Chapter 5
Who…what…where?
It was now very late at night. Madame Pomfrey was just finishing up Harry's examination, which, to her disappointment, didn't go so well.
"How is he doing? Will you be able to help him? How much damage is done? Is it worse than the last attack? How was You-Know-Who able to attack his mind like that? What--" McGonagall exhaled all these questions.
"Minerva, you lost me after how is he doing! And right now he's not doing so well…he's…he can die any second now, put it that way," Madame Pomfrey explained, wishing she didn't have to.
"What…how…there isn't anything you can do for him?" McGonagall asked, horrified. Dumbledore looked extremely grave; the twinkle in his eyes was no longer present.
"I'm afraid there is nothing that can be done for him…he is not responding to any type of healing potion. And since he's unconscious it's hard to tell if the potions are even helping him."
"What do you suggest should be done? Should we send him to St. Mungo's?"
"St. Mungo's no…but maybe a Muggle hospital, perhaps we should send him back to his family--"
"NO!" exclaimed both Dumbledore and McGonagall at once. Lupin had told them about how Harry was treated, and the last thing they needed was for Harry to get beat up. About a fortnight before Harry was first attacked Lupin came to check in on Harry and saw that Vernon was beating Harry up. He didn't want to interfere for it might have caused problems, but he immediately told Dumbledore about it. They told Madame Pomfrey that Harry's uncle wasn't treating him well, and when she heard that Harry's uncle hit him, she was horrified.
"But…but Albus, why didn't Harry say anything? I mean, I knew about the shocking device, and I knew they almost starved him to death-just look at the boy- but they were physically abusing him? That's despicable! I'm surprised Harry didn't tell anyone!"
"Poppy, you know Harry wouldn't dare complain. I knew he dreaded going back there every summer, but he would never tell me why…he doesn't want people to worry about him," Dumbledore explained; just the thought of Harry being abused made him furious.
"Well of course we would worry about him! He could have gotten seriously injured, not to mention him being the target of constant attacks! What did he think we would do, tell him we're happy for him! It's only natural that we worry, especially because Albus and I are his—" Minerva said, but was cut off by Dumbledore.
"Minerva, this isn't the time! The point is-this is Harry we're talking about-he doesn't want anyone to worry about him no matter who the person is. And right now, I'm worried about him more than I've ever been before," he finished sadly.
"Well…I don't know what to tell you two, there's nothing I can do for him but keep giving him healing potions; hopefully they will help him in the long run," Madame Pomfrey said, frustrated. This was the first time in many years in which she could not do anything to help a patient; she never felt so hopeless.
McGonagall looked at Dumbledore with saddened eyes; the other students would be arriving the next day, and there was nothing she could do for Harry. She, like everyone else, felt hopeless.
Dumbledore and McGonagall went to their private studies; McGonagall decided to sleep with Dumbledore that night, for she needed his comfort and assurance. They went up to Dumbledore's room, silently changed into their pajamas, and went to sleep, Dumbledore holding McGonagall tightly in his arms.
The next day was spent next to Harry's bed. McGonagall didn't even bother to prepare everything for the next day's classes. Dumbledore sat next to McGonagall, gently stroking her hair, which was no longer in a tight bun, but lay on her shoulders. This made McGonagall look much younger and Dumbledore couldn't help but admire her beauty.
"Albus, stop looking at me like that," McGonagall said teasingly.
"Like what, my dear?" he answered innocently.
McGonagall smiled but didn't say anything. She was silent for several minutes, until she finally said, "Albus, when are we going to tell him?"
"Tell him?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.
"Tell him that we're his grandparents! Albus, he needs to know!"
"Minerva, you know very well we can't tell him! If he finds out, he will want to stay with us, and we can't do that! You're James's foster mom you're only related to him through adoption! I'm only related to him through marrying you, and I don't think he knows that we're closer than a headmaster and a professor…nor do I think he wants to know," he winked at her.
"Albus, I want him to know before…before he…" she could not bear to finish the sentence.
"Minerva, don't think that way. Once Harry gets better he has a very good chance of defeating Voldemort."
"But what if he doesn't! What if something happens and he never finds out? Doesn't it hurt you to see him suffering? Doesn't it pain you to watch him desperately seek parental figures in his life, not knowing that he already has them?"
"Of course it does! But Molly and Arthur have their own kids to take care of, and though I have a feeling Remus and Tonks want to adopt him, Remus is still a werewolf and Tonks is an Auror, they don't have time to take care of Harry."
"Which is exactly why I think we should tell him…and we might as well tell him everything, if you get my drift," she answered hopefully.
"You're right, I just don't think now is a good time…let's wait until Harry gets better, we'll decide later on."
But McGonagall knew that Dumbledore was already convinced.
Soon the students arrived and Dumbledore stood up to give his usual start-of-term speech.
"Welcome, welcome…hopefully you all had a good summer, and may your school year be even better! As I have repeatedly stated for who knows how long, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to students."
His thought drifted to Harry, who was all alone in the hospital wing. 'Harry sure did take too many trips to the Forbidden Forest…'
As Mr. Filch, the caretaker, reminds me daily, no magic is permitted in corridors between classes; also, a list of other things that are not permitted can be found on Mr. Filch's office door.
'Harry once had detention with Argus…'
"Your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be…yours truly." A round of applause broke out amongst the students; it lasted for quite a while.
'Harry is the best in his year in Defense Against the Dark Arts…'
"Quidditch tryouts will be held on the--" he broke off at the sound of the doors of the great Hall slamming. In front of them stood no other than Cornelius Fudge and…Petunia Dursley?
(A/N-this would have been a GREAT, FANTABULOUS, SUPER cliffhanger…you're lucky I'm not a fan of extremely short chapters…)
Everyone simply stared. No one, of course, knew who the woman next to Fudge was, but Ron and Hermione felt as if they knew her from somewhere.
Dumbledore rose to his feet and said, "Ahh…to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" though it was obvious he didn't like either of them; he was bluntly taken aback from their visit.
"We demand to see Harry Potter!" said Fudge indignantly. Behind him another man strutted along. When the man got closer, both Dumbledore and McGonagall recognized him as Vernon Dursley. Dumbledore quickly glanced at McGonagall, and saw that she was terrified.
"I'm afraid Harry is not available for you to see him right now," said Dumbledore.
"Oh? And why is that? Don't tell me, he's gone back in time and blew up his Aunt again!" scorned Fudge.
"We shall discuss this later, Cornelius," Dumbledore said furiously. "You may go to the Hogwarts guest room and wait for me there. Let the feast begin," he smiled warmly to the students, who were all gaping at the three people standing by the doors. Vernon Dursley looked both raging and confused, Cornelius Fudge looked exasperated, and Petunia Dursley was merely looking around, puzzled.
The three left the dining hall and went to the Hogwarts guest room, Fudge leading the way. Dumbledore say down and squeezed McGonagall's hand in his under the table. He gave her a don't-worry-everything-will-be-fine kind of look and began eating. McGonagall, however, did not have an appetite. She had a hunch as to what the Minister might be doing here and what more with two Muggles. Not too often were Muggles brought into the Wizarding World, unless they had a child who was a wizard or witch. And out of all the Muggles on earth, Fudge brought those Muggles? Harry's relatives? Something had to be wrong; otherwise the Dursleys wouldn't have agreed to come. But if they were here for the reasons she thought they were here, they would leave disappointed. She will not let them do this. She made the mistake of letting that happen once, but she won't let it happen again.
When the feast ended, everyone rose and went to their dormitories. Dumbledore and McGonagall turned to go to the guest room, fearing what they might have to deal with.
Ron, Hermione and Ginny walked together to the common room, discussing who the two people who came with Fudge might be and were Harry was. No one had told them anything besides the fact that Harry was still unconscious.
"Where do you reckon Harry is? It's a bit odd that Dumbledore isn't letting Fudge see him," said Ginny.
"I have no idea where he is; probably in the hospital wing…perhaps Fudge doesn't know about the attack. I wonder why Fudge would want to see Harry…it's not as if Harry's been in contact with him, why all of a sudden show interest?" pondered Hermione, more to herself.
"The weird thing is, I feel like I've seen these people before; they look vaguely familiar…" said Ron.
A long silence broke between the three until they reached the Fat Lady. Suddenly, Hermione exclaimed, "Of course! They're Harry's relatives, remember? We see them every year when they pick Harry up!"
"But what would they be doing at the school? From what Harry's told us, they don't exactly care for him, I doubt they even know he's hurt…and besides, they're Muggles, what would they be doing at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, perplexed.
"I don't know, but it can't be anything good," Hermione said. She looked worried, but didn't say anything else. Ron nodded in agreement, but also remained silent. Ginny, however, said, "Whatever it is, I'm going to find out!" and ran upstairs to her dormitory. Ron and Hermione exchanged confused looks, and both went to bed with many unanswered questions.
Back in the Hogwarts guest room, Dumbledore and McGonagall were confused. They came into the room, but neither Fudge nor the Dursleys were present; in fact, the room looked as if it hadn't been occupied that night at all.
"Albus, you don't think…" McGonagall started, fearing the answer.
"I hope not…they better not have…" was his reply.
They ran towards the hospital wing. If one did not know any better, it would have never been suspected that both of the people running were over 60 years old, for they were running incredibly fast.
They reached the hospital wing and saw the doors closed and Fudge standing outside.
Cornelius…I thought I told you that you may not see Harry at the moment!" Dumbledore said angrily.
"His relatives wanted some time alone with him, they have the right to see him if they wish," he replied.
"And Poppy?" McGonagall asked.
"Madame Pomfrey left her office to get some dinner and told me to keep an eye on Harry," he answered.
"And this is what you call 'keeping on eye' on him?" she retorted angrily.
From inside the hospital wing, someone started yelling. Dumbledore pulled out a pair of Extendable Ears and said, "An excellent invention of the Weasley twins…quite useful, might I add."
Dumbledore and McGonagall both grabbed an extendable ear and listened intently. Fudge snorted and started walking away from them, looking bored.
"I will not take this!" yelled Vernon Dursley.
"Honey, try to calm down, we're at his school right now…we'll deal with him later," Petunia tried to soothe her husband.
"No! I don't want to wait ten months to take care of this. ..I'm dealing with him NOW!" he yelled even louder. A loud thump that sounded like someone crashing to the floor was heard. And then sounds of beating resonated through the Extendable Ears.
Dumbledore and McGonagall glanced at each other, but before they could pull back from the Extendable Ears, there was more yelling.
"He-(punch)-IS-(punch)-AN INSUFFERABLE-(kick)-LITTLE-(slap)-BRAT-(punch)-AND WILL RETURN TO MY HOUSE AND LIVE LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! THIS FREAK WORLD NEEDS TO END!-(punch, punch, kick, punch, kick)." Then Harry groaned, and it suddenly dawned upon Dumbledore and McGonagall what was going on.
They quickly tried to open the doors, but realized it was locked. Together as one they yelled, "Alohamora!" Both wands raised, they pointed them at the Dursleys, only to find Harry conscious but soaked in blood on the floor.
