Chapter 12: Infirmary
Harry yawned and stretched as he left his Lord’s Quarters to head down to breakfast. It was really amusing how all you needed to get into Gryffindor Tower was a simple password (that he actually didn’t know), yet to get into his Lord’s Quarters… well, the door would only open for him and those he allowed.
Such as Discord, even though he didn’t need to use the door.
That thought made him chuckle as he made his way down to breakfast. Harry hadn’t shown up to the sorting, causing the whole room to go silent for a minute when Professor McGonagall had called out his name.
So, how exactly were people going to assault him when he arrived?
And arrive he would. The massive bedchamber was so much larger than he was used to, and the bed so much more comfortable, that he hadn’t been able to sleep at all… until Discord had started singing him to sleep, after which he’d slept like a log. He’d known the avatar for less than a day, yet they were already perfectly familiar with one another!
He reached the Great Hall rather uneventfully, despite crossing paths with a few other first-years… all with funny-colored hair. A couple of them even greeted him as they went about their business.
And not one tried to punch him.
He scanned the Gryffindor table as he approached, then picked an open seat next to Hermione, even though Harry had only ever seen her at Gringotts.
She greeted him as he sat down, without looking up. “Morning, Hailey.”
“Good morning,” he answered, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice. Did she actually know it was him, or had she just made a random guess?
Hermione blinked and turned sharply to face him. “Wha-!?” she began.
“What?”
“Y-You’re-!” She paused. “You’re Harry Potter?” It sounded like a question.
He nodded. “Yeah, that’s what people call me,” he agreed. “The ‘Boy Who Lived’, whose hand they all want to shake for some reason.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course they do,” she grumbled. “You’re famous for getting attacked by a mass murderer. It’s… insane.”
“Quite,” he agreed.
“HARRY POTTER!”
Harry knew it was Ronald Weasley, charging down the table at him, before he even looked. “What the-?” he began deliberately; Harry had never seen the boy.
Then Ron crashed into him, bowling him straight into Hermione, who cried out in pain.
The next second, Harry’s elbow interacted with Ron’s face, and the aggressive boy crashed to the ground as Harry rolled off of Hermione, also dropping to the floor- though unlike Ron, he landed on his feet and turned back to her. “You okay?” he asked her.
Hermione pushed herself back up. “Ow ow ow,” she complained. “Um, yeah, I think.” She touched the left side of her head, which had been really close to the edge of the table. “Am I bleeding?”
He looked critically at the side of her head. “Doesn’t look like it,” he observed.
She sighed. “Good. I don’t think he managed to break anything either.” Then she turned to him. “Are you okay?”
He shrugged. “I’m used to that kind of thing.”
Ron scrambled back to his feet. “Harry,” he complained through his bloody nose. “Why’d you hit me, your best friend?”
“My-?” Harry began, turning to him. “Who the hell are you, and why did you attack me?”
“I’m Ronald Weasley,” he answered. “Your best friend. Don’t you-?”
“Since when were you my friend?” he barked.
Right at that moment, a large gray owl landed on Ron’s head, and dropped a bright red envelope at his feet.
There was a moment of silence before Ron looked down, tried to catch the falling owl (which had apparently fallen unconscious), slipped on the fallen letter, and fell flat on his back.
Harry picked up the red letter to read the front.
“Ronald Bilius Weasley,” he read, then set it on the table and turned back to Ron. “More like Ronald Bully-us Weasley.”
“Oh, is the Weasel getting up to something?”
Harry looked up- it was Draco Malfoy, back in male form again, and grinning nastily at Ron.
“Trying to hurt the Famous Harry Potter?” Draco went on, before looking up at Harry.
Harry nodded softly before Draco could ask if that was who he really was, even though it bothered him to be called the Famous Harry Potter.
The scarlet envelope on the table began to smoke.
“Clear off, Malfoy,” Ron growled, rising back to his feet. “This is the Gryffindor table, you’re not welcome here.”
Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, according to their nameplates, raised their eyebrows from where they were standing on either side of Malfoy, then raised their hands and punched their fists into their open palms in a way that reminded Harry of that ‘Pacific Rim’ movie.
Then the envelope burst open, belching out a small cloud of black smoke, and the room went instantly silent, save only for the voice of what was presumably Ron’s mother, drowning everything else out with what had to be a hundred times its normal volume.
“RONALD BILIUS WEASLEY!” the woman began- and Harry noticed an aged man with a very long silver beard, approaching from behind Draco, pause to look around.
That would be Albus Dumbledore, and he was not looking happy. He did, however, seen to be able to locate the scarlet envelope.
Ron’s mother was, in a word, wordy, Harry decided. She was evidently absolutely furious with her son- so much that it took over sixty seconds before he found out why she was mad.
She was mad at her son… because he had angered Hailey.
Harry actually had to laugh at that. Was Hailey so powerful that people were as afraid of her as they were of Voldemort?
Dumbledore raised his arm to check his wristwatch, before looking back up at the envelope, which was still yelling itself hoarse.
Harry sat back down and started getting himself some food. Ron’s mother had already informed them all that she was ashamed of her son, and that her son was a disgrace to his family, at least three times now.
Harry noticed when Hermione put a hand to the side of her head and shook herself out. It looked to him like there was something bothering her.
So he put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention amidst Mrs. Weasley’s yells, and yelled at her. “Are you okay?”
He could barely hear himself, but it seemed Hermione was able to pick out his words.
She also shook her head.
“Hospital wing?” he offered, also at a yell.
She seemed confused for a second, but seemed to make sense of it and nodded, so Harry stood… and helped her to stand as well. She seemed to be having trouble standing upright, so he supported her as they left the room.
As they did so, Mrs. Weasley finally finished yelling. “... AND IF YOU CAUSE ANY MORE TROUBLE, YOU’RE COMING STRAIGHT BACK HOME!”
The silence echoed behind them.
Then there was Dumbledore’s voice. “Mister Weasley,” he began darkly. “Come with me.”
“Concussion,” Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, confirmed. “Pretty nasty one too, you’re lucky you’re still awake.” She handed Hermione a potion. “Looks like you managed to strain a few joints in your spine as well; this will help with the pain.” She offered her a small bottle of pills. “One tablet, as needed for the pain, but no less than six hours between them, alright?”
Hermione nodded, drank the potion, and made a face.
“ ‘And if you cause any more trouble’,” Harry quoted. “Do you think we should tell her?”
Hermione snorted. “He’d probably break the record for shortest Hogwarts career,” she observed.
“What is it?” Madam Pomfrey asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh… about a minute after the incident,” Harry began; they’d explained Ron’s attack to her. “Bright red envelope started yelling, and it was his mom. She finished by saying ‘And if you cause any more trouble, you’re coming straight back home’.”
Pomfrey nodded slowly. “Molly Weasley has a bit of a reputation for sending howlers to her children, threatening to take them straight back home, and never following through with it. All you’d be likely to do is get him another howler… well, no, probably no effect. He hurt another student, so I will be notifying her, by Hogwarts policy.”
“Sucks to be Ron,” Hermione observed.
The door back out to the corridor opened suddenly, and Ron floated in, unconscious, before Professor McGonagall, who hadn’t been present at breakfast.
Madam Pomfrey raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What happened this time?”
“I overheard Albus telling him off for ruining everything by angering Princess Hailey, then there was a crash before I got there, and he was lying on the floor in a classroom, about three feet away from Albus. He said the boy just passed out.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “Everything?” he muttered, quietly- but not quietly enough to get past McGonagall.
“Excuse me, Mister Potter?”
“S-Sorry,” he muttered, “but how does angering one person ruin everything?”
The Professor’s expression relaxed. “Good question. Even one such as the Princess shouldn’t be powerful enough to ruin everything just by getting angry at one boy.”
“Maybe he’s got a plan,” Harry observed. “I heard Hailey was attacked by Peter Pettigrew on the train, then the Weasley Twins- and Ron here- were hunting for me on the train, under Professor Dumbledore’s orders. Good thing I thought to bring a disguise.”
“Concussion,” Madam Pomfrey rattled off suddenly, “three strained and one torn ligaments in his neck, broken elbow and nose. He’s lucky he’s still alive.” She looked up at McGonagall. “What did he fall on?”
“A desk, I think.”
“And nobody thought to catch him?”
“Albus was alone with him.”
“And Albus didn’t think to catch him?”
“Apparently not. He was certainly close enough.”
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Yeahhh, seeing an OPAF Hailey basically ROFLstomp some troll ass to America and back is fun, but doesn't do much for a narrative. Hope the next story goes well!
For the rewrite, keep in mind that one of the things that allowed the original Harry Potter to work so well, was that Harry Potter was not an overpowered character.
Can you write a Potter that is not this powerful, not a princess, not a super powered spirit?
Its like members of powerful families in the US with firearms for all. An 11 year old has a rediculous amount of power and is at that point in tehir lives where their brain doesnt know if its right or a cat.
11730455
Can I write a Potter that is actually weak, and actually struggles with everything? No.
Can I write a Potter that might be really powerful, but doesn't use it in a meaningful way other than as a plot device? I almost did that in TGwDJL, and I know how to do better. If I do that, I can make an excellent story. Might be a bit of Divine Violence in places, but in the end, doing that right can make for an excellent story. I just have to find the perfect balance between 'eleven-year-old girl' and 'ancient death god'.
11730493
Yes. This story was an attempt to make a powerful Hailey without giving her the background to handle it (whether she remembers that background or not), and... well, it exploded in every direction I didn't want it to. Whoops.
Wait... THIS STORY IS Canceled!!!
But it was just getting started.
11733032
Yup, it died a premature death. There's a new one in the works, though, worry not! ... Or maybe worry, since the starting scene... Oh, I'll just rip it from TGwDJL... it was going to be similar anyways...
And no, I'm not talking about TGwDJL's starting scene, but another scene in that story that'll be ARM's starting scene.
11733043
I think this was your best story in a while...
But i can understand, just because your readers like a story, or it's even popular, doesn't mean the author likes the way it's going.
11733057
There's still four more chapters- and four more Tuesdays- to go before you see the end of where I've been working on it... when we get there, I expect you'll see what I'm talking about, why it needed a better approach.
A shame to see this generation also lose steam, but hey, you're learning with each new draft so that's a win in my book. And I still like all the characters (except Albus, and Ron if he's not under a spell, and James Potter bc how dare he hurt Lily like that)
Pretty good story. It definitely plays out like a crackfic, but I'm compelled to keep reading. This being said, it's very confusing and I just wanted to make sure I understand Harry's established powerset.
Did I miss anything?
I don't know why none of the other writers, and fandom in particular hasn't figured out WHY everyone is afraid of saying Voldemort's name. It's really simple.
As the wiki says: "The Taboo (incantation unknown) was a powerful Jinx which designated a word as a key to revealing the speaker's location. This spell was used during the Second Wizarding War. "
Well, do they think Voldemort was too stupid to use it during the first war? Of course not! He used it in the First War, that's why people are STILL refusing to say his name.
11840515
Yeah... I think they, like me, decide the Taboo doesn't exist as defined. Sorry, it's one of my pet peeves: Rowling set up a wonderfully broken world, and defined it by rules that it doesn't seem to follow.
I mean... what if he Tabooed on "Hi", or something else? The Taboo spell is one of those overpowered but underused spells that would have ruined everything if the characters had just realized what it could do. Oh, Voldemort is hiding? Taboo "Dark Lord". Looking for Harry Potter? Don't designate him Undesireable No. 1, taboo "Harry".
The Fidelius is another. Hiding a secret in another person... I saw a story once- titled "Seriously, Harry!", if I remember right- where the canon-definition Fidelius was abused by an enterprising Harry Potter with an idea to solve everything and make Hermione name the story... because she was the secret-keeper. As such, I redefine the Fidelius Charm to be a keyed foldspace spell, similar to the Leaky Cauldron hiding from muggles but keyed instead on the magical "secret". That's how it's used in canon- and how I think it really is in canon, wizards just aren't very good at writing down accurate definitions of spells.
So back to the Taboo... sure, it can reveal location. But it can't be global. Perhaps you can enchant a location with the Taboo and it'll inform you if anyone in there says the word, and where they were. Perhaps you can enchant a person with it, and it'll tell you where they are if they say the word (excellent for spies or other operatives, secret codeword trips the taboo and informs their masters they're in trouble). But for the random citizen in the woods of another country? Nah, they can say whatever they want and the Taboo isn't powerful enough to notice, especially if they're under secrecy magic.