065.asc

// 11670
//== Contagious Lies

// 11671
//Hermione Granger had read somewhere once, that one of the keys to staying thin
//was to pay attention to the food you ate, to notice yourself eating it, so that
//you were satisfied with the meal. This morning she’d made herself toast, and
//put butter on the toast, and cinnamon on the butter, and it really should’ve
//been enough to get her to __notice,__ this time, the goodness that was in
//front of her…

// 11672
//Without noticing the cinnamon or the butter, without noticing the food or that
//she was eating, Hermione swallowed another bite of toast, and said, “Can you
//try explaining that again? I’m still completely flabbergasted.”

// 11673
//“It’s pretty straightforward, if you think like a Light-Side Slytherin,” said
//the boy that everyone else in school, excepting only the two of them, now
//believed to be her true love. Harry Potter’s spoon absentmindedly stirred his
//breakfast cereal; he hadn’t taken many bites of it this morning, not that
//Hermione had seen. “Every good thing in the world brings its own opposition
//into existence. Phoenixes are no exception.”

// 11674
//Hermione took another unnoticed bite out of her buttered and cinnamoned toast,
//and said, “How can anyone __not understand__ that Fawkes thinks you’re a
//good enough person to ride around on your shoulder? He wouldn’t do that with a
//Dark Wizard! He just wouldn’t!”

// 11675
//And she hadn’t yelled at anyone about Fawkes’s touch on her __own__ cheek,
//because she knew it wouldn’t be right - that if a phoenix touched you, you
//weren’t supposed to brag about it, that wasn’t what a phoenix was __for__.

// 11676
//But she’d really __hoped__ that it would squash the rumors about Harry
//Potter going evil and Hermione Granger following him down.

// 11677
//And it hadn’t.

// 11678
//And she truly couldn’t understand why not.

// 11679
//Harry ate another bite of his cereal, his eyes going distant now, no longer
//meeting her own. “Think of it this way: You skip school one day, and you lie
//and tell your teacher you were sick. The teacher tells you to bring a doctor’s
//note, so you forge one. The teacher says she’s going to call the doctor to
//check, so you have to give her a fake number for the doctor, and get a friend
//to pretend to be the doctor when she calls -”

// 11680
//“You did __what?__”

// 11681
//Harry looked up from his cereal then, and now he was smiling. “I’m not saying I
//really __did__ that, Hermione…” Then his eyes abruptly dropped back down
//to his cereal. “No. Just an example. Lies propagate, that’s what I’m saying.
//You’ve got to tell more lies to cover them up, lie about every fact that’s
//connected to the first lie. And if you __kept on__ lying, and you
//__kept on__ trying to cover it up, sooner or later you’d even have to
//start lying about the general laws of thought. Like, someone is selling you
//some kind of alternative medicine that doesn’t work, and any double-blind
//experimental study will confirm that it doesn’t work. So if someone wants to
//__go on__ defending the lie, they’ve got to get you to disbelieve in the
//experimental method. Like, the experimental method is just for merely
//__scientific__ kinds of medicine, not amazing alternative medicine like
//theirs. Or a good and virtuous person should believe as strongly as they can,
//no matter what the evidence says. Or truth doesn’t exist and there’s no such
//thing as objective reality. A lot of common wisdom like that isn’t just
//__mistaken,__ it’s anti-epistemology, it’s __systematically__ wrong.
//Every rule of rationality that tells you how to find the truth, there’s someone
//out there who needs you to believe the opposite. If you once tell a lie, the
//truth is ever after your enemy; and there’s a lot of people out there telling
//lies -” Harry’s voice stopped.

// 11682
//“What does that have to do with Fawkes?” she said.

// 11683
//Harry withdrew his spoon from his cereal, and pointed in the direction of the
//Head Table. “The Headmaster has a phoenix, right? And he’s Chief Warlock of the
//Wizengamot? So he’s got political opponents, like Lucius. Now, d’you think that
//opposition is going to just roll over and surrender, because Dumbledore has a
//phoenix and they don’t? Do you think they’ll admit that Fawkes is even
//__evidence__ that Dumbledore’s a good person? Of course not. They’ve got
//to invent __something__ to say that makes Fawkes… __not important.__
//Like, phoenixes only follow people who charge straight at anyone they think is
//evil, so having a phoenix just means you’re an idiot or a dangerous fanatic.
//Or, phoenixes just follow people who are pure Gryffindor, so Gryffindor they
//don’t have the virtues of other Houses. Or it just shows how much courage a
//magical animal thinks you have, nothing else, and it wouldn’t be fair to judge
//politicians based on that. They have to say __something__ to deny the
//phoenix. I bet Lucius didn’t even have to make up anything new. I bet it had
//all been said before, centuries ago, since the first time someone had a phoenix
//riding on his shoulder, and someone else wanted people not to take that into
//account as evidence. I bet by the time Fawkes came along it was already common
//wisdom, it would have just seemed __strange__ to take into account who a
//phoenix liked or disliked. It would be like a Muggle newspaper testing
//political candidates to rate their level of scientific literacy. Every force
//for Good that exists in this universe, there’s someone else who benefits from
//people discounting it, or fencing it into a narrow box where it can’t get to
//them.”

// 11684
//“But -” Hermione said. “Okay, I see why Lucius Malfoy doesn’t want anyone to
//think that Fawkes matters, but why does anyone who __isn’t__ a bad guy
//__believe__ it?”

// 11685
//Harry Potter gave a little shrug. His spoon dropped back into his cereal, and
//went on stirring without a pause. “Why does any kind of cynicism appeal to
//people? Because it seems like a mark of maturity, of sophistication, like
//you’ve seen everything and know better. Or because putting something down feels
//like pushing yourself up. Or they don’t have a phoenix themselves, so their
//political instinct tells them there’s no advantage to be gained from saying
//nice things about phoenixes. Or because being cynical feels like knowing a
//secret truth that common people don’t know…” Harry Potter looked in the
//direction of the Head Table, and his voice dropped until it was almost a
//whisper. “I think maybe that’s what __he’s__ getting wrong - that he’s
//cynical about everything else, but not about cynicism itself.”

// 11686
//Without thinking, Hermione looked in the direction of the Head Table herself,
//but the Defense Professor’s seat was still empty, as it had been on Monday and
//Tuesday; the Deputy Headmistress had pronounced, earlier, that Professor
//Quirrell’s classes for today would be canceled.

// 11687
//Afterward, when Harry had eaten a few bites of treacle tart and then left the
//table, Hermione looked at Anthony and Padma, who had been coincidentally eating
//nearby but certainly not eavesdropping or anything.

// 11688
//Anthony and Padma looked back at her.

// 11689
//Padma said hesitantly, “Is it just me, or has Harry Potter started talking like
//a more __complicated__ sort of book in the last few days? I mean, I
//haven’t been listening to him very long -”

// 11690
//“It’s not just you,” said Anthony.

// 11691
//Hermione didn’t say anything, but she was becoming increasingly worried.
//Whatever had happened to Harry Potter on the day of the phoenix, it had changed
//him; there was something new in him now. Not cold, but __hard.__ Sometimes
//she caught him staring out a window at nothing visible, a look of grim
//determination on his face. In Herbology class on Monday, a Venus Fire Trap had
//gone out of control; and Harry had tackled Terry out of the way of a fireball
//even as Professor Sprout had shouted a Flame-Freezing Charm; and when Harry had
//risen from the floor he’d just gone back to his place like nothing interesting
//had happened. And when for once she’d gotten a better test score than Harry in
//their Transfiguration exam, later that same Monday, Harry had smiled at her as
//though to congratulate her, instead of gritting his teeth; and… that had
//bothered her __a lot__.

// 11692
//She was getting the sense that Harry…

// 11693
//…was pulling away from her…

// 11694
//“He seems a lot __older__ all of a sudden,” said Anthony. “Not like a real
//grownup, I can’t imagine __Harry__ as a grownup, but it’s like he suddenly
//turned into a __fourth-year version__ of… of __whatever__ he is.”

// 11695
//“Well,” Padma said. She daintily dabbed a chocolate-flavored scone with some
//scone-flavored frosting. “I think Dragon and Sunshine had better ally during
//the next battle or Mr. Harry Potter is going to __smash__ us. We were
//allied last time, and even then Chaos almost won -”

// 11696
//“Yeah,” said Anthony. “You’re right, Miss Patil. Tell the Dragon General that
//we want to meet with you -”

// 11697
//“No!” said Hermione. “We shouldn’t __have__ to gang up on General Potter
//just to stand a chance. That doesn’t make sense, especially now that nobody can
//use Muggle things anymore. It’s still twenty-four soldiers in every army.”

// 11698
//Neither Padma or Anthony said anything to that.

// 11699
//Knock-knock, knock-knock.

// 11700
//“Come in, Mr. Potter,” she said.

// 11701
//The door creaked open, and Harry Potter slipped through the opening into her
//office; he pushed the door shut behind him with one hand, and wordlessly seated
//himself in the cushioned chair that now stood in front of her desk. She’d
//Transfigured that chair so often that it sometimes changed form to reflect her
//mood, without any wand movement or incantation or even conscious intent. Right
//now, that chair had become deeply cushioned, so that as Harry sat down he sank
//into it, as though the chair were hugging him.

// 11702
//Harry didn’t seem to notice. There was an air of quiet determination about the
//boy; his eyes had locked steadily with hers, and not let up for a moment. “You
//called me?” said the boy.

// 11703
//“I did,” said Professor McGonagall. “I have two pieces of good news for you,
//Mr. Potter. First - have you met Mr. Rubeus Hagrid, at all? The groundskeeper?
//He was an old friend of your parents.”

// 11704
//Harry hesitated. Then, “Mr. Hagrid spoke to me a bit after I got here,” Harry
//said. “I think it was on Tuesday of my first week of school. He didn’t say he
//knew my parents, though. At the time I thought he just wanted to introduce
//himself to the Boy-Who-Lived… did he have some kind of hidden agenda? He didn’t
//__seem__ like the type…”

// 11705
//“Ah…” she said. It took her a moment to pull her thoughts together. “It’s a
//long story, Mr. Potter, but Mr. Hagrid was falsely accused of murdering a
//student, five decades ago. Mr. Hagrid’s wand was snapped, and he was expelled.
//Later, when Professor Dumbledore became Headmaster, he gave Mr. Hagrid a place
//here as Keeper of Grounds and Keys.”

// 11706
//Harry’s eyes watched her intently. “You said that five decades ago was the last
//time a student died in Hogwarts, and you were certain that five decades ago was
//the last time someone heard the Sorting Hat’s secret message.”

// 11707
//She felt a slight chill - even the Headmaster or Severus might not have made
//that connection that quickly - and said, “Yes, Mr. Potter. Someone opened the
//Chamber of Secrets, but this was not believed, and Mr. Hagrid was blamed for
//the resulting death. However, the Headmaster has located the additional
//enchantment on the Sorting Hat, and he has shown it to a special panel of the
//Wizengamot. As a result, Mr. Hagrid’s sentence has been revoked - just this
//morning, in fact - and he will be allowed to acquire a new wand.” She
//hesitated. “We… have not yet told Mr. Hagrid of this, Mr. Potter. We were
//waiting until the deed was done, so as not to give him false hope after so
//long. Mr. Potter… we were wondering if we could tell Mr. Hagrid that it was you
//who helped him…?”

// 11708
//She saw the weighing look in his eyes -

// 11709
//“I remember Mr. Hagrid holding you when you were a baby,” she said. “I think he
//would be very happy to know.”

// 11710
//She could see it, though, on Harry’s face, the moment when he decided that
//Rubeus wouldn’t be any use to him.

// 11711
//Harry shook his head. “Bad enough that someone might deduce there was a
//Parselmouth in this year’s crop of students,” Harry said. “I think it’d be more
//prudent to just keep it all as secret as possible.”

// 11712
//She remembered James and Lily, who’d never hesitated to return the friendship
//the huge, bluff man had offered them, for all that James was the scion of a
//wealthy House or Lily a budding Charms Mistress, and Rubeus a mere half-giant
//whose wand had been snapped…

// 11713
//“Because you don’t expect him to prove useful, Mr. Potter?”

// 11714
//There was silence. She hadn’t intended to say that out loud.

// 11715
//Sadness crossed Harry’s face. “Probably,” Harry said quietly. “But I don’t
//think he and I would get along, do you?”

// 11716
//Something seemed to be stuck in her throat.

// 11717
//“Speaking of making use of people,” Harry said. “It seems I’m going to be
//thrown into a war with a Dark Lord sometime soon. So while I’m in your office,
//I’d like to ask that my sleep cycle be extended to thirty hours per day.
//Neville Longbottom wants to start practicing dueling, there’s an older
//Hufflepuff who offered to teach him, and they invited me to join. Plus there’s
//other things I want to learn too - and if you or the Headmaster think I should
//study anything in particular, in order to become a powerful wizard when I grow
//up, let me know. Please direct Madam Pomfrey to administer the appropriate
//potion, or whatever it is that she needs to do -”

// 11718
//“__Mr. Potter!__”

// 11719
//Harry’s eyes gazed directly into her own. “Yes, Minerva? I know it wasn’t your
//idea, but I’d like to survive the use the Headmaster’s making of me. Please
//don’t be an obstacle to that.”

// 11720
//It almost broke her. “Harry,” she whispered in a bare voice, “children
//shouldn’t have to __think__ like that!”

// 11721
//“You’re right, they shouldn’t,” Harry said. “A __lot__ of children have to
//grow up too early, though, not just me; and most children like that would
//probably trade places with me in five seconds. I’m not going to pity myself,
//Professor McGonagall, not when there are people out there in real trouble and
//I’m not one of them.”

// 11722
//She swallowed, hard, and said, “Mr. Potter, at thirty hours per day, you’ll -
//get __older, __you’ll age faster -” __Like Albus.__

// 11723
//“And in my fifth year I’ll be around the same physiological age as Hermione,”
//said Harry. “Doesn’t seem __that__ terrible.” There was a wry smile now on
//Harry’s face. “Honestly, I’d probably want this even if there __weren’t__
//a Dark Lord. Wizards live for a while, and either wizards or Muggles will
//probably push that out even further over the next century. There’s no reason
//__not__ to pack as many hours into a day as I can. I’ve got things I plan
//to do, and ‘twere well they were done quickly.”

// 11724
//There was a long pause.

// 11725
//“All right,” Minerva said. It came out as almost a whisper. She raised her
//voice. “All right, Mr. Potter, I shall ask the Headmaster, and if he agrees, it
//shall be done.”

// 11726
//Harry’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “I see. Then please remind the Headmaster
//that Godric Gryffindor, in his last words, said that if it had been the right
//thing for him to do, then he wouldn’t tell anyone else to choose wrongly, not
//even the youngest student in Hogwarts.”

// 11727
//And she knew with a hollow feeling that any chance of Albus stopping this,
//stopping any of this, had just Vanished into nothingness. That was what Albus
//had told her when she’d objected that Cameron Edward was too young, and then
//when she’d objected that Peter Pevensie was too young, and finally she’d given
//up objecting. “Who told you that, Mr. Potter?” __Not Albus - surely Albus
//would never __say__ that to any student -__

// 11728
//“I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately,” Harry said. His body started to rise
//from the enveloping chair, then halted. “Dare I ask about the second piece of
//good news?”

// 11729
//“Oh,” she said. “Ah - Professor Quirrell has woken up and says that you may -”

// 11730
//The Hogwarts infirmary was a brilliantly open space, skylit on all four sides
//despite seeming to be located squarely in the middle of the castle. White beds
//in long rows stretched out, only three of them occupied at the moment. One
//older boy and one older girl on opposite sides, both lying motionless with
//their eyes closed, probably unconscious and spell-bound while some healing
//Charm or Potion reconfigured their bodies in uncomfortable ways; and the third
//occupant had the curtain drawn around their bed, which was presumably a good
//thing. Madam Pomfrey had pushed him along with a hard shove and told him not to
//gawk, and Harry had needed to remind himself sharply that some people still
//didn’t know who the Boy-Who-Lived was - either that, or Madam Pomfrey’s
//identity was bound up with her absolute dominance of her own hospital,
//etcetera, whatever.

// 11731
//Behind the rows of beds were five doors, leading into the private rooms where
//they stored the patients who would be staying for days instead of hours, but
//whose condition didn’t warrant a transfer to St. Mungos.

// 11732
//Windowless, skyless, unlit but for a single smokeless torch on one of the solid
//stone walls; that was the room behind the middle door. Harry had wondered
//whether professors could ask Hogwarts to change itself; or if the infirmary
//always had a room like that available, for people who didn’t enjoy the light.

// 11733
//In the center of the room, between two equal bedstands that looked to have been
//carved from the same grey marble as the walls, rested a white hospital bed,
//looking vaguely orangish in the unsmoking torchlight; and within that bed, a
//white sheet pulled up about his thighs and wearing a hospital gown, sat
//Professor Quirrell with his back slightly propped up against the headboard of
//the bed.

// 11734
//There was something frightening about seeing Professor Quirrell in one of Madam
//Pomfrey’s beds, even if the Defense Professor appeared uninjured. Even knowing
//that Professor Quirrell had deliberately arranged his own apparent defeat at
//Severus’s hands, to give himself an excuse to recover his strength from
//Azkaban. Harry had never __actually__ watched anyone dying in a hospital
//bed, but he’d seen too many movies. It was an intimation of mortality, and the
//Defense Professor was __not__ supposed to be mortal.

// 11735
//Madam Pomfrey had told Harry that he was absolutely forbidden to pester her
//patient.

// 11736
//Harry had said, “I understand”, which technically did not say anything about
//obedience.

// 11737
//The stern old healer had then turned, and started to say to Professor Quirrell
//that he was absolutely not to overexert himself or… upset himself…

// 11738
//Madam Pomfrey had trailed off, hurriedly turned around, and fled the room.

// 11739
//“Not bad,” Harry observed, after the door had shut behind the escaping medical
//matron. “I’ve got to learn how to do that, sometime.”

// 11740
//Professor Quirrell smiled a smile with absolutely no humor content, and said,
//his voice sounding a good deal dryer than its usual dryness, “Thank you for
//your artistic critique, Mr. Potter.”

// 11741
//Harry stared into the pale blue eyes, and thought that Professor Quirrell
//looked…

// 11742
//…older.

// 11743
//It was subtle, it might have just been Harry’s imagination, it might have been
//the poor lighting. But the hair above Quirinus Quirrell’s forehead might have
//receded a bit, what remained might have thinned and greyed, an advancing of the
//baldness that had already been visible on the back of his head. The face might
//have grown a little sunken.

// 11744
//The pale blue eyes had stayed sharp and intense.

// 11745
//“I am glad,” Harry said quietly, “to see you in what appears to be good
//health.”

// 11746
//“Appearances can be deceiving, of course,” said Professor Quirrell. He gave a
//flick of his fingers, and when his hand finished the gesture he was holding his
//wand. “Would you believe that woman thinks she has confiscated this from me?”

// 11747
//Six incantations the Defense Professor spoke then; six of the thirty that he
//had used to safeguard their important conversations in Mary’s Room.

// 11748
//Harry raised his eyebrows, silently quizzical.

// 11749
//“That is all I can manage for now,” said the Defense Professor. “I expect it
//shall prove sufficient. Still, there is a proverb: If you do not wish a thing
//heard, do not say it. Consider it to apply in full measure. I am told that you
//were trying to see me?”

// 11750
//“Yes,” Harry said. He paused, gathered his thoughts. “Did the Headmaster, or
//anyone, tell you that we can’t go to lunch any more?”

// 11751
//“Something along those lines,” said the Defense Professor. And without changing
//expression, “Of course I was terribly sorry to hear it.”

// 11752
//“It’s more extreme than that, actually,” said Harry. “I’m confined to Hogwarts
//and its grounds indefinitely. I can’t leave without a guard and a good reason.
//I’m not going home for summer, and maybe not ever again. I was hoping… to speak
//with you, about that.”

// 11753
//There was a pause.

// 11754
//The Defense Professor exhaled a breath like a brief sigh, and said, “We shall
//just have to rely on the known fact that the Deputy Headmistress will
//personally murder anyone who tries to report me. Mr. Potter, I intend to keep
//this conversation on track so that we may conclude it quickly, is that
//understood?”

// 11755
//Harry nodded, and -

// 11756
//In the light of the single torch, shaded toward the reddish end of the optical
//spectrum, the snake’s green scales were not very reflective, and the
//blue-and-white banding hardly more so. Dark seemed the snake, in that light.
//The eyes, which had seemed like gray pits before, now reflected the torchlight,
//and seemed brighter than the rest of the snake.

// 11757
//“__Sso,__” hissed the venomous creature. ”__What did you wissh to
//ssay?__”

// 11758
//And Harry hissed, “__Sschoolmasster thinkss that woman’ss former Lord iss
//the one who sstole her from prisson__.”

// 11759
//Harry __had__ thought about it this time, and carefully, before he had
//decided that he would reveal to Professor Quirrell __only__ that the
//Headmaster believed that; and __not__ say anything about the prophecy
//which had set Voldemort on Harry’s parents, nor that the Headmaster was
//reconstituting the Order of the Phoenix… it was a risk, a significant risk, but
//Harry needed an ally in this.

// 11760
//“__He believess that one iss alive?__” the snake finally said. The
//divided, two-pronged tongue flickered rapidly from side to side, sardonic
//snakish laughter. ”__Ssomehow I am not ssurprissed.__”

// 11761
//“__Yess,__” Harry hissed dryly, ”__very amussing, I am ssure. Except
//now am sstuck in Hogwartss for next ssix years, for ssafety! I have decided
//that I will, indeed, sseek power; and confinement iss not helpful for that.
//Musst convince sschoolmasster that Dark Lord iss not yet awakened, that esscape
//was work of ssome other power -__”

// 11762
//Again the rapid flickering of the snake’s tongue; the snakish laughter was
//stronger, dryer, this time. “__Amateur foolisshnesss.__”

// 11763
//“__Pardon?__” hissed Harry.

// 11764
//“__You ssee misstake, think of undoing, ssetting time back to sstart. Yet
//not even with hourglasss can time be undone. Musst move forward insstead. You
//think of convincing otherss they are misstaken. Far eassier to convince them
//they are right. Sso conssider, boy: what new happensstance would make
//schoolmasster decide you were ssafe once more, ssimultaneoussly advance your
//other agendass?”__

// 11765
//Harry stared at the snake, puzzled. His mind tried to comprehend and unravel
//the riddle -

// 11766
//“__Iss it not obviouss?__” hissed the snake. Again the tongue flickered
//sardonic laughter. ”__To free yoursself, to gain power in Britain, you
//musst again be sseen to defeat the Dark Lord.__”

// 11767
//In reddish-orange flickering torchlight, a green snake swayed above a white
//hospital bed, as the boy stared into the embers of its eyes.

// 11768
//“__Sso,__” Harry said finally. ”__Let uss be clear on what iss
//propossed. You ssuggesst that we sset up imposstor to imperssonate Dark Lord.”__

// 11769
//“__Ssomething like that. ____Woman we resscued will cooperate,
//sshould be mosst convincing when sshe iss sseen at hiss sside.__” More sardonic
//tongue-flickering. ”__You are kidnapped from Hogwartss to public
//location, many witnesssess, wardss keep out protectorss. Dark Lord announcess
//that he hass at long lasst regained physical form, after wandering as sspirit
//for yearss; ssayss that he hass gained sstill greater power, not even you can
//sstop him now. Offerss to let you duel. You casst guardian Charm, Dark Lord
//laughss at you, ssayss he iss not life-eater. Casstss Killing Cursse at you,
//you block, watcherss ssee Dark Lord explode -”__

// 11770
//“__Casst Killing Cursse?__” Harry hissed in incredulity. ”__At me?
//Again? Ssecond time? Nobody will believe Dark Lord could posssibly be that
//sstupid -__”

// 11771
//“__You and I are only two people in country who would notice that,__”
//hissed the snake. ”__Trusst me on thiss, boy.__”

// 11772
//“__What if there iss third, ssomeday?__”

// 11773
//The snake swayed thoughtfully. “__Could write different sscript for play,
//if you wissh. Whatever sscenario, sshould leave open posssibility Dark Lord
//might return yet again - nation musst think they are sstill dependent on you to
//protect them.__”

// 11774
//Harry stared into the red-flickering pits of the snake’s eyes.

// 11775
//“__Well?__” hissed the swaying form.

// 11776
//The obvious thought was that going along with the Defense Professor’s plots and
//deceptions a __second__ time, spinning an even __more__ complicated
//lie to cover up the first mistake, and creating __another__ fatal
//vulnerability if anyone ever discovered the truth, would be __exactly__
//the same sort of stupidity as the putative Dark Lord using the Killing Curse
//again. It didn’t even take his Hufflepuff side to point that out, Harry thought
//it in his very own mental voice.

// 11777
//But there was also a certain question as to whether the appropriate moral to
//learn from the last experience was to always say __no__ immediately to the
//Defense Professor, or…

// 11778
//“__Will think about it,__” hissed Harry. ”__Will not ansswer right
//away, thiss time, will enumerate risskss and benefitss firsst -__”

// 11779
//“__Undersstood,__” hissed the snake. ”__But remember thiss, boy,
//other eventss proceed without you. Hessitation iss alwayss eassy, rarely
//usseful.”__

// 11780
//The boy emerged from the private room into the main infirmary, running nervous
//fingers through his messy black hair as he walked past the white beds, occupied
//and unoccupied.

// 11781
//Shortly afterward, the boy emerged from the Hogwarts infirmary entirely,
//passing Madam Pomfrey on the way out with a distracted nod.

// 11782
//The boy walked out into a hallway, then into a larger corridor, and then
//stopped and leaned against the wall.

// 11783
//The thing was…

// 11784
//…he really __didn’t__ want to be stuck in Hogwarts for the next six years;
//and when you thought about it…

// 11785
//… the Incident with Rescuing Bellatrix From Azkaban wasn’t __just
//__imposing costs on Harry. Other people would be worrying, living in fear of the
//Dark Lord’s return, expending unknown resources to take unknown precautions.
//Harry could demand that they write the script in such fashion as to make it
//seem __not__ plausible that the Dark Lord would return a third time. And
//then people would relax, it would all be over.

// 11786
//Unless of course there actually __was__ a Dark Lord out there to be
//feared. There __had__ been a prophecy.

// 11787
//The boy leaning against the wall vented a soft sigh, and started walking again.

// 11788
//Harry had almost forgotten, but he __had__ gotten around to showing
//Professor Quirrell the deck of cards he’d been given on Sunday night by ‘Santa
//Claus’, within which the King of Hearts was allegedly a portkey that would take
//him to the Salem Witches’ Institute in America. Although of course Harry hadn’t
//told Professor Quirrell __who’d__ sent him the card, nor what it was
//__supposed__ to do, before he’d asked Professor Quirrell if it was
//possible to tell where the portkey would send him.

// 11789
//The Defense Professor had transformed back to human form, and examined the King
//of Hearts, tapping it a few times with his wand.

// 11790
//And according to Professor Quirrell…

// 11791
//…the portkey would send the user somewhere in London, but he couldn’t pinpoint
//it any nearer than that.

// 11792
//Harry had shown Professor Quirrell the note that had accompanied the deck of
//cards, saying nothing of the earlier notes.

// 11793
//Professor Quirrell had taken it in at a glance, given a dry chuckle, and
//observed that if you read the note __carefully__, it did not
//__explicitly__ say that the portkey would take him to the Salem Witches’
//Institute.

// 11794
//You needed to learn to pay attention to that kind of subtlety, Professor
//Quirrell said, if you wanted to be a powerful wizard when you grew up; or,
//indeed, if you wanted to grow up at all.

// 11795
//The boy sighed again as he trudged off to class.

// 11796
//He was starting to wonder if all the other wizarding schools were also like
//this, or if it was only Hogwarts that had a problem.