Hiding at Hogwarts

~ by Healer Pomfrey ~

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

5 – Problems

On the way back downstairs, Helga patiently explained that Salazar's main portrait was guarding the door to Professor Snape's quarters and that her husband had apparently tried to make a deal with the Potions professor involving Harry and his translations of Salazar's recipes. Harry let out a snort. 'As if Snape ever agreed to such a deal,' he thought, sighing in relief when he reached Helga's quarters unseen.

Helga immediately called Dobby and instructed him to bring whatever Harry wanted to eat. Lacking the energy to fight with the stubborn woman, Harry obediently swallowed a small portion of pumpkin soup and even agreed to take a short nap on the sofa afterwards. Unfortunately, by the time he woke up, he didn't feel any better. He slowly sat up, noticing that he felt very dizzy and that Salazar was talking to him from the portrait.

"Hey lazybones; don't sleep through the whole day. My potions book is waiting to be translated," the Founder sneered, causing Harry to apologize.

"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to sleep the whole day," he replied in a small voice, shivering slightly.

Of course this didn't go unnoticed by Helga, who called Dobby and instructed him to check Harry's temperature. Dobby quickly laid his hand on Harry's forehead, before he fetched the thermometer from the table and coaxed it under the boy's tongue. Unaware of the concerned looks his great grandparents gave him at his lack of protest, Harry unconsciously leaned into Dobby's cold touch. After a short while, orange numbers appeared from the back side of the thermometer, displaying, '38.4.' (101.1)

"Harry Potter is having a fever and should rest," Dobby told him and fetched Harry's pillow and covers for him from the bedroom, motioning for him to lie down again, before he quietly exchanged a few words with Helga.

"Thank you, Dobby," Harry replied and snuggled into the blanket, before he pulled Salazar's book, the parchment and his quill over and resumed his translation work, until his headache became too bad and he put everything away and lay down again. However, he couldn't sleep anymore and felt worse by the hour. He merely lay there with his eyes closed, hoping that whatever was pestering him would clear up soon.

Suddenly, Helga's voice penetrated his foggy mind. "Harry, fetch my small portrait from the shelf and let me get a close look at you," she instructed him firmly, causing Harry to groan inwardly.

He reached for the small portrait that told him, "Let's go into the bedroom."

"No Helga, remain here. We'll give you some privacy," Rowena said gently, pulling the two wizards with her out of the portrait.

"Now tell me exactly what's ailing you," Helga said sternly, "and I want to hear the truth. Otherwise, I won't be able to help you."

"I don't know. It's not so bad. I just feel a bit unwell, and my whole body is sore," he said hesitantly, noticing that the Healer looked at him in concern as he admitted that his head had already been aching for weeks.

"You should have told me when you began to feel unwell weeks ago," the ancient Healer said reproachfully. "Now, light the tip of your wand and let me examine you once again. It can't be a cold; otherwise, it would be gone by now."

By the time Helga finished her examination, Harry felt totally exhausted. Seeing that he was shivering violently, Helga instructed him, "Take your temperature," only to add, "Otherwise I will call Madam Pomfrey right away," when he let out an annoyed groan.

Feeling too bad to fight with Helga, Harry obeyed, shivering even more at the cold touch of the glassy device in his mouth. After an infinite time, a red, '39.2' emerged from the thermometer.

"Your fever is still climbing up," Helga said worriedly. "I hope that it's only the wizard's flu and not anything strange. Too bad that I can't cast a diagnostic spell. Over the last few hundred years, I've tried to cast wandless spells so often, but it just doesn't work. I'm sorry, Harry." She once more called Dobby. "Please fetch me two phials each of the flu potion and of a fever reducer without letting anyone know," she instructed the elf, who bowed deeply and left with a pop.

"Harry, take these potions and stay put for the time being. I hope we can get rid of this without having to call Poppy for help," Helga said firmly.

Harry lay back and closed his eyes, feeling utterly relieved that he didn't have to do any chores or homework for the time being. 'Thank God that I didn't go back to the Dursleys. Even if Helga can't check on me, at least she tries to guess, gives me proper potions and allows me to rest,' he thought gratefully. 'I'll never ever go back to that house. Hogwarts is my real home now.' With that happy thought in mind, he drifted off to a disturbed sleep, unaware of the fact that the Founders were going to witness his fever induced nightmares about his abusive uncle.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Headmaster's office ~

At the same time, Minerva McGonagall entered the Headmaster's office with an expression of utmost concern on her face. "Albus, Arabella Figg just contacted me through the Floo. She told me that she didn't see Harry even once this summer, which is strange, because according to Arabella, he normally has to work in the garden every day during the summer. Worried that his relatives had mistreated him or that he was sick, she went to the Dursleys and asked Petunia if she could borrow Harry to help her with her garden. However, Petunia told her that Harry didn't come home after the last school year. They waited for him at the station, but he never showed up."

"He never showed up?" Dumbledore asked in disbelief, slowly unwrapping a lemon drop. "Minerva, Molly Weasley told me that all the children, including Harry, arrived at King's Cross without any problems. How is he supposed to get lost between platform nine and three quarters and the Muggle platform, where his relatives probably waited for him, hmm? I'm sure Arabella just misunderstood something. I'll ask Severus to go and check if the boy is at home. In his snake form, he'll be able to sneak into the house without attracting any attention." He turned to the fireplace and called the Potions Master, who stepped through the Floo seconds later.

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Severus Snape was not happy to say the least. Only a few days ago, the Headmaster had called him to tell him that he hired a werewolf as the new Defence teacher and that he had to brew the Wolfsbane potion once a month. 'As if I didn't have enough work to do with the multiple tasks as teacher, Potions Master and Head of House,' he thought angrily. And today, he had just been engrossed in his final preparations for an experimental potion when the Headmaster required his presence once again. He quietly listened to the old wizard's rambling, rolling his eyes in annoyance as comprehension set in.

"Very well. I'll go and see if the boy is there," he grudgingly agreed. "That's typical for Potter, isn't it? Even during the summer he has to do something stupid in order to attract everyone's attention. Maybe he didn't feel pampered enough at his relatives' home after getting so much attention from everyone here at Hogwarts," he mumbled, more to himself than to the Headmaster and his Deputy.

"Severus, we don't even know if Harry did anything. It's rather possible that something was done to him," Minerva threw in disapprovingly. "You should know how it is to grow up in an abusive home."

Severus raised an eyebrow at his old teacher. 'Potter is abused?' he thought in disbelief. 'Why does everyone suddenly talk to me about him anyway? First Salazar's portrait, now Minerva...' He let out a long sigh.

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I believe that you're the best to check on the boy, not only because you'll be able to hide so well in your snake form, but because you won't bring him to Hogwarts, just because he feels lonely at home," the Headmaster said firmly.

Minerva let out a long sigh. "Please check on Harry, Severus. I have a bad feeling about the whole matter. Albus, don't you remember the evening when the children went home? The alarm we heard because of the wards that came down?"

"Ah, but I don't think that the Dursleys did anything to him. A different alarm would alert me if he was in danger, life-threatening danger," Dumbledore replied soothingly, unaware of the fact that said alarm would make himself upset sooner than he could imagine.

tbc...

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