Chapter 24 - Unexpected Visitors

'

"Mr Snape?" A male voice asked, "I'm Dr Green, you asked to see me?"

Severus was startled at suddenly being addressed. He had been standing at a window that overlooked part of the rather large hospital-complex, deep in thoughts, for more than half an hour now and had just started to wonder whether he should return to Hogwarts and meet Harry's former doctor another time, as he was already running late.
It had taken him some time to find the right ward, not to mention that he had only barely avoided being seen by a muggle when he had apparated from Privet Drive to the hospital Harry had stayed at so many times, and it was already 4 o'clock in the afternoon. But then, he was confident that Minerva would find an excuse for his absence if he didn't return until dinner was served, and it was unlikely that Albus would get suspicious.

The Potion Master turned around. "Yes. I'm sorry for just coming without having an appointment, but the matter I wish to discuss with you is rather urgent. I would really appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes for me." Well, of course, it would take more than a few minutes to get all the information about Harry he wanted to have, and it was unlikely that the doctor would be willing to cooperate without asking quite a few questions himself, but Severus didn't thought it necessary to mention this. And if the man proved even more reluctant than he anticipated him to be, well, he would just return another time - or resort to certain spells, that was.

"Oh it's all right, it has been a rather quiet day. If you would just join me into my office, it's more comfortable than talking in the hall, I guess..." And he motioned Severus inside his office.

Although the doctor had tried to hide his surprise, Severus could tell that the man was unsure of what to make of him. Well, yes, it might be unusual for muggles to dress all in black, in addition to having black hair, black eyes and a rather pale skin, but the Potion Master hadn't thought much about it when he had transfigured his robes. But it wasn't as if the things he had to discuss with the man (who just seated himself behind a rather impressive desk with to chairs in front of it that looked almost as plush as the ones Albus had in his office) were any less disturbing than his outwards appearance might be to an unsuspecting muggle, so Severus just shrugged and sat down on one of the chairs.

"So, how can I help you, Mr Snape?" Dr Green asked.

"I'm here about Harry Potter." Severus noticed the eyes of the doctor widen in surprise.

"He's all right, isn't he? I mean, he has stayed here longer than most other kids, and I must admit I was a bit worried when his aunt suddenly decided to send him away. Not that I don't understand it, the poor boy was getting worse and worse, but she was always very adamant about keeping Harry at home, it was just this summer when... well, but I didn't mean to interrupt you..." Dr Green added apologetically.

Well, at least the muggle seemed to be rather fond of Harry, Severus thought, even if he talked far too much to the Potion Masters liking. "Well, yes, I'm one of the boy's new teachers and -" but again, Severus didn't come any further.

"Teachers? I don't thing Harry's well enough to actually attend school, you see-"

This time, it was Severus who cut the other man short. "And I'm also his guardian."

This statement was met with complete silence. After several awkward seconds in which Dr Green only stared at the Potion Master, he manage to asks: "You're - what?! But... I mean, why?"

Severus inwardly groaned at the inarticulacy of the muggle. "I'm Mr Potter's new guardian. I have the papers here, if you don't believe me, signed by Petunia Dursley herself. I have already taken care of Harry during the last week, but after yesterday events I thought it necessary to make more permanently arrangements. I only have the boy's best interest at heart, unlike certain other people. But since Harry's treatment is now my responsibility, I would like you to tell me everything that has happened during the past few years. And I mean everything!" He added for good measures.

"Well, this is certainly... unexpected. I think you understand that I need to see the guardianship-papers, I'm a doctor and bound to maintain confidentiality, after all. And I need Harry's file, I think.. - oh, but if your claims are true and Mrs Dursley has transferred guardianship to you, you'll hopefully be able to provide me with information about Harry's current whereabouts, as our photocopier seems to have stopped working when Mr Dursley gave me the records a few weeks ago. I have already phoned her about it, and she told me she would ring up Harry's new institution, but apparently, this is no longer necessary..." And with that Dr Green stood up, turned around and opened a rather large chest of drawers where Severus could see myriads of flat files. While the doctor got out what was probably the thickest file at all, Severus produced the newly acquired guardianship-papers.

"Yes, she mentioned something like this." The Potion Master said drily as soon as the doctor had turned around again. "These are the guardianship-papers, I think you'll find them to your satisfaction." And he handed over the papers.

"Hm... hm, all right... yes..." Dr Green scanned the papers. "Yes, everything seems to be all right. Well, I must admit I'm curious what led to Mrs Dursley giving up on the boy on such a short notice, perhaps you could enlighten me what led to this turn of events?"

Now was the moment he had to decide what to tell the man. Severus had thought about it, and had come to the conclusion that telling as much of the truth as possible was likely the best course of action. If he wasn't truthful, he might miss the chance to get vital information out of this man, and he couldn't afford this. Depending on the man's reaction to what Severus would tell him, he would decide later whether it was necessary to obliviate him or not.
Dr Green might not be a relative of Harry, but he certainly had been more involved in a wizards life than many relatives of muggleborns were, and if that lot was trustworthy enough, why should he withhold information from a man that might very well be able to help him saving Harry's life? Additionally, only because the doctor wasn't someone high up in the government it didn't mean that people would take him any more seriously if he revealed something about the wizarding world than they would take their prime minister or other people that were informed about magic because of their occupation, some judges or secret service man, for example.

"The boy - Harry - he isn't ill. No, please let me explain, I assure you you'll be able to ask all of your questions after I have finished." Severus had raised his hand when Dr Green had started to speak, this conversation would take weeks if he didn't get the muggle to listen to him without constantly interrupting him. To his great surprise, the other man didn't protest any further and just listened to the Potion Master when he explained about Harry's first week at Hogwarts - leaving magic (and anything that couldn't be explained without the concept of magic) aside, for now.

"So Harry has injured another child? Oh my... but both children will survive, you said?"

"Yes. But Harry had to be taken to hospital again and currently it is... unclear whether he will be able to return to Hogwarts, as the headmaster is, understandably, worried that something like this might happen again."

"Yes, it's unfortunate... well, I hoped that Harry would benefit from the new facility, it's a pity. Do you want me to send his file to the hospital the boy is staying at? The doctors there might want to know about what treatments he received throughout the years, what substances we have already tried..."

"Well, about the medicine... our medi-wi- eh, our school-nurse decided not to give Harry his medication any more because-"

"WHAT? But - you mean she just stopped giving him the medication entirely?!" Dr Green asked incredulously. When he received a nod from the Potion Master, he continued, clearly upset. "I will report this to the NHS! Do you have any idea how dangerous it can be for someone like Harry who has taken these pills for years to just stop taking them overnight?! I can't believe it, what kind of facility is this? I would never have allowed Harry to be sent there if I had known... but the records Mrs Dursley showed me seemed to be fine! Well, I'll see to all the children in your care being removed from that - that Hogwash immediately!"

"Will you just listen to me, man?!" Severus snapped, irritated that the muggle was reprimanding him for stopping to give Harry all these poisonous substances. "Harry isn't ill, and the medication you were drugging him with is likely to have caused more harm than it might have helped the boy! Do you have any idea how benzodiazepine or Halolperidol can affect a wizard?"

Well, this wasn't quite like Severus had planned to broach the subject. However, after the initial confusion (when Dr Green had become all friendly, had smiled at him and asked him whether he wanted to accompany him to another part of the hospital where several people where bound to be quite interested in what Severus had to say about those wizards), the sudden appearance of several mice and a few threats, the doctor was willing to listen to the Potion Master's explanations.

He briefly outlined what exactly Hogwarts was and that there was an entire magical community, including a ministry, rather than some odd freaks who believed in magic. He continued telling the gobsmacked man about potion and why he and the medi-witch (a term that had Dr Green chuckle) were so reluctant about dosing a child with muggle-medication in general and psychopharmaca in particular. Then he tried to explain (in very simple terms) about mind-magic and how he accidentally had discovered that Harry suffered from residual effects of a dark spell that had been used on him when he had been a very small child.

"But - how do you know that Harry is... is magical? Mrs Dursley never mentioned that there might be something special about him, and surely as his closest living relative she would have known? And if Harry is a wizard, why did he never just - well, just transfigured one of us into a toad when he didn't want to take his medicine or when we had to restrain him again? It's just not possible! You must have made a mistake!"

"Even as wizard you can't just do anything! Why do you think the children have to attend schools like Hogwarts? They have to learn using their magic correctly before they can do anything like transfiguring animate to animate objects - transforming a man into a toad." Severus elaborated when Dr Green stared at him blankly. "Of course, most children have several bouts of accidental magic long before they are old enough to come to Hogwarts, but they can't do things willingly! And Harry - well, after what I have seen in his head it is quite possible that those substances you dosed him with have suppressed his magic entirely... there are magical substances that are quite similar to a few of your medicines, and they are used in potions that can prevent a wizard from accessing his magic. They are illegal, of course, cutting a wizard of from his own magic can be quite dangerous, as you can imagine, so perhaps you understand why it was necessary for Harry to come off all of those substances!"

"What's this, accidental magic? And how can psychopharmaca suppress it?" Dr Green asked curiously. He was scientist, after all. "And if you're right about all of this and the drugs used to treat psychoses and similar illnesses can indeed affect a wi- wizard so that he is no longer able to do this magic, how do you know that all this magic-stuff isn't a mental illness itself? After all, there are several reports about people who claimed having been hexed or having encountered magical people or magical creatures like dragons. But all of these people, or at least the ones I have read about, have been successfully treated against hallucinations and are once again able to lead a normal life!"

This time, it was Severus' time to stare at the other man as if the latter had lost his mind. "Have you ever considered that these people didn't have hallucinations but were telling the truth?"

"Of course not, I mean... do you honestly suggest that there are dragons? And does your lot just go around hexing unsuspecting people?"

"Of course there are dragons, where do you think all these legends come from? I don't know about wizards casting spells on muggles - non-magical people - but normally, the ministry deals with them, as there are laws against it. And of course, there are Obliviators, they are responsible for making muggles forget anything magical they have encountered."

"Let me get this straight, your lot meddles with people's brain when you learn about an ordinary human being having witnessed anything magically? You just go around altering people's memory?"

"Yes, of course, how else-"

"And you have never thought about what might happen if your hexes go somehow wrong? Or if you forget to erase someone's memory? Have you never considered what consequences this might have on people unfortunate enough to encounter one of you?" Dr Green seemed really upset, something Severus hadn't taken into account. Sure, most muggles were rather... emotional when they learned about magic being real, but the Potion Master had never heard of anybody worrying about memory-charms. Well, but then, he had never heard of muggles getting treated against hallucinations because of having caught a glimpse of something from the wizarding world either.

"Are you aware that, if everything you have told me is true, your folk is responsible for a significant amount of normal and healthy people being dosed with strong psychopharmaca or even admitted to a closed long-term ward?" Dr Green asked, his voice sounding cold.

"No. I must admit I have never thought about this possibility." Severus answered, feeling rather stupid. Was it possible that the ministry had just overlooked something like this? Yes, he knew that most wizards didn't really care about what was going on in the muggle-world, but he had always assumed that the people working for the muggle liason office dealt with matters like this. What was the point in having an entire department devoted to muggle-wizard-relationships if they had missed out on something like this, something that had likely cost many muggles their health, if not their very life?

"If your wizards hold us normal people in such contempt, what do you want from me? Why have you told me all of this? If I have understood correctly, Harry was harmed by some sort of spell when he was still a baby and nobody bothered to treat his injury, resulting in him being unsuccessfully treated for psychosis for several years. I don't think there is anything a normal psychiatrist with no knowledge about magic can do to help Harry."

Severus took a deep breath. "There is a wizard - one of the most powerful and influential wizards alive, who was also responsible for Harry not being taken to a healer after this... this incident - who has decided that the... well, that the damage caused by the failed spell all those years ago is too severe and too dangerous and that the only option is to kill Harry."

"Kill him?" The doctor whispered.

"Yes. And since I intend to prevent him from carrying out his plan, I have hoped to get your assistance. Harry is currently 'treated' on the closed ward of St Mungo's - the wizarding hospital - but since I'm the boy's guardian now, I might actually be able to remove him from that... institution. However, I'll need to know exactly what to expect with Harry being in my care, and I need to know more about those substances you muggle use for treating people with mental illnesses. As far as I know, Harry has never acted violently towards any other person besides himself while he was in the care of the Dursley's, so perhaps this medicine has actually helped to subdue the Horcrux..."

"Horcrux?"

"Yes. It's a bit difficult to explain, but to put it simple, the wizard that attacked Harry and his parents accidentally split his soul when he tried - and failed - to kill the boy. That piece of his soul attached itself to Harry and it seems that it has tried to hurt or even kill the boy ever since he was a very little child. I don't know whether it is aware of Harry being the reason for the state of half-life the Dark Lord - the wizard who attacked the Potters - currently is in, or whether it is only some kind of wild violence that causes it to harm the boy at every opportunity, but it doesn't matter. The problem is that this kind of magic - the splitting of ones soul by murdering another human being - is considered dark, more than dark. You won't find anything about it even in most books that deals with the dark arts. Therefore, it is very unlikely that the staff of St Mungo's or the ministry, should they learn about what exactly is wrong with Harry, will disagree with Albus Dumbledore - the man who plans to kill the boy. At best, they might decide to permanently lock Harry up behind some powerful wards, which will probably be even worse than death."

"So Harry is considered a serious threat to other people, I see..." Dr Green said thoughtfully. "And do you have any idea whether this... this Horcrux can be removed from the boy's head?"

"I don't know yet, this isn't something much research has been done about, as yo can imagine. However, I intend to find means to do exactly this - to force the Horcrux out of Harry's mind without killing the boy in the process. I don't expect it to be easy, but there are certain advantages about having once been a practitioner of the dark arts."

Dr Green eyed the Potion Master thoughtfully. "I care about the boy. I have known him for half his life, and it was rather distressing to see him getting worse and worse without being able to do much about it. Of course, the medication he got helped somehow, but only to a certain degree. But if you are right... well, it would certainly explain why nothing we tried really seemed to help the poor boy. So if you are serious about this, and if you really think that there is the chance of getting Harry out of the whole mess alive, I'm willing to help you."

Severus let out a breath that he hadn't noticed he was holding. He didn't know what he would have done if the doctor had refused to help him. Sure, he could always have imperiused the man, but somehow, resorting to an Unforgivable even before he had Harry removed from St Mungo's hadn't seemed a good start for what he was planning to do.
"All right. I need to know exactly what kind of substances you dosed him with and what effects they had on the boy. Whether he reacted like every other person to them or if there were any abnormalities. I need to know what other means of treatment you have tried, and if there are things you haven't tried. Then - would you be willing to speak to Harry, once I have managed to get him out of our hospital? He seems to trust you - well, at least more than our medi-witch - and he simply needs a healer - a doctor, I mean. I'm a potion master and I have a basic knowledge when it comes to healing, but I have never dealt with a child like Harry. I don't know what damage the Horcrux has caused, but I don't think having a specialist at hand would go amiss."

The two man talked for a while longer and agreed on staying in contact (Dr Green had found the idea of using owls as a means to communicate rather fascinating and had declined Severus' offer to resort to muggle-post instead), and that Dr Green would provide the Potion Master with Harry's file. Then, once the wizard had a rough overview over Harry's life and the problems the Horcrux had already caused (and how they had been solved), he would be able to ask the doctor more detailed questions, and hopefully, the two of them would be able to work out how to best take care of Harry, without putting anyone in danger or harming the boy irreversibly.

Dr Green had even offered to speak to his colleagues that worked on the ward Harry was currently staying at, hoping to get him out of there sooner, but Severus had, in cautious terms, explained about the contempt most wizards held muggles in and that it was unlikely that any healer would pay attention to what a doctor might say, no matter how well said doctor knew the child in question.

When the Potion Master departed, he felt quite relieved that, until now, everything had gone according to plan. He now had guardianship over the boy and another valuable ally. However, the trickiest part would be to get Harry out of St Mungo's, he supposed, especially since it had been Albus Dumbledore himself who had practically ordered the healers to take Harry with them. And once the healers on the Janus-Thickey ward had witnessed one of the boy's - or rather the Horcrux' - outbursts, they were bound to be quite reluctant to let the boy out of their clutches again.

Well, he would come up with a plan, Severus promised himself, and he would do so before Albus had made arrangements regarding his own plan.

Harry didn't know what day it was, he didn't even know what time it was, all he what he knew was that he felt worse than ever before. After his latest outburst, the people on the ward had shot spells at him that had made his his head feel as if it was filled with jelly and he could hardly think at all. Additionally, he was almost unable to move now, only with great difficulties he managed to turn his head.
But while this feeling of being out of control of his body wasn't anything new to Harry, the medicine they had given him when he had stayed on the ward where Dr Green worked had at least affected the demon, too. Now, however, Harry felt as if the vile creature was trying to rip his mind apart. Every fibre of his being was screaming to get away from this thing, to run, run, run. But he couldn't. He couldn't do anything else than lying in this bed, drooling on his pillow and staring at the curtain next to him.

Sometime, one of these people in white clothes came to his bed and cast another spell at him. Harry tried to talk to them, tried to tell them that he felt awful, tried to show them that he couldn't bear it any more, that the demon was slowly killing him, that he couldn't fight the creature when he was as weak as he was now, but they didn't listen. Well, it wasn't as if he was able to speak coherently, all he could do was groaning and whimpering and whispering the odd word now and then, but they didn't even tried to understand him, they didn't seem to pay his efforts any attention at all.

Sometime later, several of these people came to his bed, and Harry half-hoped that something would happen, anything to make him feel better, but they just seemed to talk to one another (he saw their lips moving but he couldn't understand what they were saying, as his brain worked too slowly to process all the noise) and cast another few spells at him.

One of these spells was particular nasty. Something Harry couldn't see seemed to force its way down his throat and he thought that he would throw up if it didn't stop soon. After his stomach had settled once again, he tried to ask what they had done to him, but of course, he didn't receive any reply. He could only assume that it might be something similar to the tube he had gotten on Dr Green's ward when the demon had prevented him from eating . After all, the white people never offered him anything to eat (or to drink, for that matter), but nevertheless he didn't feel hungry or thirsty.

He lay in his bed for what seemed like forever, staring at the curtains next to his bed. There wasn't a window, or at least he couldn't make out one, so Harry couldn't even tell whether it was day or night, or how many time had passed since he had woken up again. He wasn't even sure whether he had been awake for the whole time or if he had dozed of again without noticing. It was rather frightening, having no sense of time at all, and as far as Harry was concerned, it could have been months since he had found himself in this bed.

His memories of what had happened before he had been brought to this ward were, at best, fragmentary. There had been a knife, yes, and something had happened to Ron, his friend. He couldn't recall what, though, and it worried him. Hopefully, the red-head was all right.
It must have been the demon again, Harry thought, because he couldn't come up with any other explanation. He wasn't in pain, though, which was odd. Only the left side of his face felt strangely numb, and he couldn't open his left eye either. Well, perhaps they had just covered it up, but Harry couldn't summon the energy to lift his hand in order to touch it and to see what was wrong with it.

He couldn't turn around either, and so he was rather startled when suddenly, he heard voices behind his back. His brain seemed to work a little bit faster now than it had when the white people had almost made him puke, but still, he couldn't make out more than a few words. Most of them didn't make any sense to the boy, but when he heard Professor Snape's name, he perked up. Perhaps the Professor was here for him? Perhaps he would Harry get out of here?

"No, we can't ... but Snape said..."

"... only a Potion Master... doesn't know... mind healer..."

"But what if ... pain .... medi-witch..."

"... deep scan .... need to be done . ... brain-damage... "

"... right... but stun him... "

At some point, Harry lost track of the voices again. He only snapped back to attention when suddenly, he felt his body becoming stiff. What was going on?! Who were these people, what were they doing to him?!

Then, a searing pain shot through his head. What- ? Harry tried to scream, but his mouth didn't obey him, it didn't even twitch! What were these people doing, why did they hurt him like this? He tried to move, tried to give them a sign that whatever they were doing HURT, that he couldn't bear the pain, but nothing worked, he couldn't scream, he couldn't move, he couldn't even blink his eye...

It got worse and worse, it felt as if they had carved his skull open and were poking around in his brain with hot needles... it was worse than everything he had felt until now, worse even then the pain caused by the spell the medi-witch had cast on him - THEY NEEDED TO STOP!
Harry didn't know how much longer he would last. Surely you couldn't survive pain like this. He would die, die of agony, and he only prayed that it would be quick, because everything, even death, was better than this, better than the pain, and still, he couldn't scream, couldn't move, he was completely helpless... and then it stopped.

Still dazed, Harry barely noticed that suddenly, he could move again (well, at least a little bit). Someone was screaming, sobbing - was there another person being tortured? But why... and then he became aware that the screaming and sobbing came out of his own mouth.

He couldn't stop it, though, as he was completely detached from his body, and the screaming just went on and on, it almost sounded like the little cat he had once seen back at Privet Drive, a small black-and-white kitten that had been run over by a car. It had screamed for five minutes or so, lying in the gutter, until it had died.
Harry had sat next to it, he had never heard someone crying like this kitten, and he didn't want to leave it alone while being in such pain, he knew how awful it felt if you were all alone while being miserable. Then, the cat had become still. Harry had tried to wake it up, but it just kept lying there and didn't move. At some point, Aunt Petunia had taken him inside the house, where she had made him shower because of 'touching a filthy cat' (though Harry hadn't thought it to be filthy at all).
The kitten had lain on the street for several days and with each day there were more flies and other insects that kept bothering it. Then, one day, the kitten had been gone. Apparently, it belonged to the mad old lady his Aunt didn't want Dudley to talk to or to take sweets from, since when Harry had passed her house, he had discovered a freshly dug mound of earth in her garden, and a wooden cross that had "Mrs Tibbles" written on it.

Harry, preoccupied with crying and breathing and remembering the poor kitten and wondering whether he would get a cross with his name on it, too, didn't notice that, once again, a pair of grey eyes was staring at him. He didn't even realized that suddenly, the curtain next to his bed was drawn back and a pale-looking woman with long, greyish-brown hair came into view.
Only when the woman had stepped next to him (which had taken a while since somehow she could only make very tiny steps) and carefully put her hand on his head, Harry stopped crying and jerked upwards. Well, his body made a move as if it wanted to jerk upwards, but something - the same force that made it impossible for Harry to turn his head for more than a few inches - prevented it from doing so, and with a whimper of fear and distress, Harry gazed at the face of the woman that was looming several feet above his head.

After a few moments, he began to relax again. The woman - who looked oddly familiar, but at the same time Harry was sure that he had never seen her before - didn't seem to want to hurt him. She just petted his head and looked at him fondly. Harry knew that sort of look from the looks his Aunt had regarded Dudley with, oh how jealous Harry had been! Sure, sometimes the nurses on Dr Green's ward had smiled at him, too, but it wasn't the same. For one, the nurses weren't his mother (or related to him at all), and then they did it only after they had tied him up or forced him to take his medicine, and Harry had hated them for doing so.

But this woman, she was different. She hadn't done anything to him, and now that Harry looked at her more closely, he could clearly see that she wasn't a healer or a doctor or a nurse either. She wore a pale-lilac nightdress and a dressing-gown in the same shade, only darker. She didn't have a badge with her name on it and the empty, but clearly occupied bed on the other side of the curtain suggested that she was a patient on the ward, too.

"Uhm, hello..." Harry said uncertainly However, he didn't receive any reply, the woman just kept caressing his hair and looked at him, a mixture of compassion and something Harry couldn't quite place on her face.

After a few moments, Harry felt his body start shivering despite it not being cold at all. It got worse, and again a few tears were running down his cheeks. What was the matter with him? Was it still the after-effects of the pain those white people had inflicted on him?

The woman seemed to have noticed Harry's increased distressed because she came even closer to him and seated herself on the edge of Harry's bed. Harry, unable to exert much control over what his body was doing, rolled against her side. She didn't seem to mind, though, because she just continued smiling at him and petting his head.

After a while, Harry became calmer. The shivering and the tears had stopped and he felt rather drowsy.

It was only when he looked straight into the eyes of the woman and mouthed a quiet 'Thank you!' that it struck him. Neville! This woman looked like Neville!

And with this thought, Harry fell asleep.