Derailed
By lethe medusa
2. This is Your Life
Any hopes Severus had held of having a restful and restorative summer away from the never-ending trials and tribulations of Hogwarts and its inhabitants were thoroughly shattered by his haphazard discovery of the eleven-year-old waif more commonly known to the rest of the world as the Boy Who Lived. As far as Severus was concerned, 'That Dratted Boy Who Can Bite Like A Demon' would have been a more appropriate title for his unappreciative houseguest.
The conflict between them had continued the morning after their impromptu meeting when Severus had entered the boy's room only to discover it seemingly devoid of the boy himself. His already foul mood plummeted further when his brief pause to curse under his breath at his misfortune allowed the child to dart out from behind the door and slip past him into the corridor.
He took vindictive pleasure in the frustration on the boy's face when the new wards held, denying him the escape he sought so desperately through a side door. His satisfaction lasted no longer than the amount of time it took for the boy to dash down the corridor and hide himself in the depths of the manor's unused rooms. Even with Nippy's help it had taken the better part of the day to corner the brat. At that point Severus had slipped one of his mother's charm bracelets on the boy's wrist - costing him yet another set of teeth-marks - and shrunk it so that even the aspiring Houdini couldn't remove it. He wondered - with clenched jaw - if that was indeed who the boy had been named after.
The charmed bracelet allowed Severus to keep track of his charge by means of a couple of spells as well as the jingling sound it made as the golden charms clinked against one another. The boy tried his best to muffle the sound in his sleeves, but his peculiar magic-reflecting trick failed to completely smother the tracing and summoning spells cast on the charms. Severus didn't really believe that the protective spells would be needed as long as the boy's spell-repellant nature held true, but he activated and tested them as best he could nevertheless. Murphy was a long-standing acquaintance, after all.
Albus returned shortly after the ruckus that ended the impromptu game of Hide and Go Seek had been settled in Severus' favour. The old wizard raised an eyebrow at the rumpled states of both professor and child, but fortunately made no comment; Severus would have been forced to kill him by means of his deadliest glare if he had. The Headmaster's suggestion to use the Floo network to transport the boy to Hogsmeade nearly earned him the same fate, anyway.
"Absolutely not," he snarled. "I am not going to be chasing this brat all over Britain - which is what will happen if the wretched child is permitted access to the network." It was simple enough to get lost by accident in the maze of fireplaces that connected wizarding Britain. It would be child's play for someone who wanted to escape as badly as Potter apparently did. "Bring Minerva and Poppy here if you have to, but I will not be the one responsible for losing the Boy Who Lived a second time."
"Very well," Albus agreed reluctantly, and called them through the fireplace. Severus kept an iron grip on the scrawny boy's shoulder as the Floo connection flared green for their arrival. The boy responded with a scowl worthy of Severus himself.
"Oh!" Minerva strode forward, her hand outstretched as though to touch the boy to confirm his existence in her mind. The child leaned away from her until he bumped into Severus. Caught between the two professors, his expression showed that he was not a particularly happy boy. Fortunately, Minerva took the scowl as the hint it was and lowered her hand before she actually touched him, merely peering down at him with eager eyes instead. Madam Pomfrey wasn't so forbearing.
"My goodness," she murmured as she poked and prodded at the child. Severus could feel the tension building in the small body, pulling the boy backwards before he could otherwise flee the overly attentive nurse's ministrations.
"Enough of that!"
"I need to examine him!"
"Perhaps," the Headmaster interjected, "we could all sit down for a nice soothing cup of tea first."
Severus would have preferred solitude and a bottle of port. Afternoon tea would be better for his stomach, however, especially since breakfast had been light and lunch non-existent. He frowned at the boy sitting stiffly on the sofa beside him as Nippy laid out refreshments for everyone; he hadn't eaten at all that day as far as Severus was aware, and was making eyes at the fruitcake had appeared on the side table.
"Do have some cake," Albus urged the child as he made himself quite at home and nabbed the second biggest slice. Yet the boy wouldn't accept the plate offered to him by the obliging Professor McGonagall; nor would he respond to Poppy's attempts.
"Here," Severus snatched the plate from placed it on the sofa between them. "Eat it or starve, boy." Collecting his own slice, he kept watch out of the corner of his eye as the boy slowly began to nibble away at the other. Minerva looked on non-plussed, while Poppy frowned and Albus pretended their behaviour was nothing unusual. Severus gave a passing thought to crumbs on the sofa before dismissing the idea: given the fastidious manner in which the boy was clearing his plate, Severus doubted that Nippy would need to clean up any crumbs from the sofa later on.
"Well," the Headmaster said at last, when Severus was finishing his third slice of cake. The boy was on his fourth - and his second cup of tea, as well. "Let us begin, shall we? Harry?"
Apparently the cake still held far more fascination than anything the elderly wizard might say.
"Boy!" Severus snapped, and was satisfied to see the child's attention shift abruptly in response. He was not quite so pleased when the boy continued to stare unblinkingly at him.
"Honestly, Severus," Minerva scolded. "He does have a name."
"He responds well enough to 'boy'," he replied witheringly, still focussed on his staring contest.
"Harry?" Albus called the boy again, with a similar lack of response. "Boy?" The green eyes finally redirected from Severus to the Headmaster. "Ah." The old man frowned behind his beard, while the witches exchanged a meaningful glance.
"What do you know of magic, child?" Albus tried again, and was met with a wall of silence.
"He knows enough to get into Diagon Alley," Severus muttered darkly. "And use the Floo connection." Albus ignored him and pressed on.
"I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he informed the boy seriously. Green eyes gazed at him as unblinkingly as they had stared at Severus. "Your parents attended this school, and a place has been reserved for you in this year's class. Severus - or Professor Snape, I should say - teaches Potions there. Professor McGonagall teaches Transfiguration, while Madam Pomfrey is our nurse." He indicated each of the witches in turn, and the child's eyes narrowed as he re-examined them briefly. "While the existence of magic has been hidden from the muggle - that is, non-magical - population for several centuries, now, the magical world is still very much a thriving part of Britain.
"Ten years ago wizarding communities of Britain were threatened by the presence of a powerful wizard known as Lord Voldemort. He attacked those who opposed him, decimating the wizarding population. Your family was the last of those attacked. Sadly, your parents died in the struggle; yet Lord Voldemort was gravely injured when he tried to hurt you, the result of your parents' sacrifice." The old man's bright blue eyes lingered upon the boy's forehead.
"You were sent to live with your mother's sister and her family. We had hoped you would have a peaceful childhood with them, away from the dangers of the magical world. Regrettably, this was not to be." He leaned forward slightly, holding the child's eyes with his own. "We had placed a watcher nearby to ensure your safety as you grew. However, we were unprepared when you and our family simply did not return to Privet Drive one day. Several days passed before we were able to discover that the Dursleys had perished in a muggle railway disaster. We searched through muggle police and hospital records for you, but were unable to find any sign that you had been on the train with them. Nor were our magical attempts to locate you any more successful - which, I believe, may have something to do with the peculiar protection Severus has informed me that you possess. I would like to examine the protective shield, if you don't mind."
The child's face was blanker than an empty blackboard. It screamed to Severus that the boy did indeed mind, but wasn't sure what he could do about it, other than -
He swore and took off after the jingling charms, leaving behind two startled witches and one bemused wizard. Of course, their spindly old legs would never allow them to catch up with the brat themselves... Severus snorted even as he uttered the summoning charm which should have drawn the boy back to him. It didn't, of course - but it did slow him down just a trifle.
The rest of the afternoon proved to Severus that the old saying 'Children should be seen but not heard' was clearly flawed. While he did not particularly care for noisy brats who shouted conversations and stampeded everywhere they went, at least then he knew where they were, what they were up to, and could sneak up on them to deliver appropriate retribution. Silence by no means assured a tractable child, and his new charge was most definitely demonstrating the point.
Albus thankfully saw reason and limited himself to the most rudimentary investigation of the boy - once Severus had corralled him back into the parlor. Madam Pomfrey, however, was far more belligerent and insisted upon attempting to conduct a thorough examination of the boy's physical condition. For the most part she failed miserably. The child simply would not tolerate her poking and prodding, and any magical tests were dubious at best, with results ranging from the spell being reflected, absorbed, nullified, or - on the odd occasion - within normal parameters.
After an exhausting two hours, Madam Pomfrey bowed to the inevitable, and ceased the torture. Her simple conclusion was that aside from the numerous scars scattered over his body, he was suffering from malnutrition - hardly a surprise - and very likely astigmatism as bad as his father's had been. This last was her primary cause for concern, as he seemed to be instinctually compensating for his poor eyesight with his magic - a dangerous activity for an experienced wizard, let alone an untrained child. Yet until there was little she could do due to the boy's defenses remaining at high alert. He didn't seem to be able to lower the barrier, even if he had been willing. Which he wasn't.
"Alright," Albus sighed as he slowly pushed himself up from his armchair. "I believe we should adjourn until we have had some time to research this phenomenon. I will arrange transportation to Hogwarts for you on the morrow, Harry." The child glared sullenly at him from his seat on the sofa. The Headmaster apparently considered this consent, and turned his eyes to the Potions master. "I apologise for the further disruption to your holidays, Severus, but it might be best if you join us at Hogwarts, at least until young Harry settles in."
With the better part of a month remaining before he would ordinarily return to Hogwarts Castle, Severus could only hope the boy would 'settle in' as swiftly as possible. He began to mentally pack his trunks even as the other three adults took the Floo back to Hogsmeade.
Loathe as he was to leaving the boy on his own for a second night, he had no wish to lose any sleep watching over the little brat. This proved to be a futile optimism as he woke shortly before dawn knowing that the wards had just been broken - and that Harry Potter was no longer in the manor.
Murphy's Law: Anything that can go wrong will, at the worst possible moment.
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