The Rod of Asclepius
Chapter X
Dr. Blackjack grabbed the sphere from Dumbledore's hand. He quickly walked towards the back of the headmaster's office towards the cloth draped pedestal. The doctor removed the cloth covering the Pensieve and dropped the small crystal ball into the liquid.
"What are you doing?" Augustus asked, "the Pensieve doesn't work that way."
Blackjack ignored the headmaster and he pulled the wand from his robe pocket and waved it over the dark liquid in the dish. The tip of the wand glowed with an orange color for a brief moment, and then the liquid in the bowl took on a silvery sheen. Kuro stared into the liquid and an image quickly formed. The headmaster moved in closer to get a look himself.
"Ah, Now I see what you're up to!" Dumbledore laughed. "You've used the Pensieve as a controller and a magnifier to access the crystal!"
"Exactly, sir." The doctor replied, "Though I don't know how I came up with the idea. I knew I would have some difficulty in gazing into that small sphere to see what was on the other side. The Pensieve seemed like the logical solution to my problem if I could hack it with a suggestive spell."
The two of them gazed deeply into the fluid that filled the bowl. They could see a dimly lit room of an old house. Standing in a circle were the four missing students, Kiki Karikiya, Draco Malfoy, Ron Weasley, and Ernest Macmillan. In the center of the circle was Harry Potter. The five teenagers were facing a figure seated in a large, overstuffed chair. The bald headed individual seated there had narrow lidless eyes that glistened like a snakes. His mouth was a lipless slit, his nose just two slits for nostrils, his ears were two small depressions on either side of his skull.
"Riddle looks like only a shadow of his former self." Dumbledore noted. "His reincarnation from the dead must be only partly complete, he might not yet have all of his former powers. That gives us a chance."
"Where is he?" The doctor asked.
"Probably holed up in the old abandoned home that his parents lived in." Augustus answered. "The place has been boarded up since he murdered his parents years ago when he took the name of Voldermort."
"Do you know where that is?" The doctor asked.
"Yes, in a run down London residential district." The headmaster answered, "But you're not thinking of confronting him yourself are you?"
"This cursed disease that he has unleashed is magical in nature." The doctor replied. "It may have been limited to only those four students, but it is possible that others are harboring it inactive. From what I've learned a curse will die with its creator, so to eradicate this for good my task as a physician is obvious!"
"Your magical training has barely started doctor, you wouldn't be much of a match for Riddle in a duel," the headmaster sighed.
"The doctor possesses both quick reflexes and a natural instinct for magic." Professor McGonagall countered. "He might very well surprise you, and Riddle!"
"I agree." Professor Snape spoke. "However, a quick course in the art of dueling might be a good course of action. I would be more than willing to provide the doctor with a quick education in the finer points of the art."
"Very well." The headmaster agreed. "Serverus, if you would take the doctor to your classroom and lecture him for an hour or two the rest of us will monitor the situation over at the Riddle estate."
As Hogwart's potions instructor took the doctor to his classroom, Dumbledore and the remaining heads of house peered into the liquid in the bowl. Pinoko, who had been sitting quietly in the corner gazing up at the Phoenix bird, now started to sob quietly. Professor McGonagall fingered her wand back handed and flicked it towards the upper shelves of the headmaster's bookcase. An old leather bound volume gently flew off the shelf and fluttered down, light as a feather, and landed in Pinoko's lap.
"Read me child." The book cooed softly to her as it opened itself to the first chapter.
Pinoko was startled to find a book land in her lap and have it talk to her. She looked down at it and saw that it was a collection of fairy tales that she'd never read before. It had moving pictures that appeared as if they were small television sets printed into the book.
"My, this is interesting!" she thought to herself. She stopped sobbing and allowed the book to read itself to her, and she quickly became absorbed in the stories and momentarily stopped worrying about Sensei, which is exactly what McGonagall had wanted.
Professor Snape cleared out the front of the classroom by moving his desk to the far side of the room with a swish of his wand, and then he caused all of the student desks to migrate towards the back of the classroom. "We now have enough room for our purposes." He told the doctor. "I am first going to show you the defensive spells, you will need to protect yourself from the dark lord's powers if you are to survive the encounter."
"I thought you'd show me how to attack him" the doctor replied.
"I will get to that later," Snape answered, "though I believe that won't be necessary, you are rather like Potter in that regard, a bit hot headed and quite resourceful. You'll know how to attack Riddle by instinct, I'm sure of that, but just like young Potter you will be a bit too anxious to try and might get yourself killed in the process. Let's see if we can prevent that, shall we?"
"Very well." Kuro replied.
"Well then have at me, shall you?" Snape said, "Come on use your wand and come at me!"
The doctor reached into his robe pocket for his wand and raised it into position.
"Expelliarmus!" Snape muttered, his own wand already held at arm's length.
The doctor felt his wand ripped out of his grasp as Snape used the disarming spell. He quickly felt out for the wand with his mind and caused to quickly return.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Snape ordered again. This time the doctor was expecting the curse, he mentally willed the wand to remain in his grasp and overpowered Snape's attempt to disarm him.
"Excellent!" the potions professor said bowing, "Bravo! Now suppose you try it on me?"
This time Snape brought his wand up to attack the doctor. Blackjack pointed his own wand at the professor. He didn't utter the disarming spell, he thought it in his mind and expelled that thought through the Asclepius wand. Snape fought back against the curse, but the doctor's will was too powerful. The professor's wand was ripped from his grip and flew into the doctor's left hand.
"Better than I expected!" Snape said. "Of course, Voldermort will probably not be as easy to disarm as I was. Still I am somewhat embarrassed, for no one has been able to disarm me that quickly since I was a second year student in this school!"
Kuro tossed Serverus back his wand and replied, "Well perhaps you'd like for me to try it again?"
"Yes, why not!" Snape replied. "This time you will find me quite prepared!"
Snape started to use the impediment curse against the doctor. He raised his wand and had just started to utter the spell when the doctor's mind, lips, and tongue all shouted the same phrase in unison "Expelliarmus!" Snape had both a strong physical and mental grip on his weapon, but the doctor's will was stronger. The wand exploded in the professor's hand and fell to the floor as a pile of sawdust.
"Somehow I don't think you are going to need much more instruction from me." Snape gasped. "I haven't seen such ability in a student since I laid eyes on the dark lord himself. Your instincts and reflexes are already quite up to the task."
"Still, I think we should continue," Blackjack said. "Dumbledore was quite insistent that you should train me in the finer points of dueling."
"Very well." Snape replied. "However, you'll allow me to fetch my spare wand first."
Blackjack and Professor Snape returned to the headmaster's office several hours later. Pinoko was now fast asleep in a large padded chair with the talking book on her lap. "There is still the matter of how we are going to approach the house." Snape told the headmaster "The doctor does not know how to apparate, and that is not something we are going to be able to teach him, nor certify him in short order."
Kuro looked Snape in the eyes, and then turned to face the headmaster. "Destination, Determination, and Deliberation," he said, isn't it?
"Anyone can read a textbook and come up with that." Snape said sternly, "But it's not that simple. Even the most gifted students have great difficulty trying to learn the art of Apparition.
"He's quite right Dr. Blackjack." Dumbledore said. "I fear that you'll have to approach the Riddle house by broom and hope that you can arrive undetected."
"From what I've been told of this Voldermort, Riddle, or whatever you guys call this dark lord, we are going to need every advantage we can get." Blackjack said. He crossed his arms over his chest with his right hand holding onto the Asclepius wand tightly. "Now let's see …."
The doctor closed his eyes tightly and breathed slowly and deeply.
"What does he think he's trying to do?" Snape barked , but the headmaster clamped his hand over the professor's mouth. "Let him try it, Snape."
Kuro slowly disappeared from view as he first assumed a wrath like appearance and then finally was completely gone. A minute later, the door to the headmaster's study creaked open and Dr. Blackjack stood there in the doorway, with a grin on his face.
"How did I do?" He asked. "I realize that I didn't go very far, just a few feet, but I thought that might be a bit safer for a first attempt."
"I hate a showoff." Snape said. "Very well Augustus, but it's on your head. You'll have to be the one to approve his apparition permit!"
"I think that in this case it's warranted." The headmaster said. "I'm quite satisfied with the doctor's abilities in general, and his little demonstration just now was quite convincing. Tell me doctor, you've tried that before, haven't you?"
"Yes, late at night in my room." Kuro admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "I woke up with a dire need to relieve myself and I knew I would not make it to the toilet in time, so I improvised."
"You apparated yourself to the toilet?" Professor McGonagall laughed, face palming.
"Guilty as charged." Blackjack said. "Motivation you know."
Kiki, Draco, Ron and Ernest sat in the corner of a large, empty room of the abandoned Riddle house. Each of them had their hands tied behind their backs, and their ankles were also tied up tight. Sitting on top of a small table, out of reach were their wands. Ron and Draco both tried calling out towards their wands in an attempt to charm them to their aid, but they could not make the magic work by thought or voice alone.
In the basement of the building Harry Potter stumbled along in the dark attempting to find a way out by feel alone. He searched though the pockets and folds of his robe for his wand, but it appeared to have been taken from him. Like his friends, he'd been rendered unconscious for an unknown period of time to later awaken in a strange part of the house. It was clear to Harry that Voldermort wanted to play a mind game on him, using fear and uncertainty as a weapon.
"I can see where they are." McGonagall said looking up from the bowl of the Pensieve. "It appears that the four students are on the ground floor of the house tied up in the great room just inside of the main foyer. Riddle has Harry Potter locked up in the basement.
"I think I'll have better luck getting into the house from the cellar." Blackjack thought. "That way I can free Potter and have his assistance when I confront Riddle."
"Take this with you." Professor Snape suggested, handing the doctor a long thin box labeled with Ollivander's monogram. "It's certain that Riddle would have taken his wand from him, this one was made from the same mold as the one that he owns."
"Arigatou gozaimasu, Snape Hakase." Kuro said with a slight bow toward the professor.
"Kouun wo inorimasu, Sensei" Snape replied.