That night, Septimus was anxious and eagerly awaiting the upcoming lecture he was sure was coming. Quietly, he walked up to the head table to stand before the Headmaster, glad to see that his father had decided to attend the meal.

"Excuse me, Headmaster Dumbledore." Suddenly he had everyone's attention focused on himself as he continued. "I have someone here who would like to speak to you."

"By all means my boy, who is this person you are talking about?"

"My counterpart, the boy you call Harry." Sep replied, took the mirror out of his pocket and returned it to its normal size. Taking a vial from his other pocket, he applied the potion to it and immediately Tim's visage appeared.

"Good evening Headmaster." Everyone was astonished. Here was a boy who looked remarkably like Severus and his son. "Now, as you can see, my counterpart, Sep, has invented a potion which allows us to communicate. This with no thanks to the greasy-haired bat over there."

"Tim! Don't talk to Severus that way!" Suddenly Sev appeared in the mirror, further astonishing the staff. "Hi son, how is dinner? Hogwarts fare is nowhere near to that of Frinkwy, but it is still acceptable."

"Yes, dad. Although tell Frinkwy that I still consider her beef steak to die for."

"Anyway." Tim broke in. "I have a bone to pick with the Headmaster and the Grease Ball."

"Tim, what did I tell you?" Sev said in exasperation.

"But Dad, he is the most unfeeling, insensitive asshole in need of a shower that I have ever met. And Snape, if you try to put Sep into detentions for my words, he will tell me and I will find a way to come back and hex you into oblivion. Did you know that the practice of parseltongue is an acceptable talent here?" Tim's face became positively feral and Snape's face paled considerably. This reaction didn't escape anyone.

"Now, Harry. You need to respect your elders." Dumbledore said benevolently.

"Bull shit!" Tim exclaimed. "For one, I owe respect only to those who return it in kind. Another, no such Harry exists, never has and never will again.; If you continue your current bad idea of Sep taking over as the Savior of the Wizarding World, he will return here as soon as he is able."

"But, he has family here!" Dumbledore protested.

"Family? His father dislikes him and you plan on using him in your grand scheme of things. No, don't deny it." Tim said, stopping all protests from half of the teachers. "My life with the Dursleys was hell. My room was a cupboard under the stairs and I was in it more than I was out of it. When I was out of it, I was either doing manual labour making the meals or participating in my cousin's favorite past time: 'Harry Hunting.' Are you lot so incompetent that you don't notice that the boy you stare at is malnourished and winces at touch in the beginning of every school year? Snape noticed. The oclumancy lessons confirmed his suspicions.

"In the end, I didn't learn occlumency to keep Voldemort out, Snape was a far worse threat to my well-being." The Great Hall was silent as they stared at the boy in the mirror. Never had they suspected anything of this nature. "For these reasons, I refuse to allow Sep to take up my old persona. I have every confidence that Sep will thrive despite the threat of war. If there is no possibility that Sep wishes to spend his holidays with the greasy git, than I insist he spend them with us. After all, with a little practice and blackmailing his father for help, he will be able to visit by Christmas." With this having been said, Tim went out of sight.

"I had no idea his life had been so bad." Professor McGonagal whispered and the others nodded with her. Only Snape remained passive.

"Severus, you knew of this." Dumbledore asked.

"No." he said after a moment's hesitation. "The images I had seen weren't substantial enough to create more than a slight suspicion.

"What, are you dumb as well as blind?" Sep asked harshly. "There were most likely classical signs of abuse to be seen. As Head of Slytherin House, you should have been able to see them immediately!"

"Yes," Madame Sprout said. "I know that of all of us, you have the most abuse victims in your house."

With these words, an argument broke out among the teachers. Tired of all this and sporting a gigantic headache, Sep went up to his rooms.