DISCLAIMER- I don't own the creations of JK Rowling

A/N- is it really hard to recognize who Eileen-son Prince is? He did not tell his official name yet. A warning, this chapter may seem a little disturbing.

Chapter-2

Severus Snape watched Harry walk away and he himself walked away in the opposite direction, himself unable to understand what was going on in his own mind. He himself had found out where the savior of wizard Britain was, but was shocked at what he had found out. He walked further away before he found a bus stop and sat down there, deep in thought.

Finding Harry was not difficult for his Slytherin mind as he had stumbled upon a single clue. After the demise of the Lord that night, everybody wanted to know where Harry was- it included people close to James and Lily and also media persons like Rita Skeeter. Dumbledore claimed that he had placed Harry in a place where it was 'safest and best' for the boy and refused to tell anything more.

Snape himself would have thought so, but with time he grew less fond of Dumbledore, his faith in the old man lessened too. The man had saved him from a trial after the fall of Voldemort, offered him a position in Hogwarts as the replacement of about-to-retire Horace Slughorn and in return expected loyalty. It worked, but only for a few years before doubts began to creep up in Snape's mind.

His own life started with what he had felt a wrong step. After passing out of Hogwarts, he had joined the Death Eaters, almost out of peer pressure within Slytherin house. His childhood friend Lily had drifted far away by then. He himself was interested in the dark arts, the Lord seemed a path to glory.

Within months, he realized that he was caught in a trap from which there was no way out. Voldemort had assembled followers, he now began to wreak havoc across Britain. Snape's own sharp mind, coupled with his vengeful nature caught the attention of the Lord, he was pushed to the inner circle and branded with the Dark mark, he did not dare refuse. A few had tried to abandon Voldemort, what followed was a demonstration-cum-warning in front of all the other Death eaters.

He suffered genuine remorse after the shocking incidence in which Rookwood from the Department of Mysteries leaked the names of muggle-born children to the Lord and shortly after, the Death Eaters tracked down and killed almost 250 children and their parents before they even got the Hogwarts letter. If it was years earlier, would Lily have been killed similarly? Voldemort did not attack Hogwarts, but the three other smaller schools in Britain were razed to the ground by him.

Of course, he knew that the Lord was still human, not omnipotent. Otherwise, Voldemort could have simply walked to the ministry and proclaimed himself ruler. The lord, however, did not appear human to the eyes and Snape did wonder what rituals would the former had performed to change thus.

Dumbledore was the only person whom the Lord feared, because of the simple fact that he could face Voldemort in a duel and remain standing, Death eaters fared even worse. That did not change the fact that Dumbledore's assembled Order of the phoenix, despite being composed of capable people were losing members one by one, and contrary to the name, the deceased did not return to the living world.

The prophecy, though partially heard by Mulciber in the Hog's Head and relayed to the Lord finally gave Snape the courage to defect. He had went to Dumbledore, the man demanded something in return. As a result, he did remain within Death eater ranks, at a danger to himself. However, Lily was killed- she could not be saved by Dumbledore, whatever steps he had taken. Somehow, the Lord was destroyed too, but Dumbledore said that it was only a temporary relif.

Snape's dissatisfaction with Dumebledore began soon after the fall of the Lord, it grew with time.

He already knew that Dumbledore could not save his own followers, but soon learned that the man was a liar. He had told Snape that Lily's son had his mother's eyes, but told the press that the boy exactly looks like his father James, though with a scar in his forehead left by the Killing curse. Maybe it was for security reasons, but there was more to the man.

Firstly, Dumbledore could not even prosecute the captured Death eaters. Almost forty of them were caught with the dark mark, but managed to wriggle out of danger by claiming to be under spells. The rest were sent to Azkaban, though Alastor Moody played a mojor role in that.

Secondly, he disliked the old coot. He never liked the cold look in the man's eyes. Moreover, Dumbledore dressed in fine robes, had a sugar-coated way of talking and tried to show that he was sympathetic and eccentric- but it felt a mask. All of it irritated Snape.

He himself wanted to know where Harry was. Of course Dumbledore had a typical response- everything will be revealed in due time, Snape did not have the courage to use Legilimency on the headmaster. He also did not know who had assisted Dumbledore. However, he stumbled upon a clue by good luck.

It started with a drunk Hagrid. it was the summer holidays, the castle was empty of students and most of the staff, the remaining ones were left to themselves. The half-giant had drunk rather heavily one night a week ago and Dumbledore, seeing the condition had just sternly spoken "Hagrid!"

The man grunted in response and said "Sorry Professor, the young thestrals are tougher lot than baby 'arry"

Albus replied "I have full faith in you to train them up."

The first few words were a glow of light in the dark for Snape. Hagrid- how could he miss such a "big" clue that he saw every day? The picture of the destroyed house in Godric's hollow flashed in his mind.

He himself had rushed to the place that night. The lower floor of the cottage was heavily damaged- a brief but furious duel had taken place between James Potter and the Lord, the man was lying dead. After killing James, the Lord had proceeded to the upper floor where Lily had locked herself and the baby up. Then the door was burst open, Lily killed and the curse on Harry backfired, a huge hole was in the roof, the crib was empty. The Lord's damaged body was lying there too, the wand somehow missing. He himself had to carefully move to the bedroom, to find Lily dead.

Hagrid was the answer. The half-giant was a safer choice than a human to navigate through the rubble and remove Harry. Moreover, Hagrid was blindly loyal to Dumbledore, plus he would not be questioned by the media, it was also less likely that he would give an answer. The man lived on the school grounds, none of the Lord's goons or Rita Skeeter would try any smart business.

Snape knew when and how to get the fact out of Hagrid, he was a Slytherin after all.

Dumbledore had gone to Brussels on a meeting of EWC (European Warlock Confederation) that night, Snape did not want to take any chances. He then really flew to the Forbidden forest on a broomstick, to look for potion ingredients. He then walked over at Hagrid's hut, put a sleeping spell on the dog, and knocking on the door, asked for a strong drink claiming exhaustion.

Hagrid did not doubt anything and poured out some fire-whiskey for both of them. It was easier to get information out of a drunk man than a sober one, Snape acted further and slipped some potion on Hagrid's drink. The result was good- what Hagrid blurted out was enough. He had quietly obliviated Hagrid of a few moment's events, the oaf noticed nothing when drunk, then slipped out.

It was not hard to track down the address of Vernon and Petunia in Surrey, Snape knew of the Telephone Directory used by muggles. He thought that candies would be the best way to talk to the boy.

Money was not a problem. He would not exchange sickles at Gringotts, he did not want to leave any trail. A minute Fiendfyre spell on sickles would destroy the marks of the wizard bank, what remained could be sold at a muggle pawn shop for a good amount of muggle money.

He managed to meet Harry at the park, buy him some candy, though he had really wanted to take something from the kitchens. He did not ask the boy anything, he expected Legilimency would give quicker answers and it did. He found out what he wanted to and he did not like it.

In fact, it was not easy to talk to Harry, even after finding him alone. Snape did not feel like looking and talking to the boy, even not mentioning about it to anybody. He was surprised at it but realized what was happening- a magic aversion-compulsion charm was placed on the boy, most probably by the headmaster. It took a firm resolve to shake off the effect. While it would keep Harry safe, any mage spotting Harry on the road would avoid him and not talk about it, it would not stop a master of mind magic like Snape- a miscalculation by the headmaster.

Harry was his mother's eyes and nose in his father's face- no, that's not true. James had an air of arrogance around him, plus he would never wear clothes like that, or be that thin and stunted for his age. The boy was not actively abused, but the neglect was acute. He was an unpaid servant and treated like trash by his relatives and like a punching bag by his fat, spoilt cousin. Plus, the black scar on his forehead surely had some residual dark magic.

Even when he was young, he knew that Petunia hated her sister out of sibling jealousy. Placing Harry with her family make Dumbledore seem like a senile old man. He himself would have tried to make the boy as dangerous as possible to all enemies from childhood- what was the old coot thinking?

For a moment, he felt like bursting into number four with a raised wand and hex the Dursleys, then go to Dumbledore and scream at the old man-but that would be a Gryffindor response. He also felt like taking Harry away with him right now and take care of the boy- but that seemed a Hufflepuff response. He hoped that maybe Dumbledore would realize he had made a bad decision and utter his often used response- Forgive an old man's mistakes.

He would not act like that- he was a Slytherin and suspicious of Dumbledore. He did not know what really was in the man's mind, plus maybe he did not have the complete picture.

Snape rose from his seat, he still had something to do- information gathering. He walked towards number four Privet Drive. Reaching the front of the house, he could sense that there were people inside, but the street was empty of people, only a car plied now and then.

He took out his wand, pointed it at the house while holding it close to his knees and uttered an incantation. A silvery jet of light shot out from the tip towards the house, but soon changed into sparks and vanished. There was some sort of ward placed on the house, which was good news. Maybe Dumbledore placed those once and did not bother to check on the boy after that.

He had one more doubt in his mind and tried to notice the houses on the opposite street. At a house diagonal to number four, he found what he was looking for. It was an ordinary house on the row, even the two cats sitting on a window sill did not seem out of place to a muggle. But Snape was not a muggle, he knew what was a misfit- the cats were not mere cats, there was kneazle bloodline in them. He noted the name Arabella Figg- she had to be a lookout. What was she reporting?

Shadows were forming on the street. He had to think before acting, but a name had already come up in his mind- Andromeda Tonks. He spotted a large tree, went behind it and apparated away.

This is the complete chapter, hope you enjoyed it.

P.S – I could not figure out the Ravenclaw response. Any idea?