Hospital Wing, Hogwarts - May 14, 1995

  I don’t believe she just said that.

  “Now, you’re newly inducted into our world Mr.Potter so I don’t expect you to understand.” looking thoughtfully into space she seemed to reach a decision. “There’s a very serious reason why we are so strict with people who abuse children. The few serious cases of child abuse can go very, VERY wrong. Very fast.”

  “Now, I don’t say this to scare you, but I want you to understand just how much all the staff here are horrified at what you’ve had to go through. Not to mention the amount of sheer admiration we have for you.”

  “So, there’s a very rare outcome in cases like yours, where you ‘bottle’ your magic. For lack of a better way to say it, where you’re subconscious and ego combine with your magic and form what the Medi-wizards at the time called an Obscurial. Ever since the incident in New York with Newt Scamander…”

  “Well, the less said about that the better. Long story short, you essentially become an out of control magical being. Closer to a skittish beast than human being, the result of which is the young child loses themselves to their own magic, and eventually dies before they can ever recover.”

  Taking a sip of her cooling tea, “So I hope you can understand the sheer relief that everyone felt, that you were still with us, healthy. Even if you’re not as healthy as we might wish. You’re not lost to us, and we can slowly help you recover from all your problems. Alright?”

  Nodding quietly, Harry was solemnly taking in this bombshell she dropped on him. “Well, that's a little heavy for breakfast don’t you think Madam Pomfrey?” He chuckled nervously, unsure at how to respond.

  “Right, well… All the Professors, including myself, were appalled at what we found out, Harry. We all had a meeting about it early this morning.” Raising her hand to pause his sputtering attempt at speech, “It’s nothing bad I assure you, but it was simply in essence…A call to action. I’m sure that the problem will be addressed today and steps will be taken to make sure you never encounter or run into your abusers, EVER, again.” The intensity of her stare struck him dumb.

  Harry could never remember any adult ever being so protective of him, ever. “Now, would you like some tea? I’ve got a long list of things to go over with you. If you’re not comfortable with answering exactly how you’ve got your injuries that’s OK. We can just talk about how to fix it, is that what you would prefer?”

  Harry nodded his head, relieved. Although he re-lived his tragic youth it wasn’t exactly something that you would want to talk about. “OK, so a great deal of your problems can be fixed through proper nutrition, and you will have to spend a solid two days unconscious so that I can fix some of your more badly broken bones. I’m sorry to say there are a few that we need to work on.”

  “As long as I’m going to be awake when ‘Mione wakes up please?” Harry says quietly. “I missed her. She’s my only friend. She likes me for me, Harry. None of that celebrity rubbish...” His voice trailed off, “It was nice, not being alone.”

  Madame Pomfrey was very still, from this brief conversation she had gleaned a lot about young Harry. It was such a shame seeing such a handsome boy, who should by all rights be wildly overconfident, so shy and timid. “I will make sure that if we are to awaken Ms. Granger, that you are available Harry. I promise.” Reaching over the desk she held my hand, forcing him to look her in her eye.

  “Now, there are a few things I do need to ask you about. The medium size slash on your leg, and circular scar on your bicep is from the Basilisk, correct?” She asked while looking through her notes.

  “That’s right, is something wrong? Has it not healed correctly?”

  “Nothing’s wrong per se, something interesting is going on. The Phoenix tears and Venom are ‘battling’ for lack of a better phrase…”A few diagnostic spell casts later, even proved her conclusion “Hmm, even just over night you have got a slight bump in mana levels due to the constant battle. There is also a high likelihood that you will be immune to mid-strength poisons as well, though I wouldn’t test that.”

  Sitting back, making a note on her files she asked “Apart from that, have you had any immunity shots? For Dragon Pox and other wizarding and muggle illnesses?”

  “Not that I can remember, No.”

  “Hmm, not surprising with how ol’ Dumb-ass-a-door has been treating you eh? Right, and the final thing…” She looked up at him, serious for a moment. “Has anyone ever properly looked at your scar? I don’t mean to scare you but it is emitting some seriously high levels of dark magic.”

  Shocked at the proclamation, “Still? After all this time? Is it more than a scare then?”

  “Impossible to say for me to say Mr. Potter, I would have to recommend getting a full check up at St. Mungo’s. Keep it in mind for now, we will do what we can first so whatever we have to do to fix that scar later won’t be as harmful to you, OK? The healthier you are the better you can fight off illness, yeah?” She rubbed his shoulder in a soothing way, trying to comfort the young man. “I’m sorry I haven’t got more concrete answers for you.”

  Nodding Harry agreed, “Makes sense, so I had a couple of questions, especially after yesterday. What do I have to do next?”

  Laughing, Madame Pomfrey said, “Well first up will be breakfast, I will get you a nice full English with some tom’s and mushrooms, a side of fruit and fruit juice for breakfast. I don’t want to hear any complaints, OK? We need to load you with calories, with the potion’s regimen I want to start you on later today is going to take a LOT of work.”

  Chuckling along he responded with, “Well that’s alright Pompom! You’ll be my cheerleader, ey?”

  “Ahr you cheeky sod, you remind me of your Grandaddy Charlus and your parents when you act like that!”

  “You knew them?” He gasped, surprised at the revelation.

  “Of course! Me and your Grandma were close, you know!” Shaking her head with a wry smile, “I can share some stories with you another time. Now, after breakfast I’m sure Ma’am Bones will be back for the crime scene, which she will need your help to access if you remember. She may even prepare that Hunter ritual for you, though I will be going with you so you have nothing to worry about.”

  “The odds of something going wrong are remarkably low. I’m going to be there just in case, ok?” A hint of concern did peek through, but she was sure that Amelia knew enough to make sure that it would be safe for him.

  With a firm nod, “Perfect! Now, is there anything I can do to help my healing? Do I have to practice magic? Or exercise?”

  Madame Pomfrey smiled wide, “Well aren’t you an earnest chap, hmm? Best Potter to be my patient yet! Yes, we will get to that, but that will start after I get a specialist on malnutrition and recovery to come see you. Which we will address after we fix your bones, ok?”

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  “Quite frankly, there’s a lot to do, and fixing it is going to take some work. I just didn’t want to overload you with information, there’s going to be a lot of changes with you over the next couple of days.”

  Tapping her lip with her pen she thinks for a moment “Hmm, actually you’re probably going to have quite a shock when your potential guardian arrives. Though I want to make it clear, everything happens only with your agreement. OK Harry? You can always say no.”

  Tilting his head to the side he was a little confused at that last statement, “I mean, sure…I guess. I trust you guys to do what’s best for me. As long as I’m safe and I can have my friend hang out…I can be happy, I don’t need much ok? Anyone can look after me as long as they aren’t mean…”

  “I promise you Harry, they will have your best interests at heart OK? Though that meeting may be late this afternoon or tomorrow. We will have to see how busy the Aurors make you today, alright?”

  She stood up, shooing him back to his bed “Now give me a second and I will have breakfast and a change of clothes for you to change into, you can eat with me and the Auror guard out here if you want yeah?”

  “I would love that Ma’am!”

  “When I’m not working you can call me Poppy, or Auntie, OK Harry?”

  “I would love that, Poppy…Auntie.” Harry said, blushing while he ran away to change.

  xOxOx

  Breakfast was a hoot, for the first time in two months he didn’t feel alone. Even the Auror was a fun chap to be around. Harry had the initial idea that they would be all stuck-up prigs, but he was happy to be proven wrong. For the first time in a long time, he felt that he could smile.

  Towards the end of the meal a small group of guests arrived. Specifically, Madame Bones her auror contingent and a pair of goblins carrying some rolls of equipment. One looked quite old while the other, he assumed since he wasn’t an expert on goblins, looked considerably younger. At this point Harry got a little nervous, all he knew about Goblins were that they were incredibly bloodthirsty and quick on their feet.

  Harry was quickly pulled out of his reverie by the conversation that started up around him. “Good morning Poppy, I trust Harry is well enough to take a small trip with us?”

  “Yes, of course, don’t doubt my work. We will be starting him on his treatment tonight. So he has time to accompany you for the next few days while we ease him into his potion regimen.”

  “Excellent! Sorry to ignore you for a moment there Harry, I just wanted to make sure you were OK. I know how headstrong heroes can be sometimes, always saying something asinine like, I’m fine.” She smirked, teasing the boy.

  “Well I’m glad you didn’t assume, Ma’am Bones, after all I wouldn’t want you to make an ass out of you and me” He said, throwing a cheeky wink out there at the end.

  “Well I never!” She exclaimed with a large smile, “You’re shaping up to be quite the charmer, ey? Though while you’re still eating, why don’t we take some time to answer a few questions, if you have any?”

  Setting his cutlery aside, he thought for a moment. “Right, well I have a few questions. First, is Ron still in the castle?”

  A quick glance at Madam Pomfrey and her aurors, had her frowning in thought. “Well, yes. He’s a minor, even if he will be punished for what he did he didn’t do anything that I can charge him for…”

  “Oh…I see.” Amelia looked positively horrified at the reaction Harry was putting out. She didn’t want to lose his trust over this.

  “There isn’t much I can do until there is a full investigation and that will certainly take some time. Though due to Arthur’s, that is Mr. Weasleys good standing in the ministry, he will be allowed a little leeway. I will probably allow the boy to be punished by his head of house. Would that be satisfactory?”

  “I mean, it’s better. I just don’t want to have to fear for my life every time I’m in school. This is the only place I’ve been even mildly safe, if you can call death defying adventures safe that is.”

  Frowning heavily now, Amelia makes a quick decision, “I will keep that in mind Harry, I’m sorry that you feel that way. I will take a personal stake in this situation, OK? If he is allowed back here, I believe we will come to some form of arrangement to either have you resorted, or him resorted, so that you don’t have to stay in the same room as him. Perhaps even forcibly hold him back a year.”

  “If that isn’t enough, after some discussions with the staff we can search for other alternatives. Though whatever I say now you’re going to have to take it with a little salt Harry. I will have to discuss options with the staff in what ways we can protect you. Your safety is our number one priority in all this Harry, what’s happened to you should not have happened. At all. And I just want you to be aware that we are doing everything we can to do right by you.”

  His food lay there forgotten as he thought over what she said. She was right, it was unfair. Everything that had happened to him was a huge clusterfuck. Yet Ron shouldn’t be overly punished just because he was acting out of fear for his sister. “Ok, I can accept that, I don’t want to ever have to interact with the foolish git again though. He was the first person I chose for myself, and he betrayed me. I will never forgive that.” Harry missed the dark looks that passed between the adults present as he dug back into his meal.

  “That’s fair enough Harry, though during the week there will be plenty of meetings to try and remedy this situation somewhat, alright?”

  Giving everyone a thumbs up, he continued scoffing down the last of his meal. The more he ate now, the better prepared he would be for this ‘intensive’ potions regimen he would start on. Though imagining the extreme growth he would be going through soon was not going to be fun. Growing pains for 3-5 years condensed in time was going to hurt, a LOT!

  “Ahh, that hit the spot.” Harry said, pushing his cutlery together. “Right, I only had a few questions about this ‘Hunter’ ritual. First, what is it? Second, what do I have to do? Third, why do you think I should do it? And lastly, are there going to be any side effects?”

  Coughing on a mouthful of tea, Amelia chuckled quietly after cleaning herself up. Even the auror’s were laughing at their normally serious boss. “I knew your mother you know? She was three years my junior here in Hogwarts, and she was always full of questions just like you. I never understood why she wasn’t in Ravenclaw. I mean honestly, how are you not in Ravenclaw?”

  “I asked not to be, the hat wanted me in Ravenclaw or Slytherin. But I wanted to be in Gryffindor with my friends Ron and ‘Mione. They both said it was the best house cos Dumbledore was in it, though now we know better…” He trailed off, losing himself in another train of thought.

  “Well to answer your questions, it’s a ritual that dates back to our Druidic heritage. Beyond even that if the celtic histories are to be believed. The Hunter ritual was used as a right of passage for young hunters, but especially so for young wizards. They would normally perform this ritual on significant occasions, astronomical alignments, or on the solstices.”

  Taking another sip of tea she gathered her thoughts, “Moving on from the history, you’ve done most of the ritual already. You’ve hunted and killed a life threatening creature and overcome the challenge in single combat. The final step is to claim the Conqueror's rights, and feast upon its heart. I will also take part of the ritual to beseech magic on your behalf to grant you a boon commensurate with the difficulty of the undertaking.”

  “That moves nicely onto why I think you should do it.” Pausing a moment, she looked him dead in the eye. “I won’t lie to you Harry, so I’m just going to say it… You’ve had a rough start to life Harry. I’ve seen many cases like yours, and some kids never make it out the other side. The ones that do, the majority of them go down bad roads and meet an early or tragic end. Yet…the ones that come out the otherside good and whole? They all did the same thing, they empowered themselves for the right reasons and in the right way. They became competent people that were able to overcome life’s challenges secure in the belief that they empowered themselves to do so.”

  “As to potential side effects? It’s a request to magic, if anything the ritual does nothing more than balance the scales of karma. You were forced into a situation that was beyond your control, or even your ability to handle. Magic may choose to reward you for such a feat.”

  “Karma huh?” Harry chuckled lightly, “I didn’t know that wizards believed in it.”

  “Most don’t, but as an Auror…I found that I needed something to believe in. Righting wrongs, protecting the innocent… There are many things people choose to believe in. I chose karma, I particularly enjoyed the idea that you reap what you sow. A man once explained it to me as this, “You sow good karma, and good karma returns. You sow bad karma, and bad karma returns. You just have to remember, you may be the good karma coming to someone, or in your case, you may be the bad karma ending someone.”

  Amelia stared into the distance absently stirring the dregs of her tea. Sighing she prepared herself for the day ahead. “That’s a story for another time though. So then, Harry, ready to show me a crime scene?"

  "Don’t forget your sword.” She smirked.