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A young girl occupying a bed had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the last several minutes. She'd caught snippets of conversation, never more than three words at a time.
"Detention" - "Accident" - "Peeves" - "Going to do" - "Gender changing" - "Memory"
That was some of what she'd heard. She could make out four voices. The two women and one man sounded quite panicked; as if something terrible and irreversible happened. The fourth, another man, somehow sounded simultaneously much more concerned about someone, yet much calmer; as if it wasn't as big a problem as the other three were making it out to be.
"Looks like Lily"
That was a name she knew. The girl tried searching her memories only to be met with quite a disorienting feeling. She knew she was a witch. She knew various spells and their applications, and some things about magical plants and potions too. What she didn't know was how she knew these things. The knowledge had no memories to go with it. As it was, she had a single memory she could recall but it made no sense to her. There was no context. The name, however - Lily. Somehow she knew it was her middle name.
The voices she'd heard continued a quiet conversation, but she could no longer make out what they were saying. Perhaps they'd lowered their voices after seeing her shift while in her state between consciousness and unconsciousness.
Holly Lily Potter - the girl's name as far as she knew it to be - opened her eyes and took in what must be some kind of medical room. The bed she was in had white sheets and was surrounded by curtains which were only half drawn. There was a bedside table where her glasses had been placed. Her glasses... She didn't need glasses, though. She could see perfectly fine. Lastly, there were the four adults at the end of her bed talking quietly among themselves.
The first to notice her was the man that looked to be the oldest of all of them. He had long white hair and a matching beard that went down further than where the end of the bed blocked her vision. He wore half-moon spectacles and quite colourful robes.
"How are you feeling, Harry?" The question confused Holly, causing her to look around for who this 'Harry' could be, but the man was looking directly at her.
"Um... Who's Harry?" She asked what seemed to her to be a perfectly reasonable question.
The next to speak was the other man. He had a larger-than-average nose and his greasy-looking black hair came down to his shoulders. It was his voice that had sounded calmer than the rest earlier; and his voice that mentioned Lily. He also looked vaguely familiar. The memory, perhaps?
"As I mentioned, Headmaster, one of the potions involved was an untested, and likely incomplete, memory potion."
"Severus, surely you aren't implying it would make Harry forget even his own name?" One of the women spoke. She was a rather stern-looking lady wearing green robes and her hair tied up in a bun.
Holly frowned. It sounded as if they were talking about her, yet she was clearly a girl. She chose to speak up so that wouldn't continue.
"Pardon me, but my name is Holly, not Harry, and last I checked I'm clearly a girl."
"That's what you may think right now, Harry," At Holly's scowl - she was not liking this woman very much - the woman corrected herself "Sorry, Holly, but we'll be sure to have you fixed up in no time."
Holly frowned again. That wasn't much better. The woman was merely humouring her and acting as if Holly not being this 'Harry' was a problem that needed to be solved.
"I ran a few tests the moment Severus brought Potter in here. The diagnostic charms didn't reveal anything to be abnormal, as if Potter's always been exactly as we see now." The final adult in the room spoke - she looked like she was probably the matron of wherever this medical room was, "Until we know exactly how those potions work, I suggest we don't attempt anything. If anything, Potter seems healthier than ever."
Had Holly not been in her own head working out how she should respond to the first woman, she may have noticed the matron's careful wording, sticking with a last name and not referring to her as either male or female. One person in the room did notice.
"Holly?" Her attention was brought to the black-haired man. His expression was a mix between guarded and concerned. He looked as if he wanted to help her but had no idea how. He was also the first to use her correct name in a way that didn't seem condescending to her, making him her favourite adult here so far.
"Yes?"
"This may be difficult to hear, but you were involved in a slight accident involving a couple of potions. One of which we believe has affected your memory." He paused to see if Holly understood what he'd said, and at her nod continued, "Can you tell us what you do remember?"
"That's, um, difficult to explain, sir. Like, I seem to know a lot about magic but I can't remember actually learning any of it. The only actual memory I have is of you, sir. You were running towards me looking furious at someone I couldn't see and yelling about being peeved, I think?"
Severus blinked. That sounded like it was the moment of the accident with the potions.
"You say you know a lot about magic you can't remember learning? Like what?"
"Like spells and, um, magical plants and potions I think? It feels weird, knowing things but not knowing how I know." Holly mumbled.
"Truly?" Snape spoke, looking thoughtful. "Do you mind me asking you questions to see if you know the answers then? Don't worry about whether your answers are right or not."
In the background, the other adults looked completely gobsmacked. Neither had ever witnessed Harr-, no, Holly Potter and Severus Snape have a civil conversation before. That explained their silence, to those who knew them.
"I don't mind, sir."
"Miss Potter, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
"Severus, really? That's a sixth-" The older man started.
He was interrupted by Holly giving an answer. A correct one. The corner of Severus's mouth twitched up into the beginning of a smirk,
"Correct. Can you tell me where one might find a Bezoar?"
Again, Holly answered correctly, and Snape was definitely smirking now. He seemed quite pleased. His next question was answered correctly too, but he wanted more of an answer.
"And can you tell me anything more about the plant, Miss Potter?"
She nodded, "It also goes by another name. Aconite, I think."
"Correct."
Holly was pleased to have not got a single question wrong, though the confused look on the faces of three adults, and the satisfied smirk on the fourth looked as if the man understood something no one else in the room did.