Harry Potter 1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I wish I could own HP, but I don't.

POST OotP.

My First Fanfic ever.

Non-slash

Harry, Snape fiction.

Synopsis: After Sirius' death, Harry must learn to cope with the it, as well as voldemort getting stronger and as he has a misfortune in his health.

Harry sat in his room- or what passed as a room anyways. At 15 almost 16, he was back in the cupboard. He thought after Mad-eye Moody and the lot threatened Uncle Vernon that things just might be better. 'ha, better..What a joke.' Harry thought bitterly. He was back to doing tedious chores that went from morning to night with little food and always getting an earful from his relatives.

At night, he had nightmares.. some times it was about Sirius and he would talk about how it was Harry's fault that he was gone, that he was a good for nothing godson. Harry would wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air; it felt like his throat was constricted. Other times he had visions of Voldemort giving the Cruciatus Curse to his Death Eaters or tormenting a muggle for fun.

Harry bristled. He hated it when Voldemort tormented muggles for fun. They were harmless; what have they ever done to _him_.

So after every nightmare, he would wake up at 2 or 3am and start working on his summer homework from Hogwarts. Hogwarts.. he couldn't wait to go back to the one place he thought of as home. Just a few more weeks…

Harry's birthday came on July 31st. As usual, he saw many owls coming through his window. Pig, Ron's annoying owl who kept flapping around the room, dropped off Chocolate Frogs and other sweets as well as Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes from Fred and George. Next was Hermione's owl, who dropped off the gift and went out the window, not looking back. It was a book on charms, an advanced book with all sorts of charms that were not learnt until 7th year. Harry smiled slightly- one of the few since he was at 4 Privet Drive. Next was Hagrid's usual rock cake which Harry deftly avoided. One of the school owls came in and handed him an envelope. He opened it expecting it to be from McGonagall with all the books and materials needed for the following year, but instead it was his OWL scores.

Harry stared at it in shock.

And "O" in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts (of course), and surprisingly, _potions_ of all things. He also received an "E" in Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology. As well as a "P" in History and Divination.

These scores allowed him to enter all the classes he would need to become an Auror. Harry was beginning to feel excited. He would definitely study harder over the summer to be prepared. But what shocked him the most was receiving an "O" in potions. An O!

Harry groaned. Oh man, Snape's going to have fun toying with me this year.

But Harry pushed away all bad thoughts and resolved to work hard and avoid the wrath of Snape as much as possible.

The next two weeks passed by in the same manner; do chores, eat little, sleep little, study more.

The charms book from Hermione was very interesting. He couldn't do magic due to the underage magic law, but he practiced all the same with the movements, without the wand.

Then the devil happened.

Uncle Vernon came through the door yelling for 'the boy' to come down.

Harry staggered from his room, weak from lack of food and rest and asked, "yes sir?"

Vernon turned purple as he tried to find the words. "YOU COST ME MY JOB!"

Harry was befuddled but hid it as he did with all his emotions around Vernon. "I have no idea what you're talking about." He replied calmly.

Vernon sneered. "You and your lil…. MAGIC. It was all you! You are a disgrace after all we did to raise you and gave you shelter. And boy, YOU LOST ME MY JOB!"

Harry could see how angry he was getting so he didn't say anything at all.

Vernon was not pleased with this. He decided to do something about it.

He grabbed the boy and started beating him all over, while Dudley and Petunia just watched on. Harry tried to curl into a ball but it was hopeless; he was being held in the air by his uncle. After punching his body for a while, Vernon became bored, so he aimed for the eyes instead. And kept punching and punching and punching.

Once he had his kicks of fun in, he tossed Harry into the cupboard and locked it. Harry was nearly unconscious but he heard it and was scared; the cupboard hasn't been locked in 5 years! But he was too weak to do anything about it. He fell unconscious.

When he woke up after god-knows-how-long… he grabbed for his glasses and put them on. He opened his eyes and blinked several times.

And several more times.

After a few minutes, he nearly fainted again as he realized something.

Harry was blind.


	2. A Latin word or two

Disclaimer: HP does the soul good. But its not my soul that owns.

Harry was blind.

He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind. He was blind.

No matter how many times he thought it, the reality of it still didn't sink in.

He was _blind!_ He couldn't even begin to grasp this concept. He didn't even know where he was at the moment. All he could see and feel… was **black**. Harry started to panic. All he could see was black! He held up his fingers to see how many he was holding but he couldn't see them! Frustrated, he almost let out a growl but covered his mouth in time. As he did so, he felt stickyness. Blood. Harry had bled earlier and it was starting to dry up. It didn't bother him as much. He wanted to know where he presently was. He took a deep breath and tentatively felt around; he could sense that he was in a closed space. Perhaps the cupboard still? He reached up and right above his head he could feel the ceiling. Yep, he was still in the cupboard. He couldn't even tell how long he's been asleep. But he knew he felt like crap. His stomach was rolling around and making funny noises- he sure was hungry! He was about to start banging on the door but stopped momentarily… he didn't want his so-called "family" knowing he was blind; they would just use this against him and taunt him even more. From what he could last recall, there were only 2 more weeks till school started and he was sure that at least a day or two has passed. So he quietly sat, wondering what to do about his disability.

snorts Harry's never heard of a wizard with any form of incapabilities… and he's the Boy-Who-Lived! The supposed "saviour of the wizarding world". He had the entire weight of the wizarding world on his shoulders.. and he couldn't even bloody see! Now how is he supposed to defeat Voldemort!

But Harry knew that there was no point in panicking. It wouldn't get him anywhere and he didn't need to stir up more trouble with Vernon. Being the stubborn boy that he is with all that Gryffindor pride, Harry decided to find a way to go about and use the blindness as a 'gift' rather as a 'deformity'.

Suddenly he heard the cupboard locks unlock. He fell to his side and pretended to still be unconscious. He heard the cupboard door open and felt like he was being watched. He heard a few mumbled words.

"Ungrateful prat." … "….rotten boy."

Harry heard something bang against the ground and the door slammed, and once again the locks resumed its rightful place. Harry cautiously felt for what hit the ground and realized it was a bowl with some sort of liquid. Chicken broth. Harry wrinkled his nose.. well, at least it's better than nothing. He drank a sip or two, but decided to leave some for later- no one knows how long it'll be before they give him another bowl of soup. He wanted to sleep but his mind was just too preoccupied with his blindness.

'Wait a second..!' Harry thought. 'I remember a charm in the advanced charms book that 'Mione gave me… All I had to do with the flick of the wand was say _'articulo conspectus'_ Certainly this can help me!'

The charm, when the wand was pointed in a general direction or even a specific object, allowed the wizard or witch to be told what is in that area or what the specific object is. The problem was that Harry didn't have a wand. His uncle put it away with all of his other belongings. After a minute's thought, he decided to just give it a go anyways- not like he had anything else to do with his time. So he sat there patiently just flicking his wrist and saying the words so that when he did get his wand, he would be able to get it right away. It got quite boring after, so he decided to put more feel into it..

"_articulo conspectus!" _he whispered indignantly. To say the least, Harry was definitely surprised when he heard "_cupboard door_" in his head! With his own voice too! He was a bit puzzled because he wasn't using his wand. He felt his eyes grow wide with sudden realization. Wandless magic. He. Could. Do. Wandless. Magic. It left him in awe for a few moments.

He faced another side.

"_articulo conspectus!"_ he whispered again.

This time he heard in his head "_cot_".

'Interesting.. very interesting' Harry thought.

Now that he knew how to find out where he was going and what was in front of him, the problem was going about without anyone noticing he was blind. He certainly did not want everyone worrying about him… again. He hated it when people were fawning all over him asking every 2 seconds if he was alright.

'If they left me alone I'd would be alright.' Harry bitterly thought. But he instantly felt a pang of regret for thinking that- they worried cause they cared and it felt nice to be cared about. But still… he didn't need to bring more troubles into people's lives with Voldemort being back and all.

Harry sighed. He still had at least a week to figure things out.

This routine followed up until September 1. Every 2 or 3 days, the cupboard would open and Vernon, Dudley or Petunia would put a new bowl of soup on the floor and lock the door once again. He knew it was September 1st cause he heard Dudley getting ready for school and was complaining that summer was over already. He didn't even have a chance to go to Diagon Alley this year- he managed to remember another charm which read words off a parchment or book for you. It was '_acroasis'_ This would definitely come in handy. But he still needed his 6th year texts.

shrug he'll worry about that when he gets to school. Firstly, he needed to get to Platform 9 3/4 to hop aboard the Hogwart's Express. He banged on the door loudly. Thumping down the stairs, Harry knew it was Vernon and braced himself. He heard swearing and more swearing and the door unlocking.

Vernon opened the door and bellowed, "what do you want boy!"

Harry replied, "it's September 1.. You need to drop me off at the train station."

Vernon guffawed out loud for several long seconds. "Train? You're not getting onto any train anytime soon. No more hanging around those freaks!" and he slammed the door.

Harry was stunned. He usually found a way to go. But it seemed as if no one was coming for him. No one at all. He decided to formulate a plan to escape after the Dursley's all went to bed. What felt like days (which were really hours) passed, he quietly muttered _Alohmora_ to unlock the locks, which to his relief, did unlock. He knew his way around the house pretty well but decided to use a new charm that he also learned. It would allow to him to see a grid, sort of like a map, in his head and the foundations around him. It didn't allow him to see, just enough to navigate around. He murmured '_navigo caecigenus'_ and instantly saw a grid of the Dursley's house. Harry found the room with all his stuff and mutter _silencio_ so he could not be heard. Still using the navigating charm, he quickly left the house, and slipped on the invisibility cloak and told his head he wanted to find a route to Hogwarts. He quietly flew away into the night.

NOTES

all are latin terms that I used online translations for P

_articulo conspectus – _To speak and read

_Acroasis –_ to read aloud.

_navigo caecigenus _ - navigate blind.


	3. Testing one two three

Disclaimer: HP does the soul good. But its not my soul that owns.

_You found me  
When no one else was lookin'  
How did you know just where I would be?  
Yeah, you broke through  
All of my confusion  
The ups and the downs  
And you still didn't leave  
I guess that you saw what nobody could see  
You found me_

Kelly Clarkson

Ron and Hermione were becoming worried. Harry had no written during the summer, nor did he show up on the train. They feared that something happened at the Dursley's. Or even worse- that the Death Eater's got to him. They hurried into the castle to find Dumbledore, but he was nowhere to be seen. McGonagall was away fetching the first years and Hagrid was off on another mission for the Order. They felt helpless, but was forced to sit at the Gryffindor Table with the others. Soon, Neville, Ginny, Dean, Seamus and others joined them at the table. Ron and Hermione did their best to conceal their worry. They looked up at the Head Table and saw Flitwick, Sprout, Snape, Trelawney, and another empty seat which had to be the new DADA professor, but who it was was still a mystery.

"So guys, who do you think the new DADA professor is? As long as its not Umbridge or Lockhart, it cant be that bad.." Ron asked.

Everyone thought about this statement. Hermione was about to reply when…

Suddenly, Dumbledore walked in from the back, stood at the Head Table and clapped his hands, waiting for everyone to quiet down.

The doors opened and in walked the first years, led by Professor McGonagall. They all looked frightened to see so many older students staring back at them. They all stood at the front with jitters.

'Welcome everyone for another year at Hogwarts! I hope you have had an enjoyable summer. Firstly, I would like to begin with a few reminders. Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind you all that magic is not permitted during the corridors, nor are a number of things which you can check later. We have a new DADA professor, or a recurring one- Professor Lupin will be back this year to teach DADA. He is not currently here tonight, but will be back tomorrow for the first day of classes."

The students cheered, especially the Gryffindors.

"The sorting shall begin!"

The sorting hat was taken out and sang its sorting song and soon placed all the first years into their respective houses. Each time Gryffindor had a new member, they all cheered loudly, though Ron and Hermione's hearts just weren't behind it.

"Let the feasts begi…….." Dumbledore started but paused when he saw who was entering from the front doors.

It was Harry. Holding his broom and his trunk, panting from flying at an accelerating rate just to get here in time for dinner.

Ron and Hermione let out their breaths now that their friend was here.

Harry nervously looked around (a/n oh the irony..) and walked up to the front and mumbled, "sorry professor, I missed the train"

Dumbledore looked down at him with his eyes twinkling and replied, "its alright Harry, just go sit with your friends"

Harry paused for a moment, not really knowing where they were but he knew enough to know that they were at their usual spot and casually walked in that general area until he felt Hermione hug him so he sat down beside her. He smiled at his friends and felt the food pop up in front of him so he ate and listened for people's voices and accordingly talked to them to when questions where asked but other than that, he did not talk much.

"So mate, how was your summer?" Ron asked cheerfully.

"It was… the usual. Y'know with the Dursley's.. work work work" Harry shortly replied.

Unbeknownst to Harry, Dumbledore was watching him and noticed that something was off. Harry was acting as usual but his aura was slightly different- as if there were holes in it now but not filled with darkness.. just holes that showed that something was missing. Harry also had a faraway look in his eyes when he apologized earlier- but Dumbledore just assumed he was still grieving over Sirius and let it slide.

After dinner, Dumbledore stood up once again and said, "Prefects lead your houses to your dormitories and have a good night!"

Ron and Hermione threw Harry an apologetic look (which he missed of course) and told him they would see him in the common room later that night. Harry just nodded and was relieved to find that no one noticed that something was wrong. He really did not know how he managed to get away with it. It was pure luck. And partly Gryffindor pride and stubbornness of his. As he felt everyone leave the room, he sat back down at his table and just sighed. It has been a long two weeks with very little rest and a small development of claustrophobia.

'How am I going to get through the year.' Harry groaned.

'First Voldemort's back, then Sirius died, and now I'm blind.. how am I supposed to get through the week, let alone kill my mortal enemy?' and as strong as Harry was, He started to weep.

It was the first time he truly grieved for Sirius, the first time he realized the peril he was in for his disability. He just sat there and wept. He stopped after a few moments and his face hardened. He cannot let his emotions slip like that. It would just make him even more vulnerable. He will defeat Voldemort. For his parents, for Sirius. He'll do it in their honour.

He stood up in solidarity and he stood there with determination. He subconsciously said, '_navigo caecigenus'_ and was revealed to a map of Hogwarts. He stood there looking for the shortest way to The Tower and when he was satisfied, he gave a nod to himself and left through the great big doors.

What he didn't know was that someone was still sitting at the head table, watching him the entire time. When he heard Potter mutter the words, his eyes widened in shock and realized why Potter was so funny that night.

Potter was blind. Mister Spoiled Prat was BLIND. Wait till the headmaster hears about this one. He grimaced. 'Trust Potter to bring more drama than needed' he thought wryly.

And with that, he walked out of the room, his black robes billowing behind him.


	4. keep on talkin'

Disclaimer: if only HP were mine.

_See my eyes, don't see what I see  
Touch my tongue, don't know what tastes good to me  
It's the human condition that keeps us apart   
Everybody's got a story that could break your heart_

Amanda Marshall

Severus stalked the halls towards the gargoyle that held the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He glared at the statue for a moment before muttering the ridiculous bonbon password that Albus sets up. _Chocolate Frogs_. He shook his head; there were more important matters on the mind than to think of Albus' passwords.

He knocked on the door and waited.

"Come in, Severus." Albus called through from the other side of the door.

Severus opened the door and with a look of disdain on his face, sat in one of the chairs to face the headmaster.

"Lemon drops?" The headmaster's eyes twinkled with delight.

Severus growled in reply. He had no time for this nonsense! He jumped straight into his purpose for visiting the headmaster.

"Have you noticed Potter," he practically spat out the latter, "acting strange today?"

Albus leaned back in his chair. "I did notice something in his aura, but I presumed he was still grieving for the loss of Sirius."

Snape snorted. 'If only that were true.' He thought. 'If only..' He decided to get this over with and after a hesitation's thought, he blatantly told the headmaster.

"Potter.. the Boy-Who-Lived, my dear headmaster.. is blind."

Albus could not do anything but stare.

After many long minutes passed between the two, Albus cleared his throat and began to talk. "Are you sure of this?"

"Positive. I heard him use _navigo caecigenus _which as you know, is a spell mainly used for the blind. As well, I caught him remaining in the Great Hall after everyone was supposed to retreat to their dormitories and he was being the prat that he usually is." Snape rolled his eyes as he said this.

Dumbledore took in this information and it did not sit well with him. He looked thoughtful for a moment. He looked at Severus and said, "I'll talk to Harry. If there is nothing else, you may leave." And with that, he dismissed Severus, who was thankful to get out of there as soon as possible. Potter was not his problem.

Dumbledore sat in his chair, subconsciously sucking on a lemon drop but even the usually delightful candy could not get him out of this stupor. Harry Potter could not see. He has the whole weight on his shoulders and to add on top of that, he was blind. This explains his aura and why it had holes as though something was missing; because something was missing when he saw Harry! He was amazed how Harry managed to make it to school without any scrapes or broken bones on him. Dumbledore was determined to find out how this happened. He got up and walked out of his office.

Meanwhile, Harry was sitting in the common room in front of the fire. Ron and Hermione were doing prefect duties and wandering the halls making sure that no students were traveling about. Harry was glad for this moment of peace. He had a textbook in front of him, the Potions one because he really didn't want to get yelled at by Snape so much, nor wanted to get so many detentions. He needed the textbook to read to him, but _Acroasis_ would only make it more obvious that something was wrong as the charm only read aloud and not to the mind… he needed to fix that. But he couldn't remember any charm that would do that! At least none that he had read about. He slammed the book shut in frustration. He wouldn't be able to do anything until the next day, where he could head to the library and research a spell that could help the likes of it. Harry was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't even realize that someone had entered the portrait hole and was startled when someone touched his shoulder.

'Dammit.' Harry thought. 'I need to work on listening.' After a pause, he also realized that he needs to find a way to recognize someone as he does not know who just approached him. Luckily, the person spoke up first.

"Harry, my boy.. How was your summer?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry smiled slightly at the sound of his grandfather-figure's voice and decided to play it cool. He shifted his head to the direction of the voice, "It was alright, cant complain really. Y'know the Dursleys. I'm just glad to be back at Hogwarts sir!"

Dumbledore was slightly startled at how much Harry had-not so much perfectly- handled the situation far better than he thought Harry would have. He wanted to see how this conversation would go, so he decided not to bring up. For now at least.

They continued in idle chit chatter and Harry thought he was handling himself quite well. He did not know his eyes portrayed his inner turmoil emotions, full of pain and lonliness. He did not know, but Dumbledore could definitely see. He decided after a while to ask Harry about it.

"Harry, I know there is something wrong. Would you care to share what may be bothering you?"

Harry hesitated. He knew that Dumbledore knew many things and for him to ask such a question means he probably knows. Reluctantly, he replied, "I'm blind sir."

Dumbledore was a bit shocked at how easy it was to pry this information for him. He thought he would've taken him at least another 10 minutes or so! He gently asked, "How did this happen Harry?"

It was very visible to see that Harry was struggling with his emotions but decided to get it over with now than deal with it later. "My uncle beat me during the summer and kept punching my eyes. I think he destroyed the retina but I'm not really sure."

A silence ensued as each were deep in their own thoughts.

Tentatively, Harry said, "Sir, I didn't have a chance to go to Diagon Alley to get my books."

Dumbledore replied, "Have no worries, when you wake up tomorrow, your supplies and whatever is necessary will be on top of your trunk."

"Thank you sir."

"Of course Harry. Back to your… disability, I have come to a solution. You will be taking extra lessons after Dinner every other night, starting not tomorrow night, but the following night to help hone in on your other senses, which will be of great value to you. Plus, I want you to learned extra spells, defenses and hexes. I hope that is alright with you, but I believe it is for the best."

"Yes sir. But can we not tell anyone? I don't want pity from anyone."

"Of course Harry, only a few will know."

"Thanks sir." Harry paused. "Who will be helping me with the extra lessons?"

"I believe I will ask Professor Snape and Professor Lupin to teach you."

Harry's stomach churned. Snape? This was going to be hell. On top of everything else, he has to have extra lessons AGAIN from Snape? Does it ever end?

Dumbledore saw the expression on Harry's face. "Don't worry, both professors will be teaching you at the same time so that you and Professor Snape will not ahh… run into difficulties."

Harry nodded.

"Well, I believe it is time for you to get some rest. You have a long day ahead of you Harry."

"Good night sir."

"Good night Harry"

"And sir? Thanks."

Dumbledore's eyes crinkled with a sparkle. "My pleasure."

A/N: next up, the first potion's class, Hermione and Ron find out, visions and.. extra lessons!

**childofdarkness1988** – thank you for reading. You're my first reviewer! And my second one:D lol.


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Harry Potter, Drama