Chapter 4 So Close to Freedom

Our hero turned at the sound of his name. He was almost knocked off his feet when a brown-haired missile collided with him. "Ummm," was all he got out as he wrapped his arms around what appeared to be a girl his age. He was not at all put out by her chest snuggling up to his.

"Oh, Harry, I've been so worried. You've been gone for a week. Where have you been? Why did you leave? Is it the tournament? We will find a way. Is it Ron? He'll come around. No, wait, you don't know about that yet. Forget I said anything. Oh, Harry, why did you run?" the girl prattled in one breath as she pulled back and searched his face for injury. Seeing the fading bruises and that he was in a hospital gown and pants, she figured he had been hurt, but was healing. She decided that he had been in the Hospital Wing and for some reason ran, but he needed medical help. So, she grabbed his hand and tugged and was quite surprised when he dug in his feet and peered at her through his still unwashed hair.

"I'm sorry, had a bit of an accident, and I'm all lost in the head. Who are you?" he said, not sure where to start in all those questions that made him have questions of his own. She was a cute girl with bushy hair and slightly large front teeth. Still she seem to know him really well. He did wonder just how well.

"Oh honestly, Harry, this is no time for jokes," the girl huffed, still trying to get him to move. She huffed and pulled, but he didn't budge, so she whirled around and folded her arms and stared at him curiously.

"Why does everyone keep saying that? Am I really that much of a prankster that I'd lie about something like this? I don't think I am, I don't feel the need go around embarrassing anyone," the amnesiac stated firmly as he planted his feet in a defiant stance.

"Well, no, you usually don't joke around about serious things," she conceded, glancing at his confused face.

Whispers started and that made him look around to try and see the faces of everyone who was gathered in a circle around him and this girl. He could tell from their height that they were kids and teen, but their faces were all a blur so he couldn't see the expressions.

He felt like a sideshow freak.

"What the hell are you people staring at?" he barked, making quite a few jump and hurry away. "Do I stop and listen to your private conversations? Wow, I must've really been an arsehole," he muttered, confused as to why they felt his was important enough to gawk at. If he had been an arsehole before, he didn't think he was one now. Little did he know the opposite was true.

"No, you don't," the girl stated as she twirled around and glared at the spectators. "Move along, this is none of your concern," she ordered as she grabbed the sleeve of his hospital gown and pulled him back to the stairs.

Gossip broke out, but the crowd dissipated.

"Wait, I'm not going back up there. That old man pillaged my mind!" Harry yelled as he jerked his arm away and started back towards the doors. He wasn't staying here if he could help it. He had lived on the streets for a week, he could do it longer. Though, he didn't seem to have his boots, 'Damn, that's going to make it more difficult,' he thought as he continued to try for freedom.

"Honestly, Harry, I am sure that Dumbledore was only trying to help," the still unintroduced girl said as she grabbed his arm and pulled him in the direction of the stairs… again.

"I said no, and he did it anyway. How is that okay with you?" he asked, once again yanking his arm free and backing away. "You're a girl, you should know better," he snapped as he wondered if this truly was his friend. How could that be if she thought it was okay to be violated in such a manner?

"He is your guardian while you're here," she said sternly, twirling around to look at him.

"So if he beats me, is that okay too?" our hero demanded, not sure how she could think this.

"Of course not, that's not at all the same thing," she huffed and then noticed they were getting a new crowd. She tugged on his gown once more, but he was unmovable. "Harry, stop being difficult and come back to the Hospital Wing, I'm sure there is a logical explanation for what happened."

"Yeah, that old man has a God complex," the dark-haired teen muttered, but didn't move an inch.

Just then Hagrid came into the building. "There ya are, 'arry, we've been lookin' all over fer ya," the giant man stated, coming up to the two arguing teens. He was very happy to see his little friend. He had started to become worried that Harry had met with a bad end.

"Oh my God, you're fucking huge," Harry said as his eyes got wide and he pushed himself into the wall as much as the unforgiving surface would let him. His eyes darted up and down the large room he was in. To his right was the stairs, to his left was the door, but the huge man was in his way. If he moved forward and went through the crowd, maybe he could get out that way. He was calculating how to get to the doors, when the still unidentified girl broke his train of thoughts.

"Harry," the bushy-haired girl started tentatively, laying a hand on his arm. "Don't you remember Hagrid? He's one of you first friends," she stated with a very worried voice and look.

"'E doesn't remember?" the man with the shaggy beard said, leaning forward and looking at Harry with his beady eyes, making the wary boy sidle away from him, closer to the stairs.

"Oh Merlin, you really do have amnesia," Hermione gasps, putting her hands to her mouth in shock. "You have no clue as to who I am, do you?" When he shook his head and glared at her in a 'duh' way, she smiled and said, "My name is Hermione Granger. We have been best friends for four years."

"Right," he said with a nod, trying to remember her. The next voice he heard made him jump and try and get around the giant, who kept getting in his way. 'Damn, this guy is quick for someone his size,' he thought.

"Hagrid, be so kind as to escort Mr. Potter back to the Hospital Wing. He is very sick and should not be running about," McGonagall's voice said from the top of the stairs.

"Alright, Professor," the half-giant said as he closed a large hand around Harry's arm. "Come on, 'arry, let's get ya back," he said as he hauled the teen towards the stairs.

"I am not going back there!" the teen yelled at the top of his lungs as his magic exploded out of him, affecting everyone but the giant.

People stumbled back and a large circle of emptiness surrounded Harry and Hagrid. Some fell to the floor, and others slammed against the wall. None were hurt, but they were all staring at Harry with wide fearful eyes. It was a good thing he couldn't see their faces.

"Now, 'arry, that's not right, ya should jest listen to yer teachers," the unaffected man stated as he lifted the struggling teen over his broad shoulder and carried him up the stairs.

"No, that old man is going to rip apart my mind with some weird telepathic sci-fi contacts that make his eyes twinkle," Harry shouted and squirmed to get out of the firm grip of the giant arm keeping him pinned down. He kicked and hit the man, but none of it work, and the man's muscles caused his bare feet and fist to hurt.

"Harry, what are you talking about? Professor Dumbledore isn't a scientist, he's a wizard," Hermione asked as she followed the trio up the stairs.

"There is no such thing as magic," the struggling boy said loudly, making everyone in the hall gasp.

"Explain what you just did then," she stated firmly.

"Telekinesis," he said smugly.

"That is science fiction, Harry. It's not real," she said as she shook her head.

"And magic is? How is that logical?" the boy sneered, already getting tired of debating everything with this girl.

"Okay, I see your point, but, Harry, the opposite is true," she argued, folding her arms as she continued to follow them to the medical area.

"Oh," was all he had to say as he stopped he fruitless struggle.

They got to the Wing and Hagrid put Harry on a bed. "I've got ter… er… go and feed the animals," the half-giant stuttered out, when green eyes looked at him with betrayal, making him quickly leave the room.

The boy looked around and saw the old man was laying on a bed on the other side of the wing, near where he had hit the wall. His emerald eyes narrowed as he tried to stab the man's head with just a look. Perhaps giving him an aneurism, or at the very least a huge bloody headache.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," McGonagall snapped, when she saw him glare at the Headmaster, "hurting him in such a way that he is unconscious."

"I don't know why everyone is getting up my nose. He violated my mind. It was self-defense," Harry snarled, his eyes never leaving the prone man.

"As headmaster he has a right to do what he needs to do to help and protect the children of this school, which you happen to be one of," the old woman responded fiercely, not that she like the way Albus did what he did, however it was within his privileges as a headmaster.

"Let me get this straight, it is okay for him to go around, imprisoning students, and peeking into people's minds. Just like that, even if they say no? What about my rights?" Harry asked as he turned to look at her with an incredulous look.

"You are a minor, you do not have rights," she stated primly, which was completely true, and as an orphan he had fewer than most children.

"So you are saying I can't defend myself?" he all but shouted. 'Maybe that kid was right, and you can't trust adults,' he thought as he glared in the woman's direction.

"Of course you can, what I am saying is that Albus did not do anything for you to defend yourself from," McGonagall huffed, not understanding what the issue was. If the child would just cooperate then he would be well in short order.

"Bugger this, I'm out of here," our hero stated, only to be spelled to the bed by all three females. His pants didn't budge, his legs were frozen, and wraps sprung from the mattress holding his arms down.

"You will stay right where you are, young man," Poppy Pomfrey stated as she waved her wand to check to make sure he was uninjured from his flight. Seeing he was fine, she went back to the Headmaster, to make sure his injuries were healing.

"Why should I?" he demanded as he watched her walk away, and if he could've moved his arms, he would've folded them. Just who the fuck did these people think they were tying him down like a criminal. When he got out of here there was no way he was coming back.

"Well," Hermione started as she sat on the foot of his bed, making him want to kick her off for sticking him to it, "for one, you're safe here. Two, you get three meals a day, a bed to sleep in and it's already paid for. Three, you have to stay and compete in the tournament or you will lose your magic," she finished counting each on her fingers, hoping he would listen to reason. If he had been living on the streets these things should appeal to him. She felt bad for immobilizing him, but he needed to be here where people could protect him. She shuttered at the thought that a Death Eater could have found him when he was gone.

"That is the third time someone has mention this tournament," Harry said, trying to get his hands free. Maybe if he could get them talking he could break free like he had before. "What is it and why do I have to compete? I don't give a rat's ass about 'magic'," he finished, causing the three women to look at one another. That's not good.

"The Tri-wizard Tournament is a competition between the three most premier magic schools in Europe. The Goblet of Fire picks a champion from each school. This year there was an age limit of seventeen, but for some reason, four people were picked and you were one of them," Hermione hurriedly explained.

"Did I do something as stupid as enter myself?" he asked, trying to call up his telekinetic powers to break the bonds holding his arms. So far they only seemed to work when he was threatened in some way, but right now they were silent.

"I don't believe so. I saw your face when your name was called, you were completely shocked. I think that might be one of the reasons you've lost your memories," she said thoughtfully. "Though retrograde amnesia is usually caused by a blow to the head," she said, looking at the nurse, who was fussing over Dumbledore.

"I don't believe that was the cause," the nurse said, "but that is all I can divulge. Patient confidentiality," she stated firmly and went back to tending Albus, who was starting to come around.

Hermione nodded at that and gave a confused look to her friend, and asked, "What do you remember?"

"I remember waking up in a cold alley, then the week on the streets of London. People talking about wizards and magic, there was even mention of goblins," he said, closing his eyes trying to see if he could get past that wall, and then he let out a frustrated sigh when that was all he could recall.

"Wait, did you not tell me that you remembered a 'creepy man' yelling at you and making you run away?" the Transfiguration Teacher asked, looking startled.

Harry shrugged, "If I did, I don't remember it now," he said, then worried that his loss of memory was getting worse.

"Poppy, did you leave Severus alone with Mr. Potter at any time?" the old woman asked, looking at the nurse.

"Only for a second, surely not long enough to do any damage," Pomfrey replied.

"You mean someone else messed with my mind? Just what kind of fucked up school are you running here?" Harry yelled and started his struggles anew.

"Language," came the reprimand of three female voices.

"Fuck you," the trapped boy snarled.

"Harry, calm down, we don't know for sure if anyone took that memory or if it's part of your… condition," Hermione said, knowing full well amnesia didn't work that way.

"I'll bloody well calm down when people stop messing with my mind in the madhouse."

"Mr. Potter, where are your glasses and wand?" McGonagall inquired, hoping to quiet the boy down and change the subject until Albus could contribute.

He saw right through her ploy, but sagged on the bed and answered. "Well, my glasses got stolen three times. I couldn't really sit on them to prevent that. And if you mean the stick that was in my pockets, well, I threw it away, didn't I? I mean, how was I to know it was some sort of super tricorder," he said sheepishly, trying to remember which alley he threw it away in.

"Oh, Harry," the bushy-haired girl moaned as she put her head in her hands.

"What is a tricorder?" the teacher asked, not going into the disposal of the wand. That was another thing for Albus to handle.

"It's from an American television show," Hermione groaned, and then shrugged and added, "It's a Muggle thing."

"Well, I can at least fix the missing glasses," the nurse stated as came to their side of the room. She transfigured some frames and added glass, and with a wave of her wand, she made them self-updating prescription lenses. "These will hold you until you get to Diagon Alley or St. Mungo's," she stated, handing the temporary spectacles over.

The boy looked at her, then at his fettered arms, and then at her again. She blushed and put them on for him. He blinked to clear his sight after going for a week without glasses, and glared at everyone in the room. Now that he could see, his piercing green eyes were direct, and they knew he was angry with each and every one of them. "How long are you going to hold me prisoner?" he asked with a snarl.

"Mr. Potter, it is for your own good. There are people who want you dead. You need to stay here where you are safe," the old woman stated, looking over her glasses at him as if she could keep him in the bed with her stare.

"Right, don't remember a thing," he said with a shrug, his glare not lessening a bit.

"That does not negate the fact that they will still try and kill you," she snapped, getting tired of his attitude.

Two things happened right then, two men came through the door, and Albus woke up.

"Oh ho, I see our youngest champion is awake," the largest of the men stated. "How are you, Harry, my boy," he asked jovially.

"Great, another fucking happy adult," Harry moaned and thumped his head back onto his pillow.