บท 81: Secret in the Hospital Wing

(Harry)

The first thing I see upon waking up is the glint of gold and for a moment I think that I've just fallen off my broom at a quidditch game, the snitch taunting me with how close it is. But then my head clears a bit and I realize that it's actually Dumbledore leaning over me.

"Good afternoon, Harry." He says.

It takes another few moments before the memories start to return. "Sir! The Stone-! Quirrell-! Misha-!" A dozen questions run through my mind in an instant, my mouth failing to keep up and the words coming out a jumbled mess.

They only come to a stop when Dumbledore raises a hand to silence them. "Calm yourself, dear boy. Quirrell is gone, and your sister…" He gestures to the side, and I see that I'm in the hospital wing, and on the table next to me is piled high with what looks like half the candy shop.

And on the next bed over is Misha, who has the actual candy trolley next to her bed. And a shower head, for some reason.

Seeing my obvious confusion, Dumbledore chuckles. Tokens from friends and admirers," he beams. "What happened down in the dungeons with Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the entire school knows. Your friends Fred and George Weasley tried to send you a toilet seat to match Misha's shower head, however Madam Pomfrey felt it not to be very hygienic and confiscated it."

I just stare at Misha for a minute, to make sure she's ok. Though there's a bandage wrapped around her head, she otherwise looks like she's just sleeping. I breathe a sigh of relief before asking how long I've been here.

"Three days. Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Hermione Granger will be most relieved you have come around, though they will most likely be distracted by your sister's lack of."

There's silence again, though this time I'm content to leave it in lieu of worrying about Misha. The state she was in after letting loose that spell…

Dumbledore clears his throat, drawing back my attention but not my eyes. "Though Quirrell is gone, there is one thing that concerns me." I ignore the piercing stare he gives me over the top of his half-moon spectacles. "The Stone was gone as well. Might you know what happened to it?"

I'm silent for another moment, my words coming out slowly. "It was…destroyed by the same spell Misha cast. Quirrell had gotten the Stone from me, so she made me hide in the previous chamber while she did what she needed to in order to ensure Quirrell couldn't escape with it."

Another silence, this time stretching across several minutes as I don't look away from Misha and Dumbledore doesn't look away from me. Eventually though, he sighs. "That's for the best."

My eyes snap to him in surprise. "Really!? What about your friend, Nicholas Flamel?"

"Oh, you know about Nicholas?" Dumbeldore asks, sounding delighted. "You did do things properly, didn't you? Well Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."

At my disbelieving look he just shakes his head. "I can see that you know what will happen to them - and to one as young as you it must seem incredibly fatalistic. But to Nicholas and Perenelle, it is rather similar to going to bed after a very, very long day. To a well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. I dare say that the Stone was not such a wonderful thing after all. As much money and life as a person could want! Most people would choose those above all else - but it is an unfortunate thing that choosing precisely those things is what's the worst for them."

I'm lost for words, trying to come to terms with what he's said as the slightest tinge of guilt builds up in the back of my mind. One that's quickly dismissed. After trying to ask a question -and being told not to fear Voldemort's name- I finally get it said.

"Won't Voldemort try other ways of coming back? I mean, he isn't gone, is he?"

He hums for a moment before his eyes rest on my sister. "Perhaps this would be a conversation best had once your sister is able to participate."

I want to argue, the itch to know more scratching at my head. But he's right. Who's to say what might have happened if Misha hadn't been there. She deserves to know more about the situation just as much as me.

As if to take my mind off of serious matters, Dumbledore plucks a box of candy off my table. "Ah, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! I was unfortunate enough to come across a vomit-flavored one in my youth, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them."

He peers into the box, seeming to search for something specific before smiling as he plucks out a golden-brown bean. "I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?" He plops it into his mouth and chokes on it. "Alas! Ear wax!"

And so we end his visit on a note of laughter as he takes his leave. After he's gone, I fall into a thoughtful silence. I can hear my friends outside, wanting to come visit, but Madam Pomfrey stops them. Normally I'd try to argue for letting them in since Dumbledore had just visited as well, but I have things on my mind Or rather, one specific thing. What actually happened to the Stone.

`~`

I stumble back into the room, the blazing pain in my head having greatly lessened after Misha had cast her spell. It's been replaced by another pain, as well as ringing in my ears, but it's not nearly as invasive as what I felt before.

I wave away the smoke, coughing as I stumble back inside. I don't know how, I don't know why, but whatever safeguards that are in place for the Stone has kept the explosion restricted to this room. The noise still made it through though.

I stumble forward, trying to peer through the smoke in an effort to find my twin. It was only after she attacked Quirrell that I realized that, like me, she lied about what she saw in the mirror. But of course she did, she already told me that for her it's just a normal mirror. I should have remembered that before jumping to conclusions.

I stumble over something, and a quick glance down has me wishing I had just ignored it. It looks like… part of a leg. Quirrell's leg.

I swallow back the bile that tries to rise, focusing instead on trying to get where Misha was when she cast that spell. But when I get there I find nothing.

I know she's not affected by her own explosions, we tested that plenty of times before we'd come to Hogwarts. But if that's the case where…

I keep walking, eventually stumbling onto the stairs. My concern grows as I climb them, making my way towards the wall. Reaching it, I gasp.

"Misha!" I shout. Laying sprawled in a heap is my twin, fallen from where she'd apparently slammed into the wall, if the cracks webbing from it are any indication. But what has me kneeling next to her in a panic is the copious amount of blood leaking from her head.

I'm given flashbacks to that day back at the Dursley's, where Vernon had pushed Misha and she hit her head on the table. There was blood then too, and things turned out ok! But there wasn't… so much of it then.

I'm suddenly acutely aware of the weight of the Philosopher's Stone in my pocket, and Voldemort's words come back to me.

"For the Elixir of Life, all I need is the Stone."

If the Stone can create the Elixir of life… then it should be able to help Misha. But I don't know how to use it!

My mind flashes to the unicorn from the Forest, how she'd been panicking after being attacked but been completely calm after waking up. After drinking the unicorn's blood.

I swallow with a suddenly dry mouth. I might not know how to use the Stone… but maybe I don't have to.

First, I just try touching it to her head in the hopes that it will be enough for it to understand my desire. But when the blood continues to flow, I know what I have to do.

With internal apologies to Nicholas Flamel and Dumbledore, I gently pry open her mouth and tip the Stone inside. I blink, and suddenly I'm on the floor next to her, confused about how I got here.

My head feels funny, like it's hard to think.

Somehow I recall the fire safety drills we had back in muggle school. The part where they said inhaling smoke is bad. But this is magic smoke, the rules are different!

The Misha-like thought is the last one I have before I fall unconscious, and the last sight I… think I see is a flash of light.

And then I'm waking up in the hospital wing.