The news day by day was cataloging the Darkening of the Wizarding World. Even the Boy-who-Lived had preferred exile to schooling in Britain. He had abandoned his mother. Details of his home life were a shock to many. Howlers were flooding into the Ministry, demanding that something be done. All who drove Harry Potter away were outed and had their character's destroyed but none more so than the boy's stepfather.
Severus Snape was a the epitome of a true Slytherin. He was ambitious, self-serving, sneaky and liked to win. He was as smart as any Ravenclaw, but knew how to use his intelligence for real purpose. He was an accomplished spell creator, potion master and an expert on the dark arts. At seventeen, he had been personally sought out by the Dark Lord, who had wooed him not a a rank and file junior Deatheater but as the Dark Lord's protégé. He had been groomed as a spy, served his master well and been well rewarded. Severus had delivered the prophecy detailing the foretelling the demise to the Dark Lord, which proved to be the key to being reaccepted by the object of his lifetime obsession, Lily Evans. He had faired better than most of his brethren in the wilderness years, safe and secure at Hogwarts, living with his wife and starting a family. Finally the cuckoo in his nest had left, Harry bloody Potter, who had survived numerous attempts by both Albus Dumbledore and the Dark Lord himself to ensnare the boy. Potter gave the appearance of being clueless, like his father, but the boy had proved to have hidden depths. His campaign of revenge had played into the Dark Lord's hands, causing disquiet which was building to panic. Severus had been helped at every turn by his wife, who had tried so hard to keep him happy, not her son but him. That fact alone made him supremely happy.
He had been privy to the Headmaster's grand plan, the ultimate sacrifice of the Potter boy, who's death would signal the mortality of Voldemort. Snape had taken his task to heart, keeping the boy down trodden, friendless and ignorant. While not truly his son, most had seen the Potter boy as such and Harry had been bullied and derided constantly by all houses. Slytherin's for not being in his stepfather's house and all the others as an easy target, as Snape himself was untouchable, protected by the Headmaster personally despite his cruel vindictive streak. Harry had become invisible at school as a survival mechanism, the ghost of Gryffindor. Snape had used Potions lessons to heap punishmenst on Harry, so he could keep an eye on the boy to make sure no one talked to him. It had worked all too well, instead of being a willing saviour, the scorn of his fellow pupils had driven the boy from the Magical World, signaling the dawn of the new order, the triumph of the dark, traditional families. The news of the loss of the Peverell fund would be no more muggle infiltration into the Magical World. Hogwarts was following Durmanstrang and offering education to the elite as the rabble were relegated to the education abroad.
Snape had remained an outsider, scorned by his fellow Deatheaters as he had perfected his role as Dumbledore's man. Now he was free of the Old Man's shadow. Today he had returned to his Lord's side to await his new task. He knew Lily would follow her Light roots and go into hiding or maybe into exile, especially after the vindictive article in this morning's Prophet. He was patient, he had wooed her back once, He would do it again. His daughters would be the key, both of them were well versed in the inferiority of the muggle world, neither would settle for hiding. Both had been groomed to be true snakes.
...
Bellatrix Lestranage read her morning post from Gringott's and exploded in rage. Priceless artefacts, paintings and decor at Malfoy Manor exploded as hexes reigned wild and without focus. Insane and spitting, the woman sullied her cousin's name in the foulest of terms, turning the air blue. Sirius was a blood traitor, but he was still Head of House, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble Black family and he had stricken Bellatrix from the family, reclaiming her vaults, her inheritance and her dowery. He had named her as the corruptor of Regulus, the reason for Sirius' younger brother's death. She had pushed Regulus to take the Mark. Bellatrix did not give one fig about any of her cousins, nor her sister's but to be cut from the family would loose her credibility with the Dark Lord, would give her husband grounds for an annulment as she was without honour, without a name, but more importantly she had not provided an Heir for Rodolphus. If Lucius and Narcissa followed tradition, she would be cast from the Manor without a backwards glance.
...
Harry, as part of his sessions with his psychologist, had started a journal to 'get over' and move past his awful childhood and even worse adolescence. There were high points along the way, he had against all odds made friends, three close friends. He surprisingly had empathy for others despite the alienation, the harassment and the loneliness. The first few weeks at school had been a repeat of his experiences at Primary School in Little Whining, with the one exception, Harry was a wizard, one who had studied hard during his imprisonment at the Dowager's residence. The house elf Maisie had free run to the entire Potter library, inaccessible to all not of Potter blood. At school, he passed silent, sleeping in a hidden closet in the Tower, eating in the kitchens, with a strong notice me not charm applied to himself so even Snape did not pay him attention half the time. He had begun to believe the fact he was an unloveable freak. It was Halloween when he befriended the two other outcasts of Gryffindor house, when he gathered his courage and had spoken to Hermione Granger. Most of their house had stood by as the bully and jerk Ron Weasley had been his usual foul self and caused the brash know-it-all to run into the bathroom to cry, destroyed by cruel words. He had gone to talk to her after she bunked off the afternoon periods, something Granger would never normally do. She had been the only person in the entire school to offer sympathy for the anniversary of his father's death and his own exile. Not even his mother had offered condolences or any shared grief. No Lily had written once this term to berate him for his poor performance in Potions. No, after that he decided not to write one word to that woman. He had spoken to Hermione on how awful living with Severus 'the human bat' was. They had found common ground, each complaining about everyone here until their tête-à-tête had been disturbed by a shy Neville Longbottom with news of a rogue Troll. The three had out maneuvered the beast. Hermione and Neville were fast friends. Harry remained the ghost. Not many stayed that Christmas, worst luck was Ron and Percy Weasley were ever present in the Tower, so Harry could not relax. The twins were the complete antithesis of most of Harry's housemates. The two had taken to observing the little invisible first year. The evil menaces did not prank Harry, just grinning, giving thumbs up signals and helping him avoid Snape. With the twins help, he had actually snuck out to fly. They had shown him the basics as he had not turned up to his initial flying lesson.
In February, after another spectacular defeat for Gryffindor at Quiddich, Harry had flown on Fred's broom as Hufflepuff celebrated and Gryffindor partied their sorrows away. The enigma of Sytherin House had joined Harry to fly. Blaise Zabini was another fantastic flyer, another outcast, quiet and studious. For two years they did not talk, just fly together.
...
Minerva had tendered her resignation as Acting Headmistress and as Teacher of Transfiguration. She was leaving her home for over forty years to teach Advanced Transfiguration and Conjuring in Ireland. She had let her students know of her move. She was not the only teacher to leave, Trelawney had already departed and Filius Flitwick was also leaving to teach dueling in Italy. The New Acting Headmistress appointed by the Ministry, Miss Delores Umbridge saw no place in her school for halfbreeds.