"Harry you need to drop the glamour" orders Severus firmly, but with a gentleness in his voice.
Harry stares at him for a few minutes, and then switches is gaze to the others in the room, searching their faces for something. He nods his head slightly before his form seems to shimmer and he is revealed.
His small, pale form is thin, too thin, and scars mar the skin visible on his arms, and a jagged scar lines the right side of his neck. He is swaying slightly from side to side in dizziness and Severus once more reaches forward to grasp his shoulders to prevent him from falling.
"I'm sorry" whispers Harry.
"Whatever are you sorry for ?" questions Sirius.
"For crying all over you, and for being too much trouble." Harry replies looking at the floor, ashamed.
"Don't be ashamed or sorry for crying. We all do it and your life has given you many reasons to cry." reassures Severus.
"And you are not too much trouble, we want you to share your troubles with us, we want to help you and support you." adds Remus.
"Petunia always said that boys and men don't cry, that it is a sign of weakness. She also said that me crying and being emotional made me weak and was further proof of why gays are lesser people. Plus... the beatings and chores were always worse if I cried." Harry says, eyes glazed over in remembrance.
The others flinch at the dead tone of Harry's voice when talking about his abuse.
Remus raises his hand to place comfortingly on Harry's shoulder, but as it comes closer Harry flinches and seemingly shrinks in on himself. Remus quickly drops his hand and says:
Harry, I'm not going to hit you, I'll never hit you and neither will Severus or Sirius." Remus watches as Hermione moves forward and talks quietly to Harry for a minute as Harry says;
"Sorry, Sorry, so sorry. I know. I don't usually do that anymore. I've gotten better since coming to the school and making friends. They've all been helping me acclimate to casual touch." At this Harry visibly straightens up.
"All of your friends know about your abuse and they never told any of your teachers? They let you go back each summer to your abusive relatives?" asks Sirius, glaring at Ron and Hermione.
"W...We didn't know..." says Ron faintly, trailing off uncertainly.
"They didn't know about it being that bad," Harry finishes for his best friend "they only knew about Dudley and what he and his friends did. Nobody else knew about it but me."
"Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped to get you out of that house."
"First off, I have asked Dumbledore at the end of each year to be allowed to remain at Hogwarts or somewhere else, and each time I explain to him why I want to stay, and each time he forces me back to that house. Second, I have no other relatives and no where I could go that Dumbledore couldn't find me and force me back." replies Harry quietly.
"But..." starts Hermione, but Remus cuts her off.
"It doesn't matter anymore anyway. Harry doesn't have to go back except to pick up the rest of his things. Now, we should find Minerva, as we can trust her, and contact the ministry, with the Dementors, so that we can hand over Wormtail. Then we can talk things out more." Remus grabs the small cage, while Hermione and Sirius help Ron off of the couch, and Severus helps an exhausted Harry.
"Sorry again about the leg," Sirius says to Ron "my depth perception is always a little off in my animagus form. I was trying to get the rat."
"Is there a reason your animagus is a dog?" questions Hermione curiously.
"It is because Remus is a Werewolf. As my mate he affected the form that I would take. Why do you ask?"
Harry hesitates and looks first at Ron, who shrugs, and then at Hermione who says; "Tell them Harry. We can trust them, you know that."
"Tell us what?" asks Severus and Remus at the same time.
"It's just that there are eleven of us that are animagi, " says Harry.
"And none of you are registered ?" questions Sirius
"None of us are registered, but... you see, all of us are wolves." Harry replies in a rush.