Poppy Pomfrey was a practical woman. She prided herself on being able to keep calm during emergencies. There was hardly a malady that she hadn't seen or treated during her many years as a healer. Ever since she had been hired at Hogwarts she had been a light sleeper as she had often been woken in the dead of night to attend to a student with a stomach ache or a similar condition.

Therefore it was hardly a shock when she heard a loud banging on the door to her private chambers in the middle of the night. The year was almost over, however, and Poppy found she felt a twinge of sympathy for the poor child who needed her attentions since they might be going home for the holidays ill. She got out of bed and wrapped her creamcolored dressing gown around herself before she walked to the door.

When she opened the door she was surprised to find – not an ill student, but Professor Sprout. The other woman looked ill enough for ten students but before Poppy could open her mouth to inquire after her colleague's health the other woman spoke.

“Poppy! Hurry! Ready the infirmary! We may need you soon!”

“What...?” was all Pomfrey could say.

“Someone has gone after it... And there are students down there too!”

Pomona quickly turned on her heel and practically ran out of the infirmary but Poppy didn't really need additional information. This was bad. Very bad indeed. Poppy quickly got dressed and readied the infirmary – hoping and praying that she would not been accepting a corpse tonight!

---

Poppy watched the child grimace as Harry Potter put an apparently foul tasting bean in his mouth. The Headmaster had just left the infirmary after speaking to the boy for some time. Potter was the only patient there as Ron Weasley had been discharged long before the other boy woke up. Unlike Weasley, Potter had had no serious injuries but the moment he woke up she had found it prudent to put him back to sleep with a potion. The boy needed to rest. She wasn't quite sure what had happened to him and neither were the other staff. The Headmaster might have some idea but he hadn't given any understandable reply to Poppy's inquiries.

The boy's bed was surrounded by flowers, sweets and cards from his friends and a few members of staff. She watched the boy put the multiflavoured beans away and poke hesitantly at a box of chocolate frogs. She remembered her concerns during the first weeks of the school year, but Minerva had assured her that the boy had since taken up eating. Poppy didn't like to believe that Minerva could be mistaken nor that she might not have paid close enough attention but the mediwitch couldn't get the memory out of her head of briefly lifting the child to adjust his covers while he slept. He had been much too light. She remembered feeling his bones through his clothes. They had since been transformed to white pajamas that actually fit and therefore made it even more obvious.

Minerva's assurances be damned! The mediwitch walked over to the child and moved a few sweetboxes of the bed and stacked them on the bedside table.

“You had best leave room for dinner, Mr Potter!” she smiled even though she knew perfectly well that Potter had hardly touched anything.

“Oh, it's okay, Madam Pomfrey! You don't have to send for anything. I'm not really hungry,” replied the boy with a weak smile.

“Really?” the witch raised an eyebrow. “So you wouldn't like to go to the feast tonight then? You are all leaving tomorrow you know!”

The boy paused and pulled his knees up to his chest.

“I... I get to go then? You mean I can leave now?” said the boy and failed to conceal his excitement at being released.

“Yes,” Pomfrey smiled. “There won't be much time to say goodbye tomorrow. Then you'll go home to your family.”

Poppy didn't miss the dark shadow that suddenly came over the child's face. She paused for a moment, considering her next move. She had a terrible feeling about this but she wasn't sure whether asking the boy straight out would be the best idea. It was better to make sure.

“Lie down, Mr Potter. There's one last thing I need to do. Once we're done you may join your friends,” she said.

The boy apprehensively leaned back onto the bed and tried his best to lie still. Poppy had already done a diagnostic spell when Potter entered but it hadn't been very thorough and had instantly revealed exactly what she suspected – exhaustion. She raised her hand and waved her wand in the complicated pattern that had become second nature to her. As soon as she was done a quill and a piece of parchment appeared and the quill began recording the findings. The list grew longer and longer as every single aspect of Potters health was documented. Poppy sighed. There was no way she could get through it all tonight but she would eventually. Better safe than sorry. If it turned out to be nothing more than a picky child she wouldn't mind at all.

A small sound emanated from the child as the procedure dragged on and Poppy spied the longing in Potter's eyes to get out of bed. After twenty minutes of scribbling, the quill finally stopped. Parchment littered the floor and Poppy was now certain that everything from the state of Potter's liver to the circumference of his toes had been described. The child was squirming impatiently and Poppy raised her wand and transformed the pajamas back into his clothes.

“Now, then! Run along with you. And I you feel the least bit tired come and see me!”

“Thank you! Thank you, Madam Pomfrey!” grinned the child as he grabbed the box of frogs and hurried out the door.

Considering that the boy had been so weak not long ago, Poppy was amazed at the amount of energy the boy now possessed.

---

The pitiful lump of wax remaining of the burned down candle was cold. Parchment was scattered over the usually tidy desk. It had been a long night. It was afternoon and Poppy Pomfrey was sitting in her chair – her face on her desk as she slept. Sometime in the early morning her body had given up and she had fallen asleep. The woman began to stir. Her muscles ached and she silently scolded herself for not going to bed on time. She had nurtured a small hope of possibly finishing her read through before the children left. What time was it?

Poppy opened her eyes and glanced at the clock on her wall. Almost 3 o'clock. The children were long gone. The woman got up and stretched herself. Then she grabbed a half eaten biscuit sitting on a plate on her table and ate it quickly before glancing at her progress. She had managed to go through an impressive amount. So far her suspicions had been confirmed – Harry Potter was very underweight and had several mineral deficiencies. In fact she was surprised the boy didn't have scurvy too. He was much to short for his age as well which was a direct result of the malnutrition which according to the scans were not a new problem.

She'd need to take this up with Minerva certainly but she wanted to finish first. Sighing she sat down again and picked up the next parchment from the pile. Her eyes wandered across the letters before she suddenly paused.

No. That's not right.

She quickly hurried through the text before grabbing the next page and going through it was well. Her eyes widened in horror. Could there be a mistake? No, she'd performed the spell herself. She looked down at the pages in her hands. Scribbled upon the parchment was a description some of Harry's internal organs. They were normally healthy, that wasn't the problem – the problem was that they should not even be there! But there was no denying it – even if Poppy was completely shocked as to how Harry Potter had acquired them. She hurried through the parchments to find the section describing the more – external parts of the region. Once again she was amazed. Not only by what was there but just as much by what wasn't there.

Poppy grabbed her creamcolored dressing gown – she was quite chilly having slept in the same uniform she had worn the night before. She hastily grabbed the parchment and ran for the door.

---

Minerva McGonagall turned her back on the gargoyle guarding the entrance to the Headmaster's office. A bunch of letters were clutched in her hand. She was about to begin the journey back to her own office when suddenly a creamcolored cloud came thundering towards her. She only barely managed not get trampled and when she realized it was Poppy Pomfrey she moved to stop the woman. The other woman was breathing heavily and Minerva assumed she must have ran all the way from the infirmary. In fact, she had never seen the mediwitch quite like this before. Her uniform was wrinkled and she wore a dressing gown on top of it. Her hair was a mess and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her held a bunch of papers in her arms.

“Poppy! What on earth? Poppy, are you well?” Minerva inquired after she got over the initial shock.

“Minerva! I..” Madam Pomfrey gasped. “I need to see the Headmaster! Immediately!”

McGonagall reached out and placed her hand upon the other witch's arm.

“Poppy! Breathe! What's the matter?”

“I'll tell you when we find the Headmaster!” Poppy replied and moved towards the gargoyle.

“He isn't here,” Minerva informed her and followed Poppy.

The other witch stopped dead in her tracks and turned back towards Minerva.

“What do you mean? Where is he?” asked Pomfrey, her eyes wide.

“He left this morning to meet with Flamel. I'm in charge until his return. Poppy, for Merlin's sake! What's going on?”

Poppy seemed to be considering something.

“Not here,” she finally. “Your office. Now!”

Then the mediwitch simply turned on her heels and marched in the direction of McGonagall's office. Minerva followed her – too worried about this unknown situation to be annoyed by the fact that Pomfrey had pretty much just given her an order.

When the two women finally arrived in the red and gold office, Pomfrey walked over to the desk and roughly pushed Minerva's work aside to place her own stack of papers there. Minerva was genuinely scared at this point as she had never seen her friend like this unless someone was bleeding to death. She closed the door and cast silencing charms just for good measure. When she turned and met Pomfrey's eyes she could see the woman's approval of these security measures.

“Minerva, something is wrong. Something is very wrong!”

Minerva cast a quick glance at the papers on her desk and when the other woman gestured for her to look at them she quickly stepped over and picked them up.

“Medical scans?” she mumbled.

“Harry Potter's medical scans. I was worried. The.. Harry was so skinny. I wanted to be sure it wasn't dangerous. So I took a complete scan.”

Minerva nodded silently. She couldn't think of a word to say as the reality of the words she was reading hit her.

“Are... Are you sure?” Minerva began, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Yes.. He... She is female.”

“But.. How could.. Someone should have noticed! Some of the students at least.”

Poppy paused. She remembered a rather strange conversation she had had several months ago.

“I believe some or at least one of the students do know.. Miss Granger came to me asking questions about spells that could reveal a person's sex. Minerva, what are we going to do?”

McGonagall simply starred at the papers in her hands. Nicolas Flamel's whereabouts were known only to his closest friends and she had no way of contacting Albus while he was there. Furthermore she wasn't sure how long he would be gone. He could be gone for weeks at a time. No, she was alone with this problem.

“Poppy..” she suddenly said. “I need you to... Not mention this to anyone. I'll look into it.”

She decided that lesson plans be hanged! She was going to look in the ministry archives and see if she could find anything. Then there was the problem of Harry. Should she speak to him.. her? She decided it was best to at least give the Headmaster a week or two to return. Meanwhile she'd dig up anything she could about the Potters and have Arabella watch Harry closely. If Dumbledore hadn't returned by then she'd have to do something.

---

Minerva McGonagall was furious! It had been two weeks! TWO WEEKS! And not a single word from Albus Dumbledore! She was beginning to suspect he might have truly gone off on holiday – leaving her to deal with this mess! So far she had spent several hours a week going over the records available to her at the Ministry archives but nothing that could explain Poppy's discovery had come up. She was walking down the hallway in the Ministry's Department of Family Affairs where she had spent another hour going through papers concerning Harry Potter.

Of course she didn't truly expect the ministry to simply have the answer because there was no way of them knowing something Albus Dumbledore didn't! But she had hoped for a possible clue.

“Professor? Professor!” a voice behind her called and Minerva turned to find a young man with golden hair walking up to her.

“Mr Malwin! I had heard you had been employed by the Ministry! And I believe congratulations are in order? How is Mariah?”

The young man smiled at the witch who had once taught him at school.

“Mariah is well, Professor. And so is the baby. I understand you have been looking into the Potter files recently?”

Minerva nodded.

“I thought you might wish to know magic has been registered at young Mr Potter's residence this evening and a warning letter has been dispatched.”

“Thank you, Malwin! I'll personally look into it! Now, give my best to Mariah.”

The young man nodded and continued on his way – leaving McGonagall to consider this new development. She couldn't postpone it any longer. Albus had been gone far too long and had he not left her in charge? She could wait no more. She had to act and hope she did the right thing.

---

McGonagall could hear Poppy's footsteps behind her. The old lioness took a deep breath before greeting her colleague. Poppy stopped besides her and nodded, silently communicating that she was ready. In her hands Pomfrey held Harry's medical scan – now in an orderly stack. Minerva turned and knocked on the heavy wooden door in front of her.

“Enter!” she heard the familiar voice snap.

The door swung open by itself and the two women entered the office to find Snape sitting behind his desk. A stack of papers lay in front him and in his hand he held a quill dripping red ink. Poppy was rarely if ever in the dungeons as she preferred to call for Snape when she needed his assistance and she felt uncomfortable in his office which was almost the opposite of her bright infirmary. Every wall was lined with shelves containing either books or jars. There was a large fireplace and two student desks in standing in the corner near the door. There were no windows and so the room was lit by lamps, candles and the glow from the fireplace. All in all the room appeared dark and gloomy though if one had paid attention to the alphabetized books or the neat alignment of the jars one might have concluded that Pomfrey and Snape shared a love of order.

The man himself was clad in his usual black robes and his usual blank facial expression. He quickly set the quill aside and got up when he saw who his visitors were. Minerva confidently stepped forward as Poppy examined a nearby shelf.

“Severus, I need your help! It's incredibly important!”

The man's eyes simply narrowed and Minerva recalled that last they had spoken he had still been quite furious about Gryffindor winning the Housecup in the last minute manner they did.

“Do you need a flea treatment?” Snape smirked at McGonagall and gestured towards Pomfrey whom he was more than a little surprised to see in his office.

“No...” Minerva was much too nervous about the whole Potter situation to make any retort.

“I need you to accompany me to Surrey tomorrow.”

“Excuse me?” Severus starred at the transfiguration professor. He'd suspected her of losing it several times during the year especially in connection with Potter and now it appeared she wanted to pay the bray a visit and wanted him to come along. A part of him wanted to order her to stop her nonsense and leave him be but McGonagall looked anxious and Severus knew there was something more to this.

“Severus... Something's come up. I don't know how to explain this but I'm going to Surrey and I'm going to be asking some questions. You knew Petunia and I just think it might be easier if someone she knows is there with me. I'm a complete stranger to her and I have no reason to think she would welcome me.”

Snape was intrigued. He most certainly had no intention of going to see anyone from that household but he still wanted to know what had Minerva so unsettled.

“I don't believe Petunia would welcome any magical person,” he replied.

“Be that as it may, I still believe bringing you might make my task easier.”

“What is...” Severus began but then Pomfrey moved over to the desk and placed a stack of parchment in front of him. He instantly picked it up and glanced at the content.

“Medical scans?” he said perfectly echoing Minerva's words a few weeks earlier.

“Harry Potter's medical scans!” added McGonagall.

“I noticed the child was much too thin and decided to do a full scan while Potter was still in the infirmary,” said Poppy and as she pointed to a certain section she added: “There! Read this!”

It was all Severus could do not to whip out his wand and hex both witches out of the door! What on earth were they playing at!? This isn't a joke. Minerva is clearly... No! This couldn't be! It wasn't possible! Why would they make that up? No, it had to be...

“You made a mistake,” Snape whispered, his eyes still on the parchment in his hands.

“I don't make mistakes,” Pomfrey replied sharply.

“There's also another matter to attend to. The Ministry has registered usage of magic in the house and Harry has received a warning. Albus isn't here. I hoped he would return shortly but as I see it I must take action now. Severus, I need you to join me!”

Severus Snape loved control. Control of his day, his potions, his mind, himself and others as well. His students would say that Snape only had two moods – Annoyed and angry. In actuality what appeared to them as uncontrolled fury was in fact anything but. He had always had a fiery temper – like his father before him, but the occlumensy had offered him a way to control his emotions. However this year he had failed to do so more times than he was comfortable with and every time Potter had been the cause and a couple of his good jars had ended up on the floor once he was alone. He couldn't deal with this. He didn't want to deal with this. He wanted to forget Potter existed but the little menace simply had wiggle his (her?) way into his life. And now when the school year was finally over and he had hoped to have a few Potter-free months – this happens!

“Curiosity killed the cat, Minerva,” he replied as he handed the stack to Pomfrey.

“Will you come?” Minerva asked – a hint of annoyance now audible in her voice.

“I will,” Severus replied shortly before he turned his back to the women.

McGonagall knew this was all she could expect from him and having gotten what she came for she turned and left with Pomfrey hot on her heels. As soon as the door closed behind the witches, Snape sank into his chair and starred into nothingness in contemplation.

---

It was late afternoon the next day and Severus Snape was making his way across the entrance hall. McGonagall was waiting for him as the door dressed in a long green coat. Severus himself hadn't bothered considering his appearance. If his black robes were to draw any kind of negative attention to Petunia Dursley he would only be thrilled.

“Are you ready?” the elderly witch greeted him as he approached.

He sneered at her in reply. Yesterday night the mystery had eventually intrigued him enough to agree but now that he was actually leaving for Surrey he dreaded the thought immensely. Together the two of them left the castle and made their way off the Hogwarts grounds and then they apparated.