a different harry potter

"Will you also consider that protecting the child may mean not reporting the abuse officially, but instead employing other methods to insure the child's safety?" Septima watched as the healer pondered this idea, and knew that she was making this particularly difficult for the healer.

"I will agree to not reveal the name of the child without either your or the child's express permission, and I agree to work with you to determine the best way to treat the child and protect him from future harm even if that means not reporting the possible abuse and/or neglect to wizarding child services or the Ministry," the healer finally stated trying her best to be true to her oath as a healer and to cater to the unique situation before her. If a child was truly in need of treatment, than she wanted to be able to provide that.

"Thank you, Healer Stanhope, and I apologize for the added assurances, but you will understand why I did so soon enough," Septima replied and watched as the healer made the necessary oath. "May I apparate you to the location?"

"Just let me retrieve my medical bag. Is the child suffering from any particular injuries at the moment?"

"The only thing that I have observed is that he seems to be favoring his right arm, and that he is significantly smaller than I would expect based on his age," Septima revealed just before the healer left the room to fetch her bag. Within minutes the two had reached an apparition zone, and Septima apparated them both to the edge of her property, just outside the wards. She lead the healer through the wards to her front door, and the two found Harry curled in one of her chairs reading.

"Hello, Harry," she called as they entered the room. "This is Healer Stanhope, who has agreed to give you a basic check up," she explained as the two came to a stop several feet away.

for advice.

"It's alright, Harry, I trust Healer Stanhope, and can assure you that the basic diagnostic spells do not hurt. In fact, you may not even notice that they have been cast," she reassured him moving closer and taking a seat near Harry.

"Alright," he agreed and watched as the healer slowly drew her wand. He'd seen Septima's wand already, but it was still a strange experience to see someone pull what looked a polished stick of wood from their pocket and then proceed to do magic. Healer Stanhope moved a few steps closer, and then began waving her wand in varying patterns. Harry swore he felt a tingle of something brushing against him, but as Septima had assured him it did not hurt. A scroll of paper appeared to his right and grew steadily longer as the healer went through her spells.

Harry worried about what the spells would tell them about him and his time at the Dursleys. He had told a teacher once when he first started school about how his relatives treated him, and soon learned to regret it. Since then he'd never mentioned it again, finding it easier to just try not to be noticed. He did not quite know what would become of this visit from the healer, but the small spark of hope had gotten stronger as soon as Septima had informed him he would not be returning to the Dursleys'. He did not know if she had the authority to make that happen, but she had treated him kindly so far, and even asked his opinion rather than just ordering him to see a healer. It was nice to have someone ask him what he wanted.

Septima marveled at how calm the healer remained as the scroll continued to catalogue past injuries

of the small child in front of them. She struggled to keep her own manner smooth so as not to alert the boy to her distress. A sharp intake of breathe signified that something had finally gotten through to the healer, and Septima firmly reminded herself that it would not be helpful to speculate at this point. The healer would give her a report on the findings once the diagnostics were complete.

Araminda Stanhope had been a healer for more than twenty years, and had specialized in working with children for the last ten. She was used to dealing with clients who wanted privacy in regards to their health, and she supported that to a large degree, although she could not condone sending a child back to an abusive household. The report before her chronicled a lengthy history of severe neglect with a smattering of physical abuse throughout the child's life. He was significantly smaller than he should be, and would require nutrient potions and careful monitoring to even hope to undo the worst of the damage, the most serious of which seemed to be to his bones and internal organs. Years of malnutrition had taken a severe toll on the child's overall health leaving him more susceptible to illness and future injuries. But even with that lengthy history, there was something else that was far more troubling in the boy's medical history. Something a very basic scan may not have caught.

"Septima, perhaps Harry can excuse us for a moment," she requested uncertain about sharing what she found with the child. He was, at most, eleven years old, and some of what she had to say would be disturbing to an adult.

"I would like to stay, Healer Stanhope. It is my health you will be discussing, and although she has been kind to me, I only just met Septima this morning," Harry interrupted before Septima could reply. He sounded years older than he looked and both women marveled at this. Septima took a deep breath before voicing her agreement.