Chapter 16 A Crash Course in Quidditch
There was an almost festive atmosphere in the Great Hall that evening at dinner. The Tuesday Night killer had been identified and her wand was in custody.
“Now we can focus on Malfoy and his gang,” Ron said with grim determination.
“Yes,” Harry said bitterly. “Dolores Umbridge didn’t beat up Hermione in the bathroom.”
“And she didn’t hang that Slytherin boy either,” Ron pointed out. “Those crimes occurred on Monday nights.”
“We have to make someone in Slytherin talk,” Harry said.
Hermione and Susan Bones came in dressed in their nurse’s caps and capes and joined them at the Gryffindor table.
“Harry my love, I’ve got good news!” Hermione said loudly, smiling at him. Then she quietly hissed, “Why did you want my wand this morning?”
“What’s the good news, Hermione dear?” Harry asked out loud. Then he whispered, “I’ll tell you later.”
“We’ve found a faculty sponsor for the Society for the Protection of Elvish Welfare and we can become an Official Student Organization,” Hermione said a bit too brightly. Clearly something was bothering her.
“Oh we did!” Harry exclaimed. “That’s wonderful,” he said sarcastically, “who is it?”
“You’re not still hung up on spew are you?” Ron asked. “Do you really think that any of the students will join you?” Then he whispered, “If people find out that you are trying to educate the elves there’ll be a lynch mob after you.”
Thank you, Ron, Harry thought as he dug into his pie.
“Mr. Shacklebolt is going to sponsor us,” Hermione told Harry. “It’s S.P.E.W.” she said to Ron. “And I do think that students will join us. Many of the kids here are decent and kind. There are laws to protect pets and farm animals from abuse. They’ll see that elves deserve better treatment. And with a leader like Harry we’re bound to attract members.”
Harry started to choke. “What do you mean by a leader like Harry?” he asked when he had cleared his throat.
“You’d be the perfect choice to be the President of S.P.E.W.” Hermione said. But she didn’t sound too happy about it. “And Ron can be the Vice-President in charge of Recruitment,” she added.
“But Hermione, the house-elves don’t want to be free,” Ron said.
“They don’t want to be kicked out into the woods where some bounty hunter might catch them and take them to a mine or a sweat shop,” Hermione said angrily. “But they do want to be treated decently and they love their children and they want them to have better lives. That’s why we’ll start by working for better treatment and education for the elves. Emancipation will come later.”
“But I don’t want to be the President,” Harry said.
“And I don’t want to be the Vice-President in charge of Recruitment,” Ron said.
“The elves work like slaves for us every day, they wear nothing but rags, they eat nothing but leftovers and they sleep in cupboards if they are lucky,” Hermione said hotly. “Ron, I think you can imagine what that must be like. Harry, you know what it’s like. You had to sleep in a cupboard for years, wore nothing but hand-me-downs, were underfed and given all of the chores. You do care about the elves. You understand how important education is. You just need to find it in your hearts to get involved. Anyway Shacklebolt wants you both involved. He wants Harry to be President.”
“But S.P.E.W. has always been your crusade. Why does Shacklebolt want me to be the President?” Harry asked in disbelief.
“Harry, you’re famous and heroic. You would make a good spokesman for the cause. And Ron you organized the Tuesday Night patrols. You’ve got leadership potential. And I’ll be much too busy with Nursing classes, doing research, writing our Manifesto and other things,” Hermione said definitively. “Anything I publish will be under the name Potter anyway. And there’s one other thing.”
Then she pulled them both close and whispered to them.
“The real reason Shacklebolt wants you both involved is that students in S.P.E.W. will need to be prepared to defend themselves,” she said quietly. Shacklebolt wants to use S.P.E.W. as a cover for reviving the D.A. He figures the Slytherins won’t join.”
“You agreed to that?” Harry whispered in surprise. “S.P.E.W. isn’t going to be about the house-elves? It’s just a cover for the D.A?”
“Shacklebolt can help us and he does care about the elves. Most of the meeting time will be spent on combat training,” Hermione hissed. “But if you don’t give me a few minutes in each meeting to talk about the treatment of the elves I will be very mad at you, Harry Potter.”
She took a deep breath and started to eat.
“And that’s the end of the discussion?” Harry said. “Just like that? And you think we’ll go along with you without another word?”
“I think you’ll both go along with Shacklebolt, if you still have any ambitions of becoming Aurors,” she said curtly.
Harry and Ron had to admit she had a point there.
On Tuesday evenings Ernie MacMillan and some Hufflepuff boys always escorted Hermione to the hospital, but on this evening she made Harry come to the hospital with her. She said they needed to talk. Ron went too so Harry wouldn’t have to return to Gryffindor Tower alone. There was still a chance of ambush by a murderous gang of Slytherins.
“What do you suppose she wants to talk about?” Ron asked Harry quietly as the group was walking to the hospital.
“I don’t know what she wants to talk about,” Harry whispered back, “It could be the Magical Divorce misunderstanding, or us using her wand, or am I angry that she followed us and got into combat, or what do I plan to do as President of S.P.E.W to promote better treatment of house-elves, or when are we going to practice Sympathetic Magic spells, and why haven’t I been studying Occlumency now that I know that my scar pains can hurt her, and do I really expect her to spend Sundays flying with me instead of teaching elves to read, or do I find our Magical Bonding to be like a ball-and-chain. It’s probably all of the above. Whatever she wants to talk about, I’m in trouble,” Harry concluded.
“You should have bought her a bigger bunch of flowers,” Ron said quietly. “Now that you’re newlyweds the bickering begins.”
“I wasn’t carrying a lot of cash this morning,” Harry complained. “And we’re not really newlyweds. We haven’t even been out on a proper date. And I won’t be of legal age for a wedding for another twenty months!”
“Are you sure that you don’t want me to get you a stick?” Ron asked.
“Thanks, but no thank you, Ron,” Harry answered.
Hermione pulled Harry into Madam Pomfrey’s office while Ron, Susan and the Hufflepuff boys waited in the ward.
“Don’t be too hard on him Hermione,” Susan Bones called after them. “We’ve got to study for a while and I can’t make Ernie and the boys wait all night.”
“Yes, you wanted to talk,” Harry began defensively.
“Harry, let’s just skip the fight” she pleaded. “You’re not supposed to do magic outside of the classrooms and you keep grabbing my wand when you want to break the rules. Just tell me this: why doesn’t my wand set off the alarm?” she asked.
“Well, do you remember the night of the Beginning of Term Banquet?” he asked.
“Unfortunately, yes I do. I’ve been reading some self help manuals but I haven’t worked up the nerve to try an Obliviate charm on myself yet. I might blank out too much of my memory,” she said quietly as she looked down at her foot.
“While you were being… while you were out of the room,” Harry said carefully, “they scanned all of our wands with some enchanted device. I think they forgot to scan yours.”
“They missed me because of a silly administrative oversight,” she said.
“Yes, and between that and your knowledge of the house-elf corridors, you’re now the most powerful witch in the school, except for the teachers,” Harry said. “You could sneak anywhere in the castle and attack anybody and the alarm wouldn’t go off.”
“I’d get caught when they checked their records. Harry, you must promise me that you won’t use my wand to attack the Slytherins,” she said looking him in the eye.
“They tried to murder you!” he said angrily.
“You don’t know that for sure. Please promise,” she asked sadly. “I don’t want to get into any more trouble. Regardless of what happens for the rest of the year, if Gryffindor looses the House Cup, it’ll be my fault.”
“The House Cup doesn’t matter, I’m worried about your safety,” he said emphatically.
“Harry…” she said.
“Oh, alright,” he sighed. “I promise I won’t use your wand to attack the Slytherins.”
After a good hug and a quick kiss, Harry headed back to Gryffindor Tower with Ron, thanking his lucky stars that he had gotten off so easy.
On Wednesday morning Professor McGonagall posted an announcement that said the Dueling Club would begin meeting on Friday evenings in the Transfiguration classroom. At breakfast she talked to Harry about being the student instructor. Hermione came into the Great Hall a few minutes before Potions class and grabbed a cup of tea and a piece of toast.
“You look a little better this morning, Hermione,” Ginny observed.
“It was quiet in the hospital and I actually got to sleep some last night! It was wonderful!” she said happily.
“Speaking of looking better, did you see our House Points?” Ron asked. “It’s so nice to see some rubies in the column again.”
“Those rubies come from a mine,” Hermione said grimly.
“Yes, and that means… what?” Ron asked in a confused tone.
“The elves that work that mine live in atrocious conditions that make the Hogwarts pantries seem like a luxury hotel by comparison,” Hermione said angrily.
“You’re always so cheerful in the morning,” Ron said sarcastically.
“We’ll have to address that issue in our first S.P.E.W. meeting,” Harry added, hoping to stop the argument before it got started.
Thursday evening was the last Quidditch practice session before the opening match with Slytherin. Harry wasn’t overly confident of victory but he wasn’t scared. He felt they were ready. All they had to do was perform. He got to the Great Hall just in time to see the Hufflepuff boys escorting Hermione to the hospital.
“Come by the hospital when you’re done eating,” she called out to him.
A half an hour later, Harry and Ron were in the hospital.
“We got the results of our special nursing exams today,” Hermione said. “It was really close but Susan will be working on the special project at St. Mungo’s.”
“It’s alright Hermione,” Harry said sympathetically. “You can’t always come out on top and you had to spend so much time working in the kitchen.”
“Susan Bones is a good student and a good friend. We worked together as much as possible given the circumstances. Our scores were close in every area,” Hermione said. “Don’t tell her this, but I did get the highest marks.”
“Then why aren’t you working on the special project?” Harry asked in surprise.
“Madam Pomfrey pulled a little trick on us. She was trying to decide who to leave behind,” Hermione explained. “Susan and Madam Pomfrey left for London this afternoon and for the next four days, I’m the school nurse.”
“But you’ve been in training for less than a term!” Harry exclaimed. “That’s an awful responsibility.”
“Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch have had first aid training and if I run into trouble, I’ve got a magic mirror that will enable me to contact Dr. Nesmith, he’s a healer in Hogsmeade, and the paintings can give me some advice too,” she said. “But it is a little scary. I might need your help, you had a little bit of first aid training during summer camp and I heard that you saved my life when I was attacked in the bathroom.”
“Pansy Parkinson was in the first aid class during summer camp too,” Harry suggested.
“I sure hope it doesn’t get so bad that I need her,” Hermione said.
On Friday evening Harry, Ron and a bunch of other Gryffindor students made their way to the Transfiguration class for the first meeting of the Dueling Club. The room was so crowded they had to move to the Great Hall. Malfoy and his gang weren’t there but Miles Bletchley, Adrian Pucey and several other Slytherin students were.
“Choose a friend for a partner,” Harry instructed the mob. “We don’t want anyone getting angry tonight. We’ll be working on simple defensive charms tonight: the Disarming Charm, the Shield Charm and the Stunning Charm. Try to avoid hurting your partner. Use the cushions!”
He didn’t want to take a bunch of injured students to the hospital and get a lecture from Hermione.
On Saturday a thousand people arrived at Hogwarts for the Quidditch season opener between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Hermione gave Harry a good luck kiss in the Gryffindor common room. It was a good long kiss on the lips with a hug too. They almost lost some House Points for that one.
“I know that you two are Magically Bonded and considered to be legally married but I would appreciate it if you refrained from flaunting it in front of the other students,” Professor McGonagall chided them. “It’s hard enough to keep girls and boys under control without couples kissing in front of them!”
Kingsley Shacklebolt seemed to be everywhere and he seemed to be very tense. Extra security guards were present including Remus Lupin and Mr. Weasley. Harry got to chat briefly with Sturgis Podmore and Dedalus Diggle. Fortunately security wasn’t airtight. While Harry and Ron were chatting with Dedalus Diggle he searched Fred Weasley twice, allowing George to smuggle in a load of enchanted items like bamboo wands, defensive talismans and a few of their own inventions. Dennis and his gang of third year boys finished the process of smuggling the contraband to Gryffindor Tower.
The Quidditch match went Gryffindor’s way. The red and gold team was ahead by 220 to 170 when Harry caught sight of the Snitch flitting about just above the three rings that Ron defended. He shot after the Snitch and grabbed it. It was one of the easiest catches he had ever made. Unfortunately Draco Malfoy had also seen the Snitch and had zoomed right at it. There was a violent collision between Draco and Harry. Both of them were knocked off their brooms. Harry smacked into one of the goal rings hard. The wind was completely knocked out of him and he lost his grip on the Snitch but somehow he managed to hold onto the goal ring. The whole world began to turn brown as he desperately tried to remain conscious and hold onto the ring. Malfoy landed on a flag pole. It impaled his leg.
“Let go Harry!” Ron shouted. “I’ll levitate you down.”
Harry slipped off the ring and floated to the ground. He lay on his back barely able to breath. The pain in his belly was horrific and his head was pounding.
He lay on the ground for several minutes. Ron was talking to him about his Firebolt zooming off towards Hogsmeade with Katie in pursuit. Hermione’s face appeared over him.
“Malfoy’s bleeding badly but he refuses to let me treat him,” she said bitterly. “How are you Harry? It looked like you hit that ring really hard. You were lucky that you could hold on until Ron helped you down,” she said as she passed her wand over him and tapped a piece of parchment. “I hope you don’t have any serious injuries,” she continued. “Let’s see… you have a ruptured…”
She stopped abruptly and looked into Harry’s face. He tried to focus on her golden brown eyes and smile at her. She looked terrified. Dark clouds were gathering around her.
“Ron, elevate his feet!” she ordered. “Arresto corona!” she shouted.
Harry willed his eyes to stay open and to focus on Hermione. The pounding in his head stopped. Darkness closed in all around him. His pain disappeared, he could see her now. Something on her chart had disturbed her. He had to see what it was. He got up and moved to where he could look over her shoulder at the chart, but the medical terms meant nothing to him. It was like a dream. He was floating. He wondered if Ron was levitating him.
“Sano Aorta!” Hermione cried waving her wand over his body. “Ginny, get a bottle of Dr. Sanguis’ Blood Replacement Potion from Madam Pomfrey’s cabinet! HURRY!”
What a strange dream, Harry thought. He could see himself lying on the ground.
“Sano Aorta!” Hermione cried again.
Harry had no idea what that spell was about and he wondered why magic spells weren’t in plain English.
“You’ve got to treat Draco!” a pretty blond woman shouted.
“GINNY! GET TWO BOTTLES!” Hermione screamed. “Harry’s first!” she shouted at Mrs. Malfoy. “SANO AORTA! Pansy Parkinson! Put a tourniquet on that leg!”
There was a tunnel leading out of the stadium. Funny he had never noticed it before. Maybe it was magical. There was a light at the end of the tunnel. He wanted to go to the light.
“Harry! Son! Stop! It’s not time yet,” a man said.
Harry looked at the man. He had seen him before. “Dad?” he said.
“You have a job to finish,” his father said. “You can’t die in a silly Quidditch accident.”
“You must stay with her,” a woman said.
Harry looked at the woman. “Mom?” he said.
“Where’s Madam Pomfrey?” Harry’s father asked sharply. “That nurse is just a child.”
“Hermione’s brilliant,” Harry said defensively.
“Look James, she’s using Sympathetic Magic,” his mother said.
“Are you still going on about that…”
Suddenly he was back on the ground looking into Hermione’s worried face. The horrible pain in his abdomen returned. He sucked in a breath. It hurt like hell to do that. He closed his eyes.
“Don’t leave me!” she cried. “ENERVATE CORONA!”
He felt his heart lurch and start beating. His head started pounding again. Hermione kissed him.
“Try to get that potion into him, but don’t move him!” Hermione ordered.
Someone lifted his head a little. He opened an eye a tiny bit. Professor McGonagall was holding him and pushing a bottle to his lips. The potion was salty.
“Hang on Potter,” Professor McGonagall said gently. “Hermione will be back soon. She’ll work on your other injuries then. Drink some more potion.”
Harry was drifting away. He heard the voices of his friends from a distance: Ron, Ginny, Katie, McGonagall.
“We won by two hundred points, Harry.”
“Keep breathing, Potter.”
“Mrs. Malfoy is practically dragging poor Hermione.”
“I caught your Firebolt, Harry.”
“Swallow the potion, Potter.”
He lay on the ground for what seemed like a long time. It was so cold. He started to shiver. Someone covered him with a blanket.
Hermione reappeared, she was pale and sweaty. Her white apron was stained with blood. She passed her wand over him and tapped her chart. After a few moments of study she began chanting some spell.
“Mrs. Potter!” Snape called to her. “I brought the healing potion that you made in class.”
“Thank You! Please take a vial to Madam Hooch for Draco. Swallow this Harry,” she said.
“Professor Flitwick, he can go now,” Hermione said a minute later.
Harry felt himself floating. He drifted along into the castle and through the halls. He came to rest in a bed in the hospital. Hermione stuck a needle in his arm and attached an IV bag, just like in a Muggle hospital. Harry thought this must be really serious. He started to doze off.
He heard a man’s gruff voice. “Bed rest, now!”
“It’ll take more than that,” Hermione snapped. “They’ve both lost a lot of blood and Harry has some internal injuries.”
“Listen up Missy,” the man said. “I was a healer when your parents were in diapers and I can still read a chart. I want you to get some rest, NOW! Wingardium leviosa.”
“Dr. Nesmith!” Hermione protested.
“Stupefy,” he said.
Harry felt a warm soft body settling next to him. He opened his eyes. Hermione was in bed with him!
“What are you looking at Potter,” Nesmith snarled. “Haven’t you ever slept with your wife? She’s exhausted. Stopped your heart, fixed the aorta, then revived you. Transferred strength from her body to yours with a Sympathetic spell. Two months training, case for the Journal, no shit. I want her to sleep now because I’m not staying here all night. You’re Magically Bonded, physical contact will be good for both of you. Maggie will be so excited when I tell her about this case, she reads Witch Weekly, she sure carried on about you. Shut your eyes.”
Harry drifted off to sleep.
…
“Are you with us, Potter?” Professor McGonagall asked.
The sun was low on the horizon. He must have slept for several hours. No, that window faced east, it was morning.
“Is it Sunday already?” Harry asked.
“It’s Monday Harry,” McGonagall said gently. “Hermione, Harry’s awake.”
Hermione bolted out of the bed next to his and rushed to his side. She smiled and kissed him on the forehead, smoothing down his hair with her hand.
“Oh Harry, you gave me such a scare,” she chided him. “Would you like some breakfast? I think you could tolerate some soup and tea.”
“Did Malfoy survive?” Harry asked.
“Yes, he was released yesterday evening,” she reported. “His mother gave me permission to treat him. He stopped arguing when he passed out. You had a lot of internal bleeding and will probably be a bit jaundiced for a day or so but we’ve got a potion for that. I can take your IV out now.”
She worked fast and efficiently.
“And the catheter.”
“OW! Couldn’t you use magic to do that?”
“Sorry. I’m thinking like a Muggle.”
Harry spent the rest of Monday in the hospital. During the afternoon Madam Hooch came in to give Hermione a break. She read her instructions and laughed out loud.
“Dr. Nesmith says that you must take a nap,” she said to Hermione. “And I am to use force if necessary! He also says that physical contact between a Magically Bonded couple is good for your health and that you are to sleep in Harry’s bed!” she laughed again. “That man has no idea how difficult it is to control boys and girls at a boarding school! Well, climb in and go to sleep girl. And remember the paintings and I are watching you.”
On Tuesday morning Madam Pomfrey was back. She did her own diagnostic scan on Harry and studied his charts.
“Hermione!” she exclaimed. “You stopped his heart?”
“I had to reduce his blood pressure to heal the artery,” Hermione explained. “I figured I had a minute or so before his brain died and it would reduce the internal bleeding.”
“You can’t use Sympathetic Magic on just any patient. You’re limited to Harry for that,” Madam Pomfrey pointed out unnecessarily. “If you want to do surgery on vital organs we’ll need to cover advanced resuscitation spells.”
“But it was Harry and it was an emergency,” Hermione said defensively.
Madam Pomfrey smiled at Hermione. “Your procedure worked and it was very creative,” she said. “Dr. Nesmith says he wants to submit a case note to the British Journal of Healing.”
Harry was well enough to be released from the hospital and Ron escorted a still slightly shaky Harry and an absolutely exhausted Hermione back to Gryffindor Tower. The two of them were excused from classes on Madam Pomfrey’s orders so they could rest.
“Thanks Hermione, you saved my life on Saturday,” Harry said as they walked through the castle.
“That was my job,” she said.
“Mrs. Potter, would you go into town with me next Hogsmeade weekend?” Harry asked. “You know, for a date?”
“Well Mr. Potter, I’ll consider it,” Hermione answered. “What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know… We could go to Madam Puddifoot’s,” Harry suggested.
“I saved your life and you’ll buy me a cup of coffee! I think you can do better than that,” she said in mock indignation. “You should buy me lunch.”
“Alright,” Harry said with a smile. “Anything you want.”
“I like Chinese food. Let’s go to Chang’s,” Hermione said.
“Cho might be there,” Harry observed nervously.
“Then you’ll have to hold my hand,” she said tartly.
“You’re wicked,” Harry said with a grin.
“I’m a witch,” she said grinning back at him.
“Why don’t you two just go snog each other in the Shrieking Shack, it’s not really haunted you know,” Ron joked.
“Oh Ron,” Hermione rolled her eyes. “Harry and I aren’t going to do a thing like that!”
“Oh yeah, you’re not that kind of girl,” Ron said with a touch of sarcasm in his voice.
“Everyone knows the Shrieking Shack is not really haunted,” Hermione said. “It’s always crowded with couples on Hogsmeade weekends.”
“And how do you know that?” Harry exclaimed.
“I listen to girls gossiping!” she said defensively.
“She wants us to believe she’s never been in there with a boy,” Ron laughed.
“I was in there once. And that was with two boys at the same time. It was very exciting,” she teased. “We were all alone except for an escaped convict, a traitorous rat, a werewolf and the creepiest Professor in the school.”
Friday evening found Harry studying Dark Magic, depressing stuff about human sacrifices and demons. He took a break to stare out the window. When the lightening flashed he could see Hagrid’s hut. He hoped it wouldn’t keep raining all weekend. He wanted to do a bit of flying. He wished it was a Hogsmeade weekend. He wished Hermione wasn’t so far away. She had gone to London with Susan Bones. The two of them were working on the special project, whatever that was. Madam Pomfrey was back in the Hogwarts hospital wing where she belonged. He watched it rain and drifted off into a daydream.
Hermione’s golden brown eyes sparkled in the moonlight. Her smile was so cute. Her wand was spinning in her hand. “Cognoscere mea vita,” she said. Her wand stopped. It was pointing at the Big Dipper. It began to glow a rosy shade of pink. No fireworks. No burning. No pain. Hermione’s wand just glowed peacefully like Mrs. Weasley’s wand had at the wedding.
She consulted a compass and a map and measured the luminosity and temperature of her wand. Then she entered the data in a table in her journal.