Disclaimer: see the prologue
A/N: Wow! Thank you all so much for the kind reviews. I was going to wait and post this tonight but after reading all of your nice words I decided to post it now. Thanks again and I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well!
Chapter One
_________________________________________________________
Snape and McGonagall apperated almost silently to Privet Drive. They cautiously approached the large and lackluster house, McGonagall leading the way, Snape following reluctantly behind.
"If the Ministry has already been here, then why pray tell does Dumbledore think it necessary for us to investigate also?" Snape questioned, his voice dripping with bitterness and irritation.
"You know Albus has a bit of a soft spot where the boy is concerned," McGonagall glanced at Snape just in time to see his mouth curl into a familiar sneer. "He simply wants people he trusts looking for Harry, he feels we will search the area more thoroughly than the Ministry officials," She added as she knocked on the wooden door. Before Snape had a chance to respond to Minerva's presumption, a rather large, round-faced boy answered the door. "Hello young man, we are looking for Mr. and Mrs. Dursley," McGonagall said, looking the boy in the eye, her voice filled with importance. The boy looked the pair up and down before shouting,
"Mum, dad, it's more of those people," Snape and McGonagall exchanged wary glances as a large man, a grown up version of the boy, came to the door.
"What do you want?" He spat, his voice filled with nothing less than complete hatred.
"We are looking for Harry Potter," McGonagall announced, clearly ignoring the man's blatant prejudice towards them.
"You and everybody else," the man mumbled. "I'll tell you what I told the others, he's not here, he just disappeared off the kitchen floor," the man said, sticking his red, round head even further out the door, as if trying to intimidate the two Professors. "I always knew he was a freak," the man added as an obvious afterthought as he prepared to close the door. Before it had a chance to snap shut, Snape lodged his foot in the wooden frame, causing the door to jerk back open.
"We will need to search the house," Snape added grudgingly, he clearly had no desire to take another step into the Dursley home, he was, however, willing to momentarily put aside his desires to serve Dumbledore.
"It's already been searched," Vernon nearly shouted. "Honestly, don't you people communicate?" Though Snape would have much preferred to vacate the Dursley property, the man's tone and word choice made Snape want to blow the door down, rummage through the home, and destroy everything in his path, perhaps even the fatheaded little boy.
"We will not be spoken to like that and we will be entering you home," with a flick of his wrist the door blew off it's hinges and fell squarely on the lavishly carpeted staircase. From within the house, Snape heard a woman scream and a pair of chubby feet, joined to chubby legs, scampering around in the upper level of the house.
"Severus, I hardly think that was necessary," McGonagall harshly whispered as she passed Snape and headed into the house to search for the six-year-old wizard.
Both McGonagall and Snape spent much time and heed searching the house extensively (though the latter did it quite unwillingly and not without the occasional sneer, scowl, or disgruntled remark). Once the search was complete and both witch and wizard had been rushed out of the house by a very irritated Dursley family, the pair headed to a more remote location that would facilitate apperation. Out of the corner of his eye, Snape caught sight of a rather shabby looking shed on the edge of Privet Drive. The shed clashed terribly with the uniformity of the other neighborhood architecture, which is perhaps what attracted the Potion Master's attention. Without alerting McGonagall, Snape walked swiftly towards the shed, whipped out his wand, and blew the double doors open. McGonagall, hearing the noise and finally taking notice of Snape's disappearance, rushed to the man's side.
"Put your wand away Severus," she ordered, glancing at the houses anxiously, "someone is bound to hear you and then we will have to deal with an inquiry from the Ministry," but Severus paid no attention to her, he heard a faint noise in the back of the shed, a noise that drew him in farther. McGonagall followed him, more than a bit skeptical of her coworker's current state of mind. "And what," she whispered severely, "do you hope to find in here?" Snape ignored her inquiry and continued to the back of the shed, moving boxes and lawn equipment as he went. Once he reached the back the sound that initially drew him there increased in audibility. After throwing once last object out of his path he caught a glimpse of what looked like an impossibly large rat covered in unruly, black hair. It took him only a moment to realize that the hair did not belong to a rat, but a small boy, whose head was buried deeply in between his folded arms, which were perched atop his bended knees.
"Well Potter, you've gotten yourself into quite the little mess," Snape sneered as he glared down loathingly at the boy. Harry's head shot up instinctively at the sound of his name. As he caught sight of Snape and McGonagall, his brow furrowed in confusion; he had never seen two people dressed so strangely in all his six-years, nor was he able to figure out how they knew who and where he was, when truthfully he himself didn't know. "Up Potter," Snape ordered, his voice showing anything but the kind of compassion the boy would have benefited from. Afraid of what Snape might do if he didn't obey, Harry stood reluctantly, his shirt un-crinkling and dropping down past his knees.
"Come along Harry," McGonagall said, holding her arm out for Harry to grab. Harry obediently and unquestioningly passed Snape and grabbed McGonagall's arm, and the new trio headed back to Hogwart's.
