Chapter Text
When he gained consciousness, the smell of ointments and potions met his nostrils. His body ached so bad, it was as if he hadn't been moving for a long time. Harry felt extremely confused, why did it seem like he was laying down on a mattress? He could have sworn that he was currently in Professor McGonagall's classroom, listening to her discuss their new lesson.
Right, he could vaguely remember feeling an extreme stomachache. He must have fallen asleep in class — did they bring him into the Hospital wing? That must be the case, it would explain why he could smell those scents. But that was weird, why would they bring him here if he'd just fallen asleep? He groaned slightly before opening his eyes slowly.
On his right, there was a bushy haired lady laying her head on the bed. It made Harry's brow knit together in confusion.
Who could this be?
The hair looked familiar though, he was sure he'd seen this atrocious hair before. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Slowly, he used his elbows to support himself and sat up. It caused the person beside him to jolt awake and sit straight.
It was Hermione Granger, the Gryffindor Know-It-All. He had found her annoying from their first time meeting. She talked a lot — too much. He'd spent his years in Hogwarts reminding her how much of an annoying girl she was. He furrowed his brows. Why was she here?
"Harry, you're awake!" said Granger before standing up very quickly.
Why's she calling me by my first name?
"... Granger?" Harry asked, he was surprised by how his voice sounded. It was raspy, hoarse. It was as if he hasn't spoken in ages. He watched as the Gryffindor's expression shifted into utter confusion. She also halted her movements, she had her wand out and looked like she was about to cast some spell.
"Harry..." Granger breathed out, her face was still contorted in confusion; her brows were drawn together, her lips slightly gaped in shock, her wand hand was frozen mid-air as she looked directly at him. "Did you just... call me Granger?"
What's she on about?
Harry scoffed, rolling his eyes at her before giving her a simpering smile. "Of course, I called you Granger. It's your surname, isn't it? Would you rather I call you Buckteeth or Know-It-All?"
That statement seemed to surprise the girl, she gasped slightly as her face lost all color. With a quick movement, she cast a spell — muttering something under her breath. Harry flinched slightly when there was a light produced from the wand, it was shaped like an otter.
"Professor Dumbledore, it's me Hermione. Harry woke up but he's acting weird. Please come over quickly." said Granger, talking to the light otter. Was she actually going mental? Talking to some kind of... light creature and calling it Professor Dumbledore? Then he watched as the otter flew off. It looked majestic, but he wasn't going to say that out loud, not when it's the know-it-all doing the magic.
He released a low, pained sound from his mouth, clutching his head. It started throbbing so suddenly. "Why are you here, Granger? Where's Theo?" asked Harry, his voice was strained, he wasn't looking at Granger. Well, he wasn't looking at anything at all because his eyes were closed so tightly from the headache.
Granger sat back down on the stool she was sitting on earlier, her face was filled with concern as she stared at Harry. She raised her hand, slowly reaching to touch his forehead but she gasped in surprise when it was swatted away by a glaring Harry.
"Don't touch me." said Harry, it came out as if he was in disbelief, looking at Granger with a scowl. "Where's Theo? Why isn't he here? And why are you here?"
The Gryffindor before him looked baffled and betrayed as she gently clutched on her swatted hand. She pursed her lips before straightening her posture, looking at Harry directly. "Who's Theo? And I'm here because I'm your friend — Ron's still with Neville at the Great Ha—"
"What do you mean who's Theo? You all know that he's my best friend, my brother. And you were never my friend. I might consider that Weaselby and really, why even bother mentioning Longbottom to me... you know I can't stand that — that overly confident o-oaf."
Harry scoffed, giving Granger one last glare before looking away. He doesn't understand why the Gryffindor's face shifted into more confusion as he went on but he doesn't care about her. He wanted Theo. Where could he be? How could they separate them and have Granger here? He doesn't like this girl.
He suddenly heard her muttering things that he couldn't properly comprehend. Harry rolled his eyes before standing up very abruptly.
"Harry, you can't leave." said Granger in a stern but worried voice. Harry whipped his head towards her, his face contorting into a deep scowl.
"Don't tell me what to do, Granger." he hissed. He started feeling his uniform — he looked down suddenly — he wasn't wearing a uniform. He paled, blanched as he saw what he was wearing. "Why the fuck am I wearing muggle clothing?" he screeched, he had a horrified expression on his face.
Hermione blinked at her friend in horror. She felt relieved and extremely happy by the fact that Harry finally woke up from his coma but at the same time, she was scared. Harry was acting weird. She's heard of cases like this in the muggle world, could Harry have gotten an amnesia? No, that doesn't really fit... he kept looking for a Theo. He also just called Ron and Neville and her with names that are considered as insults that Malfoy would say.
The worst part was... he sounded posh. It had made her shiver.
She flinched when Harry started bolting out of the Hospital Wing, it was just rotten luck that Madame Pomfrey wasn't around, she had to look for Professor Snape to retrieve some potions. Left with no choice, she whipped out her wand and cast somnium, then quickly cast the levitation spell on Harry's clothes to lift him up, saving his unconscious body from falling down painfully on the floor and placed him safely back on the bed.
Hermione nibbled on her bottom lip nervously, "when will they get here?" she muttered to herself as she watched Harry's sleeping form.
After a few minutes, loud footsteps could be heard walking, no, stomping their way inside the Hospital Wing. It was the Headmaster Dumbledore, the Minister of Magic and some Ministry officials followed right behind him. They halted as soon as they saw Harry asleep on the bed in a weird position.
"I thought he was awake already, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore asked.
Hermione looked at Dumbledore and the other Ministry Officials in the room nervously before raising her chin bravely. "I had to put him to sleep, Professor. He was about to run out of the Hospital wing... he's acting very weird — he kept calling me by my surname, he's acting oddly hostile towards me too."
Dumbledore's eyebrows rose upwards, stroking his white beard as he hummed, his eyes twinkling at Hermione before they flicked towards Harry's supine body.
"That's quite interesting... what else did he say?" asked Dumbledore, bringing his gaze back to Hermione.
"She kept looking for a Theo and he looked really horrified when he saw his clothes... he looked disgusted." said Hermione with furrowed brows.
The Headmaster let out a hum, the ministry officials beside him were wearing similar expressions, quietly thinking as well. They were looking at Harry as if he was a puzzle that they were solving. Some of them started muttering to eachother, trying to come up with a theory maybe.
Hermione's brows were knitted upward in the center, her lips pressed into a soft, thin line, losing any relaxed fullness, visibly showing her concern. She wasn't used to see Harry acting that way. Her throat went dry, she forgot to mention one more important information that was the weirdest out of everything he'd done.
"Professor, he sounded posh," said Hermione with a shudder, "the way he stood and the way he moved around as well... he felt eerily similar to Malfoy. It felt like I wasn't even talking to Harry."
Dumbledore blinked, visibly surprised by the information, while the other people behind him were promptly confused because they don't really know Harry in a personal level.
"That is... concerning." Dumbledore muttered. Hermione flicked her gaze to Harry and nodded.