Harry was laying on a large bed in the Room of Requirement. He was wide awake. He hadn't slept much the night before and when did fall asleep, he'd wake up screaming not long afterwards. He saw Slughorn every time he closed his eyes. He dreamed of what happened when he fell asleep. What would he do when he had to face him? How would he handle class with this man? No. He couldn't even consider being in classroom with this man, being close enough for him to touch.

Harry let out a strangled cry at the very thought of Slughorn being able to touch him. He couldn't handle that. He didn't want the man anywhere near him.

Just then, The Bloody Baron appeared in front of Harry. He looked at the boy sadly.

"You're here to tell me I have to get up," Harry said. He didn't want to get up. He didn't want to go out and be around a bunch of teachers and his classmates. He didn't want to be around anyone. He wanted to just stay in this room forever.

"I can't force you to get up, but people will start looking for you if you don't. Your friends have most definitely noticed your absence in the dorms and the rest will notice if you don't get down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They will start looking and eventually find you here," The Bloody Baron said as gently as possible.

Harry shuddered. "He's going to be there. He'll be in the Great Hall. I'll have to see him."

The Baron felt terrible for this boy. He'd been a very hard man when alive, but not so much that the plight of a boy who'd been savagely violated didn't affect him. He wanted to help Harry Potter, just as he when wanted to help when it was Severus, but he wasn't able to. He was a ghost. There was nothing he could do for this child. He couldn't stop Slughorn. He couldn't even comfort Harry, though he doubted the boy would let him right now. It had been mere hours since he was attacked. He would balk at anyone trying to touch him.

"Did… Did Dumbledore know this would happen?" Harry asked as he sat up in bed. He didn't want to think that his headmaster would allow something like this to happen, but the man had known that Slughorn had taken an interest in him and he'd encouraged that. Could he have known how far it would go?"

"Yes," The Baron said honestly. He would not lie to this boy. The knowledge that the headmaster had betrayed him so terribly might be damaging, but no worse than sending him to the man only to be betrayed even worse. He'd sent Severus to the man and not only was his pain treated so carelessly, but another child had been ruined in the same way. It was best that Harry know he couldn't trust Dumbledore. "You are not Slughorn's first victim. The last year he taught, he took another boy. Dumbledore treated his pain like it was nothing."

Harry thought back to the things Slughorn had said to him right before… Before he did it. He talked about Snape and how they'd… had fun. He'd raped Snape too. That was why Snape hated the man so much. It was why he'd warned all of them about teachers and abuse of power. It had nothing to do with previous teachers. It was about Slughorn.

Harry began to get angry. Snape knew what Slughorn was capable of. He knew that the man would go after one of them. He also knew that the man was getting close to Harry. He never said anything. He let Slughorn rape him. "Bastard. He knew what would happen. Snape was the other one. He was attacked. He knew what would happen and he let...

"No, child! Yes, Severus knew what could happen, but he didn't let it. He couldn't stop it. He warned you as much as he could, but he physically couldn't come out and say that Slughorn was a child molester. He was tricked into a vow not long after he was attacked," The Baron said.

"By who?" Harry asked.

"Dumbledore. He didn't want it getting out that Hogwarts had an abusive teacher on staff. He convinced the boy to take a vow in exchange for Slughorn leaving the school. That's all I'll say on his experience. I won't betray his confidence any more than yours," The Baron said. He'd only said this much because he didn't want the boy to direct his blame to the man. Severus Snape was probably the only one it would be safe for the child to talk to.

Harry thought of Dumbledore. He felt completely betrayed. He trusted Dumbledore. The man had always claimed to have his best interests at heart, yet he'd basically sold him to Slughorn. He wanted Slughorn's help with Voldemort and he was willing to sacrifice Harry to do it. He knew what he would do to him and he didn't care.

Harry started crying again, not just over what he'd endured last night, but also over the betrayal that he'd experienced from someone he trusted.

Severus walked into the Great Hall for breakfast. He was in a foul mood as usual since the school year began and Slughorn turned up. That only increased as he saw him at the table. Having to actually sit with this man each day as he eat him him sick. He shouldn't have to be near this man and neither should any of these students, one of which would become his next victim if he wasn't removed soon.

"Good morning, Severus," Slughorn said with a smile.

Severus barely suppressed the urge to take out his wand and cast an Unforgivable at the man, not even sure which of the two worst ones of the three he would have cast.

"I trust you slept well, Severus," Dumbledore said.

Severus glared at him. He was another one Severus wanted to either torture or kill right now. In fact, a part of him wanted to do it to Dumbledore more, as he was allowing this foul creature to walk around innocent children. "As you know very well, I did not!"

"Is everything alright, Severus," Minerva asked. She'd become quite worried about her colleague. He'd been terrible company since the school year started, and since he wasn't good company on a good day, that was saying a lot.

Severus didn't answer. He ignored the question and surveyed the students. He soon zeroed onto the Gryffindor table noticing Granger and Weasley in their usual seats, but no sign of the Potter boy. Alarm bells went off throughout his brain. "Where is Potter?"

The others followed his gaze and saw that the boy was gone. Dumbledore didn't appear worried. "I'm sure he'll be here soon. He probably slept in a bit."

"As if Weasley and Granger would come down without him. Where is he?" Severus demanded. He stood up and glared at Slughorn accusingly and went for his wand.

"Severus, what are you doing?" Minerva asked shocked at the violent pose the man was taking.

"Severus, calm down. You will scare the students soon," Sprout said. Thankfully the students hadn't noticed yet, but they would soon.

"He's coming now," Flitwick said as he pointed to a boy coming towards the Gryffindor table.

Snape turned and saw the Potter boy approach. He immediately calmed down and took his seat, satisfied that Slughorn had not touched the boy.

Harry approached his friends, making sure not to look to the staff table where Slughorn would be. He was barely keeping from falling apart. He wasn't comfortable being around people right now, especially this man, but he had no choice. He didn't want them coming after him.

"Harry, where have you been. We were worried. Ron said you didn't come back to the tower last night. I was going to speak to Professor McGonagall if you didn't show up to breakfast," Hermione said.

"Sorry. I was studying in the Room of Requirement and I fell asleep," Harry lied. He didn't even look at them. He could look at no one directly right now.

"Why would you study in the Room of Requirement?" Hermione asked.

"Why would you study?" Ron asked.

Hermione smacked him on the arm. "Perhaps he doesn't want to fail! You should learn from his example and start studying yourself!"

"I...I thought it would be more quiet there. It was after hours, so the library was closed. Like I said, I fell asleep," Harry said.

"You don't look like you slept very well. You seem very tired," Hermione said.

"Eh, we have Binns first class. He'll get plenty of sleep there," Ron joked.

Harry knew that was not true. This would probably be the first History of Magic class that he did not sleep in. If he did, he would wake up screaming and everyone would know something happened to him. That could not happen. He couldn't let anyone know what Slughorn did to him.

"Harry, are you alright?" Hermione asked. Something seemed very off with her friend. She noticed that he hadn't looked at them and he seemed quite agitated.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Harry said before making a move for the food, knowing though that he wouldn't eat much.