The Contract

Chapter 7

Corvus observed Harry over his cup of coffee, the eleven year old was content to stare at his fingers, flexing them, an awed look on his face. It had been there ever since he woke up this morning, which was only forty-five minutes but still, it was an odd length of time to be fascinated with ones own fingers. Just how much pain had Harry been in that he felt the need to flex his fingers and watch with rapid captivation? His food hadn't been touched either, which was concerning him, he hadn't put a lot on his plate either, and only what he was allowed to eat. It seemed a little selfish to him, not to allow Harry to eat something substantial, like a greasy breakfast, like all teens enjoyed. Fortunately for all concerned Millicent had warned him of 'Refeeding syndrome' and the consequences of such reactions.

It had overwhelmed Corvus just hearing about the consequences of allowing Harry to eat normal meals. Especially the deadly ones, coma, convulsions and cardiac failure. In other words, Harry could die because he was getting proper nutrition into his system, Millicent would be returning every day for a week to ensure that Harry wasn't suffering from refeeding syndrome.

"Mr. Potter? Try and eat a little, you have a busy day ahead of you," Corvus gentled his tone for the boy, he felt bad for bringing him out of his 'fun' but he needed to eat. He was going to keep a close eye on him, write everything down, from what he eats, to any reactions he had to the potions he consumed. That way, Millicent would get a complete rundown of everything, it was important after all. This way, nothing would be forgotten or overlooked. It seemed Millicent was also quite correct, Harry completely disregarded his own body's needs. He could hear the grumbling of the boys stomach from here, but Harry seemed completely oblivious to it.

Harry looked up from his fingers, "Why do you call me Mr. Potter?" even the school used his name, or rather the teachers had used his name.

Corvus looked taken aback by the question, "It is improper in certain circles to use your first name without permission. It's reserved for only friends, good acquaintances sometimes and family of course." Corvus explained to the soon-to-be teenager. "Only those who I allow call me Corvus, but even at that, they sometimes use the title Lord Lestrange if the situation calls for it, mostly in official settings. Your school professors will always use that term, anything else is considered far too friendly, with the exception of your head of house."

Harry frowned, brow wrinkled as he ate the food with a forced look on his face.

"You'll find many of your classmates call you 'Potter' it's not out of disrespect, but because of the way they've been raised." Corvus continued. "Others have no proper training and will call you Harry, those are best avoided." Unable to help his innate prejudice.

"Then I'm best avoided," Harry pointed out, green eyes glimmering in a way Corvus couldn't interpret. "I have no proper training," is that what everyone was going to think of him? That he was unworthy because he didn't know the ways of the wizarding world? It was disheartening to hear, but he didn't need friends, didn't need anyone...much, he just wanted to learn everything so nobody could hurt him again.

"By the time you leave for Hogwarts, Mr. Potter, you'll be perfect," Corvus promised, "Nobody will guess that you were not raised within the magical world at all." He would ensure that, he was attached to the Lestrange name for the next four years, and with that became strict obligations and he'd see them through. "Eat what you can," he reminded the boy yet again.

Harry sighed resignedly, "Why am I going to have a busy day?" scooping up more food and reluctantly eating. It wasn't the fact he didn't want to eat the food in front of him, not because of what it was, but rather he already felt uncomfortably full. Unfortunately, both Corvus and the healer had said he had to eat certain amounts and eight times a day. He wasn't looking forward to it, he wasn't used to people caring about whether he ate or not.