Chapter 2: St. Mungo's Hospital
Once Harry and Professor Snape were alone in the hospital room, the professor guided Harry to a hospital bed and had him sit down on it. Harry then heard the professor walk over to a chair that creaked slightly when he sat on it. Since the two were likely to have wait for a while before they'd be seen by a doctor, Harry decided to inquire more about Hogwarts. "Professor, I remember overhearing you tell my aunt that you had a letter for me from Hogwarts, and I was wondering what it said."
"The letter simply informs you that you are able to attend the school, and it comes with a list of school supplies you will need for this year. Once I have collected the items you need that I am able to obtain without you, I will return the letter to you. You will be able to review it once your lack of eyesight has been remedied."
"What types of items are on the list?"
"The items you'll need when attending Hogwarts include school books, school uniforms and other clothing, a wand, potion ingredients and supplies, parchment, quills, and ink. You will also need a bag to carry your school supplies in between classes and a trunk to carry your possessions. You are allowed to bring an owl, a cat, or a toad as a pet, but you do not need one. Owls can be useful for delivering mail, but there are also owls at the school you can simply rent if you need to have something delivered. You can practice spells on toads, but toads are more useful as potion ingredients than as pets to practice spells on. Cats really only serve the purpose of being pets."
"Is there anything in the school rules that says students can't use nonwizard writing supplies like notebooks, paper, and pens? It's just that I imagine it's going to be hard enough trying to write with nonwizard supplies, let alone with things like quills and ink. The nonwizard supplies are probably cheaper too." Harry intentionally had said "nonwizard" instead of "muggle" because he hadn't heard Professor Snape say the word yet, and he didn't want to get caught knowing something about the wizarding world yet that he should've had no way of knowing about. By asking about whether he could use muggle school supplies, he was hoping to find a way to avoid the nonsense that wizarding school supplies would bring. His dreams of Tom Riddle's school days featured several instances of students knocking over inkwells and ruining their homework and other possessions.
"In the wizarding world, we use the term 'muggle' rather than 'nonwizard,' and actually, I do not believe there is a rule against using muggle school supplies. I have never seen a student bring in such items before, however, even the muggle-raised students or muggleborns as they are called."
"Do you think it's just that they don't realize they could bring in muggle school supplies? Does the school supply list say anything about it?" Harry knew fully well that the school supply list Tom Riddle had received when he got his Hogwarts letter didn't mention anything about muggle school supplies. A part of him wondered why he hadn't made the same request that Harry was making now, but then he remembered that Tom hadn't had memories of another wizard's life floating around in his head. Plus, there was also the matter of Tom having wished to fit in someplace at the time, and later, Tom wanted to distance himself from the muggle world as much as possible.
Professor Snape admitted, "That would likely be the reason. No, the school supply list doesn't mention muggle school supplies in any capacity."
"In that case, could I get notebooks, paper, and pens instead of parchment, quills, and ink?" Harry insisted.
"You do realize that you will stand out amongst your peers if you are the only student using muggle items for your classes."
"Sure, but you already told me that I'm apparently famous, so I'm going to end up standing out no matter what, right? And it's not like I'm going to hide the fact I was raised by muggles. In fact, I'm not planning to even hide the fact that I've spent my life totally blind. I don't think being open about these details is going to hurt me at all."
"Very well. There is a store in the muggle world that isn't far from where most supplies are purchased for Hogwarts from which I can gather muggle writing supplies for you."
"I also have another question, professor."
"Yes?"
"How is all of this being paid for? I don't have any money, and I don't think my aunt and uncle would give any money to pay for school supplies since they are against me going to this school."
"Fortunately, your parents left behind a trust vault for you, so you will have the necessary funds to afford the items you need for school. I will be able to retrieve the required funds without you, but if you feel the need to, we will be able to go to the wizarding bank, Gringotts, at a later date."
Harry nodded.
For a few minutes, Harry and Professor Snape sat in silence in the room since there wasn't anything they needed to talk about. Neither really seemed to mind the quiet. Then the door to the hospital room opened and closed before a woman spoke. "Hello, I'm Healer Slaughter. What brings you in today?"
Harry's eyes widened, and he did his best to not choke on air though he didn't succeed. Slaughter? What kind of name was that for a doctor?
Luckily, Professor Snape responded for Harry. "I spoke with a member of the hospital staff shortly before we were brought to this room. The boy is Harry Potter. I am Severus Snape, and I was sent by the headmaster at Hogwarts to deliver his admissions letter today. Upon arriving at his place of residence, I learned that he is unable to see. I believe it is likely that there are other health discrepancies as well. Naturally, his treatment here should be kept quiet so that reporters don't flood the hospital."
"Of course. Patient confidentiality is of utmost importance. You say he is unable to see?"
"Yes."
The healer turned her focus onto Harry. "So, Harry, how long have you been unable to see?"
"My whole life," Harry answered.
"Your whole life?" The healer sounded not just surprised but... scandalized? Harry supposed it was because of the whole being famous thing.
"Yes."
"I see... Well, we will be able to give you your eyesight, but it will take a bit of time and involve some discomfort. Then there is the matter of helping you adjust to being able to see. How long are you able to stay here?"
Once again, Professor Snape answered for Harry. "He is able to stay here until the start of term. If it is truly necessary, he could stay longer. Harry's condition was not expected; otherwise, he would've been brought here sooner."
The healer turned her attention back to the professor. "Of course. Now, as for any other health issues, I'll have to run some diagnostics on Harry, and we'll go from there. Because he will need to stay with us for an extended period of time and, like you said, it's best if the press doesn't catch wind of him being here while he's here, he'll be given a private room on one of the higher-level floors near the Janus Thickey Ward."
"I see no reason to object to this."
"Excellent! I'll go speak with a few members of the staff to get things settled. You two may wait here for now." With that being said, the healer left the room.
When Healer Slaughter returned, Harry heard what sounded like a variety of glass objects land on a table or counter in the room. The healer handed Harry a vial that he was instructed to drink before diagnostics could begin. After Harry downed the contents of the vial, a couple of minutes passed. Then the healer muttered a spell, and Harry heard the crinkling of paper although he supposed it was likely parchment.
"It looks like in addition to needing your eyes corrected that you'll need some nutrient supplement potions, Harry," the healer stated with an obviously displeased tone. "It appears that you're very malnourished although that would explain your height. You are a bit small in stature for a boy of your age."
Harry nodded. Even though he couldn't tell how tall he was compared to other kids his age, it didn't surprise him to hear that he was malnourished and that it affected his height. At least now he'd have the opportunity to get healthy.
The healer continued, "In addition to that, I think it would do some good for you to get more sunlight. Nothing in the diagnostics report indicates that you are sensitive to sunlight. You'll be able to go outside with a healer for some time each day during your stay here, but once you get to Hogwarts, I would highly recommend that you commit to going on walks for at least a half hour each day. It will also help increase your strength and stamina, which are likely affected based on your results."
Harry nodded again to show he understood.
"I'll have a member of the staff show you to where you'll be staying, and they'll be able to provide you with further information and get your treatment started." After that, the healer left the room once again.
A few minutes later, a member of the hospital staff came to the room and escorted Harry and Professor Snape to the room Harry would be staying in for the remainder of the summer. She had Harry change into a hospital gown behind a curtain before having him consume a few different vials of potions. He was then instructed to just stay in the hospital bed and nap, which wasn't difficult as one of the potions had been a sleeping draught.
Once Harry was unconscious, Professor Snape left the hospital to go collect Harry's school supplies and the Philosopher's Stone. Because he had arrived at the Dursley's house in the morning, it was only early afternoon now. He would easily be able to go to Gringotts, collect some money from Harry's vault as well as the Philosopher's Stone, exchange some of the wizarding money for muggle money, go to the muggle and wizarding shops to collect Harry's school supplies, and speak to Madam Malkin and Garrick Ollivander about arranging a time for them to visit Harry at the hospital. In all likelihood, he'd be able to accomplish all of this before Harry woke up.
When Harry awoke and opened his eyes, he did not see darkness. For the first time in his life, he was able to see light with his own eyes. He still couldn't exactly see as everything was blurry to the point that he might as well have been seeing only darkness, but he could actually see light now.
The joy he felt at the amount of improvement his eyes were already experiencing muted his concern about not having dreamt at all. For the first time he could recall, he hadn't dreamt about anything. He reasoned it was because he'd been rendered unconscious by a potion.
It wasn't long before Healer Slaughter came into the room and checked over Harry, asking him about how he was feeling and what he was experiencing. The healer didn't stay long as everything was progressing normally. Harry was given a few more potions to take before the healer left the room again.
A short while later, Professor Snape returned with Harry's school supplies and informed him that Madam Malkin would be coming to visit him in a week to take his measurements. Harry would be getting more than just the school uniform since he didn't really have any clothing of his own. Sometime later in the month, however, the professor would have to take Harry to Ollivanders for him to get a wand. Garrick Ollivander had said that it'd be very difficult for the right wand to choose Harry if Harry didn't come into the shop. There were hundreds of wands in the shop after all.
The professor put Harry's school supplies in a spot that was out of the way along with Harry's letter from Hogwarts before he left Harry once again.
Harry understood that the professor would not be staying with him while he was at St. Mungo's nor visiting him again this summer beyond taking him to get his wand but felt a little disappointed. He knew the professor had other things to do besides babysitting him, but the man had been rather nice to him. He knew it was unlikely he'd be called "Harry" by the man once the school year began too but hoped that at least the kind attitude would continue. He also hoped that the professor would be able to find somewhere for him to live that wasn't the Dursley's before the year ended.
Because he still couldn't see and, therefore, couldn't really do anything right now in his hospital room, he thought about what his life was going to be like from now on.
He thought about which House he was likely to be sorted into. He knew very well where he was going to end up. If he didn't end up in Slytherin, he'd be surprised. Yes, his parents had been in Gryffindor, but he barely had had the chance to know them. Meanwhile, he had Tom Riddle's whole life, more or less, in his head ever since he could remember. He wasn't planning to become some sort of dark lord or anything, but of course there had been an influence on him. Besides, even without seeing the Heir of Slytherin's memories, considering the childhood he'd had, he'd probably still end up in Slytherin.
Harry also suspected that he'd do very well in his classes. For one thing, he'd already been through Hogwarts' education in a way due to the dreams. For another thing, Harry took his education seriously. He'd learned a long time ago that affection from others was a fickle thing, but you could always gain respect if you put effort into the right things.
The fact that he was famous because Lord Voldemort had tried and failed to kill him when he was a baby meant that people would likely have high expectations for him, expecting him to be very powerful. He not only intended to prove them right but intended to show that he was better than Lord Voldemort.
Technically, having the man's memories could count as cheating, but that was unimportant. According to Lord Voldemort, there was no such thing as good and evil, only power and those too afraid to seek it. Harry was going to apply that to this situation as he knew how powerful knowledge was.
He knew that he needed to be better, more knowledgeable, and more powerful than Lord Voldemort or at least try his best to do so. There was no way that the dark wizard was truly gone with all the horcruxes he'd made. He'd come back eventually if he hadn't already. The likelihood of Lord Voldemort trying to kill him again was high, and he needed to be prepared. He knew exactly how the man thought, and there was simply no way that the dark wizard's pride would allow for him to let Harry live, even if he'd been "bested" by him before.
Of course, Harry had a different understanding of the night his parents died. In a rare act of mercy, on behalf of the seemingly loyal Severus Snape, Lord Voldemort had given Lily Potter the option to step aside. If he hadn't done that, Harry would've been killed by the killing curse. Lily simply sacrificing herself wouldn't have protected Harry. Many mothers and fathers sacrificed themselves for their children without their children receiving any special magical protection in return. Tie that in with the fact that Lord Voldemort had promised Severus that he'd let Lily live, and it was no wonder that a magical contract of sorts had been made and then broken, leading to Lord Voldemort's downfall.
Harry wondered just how he would be able to deal with Lord Voldemort if the man did return and attempt to kill him. Simply killing him wasn't really an option. He'd just end up coming back again because of the horcruxes.
Horcruxes! Of course. He'd need to destroy the horcruxes first or gather them and fuse them with Lord Voldemort. Well, destroying them was more likely, even if it'd be a challenge to accomplish. It wasn't as though fusing the pieces into a whole soul would exactly make Lord Voldemort a good person or sane. He was born a psychopath and never had any real concern for others. It was also unlikely that the man would be capable of feeling the remorse necessary for the soul pieces to fuse together.
The Gaunts really shouldn't have done all that inbreeding. None of the ones he knew about had been right in the head. The least psychologically messed up one had clearly bewitched Tom Riddle Sr. in some way after all to make him want her. Despite how much Lord Voldemort hated his muggle father, he'd been really fortunate to get his face. There was no way he would've done as well as he had looking like a product of incest from the start. Then again, perhaps he would've never had luck in becoming a dark lord if he'd taken after the Gaunts in looks.
Now, as for the locations of the horcruxes, some would be easier to find than others. Ravenclaw's diadem would be the easiest to obtain since it was at Hogwarts. Lord Voldemort had placed it in the Room of Requirement the last time he'd been at the school. Harry could either grab it first or last in his hunt for the horcruxes.
Hufflepuff's cup had been given to Bellatrix Lestrange for safekeeping. There were a few possible places she could have stored it. Her home, her vault at Gringotts, or wherever she fled the country to if she'd had to flee after Lord Voldemort's disappearance were the most likely options although it was possible she'd stored it elsewhere.
Harry wasn't sure how many Death Eaters would have avoided getting sentenced to Azkaban nor how many would have fled the country after Lord Voldemort disappeared. Knowing how Bellatrix was though, it was much more likely that she would've gone to Azkaban rather than flee the country. She would've wanted to stay in magical Britain to await Lord Voldemort's return. She wouldn't have believed him to truly be gone even if she'd never been informed about the true importance of Hufflepuff's cup. She was just that loyal. In a way, it was fitting that she among all the Death Eaters had been entrusted with Hufflepuff's cup.
Most likely, Bellatrix was sitting in a cell in Azkaban at that very moment. While some Death Eaters would have managed to find ways to avoid prison time, she would not have been one of them. She was the proudest follower Lord Voldemort had. She would've readily admitted to being a Death Eater if caught. Of course, her honesty wouldn't have been needed anyway. She was a rare Death Eater who never bothered to wear a mask to hide her identity.
If Bellatrix had been caught by aurors and thrown into Azkaban and Hufflepuff's cup had been in her home, it might've ended up getting sold to some antique shop or confiscated by the Ministry of Magic to be studied by unspeakables. If the horcrux had been kept inside her vault at Gringotts, it was probably still there or at a relative's home. If the horcrux had been placed somewhere else, it may or may not still be there. The first two possibilities were already going to make it very difficult for Harry to get his hands on the horcrux, and that last possibility would make it nearly impossible.
Slytherin's locket, Harry recalled, was in a cave that Lord Voldemort had been to as a child while on trips to the beach with other children from the orphanage. It was the very same cave where he had horribly messed with Dennis and Amy's minds.
The cave required someone entering the cave to cut themselves and drip or smear fresh blood on a particular piece of rock. Then, you had to get a boat from within the water of the cave to come up and take it across the cave to a small bit of land to get to where the horcrux was. Then, in order to reach Slytherin's locket, you had to drink a potion that caused the drinker agony until all of the potion had been consumed. In all likelihood, if you weren't with another person while trying to get the horcrux, you would have no luck in this. All the while, if you even once touched the water in the cave, it would trigger a large amount of inferi made from dozens of muggle corpses to come after you.
The Gaunt family ring was hidden within the shack that Morfin Gaunt called a home. It was definitely one of the easier horcruxes to access, but it was deceptively so. If you touched it, you would be killed by a curse that was placed upon it. It was actually the deadliest one to get.
Tom Riddle's diary had been given to Lucius Malfoy for safekeeping since he, like Bellatrix, was one of Lord Voldemort's most loyal followers. If any of Lord Voldemort's followers had managed to avoid going to Azkaban, he'd likely be among them. He had a lot of political clout, a lot of money, and a willingness to do whatever was necessary for self-preservation. He was a proud man, but if there was a situation where he had to choose between self-preservation and his pride, he would sacrifice his pride in a heartbeat. He was a true Slytherin, through and through.
Seeing as Tom Riddle's diary looked rather inconspicuous, it wouldn't surprise Harry if Lucius had kept it hidden amongst the large number of books his family had in their private library. Then again, since he would've known it was a dark artifact, even if he wouldn't have known the exact nature of it, he might have kept it with his collection of dark artifacts. Either way, he probably would not have put it in his vault at Gringotts.
Lucius might have trusted the goblins with his money, but he wouldn't trust them with something Lord Voldemort wanted him to protect, especially since he looked down on creatures like goblins. It was also unlikely that Lucius would have placed the horcrux in some strange, hard-to-find place. He'd want to check up on it constantly to ensure its safety.
If Lucius had ended up going to Azkaban, most likely it wouldn't change the location of the horcrux. His wife, Narcissa, likely wouldn't have gone to Azkaban since she wasn't actually a Death Eater, so she would've protected it if she knew about it or treated it like any of the other books or dark artifacts that were in the home if she didn't know about it.
Harry's best shot at getting his hands on Tom Riddle's diary would involve befriending Lucius and Narcissa's son, Draco, who would be starting his first year at Hogwarts this year, based on Harry's calculations, assuming Draco wasn't sent off to Durmstrang. Being dormmates would certainly help.
Over the course of the next couple of days Harry's eyesight gradually improved. He mostly spent his time alternating between sleeping and thinking except when a healer would give him a potion, bring him food, talk to him, or take him on a walk up to and around the roof of the hospital. If he wasn't already used to spending a lot of time alone with nothing to do, he would've felt very bored.
The day that Harry's eyesight was fully corrected was the day Madam Malkin came by to take his measurements and confirm exactly what clothes he was getting and how much. The payment for the items had been made in advance, so Harry didn't have to worry about paying the witch. The measuring hadn't taken long, and the woman had been friendly without being overbearing. She, like the healers who'd seen him, knew who he was but didn't treat him like how people normally treated celebrities. He was quite grateful for this.
For the following week, Harry spent his time making sure he could read, write, and walk properly now that he could see. If he hadn't had Tom Riddle's memories, he knew he would have had to take a long time to learn how to really do things normally, particularly reading. The fact that he didn't struggle at all surprised the healers, but Harry simply told them that he had felt the shapes of the letters before, so he had been able to picture the letters for ages. It was technically the truth, just not the whole truth.
If it seemed like Harry learned quickly, that was to his advantage, particularly if the information was somehow spread. He would easily be the top student in his year after all. He intended to look like a magical prodigy, which he actually was thanks to Lord Voldemort's memories. He most certainly knew more at that moment than Tom Riddle had at the same age, more than Tom Riddle would know until decades later.
One day, while Harry was walking around on the floor his room was located on, he saw a woman standing in the middle of the hall in a hospital gown. Her face was thin and worn, her eyes were strangely large for her face, and her hair was thin and white. She didn't really look like she was aware of her surroundings.
"Are you alright?" Harry asked the woman.
The woman didn't respond.
"Are you lost?"
Once again, the woman didn't respond. It seemed she didn't want to speak or wasn't able to do so.
Harry saw Healer Strout walk off a lift down at the end of the hall with a chubby, brown-haired boy and a tall, thin elderly woman. The trio walked towards Harry and the woman.
"Alice," the healer called. "It's time to go back inside your room. You have visitors." She gently pulled the woman along and headed towards the Janus Thickey Ward. The healer looked behind herself briefly and said, "Oh, Harry, you should run along to your room. I believe it's almost time for Healer Slaughter to see you."
The elderly woman who had entered the floor with Healer Strout looked at Harry with a sharp look in her eye, her gaze lingering on the scar on his forehead. "Harry Potter?" She turned her attention to the healer. "Harry Potter is here?"
The healer froze, clearly realizing she'd just told someone outside of the select few hospital staff members involved in treating Harry about his presence at the hospital. "Mrs. Longbottom, please understand that this is not to be made known to the public. He's just here for a short while, nothing serious. We're hoping that having him on this floor will be effective at maintaining privacy."
"You mean that you want to avoid having reporters swarming the hospital. I understand. It wouldn't be good for my son or his wife's condition either I'm sure."
A look of relief crossed the healer's face. "I'm glad you agree."
Harry saw that the boy who'd been brought up to the floor with the healer was looking at him with wide eyes but otherwise didn't do or say anything. As Harry started to walk away from the group to his room, he heard Mrs. Longbottom say, "Come along, Neville."
When Harry got back to his room, Healer Slaughter was, indeed, there waiting for him. She asked him a few questions, examined him, and gave him some more potions before having him be escorted by a staff member to the roof for the sunlight and walking he was supposed to get for the day. After all of that was finished, Harry was free to walk around the floor like he had been earlier.
Eventually, Harry walked by the Janus Thickey Ward, just as Mrs. Longbottom and Neville were leaving. Harry saw Alice give Neville a candy wrapper. Neville smiled at her and put the wrapper in his pocket, even as Mrs. Longbottom told him to throw it away. Neville startled when he noticed Harry but didn't say anything. He just followed Mrs. Longbottom as she walked down the hall.
A short while later, Harry saw Healer Strout come out of the room Neville and Mrs. Longbottom had just exited and decided to question her. "Healer Strout?"
"Yes, Harry? You know, you really shouldn't be around this part of the floor. You should stay near your room. It's safer that way."
Harry shook his head. "I'm not worried. I was just wondering if you could tell me who all those people were?"
The healer frowned. "I can't do that. Patient confidentiality and all. They were family members of a couple of patients here is all I can say."
"I understand." Harry had already suspected as much but had just wanted confirmation. Mrs. Longbottom had mentioned her son and his wife in a way that suggested both were patients at the hospital. The woman who had somehow found her way out of the Janus Thickey Ward had to have been Alice Longbottom, making her husband Frank Longbottom. Neville Longbottom was their son, the boy who had come to visit them.
Harry knew that Lord Voldemort had considered killing the Longbottoms before ultimately choosing to go after the Potters. It was because he thought a fellow half-blood wizard was who the prophesy most likely referred to and the fact that Harry's birthday was the last day of July that he went after the Potters in the end.
Whatever happened to the Longbottoms had to have happened after Lord Voldemort attacked the Potters. Harry didn't have any memories showing him that the dark wizard had ordered anything against them, and Lord Voldemort hadn't attacked them before attacking the Potters either. Now Harry found himself pondering a question he needed to get an answer to: What happened to the Longbottoms?