NOTE: I know I can't just skip the rest of the year, but what else can I do for Valentine right now? Not much CAN be done while she's still Petrified. And yes, I'm going to mess with the canon a little bit regarding the double attack of Justin Finch-Fletchy and Nearly Headless Nick.
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Professor Filius Flitwick was walking down the corridor to his chambers when he came to the Hall of the Mirrors, a corridor that had a floor to ceiling mirror at the middle and ends of the corridor. Filius was whistling a merry tune as he walked to bed, full and drowsy. All that went away as soon as he saw a girl lying down in his way.
Preparing to reprimand her, Filius puffed out his chest and did his best to look taller, which was a tough job. As he approached her, however, his face fell. He saw how she was positioned, both hands folded over her mouth, as if to muffle a scream, her eyes wide with fear. Filius rushed over and knelt by her side. "Valentine..." he whispered. He stood up, knowing he had to act fast. He looked around and saw a ghost. He ran towards it, as fast as his little legs could carry him. It was Nearly Headless Nick.
"Sir Nicholas!" Filius called.
Nick turned around to face the tiny Charms teacher. He smiled. "Ahh, Filius. What can I do for you?"
"Would you get Professor Dumbledore? A student's been attacked," said Filius, breathless.
"I will get him immediately," said Nick.
"Thank you very much, Sir Nicholas," said Filius. "Please hurry."
"That I shall." And without further ado, Nick floated away and Filius went back to Valentine's side to wait for Dumbledore. It wasn't long before Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, along with Madame Pomphrey arrived on the scene. Madame Pomphrey gasped. "Not another one!"
McGonagall and Dumbledore remained silent, absorbing it all. Finally, they took her down to the Hospital Wing, Filius and Poppy close behind. Luckily, the castle was practically deserted at this time; only teachers, prefects and the Head Boy and Girl were still allowed to be out after dark.
They arrived in the Hospital Wing in due time. They set Valentine on a bed and stood around her, deciding what needed to be done.
"We need to inform the family," said Minerva.
Dumbledore nodded. "Minerva, which of her family is currently at Hogwarts?"
"Her siblings and cousins, Annabeth, Percy, Angela and Chip," said Minerva. "Two in Ravenclaw and two in Gryffindor."
"Will you go fetch them?" asked Dumbledore of Minerva and Filius. They nodded. "I will write to her parents immediately. What about her closest friends?"
"Terry Boot and Padma Patil, sir, both Ravenclaws," said Filius.
"Fetch them as well," said Dumbledore. They nodded again. "Quickly."
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A half hour later, everyone was gathered around Valentine's bed. Dumbledore excused himself as tactfully as he could to go to the owlry and write the letter.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Lynn,
I write to you today with news regarding your daughter, Valentine. About two hours ago, her head of house, Professor Filius Flitwick, discovered your daughter in the Hall of the Mirrors. She had been Petrified.
I humbly ask that you both make your way here as quickly as you can. Your other children are with her right now. You may use the Floo network to bring Mr. Lynn, who as I understand it, is a Muggle here. As soon as he comes into the castle, he should have no problems seeing things.
Albus Dumbledore
He called down a school owl and sent it off. Hopefully, the letter will arrive soon.
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Back in the hospital wing, Percy, Annabeth, Angela, Chip, Padma and Terry were all visibly shaken and were grieving in their own way. All the girls were crying silently, the boys visibly shell shocked. Finally, Annabeth spoke quietly. "Who – hic – found her?"
"I did," said Filius as gently as he could. "I was on my way back from dinner and saw Sir Nicholas, called him over, and asked him to find Professor Dumbledore. He did, and then we came here."
"Wi – hic – ll she be – hic – all right?" asked Annabeth.
"She will," said Filius. "As soon as those Mandrakes are ready, Professors Snape and Sprout will make a potion that will cure all those who have been Petrified."
"When will – hic – the Mandrakes be ready?" asked Angela.
"As soon as they try to start moving into each others' pots," said Filius. "Professor Sprout was telling us about it last week. She's giving us weekly Mandrake reports."
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Tap, tap, tap. Lois groaned and rolled over in bed. Her clock told her it was three in the morning. Tap, tap, tap. "What is that?" muttered Lois, still half asleep. She glanced up and saw a Hogwarts owl at her window. She got out of bed and padded to the window. She opened it and the owl stuck out its leg for her to take the letter. She took it and the owl flew off into the night. Lois closed the window and got back under the warm covers and switched on the light to read the letter, waking up Peter in the process.
"What's going on?" asked Peter tiredly.
"Hogwarts sent us a letter," said Lois, scanning it. She finished and handed the letter to Peter for him to read. Then she jumped out of bed and started pulling on some clothes.
Peter finished scanning the letter and also got up to put on some clothes. "What does Petrified mean?"
"It's not something I learned in school," said Lois, "but I have since found out. Putting it into Muggle terms, it's looking at Medusa in the eye."
"So Val's turned to stone?" asked Peter.
"In a sense. She's not solid stone; she's alive, but she can't speak or move," said Lois, pulling on a cloak.
"I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around that," said Peter.
Lois handed him a cloak. "You'll be warmer this way."
Peter pulled it on. "And what does he mean, travel by Floo?"
"You'll see in a minute," said Lois.
"And what about me not being able to see things?"
"Muggle repelling charms," said Lois. "Remember, the wizarding world needs to remain a secret."
"Ok."
"But when you come into the castle, you'll be all right. Just remember, some students at Hogwarts don't like Muggles very much, to say the least. So be prepared for it," said Lois.
"For what?"
"For students not being happy to see you, a Muggle, there," said Lois. "Now let's go."
Lois and Peter raced downstairs to the fireplace, complete with a human sized opening.
"Step in there, and hold on tightly to my hand," said Lois.
Peter did. Lois grabbed a handful of Floo powder and spoke the words, "Albus Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts!" as she threw the powder down.
In a matter of seconds, they emerged, coughing, onto Dumbledore's mantle in his office. Peter jumped in surprise at his surroundings and the speed with which they'd just traveled. "Wh-where are we, exactly?"
"You are in my office at Hogwarts," said Dumbledore, rising from his chair to greet them. "Mr. Lynn, what do you see around you?"
Peter took a minute before answering. "I-I see moving paintings, silver...things on the tables." He turned around and jumped. "What kind of a bird is that?"
"That is Fawkes. He is a phoenix," said Dumbledore.
Peter nearly fainted from the impact of it all. "Am I dreaming?" he asked, his hand on his forehead.
"You are not."
Lois smiled weakly. "So this is where I went to school."
Peter nodded, apparently not trusting his mouth.
"Shall we?" asked Dumbledore, gesturing towards to door.
Lois nodded, brushing the soot off of herself. Peter hastened to do the same. Dumbledore led them out of the room, down his spiral staircase and up several long flights of stairs. Through the entire journey, Peter was overwhelmed and couldn't stop himself from staring at everything. "You really went to school here?"
"For seven years. We met just after I started at the Ministry after graduation," said Lois.
Until they arrived at the Hospital Wing, they were silent, except for that little exchange. They arrived at last, Peter having stopped looking at everything that he could. Madame Pomphrey was waiting for them at the door and led them to where Valentine was.
The children looked up, as did Flitwick and McGonagall, who were still there, deciding to leave at that moment. They stopped by Peter and Lois, and murmured their commiseration. "Filius, perhaps you'd better stay here."
Flitwick stopped and stood by Dumbledore. "Of course."
"You too, Minerva."
McGonagall nodded.
Peter and Lois sat down on either side of Valentine, right where Chip and Annabeth had been sitting.
"Kids, why don't you go to bed?" asked Lois, trying to keep her composure.
"A good idea. Filius and Minerva, perhaps you could take them back to their dormitories, then come back here," said Dumbledore.
Flitwick and McGonagall nodded and motioned with their hands for Chip, Padma, Terry, Percy, Angela and Annabeth to follow them. Once the eight of them were safely out of earshot, Lois let some of the tears flow freely.
"How?" asked Peter.
"Filius found her," said Dumbledore. "He will explain once he gets back."
"But how does this happen?" asked Peter again.
"There are very few creatures that have the ability to do this," said Dumbledore.
"Which ones?" asked Lois.
"None of which I would like running around my school."
"No sir," said Lois.
"How will she be cured?" asked Peter, his hand on Valentine's shoulder.
"Professor Sprout is growing Mandrakes, which are the cure for Petrification."
"When will they be ready?"
"As soon as they start trying to move into each others' pots," said Dumbledore. "It takes about a full year to grow them completely and we started them in September."
"So that means..." asked Peter.
"Another five months," said Dumbledore gravely.
Peter and Lois blanched. "F-five months?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"Who else has been attacked?" asked Peter, shaking with rage.
"Only two- Mrs. Norris and a first year Gryffindor."
There was silence until Flitwick. "There's been another attack," said Flitwick. "A student was going to use the loo early this morning. Minerva's bringing them in now."
As if on cue, Professor McGonagall walked in, levitating the body, Harry Potter following her with a fan, blowing Nearly Headless Nick along in front of him.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lynn! What are you doing here?" asked Harry, not knowing about what had happened to Valentine. His eyes fell to his friend on the bed. "Oh no..."
They nodded.
"Potter, off to your dormitory," said Flitwick.
Dumbledore nodded. "Minerva, if you would."
She nodded and ushered Harry out of the Hospital Wing.
"Filius, if you wouldn't mind, tell Mr. and Mrs. Lynn what happened?" asked Dumbledore.
As quickly as he could, Flitwick explained what happened to the Lynns.
"She will wake up as soon as she gets the Mandrake potion," said Dumbledore. "But until then, there's nothing to do but wait."
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NOTE: I couldn't find another way to end it. But I hope you guys enjoyed it all the same.