Emotionless Freak

Chapter 2

A rather small boy with messy dark brown hair, tinged red in the right light, and dulled emerald eyes, sat on an unusually comfortable cot surrounded by a curtain. He was watching the white curtain sway in the light breeze caused by an open window somewhere nearby, waiting for someone to tell him what to do next.

He'd been in the room (Professor had called it the 'Hospital Wing') for a couple hours, a good portion of which had been spent with a plump woman wearing odd robes waving a stick at him that somehow produced parchment out of thin air. Now the two women (the plump woman, 'Madame Poppy Pomfrey,' and Professor Minerva McGonagall) were in an office at the other end of the room, apparently discussing something.

After some time, the curtain around the cot Freak sat on was pulled aside to reveal that Madame and Professor had returned from their private discussion. With them was a rather elderly man with a long white beard and perhaps the oddest outfit Freak had ever seen. Mistress would be horrified by this man's lack of fashion sense, Freak was sure. The man's light blue eyes showed a great deal of sadness as he looked at Freak and he shook his head, mumbling something about how sorry he was.

Freak turned his attention to Madame Poppy Pomfrey when she cleared her throat. When she smiled at him, the expression seemed strained, almost as if she was in pain. "Would you like something to drink?" She'd already asked that, bringing him a glass of water even after he'd told her that she didn't need to, he was fine. She'd then watched him as he sipped at it, apparently concerned.

This time, she handed him a cup filled with some kind of juice. Freak frowned down at it. "I'm sorry, Madame, but I'm not allowed to drink juice." Then he remembered. He no longer served the same Masters and, therefore, the rules may have changed. He may not be allowed to drink anything but juice by order of his new Master... Whoever that was...

Looking to Professor, Freak tilted his head slightly in a questioning manner, figuring that since she was the one that took him from his previous Masters, it was only logical that she be the replacement Mistress. She looked pained, but nodded and gestured for him to drink it. He hesitated for a moment, unsure if she was being sincere in her allowance of the drink, but did as instructed.

The three adults kept turning their gazes to one another, then looking back at Freak before meeting each other's eyes again. Freak watched these interactions with a blank stare.

"Harry..." Professor took a step towards him and Freak's brows came together in slight confusion as he darted his gaze around in search of this 'Harry' person. Professor made a soft gasping noise, her eyes widened as the green depths watered slightly. "Harry..." She murmured again, voice quiet and perhaps a little broken. She stepped back, turning to face away from the other occupants of the room.

Next to speak was Madame, though she also had wet eyes and a sad expression as she looked at Freak. "Young man, I believe it may be best for you to spend the night here, in the Hospital Wing. It should only take a day or two to repair... most of the damage that..." She trailed off, a single tear slipping down her cheek as she whispered, "That can be repaired by spells and potions..."

Though he wasn't sure what exactly that was supposed to mean, Freak nodded once, taking the suggestion to stay the night as an order. Until Freak knew for sure who his new Master was, everyone was his Master. It was only logical.

Apparently just noticing the late hour, the three adults bid Freak goodnight, telling him in gentle voices to get lots of rest, before closing the curtains around him and leaving once more. A moment or two later, the light in the room went down significantly, though it wasn't the absolute darkness he'd become accustomed to in his cupboard. Lying down, the eleven year old stared at the ceiling for a while before closing his eyes and trying to sleep.

His stand-in Masters had told him to get lots of sleep... Masters' orders...

~*~*~

When Madame Poppy Pomfrey came to check on him at 7:30 the next morning, Freak was already up and staring at a spot that had previously been occupied by a bit of white curtain, but now held the stout woman's chin. Not seeming particularly surprised by this, (though perhaps somewhat saddened) Madame asked him for the third time if he'd like anything to drink. For the third time, Freak declined and, for the third time, Madame brought him a drink anyway. It was the juice again.

Still not used to consuming something with so much flavour, Freak drank it in small sips at a time. Madame didn't seem to mind this in the slightest, only happy that he was drinking it at all. Not for the first time, Freak wondered vaguely why she wanted him to drink things so often. Not for the first time, Freak did not give voice to his thoughts and questions.

A short time after Freak had finally finished with the juice, Professor came to check on him as well. The two women spoke quietly for a minute before turning back to Freak with small smiles and watery eyes. Professor stepped towards him and spoke in a much softer tone than she'd used with Freak's Masters.

"Young man, would you like to come down to the Hall for breakfast? You could meet some of the other staff here, get something to eat, make some plans..."

Furrowing his brow slightly and privately wondering what she meant by 'plans,' Freak decided to just nod and go along with Professor's words. It occurred to him that perhaps he was going to meet his new permanent Master as he followed her down strange, moving staircases, wearing clothing that had once been a hospital gown before Professor waved her stick and it turned into jeans and a t-shirt, socks and running shoes appearing on his feet from nowhere.

As they finally reached a large set of ornate double doors, Professor turned to smile at him again as she pushed them further open and stepped inside what was apparently the 'Great Hall.' Freak stared, expression impassive aside from slightly widened green eyes, around the large room and up at the 'ceiling.' Or, where the ceiling should have been, but instead seemed to open up to the sky outside, which was of course completely impossible, considering how many stairs they'd gone down to get here.

In the middle of the room was a long, wooden table, occupied by a collection of... interesting people. They turned to look at Professor and Freak as they made their way over and Professor had the young boy sit with her, near the head of the table.

It took a moment, but the various adults seemed to snap out of whatever daze they'd been in and most of them smiled at Freak, greeting him with soft voices and sad eyes.

Unsure if he was allowed to speak to these people but not wanting to appear rude to his potential Masters, Freak nodded in greeting, wondering why they all looked so sad.