Just 1 Little Change...
Disclaimer: They aren't mine. I'm sorry. I have no legalistic control over them. Don't sue me, sue JK. They belong to her I tell you!!
A/n: I am REALLY sorry that this took so long to get out. I am getting LOADS of school work. This chapter has no action, sorry. It basically Harry talking to Dumbledore and about Hogwarts. And this story will have lots more action, don't worry. It hasn't even really begun the real plot yet.
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Harry woke up slowly, still feeling very groggy. As his eyes focused he looked around him slowly, wondering where he was. It was a large room with very white walls, not a speck of dirt on them. The bed he was laying on was rather hard and had clean white sheets on it. There was curtains that you could pull over the bed if you wished and many other identical beds to the left and right of him. It looked just like a hospital room.
'But I'm not hurt!' Harry thought, very muddled now.
Then he looked down at his arms. They were covered with little scratches and his leg seemed to have a cast on it. Just then Dumbledore walked in, looking very surprised to see Harry awake and sitting up. Thoughts and memories came flooding back to Harry and he noticed the pain in his head for the first time.
"Ah Harry, up already? The nurse said it would be another couple days at least! Ah well, you do seem to heal quite quickly." At this Dumbledore chuckled a little and sat down in a chair next to Harry.
"sir, did you catch Quirrell? I cant remember much of what happened after you came in." Harry said quietly, as if he didn't want to talk about it much.
Dumbledore smiled kindly at Harry and said quietly,
"Yes Harry, we caught him, but he died before we could get anything out of him."
"Voldemort left him though as we were dragging him out of the shack."
Harry looked very concerned and a little nervous also to hear that but Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at him.
"don't worry Harry, Voldemort is hardly in a state to try and attack you again. He may even be dead and if he isn't, he is no more than a shadow, powerless to do anything. If we ever hear from him again, I'm sure it wont be for another year or two."
Harry looked relieved and lay back down, his head resting on the rather hard pillow.
"Sir, how long have I been sleeping?" Harry asked, still a little timid around Dumbledore.
"Please call me Dumbledore Harry. You have been in Hogwarts for almost 8 days Harry. We didn't expect you to wake up for a while yet. You were so exhausted and weak, you almost killed yourself once, trying to sleep-walk. Harry you had absolutely no energy left."
Harry looked very surprised he had been sleeping so long. Suddenly he sat up again and looked a little alarmed,
"Sir, er, Dumbledore, where's Mrs. Bradshaw, she's ok isn't she?!"
"Yes, yes Harry. Mrs. Bradshaw is perfectly alright. She has been at your side almost 24/7. I finally got her to take a break today and rest awhile. She is asleep in her room." Dumbledore spoke very reassuringly, smiling kindly at Harry the whole time. Then his face got more serious and he said steadily, yet firmly.
"Harry, I know you don't want to remember what happened in the shack, but I'm afraid you will have to tell it to me, every last detail. We need to know how Voldemort managed to stay alive and his plans for returning. Please tell me everything. A small detail could help us get rid of Voldemort forever."
Harry, looked around the room, staring fixedly at the clean white curtains hanging on the bed next to him. He didn't want to remember. He wanted to be normal, his only problems being school-related. He didn't want to tell what happened in that horrible room. But Harry knew he must. He was the only one who could. His eyes met Dumbledore's patient eyes and started slowly to speak, faltering at first, then, finding it easier to talk once he started.
Harry and Dumbledore sat like that for more than a 1/2 hour. The elderly wizard sitting in a comfortable old armchair, facing a clean white bed and looking at the young boy with more and more admiration as his story went on. This 11 year old boy had withstood an enormous amount of pain willingly and managed to hold off the most powerful wizard in the world for more than an hour using no magic at all!
Suddenly Harry stopped talking, looking up at someone standing in the doorway to the informatory. Then he smiled happily and waved the person in. Dumbledore looked around, confused. Who would Harry wave to?
'Ah, Thought Dumbledore, 'Mrs. Bradshaw is up, and she doesn't look that happy that I didn't wake her up.'
Dumbledore was indeed right. The old lady stood there, hand on hips, glaring rather sternly at Dumbledore. Dumbledore tried to hide a smile that kept coming unbidden to his face, but Mrs. Bradshaw looked utterly hilarious trying to look mean. Finally he managed to keep the smile in check and spoke quite seriously to Mrs. Bradshaw.
"Hello Mrs. Bradshaw. I'm sorry I didn't wake you up when Harry woke up but I wanted to talk to him for awhile. You may listen now though, we were just getting to the part in his story where you come in. Perhaps you could help us with that part."
Mrs. Bradshaw glared at Dumbledore, but soon her face relaxed into a smile.
"Well ok. I suppose Harry would like to hear how I got in."
Harry continued his story, now having 2 grown-ups staring at him intently, Mrs. Bradshaw gasping occasionally. Then Harry got to the part before Mrs. Bradshaw came in, he started fumbling, his mind blurred.
"I'm sorry. I cant really remember what happened there. I was so exhausted I could barely think so all of my memories are flashes of thoughts and pictures. And most of them I don't think ever happened. I think I was kind of hysterical at that point. Depressed and I only have one clear thought. I had to hold on." Harry looked at them sheepishly as if he had done something shameful.
Dumbledore smiled kindly at him, "That's ok Harry. Many people your age wouldn't of lasted nearly that long to begin with. But since Harry doesn't remember much more, perhaps you would be so kind to tell us how you got in the shack Mrs. Bradshaw?"
"Well when Harry first went in I naturally thought that he was simply taking a test like Quirrell said. I had been sitting there for nearly half an hour, just staring at Harry's owl, looking at his supplies, that type of thing, when I suddenly felt something. As if something horrible had suddenly been released. I think now that that must have been either Voldemort's presence or some kind of spell. Anyway, I started to get really worried and walked right up to the door. At first I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. But then I heard a horrible screaming. I knew at once it was Harry and I must say, I got a little mad. I immediately tried to get in, but I couldn't seem to be able to touch the door. It resisted me. As if there was a glass wall right in front of me. This discouraged me at first, but then I remembered that this had happened once before when I first found Harry as a little baby. I think I got through that spell a little easier because I wasn't really quite awake and not at all aware that it was a spell I was pushing through. I just felt as if someone didn't want me to walk any farther. So I stood next to the door for a second, regaining composure and relaxing. I remembered Mrs. Figg saying once that I had gotten through because I didn't want to harm Harry and because I was stubborn and kept at it. So that is what I did. I forced my anger down and kind of relaxed my mind and just walked forward. It was one of the oddest feelings in my life, pushing through that spell. At first it was still a solid wall, totally unbreakable, but then as I kept on pushing it seemed to get a little softer, give a little. After a lot of pushing the spell was stretched to its limit. It felt really odd as if an invisible piece of rubber or latex was in front of me, then suddenly it snapped. I was in. I opened the door and saw Harry and Quirrell on the ground. Quirrell was still knocked out but Harry was laying there, barely moving, but with his eyes open at least. He seemed rather depressed though, told me there was nothing I could do and that the best thing was to run and try to get help. Immediately I thought of the owl, probably because I had been staring at him for awhile before I was aware of Harry's danger. I rushed outside scribbled a note to you Dumbledore and sent the owl with little trouble. Then I simply sat there, waiting and being tortured. I swear, it was like hell waiting there, not sure what was happening. I didn't know if Harry was dead, horrible images kept popping unbidden into my head. I also wasn't even sure if I had sent the owl to you Dumbledore. I just told her to give the note to her and hoped that she knew what to do. You have no idea how happy I was to see you Dumbledore, although I have to say you rather startled me, just suddenly popping up out of nowhere. Still I guess I will have to get used to this magic stuff." Mrs. Bradshaw finished a little breathless. Harry sat propped up on pillows, staring at her the whole time, his intense eyes rather unnerved her, she always was a little freaked about the intensity of his eyes and now they were practically boring holes into her face, seeming to look through her instead of at her. In fact, now that she thought about it Dumbledore's eyes had the same intense look to them. She figured it was a wizard thing.
Finally Harry spoke, his voice startling Mrs. Bradshaw, it was totally devoid of emotion. He seemed totally drained, both physically and mentally. It had obviously been very hard for him to relive the horrible moment again.
"Then that's the end isn't it? You guys took me back here, put me on this bed and let me sleep for 8 days. I know it seems like I should have more then enough sleep, but I am afraid I am still rather tired, am I allowed to sleep a little more now?"
Dumbledore smiled at Harry, his eyes showing deep affection. "Yes Harry, go to sleep now. You will stay here for 2 more days to make sure you are perfectly healed, then you and Mrs. Bradshaw will go home. When you wake up you will probably be home, this is a rather strong sleeping drought. Just remember this one thing, when its time to meet the train, board at platform 9 and 3/4 ok Harry? Good, now goodnight, I'll see you at school." As he spoke his last words he handed Harry a goblet full of purple liquid that was bubbling rather nastily. Harry quickly gulped down the foul tasting liquid and felt about 10 times sleepier. His last thought before he lay down on the crisp white pillow was
"Platform 9 and 3/4??!"
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A/N: I am sorry again for the time it took for me to get this chapter up. I simply haven't had time to write lately! I also apologize for the length of this chapter, its by far my shortest ones, 5 pages compared to the normal 10! I have no excuse other than I am horrible with conversations. The next chapters wont have all that much action, but many things will happen. Next chapter Harry will go to platform 9 and 3/4. there's many possibilities folks, who knows what might happen! Well read and review please!! thanks
Disclaimer: They aren't mine. I'm sorry. I have no legalistic control over them. Don't sue me, sue JK. They belong to her I tell you!!
A/n: I am REALLY sorry that this took so long to get out. I am getting LOADS of school work. This chapter has no action, sorry. It basically Harry talking to Dumbledore and about Hogwarts. And this story will have lots more action, don't worry. It hasn't even really begun the real plot yet.
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Harry woke up slowly, still feeling very groggy. As his eyes focused he looked around him slowly, wondering where he was. It was a large room with very white walls, not a speck of dirt on them. The bed he was laying on was rather hard and had clean white sheets on it. There was curtains that you could pull over the bed if you wished and many other identical beds to the left and right of him. It looked just like a hospital room.
'But I'm not hurt!' Harry thought, very muddled now.
Then he looked down at his arms. They were covered with little scratches and his leg seemed to have a cast on it. Just then Dumbledore walked in, looking very surprised to see Harry awake and sitting up. Thoughts and memories came flooding back to Harry and he noticed the pain in his head for the first time.
"Ah Harry, up already? The nurse said it would be another couple days at least! Ah well, you do seem to heal quite quickly." At this Dumbledore chuckled a little and sat down in a chair next to Harry.
"sir, did you catch Quirrell? I cant remember much of what happened after you came in." Harry said quietly, as if he didn't want to talk about it much.
Dumbledore smiled kindly at Harry and said quietly,
"Yes Harry, we caught him, but he died before we could get anything out of him."
"Voldemort left him though as we were dragging him out of the shack."
Harry looked very concerned and a little nervous also to hear that but Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at him.
"don't worry Harry, Voldemort is hardly in a state to try and attack you again. He may even be dead and if he isn't, he is no more than a shadow, powerless to do anything. If we ever hear from him again, I'm sure it wont be for another year or two."
Harry looked relieved and lay back down, his head resting on the rather hard pillow.
"Sir, how long have I been sleeping?" Harry asked, still a little timid around Dumbledore.
"Please call me Dumbledore Harry. You have been in Hogwarts for almost 8 days Harry. We didn't expect you to wake up for a while yet. You were so exhausted and weak, you almost killed yourself once, trying to sleep-walk. Harry you had absolutely no energy left."
Harry looked very surprised he had been sleeping so long. Suddenly he sat up again and looked a little alarmed,
"Sir, er, Dumbledore, where's Mrs. Bradshaw, she's ok isn't she?!"
"Yes, yes Harry. Mrs. Bradshaw is perfectly alright. She has been at your side almost 24/7. I finally got her to take a break today and rest awhile. She is asleep in her room." Dumbledore spoke very reassuringly, smiling kindly at Harry the whole time. Then his face got more serious and he said steadily, yet firmly.
"Harry, I know you don't want to remember what happened in the shack, but I'm afraid you will have to tell it to me, every last detail. We need to know how Voldemort managed to stay alive and his plans for returning. Please tell me everything. A small detail could help us get rid of Voldemort forever."
Harry, looked around the room, staring fixedly at the clean white curtains hanging on the bed next to him. He didn't want to remember. He wanted to be normal, his only problems being school-related. He didn't want to tell what happened in that horrible room. But Harry knew he must. He was the only one who could. His eyes met Dumbledore's patient eyes and started slowly to speak, faltering at first, then, finding it easier to talk once he started.
Harry and Dumbledore sat like that for more than a 1/2 hour. The elderly wizard sitting in a comfortable old armchair, facing a clean white bed and looking at the young boy with more and more admiration as his story went on. This 11 year old boy had withstood an enormous amount of pain willingly and managed to hold off the most powerful wizard in the world for more than an hour using no magic at all!
Suddenly Harry stopped talking, looking up at someone standing in the doorway to the informatory. Then he smiled happily and waved the person in. Dumbledore looked around, confused. Who would Harry wave to?
'Ah, Thought Dumbledore, 'Mrs. Bradshaw is up, and she doesn't look that happy that I didn't wake her up.'
Dumbledore was indeed right. The old lady stood there, hand on hips, glaring rather sternly at Dumbledore. Dumbledore tried to hide a smile that kept coming unbidden to his face, but Mrs. Bradshaw looked utterly hilarious trying to look mean. Finally he managed to keep the smile in check and spoke quite seriously to Mrs. Bradshaw.
"Hello Mrs. Bradshaw. I'm sorry I didn't wake you up when Harry woke up but I wanted to talk to him for awhile. You may listen now though, we were just getting to the part in his story where you come in. Perhaps you could help us with that part."
Mrs. Bradshaw glared at Dumbledore, but soon her face relaxed into a smile.
"Well ok. I suppose Harry would like to hear how I got in."
Harry continued his story, now having 2 grown-ups staring at him intently, Mrs. Bradshaw gasping occasionally. Then Harry got to the part before Mrs. Bradshaw came in, he started fumbling, his mind blurred.
"I'm sorry. I cant really remember what happened there. I was so exhausted I could barely think so all of my memories are flashes of thoughts and pictures. And most of them I don't think ever happened. I think I was kind of hysterical at that point. Depressed and I only have one clear thought. I had to hold on." Harry looked at them sheepishly as if he had done something shameful.
Dumbledore smiled kindly at him, "That's ok Harry. Many people your age wouldn't of lasted nearly that long to begin with. But since Harry doesn't remember much more, perhaps you would be so kind to tell us how you got in the shack Mrs. Bradshaw?"
"Well when Harry first went in I naturally thought that he was simply taking a test like Quirrell said. I had been sitting there for nearly half an hour, just staring at Harry's owl, looking at his supplies, that type of thing, when I suddenly felt something. As if something horrible had suddenly been released. I think now that that must have been either Voldemort's presence or some kind of spell. Anyway, I started to get really worried and walked right up to the door. At first I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. But then I heard a horrible screaming. I knew at once it was Harry and I must say, I got a little mad. I immediately tried to get in, but I couldn't seem to be able to touch the door. It resisted me. As if there was a glass wall right in front of me. This discouraged me at first, but then I remembered that this had happened once before when I first found Harry as a little baby. I think I got through that spell a little easier because I wasn't really quite awake and not at all aware that it was a spell I was pushing through. I just felt as if someone didn't want me to walk any farther. So I stood next to the door for a second, regaining composure and relaxing. I remembered Mrs. Figg saying once that I had gotten through because I didn't want to harm Harry and because I was stubborn and kept at it. So that is what I did. I forced my anger down and kind of relaxed my mind and just walked forward. It was one of the oddest feelings in my life, pushing through that spell. At first it was still a solid wall, totally unbreakable, but then as I kept on pushing it seemed to get a little softer, give a little. After a lot of pushing the spell was stretched to its limit. It felt really odd as if an invisible piece of rubber or latex was in front of me, then suddenly it snapped. I was in. I opened the door and saw Harry and Quirrell on the ground. Quirrell was still knocked out but Harry was laying there, barely moving, but with his eyes open at least. He seemed rather depressed though, told me there was nothing I could do and that the best thing was to run and try to get help. Immediately I thought of the owl, probably because I had been staring at him for awhile before I was aware of Harry's danger. I rushed outside scribbled a note to you Dumbledore and sent the owl with little trouble. Then I simply sat there, waiting and being tortured. I swear, it was like hell waiting there, not sure what was happening. I didn't know if Harry was dead, horrible images kept popping unbidden into my head. I also wasn't even sure if I had sent the owl to you Dumbledore. I just told her to give the note to her and hoped that she knew what to do. You have no idea how happy I was to see you Dumbledore, although I have to say you rather startled me, just suddenly popping up out of nowhere. Still I guess I will have to get used to this magic stuff." Mrs. Bradshaw finished a little breathless. Harry sat propped up on pillows, staring at her the whole time, his intense eyes rather unnerved her, she always was a little freaked about the intensity of his eyes and now they were practically boring holes into her face, seeming to look through her instead of at her. In fact, now that she thought about it Dumbledore's eyes had the same intense look to them. She figured it was a wizard thing.
Finally Harry spoke, his voice startling Mrs. Bradshaw, it was totally devoid of emotion. He seemed totally drained, both physically and mentally. It had obviously been very hard for him to relive the horrible moment again.
"Then that's the end isn't it? You guys took me back here, put me on this bed and let me sleep for 8 days. I know it seems like I should have more then enough sleep, but I am afraid I am still rather tired, am I allowed to sleep a little more now?"
Dumbledore smiled at Harry, his eyes showing deep affection. "Yes Harry, go to sleep now. You will stay here for 2 more days to make sure you are perfectly healed, then you and Mrs. Bradshaw will go home. When you wake up you will probably be home, this is a rather strong sleeping drought. Just remember this one thing, when its time to meet the train, board at platform 9 and 3/4 ok Harry? Good, now goodnight, I'll see you at school." As he spoke his last words he handed Harry a goblet full of purple liquid that was bubbling rather nastily. Harry quickly gulped down the foul tasting liquid and felt about 10 times sleepier. His last thought before he lay down on the crisp white pillow was
"Platform 9 and 3/4??!"
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A/N: I am sorry again for the time it took for me to get this chapter up. I simply haven't had time to write lately! I also apologize for the length of this chapter, its by far my shortest ones, 5 pages compared to the normal 10! I have no excuse other than I am horrible with conversations. The next chapters wont have all that much action, but many things will happen. Next chapter Harry will go to platform 9 and 3/4. there's many possibilities folks, who knows what might happen! Well read and review please!! thanks