OoP TBAY: He's not dead yet

[Dicentra spectabilis]

No: HPFGUIDX 61700

Dicentra sprinted out of the Canon Museum at full tilt, heading toward
the shore of Theory Bay.  Heedless of the light rain that was still
falling and the remnant winds of Hurricane Jo, she vaulted over broken
palm-tree trunks, stumbled over twisted siding and carpet scraps, and
dodged some of the lighter debris that was still being driven across
the sand.  So single-minded was she that she failed to notice George,
apparently unhurt, as he tore down the protective boards from the
windows of the Royal George Tavern.

As she drew nearer the shore, she began to scan the flotsam on the
shore for the one theory she cared about most in the Bay.  The theory
whose personification had accompanied her on most of her sojourns, who
had always shown up when a spell was needed, who had gone with her on
all of her Sirius Apologist campaigns...

The knot in her throat clenched unbearably tight and her vision
blurred at the thought of Sirius, but there was nothing she could do
for him right now.  It was Stoned!Harry (38561) she needed to find. 
Although she had been able to wait out the storm in the Canon Museum,
huddled near the Shrieking Shack diorama on the third floor, none of
the theories had been allowed to take shelter.  She had told
Stoned!Harry not to be out on the water during Hurricane Jo, but
frankly he didn't have the sense to come in out of the rain, much less
not walk around on the water during a hurricane.

At the water's edge she raised her Omnioculars to her eyes and began
to scan the surface of the bay.  Not surprisingly, the Big Bang
destroyer was still afloat, though Dicentra didn't much feel like
counting how many can(n)ons were still on its deck.  There was time
for that later.  Wiping the rain-spotted lens of the Omnioculars with
a recently well-used hankie, she peered through the smudges for any
sign of Stoned!Harry.  Any sign at all.

Finally, she saw him.  Among the floating mast fragments and torn
canvas she saw a shiny black bulk that could only be Stoned!Harry's
robes.  It wasn't moving.  "HARRY!" In one motion, Dicentra hurled the
Omnioculars to the sand and rushed headlong into the water.  She swam
furiously towards him, ignoring the debris that knocked into her. 
When she got nearer she could see that he was lying face down in the
water.  "NO!" she screamed, even as the waves filled her mouth with
gritty water.

She caught hold of his robes and dragged him toward her, turning him
over onto his back.  His face was slack, bloodless, and blue-tinged. 
"Harry!" she shrieked as she slapped his cheeks.  He did not respond.
"Harry!"  She threw her arms around his chest and pulled him close to
her in an awkward embrace, his face away from hers.

She kicked furiously to stay afloat as she squeezed Harry tightly
around the middle, forcing the water from his lungs and stomach. 
"Live, dammit live," she muttered, all the while squeezing and
loosening, squeezing and loosening.  The water flowed out of his nose
and mouth.  Finally, she felt him twitch slightly after one especially
strong squeeze, and when she released her grip, he began to convulse
violently as the air reentered his lungs.

"That's my boy!" Dicentra shouted.  She turned him over onto his back,
locked her arm across his chest, and began to tow him toward shore.

As soon as the water was shallow enough for her to stand, Dicentra
stopped, turned Harry vertical and began to squeeze his torso again. 
A bit more water came out amidst coughing and gagging.  The air
returning to his lungs burned white hot; he tried to scream but he was
convulsing too violently.  She kept walking with him toward shore. 
Finally, she lay him down on the sand and turned him onto his side. 
He raised up on one elbow and continued to vomit up the last of the
water.  Dicentra sat next to him, hand placed protectively on his
shoulder, sobbing with relief.

At last, the coughing and choking subsided.  He began to moan between
the spasms, finally collapsing onto his back and closing his eyes to
the rain.  His glasses were missing, as was his wand.  "She... she..."
he tried to say before lapsing into another choking fit.

"Don't try to talk, hon," Dicentra said, helping him back onto his
side.  When he was finally able to take a few deep breaths without
coughing he collapsed again onto the sand, breathing quietly as the
waves lapped at his robes.

"I'm dead," he whispered.

"You're not dead," Dicentra replied.

"It hurt," he whimpered.

"You're still not dead," she repeated.

"It hurt..." he said, one hand clutching at his leg.

Then Dicentra noticed what Stoned!Harry was talking about: the leg he
was trying to touch was missing.  She moved his robes aside and saw
that his left pant leg was completely empty.

"I'm sorry," he croaked. "I wasn't good enough... I was wrong...  She
cut it off...  I'm dead."

"You're not dead," Dicentra repeated absently as she lifted the empty
pant leg, almost expecting to see his leg lying underneath.  It wasn't
there.

"He wasn't trying to kill me because I was the living embodiment of
the Philosopher's Stone," Harry rasped.  He began to cry softly.

Dicentra couldn't contradict him this time.  It was true: one of
Stoned!Harry's premises was that Voldemort knew that Harry was the
embodiment of the Stone, and his attempt to kill him was related to
that knowledge.

"No, I guess he wasn't," she said softly.

"I'm not the Stone..." Stoned!Harry sobbed.  "It's all wrong... the
colors, the symbols... the biblical allusions... the whole reading was
wrong.  I'm nothing... nothing..."

Dicentra shifted his robes again.  Out of his right pant leg protruded
a raw pink foot.  "I don't know about that, Harry," she said as she
reached over and ran her index finger up the sole of his foot.  He
reflexively curled his toes and jerked his foot away.  "See," she
said.  "You've still got a leg to stand on."

Stoned!Harry sat up and grasped his right foot.  "I'm not dead...?" he
whispered in disbelief.

"No I don't think you are," said Dicentra.  "All of the symbolism is
still there.  That's how you started, remember?

"'The alchemists believed that Mercury + Sulphur = Philosopher's stone. 

"'JKR's planted *lots* of symbols around Harry that relate to these
two elements. 

"'Things associated, alchemically, with sulphur: stag, phoenix, color
red, lion

"'With mercury: color green, serpent, unicorn.' (38542)

"Nothing in OoP has negated that, and there's no reason it should. All
we found out is why Voldemort tried to kill Harry.  We always knew he
was trying to finish off a rival..."

Stoned!Harry looked at her sharply with a pained expression.

"Look, just because you're not the only theory about why he tried to
AK Harry doesn't mean you're not a good one.  As it turns out,
Voldemort was following #101 from Peter's Evil Overlord List: 'I will
not order my trusted lieutenant to kill the infant who is destined to
overthrow me -- I'll do it myself.' 
(http://www.eviloverlord.com/lists/overlord.html)  But see where it
got him?"

Stoned!Harry stared at the sand for a moment.  "Funny he should follow
that one but not 6, 20, 34, 56, 104, 115, 201, 213, and possibly 230."
 He smiled slightly.

"True, but let's not get too far off track.  We might have found out
why Voldemort went after Harry in the first place, but we still don't
know why the spell rebounded.  Dumbledore says, 'He set out to kill
you when you were still a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms
of the prophecy.  He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken,
when the curse intended to kill you backfired' (Scholastic 839).  He
goes on with his explanation without mentioning the rebound again. 
And Harry doesn't ask.  We know it can't be Lily's sacrifice, because
at least twice since the end of Book 1, Harry has mentioned that he
doesn't know why the spell rebounded.  One of those times was at the
beginning of OoP.  Somewhere..."  Dicentra doodled nervously in the
sand with her finger.  She couldn't remember where Harry said it.

"Dumbledore said he was going to tell me everything..." Stoned!Harry
said quietly.

"Everything he knew," replied Dicentra. "Maybe Dumbledore doesn't know
why the spell rebounded.  He's not infallible, you know."

Stoned!Harry winced, but not from physical pain.  "You're not wearing
your red Apologist robes," he whispered.

"I can't..." Dicentra's eyes began to sting.  "Not yet.  But if
someone so much as dares to Speak Ill Of The D..." Her voice trailed off.

Stoned!Harry placed his hand on hers.  "I'll be there for you.  I owe
you my life."

"No, it's not me you owe," Dicentra said, smiling tearily at him. 
"It's Jo.  She didn't Tell All in Book 5.  It's the only reason the
entire Bay didn't collapse into a wormhole.  We can still hang out at
least until the next hurricane."

Stoned!Harry struggled to stand while Dicentra supported him.  He
hopped over to a Rubbermaid cooler that had washed ashore and sat on it.

"Think I can get me a nifty silver leg, like Wormtail's hand?" he asked.

"We'll see," said Dicentra.