Chapter 10 - A Journey Interrupted
The end of summer vacation couldn't come quickly enough for Harry's liking. After purchasing his supplies at Diagon Alley five days previous, it was now time to pack up and prepare to leave for King's Cross Station the next morning. While at first, Harry enjoyed being back in the Wizarding World (anything would be better than Privet Drive, he thought), he quickly got bored of hearing Tom the Bartender ramble on about wizards he had known, and how exciting it was to have Harry as a guest, and how grateful they all were that he had destroyed The Dark Lord (<…if I really got rid of Voldemort, why is everyone still scared to say his name?> he wondered, not for the first time) and on and on and on until he was ready to scream.
His last night there, though, he heard the only bit of information that was of any interest to Harry. As he said goodnight after helping Harry get all of Lockhart's books packed away, Tom mentioned that Miss Puckle had stayed in that very room exactly one year before. "What a beautiful young witch," Tom smiled toothlessly, "and so nice, too! She gave me an entire Galleon for taking care of her things and getting them up to her room. I never got a Galleon before or since from anyone for just haulin' bags! So, do you like her classes up at Hogwarts? Bet she's a good teacher, i'n't she? So smart and all, from Canada, she said!"
Harry, who indeed remembered Miss Puckle, was for some reason pleased to know that he was in the same room that she had stayed at the night before she started at Hogwarts. While he was still a bit young to be interested in such things he wasn't completely unobservant. He actually thought that his Assistant Charms Professor looked okay for a girl, considering she was a teacher and all. During the year, he had overheard most of the older students in the Slytherin Common Room placing bets on who would be the first to "get" her, along with detailed (and somewhat graphic) speculation on certain parts of her anatomy that he didn't quite follow, but he got a strange feeling of …anger, maybe? - when he heard them talking that way about her, so he didn't participate.
As he was getting into bed, he started thinking about his past year at school. Harry again regretted that he had followed Slytherin House's boycott of Miss Puckle's extra classes for first year students, especially since he had a suspicion that if all of the Slytherin first years had taken the class, they would have given Gryffindor a closer race in the House Cup standings. Even though he had done very well in his Charms exams, he knew that Hermione Granger had beaten him by a slim margin, and he had heard that she spent a lot of time with Miss Puckle. <Maybe if I had just gone ahead and done the extra study, I could have answered one more of those extra credit questions! Why do the Slytherins all have to do what Malfoy says? Well, not this year. I know Blaise doesn't like "Golden Boy" either - maybe I'll have to start hanging around him some more. He seems like a nice bloke. Canada, eh? Don't know much about witches and wizards over there. Maybe I can ask her about it when I get back to school and apologize for how we treated her last year. Now that I think about it, I should probably do the same with Hermione Granger. I mean, she can't be all that bad, can she?> And with that, he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face, anticipating the trip to Hogwarts the next day.
*******
The next morning, Harry realized with a shock that he wasn't sure HOW he was to get to Hogwarts, or, at least, to King's Cross Station. He thought about taking a cab again, but there was no Muggle phone in the Leaky Cauldron and he didn't want to try to haul his trunk and Hedwig around while he was looking for a phone booth. Besides, for some reason he had overslept quite a bit, and he didn't have too much time to make the trip from Charing Cross Road to King's Cross Station. He decided to ask Tom for some advice as he came in to help with his things and settle his bill.
"Not to worry, Mr. Potter. There's two easy ways for you to get there. You can either go by Floo or by Knight Bus, but with the bus you never know when you're going to get there, now do you? Besides, you can use your fireplace in your room, don'cha know! There's a Floo stop hidden not too far from King's Cross, so that'd be best, I think, since the Knight Bus may be pretty busy today." At Harry's increasingly confused look, Tom stopped, puzzled. "Don't tell me you don't know about the Floo Network, Harry? Oh, of course, living with them Muggles and all, of course you wouldn't. Well, it's simple, you just…", and Tom proceeded to give a quick instruction on the use of the Floo Network. When he asked if it cost anything to use, Tom assured him that the fee was included in the price of his room that he had paid for. "Most Wizard households pay a fee to the Floo Network Authority based on usage and such, but we just provide the service to our guests."
Harry nodded, and went over to the fireplace in his room. "Thanks, Tom, for all your trouble. I was going to give you this after you finished with my bags, but now you can tell your customers that TWO guests paid you a Galleon for a tip!" As Tom laughed gleefully, Harry grabbed some Floo Powder from the pot next to the fireplace. As Tom handed him his trunk with Hedwig's cage on top, Harry threw the powder in the fire as Tom had instructed, said clearly "King's Cross Station" as the fire roared and turned green, and he was gone.
"What a way to travel!" Harry said moments later as he stopped spinning in a back storage room of a small shop near the station. Hedwig seemed rather unaffected by the whole affair, but Harry wasn't sure that he wanted to do that again. "Next time, I think I'll try that Knight Bus Tom mentioned. It can't be too bad, can it?" He noticed by looking at the clock outside the station that he would be cutting things close, so he ran across the street, grabbed a trolley for his trunk, and headed for Platform 9 3/4. As he got within sight of the platform, he saw what looked like the back of Ron Weasley's red head as he passed through the barrier. <Good,> he thought, <I'm not too late after all. As soon as they get clear, I'll go through with some time to spare!>
Harry made sure that Hedwig's cage was safely wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley around to face the barrier. He felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. He bent low over the handle of his trolley and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, he broke into a run and -
CRASH.
His trolley hit the barrier and bounced backward, his trunk and Hedwig's cage falling off with a loud thump (the trunk) and a shriek (Hedwig). A guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?"
"Lost control of the trolley," Harry gasped. As he scrambled to pick up Hedwig and his trunk, he was more than a bit scared. As the clock hands moved to 11:00, he knew that he was in trouble. <Why couldn't I get through? Weasley got through just now, I saw him. Wait a minute, I bet Malfoy has something to do with this! I bet he or his dad, more likely, did something so I can't get through. Bet he thinks that's funny, doesn't he? Trying to get back at me for not coming to see him, I'd wager.> "Well, I'll show him when I get to school…if I can figure out how to do that, that is!"
Hedwig hooted softly, as Harry had said this last part aloud. <Of course,> he realized, <I've got an owl! I'm sure they have some way for late students to get to school; I'll just send a letter to Professor Snape. He's my head of house, he'll know what to do!> Harry quickly pushed the trolley with his trunk back towards the exit, to avoid the stares of the crowd who had gathered to see what the commotion was about. He worked his way back to the Floo Network stop he had used. "Hmm, wonder if I can use this to get to school, even though I'd rather not." he said out loud. "Well, Tom said you have to know the exact name of the place you want to go, and all I know is here and the Leaky Cauldron, so I'll ask in the letter. I'd use the Knight Bus, but Tom never told me how to find it, so this will have to do."
Harry wrote a quick note to Professor Snape, explaining his situation and asking if there was a way he could Floo to school. He sent Hedwig off through an open window with the letter attached to his leg, and sat down in the back of the room between two large, dusty boxes (just in case someone looked in) and waited for a response.
What seemed to Harry to be an eternity passed before Hedwig returned, carrying a parchment bearing the Hogwarts seal.
Mr. Potter,
As head of your house, I was both surprised and somewhat disappointed when I received your message. I can think of no valid reason why you would not be able to pass through the barrier and board the train. While I have never had any reason to doubt you in the past, this whole incident is very disturbing. This is especially true in light of other messages I have received concerning you this summer. I have heard rumours, for example, that you have had a falling-out with your friend Mr. Malfoy, and I could not believe my ears. But, we will discuss this later.
As to your current situation. Yes, you are correct in assuming that there are alternative means for students to travel to Hogwarts, although they are meant to be used in special situations, not for students that miss the train. The Floo Network connection that you will use is at Hogsmeade Station, where you disembarked from the train last year. Of course, we do not use it for transporting students generally since it would tie up the network for hours to get all of the students through safely. You will have to deposit five sickles in the slot next to the Floo powder pot for you to use the network. Since you have also missed your carriage ride to the castle by now, I will arrange for someone to be waiting for you when you arrive to escort you from Hogsmeade. Please come directly to my office when you arrive so I can get to the bottom of this tale of yours and discuss what is going on with my top Potions Student team!
Severus Snape, Head, Slytherin House.
<Uh, oh!>Harry thought. <Professor Snape isn't going to be happy, that's for sure. I almost forgot about the Potions competition he wanted Malfoy and me to enter this year. Well, based on the last letter I received from Malfoy, that may be a problem!>
Harry got up, gathered his things, put Hedwig in her cage, and dug five sickles out of his bag. He found a slot next to the ancient powder pot ("Made by Ingnatia Wildsmith", the rough inscription read), and when he put the coins in, a small handful of powder magically appeared in the container. He repeated the process he had done at the Leaky Cauldron that morning, said "Hogsmeade Station", and was glad once again that he hadn't eaten much that day as he started spinning rapidly in the flames.
"Oh, there you are, Mr. Potter. Your head of house asked me to come down and collect you, but I wasn't expecting you for a few more minutes!" he heard as he emerged from the fireplace in the empty railway station house, choking slightly on the ashes he had breathed in. As he blinked and wiped the soot and ashes from his face, he looked up into the face of …for a second, he thought it was… Hermione Granger? But that couldn't be… no, it was Miss Puckle who had greeted him, smiling brightly.
<That was close,> she thought to herself, <I have to be more careful about letting my appearance slip. But, I thought I was alone…guess I'll just have to wait until I get back to my room next time I want to do something like that.>
"M-mm-iss Puckle?" Harry sputtered, still trying to get more ash out of his mouth. "I wasn't expecting you to come get me! I'm sorry to have bothered you! I thought he would send a prefect or Filch or someone, not you!"
"Well, I'm glad to see you, too, Mr. Potter", Harmony said with a feigned hurt in her voice. "Honestly, it's no trouble at all. And, since I am the junior member of the teaching staff, Argus is off somewhere with that cat of his chasing Peeves, and all the prefects are busy escorting the first years to their respective houses, I have the responsibility…to take care of you. I would have volunteered, anyway, since I really enjoy walking down to Hogsmeade. Besides, if I remember correctly, I never had the chance to meet with you as part of my assigned duties to discuss how you are adapting to your first year at Hogwarts! Since you are on the eve of your second year, I had better complete my assignment quickly, or else Professor Dumbledore may notice I have been derelict in my responsibilities."
Harry goggled at her words, which had caught him off guard. "Wh-what? You want to see how my first year is going, NOW?"
When he looked closer in her eyes, he could tell that she was barely able to keep from laughing. "Potter, don't be so serious - I was only joking! I honestly would like to talk to you a little, though. Seems like we never got to sit down last year, what with your house's boycott of my extra classes and all."
"Sorry about that, Miss Puckle. Draco Malfoy was the one who really started the boycott, and at the time, I followed along since I was still new in the wizarding world…" While they were talking, they gathered Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage (Hedwig having already left for the owlery), and started up the road to the castle. He told her about his summer, and even mentioned a little about his dispute with Draco. The more he talked to her on the way, the more he regretted not standing up to Golden Boy last year. <She's really nice, a good listener, and yes, she really isn't bad to look at, besides!> he thought to himself. "Miss Puckle, I have a favor to ask of you," he said to her as they neared the gates on the west of the lake that guarded the entrance to the castle grounds.
"What is it, Mr. Potter?" she said with a smile that seemed to warm him from head to toe. "Let me guess," she continued, "you'd like to know what you can do to outscore Miss Granger in Charms this year."
"How'd you know?" Harry asked, amazed at her perception. "I mean, I just thought of that yesterday! But, yes, I figured that she only beat me last year because she took those extra lessons from you, and I was wondering if you might help me catch up some. I thought that there might be a few others in my year that might also be interested, and maybe we'll be able to be more competitive in the house cup this time around. Or, are you opposed to helping out Slytherin students after how we treated you last year?"
"Oh, honestly, Har - Mr. Potter, why would you say such a thing? I'd love to work much closer with you this year…and any of your fellow students who are interested, of course," she added quickly, turning her head so he wouldn't see the blush that was just starting to show in her cheeks. She had realized as they were going past the lake on the way to the castle just how much she missed walking and talking with Harry as she had done so many times in her past.
<It's been a long time, hasn't it?> she reminisced to herself. <I remember him from this year quite well. He is really starting to become quite the handsome young man, and I can see my Harry's features coming out in his face and his build. Careful, Hermione, wouldn't want anyone to get suspicious! I've got to keep things together for three more years subjective time! It sure wouldn't do for me as a teacher to get caught in a compromising snog with a second year student, now would it? Although, as far as I am concerned, I'm not quite 18 myself, and he's still my 17-year old Harry, somewhere in that head of his. It's only his…his 12 year old body that is…Hermione, GET A GRIP!>she nearly screamed to herself, shaking her head to get rid of the images that had come into her head.
Harry had walked on towards the front door of the castle, completely oblivious to the effect he was having on his escort's heart rate and circulation. "Here we are, Miss Puckle, back to the castle, safe and sound. I think I could have managed the trip alone. I mean, it's not like anyone is going to try to attack me or something, is it?"
"No, Mr. Potter - of course not. Severus…I mean, Professor Snape, was just being overly protective of his star pupil, I suspect. That reminds me - you need to get up to his office straightaway. He's waiting for you and my instructions were not to let you dawdle. So, off you go!" As Harmony watched him head towards Snape's office in the dungeons, she took a deep breath, smiled wistfully, and headed towards her quarters. <Better go have a talk with Albus tomorrow morning. Maybe he can help me get over this. But for now, I think a cold shower might be a good idea.>
*******
Harry knocked on Professor Snape's office door. He, of course, had been to this office many times during the past year to discuss various assignments with his head of house. But, as he knocked, he had another one of his "memory flashes" as he called them. They came at the strangest times, when he would be doing the most routine things. He would see in his mind him doing the same thing, but in a different situation. Either he felt a lot older, or he was with…Ron Weasley, or Hermione Granger, or both. The memories were as real as they could be, then they would fade rapidly. This time, he clearly felt an unfamiliar feeling as he knocked on the door of the person who he thought of as a good mentor and Harry's favorite teacher to this point. <Why am I feeling like I am in very deep trouble right now? I haven't done anything except miss the train to Hogwarts, and that wasn't even my fault! It's almost like I've been caught doing something horrible!>
As he knocked again on the door, he was surprised to hear Professor Snape behind him. "Mr. Potter, there you are. Miss Puckle had no problem collecting you, I see." As he performed the spells to unlock his office door, Snape said in a firm voice, "In you go!"
****
"Mr. Potter…are you all right?" Harry blinked, and reached gratefully for the glasses that someone was handing him. He looked around, somewhat confused. "What am I doing in the Hospital Wing? You're…Madam Pomfrey, right?" During his last year, Harry had only been to the Hospital Wing once, and that was during an orientation trip led by the prefects, so he wasn't used to being in a bed there. "Can someone please explain what is going on?" he pleaded.
"Actually, Mr. Potter, we were hoping you could help us with that when you regained consciousness." Harry noticed that he was also being attended by Headmaster Dumbledore himself. "I know that Madam Pomfrey would prefer that I talk to you in the morning, but I'll leave that up to you. Do you feel strong enough to answer a few questions?" Harry nodded, ignoring the look of disbelief on the school nurse. Dumbledore smiled, and started in. "Harry, has anything strange happened to you since I sent you that letter at the beginning of summer last year?"
Harry snorted, "Well, that's putting it mildly, sir. Because of your request in that letter, I've got the entire Malfoy family upset with me. Then, I was framed by a house elf and that gets me locked in my room for weeks as a result. I escape purely by chance, go to London, and barely make it to King's Cross Station because I didn't get up on time. I never sleep in! Then I can't get through the barrier at the platform. I have to travel by Floo to get to Hogsmeade, Miss Puckle tells me to meet with Professor Snape right away, and when he told me to go in his office, the next thing I know I'm waking up in a bed in the Hospital Wing. None of it makes any sense at all!"
Madam Pomfrey was becoming more upset the more she heard. "Headmaster, I must insist that we let Mr. Potter get some rest before this interrogation continues. He is obviously distraught, and I will not have him make things worse by reliving these traumatic events. I should have never let you stay here after you and Severus brought him in!"
"Poppy, please calm down. You know that I would never do anything to permanently harm young Mr. Potter! However, I think it is very important that we talk to him now while he still remembers details of what happened. I promise," Dumbledore said, calmly, "that I will take every precaution to keep him from being too upset." She huffed a little at this, but she pursed her lips very thinly and said nothing, her eyes flashing.
To Harry, Dumbledore said, "Very good, Harry. I only have two more simple questions for you, and then I will let you rest and hopefully, placate Madam Pomfrey before she bans me from the Hospital Wing…again. First, do you remember what Professor Snape said to you when he invited you into his office, and second, do you remember anything at all after that? Please concentrate carefully, especially on that last question."
Harry was lost in thought for a moment. "Well, if I remember right, Professor Snape came up behind me, acknowledged I was there, said 'In you go!' and then…then, I…thought I was being thrown into…what? …that's silly!"
"What's silly, Harry? What do you remember?" Dumbledore had an intense look of concentration on his face as he stared into Harry's green eyes. "Don't worry, it will be fine. I am here with you, Harry, and you won't get hurt. What is it you saw?"
"I…I was being thrown into my old bedroom space at Privet Drive, sir. I haven't been in there for well over a year. Now that I think about it, I remember the last time I was in that cupboard under the stairs." Madam Pomfrey started to say something at this, but at a warning look from Dumbledore, she went back to seething quietly. "It was early in the morning the day I left for Hogwarts at the beginning of first year, and Vernon had moved me into the spare bedroom by then. I thought I must have been sleepwalking that night because of all the excitement and ended up in the wrong place, but I also remember feeling like it had been years since I had gone to sleep the night before. That's what was silly about the whole thing."
"Is there anything else that you want to tell me?" Albus said, still locking eyes with Harry.
"No, sir, that's about it. If I remember anything else, I'll be sure and let you know. For some reason, at the moment I am feeling very tired. Maybe I should just stay here until the morning."
Madam Pomfrey could no longer keep quiet. "That, Mr. Potter, is the most intelligent thing I have heard anyone say this evening. Good evening, Headmaster!" she said in her most authoritative tone, as she pulled the curtains around Harry's bed. "If I think he is better tomorrow, I will release him in time for breakfast. But not until I say he is ready."
*******
"Headmaster Dumbledore, sir! Could I have a word with you please?" Miss Puckle's voice had an unmistakable strain in it when Albus heard it in his private quarters.
"Well, Miss Puckle. Fancy seeing you here this morning…again! It's becoming a bit of a tradition already, isn't it? Two years in a row now I have a very early visit from you on the first day of term, even earlier this time, if I remember right. And, if I'm not mistaken, you would like to discuss the same subject as last year. Should I go ahead and schedule this meeting for next year so I don't have a conflict?" The amusement in Dumbledore's voice was evident as he opened the outer door to his office and escorted her directly into his private study. "I wasn't planning on starting our regular meetings with Minerva until later this week."
"Oh, Albus, sir, I didn't mean to barge in, but I do need to talk to you about two things, and it's probably best that Minerva is not here for this meeting. I'm afraid she might lose some respect for me as a teacher if she were to hear what I am about to tell you," Harmony said, with a definite guilty tone in her voice.
"Am I to assume," he queried, "that this does have something to do with young Mr. Potter, then? When I saw you volunteer so enthusiastically to collect him at the station instead of letting our new Head Boy go there as Snape had suggested originally, I thought that maybe…"
"-it wouldn't be a good idea!" Hermione finished. "Well, you were right about that, sir. I don't know what came over me after I 'volunteered'…well; 'insisted' is probably a better word. I think my first mistake was walking down to Hogsmeade the way we… Harry and I, that is, used to go. We had our own little path picked out, and I started thinking about how nice it would be to have a chance to talk to Harry all alone on the way back. As you know, I didn't get too much of a chance to talk to him last year, so I have really missed him…well, anyway, I got to the station and saw myself in the mirror, and made another mistake."
"What would that be, Hermione?" Albus said with a knowing smile.
"Well, I was wondering what I would look like as Hermione again, but in this older body. So, I wasn't paying attention to the fireplace, and reversed the appearance spells for a moment, just to satisfy my curiosity. Funny, I've never even thought to do that before when I was by myself in my quarters. The next thing I knew, Harry was flooing in, and I think he may have seen the real me for a second before I could change back. He was getting the ash out of his eyes at the time, so I hope he just thought he was seeing things."
"Go on, Hermione. Do you have any more awful confessions?" His smile was even wider now.
"Well, sir, we started talking, and he was just so…polite, apologizing for the Slytherin boycott last year, and asking if he could get a group of his house mates together for some catch-up Charms work. He really would like to outdo a certain young Gryffindor girl, you know! He also thinks that I could probably help all of Slytherin score better in the House Cup competition if he could just persuade them to work with me. That's the Harry I remember, the one that was always trying to help others and just be a good kid. Well, then as we were walking towards the castle, I noticed how he had changed so much over the summer. His face, his frame, all of him, is starting to look more and more like the young man I saw at King's Cross Station that terrible day…and then, I started having the most …inappropriate… thoughts." Her cheeks were now quite red, and her neck was starting to visibly flush.
"Hermione, please don't be ashamed or worried. I'll have to admit, I had my reservations when you went down to Hogsmeade yesterday, but now, at least, you've had a reminder of what can happen if you let your guard down when it comes to your feelings. Fortunately, no real harm appears to have come of it. Yes, Mr. Potter is maturing, although I am sure if you asked him to be honest right now, he would only have a vague idea that you are a good-looking teacher who is quite a bit older than he is. Remember that, as far as he knows on the surface, anyway, he is a 12-year old student at Hogwarts. I'm sure he has overheard his older classmates talk about girls and things, but he's still young enough that it's not really part of his life yet, the way it will be in the next few years. I have seen this pattern develop countless times over the years, with each class of students. I must admit, however, that your situation is unique."
"That's the problem, isn't it, sir? The truth is, in my mind, he and I are nearly the same age. His birthday is actually fifty days before mine sir; 31 July to 19 September, even though I was born the year before him. THAT is what I think of when I see him, the now 17-year old young man who should probably be Head Boy if we were back in my timeline now, not the 12-year old body he is trapped in. And I, - I am almost 18 myself, not this nearly 28 year old dark-haired Assistant Professor of Charms that I see in the mirror every day." By this time, tears of frustration were quite evident in her eyes.
"My dear, the only thing I can say to you is, don't give up hope. You have been an exemplary instructor, nearly all of my staff and most of the students (with the exception of a certain house) adore you, while many of that house have other, less appropriate thoughts about you personally. Be that as it may, I assure you that you are maintaining your identity quite well. You will need to come up with a way to resolve your conflicts about Mr. Potter. May I suggest, even though you seemed to be opposed to the idea earlier, that you have a chat or two with Minerva? She actually is a real person who has a real life, you know, and she has loved and lost and loved again a few times herself," he said with a wistful smirk on his face. "You might just be surprised at her more mature perspective on things. She's also a very good listener, you know."
Hermione smiled back at Dumbledore. "Thanks for the advice. You're right, she might just be who I need right now. And sir, thank you so much for listening, too. I've been worried about this all night long, and I was just feeling awful."
"That's quite all right, my dear," he said. "Now, Miss Granger, before you go on to the other subject you mentioned, I would like to tell you about something that happened last night after you brought Harry to the castle."
"Is something wrong, sir? Did something happen to Harry? I mean, in my timeline, he and Ron would have had quite a run-in with the Whomping Willow last night when they hit it with a flying car. Something about the barrier at the platform not working. We found out later this had been caused by Dobby, the Malfoy's house-elf."
"Hmm…that's interesting. Well, while some of the events have changed, apparently key elements are still in place in this time loop." Albus said. "Harry was unable to cross through the barrier yesterday, which is why you had to pick him up at the station. Yes, a house-elf could block someone from going through, if there was sufficient reason for him to do so. Curious, the Malfoy's house-elf, you say…well, back to what happened. Harry met with Severus, and Severus started to escort him into his office, using the phrase, 'In you go!' As Severus related to me when I met him on the way to the Hospital Wing, Harry immediately froze up as if he were bound by ropes, and fell on the floor unconscious. Severus magicked a stretcher for him, put him on it, and started floating him towards the Hospital Wing when I found them. Poppy was able to revive him quickly, and when I asked him to recount his experience, he said he remembered being thrown into a cupboard under the stairs in the Dursley home." Hermione noticed the distaste evident on his face when he said this last.
"Harry," he mumbled mostly to himself, "I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive an old man for his tough decisions one day… Now, where was I? Oh yes, Harry then went on to recount how he had last been in that cupboard when he woke up unexpectedly in there exactly one year ago yesterday when he was coming to Hogwarts for the first time." Hermione's eyes lit up as she started realizing what was happening, but Albus was still talking. "…and he also said he felt at the time as if it had been years since he had gone to sleep the night before. It appears, Miss Granger, that your 17-year old friend's memories are fighting their way to the surface!"
"So, Bellatrix's memory charm wasn't done all that well? Surely she is a good enough witch to do that correctly, isn't she?" Hermione asked her headmaster, perplexed.
"Normally, you'd be correct, my dear," he responded. "But, you of all people should be able to think about what may have happened. You felt it too, from what I gather from your story. And, as Assistant Professor of Charms, you should remember a certain lesson you teach your N.E.W.T. level students, about…"
"- She crucio'd him, didn't she? TWICE! No wonder he's starting to remember through the memory charm! I remember now, spell interactions… 'The memories of the pain caused by a Cruciatus Curse are especially difficult to remove from a subject's mind through use of a Memory Charm,' she quoted perfectly from her Advanced Spell Theory notes. 'As time goes on, this interaction is lessened, but for a successful memory removal to occur, please wait at least 24 hours for each Cruciatus Curse used on someone before attempting to remove the memory of the attack.' "At least, that's what I tell my seventh year students who are wanting to go on to be a healer. I guess that we have a positive confirmation of this warning, eh, sir?"
"Yes, Miss Puckle," he twinkled merrily. "It looks like Dilys knew what she was talking about. I'll have to remind her portrait about it sometime. Pity, I suppose, that Bellatrix was never too keen on magical healing theory. But, Tom Riddle should have known. Maybe he forgot to warn her to keep her wand to herself, or maybe she just couldn't control herself."
Harmony got a big grin on her face as she remembered what she had felt from Harry the previous year. "No, I think Harry may have caught on somehow. He deliberately annoyed her, trying to force her to get mad enough to attack him. He must have remembered enough of the spell theory we had studied together to think that there might be an interaction. You know, that's pretty intelligent of him to extrapolate that out to postulate an interaction between an Unforgivable Curse and a Memory Charm! If he were in my class, I'd have to give Slytherin fifty points for that thinking."
"Well, I don't see why not!" the headmaster smiled. That will make Severus happy, I'm sure. Fifty points up and the first day of term not even fully begun! But, now about the other thing you would like to discuss. I assume it has something to do with that leather-bound book you have with you?"
(A/N -Thanks again to the HP-Lexicon, (www.hp-lexicon.org) this time for the map of Hogsmeade and the area surrounding Hogwarts! Ignatia Wildsmith is, according to JKR's website, the Witch of the Month for December 2004 and the inventor of Floo Powder back in the 13th or early 14th century, so that is one OLD pot! And, Dilys, of course, is Dilys Derwent from OotP, St. Mungo's Healer and Headmistress of Hogwarts back in the mid-1700's.)