Black-and-white (Translation)

❤️3. Different thoughts And again in the infirmary

It was unlike Snape to make such a remark as he always kept his cool in any situation. Under normal circumstances he would certainly have received incredulous looks and whispered comments from the others. However, the current situation was anything but normal, and the four adults were shocked by the new image of young Harry Potter presented to them at that moment. There was so much going on at once and they were unsure of where to look first. Fawkes seemed to know what to do, for the Phoenix immediately flew over to the boy and started to produce precious tears, and spread them on the boy's face to cure as many of the wounds as possible.

At that moment, it was the thing that Harry needed the most, considering how he looked nothing like the healthy boy they were looking at a few moments before.

Scratches marked his forehead filling almost every inch of his skin, and the Phoenix did not hesitate to tend to those wounds giving its utmost love and care along with its tears. The boy's left eye was completely swollen and his chin was covered with bruises that were more black than blue, and some were slightly discoloured. An old pale scar stretched from his right eyebrow, across his face, all the way to the lower left of his jawbone, which was sticking out in an unsightly manner. The sight was so horrifying, and heartbreaking, that no one could hold back the tears that threatened to spill from their eyes. Professor McGonagall had it the worst, for she had a soft heart and could not handle the thoughts of what the boy went through to end up in such a state.

The boy who had seemed small with the glamour now looked emaciated. Even though his body was well concealed by his excessively large worn clothing, his face showed it all. It seemed as though there was barely any flesh between his skull and his skin; his sunken cheeks made his eyes look bigger. The dark circles beneath his eyes hinted that he had not slept properly in a long time. His fragile bony hands were now clearly visible as he reached out to stroke Fawkes' feathers.

Dumbledore noticed that the Gryffindor's further shrunken stature barely reached a height of 1.40 meters, and his 15th birthday was only a week away. The others had noticed Harry's long black hair, which reached the middle of his back, which had not lost its turmoil, despite the change in length.

Harry fidgeted under the adults' scrutiny who continued their inspection. Noticing that Harry, his good friend and favourite client, was clearly uncomfortable due to the attention, Griphook shifted his attention to the rest of the room.

"Mr. Potter needs immediate medical attention, so we can worry about everything else later!"

Professor Snape strode over to the fireplace and alerted Poppy that there was an emergency situation over the Floo network. Professor Dumbledore, meanwhile, transformed the chair Harry was sitting in, into a stretcher and charmed it to float as he did not want to risk harming the boy further by taking him on another chimney trip.

Harry quietly stretched out and laid back on the stretcher and tried to be comfortable. One by one, everyone left the director's office, allowing the patient to float in their midst as they made their way to the infirmary. Astonishingly, Fawkes refused to leave and claimed his place beside his protégé.

Harry could have told them that Fawkes had adopted him as his chick in his second year. Which kind of made sense, as after all, no one knew how old the Phoenix really was. To him even Dumbledore, who was a hundred seventy years old, was still young. However, the boy did not want to attract any more attention, as he found the whole situation embarrassing enough.

His hate for his father increased with every passing second as he laid on the stretcher. Because of James coming up with a stupid idea to make his child an auction item, his son now had to reveal one of his best-kept secrets. While Harry cursed under his breath at the situation he had to deal with, the others' thoughts were traveling in different directions.