The room was massive. He would have fainted with happiness but he didn't want to be more of a burden for the man-Professor.
The Professor had told him to rest. Rest!
And rest he did.
Harry put down his glasses on the top of drawer beside the bed, climbed onto the bed carefully and slipped inside the blanket.
He thought hard whether he should sleep on the bed or not. Bad kids don't deserve a bed. He knew that. He didn't deserve a bed. He knew that too. But he also knew that there was no cot lying in the room. He thought of himself as the Professor to think if he would like to find a boy sleeping on the floor when there was no cot.
He would be angry. He might accidentally step on the boy as he would not know about him sleeping on the floor. So, sleeping in the bed was the better option.
That's how he dozed off into the world of dreams...
Pain. Everything pained. A wicked laugh from someone with blonde hair was made, but he couldn't make out the face. It was all blurred.
He was lying in a crib. The scream of a woman reached his ears. Green light blinded his eyes. An evil cackle bounded off the walls. Something wet was dripping from his forehead.
Blood. Shining, crimson blood.
Before anything else could happen, he felt consciousness make him awake. A hand, calloused but gentle, took his arm. It did not hurt him a lot, but it did make him open his eyes.
"Harry, how did you get these?"
The Professor was seething. It was the same expression Uncle Vernon had whenever he was angry and...resulted into a not so good day for Harry.
"U-u-uncle Vernon, Professor," telling the truth was the best, after all.
"When I don't do my work properly, he takes hold of my arm real bad and twists it and it hurts so much. But I know I deserve it."
The man's face transitioned into a gentle expression, but his eyes told another story. There was a storm brewing in those dark eyes, which made Harry shiver. He didn't want to be on the bad side of the Professor.
"Harry, you certainly don't deserve that. Whatever things you have been told by your Aunt and Uncle are all false. Don't believe them."
Harry nodded. He couldn't believe the man, but there was no use in angering him further. Best to be safe.
"There's a 'friend' of mine who could heal you? Would you be okay if I call her? She really loves kids."
The last time Harry was taken to a doctor or nurse (which was surprising, but they probably took him there as he got a concussion and was 'dallying around the house instead of working') was not good. They asked him about his home life and he told them truth. And then they further asked his relatives about his home life. Which further led him to getting beaten. Because he deserved that.
But this Professor was nice. And if he didn't say yes, he would become sad. He gave a hesitant nod, to which the Professor let out a sigh of relief.
"Good. Just be right here and I'll call her."
Just like that, the Professor was out of the room again.
Now, he was sure his head was going to explode with the knowledge he had received in the recent hours of his life.
Firstly, the arrogant prince is an abused boy. Secondly, Petunia never changed (unsurprisingly). Thirdly, he was Po-Harry's guardian, temporary guardian. Fourthly, he still needed to find out the source of dark magic on the blood wards.
Lastly, the Dursleys needed a taste of their actions.
He threw the Floo powder and made his way to the Infirmary.
Poppy was bustling around the Hospital Wing, putting the supply of potions and bedsheets back at their places.
"Poppy, I need you to come to my quarters."
The bedsheets in her hands dropped.
"Merlin, Severus, there is no need to come out of the blue and sneak up on me like that!"
"I need you to come to my quarters," he said again, calmly.
"Why, what happened?" She asked a bit concerned.
"You'll get to see."
And then he Flooed back to his quarters.
Whenever Severus found an abused child, he called Poppy immediately to attend to him/her in his quarters. Thinking this situation to be the same, she took the potions kit with her which she had especially prepared for such times and Flooed to Severus' quarters.
"Is that.."
"Yes, the one and only, now get to work. I retrieved him from his muggle relatives and he needs...healing."
The glimpse of the boy from between the door melted Poppy's heart. It was like seeing James once again, running around the Potter Manor playing with his Kneazle while she spent time with Euphemia.
But James was a healthy and happy boy. The boy in front of her eyes looked too thin for his age and looked so exhausted as if he was ready to faint. His clothes hanged on his emaciated body structure like rags. She just wanted to hug him and make all his worries go away.
Alas, that was not an option.
She slowly opened the door and made her way towards the bed, sitting on the edge.
"Hello dear, I am Madam Pomfrey. Or you can just call me Poppy. Professor Snape told me you are hurt. Can I help you make the pain go away?"
A frantic nod was the answer she got. She smiled gently at Harry and took out Bruise Balm from her kit.
"This is Bruise Balm. I am going to apply these on your arms so that the bruises completely vanish! It will sting a little bit, but I know you are a brave boy. It will take just a minute."
"Yes ma'am."
He put his arms out, to which Poppy applied the Balm with gentle hands, as if touching a delicate flower.
With the number of bruises on the boy's arm, Poppy knew that the balm hurt like hell when in contact with the bruises. But the boy didn't even flinch. Not even a little. That concerned her a little (understatement of the year).
When the left hand was done, Poppy spotted a burn on the hand.
"How did you get this burn, dear?"
"I spilled some of the soup Aunt Petunia told me to make. She got angry and put my hand on the stove at low flame."
From behind her came the sound of air being sucked in. Poppy felt enraged at whoever had done such harm to the child sitting in front of her and longed to curse those beings.
But not right now. Right now, she had to take care of the boy in front of her.
"Does it hurt?"
"A little."
"It's alright. I have some Burn Salve here and it will make the burn disappear!"
It was taking all of Poppy's power to appear optimistic for Harry. She badly wanted to have an emotional breakdown along with Harry.
Poppy applied the Burn Salve on the hand. She took in the sight of the blisters present on the boy's hands and silently took out Healing Salve from her kit and applied it too.
Poppy didn't miss the look of fright intertwined with wonder in those emerald orbs while she was putting the ointments.
"All done, dear. Does it hurt anywhere else?"
She just hoped that there was nothing else.
"Um...n-no ma'am!"
The reluctant reply was proof enough that her wish wasn't going to be true.
"Harry, do you like tickles?"
"Uh huh."
"That's great! If I perform a spell to check on your health, will you be okay with it? I promise it won't hurt, just a bit ticklish."
"Okay ma'am."
Poppy smiled warmly at Harry while performing the Diagnostic Charm. He gave out a little giggle, which instantly became her favourite melody.
A parchment appeared and landed on Poppy's lap. She picked it up and read the diagnosis. She was sure her eyes almost bulged out from the sockets. Almost.
Five minutes passed by and Poppy was still staring at the parchment with lips thin and eyebrows knitted high. Severus lost his patience and snatched it from her hands.
The Dursleys were going down...
Multiple lacerations on back
Malnourishment
Minor concussion on the back of the head
Bruises on abdominal area
Curse damage [unidentified]
Multiple lacerations on back
Malnourishment
Minor concussion on the back of the head
Bruises on abdominal area
Curse damage [unidentified]
"Nothing important," Severus snapped, making Harry bow down his head. Severus kicked himself mentally.
Multiple lacerations on back
Malnourishment
Minor concussion on the back of the head
Bruises on abdominal area
Curse damage [unidentified]
"Go back to sleep, Harry. I have to talk with Poppy."
Some part of Harry wanted to protest that the Professor had promised to answer his questions (Where is he? Why is he calling him Harry? Why are they being so nice to him? Is he his dad?)
But Harry knew better than to argue and lay back again, feigning to sleep.
"Severus, the child needs healing immediately! What did you mean by 'nothing important'?" Poppy shouted. She had already cast a Silencio so that Harry wouldn't wake up.
"Do you want to give a mental breakdown to the boy this instant? Imagine yourself in his place. You are a severely abused child whisked away from your home by a grumpy Professor and told magic is real instead of being freaky, which you have known to believe your whole life, and a random lady comes out of thin air using magic to heal you! What would you do in his place, hmm?"
No response.
"He has just found out about magic and is barely managing to not lose his sanity. His relatives have filled his mind with all sorts of lies about magic being 'freaky'! It's a blessing he is letting us near him to heal him using magic. Healing the damage done to him will take more of magic and believe me, he won't be 'fine' after that.
We can deal with them while he is in a deep sleep."
"Fine! But Severus, did you read about the curse damage? Unidentified!"
"I know. We will have to figure out the curse to help him recover from its 'unidentified' damage."
There was a long silence. The fire in the hearth produced a crackling sound, the only sound in the silence. A thought crossed Severus' mind.
"Every child's magical core is checked time-to-time. Am I correct?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... Could you check Harry's? It probably hasn't been checked for three years."
"Alright. The child has to be in a calm state for that and Harry is sleeping so it's best to do it right now."
They got up from the living room and again made their way to Harry's room.
Poppy stood over Harry, wand in hand. She spoke the spell whilst placing the tip of the wand on Harry's chest.
"Core magica deprehendere"
Golden streaks started to make a web over the child's chest. Some shades of the web turned amber after a few minutes and a spherical structure appeared over the web.
It was horrible.
Harry's magical core consisted traces of colours green and yellow and blue. But a pitch black shade was dominant in it, an angry buzzing sound emitted from it. As if the black part craved to be released. A microscopic shade of scarlet was in its centre.
Severus' ears were buzzing. He couldn't breathe.
Harry was an Obscurus.
--
A/N:
Sorry for the delay, got busy with the festive season...
And for those who are waiting for something more interesting to happen in the plot, it's hopefully just a wait for two more chapters
Have a great day!
Responses:
Aysmoon: Thank you so much!
Williamsangel88: Happy to know that someone shares the same opinion:))
Rmw5763: I also can't wait for that too happen but, unfortunately, we have to;)
Alix33: Harry secretly trusts Snape enough to not run away or if he does have to run in the future, I might have some ideas in my mind...
As for the apostrophe, I wanted to refer to the whole Dursley family, not one, hence me using the apostrophe after the s:)
And the Dursleys and Dumbles WILL be punished, but Severus' priority is Harry right now...