"Dragons!"
"I'm fine, Madam Pomfrey," Harry interrupted, only to be shushed as he was bundled over to the free bed within the fourth and final cubicle set up within the medical tent.
"Last year dementors. This year dragons," the Medi-Witch said in disgust, fussing over the cut that ranged from one shoulder and down across his throat to his collarbone. "What are they going to bring into this school next? Why not demons? They haven't been so stupid as to do that yet! You're quite lucky, Mr Potter," she added thoughtfully as she cleaned the cut with a purple potion that stung slightly, "This is rather shallow, for a dragon-induced injury at least".
"It wasn't the dragon," Harry corrected stiffly, pushing down his rising anger as he cracked his neck, "Can I go now? I really need to speak to Professor Dumbledore now".
"Well I'm sure the Headmaster can wait," Madam Pomfrey dismissed, prodding at the cut with her wand, only to pause as Harry quickly leant back. "It's just a diagnostic charm, Mr Potter," she assured him gently, "I need to check to see if anything got in before I seal it. It's a remarkably clean cut, so it won't take long".
"It's a clean cut because it wasn't made by the dragon," Harry muttered darkly, making the woman pause to send him a suspicious look.
"What caused it then, Mr Potter?" she asked slowly, "If you seem to know for certain".
"Can't you figure it out?" Harry snapped, grimacing as Madam Pomfrey only raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. "Isn't there some kind of magical scan?" he questioned hesitantly, remembering nervously how dangerous the woman could get when annoyed.
Sighing, Madam Pomfrey leaned back and muttered something under her breath, jabbing her wand at the cut both of which flared with soft green light. "This spell can be used to determine the causes of some injuries," she explained slowly, "It can be a life saver to know, as there are some charms that act like others until someone tries to heal them conventionally, to which they always react violently. One such spell, creates third degree burns on the target's body. Any decent Medi-Witch or Wizard's first reaction would be to cast a numbing charm on the victim, that however, is when the spell activates fully and the victim explodes. Nasty curse that on-"
Cringing as Madam Pomfrey froze, staring at the faint ghost of a spell that hovered between the cut and her wand, Harry just sat there patiently. Now he thought about it actually, it would have been smarter to just tell her outright, since having a Medi-Witch backing him up would have been a good thing for when he went to Dumbledore.
"Mr Potter," Madam Pomfrey began slowly.
"It's a severing charm," Harry confirmed bluntly, "I saw the blue flash as it hit me but not where it came from".
Madam Pomfrey stared at him for a moment before turning on her heel and flicking her wand at the curtains, making them go solid as all sound cut off from outside them. "As per the Hogwarts Charter, Mr Potter, I hope you realise I'm obliged to inform the Headmaster of this attempt on your life as soon as possible," she admitted slowly, watching him cautiously as he nodded simply. "Both of us will be required to hand over our memories of the events, do you understand thus far?" she asked formally.
"Uh, sure? I do?" Harry answered with a shrug, making Madam Pomfrey nod in approval.
Clearing her throat, Madam Pomfrey smoothed down her robes. "I, Poppy Pomfrey, Medi-Witch and Matron of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, am about to begin the in-depth scan of one, Harry James Potter's medical status following the attempt on his life on the 24th of November 1994".
Blinking in shock as Madam Pomfrey glowed for a moment, Harry could only sit perfectly still as the Medi-Witch aimed her wand at him and started chanting. Barely understanding one out of every ten of the Latin words the woman was saying, Harry's eyes flicked to the side as he watched a shadow moving at the base of the curtain, a pair of familiar shoes (and how weird was it that he could recognise those shoes by sight?) belonging to his best friend appearing and beginning to pace. The curtains seemed to shift for a moment, as if Hermione was on the other side of them trying to open them, before the solidification charm on them won out and she backed away.
Madam Pomfrey gasped suddenly, making his attention snap back to see her eyes flicking left to right rapidly, as if she were reading something only she could see. "Mr Potter," she said suddenly, the glow vanishing as she lowered her wand, "Mr Potter. What do you know of your family? Specifically your father?"
"Uh… he loved my Mum from the first time he saw her? He uh, was the Gryffindor chaser, and he was really good at transfiguration?" Harry answered hesitantly.
"No, no. Not the little things, Harry, the bigger ones," Madam Pomfrey corrected, "What did Remus – Professor Lupin that is – tell you about your father? Perhaps his reaction to discovering Mr Lupin's secret?"
"They became animagi?" was all Harry could say with a shrug, "They didn't care about it".
"Do you know why James didn't care?" the Medi-Witch pressed, making Harry shake his head. The woman seemed to cave in on herself at this, beginning to murmur to herself as she paced the small circumference of the cubicle. "I guess, it is only fitting that I am the one to tell you," Madam Pomfrey mumbled, "As it was me who had to break the news to your father, what with your grandfather being out of the country when it happened".
"Madam Pomfrey?"
"Harry," the woman began slowly, "It isn't fair that your father not be here to explain everything to you. And since neither Albus nor Remus seem to have taken it upon themselves to do so, I'm afraid it falls to me".
"What falls to you?" Harry asked nervously, not even twitching as Madam Pomfrey grabbed another potion and started to dab it gently onto the shallow barely bleeding cut across his throat.
"I do not know how to begin," she confessed slowly, clearly only tending to the cut in effort to distract herself.
Harry's suggestion of "From the beginning?" only earned him an unimpressed scowl from the woman, who sighed as she poked at the cut, which healed instantly and painlessly.
"Can I be blunt?" the Medi-Witch asked hesitantly, making Harry nod cautiously.
He had no idea what Madam Pomfrey was talking about, but something told him it was bad. Why would she be reacting like this if it weren't? After all. And why was it that Professors Dumbledore and Lupin should have been the ones to tell him, not the Medi-Witch when it clearly was more her area than theirs. And maybe – just maybe – Harry felt a flicker of grief at the thought that it should have been his father who told him about whatever it was, about how he missed out of yet another of the small rituals that his friends seem to take for granted.
"You're not human".
Wait what?
Madam Pomfrey sighed and ran her hair through her grey hair, summoning a chair over to sit opposite Harry in, the woman refusing to meet his eyes. "The Potter family since their conception been the victims of a terrible blood curse, one of the reasons that blood magic in most forms is highly illegal," she explained, "If… if Remus Lupin were to have a child, that child would not be a werewolf like he is, but would have wolfish traits and tendencies instead. And then that child's child would have half of the traits and tendencies as their father, and so on so forth, until all the werewolf 'DNA' had been flushed from the family line. This particular blood curse was one common back then, which causes the 'DNA' of the victim to be passed along in it's entirety until the family line dies off".
Harry sat there numbly, staring at the Medi-Witch in horror as she took a deep breath and tried to centre herself. "What am I?" he blurted, making the woman blink at him in shock, "I may not be Hermione, Madam Pomfrey, but I have a brain. What was he?"
Madam Pomfrey stared at him for a moment before shaking her head, "You all look alike you know," she said instead, changing the subject. "It's part of the curse, actually, every Potter since the first has had the same startling resemblance. It's why you look so much like your father, who looks like his, who looks like his".
"Madam Pomfrey!" Harry interrupted, "What am I?"
"Right now? Right now you're just a normal Wizard," Madam Pomfrey assured him, "But around your sixteenth birthday you'd have started noticing some changes as your creature side started developing".
"I'm fourteen," Harry cut in, staring at her intently, "What am I?" he asked once more.
"After going through everything you have, I'm not surprised," Madam Pomfrey rambled, standing up and beginning to pace once more. "It's a self-defence mechanism," she explained, "You're in danger, so your magic searches for a way to protect you, in this case by nudging your creature side into awakening early".
"Madam Pomfrey!"
"You're a Cambion".
Harry blinked slowly, "I'm a what?"
"You're a Cambion, Harry," Madam Pomfrey repeated, "And it's not a bad thing," she reassured quickly, "Merlin was a Cambion after all, and look at what he's done for our world".
"Cambion," Harry echoed, frowning at the woman who – had it been anyone else – he would have believed to be crazy. "I- I- I can't be a Cambion!" he exclaimed, pushing off the hospital bed to land on his feet, "I- I'm a good person! I don't like- like kicking puppies or eating babies or- what?" he demanded as Madam Pomfrey let out a short horrified giggle, "This isn't funny!"
"No, no, no. Of course not," Madam Pomfrey agreed as she straightened herself out, taking a deep breath before fixing amused eyes on his own, "What do you think a Cambion is, exactly, Harry?"
"Cambions are half-demons," Harry said slowly, "We learnt about them in Defence Against the Dark Arts".
"Well, Harry. Cambion don't kick puppies or eat babies," Madam Pomfrey corrected before faltering, "Well to be perfectly fair, they could, just as easily as easily as myself or young Ms Granger could as it's a matter of choice. And yes," she admitted, "Cambion are a breed of half-demon, but as you should have been taught in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry, the Cambion are the only race of celestial beings that don't have to register themselves with the Ministry of Magic, simply because unlike most celestial races they have a human mentality".
"I don't," Harry began with a frown, "I don't understand".
"There's not much you need to understand," Madam Pomfrey denied, "I think you're probably over-thinking it. All that you really need to know right now, is that you are a Cambion, essentially born of a human and a Succubus. While at your age it really isn't something too major, I would still like for you to meet me tonight in the hospital wing so we can discuss this further," she added, "It may only influence you once you've reached such an age that your body is creating the correct sexual hormones, it will induce a slight change in you as it continues developing".
"I uh… um".
"Harry," Madam Pomfrey interrupted, suddenly cupping his cheeks and making him look up at her. "Relax. Okay? You're not about to sprout wings or start sucking people's souls out through a kiss," she assured him, "And no, neither of those are even possibilities for Succubi or their offspring," she added when panic flared up inside him. You're still Harry, okay? You're just… a little more than you were when you woke up. Okay?"
Nodding slowly, trying to wrap his head around the whole 'half-demon' idea, Harry glanced towards the curtain as cheerful purple and green sparks shot overhead. "That must be the Headmaster, your scores must be ready," Madam Pomfrey murmured, "Go on, just remember to meet with me tonight after dinner".
Nodding again, Harry started towards the curtain, raising his wand to dispel the charms on it when Madam Pomfrey spoke again. "Oh, and Harry? Do keep this to yourself," she requested softly, "It's for the best that we keep a lid on this… development… until we know more about how it will affect you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Ma'am," Harry agreed quickly, not having wanted to tell Hermione anyway. He wasn't sure he wanted his best friend to start looking up all the different Cambion and bury him in facts and figures right now. He knew she would only be trying to be helpful, but it was the last thing he needed.
CAMBION
Based off my own 'Family Secrets' challenge, or should I say that this is what gave the challenge life, since I wanted to see what others could come up with in regards to it.
I don't own Harry Potter.