The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part One

104. Undiluted Bubotuber Pus

March 1995

"What is going on?" Althea said in confusion as she arrived at the breakfast table with Neville.

At least eight owls were sitting in front of Hermione, all more desperate than the others to get their letters delivered.

"Look at this," Hermione said, handing over one of the envelopes.

Opening it, Althea read the words 'You are a wicked girl. Harry Potter deserves better. Go back where you came from Muggle.'

"Now, really," Althea scoffed, angrily handing the letter to Neville to read.

"Don't listen to them, Hermione," Neville said, crumpling up the letter.

"They're all like it!" Hermione cried desperately, opening letter after letter. "Harry Potter can do better than the likes of you...You deserve to be boiled in frog spawn...Ouch!"

The last envelope, when opened, instantly caused a strange, yellowish-green liquid to come pouring out of it. Instantly, her hands began erupting in large yellow boils.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus," Ron said, picking up the envelope and smelling it.

"Ow," Hermione cried, beginning to tear up.

"Come on," Althea said gently, helping her up. "I'm taking you to Mum. Neville, tell Professor Sprout where we are, and catch me up on what we do today."

"I will," he promised.

"Thank you," Althea called back gratefully as Neville sat down and grabbed himself some breakfast.

To Hermione and Althea's extreme relief, they found both Madame Pomfrey and Eliana in the Hospital Wing. They looked up at the sound of the doors opening and instantly rushed to Hermione in concern.

"What happened?" Eliana asked in shock.

"Undiluted bubotuber pus," Althea explained quietly. "Someone decided to get a bit creative after Skeeter's article the other day."

"Poor thing," Madam Pomfrey said. "We've got it from here, Thea."

"Are you sure?" Althea replied, giving Hermione a concerned look.

"Poppy," Eliana said. "Athea has aspirations of being a Healer. Would you be all right if she stayed and observed?"

"Very well," Madam Pomfrey agreed.

Althea smiled at her mother and watched with interest as they first drained the boils and then covered them with an odd paste that seemed, based on the expression on Hermione's face, to soothe the pain. Lastly, they wrapped them.

"Well, you're free to go," Madam Pomfrey said. "Should be gone in about twenty-four hours. You can remove the bandages then. If there's still a problem, come see one of us."

"I will," Hermione promised. "What time is it now?"

Glancing at her watch, Althea replied, "Your Care of Magical Creatures class should just be wrapping up."

"See you later," Hermione said miserably.

.

The months of April and May passed without much excitement as no tasks occurred and the most interesting thing that happened was that Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Althea witnessed Professor Lyra snap at Draco so harshly he flew into a blind rage and called her all kinds of nasty names all the while she observed him with a look of such pleasant indifference he grew all the angrier. When he had at last stormed away, Lyra smiled, catching sight of the four of them and winking before turning around and making her way toward the castle for lunch.

"Well, we know she can't be all bad then," Harry said with an amused smile as Ron roared with laughter beside him.

"We'll see you later, Harry," Althea said at the end of May as he got up to leave the Common Room to learn about the third task.

"Bye," he said.

When he had gone, Ron asked, "What do you think the last task will be?"

"No idea," Althea admitted with a shrug, withdrawing a book from her bag.

Before she could begin reading, however, a strange tapping reached their ears. The Common Room had emptied early that night, making it just the three of them with Harry gone. By the light of the fire, they could see an owl hovering outside the window.

"I'll get it," Hermione offered, getting up.

The moment she opened the window, the owl flew into the room and landed on Althea's knee. Taking off the letter with a frown, she turned it over in search of a signature.

"It's from Dad," she said in surprise.

Although they had been sending letters back and forth throughout the year, he had never sent one at night, always preferring to allow them to arrive with the morning post. Opening it, she began to read.

Dear Althea,
Concerning news has reached my ears since my last letter. Since the World Cup, I have been searching for any news to allude to what Pettigrew has been doing since his escape. The Death Eater activity itself, while not comforting, is not much of a surprise. What concerned me more was the effect of the Mark on the Death Eaters. If they were just trying to scare people and knew about it, they wouldn't have run.
But on to the more important bit. I believe it may be possible that Voldemort has gained some kind of form, not a human one, mind. He would have already risen to power if that were the case. I finally did some investigating to try and figure out what happened to him after his disappearance on October 31st, 1981. It has long been rumoured that he was hiding in Albania, so that's where I went first.
A group of werewolves live there, and they told me everything they knew about dark things in the wild areas. Apparently, there was a part of the forest where several werewolves went missing. Not to mention, any wildlife avoids it like the plague. If he was powerful enough even then without help, with Pettigrew, he could be much more by now. Please warn Harry to be careful. Circumstances are already suspicious enough with this Tournament. And be careful, Althea.
Love,
Remus

Althea looked up, meeting Ron and Hermione's curious gazes, her brows furrowed.