Dumbledore stared down at Harry and then took a seat next to his bed. The two wizards continued to stare at each other in silence until Dumbledore finally spoke.

"Why didn't you tell me, Harry"?

Harry looked away from Dumbledore's eyes and felt a mixture of guilt and embarrassment. 'So he knows', Harry thought. But what was he supposed to say back to him? Because he was embarrassed to almost be killed by a muggle? Because there was a part of Harry that felt as though he deserved to get beat? Because he had told Dumbledore multiple times that he didn't want to live with the Dursleys and Dumbledore had always insisted that that was the safest place for him to be?

"Harry?" Dumbledore asked again.

Feeling shameful Harry merely replied, "I don't know". He could no longer look Dumbledore in the eyes.

"How long has this been going on?" Dumbledore asked.

"As long as I can remember", replied Harry.

Dumbledore took a deep a deep breath. He seemed to be speechless. He took a glance up and down Harry's broken body laying crippled in the hospital bed and then covered his face in his hands for a minute. Dumbledore looked sad and defeated and Harry had never seen him like this before – he was usually so put together.

A moment passed and Dumbledore took his hands away. "Harry, I owe you an apology. I was so focused on protecting you from Voldemort that I accidentally turned a blind eye on your well-being and your requests to leave the Dursleys. I knew that your aunt and uncle weren't crazy about you, but I never believed that they would ever resort to anything like this. I am truly sorry Harry".

More silence filled the room.

"So what now?" Harry finally asked.

"My original plan was to take you to Hogwarts and have Madame Pomfry fix you up", said Dumbledore, "But now that I've seen the extent of your injuries, I think it might be best if I took you to St. Mungo's".

Panic swept through Harry. "St. Mungo's!? Please, no! I don't want people to find out about this!" He imagined the news leaking as soon as he arrived. His story would be on the front page of the Daily Prophet by tomorrow.

Dumbledore gave a grim smile and said, "We will ensure your privacy as much as possible, Harry, but unfortunately that's where you need to go".

Harry nodded grudgingly. "And the others – Ron, Hermione, the Order – do they know?"

"They know that you ran away, that you are now in a muggle hospital, and that I came to get you. It wasn't until my arrival here at the hospital that I found out what happened to you", said Dumbledore. "They were all very worried when you went missing and are probably anxiously waiting for you to return. Harry, they will want to know what happened".

Harry couldn't stop a tear from rolling down his cheek. So this was really happening? Everyone would soon know what he had been hiding all of these years. Everyone would soon hear about how pathetic he was.

Dumbledore stared sadly at him as he stood up from the bedside. "It's time we get you out of here".

He reached his hand out to Harry. Looking up at the hand, Harry pulled a frail bruised arm out from under the white bedsheets and reached back. The moment he grasped Dumbledore' hand, he felt himself spinning and flying out of control through space, as they disapparated to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.