Cold. Non-personal. Detached.
Those were the words Harmony would use to describe St. Mungo's hospital post-war when she stepped in for the first time in many years. How had that happened? When? Those halls had once been so familiar to her as the ones from her own house.
The healers crossing path with her were mostly young ones. The Second Wizardry War against Voldemort had no doubt taken its toll even at the hospital facility. The ones she had once known and worked with must have left after the war, ascended to higher positions or… Well, that wasn't a though she wasn't ready to have.
Down by her side, she heard a particular and familiar sound of complaint.
"Don't you worry, Rufus. We will be going home soon." Harmony acknowledged the massive German-Shepard walking steadily by her side. "Headmistress McGonagall said that it is a life or death matter. We couldn't just ignore it anymore, boy." She alleged in her defense.
Neither of them felt comfortable around many people. There were too many risks involved. Still, the now Headmistress of Hogwarts was someone too special to be ignored forever. After turning her down the first time two months ago, Harmony hadn't been able to do it a second time. She couldn't exactly let someone die because of her own problems and still be able to sleep at night.
Passing through the corridors disillusioned to avoid any unwanted attentions, her eyes caught details here and there. New portraits had been added to many public corridors. Some corners looked dirtier than what was supposed. Healers kept walking in every direction however they barely glanced towards the sick and injured patients. How odd. Had the hospital policy changed that much?
Coming to a halt, Harmony raised her eyes above her head to read the sign affixed to the top of a passageway.
"Wizarding War Survivors." She read in a low tone of voice.
That was new. She had read the news about that on the newspapers long ago. It was solely reserved for the ones that had survived the war by a miracle. The healers hadn't been able to do much more for some of them. What a pity. So much potential lost seemingly forever.
Going on a little longer she saw a thin old witch, dressed with her Scottish tartan clothes, pacing back and forth.
Harmony couldn't suppress a smile after so many years gone by without seeing her teacher.
"Headmistress McGonagall?" She called to get the older woman's attention.
The Headmistress stopped mid-pace to inspect who was calling. She only managed to recognize the young woman when Harmony pulled back the hood of her cloak, ending with that the disillusion spell.
"Harmony! My child! How wonderful to meet you again."
The old witch looked nothing short of enthusiastic and quickly got closer to wrap her arms around the unsuspecting young woman.
Harmony found herself fiercely embraced and very uncomfortable with the sudden effusion. It had certainly been a long time since she had been embraced lastly. Her body went rigid and her smile vanished.
McGonagall seemed to sense her discomfort, for she went back a couple of steps to allow her ex-pupil to breath again.
"I'm sorry, my dear girl."
"Don't worry. Long time, no see. I understand."
"I mean… Your family. I heard about them."
The words hit Harmony like a hammer, with the same strength and reverberation. From all the things in the world to talk about. When would people stop talking about it?
Harmony's rather good humor evaporated like smoke. She took a deep breath to steady her heart.
"I would appreciate enormously if you could drop that subject this moment, Headmistress McGonagall." She stated coldly.
McGonagall looked at her looking every bit surprised by her reaction at the simple mention of her family. Nonetheless, she acquiesced.
"It wasn't my goal to offend you, Harmony."
"I know." She acknowledged. "I just hate the theme. Can we go on with whatever business you had in mind when you called for me?"
"Certainly. Come with me."
Harmony looked around before following the lead of the Headmistress. There was no such thing as being too careful. Only too reckless.
She found herself being conducted to a huge infirmary room. The ceiling was high above their heads, like the ones at school. Only… Blank. There were probably more than twenty beds lined against the white walls, all dressed in stark white bed linens and covers. Harmony's heart clenched at the amount of white in that one room. It was surely enough to make any other color look bold. And her heart only got tighter when the first moans and groans reached her ears.
Taking in the room quickly, she was sure every bed had a body in it. There was only one healer in sight, in a far corner. It made her feel slightly more comfortable.
Headmistress had stopped beside one of the many white beds in the room and was waiting for her. Upon closer inspection, as she got nearer, the bed occupant was a thin pale man.
"Here, my dear. This would be your patient if you would be so kind as to take him under your protection." Professor McGonagall explained with a pained face.
"Why would that be necessary? St. Mungo's should be ideal if this man needs medical attention." Harmony asked while changing to her analytical mode. Her brow lifted.
McGonagall kept a distressed face and started playing with her hands nervously.
"You see… I'm no healer but… I think something is wrong. Has been wrong for some time now."
"What do you mean? Do you suspect that they aren't taking care of him properly?"
The old woman just nodded, looking anguished about it.
"No animals are allowed here, Miss." A high-pitched voice interrupted their exchange.
Harmony turned slightly to her right to inspect the healer head-to-toe. A young one, of course.
"My familiar is allowed." She said, leaving no margin for doubts about who was commanding the interaction. The healer, however, should be completely dumb, for he insisted a second time, altogether ignoring her words.
"I'm sorry, Miss. No animals or familiars are allowed here."
Harmony felt three pairs of eyes glued on her back, waiting for her reply to that dunderhead. Rufus growled soundly, waiting for a simple command to tear the man into pieces. She smirked slightly and cocked her head to a side, facing the healer with nothing but scorn.
"I said: My familiar is allowed. Now, leave this room and don't come back unless we call for you. Thank you very much." She articulated slowly.
As if he had been confounded, the healer looked around with big eyes, nodded once and left the room with a quick pace.
When Harmony returned her attention to the Headmistress she could tell by the old woman's grasp that her eyes were shining a brighter green color than usual. She lifted one finger to her lips asking for secrecy about it.
Professor McGonagall looked shocked but nodded back without hesitation anyway. It wouldn't be the first secret about Harmony that she would keep. Perhaps not the last either.
Assured of her discretion, Harmony moved her focus to the bed.
"Now, let's see what do we really have here. And who." She announced.
"You may have heard of Severus Snape, the war hero?"
"Surely. It was hard not to. However, I knew him from before. My last year at Hogwarts. What about him?"
"This..." Minerva gestured towards the pale, thin man lying still on the bed. "Is what is left of him, Harmony."
Harmony's eyes grew big as saucers as she faced for the first time in years the man. Her glare meet his and their eyes locked in each other.
Harmony remembered well Severus Snape in his youth. A tall, straight man, with a quick pace, sharp tongue, and characteristic features. The person on the bed however hardly resembled him. Too still. And his eyes… God and Goddess! His eyes looked like pitch black lakes, haunted by the souls of those who had drowned there. There was a dozen of different pleas on them and it made Harmony's insides turn on themselves.
Bringing herself back to reality, she got closer to him and brushed her fingers through his now salt and pepper long oily hair. He didn't seem to mind so she ventured to touch his face. His skin felt colder against her fingers and his lips had a light tinge of blue to it. The goosebumps she observed forming only served to confirm her suspicion: He was too cold. Worst than that, he felt cold.
Alarmed by her discovery she quickly took off her cloak and used it to cover the bed. It had her warmth and she observed as his eyes filled with gratitude.
"Rufus, would you hop onto the bed? He needs your warmth, honey." She called the dog out.
As Rufus proceeded to obey, Harmony kept thinking hard. Something was definitely wrong.
"How long has he been here?" She demanded without turning for an answer.
"A little over a year," McGonagall answered painfully. "They seem to think that if he is conscientious at all, he must have gone mad meanwhile. That he is now nothing but an empty shell."
Harmony used her tongue to moisten her lips, eyes never leaving his.
"He looks fine to me. And for that, I mean that he is not mad or lost in himself. What was the first diagnose when he was brought here?"
"Poisoning. Then it turned out that he was fully paralyzed. He can't move. His throat was all mangled by that damned snake." The Headmistress sounded close to tears. "Can't you help him, Harmony?"
Harmony weighed the options. At the very least, she could cast a newly diagnose spell on him and perform a full observation.
Making her mind up, she focused on the spell that she knew by heart. A whole anatomy map appeared in the air above the bed. Blinking red!
"That cannot be right..." She murmured only for himself.
Casting once again she got exactly the same result. Harmony started analyzing the map and the adjoining runes and with each line she read, her heart sank a little more. Could it be true? In St. Mungos?
Her face must have shown just how bad it was and how confused she felt, for she heard the Headmistress ask behind her.
"Is it that bad?"
In silence Harmony lifted a finger in the air, signaling for the old witch to wait a little longer.
Looking down at the man again, she decided that there was only one way to verify the spell.
"I will have to check on you, Sir. I promise I will be careful and quick as I can." She whispered for their ears alone. The recognition in his eyes told her that he understood every word. No, he wasn't mad. Which now, she couldn't decide if it was a good or a bad thing at all.
First thing of the list, Harmony reached to turn around his neck. There was a mangled mass of scars all over one side, still with a vivid red hue. It must have taken some time to heal apparently. It seemed bad enough to have torn apart his vocal chords.
While traveling down with her eyes to the base of the neck she noticed older scars covering his skin, disparaging into his shirt's collar. He must have faced many enemies in his lifetime.
After a deep sigh, she gently lifted the covers along with her cloak. And then, besides already knowing what she should expect underneath, all doors of Hell opened wide.
"God and Goddess!" Harmony blurted out, shock washing over her and her senses attacked in every front.
The poor man had to be cold. He was wearing only a t-shirt and a diaper underneath the covers! And the smell… Gods, the smell was almost unbearable. The covers must have been charmed to conceal it from the visitors.
Harmony heard more than she saw Minerva running towards the door once the smell started to spread. Rufus whined and got out of the bed, still keeping close to his mistress and complaining all the while. As close as he dared at least.
A metallic hint alerted Harmony for another thing the spell had warned her about. Lifting one of his arms with some care to avoid hurting him more, she found bed sores. Old ones already in scar and fresh ones on top.
A painful and pitiful sound escaped his mangled throat as she returned his arm to its former position.
"Shush… Shush… I know. It must hurt like hell. We will take care of that soon. I promise, Sir. I will take care of it all." She comforted him, as she covered his body once again. "Try to keep warm while we settle this matter, alright? Then I will take you away to a place where no one will be able to hurt you."
Behind her, she heard steps of someone entering the room.
"What now? We have to warn the Ministry." She heard Minerva.
"I would thank you if you could talk with the patrons you mentioned on your earlier letter, Headmistress. I will take him from here today. No one is to know about the destination." Harmony warned her former teacher. "But first…" She proposed, her voice and demeanor turning mischievous and her eyes getting brighter once more. "Let us see what can be done for the remaining people in this room, shall we?"
She was pissed, that was for sure and she wasn't going to conceal it in the present situation.
"Okay..." Harmony started slowly, seemingly calm only on the exterior. "Let's find out who is responsible for this slaughter house."
"I will go and call..."
Harmony raised a hand between them.
"No need, Headmistress. Let's call in our 'friend'" She proposed, giving an impish and somehow devilish smile.
No longer than five minutes later, the same healer that she had sent away entered the room and went straight to them. Then, he stopped without uttering a word. Harmony felt all her soul twist and transform. What she was about to do was something that she would usually condemn. However, a situation like this made it all necessary.
Walking forward to meet the healer she grinned at him and started.
"If I check the other beds, what will I find?" Harmony questioned the man, pronouncing each word with purpose.
"Dead people, mostly." The man answered with a shrug.
McGonagall gasped in horror and covered her mouth with a hand.
"What?! They are dead. They all are. Even this ass-hole here. They only breath still because we still feed them."
"Very well." Harmony cut him short. "What about this man? Why did you leave him to reach this state?"
"Do you know who that one is? Severus Snape! The bat of Hogwarts dungeons, worst nightmare of most students. Half of the healers in this hospital were his students and none can remember him having a human demeanor towards anyone. Do you really thought that we would care?"
"And what about his files? Are they accurate?"
The healer just laughed as if a joke had been said.
"Accurate? Perhaps the first lines, from when he came in. And part of what was given to him. When he first came we took turns playing, you see? So, no one really knows. And no one cares."
"Alright." Harmony conjured a bottle to her hand. "Your memories of it all, please. Inside."
The man did just as he was told, like if he was under an Imperious curse.
Minerva got closer to Harmony and whispered to her.
"Is he under Imperious? Have you done that?" The witch asked worried, knowing that whatever was obtained under the Imperious wasn't considered as proof anymore, unless under very strict circumstances.
"No. Is something of my own creation. It makes him speak the truth like the Veritaserum without the bother of the potion. And he follows whatever order I give him, like a puppy."
"Is it fair?" The headmistress demanded, feeling perhaps conscious about it.
"Professor, do look around. This spell is probably the fairest thing happening in this slaughter room in a long time." She accentuated the words that dripped with sarcasm and barely concealed rage.
The healer was now dumbly waiting in front of them, bottle in hand. Harmony took it from him easily and delivered it to Minerva trembling hands.
"Now, I want you to go home and sleep till tomorrow." She ordered him. He just nodded and left the room.
Inside, Harmony could feel everything boiling. She needed to take a break. Quickly. But she couldn't just leave everything as it was. She had to end what she had started. Do some justice at the very least. If not for Severus Snape that she would save next, for all the other poor souls.
"Headmistress, please run and deliver that to the Minister in person. I know that you are quite close. Use it to get a private audience immediately. Don't leave until you know what he would do next about it. This situation can't go on any longer. I will take Severus Snape with me in the next hour after I manage to take a break. After that, I will wait for an owl from you."
"You will receive one this nightfall if I can." The older witch assured her.
"You can contact me anytime from now on, day or night. Don't mind the time on the clock. I will not."
"Understood. Travel safely, you three." The Headmistress said her goodbyes, going to the bed and touching Severus face one last time before leaving in hurried pace that damned room.