First Blood Private Finished

The hospital wing was gloriously quiet these past few days. No reckless encounters with a 'harmless' XXX magical creature in Moffy's stables, no potion mishaps in Professor Price's class. It was a good week, he needed some time off after the ball. There was one child that had went completely mad, started attacking random students claiming that they were made of candy. He was sent off to St. Mungos, being too much for the nurse to handle. There were several other children that were badly injured, bludgeoned and stabbed. Some of those children graced these beds for weeks thereafter. On top of all of that,  some of these kids were reckless, violent and volatile, acting as if consequences did not apply to them. 

What was he doing? 

He was mixing potions. It was far from the cliche massive cauldron over an open fire, he appeared to be more... clinical in his approach. No electric doodads, but there was a Bunsen burner heating a small metallic vessel. In small glass containers there was an assortment of powdered herbs that were clearly marked. A cylinder of distilled water bubbled over a low heat and there was a notebook open to a fresh, blank page. 



The nurse,  Finlay Vancleaf kept to himself for the most part. He was friendly enough, just not one for small talk despite the fact that he proved himself to be an excellent health care provider and was popular with the ladies on staff. 

Enter Meenauh, a Gryffindor he was not particularly well-acquainted with.

"Hello? Ms... Mrs... Nurse?"

The girl called out. Finlay pulled the vessel off from the fire and set it onto a a small slab of marble. 

"Anyone here?"

She called out again before he could respond. "Yes, I am..." he closed the notebook and slid the book into a drawer as he stood up and approached the door. She looked fine as he glanced her over, at least compared to how they usually show up. No exposed bones. No blood. No tears.

"What can I help you with?"

She heard the presence confirmation from somewhere but couldn't quite locate the direction the sound came from. She turned looked to her left and then to the right and she only noticed the nurse, male nurse, when he stood up and started to approach her. She cut the distance a bit, but he was moving faster. His eyes focused on her, calm, probably the eyes of a man who has already seen a lot of different ailments and horrors in this exact room. She wondered about the amount of time he spent in this castle and the number of children treated, and the gravity of injuries seen. His eyes were calm. Probably calmer than she ever expected.

"Well, I have this nosebleed," she pointed at her nose with her pointing finger, "but I am more worried about the... the headache, which I have never had before."

She felt dizzy, indeed, so she pointed at the bed nearby and sat on it without verbalised permission from the nurse and stared into the blankness of the hospital wing.

"I was in our Common Room and the only thing I can consider a cause is the overwhelming information that was scattered around and which I failed to successfully process. Concerning this... the Potter case," she looked at the nurse again, "I guess, you've already heard of the conviction."

She paused and searched for confirmation in those hypnotising blue eyes. But before the confirmation was given she would cut it and would proceed with theorising about the origin of her headache:

"But I overwhelmed myself with information before. Pff, I do it all the time, every day! How could this case cause this?" she rested her temples on her pointing fingers, which served as support, "Maybe there's a reserve that can be depleted? Some brain capacity the boundaries of which  shouldn't be tested often."

A nosebleed, of the numerous ailments a child could show up to the medical wing with, this was one of the more mundane. He did not mind the mundane. "Nosebleed," he repeated. "Hopefully nothing serious," he mused after she mentioned a concurrent headache. He would have asked what she was doing, if she was exposed to any caustic potions in the basement level but she went on to mention a sense of being overwhelmed. That perhaps this was stress induced. 

"Yeah," he sighed. "Disappointing really," he added. "Always saw him as a good guy," he smiled a bit but the smile could not be seen but it could be heard. There was a warmth and a kindness in his voice. He was fumbling through the cabinet, looking for something. A small potion bottle with a stopper. The liquid was blue in color and handwritten on the label was the words calming draught. "Something to settle your mind, we go through a lot of this I am afraid," he admitted as he rummaged further. He would grab a vial and pop the cork, give the contents a sniff and with an expression of revulsion replace the cap.  "There has been a lot of injuries as of late," he sounded apologetic as a bottle was knocked over and clambered against another vial. "It is hard to keep up to the demand," he admitted. "Ah!" He found something. "This will stymie the bleeding," he announced as he palmed the pair of potions and approached the bleeding Gryffindor.

"Don't stress yourself out over the conviction of an innocent man, justice always finds a way of being served," he added as he handed her a pair of potions. He wished that they would investigate further, it would make everything easier for him. Much like the children here that aspired to be wizards, the nurse was not without ambition. "Until then, we have to put our faith in the Ministry."

The man was a nurse not without a reason. The calming presence and the softness in his voice created the best possible aura for someone in need. For a moment she failed to imagine the place full of sick and injured, even though the nurse mentioned the recent events and which impact they had on the place.

The nurse, previously moving away from her, rummaged around and came back to Meenauh. He had a couple of potions, which he handed to her. She was observing them as the man continued talking about the conviction and as she was answering to him, somewhere between trying to stay calm and being nerved:

"Ministry? The same Ministry that told us nothing about the case during all this time? The same Ministry that convicted a person to Azkaban for just assuming the Killing Curse was used? How... how shallow and illogical is that?" that was a burst of questions on to a man that probably had nothing to do with the case, but Meenauh still addressed it to him, but then calmed down, "Sorry, I don't even care that much about Mr. Potter, I don't know why it even bothers me."

As she finished investigating the potions, she understood that she wouldn't dare to drink something without precise instruction and knowing what exactly she was given. Her father's potion room had too many rules about potions, so carefulness was steel-forged into her mind. Also, a change of topic was appreciated before the nurse would continue on putting his faith in the Ministry.

"Wouldn't you mind if I would ask you giving me more information about the potions and instructing me in details on how to... apply them? Excuse me, I know it must be difficult to believe but it's my first time here and I'm not used to taking potions without a question," she opened one of the potions and sniffed it just to close it again.

"Also I don't feel comfortable not knowing how I can address you, Mr. Nurse. I should have probably known that, but... I just don't, sorry."

"Ministry? The same Ministry that told us nothing about the case during all this time? The same Ministry that convicted a person to Azkaban for just assuming the Killing Curse was used? How... how shallow and illogical is that?"

She seemed to have an issue with authority, or at the very least the Ministry. He shrugged, "can't say I know much about how they work. That is really where the top of the top end up and I am sure that is not without reason Miss," he did not know her name but he had no reason to seek it. "But considering all the heroics that boy has displayed over the years, the Ministry must be crazy to lock the man up. Either that or they have a really good reason for doing so." Either incredibly trusting or exceptionally foolish. 

"Wouldn't you mind if I would ask you giving me more information about the potions and instructing me in details on how to... apply them? Excuse me, I know it must be difficult to believe but it's my first time here and I'm not used to taking potions without a question."

She changed the subject away from Potter. Considering the number of times he had heard about the former Hufflepuff, he was thankful. "Ah, yes. The blue one is a basic calming daught. Wont do much besides settle your nerves. You might fall asleep if you have been sleep deprived as of late, but nothing more really. Just drink the contents. Lasts the rest of the afternoon," it lasts longer than a normal calming potion would but when held to the light the hue of the potion was darker than most purchased forms. In case she asked that very question, he would add "it is a concentrate. Five times more powerful than your conventional calming draught." The process a tedious and boring process to explain that involves distillation and protracted periods of low heat. "The red one, basic healing potion. A single dose bottle, helps heal mild ailments like a bloody nose or knit a slightly cracked bone." It was telling that he considered a broken bone 'minor.' "Tastes moderately bad but just a mouthful, works within seconds." That particular infusion was different from the potion that is made in the UK, a bit duller in hue. "This is an American-style mixture," he added simply. There was a slight difference in the herbs used and the actual effect of the potion, where the one made in Diagon Alley and sold to the general populace. "The English-style version heals soft tissue injuries better, but the American style excels at mending bones and stymieing bleeding."    

"Also I don't feel comfortable not knowing how I can address you, Mr. Nurse. I should have probably known that, but... I just don't, sorry."

She had a lot of problems with a lot of things. "VanCleaf," he replied simply. "But Mr. Nurse," he chuckled a bit "works fine too."

Despite her father spent a lifetime among potions, he never dragged Meenauh much into them. And she was more into Charms and Transfiguration anyway. So she had no thought of requesting more details about the potions, such as the darker colour and whether it was a concentrate or not. Meenauh searched for her bag to put the potions into but realised that she left the Common Room in a rush and she left her bag on the sofa.  The feeling could be compared to losing an arm or something. She had a lot of problems with few things. That really small fact impressively disoriented her and she started jiggiting, but not for long to not give away her discomfort. There was nothing bad in showing true emotions, especially when you were still a child. Even if one was an adult, there was nothing bad in showing true emotions. Maybe except a poker game. Somehow children in Hogwarts really cared about not showing their honest selves half of the time. What a bunch of small bloody hypocrites.

The description of the potions was thorough and even explained the differences in style between the English and American versions. The nurse sounded very clever and intelligent and Meenauh noticed that she was liking that. She wondered whether wizards had any qualification upgrade courses in medicine or other disciplines, but that thinking critically failed to last long.

Once she asked for the name, she regretted it right away. The shock stroke her hard and it cleansed the headache, but just for several seconds. She rose from the bed in such an instant way that she started seeing black spots around and colours briefly changed. No signs of nosebleed. For now. She could have tried to reach for her wand, point it at Mr. Nurse as other kids did. But that would be inefficient as he was an adult, most probably much quicker and definitely more powerful than she was. So there was no movement of her hand due to such a realisation coming before instincts. Sometimes it felt nice to be rational. The time slowed and she could feel the seconds were ticking every five or six seconds realtime. It was unfortunate the whole thing came back straight to the Potter case. 

"VanCleaf?" she started and paused, "like... August VanCleaf? The one who came for Potter? But... you were... an auror. Why... why are you pretending to be the school nurse? How... how long have you been here?" she questioned. 

She had no idea how she got right into the heart of the storm. As she thought.

Everything was going good. Everything was going fine until the little girl acted as if she had just found out he was the setting villain.

"VanCleaf?"

What did I do this time to set one off? He mentally complained. The girl was panicked, already standing upright. He would attempt to steady the student before she toppled over, her blood still in her feet rather than her head and in the throes of a migraine headache. "So jumpy, every last one of you these days," he complained in a eerily calm manner. "This is probably where I get a wand pointed at me and some maddened threat, sadly I am out of--" his voice trailed off as he eyed the cabinet. "--calming agents," he sighed. Potion mixing was more a science than anything else, nothing was instant in that regard and some of his potions took a full lunar cycle to make.

"Like... August VanCleaf? The one who came for Potter and was apologising? But... you were... an auror. Why... why are you pretending to be the school nurse? How... how long have you been here?"

Why would she think that they were one in the same? The newspaper never shown a picture. Was this based off the surname. Quite the conclusion to come to. Mad really. Well, he wanted attention, just not from a little girl. He took a step back from the twitchy little girl and extended his palms in her directions. "No-no-no, he is not me..." He let out a nervous, almost depreciative chuckle. "Although I hope to meet him someday," the nurse admitted. "From what I hear, he is an incredibly handsome fellow," he laughed trying to make light of the subject but there did appear to be something bothering him. The light in his eyes, that cheer had dulled. "We're brothers," he concluded. "Twins actually," he clarified. "He is somewhere in London right now I bet," there was a wistfulness in his statement, perhaps a hint of envy. 

He claimed that he was not August. 

"I... am just a nurse," he smiled in a warm manner. "Fin... Finny... Finnlay, Finnly, Finnie and really any other variant would be absolutely accurate. I was thankfully not named after a month so I get to enjoy a bit of variety with my name at least," he added. While most people got upset over the fact that someone mispelled or mispronounced their name, he did not seem to mind. Perhaps there were bigger things in life to deal with. 

It was almost a routine at this point, calm the crazed students, occasionally disarm them. 

She looked at him, puzzled until he revealed he was not named after a month. She listened to him carefully, making sure she remembers every single word of his. Just in case. Fin, Finny, Finnlay, Finnly, Finnie. Brothers. Twins. That was too convenient. That was too mixed up. The headache was returning slowly.

"Why have you prepared the American-style potions?" she asked as her headache disabled part of her abilities, including distinguishing American from British if she ever could do it, "Are you from the States? If yes, why do you work in Hogwarts?"

It was not an interrogation, but also it was. 

She just wanted to read her books. She didn't intend to notice the newspapers on the tables. She didn't intend to read the article. She didn't expect to be dragged into the whole thing, but she was also taking every opportunity to learn things. And she had some kind of inner ultimate justice in general, which was enhanced because of the fellow former Gryffindor. 

It all was so strange and hard to believe. She reads about one VanCleaf and then she stumbles into another VanCleaf. Everything within twenty minutes or so. Was it even important? Was he even important? It could have been a mere coincidence. But the things were never easy because there was a chance that it was also the most important meeting of the day. She needed assistance. She needed to talk to Xailah. She forced a smile and started to move away from him towards the exit.

"Thank you for your help, Fin, Finny, Finnlay, Finnly VanCleaf. I think I'll head back to the dorms and rest. I guess it's okay to skip homework if you're being treated, right?" she told him, grabbed the potions and headed to the doors.

After touching the handle with one hand, she stopped.

"Why does a nurse get wands pointed at with maddened threats?" she asked and turned to him, now leaning against the doors.

"Why have you prepared the American-style potions?"

American-style potions were simply better -- that was the answer he wanted to give but he thought better of it. It was also what he knew best. Before he could modify that to something more politically-correct, she had another question for him. 

"Are you from the States? If yes, why do you work in Hogwarts?"

"Do you think every person that works here is from the UK?" One could suppose a kid would think that. That perhaps he slept in one of these empty beds at night and the Professors in  cave beneath their desks. He shook his head, no. "I graduated from Ilvermorny in 2000," before she was even born. Yes, that would make him 37. Like the former Transfiguration Professor Sergei Yornikovych who graduated from Durmstrang or... "you realize that the Head of Gryffindor graduated from Durmstrang and taught there also?"

The twitchiness and paranoia again apparent in the this youth, he let her do her thing. 

"Thank you for your help, Fin, Finny, Finnlay, Finnly VanCleaf. I think I'll head back to the dorms and rest. I guess it's okay to skip homework if you're being treated, right?"

Well, at least there was no spells being thrown about. Dramatic accusations that he could live without so he could finally achieve his goals. She took the potions and was about to leave, allowing the nurse to get back to work when she stopped.

"Why does a nurse get wands pointed at with maddened threats?"

"Because we are in a building full of children with more power than they should have at their age and the recklessness and inexperience of their youth with power has dangerous consequences." A cryptic statement but accurate as well as relevant. In fact, she might remember instances of her own where students did something incredibly stupid, something that they should be in jail for. "Some people adhere to the belief that might means right," he shook his head "but you can be the strongest and also wrong. My job is to keep you all and myself mostly intact. Can be a challenge." Incidents like the balls serve as singular examples, but most students have seen moments of severe idiocy in their peers or themselves, nearly getting themselves or someone else hurt or actually hurt. Kaegen Deathmote being a popular example.