Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters and most of the settings in this story. The honour belongs solely to JK Rowling. I suspect that I do not even own half of the plot, as this has been influenced by the numerous fanfics I've read.

Authors Note: Thanks everybody again for the good reviews! Harry finds out who his tutor is in this chapter. Lessons start next chapter.

Prophetess Of Hearts: I'm not saying what happens in my story, but in terms of the books, yes I'm very intrigued by the fact that this (now 11 year old) boy is called Mark Evans. JKR is very specific with her names. It can't be a co-incidence.

Chapter 3: Meet the Potions Master … again.

Harry received a letter from Dumbledore about a week ago stating that Harry would begin his tutoring lessons on the 24th July. It was now the day before these lessons were due to start and he still hadn't told Uncle Vernon.

Harry had his cover story for the Dursleys all worked out. One of their neighbours had injured his back and is now unable to do household chores without aggravating it so he asked Harry if he would like to do some work, 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, which conveniently coincided with his potions lessons. Harry was also able to get Hermione to exchange some of his Galleons for muggle money. All that was left was getting the green light from Uncle Vernon.

They were sitting around the dining table, eating the wilted lettuce and soggy salad they were all still forced to endure due to Dudley's diet. Uncle Vernon was telling them about his day at work. He was particularly pleased as he was able to fire 3 people, yell at a few more, and had acquired a new high paying client for his drill company. He was very happy.

Harry thought, given Uncle Vernon's mood, that this would be a good opportunity to approach his Uncle about his pretend job.

"Uncle Vernon?" Harry asked demurely, not wanting to upset his Uncle with his presence.

Uncle Vernon was so happy with his day that he forgot to ignore Harry. "Yes, Harry?" he answered without looking at him.

"I, er, well," Harry stammered, trying to work out how to word this.

"Well, spit it out, boy!" Uncle Vernon snapped, already getting irritated.

"One of our neighbours down the road has injured his back and he asked if I could do some work for him around the house. He'd pay me 50 pounds a week." Harry said it quickly.

Uncle Vernon looked at Harry disbelievingly. "Why would one of your kind want to work in the real world. What are you up to boy?"

"Nothing Uncle Vernon, I swear, I just thought it would be good to get some experience working, you know, earn a bit of money over the summer." Harry looked down towards his meal, trying to control his emotions. He really wanted these lessons, and didn't want to do anything to further aggravate his uncle.

"If I get the job, I would be spending less time here." Harry tried.

Uncle Vernon eyed Harry suspiciously. He opened his mouth to say something, more than likely something callous, but then clamped his mouth shut and his face became completely blank, as if hypnotised.  After a while, Uncle Vernon finally said "Okay boy, do what you wish, although I can't imagine anyone wanting to employ someone like you." Uncle Vernon said as if he felt that Harry was something revolting to be wiped off one's shoe, which, Harry knew, was exactly what Uncle Vernon thought of him. "However", Uncle Vernon continued, eyeing Harry's dishevelled hair, baggy hand-me-down jeans and t-shirt, and glasses which were held together with tape, "You will have to start paying board. Lord knows I've spent enough on keeping you as it is."

'Bingo', Harry thought, and smiled. But out of the corner of his eye he caught a shadow swiftly gliding into the darkness of the hallway. Harry knew something just happened here, but he couldn't for the life of him work out what.

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The next day, Harry was gathering all of his potions books and supplies, parchment quills and ink, anything that he thought he would need for his tutoring. Harry was determined to do well this time. He felt that he would actually stand a chance of obtaining the required grade without such a biased teacher.

Harry stored all of his books and such in his bag and ran to 11 Privet Drive. He had to clean up the remains of a vase that Dudley deliberately broke a few minutes beforehand, so he was already running late. Panting slightly from his sprint, Harry knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened.

Harry's anticipation turned to dread when he saw who was standing at the door.

"Tut, tut, Potter. Late for your first potions lesson. 5 points from Gryffindor." Snape sneered, looking down his nose at Harry.

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