บท 64: Infirmary

Oh! Harry certainly knew that Dumbledore wasn't calling him with his often-used monkey to try and get close to him, but that the words were his go-to response whenever he wanted to pacify someone.

However, the older man wasn't famous enough in the present to have everybody know of his quirks and have them neglect a few of his eccentricities.

Therefore, he used his words to first, clamp the other person's mouth and secondly, to leave Dupont and his cronies with the thought that if even Dumbledore - one who was being seen pro-muggle these days was trying to form connections with The Blacks then they shouldn't recklessly harm anyone associated to them.

Anyway, the quartet was too dull to hear the undertones of sarcasm in his words and Dumbledore wouldn't lower himself to explain the misunderstanding to them lot.

Also, this might just help to counter off some of the rumours he had been hearing about The Dark Faction making the rounds of Hogwarts.

He would just have to wait and see how the quartet spread about the incident and his words and then he could employ his own connection to have the rumour mill churning in the direction favourable towards him and his own.

Poppy Pomfrey came running when the wards at the door alerted her to an injured student being brought inside the hospital wing.

As Hier Malfoy set the price body on the bed and Heir Black followed inside a few seconds later, she had to internally marvel at the fact that two purebloods had brought in a muggleborn to be tended to.

The wards at the door not only told the attending physician in the hospital wing whenever an injured person was brought in, but they also wrote on a Book of Names and Genealogy if the injured person was a pure-blood or not.

Oh! How the times had changed.

In a World where a madman was on a mad crusade to subjugate those whom he viewed as lesser than him on the basis of their blood, the Hiers to two powerful Dark Houses were helping a muggleborn.

She wondered if this could be the start of a change and lessening of hostilities between Dark aligned and muggleborns.

Though it seems a futile hope, she could only hope and pray for the wellbeing of all those who walked these hallowed halls. It was sad to hear or read about countless lives being snuffed out at the whims of a single man.

She drew a curtain around the bed and began diagnosing what spells or curses had been cast on the unconscious child and how best to nullify the damage caused.

She furrowed her brows in repressed anger as she tried to make the child drink the necessary potions. She also had to be extra careful as the child had also suffered something similar less than a year ago and the current injuries might compound on the earlier aggravation on his magic.

She watched as Riddle furrowed his brows in perceived pain even if he was unconscious and she had to resist her urge to coax him and dab at the sweat-soaked body.

Just as she loomed over the prone boy to check for any bruising on his head - minors weren't allowed to be exposed to spells that affected the brain or head in any way, the child whimpered and opened his eyes.

Remarkable!

She had expected that the child would remain unconscious for atleast half an hour after being subjected to that bout of torment, but Riddle had woken up scant ten minutes after Malfoy had brought him into the infirmary.

This clearly showed that the child was on the higher end of the magic spectrum.

One look at her face had been enough for him to determine his whereabouts.

After making sure that everything else was in order and she hadn't missed any injury, Pomfrey went back to her office. She knew the three students wanted to talk to each other but they wouldn't say much in front of a staff member. So, she left when she saw Riddle glancing at her shyly but apprehensively every few seconds.

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When the three of them see that they were all alone in the infirmary, Harry noticed that Tom almost seemed to wilt in relief.

The Slytherin so loved to keep up appearances and not show weaknesses in front of anyone.

He wondered if it was worth it to deal with everything on one's own but since this was a Slytherin caveat, he decided to keep his thoughts to himself and not harp on about it.

"How are you feeling, Riddle?" Abraxas inquired.

"I'll live," was the dry response and Harry felt himself relaxing minutely at that dry wit.

If Riddle has the presence of mind to say sarcastic words, he wasn't hurt bad enough to affect his magic in the long run. Because otherwise, the lethargic magic would also have made him slow to respond to any questions.

"Did Dupont find trouble with you because of my house?" Abraxas further questioned.

The only response was a non-committal hum and Riddle turned his face away.

"I want to rest for a bit because I am feeling tired." The whispered words were hard to make out but for the first time since Harry had known Riddle in this time, he heard the sibilant undertone of a hiss in the words.

As soon as he noticed that he also noticed how the Obsidian eyes had darkened and he could see Riddle's hands gripping the linen bedclothes so tightly that his knuckles had turned white, but then the other boy blinked his eyes and all the emotion was almost swept away and the Slytherin mask was firmly in place once again.

Deciding to step in the conversation, Harry began, "Slytherin we all might be but there is a difference between how we deflect the inquiries aimed at her and Riddle I have to say. that your deflection won't work on us."

At his words, Riddle realised his slip and dropped his head lightly while biting his lips and then slowly sighed in resignation.

Turning his face away from them, he finally answered, "Yes, he was spouting off because he is cowardly and doesn't dare to confront you two and in comparison, I make an easier target to vent his anger upon. But that is not the only reason. I had fired a few cursed on him that day as well so this was his paltry attempt at revenge."

His words seemed to have lit a fuse in Malfoy because the other person retorted, "Paltry? Do you find this paltry? Riddle, the two curses could have reached havoc on your magic and the results could have been quite permanent."

Tom shrugged and replied in a calm voice, "Yeah but it didn't and that's that. You don't need to interfere in my business, I will take care of it on my own."

Harry could see that Riddle was building up walls around himself - maybe, to protect himself from a. perceived betrayal but he knew that he couldn't let that happen. He had come to enjoy the other boy's company and he didn't want him to close himself off to others when he had received so little love and care from those who were supposed to look after him.

With a decisive nod, he sharply said, "Riddle, Slytherins stand as one with their own. No matter what happens in the common room, we always have each other's backs outside and frankly, the people who are trying to find trouble with you in the house are just small fries in the grand scheme of things."

Tom almost scooted away from Black when he heard those words but still tried not to show how those words had affected him.

His words were unusually calm, "Why would I pay attention to them when I know I am far better than they will ever hope to be?"

And those words seemed to have broken the stalemate because Abraxas gave a guffaw at those words and countered, "Your narcissism is showing, Riddle" and all three of them grinned at each other.

Before leaving the infirmary, Harry told the injured boy, "Don't think too much right now and just take care of your health and magic for the next few days. I will take care of Dupont in my own way."