Gobbledygook

"Arthur, give this to Sharpaxe when you get back to the bank, you can just leave it with a teller or something, they will deliver it." Severus said, passing over the note he wrote earlier that day, while Harry was being fitted for new clothes.

Arthur nodded. "Well, we will let you get back to your shopping, come on you two." Ron and Ginny nodded and followed along behind, still trying to process what they just learned about their brothers. Severus nodded curtly to Arthur and swept away, leaving Harry to scramble along behind, waving to Ron as he did.

Both of them forgot all about the object Lucius Malfoy slipped into Ginny's cauldron.

Several hours earlier that day...

Dumbledore sat in thought. The school letters went out today, which meant students would be flooding Diagon Alley today.

Maybe Potter would be one of them?

Whoever took him might not know that Dumbledore would be looking, which meant they wouldn't worry about Potter being seen in public. The question was, who should he contact to keep an eye on the Alley?

Alastor would be a good idea. Since his eye could see through Invisibility Cloaks, he would be able to spot Potter on the off chance that whoever had him were being cautious and had him wearing it. Although, he rather doubted that Potter would have told anyone about it. To be honest, he was still surprised the boy had told Weasley and Granger about it. He would have expected the boy to keep anything that used to belong to his parents a secret for fear of it being taken or damaged.

He should have taken the thing back at the end of last year. Used an excuse like the brat being irresponsible with it or something. Because now he had to deal with a powerful magical artifact being in the hands of a brat. Granted, the brat was loyal to him, but...

Yes, sending Alastor would be a good idea. He wouldn't tell anyone else. He didn't want people to find out he lost the brat, after all, he was supposed to be with a caring and loving family. How could Albus Dumbledore possibly lose him if he was happy where he was?

When they were about half-way to the luggage shop, Severus cursed under his breath in French this time (maybe he should hold off on teaching Harry any of these languages so he could still have something to curse in... Lily would kill him if he 'taught' her son to curse in multiple languages). He had completely forgotten to search Miss Weasley's cauldron for whatever Lucius put inside it. Irritated with himself, he quickly asked Harry to pull his school bag out so he could see if the boy needed a new one.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked as he handed his battered bag over. Severus decided it definitely needed replaced. With a bag containing expansion and featherlight charms woven into the material, and maybe some light security features.

"You forgot to remind me to speak with Arthur about searching Miss Weasley's cauldron." Severus said, "Oh, well. We will just have to keep an eye on her in school." He sighed when he noticed Harry looked horrified, and... afraid? He reached out and put a hand on the boys opposite shoulder, drawing him closer to his side. He didn't hug him, he didn't do hugs, but it seemed to be enough to calm the boy down, for now.

Once they finally reached the luggage shop, Severus had the feeling that they were being watched. When he looked around, he saw Mad-eye Moody standing there, staring at him and Harry with his one eye-brow raised.

Severus swallowed before turning to Harry, "Go inside, call Mipsy. Go over your new trunk, get the wards keyed to you, maybe put some of your lab equipment and your few books put away and organized. You are NOT to leave that building without me, do you understand? If you have to sleep on the couch in the library, do that. I will be in as soon as I take care of something. Alright? Go on." He turned Harry around and gently pushed him towards the door.

Harry felt a flash of fear, something was obviously wrong, but he nodded and went along. He glanced back at Severus before going in, but only got a nod to go in. Jack was happy to see him back, though. "Mr. Potter! There you are, where is Professor Snape?"

"Um, I think something came up outside... Mipsy!" He called.

"Master Harry called for Mipsy? Oh, Mr. Jack, how is you?" She asked, clearly excited to see Jack again.

Jack smiled. He missed this little elf, she had been very helpful when studying since there had been a few books he was forbidden from reading as those ones had held family secrets, (There was one he was allowed to read, and he was made to swear not to use those techniques for anyone other than the Potter Family. They didn't want those getting out or him getting in trouble for knowing them) stuff like the Potter Blood-Magics. Technically, Blood-Magic was illegal and branded 'Dark'. However... the Potter spells were unique, and since they were Family spells and created by the Family, never used or taught outside the Family, the Ministry couldn't touch them for it. No matter how many times the Ministry tried to demand that the Potters hand over all those spells and techniques to them for confiscation.

"I'm well Mipsy. It's good to see you again. What did Severus say?" He asked Harry.

"He told me to come in here, call Mipsy, go over my trunk, and to not leave the building without him, even if I have to sleep on the couch in the library." Harry repeated dutifully.

Jack nodded thoughtfully before he glanced at the door and mentally put a few of his dormant wards on active 'stand-by'. If he deemed there to be a threat, they could and would do some damage to the one Jack deemed threatening. They were normally dormant because the Ministry wouldn't exactly like the fact that they were there. Any scans they could possibly run though, only picked up active wards. So, leaving them dormant unless needed kept the Ministry's nose where it didn't belong.

He didn't say anything to Harry though, he just motioned the boy to follow him to the back where his trunk was. Once there, he decided to give Harry a tour before setting and activating the wards. They were going to be going in and out, after all. And once the wards were activated, other people would need Harry's express permission to get in. And that permission was only good for that one time, they would have to gain permission again once they left the trunk, even just to switch compartments to get something. He would leave Harry to his library after the wards were set.

He showed Harry the potions lab first, then the little kitchen, which Mipsy took one look at and immediately summoned another Potter elf to stock it with food. She would do it herself, but... until Mr. Severus came back, she was keeping her Master safe.

Of course, it took a bit to calm the elf down before he went for the food. He was a little too excited to see the 'Young Master' again. After that, they investigated the training room, which came equipped with training dummies and even a few sets of Muggle exercise equipment and an indoor track. The Quidditch space had racks for brooms and some cases to keep balls in, as well as a couple of shelves for his uniform or other gear and drawers for other equipment. Jack showed him how to to expand his clothes compartment, and they stopped the tour with the art studio.

It was light and airy, with floor to ceiling enchanted windows making up one wall, letting the 'sunshine' in. Jack showed him how to change the windows to whatever he wanted. The way the windows were set up, Harry could use them as a back-drop to his drawings or paintings. He could change them to whatever he wanted; a spring meadow, a mountain area, a winder wonderland, a storm with or without lightning, whatever he wanted. If he wanted to 'freeze' the weather in the window, he could do that too.

He could have some fun with that one.

All the compartments in his trunk more or less followed the same color theme of the library with warm browns and reds. They all had an owl perch in them somewhere (all made of dark mahogany with brass fittings), and they all had the Potter crest on a wall somewhere. Finally, Harry followed Jack back out of the trunk so they could set the wards.

"Alright, to set the wards to yourself, simply prick a finger and apply it here." He said, pointing to a spot on the latch. When Harry did that, Jack waved his wand over the trunk and muttered the spell to activate the wards.

When he was satisfied that was done, he turned to explain the basics of what the wards were and what they did. One was designed to stun whoever tried to force their way in for two minutes, before that two minute mark, they received shocks of electricity in increasing strengths as a warning. There was a proximity ward to let Harry know when somebody was close to his trunk as well as an identity ward so he could tell who it was. Even now, Harry could feel a person registering in the wards.

"If you know the person, the wards will register their signature and 'inform' you of who it is." He explained when Harry looked confused over how the wards knew exactly who was standing there with him.

There were a few other wards on it that could get nasty to anyone who tried to break through them, the level of lethalness to them depended on the amount of force the other person was using. The other ward that stunned was for people who were just trying to force the latch, but not trying to mess with the wards. Some of them, Harry could choose whether or not to activate whenever he felt like it, such as the Notice-Me-Not and Muggle repelling wards, along with the anti-summoning charms. The only reason that one could be turned on and off was in case Harry ever needed to summon his trunk to him for whatever reason. Harry was also connected with the wards in a way that if he had somebody in there with him, and he wanted them out but they were being difficult, he could simply expel them.

The wards were also set up in a way to mask any and all under-age magic he might use inside the trunk. What was the use of having a training room if he couldn't use it outside of school after all?

The last thing Jack showed Harry was how to shrink and resize his trunk, as well as how to give people permission. "To shrink it, simply place your hand here in the center of your Family crest, and think about it shrinking. To resize it, put your finger on the same spot and think about it being full size again. To grant permission, you will have to follow these directions to set a password, that only you will be able to know, the password itself will automatically be under a Fidelius charm by the wards themselves." He said as he passed over the parchment with the directions on it. "For now, say, 'I, Harry James Potter, give whatever this person's name is, permission to enter.' Obviously you will be using the person's name, not saying what I did." With that, he left Harry to explore on his own.

As he walked back to the front of his shop, he noticed Severus walking in, looking both relieved and annoyed.

Severus watched Harry walk into the store before he schooled his features to his 'public face'.

If anyone were to see him like he was earlier with Harry, they might have had a heart-attack at the absence of his usual sneer. He knew he probably already scared the youngest Weasley boy earlier.

As soon as Harry was in, he swept across the street to lean against the wall beside Moody.

"Are you patrolling for Harry on Dumbledore's orders?" He asked after Moody put up the privacy ward.

"Of course. I was rather surprised to see YOU with him. Everyone knows how you treat the boy in school." Moody said, looking at Severus suspiciously.

Severus stiffened. "I would remind you that I am one of the boys godfather's as well as a spy for the Order, and I acted like that on Dumbledore's orders. It was either that or end up in Azkaban never to see the boy again."

Moody snorted. "You know full well that I never trusted you."

"Then trust James and Lily. As they clearly trusted me."

"Yeah, well, they also trusted Black. Look where that got 'em."

Severus felt a flash of anger before he forced himself to Occlude and calm down. Then he hesitated, this was the first time since That Night he'd actually had a chance to tell the grizzled old Auror the truth without Dumbledore around. The question now... did he trust the man not to run straight to Dumbledore now and tell him all about this? Glancing at him, he felt that he had no choice. He had to say something, he would just have to hope and pray it would be enough for the other man to leave it be.

"And if I were to tell you that Sirius Black wasn't the traitor? That the real traitor is named in their Wills? And that Albus Dumbledore won't let the Wills be viewed as evidence to get Black the trial he never received in the first place? If I were to tell you that Sirius Black Blood-adopted Harry Potter?" Severus asked as he turned to completely face Moody. He bored his eyes into the other mans with an intensity that scared most people.

'Luckily, Mad-eye Moody is not most people.' He thought absently as Moody's gaze seemed to sharpen as he too, considered Severus.

"Then I would say, that perhaps I don't know Albus like I think I do. If what you are saying is true, then Albus would have a lot to answer for. And perhaps its a good thing that Albus not find out the boy is with you" Moody said slowly. "Be prepared for me to visit." He barked suddenly. Then he dropped the privacy ward and started to walk away. "But Snape!" He suddenly called, turning back around. "If you can't provide proof of your claims at the next Wizengamot session..." Moody let himself trail off threateningly.

Severus only paused in his walk across the street before he just kept walking.

He was relieved, they already had plans of proving the claims he made to Moody at the next Wizengamot session. And, as an added bonus, Dumbledore couldn't attend. This session happened to be at the same time as an ICW conference. Which meant, he wouldn't be there to make excuses. And by the time he came back, the Wizengamot Lords would have time to think and remember just why they disliked him and his ways. Not that they ever forgot, but... sometimes it seemed like it. Especially the Light side. As long as what they presented the Wizengamot was enough to satisfy Moody, Severus's job at Hogwarts was safe, and he didn't have to risk Azkaban time.

It was, after all, difficult to keep somebody safe when you were in prison.

A concept he was going to curse into Sirius Black's head the moment he was released from St. Mungoes after his trial. He would get it through that thick skull somehow.

And then the two of them would hunt down Remus Lupin and curse the concept of sticking around into HIS thick skull. Honestly, where on earth did that wolf go?

"There you are, Mr. Potter is in his trunk right now. Mipsy has also already ordered another elf to stock the kitchen, by the way. Was everything alright?" Jack asked when he entered the store.

"Yes, everything is fine now. I'll go get Harry." He said as he picked up a forest-green bag from the shelf that had feather-light and expansion charms woven into it, as well as light security features. He paid and started walking back. Jack nodded and said nothing as he took the money.

Since he knew the wards would be active, he had no idea how he was going to get in and/or get Harry's attention, but luckily he didn't have to do anything. Because after a few moments of standing by the trunk, Harry poked his head out.

"Your back! Is everything alright? Are we going to keep shopping?" Harry asked quickly.

Severus blinked, once again reminded of Miss Granger when she got going and the boys weren't quick enough to head her off. He didn't say anything though, he just nodded. "Just one moment then, I'll be right back." Harry said before he disappeared back into the trunk. Severus looked at the now full row of symbols and saw that he small cauldron was glowing. Which meant he must be in the lab.

Huh. He was expecting the boy to be in the library. Although, he supposed an empty library wasn't really worth being in... Once he got books in it though...

When Harry popped out again, he said, "I was putting my lab stuff in there, so far I only got so far as putting the knives in the drawers and the ingredient satchels in the storeroom. Everything else is just sitting on a counter."

Severus nodded. "I will help you organize it later to what seems most comfortable for you. I'll also help you organize the storeroom, there are some ingredients that should never be stored near each other, ever. They tend to have violent reactions if mixed improperly, and accidents do happen." He warned as he handed over the bag he picked up a few minutes ago and watched as Harry shrunk his trunk and put it and his new school bag inside the pouch still hanging at his side.

Surprisingly, he didn't say anything about Severus paying for it.

Harry nodded. That's when Jack came back. "I forgot to mention earlier, the trunk is also warded against all House-elves not bonded to the Potter Family. Since it's a Potter Blood-Ward holding them all to the trunk..."

Severus stared at him. "I thought those were a closely guarded family secret."

"They are. I told you Lord Potter opened up the Family Library for me to study from? Well, the Family Magic books were all forbidden for me to read, except for one. And I was made to swear an oath to never reveal that I knew those techniques or use them for anyone not a Potter." Jack explained. "I told you, I owe the Potters a lot."

Harry was silent for a moment, "Thanks for your help." He finally said, sticking his hand out. Hedwig hooted in agreement from her perch on his shoulder.

"It was my pleasure. I wish you luck this year." Jack said with a smile, taking Harry's hand. He gave Severus a nod.

Severus nodded back before leading Harry out of the shop while he ran a mental checklist of what they still needed yet. They got clothes, potions supplies, a new trunk and bag, got his wand checked and a holster, and got Hedwig treats and mice. He supposed that all they needed now, school-wise, was the book-store, and they didn't really need anything on the list since Harry had his mothers old books now. After that, a visit to the Quidditch store was in order, as well as that art store he thought he remembered seeing down the Alley. Then, he supposed that that would be all they needed in Diagon. After that, a trip to Muggle London.

He would probably take Harry to a Muggle book-store, there were a few series he thought the boy would enjoy. Maybe a Muggle clothes store as well... or even the mall. Get him a few toys or something appropriate for his age. After all, the boy never had any growing up. Despite the many presents he wanted to send the boy but didn't, knowing they would never reach him.

First though, lunch. He should have gotten Harry something to eat an hour ago.

Sharpaxe leaned back in his chair and sighed. He had finally finished writing the last of his letters to the members of the Potter Alliance, requesting a meeting with him in three days. He would have to go and reserve one of the conference rooms, he was going to talk to them all at once, hopefully it wasn't too late.

"Enter." He called when he heard a knock on the door.

"Sir, the Weasley's are finished in the ritual room, and the Healers have kidna- taken the Twins to the infirmary for the night to make sure that they are alright after opening the connection after so long of it being closed. Also, Lord Weasley has returned for his family from school shopping, he had this." The goblin handed him a note. "He told the teller that Lord Prince-Snape gave him this."

Sharpaxe raised an eyebrow before he opened the note to read it, "Well, well, well. Looks like we should look into financial debts Dumbledore has helped people get out of, find out how many of those debts were caused by Dumbledore pulling the strings in the background." He murmured.

"Take this down to the records room. They will know what to do with it. And see if Curse-Breaker Weasley has been fre- discharged from the infirmary yet. He is leading the Horcrux team." He ordered. The goblin nodded and left.

"Well, the Potter family did always make the world an interesting place. I've almost missed this. The world has been too quiet the past decade, and now Heir Potter isn't back for two days and he already has the world jumping. I haven't had so much fun in years." Sharpaxe mused to himself and grinned.

"But first, those thieving relatives need to be dealt with." He said as he pulled out a fresh parchment and got busy writing to a contact Gringotts had within the Muggle police department. The contact was a Muggleborn parent, so they wouldn't have to worry about any magical's triggering Dumbledores wards.

"Severus! Didn't all the Muggleborns get their school supplies weeks ago?" Tom asked as Harry and Severus walked into the Leaky Cauldron. Harry's scar was once again covered and he had a light glamour covering the rest of his features too.

"Yes, well, this ones parents were being difficult. They finally said he could go today." Severus said. It wasn't even a complete lie.

The Dursleys were being difficult, the fact that it was last year was just a minor detail.

Tom nodded, "They didn't want to come shopping either, huh?" He asked.

Severus shook his head. "You know how it is sometimes." Tom didn't ask anymore questions, just took their order. Although he did give Harry a sympathetic look.

"When we are done here, we will be stopping by the Quidditch store. And I think there was an art store somewhere down the Alley. If there isn't, I was planning on taking you to the mall later today anyway. And don't forget we still have to stop by Flourish and Blotts." Severus said as they got their food. He chose to ignore the way Harry hovered over his.

In his experience, if you made a big deal about it, the child only retreated further into themselves.

Then he frowned when he noticed how Harry was squinting. This was the first chance he really had to study the boys eyes, when they stopped for ice-cream, Harry was looking around the Alley. "Maybe we should add a trip to the oculist later. If we can't today then I can speak with Madam Longbottom about taking you sometime before school starts." He said.

When Harry looked up, surprised, he sighed. "You do know what that is, right?" Harry shook his head. "It's the eye doctor, Harry. You've never been to one, have you?"

"No. Aunt Petunia took these out of the charity box somewhere." Harry said.

Severus sighed. It was really a miracle he made a such good Seeker if that was the case. "Those glasses are probably making your eyesight worse then." Then he had a thought. "You HAVE been to a doctor though, right? Because I know Madam Pomphrey didn't see you with the rest of the Muggleborns."

Harry shook his head. "Aunt Petunia said Freaks didn't need medical care. Besides, I've never gotten sick."

Severus sighed and had to fight down another urge to go and kill the Dursley's. He had to keep reminding himself that they were soon going to be spending the rest of their life in the Goblin Mines. "Sick or not, you should have still gone to get your shots at the very least. I will speak with Madam Longbottom about taking you to see a Healer too. Wizards are susceptible to different diseases than Muggles are, and you need those shots. The Goblins wouldn't have picked up the lack of those since they, too, have different diseases than us."

He finished his food and leaned back to watch Harry finish his. When he started to look like he was forcing himself, again sharing with Hedwig, Severus stopped him so he didn't make himself sick. Then he reminded Harry to take his Nutrient Potion, which the boy did with a grimace.

"Why can't anyone figure out how to make potions taste good?" He grumbled.

Severus smirked slightly. "Don't worry, I found a trick to it, they still taste bad, mind you, but they are better. Now come, we have shopping to do still."

When they were walking, Harry suddenly spoke again, "Dudley told me about shots when he went, he said it barely hurt him, but that Freaks like me wouldn't have been able to handle it. He also said that when I went crying for my mommy, that not even she would have cared enough to come help." He said so quietly that Severus almost thought he misheard.

"Harry, your mother loved you very much. If somebody was hurting you, she would have come running, and then she would have hexed whoever hurt you to the moon and back, before hexing their bits off." He said as he laid a hand on Harry's shoulder gently.

Harry nodded but didn't say anything. But he looked up when they stopped outside the Quidditch store.

Severus decided it was probably best for him to stay by the door, out of the way of the Quidditch fanatic crowd. Who were mostly all crowded around the latest broom, the Nimbus 2001. He groaned internally. He just knew Draco Malfoy would be showing up to Hogwarts this year with that broom, and trying out for the Quidditch team, if Severus was lucky.

If he was unlucky, Draco Malfoy would be showing up with that broom, plus six others as a 'generous donation' from Lucius Malfoy. A donation he should take as a 'request' to put Draco on the team. Probably as Seeker so Draco could compete against Harry.

That was a request he was going to have to grant if he was going to keep up appearances, despite the fact that he would much rather give Draco Malfoy detention for the rest of the school year for daring to try and bribe him. Him! Severus Snape! The man the Order saw as their spy, and who the Death Eaters saw as their Lord's right-hand man. Even if he was spying for the Potter's at the time, there was a very good reason why he was the Dark Lords right-hand.

He briefly considered buying Harry one just to keep the playing field even, but decided not to since Harry could probably fly circles around Draco no matter what broom either boy was on. He was just a natural flyer like that. Besides, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Harry's current broom that he knew of. And, while he did want to spoil his godson a bit since he knew the boy never had anything growing up, he didn't want to spoil him too much.

One of the things he despised was parents who spoiled their children beyond reason.

For now, he watched as Harry studied a pair of Seeker gloves for a bit before he finally decided to get them and wandered across the store to investigate the polish and a pair of trimmers before grabbing an order form off a rack before he finally turned to study the 2001.

It was clear to Severus that he wanted it, since he kept touching the pouch tied to his waist that had his 2000 in it, like he had to keep reminding himself that he had a perfectly good broom already.

"Harry." Severus said, coming up from behind him, making him jump. "We have more shopping to do yet." He reminded the boy once he calmed down again.

"Oh, yeah, didn't you say something about an art supply store?" Harry asked as he reluctantly turned away from the broom and towards the counter to pay for his stuff.

Severus nodded. "I'm not sure if it is there or not, though. I usually only come to the Alley when I'm escorting a Muggleborn first-year or coming to the Apothecary for equipment. I've never paid attention to the stores not needed for school supplies." He explained.

Harry nodded but followed along anyway, taking one last look at the 2001 as they left.

Sure enough, there was an art supply store at the end of the Alley, according to the person they stopped to ask anyway. On the way there, Severus stopped and pointed down a side-alley, the sign said it was called Knockturn Alley.

"That, Harry, is Knockturn Alley. There are a few good stores down there, deep inside. You will NEVER go down there without myself or Sirius with you, is that understood? It is a popular place for Dark Wizards, thieves, you name it, Knockturn has it. That is not a place for children, especially not you." Severus said sternly.

"Yes sir." Harry said softly. He didn't know if he wanted to go down there, even if his godfathers were with him. That place looked creepy.

"Good." Severus said, starting to lead Harry away again.

When they got to the art store, Severus again stood by the door and let Harry run wild in the store.

Despite the fact that Harry said he gave up on drawing years ago, and never really had supplies to paint, he seemed to know what he needed. At some point, Harry walked back towards him with his arms full of pencils, brushes, and erasers, only to find an amused looking Severus holding a basket out for him to put his stuff in. Once it was all dumped in the basket, Harry went back to shopping, barely remembering to take the basket with him.

Severus shook his head as he watched Harry continue to fill the basket with paints, sketchbooks, canvas, and easels. At some point, Harry had a conversation with one of the shop assistants about some enchanted paint he found. Apparently that was how they got portraits to move, they enchanted the paint and then added some of the portrait subjects hair, kind of like polyjuice, in Severus's opinion.

Harry hesitated for a moment before grabbing some of that to experiment with a bit. According to the lady, if he wasn't painting a person, then whatever scene he did paint would still move. So, he could paint himself a fireplace, and have a constant fire hanging on his wall if he really wanted to.

He also grabbed a book on enchanting your own paint and other supplies.

Somehow, Severus didn't think Neville Longbottom would be seeing much of Harry in the next few days as he put stuff away and organized his trunk how he wanted it. Well, unless Longbottom asked to help or something.

When Harry finally paid and came to stand in front of Severus, still putting packages away in his pouch, he raised an eyebrow, "You do plan on eating and sleeping in the next few days, right?" He stressed the last word so Harry knew it wasn't just a question.

"Yup!" Harry chirped. The Quidditch and art store must have put him in a better mood than Severus thought they would.

"Good, and I'm sure Mr. Longbottom would be happy to help you put your stuff away too." He said off-handedly, hoping it would be a good reminder to Harry not to accidentally ignore Neville in his excitement of having stuff to call his.

"I'll ask him, don't worry." Harry promised as they went inside Flourish and Blotts.

"Alright, the only books I am going to require you to get will be the introductory books I mentioned earlier, and this Defense book. Other than that, you already have the books for this year." Severus said. As he spoke, his hand shot out and grabbed the Defense book he had just mentioned to Harry.

He put it in the basket he had grabbed on their way in and handed it to Harry before leading him over to the introductory books he wanted Harry to have. They were introductory books on the different subjects at Hogwarts, there was one on the basic laws of the British Wizarding Community, and another on the general culture. The only problem Severus had with that last one was that they left out so much. There were so many practices the Ministry outlawed purely because the Muggleborn parents wouldn't let their children have anything to do with the wizarding world if they knew about them. Which, of course, was the original reason the Purebloods hated Muggleborns and Muggles so much. The reason just, devolved over time to what it was today of simple inferiority because they didn't have magic.

Once Harry had those, he let him run wild again while he himself went to check out the Potions section. He soon found himself browsing through a new book, trying to see what modifications he could make. He found one potion that he was honestly amazed it worked as it was. There were so many mistakes he found in the recipe. It may work without blowing up on the brewer, but it wouldn't be nearly as effective as it could be the way it was. The rest could just use some minor modification. He decided to go ahead buy it, and write the modifications in before sending it in to the Master's Conference anonymously like he usually did.

They met once a year to discuss the latest discoveries and go over any problems with the potions as they were and any changes that could be made, or to approve a potion for public use. Since he was a Master, he had a seat in that conference.

He had a feeling the other Master's knew it was him always sending in those books to be modified. He was well known for his skill after all, especially when it came to getting the best results out of a potion.

When he went to the counter to pay, the assistant took one look at him and got really excited for some reason. "Professor! You must be so excited to be working alongside a man like Gilderoy Lockhart. Why, he could probably show even you a thing or two about Defense." He said.

Severus barely refrained from hexing the man for the insult to his skills. Then the rest of what he said caught up with him and he groaned.

"That useless idiot is teaching? Great."

"What do you mean, useless? He's great!"

Severus leveled a glare at the dunderhead in front of him. He vaguely remembered teaching this man years ago... he must have been a sixth year or something when he first joined the staff at Hogwarts. "I would suggest the next time you read one of his books, you check the facts in a reputable defense book or even a Magical Creatures book. You will find that all of his 'facts' are complete and utter garbage. Check the timeline in his books too. If he really had done any of those things, he would have had to have been in multiple locations at once. A feat impossible even with a Time-Turner due to the distance between the locations." Severus said and watched as the assistant's eyes widened and he just stared.

He was about to go on when he was tapped on the arm, followed by a young voice saying, "I think you broke him, sir." Harry said as he put his basket on the counter beside Severus's book, which had been paid for while Severus ranted about how much of a fraud Lockhart was.

Severus snorted and muttered 'Dunderhead' under his breath, getting a small laugh out of Harry, before snapping his fingers under the mans nose to get his attention.

A few minutes later, when they were both leaving, Severus looked over his shoulder just in time to see the assistant placing a monitoring charm on the counter, grabbing the nearest Lockhart book, and rushing off to the Defense section, grabbing a book on Creatures on the way.

He smirked. He had a feeling that Flourish and Blotts would soon put Lockharts books in the Fiction section of the store, either that or request an investigation done on Lockhart.

"Alright, you exchanged some gold for Muggle money, right?" Severus asked. Harry froze for a moment as he thought about it before he slowly nodded his head.

"Good. The clothes the goblins gave you could pass for Muggle clothes easy enough, so that won't be a problem. First stop, there are some Muggle fiction series I think you might enjoy." He said as they walked. "First though, have you read about or heard about Apparition at some point while at Hogwarts last year?"