In a small, crowded room in a house situated on Privet Drive, an annual ritual was being performed. As it had been the last two years, a cage stood upon the wardrobe, its perch empty, dried feathers stuck to the bottom, and the window wide open, a warm summer breeze letting the curtains hanging within it sway back and forth gently.

On the bed opposite of the window, a young man, 16 years of age, sat with legs folded beneath him on top of the coverlet. In his hand, the boy held a worn down old watch and was waiting patiently for the minutes to tick by until midnight. The date was the 30th of July, the boy was known as Harry Potter and he waited eagerly for his birthday to arrive. Something in his stomach told him that this birthday would change everything.

It was half a minute till midnight as an owl swept through the window. It wasn't any owl he had ever seen before. The clock in the downstairs hall began to ring, and, curious, he untied the letter room it's foot and opened the seal. The last bell tolled midnight and suddenly the whole world went dark.

The watch read midnight, the hour for which he had been waiting. Looking up, he blinked, realizing that he no longer sat on the same bed in the Dursley's house, but on the cold stone floor of what he guessed to be Hogwarts.

"Finally! Now let me look at my son." The deep silky voice came from beside him and Harry knew who it was immediately.

"Professor Snape! What are you doing here?" The man looked shocked. He did look like Harry's professor, but this man looked as though he were able to smile and was much different from the Snape he knew. "What is going on?" Harry demanded.

"You are not my son, you can't be my son!" Snape said stupidly, which puzzled Harry to no end.

"Of course I am not your son! What is this, some kind of sick joke'? Where is Professor Dumbledore, I want to know why I am suddenly here and not at the Dursley's!" Harry stood up and went toward the door. Before he got there, though, the door opened of its own accord and in stepped Dumbledore.

"Professor." Harry said respectfully. Might I inquire as to why I have been brought to Hogwarts and how this feat was accomplished?"

Dumbledore looked just as shocked as Snape had been. "Who are you?" He asked in surprise.

"What kind of game is this? You know perfectly well that I am Harry Potter!" Their faces remained blank. "You know, "'The-Boy-Who-Lived', 'Defeater of Voldemort', 'Quidditch Seeker Extraordinaire.'" Harry said, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"Mr. Potter, I am going to concoct a potion which I wish you to drink:" Snape said. "It will clear up the question which you ask." Harry crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

"I give up! There is no getting information out of either of you. Make your potion, just don't tell me what you put into it, I want to die in peace." At this, Snape's eyebrows shot upwards in surprise and a slight smile danced at the corners of his lips.

"Don't worry." He retorted. "You won't feel a thing."

Harry stared at the two men silently, just as he had been doing ever since the potion had been mentioned, as Snape set a smoking goblet down on the table at which he sat.

Here Mr. Potter, if you would do me the favor of drinking this?"

"Please tell Ron I bequeath to him all of my possessions. Except my books, they are for Hermione, Ron wouldn't know what to do with a book if it sang and tap-danced." Both men chuckled and Harry gulped down the coal- hot potion.

A tingling sensation slithered down his spine, spreading to run down his arms and legs, even his head and torso. "What's this potion for?" Harry asked.

"It is to return you to your original state, which it is now in the process of doing." Dumbledore answered.

"What do you mean, my original state?"

"It seems, Harry, that you are indeed not a Potter." Snape answered with a smile.

Many emotions, thoughts, and doubts ran through Harry with this statement and the foremost was: Why was Snape smiling?

"If I am not a Potter, than who am I?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"A Snape." Dumbledore answered with a twinkle in his eye.

I hope you liked the beginning of my story. My goal is to unite the idea of an alternate dimension along Snape being Harry's father, so yes, this is an answer to the Severitus Challenge as has already been mentioned in my summary, which is most likely much to short as they always are. Anyway, I would appreciate it if you would send me feedback and tell me what you think.

Otspock