Chapter 18: Hot Chocolate
Dumbledore was having a bad day. Not only was at a dead end to who was responsible for the event on Halloween—but Harry was almost smashed to pieces in the Quidditch match against Slytherin.
He was up to his neck in work so he couldn't go to the game in person, but he couldn't help but find himself staring out the window every few minutes to see what was happening. He could hear the commentary and he couldn't help but laugh at Lee Jordon's comments. That is until he noticed that one of the bludgers was acting strange.
He somehow found himself getting up from his seat and heading to the window to try and get a better view. It was the bludgers job to go after everyone not just one person… and the unlucky one was the smallest player in red.
'Oh no,' Albus thought anxiously. 'Harry's got himself a rouge bludger…'
How could this have happened? He watched as the two Weasley Beaters were on his either side of Harry, trying to protect him. He watched for a few minutes until finally they all headed to the ground for a time out. Just as he was starting to relax and hoping that they would call of the match…
Oh no…
The Gryffindors were all back in the air—but this time, the Weasleys were now focusing their efforts on protecting the rest of the team—leaving Harry to deal with the rouge one.
What on earth were they thinking? They couldn't leave Harry to deal with that thing on his own. He bit his lower lip and watched Harry's every move like a hawk. For awhile, it looked like Harry was performing a lot of tricks in midair, he would've laughed if it wasn't so serious.
He then saw one of the players in green fly up near Harry and it looked like he was shouting something at him; he recognized the blond head of Draco Malfoy. He saw Harry forced to spin in midair to avoid the jet-black ball from crashing into him before turning his head to the Malfoy. But then for some reason Harry suddenly froze, as if afraid to move.
"Look out!" he yelled as the ball then came flying at him again, but Harry still didn't move. And at last the bludger had hit him, smashing into his arm. But before Albus could comprehend what to do, Harry turned around and headed straight for Malfoy.
Unsurprisingly, Malfoy turned and flew as far as he could away from Harry. He watched in terror as Harry lost control of his broom and headed straight for the ground. He watched horrified as Harry crashed into mud and didn't move.
He turned to his portraits and shouted at them to go down to the Entrance Hall and find out what was going on. It was only afterwards did he stop to think about how he was acting and he couldn't figure out why he was so upset… he'd seen many of his students injured during a Quidditch game—and yet… why did he panic like that?
But before he could figure it out, Dilys and Everard both appeared in their portraits and called down to him. "Just got back Dumbledore!" Everard exclaimed. "Overheard the Gryffindor team talking about what happened. Apparently someone jinxed one of the bludgers, making it so that it would only attack Potter."
"Did they say who did?" demanded Albus.
"No one knows how it happened, Dumbledore," Everard explained with a shrug. "McGonagall and Snape are busy taking care of the bludger. Granger and Weasley took Potter up to the Hospital Wing."
"And how is he?"
"Ahhhh…" Everard said uncomfortably.
"Everard…" Albus said slowly and warningly.
"Well," Dilys finally spoke up. "Harry's arm was indeed broken by the bludger…"
"That's it?" Albus said in surprise. He had been expecting a lot worse from their concerned faces. "Is that really all?"
"Well…" Everard shifted awkwardly. "Yes, we all know that Madam Pomfrey could've had him patched up and ready to go in under a minute… but…"
"But what?" Albus said, starting to get frustrated.
Dilys then shouted out quickly, "The boy would've been just fine if not for that simple-minded fool Lockhart!"
Albus froze. "What happened? What did he do?"
"You see," Everard said timidly, "That idiot was trying to show off again, thinking that he knew more about fixing injuries than Pomfrey is and he tried to fix Harry's arm. And instead—he—er—how do I say this?"
"Just spit it out!" Phineas called losing his temper.
"He didn't fix Harry's arm," Dilys went on. "He removed them. His arm looks like a rubber glove!"
Albus closed his eyes, not believing what he was hearing. What was that idiot for a teacher thinking? Lockhart couldn't heal so much as a paper cut and he tries to fix a boy's broken arm? "He vanished them?" his voice held no emotion, but you could clearly hear anger being held back.
"I'm sure he'll be just fine," Dilys said soothingly. "Pomfrey hasn't failed yet! And I'm sure that she's dealt with far worse than a boneless arm. Besides, McGonagall might have already killed Lockhart by now."
"In Lockhart's defense, he claims that the important thing is that Harry's bones are no longer broken!" Everard laughed darkly.
"Well, he's right," Phineas said in an oddly cheerful voice. "Technically, the bones are vanished… not broken."
"Phineas, please, I'm not in the mood," Albus said wearily. He turned back to Dily and asked, "What is happening now?"
"Potter's in the hospital of course," she replied. "But he has to spend the night. It's a shame. Out of all the houses, the Gryffindor parties are always the best. But he has over 30 bones to regrow, he's in for a tough night."
"Yes," Albus agreed. "Skele-Gro isn't a pleasant experience."
"And can you believe her?" Dilys said incredulously. "Granger continues to stick up for that fat-headed idiot even after what he did to her friend. Says that anyone could make a mistake."
Phineas roared with harsh laughter.
"Anything else they talk about?" Albus asked curiously.
"Potter says that he's not in any pain," she said in a slightly more positive tone. "That's something."
"He won't be for long," Albus said forebodingly, knowing how painful it was to regrow even a single bone. "But I meant did they talk about the Polyjuice potion?"
"Yes, but only a little bit," Dilys admitted. "They talked mostly about that bludger and a whole list of questions that they planned on asking Malfoy when they took the potion. Once Pomfrey kicked his friends out, I decided to follow them back to their commonroom to see if they'd talk any more about their plans. And Granger told Weasley that they should get started on the potion. Miss Granger said that she would start on it tonight before she turned in."
"I see," Albus said thoughtfully. "But who would do this? Why would anyone set that bludger on Harry?"
"I'm sure that there are a few people out there who would like to do that," said Dexter as he suddenly walked into his own painting.
"You don't suppose that it was just the Slytherins behind it?" Everard asked. "I mean, cursing a bludger to attack the Gryffindor Seeker? It does sound like something they would do."
"What was that?" Phineas yelled indigently from across the room.
"Come on," Dexter called tauntingly. "You Slytherins would do something like that if it meant wiping out Gryffindor!"
"That does it! I'm gonna…"
"Enough!" Dumbledore called. "Dexter, Everard? Please keep an eye on Myrtle's bathroom this evening. Let me know if they go down there and when they leave. Dily, there is a portrait of you down in the Hospital Wing isn't there? Please keep an eye on Harry tonight."
They all saluted before they walked out of their frames.
"Really Albus," Phineas called in disappointment. "Don't you think that you're going a little overboard with this? You're actually planning to help some kids brew a dangerous potion and are having us follow them around all day to make sure that they don't caught?"
"I have my reasons," Albus said firmly.
"Well, tell me one thing," Phineas said slyly. "Why did you look so worried when you heard Harry was hurt?"
"I do not know what you're talking about," Albus said in a tone that clearly ended the conversation. But as he went back to work, he couldn't help but wonder that question himself.
*Half an hour later*
Everard appeared in his canvas again and called. "Granger moved a cauldron and all the ingredients she could get from the store cupboards into the bathroom! But I don't think that she'll start until tomorrow."
"Thank you Everard," Albus said slightly happier. "I'll go and check on it myself in a short while. To be honest, I'm interested to see how they pull this off."
Once he finished addressing some letters to Fudge much later that night, he changed into his favorite dressing gown and nightcap before he left his office. He would check on the bathroom and then get some hot chocolate to help soothe his tense nerves before he went to bed.
When he arrived at the bathroom, he saw that Everard was indeed correct. There was an old cauldron sitting on one of the toilets in a stall with several jars and bags of ingredients stored next to it. One look told him that, for now, they didn't need any help from him yet. He was impressed with how they were plotting all this, and it seemed like they had everything thought out for now.
Satisfied, he left. But that feeling didn't last long. He had gone down to the kitchens where the house-elves greeted him happily and were trying to offer him several dozen cakes with his hot chocolate. He refused politely before he left, feeling much more cheerful than he had all evening. But as he reached the grand staircase—he heard something that got rid his good mood instantly.
It was a slight scream of horror from nearby. Albus automatically pulled out his wand and raced up the stairs to see what was happening. He ran a full floor above him and there was Minerva, kneeling next to what he thought at first was a statue.
She jumped as he came near her, pulling out her wand in the process. "Oh, Albus!" she cried when she saw who it was. "Did you find out what did this?"
"Did what?" he demanded.
"This," she muttered horrified as she bent low over the statue again. It then that Albus realized what was it was. Shakily, he raised his wand and croaked out, "Lumos."
His wand tip ignited, and there… what he thought was a statue… was the frozen form of first year Colin Creevey. The poor boy's eyes were wide and staring frozenly up at them as his hands were clenched tightly around a Muggle camera.
"What happened?" Albus asked as he bent down to examine the boy.
"I don't know," Minerva said sadly. "I was coming downstairs and I just found him lying here."
"So you were the one I heard scream then," Albus said as he raised his wand and caused the boy to levitate a few feet off the floor. As he moved his foot, he felt a funny squishing beneath his slipper. He looked down to see some grapes lying on the floor where Mr. Creevey was lying.
"Grapes?" Minerva asked confused.
Albus didn't stop to think about that, he had something more important to do. "Come on, we must get him to the Hospital Wing."
She didn't object as they both took Colin upstairs. "What were you doing down here, Headmaster?" she asked him.
"I was getting myself some hot chocolate when I heard you," Albus answered. "Naturally, I came to see what was going on."
"What do you think he was doing?" Minerva asked as she looked back at the boys petrified face. "Or maybe someone brought him here?"
"No," Albus said. "No, I'm certain that he was already out of bed when he was attacked."
"But why would he do something so foolish?" Minerva asked in disbelief. "You think after what happened on Halloween gave him more sense."
Albus thought about it for a second before shrugged, "Any number of reasons. I've heard from my portraits that he follows Harry around; maybe he was trying to sneak up and visit him? But I'm afraid that we won't know for sure until we can cure him."
They finally reached the Hospital Wing and Albus unlocked the door with ease. He then took the end of Colin's feet and carried him into the room just as Minerva took the other end. They heaved him onto the closest bed before Albus whispered to her, "Get Madam Pomfrey."
As she left, he noticed that Dilys was in her portrait at the end of the ward, looking very pale about and disturbed about something. He blinked at her in surprise before she gestured at the bed opposite him. Barely turning his head, he looked and saw that Harry was lying there, at first thought to be asleep. But then he saw that Harry was breathing very hard, signaling that he was awake and surly listening.
Just then, Minerva swept back into view, with Poppy right on her heels as she pulled her white cardigan on over her night-dress. She gasped at what she saw lying on the bed.
"What happened?" she whispered to him as she bent over Colin.
"Another attack," he answered simply. "Minerva found him on the stairs."
"There was a bunch of grapes next to him. We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter," Minerva told her.
'It was just a possibility,' Albus thought. Though he had a feeling that the fearless little boy was doing more than that… maybe trying to explore the castle and find secret passages perhaps? Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Harry moved very slightly. The boy raised his head a few inches… probably to get a better view of what was going on.
"Petrified?" whispered Poppy horrified.
"Yes. But I shudder to think," Minerva answered. "If Albus hadn't been on the way down for hot chocolate—who knows what might have—"
She always did think so highly of him, but this time it didn't cause him to blush with embarrassment as he stared down at the first year, his insides in knots. He felt terrible shame and anger that he wasn't able to prevent the attack. He was the Headmaster of this school and his job was to protect his students… he failed and now an innocent child had to pay the price for it.
He reached forward and with a strong tug, was able to pull the camera out of Creevey's hands.
"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" Minerva asked eagerly as she looked over his shoulder.
Not trying to get his hopes up, he opened the back of the camera… and a steam of blacken smoke and the smell of burnt film erupted from the machine.
"Good gracious!" cried Poppy stunned. "Melted!"
"What does this mean, Albus?" Minerva asked urgently, but he knew her long enough that it was just her way of saying how scared she was.
"It means," he said slowly, and painfully. He knew that his worst fears were realized and that he couldn't try to deny it any longer. "That the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."
He barely noticed Poppy cover her mouth, fear in her eyes. But Minerva just stared at him, "But Albus… surely… who?"
"The question is not who," he said as he stared back at his student's face. Guilt and fear both raging on inside him… he hated this. This feeling of helplessness…
"The question is, how…"
'How indeed. How could you do this Tom?' he thought in anger.
(Things are getting serious aren't they? I do hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I'll be putting up what happens after the dueling club as soon as I can.)
