| Chapter 21 -Alcoves and Altercations Continued |
|
| �Hermione,� he whispered, shaking her shoulder gently, �Hermione it�s me, Harry. I�m back� wake up.� Hermione groggily opened her eyes and looked up at him. �Harry?� she asked sleepily. Suddenly, she noticed Harry�s head. �Oh my god, Harry, what happened to you?� she asked, practically shrieking. �Where in God�s name have you been? I tried to stay awake and wait for you,� she said, her voice shaking. She reached up to touch Harry�s forehead. He winced and pulled away in pain. �Oh, I�m sorry,� she apologized quickly. �But Harry, you need to go to the hospital wing, that gash on your head looks really serious!� �Hermione are you mad?� Harry said, �I can�t go to the hospital wing! They�d ask me how I got the cut and I�d have to tell them where I was after curfew!� �Oh yeah, that�s right� speaking of, where were you?� she asked worriedly. �It�s hard to explain, because I don�t think you�ve ever heard of where I was,� Harry said. �But it wasn�t Mrs. Figg�s office.� �Well just tell me what happened!� Hermione said anxiously. Harry dove into a full account of his last two and a half hours. He told Hermione everything, from being chased by Mrs. Norris, to the bricks in the Trophy Room, and finally to where he tripped in the dark alcove that he had discovered. Hermione listened with wide eyes, but didn�t comment until Harry had finished his last sentence. �Wow, you�re right,� Hermione said quietly. �I haven�t heard of that room before. That�s really strange, because I�ve read just about everything there is about the History of Hogwarts and none of the books ever mentioned a room like that.� �Well maybe it�s a hidden room, like the Chamber of Secrets or something,� Harry said. �By the looks of it, everything down in that room relates to death in some way. It was a pretty creepy room.� �Well, right now it doesn�t really matter where you were. We need to mend that cut on your head before anyone sees you,� Hermione said nervously. �I don�t know any spells that can heal people, but I might have a book on it. Stay down here, I�ll be right back.� She stood up and sped up the stairs to the Girl�s Dormitory. Harry walked over to the mirror hanging above the mantelpiece and looked at his reflection. He was a complete mess. His glasses were bent and one of the lenses was cracked. His forehead had a gash that must have been two inches wide. Most of the blood had dried on his forehead and in his hair, but there was still a little dripping from the open part of the wound. His face and robes had dust and dirt caked on them. He rolled up his pant legs and saw that his knees were bruised and scraped as well. His head still throbbed lightly. He must have passed out for at least an hour when he hit the floor. Even with his glasses on, his vision was a little blurry. Hermione tiptoed back down the stairs. She carried a book with her, which Harry assumed must be a spell book of some sort. She walked over and pulled out her wand. �First of all, your glasses are almost destroyed. Let�s fix those first,� she said, pointing her wand at Harry�s face. �Oculus Reparo!� she stated clearly. Harry felt the glasses on his nose twitching and vibrating. When they had finished moving, Harry could tell that they were back to their original state. �Good,� Hermione said, �Now I need to find a spell that can heal your forehead.� She flipped through the pages of her book. �Ahh, here�s one,� she said finally, stopping on one of the pages. Hermione cleared her throat, and once again pointed her wand at Harry�s face. �Vulnus Percuro!� she said. A small, red light flashed quickly, and after that nothing happened. �Hmm�.� Hermione started, �I don�t know why that didn�t �� Her words were cut off when Harry suddenly started to feel an unbearable pain pulsating through his head. He clasped his hands to his head, clenching his jaw, trying to block out the pain. His body shuddered violently. He fell to his knees, unable to withstand the immense pain in his head. His forehead felt like it was ripping open, and the skin was actually moving. He thought he heard Hermione screaming, but he couldn�t hear much else other than a loud ringing in his ears. |