Disclaimer : I don't own anything you'll recognize.

A/N: Well, I managed to work the writer block I was facing with this story. However, due to some problems this chapter hasn't been corrected yet, so I do apologize for any spelling or grammar mistake you may find.

Thanks a lot for the reviews and your support.

Naia

Chapter Twenty-One.

Harry woke up slowly, moaning as he stretched a bit. His body was stiff, as it had been for the past weeks. He had been in this time period for five months now and he felt he was approaching his limit. Salazar had intensified his lessons and though he was improving rapidly, he had more and more difficulties getting up in the morning and dragging himself through the day.

Fortunately, his ancestor seemed to have mellowed down a bit and had even resumed his fencing lessons as well as started on animagi transformation. Harry practiced Elemental magic on his own, during what little free time he had. By now, his mornings were devoted to working in the Hospital wing, helping Leanne, his afternoons to whoever wanted him and Godric and his evenings and part of the nights to Salazar.

He quickly washed himself. This was one thing he missed from his time: showers. Here in the Middle Ages, people, and males in particular rarely washed themselves. It was heavily throwned upon and viewed as a sign of weakness and feminity. Harry had numbed his nose awhile ago to preserve it from the assault of smells coming from the rooms and the various people. The moment he left, he was going to take the longest bath in history…

But that would have to wait.

Once he was dressed, he ate the breakfast that was being brought to his room every morning, then walked to the Hospital wing, still feeling dizzy from his last lesson with Salazar.

The founder had deemed his tolerance enough to start on him performing curses on small rats. This task had taken a lot from him and he had been already tired from the duelling they had done before. Whereas his pain tolerance seemed to built at a snail pace, Harry had taken to the Shadow Arts with relative ease. Salazar had decided to move on duel between each other. Of course, Harry not even managed to hit his shield, but had also managed to dodge most of his curses.

Clearing his head and steadying himself, he entered the Infirmary, staggering slightly and only avoiding a fall by catching the door frame.

"Are you alright, Harold?"

Harry nodded faintly, trying to steady himself.

"Yes, thank you for your concern."

Leanne frowned, taking in the pale skin and heavy bags under the young's man eyes.

"I don't think so… come here and lie down while I run a quick scan." Her tone bode no contradiction and so Harry complied without even trying to protest. He was just too tired and his brain and body both agreed on the fact that they wanted to sleep for the next decade.

He only realized he had fallen asleep when he was shaken out of his slumber.

"Harold, wake up, it's time for lunch."

Blinking owlishly, Harry, barely stopped himself from stretching, remembering what had happened in the morning when he had done so.

Leanne was looking at him with concern before she finally tilted her head on the side, apparently coming to a decision.

"You're staying here today, no class for you."

"But Lord Gryffindor…"

"Godric will understand."

Harry shook his head.

"I can't miss my lessons with Lord Slytherin…"

Leanne's eyes blazed.

"I said you were going to rest for the day. And given your reaction, you will stay here until I deem you fit enough to be able to start attending your tutoring."

Harry's face contorted with worry.

"But, I can't…. "

Leanne pinned him with her glare.

"You can and will, even if I have to force-feed you a Sleeping Potion that I might accidently overdose…" She plucked a vial from a cupboard and brought it under the boy's nose.

"So what will it be? Will you stay here by your will or by mine?"

Harry bowed his head.

"Alright, I will stay."

The lady seemed appeased and smiled at him.

"Good… now relax, I will send an house-elf to bring you your lunch. Be sure to eat everything. I was called away for the day but I will check on you before dinner."

Harry just nodded, though determined to go to his lessons with Slytherin. He knew the man would not accept the fact he had missed his tutorial simply because he was tired.

No, that would not go over well.

However, he didn't manage to remain awake long after eating.

His next wake up call was not as gentle as Leanne's had been. Instead of a small shaking, he was jostled out of his sleep by the feeling of twisting red hot knives piercing his skin and barely repressed a scream, moaning instead, knowing he was going to be punished for it.

"What do you think you are doing? I abhor tardiness and carelessness even more. Do you think my teachings so unimportant that you can afford to skip them?"

Harry was trying to catch his breath back and so didn't answer immediately.

"You will answer me! Crucere!"

This time Harry was ready and managed to keep an hold on his facial expressions.

"Get up this instant and go straight for my office. If you think yourself that capable, you will surely manage to defeat me…"

Shoulders slumped, Harry got up and started to make his way down to the dungeons. He was feeling a bit better than earlier in the morning and hopefully, it would be enough to get through this.

Minutes later, Salazar Slytherin strode in his office and sat at his desk.

"First you are going to practice your summoning. I want you to call six lower demons to this plane." Harry winced. Summoning was the part of the Arts he had the hardest time to wield… "And for each failed attempt, you will be punished as I saw fit, are we agreed?"

Knowing this was more a rhetorical question then anythign else, Harry nodded, not wanting to anger the man any further.

Salazar sat at his desk and started to grade papers while Harry readied himself for the first summoning…

Three hours later, Harry was banishing his sixth demons, having finally completed the task assigned to him, having managed to make six successful attempts out of twenty, every failure punished by more and more time under a pain curse. On his last failed try, he had been held a minute and a half under Crucere, having to count the seconds as he underwent the curse… Salazar nodded, paying no attention to his ashen skin color nor to the beads of sweat gliding down his face. Harry's body was screaming at every breath he took, but he tried to ignore it. The Slytherin master stood up and motionned sharply to Harry to follow him through a side door.

Harry looked wide-eyed around him as he entered a large duelling ring lit with torches, casting it in shadows. Surely, the man had not been serious when he said they were going to duel…

Salazar shrugged off his outer robes, throwing them aside and took out his staff as he faced Harry. Determined not to go down without a fight, the young wizard summoned his own staff. He had been only using it with Merlin since Slytherin usually preferred him to use wandless magic.

"Ready?"

The man barely waited for Harry's nod before launching his first attack. Harry dodged it and answered in kind. For a few minutes, they fought in earnest, holding nothing back. However, under the strain of both casting te spells and whistand the backlashes hitting him every time he managed to hit the man, Harry was tiring quickly, feeling as if his strength was flowing out of him, whereas Salazar hadn't broken a sweat.

Finally, as he was hit with a dizzy spell, he decided to risk a last ressort attack. Drawing a rune for power and light in the air with his staff, he called on the shadows who flocked the rune, attracted to it like mothes to a flame.

Focusing on them, he flinched as a particularly vicious spell hit the shield of Shadows he had erected a bit earlier in the fight. It would only block one more curse before crumbling down.

Twisting the shadows together, binding them, he draw a rune for petrification and shaped the shadow around it, forming an arrow. With the energy of a cornered animal, he throw it at his opponent, falling to his hands and knees as the shield shattered under the onslaught of a Crucere. The room was dancing before his eyes, spots of white were flikering before him. The dizziness intensifying, he closed his eyes, hoping to get himself under control. He felt, more than saw a spell heading for him, but couldn't summon the strength to move out of the way. He was blasted in the air and into the nearest wall, hitting it forcefully. He heard a sick crack and sensed a sharp pain in his right shoulder, falling down to the grounds, three meters below him, he distantly felt his left leg break, or was it his ankle?

There was a throbbing ache in the back of his skull. He saw a red light making its way towards him. Crucere again. He sighed, resigned and closed his eyes, feeling himself drowning in blessed oblivion. Not even noticing that the spell did not hit him, stopped by a flying table.

Leanne came back from her trip to the village were she had been called. Deciding to check on her and Godric's descendant, she made her way to the Hospital Wing. Checking on her other patient on her way to the private room she had appointed the boy, she really hoped he had obeyed her orders. She had not wanted to scare him with her worries but he was dangerously close to burning himself out. With his familiars away since the incident with the wolf a week ago, he had not had anything to anchor himself to, and nobody to look out for him. She had tried to convince Helga and Rowena that the wolf or Cereus as Harry called it was no more a danger than the Eagles and Ravens Rowena kept around, but since the beast had nearly taken out Salazar's arm out during one of his sessions with Harold, the two other founders had been adamant about the fact that the wolf was forbidden to stay in the school.

Harold had complied, but Leanne had been told by the ground keeper that the boy had taken to sleep outsidemore and more often, curled up with the wolf sitting at his side, protecting his bonded from the coldness and guarding his sleep.

She dismissed those thoughts and headed for his room, frowning as she saw the door was opened. The frowned heavily as she found the bed empty, sheet rumpled. Spotting some blood marring the pillow, worry seeped in her.
Turning to the door, she casted a small charm, activating the identity check she had placed on all her doors. She snarled, enraged as Salazar signature appeared.

She was going to have the hide of that pompous mage, powerful or not, he had no business interfering with her patients! She had not agreed with her husband to let Salazar continue whatever he was doing to young Harold. While she did not belittle Salazar competences and knowledge, the man was callous and merciless in his teaching. Like the snake he had made his emblem, he could enthralled his students and inflict whatever he wished on them without have him complain about it. They even asked for more.

She strode towards the Great Hall and walked to his husband side, explaining the situation in hushed tones. The founder's eyes narrowed as he stood up, ignoring Rowena's and Helga's startled faces.

"What's the problem, Godric?" asked Rowena, knwoing of her colleague's volatile temper.

"Apparently, Salazar, saw fit to take Harold away from the Hospital wing despite the fact that Leanne had forbidden it."

Helga had a bewildered expression on her face.

"What is the problem with the boy? He seemed tired lately, but I didn't notice anything else wrong with him."

Leanne shook her head.

"He is nearly burnt out… I wanted him to rest for a few days before allowing him to perform magic again."

Helga stood up, folding her napkin, followed by Rowena.

"We're coming. If Salazar was foolish enough to overlook your decision, you're going to need help to stabilize the boy."

Rowena turned to Godric.

"Do you know where they are practicing?"

"Salazar's chambers…"

The three founders and Leanne exited the Hall ignoring the whispers rising in their wake. They hurried down to the dungeons.

The four of them shuddered as they felt a huge blast of power not that far away, starting to run in its direction. They irrupted in Salazar's office, and looked around, seeing, a chalk pentacle on the grounds, burnt candle and a golden chalice stained with bloody trails.

Noticing a side door, Godric opened it and was met with the sight of Merlin shouting at Salazar, a splintered table on the stone floor.

"I told you to be careful Salazar!"

Slytherin founder snarled.

"And I said I wasn't going to coddle the boy! He agreed to my teaching, knowing what I was going to do! I do not tolerate laziness from my students! He wasn't hurt."

Leanne saw red.

"And since when are you a healer, Salazar!"

The man whirled on his heels and frowned upon seeing his colleagues.

"What are you doing here?"

Leanne stalked to him, a stormy expression on her face.

"Looking for my patient, since you thought you could take him out of my ward without telling me."

Salazar raised his arms up.

"The boy was fine! He was trying to get out of his lessons! Don't tell me to were gullible enough to believe whatever excuse he fed you?"

Leanne would have struck him had it not been for her healer's oath.

"Scans do not lie, Salazar, unless you can show me an healer master mark, you have no business deciding if my patients deserve care or not. Harold was on the edge of slipping in a magical coma…"

"Leanne! Come here! Quick!"

The healer spared no time trying to get the last word with the man, knowing Salazar hated to be proven wrong.

Rowena and Helga had been pushing the table's splinters away while Godric was arguing with Merlin again. They found Harry's prone form laying under. He was breathing with difficulty, bledding from a wound to his head, his leg bent at an irregular angle, his left shoulder swollen.

Cursing in her breath, she immediately started to feed him some of her power, feeling him sucking it in him to try to fill his nearly emptied reserves. Feeling Rowena and Helga join their powers to her own, she was able to take care of the wounds at least enough for them not to have disabling sequelae. She could do little without Harold's magic working to heal his body. Potions could have worked, but given his deprived state, she didn't want to risk after effects. Given what little magic was left in him, there was no telling if it would even work. After all Potions were next to useless on Muggles.
Finally she had to cut the link feeding Harold some of her power. Rowena and Helga had supplied some too and all three of them turned irate faces towards Salazar.

Leanne's eyes were blazing.

"I hope you are happy with your handiwork, Salazar."

"He's still alive, isn't it?" the man sneered.

"No thanks to you!" snapped Helga.

The man rolled his eyes, muttering about over-reacting women. Leanne didn't pay heed to it.

"I want to make it clear to you, Salazar. Harold will not leave the Hospital wing for the coming week. I simply forbid him to cast the simplest charm until I deem it alright. Theory will be acceptable when he'll wake up, but nothing more."

Salazar frowned.

"You can't say that, Leanne. The boy still have a lot to learn, but at the pace he was going, I would have been able to finish the first part of his training in the Arts. Two weeks without practice will set him back… The boy is powerful, I'm sure he'll be up and about in two days time… If not, you could just up his power levels through a ritual…"

Leanne's tightened her lips, and shot a disgusted look at Salazar before levitating Harold's body and directing out of the room and to her ward.

Godric narrowed his eyes at Salazar.

"My familly never condonned the use of those rituals, you know it, Salazar. Harold will heal on his own, and you'll obey Leanne's decision."

Salazar racked a hand in his hair.

"Godric, you have to understand that the training I'm giving your heir is no mere wand waving! It took me months to learn what this boy did in a few weeks! Do you have any idea of his power, of what he could do!"

Gryffindor shot a hard look at his colleague.

"He is leaving in about a month, Salazar… maybe sooner… His power will be lost to you…"

Salazar shook his head.

"He will carry my legacy back to his world… I can't bear to have the name of Slytherin tainted by this parody of a wizard… Harold is your heir by blood, Godric, but he will also be mine in power…"

Godric shook his head.

"You're crazy, Salazar. How could he do so when he does not carry your blood?"

Salazar smiled.

"But he does, Godric, I will give it to you that Slytherin blood is by far overweight by his Gryffindor ancestry, but he is related to me somehow… he speaks my tongue after all, and no matter what people might think, this gift is linked to blood and can only be gained by those of my line…"

Godric's face shuttered.

"He is my heir, Salazar and you cannot change this fact."

Salazar laughed.

"Oh! But this is where you are wrong! I could make him my heir through rituals… but they are taxing and would require human sacrifices… something none of us condone…" the last bit was said sarcastically.

"What do you mean, Salazar?" asked Rowena, frowning, as Helga placed a calming hand on a glowering and seething Godric.

Slytherin waved her comment away.

"Nothing…"

"Are you done?" Merlin's spirit sounded extremely annoyed. "You are going to stop this non-sense once for all! Harold will resume his training in the Arts as soon as Leanne will deem him fit." He turned to Salazar. "However, this time, it will be under my watch. The pain training will stop. His tolerance levels are high enough for him to bear mild backlash and will allow him to defend himself." He faced Godric. "You will start teaching him the Gryffindor blood magic and trust me that no harm will befall the boy again… If you could allow him to have his familiar by his side, it would help his recovery…"

Rowena nodded as well as Helga, though the Hufflepuff sounded a bit dubious about such a decision.

"Merlin, will he recover?"

The ancient spirit shot a withering look at Salazar.

"You came just in time and Salazar is right when saying the boy's power levels will help his recovery. His magic may be a bit unstable at first… but he should recover in time."

Rowena nodded.

"Good, then I will retire, I will see you tomorrow."

Both women nodded to their male counterparts and glided out of the room as Merlin's ghost disappeared.

Godric starred hard at Salazar.

"I don't understand why you are acting like you are, Salazar. But I'll be watching from now on. Don't forget yourself again or I'll swear you will have to answer for it."

Salazar sighed.

"You are a fool, Godric. What is the point of having power if you don't use it?"

Godric wasn't distracted that easily…

"Beware, Salazar. I will go along with Merlin's decisions as I believe he wants what is best for Harold, but I won't stand for what you are doing to my heir any longer. He is a Gryffindor."

That said, he stormed out of the room, followed by Salazar's amused eyes.

"Maybe he is, Godric… But he will also be a Slytherin…"

Harry woke up four days later, Cereus curled at his feet, the wolf particularly distressed by his master's predicament. He refused to let him out of his sight for more than a few minutes. By the end of the week, Harry was deemed fine enough to follow lessons as long as they did not involved any magic. His morning were devoted to Healing courses under Leanne's guidance and his afternoon and evenings were divided between Godric, Salazar and the other teachers… It was not long before he realized he had become the prize of a tug-o-war between his ancestor and Salazar Slytherin. It got worse during the second week, distressing him since he did not want to disappoint any of them. Despite his grudge against Salazar past dealings with him, the man was being attentive in his lessons, helpful and calming, something that clashed with the callous side of his personnality he had showed before. Godric was his ancestor and showed pride in his abilities to retain the knowledge he was passing to him. He also managed to make him laugh, though he could see that the familiarity between him and Salazar was annoying him.

Rowena, Helga were being supportive but kept a teacher-student relationship only with him, something which he found soothing to his frayed nerves…

Merlin was being a good listener and offered him advice. His lessons were stimulating and he regretted not being able to put them to practice.

By the end of the second week, Leanne allowed him to perform low level spells again and he relished in the ability to be able to use magic again.

This however made the competition between the two male founders all the more fierce and so Harry found himself seeking refuge in the Hospital wing more and more often, and if Leanne was otherwise occupied, he went out to ride Sheitan or to walk around the lake before sitting on the edge, Cereus at his side, offering him some support as he carded his finger through the rough fur.

Leanne found him like this one day as he had sought solitude after finishing a lesson with Godric.

§ Someone is coming, Harry-cub, the one smelling like plants…§

Harry scratched a spot under the wolf's ear.

"Harry?"

"Good afternoon, Lady Leanne."

The woman sat next to him.

"You can call me Leanne, after all, we are kin…"

Shrugging, Harry nodded.

"How are you, Harold?"

The young wizard shrugged again.

"I don't know… I feel better… but I'm confused."

Leanne sighed.

"You should be, those two idiots are not making this easy on you…"

There was a moment of silence when the only sounds were the Squid splashing in the lake, the bird chirping happily, not in the least bothered by human's concerns.

"I'm leaving for a week to go help a village. Their healer called for me yesterday. I talked to Merlin and he think that a change of surroundings will do some good and will allow those two children to settle their little grudge."

Harry had looked up at this.

"But what about my lessons?"

"You will be able to practice on your own and there are a few wizards where we are going, I know one of them is an animagus and will be able to continue your lessons. As for Salazar's teaching, Merlin said that if you practiced your exercise everyday for the week it would not set you back and even make the teaching easier if you had a finer grasp on your knowledge and spells."

Harry thought for a few minutes, starring at the lake as if ti held all the answers to his ponderings.

§ What do you think, Cereus? §

The wolf lifted his huge head to look in his eyes.

§ I think the plant smelling two legs is right, travelling is good. Cubs can't remain at their birth place all their life… How else would they fiund their mate?§

Harry laughed at that, blushing a bit.

§ It's not time for me to mate… §

§ Cubs always say that…§

Leanne smiled at him.

"Do I want to know?"

Harry shook his head, his blush deepening.

"Not really, but we will come with you."

Leanne nodded appraisingly.

"Very well, pack some clothes and whatever you'll need for this trip, we'll leave tomorrow at dawn. This village is situated at a day-long ride, so don't pack too much either."

Harry agreed easily and stood up fluidly, realizing his lessons with Merlin and Salazar was approaching.

"See you at dinner and don't overdo it… I'll have house-elves wake you tomorrow, we won't have time to waste."

Nodding, Harry made his way to the castle, Cereus on his heels.

§ You are going to meet the Great One and the Pain-bringer? §

Harry didn't try to correct his familiar. Cereus seemed to heavily dislike Salazar because of what he did to Harry. Apparently wolves could hold a grudge for a long time and Cereus never missed an occasion to snap at Sir Slytherin's ankles. Never harming the man, since Harry had forbidden it. However he was not that fond of Godric either. While the wolf recognized Salazar's intelligence, he thought Gryffindor stupid as the man persisted in considering Cereus as a simple pet.

That was another point that made Harry glad he was going away for a week…

Salazar and Merlin's lessons went quietly. They had even started to mix their teaching. Harry was starting to call on the shadows more easily… Since he couldn't spare a lot of magic, Salazar had him work on the Potion portion of the Arts while intiating the young man to Mind games, politics… Potions brewed this way were more potent, their effects lasted longer and spells could be integrated in the brewing.

Finally Salazar dismissed him, praising him on his progress.

As Harry made his way out, Salazar stopped him and handed him four thick books.

"I assume Leanne asked you to escort her. I want you to read those books if you have the spare time to do so, practice the contents I marked."

Harry looked at the title and knew that Hermione would have killed to get her hands on those books: an original copy of Most Potente Potions which hadn't been censored and contained every potions known to the founders… many of them who had been lost through time. A tome on Shadow duelling and transfiguration, a book on Enchantment and runes. The last one was a notebook.

"The fourth one is something I wrote awhile ago reguarding politics, diplomacy and other useful skills… I urge you to read them carefully and ask you to take care of them. I expect them to be returned to me in the same state that they were loaned to you."

Harry nodded, thanking the man, itching to start on his reading. He had an amused thought about what Ron's reaction would be should he see him now…

He realized he had not thought of his own time for a while and was filled with guilt at the idea… He just hoped they were alive and safe.

Cereus hit his leg with his nose.

§ What his troubling you, cub?§

Harry scratched the furry head.

§ I was thinking of my friends that were left behind when my ancestor called me to him.§
§ Why do that saddened you so? §

§ I miss them and I fear for their life since my world was at war when I left. §

§ Can you go back by yourself? §

§ No… §

§ How do you know their life are in danger? §

§ I suppose. §

§ Suppositions… those are a human things… Who else would invent problems when there are not? §

Harry smiled.

§ Who indeed… Let's go. §

§ This is a better idea, cub, I don't like this place… It reeks, it's damp…. No respectable wolf would live here. §

Chuckling Harry made his way back to his room, packed what he would need and then went to sleep, Cereus guarding his sleep.

A loud squeak woke him up.

He saw a house-elf cowering in a corner, Cereus growling lowly, the fur on his neck raised slightly, teeth showing.

§ Cereus! §

The wolf's head snapped up as he walked to the bed where Harry was now sitting.

§ This strange, funny thing appeared in the room… it's making strange sounds… §

§ I told you not to scare them… §

§ But it's not the same one than last time! §

Harry sighed… the wolf was using this excuse as his trump card every time… He stood up and knelt near the House-elf who was trembling, eyes darting widly between Harry and the wolf.

"I'm sorry about this, do you need to sit for a while?"

This seemed to send the house-elf in shock. He starred at Harry, stunned. After a minute, Cereus snapped his jaw, startling the creature who jumped and looked at Harry.

"No… no, no, Holly is fine… Master wizard is too kind to poor Holly…. Mistress witch Leanne asked Holly to wake up Master wizard Harold, bring him his breakfast and to help Master wizard pack."

Harry nodded and pointed to two bags in a corner of the room.

"I prepared those, feel free to look through them and add whatever you feel will be needed. Be careful with the blades, the ingredients and magical material though…."

He went to sat to the table which had been added to his room and where food was waiting for him as well as a plate of raw meat for Cereus.

The house-elf squeaked in agreement and made its way through the bags, refolding the clothes and added a few others.

Five minutes later, Holly was down.

"Mistress witch Leanne told Holly to bring those clothes to Master wizard Harold. Master Wizard must wear those for his journey."

Harry nodded distractedly as wolfed down his food. Holly disappeared with a snap of her fingers.

Minutes later, Harry started to change, putting on brown travelling pants, and a light blue coton tunic with a white collar, showing he was an healer apprentice.

He met Leanne outside where Sheitan was waiting for him, ready for the journey, his bags already fixed to the saddle as well as a third one he guessed had been filled with food, some covers and other necessities.

Leanne was riding side-saddle and was already on her horse, a strong bay gelding. There was no escort, which would have been surprising had Leanne not been a witch.

They rode in silence trotting at a good pace, Leanne in the lead. They stopped at a few villages for news and water for their horses.

They paused at lunch to eat, then resumed their journey. Leanne started to describe the landscape, telling of the history of the region.

Soon they approached the village which had called for help.

On their last stop, an hour before they should reach their destination, the village's chief, asked them to accept an escort of four men. Apparently, thieves had been plaguing the region and the man didn't want Lady Gryffindor to be attacked on her way.

They reached their goal at dusk and by then, the only thing on Harry's mind was a bed. His bottom was numb from the day's riding, his muscles ached and he would have given anything for a numbing potion or at least a relaxing cream or draught.

They climbed off ther mounts, as did their escort and asked the first person they saw to show them the way to the healer house.

The woman who guided them seemed about to collapse. They entered the house and were assaulted by the smell of rotting human wastes, herbal remedies and sweat.

"Healer Gareth?"

A man in his twenties approached them. He was tall but nothing more than skin and bones. Deep black bags hung under his eyes.

"Lady Leanne! Thanks the Gods!"

Harry thought the man was going to cry with relief.

"I came as quickly as I could. What is going on, why weren't those bodies buried?"

Gareth sat on the nearest thing available.

"Half the village is ill, the othe half is either out looking for food or here, taking care of those ill…"

"Do you know what is the cause of this illness?"

The healer shook his head.

"I don't know…" He started to describe the symptom and Harry saw Leanne pursed her lips. Finally she nodded.

"I know this ailment. You must tell all those healthy that the illness is carried by the lice. The ill must have their head shaved. They must be washed with the herbs I will give you. The houses must be washed and cleaned thoroughly. Nobody must enter the village unless they don't want to leave. Nobody must be allowed to leave." She paused for a moment, then seemed to reach a decision.

"My apprentice and I will prepare a remedy for those ill that can still be saved. The dead must be buried as quickly as possible. No soiled water or food must be consumed."

She turned to the four men that had escorted Harry and her.

"I will give you a remedy to prevent you from being infected, but you must check yourself and kill any lice you may catch."

The four men paled and nodded hurriedly.

Leanne said a few words to the healer and left, Harry following her. He could hear muttering about Muggles and their stupidity. She took a vial out of one of her bag and handed her to one of the members of their escort.

"Take a sip each of this potion and bring it back to me. Then go to the stream and wash yourself thoroughly before checking each other. Once you are done, go find the villagers…"

She turned to Harry as they left.

"I need you to brew me several batches of Apollo's Draught, increase its potency as much as you can. Prepare also a parasite deterrent. We can't allow this illness to spread."

Harry nodded and immediately took their bag, going away to settle several cauldrons the inhabitants supplied and started the brewing process.

As he could start to understand, it was going to be a long week...