Better Be Slytherin!

her question threw him off guard. 'Erm . . . I don't remember.'

'A year ago?' she asked helpfully. 'Two?'

Harry shrugged. It had been almost six years, but damned if he was going to say so.

'Come now, Mr. Potter, let's not have any of that, shall we? I know the prescription is out of date, so you can answer these questions now, like this, or you'll answer them later, when we have to bring in specialists.'

'Specialists?'

'Indeed. You don't imagine you're the first child reluctant to speak of their health history, do you? We have a connection to Wizarding Child Services, who would only be too happy to come and spend some time with you.' Madam Pomfrey smiled at him benignly, but he saw it for what it was. She was a great manipulator.

'I still don't see why--'

'I want you to feel comfortable, Mr. Potter,' she said, and he could almost believe her. 'But I am concerned about your health and well being. It would go much easier if you were honest with me from the start.'

Harry swallowed, recalling how kind she had been with him the day before, with the ointment and everything. He couldn't repay that kindness with lies, not all the time anyway. He let out a huff of breath. 'Fine. It's been six years. I'd just started at primary.'

'Thank you,' she said, and sounded like she meant it. 'Now, I can get your glasses to the correct prescription in a trice, and you tell me how well you can read this chart . . .'

He tried on his improved glasses and gasped; everything was so clear. Excited, he rattled off the letters on the chart, down to the last line. 'Thanks,' he said sincerely.

She waved it away. 'Now that's taken care of, I want you to tell me about how you've managed to break so many of your bones.'

There was a rustle of cloth -- like robes -- from the other side of the curtain, but Harry paid it no mind as he yelped, 'What?!'

'From my readings, I see that in the last twelve months, you have broken your left wrist once, your nose twice, and your collarbone three times. Please tell me how.'

'I'm clumsy,' he said immediately. 'I'm always falling down.'

'Mm-hm.' She gave him a piercing look. 'Now, how about the truth?'

Could she read minds? he wondered. Or did she use magic to tell her when someone lied? If so, he was in even more trouble than he'd expected. 'I get into a lot of fights,' he said warily. It was the truth, sort of.

'Oh? With whom?'

'You know,' he said, shrugging one shoulder. 'Other kids.'

'Mm-hm.' He was starting to hate that sound. 'Who?'

'You want their names?'

'Not just now,' she said. 'But tell me, were they in your classes at school, or in your neighborhood . . . Please be specific.'

Harry squinched his eyes shut. This was going from bad to worse. 'Yes, they were in my neighborhood, and in my school.' He paused, and peeked at her, and she gave him that look again, and he added quickly, 'And one of them is my cousin. Mostly, they're Dudley and his friends.'

'I see.'