Unspoken
by Teddylonglong
What if someone did not have the patience to see Harry being abused by the Dursleys for long? COMPLETELY AU, partly OOC, pairings not decided yet
Felina and Whisker listened in shock to the news that spread around the Unspeakables' quarters like a wildfire. Apparently, Lily and James Potter had been attacked, and their baby had managed to defeat Voldemort that night. However, Lily and James were gone.
Lily and James had been in their own year at Hogwarts, even if in Gryffindor, while the Sorting Hat had deemed Felina and Whisker both Ravenclaws. They had only got to know their Gryffindor classmates better, when the four of them became prefects during their fifth year.
To their great disdain, even if they had been made the Ravenclaw prefects at Hogwarts, the other students had looked on them due to their family names, both of them being famous for hardcore Death Eaters. Therefore, immediately after finishing their NEWTs two and a half years ago, they had both vanished from the surface and joined the Unspeakables, taking on feigned Squib identities at the same time.
Rebecca Lestrange, as Felina's real name was, took on the identity of Arabella Figg, an old Squib, who busied herself looking after two dozen cats while being a member of Albus Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix. Artemis Nott played Argus Filch, the elder Squib and caretaker of Hogwarts. From the time they had left the school after their seventh year, they had not used their real identities anymore, and only their fellow Unspeakables knew who they were.
There was only one exception to this rule. Unbeknownst to everyone but the Lestrange family as well as Artemis, Rebecca did not only have two brothers, both Death Eaters and criminals, but also one sister, who was two years older than herself. Unfortunately, Regina was a real Squib. She had been cast out of the family at the age of eleven and had grown up in the muggle world with a house-elf as her sole companion. Still, she had kept the Lestrange name.
Rebecca had always remained in contact to Regina, many years only through owls, while she had been a student at Hogwarts, but she had seen to it that her Arabella Figg persona had become Regina's best friend. Unlike everyone else, Regina was aware of her true identity.
HP
'Thank Merlin little Harry survived,' she thought, as she hurriedly wiped an errand tear from her cheek, recalling how just a few days before, she had met James and Sirius with little Harry in tow at the Auror department. The child had been toddling between James and Sirius laughing happily at something that Sirius had to have said.
"Dumbledore is a manipulating old coot." She shook her head at Artemis in annoyance. "Somehow, I don't believe that Sirius gave them away to Voldemort. He is an idiot, but not a murderer, but due to what Dumbledore told the Aurors, he's been sent to Azkaban without as much as a trial."
"That's gross indeed. I wonder what Dumbledore's intentions with Harry are, considering that Sirius was the boy's godfather."
"And Alice was his godmother." Rebecca had to try hard to keep her tears at bay.
As if Lily's and James' death had not been bad enough, her brothers and her sister-in-law had gone and attacked Alice and Frank the next evening. While the two Aurors were not dead, they had been sent to St. Mungo's with brain damage due to long exposure to the Cruciatus curse.
Her best friend and colleague remained pensive for a moment, before he suggested, "Let's speak with Buckbean and see to it that Dumbledore won't be able to get the guardianship over Harry."
Rebecca immediately agreed. "Let's do that. I don't know why, but I somehow don't trust him anymore."
Artemis chuckled. "You're the right to talk, considering that you're a member of his chicken order."
Rebecca scoffed. "What do they say? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? I prefer to be informed about what Dumbledore is planning. All right then, let's go to see Buckbean."
Whilst being a high-ranking goblin, Buckbean was a member of the Unspeakables, so that it would not hurt taking precautions and talk with him.
HP
Buckbean let out a deep sigh, when they told him the reason for their impromptu visit. "Felina, Whisker, I am sorry. You're late. Dumbledore came to Gringotts first thing this morning, stating that he had become Harry's guardian. With Sirius Black in Azkaban and Alice Longbottom incapacitated as well, the ministry probably couldn't prevent him from doing so, considering his multiple, influential positions."
Felina shook her head in annoyance. "What does their will say? Did they have one?"
Buckbean nodded, grimly. "Yes, but he demanded to have it sealed. That's why he came to see me as the account manager for the Potter vaults. I didn't even have time to prepare anything."
Felina nodded in understanding. "All right, Buckbean, please do me one favour. I know that you can manipulate these guardianship matters. List the two of us as his magical guardians. I don't trust Dumbledore to have little Harry's best interest at mind, especially hearing that he sent him to live with his muggle relatives."
"The two of us were good friends with the Potters," Whisker added, "and Lily once told us that her muggle sister absolutely despised her because of being magical."
"Apart from everything that we can do as Unspeakables, I believe that Arabella Figg is going to move near the Dursleys' home to keep an eye on young Harry."
Buckbean nodded. "Felina, please do so. I shall secretly change the guardianship to you, and I'll see to it that Dumbledore won't learn about it if not absolutely necessary for some reason."
Felina nodded, contentedly. "Thank you, Buckbean. May your gold always flow and your enemies cower before you."
HP
During the following months, Rebecca sometimes popped herself right into the Dursleys' house and checked on little Harry during the night. As an Unspeakable, she was able to turn herself invisible and pop into places without alerting anyone to her presence. During her weekly check-ups on the small boy, she realised that the Dursleys were not treating him well. At least once a month, it was bad enough for her to take Harry to the Unspeakables' healer. The healer kindly treated the rash on his bum and fed him a nutrient potion or even sometimes a Pepperup potion if necessary.
Every time, her heart broke, when she had to return the little tyke to his home, which was the cupboard under the stairs of all possible places, before the morning.
Sometimes, she was able to babysit Harry in her Arabella Figg form; however, she dared not tell him about magic, afraid that he might unintentionally alert the Dursleys to the fact that she belonged to the magical world. However, she noticed that he was much too small and skinny for his age. His speaking abilities were what she deemed far behind those of other children of his age, and he did not have any self-esteem whatsoever. He did not even know his own name.
"Fweak," he told her at the age of four in a barely audible voice.
HP
When the Dursleys returned from their weekend trip and she took Harry back to his home, she was so upset that she called Minerva McGonagall. The older witch was very kind to her, even if she only knew her as Arabella, the Squib, and had no idea of her real identity. Before and after the meetings of the Order of the Phoenix, which only took place rarely now that the war was officially over, she always asked her about little Harry. She had also admitted to her that the boy had always been like a grandson to her and that she'd have loved to take him in.
"Arabella." Minerva smiled in apparent surprise. "Is something wrong with little Harry?"
Arabella sighed. "What is not wrong with him? Would you perhaps like to come over for a moment? I'm sure that my cats would love to see you."
'I'm stupid,' she berated herself. 'I should have called her over, while Harry was here.'
While they spent some time in the garden playing with the cats, she told the older witch everything about Harry, who believed that his name was Freak. She only omitted the part of her weekly check-ups on the child, considering that they were not fit her Arabella persona.
"I'm going to kill Albus." Minerva's voice was murderous, and Arabella smiled, feeling very happy to see how upset the older witch was, whom everyone believed to be Dumbledore's right hand. "I'll try to talk to him," the deputy headmistress promised, "although Poppy and I have tried to make him see reason multiple times." She remained pensive for a moment, only to add, "During the weekend, I'll check on him in my Animagus form. May I use your fireplace for the purpose?"
Arabella smiled. "Of course, dear. Any time."
HP
It was just a few months later, on a hot summer day shortly after Harry's fifth birthday that Rebecca noticed that the child was running a fever. When she took him to the healer, it became evident that he was suffering from a concussion, while his skin was covered by bruises and welts, obviously caused by abuse.
She remained with him in the hospital room of the Unspeakables' office overnight and, to her horror, witnessed how the child begged his uncle to not harm him, while he was asleep.
'That's it,' Rebecca decided. 'I'm not going to take him back to the Dursleys.' First thing the following morning, she called Artemis over and whispered, "Whisker, I'm going to abduct him. Will you support me?"
"Felina, of course. I will always help you. What are we going to do with him though?"
"I hope that Regina will be willing to raise him. I believe that she'll be a wonderful mother to him."
"In spite of being a real Squib?" His voice was laced with apparent concern.
"Yes." Rebecca nodded in determination. "I will double the effort to possibly find a way to give her magic. In fact, I've already spoken with her about the possibility years ago, and she agreed that if necessary, I could bring him to her."
"In the meantime, I'll go to the Dursleys and cast a couple of select spells at them. I'll make them believe that he's just gone to see a friend in case anyone asks. I'll just have to hurry, as I need to be back on time for breakfast at Hogwarts."
"Thanks, Whisker," Rebecca replied, gratefully, gently squeezing her best friend's hand.
A short while later, Harry woke up by the healer's fussing, and ten minutes later, he was released into her care. Rebecca walked with him the small distance to Team room 13, where she lowered her hood and changed into Arabella Figg, before she sat down with the child on her lap.
"Harry, you know me, don't you?"
Emerald eyes met hers, and a small smile crossed the child's face, before he nodded.
"Your relatives don't treat you well, do they?"
Harry nodded again. "I am a freak, and people don't like freaks." His voice was thin and barely audible; however, Rebecca had heard every single word.
"You are not a freak. You are a wonderful child. You are a wizard. That's why you occasionally do magic, which is why the Dursleys call you a freak. They are probably jealous, because they cannot do magic. Do you want to live with someone else, who will be able to love you and accept you as you are? As a wonderful little boy who can do magic?"
Harry's eyes widened in surprise, before he gave her a small nod.
"Very good. I will take you to my sister. She knows about magic, but she can't do magic herself. I know that she'll love to have you with her." Rebecca nodded, contentedly. 'Thank Merlin I already discussed this possibility with Regina months ago,' she thought in relief. 'I wouldn't be able to take him in myself with my two personas and Artemis' job at Hogwarts, and Regina is the kindest woman I can imagine.'
'Regina, I'm going to take Harry to you now,' she telepathically forewarned the Squib, before she took Harry straight to her sister and female best friend.
HP
Regina Lestrange was working on the lesson plan for her autumn classes. She was teaching just two classes at the Centre for Natural Sciences, a private university situated near her home in the outskirts of London. Apart from her teaching position, she was working at her home as a mind healer. It was a tiring job, however, and even if she would be able to take on more patients, as people seemed to love her gentle methods, which she used for her patients, but she never made more than five appointments for one day.
The weekends, however, belonged to herself. Today was Saturday, and she was very much looking forward to Sunday. Twice a month, on Sunday mornings, her sister Rebecca and her fiancé Artemis used to take her to watch a Quidditch match. Unbeknownst to everyone in her muggle surroundings except for the two Unspeakables, she was a huge fan of Quidditch. Her only regret was that she was not able to fly. When she had been a child, her older brothers and her father had often taken her flying, generously allowing her to sit in front of them on their brooms; however, when her father had instructed Dolly to take her into the muggle world and stay with her, this had ended abruptly. Up to her eleventh birthday, she had still hoped that her magic would manifest just a little later than usual; however, when she did not receive her Hogwarts letter on her eleventh birthday, she knew better.
Ever since Rebecca and her best friend had joined the Unspeakables, they were not only able to get hold onto tickets for the matches, in which the British Quidditch teams played against each other, but they took her with them and even provided Unspeakable robes for her, so that all three of them could sit in the spectator seats incognito.
'I wonder who is going to play tomorrow,' she thought, as she curiously reached out for the latest edition of the Daily Prophet, just when her sister's telepathic message penetrated her mind.
'Regina, I'm going to take Harry to you now.'
Her eyes widened in shock. 'Now?' she thought in disbelief. "Dolly!" she called out to her faithful house-elf. "
An instant later, Dolly popped up in front of her, just when an Unspeakable arrived in front of the fireplace with a small boy of perhaps three or four. Her sister pulled down her hood, revealing her Arabella Figg form.
"Regina, Dolly. This is Harry Potter, and he needs a new home. He was abused by his relatives, not only mentally but also physically." Lowering herself to Harry's height, she added, "These are my sister Regina and her elf Dolly. They're both very nice."
Regina immediately rose from her chair and stepped over to her visitors, kneeling in front of the child.
"Hello Harry. I am Regina. I'm sorry to hear that your relatives did not treat you well, and I promise you now that Dolly and I will be very happy to have you here with us."
She realised that a lone tear leaked from Harry's eye, before he averted his eyes. "I'm only a freak, whom no one wants."
Exchanging a horrified look with her sister, Regina contradicted in a soft voice.
"No, Harry, I disagree. You are a wonderful young boy and, as my sister told me, a powerful wizard just like my sister is a witch. I know everything about magic, but I can't do magic myself. Dolly can, and she is able to do wonderful things. I am sure she'd like to teach you magic."
Dolly nodded, eagerly. "Of course, young Master Harry. Dolly will teach you."
Harry slowly raised his head, his expression turning to hope, as he looked at the elf, who was not much taller than himself. "Really?"
"Really." Regina nodded, smiling. She observed, happily, how a small smile began to play on the boy's lips.
"Regina, I'll come by again in the afternoon. I will talk to my colleagues to see what the Unspeakables can do to train him and most importantly to hide him."
'Remember, you cannot simply take him outside, as he could be recognised. Let me discuss this with my colleagues,' she added, silently.
Regina nodded in understanding, before a sudden thought crossed her mind. "I will not be accused of child abduction if anyone gets to know that he's living with me now, will I?"
Arabella rolled her eyes. "No. After Dumbledore took the guardianship over him, which he shouldn't have done and might be tried for it at a later time, my goblin colleague, who is also the account manager of the Potter family, secretly changed the magical guardianship to me. You might not know this, but the magical guardianship automatically overwrites the muggle one, so that right now, there is nothing that we need to do. Even if you decided to adopt him, you'd still need me or someone else as magical guardian, as long as we can't find a way to give you magic. Believe me, it's the main point of my research at the Unspeakables' Office."
"I know, and I highly appreciate it. Thanks, sis."
"Harry." Arabella once more lowered herself to Harry's height. "I will leave you now to make yourself acquainted with Regina and Dolly, but I'll come back in the afternoon. Afterwards, we'll need to go shopping. Do you have anything at the Dursleys' that you want me to fetch for you?"
Harry shook his head, wearing a forlorn expression.
"Did you not have any toy or such?" Regina could not help herself asking, unnecessarily, she realised, as he once again shook his head.
"No. Only Dudley had."
"Then we'll remedy that this afternoon, won't we?" she said, lightly, smiling, when Harry looked at her with an expression of hope.
"I'd like that."
His voice was barely audible, but Regina did not comment. 'This is not a therapy session; this is to get my child settled into our home,' she reminded herself.
"Bye, Arabella, and thank you so much for bringing Harry here," she turned to her sister, who merely nodded and pulled up her hood, before she unceremoniously popped away.
HP
Harry felt a little lost, when the kind, old lady simply vanished into thin air. He liked her. He had sometimes been allowed to visit her, when the Dursleys were away. She had many cats, and she was always very friendly to him. She had even taken him from his cupboard, when he was hurting, and made him all better overnight. Before he could lose himself in his thoughts, the other, much younger woman, who seemed to be very nice, too, turned to him.
"Harry, shall we go upstairs and take a look at your new room?"
Harry gave her a frightened look but nodded and followed the lady upstairs. He cast Dolly a small smile, somehow feeling comfortable with her. While she was looking differently from everyone, she was about his size. Upstairs, Regina opened a door and motioned him inside a beautiful, large room with a huge window that allowed the view into a garden.
"This is your room now. Sorry, but as we didn't know that you were going to come today, we did not prepare it specifically for a young wizard. If you want anything in a different colour or such, Dolly can change it for you."
Harry stared at the woman, wide-eyed. "This is my room?" he asked in disbelief.
"Did you not have your own room at the Dursleys?" The lady sounded surprised.
Harry shook his head. "I lived in the cupboard under the stairs." He observed, wide-eyed, how Dolly waved her hand around the room, changing the brown colour of the furniture to white and the white walls to soft rainbow colours.
"Tell me which colour you like most," she instructed him, before she turned the previously white curtains dark blue followed by green.
A small "Yes" escaped Harry's lips. He then watched in amazement how Dolly added a desk, a comfortable looking chair as well as a bookshelf to the room.
'All for me?' he thought, incredulously, just when the bookshelf filled itself by an invisible hand.
"These were my books, when I was a child," Regina informed him. "I grew up in a magical family, my family, before they noticed that I cannot do magic and kicked me out at the age of eleven." She stepped over to the bookshelf, before she turned back to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't think. You're only five. I believe that we'll have to teach you reading first."
Harry gave the lady a small nod. "I can only cook and clean," he admitted in a small voice.
Regina sighed. "Harry, here at our home, you're going to neither cook nor clean. Dolly does all the house work here."
Dolly grinned, broadly, making Harry feel very much reassured.
"I want you to keep your room tidy, but that's all."
"But how will I be able to earn my keep?"
"Children do not need to work. I only expect you do study, play, eat and sleep and to tell me if anything is bothering you." Regina's voice was soft and reassuring. She then headed to the bookshelf and pulled out a small box.
"This is a floor puzzle of Hogwarts, which I used to learn the alphabet. Are you up to try it out?"
"Yes!" Harry grinned, broadly, as he sat on the floor together with Regina. He could not believe his luck. During the last few years, his aunt, uncle and cousin had told him multiple times a day just how much of a nuisance he was, a freak, whom no one wanted to hear let alone see. Now, all of a sudden, the kind lady who regularly came during the night to check on him had taken him away from his relatives and left him with another kind lady, her sister as they had told him.
'This is too good to be true,' he thought, when she gently taught him the letters of the alphabet, as they did a floor puzzle of a large castle with many big towers together by combining the correct letters. Harry knew that her name was Regina, but he had not been told how to address her. If he was allowed to address her at all. 'She'll soon enough notice how much of a freak I am and send me back to my aunt and uncle,' he thought in trepidation.
However, when they finally finished the puzzle, Regina commended him greatly. "Harry, you did that very well. I believe that in a few days' time, you'll know all the letters and will be able to read."
Harry smiled happily, as he glanced over at the bookshelf that was filled with books, apparently all for him to discover.
"Do you know what the building in the puzzle is?"
Harry shook his head. "No." It only came out as a whisper.
"That's Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school for magic, where all magical children go to study from the age of eleven onwards."
'Freaks won't be allowed to go,' Harry told himself, feeling sad at the realisation.
"Harry? You're going to attend Hogwarts as well. I couldn't, because I don't have magic, but my sister can tell you all about it. She loved Hogwarts, and as far as I know, she was good friends with your parents."
"My parents?" Harry stared at Regina in disbelief. "They were good for nothing drunks," he whispered, what the Dursleys had not failed to tell him.
Regina shook her head. "Nonsense. They were magically powerful and very kind people. They were even head boy and head girl during their last Hogwarts year. We can ask my sister if she'll be able to provide us with a photograph of them, so that you can speak with them."
Harry's eyes widened in shock. "They're dead," he clarified.
"That they are, unfortunately, but in the magical world, many things are different from the muggle world. People in magical pictures are able to move and talk. I'll ask my sister, but don't get your hopes up, sweetie."
To Harry's delight, they did the floor puzzle another time, and he noticed that he already knew several of the letters, before Dolly appeared and told them that lunch was ready.
"Thank you, Dolly. Come Harry, let's go and have lunch."
Apparently realising that he was hesitating, she gently reached out for his hand, and together, they walked downstairs into a bright kitchen, which looked somehow similar to that of the Dursleys, but only from the structure. The colours were much nicer and friendlier, and Harry immediately liked the homely kitchen.
When he unsurely hovered behind the indicated seat, Regina urged him to sit down. "Please take a seat, Harry. We're all going to have lunch together. I know that you told me you had to cook at your aunt's house, but here, Dolly is doing all the kitchen work, and you and I may simply enjoy her cooking."
Noticing that Regina and Dolly were already seated, seemingly waiting for him, Harry hurried to comply, smiling when Regina piled just a little from each of the bowls with food onto his plate.
His eyes widened in surprise, as he took the first bite. Never before had he been able to eat something so tasty. Too soon for his liking, he felt full, but it was so good that he did his best to finish his meal, before he finally put his fork down, unable to stomach anything more of the delicious food.
"Dolly is a wonderful cook, isn't she?" Regina's voice was laced with apparent pride, and Harry quickly nodded.
"I never ate something so good before," he admitted in a small voice.
"Thank you, Mistress Regina and little Master Harry." Dolly smiled in obvious happiness. "I am very happy to be able to cook for another person. It's great that you're now living with us, little Master Harry."
"I'm just Harry," Harry replied in a soft voice, somehow feeling uncomfortable at being called master.
"May I just call you Harry then?" Dolly smiled, when Harry gave her a sharp nod.
'I am the one who is happy to be here,' Harry thought, happily. 'I like it here, and Regina and Dolly are really nice.'