Silent (Drarry) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8

Harry had followed his promise of staying in bed, the mirror Sirius had brought with him with him too, James and Lily wanting to be able to check on him, and they could also see him, so he could still sign to them. Harry still felt a little guilty that he couldn't talk to them, but that he was still able to talk to Killian, an elf that he had no connection to.

Mme Pomfrey had been informed when Harry had woken up, and after two days she gave him a check up. She confirmed there was no serious damage from the potion, and that he didn't need to stay in bed any longer, but he was given the next two weeks off lessons, although Draco still had to attend for the second week, albeit for about half the lessons.

Lily had called using the mirror to check up on him regularly, apparently they were still trying to get evidence against Slughorn, it was taking a lot longer than it did for Dumbledore, probably because while he was caught in the act, he hadn't used any Unforgivables, or other illegal spells. The only spell he had used wouldn't be able to prove anything, so they couldn't use his wand as evidence. Harry was the only person who had been present for the whole event, but the potion had messed up his memories, so they couldn't be used as evidence. Most of the other students involved were either too scared to say anything about what happened, or had memories just as or more messed up about what happened than Harry's.

Apparently Percy and Ron Weasley had been planning to arrange a bad meeting between Harry and Slughorn, but not what had actually happened. They were hoping it would turn him away from Slytherin and towards Dumbledore, but they weren't able to get close to him. 

Then Slugorn turned his eyes to Ginny.

They made a deal to give him Harry and he would leave Ginny alone. For some reason, they believed Slughorn was going to make Harry into Dumbledore's weapon, but Slughorn already said he would never do that. Not that they could take him for his word, but it sounded like it was true that he wouldn't hand Harry over to Dumbledore.

Harry didn't want to say anything, they were worried enough about him already, but he still couldn't sense Predawn. His heart was starting to hurt from their absence, like a part of him was also gone. He hoped they would come back soon.

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The aurors were standing outside Slughorn's house, they had a few different groups as the man managed to have multiple properties. There had been enough cases of people saying that he would keep people who were willing to go against him, or ones he especially liked the looks of, as trophies in his house for them to be allowed to search it. They were just preparing in case there were traps on the other side of the door.

To their relief, there were no spells set up to stop people from coming in, clearly Slughorn never believed he would be caught, so he didn't feel the need to prepare for that possibility. What they did find inside, though, was disgusting.

There were several people inside, dressed in different, provocative outfits. Some were made up to look like porcelain dolls, others looking half dead covered in half healed cuts and bruises, scars littering their paled skin near the cuts. They all looked like zombies, moving around as though in a loop, their eyes empty and their faces devoid of emotions. Their skin had mostly paled from the lack of proper food and sunlight. It was like Slughorn had turned them into living dolls.

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Lily wept in relief when she was told that Slughorn's trial had been set and that the evidence was stacked against him. They were lucky that most experiences were similar, meaning those willing to speak out about it, but doing so anonymously wouldn't be easily found out and lose their careers. Those he had kept in his property would need to stay in St Mungo's for a while as it was unclear what the long term effects of the potions they were forced to consume were, not to mention the mental and damage inflicted on them by the man.

The decision about the students that had been victims of this was to get them all a mind healer and let them decide if they wanted their parents involved. He had mostly chosen people with poor family relationships, but still a fair few wanted their parents told. The students' names weren't released anywhere, even Harry's, in order to avoid any victim blaming backlash.

"As your head teacher and the one who hired this man, I would like to issue you a formal apology about my harmful oversight in hiring Horace Slughorn. I want Hogwarts to feel like home to my students, you spend most of your time here, and if you feel unsafe then your experience will be negatively impacted. If you ever feel uncomfortable because of the actions of a peer or teacher, I ask that you let someone know. Mme Pomfrey is someone you can trust to be confidential, and will only pass things onto me if they need my interference, and only the minimum that I need. This goes for home life problems too. We are here to support you, and give you all the best learning experiences possible." Natasha announced in front of the whole school before the next dinner. "I am sorry for all the harm I have caused you all."

There was silence in the Hall. It wasn't exactly uncommon for bad teachers to be hired at Hogwarts, although it was usually the Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, but they had never been given a whole school apology before. Or if they had it was by the teacher who had treated them poorly, not by the head teacher who hired them, Dumbledore would just smile as his eyes twinkled behind his halfmoon spectacles, feeling almost like he was daring the students with problems to speak up, and see what happens. This was a new experience, but not an unwelcome one.

"Until a new head of Slytherin can be appointed, I will be overtaking those duties. Slytherins, I shall get a passageway to my office sorted out for you so you can come to me if you have problems, but in the meantime use the flu network." Natasha added into the admiration filled silence.

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"Professor!" Draco yelled, falling out of the fireplace in Natasha's office. "It's Harry, something's wrong!"