8-Snape
Just as they expected, Quirrell had to spend much longer than a few days away from Hogwarts. The fact that he'd lost an arm couldn't be kept secret for long, although neither Harry nor Hermione had spoken about it. Harry suspected that someone at St. Mungos let out that information, probably some relative of one of the students. It also became very clear that Quirrell would not be able to resume his post as a teacher. Without his wand arm, he needed to relearn casting for himself, first.
Another piece of gossip claimed that the DOM was now involved, although nobody knew what caused that. Most assumed it was the inexplicable burning of that hand. A few even joked that Harry's handshake might be dangerous, but nobody took that seriously.
The Hogwarts wards kept reporting to Harry whenever one of the faculty left or returned to school. Harry learned that way, that each teacher had one or two free evenings, and most left the school for those evenings, returning quite late. The only teacher who didn't seem to leave the castle was Snape.
"Do you have any idea why he stays at the castle even when he has a free evening?" Harry asked Hermione.
She considered the question but couldn't find an answer, only some conjectures. "Well, the way he acts in class, he doesn't seem to be a person who likes company. It looks like most others just go to a pub in their free evenings, enjoying some drinks and some company. Snape doesn't seem the type of person to enjoy that. I suspect he only leaves when he needs to buy something or has to visit others as part of his school duties. If he's really Draco's godfather, as our older selves thought, maybe he visits the Malfoys once in a while too."
Harry nodded at her reply.
He really wasn't sure what would be best. On one hand, he wanted to get rid of the bigoted bully; on the other hand, he didn't look forward to another meeting with the headmaster, certainly not before mastering Occlumency.
On that front, they had some advances. Hermione got the list she had asked for and ordered several books about Occlumency and also two about Legilimency. "We can't be sure that our shields are any good unless we can test them," she explained.
The books arrived promptly, making both Harry and Hermione spend hours reading them and making Ron grumpier. For the life of him, he just couldn't understand why waste one's time on reading those boring books that had no pictures in them, when one could play Chess, fly a broom, practice Quidditch or just laze around and chat with friends.
While most magical practices need one's magical core to mature before they could be exercised, it turned out that Occlumency needed mostly concentration and determination while consuming almost no magic. Legilimency needed even better concentration, but not much more magic either. The two children absorbed the books like a dry sponge absorbs water. It took them less than a week to be able to use Legilimency, although they needed a few more days to do it wandlessly and to fine-tune it until it couldn't be detected by the victim. By the next weekend, they were not yet satisfied with their mind shields, although they were much stronger than before.
That Saturday, the wards alerted Harry to Snape's departure only minutes before alerting him of Sirius's arrival. "It's going to be a busy day," he told Hermione on their way to the Great Hall. After hearing why he thought so, she chuckled in agreement.
Sirius seemed to feel better as time passed. This time, Harry could no longer see the haunted look in Sirius's eyes. It was replaced by a mischievous and slightly arrogant look that fitted Sirius much better. "The healers reduced my treatment rate to once a month. They say I'm almost back to normal, for me. Considering I was a Marauder, that doesn't really say much," he chuckled.
He had already told the children about the marauders and their (mis)adventures, so they had no problems understanding and chuckling with him. Sirius then turned serious. "I'd like to claim guardianship on you, now that I'm well. Would you like it?"
"That could be wonderful," Harry agreed at once, before turning sad. "Unfortunately, the headmaster seems to think that the best place for me is with my hateful relatives. He may try every trick to stop you from gaining that guardianship."
Sirius nodded. "Indeed, last time, after we parted, he invited me to his office and asked me of my intentions about you. I said I can make no plans and think of no intentions until I'm declared fit enough, and that could take months or even years. He seemed relieved to hear that."
"But now you are fit enough, aren't you?" Harry asked.
"I am, and I intend to act quickly, now that you approve, so that he won't have a chance to interfere." The mischief in his tone was clear. "Do you believe that the Dursleys will reject an offer to pass their guardianship to me if offered some money?"
Harry snorted. "They'd do it in a heartbeat, even for a few pounds."
"Then that's what I'll do. I'll first gain custody of you in the Muggle world, and then use it to also become your magical guardian. By the time Dumbledore hears of the change, it will be too late to change it back." Sirius seemed quite smug.
They spent most of the day together, like the previous weekends. Sirius left them when they needed to go for dinner. Harry felt the wards trigger soon after he sat in the Great Hall. "The show is starting now," he whispered in Hermione's ear. She nodded slightly, not to attract undue attention.
Indeed, Dumbledore, who was sitting at the head table, seemed to get suddenly disturbed. He said something to McGonagall, who was sitting at his side, and then rose and quickly left the Great Hall. It took more than ten minutes before he returned, looking even more disturbed than before. As he came into the Great Hall, he looked along the Gryffindor table, until he found Harry, and then walked directly towards him. Way too late, Harry remembered that he didn't forbid Hogwarts from telling the headmaster that he'd taken control of the wards. Now he had to face the music.
"Mr. Potter, please come with me." It wasn't a request, it was an order.
"Can't I finish eating first?" Harry asked, quite sure about the answer.
"You can eat later. Come!" Dumbledore was too unnerved to keep the pretence.
"Alright! But you'll have to make sure I get to eat. Children my age shouldn't skip meals, so I was told."
Dumbledore didn't respond. He grabbed Harry's arm and marched him out. They stopped some distance from the great hall. Dumbledore looked really furious. "I don't know how you took control of the wards, but I command you to immediately relinquish control of them."
Harry shrugged innocently. "I'm not sure I know what you're talking about. I had a dream about Hogwarts asking me how to handle the wards and that's all. I don't know how that happened and I can't relinquish control that I don't have to start with."
"Look at me!" Dumbledore told him.
Harry knew what would come. He strengthened his Occlumency shields and also prepared a wandless Legilimency probe. When one tries to use Legilimency against you, then he's most vulnerable to a Legilimency attack, so he'd read. He felt the Legilimency probe as soon as he looked at Dumbledore's face, but having learned it, although he didn't think he had full control, he knew how to use it for his own end. In his mind's eye, the probe felt like a long rope moving around, searching for something. He mentally grabbed that rope and gave it a sharp pull before releasing it and pushing back. Dumbledore looked like he got punched in the face, taking a few steps back and trying to regain balance.
"What have you done?" he asked painfully.
"I stopped an illegal attack against my mind. Didn't anyone tell you it's illegal to use Legilimency on minors without their explicit permission, along with their guardian's permission?" Harry felt proud of rejecting the attack and decided to cease playing the innocent child. He was now the owner of Hogwarts and he should be treated with the appropriate respect.
"I'm your magical guardian!" Dumbledore insisted.
"I've never seen any document claiming so and I've never seen you before coming to Hogwarts. What kind of a guardian are you, letting me stay with people who hate me and abuse me? You are no guardian at all, as far as I am concerned!"
Dumbledore was smart enough to see that he could not force the issue. Instead, he decided to plead. "We shall discuss this later. Right now, professor Snape cannot come back to school after having gone on an errand for the school. As it seems like you're the one in control of the wards, I ask you to let him pass. We need our potions professor back, you know."
Harry shrugged. "As far as I know, no dark object can pass the wards. If Snape is free of any dark object, he may pass freely."
"But the wards stop him. Can't you see why?" Dumbledore felt desperate to regain some control of the situation.
Harry faked thinking hard. "I'm not sure it's true, but the rumours say that Snape bears the Dark Mark. That's a dark object, as far as I know."
"You should know that Professor Snape has my full trust," Dumbledore declared, making Snape's position very evident.
Harry shrugged. "The way I see it, the wards don't care if you, or anybody else, trusts someone or not. Anybody bearing that mark is forbidden entry, since it is a dark object."
Dumbledore sighed. Harry could tell that the old man was no longer sure about the right thing to do. He evidently wanted Snape back, but he couldn't logically argue against forbidding dark objects from school, and the Dark Mark was a dark object – there was no doubt about that. "What can be done? We need the potions professor, you know."
Harry shrugged. "Then he should either get rid of that mark or you should find somebody else. Besides, even if there is a way to let him in, I don't know it. I'd suggest letting him spend the night somewhere else. Maybe we'll be lucky and I'll have another such dream so I can learn how to control the wards. I think you should send some changes of clothes for him, at least." Harry tried to sound as if he cared for the greasy git, although he felt like saying it sarcastically. He had no intention of letting Snape come back, and that was really for the greater good of the wizarding world.
Dumbledore tried some more persuasion, with just as much success. Harry kept saying that he knew of no way to control the wards. In a way, it was also true, since the only time he did this, it was with the help of the ROR. He really had no idea how to do it directly, although he suspected that it was quite straightforward. Interestingly, Dumbledore didn't offer to teach him how to control the wards. Harry thought the old man was reluctant to give a child such power over the school.
Eventually, the headmaster got tired of this fruitless effort. "I'll see what I can do for Professor Snape. You may return to the Great Hall for dinner. If you find a way to help, please come to me."
A short while later, Harry sat back at Hermione's side. "Mission accomplished," he whispered. Ron hadn't even noticed his absence.
Some time later, after losing another game of Chess to Ron, Harry took Hermione aside. Using some privacy charms that their older selves knew, they could talk freely, as long as nobody was watching them. "He knows I control the wards, but I claimed it came to me in a dream and I don't know how to consciously control the wards. In a way, it's quite true."
Hermione nodded, waiting for some more.
"He tried a Legilimency probe, as expected. I yanked it and made him recoil painfully. Next time, he'll be much more careful. He didn't get any information from me, I'm sure."
Hermione smiled hearing that. Harry then got into the details, telling her everything as best as he could recall. "So, Snape is out and not expected to return any time soon, and Dumbledore doesn't yet know the full truth about my position."
He then frowned. "We must make sure that he didn't cast anything on me. He had his wand in his hand throughout our conversation, although he didn't seem to use it."
Hermione cast several detection charms. They all came negative. "He was probably too agitated about Snape to use that occasion for other purposes, but we should stay alert," Hermione noted. "We should also check your clothes and your cloak every few days, and we should continue to work on our Occlumency. Today might have been just luck, due to his agitation. We can't assume to always be so lucky."