Title: And the Walls of Safe Haven Come Crumbling Down
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None for this chapter, but Harry will at the least be attracted to male characters by the end of the fic, so if Slash offends you either clear out now or don't complain when it turns slashy. Flames will be used to keep my feet warm while I type.
Disclaimer: They all belong to me! Actually sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter Characters, because if I did OotP would *not* have turned out the way it did. The only profit I get from this is the warm feeling reviews give me. And I don't know why I'm typing this, since no one reads reviews any way.
§ ... § Is Parseltongue *.... * Is emphasis
Chapter Three
It was about one in the afternoon, when a knock at the front door disturbed Harry from his Potions homework. He was somewhat bemused when, looking down at the book, he realised he was on a potion to improve the eyesight, and he walked downstairs to open the door with the book firmly in hand. A familiar voice greeted him as he opened the door.
"Well, well, Mr Potter. Studying? This is a surprise."
Looking up, Harry saw the man who had only the night before revealed himself to be Harry's father.
"Hello, Professor." He said, closing his Potions book so that Snape could see what he'd been studying. He was rewarded with a surprised raising of an eyebrow, which was something, he supposed.
"In any case, Po-...*Harry*.... I am here about the letter you sent to the headmaster."
"Good." Harry then walked into the living room. The Dursleys hadn't moved, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were still in the corner. And Dudley, he was still standing in the centre of the room, which was fairly neat and tidy, if you overlooked the broken TV in the corner, the glass-less windows, and the funny patch over the mantelpiece where the mirror used to be.
"Dudley made everything explode." Harry explained needlessly. "I wasn't even in the house at the time."
"And why not? Thought you'd go gallivanting off enjoying yourself, regardless of the protection put in place for you?" Snape sneered .
"Actually, my aunt asked me to get some shopping for her. I also stopped to get my haircut. You see, it grew for the first time in years overnight." Harry glared at Snape.
Snape however, was ignoring him, and was busy prodding Dudley and muttering under his breath. Harry decided this meant his presence was no longer necessary, and went back to his homework.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is connected to the matter I mentioned in my letter."
"Huh...What?" Harry looked up at Professor Snape. "Could you repeat that please?"
"I *said* , this is connected to your mother somehow."
This seemed to bring Aunt Petunia back to life.
"I knew it." She screeched shrilly. "I knew she'd done something. Coming to visit when she knew she wasn't welcome. She did something freaky to my poor Duddikins."
"Hardly, Madame." Snape said in the tone of voice he usually directed at Harry and Neville. "Indeed, what Lily seems primarily to have done was to prevent the child from showing any signs of wizardry, and, had the spell lasted through his eighteenth birthday, he would have lost his magic. Which is why," he said, turning to Harry "That charm is classified as a Dark Art, even though it is, by being a charm rather than a hex, a Light spell."
"Why?... Oh, wait, if someone cast it on all the Muggleborns at Hogwarts or on the children of out-of-favour Death Eaters... If Malfoy thought there was a risk of his heir becoming a Squib...Does Voldemort know of this...spell?"
Snape nodded approvingly. "No, he does not. And of all the Death Eaters, Lucius is the only one likely have knowledge of it. The others wouldn't bother researching ancient Light spells even if they *are* forbidden, and Lucius is, as you suggested, intelligent enough not to hand the Dark Lord a weapon that could easily be turned against him. His loyalty to his family name come second to nothing, not even the Dark Lord."
Snape gave Harry a piercing look, quite different to his usual glares. "Most Gryffindors would only have thought of the threat to Muggleborns - even Granger. The other was...very Slytherin."
Harry realised this was as close to a 'Well Done' as he was going to get from Snape, for the moment at least. "The Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin." He offered. "It said I'd do well in any of the Houses, but it really wanted me in Slytherin."
"And I suppose you told it to put you in Gryffindor, "Snape said sourly. "Slytherin not good enough for you."
"It wasn't that," said Harry hurriedly. "But Malfoy had already been sorted into Slytherin, and he'd been an arse on the train, and Hagrid had already told me that Voldemort had been a Slytherin, and he was wrong about the next bit, when he said not a witch or wizard went bad that wasn't in Slytherin, but I didn't know that until third year." Harry took a deep breath and frowned. "I've often wondered about that actually. I mean, Sirius was a Gryffindor, and Hagrid thought he'd gone dark so... any way, I just sat there with the Hat on chanting 'Not Slytherin...Not Slytherin' and the Hat went 'Well if you're sure, better be Gryffindor!' I didn't *choose* Gryffindor, the Hat did. It just wasn't the Hat's first choice."
Harry stayed silent while Snape looked him over carefully. Growing increasingly uncomfortable under the assessing stare, he changed the subject. "What's going to happen with Dudley?"
"Hmmm...What? Oh...your cousin will attend Hogwarts as a first year. To that end, I will require your Potions equipment set up in the kitchen."
"Could you unlock the cupboard sir? By the way what are you making, and what does it have to do with Dudley?"
"*We*, although you will mainly be preparing ingredients, will be preparing a combination weight-loss/youthening potion that would react badly to each other and only de-age your cousin four years. Set up your equipment. We will be using several items from your kit, plus some from my stores. Line them up as I call them out if you have them, then I will go collect the ones you are missing. Elicampane roots, Asparagus roots, Asphodel, Cinnamon, Mace, Sassafras wood and bark, Wormwood, Mallows, Dittany, Birds- foot, Cat's-foot, Adders tongue, Duck's-meat, Hemlock, Beetle eyes, Dragon's blood, both real and herb, Firefly wings, Acromantula silk, and a bezoar. Start the preparations. Grind the cinnamon to a fine powder then mash the elicampane and mix together to form a paste. Then slice the Duck's- meat and finely dice the Adders tongue."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...Let it simmer for 10 hours. It would seem, Potter, that you are not *entirely* incompetent when it comes to Potions after all."
"No Professor. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle throw things in my cauldron when your back is turned. Do you think they've moved yet?" Harry asked, meaning the Dursleys. Snape turned in his chair and looked towards the living room.
"Probably not. You can call me Severus Harry. In private."
"Yes si-Severus. Does Professor Dumbledore know about your letter?"
Severus frowned. "No. I wasn't supposed to tell you. His reasons for this are as unconvincing as the ones he gives for why you have to come here each summer instead of staying at the school. On this, however, I defied him. When I turned spy for the Light I merely exchanged one Master for another." He shot a warning glance at Harry. "That is not to be shared with your little circle of confidants, Harry."
"I wouldn't dream of it. To tell the truth, my thoughts have travelled a similar path on more than one occasion, but if I were to even breath a hint of this in the direction of Ron or my godfather, they'd act as though I'd said I was a Death Eater. What house was the headmaster in?" Harry frowned. "If it wasn't Slytherin, he fooled the hat as I did."
"With you it was less intention and more pure luck, but I see your point."
"No, I don't think you do, actually." Harry scowled at the potion they were brewing. "I admit the meetings with Malfoy and Hermione couldn't be planned, but I bet Hagrid was asked to ... dissuade me...from Slytherin, maybe Mr Weasley had it suggested that Ron befriend me. Things, might have turned out quite differently I wasn't the 'Gryffindor Golden Boy'. I wouldn't have been made a seeker in first year, so I wouldn't have been able to get past the dragon during the Tri-wizard tournament, assuming I made it to fourth year, that is."
"So your days of believing the Headmaster can do no wrong are finally over, are they? It was quite sickening to watch him manipulate you with smiling, nodding your head and going along amiably." Severus sneered.
Harry grinned lopsidedly. "My opinion of our *esteemed Headmaster*," Harry sneered, "took a beating long before the time I realised you weren't such a greasy git as we made you out to be." Harry's voice turned teasing as he reached the middle of the sentence. "Which," he said seriously, "Was round about third year, if you're interested."
Severus seemed slightly taken aback, so Harry changed the subject. "Since the potion will take another nine hours and ..." He checked his watch. "Forty- five minutes, can I take a nap? After all, we've been brewing this thing for the past four and a half hours, and you'll be able counteract any problems easier without my interference."
"Go ahead, but I hope you realise that had you been brewing this alone you would of necessity stayed up the full 18 hours required for brewing this potion. I will wake you later if I require your assistance. Which is your room?"
"The one with the padlocks," Harry said offhandedly, "Good night si-Sev."
"Do not call me that if you value your life. Harry, the headmaster managed to link the wards around this place linked to the ones at Hogwarts. While they can still monitor unauthorised entry, any magic taking place within the structure will register as Hogwarts on the Ministry's sensors. I believe the headmaster thinks the use of your magic this summer will make up for not allowing you to visit the Weasleys."
"Yes sir." Harry turned and walked up the stairs, so he didn't see Severus Snape get up to make a cup of tea. If he had, he would have seen the Potions Master frowning, and muttering "Padlocks!" in a disgusted tone of voice, all the while running a fingertip over the vials attached to his belt. Stopping on a small vial full of a colourless liquid, clearly labelled '16/05/95 S.K.Snape Veritaserum'.
TBC...
Authors Note: Now you all know how Dudley going to Hogwarts, but I want good reasons for what house he'll be in, since I do not as yet have a clue where he'll end up, and I don't want to place him in Slytherin or wherever simply by default. Any ideas placed in reviews are welcomed as I do it all the time and the plotbunnies they produced don't have painful bites.
Now thanks to all my lovely reviewers, especially CrazycheeseCake who prompted my rewrite in the first place although when I told her that she reread her review then promptly apologised for flaming! N1c0l3, headncloud, Jaded Angel8 - thank you, heres your update, stonecoldfox - Yes Marc is a sweetie, but I don't think he'll show up again unless somewhere down the line he hijacks the story, sorry, lillinfields - I'm not quite sure why you think I'm going to kill Dudley ^_^' but thanks for the review. Any one I missed, I hope this pleases you lot too.
Ja ne, Honor
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: None for this chapter, but Harry will at the least be attracted to male characters by the end of the fic, so if Slash offends you either clear out now or don't complain when it turns slashy. Flames will be used to keep my feet warm while I type.
Disclaimer: They all belong to me! Actually sadly, I don't own any of the Harry Potter Characters, because if I did OotP would *not* have turned out the way it did. The only profit I get from this is the warm feeling reviews give me. And I don't know why I'm typing this, since no one reads reviews any way.
§ ... § Is Parseltongue *.... * Is emphasis
Chapter Three
It was about one in the afternoon, when a knock at the front door disturbed Harry from his Potions homework. He was somewhat bemused when, looking down at the book, he realised he was on a potion to improve the eyesight, and he walked downstairs to open the door with the book firmly in hand. A familiar voice greeted him as he opened the door.
"Well, well, Mr Potter. Studying? This is a surprise."
Looking up, Harry saw the man who had only the night before revealed himself to be Harry's father.
"Hello, Professor." He said, closing his Potions book so that Snape could see what he'd been studying. He was rewarded with a surprised raising of an eyebrow, which was something, he supposed.
"In any case, Po-...*Harry*.... I am here about the letter you sent to the headmaster."
"Good." Harry then walked into the living room. The Dursleys hadn't moved, Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were still in the corner. And Dudley, he was still standing in the centre of the room, which was fairly neat and tidy, if you overlooked the broken TV in the corner, the glass-less windows, and the funny patch over the mantelpiece where the mirror used to be.
"Dudley made everything explode." Harry explained needlessly. "I wasn't even in the house at the time."
"And why not? Thought you'd go gallivanting off enjoying yourself, regardless of the protection put in place for you?" Snape sneered .
"Actually, my aunt asked me to get some shopping for her. I also stopped to get my haircut. You see, it grew for the first time in years overnight." Harry glared at Snape.
Snape however, was ignoring him, and was busy prodding Dudley and muttering under his breath. Harry decided this meant his presence was no longer necessary, and went back to his homework.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"This is connected to the matter I mentioned in my letter."
"Huh...What?" Harry looked up at Professor Snape. "Could you repeat that please?"
"I *said* , this is connected to your mother somehow."
This seemed to bring Aunt Petunia back to life.
"I knew it." She screeched shrilly. "I knew she'd done something. Coming to visit when she knew she wasn't welcome. She did something freaky to my poor Duddikins."
"Hardly, Madame." Snape said in the tone of voice he usually directed at Harry and Neville. "Indeed, what Lily seems primarily to have done was to prevent the child from showing any signs of wizardry, and, had the spell lasted through his eighteenth birthday, he would have lost his magic. Which is why," he said, turning to Harry "That charm is classified as a Dark Art, even though it is, by being a charm rather than a hex, a Light spell."
"Why?... Oh, wait, if someone cast it on all the Muggleborns at Hogwarts or on the children of out-of-favour Death Eaters... If Malfoy thought there was a risk of his heir becoming a Squib...Does Voldemort know of this...spell?"
Snape nodded approvingly. "No, he does not. And of all the Death Eaters, Lucius is the only one likely have knowledge of it. The others wouldn't bother researching ancient Light spells even if they *are* forbidden, and Lucius is, as you suggested, intelligent enough not to hand the Dark Lord a weapon that could easily be turned against him. His loyalty to his family name come second to nothing, not even the Dark Lord."
Snape gave Harry a piercing look, quite different to his usual glares. "Most Gryffindors would only have thought of the threat to Muggleborns - even Granger. The other was...very Slytherin."
Harry realised this was as close to a 'Well Done' as he was going to get from Snape, for the moment at least. "The Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin." He offered. "It said I'd do well in any of the Houses, but it really wanted me in Slytherin."
"And I suppose you told it to put you in Gryffindor, "Snape said sourly. "Slytherin not good enough for you."
"It wasn't that," said Harry hurriedly. "But Malfoy had already been sorted into Slytherin, and he'd been an arse on the train, and Hagrid had already told me that Voldemort had been a Slytherin, and he was wrong about the next bit, when he said not a witch or wizard went bad that wasn't in Slytherin, but I didn't know that until third year." Harry took a deep breath and frowned. "I've often wondered about that actually. I mean, Sirius was a Gryffindor, and Hagrid thought he'd gone dark so... any way, I just sat there with the Hat on chanting 'Not Slytherin...Not Slytherin' and the Hat went 'Well if you're sure, better be Gryffindor!' I didn't *choose* Gryffindor, the Hat did. It just wasn't the Hat's first choice."
Harry stayed silent while Snape looked him over carefully. Growing increasingly uncomfortable under the assessing stare, he changed the subject. "What's going to happen with Dudley?"
"Hmmm...What? Oh...your cousin will attend Hogwarts as a first year. To that end, I will require your Potions equipment set up in the kitchen."
"Could you unlock the cupboard sir? By the way what are you making, and what does it have to do with Dudley?"
"*We*, although you will mainly be preparing ingredients, will be preparing a combination weight-loss/youthening potion that would react badly to each other and only de-age your cousin four years. Set up your equipment. We will be using several items from your kit, plus some from my stores. Line them up as I call them out if you have them, then I will go collect the ones you are missing. Elicampane roots, Asparagus roots, Asphodel, Cinnamon, Mace, Sassafras wood and bark, Wormwood, Mallows, Dittany, Birds- foot, Cat's-foot, Adders tongue, Duck's-meat, Hemlock, Beetle eyes, Dragon's blood, both real and herb, Firefly wings, Acromantula silk, and a bezoar. Start the preparations. Grind the cinnamon to a fine powder then mash the elicampane and mix together to form a paste. Then slice the Duck's- meat and finely dice the Adders tongue."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...Let it simmer for 10 hours. It would seem, Potter, that you are not *entirely* incompetent when it comes to Potions after all."
"No Professor. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle throw things in my cauldron when your back is turned. Do you think they've moved yet?" Harry asked, meaning the Dursleys. Snape turned in his chair and looked towards the living room.
"Probably not. You can call me Severus Harry. In private."
"Yes si-Severus. Does Professor Dumbledore know about your letter?"
Severus frowned. "No. I wasn't supposed to tell you. His reasons for this are as unconvincing as the ones he gives for why you have to come here each summer instead of staying at the school. On this, however, I defied him. When I turned spy for the Light I merely exchanged one Master for another." He shot a warning glance at Harry. "That is not to be shared with your little circle of confidants, Harry."
"I wouldn't dream of it. To tell the truth, my thoughts have travelled a similar path on more than one occasion, but if I were to even breath a hint of this in the direction of Ron or my godfather, they'd act as though I'd said I was a Death Eater. What house was the headmaster in?" Harry frowned. "If it wasn't Slytherin, he fooled the hat as I did."
"With you it was less intention and more pure luck, but I see your point."
"No, I don't think you do, actually." Harry scowled at the potion they were brewing. "I admit the meetings with Malfoy and Hermione couldn't be planned, but I bet Hagrid was asked to ... dissuade me...from Slytherin, maybe Mr Weasley had it suggested that Ron befriend me. Things, might have turned out quite differently I wasn't the 'Gryffindor Golden Boy'. I wouldn't have been made a seeker in first year, so I wouldn't have been able to get past the dragon during the Tri-wizard tournament, assuming I made it to fourth year, that is."
"So your days of believing the Headmaster can do no wrong are finally over, are they? It was quite sickening to watch him manipulate you with smiling, nodding your head and going along amiably." Severus sneered.
Harry grinned lopsidedly. "My opinion of our *esteemed Headmaster*," Harry sneered, "took a beating long before the time I realised you weren't such a greasy git as we made you out to be." Harry's voice turned teasing as he reached the middle of the sentence. "Which," he said seriously, "Was round about third year, if you're interested."
Severus seemed slightly taken aback, so Harry changed the subject. "Since the potion will take another nine hours and ..." He checked his watch. "Forty- five minutes, can I take a nap? After all, we've been brewing this thing for the past four and a half hours, and you'll be able counteract any problems easier without my interference."
"Go ahead, but I hope you realise that had you been brewing this alone you would of necessity stayed up the full 18 hours required for brewing this potion. I will wake you later if I require your assistance. Which is your room?"
"The one with the padlocks," Harry said offhandedly, "Good night si-Sev."
"Do not call me that if you value your life. Harry, the headmaster managed to link the wards around this place linked to the ones at Hogwarts. While they can still monitor unauthorised entry, any magic taking place within the structure will register as Hogwarts on the Ministry's sensors. I believe the headmaster thinks the use of your magic this summer will make up for not allowing you to visit the Weasleys."
"Yes sir." Harry turned and walked up the stairs, so he didn't see Severus Snape get up to make a cup of tea. If he had, he would have seen the Potions Master frowning, and muttering "Padlocks!" in a disgusted tone of voice, all the while running a fingertip over the vials attached to his belt. Stopping on a small vial full of a colourless liquid, clearly labelled '16/05/95 S.K.Snape Veritaserum'.
TBC...
Authors Note: Now you all know how Dudley going to Hogwarts, but I want good reasons for what house he'll be in, since I do not as yet have a clue where he'll end up, and I don't want to place him in Slytherin or wherever simply by default. Any ideas placed in reviews are welcomed as I do it all the time and the plotbunnies they produced don't have painful bites.
Now thanks to all my lovely reviewers, especially CrazycheeseCake who prompted my rewrite in the first place although when I told her that she reread her review then promptly apologised for flaming! N1c0l3, headncloud, Jaded Angel8 - thank you, heres your update, stonecoldfox - Yes Marc is a sweetie, but I don't think he'll show up again unless somewhere down the line he hijacks the story, sorry, lillinfields - I'm not quite sure why you think I'm going to kill Dudley ^_^' but thanks for the review. Any one I missed, I hope this pleases you lot too.
Ja ne, Honor