Harry tore off the invisibility cloak and ran towards the owl yelling, "Nooo!"
Both Vernon and Petunia screamed out with surprise.
"Uncle Vernon, please don't hurt Hedwig. It's me who's been causing trouble, not her," Harry was having trouble speaking as he felt overwhelmed at seeing his owl again. Hedwig looked back at him but still remained quiet.
"You little bastard! I knew it was you causing all those accidents and stealing all that food! You will pay for your mistakes boy," Vernon growled out.
"I-I don't care what you do to me! Just let Hedwig go, PLEASE!" Harry said in a strangled voice. Just seeing Hedwig alive brought tears to Harry's eyes. He knew he wasn't allowed to cry and had a terrible time holding back.
"So it was you who ruined Dudley's special day? It was you who tripped me?" Petunia asked in a high pitched voice.
"I'm sorry Aunt Petunia. I just came back to save my owl. I don't want to cause you anymore trouble. Please can I just have my owl back and go?" Harry hoped with everything he had that they would agree to let him go back to Snape's. At this point he didn't even care if Snape locked him in his room for the rest of the summer. As long as he had Hedwig he would go anywhere the Professor said.
"Do you think we are just going to let you come into our home and cause all kinds of trouble and then just let you go?" Vernon said with a scowl on his face.
"Please Aunt Petunia, please don't let him punish me again. He took Hedwig away so I wouldn't tell and then he- he beat me," Harry whispered the last words.
"Harry you deserved to be punished. You have those awful freaky genes in your blood and you do bad things. Your Uncle is only doing what is best for you. You need to learn how to behave," Petunia s voice was getting higher as she continued talking. "You should try harder to be better."
Harry let those words sink in and began to start to believe that his aunt might be right. But how, how do I change? I don't want to make people mad anymore.
Vernon was standing next to Hedwig and lifted her cage. "Boy you need to learn a lesson. I tried to teach it to you last time but you refuse to understand."
Vernon made his way upstairs carrying the bird cage.
"Come on boy, get up here," Vernon said in a curt tone.
Harry looked at Petunia again with a pleading look. Petunia looked down at her hands and shook her head. Harry walked up the stairs very slowly, dreading what was to come. As he reached the top of the staircase he heard Petunia scream from the living room. Both he and Vernon scrambled down the stairs to see what was wrong.
Standing in the living room was Arthur Weasley and Sir Stanton.
Arthur took one look at Harry and opened his arms wide to the boy. Harry couldn't help himself, he walked into those inviting arms and hugged his best friend's father.
Arthur turned his face towards Harry's hair and whispered, "Are you okay son? Have they hurt you?"
Harry was afraid if he said anything he might start crying so he just shook his head no and kept his face against Arthur's chest.
"What the bloody hell are you doing back here again? We haven't forgot what those redhead kids of yours did to my son." Vernon screamed as he remembered the time the Weasley boys gave Dudley the ton tongue candy.
"I am here on official ministry business. I am here to check on Harry and to make sure he is not harmed in any way by you," Arthur said as he glared at the red faced man. Arthur had been alerted by Professor Dumbledore a few minutes ago that the alarm went off and Harry was back here. Arthur intended to come alone and check on the boy but Stanton found out and made sure Arthur knew who was in charge of this case. Arthur knew the floo system must be bugged or else how would Stanton of known he was coming to Privet Dr?
He felt Harry tremble and pushed the boy back a little to see his face.
"Has he hurt you Harry?"
Harry thought of Hedwig up in his room and quietly said, "No Sir. I'm okay." He wanted to tell Mr. Weasley everything but didn't trust that he would be able to leave right away with Hedwig. If Mr. Weasley left without him then Harry would suffer the consequences for whatever he revealed.
Sir Stanton watched the scene before him. He was still upset that Weasley had tagged along on this official visit. Luckily the boy didn't say that his Uncle was harming him. Now there was no way the boy would be removed from his family and that was good for Sir Stanton. The farther the boy was from Snape the better. Vespa made it clear to him that under no circumstances was Harry to be returned to the Professor. Stanton was making a fortune on this case and he wasn't about to mess it up now. He would follow Vespa's plan no matter what he had to do to make it work.
"Hello, I am Sir Stanton and I will be coming for twice weekly visits to speak with Mr. Potter, until his new term begins at Hogwarts," Stanton said to the Dursley's.
"Bloody hell! You mean we have to put up with you freaks every week?" Vernon did not like being monitored like this. Now he would have to be extra careful not to leave marks on the boy's face.
"Well Sir, it is only for three more weeks. Do you have any objections to having the boy speak with Ministry officials?" Stanton didn't really care for these visits either but at least he would be able to set Vespa's new plan into action before the boy was returned to school.
"I'm not trying to hide anything, if that's what you're saying! We have a decent, normal family," Vernon said with pride. "I mean, other than the boy."
"Dursley if you lay one finger on Harry, you will live to regret it! I will personally make sure you suffer and this time it will be permanent!" Arthur tried to hold back his anger, but the statement about Harry not being normal really set him off.
"Arthur I don't believe the ministry would appreciate you threatening Mr. Potter's family. I'm not so sure the ministry would approve of those scare tactics," Stanton would have to get the ministry to ban Mr. Weasley from coming on these visits if Vespa's plan was to work. Luckily Weasley was doing all the work for him by threatening the Dursley's so blatantly.
Arthur glared at Stanton as he gave Harry a slight squeeze when the boy hugged him harder.
Vernon was sick of seeing his nephew acting like a baby and hanging onto someone.
"Boy get over here!" Vernon said as he grabbed hold of Harry's shoulder and pulled him next to him.
Harry stumbled over to his Uncle and looked down miserably at his feet. If only he could get Hedwig out, then he would be able to leave too. He would give anything to be able to go home with Mr. Weasley.
Arthur was angry at Dursley and even more angry at Stanton. The nerve of the man talking to him like that in front of the Dursley's. He looked over at Harry and his heart tightened up at seeing the boy looking so miserable.
"Well that will be all for now. I will be back in three days to speak with Mr. Potter again. Good day to you. Are you coming Arthur?" Sir Stanton said as he threw floo powder into the fireplace and stepped in.
Arthur hesitated then said, "Harry we will be keeping a close eye on you. You can always write to me if you need anything, anything at all." He took a last look at the boy, who was still looking down at his shoes, then flooed back to the ministry with a heavy heart.
As soon as the men left, Vernon grabbed Harry by the back of his sweater and hauled him up to the boy's room. He shut the bedroom door and Petunia didn't hear another sound.
A short while later Vernon came down the stairs with a sweaty red face and his sleeves rolled up. He plopped down on the sofa and turned on the telly. Petunia went into the kitchen to begin dinner.
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Severus was back at Hogwarts and was awaiting the arrival of Arthur Weasley in the head masters office. It was some consolation to know that Arthur would see how Harry was doing. Snape had already received an official letter from the ministry after his visit to the Dursley's yesterday. It left no room for question that if Snape set one foot in Little Whinging again he would be sitting in jail for a long time. He knew how highly Arthur and his family regarded Harry and knew that if anything were wrong, Arthur would know.
A few minutes later Arthur flooed into Dumbledore's office with a sad look on his face.
"Well I saw him, he is indeed at the Dursley's," Arthur took a deep breath and continued. "He said he hadn't been harmed and didn't show any signs of being hurt. The only thing was ..."
"Yes, what?" Snape said anxiously.
"Well, he just seemed so sad. He hugged me and it seemed as if he didn't want to let go. Believe me that is not like the Harry I know. The only reason he finally let go is because that horrid Uncle of his made him."
Snape knew that Harry had changed profoundly in a short period of time and could almost picture the scene Arthur described. He found that most disturbing but knew he would be back in jail if he went to check on the boy.
Snape knew that the only way to fix this was to get Harry to talk about the abuse he suffered at the hands of his uncle. Once Dursley was accused then Snape could once again begin the adoption proceedings. Three weeks, three terrible long weeks wondering exactly what was happening to the boy who would be his son one day. Snape couldn't think of a worse punishment to have to endure, except the one that Harry was now living.
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Three days later a very properly muggle dressed Sir Stanton arrived at the Dursley's home. Petunia could almost tolerate the man due to his fine clothes and good manners. She went upstairs to get her nephew. She unlocked all the heavy bolts on his door and peeked inside. She saw the boy sitting on his bed, looking down at his hands. "Harry you are wanted downstairs by Sir Stanton. Come quickly we do not want to keep him waiting."
Harry didn't look at his aunt as he passed her. He walked into the living room and stood behind a chair facing Sir Stanton. The gentleman looked up and instructed him to take a seat. Sir Stanton took out his wand and flicked it in front of Harry. Suddenly a steaming cup of tea appeared.
"Please drink the tea Harry." It was said more like a command.
Harry slowly brought the cup to his lips and took a small sip. It tasted mildly sweet with a hint of berry. It was actually pretty good and since Harry hadn't eaten in days it felt good in his empty stomach.
"Now, tell me how you are doing with your family?" Sir Stanton said.
"Erm, fine."
"Good, good. You know sometimes parents have to punish their children to teach them a better way of behaving." Sir Stanton let that sink in before he said, "Your aunt and uncle have sacrificed a lot to keep you safe you know. They are not really all that bad, are they son?"
Harry didn't know what to say. He was more confused now then ever before. His head started to spin a little and his mouth was dry. He quickly grabbed the cup and took a few more sips until the tea was gone.
Sir Stanton suddenly stood up and said, "Well I'm glad you are fine Harry. I'll see you in three days." It only took a moment for him to floo back to the ministry.
Harry continued sitting in the chair and waited for his head to stop spinning. Why did Sir Stanton leave so quickly? He didn't even ask about the Dursley's. He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there but his Aunt came in and told him to get back up to his room before his Uncle came home.
He walked shakily into his bedroom and felt a bit of panic rise when he heard his Aunt lock him in.
And so this is how the last two weeks of Harry's summer went. He had actually started to look forward to the visits from Sir Stanton and the sweet cup of tea. Sometimes he would take tiny sips of tea to make the visit last longer, knowing that the moment he finished Sir Stanton would leave. It was odd how Sir Stanton always insisted he drink the tea and he was never allowed to leave a drop.
It seemed that his stomach stopped tolerating food altogether and the dizzy spells became more frequent. He was actually glad to be in his room so much because every time he was made to do chores or come down to eat, his stomach would feel even worse. His Uncle must of noticed that something wasn't right because Harry's "lessons" were more infrequent. Harry figured he probably didn't want to catch whatever sickness he had. It must be a muggle flu bug or something.
The night before Harry was to leave to go back to Hogwarts, Uncle Vernon gave him a last lesson. Vernon rolled up his sleeves as he walked upstairs and quietly went into Harry's room, shutting the door firmly behind him.
Twenty minutes later Vernon came out with sweat soaking through his shirt. He decided he would take a nice cool shower before supper.
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The train station was abuzz with excited students heading back to Hogwarts. The Weasley's and Hermione were especially excited to see their best friend. They hadn't seen Harry or heard from him all summer long. Arthur was especially anxious as he had been banned from seeing Harry at his relatives after Arthur had stupidly made that threat to Vernon. The family stood by the train until the last minute when they were forced to board. Ron and Hermione had protested boarding without Harry but finally relented when the Weasley parents said they would go check on Harry.
Just as the last whistle blew, a haggard thin Harry boarded the train. He struggled to get his trunk on board until two Hufflepuffs helped to lift it on as the train pulled away. Harry was exhausted from the effort. He thanked them, then slowly made his way down the coaches until he spotted Hermione, Ginny and Ron. He opened the coach door and at first the three just looked at him. Hardly recognizing who it was. Suddenly Ginny stood up and yelled "Harry! We've been waiting for you," and threw her arms around the thin boy.
Ron and Hermione exchanged looks of horror but quickly masked them and got up to give Harry a hug too. Harry was so happy to be back with his friends but had to hide his look of utter pain at each hug he was given.
"Bloody hell Harry you look like something Crookshanks dragged in!" Ron exclaimed.
Hermione hit Ron hard on the leg just as Ginny punched him in the arm. Harry sank further into his seat and tried to smooth his hair down a little. He hadn't really looked at himself in the mirror for a few weeks so he had no idea how sick and tired he looked.
"Shut it Ronald!" hissed Hermione.
"Harry you look fine, don't listen to Ron," Ginny said, "He's just jealous because he didn't get his picture in Witch Teen Magazine."
Harry looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Ginny riffled through her book bag and pulled a copy of the magical magazine out for everyone to see. Sure enough there was a picture of The Boy Who Lived on the cover. Harry must have just finished up a Quiddich game because he had a smudge of dirt on his face and he was holding up the snitch and waving it around with a big smile.
Ginny turned the pages of the dog-eared magazine to the article written about Harry. The article was about how no one believed that He Who Must Not Be Named was back and how Harry was so great in helping to fight him. It mentioned the rumor of Harry's muggle relatives abusing him and how the ministry helped him. Harry groaned when he read that bit.
"That's a bunch of rubbish," Hermione exclaimed as she continued reading. "Well at least they have good pictures of you Harry." She said to try and make Harry feel better.
Harry looked at that picture on the cover again and felt like that was a life time ago. He couldn't even remember being that carefree and happy. His stomach began to hurt again and he just wanted to sleep.
He leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. After a few minutes when his friends knew he was sleeping they began to voice their concerns for him.
"Oh Merlin, what happened to him? He's so thin and pale," Ginny said as she pulled her cloak out and covered Harry with it.
"It was worse then your father said it was. He looks like he hasn't eaten for days and those dark circles under his eyes are a bit scary," Hermione said with concern in her voice.
"Do you think they. hurt him?" Ron asked.
"I don't see any signs of it but that doesn't mean he's not trying to hide it. You know how Harry is," Hermione said as she fixed Harry's broken glasses for him.
The three friends watched over Harry with more concern for their friend then ever before. When two third year girls asked if they could take a picture of the sleeping hero, all three of them gave a quick, "No!"
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Severus Snape had a hard time concentrating on getting his lesson ready. The students would be here in less then an hour and he was on edge. He hadn't been able to contact Harry since the boy left the manor and Severus was afraid the boy still had the wrong idea about the adoption when he left. After living these past weeks with a sick feeling whenever he thought of Harry at the Dursley's, Severus was more sure then ever before that he wanted to adopt the boy. Now he just needed to make Harry understand that.
Severus had redecorated the spare room in his dungeon and even went so far as to put a Gryffindor banner in Harry's private bathroom. What is wrong with me? I am really going soft! He had brought along all of Harry's new clothes and even went to the Quiddich store and bought the boy a new broom as a surprise. Severus wasn't sure how to make it up to Harry but knew the boy hadn't recieved many gifts in his life and thought that was a good place to start.
What if he doesn't want anything to do with me? Then what a fool I've been to even hope for another chance. In truth Snape wouldn't blame the boy for rejecting his offer of adoption. As far as the boy knew, Snape had thrown him into a glass coffee table, threw a dementor at him and left him with a deranged old lady who sent him back to the Dursley's.
Dumbledore came into his classroom and said, "Severus he's on the train. Do you want to go down and meet it?"
Snape shook his head and said, " No, let's just let him have a little space. I don't want him forced into anything. You know what has to happen to make this adoption go through. I'm just not sure Harry will be ready to talk about everything yet. We all need to give him a little time."
"Yes, I agree with you Severus. Just remember that Harry will need someone to help him get to that point. Don't give the boy too much room."
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As the train pulled into Hogsmeade station Harry began to stir a little. His three friends had watched him sleep the entire length of the trip. It seemed Harry was exhausted and didn't even want to eat during the train ride.
"Harry, we're here," Hermione said as she gave him a little shake on the shoulder.
Harry's eyes flew open and he pushed further back in his seat.
"Sorry Harry, I didn't mean to scare you. Um, we're here," Hermione said as she watched him with concern.
"Oh, thanks," Harry mumbled with embarrassment.
They all grabbed their things and headed for the horseless carriage. Harry forgot his tie on the seat and went back to get it after telling his friends to save him a seat on the carriage. As Harry slung the tie around his neck he stepped down from the train and ran smack into Malfoy and Crabbe.
"Don't you dare touch me you freak!" Malfoy snarled. He had no idea but he had called Harry a word that struck Harry to the core of his being. All his life he had been called freak' and the word had become very powerful.
"Oh, um I didn't mean to do that," Harry stammered out.
Malfoy could sense that Harry was not the same confident person he had been last year, just by the way Harry stepped back and looked down at his feet instead of making a sharp comeback.
"What's wrong with you Potter! You need me to call your Uncle to keep you in line!" Malfoy laughed along with all the other Slytherins watching.
Harry's face burned with embarrassment as he tried to walk around the group of boys.
"Where you going Potter!" Malfoy said as he pushed Harry back against the train. Harry pushed down the panic building inside him and tried once again to walk around the Slytherins. Crabbe grabbed him by the back of his cloak and pulled him back.
"Afraid you'll get beaten up again Potter! Crabbe taunted him still not letting go of the cloak.
Harry grabbed his wand from his pants pocket and twisted around to face Crabbe. He pointed his wand in Crabbe's flabby face. "Back off Crabbe before you end up regretting it," Harry said in a low growl.
Crabbe would of backed off after seeing the look of anger in Harry's eyes but he didn't want to seem scared in front of his friends. He pushed Harry back against the train with his open hand and brought his own wand up into Harry's face.
Harry and Crabbe were just about to hex each other when Professor McGonagall ran up to them.
"Okay Gentlemen wands down before you start the new school year in detention! I'm surprised at you both!"
"Mr. Crabbe you may go," She watched as Crabbe walked away with his friends clapping him on the back.
"Mr. Potter are you hurt?" Harry shook his head no.
McGonagall looked at the tired boy's pale face and sunken eyes rimmed with black circles. She could see that quite a few other students had stopped to watch her and didn't want to embarrass Harry anymore then he already seemed to be.
"Alright, everyone let's get on the carriages and get to dinner. Move along, move along." she said after giving Harry another look of sympathy.
Oh Merlin, is this what I have to put up with all year long? I hate it when people look at me like that.
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Snape waited at the teacher's table as the students began to file into the Great Hall. He watched carefully for the raven haired boy. Professor McGonagall came and sat next to him.
"Severus I think you should know that some of the Slytherin's have already picked out Mr. Potter as a target and were taunting him about his recent situation with his family. I had the unfortunate duty of having to stop them from hexing each other."
"Is Harry okay?" Snape quickly asked.
"Oh, I got there before anything happened but I saw Harry close up and he looks rather worse for wear. I believe his family is responsible for that though."
"What are you talking about?" Snape spotted Weasley first as he stood on one side of Harry and Granger flanked his other side. Harry was looking down at his shoes as he walked so Snape couldn't get a good look at his face. The boy did look paler and thinner though and that was instant cause for concern. He watched as the boy sat down and several students began to point at him. Snape couldn't tell what they were saying but could tell from Harry's reaction that he didn't like the extra attention.
Harry could hear his name being said and could feel everyone staring at him. Hermione tried to take his attention away from that and started talking about her summer in France. Harry tried to concentrate on what she was saying but his stomach was once again not cooperating. He knew the moment he smelled food he would want to vomit. His head started to spin and he held onto the table with a white knuckle grip.
Snape watched as the boy clutched the table and closed his eyes. Snape stood up and wanted to help the boy but had to hold himself back and let events unfold before him. He reluctently sat back down.
Harry couldn't stand the whispers and pointing any longer. He slowly stood up as his head continued to spin and told his friends he would be right back. He made his way to the doors of the Great Hall and out to the main lobby. He had forgotten that all the first years were out there waiting to come in for the sorting ceremony.
"Oh Merlin! It's Harry Potter!"
"No way! Are you really Harry Potter?"
"It's Harry Potter! Harry Potter!"
"Oooh Harry could I take a picture of you?"
Hagrid stepped towards him and wrapped a big arm around his shoulder.
"This, my new friends is non other than Harry Potter! He's our local hero, he is!" Hagrid gave Harry a big pat on the back, making Harry wince with pain. Harry wished he could apparate away from the looks of awe the younger students were giving him.
"Erm hi. Um Hagrid I need to go to my room for something so um I'll see you all later," Harry stammered out as he began to step back towards the staircase.
Harry began the long climb up the many stairs to Gryffindor Tower. He had only made it up one flight of stairs before he had to turn and sit down on the top step. He dropped his head into his hands and waited for the spinning to stop.
He looked up as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Harry are you coming back?" Ginny asked with concern.
"No, I just don't feel like eating right now," Harry said in a quiet voice.
Do you want to go up to Gryffindor Tower and sit by the fire for a bit?" Ginny asked with concern.
"I don't want you to miss the feast. Why don't you go back and I'll see you later?"
Ginny was not about to leave Harry by himself, looking like he did. "It's okay, I don't want to eat anyway and sitting by the fire sounds kinda nice."
Harry stood up and slowly made his way up the many staircases to the tower. By the time he was up there he could barely stand and his stomach was protesting in an awful way.
Ginny watched as he walked unsteadily over to the sofa in front of the fire. Harry sunk down next to her and dropped his head back against the sofa. Ginny slid closer to him and began talking about the happenings at the burrow over the summer. Harry was feeling relaxed by her soft voice and soon fell asleep.
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Happy New Year!