Levitating him from the stretcher, Elizabeth Greengrass and Madam Pomfrey placed Harry on the bed in the hospital wing as two more specialised healers from St Mungo's came through the Floo to help.
"Oh, Sweet Merlin!" breathed one of the Healers as he scanned the boy. "How is he even alive?"
"What's wrong with him?" asked Sirius worriedly.
"He's been tortured, Minister, very, very badly," muttered Healer Thomson. "Multiple counts of Cruciatus and other torture curses, broken bones, internal bleeding, trauma to the nerves, deep cuts on the upper torso with a knife, and he seems to have been whipped, too many times to count. His injuries are severe."
"Can you treat him?" asked Amelia desperately.
"We'll do our best, but we can't guarantee anything," he said gravely, conjuring privacy screens. Vanishing the boy's torn clothes, they began the long process of healing him.
"Who?" asked Amelia through gritted teeth, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Voldemort," spat Sirius. "He's back."
"Right under our noses," she said furiously, nails digging into her palm. " This was why the Death Eaters had been quiet. They had been planning this moment to the letter."
At that moment, Cyrus Greengrass entered, along with Daphne, Dylan, Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"Sirius, how is he?" inquired Dumbledore.
"This is the result of Voldemort's torture, so what do you expect?" snapped Sirius. "Cyrus, could you stay here with Harry? We need to take care of this. If Voldemort has indeed regained a body -"
He stopped mid-sentence when Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt entered the room, interrupting him. "Minister, Director Black," said the Auror in his deep voice. "Barty Crouch has been captured. You wouldn't believe this, but it's his own son! Barty Junior is alive and has been using Polyjouice Potion to act like his father."
"Mother Magic, be merciful!" Amelia exclaimed in alarm. "There is no telling how much information he might have gained from the Ministry archives! Barty Crouch Senior was the Head of the Department of Internation Magical Cooperation. He had access to classified information and if his son has someone coerced his father into giving him the passcodes to access them…"
"Place the Ministry under lockdown! No one enters or leaves the building without my express authorization. Tell Head Auror Scrimgeour to meet me at my office. I'll contact Director Croaker and be there soon," ordered Sirius.
"Yes sir," said Kingsley briskly as he quickly walked out.
"We need to contact the old guard," said Dumbledore firmly. "Sirius, the Order -"
"I am the Minister of Magic, Albus," said Sirius, annoyed. "I don't have time to play errands for you. I know the Order is important and I will support it but I also have a country to run. Do what you can and I'll meet you later to discuss this. I do not want the Ministry compromised. Cyrus -"
"Don't worry, Sirius," Cyrus assured him. "Elizabeth and I will remain here until Harry recovers. We won't leave his side."
"Thank you," said Sirius gratefully. With that, he and Amelia quickly made their way out of the hospital wing. Dumbledore seemed to be thinking hard about something but nodding to himself in determination, he too walked out. Daphne and Dylan were sitting together, leaning against the other as they stared into the distance, lost to the world. They had not forgotten the sight of Harry's beaten and bloody body that was on the grounds… the stark contrast of him smiling and laughing just several hours before brought tears to Dylan's eyes. The fact that his father, uncle and aunt could have been responsible for this was too much to bear.
Hugging Daphne tightly as she rubbed his back in a soothing gesture, he cried silently on her shoulder. Daphne too couldn't help but shed tears. She did not know if Harry was going to make it out alive.
"D-Daphne is Harry going to be o-okay?" asked Dylan, his eyes red, sounding very much like a young child as he hiccupped.
"I don't know, Dylan," said Daphne quietly, as tears rolled down her cheeks. When Astoria entered the hospital wing, Daphne grabbed her sister in a hug too. They sat there, not knowing what to do, as they waited… waited for any news about Harry's recovery.
More than three and a half hours later, the four exhausted healers stepped out from behind the privacy screens. The specialised healers muttered instructions to Madam Pomfrey and made their way to the Floo. Elizabeth collapsed in an armchair next to her husband as the matron disappeared into her office.
"How is he?" asked Cyrus softly.
"He's stable for now," said Elizabeth quietly. "But when we began healing him, we thought there was no way he was going to stay alive for more than an hour. We were astounded when his inherent magic began helping us heal his injuries. He's very determined, even when near death. It will take time but with enough help, we believe he will make a full recovery."
"Is he in pain?" Daphne whispered, trying to keep her voice steady.
Elizabeth grimaced. "No potion can negate the effects of the Cruciatus Curse, Daphne. I don't know how long he was under the curse, but from our scans, we can infer that it was pretty long. Don't expect him to be the same after he wakes up; he may not be the same Harry Potter you remember. There is a possibility that he has suffered brain damage that we may not have detected yet."
"Nothing will happen to him," said Dylan firmly. "Harry will be fine! No amount of torture can ever break him, I know it!"
No one said anything to that heartfelt declaration because all of them were hoping that Dylan was right.
....
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