Chapter 3

For the next few weeks all that Hogwarts talked about was the young boy on his horse who had rejected man-kind. There were hundreds of different theories going around on how he ended up in the forest and what had made him snap,

That he had been abused by his family,

That he had been kicked out of home,

That he had run away to join the circus and gotten lost,

The list of rumours when on and on.

Dumbledore sent search parties out to find the boy but he could never be found. For weeks the teachers would take turns trying to find the boy but they all failed.

Although they later found out that their effort was wasted, as he, came to them.

Almost a month after Harry had been caught in the school, Harry wasn't doing to well at all. Even before he went to the school, hunting hadn't been to good and it was getting close to winter. The greasy haired teacher had made things worse by taking away his knife, his only means of getting fresh meat and his only defence other then running.

So it was decided that Harry needed to sneak back into the castle and get another weapon of any kind that he could use to stay alive.

So in the middle of the night when he new that the teachers would be in the forest looking for him he snuck through the door and into the room where everyone had been eating in the hope that there would be a stray knife that hadn't been cleared away.

For hours he searched the room for any type of weapon also going into the small room at the back of the hall but all he could find was an axe that was being held by a suit of armour and he was sure that he would never be able to lift it in the starved state that he was in.

As the hours pass Harry got more and more tired as the little energy he had left dwindled away. In the end he collapsed on the floor and managed to crawl into a corner in the hope that he wouldn't be noticed when the school came in for breakfast.

At 7:00AM the next day the school started to trickle in for the morning meal. No one noticed the young boy curled up in the corner until Professor Snape got up to go and tell the Gryffindor students of for the slightest indiscretion.

As everyone watched him approach the table, some watching eagerly to see who would be picked on this morning, others scared they would be the teacher's target.

But just as he got to the end of the table he did something that no one in the room had ever seen him do before.

He tripped and fell flat on his face.

There was complete silence for a minute before the whole school, teachers and all burst out laughing in some shape or form. Snape turned over to see what had humiliated him so much only to find himself staring into a pair of brilliant green eyes.

They stared at each other for a moment before Harry collapsed back into unconsciousness. Snape stood and walked over to the boy, he checked to make sure that he still had a pulse before standing up again.

"Headmaster, I think we have found our running away forest dweller." All laughter in the room seised and Dumbledore went over to where the Potions master was standing.

"So it would seem Severus. Poppy could you come over here please." Madame Pomfrey walked over and quickly began to check the boy over for injuries. After a moment she stood up and turned to the Headmaster.

"There is nothing wrong except that he hasn't eaten properly in over a month. Most likely because it is nearing winter and lots of the animals he would use for food are going into hibernation." She explained.

"Or it could be the fact that you took away the only weapon I had and had no way of catching food," said a weak voice from the floor.

They all looked down to see Harry trying to get up off the floor.

"You really shouldn't be getting up Mr....?" Madame Pomfrey told him.

"Probably not but it's better then staying here." Harry replied completely ignoring the request of his name.

"What have you got against us anyway we did nothing to you?" a student nearby inquired.

"It's not something you did, I just hate the human race as a whole," Harry stated, trying to move around the teachers in front of him.

"Move," he demanded when they wouldn't let him past.

"Not until you tell us your name," the old man said.

"How about...no." he tried to get past them again but he was pushed back, "you have no right to keep me here."

"I think we do, you are too young to be wandering around the forbidden forest alone."

"Forbidden Forest, is that what you call it. So that's why no one ever goes there, except that big guy," he pointed to Hagrid so they would know who he was talking to.

"His name is Hagrid." The old man supplied.

"Whatever,"

"How about this, you eat a descent meal and agree to meet Hagrid at his hut on the edge of the forest every week and we'll let you go back to the forest and we'll leave you alone." Dumbledore suggested.

"And what if we don't come to Hagrid's?"

"Then we will keep looking for you and when we catch you we will keep you in the castle by force."

Harry thought about it, Hagrid wasn't that bad and Harry was sure he wasn't completely human.

"Alright," he agreed, "but I'll come once a month."

"Twice a month." Dumbledore bargained.

"Fine but remember I don't exactly have a calendar so I may be late, also I may not be nearby so it may take me awhile to get here and I need my knife back."

"Agreed, I'll give you the knife as you leave," Dumbledore held out his hand to shake, which Harry stared at for a moment before quickly shaking hands then moving away as quickly as possible.

"Now sit down and eat something, then you can go." The teachers all moved back to their seats and Harry noticed that the man who had first caught him in the castle was hovering in the doorway to prevent his escape.

He glared at the back of the teacher's heads but sat down at the closest table at the end closest to the door. Where there were less people and he would run outside to Lightning the first chance he got.

A/N yes it's been a long time and I'm sorry but I had two different directions this could go and I couldn't decide which to use. I will try and update sooner but I'll give no promises.