Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I am not making and money or profits of this fanfiction. This is merely a fans imagination gone out of control so please don't sue me.
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The Black Legacy
Chapter 4 – Tattered dreams!
It was near ten in the afternoon at Hogwarts. The sun was getting close to the horizon turning the sky into a tinge of yellow orange marking the end of a day. At this moment Madame Pomfrey was going through her medical cabinet, doing her daily ritual of checking her supplies so that she could be ready, for when a situation which requires her expertise would arise.
"It looks like I need more Blood-Replenishing Potion." She said, as she continued to move from one shelf to another in the cabinet, checking the vials of transparent liquids.
The day was just as ordinary as all the other days she thought. Apart from the Death Eater attacks things at Hogwarts have been peaceful, which suited her just fine. It was only when she heard the doors to the infirmary bursting open did she stop what she was doing, and inwardly think there goes a peaceful, day and walked out of her medicine storage room to see what was going on.
As she came into the infirmary area, her eyes met those of Dumbledore. "Dumbledore? What brings you here?"
Dumbledore's face remained passive and blank, as he pointed behind Pomfrey. What she saw as she turned around not only shocked her, but made her blood boil to the point of rupturing.
"Remus? What… what is that monster doing here?" She all but seethed through her gritted teeth, pointing at Lupin, who was at the moment carrying an unconscious Harry Potter with a levitation charm.
Before Dumbledore could stop her, Pomfrey ran the distance between her and Harry and pushed Lupin to the ground, with a great show of strength that would have impressed both Dumbledore and Lupin. The result was that the levitation charm fell, letting Harry fall hard on the grey stone floor of the infirmary.
Worry set on Lupin's face. From the moment Harry hit the floor he heard the sound of bone hitting stone. "POMFREY YOU FOOL!" He shouted, crawling quickly to Harry's aid.
"What do you mean?" Pomfrey skeptically asked which was a mixture and silent shock and anger at being called a fool. "Don't you know who you are carrying there?"
Dumbledore walked next to Lupin, kneeling to check Harry himself. "Come now Remus; let's get Harry on a bed quickly." He said, turning his attention back to Madame Pomfrey who at this point had a look of awe on her face. He would need to explain this situation to her gently he thought.
"Albus… what is going on here?" She asked once again, this time in a more calmer voice.
"… Poppy… circumstances of great importance… important and damaging have come to our attention a day ago." Dumbledore said with an even voice.
Pomfrey looked confused. "What are you talking about? And stop talking in riddles and cryptic tenses and just explain it me." She demanded.
Dumbledore sighed. "To put it shortly Poppy… young Harry here." He said indicating to Harry, who Lupin at the moment was placing a blanket over. "Is innocent."
That answer had an almost instant affect on Pomfrey, who looked even more confused then moments ago, as she looked skeptically at Dumbledore. "What do mean? The verdict on Potter was that he was guilty of murder. And I tell you now Albus, that I will not be harboring fugitives in my wing. Not now and not ever!"
Dumbledore sighed once again. He knew this was going to be difficult for Pomfrey. "Believe me Poppy, if I ever found that we had a fugitive in the school I would make sure they were gone before the end of the day… but Harry is not a fugitive and he did not murder anyone."
Pomfrey's eyes dilated a little as they widened. "Explain?" Pomfrey nervously asked.
Taking a seat on one of the beds in the infirmary with Pomfrey sitting opposite him on another bed, Dumbledore told the story of the past day to her, not leaving out a single detail. At the end of the story Madame Pomfrey was a for lack of a better word completely and utterly gutted, but worst of all in a state of shocked depression.
"Poppy?" Dumbledore said, trying to get Pomfrey to respond. "Are you okay?" He asked redundantly, and inwardly smacking himself for such a stupid question.
"I… I need to get to work." She answered, while lifting herself of the bed and walking in small slow steps to Harry's side, where she took her queue in looking him over. "Remus, could you help me with Harry's clothing." She asked shakily.
Lupin looked wearily for a moment, but in the end he complied. Getting the blanket of Harry, he began to remove Harry tattered clothing, doing one bit at a time, starting with the shirt. Pomfrey reaction made her eyes widen and her hand instinctively cover her mouth, on sight of Harry bare chest.
"Remus… his chest! The scars! Who would do this?" She said through her hands which left her voice muffled, but not enough so no one could hear what she said.
Lupin had to strain not breakdown now and there. "Who wouldn't Pomfrey?" He said rhetorically. "Who wouldn't punish the so called traitor of the wizarding world?" His eyes became feral. "The traitor of hope." He began shake uncontrollably. "The-Boy-Who-Betrayed," He began to cry into his arm. "The Apprentice of Voldermort."
Pomfrey flinched at the mention of You-Know-Who's name, but in the end he was right. Who wouldn't want to hurt young Harry? She was just as willing to inflict pain on Harry a few moments ago just as the rest of the wizarding world did three years ago. She may not have been at the court when Harry was condemned, but she was just as responsible as anyone else she thought.
Not wanting to think any more on it, she continued to look over Harry, doing a vital and physical examination. A few stray tears fell through her eyes as she eyed the many scars on his chest. Her hand lingered for moment over the brand on his chest. She knew what that symbol meant even before she saw it.
"What have you uncovered Poppy?" Dumbledore asked, coming to the end of the bed.
"It doesn't look good Albus. His body is not in a right state at the moment." She sniffed, to which Dumbledore handed handed her a hanky to blow on. "Thank you." She then blew her nose. "He is extremely malnourished, caused by a lack of food and vitamins essential to his system. He is bruised all over, which look to be inflicted by an outside cause." She paused for a moment, in order to compose herself before continuing. "The affect to his mind I can not say, until he wakes up. We must be prepared to restrain him, for his mind may be out of balance."
"You mean crazy Pomfrey!" Lupin piped in. "Don't sugarcoat the truth to make it lighter then it really is."
"Now, now Remus, there is no need to be angry. Poppy knows what to expect and what we call it won't make a difference to what it is." Dumbledore said, trying to calm the werewolf.
Remus snorted. "There is plenty of reason to be angry professor, and I think when the time comes we should be ready to face the consequences, for I guarantee you, none of us will be walking away from this without feeling some pain. Whether it is physical or mental is up to Harry to decide."
Pomfrey sighed and continued where she left off. "That is not all I found." She said drawing Dumbledore and Lupin's attention. "When I ran a scan on his blood system I found that he had nightshade extract, mixed with spider silk and sulphurous ash in him." Dumbledore looked worried at the mention of these three items. "I am not a potions master, but if I am not mistaken, nightshade is a poisonous plant and is mainly used in potions which cause illusions."
"It is." Dumbledore paused for a second. "The three items are reagents which are used in all potions linked to creating illusions. To be sure on what potion was used we will need to ask Severus."
With that in mind, Dumbledore left the infirmary to go find Snape.
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It was night at the burrow, and the Weasley family were still up. The last twenty-four hours has been a nightmare for all the family, a nightmare which none of them thought they would ever awake from.
Molly, to pass the time and to distract her mind, resorted to cooking for the whole day, hoping to keep her mind from the truth of yesterday. The rest of the Weasley family sat in the living room, reflecting, but unlike Molly they did not hide the pain they were feeling.
"Hey dad." Fred piped up. "What do you think is going to happen once Harry gets back on his feet?"
Arthur looked at his son sadly. "I don't know Fred..." Arthur put his head in his palms. "…I just don't know."
"I'll tell what he is going to do!" Ron voice echoed, gaining the attention of everyone, including Molly who dragged herself away from her stove. "He'll want revenge, because if I was accused of something I didn't do that is what I would do."
The room was silent for a moment. Harry would never do that was the first thing on everyones minds, he was too kind and too gentle. But as it sank in, they could not help but agree with Ron's words.
Ginny, who was sitting by the window began crying, and was about to run out until George jumped up towards her and wrapped her in a caring hug. After few seconds of struggling she fell into his hug and cried into his shoulder.
Everyone jumped as the fireplace lit suddenly, which signaled that someone was flooing them. They were introduced to the face of Remus Lupin, who held a sad façade.
"Hello Arthur. I am sorry to floo you at this hour but I thought I would tell you the latest." Remus said.
Arthur just nodded and unlocked the defenses on the floo network, which allowed Remus to enter the Burrow. As Remus came though he greeted everyone.
As he looked at everyone he saw the sadness. He was considering on leaving the news for a later time but knew by the way they were now that no amount of time would make them feel worse then they already were.
Arthur stood from his seat and looked at Remus. "How is he Remus?"
Everyone in the room, all the Weasley children and Molly looked at Arthur, then Remus. Remus looked at each of them, taking a deep breath he began to speaking.
"Where to begin Arthur."
"Start with Harry." Arthur suggested.
"At this moment Harry is at Hogwarts under Pomfrey's care right now." Remus paused, considering whether to tell them about Harry's condition. "Maybe you should send the kids up stairs Arthur."
"I am not going up stairs." Ginny said in a raised voice. She was followed instantly by her brothers. "We all have a right to know about Harry, the good and the bad, we can handle it."
Remus nodded sadly. "I hope so Ginny." He responded, and then continued. "To put it bluntly Harry is in bad shape. We don't know what is mind is like, only until he wakes up will we know if he is sane o not." Molly gasped while the George and Fred closed their eyes at the same time. "His body on the other hand is in a need of total repair and replenishing. He is extremely malnourished to the point of near death; he has many scars on his body and possibly broken bones." Remus finished.
"There is something you're not telling us." Arthur said gaining surprised looked from Remus.
Remus just nodded. "There are two things…no… three things in fact." He paused for moment to reflect quickly. "When Pomfrey scanned Harry he showed signs that he was given a potion to induce illusions. We're looking into what potion and who it was that gave it to him. In his cell there was some strange marking all over the walls made by Harry… it was his blood that was used." Molly almost broke down from hearing that. "We are also looking into what those marking mean." Remus paused for the last time. "Lastly… it appears that someone intestinally branded Harry with a symbol which represents traitor."
Remus waited, giving the Weasley family time for the information to sink in. He could not blame them for the states at this time, even after three years, it only seems like yesterday since Harry was with them before being sent to Azkaban, and it only just court up with them that three years has passed.
"When can we see him?" Asked Molly, who for the first time looked like she could take anything. Everyone else was also wondering the same thing.
"At this moment no one." Remus put his hand up as Molly was about to abject. "The reason is we don't know Harry's state of mind. For all we know he could be as Pomfrey states unbalanced, so we can't take risks with anyone being anywhere near him when he wakes."
Arthur nodded. "We'll come and see him when he is better then."
Remus smiled. "That would be for the best."
All conversations ended there. As Remus left the Burrow the Weasley's stood silently in the living room contemplating. What Remus said left a huge hurt on their hearts as he explained the condition of Harry's body. It was sad to think that all of this, the misfortune of Harry being sent to Azkaban was partly down to them. At the end of the day all they could do was hope that Harry got better.
If he even recovers that is.
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AN: Sorry for the lateness if this chapter. It has been so long since my last update, which is down to me loosing my muse in writing. In any case I hope you enjoyed this chapter. So R&R for me please if you think it can be improved or if there are any spelling mistakes or typos. But please no flames, only constructive criticism.