Paid In Blood - Revised

Chapter 13

Spending his days in bed with nothing better to do than talk was, in Harry's opinion, frighteningly dull.

"Just think, Harry, you can treat these moments as a holiday," advised Dumbledore, after Harry's many complaints on the subject. "No responsibilities, no work..."

"I am on holidays," Harry rebutted, making the headmaster chuckle.

It wasn't all bad, though, since Daphne visited often and stayed for extended periods of time, as did his friends. He spent a lot of time chatting with Dumbledore, if not about candy, then about history and transfiguration. It seemed that the headmaster had a passion for both subjects, and his eyes would light up as he animatedly spoke with Harry about them.

Harry had to keep much of his own knowledge to himself, of course, but he still took advantage of the opportunity to learn from the headmaster. He was especially captivated by Dumbledore's takes on Xenodarius's principle of converting organic matter to inorganic without killing the living tissues, Garalde's principles of transformation, and the principles of creation, which were all subjects well beyond N.E.W.T. level.

When asked about his favourite subjects, Harry responded with Defence Against the Dark Arts, leading to an in-depth discussion on the topic. Harry believed that DADA was an overly generic and reductive name for a course that was, in essence, a practical mix of all subjects. Dumbledore listened carefully to his arguments and happily offered his own unique perspective.

Much to both Dumbledore's and Madam Pomfrey's amusement, Harry's primary concern was being released from the hospital wing in time for the Yule Ball. Seeing the date approaching fast, he insisted he would be going to the ball with Daphne no matter what, even if it meant he needed another stay in the infirmary afterwards. Daphne tried to be stern with him for suggesting he'd jeopardise his recovery, but she couldn't help but feel happy that he considered her a priority.

Fortunately for Harry, Madam Pomfrey allowed him to leave the hospital wing two days before the ball.

"You can go have breakfast in the Great Hall, Mr. Potter. And let's hope I don't see you in one of my beds again so soon," the matron said, giving him her usual farewell.

"One can only hope..." Harry said, leaving the hospital wing and whistling his way through the corridors with a grin on his face. After confirming that he was alone, he summoned Dobby to his side and waved his wand around the two of them.

"Any news?" asked Harry.

"Nothing noteworthy happened, Master. The mistress spent much of her time practicing in the Chamber, as you suggested. Other than that, she's done a great deal of reading with your friends, when she wasn't with you. She's been safe, and no one has bothered her," Dobby reported while Harry nodded along.

"Also, the mistress had an idea for how to forge the book with the fading spell for the headmaster. She suggested we take parts from different Parseltongue books and mix them together into one volume. You can choose some of the less interesting sections just in case, but as long as the headmaster has no method of translating it, he won't be able to learn anything from the book anyway."

"Brilliant!" Harry said, with a delighted look. "I didn't even consider that, that's absolutely brilliant," he laughed. Dobby smirked to himself, enjoying his master's good mood.

"You've got to love that woman," Harry added pensively.

"I'll leave it to you, then," Dobby replied. "I'll remind you that you haven't finished the mistress's gift yet, and the Yule Ball is in two days."

"I only need a couple of hours," Harry replied, waving off Dobby's concerns.

"Your uncles also dropped off the materials you requested for the tiles, so I got started carving some of them."