Past Scars- Ch. 6

Past Scars- Ch. 6

The rest of Winter break passed without incident, the two men totally avoiding each other presence for the remaining four days. Students returned and classes restarted, Harry also having to return to his evening detentions with Professor Umbridge. Life was not looking up for The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry sat in solitude within the Room of Requirement, dwelling over the “Christmas gift” Umbridge had gotten him. He had been going to her detentions for the past three days and she still hadn’t brought up the accursed item. He knew she hadn’t forgotten, she had this triumphant aura about her that made him cringe every time he had to go near her. He sighed, picking himself up off of the floor, making his way towards the Great Hall for dinner.

He opened the great oak doors and shuffled inside, head downcast as he sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, closest to the exit. He was able to scarf down a few measly bits of food before it was time for all the houses to go to their separate dormitories for a peaceful night’s slumber, except if your last name was Potter.

Professor Umbridge’s voice filtered from across the Great Hall, “Harry dear! Harry, come here please!” She smiled her toad-like smile as he made his way over to her seat at the Head Table. She failed to notice the calculating looks she got from both Snape and Dumbledore.

Harry staggered his way towards the Head Table, sending a furtive look at his Potion’s professor only to be met with a cold, unmoving glare. He sighed, a deep pain tugging at his heart. He still couldn’t get over the hurt he had felt when Snape had rejected him. Harry had put everything he felt into that one kiss and Snape had gone and shoved it all back in his face. Bloody hell, the man even initiated the fucking kiss!

He stopped in front of Umbridge’s seat, waiting for her to speak. He shuffled his feet slightly, still feeling the heated gaze from his Potion’s professor.

“I just wanted to let you know before-hand that I will be bringing your Christmas gift today during our detention. Just to inform you.” She stated cheerily.

Harry clenched his fists tightly but schooled his face to be impassive, staring at her with a blank gaze, “Okay, professor.” he mumbled, turning to walk away. Her voice stopped him in his tracks,

“Don’t think about missing it.”

He turned and stared at her, nodding slowly, “Yeah…” said Harry, sounding defeated. He walked out of the hall.

Umbridge stood up, making her own exit from the grand room.

All the teachers looked at Dumbledore for an explanation. He was deep in thought, staring at the spot where Harry had been standing only moments before. He stood up abruptly, walking over and gripping Severus on the shoulder tightly, “My office, now.” He spoke calmly, but Severus could sense an underlying rage buried deep within. He grimaced; this did not bode well for him.

Snape stood up quickly following the erratic pace of the Headmaster into his office, Dumbledore motioning for him to sit down.

He made himself as comfortable as possible on the edge of the chair, shifting under the intense gaze he was getting from the older wizard,

“What did you need to speak to me about, Albus?” Snape questioned cautiously.

“What did you do to Harry Christmas day?” Albus replied in return, eyes devoid of all emotions.

Snape paled, looking away, “Nothing.” he mumbled. He flinched as Dumbledore jumped up, slamming his hands onto his desk.

“I was in his mind Severus, I saw what you did! How could you do something like that to him?” Dumbledore seethed, “Are you aware that you are making him more vulnerable to Voldemort’s control?” he asked.

Snape’s brows furrowed, “Vulnerable?” he replied.

Dumbledore paced behind his desk, “He is deeply depressed Severus, you hurt him terribly, his mind and soul have weakened and he is more susceptible to Voldemort’s corruptive thoughts than ever, his and whoever else’s who could realize this.” Dumbledore stated sadly.

Harry fidgeted nervously in his seat, waiting for the evil toad to arrive. He had went over all the known torture devices, even the muggle ones, in his mind trying to figure out how bad it was going to be for him.

He nearly jumped out of his seat when the door to the classroom burst wide open, the pudgy toad waddling her way inside. She smiled jauntily at him, jostling a brown package in her hands, “Oh Harry, I am so excited to try out my new toy, it is sure to break that defiant little spirit of yours.” she stated cheerily.

He grimaced, watching as she pulled out a wooden chair from the closet on the far wall, setting it down in the middle of the room. She motioned quickly for him to approach her, patting her hand down onto the seat of the chair, “Sit, sit!”

He gulped, all his instincts telling him to run out of that room and not look back. He pushed down the feeling, summoning up his legendary Gryffindor courage, and took the first step towards his own demise. When he reached the chair he sat down slowly, shouting out as the chair suddenly tied him down roughly against it, immobilizing his arms and legs.

He struggled against the bindings, only causing them to tighten their hold on him. Umbridge chuckled gleefully, “Now now Harry dear, stop struggling, it’ll only make this situation much more painful for you. And we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” She cackled, unwrapping the brown package on the table next to him.

She pulled out what appeared to be muggle headphones connected to a metal box with knobs and a deadly-looking spiked metal headband. She placed them gently onto the table and turned around, “Well here it is! Custom ordered from Knockturn Alley, it was. This device will allow me to hear your inner most secret, or in most cases, your most worst unspeakable sin. Such a wonderful device hmm? Was very popular during the mid-60’s, until the government ruled them illegal, but of course it will be our little secret that I have one, right?” She sneered.

She placed the metal band securely on top of his head before placing the headphones on her ears. She picked up the metal device and smiled at him, “This is going to hurt sweetie, so please try to hold in your screams, I wouldn’t want anyone to hear you in here.” She cackled, causing a shiver to run up Harry’s spine.

He screwed his eyes shut as she twisted one of the knobs, cracking them open again when nothing happened. Suddenly, a searing pain ran through his body, it felt as if his body was being torn apart from the inside out. He bit his bottom lip roughly, suppressing a scream, as memories were suddenly pushed to the front of his mind, one a more recent memory of his kiss with Snape. The memory caused a twinge of regret and depression to flitter through his heart. He heard the cackling laugh of the toad as she scoured his mind for his most embarrassing and incriminating moments, when he felt her mind touch the memory of him and Snape he instantly began to struggle, fighting to push her out of his mind. His efforts were in vain since the headband cracked his mind wide open for prowling with or without the consent of the wearer.

He felt hands grip the memory and tug it roughly out of his mind, also feeling a large chunk of his soul leave with it. He felt his resolve and purpose for living dwindling rapidly as Umbridge implanted threats and ideals into his mind, making him nothing more than a lifeless puppet for her to control. Umbridge turned off the device, watching happily as the defiant aura of the teen disappeared entirely, ‘So much easier to control and manipulate now…’

Umbridge took out a crude opaque vial from the package, pouring the memory inside. She snickered, “Well well, our dear Golden boy really does have a dark sin to hide, who would have guessed that you were a homosexual? I didn’t even think you could be anymore disgusting…” She glared down at him, “Don’t you agree with me?” she asked.

Harry didn’t even bother look up, “I am a disgusting freak.” He stated simply.

Umbridge grinned, “Is the Dark Lord alive?”

Harry's head shot up a sudden fire burning in his eyes before it died completely, a blank look replacing it, “I…” Suddenly Umbridge’s voice filtered in his mind, ‘The Dark Lord is dead, he will never return’

“The Dark Lord is dead, he will never return.” Harry recited.

Umbridge smiled maniacally, “And who do you obey?” she asked.

“Only Umbridge.” Harry recited instantly.

“Good, good.” She pulled out her wand, flicking it towards his chair, “You may go, I will expect to see you early tomorrow morning, oh, and you are not allowed to speak about this to anyone, got it?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Harry monotoned. The bonds released him, blood starting to flow normally through his body again. He stood up shakily, trying to figure out where he was supposed to go, “Mistress, where do I go?” Harry asked.

Professor Umbridge looked up from where she was packing away the device, “I like that, you will call me Mistress from now on when we are in private. As for where you should go, you should be as far away from me as possible you homo freak, that is, until I need you to do something for me.”

Harry nodded slowly before walking out of the classroom. He stared at the grey walls, trying to figure out what he was going to do with himself till tomorrow morning. He looked out one of the glass windows towards the Quidditch field. Memories of quidditch matches stirred in the recesses of his mind, but with a piece of his soul missing he couldn’t bring himself to care or feel anything about it. Professor Umbridge’s voice rang clearly through his head, ‘Nothing matters to you, only my desires…’ He closed his eyes, listening to the voice inside his head. He hugged his body tightly, shivering as if a cold wind had just blown over him.

“Harry?” a voice called.

Harry looked up as Ron’s head appeared from beneath an invisibility cloak. The red-head stared at him quizzically for a moment,

“Mate, what happened to your eyes?” Ron inquired.

Harry furrowed his eyebrows, still trying to register who this person was, “Who…who are you?” he replied.

Ron stared at him in a state of shock. He snapped out of his stupor grabbing Harry’s arm and pulling him down the corridor at a hurried pace. Harry allowed himself to be dragged away, his orders were to stay as far away from the Mistress as possible and if this person could do that for him then so be it.

They stopped suddenly in front of a door, the red-head fully removing the cloak and stuffing it away in his pocket before proceeding to bang loudly on the door while shouting someone’s name.

The door opened suddenly, a peeved Madame Pomfrey standing in the doorway, “Do you have any idea what time it is, young man?” she queried.

Ron ignored her question, “Something’s wrong with Harry! I went to go look for him when he never returned to the dorm room and I found him in a hallway standing there as if he had no idea of what to do with himself! He doesn’t even recognize me!” shouted Ron, breathing heavily after he was done.

Madame Pomfrey examined the inert teen behind him closely before hurrying them inside. She motioned for Harry to sit down on one of the empty beds at the far end of the room. The nurse then pulled out her wand and warded the area around his bed from any eavesdropping patients that may have heard the commotion earlier.

She closed the curtains behind her and looked over at Ron, “What exactly happened when you found Mr. Potter?” she questioned.

Ron breathed and exhaled slowly, “He was staring out the window with this dazed and confused look on his face, I called to him and he looked over at me as if he had never seen me before in his life…” He glanced over at Harry, “He then asked me who I was. I knew then that something had happened to him so I rushed him over here as fast as I could. Can you help him?” he asked worriedly.

Madame Pomfrey sighed, “Were there any objects around where he was standing? He may have been drugged with a potion and the culprit may have left something behind.” she stated.

Ron looked away picturing the corridor in his mind, “No…I was standing there for a while before I confronted him and I don’t remember seeing anything out of place.”

Madame Pomfrey nodded, “One more question dear, do you know why Mr. Potter was out this late at night?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

Ron looked up at her, “He was serving detention with Professor Umbridge.”

Dumbledore ambled his way quickly towards the Hospital Wing, his worst fears swirling around in his mind. He opened the doors to the Wing and quickly made his way towards the curtains at the far end of the room. He pulled them apart roughly, looking worriedly towards The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Madame Pomfrey looked up at the Headmaster, finishing her exam of his body. She shook her head, “There is nothing physically wrong with him, other than the old wounds we found before. I’m thinking maybe it’s a potion or a really powerful spell.” She waved her wand over his head, “But if it is a spell then it is a very well masked one, I’ve tried everything and nothing comes up.” she admitted.

Dumbledore nodded his understanding, “It is okay Poppy, you are doing your best. Have you had Severus come and check for potions?” he asked.

“I am already here, although the reason for my immediate assistance has yet to be revealed to me.” Severus muttered from behind him.

Dumbledore moved aside and let the Potion Master inside the confined space, “It’s Harry.” said Dumbledore, “Something has happened to him while he was in the care of Dolores Umbridge.”

Snape stared down at the inert person lying on top of the bed, doing nothing but staring at the ceiling as everything went on around him. He clenched his jaw tightly in rage; it was his fault that the man was like this, if only he hadn’t been so ignorant!

He looked over at the Headmaster, “I will check for symptoms of the Imperious Curse, and any other spell that I could think of, you have my word Albus.” Snape stated assuredly.

Dumbledore gave him a grim smile, “I know you will Severus, I know you will.” He turned to leave, “If you need anything, anything at all just let me know, I will be interrogating our beloved DADA teacher about Harry’s detention.”

He left the Hospital Wing. Severus looked over at Poppy who was currently packing up all of her things. She looked back at him and smiled, “If you need me I will be in my office.” She left as well.

Severus sighed, looking down at the detached face of Harry who was openly staring at him. He shook his head, reaching out to feel the man’s forehead only to have the teen pull away from his touch. He furrowed his brows, “You still hate me, even in this state?”

Harry shook his head, “I don’t know you.”