Despite making a run for it and causing all sorts of chaos, it seems that Albus Dumbledore had been caught by the Ministry after that massive explosion outside. The blast had sent the whole room shaking around Harry and sent to Aurors around him to go stumbling to the side while swearing.

It was a very long and tedious process after that. After the chaos died down, that Amelia Bones wanted to interview Harry for what felt like hours about every little detail about what had happened. The two memory specialist Aurors finished their checks and confirmed that Harry’s memories hadn’t been manipulated, which was somewhat a relief.

Not that Harry thought that he would ever know if James Kensit manipulated his memory in some way considering how easily he had kept all the doctors in Harry’s room unaware of their surroundings for their entire conversation. And apparently for hours after that if some of the confused comments he had heard from the other staff were correct.

But after a long process of more interviews that was highly tedious, Harry was escorted back to Hogwarts by an Auror. Not into the Hogwarts headmaster’s office, by floo powder that now appeared to be closed off. Instead, Harry was apparated just outside the grounds alongside five squads of Aurors. They had to go in and arrest Snape as Dumbledore’s accomplice too. One of the groups was carrying some magical equipment that could apparently be used to form a new floo network connection inside the castle.

Harry was surprised that this was the easiest way for the Ministry to get in as they all walked from the train station up the path to the Hogwarts castle. It seemed rather inefficient. Harry followed the Aurors into the castle where the students stopped and gaped at the squads of Aurors with serious expressions making their ways through the hallways at high alert.

The first team found a seemingly random fireplace and connected it to the floo network, after which Amelia Bones herself stepped through with more Aurors to enter the castle. Several of the teachers had come forward and were discussing things with the Aurors in low tones as Harry stood there. In the center of them. Harry looked around, not sure what he was supposed to be doing.

“Excuse me,” he asked his temporary bodyguards, “Can I go back to class now? Do I need to answer any more questions?”

One of them looked back at Harry in disbelief after wincing a little when Harry accidentally let his soul vibrate too much, “Are you crazy kid? There’s no classes today with everything that is going on. First the attacks, now Dumbledore has gone rogue… this whole thing is a shi- whole mess,” the man said.

“Attacks? What attacks?” Harry asked.

“Huh?” The man responded, “Oh, right. You just woke up. Three students and a ghost have been petrified in a series of attacks in the school. The Ministry had been expressing its concern to Dumbledore about it for a while, especially after everything that happened last year… but clearly that doesn’t matter anymore. People have been saying it has been the Chamber of Secrets that has been opened. All the attacks so far have been on muggleborns so far.”

A woman on the Auror squad shoved the man lightly, “What are you doing, Pelski? You can’t just drop all of that on a kid at once.”

She turned to Harry, “Look, Harry. You’ll be fine. We’ll be here to protect you until the Ministry decides what to do for this school. We’ll make sure that no monster gets you.”

“Okay,” Harry said. Maybe if the government was protecting him things would be less chaotic in the future.

Harry found a nearby bench and sat down and began listening to Amelia Bones standing there barking orders to the Aurors that were running around the school on various missions. Snape had been arrested and all the other teachers and a few students were being interviewed right now.

The Headmaster’s office was closed and sealed so tightly that even the best ward breakers that the Ministry had brought in at short notice couldn’t get inside.

Harry sat on that bench for a while feeling rather bored as the Aurors did their work and his bodyguards stood around him. Several of the students were peering through the wall of Aurors milling around to spectate on the action.

Harry took out his wand and tried to balance it vertically on his finger. He could only stabilize it for a second or two before his black wood wand tumbled to the side and fell to the ground. He picked it up and tried again, to the shocked glances of his bodyguards. Harry internally shrugged. His wand was durable, it wouldn’t break just from falling around a bit. May as well have some fun with it since he couldn’t cast any spells in the thick crowd of Aurors.

His bodyguards looked on as Harry tried to keep his wand balanced on one finger over and over. He was confused about their shock. The wand was important, but if it broke then he could just get another one. He had enough money for it.

— — —

After what felt like forever, Harry had managed to balance his wand on the tip of his finger for over a minute. He was quite proud of himself, but his bodyguards were much less impressed with his accomplishment. Well, Harry would just have to show Neville and Ron after he saw them again. He was sure they would appreciate his skills.

— — —

Eventually, the Aurors finished interviewing everyone and Harry was cleared to return to his bed. Someone from the Ministry was filling in for Dumbledore as headmaster as the council of wizards voted for a replacement. Although Harry heard much frustration as according to the Hogwarts wards Dumbledore was still the rightful headmaster and controlled the wards of the castle. So the Ministry still couldn’t get into his office or control all of the other aspects of the castle.

Harry walked into the Gryffindor Common room to witness a room in chaos. It seems that without McGonagall to establish order, the two prefects didn’t have enough authority to settle everyone down. Everyone was shouting or arguing with the prefects, it seems that none of them liked the curfew the Aurors had put them under.

Everyone turned to Harry’s entrance to the room along with one of his Auror bodyguards. The woman would be the guard of the entrance to their common room, now that Snape had been arrested and was no longer considered a danger to Harry.

The rest of the Aurors would be prowling the corridors on the hunt for the rumored monster that was petrifying people. The Gryffindor’s all went silent as they saw Harry. Surprised, but not too much. It seems that rumors of Harry’s arrival this morning had spread.

“Alright, kids,” The Auror said next to Harry, “I’m here to guard the door at night. No one goes in or out under my watch. Got it? The Headmaster, Minerva McGonagall, and Severus Snape have been arrested and are currently being investigated for collusion in performing a memory charm on a student. In this crisis the Ministry will be temporarily providing security for Hogwarts until a new Headmaster is chosen. I’m sure it’ll all be in the papers tomorrow, so just be patient and try to get some sleep.”

With that, the woman stepped back outside, leaving Harry behind with the rest of the crowd. Unlike last time this had happened, everyone seemed uncertain as they eyed Harry. None of them seemed to want to speak first even if Harry could see the curiosity burning in his eyes. Harry thought about it for a moment before shrugging to himself and standing on the table by the fireplace. All the Gryffindors looked up at Harry.

“Everyone,” Harry said, “Everyone’s looking at me, so I’ll tell you what happened so I don’t have to do it in smaller groups. So last year I was going down by the lake when suddenly Professor Quirrell appeared in front of me. When I touched him for some reason he dissolved into ash, but not before he cast a killing curse on me. Afterwards I woke up and then…”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Harry quickly explained everything that had happened since he woke up minus the bits about James Kensit and Harry’s origin. Then there were the barrage of questions afterward which Harry struggled to answer in the order they came in.

“No, I didn’t kill Quirrell on purpose. I don’t know what happened. Yes, I’ve told the Aurors all of this and they said I’m not in trouble.”

Harry lost control of his vibrating soul speech a few times and the people around him winced until he could get it back under control. Harry scanned the crowd and didn’t see Neville, Ron, or Hermione there. More questions from the others.

It was almost time to bed, and Harry was sure he would see them before he went to sleep. After more time of being questioned about what happened, Harry ended up retreating back to his room. Neither Ron or Neville were in there. Harry lay down in bed, wondering where they could be. But despite his year long coma, Harry was exhausted, so he easily sunk into a deep sleep less than a minute after his head hit the pillow.

— — —

Harry woke up and saw that the other two beds in the room were empty. Scabbers was sitting on top of Ron’s bed, sniffing the sheets with his rat nose.

Harry stepped out of bed and Scabbers noticed Harry and jumped with a squeak.

“Hey, Scabbers,” Harry said rhetorically, “You wouldn’t know where Ron and Neville went, would you? I hope they aren’t in trouble.”

Scabbers’ nose twitched violently before he jumped out of the bed and under the door into the dormitory hallway. Curious at the strange behavior, Harry opened the door and went into the common room, only to see Scabbers standing by the exit to the common room into the main castle. Harry followed Scabbers and stepped out where a new Auror stood guarding the door. The man gave Harry a short nod before returning to scanning the crowd of students milling about the hallways. Classes were canceled for the day but the students had free reign of the castle for now.

Harry followed the oddly determined rat as they wound their way through the hallways. Occasionally, Harry would see a pair of Aurors in blue robes patrolling, to defend them from the monster. Harry wondered if it was really just for the monster or if they were here to find and root out any more Dumbledore loyalists as well.

Eventually the rat led Harry to the second floor girl’s bathroom, where it went inside. Harry frowned and opened the door and peered inside. Neville and Ron were inside splayed out on the floor, seemingly asleep.

Harry purposely shouted in his soul speech, increasing his vibrating soul while only audibly whispering a tiny bit with his mouth.

“Hey guys,” Harry said.

The two of them immediately woke up and spasmed at hearing Harry’s soul shout.

They both sat up and looked around wildly until both their eyes fixed on Harry. Harry glanced around and couldn’t find Scabbers in the room, although there were plenty of hiding spaces for him to squeeze into.

“Bloody hell, Harry,” Ron said, “You scared the pants off of us. Oh no! Neville, how’s the potion?”

Neville scrambled to the side and peered over into a cauldron and let out a sigh of relief.

“Still good,” Neville said, “From Hermione’s notes we should only be three days from finishing it.”

Harry walked inside. If Ron and Neville were in there then it must be fine for him to enter as well. The door swung closed behind him.

“What’s that potion?” Harry asked, “Why is it so important, and where is Hermione?”

Ron and Neville gave each other a long look. They turned to each other for a moment and shared a glance before looking back at Harry.

“Look, Harry,” Ron said, “I think there is something important that you should know…”

— — —

Harry looked down in shock at the petrified form of Hermione in the hospital bed. Harry, Neville, and Ron had shared their basic stories before Harry rushed here with the other two in tow behind him. He had never been on the other side of this equation before, watching someone he cared for getting hurt. Her face was twisted into shock and fear as her body sat horizontally on the bed, stiff as a board.

Harry’s hands began growing cold. He tucked his arms in his sleeves and tried to control himself as the emotions welled up within him. But the ice kept climbing farther and farther up, now reaching his elbow. Harry stood up abruptly and fled the room, trying to find a place to hide. Ron and Neville cried out to call him back, but Harry ignored them.

He tried to think of where he could go and no where he could think of was safe. The Aurors were still randomly checking the abandoned classrooms, so most of the building still left Harry the periodic chance of being caught. He decided to rush back to the second floor girl’s bathroom and burst inside as the coldness reached his chest. Harry pushed open the bathroom door urgently and rushed inside. The growing ice didn’t stop at Harry's chest. The ice crept upward to Harry’s neck, covering his throat, then his head. Harry stumbled forward as his school robes began to rip and twist as his body shifted into a new form. All Harry could feel was the ice and the isolated soul that he had been in the void, as his sensation in the rest of his body faded away.

Harry made his way to his feet, and noticed he was much taller, nearly two and a half meters tall if the amount everything else had shrunk matched Harry’s calculations. His vision was distorted and strange, and there was a large strange glowing orb floating in the corner near the curled up form of a quivering Scabbers. Harry looked down at his hands and they were the same gray skin and black veins as when he had fought the troll last year.

He leaned down to inspect himself in the mirror over the sink. Harry’s whole body was covered in the gray skin and black pulsing veins from head to toe. He was completely naked, but his privates were a smooth expanse of skin like one of those plastic dolls. Harry twisted around to inspect his behind. Nope, no hole back there either. Harry twisted back around to look at himself in the mirror again.

His body was skeletal and emancipated as if he had been starved for months, his skin clinging tightly to his exposed ribs. His arms and legs were unnaturally long compared to the rest of his body and Harry could see each of his vertebrae of his spine on his back as he leaned down more to inspect himself.

But Harry’s head showed the most difference from how he looked as a human. Despite him being able to see, his head was a flat expanse of gray skin only broken by the hole near the bottom for his mouth. Harry turned his head to the side and saw that he had no external ears, and there was only more smooth skin as he felt the place with his gray hands. But Harry could still somehow hear the dripping of water around him in the bathroom, the footsteps and creaks as he shifted his weight around to inspect himself despite his lack of ears. His hands that looked skeletal but still largely human at least only readjusted to Harry’s new larger body size.

Harry faced forward again and opened his mouth as wide as he could. Which was far wider than he thought it would be. Apparently what he thought were wrinkles at the edges of his long and thin mouth were folds of skin that unfolded and provided a fleshy covering for the sides of his jaws as Harry opened them wider and wider… The bottom half of his head unhinged like a snake's jaw, revealing a mass of black gums lined with rows of razor sharp teeth. There were six layers of teeth in rows with the smallest in the back and the largest in the front.

Harry wondered what the teeth were for if he didn’t have to poop. Did he have to eat while he was like this? Harry closed his mouth again, and stared at himself in the mirror for a moment wondering what he should do now. He had been so overwhelmed with his emotions at seeing Hermione, but now he was no closer to getting revenge on the monster than before. And now he had completed his transformation into whatever this was. Hopefully he would revert back into a human boy eventually.

“Does this work?” Harry asked himself and his soul vibrated. But he only heard the clack of jaws and a strange hiss as his jaw moved. It seems he couldn’t talk while he was in this form. Not properly at least. “I guess not,” Harry finished.

Harry heard approaching the bathroom door and whipped his head around. Harry heard someone’s hand on the handle and the door began to open.

“Wait! Don’t open…”

Behind him, Harry turned again as there was a loud rumbling of shifting stone. One of the sinks and a two meter segment on either side was pushing backwards, grinding on the floor loudly before it sank downwards into the stone until it had recessed into the floor, revealing a passage past it.

“...the door,” Harry finished, still surprised by the sudden opening of the hidden door in the sink. Who put a secret passage in a girl’s bathroom?

Harry looked at the door again and was relieved to see it was Neville and Ron on the other side. In Harry’s new vision there were two glowing orbs floating in the centers of their chests. Both froze at the sight of Harry standing there staring at them. Harry raised his arm to wave, “Hello…”

Neville pointed at Harry. “Ma- ma- Monster! Run!”

He slammed the door shut, and Harry heard them scrambling away as fast as they could. Harry considered his new appearance. Alright, their reaction was somewhat understandable. Harry walked over to the tunnel. It went a few meters inwards until it plunged into an angled pipe easily large enough to accommodate Harry’s new form standing. Harry looked between the pipe into the darkness and the door to the bathroom. If the Aurors had the same reaction as Ron and Neville… then Harry might be screwed and get blasted before he could figure out a way to explain.

Harry should see where this pipe went, maybe this was connected to the big monster attacking the school. Harry was sure he would have heard something about a secret passage this big being in Hogwarts before if it was well known. Making his decision, Harry walked forward and leapt into the angled pipe before sliding down like a playground slide, quickly picking up speed as he went. Speeding down into the darkness and unknown, forgetting that his wand had been left behind with his shredded robes…