Title: Lusus Naturae

Chapter: Chapter Three

Rating: M for Much Death

Warnings: Abuse, Death, Adult Situations.

A/N: This is getting darker by the minute. I'm updating the rating to M.

The Headmaster's Office of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was a veritable treasure trove of magical artifacts and trinkets. Most of these objects were enchanted or charmed to alert Albus Dumbledore of one matter or another. Usually this was as simple as the time of an important meeting, an approaching rain cloud, or if Lemon Drops were back in stock at Honeyduke's. It was difficult to tell by looking at them which ones were important, but to the Headmaster each of them was significant in their own way.

One in particular could be said to rise above the rest in the strictest terms of importance. The enchantment laid into it was over a decade old and while it was not one of the oldest in the collection, it held a prominent position at the edge of his grand desk. It was, in form, nothing more than a glass orb similar to a Remembrall; Indeed it was filled with a white smoke that alerted by changing colors to red. When triggered it also let out a rather important sounding alarm, which at the moment was blaring through the empty office.

It may have gone wholly unnoticed - given that the Headmaster was not due back in his office for quite some time what with the summer holiday - were it not for a fearful house-elf who had been cleaning out Fawke's droppings tray. The nameless elf clamped down on its floppy ears with a yelp and vanished with a much quieter pop, intent on finding Headmaster Dumbles and alerting him to the racket in his office.

Petunia Dursley was not quite cold to the touch when Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt descended on Privet Drive. The sun was still high overhead, the heat was blistering, and the three wizards were out of breath. If they had been given more time to prepare they might have brought more hands, but there was no time to spare.

Unaware of the events that had transpired within the unassuming looking muggle residence, the three wizards stormed towards the front door. It was clear something had gone horribly awry. That they were able to Apparate this close to the house to begin with was a terrible sign. They should have bounced off the wards into the street, were the wards still intact, which confirmed Dumbledore's suspicions about the alarm that had gone off in his office.

Shacklebolt unlocked the front door with 'Alohomora' and led the Headmaster and Professor inside. What they encountered within was an unnerving silence and a rather putrid stench. The Auror made to clear the ground floor of the home, gesturing for the other wizards to head upstairs. Snape led the way, taking the steps two at a time until he reached the first floor.

"Albus," he said with a sharp exhale as he cleared the landing. "Lumos."

"Find him," Albus ordered from somewhere over Severus' shoulder. "I'll tend to Mrs. Dursley."

There was nothing to tend to, but Snape did not argue. He turned his wand into the open room to his right and swept the light across the barren bed chamber. It was mostly empty save for a Hogwarts trunk in one corner, a mattress on the floor in another, and a pile of broken muggle tat in the third.

"Potter?" Severus whispered. "Are you here?"

Receiving no response, Snape lowered his wand to floor and scanned the room again. He realized instantly that he was standing in a pool of filth. Not only that, but the pool seemed to have a trail that led away into the room. Following it in three quick strides, he came to a previously unnoticed closet.

"I've got him," Snape called, pulling open the sliding door.

Inside, Harry Potter was curled onto his side in the corner. Gone was the glamour that had been carefully crafted for him. Whatever condition plagued Harry Potter seemed to have taken its full affect. HIs pale skin was now an unearthly white and flecked with scales that refracted the wand-light. His hair was matted to his scalp with sweat or blood - Severus couldn't tell. He was visibly emaciated compared to the last he had seen of Potter, before he left Hogwarts for the remainder of the summer. Laying on the floor beside him was a stuffed bird that seemed to be dripping in what Severus had come to know with familiarity to be venom.

"You're alright," he said to the unconscious boy as he collected the reeking bundle of scaled limbs into his arms. "You're going to be okay."

Severus noted as he pushed past Albus in the hall, deftly sidestepping the corpse of his childhood enemy, that the small shivering body in his arms was unnaturally cold.

"We must keep this quiet," said Albus in the Infirmary Ward of Hogwarts. "For Harry's sake."

Severus did not bother to hide his displeasure with the Headmaster. It had taken a fair amount of convincing for Severus to not bring the boy straight to St. Mungo's, but Dumbledore had been quite insistent that to do so would be to put Potter in more danger. As much respect as he held for Poppy Pomfrey, he truly believed they were all out of their depth.

The boy in question was laid out in the same bed they had unceremoniously thrown him from a month prior, looking far worse for wear. In the sunlight that streamed through the windows of the ward it was clear his condition had progressed more quickly than expected and to a more severe degree than they could have predicted.

It was not difficult to surmise what had transpired at the residence of his muggle relatives. Severus had returned to aid Shacklebolt in covering up what had happened there. He took careful note of the locks on the door to Potter's room and the clear signs of negligence therein. The boy's claims were far less outlandish in light of the circumstances.

"They were trying to starve him to death," Severus declared, putting words to the thoughts swirling in his head. "They locked him in a room and starved him."

Poppy growled as she ran yet another diagnostic scan on her patient. The tip of her wand hovered over the small prone form and ran the length of him. When she reached his feet a parchment appeared floating in the air before her.

"It's the same," she said to Dumbledore. "Heart rate is nearly non-existent. I've poured two Pepper-Up Potions and a Nutrient Draught down him. With these warming charms he should be burning up. He's still cold."

"It is clear we do not understand what is happening here," Severus said. "We need assistance before this gets out of control. It is clear that he is a danger to others, if not to himself."

"Now, my boy," Albus began.

Severus quickly put a stop to that. "Far be it for me to champion the cause of a particularly putrid muggle's life, but it was indeed a life that he took. Be it in self-defense or otherwise. If he were to open his eyes right this moment, what could any of us do to ensure it did not happen again?"

"There's no way to be certain of the events that took place, Severus," Dumbledore argued.

The Professor laughed. "He has scales, venom coming from his salivary glands, and a second set of eyelids, Albus. What exactly am I misunderstanding about this? He petrified his aunt!"

"We don't know anything, yet."

"Which is exactly why we need help!"

"No shouting," Poppy warned softly.

Severus turned on his heel. "If you need me I'll be in my office reaching out to anyone who might have an idea of what we're dealing with."

"Discreetly," Albus called after him.