Lumos (Book One)

Chapter Seventeen ~ Becoming The Doctor

"Shocking business... Shocking... Miracle none of them died... Never heard the like... By thunder, it was lucky you were there, Snape... "

"Thank you, Minister. "

"Order of Merlin, Second Class, I'd say. First Class, if I can wangle it!"

"Thank you very much indeed, Minister. "

"Nasty cut you've got there... Black's work, I suppose?"

"As a matter of fact, it was the Potters, Weasley, Eckman, Lestrange, and Granger, Minister... "

"No!"

"Black had bewitched them, I saw it immediately. A Confundus Charm, to judge by their behavior. They seemed to think there was a possibility he was innocent. They weren't responsible for their actions. On the other hand, their interference might have permitted Black to escape... They obviously thought they were going to catch Black single-handed. They've got away with a great deal before now... I'm afraid it's given them a rather high opinion of themselves... And of course Mister Potter has always been allowed an extraordinary amount of license by the headmaster and Miss Potter wanted to live up to her brother's reputation at school --"

"Ah, well, Snape... Harry and Samantha Potter, you know... We've all got a bit of a blind spot where they're concerned."

"And yet--is it good for them to be given so much special treatment? Personally, I try and treat them like any other student. And any other student would be suspended--at the very least--for leading their friends into such danger. Consider, Minister--against all school rules--after all the precautions put in place for their protection--out-of-bounds, at night, consorting with a werewolf and a murderer--and I have reason to believe Mister Potter has been visiting Hogsmeade illegally too --"

"Well, well... We shall see, Snape, we shall see... They both have undoubtedly been foolish... "

I lay listening with my eyes tight shut. I felt very groggy. The words I was hearing seemed to be traveling very slowly from his ears to his brain, so that it was difficult to understand... My limbs felt like lead; my eyelids too heavy to lift... I wanted to lie here, on this comfortable bed, forever...

"What amazes me most is the behavior of the dementors... You've really no idea what made them retreat, Snape?"

"No, Minister... By the time I had come 'round they were heading back to their positions at the entrances... "

"Extraordinary. And yet Black, and Harry and Avery, and the girl --"

"All unconscious by the time I reached them. I bound and gagged Black, naturally, conjured stretchers, and brought them all straight back to the castle."

There was a pause. My brain seemed to be moving a little faster, and as it did, a gnawing sensation grew in the pit of my stomach...

I opened my eyes. I was lying in the dark hospital wing. At the very end of the ward, I could make out Madam Pomfrey with her back to me, bending over a bed. Ron's red hair was visible beneath Madam Pomfrey's arm. I moved my head over on the pillow. In the bed to my right lay Harry, who also seemed to be awake, and just past him was Hermione.

Moonlight was falling across her bed. Her eyes were open too. She looked petrified, and when she saw that we were awake, pressed a finger to her lips, then pointed to the hospital wing door. It was ajar, and the voices of Cornelius Fudge and Snape were coming through it from the corridor outside. Madam Pomfrey now came walking briskly up the dark ward to my bed.

I turned to look at her. She was carrying the largest block of chocolate I had ever seen in my life. It looked like a small boulder. "Ah, you're awake!" she said briskly. She placed the chocolate on my bedside table and began breaking it apart with a small hammer.