Snape's Detention Duel - Round Two - Mission and Subs Options

[McGonagall's Cat]

Round Two Mission:


We left our characters, both in times past and times present, in rather dicey situations.

Harry has been caught with a card in his pocket. Save him!

Does Harry find out what happend next to the Marauders?

What revengeful pranks did the incident in the hospital wing instigate?

Did the five serve detention together, and what mayhem ensued?

And... What were Bella and Regulus up to in the first place?


Your submission must be a minimum of 1,000 words, but no more than 1,500 words.


Keep in mind that Mr. Filch has banned the use of chatspeak, foul language and adult themes.


"Ferret Points can and will be added - at the discretion of the Department of Mysteries - for humor and clever situations."


Please remember that this story is to be a continuation- end at a point where it would be possible for another writer to continue the story in Round Three.
Any submission not in compliance with this will be disqualified for the weekly Round competition, though will still be elligible for the overall Favorite and Longbottom awards.


You must include in your submission :

Magical Ink, and a pocketwatch

Plus, at least three of the following words - in context:


plangent
mountebank
psittaceous
misology
redolent
bibulous
subreption
esprit d'escalier
adduce
animadvert

[McGonagall's Cat]

The Beginning of Our Story ~

Visiting the Sick


Harry arrived at Professor Snape's office at precisely eight o'clock. Rather than glum at the prospect of another detention with Snape, he was looking forward to reading more accounts, however vague, of his parents' time at Hogwarts. There was a pang of regret that the only things he was now learning about his father were through glances into the past at those events which cast him in the least favorable light. Beggars couldn't be choosers however. Having accepted the fact that no one is perfect, he was happy just to know the smallest things about his imperfect father and his friends. Most of the detention cards he'd read so far were not in the least as serious or disturbing to Harry as his trip into the pensieve the night he saw Snape's worst memory of the Marauders.

Snape opened the door and allowed Harry to pass inside to the desk, atop which sat the box of old file cards waiting to be copied. Harry smiled secretly at the sneer behind him. He wasn't going to pretend for Snape's sake that he felt abused and angry about having to do this. Harry suspected that the time spent here was not convenient for Snape. He probably had other things to do, like spying on Death Eaters or reporting to his boss, whomever that might really be. If he was put out more so by Harry's inability to be cowed by what should rightly be a horrible detention, all the better.

Harry sat down and began shuffling through, looking for a familiar name and looking forward to imagining how it came to be. He spotted a Potter and paused, smiling. He looked up at Snape and caught him watching. The professor gave him a brumal glare and bent to his papers, marking one with such force that he knocked his coffee mug off the desk, sending it skittering across the stone floor. Harry resisted the urge to laugh out loud.


"Thank goodness for Infrangible charms, huh Profe-?"

"Silence, Potter. I think you're old enough to be able to perform your task for one evening without the incessant, infantile babbling."

Harry smirked.


October, 1974

Potter, James
Pettigrew, Peter
Black, Sirius
Black, Regulus
Black, Bellatrix

He frowned. What were his dad and Sirius doing getting into trouble beside two future Death Eaters? Surely they… He read on.

Offense: Willful meddling with an Anodyne Solution, risking harm to students in the Hospital Wing, disruption of Hospital Wing, destruction of a priceless antique vase

Punishment: Service to staff in the Hospital Wing thrice weekly for three weeks, without magic.

As he read the anecdotal notes on the back of the card he imagined them played out in his mind.


"At least my friends are warm-blooded, Bella," Sirius retorted over his shoulder at his cousin. To James he muttered, "Just ignore her. She's only repeating what the rest of the family tells her. Poor stupid thing can't think for herself, you know."

James shrugged and smiled. "If Regulus didn’t look so much like you, I'd think you were adopted, Sirius."

Sirius nodded in agreement as Peter struggled to keep up with them.

"But guys, why is Remus in the Hospital Wing? I mean, is he sick? Is that why he didn't come to bed last night? Where did he go?"

James and Sirius exchanged a look. They had their suspicions about Remus' health problems, but weren't ready to share them just yet, even with Peter, until they'd confronted Remus. They wouldn't do it today of course. You can't kick your mate when he's down.

"Hey guys. What're you doing here?" Remus asked when they marched to his bedside behind the Nurse's back.

"Shh.. we're probably not supposed to be here. You all right, Remus?" James asked in a whisper.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Remus said, looking out the window.

"What happened to you last night?" Peter asked quietly.

Remus shrugged. "Must've ate something at dinner that didn't agree."

"Something that fought back on the way down?" Sirius asked, eyeing the not-quite-healed gash along Remus' jaw.

"Oh, that. I fell on the way here. Scraped my chin on the doorway," Remus replied calmly. "Might even still be blood on the jamb. Lucky I didn't send that big pot flying," he added, nodding his head towards the large floor vase beside the door.

"Madam, I saw my cousin come in here," came a familiar voice from behind the curtain. "He isn't bothering your patients is he? He can be such trouble some times."

The four boys froze. Sirius and James peered out discreetly to see the backs of Bellatrix and Regulus. He was hidden from the matron by the curtain, and they were standing next to a cart containing trays of various vials and decanters.

"No, Miss Black. I'm sure I haven't seen him. If you're not here for treatment I must ask that you both leave and go back to your common room. Don't touch those, please. They're for my patients."

"Oh, sorr-" Regulus was interrupted by the crash of the glass vial he'd dropped on the floor.

"See what you've done, Regulus? Go! I'm so sorry, Madam. Let me help."

As the Matron bent down to clean up the mess, Bellatrix opened a vial and added a pinch of something to it from her pocket. Regulus smirked at her and saw Sirius out of the corner of his eye. His face dropped a moment, and Sirius knew that he was considering whether to betray him to Bella. He didn't, but turned his back and walked towards the door and waited for her. Bella, satisfied that her help wasn't wanted, followed.

Sirius pulled his wand out and as Bellatrix neared the door, he flicked and muttered. The enormous vase swept itself into the air and hurled itself at Bellatrix, bowling her over and crashing on the stone into dust.

The Matron gasped, grabbing the curtain behind her in surprise and revealing James, Peter and Sirius.

"You aren't… d..d..did you to that?!" She demanded, her face going red. She rushed over to Bellatrix, who was crying out on the floor in pain.

"Poor dear. No.. nothing broken, you're okay. Just let me get you something," the matron cooed, summoning the same vial from the cart which Bellatrix had tainted.

"Drink this down, dear. It's only mild."

Bellatrix's eyes nearly popped out of her head and she shouted through her tears. "NO! I mean, I’m FINE Madam. Really!"

But the Matron had too keen an eye to give Sirius the satisfaction that he was waiting for. She peered at the vial and shook it, then narrowed her eyes at Bellatrix and Regulus. Then she turned to the boys and stood up.

"Out. All of you. NOW. You'll hear about this later."

Harry couldn't allow himself to imagine that Bellatrix would have been made to drink the solution. Despite how much he hated her, and how much Sirius hated her, he couldn't. Part of him hoped she had, but there was nothing on the detention card to suggest that she'd gotten anything but a minor injury from the incident. None of the staff knew for certain who had done what to cause the commotion, or taint the Anodyne Solution, so they'd agreed to give all five of them the same detention. Harry liked to think that James and Sirius had gone easy on Bellatrix and Regulus because Regulus had decided not to rat Sirius out when he saw them, but really, none of that was on the card, either. He finished copying the card and stuffed the original nonchalantly into his robes.

"Souvenir, Potter?" Snape sneered, standing up from his desk.

[chad13]

Instructions Through the Grape Vine

“That’s school property Potter, I could have you severely punished for attempting to steal that.” Snape said darkly rising from his desk. Harry had not thought of taking the card as stealing, after all he had left a new one in its place, yet he was slightly more perplexed by the fact that Snape was threatening to punish him again. Harry could not even imagine a punishment worse than already having to spend every Friday night for the rest of the year in Snape’s office.

Harry was about to animadvert but thought better of it. He told himself he shouldn’t have to be making excuses to Snape anyway. Snape stepped towards the table at which Harry was stationed and retrieved the card forcefully from Harry’s pocket. “I think three extra hours of work next week would suffice as punishment, unless I catch you trying to swipe another one of these,” Snape waved the card he now held in front of Harry’s face, “If that happens, I might have to take this little problem to the the headmaster.” Harry merely nodded. He couldn’t think of anything but wanting to hex Snape for taking the card, for making it almost impossible for him to learn more about what had happened with the Marauders, Bellatrix, and Regulus.

Harry could just imagine the Marauders jinxing every Slytherin in site as they marched down the Hogwarts corridors. From Bellatrix to Snape, and everyone in between. He saw Snape hanging upside down again and Sirius standing under him. “Now Snivellis you bring this message back to your sick snake like little friends ... oh wait, you don’t have any friends!” With a laugh Sirius would let Snape drop to the floor. “Friends or not you better tell your house they can’t earn us a detention and get away with it!” Harry had to suppress a grin at this image, as Snape was still standing over him.

Scanning the names Snape also began to smirk. “Ah, yes, the Anodyne Incident. Your father never could quite talk his way out of that one, trying to poison students in the hospital wing ...”

“He was not!” Harry cried incredulously.

“Don’t raise your voice to me Potter, you are in no position to be taking any more liberties with rules.” Snape’s lip curled upward. He knew all to well James had had nothing to do with adding anything to the Anodyne, after all, had it not been he who had first let the idea slip to Lucius? Lucius of course had brought it up to Narcissa and in turn she had brought it to Bella. Bella the brave! Ha, Snape was to smart too carry out any of his less than commendable deeds, why risk it? It had been a shame no one had been able to get their hands on Veritaserum, there would have been no mess had the Matron not noticed the difference between a less effective truth serum and the Anodyne. Snape was more than glad to keep this information from Harry, he found all too much pleasure in watching the boy's anger boil and his face redden.


“Expelled.”

“Bellatrix and Regulus.”

Snape remembered the whispers that had greeted him in the Slytherin common room. Why Bellatrix had brought that brother of Sirius’ along anyway Snape was not sure, but wanting to know more he edged his way behind one of the more animated conversations.

“They were supposed to be back, well, half an hour ago now.” One boy said checking an old silver pocket watch which flipped open with a plangent click.

“I heard they were expelled immediately.” a squat looking girl replied.

“What were they doing?” A third student asked. Snape, knowing exactly what Bellatrix and Regulus had been attempting found little more use for the conversation and slouched away.

“Severus!” Jumping at the sound of his own name Snape turned around to see Lucius Malfoy heading towards him, a scrap of parchment grasped in his hand . “It didn’t work, they got caught.”

“Caught?” Snape stared up at Lucius, he fingered the wand in his pocket expecting Lucius to attempt to curse him at any moment.

“Well, from what I heard there was a commotion involving Bella’s cousin and a few, friends of yours?”

Snape’s eyes narrowed at this comment, Lucius, being a few years Snape’s senior, didn’t seem to care. Snape eyed the parchment Lucius held in his left hand, it was most likely the source of what Lucius had “heard” about Bella and Regulus, however the paper was blank. It wa probablys written in magical ink, Lucius would be the only one who could read it.

“Well, I knew she’d be sloppy about it, Bella ...”

“Forget about Bella, you know as well as I do it was your meddling class mates who ruined everything. This was your brilliant idea Severus, what are you going to do about it?”

“I didn’t suggest anything, you were the one I believe, who passed along my comments to your girl friend.”

“Don’t try and pin this on me,” Lucius said coldly grabbing Snape by the collar, “Remember who you’re talking to, remember how many people I have behind me and how few people are behind you.” Snape gave Lucius a stony glare but did not respond, Lucius released his robes.

Dramatically dusting himself off Snape began again. “If Bellatrix wasn’t so fixed on tormenting her cousin ...”

“Her blood traitor cousin!” Snape tried not to smirk, it was for that very reason he’d known Bellatrix would go through with it. She and Snape had one thing in common, their loathing for Sirius Black. Lucius had provided a very convenient track of communication, Bella had heard what she wanted, and from someone she'd believe. Lucius wanted Narcissa to be happy, Narcissa wanted Bellatrix to be happy, and Bellatrix wanted Sirius to suffer, just as Snape did.

“That not-with-standing,” Snape continued, “I’m not responsible for rescuing anybody.” Snape shook his head at Lucius and turned towards the dormitories. Lucius once again grabbed Snape by the robes.

“Give truth serum to the sick boy you said, he has a lot he could tell us you said.” Lucius began with a redolent tone.

“Oh and he does, there’s quite a lot about Bella’s dear cousin he could tell us, gaining blackmail material was the real idea .. Unfortunately due to Bella’s own clumsiness she will never know anything. She neither got the potion successfully into the hospital wing nor made sure it was administered to one, Remus Lupin.” Snape knew all to well how to manipulate people, the things he could have learned about not just Sirius, but the whole retched lot of them! James, Peter, Remus .... It would have been the end of their reign, he, Severus Snape would have had to upper hand when they passed in the corridors! Lucius stared and his grip slackened. Snape retrieved his clump of robes from Lucius’ hand.

“I don’t know about you Snape. I thought you were a smart, a rarity around here it seems, but I think I will need to have you watched a bit more closely.”

“Whatever you need to do Lucius.”

Lucius, not wanting to be seen to much longer in close conversation with a younger student, began to walk away.

“She wasn’t expelled was she Lucius?”

“No, she has detention with your little friends for the next three weeks. You best watch out Snape, Bella is not very pleased with the situation.” Snape shook his head, it was really to bad, he had hoped even if the Gryffindors managed to escape expulsion Bella would have been thrown out as a consolation prize.

[cherabela]

The Oddball’s Eye

Harry froze with his hand in his pocket as Snape’s eyes searched his.

“Might I remind you Potter that it is very easy for me to double your detention to twice a week. I must say the days have been growing warmer, and I’m sure you-”

His words of malice were stopped short just as a yell was heard from outside the office door.

Malfoy trudged into the room, holding his right arm so tightly that it was a wonder how any blood was coursing through it at all. He banged into Snape’s desk, sending a bottle of magical ink flying over a pile of essays. Harry’s look of shock couldn’t have matched the look of revulsion on Snape’s face as he said, “Potter! Out! Now!”

Without being told further, Harry scurried out of the office, his mind set that Draco Malfoy was a Death Eater, no matter what Ron or Hermione said. Harry took out the detention card as he walked past a painting in which Uric the Oddball was at an empty table strewn with playing cards; he was twirling a green olive in his drink.

“What does it matter if you weren’t playing nice? I say. Don’t worry Mr. Tentacles, it’s all right,” he cooed, patting the jellyfish gently on the top part. “I know you didn’t cheat. Those plangent sharks think that appearance is all that matters. I mean- come here boy!”

Harry turned round wondering to whom he was shouting at. There was nobody else in sight.

“You’re the Potter boy aren’t you? Fame still doesn’t stop you from getting into trouble now. Just like your father I must say.”

“You knew my father?” Harry asked, wondering how on earth James could have been on speaking terms with this portrait inhabitant.

“Of course I did! And he landed himself in many detentions with his friends I tell you too. Such a good boy. He did offer to give Mr. Tentacles a proper home once, did you know that?”

“No,” Harry said quickly, feeling that Uric had worn that jellyfish for far too long on his head. “You wouldn’t, happen to know about a detention my father had with his friends one night would you? A detention with two other Slytherin students. They were in the Hospital Wing,” he said, as he looked hopefully up to the portrait. It was a long shot, but he was willing to try anything. The card, although a valuable source of information, wasn’t enough to quench his curiosity entirely.

“But of course. October, 1974. James, Peter, Sirius, Regulus and Bellatrix. Quite a merry bunch,” Uric said, as if it had only happened yesterday.

“It’s written on your card boy,” he said, as he spotted the clear look of astonishment on Harry’s face. Harry couldn’t help not think that perhaps, Uric the Oddball was not quite the bibulous fellow he was thought to be.

And as Uric started telling his story, having attracted Harry’s attention like a mountebank with his jellyfish’s tentacles, rather than medicines, Harry could see it all playing in front of his eyes again, as if Hermione still possessed a time turner and they had gone far back into time.


“Don’t you dare place your filthy feet on that spot!” raged Bellatrix as Sirius walked past the area she had just been scrubbing clean. She looked very different from her usual proud figure casting her hatred on all muggleborns. At that moment, all she seemed she had the power over was an army of scrub brushes.

“Calm down Bella or your head might explode. Do you wish to know what happened to Snivellus the last time he decided we were too good to live?” Sirius grinned. Peter sniggered behind his back as he polished the surface of a bedside table.

Bellatrix was about to throw a tirade of foul language in his face when Regulus suddenly gave a loud panicked shriek as the glass cabinet with medicine bottles and ointments he had been cleaning came crashing down upon him.

Thankfully, Moony was quick in his wandwork and shouted “Impedimenta!” The glass cabinet stopped in midair, mere inches from Regulus’s cowering figure.

“You’re too soft on the heart Remus!” stated James, clearly deeply annoyed that the cabinet hadn’t squashed Sirius’s brother flat.

“I’m trying to avoid getting you three into further detention,” said Remus, wincing as he slid back down onto his bed.

Bellatrix shot a quick look at the door to Madam Pomfrey’s office. She had cast the Muffliato spell, one she had seen Snape use numerous times. She just hoped that it would keep on working. As the minutes passed, the matron didn’t come out and it was a clear sign that the incident hadn’t been heard.

While Sirius was whispering something to Lupin, and James was busy setting the cabinet on its feet again and mending any broken things, she quickly took the opportunity of snatching a bottle filled with a queer orange substance and placing it carefully in her pocket.

But as she was about to continue her innocent scrubbing she found she couldn’t even move her toes.

“Right good spell Lupin here taught us isn’t it?” Sirius sneered as he planted himself in front of Bellatrix. “Nice work Peter.”

If she had had possession of her muscles at that moment she’d have liked to teach that Pettigrew boy that it was a terrible mistake to play tricks on Bellatrix Black. For that moment though, she had to remain quiet and let the time pass slowly as her body slowly regained movement.

“I do hope you remember how Madam Pomfrey had insisted that none of us are to touch any of her precious potion bottles. I think you have just crossed the line Bella. A couple of more weeks worth of detention would probably make you realise that you just shouldn’t touch other people’s medicine.”

“Sirius,” came a croaky whisper from one of the beds. He ran to Remus’s side as the latter continued, “Can you open the window for me please?”

As Sirius was about to do this, Bellatrix started resuming the control of her body again; at least she could move her mouth and she wanted to make that a point.
“You will definitely not open that window!” she raged, the words spewing out of her mouth redolent with pure loathing.

The sky outside was the colour of Snape’s greasy scalp, and rain was pelting down in a slow and dreamy manner, as if a little rain was the kind of thing the students would enjoy all day long.

“I will not have spent the past hours cleaning this damn place for you to mess it all up just to please your stupid friends,” continued Bellatrix whose body was shaking with fury now.

While Bellatrix was busy retorting about how she wouldn’t be spending another minute in the company of blood traitors, James summoned a pile of mud from outside and sent it swerving at her. It hit her directly in the face, and by the time she removed the brown mask James had planted, her face was redder than Peeves’s favourite pair of pants.

“Why you-”

“Ms. Black!” came Madam Pomfrey’s cry as she rushed out of her office just in time to see Bellatrix pointing her wand at James. “I do not wish to see further harm inflicted upon any other Hogwarts students, especially for some petty reasons. Move along you lot.”

With that she ushered them all out of the room. Before they were forced out by the insistent matron, James, Sirius and Peter ran to Remus’s side and promised that they would visit him again that evening.

To their surprise though, Lupin disagreed with their suggestion.

“I really appreciate your company, but I’m tired. I think I’ll get some sleep now. Madam Pomfrey has been insisting I do so for days now,” said Lupin, who was trying to sit up but couldn’t because of the pain.

“We’ll only be a minute!” Sirius protested.

“No,” Lupin said yet again. “I’m sure I’ll be much better tomorrow.”

Just then, Madam Pomfrey came along to usher them out threatening to call the Headmaster if they didn’t let her patients get the rest they required. As they made their way out they passed Regulus, who glanced nervously at his pocketwatch before starting a seemingly interesting whispered discussion with Bellatrix. They shot the three friends final furtive looks and left the hospital wing.


Uric the Oddball stopped, and drank the last remaining contents of his glass before sucking at the olive. Harry on the other hand wasn’t quite as relaxed.

“And then what happened?” he asked, his heart beating faster than was normal. “Did my dad and his friends go to the hospital wing that evening?”
He waited before speaking out loud the question that was gnawing at his insides.
“Did Bellatrix and Regulus go too?”

Before Uric could answer him, a loud crash came from the entrance hall.

[evlpez]

AN: ** Spoiler warning - This submission makes mention of situations in HBP. I've tried to keep it very vague.**


Private Lessons

Harry was startled.

"Souvenir?" Did he really mean to keep the card? What had made him stash it rather than put it in the pile with the others?

"I can only imagine what idiotic reason you have for your subreption," Snape sneered, turning back to his papers.

Harry bit his lip. "Subreption, sir?"

"The card, Potter. You just put something in your robes."

"The card? I.."

"Oh shut it." Snape signed. "Enough of your psitaceous mumbling. Just put it on the pile with the others, Potter. You're not to remove anything from this room that you didn't arrive with."

Harry was relieved. Watching the professor, he reached into his robes and pulled out his hand, flicking the edge of the top card as he slapped his hand gently on the pile. Snape looked at his watch.

"Go," He said, not bothering to look up.

Harry wasted no time. He left the office and headed back towards Gryffindor Tower, thinking about the detention card in his pocket. He wasn't sure why he took it, or why he didn't put it back when he was caught, but there was something about the event it described that Harry felt might be important. He was very interested in what had been done to the Anodyne Solution and who had really done what to land all five of them in detention. Harry was reluctant to visit Dumbledore without bringing the one thing he wanted most, but Harry needed to know. It was important, somehow.

"Just my imagination, anyway," he whispered to himself as he detoured. "It probably didn't happen like that at all."

He quickly made his way to Dumbledore's office. Just a quick word about it, he thought, and hopefully we'll stay off the subject of Slughorn.

"Acid Pops," he said to the Gargoyle, which slid aside.

At the top of the revolving stairs, he knocked.

The door opened for him, a mildly surprised Dumbledore looked up from his desk.

"You're here, sir." Harry was almost hoping not to find him.

"Yes, Harry. I'm on my way out, actually. Have you got it?"

Harry sat down in front of the desk and pulled out the detention card. "No, sir. I will though. I promised. Actually, it's something else. I found this during my detention with Snape tonight."

"Professor Snape, Harry."

"Yeah. Sorry. It's probably nothing, and I'm not sure exactly why I thought it might be, but do you remember anything about a time my Dad, Sirius and Pettigrew got a detention with Bellatrix Lestrange and Sirius' brother?"

Dumbledore reached across and Harry handed him the detention card. He held it out at arm's length and read it, front and back.

"Hm." Dumbledore looked pensive, and Harry felt that he might be wandering around in a library of memories, searching for the right one.

"Bellatrix only ever served one detention that can recall. This must be the one, as it's to do with the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was apprenticing at the time. Perhaps you should ask her. If I recall," he pointed his blackened hand at the card, "the tainted Anodyne Solution was destroyed before Professor Slughorn had a chance to find out exactly what had been done to it. And of course, only the students involved really knew what happened that day. They were all given equal blame and equal punishment."

"So, Remus would know?" Harry asked was Dumbledore handed the card back.

"He was present; he may, but he's unavailable. And as you wouldn’t expect to ask Bellatrix or Wormtail about it, you should begin with Madam Pomfrey. Tomorrow, of course."

"Yes sir. Thanks." Harry remained in his seat.

"Something else?"

"Well, I was just wondering about Sirius' brother," Harry said softly.

"Regulus Black, being dead, is rather quiet these days, Harry." Dumbledore smiled.

"Yeah I know," Harry said. "Do you.. think he and Sirius loved each other?"

Dumbledore looked up at him again.

"I mean, no one told who did what, right? Was it because everyone was trying to save themselves from more trouble, or because Sirius and Regulus were brothers, and they didn't want to get one another in more trouble?"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in that way they often did. Harry heard a snort from the portrait of Phineas Nigellus.

"Sirius talked very little about his brother for his own reasons. He mourned the fact that his brother had been a Death Eater. His death was a great loss for Sirius, considering Regulus had wished to leave Voldemort's service. It's my personal theory that Sirius felt guilty, that he should've done more to help Regulus do so. I must admit that I feel some guilt, myself for the same reason. Unfortunately, news of his intentions reached me too late." Dumbledore rose from his desk now, looking at his watch.

"Sirius said Voldemort ordered him dead. Who do you think actually killed him?"

Dumbledore shook his head as he reached for his cloak from the back of his chair. "I don't know. It was a horrible death, that I know. It wasn't the killing curse. But I'm afraid it's time for you to return to your dormitory, Harry."

"Yes sir," Harry replied. He got up.

"And Harry, please don't forget that other matter…" Dumbledore began.

"I'll try to talk to Professor Slughorn again tomorrow too." He left quietly and quickly, and returned to Gryffindor tower.

As Harry climbed into his bed, he heard Ron's plangent moaning.

"Not now, Lavender…"

First thing the next morning, Harry went off alone to the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be found, so Harry decided to come back later. As he came out again, he ran right into Professor Slughorn, bouncing slightly off his large, maroon belly.

"Harry!" Slughorn's eyes darted about a bit, avoiding Harry's. "Can't talk just now, my boy. I need to speak with.."

"She's not in, sir," Harry interrupted. "I couldn’t find her."

"Oh." Slughorn's face dropped, and Harry fingered the card in his pocket, wondering if he should chance asking him about it.

"Professor, do you remember an incident when my parents were here, when my Dad served a detention for something about an Anodyne Solution in the Hospital Wing?" Harry pulled the card from his pocket and showed it to Slughorn.

Slughorn read it, his eyes squinting. He broke out into a wide smile and patted his belly. "Ah yes. This wasn't recorded properly. I remember testing that solution myself. Nasty thing! In the course of my dabbling, it changed color completely to bright green without any warning whatsoever. And I'll bet you can tell me why it did that, can't you, Harry?"

Harry's heart raced, but he had no idea without his textbook handy to tell him. He shook his head.

"Really? Page two hundred, Harry! It's all there. Anyway, as soon as that happened, I realized how incredibly dangerous it was and destroyed the whole vial immediately. I reported my findings to the Nurse for the record, but I guess she neglected to add them. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm due elsewhere now. See you in class, Harry."

Harry realized at that moment that his guess was probably right. Bellatrix and Regulus were probably responsible for the tainted solution, if it was that dangerous. And if Bellatrix was responsible, it might even have had something to do with Voldemort. She was older than Sirius, and maybe a full fledged Death Eater by that time. Maybe this was how she got in. He had to find out more.

[McGonagall's Cat]

***Very minor spoilers for HBP


The Other Records

“Don’t know what you mean, sir,” Harry answered innocently.

“Turn out your pockets, Potter,” snape sneered.

Harry fumbled around, making a big production out of complying, all the while casting a petulant look at Snape as each bit and bob emerged. He pulled the assortment of items from any other pocket he could manage, as the Professor became more and more impatient.

“I don’t think so, Potter,” Snape glowered, bracing both his hands on the desktop directly across from where Harry was seated. “There will be no subreption this time!”

Harry could feel his mental boundaries being assaulted. Setting his jaw, he determinedly began to concentrate on recreating the visions of James embarrassing the greasy-haired fifth-year version of Snape. The teen, suspended mid-air, flailing about as onlookers laughed. Harry focused on the spectators amused expressions.

The face across the desk began to colour. As a hand thumped the desk, it growled, “Get OUT! Now!”

Harry scooped everything off the table into his bag with a single swipe and raced from the room.






Waiting until most of the confusion had died down and the Common Room had cleared considerably, Harry handed the card to Ron and Hermione saying, “Look at this, tell me what you think.”

“Sounds like a good old fashioned brouhaha in the Hospital wing, to me,” Ron shrugged.
“’Shame Madam Pomfrey didn’t poison Bellatrix then…”

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Ron mumbled on off-handedly while studying the card with a furrowed brow, “I’ve done a detention without magic in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey keeps records in her office about them, too.”

“What?” Harry said, suddenly very interested.

Ron looked at him unfazed. “Yeah, she has all these files in her office that date back to who knows when.”

Harry jumped up and dashed up stairs, returning with his Invisibility Cloak in less than two minutes. He stuffed the index card into his robes and headed toward the portrait hole.

“Hey, wait!” Hermione said following him. “Where are you going?”

Ron caught up, answering, “Pomfrey’s office, where else?”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea….” She started to say pulling a pocket watch from her robes. “It’s after eleven!” When they didn’t pause, she followed the boys into the hallway.

As Hermione turned left and headed for the staircases, Ron and Harry turned right and hurried off in that direction.

She spun on her heel and caught up with them. “Where ARE you going?”

Harry barely slowed to answer, “Shhhhh. ‘Shortcut Fred and George showed me a while ago.”

At the dead end of the corridor, Harry reached under a tapestry that covered the entire wall and moved a stone. A scraping sound echoed back down the way they’d come as a narrow opening appeared beside the ugly wall hanging. “Hurry,” he said slipping through. The moment all three had passed into the gap the wall slid back into place, but rather than being lost in darkness, there was a muted yellow glow a few meters down the passageway.

Harry pushed cautiously on what would turn out to be the back of a bookcase once the Trio was past it. He peered around to make sure no unpleasant surprises lurked, then stepped out into the Fourth Floor hallway.

Hermione looked around disconcerted. “But we didn’t descend any steps or ramps!”

Harry shushed her again and hurried down a spindly staircase that seemed as though it might collapse if they stepped on it too hard. It came out three doors from the Hospital Wing.

Carefully opening the door a crack, Ron listened, then opened it wide. The moonlit dormitory was lined with neatly made severe looking, entirely unoccupied, beds. Madam Pomfrey’s private quarters, at the far end, had no sliver of light coming from below the door. The Trio crept forward.

“Muffliato,” Harry said pointing his wand at her rooms.

“Over here!” Ron motioned, leading them past half the beds where he turned away from the windows. A stuffy storeroom redolent of dust, oldness, and musty wood was hidden behind the storage area for unused screens. Inside the lights turned on automatically when the door opened. To the right, piles of odd-looking equipment were stacked on rank-upon-rank of shelves, while just as many file cabinets stretched away to the left.

Standing side-by-side part way along the front row, each of the three pulled a different drawer open and began shuffling through the overstuffed drawers.

“They’re filed by date,” Hermione said. “I’ve got the 1940s.”

Ron was kneeling. “Mine are the 1960s. Hold on! Here’s one from when my Dad was a Fourth year. Ewww! How’d he do that?”

Harry closed the drawer he’d been looking in and moved closer to Ron. In no time he whispered, “1974!”

He placed the drawer with October and November on the floor between them and they began searching through the records it contained.

Staring at the chart in her hand, Hermione let out a strangled, “Eep!”

The startled boys looked up.

“Colloidal Silver!” she hissed in a shocked whisper.

“What about it?”

“It’s what Bellatrix put into that Anodyne Solution.”

“What would it matter?” Ron asked. “Mum used it in several of the healing potions she gave us as kids. It’s supposed to enhance your immune system or something.”

“But it would have killed Lupin,” Harry said through gritted teeth. “If he’d have swallowed silver in any form…”

He took the file from Hermione and flipped through, skimming the comments so precisely written by the healer. Most of it was perfunctory, but there was a fairly large space in the middle of one of the back pages.

Hermione looked excited. She tipped her head sideways, “I wonder…. I’ve heard about it before, but never seen it... Of course, this might not be…”

“What ARE you on about?” Ron asked.

She drew her wand and touched the empty area which immediately came alive. “Magical ink!” she said triumphantly.

Suddenly words and illustrations began to crawl across the page. A listing of other files was cited, but the kids didn’t notice, transfixed by the story unfolding in the magical ink.

An accurate characterature of Sirius was subtly spiraling the end of his wand at several other students, one of which was a devastatingly beautiful girl with long dark hair.
The recipients began to painfully mutate into ancient creatures, with the dark-haired girl becoming the most ugly hag Harry had ever seen. A reference number to another file appeared.

A new panel emerged showing what could only be James and Peter casting hexes at another group, from their hiding place behind a stone column in one of the lower halls. A mass of something, possible bees or a flock of tiny birds swarmed after the hapless students. The numbers from several other charts came across the page.

Just as a third image began to coalesce on the page, the door burst open and Madam Pomfrey shrieked, “What are you doing in here?” Her eyes wide, she let loose a plangent cry, “My records!”