Chapter 25
"Good evening, Mr Potter, how has the term been academically so far? We seem to have spent last week focusing on keeping you alive again."
"I'm up to date with my homework, sir. It's even legible these days," added Harry with a touch of cheek.
Harry was worried. Snape hadn't yet mentioned Privet Drive as he'd promised, but Harry got the feeling he was going to. It was like waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Do you remember in our first meeting, Mr Potter, when I told you I wasn't fluffy?"
Harry could hardly forget. There was something about that word when connected with Snape, it brought forth images of the pink, fluffy, battery-powered bunny that went on forever that he'd caught glimpses of when Dudley was watching TV. Harry had to look down at his lap.
"Ah, I see you do," said Snape.
Harry was having trouble getting a grip. The image was right there.
"I'm sorry, sir," said Harry, willing himself to control his nervous laughter reflex.
"When you're quite finished, Mr Potter."
Harry took a moment. Bat. Dungeons. Going to talk about Privet Drive. Yep, that's sobering.
"I told you I wouldn't ask you how you felt, only about your choices, your decisions and why you want to make them. The simple reason for that is that I'm unqualified to talk about how you feel, Mr Potter. There are experts for that, St. Mungo's is full of them."
"But I want to ask you a couple of simple questions. I give you my word that I do not mean for this conversation to delve deep into your soul, I just want to know where the land lies. I hasten to add that the door is behind you and you may leave at any time. I am aware that the Headmaster frowns on your absence from these sessions, but he won't be finding out from me if you leave early today."
Harry nearly left right there and then. I was a close thing. But Snape hadn't actually asked anything yet. It would seem… rude.
"You remember me mentioning Death Eaters, and perhaps Professor Moody?" Harry nodded. He could hardly forget. "Consider the fact that the Ministry does not trust any remaining Death Eaters not to hunt you down. While the blood wards keep you safe over summer, a perhaps safer option would be to have you stay in a very protected environment."
Harry wasn't an idiot. That was an excuse. It worried Harry that Snape might know things. But it beat raising any awkward topics. And while this conversation was awkward, Harry could kid himself that it was simply a matter of his safety.
"If Sirius Black were declared fit and capable, would you choose to spend summer staying with him?" asked Snape. "An experienced wizard from the war, able to look after your safety."
Harry was surprised by the question. He'd expected something more Privet Drive related. This was at least a safer subject. Just.
"Would I want to spend summer in a wizarding village with, and you did just say 'fit and capable', my godfather, and given I know Remus is staying with him, and he's brilliant, um, yeah. I mean, I don't know Sirius well, but he was really easy to get on with when he visited with Professor McGonagall, and Remus is great, so I kind of think I'll like Sirius given I like Remus."
"And I take it if you were invited to spend some of summer at the Burrow you'd leap at the chance?" asked Snape.
Harry had to fight down his first response. Saying 'What do you think?!' in a certain tone would certainly reduce his life expectancy.
"Of course, sir. But sir, what about the blood wards? I can't stay elsewhere, though can I?" asked Harry. Harry was careful how he phrased his next words. "I really enjoyed staying at Diagon Alley the other year, and the Burrow for a bit the, and camping with the World Cup was brilliant. Well, apart from, um, you know what I mean, but I love being in wizarding places, sir."
Harry didn't think his ploy to focus on pro-wizard over anti-Privet Drive would be believed, but he was sticking to it. Snape's expression spoke volumes about Harry's argument, but Harry had spent primary school saying what was necessary at every turn to stay out of trouble at home. You don't complain. It was easier that way.
"There is a minimum amount of time you'd need to physically be at Privet Drive for the wards to consider you still live there, Mr Potter. The Headmaster is looking into that. Hypothetically speaking, if staying with your godfather is not an option, and staying at the Burrow for the whole summer is also not an option, would you be willing to stay with another wizarding family? The Death Eater scenario is not made up, Mr Potter."
"How likely is it, sir?" asked Harry, now suddenly aware that Snape hadn't been completely inventive.
"It is always a possibility, Mr Potter. There is a non-zero probability of it being real."
"Oh. I… I suppose," said Harry, now actually a bit worried.
"There is also an option to enhance security at Privet Drive," said Snape, "For example, for the time you are staying there to have a wizard regularly call on you."
Happy swallowed in horror. "I don't think that'd be a very good idea, sir," said Harry weakly. A vision of Vernon meeting Snape crossed mind. That image scuttled away in horror.
"I see. Very muggle muggles, Potter?"
"Definitely, sir," breathed Harry.
"I will continue to consider various options for your safety over summer, Mr Potter," said Snape.
Harry knew the man could have been alluding to anything. Harry also knew that Snape knew some amount more than he was letting on, but in the meantime, pretense was fine by him.
"Good evening, Severus," said the Healer as Snape stepped through his floo.
"Good evening Healer Jones," replied Severus, "It's good of you to fit me into your busy schedule."
"You know it's Artemis, Severus, and as for 'fit you in', you never seem to come with trivial problems, so I always make time for your snakes."
"This one's definitely not trivial," said Severus, accepting the proffered drink and taking a seat in front of the Healer's desk. Jones picked up a quill and notepad.
"This needs to be kept very, very quiet, Artemis," said Severus.
"Have I ever not?" replied the Healer pointedly.
"My apologies, that came out wrong," said Severus with a slight duck of his head, "It's just that even an inkling of the potential patient getting out would be catastrophic."
"I see, very well," said Jones.
"I run regular mentoring sessions with my house as you know, and the bottom line is that I have grave concerns for someone's emotional and physical health. They stay at the castle for nine months of the year, and they are currently in their fourth year, so it's more historical physical health I'm looking at, but ongoing emotional health."
"You normally find them before now, Severus, how did this one slip through?" asked Jones, curiously.
"He's not actually in my house. He's one of Minerva's."
"Ah," said Jones. It wasn't that Minerva was a bad head of house. She had referred students to Jones many times in her career, it was more that Severus's house seemed to collect more special cases. The Gryffindors as a group seemed to have a better start in life.
"He is going to be very wary of talking to anyone. Extremely reluctant. His guardians are muggles."
"Mmm, Pomona has referred a few cases where muggle parents have trouble accepting magic," said Jones. "But guardians? Did they know he was a wizard before taking him in?"
"Healer Jones, I apologise in advance for my next question, but do you solemnly swear to keep the identity I'm about to reveal to you secret?"
"You are well aware of the confidentiality clause of the Healer Oath, Severus." Snape didn't say anything, he just met Jones' eye. "Fine. Yes, I do solemnly swear on my Healer Oath to keep all confidentiality. Happy?" Jones was clearly annoyed by Severus's insistence, offended was more accurate. Severus knew that to break the Healer's Oath had potential to turn Jones into a squib depending on what he'd done.
"They knew, they just didn't want to take the boy. Albus gave them no choice. The boy in question is Harry Potter."
Jones was stunned, but he recovered. Severus could see him thinking. Artemis was a very intelligent man. A Ravenclaw, he'd been in his sixth year when Snape had started teaching, and now he specialised as a Healer in mental health. Occasionally Severus thought he ought to register with the man himself. He was exceedingly good at his job. Over the years a number of his snakes had needed the man's services.
Jones eventually spoke. "Can we start with the physical please? What do you know?"
"Not enough to make a judgment about what's going on. I have an idea. I presume you know Potter is in the tournament?" Jones nodded. "Well, given the arduous nature of the tasks, and the fact that Potter is younger by far than the other competitors, perhaps we could offer an impartial health check to all before the final 'extremely complicated' task, but have McGonagall insist to Potter he attends. If he refuses, we get Albus to tell him to do it. By using you the other competitors won't see Poppy as partisan and hopefully Potter won't see the ruse if I have nothing to do with it."
"Not a bad idea. As an adult in loco parentis during term time I can share my findings with you. I would feel obliged to inform Minerva and Albus as well if I find anything untoward."
"Of course."
"Now for the hard one. Mentally? Emotionally?"
"I am trying to keep him focused on surviving the third task. His problems are home related. Would you recommend waiting to deal with him until after the task?"
"I wouldn't recommend it, but I can appreciate doing so. He'd have to go home a mere one week later. It's not a great idea."
"I am hoping he won't have to go home. He has voiced a preference to living with his godfather."
"Oh, well why hasn't he done that already, if that's an option now?" asked Jones. "If his guardians don't want him and his godfather does, surely there's an obvious solution there?"
"I believe you know his godfather," said Severus, softly, "His name is Sirius Black."
Jones reached for the tumbler of firewhiskey he'd poured when Severus had first arrived. "I didn't know Black had a godson. No-one has ever told me."
"A moment please, Mr Potter," said McGonagall at the end of Transfiguration on Thursday. Harry held back as the rest of the students filed out of the room. "The Headmaster has spoken to the tournament organisers recently as part of the Safety Committee. Given the varied nature of the last task, it has been decided that all participants in the tournament should be offered a health check. A sensible plan, yes?"
Harry nodded, "Yes, Professor."
"While all the other candidates are of age and can choose whether to get one, as your Head of House I'm telling you to take it. Clear, Mr Potter?" asked McGonagall in strict brogue.
"Yes, Professor."
"The health check will be conducted in Hogwarts infirmary, but as a member of Hogwarts staff, Madam Pomfrey could be seen as partisan. There will be a Healer from St. Mungo's to run the test. I took the liberty of arranging a time for you. Please report to the infirmary at 7pm this evening, Mr Potter."
"Yes, Professor," said Harry.
"Did he buy it?" asked Severus quietly into Minerva's ear over lunch.
"Didn't suspect a thing," came the reply.
"Do you know if the others are availing themselves of Healer Jones' check up?" asked Severus.
"Pomona said Mr Diggory chose to take it, yes."
"Sensible lad."
"Hufflepuff breeds them that way," replied Minerva.
"Good evening, Mr Potter, it's a pleasure to meet you," said Healer Jones. "Hop up on to the edge of the bed here if you wouldn't mind. How do you feel today?"
"Fine thanks," replied Harry, "Although the idea of needing a physical check up before the task doesn't exactly fill me with confidence," he added.
"I think it's more that after the first task, there were no small number of complaints from the public and various parents about the dangerous nature of the tasks. I believe this is partly an exercise in public assurance, Mr Potter," said Jones, "Now if you could hold still a moment…"
Jones waved his wand across Harry and a parchment popped out of thin air. Jones read the parchment. He was normally quite good at patient-neutral faces while reading. Today he failed.
"Mr Potter, you've had the bones in your whole arm magically regrown!" he marveled. "What was that about?"
"Oh, that," chuckled Harry, "I came off my broom in a quidditch match and broke my arm, but the idiot Lockhart thought he was helping and removed them all instead of mending the broken ones."
"Gilderoy Lockhart?"
"Yes, that's him," replied Harry.
"In general, you seem about average for your age, Mr Potter. Slightly below average height and weight but not abnormally so. Everything internal seems fine. You have a couple of old fractures that have mended from when you were young. A dislocated little finger with a slight chip on the bone and a fractured big toe. What caused those?"
Harry didn't even miss a beat, the answers were down so pat. "Finger, I was playing in the park with my cousin and fell, toe, tripped up a step."
The Healer said nothing, there wasn't anything to say.
"Your eyesight is a different prescription from your glasses, Mr Potter. I will return tomorrow with a pair with an updated prescription. They aren't out by much, but it will make a difference in class to things like copying off the board."
"Thank you, sir," said Harry, thinking that Snape had forgotten, and this was a way to get them fixed without his mentor knowing. In fact Snape had mentioned it to Jones before the start of the health check.
"That wasn't too bad, was it Mr Potter? A clean bill of health. Off you go, have a good remainder of your evening."
Harry left the infirmary.
Severus came out of Poppy's office. He'd been eavesdropping. "What else does it say, Artemis?" he asked.
"Surprisingly little. But having said that, Mr Potter has essentially lived at Hogwarts very healthily for three and a half years. Do you know if his parents were average height?"
"His mother was average height and his father perhaps a little taller than average. Shorter than me, but not by much."
"Then either he has short grandparents or he didn't get enough food and nutrients as a child. But not little enough to starve him," replied Jones.
"He gives a very pat answer to the fractures," said Severus.
"They're probably true, to within a degree of the truth," said the Healer. "If what you suspect is true, he was in a park when his finger was dislocated and broken and his cousin was there. And, when he broke his toe, he fell. The best answers are often the truthful ones," he added sadly.
"If only I could ask his cousin," said Severus, absently.
"I recommend that in your best interests of avoiding Azkaban for child assault, you go nowhere near the cousin, Severus," said Jones sternly. He knew Severus's temperament when it came to protecting children from their own families.
"It was just an idle thought," replied Severus harmlessly.