CHAPTER FORTY - Task at Hand

As Fred promised, he made toffee-apples with Attuoria. Mrs Weasley had to step in a few times, but overall, they were quite successful.

Successful in making the toffee-apples, but not quite successfully in keeping Attuoria safe under a hazardous kitchen environment.

"Oh!" Hermione gasped as she walked into the dining room. "Are you alright?"

"What happened to your hand?" Ron grimaced.

"What happened to her hand?" Harry repeated in a tone of disbelief. "You mean what happened to her!"

Attuoria gave her friends a sheepish look as Remus Lupin tended her wounds gently. He had walked into the house just moments before Attuoria grabbed a scalding pot of melted toffee with her bare hands, dropped it against the counter, and spilled a third of its contents all over her arms and legs. Thankfully it was winter and she was wearing pants, otherwise her legs would probably look as red and raw as her arms right now.

"Fred and George are in the kitchen getting scolded by mum for not taking care of her properly," said Ginny, who was sitting at the opposite end of the table.

The trio took their seats around Attuoria, all staring intently at Lupin's careful movements.

"I'm just helping her clean out her wounds," Lupin said quietly as he pressed onto Attuoria's pink skin with a damp towel. "Wouldn't want the toffee to dry out on her blisters." He glanced up quickly at the young girl in front of him, who still showed no sign of pain or any emotions despite being covered in burn wounds.

"You have quite the pain tolerance." He said.

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Hermione mused, resting her head on her elbows. "How come you don't look at all affected by your burns? Does it not hurt?"

Attuoria shrugged. "Of course it does. Like that, right there-" She glanced down pointedly as Lupin pressed the towel right onto a blister on her forearm. "That hurts. A lot."

"Sorry," Lupin immediately retracted his hand. "You need to tell me if it hurts."

"Why? Even when you're not touching it, it hurts. But I know my wounds have to be cleaned, so what's the point in complaining?"

Ron groaned at Attuoria's response, to which Hermione and Harry slapped him on the shoulder. Lupin smiled.

"I just want to make sure I'm not hurting you."

"How can you be hurting me? You're helping me." Attuoria said, starting to get rather confused by Lupin's words.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Nevermind."

"Ron's just mad that Attuoria's not a wuss like him," Ginny commented. Ron shot her a dirty look, and she laughed. "See! He admits it."

"Did not!"

"Dinner's ready!" Mrs Weasley called, the twins following behind her as they all brought out large plates of food. "You guys give Attuoria some space, alright? Her burns are gonna take a few days to heal, so it would be best if you guys didn't touch her."

Ginny giggled as Mrs Weasley grabbed Fred by the back of his shirt, preventing him from running over to Attuoria. "I said, give her space." She glared hard at him, and surprisingly, he didn't talk back, and just nodded instead. He settled down obediently a few seats away from where Attuoria was.

"I'm fine, really." Attuoria tried to reassure all her friends, but from their grimacing look, they didn't seem to believe her.

"If only I still had some dittany…" Lupin mumbled under his breath, clearly speaking to himself, but Attuoria heard him.

"I have some leftover dittany," she said, "it's in my bag upstairs."

"I'll go get it!" Fred stood up hastily from his chair and bolted out of the dining room.

Lupin chuckled. "It's rare seeing him so eager to help out with something. Well, unless he's secretly plotting some trick on you. But I doubt it."

Attuoria stared at the doorway, waiting for Fred to come back. A sudden thought hit her. Was he going to bring the entire bag over, or was he going to try and find the dittany himself? Because with the undetectable extension charm on her bag…

"Actually, I should probably go get it, in case he can't find it." Attuoria was about to stand up when Fred returned with her bookbag in his hand. "Nevermind," she said as she sat back down.

"Here," Fred handed the bag over to Lupin.

Wait, no- Attuoria reached for the bag but Lupin had already opened it and reached his hand inside. She watched as his eyes widened.

But he didn't say anything. Instead, he pulled his arm back out and held the bag open silently towards Attuoria.

"Can't find it, where did you put it?" He asked, beckoning for her to take it out.

Attuoria reached her slightly-less-injured left hand into the bag, mentally summoning the dittany into her grasp. "Here." She handed him the glass phial of slightly crushed dittany. There wasn't much left after all that she used on Hagrid's wounds.

"Thanks. Why do you have dittany on you, anyways?" Lupin asked as he began spreading the paste onto her blistering skin.

"For emergencies," Attuoria said with a slight shrug. "Just so I'm ready for anything."

"She's not kidding, you know," said Ron, who was already chewing on a slice of pork loin. "She literally has everything."

"She kept a bottle of strengthening potion from Potions class," Harry commented, glancing at her bookbag. "I bet it's still in there."

"Yeah, it is," Attuoria admitted. "I also have the draught of peace, the sleeping draught, shrinking solution… the rest of them are at Hogwarts."

"That's smart," said Lupin, handing her the near-empty phial of dittany. "Definitely against the rules, but smart."

Attuoria glanced at her arms. The dittany had settled into her skin, creating a light green tint. A slightly cold but refreshing feeling rushed up her forearm. Less than a second later, the feeling was gone, and so was the pain from her burns.

"Wow," Attuoria breathed. "The effects are fast."

"Yep," Lupin shifted his chair so that he was facing the table. "Better start eating before the food gets cold."

"Look, ma!" Fred called as Mrs Weasley reentered the room from the kitchen. "Attuoria's fine now!"

"Are you, dear?" Mrs Weasley said to Attuoria warmly, taking a seat at the table. She took note of Attuoria's arms, which had lost all of its previous aggressive red color. "Oh, you really are! How amazing. Thank you Remus."

Lupin nodded towards Mrs Weasley with a slight smile.

Attuoria picked up her fork and aimed for the baked potatoes. From her peripheral, she saw Fred gazing at her, so she gave him a quick smile.

"Stop staring," George suddenly demanded, poking his head out so that he blocked his twin brother from view. "And eat."

Attuoria turned away wordlessly, and she could've sworn she heard Lupin chuckle next to her.

***

The days flew by, and Attuoria was surprised to find herself casting yet another undetectable extension charm, but on her trunk this time. She really was becoming Newt Scamander, Attuoria thought to herself as she placed her Knarl into the new space inside her luggage. Taking inspiration from the Magizoologist himself, her extended trunk was around the size of a bedroom. A section of it was turned into a garden, with lushly grown daisies for the Knarl to eat. The rest of it was temporarily empty, apart from a small pond that lay near the grass to provide the Knarl with water.

Attuoria sat on the small patch of grass, the little hedgehog creature dozing off next to her. This little space had lots of potential. She could plant her Wiggentree in here and grow a colony of bowtruckles. Or, she could turn this into a potion room, for both storage and brewing. So many possibilities…

"Fred? George?" A distant voice called out, sounding miles away. Attuoria glanced up at the opening of her trunk.

"Fred? George?" Mrs Weasley repeated again, her voice nearer as she entered their bedroom. "Oh for the love of Merlin, where are these boys?"

The sound of footsteps signalled that she had left the room. With the coast clear, Attuoria climbed out of her trunk, concealing the opening and shutting it closed. She wandered out of the bedroom. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were all sitting in Ron's bedroom playing chess. They seemed preoccupied, so Attuoria didn't disturb them. Where was Harry?

Approaching the ground floor of the house, a distant yelling from the basement caught her attention. As she descended down the steps into the underground kitchen, she recognised the voices and stopped in her tracks.

"Tell me, how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?"

That was Sirius speaking. Who was he talking to? Who was Lucius Malfoy's lapdog?

"Speaking of dogs," a familiar voice said quietly, as calm and dull as ever, "did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognised you last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform… gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in the future, didn't it?"

Attuoria's eyes widened slightly. Severus Snape was known to be harsh and cruel with his words, but this was probably the worst she's ever heard from him. His snarky comments towards students at Hogwarts seemed mild in comparison.

"NO!" That was Harry. "Sirius, don't!"

"Are you calling me a coward?" Sirius roared.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am," said Snape.

Oddly, Attuoria found Snape's reply kind of funny. It didn't take a genius to figure out he was calling Sirius a coward. Snape back-handedly called him stupid, too.

As Sirius continued to yell, a rumbling noise was echoing from the top of the stairs. It sounded like a swarm of people were coming down.

"Attuoria? Where's Attuoria?" She heard someone call above all the voices.

"I'm down here!" She called back, and immediately the kitchen went silent. Within seconds, Attuoria found herself being shoved into the kitchen with all the Weasley's surrounding her, Mr Weasley leading up front.

"Cured!" He announced grandly, unaware of the awkward position Harry, Sirius, and Snape were in. "Completely cured!"

Sirius and Snape had their wands pointed in each other's faces, and Harry stood in between them with his arms wide apart. They stared at the incoming crowd with frozen expressions.

"Merlin's beard," said Mr Weasley, his expression not looking so bright anymore. "What's going on here?"

Snape immediately reacted, lowering his wand. "Six o'clock, Monday evening, Potter." He said curtly before rushing out of the kitchen.

Instinctively, Attuoria followed. Hermione caught her by the arm just as she was leaving the room.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to Snape."

"You want to talk to Snape?" Hermione asked skeptically, not understanding why anyone would willingly approach this universally hated professor. But Attuoria wasn't anyone.

"I want to know what he told Harry."

"Just ask Harry, then."

"Harry might twist his words. I want to see how Snape says it." Attuoria gently shook free from Hermione's grasp and ran up the stairs, hoping to catch up to him.

To her surprise, Snape was waiting idly by the front door, his back facing her. "Your powers have grown stronger," he said as she approached him.

"They have?"

"No eye contact, yet you knew I was waiting."

Attuoria stared at the man. He kept his eyes on the wall, so she could only see the back of his greasy black hair.

"I didn't know you were waiting."

He turned around. Dark, murky eyes bore into hers, ones that she rarely ever saw, since he always avoided her. "Well then, why did you follow me?"

"I want to know what you said to Harry."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "That's hardly any of your business."

"I know."

"Yet somehow it has everything to do with you. You're either hiding your use of your power, or luck is in your favour."

Of course, count on Snape to talk in such a vague manner.

Footsteps were coming back up from the basement staircase. Snape still hadn't answered her question.

"Monday evening, six o'clock. I hope you haven't forgotten."

Snape disappeared out the door without another word. It swung shut in her face. She didn't quite know what to do now.

What did Snape say again? "Your powers have grown stronger… no eye contact…"

The information. She needed it.

Attuoria extended her consciousness out as far out as possible, through the door and onto the street to reach Snape before he was completely out of range.

The space between his mind and hers was so vastly separated by human space, but with centuries worth of experience, she reached him within seconds. He was right. Her mind had grown stronger. More adaptable, and with a greater capacity.

"Monday evening, while I'm teaching Potter Occlumency, she'll go to Azkaban and organise the escape. Without apparition, it'll take half an hour to get there, and half an hour back. Maximum two hours out of Hogwarts, or else she'll raise suspicions. If she's too late, entering back in from the forbidden forest would be optimal, and use Hagrid as a cover." Snape's thoughts rang out loud and clear, as if he was standing right next to her.

The Azkaban escape! How could she have forgotten? This was her January task. Was it January already?

"The escapees will have no connection with the Dark Lord. Rendezvous point for them is 'the place of the first kill'. They will know. You return to Hogwarts as soon as possible."

He was talking to her directly through his mind. How did he know she was listening?

"Six o'clock is your study time. Make an excuse to be away from everyone. Leave from the astronomy tower. Don't be seen. You know the way."

Snape's thoughts drifted away, and soon, he was too far to be heard.

"Hey, Attuoria," Ron's voice brought her back to reality. "We're going to have dinner now. Why are you staring at the door?"

"I… was just thinking." Attuoria said quietly.

When she entered the dining room, she immediately noticed that Harry wasn't looking too happy. No doubt over the fact that he had to take Occlumency lessons with Snape. But of course, this would benefit him. Occlumency could shield someone from even the most skilled Legilimens. With Occlumency, he would be protected from everyone. Except Attuoria.

"Wouldn't you love it if I couldn't hear your thoughts?" Attuoria said in a low voice as she settled down on a chair next to Harry. Ron and Hermione gave her a weird look.

"Not really," Harry grumbled, staring at the wooden table. He swiped glances at Sirius every once in a while, who was on the opposite side of the table.

"Oh. I was joking, but sure. I'm pleasantly surprised by your response." Attuoria tried to say cheerfully, but it didn't seem like his mood was going to change any time soon. His response was weird, though. He wanted her to be able to read his thoughts? She thought anyone would take the chance to escape from her mind-reading powers.

The next day, everyone woke up early as the kids got ready to return to school. They were to take the Knight Bus with Lupin and Tonks, which would bring them straight to Hogwarts. The adults seemed oddly worried that morning.

"Bye Attuoria dear! Have fun in school-" Mrs Weasley paused mid-hug, glancing at the girl. "Where's your coat?"

Attuoria froze.

"Where's my coat…" She muttered under her breath, knowing perfectly well that she had left it on the floor in Diagon Alley, when she hastily apparated out of the scene with Mundungus Fletcher.

"Did you pack it away already? No worries dear! Just wear this! Wait right here." She disappeared up the stairs and returned swiftly with a travelling cloak in hand. It was the one Attuoria gave her and Mr Weasley for Christmas.

"Oh no! It's yours, I gave it to you, I couldn't possibly-" Attuoria tried to talk as Mrs Weasley forced the garment around her small body.

"Precisely why you should wear it! We wouldn't want you to get cold, right Arthur?" She nudged her husband, who was busy saying goodbye to his own children. He didn't hear her.

Seeing that she probably wasn't going to win an argument against the motherly Mrs Weasley, Attuoria didn't protest any further. "I promise I will return it as soon as I can once I get to Hogwarts."

"Don't worry about it! Use it for as long as you need." Mrs Weasley gave her a warm smile. "You better go now, the bus will be here soon."

Before she could even respond, someone had grabbed her around the wrist and yanked her out the front door.

"Bye mom! Bye dad!" Fred called out behind him as Attuoria watched the door slam shut. "Here's your trunk. Why's it so light?" Fred plopped the suitcase on the snowy pavement in front of Attuoria.

"So I can carry it." Attuoria said bluntly.

"No but, where's all your stuff then?"

"Inside."

Fred reached for her trunk again, and easily lifted it up using one pinkie. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Like I said, it's easier to carry."

"Get on!" Tonks demanded, and Attuoria visibly cringed at the sight of a bright purple, triple-decker bus on the road that literally appeared out of thin air. Attuoria was barely able to pinch the handle of her trunk in between her thumb and forefinger before she was dragged onto the bus.

A skinny, pimply man greeted them at the front. Inside the bus were lots of chairs, some standing upright, the others completely toppled over as if a tornado had just torn through them. The few people on the bus looked as if they had just been through a windstorm too. Someone's potion's groceries were scattered across the ground, a few live cockroaches struggling to get back on their stringy little feet.

"Look like we'll have to split up," said Tonks, standing next to the staircase that led to the upper floors. "Fred, George, Ginny, you guys go sit at the back over there, Remus can stay with you." She glanced at the remaining kids. "We'll go upstairs."

To say the ride was a rough one might be an understatement. The trip on the Knight Bus to Hogwarts almost made Attuoria thankful that this wasn't her ride into the mortal realm. She couldn't count how many times she flew out of her seat. With every BANG! that signalled a new destination, there was also a BANG! of her head hitting something.

At some point, she had flown down the stairs, knocking a poor old woman straight out the door.

"You're a bit early, Hogwarts is the next stop," the lanky bus conductor said sheepishly as Attuoria picked herself up with a groan. "I hope poor Madam Marsh is alright, you really winded her there."

"Did I? I should apologise-"

"Nevermind. Off we go!"

BANG!

The back of Attuoria's head smacked straight into the conductor's forehead as she was flung into the air again. The two barrelled into the front of the bus, missing the driver by an inch and instead hitting the dashboard.

"Sorry Ern!" the conductor's voice seemed rather muffled, and Attuoria realised that her head didn't seem to be throbbing as much this time.

"Ow…"

"Oh!" Attuoria gasped, leaping to her feet immediately. The bus was still shaking and wobbling, so she clutched onto the railing by the door for support. "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't- worry- about- it-" the conductor groaned, trying to support his thin body back up. The bus suddenly jerked again, and while Attuoria was ready for it, the poor guy wasn't. He fell straight into the bus driver's lap.

"Sorry Stan, rough turn there." Ern the bus driver apologised, but kept his eyes on the road and hands on the wheel. He seemed like such a focused driver, yet he drove so carelessly.

"All good, Ern, all good!" Stan finally got back up on his feet. He opened his mouth to say something, but upon noticing Attuoria standing off to the side, clutching the railing for dear life, he hesitated.

"I softened your fall there, didn't I? Otherwise your head would've hit the dashboard. No need to thank me, just a man doing his job." He said almost proudly, beaming at Attuoria.

"Er, thanks? You alright? Sorry about that."

"I'm fine! Sturdy as a rock, really, that fall was nothing. I'm on this bus all day, all night, it's how I roll!"

"You sure did roll there, Stan!" Fred yelled from the back of the bus, Ginny and George snickering along. "Rolled right into Ernie's lap! Ernie, you alright?" Fred continued to yell.

"We're at Hogwarts now," Ernie replied quietly. Attuoria glanced out the window. Sure enough, they were at the front gate, the snow drifting down in little clumps onto the empty road.

"Attuoria! Are you hurt?" Tonks asked, walking down the stairs with Attuoria's trunk in hand. "Oh, you look fine. It seemed like a nasty fall. By the way, your trunk is extremely light. Did you even pack anything?"

Before Attuoria could respond, Stan the bus conductor spoke. "Don't worry about Atto- er-" he hesitated on the pronunciation of her name, and gave up. "Her! I took care of it, she's not hurt."

"Cool," said Tonk, unimpressed, "we'll be off now. Attuoria, you can release the railing, no more Knight Bus."

Attuoria took her trunk from Tonks gratefully. "No more Knight Bus," she repeated.

As her feet met the pavement, her head throbbed again, in multiple places. All those falls were bound to leave some bruises.

"Are you really alright?" Tonks asked, noticing that Attuoria kept wincing. "So sorry I didn't help you back there, I could barely keep myself up."

"I'm fine, I'm fine, don't worry about it." Attuoria forced a smile, but the side of her jaw hurt, too. "It's just a few bruises."

"You'd better go see Madam Pomfrey when you get back," said Lupin, the others following behind him. He reached down and gently touched a spot on top of Attuoria's forehead. Attuoria winced again. It hurt.

"You probably have more than just a few bruises."

"Yeah, probably," Attuoria grimaced at Lupin, who genuinely looked concerned for her. Ever since he helped her with her burn wounds, Attuoria's been rather fond of Lupin. He was such a kind man who was always in control of his emotions, despite being terribly unlucky in life. She did look into his thoughts a few times, and noticed that they were always calm. He was rational, yet caring.

Attuoria wanted to be like that. Her mind was rational enough, and she knew how to seem caring on the outside, but inside, it was still difficult. She never knew what to say to make someone feel better, never knew how to relate to one's feelings to help them out.

"You'll be safe once you enter school grounds," said Tonks, and Attuoria found it weird that she used the word 'safe'. As if she knew something bad was coming. "Have a good term, okay?"

As Ron, and Hermione said bye to Tonks, Attuoria glanced over at Harry and Lupin. They were talking quietly, but Attuoria could hear them. Lupin was telling Harry to study Occlumency to the best of his ability.

"I'm sure if you need help, Attuoria can provide you that, too." Lupin said, glancing over at the dark haired girl. He knew she was listening. "Hopefully she won't mind me sharing this information with you, but she's an excellent Occlumens as well."

Of course he would know, Attuoria thought to herself. What doesn't the Order know?

Harry glanced at Attuoria. She heard his thoughts, despite not willingly entering his mind.

"It's like they're torturing me on purpose. I'd rather stay at Grimmauld place than go back to Hogwarts now. First Umbridge, now lessons with Snape. Tomorrow evening is going to be the worst." Harry lamented in his head.

Tomorrow evening. Attuoria lowered her gaze, not wanting to look at Harry anymore.

Tomorrow evening was going to be the worst.