Chapter Thirteen: Breakfire

Chapter Thirteen: Breakfire

Tuesday, 1 September 1998

"You take the left trouser leg, I'll take the right," Melina said.

Poppy's eyebrows rose, but she said nothing, and when Melina tugged, she did, too, and Severus's trousers were off. Melina checked to make sure the wand was still securely between his hands.

"Cut off the sleeves. I don't care if that robe was designed by the late Madam Mink Malkin herself or if the jacket is the last one he owns. We're doing this properly and I saw no reason to make Dumbledore uncomfortable...he can be a real Victorian sometimes," Melina added as she used a scalpel to slice through his left jacket sleeve.

"I've noticed," Poppy said. "I presume that he's different with Minerva, but getting him to undress for a simple routine examination the first year I was the matron here was harder than catching a Snidget."

"I think he has a complex, personally," Melina opined. "Before we told him of the Plan, he absolutely refused to allow me to examine him thoroughly. But on the other hand, he's actually gone skinny-dipping with a few of us. Of course, we were all in the water most of the time, and wrapped in towels or robes as soon as we got out, but it still surprised me." She finished cutting through the shirtsleeve and handed the cufflink to Poppy, who slipped it into her robe pocket with his other one.

"Hard to imagine that," Poppy said.

"Mmm. He's an odd duck, but a lovable odd duck," Melina said, pushing the remnants of Severus's clothing aside. "All right. Ready with the diffuser. You remember how this works. You hold the diffuser parallel with his body as I charm the Solution from the flask." She paused, thinking. "Yes, I will charm it from the flask. I don't think I would have the proper control over it if I tried to do it manually. You remember the sequence of application? No matter, I will tell you as I go." Melina looked over as the Floo activated, but didn't break her stride. "We begin and end with the lower abdomen. When we get to the hands, I will need you to turn them over, one at a time, palm up. Try not to entirely break his contact with his wand, though it will be difficult to do whilst you are handling the diffuser."

"I can do that," Minerva offered, overhearing as she came up to them. "Just give the signal, and I can move his hands for you. Albus is busy fetching Filius and Pomona."

"All right, but try to suppress the magic flowing through your hands. It shouldn't interfere, but..."

"I used to have to do something like that when visiting Quin," Minerva reminded her niece. "And I was doing wandless magic before you started school. I can control my magic, you know."

Melina quirked a smile at her aunt. "Right. Sorry. Ready?" She looked at the two other witches, who nodded. She leaned over Severus, looking into his face. His eyes were closed. "I don't know if he can hear us or understand anything." More loudly, she said, "Severus, we're going to treat you with a potion now, Takehari Solution. It will feel strange and possibly uncomfortable, but it shouldn't hurt."

Melina indicated to Poppy to position the Charmed diffuser parallel to Severus's lower abdomen. "An inch closer to him," she corrected. "Good. We'll begin there, then move up to the chest just above the sternum, then slowly move the diffuser up to his throat as I continue to administer the potion."

As Poppy held the disc over Severus's pelvis, Melina waved her wand. The flask, which was Levitated over the diffuser, began to tip, and at a flick of Melina's wand, a minuscule amount of iridescent blue potion flowed in a thread-like stream toward the surface of the diffuser. As it hit the pearly disc, it almost instantly appeared on the other side of it, this time as a golden vapour that drifted down toward Severus, where it disappeared into his skin, leaving it glowing slightly.

"Up," Melina said as she halted the flow of potion. Poppy positioned the diffuser over Severus's sternum. Melina again allowed a narrow thread of potion to flow onto the diffuser. The golden glow settled over Severus's skin and spread. At Melina's gesture, Poppy slowly moved the diffuser in a straight line over his chest toward his throat, where Melina had her pause a moment before she again stopped the potion's flow.

"Now the forehead, just between the eyebrows first, then the centre of his forehead," Melina directed. This time as she administered the potion, she closed her eyes and began to chant softly. The glow of the potion as it hit Severus seemed to intensify and spread, pulsing slightly as it did so, and brighter veins of gold appeared in the midst of the diffuse glow, travelling down his head to his neck and then seeming to trickle over his shoulders and into his arms. Melina opened her eyes, looked at Severus, and nodded slightly. "Now the genitals."

Again, the potion flowed in an iridescent blue thread from the flask and emerged on the other side of the disc as a golden vapour.

Melina directed Poppy to the feet next, and this time the potion glowed slightly more red as it seemed to seep into Severus's skin. Melina reached out with her left hand and touched the edge of the disk, continuing to pour the Solution over it until Severus's feet glowed with the same golden colour as the other areas of his body.

She stopped the flow of potion and said, "Hands now, Minerva."

"Right or left?"

"Left first, then right."

This time, as the vapour drifted toward Severus's left palm, there was a sparkle of bright white light, and Poppy looked away, seeing spots. Melina simply continued the slow trickle of potion onto the diffuser and waited for the flashes of light to cease. When the left palm glowed with gold, Melina said, "Now the right."

Minerva curled the fingers of Severus's left hand back around the end of his wand, then carefully took his right hand and turned it so that it lay on top of his wand. The potion almost seemed to crackle as the vapour touched his right palm, and there was a sharp burst of white light. Melina murmured something, and Poppy did not know whether it was an incantation or merely a private comment to herself, but the light shrank into itself, and the golden glow seemed to draw together in the centre of Severus's palm. Melina nodded in satisfaction.

"Now the lower abdomen again, and he will be ready to move to the Heart for the rest of his treatment."

Again, the golden glow seemed to suffuse his abdomen, and then brighter, more distinct veins of gold spread from his centre upward toward his chest, neck, head, and back down into his arms, and likewise downward into his groin, legs, and feet, and Melina softly chanted an incantation as the golden glow spread. Poppy was glad when she received the signal to remove the diffuser. It had not felt at all heavy when she had first taken it, but it had seemed to grow heavier as she held it and maintained the proper distance between its surface and Severus's skin.

"Can we cover him before we move him?" Minerva asked. She didn't think that Severus would appreciate being laid bare to his colleagues, even if it did save his life.

"Of course! He doesn't need to be exposed for this next stage," Melina replied as she packed away the potion and diffuser.

Poppy was already Summoning a sheet, and she draped it over Severus from his feet to his chest, carefully lifting his arms and settling his hands and his wand on top. He seemed so still and weak to her; a knot of concern formed in her stomach.

"His chest, too, I think," Minerva said, knowing that Severus was sensitive about the way he looked and about the claw marks on his chest, as nearly invisible and unremarkable as they might seem to others.

Poppy nodded and placed another folded sheet over his chest and shoulders. She smoothed it carefully over him, then tucked it and the other sheet in around him. Her fingertips lingered a moment just above his right hand, then she shook her head, sighed, and dropped her hand to her side.

"Do you think they're ready for us yet?" Poppy asked as she buckled the safety belts around him.

"Whether they're ready or not, we're on our way," Melina replied. "We could do this with just the three of us, but I'd prefer to have a few others there, as well. I've found it more effective, not to mention that it's not as tiring for the participants if there are more to draw from. But there's something about the combined disparate magics that strengthens the core more. Of course, spontaneous staunching of a magical drain is something rather different...although perhaps . . ." The witch's brow furrowed, then she took a breath and grabbed the handles at the head of the stretcher. "That's all speculation and research for another day! Let's go! Minerva, you toss the Floo powder, if you will, and Poppy and I will manage Severus."

When the three witches arrived in the Headmistress's Library, they found that Albus had removed part of the staircase wall in the Heart of Hogwarts and rigged up a temporary lift of sorts, consisting of a long board and two sets of pulleys and ropes.

"I thought this would be easier than trying to carry him down the stairs," Albus said.

"Yes, if we don't tip him out and kill him," Minerva said under her breath.

But Melina and Albus got the stretcher settled and tied onto the board, and Severus was easily lowered into the Heart, where Minerva and Pomona then lifted him onto the round stone table in the centre of the room. Poppy thought that Severus looked thin and frail on the large table, more so than when he'd been lying in the infirmary bed, and his face was as white as the sheets tucked around him, even the flickering torches in the chamber not bringing any colour to his pale cheeks. Again, Poppy wondered whether she could have prevented his collapse that morning, but she knew that blaming herself would not do anything to help him now.

Melina instructed the others to stand in a circle around the table. After casting a quick ping off each witch and wizard, she said, "Poppy, your magic is most resonant with his. I'd like you in the middle on his left. Minerva, you at his feet, Albus next to Minerva, and Filius and Pomona...yes, that's right." Melina herself stood at his head.

Filius's head and shoulders came only just above the table, so Melina quickly conjured a small stool for him.

"All right, now all of you are familiar with this procedure, at least in theory, correct?" When everyone nodded, Melina continued, "You will allow your magic to flow through your wands out over the table to meet above Severus's body. Think about your care for him as you do so. Although I will direct the magic, your combined intents to strengthen and heal Severus will help him. Minerva, you, if you are able, help me to draw on the magical field. It should be an asset even if you can't..."

"Of course. That is a simple matter. Although it might be a bit awkward to coordinate casting my own with the proper intent whilst drawing on the Hogwarts field for you . . . but I'm sure..."

"I could help you, my dear," Albus interrupted.

"No," Minerva said firmly.

"I thought his ties were cut when he died," Pomona said quizzically, glancing at Albus, then back at Minerva.

"They were. I reintroduced him to the wards this summer," Minerva said quietly. "I merely gave him back the standing he would have had as a former Head of House. I thought it only right."

"Of course," Filius said, cutting off Pomona and forestalling any further discussion of Albus's status or the fact that the Heads of House had not been consulted in the matter. "Let's begin." He looked down at Severus, his eyes sad. "Severus comes first. You'll be all right, Severus. We're all here for you." He looked up at Melina, who was standing beside Minerva. "Can he hear us?"

"I don't know. Possibly. It's unlikely he has much understanding of what's happening even if he can hear us, but I'm sure that knowing that he is surrounded by people who care about him can only be a good thing."

At that moment, Severus's head moved slightly, turning toward the side of the table where Filius and Pomona stood. Filius's expression immediately brightened.

"He can hear us!" the small wizard said, encouraged. "That's right, Severus! We're here! You'll be fine."

Melina didn't say anything to that, instead just gesturing to Albus to move down a little bit.

"As I was explaining, simply allow your magic to flow from your wand. Form a healing intent, the desire to strengthen Severus and his magic, to share your magic with him. I will do the heavy lifting," Melina said. "Minerva, you do what you can to focus the Hogwarts magic around Severus. It would be useful if you could gather a shell above him and illuminate it so that I can detect it easily, but the field here is so strong, the field alone will help regardless of what you manage."

Minerva raised an eyebrow, then she made a small, quick arc with her wand. The room became alive with colour. With a slight flick of her wrist toward Severus, she drew the streams and waves of magic together to create a pulsing cloud of colour, and with a little twist of her wand, she brought it to hover just over Severus's heart.

She turned her head and looked at her niece. "I believe I'm ready now," she said drily. "I simply wished to do that before we began casting."

Melina let out a short chuckle. "Very good. If you could move it just a bit further down, however, closer to his pelvis...yes, that's good. Now, because of the nature of Severus's underlying condition, I will be doing some additional procedures on top of mending his drain. At one point, I will need you to stop casting and move back away from the table, so watch for my signal."

"You're doing the procedures you were going to do on Friday?" Poppy asked.

Melina nodded, beginning to raise her wand.

"But I thought that Healer Baton was going to assist you," Poppy interrupted.

"I will have to do without him," Melina replied.

"He was going to serve as the sympathetic, though," Poppy persisted.

"I'll need another volunteer," Melina said, "or I'll have to skip that particular treatment and do it later."

"You may use me," Albus immediately offered.

"No, I'll do it," Poppy said. She raised her eyes and met Melina's. "He is my patient, Melina, and you said my magic was most resonant with his."

"Good. Poppy will do it," she said, looking at Albus, who nodded. She looked back at Poppy. "You are aware of the effects and risks, I presume...although the effects aren't very predictable."

"Well enough," Poppy said with a nod, her gaze returning to Severus's frail form.

Melina wasted no more time with conversation, indicating instead with her raised wand that she was about to begin. The others raised their wands in unison, Minerva, Albus, Pomona, and Filius all practised in similar casting from their work with the Hogwarts wards.

Poppy, too, raised her wand. She was less practised in this particular kind of magic, especially in coordinating it with others, but she was adept at coordinating Healing spells with others, and her experience there stood her in good stead as her gentle magic flowed smoothly through her wand to meet with Melina's stream of magic. As the magical energy coursed toward Melina's guiding stream, Melina made small adjustments of her wand, seeming to braid the magic together. Their magic joined and became a single, indistinguishable thread, and Melina, her wand twisting patterns in the air, guided it through the bright cloud of magic that hovered just over Severus's abdomen.

Poppy could just hear Melina's sing-song chant that would bind the magic together and bring it into Severus's own. If the Takehari Solution had done its job, the burn-out should have ceased completely, leaving him still in danger of magical exhaustion, however. Melina's treatment for Severus's magical exhaustion was somewhat different from the treatments Poppy had used on children who had overextended their core or who had suffered a magical accident which cause magical drain, but Severus's exhaustion was more complicated, resulting both from the underlying illness brought on by the residue of Nagani's cursed venom and from side-effects of the potions with which he had been treated, particularly the Ferron's Elixir.

"Texere, texere, contexo, contexere. Contexo, contexere!

"Contexo, intexo. Intexo, intexere. Detexo, detexere!

"Detexere, integera. Integera, integrior, integerrima!

"Integera, integerrima. Magia compacta, magia indivisa!

"Texere, texere, contexere, detexere!

"Magia compacta, magia indivisa, magia una!

"Introire! Introire! Penetrare, penetrare, penetrare!

"Integra, integrior, integerrima!

"Theurgus confectus, Theurgus confectus!

"Theurgus perfectus, Theurgus perfectus!"

The magic that was shimmering from each wand, each strand a slightly different colour from the other, coalesced and continued to pass through the cloudy shell that Minerva had drawn over Severus and made visible. As it emerged from the shell, a brilliant white light, almost too bright to bear looking at, slowly streamed into Severus, swirling itself dextrally and entering him at a spot a few inches below his navel.

Severus stirred, though his eyes didn't open, and it appeared he would have moved his arms had he not been tied down to the stretcher with a strap across his upper arms. As it was, his left hand lost its hold on the end of his wand, but Melina reached over and, still chanting, settled the wand back beneath his hand.

Melina continued her incantation for a few more minutes, then she indicated to Filius and Pomona that they should step aside. Another minute, and she nodded to Albus and Minerva, then as she sealed off the magic with one last twist of her wand, she gestured to Poppy. Poppy lowered her wand and breathed out a long, slow breath. It had not been as tiring as she had thought it might be, probably because there had been so many of them to lend Melina their magic to give to Severus.

At a word from Melina, Minerva cast a spell that made the shell of Hogwarts magic disappear again, although Poppy thought that there was still a concentration of magic hovering above Severus. The Heart of Hogwarts really was fascinating, as was the way that the Headmistress could manipulate the magic there. Poppy would ask if she might be allowed to watch the next time Minerva and the Heads of House renewed the wards or did some other coordinated work on Hogwarts. She knew there was almost no information about the wards in Hogwarts: a History, having read it at Minerva's urging a few decades before and having picked it up occasionally since then to find out some fact or other, and there was no mention of the Heart at all. Even the Headmistress's Library was mentioned only in passing as being located in the Headmistress's Tower. She wondered whether Minerva had another book that told more about the Heart, and if she did, if it might be permissible for her to let her take a look at it. It wasn't a subject that naturally interested Poppy, but having seen more of the Heart, she was now intrigued by it.

Poppy watched as Melina cast several diagnostic spells and seemed satisfied with what she saw. From what Poppy was able to discern, the procedures had been a success so far, and Severus was out of any immediate danger, although he still appeared to be unconscious. Now Melina would have to deal with the remnants of the underlying problem: Nagini's venom. The antivenin potion Severus had been taking had, without doubt, drastically reduced the magical poisons, but there were still minute amounts of it distributed widely throughout his body, and although there might not be enough to cause Severus any difficulties now, there was the real danger that they would begin to grow and multiply again, and more rapidly the more that Severus exerted his magic. They would all be back here again in a few months' time if they did nothing about the poisons.

Poppy recognised the next spells that Melina cast as being Healer's variants of the standard revealing spell. Melina shook her head, dissatisfied with something.

"Filius, Pomona, Albus, I would like to thank you for the assistance you have provided, but I need to do a few delicate procedures, and if you could leave now, that would be best," Melina said. "You may wait up in Minerva's office, if you like. Minerva, I would appreciate it if you would remain here, though, in case Poppy and I need your help again."

Pomona, Filius, and Albus went toward the stairs, Pomona resting her hand on Filius's shoulder.

"I hope he will be all right," Pomona said, looking back, her brow furrowed with concern. "Did it help, what we did?"

"Yes, it did, very much," Melina reassured her. "His burn-out is completely reversed and his exhaustion is repaired. He's now simply suffering from the aftermath of his ordeal. I could wake him now if we needed to, but he probably wouldn't be very coherent, and it will be easier to perform the next operations if he is still unconscious. I want to get rid of the rest of the toxins today before they can begin to multiply again."

Pomona nodded, seeming relieved.

"Tell him we're pulling for him!" Filius said. "We'll be waiting for you, Severus!" he said more loudly.

"If we're not finished by the time afternoon classes begin," Minerva said, "you should all go to your classrooms and teach. We'll contact you when we're through and let you know how he is. Pomona, could you put a sign on the Potions classroom door cancelling classes for the day and make sure that the door is locked. Filius, get a message to Professor Carter in the Great Hall and have her announce that all students who have Potions today should report to the library, instead."

Filius and Pomona started up the stairs, but Albus hesitated at the foot. "You are sure you don't need me?" he asked.

"No, we're fine," Melina replied. "I know you're worried about him, Albus, but I think that Severus would appreciate a bit of privacy."

"Ah. I see . . . well, I'll leave you three to it, then," Albus said with a nod.

"We will call you if you can help, though, Albus," Melina said. "And one of us will send you a Patronus when we're through, letting you know how he is, and you can help us get him back to the infirmary."

As Albus started up the stairs, Melina nodded to Poppy. "Help me with these sheets. I'm not getting enough information from the diagnostics with him covered up."

They unfastened the straps holding Severus to the stretcher, then Poppy took off the sheet that covered Severus's chest as Melina pulled down the other sheet.

"May I cast a warming charm for him?" Minerva asked.

Melina nodded, and Minerva cast a charm to warm the room and the air around Severus.

Melina cast the revealing charms again, and this time, tiny, shimmering prickles of deep red light appeared over Severus's bared skin. There were two larger concentrations of them near his diaphragm and pelvis, and smaller ones around his throat, but there were others dispersed across his body, even to his fingertips and toes. Melina closed her eyes briefly, and Poppy thought she sighed.

"I had hoped to be able to extract it all without having to use you, Poppy, but as you can see..." Melina gestured over his body "...I will need a sympathetic, at least if I'm to do it thoroughly and without it taking hours."

"That's all right. I'm prepared to do it," Poppy said.

"You might as well conjure a couple chairs for yourselves, Aunt Minerva. It's still going to be a while before either of you needs to do anything."

Minerva obligingly conjured two armchairs for herself and Poppy, and the two witches watched as Melina began to move her wand over Severus's body, beginning at his shoulders, seeming to tweeze out threads from his body with the tip of the wand, then Vanishing them with small crackling pops. Poppy could see now what she meant about it taking hours if she were to try to eliminate the remnants of poison by wand without using a sympathetic. It seemed that Melina was focussing on the larger concentrations of the curse-laden poison, reducing their size and intensity. It also looked to Poppy as though some of the toxins were moving away from the area that Melina was working on.

"Are they moving?" she asked. "It looks almost as though the poison's trying to escape you!"

"Part of it is just their natural flow, but yes, I believe that it is reacting to my magic, pulling away from it," Melina replied.

"Is it intelligent, then?" Minerva asked worriedly.

Melina paused in her work and rolled her shoulders, easing the tension in them. "No, not intelligent. It's just a reaction. Like the ends of two magnets pushing each other away." She returned to her careful, painstaking work, drawing out the magical poisons and destroying them one small bit at a time.

Severus twitched and moaned softly as she drew on the toxins clustered around his diaphragm.

"It's all right, Severus," Melina said softly. "I'm just removing all this nasty poison from your magical system. Just be still. Not much longer." She looked over at Minerva. "Could you talk to him for me, Aunt Min? I can't talk and do this at the same time. Reassure him. He's probably in discomfort."

Minerva stood and approached the table. Severus gasped and let out another soft moan, his head turning slightly first one way then the other.

"Just don't touch him," Melina said as she exploded another bit of Nagini's magical poison.

"I'm here with you, Severus," Minerva said. "Poppy, and I, and Melina. Melina's Healing you now. I don't know how it feels as she's doing it, but I'm sure you'll feel much better once she's done. We have been worried about you. It will be a relief for all of us when you're well again."

Minerva continued to talk to Severus, her words seeming to calm him, and Melina worked her way down Severus's body, reducing but not completely eliminating all the little red sparkles that indicated the presence of Nagini's magical toxins.

After twenty minutes, Melina finally stopped. "All right, that's as much as I'm going to do. We'll get the rest through you, Poppy, but before we do that, I need something to drink. Any chance of a glass of water, Minerva?"

Minerva smiled and nodded. "I'll go fetch us all some tea and bring some water for you, as well. Would you like something to eat, too?"

Melina shook her head. "Not until we're done, but the tea will be nice. Thanks, Aunt Min." She smiled and looked down at her patient. "He's doing well." She put a hand on Severus's shoulder and drew a sheet up over him with a flick of her wand. "You'll be back to terrorising Hufflepuffs again in no time, Severus." She laughed.

After Minerva had returned with the tea and they had each had a cup, Melina stretched. "Ready, Poppy?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"Take off your shoes, stockings, pinny, and hat...mainly because you'll be more comfortable that way...and then get up on the table, lay down beside Severus, and roll up your right sleeve. Then . . . you just need to relax and trust me, mainly. You'll be pretty tired when we're through, so I hope you haven't any plans for this evening!"

As Poppy sat and removed her shoes and stockings, Minerva said, "I'm not entirely sure what it is you're doing. I've heard of sympathetics, of course, but . . ." She looked quizzically at her niece.

"Ah. I will induce in Poppy what I need to Heal in Severus, in an intense but managed condition, and then as I Heal her, the effect will carry over to Severus through a magical bond I'll create between them, but amplified through the bond, then it will echo back from Severus to Poppy, bringing the poisons and illness with it, which I will then dissipate. It's rather taxing on the sympathetic, but properly done, there's no danger to her, and it's something I've done many times before."

"What do you want me to do?" Minerva asked.

"There's a small black box in my bag. When I'm ready for it, you can hand it to me."

Minerva opened the black satchel and found a hexagonal black box that felt heavier than its size would have suggested. "Is this it?"

"Yes, thank you," Melina replied. "Just hold onto it for now. Okay, Poppy, up on the table, wand in your right hand."

Poppy hoisted herself up to sit on the edge of the carved stone table, then she swung around and lay down beside Severus at his left.

"Will you have to uncover him again?" she asked.

"No, no need for that, but if you could just pull his left arm out from beneath the sheet and settle it next to him. Yes, alongside like that," Melina said with approval.

"I hope he doesn't wake up and decide to hex us all in his confusion," Poppy said as she observed Melina take Severus's right arm and fold it on top of the sheet, making sure that his right hand still held his wand.

Melina shook her head. "Highly unlikely, even for Severus," she said with a little chuckle. She smoothed Severus's hair back from his forehead. "This is the last procedure for today, Severus. We're going to rid you of Nagini's curse for good and all. It may feel strange and uncomfortable, but Poppy here is going to help you, and Minerva's here, too."

Severus let out a slight sighing moan, then was still again.

"Well, don't know how much he understood, if anything, but let's begin," Melina said. She raised her wand and thrust it toward Poppy's arm. "Alligare energiae!"

A pulsing, multicoloured, translucent, intangible cord of magic suddenly appeared, wrapped around Poppy's right arm and Severus's left, then running from their wrists to the centres of their bodies. It was thick and twisted as a heavy rope, but although Poppy could feel its warmth and energy, and sense where it entered her abdomen, it had no weight or heft to it.

Melina held out her hand toward Minerva. "The box."

Minerva placed the box in Melina's hand, and at a whispered word from her, the lid opened on invisible hinges to reveal a transparent ball resting in a concave hollow. Melina flicked her wand and the bubble floated free, glistening slightly, like a soap bubble. Melina brought the bubble to float above Poppy.

"What is that?" Minerva asked.

"It contains a minute amount of concentrated extracted magical toxins from Nagini's venom." Melina smiled slightly. "We really will have to thank Albus again for his foresight in removing Nagini's venom sacs before he burned down the Shack."

Minerva's eyebrows rose. "Nagini venom? Isn't that dangerous?"

"Very, but not as I'm going to use it, and I will be in control of it. Of course, if I were to pass out in the middle of the procedure or something, that would be a problem, and you'd have to get another Healer in here immediately, but otherwise, it's perfectly safe. It's possible, though unlikely because of the nature of the extraction, that I may need you to perform the Prospirator on Poppy for a minute or so, but no longer. That's one reason I wanted you to remain here. But it's all quite harmless," she said cheerfully.

Minerva did not look much comforted by that, but Poppy seemed unperturbed as she gazed up at the bubble and waited for Melina to begin the procedure.

Melina cast. "Vapor afflare!"

The bubble disappeared and a fine, thin mist settled over Poppy and vanished.

NEXT

Chapter Fourteen: Of Ice Cream, Kittens, and Jet Planes

Tuesday, 1 September 1998

Severus undergoes another procedure, and he dreams, past and present merging.

Characters: Severus Snape, Poppy Pomfrey, Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore, Melina O'Donald

Author's Note: As I always say, the Latin in these stories is "magical spell Latin," not to be confused with classical Latin, medieval Latin, ecclesiastical Latin, or pig Latin! ;-) Don't expect grammatical correctness.

Thanks for your reviews!