Shifting Perceptions
Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All characters utilized herein which are not creations of myself belong to J. K. Rowling or Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins.

III

July 25, 1972

The owl Albus had sent off to Nurmengard returned with a letter.

Albus,

You have some nerve leaving me to moulder away here in Nurmengard without so much as a hello-how-are-you for over ten years, and then go dump your problems on me for lack of anyone else to talk to! Flattery will get you nowhere, with all those fine words about being an intellectual equal and all that.

I'm still the one who was defeated in 1945.

There were several splotches on the parchment before the next line began.

You know, I actually tried not to write any more, and see if I could hold out long enough to make you worry about me and send another owl.

But I couldn't.

I've read and re-read all the volumes in this damned cell of mine (even that Muggle set of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire!) to the point where I'm dreaming about the stupid things.

You really know how to conduct the game of deprivation of contact quite well, Albus. I didn't think you had it in you. The house-elves are hardly fit for decent conversation, with their "we is only too happy to be serving you oatmeal for the ten thousandth day in a row" level of understanding. Heaven forfend I should start speaking in that broken English grammar!

As for your current problems with this upstart Dark Lord and what you think is a tenuous connection to your students at Hogwarts, let me put it plainly: I think it is unreasonably tenuous. That having been said, keeping strictly to your Hogwarts troubles, I know you do tend to favour the underdog, Albus, but I am surprised you care at all, given what House the wronged boy was Sorted to. Even in those days when I was in your country I recall hearing an apparently very old refrain about how Slytherins might just pack up and leave, because their Founder went and did the same thing and it might actually be good riddance. I would hardly be surprised to hear different today.

Another point: in Durmstrang it was common for bored, rich purebloods to make targets of the scholarship boys. We had no Muggleborn, of course! After all, it is the nature of boys to laugh at differences so minute one may as well consider them wholly negligible. Does it much matter now that I had clean robes every day, with a fine new trunk and my very own Gregorovitch wand? But in those days of my youth, it was so very important! Bah. Youth are destined to repeat the mistakes of us old men.

As for what I want? Send the back numbers of those transfiguration and alchemy rags you read. At least I'll learn something, even if you wouldn't dare trust me with another wand, never mind the Elder Wand. And parchment. If I'm to be writing back and forth with you, you could at least send parchment. And self-inking quills. I'm amazed the ink bottle I used for this letter hasn't dried up irrecoverably by now.

Gellert Grindelwald.

III

September 1, 1972

James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were all ensconced in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. They seated themselves comfortably, and as the train began moving, James said, "You got here just in the nick of time, Pete. Did your mother keep you late?"

Peter grimaced. "Yeah. We had trouble with London traffic. You're lucky; your parents can just Floo you wherever."

James and Sirius both grinned. Sirius said, "What do you call those moving carriages again? Cars?"

Peter nodded.

"Right. If you think those cars are trouble, mate, you haven't seen my mother bellowing at Regulus and me every ten minutes about standing up straight and acting 'like proper pure-blood children, even if one of you is a Gryffindor.'"

Sirius's mouth twisted at that last, and Remus said, "Hard luck there, mate. My mum's feeling better, said she was glad I turned in a good first year and I'd better keep bringing home the Outstandings and Exceeds Expectations for this year. We got here with plenty of time to spare, too, since we Flooed into the Leaky Cauldron and had a bit of morning tea, then just walked over to King's Cross."

The boys bantered back and forth for the next while, to cease only when the food cart rumbled past and the lady said, "Hello, dears. Anything off the cart for you today?"

Some Galleons changed hands and a small pile of chocolate frogs, acid pops, Every-Flavour Beans and the like made their way to Sirius's impromptu table made from his trunk. He snickered and said, "My mum would be furious if she knew this trunk she spent all that money on was being used for a snack table. Go on, eat up."

Just as Sirius bit the head off a chocolate frog, their compartment door opened. Regulus Black and Severus Snape were standing in the doorway, and Sirius sneered. "Ugh. I just lost my appetite. Why're you with him… Reggie?"

Regulus's face flushed as he yelled, "Don't call me that!"

James looked over at Snape. He sneered, "I don't remember putting up a sign saying 'grease welcome into this compartment', by the way."

Snape's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You watch what you say, Potter!"

"Are you actually telling me what to do, Snivellus?" James asked in mock shock.

"Go tell your hair to get cleaned up, you slimeball," Sirius snarled at Snape.

Regulus said, "I've had it! Come on, Severus, let's go find Bellatrix and Narcissa instead!"

Sirius barked a laugh, saying, "Go then, Reggie, run off to our snooty cousins. And take greaseball with you."

Snape's face flushed red as the foursome in the compartment laughed, and as he and Regulus stormed off, he slammed the compartment door with slightly more force than necessary.

Sirius growled, "Ugh. There'll be a Black that goes straight to Slytherin, for sure."

James replied, "Forget him. We've got some candies to finish, don't we?"

The incident was fairly quickly forgotten, and before long, James and Sirius were playing white to Remus and Peter's black on Remus's grandfather's wizard chessboard.

III

Albus Dumbledore oversaw a very ordinary Sorting, as Hogwarts Sortings went ("Black, Regulus" went to Slytherin, in counterpoint to his brother Sirius). As the last student went to the Hufflepuff table, he rose and said, "And now, I would like to say a few words: Querulous! Recalcitrant! Twisp! Catsby!"

Enjoying the befuddled looks on many of the students' faces, he sat and dug in to the ham, vegetables and potatoes set on the plate before him. Even the teachers seemed a bit puzzled.

The first two words had been called forth thanks to that letter from Gellert. He had had ample time to consider the fact that while Gellert was hardly the type to sympathise with half-bloods, he had made a rather excellent point about the hypocrisy of championing the underdog and failing to notice the ongoing bias regarding Slytherin House.

In fairness, Slytherins had been Head Boys in the past, but Tom Riddle having got Head Boy did put a bit of an unwelcome association on the job every time he'd dealt with future Slytherin Head Boys, the latest being Lucius Malfoy, who got the position just this year. Horace Slughorn had, of course, been overjoyed that one of his Slug Club favourites got the job. Still, it was apparent that he needed to do a better job of, as the Muggles always said, "walking the walk" as well as "talking the talk".

He felt the boys he would be dealing with would indeed be querulous and recalcitrant in his planned session after the meal and announcements.

The last two words were called to mind by a penny arcade Albus had once seen in Muggle London just before the Second World War broke out, and he'd spoken them in a fit of whimsy.

After dinner ended, the start of term announcements were taken with the usual amount of groaning regarding the growing list of banned Zonko's products. Albus finished with, "and please be aware that we have a new Whomping Willow which is growing rapidly. Any attempts to disturb it may result in the tree harming you."

The students began getting up off the benches and filing out of the Great Hall to go to their respective House dormitories.

Albus rose out of his chair, nodded briefly at Minerva and Horace, then proceeded to his office, humming to himself as the gargoyle silently moved aside. He entered and smiled at Fawkes, who chirruped in response and swished his tail a bit.

Deciding that the best way to accomplish his task would be to act as non-dotty as possible, he arranged his papers into neat piles and swept the bowl of sherbet lemons into a drawer. He deliberately set the Truth-Tester on his desk, an admittedly somewhat unreliable device, but one that looked quite impressive. It was a clear cylinder, about a foot tall, with runes carved on the crystal that made up the cylinder. The device was set on a square base which had more runes carved on it.

What remained was to see how well the Truth-Tester would work. It was supposed to turn red every time someone in the room told a lie. That having been said, it didn't know how to tell a white lie from a big lie… but at least he could have it only react to the boys in question.

The first guest of the evening was Horace Slughorn, trailed by a wary-looking Severus Snape. As this was the first time Albus had seen the boy in close quarters, he reached out with surface Legilimency, only to be rebuffed by an as-yet imperfect Occlumency shield. If he pressed forth, he would no doubt glean information from the boy, but at the cost of giving young Severus a headache. To cover his surprise at a student having this skill – and for what reason could he have learned it? – he beamed at Horace, saying, "Excellent. Thank you for bringing Mr Snape here. I will escort him personally to the dungeons."

Horace nodded, saying, "Thank you. For meaning it." He locked gazes with Albus, sending a quick signal: I was surprised you decided to actually call this conference. A wry expression crossed Horace's face as he continued with now my classroom will be safe!

Albus cast back I had some good advice.

Slughorn nodded, and turned to leave. Albus realized the timing was slightly awkward as he heard the man's booming voice. "Minerva! A pleasure to see you. And I see this is young Potter and Black, hmm?"

Some murmurs, then, "Behave yourselves in Potions, hmm? Well, I'll be on my way then."

Shortly after, Minerva McGonagall entered, primly escorting James Potter and Sirius Black into the room. Albus had decided to leave Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew out of it for now.

"Thank you, Minerva. I will escort these boys back to the Tower later."

She nodded and left the room.

A glance in young Potter's eyes depressed him. Severus was eyeing Sirius and James with distaste, and the expression was returned by the latter two boys, though they did all occasionally glance at the Headmaster. As this state of affairs continued, Albus quickly gleaned the unfortunate events of that day on the Hogwarts Express and mentally cursed at thinking he could have got away with this meeting being so early. But had it been later, would it have been any better? Probably not.

Deciding to cut the tension, Albus said, "Boys, take seats on the chairs in front of my desk. This device—" He pointed at the Truth-Tester with a flourish of his hand as he resumed his seat behind his desk, surreptitiously flicking his wand to raise the chair just a bit and make him seem more imposing "—is a Truth-Tester. It will turn red if any lie is told in this room. I have had some disturbing reports regarding your first year here, and if I am to nip it in the bud, I must ask that you three be truthful in all particulars. Are you clear on this?"

His gaze flicked from boy to boy as they each nodded, albeit a bit resentfully.

"Good. Mr Snape, I am given to understand that these two boys have been hexing you on several occasions without there being any fault of your own in these encounters, as well as calling you names."

Severus replied, with a hint of a Manchester accent under the affected pure-blood tones that Albus was sure had been inculcated by his Prince guardians, "They have! Last year they tried hexing me off my broom at Flying Lessons, and then every time after that I couldn't go a flying class without dodging Black's spells!"

Sirius yelled, "Oh, come on, Sni—uh, Snape! What about the time you tried splashing that Shrinking Potion on my head? Or when you came up behind me after Charms just before classes let out for the summer and nearly broke my ankle with a Sticking Charm on my feet while I was walking? You're a menace!"

James butted in, saying, "And what about the time after Transfiguration in May you made boils appear all over—" Abruptly he halted and flushed, clearly not wanting to admit where those boils had appeared.

Albus smoothly said, "I take it, Mr Potter, that you would have found it uncomfortable to sit down for a time?"

Face still flushed in embarrassment, James nodded.

"Well. In any case, in the litany of complaints you three appear to be preparing against each other, I note that the Truth-Tester has not yet turned red. Am I to take it that there have been far more of these incidents? And that, if you three wish to be honest with me, some of these incidents could have seriously harmed either one of you three or perhaps even other students? Horace has mentioned several Potions class incidents to me, and I've no doubt that a cauldron explosion could have caused serious harm."

He looked over his eyeglasses, putting his best severe expression on his face, causing each of the three boys to cast his gaze down uncertainly. The Truth-Tester remained clear.

"Very well. This ends here, and it ends tonight. I am not expecting you three to become friends by any stretch of the imagination, but I am telling you that as far as your squabbling and arguing, this. Must. Stop." For good measure, Albus let some of his magic out, impressing upon each student the importance of what he was saying.

"In addition, I have it on good authority that Mr Potter and Mr Black, you have tagged young Mr Snape with a most unattractive nickname which I will not repeat in the interests of maintaining his dignity. I have advised Professor McGonagall that should she hear it in her presence, she is to take points from Gryffindor at once. Similar instructions hold for the other professors for which you three have classes together."

James and Sirius had the good grace to look abashed, and Albus's Legilimency confirmed that they at least regretted what they had done. Would that regret translate into better behaviour in the future? No one could tell.

"Mr Potter, I have a few things to say to Mr Black and Mr Snape in private. Please wait outside by the gargoyle."

When James seemed to take his time getting out of his chair, Albus reflected that in almost any other circumstance his willingness to stick by his friend would be considered admirable, but at this moment… "Now, Mr Potter."

James left with alacrity.

Albus turned to Sirius Black and Severus Snape. While he could only imperfectly read Severus's emotions, it was clear that the loathing and dislike was the strongest between these two, rather than between James and Severus.

"It has become clear to me that it is the interactions between you two in particular that give the most cause for concern. I will say again, that whatever enmity that is between you two must stop. It is not necessary that you be friends to appreciate that you two may actually have more in common than you might care to admit."

At Sirius Black's particularly mulish expression, surface Legilimency showed a surge of emotion. Delving a bit deeper (safer as young Black was not an Occlumens), it was clear that the images associated with the emotion centered around Sirius Black's reflexive dislike of Dark Arts because of his parents, and by proxy, Severus Snape's apparently open embrace of such.

Sighing internally, Albus forged ahead.

"Will you two at least agree to keep a peace between each other? Mr Black, Mr Snape's circumstances do not yield to you the right to call him names or to hex him when unprovoked. Mr Snape, you do not have the right to take 'pre-emptive action' whenever you feel like it."

The two boys said, grudgingly, "All right."

The Truth-Tester turned a deep red.

Shocked, the boys' wide eyes flew to Dumbledore as he smiled thinly. It was not the smile of amiability; it was the smile of a man who knows when someone else has been caught out very neatly. "Boys, I warned you. This device can tell your insincerity, and your expressions at seeing it just now have told me everything. Now, sincerely, accept a truce between you!"

Sirius got out of his chair and licked his lips. He scuffed his foot nervously, and said, "All right. Snape, this one's really true."

He extended his hand.

Warily, Severus got out of his own chair, and said, "The Truth-Tester didn't go red that time, so I guess for once I can trust you, Black. This one's really true, too."

Hesitantly, Severus extended his hand and briefly clasped Sirius's. They shook exactly once, then released each other's hands and, to Albus's private amusement, each boy tried to subtly wipe the offending hand on an inconspicuous area of his robe.

"As the Truth-Tester has stayed clear, I believe you boys are sincere. Now, remember. Your activities will be monitored. I have no intention of letting my staff continue to have to deal with your antics without my knowledge. There are rules in this school, and one of them, I might note, is that there is to be no magic in the hallways for the express reason that students have devices – that is, their wands – which allow them to attempt to settle disputes in ways which are decidedly dangerous. Considering the number of times you have broken that rule, I should by rights be removing House points even though they cannot be removed retroactively to change last school year's standings. I note this would put Gryffindor and Slytherin both well behind Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for the House Cup before classes have even started."

Severus's face went particularly white, while Sirius's Adam's Apple moved as he swallowed.

"However, I shall stay my hand. But be aware that behaviour does have consequences. Now, I shall escort you all back to your respective dormitories."

With Snape and Black in tow, Albus picked up James Potter at the gargoyle, and the three boys trailed him like ducklings after their parent. James and Sirius went into Gryffindor Tower without a further word after Albus used his Headmaster's password to open the painting of the Fat Lady.

After some moments, well away from Gryffindor Tower, Severus piped up. "You don't exactly trust me, do you?"

Surprised, Albus said, "And whatever makes you think that, young man? All students can be considered essentially trustworthy, I should think, unless a situation arises like yours now. But merely because you have had arguments with other students leading to breaking the rules by hexing in the hallways does not mean that you are fundamentally a bad person."

"It's not that. It's something else."

"I believe you are forgetting yourself, Mr Snape."

"Fine. It's something else, Headmaster."

Albus stopped walking, and peered down his crooked nose at young Snape. "You should have a care as to how you address your elders, Mr Snape. While I am not quite as persnickety as, perhaps, Professor McGonagall, I might note that levelling an accusation is not exactly the epitome of politeness, and compounding it by refusing the honorific is not a good way to begin."

Severus just stared for a moment, then averted his gaze and began walking again. They walked in silence from then on until they reached the Slytherin dorrmitories. Again, Albus used his Headmaster's password to offer Severus entrance past the nondescript wall marked only by a strategically located piece of moss.

On the way back to the Headmaster's office, Albus couldn't help but admit that Severus Snape had a fairly keenly developed instinct. Albus had said nothing about the boy's mental defences, hadn't even attempted to probe them again after that first instance, yet somehow the boy had divined that Albus had noticed something unusual about him.

Perhaps it would be good to follow up with a chat with the new Head Boy after the first meeting of the year with the Prefects and Head Boy and Girl. Where else would (or perhaps could) young Severus have learned Occlumency but from the expansive libraries and connections of one Lucius Malfoy?

Author Notes:

Thanks go again to excessivelyperky for discussions on this chapter, and thanks to Maddevillechilde for some quick Britpicking. Also, I'd like to credit Sellea's Distant Memories fic for inspiring some of the 'flavor' of the dialog on the Hogwarts Express between James Potter, Sirius Black and Severus Snape.

Incidentally, a note regarding timelines. A bit of fudging on the dates can lead to Lucius beginning his attendance at Hogwarts in 1966 rather than 1965, which means his terminating year would not be the 1971/72 school year but 1972/1973. I chose to adopt this for plot purposes. Another note. For the purposes of possible future events (which I have obviously put into a state of flux with this AU ;) ) Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin are both half-bloods, but Peter's mother is more closely involved with her son's life and she's used to Muggle transport methods.

The inside joke mentioned prior to this edit is the fact that I mention Twisp and Catsby, which are two characters from the Penny Arcade comics. :)