By his own hand

Chapter five

Hermione was in tears, she was having trouble breathing, but she wasn’t the only one. Some students were crying, some sat in shock, but all eyes were on Snape and Poppy as they tried to save Harry Potter’s life. Hermione knew Harry didn't have a good home life, but she hadn't known the extent of the abuse. She also realised that she never picked up on how much Harry was hurting.

The twins couldn’t take their eyes off Harry. They thought of him as a little brother and now they were watching him die. Ron realised just what he had done, by turning his back on his friend he had pushed Harry to the point he believed he had no one left. Neville sat as still as a statue, the only way you could tell he was alive were the tears rolling down his face. He never knew how much pain Harry was in, but he saw it, saw the pain on his friends face. But he had also seen all the cut marks on his arm which told him what Harry had been going through for years. He never noticed that his friend was in pain, a lot of pain. Now he did.

Albus was able to open the doors, but he made the students remain until the school could be searched for more bombs. He had no idea if there were more or how many. Even though he wanted to help Harry, he had to think of the other students. What Harry said hurt, but it was true. He did leave Harry on the doorstep of the Dursley’s and he never bothered to make sure they treated Harry right. He would have time to analyse his feelings about what Harry said to him. Now was the time to protect the rest of the children along with the staff.

Severus and Poppy finally took Harry by floo straight to the hospital. Albus sent the body of Moody into the staff room so he could work on whether Harry was telling the truth. Was this man really Alastor Moody or was he Barty Crouch Jr and if he was Barty, then how did he escape Azkaban?

Albus looked around at all the students, he could see most were in shock, some were crying, he felt like crying. He never realised what Harry had been going through, but he should have. The boy was too quiet over the last few years, he did not act like a normal boy. He should have seen the signs that Harry was being mistreated, he should have stopped the bullying. He thought it would make Harry stronger if he put up with the harsh treatment. Knowing that Harry had to be the one to face Lord Voldemort meant Harry had to toughen up. Albus realised he had been wrong, so very wrong and it could mean their world might fall into darkness.

Minerva couldn’t move, she heard what Harry said and he had been right. She had been there that night and she had left him on the doorstep on a cold night. Those words kept going over and over in her mind. Then she remembered what the Weasley twins said, he lived in a cupboard, Harry Potter had been abused all his life and no one helped him. He came to Hogwarts and there was one dangerous encounter after another, again, no one helped him. She had seen it, Harry tried, with the help of Ron they had saved Hermione from a mountain troll, then he had saved the philosophers stone. Harry had gone up against a thousand year old basilisk to save Ginny, which stopped Tom Riddle returning. Harry tried to be a good friend, yet time and again he was left alone, people turned their back on him. Then he was sent back to a house where the people who lived there abused him.

Severus had flooed St Mungo’s while Poppy worked continuously on Harry. Two healers were beside Poppy and all Severus could do was stare down at the boy. Why did he not see it, why did he not realise Harry Potter was suffering.

‘I tormented him, between what he had been through and what I kept saying to him was just too much,’ Severus whispered to himself. He knew what it was like to be bullied, yet he, Severus Snape had turned into a bully. But to Severus it was worse, he was an adult and he picked on a small boy.

Albus walked wearily into the hospital, but he felt fear as he stepped inside. Would he see Harry’s dead body? Would he be the cause of the death of the-boy-who-lived? He failed Lily and James, now he realised he had failed the last Potter.

He was not going to fail again, if Harry lived he would do all he could to make it up to Harry. First he would need to work on plans because they would send the boy to Azkaban. Even if Barty Crouch was a death eater, they would punish Harry for killing him and for his threats against the students of Hogwarts.

Albus took Severus’s arm and moved him to the other side, ‘If he survives you know what will happen.’

‘I won’t let them take the boy.’

‘We won’t be able to stop them, but we could make them believe he died. You need to make two very special potions, using Harry’s blood,’ Albus flicked his wand, then a few strands of black hair landed in his palm, ‘You need his hair, then hair or blood of someone else, you could use mine. I doubt anyone would suspect then Harry and Sirius can leave. I can take care of the healers, Poppy will support our decision.’

Severus stared at Albus, he knew what the headmaster had planned. If Harry lived they were going to make everyone believe Harry Potter died. The real Harry would then be transformed into a new person by the use of a blood potion that is used for adoption.

‘Alright, but if this works I doubt he will want anything to do with you, so even if we use your blood that might not change his mind.’

‘I don’t expect him to ever forgive me, but this is my way of making it up to him,’ Albus conjured a vial then sliced his finger, he waited until the vial was full of his blood then conjured another vial. He placed Harry’s hair into that then handed them to Severus.

‘Now we just have to wait and see if he survives,’ Severus turned back to watch the healers working over Harry. The blood from his head wound dripped continuously onto the floor, without anyone seeing what he was doing he summoned that blood straight into another vial. It looked like a lot but he knew the healers were feeding him blood replenishing potions. Severus wasn’t sure if any of it would help. Would Harry Potter live or would he die?

With the help of the staff and the head boy and girl, the castle hand been checked for bombs, there were none left. It seemed Harry lied about blowing up the castle. They did find the headmaster’s office in ruins, but compared to what could have happened, losing one office was nothing.

Even though the matron was busy working on Harry, she had sent her entire stock of calming draught down to the staff table, along with the potions the healers from St Mungo’s brought with them. The house elves were able to get enough for the students that needed it. They placed them in front of Minerva McGonagall’s seat. The few remaining staff took the potions and went around to the students who were hysterical or in shock. Three quarters were in shock or crying hysterically.

It was more than an hour later that Hermione finally spoke, ‘Harry,’ Hermione whimpered then felt an arm go around her, it was Neville, ‘He was in so much pain, why didn’t we know, why didn’t we see it? We should have seen it.’

‘He was too good Hermione, good at hiding. You saw the cuts up and down his arm, none of us knew he was cutting himself.’

‘We should have known,’ Fred said.

‘He never laughed, if everything was alright, he would have laughed,’ George said.

‘Did he really live in a cupboard?’ Neville asked in a whisper.

‘Yeah, but it was the blood,’ George said.

‘A lot of old blood, the scars cover his back,’ Fred said.

‘That’s why he always showered before or after us, so we wouldn’t see,’ Seamus said.

Fred and George nodded, ‘He told us he didn’t want anyone to know,’ Fred said.

‘It would just make it worse,’ George said.

‘How could anything be worse, he was suffering and we all missed it, we’re rotten friends,’ Ginny almost yelled then she burst into tears, ‘He saved me but I didn’t save him.’

Fred and George sat on either side of their sister. Then all students and the staff stared as the beautiful phoenix flew into the room singing her beautiful song and Harry’s owl Hedwig flew beside the phoenix. No one could take their eyes off the two birds, but some wondered what it meant. When the phoenix stopped singing Hedwig hooted softly, to everyone in the great hall it sounded sad.

No one wanted to voice their opinions on why Harry Potter’s owl sounded sad. Hedwig was Harry’s familiar and she was hooting sadly as she flew around the room, still with Fawkes flying beside her.

Everyone jumped as the owl screeched loudly then flew out of the room, ‘What happened, why did Hedwig do that?’ Hermione yelled.

‘I don’t know, I’m scared to know,’ Neville said.

Twenty minutes later Albus Dumbledore stepped into the room, ‘Can I have everyone’s attention,’ even though he spoke normally everyone heard him, ‘I’m…I’m so sorry, so sorry, Harry didn’t make it.’

‘Noooooo,’ Hermione screamed.

‘Harry,’ Neville called in a whisper but he tightened his arm around Hermione.

‘Albus,’ Minerva called.

‘They did all they could, even Fawkes tried,’ Albus held out his arm, Fawkes flew down onto it, ‘You tried, you saved him once, maybe that’s all that’s allowed.’

Filius nodded to Neville who held Hermione while he forced a calming draught into her mouth. Then he handed a vial to Neville, Ginny, Fred and George.

‘He has to be buried with his parents,’ Hermione whispered but her voice carried.

‘I will make sure he is buried beside Lily and James and yes, anyone that wishes to attend can. Minerva, take over, I need to notify the Minister then work on canceling of the tournament. But I think it’s time for the children to return to their house rooms.’

Albus glanced once more at Harry’s friends then turned and left the hall, ‘It’s for the best, now he may heal.’