you raise me up || harry potter

chapter 17

»»————-　song:　————-««

hearing

★ by sleeping at last ★

♢ ♢ ♢

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore beamed when Harry stepped into his office, closely followed by a less-than-pleased Snape. "Do come in. Both of you," he added, when he noticed Snape making a movement to back out of the room.

"Lemon drop?" he asked genially as Harry awkwardly settled into his chair. Harry took one to be polite; Dumbledore looked positively delighted at that. Snape just shook his head, looking like he would have liked to be anywhere but here.

"You should take a page out of his book, Severus," Dumbledore advised. "Muggle sweets are really quite delectable. Now," he clapped his hands, "Harry, I understand the barrier to the platform was no longer accessible?"

Harry nodded.

"Very strange," Dumbledore mused. "Ordinary wizards cannot do such magic, you see. That barrier is timed and automatic. Interfering with its magical schedule takes something... not quite human, I believe." His gaze was suddenly piercing, and Harry fought to look away. Did Dumbledore know about the strange house elf?

Actually, that made a lot of sense. Dobby had warned him against going back to Hogwarts. Was this his way of trying to stop Harry?

Harry said hesitantly, "Actually... a house elf came into my house. Over the summer."

Dumbledore didn't jerk forward for more information, exactly, but his eyes sharpened and narrowed. It had the same effect.

"He told me I was in danger at Hogwarts," Harry continued nervously, "And that I shouldn't come back. Maybe... maybe he did it."

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, his gaze still on Harry. "I see," he murmured. 

A silence descended over the office.

"Well," Dumbledore finally said, "You have, unfortunately, missed the Sorting Ceremony and most of the feast. I must return to the Hall, but Severus can stay and keep you company."

Harry, of course, wasn't changed into his robes. He could hardly go out there and complete his dinner, but he didn't mind—he'd rather eat here than have the whole Hall staring at him as he stumbled in an hour late. He suspected Dumbledore had realized that, too.

"Excuse me?" Snape said indignantly. 

Dumbledore clapped and tray of food appeared on the desk in front of them. He rose with a smile, stepped out of the office and closed the door softly behind him.

Harry stared at the food. It had been such a long time since he had eaten anything other than cold canned soup and stale bread. An inexplicable feeling of melancholy washed over him. He should be happy. He was at Hogwarts, where food was plenty and he wasn't locked up. But looking at the hearty meal reminded him of who he was and where he was from. He wasn't normal anywhere, not even in the Wizarding World.

"Are you just going to stare at the food?" Snape asked snidely, helping himself to a steak. "Or do you expect me to spoon feed it to you?"

Harry flushed, not because of the comment, but because he realized that Aunt Petunia probably never did spoon feed him. Everything Harry knew, he had learned himself: tying his shoelaces, buttoning up a shirt, zippering his jeans. Until then, he'd tripped over the laces and listened to Petunia snap at him for being clumsy, had to endure her roughly grabbing at his shirt as she screamed in his ear for how incompetent he was.