Title: The Great Mystery
Rating: T
Summary: When Harry Potter arrives at Hogwarts everyone is shocked to see that he looks just like Severus when he was in school. Severus is shocked as well and he finds himself on a road to uncover the great mystery.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Rowling's characters and I'm making no money.
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To Everyone: Thanks for your review and sorry about skipping certain parts but I wanted to get Harry out of Hogwarts. I do hope that you like this long chapter that I've done and I hope that I can keep it up. I will be updating maybe tomorrow or Saturday. I really want to take my time in making sure that the next chapter is good. Once again, thanks for your reviews they keep me going.
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Chapter 21: A Letter from Lupin
Harry's POV
Harry was up the next day and headed into the dining room where breakfast was waiting on him. His father was busy reading a paper and only ate what was behind the paper. Harry was excited about finally getting to meet the Headmaster and he hoped that, deep down, he made a good first impression.
"Once your done eating then we'll get going," his father told him.
"Okay," Harry said and he started on his food.
It didn't take long for Harry to finish his breakfast and so an hour later they were both out of the house and heading for the castle. The sky was blue, not a cloud in the sky, but it was cold. Harry was glad that he had worn the coat that his father had given him as it kept him warm. His father didn't look as though the cold bothered him and he wondered if his robes had some warming charm on them.
"They have a warming charm on them," his father told Harry.
Well Harry guess that answered his question.
When they arrived at the castle his father let the woman behind the desk know that they were here to see Karkaroff.
"I have a appointment," his father said.
"Wait here," she told him and then disappeared.
"Strange," Harry said.
"Yeah, Dumbledore doesn't have a secretary," his father said.
They waited for what seem like forever and then the woman appeared. "He'll see the both of you."
"Thanks," his father said and they both walked past her and entered the Headmaster's office.
The Headmaster's office was different, at least Harry thought it was different. Everything was done in solid oak and on one side of the room were top to bottom shelving with books. A expensive looking carpet was lying on the floor and a dog was snoozing near the fire. The Headmaster in question looked scary and something told Harry that he looked like he had just gotten out of prison.
"Severus, welcome," the Headmaster said.
"Igor, it's good to see you," Harry's father said, "I hope that your time out of Azkaban did you a world of good."
"Yeah, remind me never to go back there," he said, "And this must be your son."
Harry moved forward and said, "Yes."
"Doesn't talk much," the Headmaster commented, grinning and Harry saw that he had rotting teeth. "So heard you left that dump called Hogwarts."
"Things happened," he said, "I'm sure that you heard all about it in the Daily Prophet."
"Don't read the rag anymore," Igor said, "So I'm hoping that your son is ready for some hard work. But first, lets talk about what happened."
He drew chairs up and they sat down.
"You mean the werewolf thing," he said.
"Yes," Igor said, his tone serious. "Now don't get me wrong, I'm not against werewolves but something just doesn't add up here."
"That I agree with," Harry's father said, "I was most upset when I saw one."
Igor looked at him and then at Harry.
"I can imagine," Igor said, "After what almost happened to you."
Harry saw his dad shuttering.
"What almost happened," Harry asked.
Igor sighed and said, "I think that your dad should tell you when he feels that he's ready."
Harry really wanted to know but he respected his dad's privacy.
"So how was your trip," Igor asked, changing the subject.
"It went well," Harry's father said, "Noisy people and loud planes but that was about all."
"Can't understand why you didn't take the train all the way over here."
"Harry's never been on a plane," he told him, "It was pretty interesting, though I do miss those old time planes. Everything is to advance for me."
"Which is why I like being a wizard," Igor said, "Well I think that it's time to talk about lessons."
This got Harry's interest at once and Igor got up and headed over to filing cabinet. He took out some parchment and sat down.
"Now we do have Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, History of Magic-."
"I hope taught by a real person," Harry's father cut in.
"Of course," Igor said. "Now lets continue. We have Flying Lessons, of course, but we also offer Mage Studies and the Dark Arts."
"What about Defense Against the Dark Arts," Harry said.
"Harry, they don't offer Defense Against the Dark Arts," his father told him, "Durmstrang has never taught the Defense portion."
"Okay," Harry said.
"Don't worry, we'll teach you how to get rid of it," Igor said. "Don't want the savior of the Wizarding world to be tainted."
He grinned and Harry asked, "Okay, so when do I get my books?"
"They will be provided," Igor said, "Now I think that it's time for your son to be fitted."
"Sounds good to me," his father said.
Harry and his father got up and the group left.
Durmstrang was different on the inside as it was on the outside. There seem to be a lot more boys around than girl's. When he saw a girl she seem to be busy talking to one of her friends about one thing or the other. The walls kept changing colors which Harry thought was pretty wicked. Finally they entered a room that had a long line of uniforms. A witch was behind the table, waving her hand around, a glow coming from the tips of her fingers and the cracks disappearing.
"You'll be learning how to do that," Igor told him.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"It's wandless magic," his father explained, "A useful skill to master."
Harry nodded, trusting his father's judgment.
"We have someone to be fitted," Igor told her.
"Great, I can take a break," she said, "Repairing staffs isn't my idea of fun."
"I'm sure that it isn't," Igor said.
"Well come along child and we'll get you fitted," she told him and Harry was led away.
Getting fitted was the strangest thing ever. She seem to make the clothes magically appear without even doing anything and that was something that Harry wanted to learn. Once she was done weighing him down with cloaks and uniforms he was then led to another part of the room where he was handed a staff.
"Will this work as well as my wand," Harry asked her.
"Of course it will," she told him, "We don't ever leave anyone unprepared."
"Are you almost done, Harry," his father asked.
"Of course he is," the woman said, winking at him.
He thanked her and then left.
When Harry left the room Igor told his father that this was where they parted ways. Harry didn't want to leave him but his father told him that he would see him during Potions. Harry sighed and then followed the Headmaster, leaving his dad behind. Harry was taken to a large room that was in one of the towers. There were several boys already there and they looked at him when they entered. Naturally they all bowed to Igor and he returned it.
"Everyone this is Harry Snape," Igor told them, "He's transferred from Hogwarts. Now I want all of you to make him feel at home and not to ask him a ton of questions."
They all nodded and the Headmaster left.
"I'll show you to your room," a boy told Harry and he followed him up a short sets of stairs and through a door that led to a short hall. When the boy opened the door Harry saw that there were two beds, one of them not in use. "The one on the left is mine and this one is yours."
"Thanks," Harry said, going over to the unused bed and putting his things down.
"So what's Hogwarts like, I heard that they teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."
"Yeah, but no one in Gryffindor liked me," Harry told him.
"Why and what's Gryffindor?"
"It's one of the four Hogwarts houses," Harry answered. "And everyone thought that I would be in Gryffindor when I ended up in Ravenclaw, another Hogwarts house."
"Sounds stupid," the boy said.
"It is," Harry answered. "So do we have any classes today?"
"No, their all over," the boy said, "I'm Rodger Night."
"Pleasure to meet you," Harry said, shaking his hand.
"Well I leave you to get settled," Rodger told him and then left.
That night the boys took Harry down the dining hall, which was a whole lot larger than the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Harry had no idea where to sit but thankfully Rodger showed him where he was to sit. Food was already there but everyone ate without talking much. Harry was totally confused by what fork to use or how to put your napkin on.
"Was he raised with Muggles," a girl asked, her tone nasty.
"Yes, I was," Harry answered.
"And the Headmaster let you in," she said. "Completely lacking-."
"Is there a problem, Miss Green," said Harry's father, which was a relief.
"Um, no," Green said.
"I think there is," he said to her, "Detention with me, tomorrow night. My son might have been raised by Muggles but I won't have you attacking him just because he doesn't know how to do things right. I'm sure that he'll learn."
"I'll show him," Rodger said.
"Good," his father said and then he headed for the staff table.
"Saved by the bell," Harry muttered.
"What."
"Nothing," Harry said and he let Rodger show him how to use what was on his plate.
When dinner was over, which Harry was thankful, they all headed back to their dorms. Since Harry hadn't been to classes yet he wasn't required to do any work. However he was given a list of his classes and they looked interesting. Of course he wasn't a fan of the Dark Arts but he knew that he would have to go to class if he wanted to pass.
The next day he was led to the dining hall and sat down with Rodger and the others. He saw that he had Herbology in the morning and something called Mage Studies in the afternoon.
"Your going to have to be tutored in Mage Studies," Rodger told him, "Alice Nightshade will do that for you."
"Thanks," Harry said, glad that someone was going to help him.
"No problem," Rodger said and they started to eat.
Herbology was taught by Professor Wolf, which despite his name wasn't a werewolf. He had short black hair and black eyes. He was also cleaner than Sprout, which was shocking. The plants that he covered Professor Sprout had already covered and so Harry was able to at least pretend to be listening. The class lasted all morning and when they were finally able to leave Harry was hungry.
"Why didn't anyone tell me that Herbology was all morning," Harry said.
"You should of asked," Rodger told him.
In Mage Studies, right after lunch, Harry was put to the side while the other students were allowed to do their lesson. Alice Nightshade, who was pretty, showed him some basic uses for his staff.
"The first lesson is always summoning familiars," Alice told Harry.
"Really, how does that work," Harry asked her.
"Read the first chapter and then we'll work on summoning a familiar for you," Alice told him.
Harry opened his book and read the first chapter, which was just about familiars.
Familiars in Magic
A wizards familiar is a very important link to the person's magic. The larger the familiar the more powerful the wizard will be. Naturally witches can also summon familiars, though they are sometimes weaker. A fellow witch, or wizard, can use a spell to figure out who the person's familiar will be.
It then listed the different kids of familiars that had been recorded and so Harry was pretty excited about finding out which one was his.
"These might not show up," Alice said, pointing to a familiar that was once part of some wizard that was born in 1256. "The Hawk is pretty cool but nothing beats a jackal."
"Why's that," Harry asked.
"Well I went to Egypt and saw some of the images of the gods and I thought that Anubis was pretty cool."
"Never been there," Harry confessed.
"Well lets see what familiar you have," Alice told him, placing the staff in-front of her.
Harry was suddenly very glad to have the language spell on him as he would have had no idea what she had even said. The room grew dark, or at least Harry thought the room had gone dark, and suddenly something shadowy came out of Harry and landed, guarding Harry from her. The darkness ended but the creature was still there. It had the body of a jackal but wings like a bird. It was a really strange creature.
"I can't believe it," Alice said, "You have a winged jackal."
Harry had no idea what that meant but everyone stared at it. Harry figured that they had stopped what they were doing to see what the new boy had.
"Well I can say that you'll be someone very powerful, Mr. Snape," the Mage Studies teachers, Mr. Hawk, said.
Harry wasn't sure if that was a good thing.
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Snape's POV
Snape had a pretty normal day, the students here were a lot better than the ones at Hogwarts. Only one cauldron had exploded that day and that was from the first years. He decided to head to Mage Studies and see how his son was doing. Mage Studies was really hard but he knew that Harry could handle it. That child had handled a lot more than a simple class. When the door opened the group of students left, talking really excitedly and Snape figured that it had been a normal lesson.
"Dad," Harry yelled, running over to him.
"No running in the halls," Snape told him.
"Sorry, but you have to see my familiar," Harry told him and a sudden sound and a creature that was part jackal part bird appeared. "Cool isn't it."
"Impressive," Snape said and then the teachers came out, smiling.
"Your son is very impressive," he said, "I'm glad that you brought him here."
"Alice is going to tutor me in Mage Studies," Harry told him.
"That's great and who's Alice," Snape asked, being the father and wanting to know who the new girl was.
"She's in my year and really cool," Harry said.
Yep, Harry was growing up.
"Well I'll be seeing him on Wednesday," the teacher told him.
"Very well," Snape said and the door was sealed.
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Harry's POV
All of Harry's classes were really challenging. Most of them he did really well in because they were just like the classes at Hogwarts. But Mage Studies, Elemental Studies, and Dark Arts provided the most challenge for Harry's mind. Thankfully Alice was in all those classes and she helped him through his mountain of homework. Rodger was great, showing Harry how he could conjure water without a wand or staff. Harry wasn't sure what his elemental was yet and he really wanted to find out. The only area that they used familiars was in Mage Studies but the teachers warned that would change as they got more advance.
On Saturday two letters arrived form England. One from Terry, wanting to know what it was like to go to a school that taught the Dark Arts and from Professor Lupin. Harry really wanted to hear what Lupin had to say and so he opened his letter up, first.
Dear Harry,
I hope that your doing fine and that your not getting too knee deep in the Dark Arts. I really want to know what other classes you have so please reply. No news about the werewolf that bit you and I'm really starting to get worried. Dumbledore is having someone help and find the person and once their found then that person will be sent to Azkaban. I can't wait until term ends and I can come up and visit you. No news yet of Quirrell but I'll keep you updated.
Stay out of trouble and write to me soon,
Remus
"Who's that from," Rodger asked.
"From a friend of my mum's," Harry answered, "His name is Remus Lupin and he's pretty cool."
"So are you going to write back to him," Rodger asked.
"Yeah, I'm going to do that right now," Harry said and he took out a piece of parchment and got started.
Dear Remus,
Got your letter and I hope that you find out who ruined my life. I've got the normal classes like Herbology, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, History of Magic (it's actually taught by a live person), but I also have Elemental Studies, Mage Studies, and the Dark Arts. It's cool here, and I mean it, and my dad makes sure that I don't get knee deep in the Dark Arts. Thanks for caring.
Harry
He gave it to the owl who flew away.
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Note: Well there you have it, the letter from Remus and lessons. Sorry about not going into details about them.