Revelations

"Now Mr. Potter," McGonagall interrupted, returning to the kitchen with another, middle aged witch with red hair and a monocle. "We need to discuss a few things with Madam Bones here, and find a solution that we can all live with."

"Hello Madam Bones, I'm Anne Granger," Mrs. Granger introduced herself, "I don't mean to be rude but who exactly are you?"

"Amelia Bones, I am the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." The older witch introduced herself, then held up a hand. "No, neither of the children are in trouble."

"Then why are you here?" Anne asked.

"I'm here because a month ago Professor McGonagall informed me about the incident at school as she was required by law to do. She also told me how vehemently these two defended Mr. Lupin and that they held themselves responsible for their infection. She also said they would readily and aggressively defend Mr. Lupin were he charged." Madam Bones explained, "And he hasn't been. Madam Pomfrey provided information on the infection, again as required by law, and I placed a personal alert on the charms monitoring Miss Granger. I tried to place the same on Mr. Potter here but the charms were sealed by Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Sealed? But aren't you in charge of those charms?" Hermione asked

"Yes, they are sealed and redirected, which is why I'll be having a separate discussion with him that he won't enjoy."

"I see," Anne said, "Well what do you need from us now?"

"I need statements from Mr. Potter here about the charm he used at his residence. I also need to discuss with you and your family the unique situation you find yourself in and how it will affect you. I was also told that I might be interested in taking a memory of something that occurred earlier in the evening, before the attack. Something about a dead man that wasn't dead."

Harry and Hermione looked shocked. The shrieking shack. She wanted memories of the shrieking shack. They looked at each other, remembering the various doings in that shack and what they could mean.

"Madam Bones," Hermione asked uneasily, "What would you do with those memories? We informed the Headmaster and the Minister of what had happened but Professor Snape lied to them and told them we were confounded."

"Miss Granger, If you were to give me a complete memory, it would be possible to determine if you were confounded or not." The Auror explained. "But for now, let's deal with the first two items since I suspect I'll need to earn your trust for this." She turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, please describe what happened tonight and how you got here."

"Well, I got a note from Hermione calling for help. I knew I had to do something, didn't really know what but I'd promised her we'd get through this together and had to get to her. I grabbed my emergency bag and"

"Emergency bag?" The auror cut in, "What is that?"

"It's a bag with some supplies and money." Harry explained, "General stuff in case I had to go somewhere and didn't have time to pack. Food, water, clothes, a couple maps. Stuff like that."

"I see," she nodded, "Please, continue."

"Well," Harry hesitated, and after a squeeze from Hermione continued, "I tried to leave and found my uncle had locked me in."

"Locked you in?" The auror was obviously upset, "You mean he locked your door?"

"Yes ma'am," Harry confirmed slowly, "With 6 locks on the outside of my door."

"And this is normal for you?" The room was deadly quiet.

"Yes ma'am, at least since I've had a room."

"So all your life…"

"No ma'am," Harry whispered, "Just since first year."

"I don't understand, did you not have a room before that?"

"No ma'am" the quiet stretched.

"Mr. Potter, please elaborate on your living arrangement before you returned from your first year at Hogwarts. Describe your typical day and where you slept." The head of the DMLE said in a very hard tone.

"Ma'am, I'd rather not upset…"

"Mr. Potter," She cut in, her tone reminiscent of Professor McGonagall's no nonsense voice, "I currently suspect you are living in untenable conditions. If I can confirm this, I can do something about it, but I need you to tell me everything."

"I…" Harry's voice shook in fear.

"It's okay Harry," Hermione reassured him, hugging him. "I really think she wants to help." Harry looked at her for a minute, relishing the unquestioning support in her eyes before he slowly began to describe his life before Hogwarts.

"My Aunt and Uncle don't like magic, hate it would be a mild description. Until I got my Hogwarts letter I'd never heard of magic. They told me my mum and dad were killed in a car crash they caused because they were drunks. At about 4 I started doing the cleaning, at 5 I started cooking."

"Were you the only one doing these chores?" Bones asked

"No ma'am, not at first. To start my Aunt still did some, once I was older though, I did it all."

"I see," The monocle woman paused, "I'm given to understand you have a cousin, did he get the same treatment?"

"No ma'am, he was treated like a spoiled little… er, like he could do no wrong ma'am. Always got big birthday parties and lots of presents, always got more each year. Trust me, he counted them. He was also praised a lot, and I was… discouraged from ever doing anything better that him."

"Uh huh, and what about your sleeping arrangements?"

"I was given the cupboard under the stairs until my letter came."

"A Cupboard?!" the four women exclaimed in unison. Looking at each other, Hermione blushed while McGonagall merely nodded to the auror to continue.

"And after your letter?" Madam Bones asked.

"After I was 'allowed' to use my cousins' second bedroom, so long as I touched nothing and didn't cause any trouble. Last summer when a house elf caused trouble, they added the locks and bars."

"What bars Mr. Potter?"

"They put bars over his window Madam Bones," Hermione explained, "I thought the Weasleys were exaggerating when they told the story. They weren't were they Harry?"

"No"

"Well," Madam Bones sighed, "It looks like my job isn't done yet in this case, we'll have to discuss this more Mr. Potter, and I will be accompanying you home to verify these conditions myself."

"I will be as well Amelia," McGonagall informed her, "I asked Albus several times about his home life and was assured all was well. It seems either he didn't know himself or knew and never told me. Either way I need to see for myself."

"Me too." Cut in Hermione, glaring defiantly

"Very well professor," Madam Bones agreed, "You Miss Granger, we will see about later. Now, moving on,"

"Wait ma'am." Hermione cut in, then look apologetically at Harry. "Before we move on from this, I think you need to see something else."

"And what is that?"

"Show them Harry." Hermione said softly, pleading eyes boring into him. He sighed and seemed to gather himself, as if he was about to do some great deed or endeavor. Slowly, he lifted his shirt. The angry red welts of the werewolf strike were most evident. Then they noticed other scars, older and faded. They didn't cover all of his back, and there were almost none on his front, but they were obviously not normal kid scars.

"Oh my" Madam Pomfrey said softly, "Mr. Potter, why did you never say anything? I've examined you enough that I feel I've failed you that I never saw them before but why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want anyone to know ma'am," Harry said softly, "Most are old. Since he found out about magic Dudley hasn't really bullied me."

"Your cousin did this?" Amelia cut in urgently.

"Yes ma'am," Harry confirmed, "Most of them, some are from his friends. They had this game they called 'Harry Hunting'. They'd hunt me down and beat me up."

"And your relative knew about this?" Minerva pressed.

"Yeah," Harry replied sadly, "He'd get extra dessert if they did it really well. He got a lot of extra deserts."

"That's enough." Anne cut the others off, "That's enough about this for now. If you need more information you'll just have to wait, this is causing both of them enough distress for now. One thing this makes clear however, Harry will NOT be returning to them, not if I have anything to say about it."

"Nor if I do," Madam Bones concurred, "We will have to return to gather his belongings, but he will not return to stay. I don't have a lot of pull, but I do liaise with a few members of muggle law enforcement, mostly squibs." Noting Anne's' questioning look, she added "Non magic user born to magical parents. Anyway, they should be able to help with an investigation."

"Where would I go? I don't..." Harry began.

"You'll stay here tonight," Anne said, "I think Hermione would murder us if you didn't. After that, well, we'll figure something out."

"I have no objection to that," The head of the DMLE agreed, "Due to the nature of the incident, and the apparent need, there will be no charges pressed for breaking the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. I did note that this would be your third however."

"First was a house elf trying to keep me from going back to Hogwarts. Second was accidental magic due to my Uncle's sister." Harry explained, "This is my first intentional use outside of school."

"House elf? But," Amelia started, then paused, "No, never mind, we'll discuss that later. The second thing we need to discuss tonight is what to do about the situation you two find yourselves in."

"Amelia," Pomfrey spoke up, "Due to the nature of the infection no longer being Lycanthropic, I'd like to request it not be recorded as such."

"I can see that," the Auror agreed, "But there are still questions about it that need answered I'm afraid."

"I understand that Amelia," McGonagall confirmed, "But it is not lycanthropy. I agree this situation will need to be monitored, and with the permission of Mr. Potter and Miss Granger, some testing to better determine its exact nature is warranted. However, I don't think any restrictions should be placed on them outside of perhaps the next couple full moons spent being observed. Preferably by Madam Pomfrey. I also feel that due to the calming affect Mr. Potter has on her transformation, he should be allowed to accompany her during the full moon to alleviate any discomfort he can."

"I agree with Minerva," Poppy seconded.

"Would you be willing to include an Auror, one hand selected by myself and confirmed by both of you? And forward me any information you determine in this process so long as it is not recorded within the DMLE outside my personal files?"

"I don't see why not so long as Mr. and Mrs. Granger agree." The deputy headmistress agreed.

"Honey, this is all about you, what do you think?" Anne Granger addressed the girl still curled into Harry's arms.

"You won't lock us up? Won't separate us?" Hermione's quiet voice quavered as she asked.

"Not if we don't have to," Madam Pomfrey, "We might ask you two to separate to determine exactly how much Harry calms your transformation, but not as a regular or required occurrence unless it is absolutely required. You have my word as a healer."

The pair whispered quietly to each other, none of the adults were able to hear exactly what was being said. The closeness was slightly worrying to Anne though, she felt almost as if she was losing a part of her daughter to this boy, but also saw how much she relied on him. They finally separated enough to turn back to them, and added one final caveat.

"We agree, so long as we get veto power over any experiment concerning this unless it is required to save a life." Hermione stated, "It may be a fascinating and unique occurrence, but it's our lives and happiness that are threatened by it. We want a say in how we proceed."

"That's reasonable, and is in line with my healer's oath." Poppy said, then turned to the others, "Ladies?"

Three nods later, and a course was set.