The Hogwarts Mental Institution || Harry Potter AU || ✔️

Keep Calm and Panic I

After quite a few examinations and a bunch more "rate your pain on a scale of one to ten," Dumbledore left Harry alone in the blinding white room with a tray of breakfast.

Poking at his rubbery eggs and burnt toast, Harry's mind did not stop racing.

Apparently, the surgery he had undergone was called "deep brain stimulation" in which they took a metal wire of some sort and stuck it up his head and hoped for the best. Dumbledore told him it was a high risk operation, but they had gone through with it with permission from Aunt Petunia.

Of course she approved, she didn't give a damn if he lived or died.

But here he was, still alive (if this even counted as living).

And supposedly, the surgery didn't help much since Harry still believed in magic and witchcraft, which, to him, was reality. But not their reality. So he was the crazy one.

He had to get out of here. But where the bloody hell was here?

Did he really lose his mind?

After all he had been through it was expected, wasn't it?

At least his crazy mind was kind enough to place his wack-a-doo thoughts in a mental institution.

The Hogwarts Mental Institution. Or maybe he was transported to some kind of alternate universe? One where magic simply did not exist.

But if magic did not exist in this realm, how was he ever going to find a way home? To the Burrow? To the real Hogwarts?

His magic wand was reduced to nothing but an old necklace. Harry lifted the thick chain and closely examined it, something he realized he didn't do before.

The engravings were old and intricate. The main emblem in the center was his wand, but there were other images surrounding it. There was even a small image of a stag blended quite nicely in the background. If Harry wasn't so angry and confused, he might have admitted it was beautiful.

Running his fingers down the emblem and flipping it over, Harry noticed an engraving at the bottom.

The initials: J.P.

Initials for... James Potter? Was this his father's? Maybe if this world didn't have magic... maybe his parents were alive? His mum and dad!

No... Dumbledore told him they died in a car crash.

Harry squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. Even in a world where he was not the Chosen One, he was still an orphan.

Caught up in his whirring thoughts, Harry failed to realize the door opening and suddenly, "Are you done with your breakfast, Mister Potter?"

Harry looked up. "Professor McGonagall!"

"Nurse McGonagall, young man," she corrected.

Even in this universe, the strict lady maintained her no-nonsense attitude. Her hair was pulled into a tight bun and pinned on her scrubs was a tiny cat, more specifically, her animagus cat form.

"Now," she continued, "it is time for you to take your medication." She cleared the plate of breakfast that was on the desk beside his bed and placed a tall plastic cup of water and 5 pills of various sizes and colors.

"Medication? I am not taking medication," Harry refused.

McGonagall sighed. "Mister Potter, we do this every time, every day. Take your medicine and I will allow you to leave your room and join the others."

"The others? As in there are more people here?"

"Yes, and you can join them. I'm sure they miss you after your surgery."

The others... Maybe his friends were there! Ron and Hermione and... Ginny! Dumbledore said he was talking to Ginny before his operation! All he had to do was take the crazy pills and McGonagall would let him see his friends.

"What exactly am I taking then?" Harry grabbed the biggest pill and slowly rolled it in between his finger and thumb.

McGonagall explained but in Harry's mind, it all sounded like scientific garbage.

This pill is blah blah blah-athine and it helps with managing your crazy!

Of course that was not the specific words McGonagall used but in Harry's mind it might as well have been.

Without taking another moment to second-guess himself, Harry grabbed all five of the pills and quickly swallowed them. After washing it down with the full cup of water Harry immediately responded with, "Now, let me see my friends."

He jumped out of bed and headed straight for the door, a nervous excitement bubbling inside in expectation of joining his friends. Maybe they traveled here with him! If Hermione was here, she would know what to do!

If McGonagall was surprised at Harry's random burst of energy and mood change, she did not react nor comment. Perhaps she was well-accustomed to Harry's strange behavior.

"Right through those doors, Mister Potter."