uniform before.
"Unusual for both," the headmaster answered. "I have managed to convince them that wearing their normal armor and carrying their weapons in London would only attract unwanted attention to themselves and to Harry. They have agreed that any troopers escorting Harry to London will have to forgo them. I wonder how much of an inconvenience it would be for you to host several of them for the holidays? They are insisting on carrying smaller versions of the weapons they normally carry, but will otherwise appear to be normal."
"How many soldiers are we talking about?" asked Dan.
"Well," Dumbledore said, "there are twenty of them currently at Hogwarts, but Harry will be traveling with only two. The rest will remain at Hogwarts and help us mount a search for the basilisk."
"It won't be any trouble at all," Emma said. She and Dan had already discussed this and was looking forward to meeting someone from Green Squadron.
"What is a basilisk?" asked Dan Granger. Dumbledore looked sheepish.
"I probably should not have let that slip," he said. "Very well. We believe the creature is a basilisk. It is a serpent, hatched from a chicken egg that has been incubated underneath a toad." Emma and Dan exchanged a look.
"How does that even work?" Dan asked.
"Magic," Dumbledore answered. "At any rate, they can live for hundreds of years and can grow to quite a large size. They are one of the most dangerous creatures known to exist. Please don't be too alarmed, I have no doubt we will find it and neutralize it before the students return from their break. Now, I have a question for you. Have you had any contact with Dobby the house elf since he visited Harry here before term started?" he asked.
"No," answered Dan and Emma in unison.
"Are you expecting us to?" asked Dan.
"I really do not know," Dumbledore said. "We know he was at Hogwarts when Mr. Kendet was attacked, despite our increased security. I cannot say I am displeased that he bypassed the wards, though, as he did save Harry from that attack."
Dumbledore took a sip from his tea. "Additionally, he was confirmed to be present at an incident last week where a student was accidentally injured as a result. His presence was confirmed when he, again, bypassed the wards to visit that student in the hospital wing to apologize."
"These 'wards' of of yours," asked Dan, "are they the same sort of protection you put here?" Though Dan had tried to ask this as diplomatically as possible, it was still clear that he felt these wards were not worth much if one house elf could constantly bypass them.
"I understand your concern," he answered, "and yes they are. The problem with trying to detect Dobby is due less to the quality of the wards, and more to due with the subtle, yet powerful nature of house elves in general. An additional factor would be the rather fanatical determination being displayed by this particular elf. Finally, there is the fact that the house elves Hogwarts employs must be able to live and work on the premises, and we end up with no real way to prevent him from entering the school without preventing all house elves from entering the school. Hogwarts employs more than one hundred elves, and one is alike to many as far as detection spells are concerned. I have asked the Hogwarts elves to report to me if they see him, but Hogwarts is a very large castle. Much of it is not in use at present due to the effects of the last war on the birthrate in our society. Hogwarts is currently at only one quarter capacity, and this results in many empty spaces for him to hide his comings and goings in. I cannot be certain he is not able to slip in and out at will without bringing attention to himself."
Dumbledore gestured at the house around them. "Here," he explained, "it is much easier. Other than your daughter, Mr. Potter, and the occasional other school friend or teacher, there should be very little magical presence in this house. It is, therefore, far easier to guard against both general and specific threats. Please don't take that to mean Hogwarts is unsafe, though. It's simply that one house elf is not generally considered a threat. I have placed some monitoring wards around my office, and as of today have added them to the hospital wing and any classrooms Harry will be using this year, but a detection ward for one specific house elf is not feasible, and certainly not for the entire castle."
"I have a question," said Emma, abruptly changing the subject. "I understand from Hermione's letters that you know how to unpetrify Toma. Why haven't you?"
"I'm afraid we must wait for our mandrakes to mature," Dumbledore answered. "We would only poison him if we tried to make the draught before they were ready. I understand the frustration in the wait, but I'm afraid there's just no getting around it." Dan and Emma gave each other another look.
"And these Mandrakes," Dan asked, "these are the only ones that exist anywhere?"
"Not at all," answered Dumbledore. "The mandrakes at Hogwarts are the only crop in Britain, however. They are not native to British soil."
"But they are," protested Emma. "I know they are."
"Ahhh," Dumbledore acknowledged, "I believe I understand your confusion. The mundane mandrake that has existed in Britain for many hundreds of years is Mandragora autumnalis. These plants, while poisonous, are otherwise not harmful. The magical mandrake, Mandragora officinarum is related to the non-magical plant, but is much more... well, magical. It is only the magical version of this plant that is useful to us for the purposes of restoring people from a petrified state, I'm afraid. The magical version is quite rare, only growing in northern Italy. Hogwarts was incredibly fortunate to obtain a sample of them. This will allow our Herbology teacher, Professor Sprout, to attempt to cultivate them to the Isles. While we had no idea we would need them quite so soon after obtaining them, we are most grateful we will be able to restore Mister Kendet."
"But," Emma said, "if they exist in Italy, surely the mature plant exists there as well. Why not buy some and wake Toma up immediately?"
"That was certainly considered," acknowledged Dumbledore. "Unfortunately, due to the dangerous nature of the plant, it has been labelled a class 3 import hazard. In what I am sure was an honest attempt at being thorough, the Wizengamot has banned the import of not only the plant, but any of the products that contains it as well. We were able to obtain a one-time exception to obtain the ones we have now, but when I requested the purchase of the restorative drought itself, the Wizengamot decided to not bend the rules at this time. It did not help that the only person it would benefit is not a wizard, and is generally seen in the Wizengamot as an obstacle to Harry remaining in the wizarding world."
"You couldn't use your influence to change their minds," asked Dan. Dumbledore chuckled.
"My influence was never as great as it may have appeared," he said. "I strive to change our society for the better, but change is very slow in coming. Also, after resigning from my roles as head of both the Wizengamot and the International Confederation of Wizards last year, my influence has declined a bit. I am not unhappy for this, however. My passion has never been politics, but in the education of children. I've haven't been this involved in the running of the school for many years, and I daresay it's done both me and the school quite a bit of good. Recent events notwithstanding, of course."
Dumbledore finished his tea and rose. "Now," he said, "I must return to Hogwarts. I will let the Commander know that two of his Troopers may accompany Mr. Potter over the Christmas break."
He placed his hand to his forehead. "Oh, that reminds me. Madam Pomfrey, our mediwitch, has asked me to tell you that Mr. Potter must not overexert himself on this holiday. Please do not take him anywhere that he would be subjected to strenuous activity, and try to make him rest as much as possible. He's had quite the shock to his system and regardless of what he says, Madam Pomfrey would have my own hide if I failed to ask you to keep an eye on him."
"What kind of shock?" asked Emma. They had not received a letter from Hermione yet this week, and the last they had heard Harry was fine.
"Mr. Potter was the student I earlier mentioned that was injured. He was bitten by an accidentally conjured snake during a practice duel and is recovering from the effects of the venom," Dumbledore answered. Emma paled.
"Please don't be overly concerned," Dumbledore said. "It sounds much more serious than it really was. Professor Snape had him out of any danger very quickly. I thank you for taking the Troopers in with Mr. Potter. I have no doubt he will enjoy visiting with you very much. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to return to Hogwarts."
The headmaster took a pinch of floo powder from a jar on the mantle, threw it into the fire, and watched as the fire flared up and turned emerald green. "Hogwarts!" he called out. "Sherbet Lemon." With the destination and password spoken, he walked into the fire. Once the fire had turned back to orange and died down again, the two parents stared at each other.
"Is it as bad as it sounded?" Dan asked his wife.
"Maybe worse," answered Emma.