Another City, Not My Own

"ANOTHER CITY, NOT MY OWN"
Chapter Three
"Chimaera's Root"

"It's Chimaera's Root," said Professor Snape.

From the stunned silence that followed, Harry could tell that this was not good news. He stood leaning against a table by the wall in the hospital wing anteroom. Professor Snape, Professor Sprout, and Madam Pomfrey were there, all looking very grim. Professor Dumbledore stood next to Harry; he seemed to be almost in a state of shock. In one corner of the room, Hagrid stood next to a wall-shelf full of books. He winced hard. "Aw, bloody hell!"

"Are you sure?" asked Dumbledore.

"Positive," said Professor Sprout. "We've analyzed the talon that Hagrid clipped from the owl that Mr. Potter here captured up in the Owlery. There was a small sample of the poison left on the talon. We've run it through several tests and we've identified the genus of the sample. And according to Lucretia's Guide to Magical Poisons, Professor McGonagall's symptoms definitely match. It is Chimaera's Root."

"Chimaera's Root?" Harry repeated, looking at her.

"It is a very potent and particularly excruciating poison for wizards," explained Professor Sprout. "It can take several days to kill a victim. Muggles can ingest it, and while they may get sick to their stomach, it will do them no lasting harm. But for wizards, it is a dreadful and extremely painful way to die."

Madam Pomfrey spoke up. "When Chimaera's Root enters a wizard's body, it penetrates the circulatory system and attaches itself, cell by cell, to the magical elements in the wizard's blood. The poison is self-replicating, and over several days the toxins of the Chimaera's Root slowly multiply and spread throughout the circulatory system. The toxins break down the magical elements within each blood cell, in the process also destroying the non-magical, human elements of the cells."

"What makes Chimaera's Root particularly excruciating for the wizard who has been poisoned is that the magical elements within the blood cells have a tendency to fight back against the toxins. The cells increase their activity within the bloodstream in an effort to "throw off" the toxins that attach themselves to the cells. In the beginning, they are generally successful. But once the Chimaera's Root toxins have been thrown off of one cell, they immediately seek out another cell to attach themselves."

"Over time, as I said, the toxins wear down the blood cells in the wizard's body, and the cells cease to resist. But during the time when the cells are resisting, the wizard loses complete control of the magical elements within their body. That is why Professor McGonagall is convulsing so badly. The magical elements within her bloodstream are fighting back against the poison. But they are also unintentionally causing damage to her human body. She's being attacked from within by the very elements in her blood that make her a wizard."

Another few moments of silence followed. Harry shifted uncomfortably against the table. He hadn't broken any bones in his fall from the rafters in the Owlery, but he had some very painful bruises on his lower back that were now starting to ache.

"All right," he said, looking at Professor Snape. "What's the cure for this Chimaera's Root? Have we tried the bezoar--the stone from the stomach of a goat?"

"Of course we've tried it, Potter!" Snape almost shouted at him. "It was the very first thing we tried!"

"Severus," Dumbledore said gently, holding up his hand, "the boy is not questioning your competence. He's merely trying to find out what's been done."

Snape glared at Harry. "Chimaera's Root is one of the rare poisons in the world from which the bezoar will not save you."

Harry looked at Dumbledore. "What about Fawkes? The phoenix's tears? Would that be able to save her?"

"Ordinarily yes, the phoenix tears probably would save her," said Dumbledore, somberly. "Unfortunately, Fawkes has just gone through a burning. Once a year or so, a phoenix dies in flames and is reborn from its ashes. After it has been reborn, it takes two months for the phoenix to reach maturity again. And during that time, I'm afraid, the phoenix's tears do not have the healing powers that they would normally have."

"You haven't saved any of Fawkes's tears?" Harry asked, surprised. "Like in a bottle or something?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I'm afraid that phoenix tears lose their healing powers within a few days after the phoenix has shed them, Harry. There's really not much point in keeping them after that."

Harry looked around the room. "Well, there must be an antidote for this thing?"

"There is," said Madam Pomfrey. "Unfortunately, the antidote must be made from an extract of the Chimaera's Root itself. The Chimaera's Root is soaked in an aphraxis enzyme potion to separate the toxins from the root sample. A neferium anti-toxin is then added to the toxins using a fusion spell. The weakened toxins are then injected into the body of the victim, where they combine with the toxins already in her system. The weakened toxins break down the existing toxins in the bloodstream to the point where the neferium anti-toxins are able to kill them off."

She gave a heavy sigh. "Unfortunately, once the Chimaera's Root toxins are in the bloodstream, they will not combine with any other toxins or anti-toxins other than Chimaera's Root itself. That is why we would need a sample of Chimaera's Root in order to produce an antidote."

"How much would you need for the antidote, Poppy?" asked Dumbledore.

"Not much. About a hundred grams."

"Well then, where do we get this Chimaera's Root?" Harry asked. "Do we have it in the greenhouses?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, Mr. Potter," said Professor Sprout, in a worried tone. "Chimaera's Root is a very rare poison. It's been extinct in Europe for over two centuries now. I've been researching magical herbs and plants all my life, and this is the first time I've ever encountered it. I know of no wizard plant nursery or greenhouse in Europe that grows it, nor any wizard school or laboratory that might have a sample of it."

"Can it be found outside of Europe, Iris?" Professor Dumbledore asked.

"It has been reported," Professor Sprout replied, "that small patches of wild Chimaera's Root can be found in remote jungle areas of Africa. But we wouldn't even know where to begin to look for it. Frankly, I haven't the faintest notion where Lucius Malfoy could have obtained a sample of this poison."

Again, a few seconds of silence followed in the room. Then Harry said, "All right. If Lucius Malfoy is the only person who's got a sample of this stuff, then we've got to figure out a way to get it from him." He looked at Dumbledore. "Malfoy isn't trying to blackmail you, is he? I mean, he hasn't sent you a note saying, 'Let my son back into Hogwarts, and I'll give you the antidote for the poison,' or anything, has he?"

"No, he's doing this for revenge," Dumbledore said, dismally. "He sent that owl to try to poison me, because I expelled his son. And he sent a note with it. He wanted me to know who had caused my death. In using the Chimaera's Root, he obviously hoped that I would suffer a great deal before I died It was just bad luck that Minerva happened to be in my office this morning when the owl came."

Professor Dumbledore was silent for a moment. Harry could see the pain burning in his headmaster's eyes. He knew exactly what Dumbledore was feeling right now--anger, frustration, horror, grief--a cold sickness that his closest friend, Professor McGonagall, had been scratched by the owl meant for him.

Professor Snape cleared his throat. "Ahem. If Lucius Malfoy does have a sample of the Chimaera's Root, I hardly think it likely that he will give it to us willingly."

Over by the bookshelves, Hagrid cracked his knuckles with a noise that sounded like a thick tree limb being snapped in two. "Oh, I think mebbe we can find a few ways of persuadin' him ter fork it over!"

"Calm down, Hagrid," Dumbledore said. He looked at Harry. "I suppose I should contact Arthur Weasley and let him know what's happened. He'll be able to get in touch with the other members of the Order of the Phoenix, and get them moving on this. I suspect, however, that Lucius Malfoy will be making himself very hard to find at the moment."

"With yer permission, sir," said Hagrid, "I'd like ter go ter London and assist Mr. Weasley with th' search."

"No, Hagrid," said Dumbledore. "I know you're anxious to give Lucius Malfoy the punishment he so richly deserves. But Arthur Weasley will need to move with some discretion on this matter. And he can't do that if he has to contend with you storming around the Ministry of Magic offices punching holes in the walls."

Hagrid accepted Dumbledore's decision with a seething low growl.

"Let us not forget," the headmaster continued, "that our main priority at this point is keeping Professor McGonagall alive. Poppy, what steps must be taken to that end?"

"I'm afraid, sir, that there is not much that we can do, other than to keep her under very heavy sedation," said Madam Pomfrey. "Right now, as I said, her body is receiving massive internal shocks because the magical elements within her bloodstream are fighting back against the Chimaera's Root. And these internal shocks are only going to increase, in power and in frequency, as the poison becomes more active. I'm very much afraid that these shocks may be enough to kill her. She's not a young witch, and her body's capacity for taking punishment is not as strong as it once was. But even that is not our chief concern right now."

"What is?" asked Dumbledore.

"Well, sir, the situation is further complicated by the fact that Professor McGonagall is an Animagus. In a few hours, she will lose control of the elements within her body that allow her to change from human to animal and back again. She may start to suddenly transform back and forth from human to cat to human. If she transforms into a cat and gets stuck in that form, the Chimaera's Root may finish her off much more quickly. Her body will be smaller as a cat, and the poison will spread faster and destroy the magical elements in her system much more easily. And of course, there's the danger that in transforming, she could get trapped between her human form and her animal form--and that could be the end of her."

Professor Dumbledore took a moment to digest this information. "Is there any kind of treatment that we can give her to help this?"

"I honestly don't know," Madam Pomfrey said, helplessly. "As with Iris, this is the first time I've ever encountered Chimaera's Root. It's certainly the first time I've ever heard of it being used on an Animagus. But whatever treatment we devise for Minerva, we must come up with it soon, or it may not make a difference."

Dumbledore looked at the professors gathered in the anteroom. "Well then, we'd best get started. Everyone, search through your stores and your spellbooks and see if you can find a way to help Minerva."

"If I may suggest, Professor," said Snape, "when you contact Mr. Weasley, you might tell him to put the word out to everyone in the Ministry offices and in the London wizard laboratories. Perhaps someone somewhere knows where we can lay our hands on a sample of Chimaera's Root, without having to track down Lucius Malfoy."

"A good suggestion," said Dumbledore. "Thank you, Severus. If any of you need me, I shall be in my office, talking with Arthur Weasley and a few other people. If you find anything that might help Minerva, please come and tell me immediately. Once I've finished putting the word out, I will come back down and see what help I can give you."

"Beggin' yer pardon, sir," said Hagrid, "but is there anything I can do ter help?"

Dumbledore thought for a moment. "You could sit with her. I'm sorry, Hagrid, but that's the best thing I can think of for you to do right now."

Hagrid nodded. Dumbledore turned to the others. "The rest of you--if you need anything at all, or require my help in any matter, come see me at once. That's all for now. Let's start looking."

"I'd better check on Minerva," said Madam Pomfrey. She went out through the hospital wing door. Professor Snape and Professor Sprout shared a solemn look, then left the anteroom together.

Dumbledore turned to Harry again. "Thank you, Harry, for capturing the owl in the Owlery. Please extend my gratitude to Miss Chang and Mr. Wight for their help. Thanks to you as well, Hagrid."

"At least now we know what we're dealing with," Harry said.

"If either of you can think of anything that might help Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, "please let me know."

Dumbledore left. Harry and Hagrid looked at each other.

"Want ter come in and sit with us a while?" Hagrid asked.

Harry shook his head. "I'm going to do something else. I don't know what yet, but I'm sure it'll come to me."

Hagrid nodded understandingly. He walked across the anteroom and ducked through the double doors into the hospital wing.

Harry leaned against the table, thinking hard for a few minutes. Then he left the anteroom and went down to Gryffindor Tower to find his secret weapon.

Hermione Granger.

* * *

"Ioreth's Root," said Hermione, looking around the hospital wing anteroom. "It may be Professor McGonagall's best chance."

It was two hours later. Harry stood exactly where he had been earlier, leaning against the same table as before. Professor Dumbledore was back as well, along with Professor Sprout, Professor Snape, and Madam Pomfrey. Hermione stood in the center of the room. Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom were there also, both sitting in leather-backed armchairs with books on their laps.

Two hours before, Harry had found Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, comforting Pavarti Patil over the loss of her owl. He had explained the situation with Professor McGonagall. Hermione had immediately rounded up Neville (who was an expert in herbology) and Ginny (whose specialty was magical medicine), and the four of them had gone to the Hogwarts library. Under the glaring eye of Madam Pince, they had pulled half the books off the shelves in the Herbology and Healing Arts sections. Ninety minutes later, they brought their solution to Dumbledore, who had called the three professors back to the anteroom for an emergency meeting.

"You see, Neville tells me that Chimaera's Root is a member of the Lyxatus family of magical plants," Hermione explained now. "And I remembered from Herbology class that, in certain plant families, non-poisonous plants can be used to treat toxins from poisonous plants of the same genus in the same family. And--thank goodness--it applies with the Lyxatus family."

"How so?" asked Dumbledore.

Hermione gestured to Neville. "If you'd care to explain."

Neville glanced around the room nervously. Harry could see that his friend was intimidated by the thought of having to speak in front of so many professors--especially Professor Snape.

"It's like this, sir," he began, in a low voice.

Almost immediately, Snape started in. "Speak up, Mr. Longbottom! We can hardly hear you."

Dumbledore held up his hand again. "Severus, please."

"Neville," Professor Sprout said, with an encouraging smile, "don't be nervous. Just tell us what you've found."

This kind word from his favorite teacher seemed to give Neville the confidence he needed. "It's like this, sir--er, ma'am. Well--uhh, Chimaera's Root, as Hermione said, is a member of the Lyxatus family of magical plants. And it's a member of the Lyxastrata genus within that family. Now, that genus includes a few more common poisons, like Goneilyx and Mortis Weed. And like Chimaera's Root, these poisons attack the magical elements in the bloodstream. But Goneilyx and Mortis Weed have both been treated with Ioreth's Root, a non-poisonous root that's also in the Lyxastrata genus of that family."

Snape interrupted. "But has Ioreth's Root ever been used to treat Chimaera's Root before?"

"Well--no sir," Neville stammered. "I mean--we didn't find any record of it having been--"

"Then how do you know that it would help us here?" Snape asked, his eyes boring into Neville.

Will you just shut up and listen to him?

Harry thought.

Shaking a bit, Neville looked at Hermione. She smiled, reassuringly. "Just keep going."

Neville held up the book that had been resting on his lap. "Well, sir--according to Hollyberry's Antidotes, the members of the Lyxastrata genus share very similar botanical cell structures. This enables the cells to combine with each other. Once they combine, they divide to produce more cells. For example, two cells join together to form one cell, and then subdivide into four. That's how the Chimaera's Root poison replicates itself."

"But," he continued, "if you add a non-poisonous element of the same genus, such as Ioreth's Root--well, it sort of 'gums up the works,' y'might say. For instance, if a cell from a Lyxastrata poison, like Mortis Weed, combines with an Ioreth's Root cell, those two cells become one cell--and then that one cell divides into four cells. And when this happens, the toxin levels in those four cells isn't quite as strong. It doesn't neutralize the poisons, you understand, but it does slow them down. It makes it harder for the toxins to gain a hold on the magical elements in the blood cells. And then those cells don't have to fight quite as hard to throw off the poison."

"But you said that it's never been tried with Chimaera's Root before," Snape persisted.

"Well, er--no sir," said Neville. "But if it works for Goneilyx and Mortis Weed, it should work for Chimaera's Root. We just need a larger dose of Ioreth's Root because the toxins in Chimaera's Root are much stronger than the others."

"It should work," Snape repeated, coldly. "You admit then, that it's just a theory?"

"Yes," Hermione said, her eyes level with Snape. "It is just a theory. But considering the circumstances, now might be a good time to test it."

Snape opened his mouth to raise another objection. But he said nothing. After a moment, he closed his mouth again--as if he reluctantly agreed with Hermione.

Dumbledore looked at Professor Sprout. "Iris, does this theory seem plausible to you?"

"I would have to check their notes and their sources of information, sir," said Professor Sprout. "But if they are correct, this treatment could be what we need to temper the poison's effect."

"Do we have Ioreth's Root in our stores of magical plants?"

Professor Sprout nodded. "We have a small supply. And I know where to find more if we need it."

"Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, turning to Madam Pomfrey. "What do you think of this theory?"

"Well, I'd want to check their notes and sources as well," said Madam Pomfrey. "As Neville says, Ioreth's Root would not be an antidote. It would hamper the Chimaera's Root toxins, but it wouldn't neutralize them. But if this works, it could give Minerva some relief from the magical shocks that her own body is inflicting upon her. It might slow the poison enough for us to keep her alive for a few days, at least until we can figure out something else."

"What is required in order to prepare the Ioreth's Root, Neville?" asked Dumbledore.

"Not much, sir," Neville replied. "Er, it's got to be boiled first in water, along with a queron-saline formula. The Ioreth's Root is then strained out and added to a Valadus potion. This potion enhances the cellular activity of the Ioreth's Root, so that when we inject it into Professor McGonagall's bloodstream, it'll seek out the Chimaera's Root cells and combine with them." Neville looked warily at Snape. "We'll need your help making the Valadus potion, sir."

"Well, then," said Dumbledore, "it appears that we may have found a partial solution to one of our problems. I assume you've made copies of your notes, Neville? I'd like to review them as well."

"There's more, Professor," said Hermione. "Ginny thinks she may have found a way to keep Professor McGonagall's Animagic powers under control."

From her chair, Ginny glanced across the room at Harry, who smiled. Come on, girl, he thought. Let's see you shine.

"Well, sir, it's this way," said Ginny, opening the book on her lap. "According to the Encyclopedia of Animagic Diseases, there's a type of cold that only affects Animagi. Basically, the Animagus develops violent sneezing fits, and each time they sneeze, they transform. For example, if Professor McGonagall were to catch this cold, every time she sneezed as a human, she'd turn into a cat. And every time she sneezed as a cat, she'd turn back into a human. As you can imagine, sir, it gets to be a bit tiring for the Animagus, transforming from human to animal to human again with each sneeze."

"Yes, I can see where it might be something of a nuisance," said Dumbledore, with a trace of amusement.

"Fortunately, in the nineteenth century, a German wizard doctor named Ghez Undeheitz came up with a treatment for the Animagi cold," Ginny continued. "It's a medical formula called Monosapien Serum. The procedure for creating it is listed in this book. It's similar in structure to Polyjuice Potion, but its effects are quite the opposite. When Monosapien Serum is administered to an Animagus, it temporarily blocks their Animagic powers so that they can't transform. In the case of the Animagic cold, it doesn't stop them from sneezing, but it does keep them from transforming until they get over the cold. If we gave this formula to Professor McGonagall, normally it would stop her from turning into a cat."

"Normally?" Dumbledore repeated.

"Yes, I'm afraid there's a small catch this time, sir. You see, several spells must be added to the Monosapien Serum to make it work. If we gave Professor McGonagall the serum now--with the Chimaera's Root in her blood--the poison would attack the magical elements in the serum and render it useless. However, Hermione's figured a way to get past this."

Ginny gestured to Hermione, who turned to Dumbledore. "As we all know, sir, in certain potions, we use a "Bind-and-Release" spell. We bind the elements of one potion to another in such a way that their chemical properties do not intermix, and each potion retains its original state. When this combination of potions is added to a third potion, the chemical properties of one potion intermix with that third potion. The chemical properties of the second potion are then released and produce some magical effect."

"Now, Ginny and I checked the Healing Arts textbooks in the library for a medical equivalent of this technique. And we've found one! It's a simple 'Bind-and-Release' spell for medicines that we can use to attach the Monosapien Serum to Neville's Ioreth's Root formula. If we inject both of these medicines into Professor McGonagall at the same time, when the Chimaera's Root combines with the Ioreth's Root formula in her bloodstream, it will simultaneously release the Monosapien Serum. The serum will then be absorbed by the magical elements in Professor McGonagall's blood, thus preventing her from losing control of her Animagic powers."

Hermione paused. She looked at Dumbledore, awaiting his verdict. After a moment of thought, he said, "You've both made copies of your notes as well?"

"Yes, sir. We have them ready." Hermione opened the folder in her hands and passed out copies of the notes they had made in the library. Dumbledore, Sprout, Snape, and Madam Pomfrey each took a copy from her.

"I must point out once again, Professor Dumbledore," said Snape, as he leafed through his packet of notes, "that this whole proposed treatment plan is untried and untested. We have no way of knowing for sure if this collection of remedies will work in combination with each other."

"Well, I think now's as good a time as any to find out," said Harry, speaking for the first time.

Dumbledore glanced at him and nodded. "Quite so."

"We have to do something," added Madam Pomfrey. "Minerva is already showing signs of losing control of her Animagic powers. I've seen patches of cat hair appear and disappear on her face and hands within the last hour."

Dumbledore looked at Snape. After a moment, Snape sighed sullenly. "We'll use my dungeon as a base of operations to get started. Longbottom, Weasley--both of you come with me. I'll check your notes on the way down."

Snape turned and strode out the anteroom door without waiting for them. Neville gave Hermione a pained look. Ginny, too, was looking less than happy about having to work with Snape.

"I know he's not your favorite professor," said Hermione, looking back and forth between them. "Just be patient with him, and give him all the help he needs. Make sure he sticks to our notes." She nodded towards the door through which Snape had just exited. "Remember, he's already proven that he's on our side."

Neville and Ginny stood up together. Ginny grasped Neville's shoulder in a supportive manner. "Come on," she said, smiling. "I'll try to keep him off your back while you're boiling the Ioreth's Root."

"I'll meet you both in Snape's dungeon," said Professor Sprout. "I must go to the greenhouses and pull our supply of Ioreth's Root. Oh, and Professor Dumbledore. Could you please contact Dr. Edwardes at the Green Manors wizard nursery in Devonshire, and ask him to send us his entire stock of Ioreth's Root. Also, ask him to send me a list of other wizard nurseries that might have a supply of it."

"I'll do that, Iris," said Dumbledore. "Neville, Ginny--thank you both."

Neville and Ginny left with Professor Sprout. Ginny's eyes lingered on Harry's for a moment just before she stepped out the door.

Madam Pomfrey sifted through her copy of Ginny's notes. "I'd better go to the infirmary and gather the medicines we need for this Monosapien Serum."

"I'll help you, Poppy," said Dumbledore. He looked at Harry and Hermione. "My thanks to the two of you as well. Especially you, Miss Granger."

He turned and followed Madam Pomfrey out through the hospital wing door. Harry and Hermione were left alone.

"Well," Harry said, "now McGonagall may have a fighting chance--at least until we can figure out our next move."

Hermione nodded. She gave a small sigh. "I miss Ron so much."

She said this very quickly, as if she had forgotten it for the last two hours while they'd been focusing on the problem at hand, and had suddenly remembered it again. Harry saw that the troubled look had returned to her eyes. He nodded, slowly. "I know."

He walked to the center of the room and gently took her in his arms, holding her close. Hermione put her arms around his neck, and put her head on his shoulder. For a moment they stood together, drawing strength from each other.

She was right of course, Harry knew. It just wasn't the same without Ron here. It was as if an essential part of both of them were halfway around the world, out of reach just when they needed it most.

"Ron's all right," Harry said, trying to sound hopeful. "He'll be back with us soon enough."

Hermione looked at him. "I'll feel much better when he is back with us."

"Yeah, me too," Harry admitted. He smiled, and nodded toward the anteroom door. "Come on. Let's go down and help Ginny and Neville in the dungeons. I'm sure we'll both feel better after Snape yells at us a few times."

* * *

A few hours later, Harry stopped beside the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office. "Goo-Goo Cluster," he said. The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside, revealing a gap in the wall.

At the beginning of his sixth year at Hogwarts, Dumbledore had given Harry the password to his office, and told him to stop by any time he needed to talk. Harry knew that this was a special privilege for a student and tried very hard not to abuse it. But with all that was going on right now--his experiments with Snape on the Green Flame Torch, his efforts to protect Hogwarts from malice perpetrated by people like Draco Malfoy, his occasional handling of special research for certain members of the Order of the Phoenix, and the periodic, ominous twinges of his curse scar (which were becoming much more frequent than he would have liked these days)--he was coming up to Dumbledore's office more and more to talk with the headmaster.

(He'd asked Dumbledore once about the new password for his office. The headmaster told him that a "Goo-Goo Cluster" was a special kind of Muggle candy available only in certain parts of America. He'd offered Harry a sample of the candy--a mix of caramel, marshmallows, and peanuts, covered in chocolate--from a box which, Dumbledore said, had been sent to him by a friend of his, an American wizard named "Billy Bubba.")

Harry traveled up the spiral stone staircase to Dumbledore's office, and knocked on the great oak door at the top. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, staring out a nearby window. Outside, the rain had stopped but it was still very cloudy and damp.

A small bird sat on Dumbledore's knee. It was Fawkes the phoenix, but Harry had never seen Fawkes like this. Usually, the phoenix looked like a beautiful red-and-gold swan. But now, only a few days past his last burning, Fawkes was smaller than normal, about the size of a nightingale. Having just been reborn from his ashes, he looked, Harry thought, like a scorched rubber chicken covered with gray soot. His body was bare, except for a few small tufts of red and gold feather sprouting along his head. Fawkes had a grave look on his face, as if he somehow knew that his healing phoenix tears were needed at this moment, and he felt ashamed that he couldn't provide them now.

Harry sat down in a chair in front of the headmaster's desk.

"It seems to be working," he said. "They've given McGonagall several doses of the Ioreth's Root formula and her convulsions seem to be slowing. Her pain is easing for the moment, and Madam Pomfrey says she's no longer showing any signs of losing control of her Animagic powers."

Dumbledore looked at him somberly for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you."

He turned and looked at the window once more. It struck Harry that he'd never seen his mentor so worried. The headmaster's face was pale, and his eyes seemed very tired and full of fear.

"Look, I know what she means to you," Harry said. "I know she's your closest friend. She's your right hand in the Order of the Phoenix. And she's one of the family here at Hogwarts. We all need her here. We're all worried for her, too."

"I can't imagine this school without Minerva in it," Dumbledore said, shaking his head. "If only I'd been here in the office this morning."

"You wouldn't be feeling guilty, would you?" Harry asked. "You're not wishing that you'd gotten scratched by the owl instead of her?"

Dumbledore looked at him and smiled slightly. This was the same kind of guilt and remorse that he had counseled Harry against feeling after Cedric Diggory had been killed, and after Colin Creevey had died. "Would you think any less of me if I did feel such a guilt?"

"No," Harry said. "I'd just know that you were human, like the rest of us."

The headmaster looked out the window again. "I feel a bit of personal mortification, yes. If anyone had to fall victim to Malfoy's scheme of revenge, I would have much preferred that it had been me. I was the one who expelled Draco from Hogwarts, after all. I also feel rather helpless at the moment. All my knowledge of magic, all my resources, and I don't know how to save her. I think Fawkes is feeling some of the same remorse that he can't help her. Not that he can help it, poor fellow."

He patted the scrawny bird sitting on his knee and grimaced. "Mostly, I'm feeling anger--that people like Lucius Malfoy must bedevil us with their petty acts of vengeance, and that innocent people like Minerva have to suffer for it."

"We haven't lost her yet," Harry said. "We've bought her some time. A few days, maybe. That might be enough time to save her. We've just got to come up with a strategy to do it."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment. Then he picked up a small white piece of paper lying on his desktop. "I'm afraid the news is not very good on that end. A few hours ago, Arthur and Bill Weasley raided Malfoy Manor. The Malfoys were not there. A handful of servants had been left behind to run the place, but the Malfoys had put Memory Charms on them so they couldn't tell Arthur where their masters had fled. Two of the servants there couldn't even remember the names of their employers. Arthur and Bill searched the manor but found no trace of Chimaera's Root, and no indications as to where the Malfoys had gone."

With the removal from office of the incompetent Cornelius Fudge the previous year (Fudge's cover-up of Lord Voldemort's return had been his downfall), Arthur Weasley had been promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and was now in charge of the Aurors. The Order of the Phoenix now operated with the full authority of the Ministry of Magic. A new generation of Aurors was being trained by Mad-Eye Moody and Remus Lupin. The new recruits included Oliver Wood, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, and a number of other recent Hogwarts graduates.

"Did Mr. Weasley find the secret chamber under the drawing-room floor?" Harry asked. He and Ron had learned of the existence of this secret chamber from Draco Malfoy in their second year, when they had used Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle. Ron had later told his father about the secret chamber in Malfoy Manor where Lucius Malfoy hid all his Dark Arts treasures.

"Yes, he did," said Dumbledore. "It took a considerably long time to open. It seems the secret chamber was enclosed by steel doors and sealed with a crystal lock."

"A crystal lock?" Harry repeated.

"I've heard of them. They're supposedly a kind of unbreakable lock that uses magic crystals. The only reason they were able to open the chamber at Malfoy Manor was that Fleur Delacour was with them."

After her graduation from Beauxbatons Academy, Fleur Delacour had returned to England. She had taken a job as Arthur Weasley's personal secretary, and was now training to be an Auror. In the past year, she had proved herself an invaluable aid to Mr. Weasley's efforts against the Death Eaters. Fleur was also Bill Weasley's girlfriend.

"Apparently, Miss Delacour was somehow able to open the crystal lock using veela magic," Dumbledore continued. "But when they opened the secret chamber, it was empty. It had been cleaned out."

Harry sat back in his chair. "Okay. Let's think about this. Lucius Malfoy's not going to try to get rid of his Dark Arts collection. I mean, he wouldn't just dump it. It's too valuable. And he wouldn't be able to sell a collection that big without attracting attention. So he must have moved it to a new hiding place somewhere."

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed. "But where?"

Harry sighed. "Well, we both know someone who might be able to tell us."

The headmaster looked at him again. "Dobby?"

"Dobby," Harry said, nodding.

Dobby the House-Elf had been the servant of Lucius Malfoy for many years before Harry had freed him from his enslavement. He might know where his former master could have moved his collection of Dark Arts treasures.

The problem lay in getting Dobby to give up his former master's secrets without hurting himself. As a free house-elf, Dobby was technically no longer bound to keep the Malfoy family's secrets. But when asked to give up information about his former masters, Dobby still tended to live by old house-elf rules. He would punish himself by banging his head on a table or a wall, or by whacking himself on the head with some hard object.

"Do you think you can persuade Dobby to help us?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry thought for a moment and smiled. "I think so. I think maybe I even know a way that I can get him to give up Lucius Malfoy's secrets without killing himself."