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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 77: The Headmaster Wishes To Speak
"It was hi… cough…" Snape pointed at James. He was breathing with difficulty, and his skin was changing tone, but right now, he was more preoccupied with letting the professors know who was the culprit.
"Him!... it was his lab… cough!"
"Are you alright, Mister Snape?" Dumbledore glanced at the boy with concern and quickly removed the magical ropes that were tying him up with a wave of his wand.
"Perhaps we should take them all to the infirmary first. The questions can wait until the healer has a chance to check them over," Professor McGonagall suggested.
James approached Snape and knelt next to him. "How much of the yellow smoke did you breathe in?"
Snape glared at him with pure hatred. "P-Potter!, you… cough… you are going to… cough!"
"A lot…I see." James opened his tunic and pulled a vial from within.
"I believe his condition is very serious," Professor Slughorn said while watching Snape. "We should rush him to the nurse."
"His condition is more than serious...you will not make it in time." James opened the cork of the vial and pushed it closer to Snape's face. "And you need to drink this."
"Get off… cough cough!" Snape tried to push him away.
"Mister Potter, stay away from Mister Snape," Professor McGonagall told him. "The healer will take care of him."
"Ashwinder egg, Occamy shell, and Murtlap tentacles, all together form a volatile substance that, when mixed with fire and a few other things, can create a toxic fume with a yellowish tone. If inhaled, this fume morphs into a potent acid that destroys any organic material that comes in contact with… that's what is currently inside Snape. He may not have two minutes before his insides are turned into a… well, I'll save you the mental image. But he will die," James explained.
"Those ingredients… were you making a batch of Felix Felicis?" Slughorn looked shocked.
"Two minutes?" the Headmaster asked.
"Now it's probably slightly over one minute since you made me waste time explaining it all," James added.
"Albus," Professor Slughorn called the other wizard. "I believe we should listen to Mister Potter on this one. The boy certainly knows what he is talking about, that yellow smoke he mentioned is truly deadly, and if Mister Snape had truly breathed too much of it... I'm afraid..."
Dumbledore only needed a moment to consider it. He had complete trust in Slughorn's knowledge and skills. His eyes moved to Snape. "Mister Snape, I will need you to drink the contents of that vial. I will take responsibility for whatever happens."
"N-No!... cough!" Snape tried to push James away once more, but he could barely breathe anymore, and his face was turning blue.
"Do we need to restrain you?" James asked.
"I can put the ropes back on, if you want," Sirius suggested.
"Here, let me help." Remus stood behind Snape and grabbed him, preventing him from moving away.
"Someone open his mouth," James said as he approached again.
"Allow me." Slughorn was the one who grabbed onto Snape's mouth and forced it open.
James wasted no time in dumping the entire vial down his throat.
Snape continued to cough and struggle, but in a short moment, they could all see the color returning to his face, and his coughing fit was slowing down.
"He looks better," McGonagall breathed in relief.
"Of course he does…" James huffed. He was getting tired of being doubted at every step.
"Well done, Mister Potter." The Headmaster gave him a nod of approval.
"Now, we should take everyone to the infirmary. And Mister Potter, we may need more of that potion of yours." McGonagall said.
<><><><><><><><><><>
An hour later.
"You guys think that James is going to get expelled?" Peter asked.
"Hey, don't say that. Of course he is not," Sirius exclaimed.
"I always thought that if any of us was going to be expelled, that one was going to be Sirius," Remus commented.
"That makes sense," James nodded.
"Come on! Give me some credit. I have never gone far enough for that to happen," Sirius scoffed.
The four of them were sitting on the hospital ward beds, waiting for the healer to give them permission to leave.
But even then, they first had to go talk with the Headmaster at his office.
Bella and his sister, Andromeda, had already left, while Snape and the other two Slytherin boys were now sleeping. They were in bad shape after having been inside the laboratory when the smoke started to appear.
"I can't believe you saved Snape's life…" Sirius said in a whisper as he glared toward their beds.
"Yeah, after what he did to your lab… he destroyed everything and got you into so much trouble," Peter added.
"What Snape did is terrible, I won't deny that. But don't you think that letting him die is a bit too much?" Remus asked.
"You can look at it in another way if you want," James said. "Instead of saving Snape's life, I was saving myself from being responsible for his death."
As much as he disliked the boy, it was not in his nature to leave someone die in front of him withouht lifting a finger. And had Snape actualy died due to fumes resulting from his illegal experiment...then getting expelled would have been the least of his troubles.
"I suppose…" Sirius didn't seem too convinced yet.
"But it was all his fault… why did he have to do that? James wasn't bothering anyone," Peter said.
"You know how it is, Pete… some people just like to make others miserable. And Snape is-" Remus looked to the door. " Wait...someone is coming in."
Professor McGonagall entered the infirmary and went first to speak with the healer, who then glanced at the four Marauders.
"Mister Potter," she called. "Come with me, please. The Headmaster needs to speak with you in private."
"Oh well, let's see what happens." James got off the bed. "I'll see you guys later… maybe."
"It's going to be alright, James," Remus said. "The Headmaster is a very reasonable person." He added. After all, it was thanks to Dumbledore that he had a safe place to transform during the full moon nights.
"Remus is not wrong. I'm sure the Headmaster will be understanding," Peter commented.
"He better!" Sirius huffed. "If he kicks you out of the school, we are going to prank him until we graduate."
"I doubt you would be graduating if you did that," James chuckled. "Don't worry too much. It will be fine." He walked to McGonagall, and the two of them left the infirmary together.
The woman didn't say a word until they arrived in front of the gargoyle that led to the Headmaster's office. It was obvious that she was not a fan of him at the moment.
"Password?" the gargoyle asked in a lazy tone.
It was finally time to speak alone with Albus Dumbledore.
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