Better Be Slytherin!

'Yes, sir.'

Severus poured a cup of water for him and then helped him sit up. 'Sip it slowly,' he told the boy.

Potter took several sips before he said, 'I'm in the Infirmary, sir?'

'Yes,' Severus said slowly and let the boy finish his water. After he took the cup and placed it on the side table, he said, 'And now, perhaps you can tell me what transpired this evening to cause such an uproar on your behalf.'

'Sorry, sir?'

'How did you manage to carve open your chest and bleed out half your blood?'

Potter's eyes widened. 'I don't know, sir.'

'You have no idea how—'

'Severus!' Poppy was at the boy's bedside, hand on her hips and glaring. At him! 'Do not badger my patient! If you can't remain calm, you have no place in my Infirmary.'

Severus gave her a brief nod of acknowledgement. He knew she was right, but he needed to get to the bottom of this. To let Albus know what had truly transpired if nothing else. Severus had sent the Headmaster a quick message, right after they'd come to the Infirmary, but they would need more information about who was trying to kill the Savior of the Wizarding World, and soon. 'Very well. Mr. Potter, if you would please tell me what you do know about this evening. Where, for instance, were you coming from at 2am?'

'I don't know, sir. I mean,' he continued quickly when he saw Severus' expression, 'I didn't realize so much time had passed. I finished detention and then walked back to the common room, except I got lost, and then the Baron was there, and—'

'Wait,' Severus interrupted, his eyes narrowing. 'You saw the Bloody Baron?'

'Yes, sir, and then he flew through—'

'When was this?'

'Well, right after I realized I'd missed a turn. Just after nine, I think.'

Severus pursed his lips and considered. Peeves' chants rang in his ears, and what had he said, about the Baron being sick? 'Did he look different to you, Potter?'

'Different? I don't know.' The boy twisted his hands together, and Poppy gave Severus a baleful look, so he tried to stop scowling. But it was very difficult. 'I mean, I'd only seen him at the Welcome Feast before, so I'm not sure if he was different. But then he said some stuff and flew right through me into the wall.'

The Baron had flown through him? Is that how the wound had appeared? But Severus had never heard of any ghost ever having any physical affect on a living being, except to maybe make them feel cold. But if not that, then how had the Potter Brat gotten the wound? 'And then?'

'And then I went back to the common room.'

'And nothing attacked you on the way?'

'No . . .'

Severus grabbed at the boy's hesitation as if it were a Featherfall Charm while he was in the process of careening headfirst off a cliff. 'But?'

'Well, after the Bloody Baron was gone, I felt really tired, and sore, like I'd been in a fight. But I couldn't remember anything about it. And it felt like it took a long time to find my way back.'

Hmmm. Severus drew his wand and in one lazy motion determined that, yes, the boy had been Obliviated recently. 'It seems, Mr. Potter, that your memories of the events of this evening have been tampered with.'

'Sorry, sir?'

Severus grimaced. 'You were Obliviated.' He clarified further, when the boy's look of confusion deepened. 'Someone cast a spell upon you, erasing or otherwise rearranging your memories. I would guess erasing, as you seem to have nothing to replace the missing time. Obliviate is not an easy spell; it is not taught in regular curriculum.' The ramifications of that were apparent to Severus, but probably not to the boy.

'So, it wasn't a student, then.'

Huh. Potter was brighter than he looked. And, for some reason, he didn't seem all that upset -- or surprised -- that he'd been the target of a fairly nasty spell. Maybe he was still riding a dopamine high. 'It's highly unlikely.'

'But who would do that?'

'That is the question of the hour,' Severus said. 'The second being, why didn't you keep your appointment with Madam Pomfrey?'

The boy's mouth gaped open like a fish. 'I, er . . .'

'She was very explicit in her instructions. I thought we were all quite clear that you were to check in with her today . . . or rather, yesterday afternoon. I believe, as well, that you and I have had a multitude of discussions on your inability to follow directions. Do we need to have yet another?'

Potter hung his head. 'No, sir. 'M'sorry.'

Severus watched him for a long moment, the twisting hands, the anxiety and shame writ large in his eyes, and he sighed. 'I . . . understand if you are unused to receiving medical treatment,' he said quietly. 'You are accustomed to dealing with your own injuries, are you not?'

A head nod, and a quiet, 'Yes, sir.'