Chapter 1
When Harry Potter didn't show up at the welcoming feast, the professors were concerned. Headmaster Dumbledore called all of the Heads of House to his office to see if anyone had heard anything from the boy or any of his friends.
Unfortunately no one seemed to have heard from him in the past month. "Severus, Minerva, I'm going to have to ask you to go to Private Drive and pick him up. He might have just missed the train and returned home."
"I don't think that's the case." Severus said, "We would have gotten an owl by now if he had just missed the train."
"I have a very bad feeling about this." Minerva added.
Both of them stood to leave, bidding their colleagues a good night. Walking quickly, they exited the giant double doors and apparated away as soon as they crossed Hogwart's gates.
A second later they reappeared in the subdivision of Little Winging in Surrey. Minerva looked up at the street sign just to the left of them. "Looks like we're already at Private Drive. All that's left is to find house number 4." They looked around at the perfect cookie cutter houses that lined the street. All the houses were the same two-story design, with neatly trimmed lawns, and perfect colorful flowers.
They walked down the street until they spotted a brass number 4 on one of the houses. There weren't any cars in the drive and all the lights were off in the house. In fact, the flower bed looked like it hadn't been taken care of for weeks. Walking up to the front door they knocked even though they doubted they would get an answer. They waited a minute and when no answer came Severus pulled out his wand and whispered an 'Alohamora'.
The lock clicked and he opened the door. The entrance was bare except for a coat rack in the corner. The two professors moved further in and noticed that all the personal items a house usually held were absent. There were several lighter colored squares on the walls were pictures used to hang. There was an eerie feel about the house. As if something unspeakable had happened here. They went up the stairs toward the bedrooms, each suppressing a shudder as some of the stairs squeaked. They looked into all the rooms and noticed that all the furniture was still in tack. The last door they came to had several locks on the outside of the door, all of which were locked.
Dread filled both of them as they stared at all the different locks. Obviously whatever was inside wasn't keeping people out, but instead was keeping it in. Minerva flicked her wrist and all the locks fell to the floor. Taking a deep breathe she put her hand to the door knob and slowly pushed it open. They stepped into the dark room and were immediately assaulted by the smells of urine, feces, blood, vomit, and worst of all stale sex.
Severus cast a lumos and the room was spilt with light. The room was bare except for a bed with a threadbare mattress and blanket. Under the blanket was a lump that could only be the missing boy wonder. Severus walked over and moved the blanket from the bed. He let it fall to the ground in shock. What he saw was worse then he could have possibly imagined. The small boy he found was completely unrecognizable from the boy they were looking for. He was small, extremely undernourished and covered in welts and filth. The worst that was immediately seeable were the boy's eyes. The skin around them were burned and covered in blood.
Severus bent down and gently picked him up. A whimper and a flinch escaped the small boy and Severus let out a sigh of relief. 'At least the boy is still alive,' he thought. He turned to leave and saw Minerva's shocked face. She let out a sob as she saw the many wounds on the small body.
They quickly apparated back to Hogwarts and ran up to the infirmary, where Madam Pomfrey could heal Harry.
Shock only crossed the matrons face for a second before she went into complete nurse mode and ordered them to set the boy down on a bed and get all the potions she would need. When they did all they could, they left the infirmary and headed to the headmaster's office.
At the news of Harry's condition the twinkle left his blue eyes and for once he looked his true age. A deep sorrow filled his eyes and the professors wondered if they would ever see his eyes hold any amount of joy again. The headmaster then asked them to lead him to the infirmary so he could see the boy himself.
A tear slid down the old man's face at the young boy—no not boy, man. "I'm so sorry Harry. I've failed you again. I should have checked on you instead of leaving you with them." He whispered. "How will you ever forgive me? How can I make it up to you?"
"Headmaster, the boy is an extremely loving and forgiving soul. He'll forgive you, but you'll have to change a little as well to regain his trust." McGonagall said, sitting on the bed next to Harry's.
The headmaster sighed and turned to Madam Pomfrey for the report. The matron took a deep breath before she started. "He's severely malnourished. He has broken bones and several of them are set wrong and will have to be re-broken before they can heal properly. His body is covered in bruises, cuts and open sores. He shows evidence of having been whipped and, unfortunately, raped too. His eyes were severely burned by a chemical and he won't be able to see again. From my readings the abuse has been going on for years, even before he came to Hogwarts I would say."
Severus and Albus sat down on the bed next to Minerva as they processed the news and tried to get over the shock. Nobody had noticed and now Harry had to pay the price for it. Severus quickly got back up and headed for the exit.
"Severus, where are you going?" Minerva asked, concern lacing her voice.
"To research and make a cure for the blindness." Severus replied shortly and left without looking back again.
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AN: Short I know but it was a good stopping point. Please Review!
