The guard watched him warily, as though he would suddenly turn and attack. He practically threw Remus his wand and pass.
Walking to the room towards the lift, Harry watched as the ministry workers eyed Remus warily as soon as they noted his pass. Entering the lift, a young woman even stepped out when she saw the silver pass.
Harry let out a low growl when he saw it happen and Remus stepped closer and rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay," he whispered into Harry's ear.
Harry turned towards him. "It's not, but one day - one day it will be," Harry whispered back.
Remus smiled at the boy's words. He didn't mind the treatment anymore, he had long since grown used to it.
Reaching the DMLE floor, they stepped out of the lift and approached the bustling centre. Seeing the words "BONES, AMELIA. HEAD AUROR." on the centermost door, the two approached the door and knocked.
The door opened quickly and Amelia ushered them in. Inside, there was another woman around the same age, an older man, and Dumbledore.
Harry sent Remus a look when he spotted the old coot and carefully blanked his face.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Lupin. Thank you for coming today, won't you please take a seat," Amelia said, smiling at Harry. "Now, we are here today as there have been allegations made about your home life, Harry."
Harry nodded, "Yes, I understand."
"With me are Joanne Mirwood, head of the Children's Protection Offices, and Westley Lane from the Muggles Relations Office, as well as Professor Albus Dumbledore, who you obviously know as your headmaster, but he is also your magical guardian."
Harry nodded to them. "Good afternoon, ma'am, sirs," he said, Remus doing the same. Ms. Mirwood looked at Harry with a light smile. "Why don't you start, Harry? I think it's important if you tell us in your own words how your relatives treated you before we make any decisions."
Harry internally smirked but outwardly showed a child unsure; he fidgeted slightly in his seat and looked at Dumbledore with a wary look before turning to the rest of the adults. "If you think that's best," he eventually said, before shuffling once more. "My memory has always been good, I remember things from my life before I went to live with my aunt and uncle. I remember my mum singing and my dad's laugh...."
Joanne smiled. "Why don't you tell us your earliest memories with your aunt and uncle?" she asked. "I remember being hungry and crying and I kept asking for my mum. I couldn't understand why she wasn't there; I was cold and scared and usually she would come and sing to me. I can remember that night, the flash of green, but at the time I didn't understand it. In the beginning, they would only tend to me when it became obvious that they had to. I wasn't ever cared for. However, one of my clearest memories was when I had turned three; my aunt had slapped me and told me: 'Your whore mother had gotten herself killed in a car crash with your drunk father'," Harry said, making Remus growl and the women gasp.
Dumbledore's eyes tightened and Harry saw him clench his fist. Joanne recovered her composure. "Did you get hit often?" she asked.
Harry shrugged and looked down. "Whenever I did something bad - like magic or burning the breakfast or doing better than my cousin in school. Things like that," he mumbled.
Amelia looked livid and Remus was obviously struggling. Dumbledore though, he had stiffened and looked ready to jump across the room and strangle Harry. His blue eyes were piercing into him and Harry could feel the signs of legilimency, however, with his rings and his own occlumency, it wasn't working.
"You were punished for accidental magic growing up?" she asked, shocked. Magic in children was cherished and celebrated. Usually a child's first big accidental magic was cause for a celebration or party.
"Yes, they didn't like it when I did freakish things," Harry said, flinching slightly on purpose when he said the word freak.
"How did they punish you, other than hitting you?" she asked softly.
"I would be locked in my cupboard without food for a few days sometimes…," Harry said. At this point he had made sure to curl in on himself as he spoke.
"What
cupboard,
Harry?"
the
child officer asked.
"That's where I lived. The cupboard under the stairs," Harry said.
"I see," Joanne said, sharing concerned looks with the adults.
"Come now, Harry, I'm sure you're exaggerating," Dumbledore said jovially.
Harry flinched, making Remus and the other adults turn to the old man and glare.
"Harry, you mentioned burning the breakfast; are you telling me it was your job to cook?" Amelia asked, joining in the questioning as she had, in her opinion, cause for a criminal case.
"Yes. As soon as I was tall enough to reach the stove, my aunt had me cooking all the food," Harry said.
Amelia looked confused for a second before she realised what the child meant. "You mean to tell me she had you doing all of the cooking from a young age?"
"I was four when I started, it's how I got the burn on my arm. I wasn't good at seeing the pans as they were too high. After that, though, I got really good at judging how long things needed to be cooked for," Harry said, making sure to sound slightly proud of this achievement. Inter nally he was dancing with glee - the looks on the adults faces were priceless. They were all eating out of the palm of his hand and he had yet to lie. Only Dumbledore looked murderous, making the moment even sweeter for Harry.
"You were cooking unsupervised and using flames at the age of four," Amelia stated.
"Yes," Harry said.
"I see," she said, turning to share a look with Joanne.
They seemed to share an entire conversation in a look, making Harry assume that as they were both parents, or at least parental figures; it was a look of motherly concern. Westley joined in then, "You mentioned a cupboard. Were you living there, as you claim, because there was no space room for you to have a bedroom?"
Dumbledore looked victorious for moment as he thought he had an ally.
a
"No sir, there are four bedrooms. My aunt and uncle's room, Dudley's bedroom and his 2nd bedroom, and the spare one used by aunt Marge when she comes and visits," Harry said.
Westley looked shocked. "So there was adequate space for you to have a room to yourself?" he asked.
"I think so, sir," Harry mumbled.
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