Minerva:

She watched the Gryffindor quidditch team assembled on the pitch. Alicia had joined them. Ginny had been appointed captain but was seeking counsel from Alicia. There would be no tryouts today as Ginny merely wanted to assess the fitness of the current roster.

It was a cloudy gray day, matching her mood. Minerva sat in the commentary box. There was so much to be done, but she needed this. Just a couple hours away from everything she had to deal with.

"Fancy seeing you here Professor."

Tallis and Clara were approaching her with a picnic basket between them. Tallis was dressed in dark robes while Clara was wearing jeans and an Ilvermorny shirt. Minerva narrowed her eyes. She was hoping no one would notice her up here without using magic and agitating her stitches. Tallis took the hint and created a shield to conceal them.

"If you'd like some privacy, we can go to another box," he offered.

Minerva turned human. "No, I don't mind the company."

Clara pulled out some scones and a plate of fruit.

"Are you going to deduct points from a house if I ask how you are? Not that I am favoring any house yet."

"I am feeling much better physically," Minerva said.

"Mentally I bet you're a mess," Tallis said. "I hate hospitals. I can't imagine being in a muggle one with all of their equipment."

"The people were kind. I even started to like one of the shows they put on the telly."

"Muggles do have some great entertainment," Clara said.

Minerva watched as the team got on their brooms and started a circle around the pitch. There were a few positions open so it wasn't a full team.

She turned to the young witch. "Something happened at the muggle hospital."

"What exactly?" Clara asked as she poured herself some orange juice.

Minerva paused.

"Professor, I get that you're scared and don't know me all that well. Seamus sent letters constantly praising the school and your leadership. I came because I wanted to work for you. You can trust me."

"Me also," Tallis added. "Maxime also spoke highly of you. I'm happy to help."

Minever took a deep breath. "There was a bogart at the hospital. Could my presence have caused it?"

"That would be the most logical explanation," Clara said. "Performing magic causes problems in electronics. But I've never heard of the manifestation of a monster because of one magic performer."

"I was put through a bunch of different scanning devices," Minerva said thoughtfully. "None of them seemed to be affected."

"Did the muggles see it?" Tallis asked.

Clara cut him off. "I think you should keep how you handled it to yourself. I don't want to be caught and interrogated over muggle's knowledge of magic. I'm not a citizen here and could easily be sent home or worse."

"I guess I'm too curious for my own good," Tallis said with a weak smile.

"You're right," Minerva said. "I just don't know what to do."

"You're keeping a lot of secrets," Tallis observed. "That weighs down a person mentally."

"You're right," she said.

Bats were pulled out as Alicia unleashed the bludgers. One aimed at Ginny and forcefully knocked her off her broom when it hit her in the chest. It then hit another player's arm so hard in the arm the breaking of bones could be heard in the booth.

"That is not normal," Minerva said as she stood up.

Clara put her hand on her shoulder. "We can't have you overexerting yourself. We can handle this."

Tallis leaped out of the box and hit the bludger with a spell. It exploded into pieces that began to attack the other students. Clara aimed the long version of the vanishing spell. While the other bludger attacked Alicia. It cracked her forehead open. Students began to scream.

Minerva did not like sitting like a lump on a log. She was aiming her wand to summon a patronus to send to Poppy when she felt her stitches move and had to stop.

Tallis sketched a cage and sent it chasing after the bludger.

"We need to see what enchantment is being used!" he shouted.

Students got off their brooms and ran for cover. The bludger careened around and aimed straight at Minerva. She braced for impact but the ball stayed inches from her face. She turned and saw Clara and Tallis were both using summoning spells. They were breathing heavily while trying to contain it.

"Get out!" Tallis shouted.

Minerva climbed to the back of the stands and headed for the ladder. She had used a carpet to get here, but it made sense to get a barrier between her and it.

There was the crashing of wood. The bludger broke the ceiling. Minerva transfigured into her cat form out of reflex. She couldn't believe how scared she was. The bludger hit her.

But it was soft. It felt like cotton. Tallis floated above them. Clara darted forward.

"Get her out of here," Tallis said. "I'll try to contain it."

Minerva couldn't help but let out a hiss when Clara grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and flew out of the hole. The bludger followed them. Clara put up a brick wall between them. The bludger crashed through it. She hugged Minerva to her body at the bludger smashed against her back. They were both tumbling through the air.

They fell into a net. Minerva turned human again as she saw the bludger held in suspension. Then she noticed half of the faculty was assembled and focused on containing the bludger.

Somehow Minerva knew what she needed to do. She used the same archaic vanishing spell as she did for the doxies. The bludger finally dissolved into nothing.

Her chest felt sweaty. She turned and realized her stitches were bleeding. Everywhere she looked teachers were healing students.

Tallis flew forward and grabbed her out of the net. He carried her bridal style out of the pitch. She looked quickly and saw the commentary box was on the verge of collapsing into the pitch as teachers tried to contain it.

Blood kept spilling down her robes. Tallis flew to the astronomy tower. She hated this place after Albus's death. He laid her on a bench.

"You're not going to like this solution, but the other option is going to the place you went for treatment," he said.

"You're a vampire," she said weakly.

"Part-vampire. My blood has regenerative properties. I know you don't trust me but we don't have any good options right now."

"Are you going to turn me?" she said fearfully.

"No! I'm going to use my blood to fix your wound. I have done this before."

She was starting to get dizzy from blood loss. "Get on with it then," she said.

Minerva couldn't look. She closed her eyes as he ripped open the front of her robes. He began chanting in what sounded like Sanskrit. She felt string being pulled through her chest replicating the stitches. After fifteen minutes, she felt like she could breathe normally again.

Tallis threw the outer layer of his robes over her and collapsed by her side. They lay side-by-side completely exhausted.

"The Horcrux thing," Tallis said finally. "To split one's soul and imbue it into an object is not natural."

"It isn't," she couldn't help but snap. "But what does that have to do with any of this?"

"Everything," he said. "Something unnatural was released into the world after their destruction. Soul fragments aren't meant to exist in the open. It is infecting you and everything in your orbit from the bludgers to the Sorting Hat."

"Why me?" she asked in more of a whimper than she intended.

"You're the headmistress? I really don't know. But I do think something is amiss in the universe that is causing all of these problems."

Minerva sighed. "With no easy solutions."