Spoilers: All five books will be touched on through out the story.

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended. In other words; Don't want them. Don't need them. Couldn't afforded them if I did.

Author's note: I hit a major stumbling block on this so hopefully this chap came out alright, although I reserve the right to rewrite it in the future if it needs being done.

Chapter Three

"ALBUS DUMBLEDORE!"

That familiar voice echoed throughout the Headmaster's office, causing several objects on the desk to rattle around. Dumbledore set down the large scroll that he had been reading, calmly rose from his chair and walked over to his fireplace. Once there, he came face to face with a very shocked looking Minerva McGonagall. Remembering that he had sent her to the Granger's home, he silently steeled himself to receive whatever the bad news was that had his Transfiguration teacher so upset.

"Yes Professor, what has happened? Are the Grangers all right?"

"Albus, Harry Potter's back!"

"What?!" Dumbledore exclaimed in a mixture of disbelief and relief. "Where is he? Are you still at the Grangers?"

"No, we're here at Hogwarts, in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey is examining him right now."

"Poppy's examining him?" Dumbledore asked. "Is he hurt?"

"He's..." she trailed off for a moment, her visage becoming slightly troubled. "It might be better if you were to see him yourself."

And then McGonagall disappeared from the fire, leaving a worried Headmaster to quickly throw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace before stepping into the flames. What greeted him upon arriving was nothing short of pandemonium. He could see Pomfrey hovering over a hospital bed that he assumed contained Harry, in the far corner. Surprisingly Hermione Granger was sitting in a chair next to the bed.

Separating the three people from the rest was a shimmering wall of magic that Dumbledore knew was normally used at St. Murgos to quarantine patients that had an infectious disease. That alone caused the Headmaster to pause for a moment, especially since Ms. Granger was there also. Closer to where he had entered, half the Weasley clan were being held at bay by a clearly frustrated McGonagall. Ronald and Ginerva Weasley was demanding to see their friends while their mother was demanding to know what had happened. Mr. Weasley stood silently behind his wife along with Remus. Near the corner of the room was Snape, Tonks, and Mad-eye Moody. Once Albus was certain that no one else was in the room. He announced his presence.

"How is Harry, Minerva?"

"Oh you're here, Headmaster," McGonagall said in relief. "Poppy is looking at him now."

Dumbledore shot a look at the school's healer before turning to everyone that was present.

"Please calm down. I'm sure that everything that can be done, is being done. Besides, the last thing we want to do is make Madam Pomfrey's job harder by getting in her way," Dumbledore paused before what can only be described as a mischievous look appeared on his face. "Now, please excuse me while I see if I can get in her way."

With that said, Dumbledore turned and began walking in the direction of Harry's bed. The others just stared at the Headmaster's back as he passed through the protective field and played a tiny prank on Madam Pomfrey by tapping on her left shoulder while darting out of sight, to her right. Everyone knew that the last couple of weeks had been hard on the aged Wizard, especially after Harry had disappeared from his relative's home. Most were happy that Harry had been found, but to see the normally reserved, if a bit loony, Headmaster acting like one of the Weasley twins brought a small smile to everyone's face, that is except for Snape, who continued to stare balefully at the boy on the bed.

"Please don't do that, Headmaster!" Pomfrey squawked indignantly, causing Hermione to clap a hand to her mouth in effort not to giggle.

"My apologizes, Poppy," Dumbledore replied before looking at Harry, briefly taking note of the various scrapes and cuts on his skin. "Will there be any problems with his wounds?"

Pomfrey snorted. "Of course not, he will heal just fine." Then she lowered her voice. "What I want to know is what exactly happened to change Mr. Potter so."

"What do you mean 'change'?" Dumbledore asked carefully.

"Look at him, Albus!" she whispered harshly. "Look closely."

Dumbledore did as the school nurse asked, and that was when it hit him. If one were to disregard the numerous minor injuries and the tattered clothes, Harry did indeed look slightly different from the teen that left Hogwarts at the end of term. The boy appeared to be a little bigger, both in height and body mass. His hair, though as unruly as ever, was also longer by several inches. Harry's skin was also noticeably darker, as if he had spent long periods of time in the sun.

Dumbledore glanced from Pomfrey to Hermione who was sitting next to the bed, holding one of Harry's hands in one of her own. The younger girl's eye were full of unshed tears for her friend. Dumbledore had many questions to ask her about Harry's arrival at her home but decided that it might be best to postpone them for the moment. Turning his attention back to Pomfrey, he nodded his understanding and motioned with a sweep of his hand over Harry's body for her to continue.

"Well let's start with his injuries," Pomfrey huffed. "Most of the visible ones are recent, the scrapes and cuts on his arms and face. But some of the scars are, at the very least, two weeks old and I know for a fact that Mr. Potter was in good general health when he left for home only less than a week ago.

"He is also currently suffering from some kind of viral infection and judging by his temperature, he is running a very high fever. Also from what I can tell, Mr. Potter has been exposed to large amounts of an unknown type of energy."

"Is whatever infection Harry has, contagious?"

Pomfrey shook her head. "I've checked and whatever it is, it's not airborne. Also the only one who has had physical contact with him is Ms. Granger," she answered, pointing to the girl sitting by the bed. "I have kept her separated from the others and checked her thoroughly. The tests that I performed return clean results. She is as healthy as she was at the end of term."

"Then why do you still have the quarantine ward up, Poppy?" Dumbledore asked.

Madam Pomfrey grimaced. "Truthfully, to keep everyone out from under foot and let me do my job." She then waved her wand dismissively at the field and canceled the spell.

Dumbledore nodded and then moved onto his next question, "What about this energy that he was exposed to? You said that it's not known to you."

"Truly," Pomfrey breathed. "I have never encountered this type before."

"It's not nuclear radiation, is it?" Hermione hesitantly asked, drawing the attention of the two faculty members. She had stayed quiet during the talk of the possibility of infection but when Pomfrey had mentioned that she did not recognize the energy affecting Harry, she had to speak up. Nuclear energy was the only thing her mind could grasp as an energy that Pomfrey might not be familiar with, and that possibility frightened her.

"Dear heavens child, no," Pomfrey exclaimed. "Why would you think that?"

"Because you just said that you didn't recognize what the energy was that Harry had been exposed to," Hermione explained.

"Ms Granger," Pomfrey shook her head slightly in disapproval. "I'm not only quite aware of what radiation poisoning is but I'm also deeply disappointed to see that you, of all people, would automatically assume that since I am a witch that I would not know a thing about the muggle world."

Hermione looked down, feeling a sliver of shame deep inside. Her eyes settled on the one hand of hers that was holding Harry's. "I apologize Madam Pomfrey, I know that I should not have assumed that. It's just that-"

"I understand child," Pomfrey cut her off with a gentle smile. "I realize that you are worried for Mr. Potter and one tends to jump to quick conclusions when one's worried,

"Then what is it about the energy that you don't recognize?" Hermione asked looking up, determined to help.

"Well," Pomfrey threw the headmaster a questioning look to which he answered with a nod. "I guess, now that I think about it, it's not so much the energy itself but what it is doing that makes it so hard to identify."

"What it's doing?" Hermione asked.

"The easiest way to describe it is that it's moving fast," Pomfrey replied. "Too fast to be normal."

"How do you know this?" Hermione asked, worried.

"By his aura," Dumbledore replied instead. "Observe. Aural Aperio."

As the words left Dumbledore's lips, the room lit up with a dazzling display of light. Ignoring the cries of alarm coming from the Weasleys, Hermione squinted in an effort to see Harry through the swirling colors that surrounded him.

"My apologies," Dumbledore mumbled, waving a hand over Harry. Instantly, the intensity of light that had enveloped Harry lessened, leaving everyone feeling slightly entranced from the dazzling display of colors.

"What was that?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.

Dumbledore looked up, not surprised to find the Weasley Matriarch standing behind him. "My apologies, Molly. I made Harry's aura visible to let Hermione observe it."

"That was Harry's aura?!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley, as her eyebrows threatened to climb into her hair. "Albus, you can't be serious. There is no possible way that that blinding light was a person's aura, much less Harry's."

"Why is that, Mum?" Ginny asked, appearing next to her mother.

"Because dear," Mrs. Weasley explained. "A person's aura is more of a soft glow that surrounds the body."

"Not necessarily Molly," Dumbledore interrupted. "A Witch or Wizard's aura is tied to their power. The brighter the aura, the stronger the magic at his or her command is."

"But Headmaster, an aura is primarily made up two colors or even three in some cases," Pomfrey stated before motioning to her unconscious patient with a swing of her arm. "Mr. Potter's seemed to contain the entire spectrum of light."

"So what does this mean for Harry?" Hermione wondered.

"That is a very important question, Miss Granger," Dumbledore answered solemnly. "One that will need to be answered as soon as possible."

Before more could be said, a soft moan could be heard coming from the bed. Immediately Hermione shifted in her seat and leaned close to her friend.

"Harry?"

Harry slowly made the steep climb into consciousness. For him, it seemed like it took forever to wake up. First, there was the sensation of warmth followed by the feeling of being covered up. His right hand was especially warm. As he felt air move across his face, sounds gradually began to filter in from the darkness surrounding him.

"...his wounds.."

"...unknown energy..."

"...weeks old..."

"...no possible..."

"...does this mean..."

The words meant little to him beyond the fact that they were interrupting his sleep. Opening his eyes a fraction, Harry was assaulted by a bright light that made his eyes feel like they were on fire. Moaning a little, Harry tried to move away from the offending light.

"Harry?"

"Wha.." Harry slurred, eyes narrowed into a squint for protection against the bright light that seemed intent on blinding him. He concentrated on his eyes and the light slowly dimmed, leaving a blurry image of someone standing over him. Fear seized him and Harry tried to get away, only to find himself stuck fast to where he laid. The instinctual Fight or Flight response gripped him and since escape seemed impossible, that left only fight.

"Stop, Harry! You'll only hurt yourself more!"

Harry felt the familiar surge of adrenalin race through his system and then he lashed out with his magic. He heard what sounded like a high pitched squeak followed by a dull thud. Harry did not pay too much attention to the sounds since he still could not move, so he formed an image in his head of his magic covering his entire body like a second skin. Then using both his muscles and magic in tandem, he began physically fighting for his freedom. He struggled for a couple of seconds until he felt the oppressive pressure that held him, lighten just a little, and then his right arm came loose.

'YES!' Harry shouted internally and then threw everything he had left into breaking free. It worked spectacularly as there was a bright flash of light and then he felt himself rolling off whatever he was laying on fell gracefully into a crouch.

Harry gave his head a hard shake to clear out the cobwebs and then his vision cleared up. That was when he noticed the multiple beds and cabinets filled with various bottles one would find in a Wizarding hospital.

"Hospital?" The relief that he felt when he recognized his exact surroundings dwarfed all other emotion. That same relief faded abruptly, leaving him simmering in a cold rage when Harry heard a familiar voice speak his name. His head snapped up and locked eyes with Dumbledore.

"You!"

Dumbledore was in shock as he watched events play out that should have been impossible. After hearing Harry moan, he and Poppy had come closer to the bed even as Hermione was leaning over her friend. The moment Harry opened his eyes, Dumbledore immediately recognized the look of fear in them. Without a second thought, he cast a restraining spell on his student.

Then when Harry found that he could not move, his magic pulsed. That was the only way for Dumbledore could describe it. Subconsciously, Harry's magic forcefully pushed Hermione from his bedside, hurling the poor girl into the far wall. That done, Harry's magic then expanded to visibly envelope his body and began to tear apart the spell holding him to the bed. Once he was free, Harry then rolled over the side of the bed and instinctively fell into a crouched position on the floor.

"Harry?"

Dumbledore was a bit startled by the look of pure hatred that radiated from Harry's eyes. Unconsciously, he reached out to Harry with his Legilimency. The moment contact was made, he felt suddenly ill. Almost nauseous. Then to Dumbledore's overwhelming shock, and not a little fear, he watched as the boy's eyes began changing. Although the color of Harry's eyes remained their emerald green color, the normally round pupils elongated vertically, becoming slit-like much like a snake's.

"You!"

Before Dumbledore could respond, Harry's form suddenly blurred and disappeared. Without any warning, he soon found himself shoved painfully back up against the stone wall with Harry's hand around his neck. The Headmaster was too stunned to defend himself properly.

"Why did you leave me there?" Harry demanded.

"Harry, I-" Dumbledore gasped.

"WHY!"

"Let him go, Mr. Potter!" McGonagall shouted as she rushed up behind him and tried to pull him away.

Harry shot a quick look over his shoulder and snarled at the older woman. Then with one hand still holding Dumbledore, Harry twisted violently and backhanded McGonagall with his other hand. The strike to the side of her head was hard enough to send her stumbling backwards and crashing into a bed.

Suddenly. Harry released his hold on the Headmaster and fell down onto one knee, groaned deeply as he clutched at his chest. Madam Pomfrey immediately rushed to his side, along with Molly Weasley and her children, but were forced back as Harry's magic pulsed once again. This time, even the beds and tables were roughly shoved away causing several to become overturned. Even Dumbledore felt the effects as his entire body was pushed up against the unrelenting stone wall. Harry panted heavily a few seconds, rubbing his chest with one hand, before he shakily stood up.

"Stupefy!" Snape growled.

Harry grunted from the impact of the spell, stumbling forward into the wall next to Dumbledore. Everyone held their breath, waiting for him to fall to the floor. Much to their surprise, Harry pushed away from the wall slightly, keeping one hand on the wall and turned sideways. He looked at Snape with a look of anger and contempt.

"Is that the best you can do, you pathetic arse?"

Snape swore and launched another stunner with as much power as he could muster. Harry reacted quickly by grabbing Dumbledore by the front of his robes, pulling the man away from the wall next to him and into the path of the oncoming spell. The elder Wizard's eyes widened in surprise for a second, before rolling upwards when the stunner hit him squarely in the back. Harry then let the dazed Headmaster fall to his knees and charged directly at Snape. He quickly crossed the short distance before the Potions Professor could cast another spell.

Just as Harry closed the distance between them, he lowered his body and planted his shoulder deep into Snape's mid-section, knocking the wind out of him. Both wizards continued backwards until they smashed into the wall behind them. Snape's head bounced hard against the stonework, knocking him unconscious. Harry was also jarred by the impact but was able to keep his wits about him since Snape's body cushioned him from the worst of it.

Harry backed away slowly, letting Snape's body slide down the wall and onto the floor. The young Wizard paused for a moment to consider his next action but was jarred out of his thoughts when he found himself being tackled to the floor.

"Stop this insanity, Harry!" Remus growled into his ear, letting Harry know who exactly was holding him. "Stop now before you kill someone."

The werewolf had snaked his arms under Harry's and twisted up and around the back of his neck, effectively pinning him to the floor in a wrestling move that the muggles call a full-nelson. Remus then wrapped his legs around Harry's waist before shifting over onto his back, exposing them to the others.

"Let me go, Remus!"

"So you can attack Dumbledore again? Or kill Snape? No, I don't think so," Remus struggled to hold on. "Calm down! I'm not letting go, and you know that you will have to seriously hurt me before I do."

Harry struggled briefly within the werewolf's grasp but was unable to get enough leverage to break the hold he was in. The lingering pain in his chest and the pressure on his shoulders and neck was just enough of a distraction to keep Harry from concentrating on using his magic, leaving him with just his normal human strength. Without his magic to fuel his strength, Harry was forced to give up.

"Fine," Harry sighed, turning his head to the side. He watched as Tonks pulled Dumbledore to his feet. The Weasley children were being held back by their parents, well most of them were. He could see that Ron was trying to steady a seemingly dazed Hermione.

"What happened to Hermione?" Harry asked.

"You happened, Harry," Ron responded coolly, as he helped the unstable Hermione to a chair.

Before Harry could ask Ron what he meant, a gravelly voice spoke up. "You can release him now Lupin."

Remus hesitated for a moment before releasing Harry, allowing the younger Wizard to stand up.

"Now Potter," Moody watched as the boy turned to him. He could easily see all of the impossible physical changes that Harry had somehow gone through. The boy was indeed a few inches taller and more muscular than he remembered seeing just a few days prior. "Assuming that you are actually him. Why did you attack Dumbledore?"

Harry glared at the recovering Dumbledore for a second before answering.

"Why not?"

"Damn it, boy," Moody growled, raising his wand. "I want an answer!"

"Be careful, Alistor. Everyone stay back," Dumbledore weakly spoke. "He-"

"Doesn't care what you want," Harry cut in. "Now where is my wand?"

"That I cannot tell you," Dumbledore answered. "Not at least until I know for sure that you are not under a foreign influence."

"A foreign influence?" Harry wondered for a second before understanding came to him. "You think that I'm being possessed by Voldemort?"

Most in the room flinched when he mentioned that name, which only served to irritate Harry even more. He snorted once in disgust and then turned back to Dumbledore.

"And how did your addled mind deduce that I am possessed?"

Dumbledore moved from Tonks and straightened up. He then walked towards Harry, noting for a moment that Severus was still unconscious behind the teenager.

"My suspicions grow from this towering anger that you are experiencing and the fact that your eyes changed after you first woke up," Dumbledore answered, sounding stronger with each step he took. "They became slitted, much like a snake's."

"First off, my eyes have not changed," Harry stated, stepping right up to the Headmaster. "Check for yourself. Are they different?"

Dumbledore studied those eyes closely, and then tried to probe deeper but was forced to stop as he started to once more feel nauseous. Finally closed his eyes and sighed. "No."

"Speaking of your eyes, Harry" Remus spoke. "How is it that you are apparently able to see clearly without your glasses?"

Harry threw another dark scowl at Dumbledore before turning to study Remus for a moment, debating on whether or not to answer. Finally he decided that he really did not want to alienate the last close link to his parents and Sirius.

"Truthfully I don't know exactly how for sure." he said with a small shrug. "All I know is that my magic somehow fixed my eyesight."

"How is that possible? Why-"

"I don't know the how," Harry cut Remus off, turning back to Dumbledore with a look of disgust on his face. "As far as the why, it probably was due to the fact that someone didn't give me my glasses when he left me alone to fend for myself." Harry shook his head and looked at the others. "Now where is my wand?"

"I'm afraid," Remus paused briefly to clear his throat. "that it is gone."

"What?" Harry barked. "What do you mean, 'gone'?"

"What he means Mr. Potter," an icy voice spoke up. Harry looked up at the cold expression on McGonagall's slightly bloodied face. "is that your wand has been destroyed."

Harry stared at the Professor for a moment in shock before throwing his hands up in the air. "That's just great!" he shouted, ignoring the Head of his house as if she didn't matter. Then Harry turned back and nailed Dumbledore with a piercing glare. "Not only did you drop me onto that god forsaken island, all by myself no less, but you then destroy my only means to defend myself against Voldemort, and you."

That left everyone stunned except for Moody who asked, "What are you prattling on about, Potter. You went home with your relatives. I was there, along with Tonks and Lupin."

"Bullocks!" Harry shouted then winced, wrapping his right arm around his chest and under his left arm. He took a deep breathe before continuing. "The last thing I remember before waking up on that hellish island was leaving Dumbledore's office after trashing it. I did not go to my relative's home."

"But you did, Harry," Dumbledore defended. "Once the term was over, you joined your friends on the train and was picked up by your relatives afterwards."

"Do not lie to me!" Harry shouted, his temper starting to flare up once more. When a hand settled onto his shoulder, Harry turned around fully intending to cut loose on who he expected to be Remus or Moody. Who he found instead though was a slightly ruffled looking Hermione. His anger deflated some when he saw her unsteady look and the rather large scrape on her forehead and left cheek. Ron was standing behind her, appearing ready to pull her away to safety if needed.

"I do not know what is going on Harry," Hermione softly spoke. "But I will swear to you, on my magic if need be, that you did go with your relatives after we left the train."

"But that's not possible," Harry said, more to himself than to the others. "I don't remember.." he trailed off, absently rubbing his chest

"Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey said, drawing his attention to where she was examining Snape. "Are you in pain?"

"When am I not?" Harry answered dryly.

"Yes well, besides the obvious," Pomfrey said unperturbed, "does your chest hurt?"

"It's nothing," Harry grunted.

"I believe that I'll be the one to decide if it is nothing or not, Mr. Potter." Madam Pomfrey stated with authority, marching over to Harry.

Harry stared at Pomfrey for a few seconds before finally deciding to let her examine him. Madam Pomfrey nodded and then started asking him about how he felt, where did it hurt, how long did it hurt, and so forth. After a couple of minutes, Pomfrey stood up.

"Please stay where you are," Pomfrey asked Harry. "I need to check a couple of references."

Harry nodded his assent and the Head Nurse left through an open door that led to her office. Once she was gone, Harry closed his eyes, ignoring everyone else in the room. He began searching his memories for what could offer any type of explanation for his current situation. Harry went over what he remembered from the last time he was

"I believe that I now understand," Pomfrey stated as she walked out of her office. "From what you have told me, added to your belief that you were on an island. The only conclusion that I can come up with that fits the criteria, is that you are suffering from what is called the Bornholm disease by muggles, more often called the 'Devil's Grip'.

Hermione looked up sharply, "Is it fatal?"

"No Ms. Granger," Pomfrey shook her head. "The person afflicted will suffer from headaches, fever, and bouts of sharp thoracic pain. It's because of that pain that the disease is called the Devil's Grip. It is supposed to feel as if something was gripping your ribcage and squeezing, which I'm sure that Mr. Potter can attest to."

Harry nodded absently, though his thoughts were elsewhere.

Pomfrey then turned to Dumbledore. "Even though cases of this illness are not unheard of in northern latitudes, it is more prevalent in tropical regions, say an island for instance. Is there something you wish to tell us, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore pulled out his wand. "I swear on my magic that I did not take Harry Potter to an island and leave him there."

Harry stared dumbfounded as the magical oath took effect, leaving Dumbledore unharmed. Proving that Dumbledore was telling the truth about not having a hand in Harry's dilemma. Harry then turned away from the Headmaster and nervously ran a hand through his hair.

"What the bloody hell happened to me then?"

tbc...