Childhood's End Redux
Chapter 2- Be Prepared
Summer Year 1
Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Harry Potter universe. I am just borrowing this sandbox for our entertainment and the enjoyment of my readers.
A/N: I said that I would decide after the first chapter of both stories which one would become my main one based on which got better feedback. But, they both got amazing responses and were very close in reviews, follows and favorites (at the time of this writing). Therefore, I am going to extend deciding which one will become my main story to the second chapter. I will be shortly publishing second chapters for both stories. This chapter is finished so I am publishing it first, but Battle Dawn Chapter 2 is almost finished and will be uploaded as soon as it is.
If this or Battle Dawn gets the most love, I will focus more on that story. If they both continue to get an equal amount of love, I will continue to upload chapters to both stories at the same pace.
Also, I would like to respond quickly to a couple of reviews complaining about Snape and how he was written in the first chapter.
I am not "defending" Snape. I am writing him based on how he is portrayed and viewed in the novels. Of course Snape is going to think that he is in the right. He is not going to tell Harry "Yes, I was an evil shit to you all year and I am sorry."
That isn't a change that can happen without a very good reason. I never claimed that Snape was a hero either, but we are all heroes and in the right in our own minds.
Even evil shitheads don't see themselves as evil shitheads, they believe they are in the right. Look at Darth Vader from Star Wars, he slaughtered billions (trillions?), and he believed he was doing it for the right reasons, for law and order and the good of the Empire. He killed Jedi children an attempt to prevent the death of his wife and unborn kids. In his mind he wasn't thinking about how evil he was, he was thinking he would do anything to save his wife. It took Luke to show Vader the error of his ways.
And Dumbledore trusts Snape, he always has. We find out in Deathly Hallows that it is for a very good reason. Dumbledore is willing to overlook Snape's behavior unless he is forced to confront it. Dumbledore isn't perfect, far from it, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to advance what he believes as the greater good. But, this isn't going to be a story that bashes Dumbledore. Mistakes might be pointed out, but it won't be in a bashing manner.
By writing Snape the way he was written in the novels, I am not casting him as a hero or saying his actions are correct, I am just writing him the best way I think he should be written. Make no mistake, Harry doesn't like Snape.
I urge you to keep reading this chapter and upcoming chapters. A lot of the cast is going to go through changes. Including Snape. I will say no more because I don't wish to spoil anything.
Two days later, Harry woke up early as usual. As he was getting out of his room, he noticed that he had risen before his Aunt. That was a first. Maybe he could do something to thank her for taking him in. Not wanting to wake her up, he crept down to the kitchen to start cooking breakfast. Upon arriving, he realized that there was no stove for him to cook on.
In fact, what he looked at that he thought was a stove appeared to be operated by magic, magic that he wasn't allowed to use outside of school till 17 when he would be of age. He wasn't used to not having morning chores to do at home, or any sort of chores really. They had a house elf that took care of everything.
The past two days had been taken up with him watching different adults casting wards around the property. Each of them had been nothing but polite to him, including him in the process by asking him questions and explaining things to him. His offer to pay for the work had been soundly rejected by his Aunt who explained she wouldn't take a cent of his money.
When the wards weren't being worked on, they had gone out to do a few things, trying to dodge the reporters that followed them everywhere in public.
Sitting down at the table with a small sigh at the thought of the trouble adopting him was causing his Aunt, he saw that an owl had already brought the morning paper, that being a copy of the Daily Prophet.
As he sat down, a house elf popped into view. "Can I get Master Harry some food?" the house elf Zarpey asked him.
"French Toast please, Zarpey," Harry responded. In moments, the requested food along with a goblet of pumpkin juice appeared in front of him. As he ate, he glanced down at the newspaper.
He had seen the Daily Prophet before at school, having learned then that it was the wizardry newspaper. He had a year to get used to the fact the pictures moved in an endless loop. It was sort of like muggle movies, but everywhere instead of just in movies and T. V's. Although the limited reading he had managed to do at muggle school suggested that muggle technology would sooner or later be able to put moving pictures and sound everywhere. But, that was neither here nor there.
By this point the fact that everything moved was no longer a surprise or something that amazed him. No, what surprised him was the cover. It was him from the annoying day out yesterday. The news reporters had surrounded him with his Aunt when they had moved outside their house.
The picture showed him flinching away from the flashes of cameras. Aunt Minerva was somewhat in the shot trying to help block them. He could see her arm with her wand extended, pointing at the news reporters in an effort to get them to back off. The news of his adoption had traveled fast.
The headline read "Boy Who Lived Adopted by Hogwarts Deputy Headmistress!"
Underneath that was a smaller headline. "Minerva McGonagall adopts Harry Potter after abuse of the Boy Who Lived was discovered." The byline was by Rita Skeeter.
Harry picked up the newspaper and began to read.
In a shocking turn of events that stunned the Wizarding world yesterday, news broke that Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had been adopted by one of Wizarding own. Minerva McGonagall, best known as the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry filed for, and was granted adoption of her student. Sources close to the situation heard her instruct Harry to call her Aunt Minerva.
Yours truly, did a little bit of digging to discover how this amazing turn of events came about. To ask for and receive an adoption that quickly requires proof that the current living situation is unfit for the child. So how was it that the Harry Potter, darling of the Wizarding world had been living for eleven years in such a situation? And how bad was it? Read inside on page five for the horrifying news.
Page five, Harry started to look as he opened the newspaper, surprised by a sudden pop up. That had never happened before in Hogwarts as the magical display played its...advertisement. The paper was frozen and unreadable as the ad played.
The Most Interesting Wizard in the World: A very macho looking wizard...in fact he looked a lot like Gandalf from the cover of The Lord of the Rings books that Harry had read shortly before coming to Hogwarts...was moving across the paper as a voice-over played.
"He is the Most Interesting Wizard in the World: When werewolves bite him, they are cured. Aurors question him on a weekly basis, just because he is interesting. His tears can cure all diseases, too bad he never cries. He is the Most Interesting Wizard in the World." Here the wizard spoke in a deep, sexy voice. "I don't often drink, but when I do, I drink Butterbeer. Stay thirsty, my friends."
As the ad ended, the paper unfroze and Harry was able to continue reading the article.
Harry Potter, the boy who lived, suffered nearly eleven years of horrible abuse at the hands of his aunt and uncle. As you most likely are aware, his parents were killed by the Dark Lord and when the Dark Lord went to strike down the baby Harry Potter, his killing spell rebounded, killing him instead. Thus Harry Potter became the boy who lived.
Mystery over how he was moved from his home to his new one remained clouded, along with why he was left in such a home.
That was until recently. Sources inside Hogwarts inform us that Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore made the choice entirely on his own, and over the protests of those around him to place Harry Potter into an abusive home and keep him there for eleven years. Those who were there that faithful night tell us that Professor McGonagall pleaded with Dumbledore to be allowed to raise Harry herself, citing her close relationship with his now tragically dead parents.
Dumbledore is said to have told her that the choice wasn't hers to make. That as a leader of the Wizarding world it was on him and him alone to make that choice. Furthermore, he refused to allow her or anyone else from the Wizarding world to check up on the health of the abused boy.
We have learned of horrific events of abuse, events so disgusting that we can't bear to recount them here in this paper. No one should have to read about, much less live through what poor Harry Potter, the one who defeated 'He Who Must Not Be Named', suffered through in the hands of his Muggle relatives. We hope that Wizards and Witches will join us in rejoicing that his new home is now where he belongs in the Wizarding world.
As was expected, Dumbledore's decision was met with angry outcries from the wizards and witches across the United Kingdom. Dumbledore, all on his own left young Harry with his Aunt, Uncle and cousin. All three forced him to work like house elves, fed him poorly, and punished severely for any magical outbursts that were most likely triggered from the stress of their abuse in the first place. Clearly, they hated such a fine Wizard. It was only fortunate Harry survived such a predicament and went to Hogwarts when his time came. With that, he was able to be rescued and placed where he belongs.
On behalf of everyone at this paper, I would like to express my joy upon hearing that Harry has been placed in a proper living situation, and my fury at learning that he had spent 11 years being abused and mistreated.
Many would like to comment upon Dumbledore's decision and sadly we can't place them all here. But we finish the article with a sampling of what wizards and witches on the street are saying.
"That poor boy, having to suffer through all of that abuse at the hands of those wicked Muggles. They should have everything visited upon them that they did to Harry Potter. If I knew where they lived…" Giada Shephard told us.
"Dumbledore must be getting old, to send the boy that saved us all to live with Muggles. What would Harry's parents think of that choice?" Phoebe Walker commented.
And for the final one which is of course the most relevant, prominent wizard Lucas Malfoy had this to say about the situation: "If this is the care that Dumbledore gives to children, maybe he isn't the right headmaster for Hogwarts."
No word of response to the threat to his headmaster's position of yet from Dumbledore, but we will keep you all posted on it. We reached out to him, but our letters weren't returned in time for this story. Stay with this paper for further updates on the situation.
Harry was having mixed feelings reading the newspaper. He was annoyed that the wizards he doesn't know were sticking their noses in his business. Despite that,he couldn't deny most of the information regarding to his upbringing was correct. Reading it however, didn't make him feel better. Simply put reading about your own abuse sucked.
The threat from Malfoy's father simply made him angry. Clearly his dad was as much of jerk as his son was. As he sat in lost in thought, Aunt Minerva walked in.
Looking up from the newspaper, he saw her. "Aunt, have you read this part of the newspaper?" He showed her the section he was talking about as he gave her the newspaper.
"Not yet, Harry," she replied back. She was in her pajamas and robe as she read the news coverage of Harry changing homes. "This was bound to happen, and I'm not surprised due to the entire ruckus yesterday. I wished news don't travel fast sometimes. However anything involving you is big news, it has been since that night. You would do well to keep that fact in mind going forward." Tossing the newspaper on the table and ordering her usual pancakes from her house elf, she sat down. "
We can talk more about this later if you want. Today, once you're finished up eating and getting dressed, you are going for a check up on your health. St. Mungo's, which is the Wizarding hospital has an appointment ready for you."
"A check-up?" Harry asked, surprised. His own aunt and uncle never bothered with such things for him. The only time he ever got any medical care was at school or the rare times he had been taken to the hospital due to injuries from being "a klutz" at home.
"What for?"
"It's to make sure you're healthy, and no long term damage was caused from living with your relatives for eleven years." She smiled at him. "Go on, the rest of your breakfast is here and getting cold."
Albus had suggested it, as a just in case. While Poppy was very skilled at healing she didn't have the resources the Wizarding hospital did. And Harry needed to be in top shape and she needed to know that the damage his bloody Aunt and Uncle had done would heal.
If they had done anything long term to him, she swore that she she would rain the fires of hell upon them, laws or no laws. She knew exactly how to make it look like a freak accident.
Harry blinked and looked down to the plate that appeared where he wasn't looking. Still hungry, he started eating. Once he ate and drank to his content, he got off the chair and looked to her. He smiled to Aunt Minerva before walking to his room.
He didn't exactly want to go, but at the same time he was pleased that she cared enough to insist that he did.
~St. Mungo's Health Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries ~
Harry stared in wonder at the wizard's hospital as he walked inside with Aunt Minerva. Things were so busy, but seemingly less ordered than a muggle hospital. He turned around startled as he heard a series of cracks in the air behind him. Two adults were holding a third limp adult between them as they shouted for help.
As he looked around, Aunt Minerva talked with the receptionist and then led Harry to the correct floor.
Some of the people Harry passed recognized him, which made the news of his arrival spread like wildfire. Great, this will likely be in tomorrow's paper. Now he would have to read a story about how poor Harry was so badly abused that he had to go to St. Mungo's.
Finally, they reached the seventh floor where they sat down and waited. It wasn't a busy day, so Harry was quickly called upon and ushered in a room.
Harry was ushered into a brightly colored room. People on broomsticks raced around the walls as he watched. On closer examination, Harry saw that one of them was wearing the colors of the Quidditch team that Ron always spoke of. Taking a few minutes to think it over Harry figured out that the other racers must be then each wearing the colors of a different team in the English Premier Quidditch league or the EPQL for short.
"You must be Harry Potter", a warm voice behind him said. "I am very pleased to get to meet you."
As Harry turned around he saw a young smiling woman in healer's robes.
"My name is Healer Armadi, Susan Armadi. You can call me Susan. I know your parents when I was young. We attended Hogwarts together. I am pleased to be your healer. Let's get started." She waved her wand. "I'm going to check on your overall health."
A light sensation went through Harry as the wand did its job. When it touched his scar, he felt a brief flash of horrible pain and winced.
"Hmm," Susan hummed in thought. "You have suffered much throughout your life before Hogwarts. Some of that damage was fixed at Hogwarts. Considerable progress was made simply from you being well fed and rested. Still, there is a large amount of damage left to undo. Not to worry though, I will have you all fixed up in a jiffy."
She waved her wand over him, causing his body to burn like someone had set him on fire, for the briefest of moments. By the time he could react to the pain, the burning feeling was replaced by a cold that swept across him causing him to shiver. Soon that feeling was replaced with an itching all over his body.
He could feel his bones knitting together properly!
"All healed up now, Harry," Susan told him.
Then taking a second look, she frowned. "That should have removed that nasty scar of yours."
She waved her wand over him again, muttering under her breath. "I haven't ever seen anything like it. It isn't harming you, not directly at least, but it sets off my wand when I test your health. I am afraid…"
"Afraid of what Mam?" Harry asked her.
"I am afraid that it will never go away, and that no magic that I am aware of can heal it." She gave him a tight smile. She tisked underneath her breath as she continued to wave her wand over Harry's body. There had to be a way to heal this!
"And I am the top healer here, if I can't fix it, it can't be fixed. Still, I am not ready to call it quits just yet. The defeater of the Dark Lord only deserves the best medical care. And, after having suffered 11 years of abuse at the hands of the nasty Muggles. Poor boy," she continued as she cast spell after spell on him, searching for something.
"Ah, yes!" she exclaimed after long minutes of spell casting. That could work perfectly. Maybe...
"What it is it?" Harry asked her.
"We will have you fixed up shortly. But for now, I need to go talk to your aunt." She paused considering.
"Why don't you work on your basic spell work while you wait? If you can do all the basic year one spells, I will give you extra candy at the end of the visit."
Harry looked at his aunt. "Can I? Can I please?" he pleaded with her.
McGonagall smiled at him. "The trace…" she began. But even as she protested, she knew that she couldn't deny Harry this. After all he had been through she wanted to make him as happy as possible. She would only put her foot down when it came to his safety and there was no danger here.
"Oh not to worry," Susan assured her. "So much magic is used every minute here, that it makes it impossible to know who is doing what magic."
Minerva nodded at this. "Very well, but basic spells only Harry. And nothing destructive," she warned him.
"I promise, I will be good Aunt," he said with a big grin breaking out on his face. He loved doing magic! And the chance to get extra candy was nice as well.
Together Minerva and Susan stepped outside, getting out of the ear shot of Harry.
Minerva dropped her smile as soon as her back was turned. "Okay Susan, spill it."
Susan had a grave expression on her face. "Professor McGonagall, the damage I scanned turned out to be more serious than I suspected. I was easily able to fix the damage that Harry suffered from his relatives. The damage that the Dark Lord inflicted on him caused some serious damage, but I was able to fix most of it." She pointed to her heard, the spot where Harry had his lightening bolt scar. "But his scar is another matter. I don't know if the killing curse that he managed to live through was the cause of it, but if I had to venture a guess, that would be what I would bet on."
Minerva forced herself to remain calm. "Bottom line it for me, Susan. How much danger is my Godson in?"
"The danger level is unknown at the moment. In the short term, likely none, but it is Harry's long term health that I am worried about. I need you to give me the okay to do a deep scan on him, so that I can find out about the true depth of the problem immediately."
Minerva needed less than a minute to consider this. "You have it. I will fill out the paperwork while you get started." She walked into the room and smiled at Harry.
"Healer Susan, needs to run more tests Harry. She is going to put you into a deep sleep for a little while. I will be here the entire time with you."
Harry didn't feel worried about this. A deep sleep didn't sound so bad, and besides his Aunt was going to be right there. "Okay Aunt," he responded.
"She will lead us to the room required for the scans," Aunt Minerva explained to Harry. She walked to him and took his hand.
As they walked Harry looked up at her. "Am I going to be okay? I mean this is just standard because I have never had a check-up here right?" Harry asked with slight worry beginning to creep into his voice. He hadn't been told to expect this, only being told that this wasn't anything like going to a Muggle doctor. Harry wasn't sure about what happened with Wizard children, but surely they needed to see healers for checkups like Muggle children saw doctors. Because Harry was looking around as he spoke, he missed the flash of worry that appeared on his Aunt's face.
"You are going to just be fine. You have the best Healer in all of the United Kingdom looking after you," she assured him. "She was one of my best students...although like you, she tended to get into some trouble. In fact, there was a time were Susan…"
Susan looked back as she heard her name being mentioned. Her face flushed red as she figured out the story that Professor McGonagall was going to tell. Acting quickly before Minerva could go on she turned into the nearest room. This hasn't been her first choice as it was a room meant for adults with none of the cheery moving pictures that were in the children's rooms, but otherwise it functioned exactly the same.
"Oh look, we are here. Now Harry, I need you to lay down on that table for me, please." She pulled out her wand as she spoke.
Harry nodded and climbed up onto the table lying down on the pillow provided. Despite the fact that the table looked like it was solid metal, it was in fact quite comfortable, and Harry felt his eyes beginning to close. He wondered how they managed to make a metal table so comfortable. I bet Hermione would know, he mused to himself.
"That's right Harry just relax and let Healer Susan take good care of you," McGonagall's voice said kindly above him.
"I want you focused on relaxing, exactly as you doing now. Don't fight this next part," Susan instructed. Pointing her wand at Harry she spoke a spell that he had never heard before. "Sopor!"
Almost instantly Harry was asleep.
Susan began the deep scan of Harry's body and for long moments she was silent as she paid attention to the results coming from her wand. The silence was suddenly shattered with a gasp as she staggered backwards lowering her wand.
Reacting quickly, McGonagall pulled out her wand, scanning the room for anyone who could be invisible and attacking. "Homenum Revelio!" she shouted as she waved her wand around the room.
Nothing. Nobody hidden. Striking from hiding had become a common tactic in the last war as it turned ugly. But besides the three of them the room was empty. She glanced over at Harry to see that he was still in the deep sleep. So why had Susan freaked out like that?
She stepped to Harry's side, looming over him as she continued to scan the room for threats. Maybe if it wasn't someone invisible, it was some other threat. Spinning her wand in a circle above her head she cast "Apokalýptoun Tin Apeilí"
She took a small step back as Harry began to glow, especially around his scar, snapping her wand down to cover him. What the bloody hell?
McGonagall kept her wand pointed at Harry, ready to counteract anything that threatened her Godson as she reached her other hand reached inside her robe, grabbing her two-way mirror that at the height of the Wizarding War all of the Order members carried. She didn't pull it out yet, but she could quickly do so if needed. The idea had actually come from James Potter and Sirius Black who used the mirrors to communicate with each other while in their many detentions.
Although the Order of Phoenix had been disbanded with the "death" of Voldemort, she still retained her two-way mirror and carried it with her. It didn't hurt to be careful. Especially now that they knew that Voldemort was attempting to make a comeback and she was responsible for protecting Harry.
"He's cursed," Susan said as she pulled herself back together and raised her wand again. Images sprung up in front of her as the inside of Harry's body became clear. The images zoomed into his magical core. Wrapped around his pure green magical core were black tendrils of darkness that pulsed up and down as though they were feeding on Harry's magical core.
Never in her seventy years had McGonagall seen anything like that. "What the bloody hell is that? And what is doing inside of my Godson?" she asked the Healer in a dark tone.
"Near as I can tell, it is some sort of advanced dark magic that is poisoning his magical core. It appears to be almost feeding off of it," Susan explained in a shaky voice. "I was so shocked when I first saw it that I wasn't sure what to do. I knew that Harry was in some sort of long term danger, but I never...this is a level of dark magic beyond what most healers are capable of handling."
"Can you remove it?" McGonagall asked. "I will sign whatever paperwork is needed for you to go ahead and get that thing out of Harry."
"I don't know if I can, this dark magic might be beyond my understanding. It is highly like that I will need to consult a specialist...no an entire team of specialists. " She continued to cast as she talked, running scans that were focused just on whatever this thing was that was leeching off of Harry's magical core.
"Near as I can tell this dark cruse appears to be tied into very core of who Harry is. Removing it in the wrong way could...will kill him if he is lucky. But things could be a lot worse than simply death," Susan attempted to explain to her old professor.
"Worse than death how?" McGonagall asked as her heart beat rapidly. She had just given Harry his first real home and chance at long term happiness. She had failed him for eleven years already by listening to Dumbledore, she wasn't going to fail him again now.
"He could lose his magical abilities. That would leave him helpless to defend himself," she explained calmly now as she hid her feelings behind the shield of her job. Her job was to find a way to cure this, no matter what. Personal feelings mattered not. It didn't matter that Lily had saved her life once when they were at Hogwarts. She had to do her job to the best of her abilities as a Healer.
"That is unacceptable," McGonagall said in a tense voice. To be a wizard who couldn't use magic in the Wizarding world. That was widely viewed as a fate worse than death. Besides a lot was riding on Harry, the fate of the entire Wizarding Britain, hell even the entire Wizarding world needed him to defeat Voldemort. Although Susan didn't know that, Harry had to be healed at any and all costs. No matter who she needed to bring in to achieve that end. And she knew just the person to consult. The idea of being in his debt was distasteful given the way he treated her Godson, but she would make any sacrifice required for Harry.
Pulling out her two way mirror she spoke into it. "Severus Snape."
Moments later the mirror cleared up as a face appeared on it. "Well, I must say this is unexpected Minerva. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" Snape asked sarcastically.
"I need your skills...Harry needs your skills," McGonagall explained curtly.
Snape was one of the few people who were in on even part of the prophecy, so he suspected what that meant. He also knew that she wouldn't ask unless it was literally life or death. Their relationship had been strained ever since the deaths of the Potters. She placed part of the blame for that on him. This was less blame than he placed on himself for the death of the love of his life Lily. He had spent all year working to save her son as a small way to repay that debt. Now it seemed like he could take a larger chunk of the debt away by saving Harry once again.
It had been hard to balance saving Potter for Lily with hating him for looking like almost a carbon copy of James. He didn't like Harry and didn't think he would ever forgive his father for trying to have him killed and then chickening out at the last moment, leaving him with the humiliation of having being saved by his worst enemy. Snape freely admitted that he was happy to learn the news of James death.
His debt to Lily could never be paid in full. But, at least by continuing to save Potter and gathering information he could live with his previous actions. Even though he would never, ever forgive himself. Because, he understood that by bringing the part of the prophecy he had overheard to the Dark Lord, he had signed Lily's death warrant as surely as if he had killed her himself.
Besides he had promised Albus that he would protect Harry, although the reasons why must never be revealed.
"Keep the link open. I will be there in a moment. Let me gather my equipment," Snape told her curtly.
Dumbledore had discovered that a properly enchanted active mirror connection could also be used as a portal. One could literally step through to the mirror to the other side. Only four mirrors had been enchanted this way due too the difficult nature of the spell. Two of those mirrors had later been destroyed in battle. Minerva and Albus had the two remaining mirrors capable of becoming portals.
"That won't be needed. Your skills in the dark arts are required, not your potions," McGonagall informed him.
His skills in the dark arts? Very interesting. Dumbledore refused to allow him to take the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts, saying that it might tempt him to become who he once was again. Minerva was Dumbledore's right hand in almost every way, yet this request was coming from her and not from Dumbledore. This meant that he likely had no knowledge of the events.
Snape had seen the paper this morning. If half of what was claimed in the article was true it was understandable that Minerva would be quite upset with Dumbledore currently. As he was, the conditions that Harry had endured were outrageous. Snape was ashamed that in keeping his cover he had made things worse not better for the son of Lily. After all he couldn't be seen favoring those outside of his house, especially not Harry Potter.
He had no idea that Harry had been treated as such by his own blood relations. That they had taught him nothing of the Wizarding world. Snape had been flabbergasted to learn of the extent of the abuse that Potter had suffered at the hands of his Aunt and Uncle. Having been through his own abuse at home, part of him felt for Potter...Harry.
Focusing he willed himself to step through the mirror appearing next to Minerva. Quickly he scanned the room, noting that an unknown healer was standing next to Minerva, and that Potter was in a state of deep sleep on the sole table in the room. In front of the healer were images of the boy's magical core, images tainted with darkness.
Snape could only think of one form of dark magic that this could be. But how? It didn't make any sense. He knew that the Dark Lord had taken steps to ensure that death would be a temporary thing, but he hadn't expected the Dark Lord would go as far as to rip his soul into fragments. That was putting one's very existence at risk. Furthermore the magic required to create a Horcrux was complex even for one as magically gifted as the Dark Lord. And any Horcrux created would naturally be well guarded as it was a piece of soul. How had it ended up in Potter? Surely the Dark Lord hadn't intended this, but how could he be capable of such a mistake?
Snape drew his wand out as he approached the boy. They needed to act quickly if the boy was going to be saved from permanent long term damage. And this would give the Dark Lord a link into the mind of Potter when he returned to his power. That was an unacceptable security risk given what he knew of Dumbledore's plans for Potter!
Raising his wand, Snape made a slight slashing motion. The image of Harry's core wavered slightly as one of the tendrils fell off of the core. The remaining tendrils pulsed angrily and expanded, growing to cover even more of the magical core of Harry.
"Stop it this instance!" Susan shouted at him. "I demand to know what you are doing right now."
Snape pointed his wand at her and said a single word. "Obliviate!"
Susan's head slumped as her face took on a blank look. The images in front of her vanished as she lost her focus.
McGonagall had stood by and watched the entire time, trusting that Snape was here for the right reasons and that he knew what he was on about. She didn't like him and never would, but Albus trusted him without reservation and that was good enough for her. Even if she didn't know the exact reasons why,. Now she spoke to him. "Care to explain what just happened?"
"Harry is a Horcrux," Snape explained. "Inside of him is a piece of the Dark Lord's soul."
Shock blossomed on McGonagall's face, quickly replaced by a mix of rage and confusion. "I thought a living person couldn't be a Horcrux based on what little I read about them."
"I believed the same. Clearly, we were wrong," Snape responded shortly. "What matters now is how we get it out of him."
Her face hardened and her eyes flashed anger as a thought struck her. "Albus knew didn't he?"
When questioned about if Albus knew Snape gave a small shrug. "I wouldn't know. But it seems likely that he at least suspected."
She would deal with Albus later. For now, Harry was the only important thing. "And you obliviated Susan so that she wouldn't report this like she would be legally otherwise required to do," McGonagall guessed.
"Correct" He raised his wand and began to cast all kind of wards around the room. Wards that effectively sealed them in and made it impossible to look into the room.
Snape then turned his attention back to the Healer. "We have an unknown dark magic in this child...Healer Susan," he said as he pretended to read her name off her name tag. "You attempted to cure it and the backlash wiped your memory. I was called in as I am a specialist on dark magic. You may call me Severus."
Susan snapped back to focus as she was spoken to. Raising her wand, she quickly brought the scan back up. "This is unacceptable. Do you know that this is Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named must have cursed him when his killing spell rebounded. All steps must be taken to save the child. The entire Wizarding world owes him their lives."
Snape nodded at this, choosing to refrain from commenting on her passion for Potter. "That is why I am here. You attempted to remove the tendrils and you triggered some sort of trap. Also there are more of them wrapped around his core now than before."
"Clearly this dark magic has many safeguards in place protecting it. We need a team of specialists; I need to contact my bosses."
"You can't," Snape lied smoothly. "Before you attempted to remove the dark magic, you created a list of safeguards for us to follow. One of those safeguards was that we are stuck here until the problem is solved. I was instructed to seal the room off by my bosses working off your suggestion. I have done so as ordered. I am afraid that the wards are quite impossible to break through in any reasonable amount of time. Meanwhile the dark magic is aware of us and it is growing inside of Potter. We don't have a lot of time."
Susan nodded at that. It made sense that she would act to seal the room if it was at all possible that this dark magic could spread. "I hope that you have come up with something," she told Snape.
He nodded at this. "I know one thing that might work, but it carries a lot of great risks. You will need to be standing by with several major healing spells ready."
"Wait. Why?" McGonagall said stepping back into the conversation
"I am going to attempt to remove all of the tendrils from Harry's body at once, using a modified version of another spell. But in order to be sure that I get all of it, I have to be totally focused on the removal and not on the how it is removed. I plan to take the most direct route possible."
"You are going to rip the tendrils out of his body?" Is that wise?" McGonagall said with worry in her voice. "That doesn't sound safe and it very well could kill him."
Susan and Snape exchanged looks. "That is correct," Susan told her. "However given the backlash from the first attempt, this might be the only way to go about this. Can we proceed?"
McGonagall was silent for long moments as she calculated the risks. But in the end she didn't see any other choice. They couldn't destroy the Horcrux while it was still in Harry's body, not without likely killing Harry. If they could even figure out how to destroy it all. Somehow she didn't think that normal magic would be enough to kill such dark magic. Still, one problem at a time.
"Proceed," she told them. It sucked to be regulated to a spectator by these events.
Nodding Snape raised his wand again making circles in the air above Harry's body. "Magia Malefica Dispersimus!" he shouted out. As he completed the spell Harry began to jerk around as deep wounds opened up all over his body. His shirt dissolved into a mess of red wounds. Black mist began to rise out of the wounds on Harry's body, quickly forming into the shape of a man.
Acting quickly, McGonagall pointed her wand at a container designed to hold ink on the counter. "Incarcifors!" The ink container rose up into the air transforming into a prison that wrapped itself around the mist. The container shook and seemed like it might break before settling back down.
Meanwhile, Susan was muttering "Vulnera Sanentur" over and over again over each of Harry's wounds. Slowly the wounds closed and Harry's breathing returned to normal as the color also returned to his body.
She slumped over the table as she finished up, feeling totally drained. She had never performed so many major healing spells in a row like that. It was a miracle that Harry had managed to live long enough for her to close all of the wounds up.
Holding the container containing the Horcrux in one hand, McGonagall conquered up chairs for all of them to sit in. As she settled down in her chair, she smiled at both of them. "Thank you both. You have saved Harry's life and his magic."
She held up the container. "I will take this to the proper place to be dealt with."
"What was that? It was almost like another person was inside of Harry, or a fragment of another person."
This time it was McGonagall that said "Obliviate" as she pointed her wand at Susan. They waited while the Healer shook off the effects of the latest memory wipe.
"What happened?" Susan asked weakly she clutched at her head.
While this was going on, Snape was dismantling the wards that he had put into place earlier.
"You did it, you saved Harry's life, but before I could contain it some of the dark magic struck you, leaving you unable to act or speak. We captured it and Severus healed you. But it appears that your memory was lost again. This must have been the final safeguard of whatever this is. Know that you saved the life of my nephew and for that I can never repay you in full." Lying came easy to her after her long practice with the Order. She would do whatever it took to protect Harry.
Glancing down at Harry, Susan cracked a huge smile. "Look his scar no longer looks infected. " She took a seat next to Harry and put her feet up. "I am happy that Severus and I were able to heal Harry."
Harry stirred weakly on the table. "I feel so strange" he groaned.
Susan stood up drawing her wand again. "Strange how, Harry?"
"I feel so weak, but I feel lighter than I ever had been at the same time," Harry answered as he attempted to sit up.
"There was a problem with your magical core. But we corrected it," Susan explained to him.
"Your magical core is what gives you the ability to cast magic. Every Wizard or Witch has a different size core, which is why everyone has different levels of ability."
She did another quick scan on his core as she spoke. Now it was glowing bright green with no dark spots on it. And she could have sworn that it had grown in size by a fair amount. But that might have been her confusion talking she knew. What she thought had happened simply wasn't possible. No cores could grow that quickly. Magical cores grew at a measured pace throughout a Wizards childhood and then to a limited extend as they entered their primes. Sometimes magical events could expand the core, but nothing like she thought she had seen with Harry's magical core.
"You look better than ever," she said as she finished up the scan and lowered her wand.
As Harry sat up he continued to speak. "No, I feel lighter inside like a heavy weight was…" he cut off as his eyes locked onto Snape."What is he doing..." he began to ask only to stop when his Aunt shook her head slightly.
"He assisted me when I required his expert opinion. Your visit is over, and I'm glad to give you health checkups in the future Harry," Susan continued.
She waved her wand and a bowl of candy appeared, and she handed it over to Harry. "
Here you go sweetie. You were great, so I am giving you extra."
Harry took the bowl, looking down at the amount of candy that had been given to him in wonder. Oh yeah, this was far better than Muggle doctors.
"That's our cue to leave. We need to get you home and rest up from this," Aunt Minerva said as she got up.
Severus remained where he was not saying a word.
"By all means he is free to go," Susan told her. "But Harry, I have a few warnings for you. Your core feels different, and your magic is fully healed now for the first time since you were a baby. So that means that you might experience stronger bursts of magic when you cast spells. It will take time for your body to become fully adjusted to what you are now capable. You need to be extra careful, don't overtax your new abilities."
She smiled at him as she spoke. "Also one other thing. You might be prone to random outbursts of magic while your core adjusts. If you strive to remain calm, you can limit the amount that it happens, and how big the outburst are. If you have any problems please come back here right away and I will take a look."
~Location Unknown~
Watching in his spirit form, Voldemort watched a small child playing in the woods near his house. He had been observing the family for a couple of weeks now and concluded that this was the perfect location to lay low and make plans to get his body restored. In the worst case situation, he could always wait for the child to grow up naturally and come into his own magically, with a core that would be enhanced by his presence. Then he could take full control when the time was right.
For now, though, he could only partly inhabit the body of the child. He had considered fully taking control, but doing so would rapidly degrade the body due to the influx of dark power. He could always find another body, of course, but leaving a trail of dead children behind him seemed like an easy way to track his movements. And it had to be children, because adults would be capable of fighting his possession in a way that would be problematic unless he was invited in.
Surely Dumbledore would be searching for him now, that he was aware of his existence once again. He wasn't ready to confront Dumbledore just yet. Dumbledore couldn't kill him, but he could likely find some way to hinder him anyway.
Dumbledore was the only living wizard worthy of respect, someone who could almost match him in power. He had fooled him once, but Voldemort knew from experience how cunning his foe was. How many Death Eaters had he sent to kill the old wizard, and yet Dumbledore lived and those sent didn't. And the army he gathered around him last time was full of skilled wizards. No, he would have to deal with Dumbledore personally, and he would need to fully regain his strength in order to win that battle.
Still, he had been winning the war, winning when he had gone to kill the child with the power to one day take him down. Somehow the sacrifice of the mother had protected the child. Still protected the child. The events at Hogwarts had proven that. Simply touching the child had caused the skin of his borrowed body to begin to smoke and burn. He would need to look into ways to overcome that protection before he struck at the child again. Lord Voldemort didn't make the same mistake twice after all.
For now, he considered his options. He could lay a very light touch on the child, directing him through dreams and visions. Part of the reason that he had chosen this family was because of the father's job. As an Auror who specialized in hunting down dark wizards, he had access to a treasure trove of dark magic. What wasn't well known was that he had kept several books and objects for his own private study. Those books could be useful, and it could be arranged for the child to stumble upon that knowledge.
The other riskier, option was to use wandless magic to control the parents of the child. Aurors however, were trained to shake off that sort of control, and it wouldn't do to have him break free. Also controlling both of them at once would strain his limited abilities in this form. He would have to draw upon the magical core of the child, which could put the child at serious risk if he drew too deeply. Since that couldn't happen through a random burst of magic, that might draw the attention of Dumbledore, who had spies everywhere.
Silently, Voldemort glided forward, his spirit making contact with the child and being absorbed into his body. As long as he didn't push the child's magic further then it should go, he wouldn't be noticed. He pulled himself inward, being sure not to feed off the magical core of the child. He needed him alive and in good health. Now he just had to wait. This was something he was good at. After all being immortal had its perks. He never had to worry about old age or death. However long it took, he would restore his power, and he would get his revenge on Dumbledore. Then he would his attention to slowly killing Harry Potter as was a befitting punishment for the one who had put him into this spirit state.
A/N: To answer the number one question that I know is sure to be asked, yes Hogwarts has ad block installed in the castle :P
Now on to a couple of points about this chapter. I feel that the wizardry world should have some form of a check-up like the Muggle counterpart but through the use of magic rather than machines. The scene at St. Mungo's in book five gave me a window how wizards view injuries and how to take care of the patients.
It seemed odd that the children weren't required to attend checkups to make sure they're healthy and that it is fully left to the parents to take care of their health and needs. Of course, I can't be sure due to the entire series revolving entirely around Harry. Going to see the doctor is a common childhood memory for most of us, so the books seemed to be missing that.
Due to what Harry suffered, his check-up wasn't going to be a normal one. I have no idea how the people who treated Harry for all his injures at Hogwarts missed the injures that he had suffered before coming to Hogwarts. How they thought he was a perfectly healthy 11-year-old kid. But, I digress.
To answer another question that I know is going to be asked; yes, that was the Horcrux that was part of Harry. J.K says that Harry didn't have Horcrux inside of him, but the way she described whatever was inside of Harry sure makes it sound as it was one. Otherwise why would Harry need to "die" in order to kill it so that Voldemort could die?
Either way, I am treating it as full Horcrux in this story. Now it has been removed from him. It hasn't been destroyed, McGonagall and Snape don't know how to destroy a Horcrux. It is currently contained. This will have some interesting side effects on Harry beside enhancing his magical core. For example, he will no longer be able to speak to or understand snakes. That ability came from Voldemort.
I used some new spells in this chapter, and I will continue to use my own created spells in further chapters as I fill in the gaps of what wasn't said in the books. As they mostly are in the books, my spells use Latin and Greek phrases and roots. I do my best to get things correct, but mistakes are bound to happen anyway. If you, the readers will kindly point out when you see those mistakes, I will correct them as soon as possible. Anytime I use a spell, I will define it at the end of the chapter. Spells in bold are of my own creation.
Until next time...
Glossary:
Sopor → This spell puts the target into a deep coma-like sleep. It is important that it is used on a willing target as the body is capable of resisting and shaking off the effects of this spell otherwise.
Magia Malefica Dispersimus → This means literally to scatter/disperse dark magic. The wording puts it in the first person meaning that Snape said "I disperse the dark magic." This spell takes a good deal of magical ability and skill to pull off.
Incarcifors → Transfigures a common container into a prison for something or someone. The word means to imprison or incarnate. The spell comes from the Harry Potter Card Game.
Obliviate → A memory wiping spell that leaves the target confused afterwards. How much memory is wiped depends on how much power is put into the spell.
Vulnera Sanentur → A spell used to heal major wounds. Invented by Snape.
Apokalýptoun Tin Apeilí → A spell that reveals non human threats in a small area. It translates to "reveal the threat" in Greek. Spinning the wand allows the spell to focus in a direction and area. It is possible to tweak this motion to cover a smaller area if the caster has an idea of where the threat is coming from. The reason that Harry glowed when the spell was cast is because of the Horcrux inside of him. Because of the dark nature it is a threat.