Chapter Two: There's No Place Like Home
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Harry rolled over onto his back blinking his eyes against the sudden light invading the common room of Gryffindor Tower. Morning already? He blindly reached for his spectacles and as he put them on, noticed the other two occupants of the room. Professor Snape stood smirking by the windows, obviously the reason that the sun was now invading his sleep and the Headmaster sat calmly with a cup of tea in his hands.
"Ugh, how did you know I was here?"
"There's not much that escapes my attention in the castle, Harry." Dumbledore twinkled.
Harry looked around the room and spotted a familiar painting. "You mean someone ratted me out." He glared. Salazar smirked back at him.
"It was for your own good, my boy. You mustn't blame him for watching out for your welfare."
Harry fumed silently.
"Well, Harry. I must say you gave us quite a scare yesterday running away from home like that and appearing in the middle of a battle in Hogsmeade."
"I didn't run away." Harry mumbled as he sat up straightening his robes.
"And I suppose that your presence here right now is a figment of our imaginations also, Potter?" Snape snapped as he crossed the room to loom over him.
"N…no." Harry stuttered, momentarily put off. "I, um, just left." He shrugged.
"Without regards to all the hard work we've taken to assure your safety!" Snape roared.
"Now, Severus." Albus admonished. "Let the boy speak."
"Look, I'm sixteen now. They don't want me there anymore than I want to be there, so I left." Harry stood up and glared right back at Snape.
"Do you have any idea of the trouble you've caused? The lives you've risked and, I might add, forfeited yesterday!" Snape spat.
"I. Didn't. Do. Anything. Wrong!" Harry yelled right back.
"Why can't you just follow the rules. Just like your father…"
"NO! Don't you even bring my father into this. You've no right."
"I have every right."
"Harry! Severus! Sit down now!" Dumbledore yelled. Once they were both seated and somewhat calmed, Harry turned toward the Headmaster. "Harry, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but your relatives are no longer among the living."
Harry sighed. "How?"
"Voldemort."
A twinge of guilt fluttered in his stomach. After a moment of thought, he rose from the chair. "Well, that's it then. I can't go back there."
"No tears? No cries of remorse or unfairness for their ill-timed deaths, Potter?" Snape sneered. Harry simply looked at him with disgust and refused to rise to the bait.
"Harry, you don't seem to understand. Your blood protected them as much as theirs protected you. Without that protection, you won't be safe this summer."
Harry snorted. As if he was ever 'safe'. He felt a moment of sadness that someone else had died, but it was hard to feel more than pity. It wasn't as if his 'family' had loved him. He was pulled from his thoughts by Dumbledore's hand on his knee.
"Harry, if Voldemort has but one of your possessions, just one, he can use that to affect a personal connection to you. It would be like handing him a key to your mind."
Harry laughed. A bitter, hysterical laugh that seem to grate on Snape's nerves. Serves him right the miserable git. "There's nothing to find, Headmaster."
"I don't understand."
"No, you wouldn't." Harry mumbled.
"Speak up, boy!"
"I said, there's nothing at the Dursleys that Voldemort could possibly use to 'affect a personal connection to me'," Harry snarled back.
"And just what makes you so sure?" Snape leaned forward, his every movement hinting at supremacy.
"Because I am." And Harry left it at that. "You'll just have to trust me." He crossed his arms over his chest imitating Snape again.
"Forgive me if I don't."
"Not likely."
"Severus, I think it would be beneficial for you to verify young Mr. Potter's claims. I want you to apparate to Number 4 Privet Drive and bring back with you anything of Harry's that he's left behind. Down to the smallest blanket that might have been his as a babe." The Headmaster rose from his seat. "Now that that's settled, Harry, I expect you downstairs to eat in half an hour. We'll discuss sleep arrangements and rules then. Dobby has been most helpful in procuring a change of robes and personal items for you. Make use of them will you?"
Dumbledore patted his head and left him alone with Snape. "Watch your step, Potter. I'll not have you underneath my feet for what's left of the holidays. I have important things to attend to. I assure you, if you can't find a good use for your time, I will."
Harry smirked at his professor. "I'll try not to cause you too much trouble, Professor."
"See that you don't." Snape glared and left.
After his teacher left, Harry pulled his trunk from his pocket. Everything that he owed or that meant anything to him was in the shrunken chest. Dudley's broken toys that he had filched and hidden in his cupboard. His invisibility cloak that allowed him to roam the castle at night and pretend that he was 'just a normal boy'. The pictures of the parents that he would never know and now, after viewing Snape's pensieve, might not want to know so well. Illusions were much easier to believe if he didn't try so hard to break them.
He put his trunk back in his pocket. "And now that I know what Voldemort needs, I don't think I'll let it out of my sight."
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"What do you make of the boy, Severus?"
Severus sat in the chair in front of Albus' desk with his fingers steepled. "I would venture a guess that he's hiding something from us. You're positive he didn't run away?"
"No, however, there are no indications that what he said wasn't the truth. I am disturbed by his lack of emotion over his relatives deaths."
"I'll look into it. No alarms? No underage magic use?"
"None, the boy is sixteen, Severus. He could be doing magic right now and we wouldn't know. He is of age."
"And yet, Voldemort penetrated the defenses and killed nearly everyone on the street. This is unsettling, Albus. I don't like it."
"Neither do I, my boy. Neither do I."
---
With the wards collapsed around Little Whinging, it was a simple matter for Severus to apparate onto Privet Drive. Casting a 'Notice Me Not' spell to keep any attention away from himself, Severus slipped into the back door of Potter's house. He sneered at the clean, uncluttered confines of the abode. Nothing but perfection for the boy and he didn't even care that the muggles were dead. He snorted and moved on determined to root out the Potter brat's possessions. He pulled out his wand and with a small incantation began searching through the cabinets. There must be something here, he growled to himself frustrated. A cup, a saucer, a favourite mug used for morning tea.
Nothing.
Severus moved on to the lounge. Pictures decorated the walls, but again none of the Potter boy. No tell tale age spots upon the walls to indicate a frame had been removed. No empty space surrounded by dust to indicate some small possession once graced its surface. No tingle of magical presence what so ever beyond the harsh, bitter aftertaste of Avada Kedavra.
Severus began to suspect that he was in the wrong dwelling. He searched the cupboard under the stairs. Nothing but the stale air of a storage bin, boxes and some strange muggle 'thing'.
He went upstairs. Room after room after room of 'muggleness'. He finally reached the locked storage cupboard at the end of the hallway. Opening the door with a softly muttered Alohamora, Severus walked into the bare room. It reeked of old Quidditch robes, unwashed bodies and something that reminded him heavily of Voldemort. Despair or perhaps resignation. The ratty bedclothes, scratched furniture and bars upon the windows led Severus to conclude that these particular muggles had kept an animal confined to the room. However, there was no evidence that Potter had ever lived here.
It was time to contact Dumbledore. He pulled a mirror from his pocket and with a muttered spell, the Headmaster's twinkling visage appeared. "Albus, humour me a moment. Where am I?"
"Number 4 Privet Drive. Have you located all of Mr. Potter's belongings?"
"Albus, there's nothing here to indicate the boy ever lived here."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"Then we must assume that Voldemort has taken everything." Dumbledore sighed. "Return to Hogwarts immediately. We must prepare."
Severus nodded and tucked the mirror back into his robe. Seconds later he was gone.
---
Harry ate his breakfast slowly even though he was famished. It had been a couple of days since he last ate properly and experience taught him that he'd be in the loo throwing everything back up if he ate too quickly, too much, or foods that were too heavy.
"Aren't you hungry, Harry?"
Harry nearly fell out of his seat at the Headmaster's appearance. "M fine. My stomach is just a little upset."
"Perfectly understandable considering the day you had yesterday. I'm afraid that we are going to have to place some restraints on your person, Harry."
"Restraints?"
Severus stalked into the Hall causing Harry to jump yet again. "Yes, Mr. Potter. Rules. Ones you cannot afford to break. If you value your life."
"Professor Snape was unable to locate your belongings, Harry. This puts us at a distinct disadvantage concerning your safety. Therefore, I must insist that you never allow yourself to be alone. While most of the professors are busy tasks I've assigned them over the summer, there should be one in residence here at the castle at all times. I've also instructed the Order to keep an eye on you as well."
"You mean that I've got sitters?" Harry was appalled.
"If you hadn't run away from home, boy, you wouldn't 'need' a sitter. Personally, I think it will do you some good to have boundaries." Severus piled eggs onto his plate as he smirked at Harry.
Harry threw his spoon on the table. "I. Didn't. Run. Away!"
Severus merely snorted softly and began eating his breakfast.
"Harry this is for your own protection," Dumbledore began before Harry interrupted him yet again.
"Well then teach me to protect myself! I'm tired of being treated as some fragile thing that needs to be coddled at every turn."
"Excellent idea. Until the new school term begins in another month, you will spend your time with your Professors expanding your knowledge of magic. It can't hurt and it will give you something to occupy your time. Now…as to your sleeping arrangements, I've instructed Dobby to prepare the spare room in the middle of the teachers' quarters. You are to remain there unless escorted by one of your Professors. Dobby will certainly retrieve anything you might need from the Library or the Kitchens if we are unavailable to you. As I understand it, you are quite close to the elf, so he should be able to provide you with companionship while we are otherwise engaged. Any questions?"
Harry was stunned. Not only was he trapped in the only place he'd dared to call home but his movements would be monitored at all times. By Dobby no less. Why did he think coming here would be good idea again? Oh right. Food. Shelter. Protection from Voldemort and a fate worse than death. Although, he still wasn't sure what that was.
"If you're finished, Mr. Potter? I have business to attend to. You can spend your morning with me in the dungeons…cleaning." Snape rose from his chair, his own breakfast barely touched.
"Great, just great." He'd traded one house elf position for another.
"What was that, Potter?"
"Nothing." Harry sulked.
"Good, then follow me. I may not be able to take points during the summer, but I can certainly make your life…uncomfortable." Harry could swear Snape looked happy at the prospect.
Harry pushed his chair back and followed his Professor. It was going to be a long day. A very long day.