The Mind of Harry Potter
by Roff
TWO
Dumbledore turned back to Harry and found him with Fawkes trilling and warbling away. The smile was back on Harry's face. Dumbledore left them there and just watched until Professor Snape arrived. Once he showed up with the Veritaserum he eyed Harry carefully as the boy just smiled and stared at the phoenix. The bird was still communicating with the boy.
"Harry, can you come back and sit down for me? We have a guest. His name is Professor Snape and he knew your parents too. He brought us a potion that should help you tell us what happened so we can find out how to help you better. Sound good?"
Harry looked back at Dumbledore and the new Professor Snape and decided it would be best not to get on their bad side. He remembered what happened to him when he was with the Dursleys and got on their bad side. He didn't want to repeat any of that.
Harry was quite smart and had no trouble comprehending what was going on but what happened to his mind messed with his ability to communicate properly. Due to this he was a bit confused because the inability to form words as easily as before was quite troubling. He had to focus his mind on figuring out the problem while at the same time he paid attention to what people were saying to him.
Harry walked over and sat down in the chair as requested. His smile long gone and he just stared straight ahead.
"Thank you, Harry. Now, can you tilt your head back and open your mouth so Professor Snape can put just a drop or two on your tongue? Then I will ask you some questions."
Harry obediently leaned his head back and opened his mouth. Snape used a dropper and put one drop on Harry's tongue then stepped over so he could watch the boy's reaction. They waited a few seconds but Harry's eyes never glazed over. Dumbledore proceeded anyway.
"Please state your full name."
Nothing. Harry just stared at him.
"Perhaps a stronger dose, Severus?"
"I will only do one more drop. More than that would be foolhardy."
"Let's get one more drop Harry. Tilt your head again and open your mouth please."
Harry did as requested so Snape placed another drop on his tongue. They waited 30 seconds and tried questioning him again.
"Okay, Harry. Please state your full name."
Nothing.
"Come on you can do it. Harry James Potter. Can you say that?"
Still nothing.
"My word, Severus. Is he immune to Legilimency and Veritaserum?"
"It certainly looks like it, Headmaster. What happened to him?"
Dumbledore explained to Snape what they found at the Dursleys and the large accidental magic that occurred killing all three of them and destroying the house completely. He talked of Harry's injuries and how he was now trying to piece together what exactly caused all of this.
They were pretty much out of options, unless they could get Harry to speak about it.
oOo
Dumbledore assigned an elf to watch after Harry and to show him around the castle and the grounds, making sure he didn't go anywhere unsafe. It was summer so the place was practically empty. No students were around.
While Harry was off exploring Dumbledore was wondering where Fawkes had gone when he disappeared. He'd been talking aloud about what he could do to help the boy and had made sure he thanked Fawkes for making Harry smile. Fawkes had trilled in response then flamed out immediately.
"Well, I wonder what Fawkes is up to? We will just have to wait and see when he returns."
Dumbledore rose from his desk and went to the window. He spotted Harry and Mimi out on the grounds. Mimi was a great house elf who had a lot of experience with children and loved to look after them.
As he watched, Dumbledore saw that the two of them had sat down on the grass facing each other. Mimi was doing all the talking. Suddenly she waved her hand at Harry and his clothes all turned a bright yellow. Harry looked down at his clothes then looked back up at Mimi. She waved her hand again and this time his clothes all turned purple.
Dumbledore opened the window and enhanced his hearing so he could hear what Mimi was saying. He heard her tell Harry that with magic you can make your clothes whatever color you want. She waved her hand again and his clothes turned red. Harry looked down at them and giggled. He actually let out a small giggle. Dumbledore was thrilled.
He kept watching though and soon he saw Harry wave his hand at Mimi and her clothes turned blue. Mimi clapped and congratulated him on his use of magic. She then asked him to try another color.
"How about pink?" she asked him.
Harry thought about it for a second then waved his hand again. Mimi's clothes were now all pink. She clapped again and told him how special he was that he could do magic so well for someone so young. Harry smiled at the praise.
Dumbledore was wondering just exactly what it meant that Harry Potter at only six years of age could do controlled wandless magic like that. He picked up quickly and naturally. He was obviously very powerful and determined. Dumbledore made a note to question Mimi about her observations later.
As he continued to watch them and observed more magic Harry was picking up quickly, Fawkes returned and brought a friend with him. The other phoenix was a little smaller than Fawkes was and bore similar colors. While Fawkes was red and gold with some gold feathers around the eyes and face, the new phoenix was red and gold with black feathers around the eyes and face.
"Ah, I see you brought a friend Fawkes. I'm sure Harry will be interested given how he has responded to you. I will ask that he return to my office."
Dumbledore pulled his wand and sent his phoenix patronus to Harry and Mimi with a message.
Harry and Mimi were still playing when the silvery white phoenix arrived. They stopped what they were doing and looked at it. The phoenix stayed in one place while they heard Professor Dumbledore's voice saying "Harry, please have Mimi bring you back to my office. Fawkes has brought a friend who would very much like to meet you."
Mimi walked Harry back to the headmaster's office and took him inside. As soon as Harry saw the other phoenix, he ran over and just stared at it, a smile back on his face. The phoenix started trilling and Harry's smile grew bigger. Fawkes joined his friend and the two created a symphony of sound that soothed everyone who could hear.
Then before Dumbledore could react, the new phoenix leaned over and cut the top of Harry's ear with his sharp beak. Dumbledore was in shock. Fawkes just cranked up the volume while the new phoenix cried a tear on Harry's ear, healing it completely. Harry never said a word. He frowned when his ear was cut but he smiled a big smile again when it was healed.
This was the last thing Dumbledore expected. The new phoenix just bonded with little Harry. There was no doubt of Harry's power and a phoenix is always drawn to powerful magic users when they bond but he had no idea Fawkes was bringing another phoenix to bond with Harry. Although if he thought about it, that was probably a great idea.
Harry was in a right state and needed all the help he can get. Given his response to Fawkes, perhaps bonding with a phoenix would do him a lot of good. Dumbledore could only hope.
He was laughing at the antics of Harry and his new companion when his door was flung open and in marched Snape.
"Headmaster! That child is a menace! Look what he did to my robes!"
The headmaster just stared at Severus Snape in his bright yellow robes. He looked like a very large shiny canary.
"I passed him and that elf in the hallway and he waved his hand at me turning my robes this horrible color."
The headmaster turned his head and saw Harry glance over at Professor Snape and wave his hand again. He looked back at his potions professor and now he was wearing bright pink robes. He couldn't help himself. He let out the biggest belly laugh at the sight of his stern Professor Snape no longer in his preferred color of black. The pink was quite humorous too. Even Harry giggled.
Snape looked down at his robes and his eyes bugged out as he saw all the pink. "Now that's not funny!"
Ten years later…
"What is this place?"
"Oh no, it's the school."
"What in Merlin's name happened to it?"
"I don't know."
"Wait a minute, Hermione. What's the last thing you remember before seeing this? The last thing I remember was going to bed and now we're here. It makes no sense."
"Ron, the last thing I remember is going to bed and then this. I don't remember waking up or how we got here, yet we're both here fully dressed and not in our pajamas. How can I not remember waking up, getting dressed, and coming here?"
"Something is definitely not right Hermione."
"Could this be a strange dream we're both having at the same time and where we're able to talk to each other in the exact same dream?"
They both turned and looked at each other then they both said together – "Harry!"
"Do you think he's dreaming or is he testing us again?" asked Ron.
"We figured it out pretty easy so I bet he's dreaming and controlling what we see. When he tests us, it's so much harder to know it's not real. Try and wake yourself up Ron then wake Harry up so he'll stop this illusion."
"Here goes."
Ron concentrated for a minute.
"He's getting stronger, Hermione. I can't wake up."
"How can he get stronger? He's off the charts now! Let me try."
She failed as well.
"Let's just call to him and see if we can wake him up."
"I don't think that's going to work Ron."
"How do you know? It certainly can't hurt to try."
"HARRY, HARRY. WAKE UP." Ron started yelling.
Hermione decided to join him.
"WAKE UP HARRY! COME ON. YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP. YOU HAVE US TRAPPED IN HERE!"
"COME ON HARRY, YOU CAN'T LEAVE YOUR BEST FRIENDS IN HERE. I'M YOUR BEST MATE FOR CRYING OUT LOUD."
That didn't seem to be working but then Hermione saw Harry's phoenix flying around and called to him.
"FLYNN! FLYNN! OVER HERE. WE NEED YOUR HELP!"
Flynn heard her and flew down to where they were, landing on a broken wall of the castle near them. He trilled at them, calming them down a bit.
"Flynn, please tell us you can get out of here and wake Harry. We think he's dreaming and has Ron and I trapped in this illusion. Can you go wake him?"
Flynn nodded and flashed away. A few seconds later, they both found themselves awake, in their beds, and in their own dorm rooms. It was 4:33 in the morning. Hermione got out of bed and threw on her robe and slippers before heading down to the common room.
Ron woke up then went over to his friend's bed. Harry was awake with Flynn standing on the bed beside him.
"Harry that was freaky mate. You had Hermione and me in one of your illusions. I guess you were dreaming but we couldn't get out by ourselves. Flynn there had to help us."
"S-sorry… Ron. Hermione okay?"
"I'm sure she is since I am. She's probably waiting for us in the common room. You coming?"
"Uh… sure."
Harry got up, put on his robe, and followed Ron down to the common room where they found Hermione pacing. Her bushy hair was bushier than ever. Harry went over to her sheepishly.
"I'm… sorry… Hermione."
"Oh, Harry!"
She turned and hugged him even though she knew he wasn't all that comfortable with people touching him. She was determined though to get him over it. He seemed to accept her hugs easier now but it was no doubt a work in progress.
"I'm fine Harry. There's no need to apologize. Ron and I figured it out pretty quick, since you were dreaming, and you hadn't put as much thought into the illusion. The problem was we couldn't wake ourselves up like we used to be able to do. You're getting more powerful Harry."
"I'll have Flynn…always come to you…when you need him…for that...okay?"
"That's a great idea, mate. Flynn woke you up and we were free in no time."
"I suppose I'm to blame for this dream you were having," said Hermione.
Harry just stared at her with a question on his face.
"Well, Harry, I've been pushing you pretty hard testing your abilities, especially with these illusions. We did it so much you were dreaming about it and inadvertently placed us in that illusion. I'm not sure why you created a destroyed Hogwarts but it looked very real. We just couldn't remember when we woke up, dressed, and how we got there."
"At that point we figured you were dreaming like you did before," added Ron, "only this time we were stuck in there. You're so powerful now I couldn't wake myself up like last time."
Harry looked down at the floor then made his way over to the sofa in front of the fireplace. He absently waved his hand at the ashes and a roaring fire with plenty of logs appeared. His friends just watched him. Harry had come a long way since he was six. He did pretty well overall. It helped that he was so powerful and that school was easy for him, except for some communication issues. His communication had definitely improved but it was still his biggest hurdle.
He had learned a whole bunch of spells long before he ever started going to classes. The main reason was his ability to replicate a spell almost instantly and he never needed a wand to do it. He had lived at the castle since he was six. He just stayed out of the way with the help of the house elves when school was in session. The students rarely interacted with him.
He had his own private room in the castle but stayed in the boy's dorm during the school year ever since he was sorted into Gryffindor. They had him ride the train the first time so he would get that experience. He had met Ron and Hermione at that point and they became fast friends. After Dumbledore was assured in his own mind that the two of them were truly Harry's friends and for the right reasons, he took them aside and explained about what happened to Harry. He even showed them some memories in his pensieve so they could see how far he had come since he was six.
There was a big difference between 6 and 16. Harry had figured out how to talk when he wanted but it was still a bit of a struggle because of how his mind works. His speech was stilted and slow due to that.
However, once Harry was able to communicate better, he explained what he remembered about what happened to him. Dumbledore was shocked and appalled at the behavior of Harry's aunt and uncle, but he was even more shocked when he figured out what the entity was inside of Harry. He never dreamed Voldemort would go so far as to create Horcruxes. He tested Harry and found that the Horcrux was truly gone from him just as Harry believed it was.
This, in and of itself, was amazing.
A horcrux required very powerful and destructive magic to destroy it. Dumbledore was aware of fiendfyre and basilisk venom as two such powerful magical substances that could succeed in that but apparently Harry possessed enough destructive power to do so himself, and his body did not have to be destroyed during the process as with other horcrux objects. However, his mind was damaged, but that could have been the state he was in and what he was subjected to that put him in that state. A six-year-old's mind could easily snap under such duress from a horcrux trying to control him and a brute trying to physically kill him at the same time. A full-grown adult would likely snap as well.
Dumbledore credited Fawkes, his phoenix, with the best decision ever made for Harry. When Fawkes left and came back with Flynn who almost immediately bonded with Harry, there was a noticeable difference in him. He wasn't cured immediately, far from it, but you could see that his mind had calmed considerably from where it was previously. Dumbledore hoped that whirlwind he caught a glimpse of in the child's mind had at least slowed a bit.
Of course, all the professors were happy to show Harry different spells and teach him things, even Snape. The first thing he taught little Harry was he didn't like his robes any color but black. Harry knew that it was Snape's aversion to playing rather than his preference for color, but eventually he acquiesced and quit changing Snape's clothes. He did this right after he finally got bored playing that game.
Snape was no fun anyway. Since after the first time, every time Harry changed his clothes he would just stare at Harry, giving him the evil eye until Harry changed them back.
Harry was quite fond of the elves and they taught him a lot too, not necessarily on purpose though. They used a lot of magic and Harry would simply watch them. Just by seeing them use magic and observing the intended result, he learned how to do what they did. He even learned how to cook pretty well while hanging out in the kitchens.
His other time was spent mainly in the library. Once he could read, he was hooked on it. The older he got the more advanced his reading became. He was able to learn spells from the books too. Dumbledore had never seen any child pick up spells so fast and perform them so perfectly. He told Ron and Hermione all of this, except about the horcruxes of course.
They assured the Professor that they would do everything in their power to look out for Harry and help him develop as he should. They promised to help him interact with the other kids and, hopefully, they could help him to enjoy life. That was over five years ago and the task had never been an easy one, especially with students like Draco Malfoy around.
They warned Malfoy about Harry, telling him that Harry accidentally blew up an entire house at the mere age of six, so he was not to be trifled with. However, the blond ponce never seemed to believe what he was told. He had a wakeup call a couple of years ago though. It was during the Triwizard Tournament in which a Death Eater entered Harry into the contest illegally. Due to the magical contract created when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, he had to compete with the others or lose his magic.
Dumbledore was secretly wondering who would win between the goblet and Harry. Harry was so powerful that the goblet may not survive trying to steal his magic. However, he wasn't willing to take that risk so he convinced Harry to go ahead and compete.
During the first task, Harry had to face a Hungarian Horntail dragon. The fiercest and largest dragon out of the four they brought in for the tournament. Harry simply used his illusionary magic and made the mother dragon see something else entirely. It only took him about a minute to finish the task.
The announcer could barely introduce Harry and finish his comments about him before it was over. Harry just walked into the arena and headed toward the dragon. Before she could mount any sort of attack, Harry waved his hand and she suddenly sat perfectly still staring off into space. Harry kept walking, picked up the egg, and left.
You could have heard a pin drop in that arena. Malfoy, who was jealous and upset that he was not able to enter the contest, made the announcement that the dragon was tame and harmless, and that the contest had been rigged in Potter's favor. Then he walked out into the pit with the mother dragon and stood there to prove his point.
What no one saw was Harry suddenly remembering that he forgot to remove his spell so he waved his hand back toward the arena, removing the illusion from the mind of the dragon. He wasn't aware that the idiot Malfoy had walked in there with that furious dragon.
The dragon handlers were slow on the uptake because they had never seen anyone quiet a dragon like that, especially that Horntail. She was vicious at the best of times. They also never expected anyone to be dumb enough to go in there with her if they didn't absolutely have to. They saw Malfoy and several of them scrambled into the pit to subdue the dragon.
She was getting ready to turn him to ash when several stunners hit her drawing her attention onto the handlers and away from the idiot. Malfoy heard the roar and wet himself with fear as he hastily left the pit as fast as he could go. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape were all anxious to talk to him afterwards. He ended up with three months detention and a loss of 100 points from Slytherin. His father wasn't very happy with him either.
If only that could have been the end of it all, but no. Malfoy was not to be deterred. The very next year he threatened Harry in the front entryway of the school and he did it in front of plenty of witnesses, going so far as to pull his wand at the same time.
Harry simply stared at him. Nothing else, but the strangest thing happened. Malfoy dropped his arms to his side and let his wand fall to the floor. He then continued to stare at the spot where Harry had been standing. Harry was no longer there of course because he had walked off to get dinner in the Great Hall.
Many people tried to get Malfoy to snap out of it but he wouldn't. Snape floated him to the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey watched over him. Many questions were asked as to what happened to Malfoy but no one knew. Many reported though Malfoy's threat against Harry but no one saw Harry do anything other than stare a few seconds at the rude boy.
Dumbledore then turned and asked Harry specifically.
"Harry, were you the one that did that to Mr. Malfoy?"
"Yes."
"Because he pulled his wand and threatened you?"
"Yes."
"Harry, I assure you that Mr. Malfoy is all talk. He was just being a bully. Can you please release him?"
"No."
"Harry, I must insist."
"No."
Three days later Harry let Malfoy out of his mind prison. Dumbledore finally convinced Harry that he must have learned his lesson by now and he did need to eat. Malfoy's father, Lucius, showed up on day four inquiring about his son and what exactly happened to him. Dumbledore told him that Draco pulled his wand and threatened Harry Potter so he paid the price for it.
"He was lucky that was all that was done to him. Mr. Potter could have easily done so much more."
"I will not have my son being abused, Albus."
"You seem to be confused over who did the abusing, Lucius. I assure you there were many witnesses. Your son was being a bully but not being successful at it when it came to Mr. Potter. He went too far with the threat and it cost him. Simple as that."
"If Harry Potter comes near my son again, I will have him brought up on charges!"
"Then you need to tell your own son to stay away from Harry Potter. Mr. Potter has never shown an interest in your son. However, young Draco cannot say the same. He constantly tries to bother Mr. Potter and he needs to stop. Perhaps this last lesson will be taken to heart and he will stop trying to play with fire. If he continues, I'm afraid he'll get severely burned."
"Tell me, Albus, what punishment has been determined?"
"I see no need for punishment."
"You're just going to allow him to get away with it?" he asked incredulously.
"I think we can safely say he did not get away with anything. Far from it. Why add more?"
"I'm not following you," he said confused.
"Lucius, if you feel Draco deserves punishment on top of what he endured from Mr. Potter then by all means go ahead. You are his father after all. Now, I apologize but I'm rather busy today."
"That's not what I meant and you know –"
"Good day, Lucius," Dumbledore said with a smile interrupting him.
Lucius just stared at Dumbledore with a sneer on his face for a couple of seconds.
"Good day, Albus," he said with a forced pleasantness.
Lucius turned quickly and left. He barely missed seeing Harry on his way out. There would likely have been a second Malfoy staring at nothing had they met.
Harry ended up winning the whole tournament. The last task was a trap set by Voldemort but he found Harry completely uncooperative. According to Harry, a man tied him up and tried to take some of his blood so they could resurrect Voldemort to a new body but when Wormtail turned with his knife to cut Harry, Harry made the large cauldron disappear so he would have to start over.
This made the man really angry so Harry stunned Wormtail, released himself from the bindings, and jumped down from where he was tied up. He said the ugly baby in the blanket was yelling at him too but he calmly walked over to where he left the Tri-Wizard Cup trophy, which was also a portkey. He picked it up and travelled back to the school.
Dumbledore told him once he learned what happened that he should have brought Wormtail and Voldemort back with him so they could deal with them properly. Harry said they were too noisy and left it at that. He didn't want to discuss it any further.
Dumbledore apparated over to the graveyard but of course they were long gone. Professor Snape informed Dumbledore about a month later that Voldemort had successfully received a new body. He had given up on using Harry and used someone else's blood for the ritual.
Professor Moody, who was really Barty Crouch, Jr. using Polyjuice, tried to kill Harry when he returned from the graveyard but he was found staring at nothing by the professors. He stared for so long that the Polyjuice wore off and it was easy to see who he really was. They were able to capture him and release the real Moody from captivity.
oOo
Practically everyone knew by now that Harry was different. He rarely was seen without Ron or Hermione nearby, usually both. He also had Flynn, his phoenix, who kept a close watch on him all the time. People could see them communicating with each other on a regular basis.
Most people who didn't know Harry were scared of him, scared of his power at least. His actions in the Triwizard Tournament were widely reported on so most of the wizarding world knew he was powerful. They also knew something was wrong with him. Those specifics were a well-kept secret though. No matter how hard the press pushed they could not get an answer as to what happened to Harry to cause him to act the way he did.
The press speculated and wrote that it was likely the result of the boy being hit by the Killing Curse when he was just a toddler. He was hit in the head after all. No one else had ever survived it, so it stood to reason that since Harry did live through the curse that he was still damaged in some way. He also destroyed Voldemort in the exchange, thus indicating his great magical power that he has since demonstrated on many occasions.
Harry wasn't interested at all in reading the papers or hearing what they said but his friends and Dumbledore kept abreast of the articles. In the end it was decided to just let the press speculate all they wanted. It wasn't hurting anyone, especially Harry who didn't care.
In fact, Harry's fame was something he couldn't even comprehend properly. That's not to say he wasn't smart because he was. His ability to learn new things at an alarming rate proved that, but a lot of people being interested in his life was not something he was concerned with. There were too many other things that kept his attention and interest.