Harry awoke but did not look entirely alert to Mrs. Weasley. The memories of the night came rushing back to him. He had been in too much pain and too tired to realize it earlier, but the shock was setting in.
Mrs. Weasley moved him to the bed and Harry hesitantly let go. As Mrs. Weasley got Harry’s clothes for the day, she remembered something he had said the day before. “Do you want to dress yourself?” Harry did not react right away, but eventually nodded his head, still with no visible expression. Mrs. Weasley sat his clothes on the bed and left the room to wake the others and make breakfast.
Mrs. Weasley returned to the room half an hour later. She had expected Harry to come downstairs after he was dressed. Harry was lying sideways on the bed however. He had only removed his pajama top, but had his arms now wrapped around it. His eyes were open, but blank and expressionless, like his face. They even had a glazed quality as though he were sleeping with them open. Mrs. Weasley sat next to him, very concerned.
“Harry,” she asked cautiously, touching his shoulder. Harry’s whole body shook violently as she touched him but there was no other reaction. “Harry, wake up dear.” There was still no reaction from the boy. Mrs. Weasley pulled his limp body into a tight embrace and her eyes filled with tears.
After some time, Mrs. Weasley put Harry’s pajama shirt back on and laid his head on the pillows. She pulled the blankets over him and sat next to him again. She gently caressed the side of his head, lightly brushing her fingers through his untidy hair. Harry remained perfectly still, except for his chest moving with his shallow breathing. His eyes remained open, ghostly and dull despite their normal brilliance.
Ginny, Hermione and Ron entered the room minutes later. “What’s wrong mum,” Ginny asked very worried.
Mrs. Weasley hastily dried her eyes before turning to the children. “I need to go and speak with Professor Dumbledore. You three need to take turns sitting with Harry. It’s very important that somebody is here should he wake up. I don’t want him left alone,” she added rushing from the room.
For the duration of Harry’s lack of activity, Ginny was the one to sit with him most, besides Mrs. Weasley, who had returned from Dumbledore very agitated. The old wizard had been unfortunately indisposed and unable to speak for long, let alone come to Grimmauld Place. Her agitation only increased because she refused to sleep, staying up all night with Harry. Still, Harry showed no sign of being awake or asleep.
Finally, owing to another angry visit from Mrs. Weasley, the headmaster arrived on the afternoon of August fourth. Mrs. Weasley angrily ordered Ginny out of the room when she and Dumbledore entered. Dumbledore examined Harry and then began to calmly speak with Mrs. Weasley, who was not calm, but shouted at him.
Harry was suddenly aware of a loud conversation near him. He was only scarcely aware who the speakers were and what they were saying. Mrs. Weasley had her back to him and was shouting at Dumbledore, who Harry could not see. Harry was more concerned with the feeling of fear he had. He felt scared, but could not remember why.
“You have to change him back,” Mrs. Weasley was shouting. “He can’t deal with the stress and trauma like this! He needs to be in control and I think this is killing him!”
“As I have already explained,” Dumbledore began calmly. “My changing him back without him fulfilling the spells requirements would only cause Harry more stress and extreme pain.”
“But he could handle it! An adolescent is far better at dealing with this than a child is! He wouldn’t be attacked in his dreams anymore either!”
“At this point we do not know what happened to Harry. He has been unable to tell us what happened.”
“HE WAS ATTACKED BY YOU-KNOW-WHO AGAIN! We can’t let this continue! It’s immoral to subject Harry to this!” Harry had never heard anyone shout at Dumbledore like this. He was deeply impressed and thankful to Mrs. Weasley.
“I can assure you that Voldemort can not get to him here.”
Harry could see Mrs. Weasley shudder at the name. “Well, what happened to him then? He didn’t do it to himself!”
Dumbledore sighed calmly, he had no answer to this question. “If I change him back now, it is very likely his mind will be left in a divided state. I am not prepared to risk that and nor should you be.”
Mrs. Weasley sighed deeply before continuing, no longer shouting. “Of course I don’t want that. I’m just worried about him now. He hasn’t moved or done anything for two days. He just lies there, like a little baby.” Harry could here her crying now. “I can’t even get him to eat anything. The one time I managed to get him to swallow something, he threw-up everywhere five minutes later. I don’t even remember how many times I’ve had to change his wet or messy clothes over the past days.”
“Molly, I can assure you he will recover. Harry has proven to be very capable of handling things most grown wizards could not. I think what would be best is if you got some sleep.”
“But what about Harry?” Her words were constrained and tearful. “He needs to eat something. Can you at least wake him?”
As his stomach rumbled silently, Harry got an idea. He could relieve Mrs. Weasley and make it seem like he had just woken up and not heard the entire conversation. Indeed he felt guilty for not speaking sooner. Adopting a childish tone very easily, Harry spoke, also making himself sound tired. “Mrs. Weasley, I’m hungry.”
Molly turned around quickly, tears splattering down her face. “Harry!” She was smiling when she picked him up and hugged and kissed him repeatedly. Harry’s face was very red when she finally put him down. “I was so worried about you. How are you feeling?” She put her hand to his forehead.
“Hungry,” he repeated childishly, noticing Dumbledore wink at him over Mrs. Weasley’s shoulder. Had he known the whole time?
“Oh, of course,” Mrs. Weasley said, lifting Harry into her arms again. She turned back to Dumbledore. “Would you care for something? Some tea perhaps?”
“Unfortunately, I must be going. I do hope you are feeling better Harry.” he walked from the room and aparated in the hallway.
Mrs. Weasley took Harry to the kitchen and made him a plate full of sandwiches and poured him a large glass of pumpkin juice. “Eat as much as you want Harry. I’ll make more if you‘re still hungry.”
Harry was not sure what had happened to him since the night he was punished, but he was very glad she was not punishing him any longer. He vowed to himself to never act like a child again. He would fight to keep his older mind in control. He knew he would have to if he was going to learn his lesson in less than a month now.
As soon as he was done eating, Mrs. Weasley helped Harry move his belongings back to the room he had shared with Ron. She was hesitant to at first, but Harry had requested so insistently that she gave in. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you did for me,” Harry had said awkwardly. “But I want to be treated older. I am sixteen, even if I look like I’m five.”
“I know,” Mrs. Weasley assured. “It’s like you said, you are not a baby. But I will always be here if you need me.” Harry was again deeply appreciative to her. He also requested that he be allowed to bathe and dress himself again. He knew it would only help him remember to act older. Mrs. Weasley agreed but said he still had to be in bed by 9:30. With no other choice, Harry was forced to agree to this condition.
As dinner approached, Mrs. Weasley explained a few more rules to Harry. He agreed with her that special rules were necessary until his condition was reversed. They would prevent incidents like what had led to his punishment from happening again.
Harry would be treated the age he acted. Mrs. Weasley was very careful to explain this double-edged sword to him. If he acted like his sixteen-year-old self he would be given certain responsibilities and chores to do, but would also be given certain privileges. Now Harry could get out of doing his chores, if he wanted, by acting like a child, perhaps by throwing a tantrum, Mrs. Weasley had said, or even requesting to be relieved of his adult responsibilities. But, if he did, Harry would also loose all of his adult privileges as well as being treated like a child. To get them back, Harry would have to behave maturely or, if he had requested it, request to be treated older again. In either case, he would be free to act like and do anything a child that age did.
Harry did not hesitate to agree. He was certain he would not be acting like a child again; certain he would not break the promise he made to himself. “Alright, do you still want to be a big boy tonight?” Mrs. Weasley’s question was very serious, as Harry had just agreed to the new rules. Her tone was not at all demeaning, but pointed instead.
“Yes.”
“Alright, you can help me make dinner tonight then.” Harry followed Mrs. Weasley downstairs.