Author's Note: This is the last chapter I have finished and no real plot yet. If anyone has any ideas for it or wants to help out I would be thrilled to accept it. Let me know what you think and what would make it better. Also please point out any errors I wrote this differently than I normally do so my editing process was not as good.
Enjoy, Happy readings!
xoxo -lifeless
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way, shape, or form. It has just been my obsession since the fifth grade. I guess Mr. Walker is technically mine although I'm not sure I want to claim that sleaze-bag.
Minerva McGonagall was sitting in her office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, compiling a list of first years she had not received a response from yet. Just as she was adding Harry Potter to that list an owl flew through her window. She took the empty envelope from its beak and saw that it was from the letter that had been sent to that very child. When she turned it over she saw three words that made her heart drop. On the back of the envelope, written in a very messy scrawl, were words 'Please Help Me.'
McGonagall jumped out of her chair and ran to the headmaster's office. She reached the office and entered without knocking. The headmaster was currently having tea with the Potions Master, Severus Snape.
"Ah Minerva what can I do for you?" Albus Dumbledore said.
McGonagall took a second to catch her breath before thrusting the envelope into his hands. "I just received that from Mr. Potter."
Dumbledore's smile disappeared as he read the note. "Well I suppose we should go investigate. This is not the address of the Dursley's. I fear something must have happened."
Snape took the envelope from Dumbledore. He read it and said "This is obviously just a ploy for more attention. He is probably just at a friend's house."
"Either way Severus we need to check this out. Will you be joining us?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes. I want to see your face when you realize this boy is a spoilt brat." Snape said standing.
The three of them walked out to the end of the wards and apparated to the address on the envelope. They arrived outside a grubby apartment building. Dumbledore cast a notice-me-not spell to hide their strange attire from the muggles. They went inside and located the apartment from the address.
Dumbledore unlocked the door and they slipped inside. The inside of the apartment was just as grubby as the building. There was a ratty couch and an old television set in the living room and mounds of dirty dishes in the sink of the kitchen connected to it.
Snape sneered in disgust at the place. Dumbledore walked up to what appeared to be the bedroom door. There was a deadbolt on it but it was backwards. The room locked a person in, not out. Dumbledore unlocked it and slowly opened the door. They looked around and saw no one.
"See" said Snape "He's not even here."
There was a dirty bed in the middle of the room, a desk on the wall next to the door, a broken wardrobe in the corner and another door probably leading to a bathroom. Then something caught Dumbledore's eye. A metal chain was connected to the bed. Dumbledore stepped farther into the room his eyes following the chain to the corner between the desk and the wall. The chain was connected to the ankle of a small boy. He was curled up on a pillow, asleep. His knees were pulled up to his chest with his arms around them and his head resting on his knees.
McGonagall and Snape entered behind him. McGonagall gasped at the sight. Snape looked more closely at the boy. He seemed to only be wearing what appeared to be a large man's t-shirt. Snape also noticed some bruising on his neck and arms.
Dumbledore removed the notice-me-not spell and knelt down in front of the boy. He placed a hand lightly on the boys arm. Immediately the boys head shot up and he pulled away, eyes looking up at them in terror. Dumbledore removed his hand and held them back in a nonthreatening gesture. "Harry?" He asked quietly.
The boy stared at him for a minute before nodding slowly. Dumbledore sat down Indian style and laid his hands on his knees in the boy's view. "Harry, I am Albus Dumbledore from Hogwarts. You received an invitation to attend our school this morning." Harry nodded again. "We got your note and came to help. Can you tell me what you are doing here?" Harry shook his head sadly. "Why not?" Harry opened his mouth and nothing came out. "You can't talk?" Harry nodded. "Well Harry you may have guessed from the letter but we are wizards, you are one too. And as a wizard Professor Snape can look into your mind, with your permission of course, and tell us what happened. Will you let him?" Harry looked at Snape cautiously. He seemed to be weighing the options then he nodded very slowly. "Good boy. Now just concentrate on a memory that will tell us why you are here chained to the wall and make eye contact then he will see it."
Snape knelt in front of the child. The boy looked into his eyes and he was taken aback by Lily's eyes looking back. But there was something wrong with them, they were lifeless. Just what had this boy been going through? "Legilimans" he said softly.
-memory of kidnapping from last chapter-
He was sitting in what looked like the boiler room of a school. Harry was sitting on a stool across a table from a middle aged man. The man had balding dirty brown hair and a beer belly. He was wearing a tan janitor's jumpsuit. Harry was definitely a few years younger than he was now.
"He hurt you again didn't he Harry?" The small boy tensed and looked down to the floor. "I hate seeing you hurt like this Harry I can't just leave you there anymore come with me." The man grabbed Harry's arm and the boy tried to pull away.
"No, Mr. Walker, please. I can't he'll be so mad." The little boy begged.
"You're never going back there." Walker said pulling the struggling boy out the back door. He drug Harry to an old beat up car and forced him into the back seat. He buckled him in and got in and drove off. They reached the grimy apartment building and Harry was carried up the stairs and into an apartment. Walker took him into the bedroom and sat on the bed holding Harry in his lap.
"Harry I love you and I don't want to see you hurt anymore. If you stay with me I can protect you and show you the love that I know you crave." He said. "You are such a beautiful, sweet little boy and you don't deserve the treatment your family gives you."
Walker placed a hand on Harry's cheek and looked him over. Harry didn't like this and pulled away and scrambled off the man's lap. Walker sighed and said "Now you wait here and I'll go make you something to drink."
The man stood and left the room closing the door behind him. Harry sat in the middle of the bed, close to tears. He got up and crept to the door. He opened it and stuck his head out. Seeing Walker in the kitchen, Harry quietly slipped out of the room and headed for the front door. As soon as he reached it he was yanked back.
"Now Harry I can't protect you if you leave." Walker said. Harry whimpered and tried to pull away. The man picked him up and took him to the kitchen sitting him on the counter. Walker finished mixing the glass of chocolate milk he had been preparing when Harry tried to escape. He tried to hand it to Harry.
"Now I need to go back to work so I need you to drink that." Harry shook his head. "If you won't drink it we'll have to do it the hard way." Harry whimpered again but clamped his mouth shut. The man forced his mouth open and poured it down his throat. Harry coughed and spluttered trying to spit it out but could feel whatever was in the drink making him sleepy. Harry was lifted again and was asleep before he was put down. When he woke up he was back in the bed. It was dark and he was being held tight to Walker's chest by the man's arms. The man was asleep. Harry slipped out of the man's grip and hopped off the bed. There was a clang of metal and he looked down to see a shackle on his ankle connecting him to the bed. The noise woke Walker up.
"Harry?" He called. Harry choked back a sob. The man sat up. "What's wrong? Come back to bed." Walker leaned forward and easily pulled Harry back onto the bed. The little boy just curled up into a tight ball and cried. The man lay down behind him again and pulled the boy close not noticing that it cause him to cry harder. Harry eventually cried himself to sleep. Snape pulled out of the boy's mind with a sick feeling in his gut. He had a pretty good idea of what had been happening to the boy here.
-end memory-
Harry was still sitting in the corner. He was now trembling. "He was kidnapped." Snape said quietly. "From the memory it looks like quite a while ago. How long, child?" Harry looked down and held up 3 fingers. "Three years?" Harry nodded.
McGonagall drew in a sharp breath. . "Alright Harry well let's get you out of this chain and out of here. You can fill in the rest once you are somewhere safe." Dumbledore said. He unlocked the chain with magic and Harry gasped in surprise. He immediately kicked the chain away and placed his hand around his ankle. The skin was raw and bloody from where the shackle has rubbed roughly against it.
Dumbledore offered Harry a hand up which he shrunk back from. He let his hand drop and the boy stood on his own, wincing a little at the movement. "Okay Harry if you'll take my hand I will apparate us back to the school." At Harry's questioning glance he added "Apparition is disappearing from one place and appearing in another." Harry nervously took Dumbledore's hand and they disappeared with a crack. Snape and McGonagall followed. When they arrived at the Hogwarts front gate Harry fell to his knees gasping for breath.
"I'm sorry Harry I know it is not pleasant the first time. I should have given you more warning." Harry fell back into his butt when Snape and McGonagall appeared with a crack. Harry stood quickly and backed away from them. Snape saw the idea forming in the boys mind and grabbed his arm as he took off to run.
He knelt down in front of Harry holding him in place. "We are not like that man. You will not be locked up and forced to stay. But you cannot run now. We are going to go to the hospital wing and get you checked out. Any injuries will be healed and we will get you something to eat. Then we will sit down and discuss what happens next. You will be able to give your input in the decisions made. You will never have to live like that again." Snape said calmly looking the young boy in the eye. Harry stopped struggling and thought about what Snape had said. He nodded nervously and was led up to the castle by Snape. McGonagall and Dumbledore shared a look before following them up.
Once they reached the Hospital Wing Snape directed Harry to sit on one of the beds. Dumbledore entered and went to find Madam Pomfrey. When they came back Harry tensed and pulled his knees up.
"Harry, this is Madam Pomfrey." Snape said calmly. "She is going to check you over, okay? She will just cast a couple of spells. It will not hurt." Harry nodded. "Now I am going to go across the room and talk with Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. I will not leave you; we just want to give Madam Pomfrey some room to work." Harry looked wearily at Pomfrey before giving Snape his consent.
The three adults crossed the room and sat in the chairs between two of the beds. Snape cast a silencing charm and told them what he saw in the boy's mind. "The man who kidnapped him was his school janitor. It seems the man, Mr. Walker, had an obsession with the boy. Walker found out that the boy's relatives were hurting him and took matters into his own hands. I fear what happen to Harry in his "care." In the memory, I saw Harry was drugged when he tried to run away and woke up in bed with the man with that chain on his leg." Snape explained.
"You don't think he…" McGonagall trailed off.
"I don't know. I didn't see any proof but from the way Walker looked at Harry in the memory and the amount of time Harry was trapped with the man, it is unfortunately very likely." Snape said grimly.
"Oh poor Harry!" McGonagall sobbed.
"Calm yourself woman. You'll scare him." Snape looked pointedly at Harry who was intently watching Pomfrey's every move but checked to make sure they hadn't left frequently. Snape removed the silencing charm and went back to the small boy's bedside leaving Dumbledore to calm McGonagall.
Snape sat in the chair next to Harry's bed as Pomfrey finished her scans. The medical quill that had been writing the results of the scans fell to the side as it finished and Pomfrey picked up the parchment. Snape watched the emotions mix on her face, ending in devastation. She handed him the parchment and hurried off to get the potions she would need.
As Snape read his suspicions were confirmed and it was so much worse. Before he finished reading Pomfrey came back with a handful of potions. Snape noticed that one of them was dreamless sleep.
"Harry," He said causing the boy to look up from the spot on the bed he'd been staring at. "Madam Pomfrey is going to need to give you a potion to make you sleep." Immediately Harry's breathing quickened and he began shaking his head. "Harry, there is a lot of damage that she needs to fix and if you are awake it is going to hurt. I promise you that I will not leave while you are asleep and no one will touch you. You are safe here." Harry still looked terrified. "No one will hurt you here Harry. I promise. And I never go back on my promises." Harry swallowed and took a deep breath. Slowly he nodded but couldn't keep his hands from shaking.
Pomfrey walked up to the bed and sat all the potions on the table. "Alright sweetie, before you go to sleep I need you to take these potions. Would you like me to tell you what they do before you take them?" Harry relaxed just a little and nodded. "Okay. This one is a nutrition potion. You are malnourished so this will give your body some of the nutrients that you need to heal." She handed it to him. He looked a little suspicious. He took a small sip, waited, and when there were no ill effects he downed the rest. "Next is Skelegrow. You have some bones that were broken a long time ago and they did not heal properly. After you are asleep I am going to have to rebreak them. The Skelegrow will fix them. Once you wake up they will all be fixed. You may be a little sore but it won't hurt." Harry tested the potion the same way. Snape got the feeling that he tested everything this way. "This last one is the dreamless sleep. It will put you to sleep for 8 hours. While you are asleep I am going to put some healing salve and bruise salve on your external injuries so when you wake up they will be mostly healed as well." She handed him the potion and he took it hesitantly. He looked to Snape nervously.
"I won't leave. Everything will be okay." Snape reassured him. With shaking hands Harry lifted the vial to his mouth and downed it. Harry laid back into the pillows and gave a small whimper when he felt the potion start to take effect. Soon he was fast asleep.
Pomfrey looked to Snape for explanation. "He was kidnapped three years ago, Poppy. His kidnapper drugged him at least once that we know of."
"Oh my…" She sigh and started healing the boy. It took her an hour to rebreak and set the bones. When she finished that part she sat down to talk with her colleagues, the other healing could wait just a bit.
"How bad is it, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.
"Bad. He had many bones that have been broken and not set correctly. These date back mostly between ages 4 and 8 but there are a few after that. He is malnourished and dehydrated. He has quite a bit of bruising currently. But the worst is the abundant signs of frequent rape." Pomfrey said holding back her tears. McGonagall choked back a sob and Dumbledore placed his head in his hands.
"What have I done?" Dumbledore asked into his hands.
"Poppy he says he cannot speak. Have you found anything that would cause that?" Snape asked keeping his emotionless mask in place.
"I have not found anything that would cause muteness but I will run a more specific scan. It is entirely possible with this level of trauma that he chose to stop speaking and just doesn't recall how." Pomfrey said. "If that is the case then with some work and therapy he should be able to learn again."
"I'm going to go back to my office and send some Aurors to find that man and to the Dursley's to see if I can find out why no one noticed that Harry went missing." Dumbledore said standing up. "Please notify me when he wakes, or if you need me."
"Of course Albus." Pomfrey said.
"Same goes for me." McGonagall stated also rising. "I need to get back to working on the first years letters." They left the Hospital Wing and Pomfrey went to get the salves she needed to finish healing Harry.
Snape sat and watched the dark haired boy sleep. He couldn't believe he had been so prepared to hate this child. Even if the boy had been with his relatives when he received his letter there is no way the boy would have been like James, not with the clear evidence of abuse in his medical scan.
Pomfrey came back with the salves. "Will you help me Severus?" She asked.
"Of course" He helped her remove the oversized shirt from the boy. They looked sadly at Harry's small body. His back was covered with numerous old scars from his time with his relatives. There were handprint bruises on Harry's hips and wrists and bite marks on his neck baring witness to what that sick man had been doing to the boy. Pomfrey worked a healing salve into the ruined flesh around his ankle from the shackle while Snape massaged the bruise salve on the boy's hips.
Once they were finished treating all of Harry's visible wounds Pomfrey pulled out a jar of scar remover. "There is a lot of scaring in his rectum." She said sadly. "Would you do his back?"
Snape took a handful of the salve and began rubbing it into the boy's back while Pomfrey worked on the more sensitive areas. Harry whimpered in his sleep when she touched him. She finished quickly and spelled her smallest pair of hospital pajamas on him. Pomfrey tucked him in and went to put her supplies away.
Snape sat down in the chair next to Harry's bed. He pulled the novel he had been reading out of a pocket in his robes and settled in for a long wait.
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