Order Only: Sleeper Trials

[alt_hermione]

With everyone so worried about Ginny (me included), I thought we could use some good news. We woke up over fifty Sleepers yesterday.

It was slower going than I anticipated because, well, mainly because they're very disorientated and we didn't want to move on to the next patients until the Healers had checked everyone and the helpers had had a chance to really help them. I think we'll be modifying that in future to have more Calming Draught available, and in some cases, give them a (regular) sleeping potion so that the helpers can circle back to them later, so we don't hold things up too much.

Three patients also had an adverse reaction on waking, but the Healers were on standby and they were able to put them right fairly easily. My notes don't suggest it was an allergy to the Potion, necessarily, although I suppose at this stage, that can't be ruled out. Two of the cases were of cardiac infarction and Healer Patil thinks the third probably had medical problems before she went into stasis, and she had a stroke. He thinks she'll recover in time.

That said, there was a minor side effect observed in about 5% of those we awakened. They complained of feeling bloat, or gastric distress, and several shortly thereafter suffered diarrhoea. (Which considering they weren't necessarily able to get to a bathroom was--well, it wasn't pleasant. Luckily that didn't happen to many of them, but if this is a realistic sample and it is a side effect, we'll need more bedpans when we wake the rest.) It's not clear whether it's really the potion or an effect of how long they were in stasis compared to their last meal before sleeping, or other constitutional considerations. Nonetheless, we'll be collecting notes on similar cases in the event that the potion will need to be modified further. (I hope not, since we've already made up over a thousand doses at this point, but we've many more thousands to go, too.)

I'd really hoped to move a little more quickly through the stasis population but at least this way we'll have plenty of production completed before we need it--the only thing is that at this pace, it'll take about six years to wake everyone. So we either need to assign more people to help or tell relatives they'll be on the waiting list for some time to come.

Anyway. I know it's not much compared to Ginny being in the hands of Bellatrix and Dolohov, but it's a small move toward restoration.

Comments

Private Message to Sally-Anne

[alt_hermione]

I completely forgot until this morning that yesterday was Hydra's birthday! Did you remember, or were you too distracted by the Weasleys' situation?

I wonder if we should organise a little something tonight. Cake or whatever the house-elves can throw together.

Re: Private Message to Sally-Anne

[alt_sally_anne]

I remembered but I didn't have time to make her much more than a card. I think she had the day off, at least, and so did Justin, so hopefully she had a nice day. Despite everything.

I'm always in favour of cake. Even if it's a day late. It was her coming-of-age birthday.

You know what I realised yesterday? Ginny's not seventeen yet. They took her out of the Order, so she can't read those posts, but if she'd ever been on the ISS lock she'd still be able to read those. Except, I don't think we told her about that, because we'd all quit using it by the time she found out about the Order, so there didn't seem much point (plus you didn't like her all that much).

Re: Private Message to Sally-Anne

[alt_hermione]

What do you mean, I didn't like her? I barely knew her.

All right, I suppose what I did know about her didn't much impress.

But yes, we'd almost all aged off the lock by the time she decided what side to take, and then it would really have only been her, Evelyn, Luna, Colin and a handful of others. And by then those secret room meetings were happening and it was simpler to just explain anything that might not have already been on the Order lock, which I think wasn't much, anyway.

Re: Private Message to Sally-Anne

[alt_sally_anne]

She was convinced you loathed her and she found you completely intimidating.

She confessed this to me the next time I saw her and asked how things were going, whether she had any questions about the Lock, and so on.

Re: Private Message to Sally-Anne

[alt_sally_anne]

Of course, she also told me that she didn't know why you didn't believe her when she said she'd keep the Order's secrets no matter what.

[alt_draco]

Well done, you.

He would be proud

[alt_hermione]

I miss them both, too.

[alt_sally_anne]

That's brilliant. There are all sorts of tonics for gastric distress, maybe we could just give everyone a bit of that once they wake up?

I think the more people we can wake up, the more helpers we'll have, right? In theory, at least.

[alt_hermione]

That's a good point!

private message to Hermione

[alt_draco]

Oh, and Rachel likes the sound of Russell Faust, so if Alice approves, I'll probably approach him tomorrow - which works out perfectly since it's his day off.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_hermione]

Oh, all right. I was going to ask if you thought you'd be leaving soon. So, you'll be in New London for a while, then, won't you? I mean, you won't be able to just come back in the evenings or anything.

I guess I haven't been around all that much, either. Sorry about that.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_draco]

No, I'll be able to come back. He lives alone and has no social life to speak of, so whenever he's not working I can do as I please, more or less (excepting any regular appointments he keeps).

You know, sort of how Snape was sometimes Milland but sometimes he was Snape?

Don't apologise, silly. You've been doing important work and you have an enormous capacity to toil without rest.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_hermione]

Doesn't he have neighbours or anything? Well, you'll know best what sort of routine to keep, I'm sure.

I don't know about the not resting part! Mostly when I do get back to the room I'm about to fall over in my tracks. Did I nod off in the middle of something you were telling me last night? I remember your voice and I honestly have no idea what you were saying, just that it was a comfortable sound. And the next thing I knew it was the middle of the morning!

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_draco]

Oh, probably. I can disappear into his flat and leave from there, though.

Yeah, you fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you. You were so tired. But I was telling you about the Buckingham elves. How Sally Anne wonders if I might have inherited them? She wants to send something to Ginny that way.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_hermione]

Oh, well, the thing is, usually house-elves associate more with a place than with a particular family or owner. I mean, the elves who left the Manor to follow your parents? That's actually rather rare. I mean, it happens, but--well, they must have decided they would rather give up your home than serve a blood traitor for a master. Or something. And remember Kreacher never left Grimmauld, either, even when he had the chance, because he felt too strong a responsibility to maintain the place. And then when Sirius took up residence, he had no choice but to obey Sirius, you know?

So I think it's really highly unlikely that the elves who are still at Buckingham would consider themselves in service to anyone other than the people at Buckingham, and specifically your aunt. That's if she didn't do anything to make sure of their loyalty, which if I were her, I'd have done right away. Like Sirius did with Kreacher, only probably with, I don't know, more threatening.

I don't know, it depends on what she's ordered them to do or not do. I wonder if Rachel's contact in the palace could find out what the terms of their enslavement are.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_draco]

Oh, I'm sure the elves are obeying Bellatrix and serving Buckingham as well as ever. But it'd still be worthwhile to see if I have the ability to make them listen to me. If I can't, then we don't lose anything by it, anyway. We're just as barred out of the palace as we've always been.

Not sure about the contact. It seems like a potentially dangerous thing to look into, because why would any guest of Buckingham ever need to know?

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_hermione]

Hm. If you want to try summoning them or talking to them, I'd start with Nebly. He's really old so you'll have to speak slowly and loudly but he was in charge of all the guest quarters. Or maybe Ribly, he's Nebly's offspring. He manages the table settings. Or managed, anyway.

There was a female who worked in the cellars, too, who was generally a little less snooty. Er... I think her name was... Selby? Sibby? Selby, I think. I didn't see her very often but she was also a bit barmy.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_draco]

Alright, I'll give it a go.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_draco]

Nothing happened.

Re: private message to Hermione

[alt_hermione]

Well, like I said, it's not surprising. Then again, you're awfully far away. Maybe try the next time you're in NL.

[alt_molly]

It's a wonderful achievement.

I wish so much that Arthur could have seen this day. He would be so incredibly proud of you, Hermione, and so glad that his faith in you has been repaid thousandsfold.

I have been speaking with someone that Davidson connected me with, who has been at the Abingdon camp in Oxfordshure. Her name is Jen Arachne, a muggle, and she was a university research librarian at Oxford before the Protectorate. She is going to help me with organising the information we need to connect all the Sleepers with their families.

[alt_hermione]

I'm glad you're taking that on, Mrs Weasley. Like Sally-Anne says, the task should get loads easier as we start waking them. So far everyone's geographically organised, which makes perfect sense, from the Death Eaters' point of view, so neighbours and so on. We did find that our first group included two sets of siblings (two sisters and a brother and sister), four married couples and a set of cousins, so they already had the comfort of being with a family member, but it's also important to connect them to people who've been living through the last fifteen years, who can catch them up on all the things they'll want to know.

And thank you. I wish he were still here, too. He was always very kind.

[alt_frank]

that's brilliant, hermione.

the helpers we tracked down working out so far?

[alt_hermione]

Yes, and as Sally-Anne said, we'll have more as we wake up new people. Though I expect we may lose helpers, too, when they have their own families back.