Chapter 3

"I need to take him with me to the hospital wing to give him a proper check-up," Poppy finally said. "And I need at least an hour of undisturbed time with him," she added sternly, giving her colleagues a glare that didn't allow any contradictions. She knelt down in front of Harry and spoke in a very loud and slow voice. "Hello Harry. You may call me Poppy. I'll take you with me now to have a look at your ears." She extended a hand to the child, glad that he hesitantly complied, although he shot Severus an uncertain glance.

'It's all right, Potter. Go with Poppy, and she'll make you feel better. One of us will come and collect you afterwards,' the teacher explained quickly.

"Thank you, Professor Snape," Harry replied and left the room with Poppy. On the way down to the hospital wing, he interestedly looked around, seeing to his surprise that the pictures along the hall were moving. "They're moving!" he pointed out to Poppy, who gave him a comforting nod.

"Yes Harry, that's magic. It's amazing, isn't it?"

"Yes," Harry replied, glad that the woman was so gentle, speaking in a voice that he was able to understand. "People here are very nice," he stated, and a happy smile spread over his face.

Poppy gave him a smile in return and led him to a bed in the empty hospital wing, where she carefully examined him, telling him what she was doing all the time. At first she lit the tip of her wand and piercingly looked into his ears and his throat. Frowning at the result, she quickly waved her wand over the child, and Harry unconsciously flinched a little. "You don't have to be afraid, sweetie. I won't hurt you," Poppy told him gently, and Harry tried to relax, while Poppy pointed her wand to his head to take his temperature and once more moved her wand along his body.

Suddenly, Harry began to giggle, and seeing Poppy's astonished look, he explained, "That's funny if you do that. It feels all tingly in my arms and legs."

Poppy gave him an admiring smile. "That means that you can feel the magic running through your body. You're a very powerful wizard, Harry. Now let me have a look at these bruises. Can you take your T-shirt off for me, sweetie?" she asked and held her hand out, summoning a healing salve from her potions cabinet.

Harry hesitantly complied, shivering a little when he pulled his T-shirt over his head. "Are you cold, sweetie?" Poppy enquired gently, and when he gave her an anxious nod, she explained, "Your temperature is a bit higher than normal right now. I'll give you something to make you feel warmer." She quickly summoned a fever reducing potion and gave Harry just a spoon full of the light blue liquid, watching as he stopped to shiver immediately. "Now lie down and relax," she told the child, lightly pushing him back, before she gently began to apply the healing salve onto the many bruises covering his skin.

'Oh, that feels good,' Harry thought, sensing soft hands spreading the cool salve, which soothed the slightly sore spots on his skin. "Thank you; feels good," he mumbled, suddenly getting very tired.

"It's all right to sleep, Harry," Poppy said softly, continuing to apply the salve while the child slowly drifted off to sleep. She quickly spelled the rest of his clothes away, so that she could treat each of the spots. Finally, she conjured light summer clothes for the boy and dressed him with a flick of her wand, before she carefully tucked the peacefully sleeping child in and went into her office to research about Harry's ear problems.

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Poppy had just found what she was looking for when Minerva, Albus, and Severus entered the hospital wing together. "How is he, Poppy?" Minerva asked in concern.

Poppy sighed. "As you assumed, his bruises and welts didn't only cover his arms but his whole body. However, they are already healed, and the healing salve made him tired; that's why he's asleep right now. He had a slight temperature, probably resulting from his ear problems, and I gave him just a sip of a fever reducer. Some of his bones in his arms and legs seemed to have been broken before and healed improperly, and I'm afraid that I have to break at least two of them again to heal them properly, so that he won't get problems in the future. However, that doesn't have to be today. We can wait until he is used to his new life here and feels more comfortable."

"That'll be better I suppose," Minerva agreed, giving her friend a grateful look.

"Now, his ears," Poppy continued, sighing. "He probably had an inflammation of the middle ear on both ears some time ago. That might have been a year or even longer ago. The infection obviously wasn't treated at all. Therefore, it affected other parts of his ears, his throat, and his sinuses as well and became chronic, preventing him from hearing properly. I have to do some more research, but according to the information I've found so far, there is no way to heal him. However, it will be important to prevent him from getting worse. Since his most important organs for the blocking of bacteria are affected, I'm afraid that he will be prone to colds and illnesses, which if untreated will further aggravate his condition."

She sighed again and continued, "The boy told me that his relatives never took him to a doctor or a healer. Therefore, we have to watch him closely all the time. Even if he feels bad, he probably won't tell us because he's not used to complain if he's sick."

"We will keep an eye on him," Minerva promised. "Is there no way to improve his hearing abilities, Poppy?"

Poppy glanced at Severus. "In fact, there is a healing salve that has to be applied directly into his ears, where it will be magically spread throughout the whole ear. However, it has to be applied once a day, and the negative effect is that he will feel very dizzy and has to lie down for at least half an hour afterwards. How much this will help improve his hearing," she continued seeing her colleagues expecting looks, "depends on how often he'll get ill, which will probably be very often if he lives at Hogwarts with so many children around, and on how long ago it was that his problems started."

"So we will have to train the boy to read from people's lips even if they talk in normal speed, otherwise he won't be able to follow any classes next year," Severus spoke up pensively.

"Would it make any sense to learn and teach him sign language?" Minerva enquired thoughtfully.

"No, because we can't use sign language in classes," Severus replied sternly.

"Where is he going to stay?" Poppy asked. "I'd like to have him nearby if that's possible, considering that he has to come to me for his ear salve once a day."

"Yes, we can do that," Albus replied thoughtfully. "He can stay in the small room just opposite the hospital wing, and I will ask the house elves to connect the room to Minerva's and Severus' quarters. That way, you can all keep an eye on him," he suggested, throwing the Potions Master a stern look that didn't allow any contradiction.

"What are we going to do when the school year starts in four weeks and we have to teach classes?" Minerva asked. "We need someone to teach him at least some more primary school knowledge or such and to keep an eye on him during the day."

"Maybe we should let him attend first year classes. That way he has a year to learn to understand at least what the teachers say, and maybe next year he'll be able to follow his classes," Severus suggested.

"In that case, we have to get him sorted earlier," Albus said thoughtfully.

"No Albus, he can stay in his own room in our quarters and can attend lessons together with the Gryffindors and Slytherins during the first year until he'll officially enter Hogwarts," Minerva contradicted.

"Exactly. With the problems he currently has, he won't be happy to stay in a dormitory, where he can't even understand his roommates," Severus agreed.

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After dinner, Minerva and Severus led Harry into his room, watching as the child looked around in awe. "This is really my room?" he asked unbelievingly.

"Yes Harry, this is your room. The door here on the left leads into Professor Snape's quarters, the room on the right into mine, and you're free to enter our rooms. Professor Snape will tell you a few rules tomorrow. Now I suggest that you go to bed, since we will have a long day tomorrow. We have to take you to the Ministry of Magic to apply for the guardianship over you, and we'll have to go buy some clothes for you as well."

Noticing that Harry didn't understand a word of Minerva's explanation, Severus quickly repeated her sentence straight into the boy's mind, receiving a grateful look in return. While Severus retreated into his private lab to brew the ear salve for Harry, Minerva led the child into the bathroom, before she transfigured his clothes into comfortable light pyjamas and tucked him into his bed. "Are you feeling well?" she asked, carefully feeling his forehead to be sure that he didn't have a fever.

"I've never felt so well, Professor. Thanks a lot for everything," Harry replied, feeling extremely happy.

"You're welcome, Harry. Now try to sleep. If you have problems, come to my rooms," Minerva slowly told him before she retired to her quarters.

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When Harry woke up in the morning, he didn't know what he was supposed to do and finally resolved to stay in bed until he was told otherwise. Severus was the first to enter his room. 'Good morning, Potter. How are you?'

"Good morning, Professor. I'm fine," Harry replied, quickly getting out of bed.

Severus pointed his wand at the child, and Harry found himself dressed in black jeans with a dark green T-shirt. "Thanks, Professor," he said gratefully and followed the professor into his living room.

'Sit down here for a moment, Potter. Professor McGonagall and I put up some rules for you, which we want you to obey,' the teacher explained, placing a piece of parchment on the table in front of Harry.

I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!

All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.