Harry Potter: Don't touch

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Harry woke up alone in the Hospital Wing. Opposite the bed he was lying on was a window that offered a magnificent view of the sky: night, stars twinkling brightly, almost a full moon... A perfect sight for lovers of the beauty of the night sky. Harry watched the yellow light for a while, and then the memories of the unfortunate dinner began to come back to him. A terrible feeling of shame completely flooded Potter, the almost full moon no longer seemed so beautiful to him and no longer deserved his attention. He got out of bed, but accidentally knocked over a glass of water on a nearby nightstand.

There was the distinctive sound of shattering glass-the glass made contact with the floor and shattered. Harry turned his head and stared at the shards and the slowly spreading puddle, then he looked around for a rag, but found nothing. Suddenly the door to the Hogwarts infirmary opened with a loud creak, and Madam Pomfrey came in, wearing a hastily worn jumper over her nightgown.

- Hush, Potter, don't worry," the healer walked over to the bed and, with a flick of her wand, removed the shards along with a puddle of water. - 'It's three o'clock in the morning, you should be asleep.

- I just did. And I want to-

Harry stopped halfway through the sentence. What exactly did he want? Forget everything? Retribution? Snape's head? Or maybe Malfoy's?

- ...To go to my bedroom. That's where my things are and where I belong.

- I'm sorry, Potter, but you'll have to spend the night here. Headmaster's orders; he'll come and explain in the morning. You've been asleep for about seven hours, but it was a magical sleep, induced, it didn't relax you properly, you need to go to bed. Are you thirsty?

- No! I'm not thirsty! - Harry replied a little too sharply and added more calmly. - I'm fine, I don't need water, just leave me alone.

Madam Pomfrey looked at him with barely visible pity and left the wing.

Potter lay on his bed, contemplating his actions and making further plans. The very hysterical traits he thought he had already gotten rid of were beginning to awaken in his behaviour. For about a year he had successfully restrained his emotions and was able to control his antics. And now everything is back to normal. Because of one filthy vengeful brute who for some unbelievable reason is still a professor. And Malfoy, of course. If it hadn't been for Justin, the incident could have been far more painful for him.

So what should he do next? Revenge is definitely not an option. But Dumbledore should still be approached; of course, there was no proof that Snape was behind the incident at dinner. But the Headmaster must be well aware that the truth serum... Or what was it, anyway?

Harry snapped out of his thoughts and wondered.

What was it that had been slipped to him? He certainly couldn't speak anything but the truth, but if he'd been given it, he could just keep quiet, but here he had no control over his tongue, as if it had been manipulated and forced to tell all the secrets. How little he knew about potions after all... Was there any tincture that suppressed the will?

He should have listened to Moody and got his own flask and drank only from it. There are so many people around who have bad feelings for him, and each of them might "accidentally" sprinkle a couple of pinches of crushed potassium cyanide over his food or drink. You need some kind of amulet, like the snake-shaped one, but against poisoning. It would be safer to silence Malfoy when he approaches, better to be ten times safe than to be caught unawares. Moody was right about everything.

With these thoughts Harry was able to calm down and soon fell into the realm of Morpheus.

* * *

He was awakened early in the morning by Madam Pomfrey:

- Wake up Potter, the Headmaster will be here soon.

Harry threw off his blanket and sat up on the bed. He looked at the wall clock hoping to recognise the time, but instead of numbers he could only see blurred black and white spots. Quickly realising what was wrong, Potter took his glasses from the bedside table, put them on and this time was able to see the position of the hands on the dial with ease.

Six in the morning. Why did he need to be woken up so early? Couldn't Dumbledore have come later? Never mind, he would soon answer all the questions himself.

A few minutes later, the Headmaster of Hogwarts finally appeared in the Hospital Wing. Dumbledore was dressed in his exit robe and, by the looks of it, had been awake for a while and was feeling quite alert. Next to him, two large glasses with a light yellow liquid inside were slowly floating through the air.

- Good morning, Harry. How did you sleep? - He asked immediately.

- Fine," Potter replied.

His plan was to accuse Snape immediately on seeing the Headmaster, but he couldn't decide where to start.

- That's good, do you want a lemon sorbet?

Harry, who had already decided which phrase to start the conversation with, was lost for a moment.

- What?

- Lemon sorbet," Dumbledore pointed to one of the glasses. It immediately floated through the air towards Potter and dropped onto the small nightstand next to the bed. - 'Tasty stuff, help yourself. I got two portions, one for me and one for you.

- Yes, I will," Harry suddenly realised how thirsty he was. He instantly forgot all his plans to check his food and drink for foreign substances. After all, there was no reason for Dumbledore to poison him. - Where did he come from? I don't remember being given anything like this in the Great Hall.

- It's from my own supply. I've got plenty more in there. I have a particular weakness for lemon sorbet.

As if in confirmation of these words, Dumbledore sat down on a nearby bed and took a sip of the levitated drink with apparent pleasure.

Harry slid the glass over to him, but didn't try the sorbet yet.

- It was Professor Snape," Potter stared at Dumbledore, waiting for his reaction.

Dumbledore immediately gloomed and set the barely sipped sherbet aside.

- 'Well, if you want to discuss it right now...'

- Of course I do! - Harry began with feeling. - I know I don't have any proof, but it's definitely him; he's the only one who could've got a potion that suppresses... What he put in my drink, I didn't even realise! He was in the Great Hall when it all started, not trying to help in any way, just watching with a smile. It was he, as Dean of Slytherin, knowing about our feud with Malfoy, who had asked him to come to me and ask the right questions in case nothing ever triggered the potion. You have to believe me!

- Hush, Harry; if you talk so loudly, Madam Pomfrey will kick me out of the Hospital Wing. I believe you, and I know perfectly well who is behind Mr Malfoy's actions; since you were given the truth serum... But it wasn't the usual version, it was a combination of potions... A silent potion, a life-giving elixir, there was even a rat potion in there for some reason. There was probably some willpower suppression in there as well. To combine a lot of potions into one mixture without poisoning anyone and preserving the effects of other potions... I could hardly do that. In fact, I only know of two people who can do something like that, and one of them is in Greenland now in his fourth hundredth year.

- You know, great! So Snape won't be teaching at Hogwarts anymore? - Potter asked hopefully.

- I'm afraid not, Harry," Dumbledore began to choose his words carefully. - The fact is that Professor Snape has made a serious mistake, but he has helped me out in the past, so I am prepared to give him another chance.

- Mistake? Another chance?! - The Puffenduian was indignant. - He slipped truth serum into the juice of an innocent sophomore. Is this, like, just a mistake?

- You understand perfectly well why he did it. You and Nymphadora did the same thing last year, and if she hadn't graduated, I suspect she'd be in the same position as you.

- But... But we're students and he's a professor," Harry realised how faded his arguments sounded. - It's not even my idea...

- I agree that what Severus did was completely unacceptable and unprofessional. But there are some other things you can't yet comprehend. And it is because of these things that I would not want Professor Snape to leave Hogwarts. Despite his obvious... problems, he's not as bad a person as you think... He's been through a lot too: last year you humiliated him in front of half of Hogwarts, and then he lost his job for saving Miss Granger from a troll.

Potter clenched his fists hard. The realisation came to him instantly that Snape would stay teaching and continue to bully him. Dumbledore's words made sense, but still Harry stood by his judgement.

- And Malfoy? - He suddenly remembered. - What about Malfoy? I mean, he was involved in all of this too, wasn't he? And he doesn't have a big list of good deeds behind him like... some people do.

- I've taken fifty points off the Slytherin faculty; Mr Malfoy will be attending Hagrid's tutorials all this year. He promised me that he wouldn't say anything of what he heard from you, and I can assure you that he will keep his promise. I can't expel him from Hogwarts, nor do I think I should. His father is on the board of trustees, and it's useless to try and expel Malfoy without direct evidence. And I don't think you'd want to publicise the situation.

- Does... Doesn't anyone know? - Harry asked hopefully.

- Apart from me, Madam Pomfrey, Professor Snape, Mr Malfoy, your friend Justin and Mr Murphy, no one. Fred and George Weasley caused a bit of a stir at dinner last night, so all the students' attention was consumed by their shenanigans.

Harry was relieved. No-one knows... Except.....

- Who's Murphy? - Potter asked.

- Alistair Murphy; I thought you knew him. He put you to sleep and kept you from bruising yourself, and took you to the Hospital Wing afterwards. I added twenty points to Hufflepuff for his actions.

That's right. He never got his last name, did he? Harry finally tasted the lemon sorbet. The drink was indeed incredibly delicious. It reminded him of the lemonade Mrs Tonks used to make in the summer.

- What if... If Snape...

- Professor Snape, Harry.

- Right. Professor Snape. What if he tries to slip me the truth serum again?

- Then I'll kick him out of Hogwarts," Dumbledore replied calmly, turning the empty sherbet glass into a small bird that immediately fluttered out the ajar window. - 'In that case, you can even sue him, if you suddenly want to. He and I agreed yesterday that nothing like that would ever happen again. Just don't try to take revenge yourself, okay?

- I won't. I wouldn't dream of it.

- Good, Harry," Dumbledore smiled. - You and I have a deal, right?

- Yes, we do. Thank you for the sorbet, it was delicious.

- You're welcome. Three points to Hufflepuff for excellent manners. By the way, Hufflepuff's doing a lot better this year than last, don't you think? I mean the points situation. Keep up the good work, and you'll win this time.

Dumbledore smiled once more and left Madam Pomfrey's abode.

* * *

Harry sat down to breakfast for an hour and a half, but in all that time he hadn't even touched his food. Despite Dumbledore's assurances and the absence of Snape and Malfoy in the Great Hall, Potter just couldn't bring himself to eat or drink anything without first checking. At the main gathering place at school, Harry was only there to meet Justin and make sure that no one really knew about yesterday's incident. No strange looks were thrown at him; everyone sat quietly at their desks and ate. During that hour and a half, he was approached by Diggory, who announced that the next training session would be right after Halloween, which was less than a week away. Alistair gave him a thumbs-up from afar, and Zhou waved her hand and shouted at him, "Don't worry!". At first Harry froze in fear, but then he realised she was probably talking about yesterday's sectionals. Yesterday's... It felt like it had been a week ago already.

Potter never waited for Finch-Fletchley in the Great Hall and went to look for him in the drawing room. Not finding his mate there, he headed for the common room, only Ernie Macmillan was there, who immediately asked Harry where he had spent the night. Replying briefly, "In the Hospital Wing," Potter decided to head for the Room-at-Will. Where Justin might be, he had no idea; if it was weekdays, he could cross paths with him in lessons, but on weekends he could be anywhere. So until he showed up, he could just mind his own business. After all, it was practically no big deal, so they could forget about it.

Harry made his way up to the eighth floor and stood in front of the wonder room. Now he had to decide what to ask her for. There were only three options for leisure activities at the moment. The first was to try to look for amulets against magical poisoning. The second is to study new spells or repeat old ones. And the third is to read up on the game of pens. At least to understand what corral players need to do. No, the answer to the question "what should I do?" is obvious - to hit enemy players with bludgers. We need to learn the ins and outs of the game. How to move? How to hold the bat correctly? How hard to hit the bludgers? When to dodge them? Which enemy player is the most preferable to launch them at? Should you just fly after the black balls and shoot them at players, or should you follow the game and sometimes join the hunters' attack? There were a lot of unanswered questions.

After thinking about it for a bit, Harry decided to get to work on his Quidditch training. The first practice was in a week, and he didn't want it to be his last either. He walked three times near the wall where the door to the Wishing Room appeared, thinking about 'the best book for the corral'. When he entered the wonder-room, he saw a wide table with only one book on it.

"Excellent!" - Potter thought.

His plan had succeeded; he wasn't going to do like he had done with spells - read an entire library about paddles and the history of Quidditch. He planned to get the best book from the room and learn everything from it. And it went exactly the way he wanted it to! At least that's what Harry thought until he got to the desk and read the title of the book.

"The Best Book for Corralers."

Written by Ivan Korneev.

Translated into English.

Harry took a couple of seconds to comprehend the information he had received and then laughed out loud, releasing the tension that had built up. The best book for corralers ever! The Room-as-Wish may not have a mind, but it certainly has a superb sense of humour. And indeed, the room did fulfil what he asked of her... I'll have to tell Justin.