A/N: Yes, that's right, I'm posting again! My computer is getting better, and I actually have a peaceful library to post in, which makes a change. Chapter 12 will be posted next week, somehow, somewhen, and then a chapter a week after that hopefully; I'm two chapters into book 2 as I write, so hopefully I should be able to keep up that schedule for awhile now.

I'm really sorry about the delay, but it's been unavoidable, and shouldn't happen again.

Also, enormous thanks to Hellinbrand for going over the last few chapters!

Enjoy…


Chapter 11: An Investigation

"Have you heard? Potter's in the Hospital Wing! He was in the Forest on Friday night, someone messed him up really badly!"

"They reckon he won't make it!"

"Nah, I heard he was pratting around on a broom, fell off."

"Don't be an idiot, haven't you seen him fly? No, it's in the Prophet, attacked by 'unknown assailant', wounded very badly. 'Course, they don't say he's been fatally injured, but he can't have put up that much of a fight, he's only a kid…"

"Said You-Know-Who as he walked over to the cot…"

"Well yeah, fair enough, but he was a baby, he can't have done that consciously can he? And you've seen him, he's not that special."

"He took down a troll, that's pretty special."

"Troll's are roughly as intelligent as this lump of stone; they might be strong but it doesn't take a genius to outwit them. Anyway, no-one actually said he'd done it did they?"

"True… Still, poor kid just can't catch a break can he?"

The news that Harry Potter had been attacked by someone in the Forbidden Forest naturally attracted a great deal of comment around the school, although much of it was more to do with the fact that it had been someone, rather than something, given the location. Injuries after excursions in the Forest barely caused comment amongst the older students and staff, and duels between students were far from unusual, but someone coming to the school specifically to attack a student was something new. Of course, Harry being who he was, rumours about the attacker's identity and motive were soon flying around the school quicker than a crazed bludger. He was a Death Eater seeking revenge; he was Voldemort reincarnated; he was Voldemort's hitherto unknown son; he was a crazed fan who Harry had upset…

For a few days after the attack, Harry's friends took to hiding in the Library to avoid the barrage of questions that were constantly thrown at them; Fred and George took it upon themselves to 'persuade' people that the flurry of questioning was rude and bad behaviour, and as a consequence, many more people had to go to the Hospital Wing, and so were put in a prime position to spread the rumours by passing on the information that after a week Harry was "Unconscious, just lying there! Couldn't see anything wrong with him, but he didn't move all the time we were in there!"

While the news would undoubtedly have become public knowledge eventually, it was ably helped along by Hagrid. Having rushed Harry to the Hospital Wing, and reported all he knew to Dumbledore, he had spent most of Saturday in the Three Broomsticks, where, very drunk, he had spilled out all he knew about the incident to the other occupants. Someone had passed this onto the Daily Prophet, so students were able to read in full about the attack over their breakfast the following day. Hagrid was notable by his absence from the staff table for the next few days, and Dumbledore's look of anger had only just settled into irritation by the time he returned.

Harry's problem, although this had so far remained a secret, was that no-one could figure out precisely what was wrong with him. He had clearly been subjected to some very nasty curses, but they had all been identified and treated; while he would be on health potions for a good few days, he was in no serious danger. In addition to this, he was also clearly in a magical coma, suggesting he had put a serious drain on his magical core. However, there were no spells that could force someone into such a condition, and the spells Harry had used weren't that powerful. Advanced yes; nasty yes; but not that powerful.

Of course, the mysterious barrier of Dark magic had to be taken into consideration, but no-one knew what 'normal' was for that; it was therefore rather tricky to comment on any change while Harry was unconscious. There didn't seem to be anything 'wrong' with it; it was deteriorating quicker than they might have expected, but there was no really noticeable difference from the last examination.

However, after a week or so, as the Easter holiday crawled ever closer with no change from Harry and no new information on the attack, interest began to die down. By the time students began to leave for the holiday, the attack was old news, boring; there was new and exciting gossip, such as the Ravenclaw prefects discovered abusing their privileges in an abandoned classroom; Professor Quirrell's new, rather calmer state of mind; and Snape's latest outrages against anyone in red, yellow or blue.

Old news that is, to everyone but a small group of first years, astonishingly reaching across two notoriously antagonistic Houses, and two third years who could generally be relied upon to take absolutely nothing seriously. Hermione, Neville, Draco, Ron and the twins had stayed at Hogwarts over Easter to keep an eye on Harry, and to be there when – if – he woke up. They were currently dividing their time between the Hospital Wing, the Great Hall for meals, and their respective dorms. They had exhausted the debate about the attacker's identity (after many hours of discussion). Ron had naturally suspected Snape from the start, although as far as anyone knew he actually had very little duelling ability, and in addition, Draco could place him in the Slytherin common room, performing his weekly check-up on his students. After a while, Draco had pointed out that Quirrell had been the one who assigned Harry the detention, and had been asking Hagrid how he would be able to get past Fluffy – the others having filled him in on the story so far. This had stirred Hermione's opinions in that direction, and she had pointed out that he had been a lot calmer since the attack, but the twins could vouch for him; he had been supervising them rewriting an essay, so could not have been anywhere near Harry at the time.

There were no other members of staff who had any possible motive towards hurting Harry as far as they knew, and from what they understood the techniques the attacker had used would be far beyond the abilities of any student at the school. So they were forced to turn their debate outwards: who from outside the school would have a motive to hurt Harry? There were the usual suspects, escaped or un-discovered Death Eaters, Dark sympathisers who had never really declared their views, but they were left with one fundamental question: how would they have known Harry was in the Forest? Harry and Hagrid could have been followed of course, but why wait until they were nearly out of the Forest to spring the attack? Why leave Hagrid unharmed? He was clearly a formidable opponent, and running from him would probably be the most sensible solution, but nobody could stand up to the Killing curse, barring baby Harry of course.

A week into the holidays, the monotony was broken; the Dursley's arrived to see their nephew. They were actually staying in the nearest Muggle town, at the expense of the Board of Governors, since Muggles were unable to see Hogwarts, let alone go inside and wander about. Petunia had tried to force Dumbledore to lower the wards so they could see Harry inside, but he had resisted, pointing out the difficulty of lowering just a certain spell in the vast mix layered over the castle, and the danger that other Muggles would suddenly discover the castle. In the end, they had arranged a compromise: Harry would be taken to a secret location where they could visit him for a time, before returning to the school for continuing care.

Sirius, Remus and Peter had come to the school too. Their reactions to the attack had been mixed to say the least. Remus had been extremely distressed, and spent much of his time in the Hospital Wing, only moving to eat and visit the Dursley's at their hotel. Sirius had put a cheerful face on the matter, pointing out it was "Bloody impressive, Harry putting up such a good fight! James would have been proud of him!" rather than comment on his godson's injuries. Unfortunately for him, he made this comment in Madame Pomfrey's hearing, and she had refused to reverse the subsequent hex she had placed on him. Sirius didn't go into specifics, but he would occasionally double over, his face glowing a bright red.

Peter had been scary. After going to see Harry, he had come out of the Hospital Wing with a strange expression on his face, and a dark look in his eye. Even Ron, not renowned for his emotional intelligence, had been able to tell that if Peter ever got his hands on the person who had done this to Harry, then the Aurors would likely never find a body; certainly not a complete one. He had then taken them all into a classroom and sat them down. He had then politely but forcefully persuaded them to tell him everything that had happened since Harry started school. They had reluctantly confessed their midnight wanderings, how Harry had discovered that something was being guarded – a stone of some description – and that they had been amusing themselves by trying to find out what it was and, latterly, who was actually trying to steal it.

"And your conclusion is?"

The group looked at each other. Hermione was in some confusion. Ron, Neville and Draco had all known Harry for several years, as a consequence of their family's friendship, and they knew that there had been a history between the Marauders and Snape, although they knew even less about it than Harry. As a result, they were reluctant to point the finger at Snape, given what Peter might do to a man he already disliked if he thought that Snape had hurt Harry.

"Please. They won't hear about it from me, I promise you that."

Ron sighed.

"That's not what we're worried about to be honest… We think it might be, well, Snape…"

To their surprise, Peter raised a sceptical eyebrow.

"No… Snape's not a thief. Trust me, he might not be very nice, but his heart's in the right place. Anyone else you can think of?"

This time it was Draco who spoke up. He didn't seem all that afraid of Peter, which was perhaps unsurprising given his relationship with Snape.

"Quirrell was the one who assigned him detention, Hagrid was just supervising it. He'd have known what Harry was doing and where, and he's been acting weird all term."

Peter snorted.

"It may surprise you to learn this Draco, but Quirrell's always been a little weird. Bright, but weird. Anything else you can tell me?"

They all shook their heads.

"All right then. Thank you for your time, and thank you for staying with Harry like this. He's lucky to have friends so loyal."


The next day, Sirius, Remus and Peter set out into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid and Fang. Dumbledore had already looked over the site, but they had pointed out they had a couple of advantages he didn't. They walked in silence to the point where the attacker had appeared in a plume of smoke. Remus sniffed the air cautiously.

"I can't smell anything out of the ordinary, but it's a while till the full moon: my senses aren't that much better than average at the moment. Maybe once we get to the exact spot…"

"Let me have a go." And with that, Sirius transformed into Padfoot, raising his wet nose to sniff the air, before shaking his head with a whine.

"Never mind. Which way was it Hagrid?" Still rather morose, Hagrid merely pointed. Sirius set off in the direction he was pointing, apparently overcome by the boundless energy his dog form seemed to give him. Remus and Peter followed more sedately, Hagrid coming along to keep them on the right track. When they got to the clearing Sirius had transformed again, and was muttering spells under his breath.

"It's no use, Harry's still the only one I can smell. Well, actually that's not quite true, but it's weird… I can identify where the attacker was by a kind of, kind of absence of smell, if that makes any sense at all? Harry though, this looks like where he fell after he'd been cursed, certainly smells like it. But… his smell changes here, like something's been added to him. It's like he stopped to put on some aftershave or something, but that's clearly ridiculous."

Remus nodded.

"I can smell it too, though not quite as clearly. We'll know more once he wakes up of course; he'll be able to tell us precisely what happened. Peter, you see anything?"

Peter was just standing there, drinking the scene in, committing it to memory. He was gripping his wand intently. He eventually shook his head.

"No, there's nothing. Come on, let's get back to the castle."


Harry finally woke up the night before the start of term. It was almost midnight, and the Hospital Wing was deserted, which was unfortunate, as he had a pressing need for the bathroom. He climbed slowly out of bed, nearly collapsing from his weak legs as he did so. He eventually managed to crawl over to the wall, and was able to support himself on it as he stumbled to his destination. His urges attended to, he turned to wash his hands. He looked in the small mirror as he did so, and jumped back in shock.

It wasn't his reflection.

It was largely the same, just the eyes, and the smile. His startling green eyes, red, and cat like in the reflection. The smile, out of place anyway, since he couldn't find much to smile about, but definitely not his smile. It was much colder, more arrogant; almost a smirk.

He sat on the floor, almost hyperventilating, looking at the stranger in the mirror. Then he blinked. When he opened his eyes, the reflection was normal. Green eyes, no smile, and when he tested it, the smile was his smile. He stood up, reached out to touch the mirror. Nothing unusual about it.

"Just a trick of the light… nothing to worry about" he muttered to himself. There was a noise outside, and he grabbed for his wand automatically, before realising that it was still by the bed, with his clothes. A light shone under the door, and Madame Pomfrey appeared in the doorway.

"Mr Potter! What on earth are you doing out of bed? You're very sick young man! Come on, back to bed with you… And how long have you been awake anyway?"

"Not long…" Harry managed to mutter.

"Here you go, you just wait here, and I'll fetch the Headmaster. Your family are here as well you know."

"Wait! How – how long have I been unconscious? Is it the end of term?" Madame Pomfrey's face fell.

"Well… I'm afraid you've been here for just over a month Harry. People will be back for the summer term tomorrow. I'm sorry." Harry stared at her in silence. "Right, well, I – I'll be back in a minute ok? You just relax."

Harry watched her hurry out of the ward, before falling back onto his bed in shock. A month! He vaguely remembered someone attacking him in the Forest, but the details were hazy. If the duel had knocked him unconscious for a month, then he wasn't sure he wanted to know what had happened.


To Harry's relief, he didn't have to put up with too much in the way of excitement that night. The Dursleys, having spent much of the holiday nearby awaiting developments, had been forced to return to Privet Drive by work and school commitments, and Sirius and Remus had returned with them, acting as bodyguards in case the attack had been part of a broader plan. Of the remaining adults, Peter was the only non-member of staff, and didn't really go in for emotional displays, and his friends had been banned from the ward by Madame Pomfrey to avoid overtiring Harry.

However, Dumbledore's questioning had been intense. The elderly Headmaster seemed to have taken the attack personally, and was most disappointed to learn that Harry's memory of the attack was very vague.

"Are you sure you didn't recognise him Harry?"

"Yes sir, I'm sure. I didn't see his face at all, and he'd distorted his voice; for all I know it wasn't even a man, just a really clever disguise."

The headmaster sighed, and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Very well Harry. There is one last thing though… The spells you used towards the end of the duel. They were rather more… esoteric than your other spells. If I might ask, where did you learn them?"

Harry frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean sir? I just used standard duelling spells, and a bit of transfiguration. Which spells were you thinking of?"

"The rather vicious Severing curse and the bone breaking curse. Not really the kind of spell we expect students to know, Harry. Where did you learn them?"

"I haven't! I've never even heard of a bone breaking curse, and I certainly didn't cast them."

Dumbledore looked intently at Harry, his twinkling eyes drawing Harry's gaze. Then he leaned back, a gentle smile on his face.

"Well then Harry, someone is trying to discredit you; tampering with your wand. Never mind, nobody likely to let those details slip has any knowledge of them."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"What about other details?"

"Unfortunately Harry, Hagrid proved unable to keep the story secret; he informed the customers of the Three Broomsticks, and the whole story was in the Daily Prophet a few days later. It was quite the conversation topic."

Dumbledore said with a scowl. Harry sank back onto his pillow, groaning in frustration.

"Quite. However, I am not without a certain level of influence, and there has been nothing further written about the incident, and nor will there be. I realise that may be small comfort to you Harry, but it is the best I can manage for now. Oh, before I take my leave Harry, may I congratulate you? Your experience with the unicorn is one of the few things ever to surprise me. I confess myself puzzled by the whole thing. It is most gratifying. Rest well Harry."

As Dumbledore left the room, Peter leant over the bed.

"I spoke to your friends Harry, they told me all about this stone or whatever it is. Have you any other ideas than Snape and Quirrell? Because I really don't think that they're serious possibilities."

Harry shook his head.

"No, to be honest I hadn't really thought about it for awhile. Not really my problem you know?"

"Fair enough. I haven't told all this to Sirius, for obvious reasons. Best to keep quiet about it ok?"

Harry grinned.

"I'm not an idiot Peter!" Peter gave a rare smile, ruffling Harry's hair before leaving the Hospital Wing.


A/N: Reviews are, as ever, greatly appreciated.