Chapter 31: Race Against Time
Her wand never came down as she summoned her bag and then summoned everything she thought she might need into it. She stepped over to the floo and threw a pinch of powder into it. "William Holston, St. Mungos. Billy, are you there?"
"Hey Poppy. How are you today?"
"I'm sorry Billy but I don't have time to talk right now. I've got a family emergency and need someone to cover my ward for a few days. Can you send someone through?"
"Of course Poppy. I'll send someone right over. Give them a few minutes and you can leave your instructions."
"Thank you Billy. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary."
"With how many times you have helped us out, it's the least we can do. I hope things work out okay."
"Me too."
She pulled her head out of the floo and then threw another pinch in. She stuck her head back in and said "Minerva?"
"Yes Poppy? What's wrong?"
"I have a family emergency I need to tend to. I've already called Billy and he is sending someone over. I should only be gone for a few days."
Minerva could see potions and other equipment flying through the room and packing itself in her bag. From the looks of things, whatever the emergency was, it was pretty serious and judging by the way the normally unflappable Poppy was acting, this was something extremely important to her. It was then that she realized what was going on. "Alright Poppy, go do what you must. And Poppy?'
"Yes Minnie?"
"Just make sure he gets better."
Poppy looked at her for a second and nodded her head.
As soon as her head came out of the fireplace, the flames flashed green and a healer stepped through. "Billy, what are you doing here?"
"It sounded important so I came to cover your ward until someone else could get here."
"Thank you, nothing going on right now and there are no patients to tend to at the moment but that could change in a second."
He laughed "I know Poppy, my internship here is one of my fondest memories."
"That's just because you met Janice here. Now, I really do need to run."
She threw another pinch of floo powder into the fireplace and said "Leaky Cauldron."
When she stepped out of the floo, Tom greeted her "Morning Poppy, can I get you anything?"
She smiled "Not today Tom, just passing through."
She made her way to the back of the pub and tapped the bricks. Once she entered, she went to a deserted alley and called for Dobby. He popped in, grabbed her hand and popped right back out. Their arrival was fast so she knew they were close to Diagon Alley and from the appointments in the room, she knew she was in a muggle hotel, a decidedly upscale one too. Dobby led her to the bedroom and she winced at the smell that permeated the room.
She moved quickly and started removing the rest of the clothes that remained from the second task. She then started waving her wand to diagnose what all was wrong with the young man who had captured her heart just as much as his father had. The results were really bad and she knew she could have prevented most of this if he had just let her take care of him. She shook that thought from her head and went to work banishing the bandages and unpacking her bag.
Her biggest concern was the fever as all his magic was focused on fighting it and the infection that coursed through his body. She held out her hand and several vials floated to it which she quickly uncorked and started pouring down his throat. She knew that it would take time for the potions to work so she started looking at his wounds.
The wound on his side was just as mangled and weepy as it had been days ago. The fact that it had not scabbed over spoke to her years of experience and pointed to some type of poison affecting it. She looked at his leg, the one that he had cauterized in the middle of the grounds and then thought back to the trident lying there.
She knew that the mermen sometimes coated their tridents in a special poison to weaken their prey and inhibit their magic. It was evident that this was the case so she summoned a book and started narrowing down the possible toxin. With a wave of her wand, she determined the poison but realized she was not prepared for this.
She started writing something out on a piece of parchment and turned to Dobby. "I need you to go get this from the apothecary at once. Do you have any money?"
"Dobby can go get some if it is needed."
"No time." She waved her hand and a money pouch flew into it from her bag. She handed it to Dobby and added "Be quick about it."
Dobby nodded and popped off. He returned five minutes later handing her several vials and her money pouch. "Dobby goes and gets money."
"No, I need you here in case I need something else. There should be enough in there for now. You can get money later."
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