McGonagall and Snape approached 4 Privet Drive in silence. It was the second day of term and after Potter's noted absence at the feast and his continued absence for the night, Dumbledore asked McGonagall and Snape to check up on Harry. McGonagall McGonagall was feeling apprehensive and worried, whereas Snape was feeling immense irritation – no doubt Potter had purposefully disregarded the rules and thought he could turn up whenever he wanted. Arrogant brat.
Walking down the path towards the house, they noticed Potter's bird, Hedwig, insistently pecking at the window with the bars on the outside of it. That must be Potter's room. The bars were odd but knowing Muggle's Snape suggested it must be for added security. McGonagall nodded absently but was confused about why Harry hadn't opened it for his bird, and why only his windows seemed to have the bars. Quickly scanning the house, the spell reported only one presence in the house, a magical one; it must be Potter. They let themselves in with a simple 'Alohomora'.
Scaling the stairs, Snape couldn't help but notice the lack of Potter in the family pictures along the wall and was quite frankly disgusted at the state his cousin, he assumed, was in. Petunia was obviously not a good child-rearer if she had two boys at such physical extremes – Potter who was almost skeletal and Dudley who looked like he was two adults combined.
Immediately the noticed an enormous amount of locks on the door to the side of the staircase, as they neared it, they detected a rotting smell emanating from beyond the door. Surely this couldn't be Potter's room, but after looking in the other rooms on the level and seeing no Potter or Hedwig at the window they concluded that it must be.
Proceeding towards the lock, Snape had to cover his nose and mouth as the stench became increasingly overwhelming. How could Potter live in such filth? Internally, however, there was a creeping worry and terror at what he would find, because while Snape wanted to ignore the familiarity of the scent, it came to his mind regardless; Potter's room smelt like death. After painstakingly unlocking all of the locks, they pushed open the door only to be met with a horrid sight.
Snape paled drastically and McGonagall let out a muted scream; Harry was lying on his bed, unresponsive and unmoving. He looked to be lying in his own filth, with bruises and open wounds across his body. McGonagall was the first to respond and stepped towards Harry, heedless of the smell, and let out a small breath of relief at feeling his pulse – however small it was.
"Severus," McGonagall snapped, "You need to get healers immediately."
Snapping back to reality, Snape nodded and apparated to St. Mungo's, only to apparate back a few moments later with a hoard of healers. They immediately swarmed Potter and began trying to heal him enough so he could be moved to St. Mungo's. McGonagall and Snape stood back from the chaos, watching the healers' act with a determination and grimness they hadn't seen since the war.
Finally, the healers' seemed to have stabilised Potter enough and immediately apparated him to St. Mungo's. Wiping away the sweat on his brow, Gareth Magnus approached the two Hogwarts teachers, determined to find out how a child, let alone Harry Potter, had become in such a state. They seemed frozen, still staring at the bed where Mr Potter had been lying. He grimaced at the sight of it. He had no idea how Harry Potter had survived as long as he had lying in his own filth, let alone with the level of infection his wounds had. As much as he wanted to burn it, he knew he couldn't, the Aurors would want it for evidence.
Clearing his throat, he gained their attention.
"What relation do you have to Mr Potter?" Magnus asked.
"We are teachers at Hogwarts, I am also his head of house," McGonagall replied, a slight tremor in her voice. "We came because he hadn't arrived at Hogwarts and we were concerned about him. It seems we were right to be." She continued, an odd note to her voice.
Magnus nodded, satisfied with their reasoning "He has been moved to St. Mungo's and will need to be monitored. He has lost a lot of fluids, and his injuries were… extensive to say the least. Signs of long-term abuse has also been recorded and will need to be reviewed and appropriately treated. I will need to contact the Auror's about this, and due to who it is they might also alert the Minister."
McGonagall nodded, expecting this. Snape didn't respond and continued to stare transfixed at Potter's bed.
"Dumbledore will also need to be alerted about this; it could be a while till Mr Potter is well enough to be discharged." Magnus continued.
"How was he injured?" Snape asked softly.
McGonagall flinched at the question. Although she had her suspicions, the same she knew Severus did, she did not relish in being proven correct. The worst sort of Muggles indeed.
"Although we cannot determine who did it until Mr Potter wakes up, it has been diagnosed that all his injuries were completely without any magic. His family I'm sure will be interviewed as soon as the Auror's get the case." Magnus replied, trying to stay clinical but not completely able to stop the disgust coating his words as he said 'family'.
Severus nodded before abruptly apparating away, no doubt to drink himself into a stupor that McGonagall was keen to emulate.
"Do you need any more information from me?" McGonagall asked, praying he didn't. She had a bottle of firewhiskey in her rooms she desperately wanted to drink.
Seeing the strain, she was under Magnus shook his head.
"Not at the moment, but you will probably be the main point of contact for us regarding Harry Potter. As he is muggle-raised, and we do not know the identity of his magical guardian, his head of house is the closest relation he currently has," Magnus replied.
Swallowing thickly, she nodded. Absently murmuring her goodbye's, she apparated back to the school to drink until she forgot what she saw.