Written for the International Wizarding Schools Championship.

Round 4: Can you unravel the Divination code?

School: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Year: Year 3

Theme: Slytherin!Harry AU

Prompts: 7. Swinging on a Swing(action) [Main]

3. Teacup(object) [Additional]

4. Domineering (Character Trait/Behaviour) [Additional]

Word Count: 2925(without A/N)

I.

Harry cannot quite believe the fact that there is someone out there who wants to talk to him so badly, even as more and more letters shoot out of the chimney, flooding the Dursleys' house. He knows he doesn't have any relatives other than the Dursleys, because if he did, he'd have been sent to them a long time ago. He wonders not for the first time who it is that wants to talk to him. He was just Harry Potter. A freak, and an outcast.

The letters finally stop coming in after the entire room has been filled with them. Harry doesn't think he has seen Uncle Vernon look so menacing before. He pats him up and down to see if he'd gotten hold of any of the letters(he had two of them), and then locks him into his room, swearing the entire way. The small boy is quite certain he's not going to be let out of his room for this year at the very least. He looks out of the window sadly, then sits down on the small bed.

A few hours later the Dursleys do let him out, much to his surprise, and treat him in a manner that can only be called polite. He starts helping his aunt prepare dinner silently, wondering what it was that had led to this miracle. He even gets a healthy share of dinner that night, even though Dudley protests saying he hasn't gotten enough and is still hungry. Harry goes to bed bemused that night.

II.

He finds out the next morning the reason why the Dursleys had been nice to him the previous day. The man that is stood at the door of number 4 is tall, with dark hair, sallow skin and a hooked nose. His entire aura is domineering, and Harry can tell from where he is stood watching them from out of their reach that both his aunt and his uncle are scared of this pale man in strange robes. He steps into the threshold and addresses his aunt with a sneer,

"Hello, Petunia. We meet again."

Petunia only nods at him, looking paler than usual. The stranger then sweeps his eyes over the foyer until they stop at him and his sneer drops and he seems to stop breathing for a moment.

"And this is… the boy. Harry Potter."

Harry doesn't know what to say to him so he only nods slowly, unsure as to how he should act. Is this man a long lost relative? Is he going to take him away? Could he finally leave the Dursleys forever? He doesn't voice any of this, however, and instead just watches as the man steps around his uncle, sneer back in place, and makes his way to the kitchen, everyone else following him.

"I don't suppose you have told the child any truth, Petunia?"

Aunt Petunia doesn't answer, instead her lips set into a thin line. Uncle Vernon seems to have regained his nerve, however, and says in a voice far too loud,

"Now, listen here, sir, you cannot tell him anything, I forbid you, as his legal guardian to-"

"As his legal guardian," the man cuts in smoothly "you can be sent to prison for being abusive towards here."

Uncle Vernon seems to be about to burst but Aunt Petunia places a hand on his arm and the man turns towards Harry and tells him to sit on the dinner table. He does sit, although both his aunt and uncle keep standing. The man starts rummaging through Aunt Petunia's carefully stocked cupboards before he puts on a kettle to boil and turns around to sit opposite Harry, his face impassive.

"My name, , is Severus Snape and I teach Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I will be getting you acquainted with the wizarding world before you set off for Hogwarts, as your situation is somewhat...unique."

Harry blinks. "Hogwarts?"

Mr. Snape glances towards Aunt Petunia with a raised eyebrow and then looks back towards him again. "Hogwarts is a school, a place for people like you and me, for people like your mother and...your father." He pauses, as if for effect. "For witches and wizards."

Harry stares at him for a moment, wondering if this is all just an elaborate joke that the Dursleys had planned. Mr. Snape, however, continues.

"At Hogwarts you learn how to control your magic and channel it to do other things like transfigu…"

Harry knows that it is rude to interrupt people but he just has to.

"Magic?" he is pretty sure Mr. Snape can hear the bewilderment in his voice.

Mr Snape only sends and amused smile towards him and withdraws a long thin stick from his robes. He points it towards the kettle and the teacups and Harry watches in awe as they rise up in the air and the kettle starts pouring water into the cup and the tea bag and milk and sugar all blend together while hovering. The teacup finally lands before him with a small 'clink'. Harry looks up at the man across him in wonder.

Mr. Snape only smirks. "Have some tea, Mr. Potter."

III.

They go out into Diagon Alley the same day to get Harry's school supplies, and Mr. Snape (who instructs Harry to call him Professor Snape instead) begins telling him about Hogwarts once they are on their way to London.

"There are four Houses all the first years are sorted into on the first day to school, and they stay in these houses until they leave school. These are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Your dormitory is with your housemates and your classes are with your housemates of your year and from a house in the same year..."

Harry listens to him with rapt attention, still unable to believe that magic was real and that he himself was magical. They arrive at Leaky Cauldron a little after while, which Professor Snape tells him is the entryway into the Diagon Alley from the Muggle World. They step into the pub, which in Harry's opinion needed better lighting, and make their way through it. Professor Snape nods to the barkeeper as a greeting, whose eyes go wide when they land on Harry. Before he can say anything, however, they are in a small courtyard with a trash can. Professor Snape stands before a wall and takes out his wand, tapping a brick three times after a few seconds. The brick quivers, after a moment and produces a hole which grows steadily wider until it becomes an archway leading to a most interesting looking street bustling with people dressed exactly like Professor Snape was. He wants to go into every shop and Professor Snape has to put a firm hand on his shoulder to prevent him from wandering away as he consults a list of things they need to get.

He leads them to a shop that is called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and gives Harry a few silver coins that he knows are called Sickles and tells him to go inside and get his measurements taken for his school robes.

"I'll get your books and other supplies by then, I'd save us a lot of time." he nods in the direction of a book shop "I'll be out here by the time you're done but don't wander off if I'm not."

Harry gives him an eager nod and steps inside the shop where a woman comes bustling towards him.

"Hello, dear. Hogwarts?"

She leads him towards the back of the shop on getting an affirmative nod where a boy with red hair is standing on a stool already getting fitted by another witch. The boy looks at him as he get on the stool himself and tries not to fidget as the seamstress pins a large robe at the right lengths.

"Hello," he says pleasantly "I'm Ron Weasley. Are you first year, too?"

A pin prickles Harry just then and his eyes water so he only nods. Ron continues the conversation,

"What house do you think you'll be in? My family were all in Gryffindor so I guess that's where I'd like to go too. I guess Ravenclaw would be alright but would you want to be in Hufflepuff?"

Harry doesn't answer, preferring to remain quiet instead. He doesn't quite like the way all the houses are being spoken of. Professor Snape had told him that all houses produced equally capable witches and wizards and that the sorting system was very fair, but the way Ron speaks of it…

"But it'd be better Hufflepuff than Slytherin, right? Fred and George told me that they'd fill my bedroom with spiders if I got sorted in Slytherin."

He might have replied if Ron's robes hadn't been ready at that moment. He nods towards Harry and leaves with a wave of "Bye".

Harry finds Professor Snape outside the shop just as he had said, and it seems that he has just arrived. Harry watches silently as he shrinks the numerous bags he has with him and puts them in a pocket. They are going to get his wand now, and this is the part he has been the most excited about but now he is more distracted by what Ron had said. He still looks at the shops they pass with interest although now he is a lot more quiet. If Professor Snape notices this, he doesn't show it.

IV.

Getting his wand is, without doubt, the strangest part of the evening. Mr. Ollivander strikes him a little strange, but he does tell him a little about his parents. And their killer. What surprises him the most is that Professor Snape and his mother had been friends. He hadn't mentioned it. But it makes sense, that must be how he knows Aunt Petunia. This incidence pushes Ron's words towards the back of his mind for the time being. They leave Diagon Alley and then The Leaky Cauldron after both of them get themselves some lunch. Harry knows that this day has to be the best day of his life, so far.

When they get off the bus, Harry thinks that they must be going back to the Dursleys and so is a little surprised when Professor Snape leads him in the direction of the old playpark in Magnolia Crescent. They sit down finally at an old but well loved pair of swings that are in a more or less secluded section of the park. Professor Snape says nothing for a while but takes deep breaths, as if gathering courage to do something. He looks up at Harry finally and says to him in a soft voice,

"Do you remember how I said that your situation was unique earlier this morning, Mr. Potter?"

Harry nods.

"Well, I'm going to try and… explain things to you. The truth about your parents' death and about the dark lord."

Harry doesn't say anything, only nods, swinging on his swing gently, looking at his guide curiously.

Professor Snape takes in a deep breath. "Your mother and I, we used to be friends. A long time ago, since before we ever started for Hogwarts. You might have gathered as much from shop." He looks at Harry "I used to live near where your mother lived. Not far from here. This," He gestures towards the swings "is where I first met her."

Harry tries to imagine what his mother would've been like, swinging on these swings, and Professor Snape. It was hard to imagine him as a child, somehow. His features looked so pained, so regretful at that moment. A child could never look like that.

"Lily and I were sorted into different houses," Professor Snape continues. "She was a Gryffindor, and rightly so—she was brave and stood up for the weak. Fought for good. I was a Slytherin. I suppose we were both a little disappointed at first, but that wasn't was frayed our friendship. I...as a young boy, I made a lot of mistakes, made wrong choices. We stopped talking. I ran in the wrong sorts of circles, Harry, and I regret it." Professor Snape now looks at the ground instead, although Harry looks at him intently.

"The wizard that killed your parents, Lily and James, was a dark wizard. He practiced the worst kinds of magic and he wanted to rule over the wizarding world and purge it of people like your mother, people who were born to muggles. I'm afraid one of the worst choices I've made in my life is to join his followers. Many people were, most of them Slytherin. The Slytherin house was filled with Blood Purists back then. The generation now is a lot better, but people are generally wary of us. And I suppose we have given them a good reason. The Dark Lord was Slytherin, too.

"Around when you were born, the Dark Lord had risen in power. A prophecy had been made, at that time, about a child who would be the one to overthrow him. And that child was you. That was the reason why your parents were killed and I… There are some things that you will come to know with time, but before you go off to Hogwarts I wanted you to know that I am sorry about what has happened and about what I've done." He sighs at last but doesn't look up.

They both sit quietly for a while, Harry still swinging back and forth gently, thinking about everything he'd been told. He breaks the silence, eventually, and asks,

"Professor?" Professor Snape looks up "are all Slytherins bad?"

The latter takes a while to answer "No...No, they are not. Only some people choose paths that make them...bad. Having ambition is not a bad thing at all, neither is self preservation. Anyone from any house could go wrong, it just happens that most of them are from Slytherin and we have a bad reputation due to that. That treatment also sometimes acts as an incentive, you never know. Your mother had potential to go to Slytherin, too you know. She had ambition. She wanted to prove herself. But she had always been brave."

Harry takes this in quietly. "And my father?" he asks.

Professor Snape is quiet longer this time, and when he answers, he answers hesitantly, "I didn't know your father well, in fact, him and I were at the opposite ends of a wand more often than not but...he was a true Gryffindor. He gave help to those who needed it, he stood up for what he thought was right, he fought for the light because he believed in light. He loved your mother, too."

They stay quiet for a while longer, until Harry asks, "and you?"

Professor Snape thinks for a while "I was destined to be in Slytherin, I think. My mother was one. I'd been taught self preservation and I believed in it. I was ambitious since I was little, because I didn't have a very good childhood. I wanted to show people what I could do. I wanted to prove myself, and I suppose I did." He sighs.

It is a while later that Harry is deposited back to the Dursleys with tickets to platform 9 ¾ and instructions to get there.

V.

The next time Harry sees Professor Snape is in Hogwarts itself, when all the first years are brought in to be sorted. He is sitting at the Professors table up front but he sees Harry, too, and nods at him. Harry has had a lot of time on his hands for the past month to think of the things he'd been told by Professor Snape. He had chosen the wrong side but he was remorseful. He and his mother were friends. He was truly sorry for what he had done. In between looking at the Professor and at the Sorting Ceremony, Harry manages to miss most of it. He sees a dark girl with bushy hair called Hermione Granger get sorted into Slytherin and wonders what house he'd be sorted into.

When his name gets called out not long after, he still doesn't know what house he'd be in. Then the hat is placed on his head.

"Hmm," a small voice says in his ear, which he knows is the hat. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, And my goodness, yes—and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting...Where shall I put you, ? You'd make a fine Gryffindor like your Mother and Father, or you could be put into Slytherin...you'd be a fine Slytherin, too. They'd help you and you'd help them? What do you think?"

Harry can feel the amusement radiating off the hat. He thinks for a moment, and says, "Alright."

The only voice in the Great Hall is a shout of "SLYTHERIN!" before everyone goes quiet, and then the Slytherin house is cheering very loudly.

Harry walks to the Slytherin table grinning and sits next to the girl he knows to be Hermione and Draco, who had introduced himself on the train to Hogwarts. He is a bit uncertain about his chioce still. He looks towards the Head Table finally with uncertainity written on his face and at Professor Snape. The Professor looks at him solemnly for a moment and then they share what might be their first real smile.

A/N: This is my take on Slytherin!Harry. I hope you all like it. :)