Harry Potter The Final Straw

Minerva bustled over as quickly as possible when she heard the Matron's call for help. Arriving at the scene, she quickly conjured up more privacy screens before asking in her thick Scottish brogue, "What do you need me to do?"

Poppy's tired eyes glanced up at the Transfiguration Professor; this wasn't the type of injuries that she was used to dealing with at Hogwarts. Sighing in relief, she said urgently, "Minerva, I need you to get some additional healers here. We have at least two students that need to be transferred to Saint Mungo's."

Moving as fast as she could, Minerva McGonagall headed towards the nearest floo to call Saint Mungo's for some help. As she was leaving the Great Hall, she spied the Hogwart's Poltergeist, Peeves, madly cackling with glee at the destruction and chaos. Furious beyond belief at the annoying spirit, she did what Mr. Filch had wanted to do for years. She exorcised him with a swish of her wand without even breaking her stride.

Poppy noticed that the girl's convulsions were ending so she said commandingly, "Now, Mr. Potter." as she began treating the wound in Tracey's arm to get the bleeding stopped.

When he was finished pouring the potion down Tracey's throat, Harry asked, "What do you need me to do now, Madam Pomfrey?"

Looking into Harry's eyes, Poppy could easily see that he was determined to help and would do what was necessary to see things through to the end. Relieved that she didn't have to do this alone, she said, "I need you to vanish the piece of wood in her arm and then I'm going to start closing the wound."

Turning her attention back to the unconscious girl's arm, she snapped, "Now!" The moment that the stake was vanished, blood spurted everywhere. It was as she had feared; the arteries in the arm had been severed below the elbow. She quickly conjured a tourniquet and began wrapping it around Tracey's bicep while keeping her other hand clamped over the pulsing wound. Shifting her gaze to Mr. Potter, she said urgently, "I need you to keep tightening this tourniquet until the bleeding stops so I can heal her arm."

Harry didn't say a thing; he just took the tourniquet and began tightening it down just like Madam Pomfrey was doing moments before.

As the bleeding began to lessen, Poppy was able to see what she was doing and began repairing the damaged arteries. After a few tense minutes, she finished fixing the arteries and had begun to seal up the wound. Relieved, she said, "Mr. Potter, please begin slowly loosening the tourniquet."

Relief flooded through Poppy as she felt Miss Davis' arm begin to warm back up from the flow of fresh blood. Slumping down on her haunches, she looked up at a blood covered Harry Potter and said tiredly, "Great job, Mr. Potter. Miss Davis is going to be just fine. If it wasn't for you, she would have bled to death."

Suddenly very tired, Harry leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. After a few moments respite, he opened his eyes and looked down at the girl lying across his lap. Her skin color was returning to normal and her breathing had evened out.

Unconsciously, Harry reached out and brushed the hair away from Tracey's face before beginning to use his fingers to untangle the knots. He was unsure how he felt about what had happened in the last fifteen minutes.

He was confident that Draco was going to throw a spell at him once he started goading the blonde haired ponce. He was extremely surprised by Malfoy's spell choice though. At most, Harry was hoping that it was going to be something harmless but uncomfortable. Nothing prepared him for the lethal spell that the arrogant brat had sent rocketing his way.

It was ironic that Malfoy ended up teaching Harry, not one, but two important lessons during the disaster. The first was that all witches and wizards were armed and dangerous. The second lesson was that you should never taunt someone without being prepared for the consequences.

Harry knew that he didn't have control over Malfoy's choices, short of using the Imperious Curse, but his own actions did lead to a very bad situation. That being said, he was glad that it wasn't his friends, or heaven forbid, Hermione, on the receiving end of Malfoy's disastrous spell choice.

Albus Dumbledore had returned to the Great Hall just as Harry Potter yelled out for Madam Pomfrey's assistance. Suppressing his presence, he stuck to the outer edges of the hall until he was about fifteen feet from where Miss Davis was being treated so he could observe Mr. Potter more closely.

He knew that Harry had goaded Mr. Malfoy into attacking, the question burning in his mind was, 'Did he do that with the intent to harm the Slytherin students?' Dumbledore feared that Harry had already started down a dark path based upon the boy's reactions to the tasks in the Triwizard Tournament.

Just as Harry was beginning to relax, he felt the familiar presence of Albus Dumbledore. When he spoke, his voice clearly conveyed his displeasure towards the Headmaster.

Dumbledore was ripped from his thoughts when the very person he was dwelling upon said in a very frosty voice, "Is there something you want to say, Professor Dumbledore?"

Poppy was startled by the tone in Mr. Potter's voice and by the fact that she had not heard Albus step into the cordoned off area that they were inside.

Plastering a smile on his face, Dumbledore said in his proud grandparent voice, completely ignoring Harry's tone, "Indeed, Mr. Potter. I wanted to congratulate you on saving Miss Davis' life. Had you not noticed her injury she most certainly would have died before ever being treated."

Annoyed, Harry had to struggle to keep his voice low so he didn't disturb Tracey when he growled, "It wouldn't have been necessary if you would have taught the students that their actions have consequences a long time ago."

Minerva McGonagall had just entered the Great Hall with a few Healers from Saint Mungo's. She directed one of the Healers to the cordoned off area where Professor Snape was still working on Miss Greengrass and one to check on the students that were being helped by the Weasley twins. She beckoned to the third Healer, a trainee named Augustus Pye, to follow her to see Miss Davis.

As they entered the cordoned off area, they both heard Harry Potter telling off the Headmaster. Shocked, Minerva snapped angrily, "Mr. Potter! Now is not the time for that discussion!" She was well aware that Harry was correct, but it was something that she felt should be discussed in private, not in the confines of the Great Hall in front of witnesses.

The look of defiance in Harry's eyes almost caused Minerva to rebuke him again but when Mr. Potter didn't speak, she wisely held her own tongue in check. Turning her attention to Madam Pomfrey, she reported, "I managed to grab two Healers and one Trainee. Mr. Pye is the Trainee." she said as she waved her hand in his general direction.

Relief flooded through Poppy when Minerva mentioned the extra help. Sounding exhausted, she said, "Thank you, Minerva. The worst of everything is under control, I hope. Please have them check all the injured students over just to be safe. Mr. Pye can assist me in getting Miss Davis ready for transportation to Saint Mungo's."

Minerva nodded and headed over to make sure Madam Pomfrey's instructions were carried out properly.