WARNING: This story is R for a REASON! It is NOT NC-17, as I have read much, /much/ worse that was permitted, so I have abused nothing! Rated for violence, serious angst (later on), and rape (probable). If you have a problem with it, go read something else because I didn't write it just to be safe. It's written because it's how and what I write. So buzz off. :{
(and if my mean attitude offended, I do apologize but I'm sorta protective of my work.)
Chapter 3 – HogwartsAs the Hogwarts Express pulled away from Platform 9 ¾, no one noticed that a rather small, black-haired boy wasn't aboard. In fact, he was locked in his dark, dreary little cupboard to 'ponder' his answers to Uncle Vernon's demands.
That night however, his absence was noted by two of the Hogwarts staff.
The first to notice was Hagrid. He didn't see Harry among his (admittedly large) group of first years. Of course, he couldn't be sure that he had just missed the boy, so he said nothing.
Professor Severus Snape however, noticed quite distinctly that 'his' Harry was not with the first years as they walked into the Great Hall. He quickly turned to Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts.
"Wasn't Harry accepted? He's not among the first years."
"Young Mr. Potter?"
"NO. My Harry; the one I visit with in London."
"And, pray tell Severus, what is 'your' Harry's last name?"
"It's – why, I don't know. Never asked."
"Hmm." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in that annoying habit of his. "Well, ask Hagrid if Harry Potter is here. You may then go and retrieve 'your' Harry while Hagrid comes to me. We always have room for more students, and it is possible he was missed in the magical detection sweep."
"Thank you Headmaster," Snape said; not sounding as though he meant it at all. Dumbledore just shook his head ruefully as he watched Severus leave. //Severus seems to truly care for this mysterious child. I wonder how they met, and when. I thought Severus hated children.// But his mental chuckles disappeared when Professor McGonagall called out:
"Potter, Harry!"
………no one came.
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Snape could never understand why there were so many Anti-Apparition wards about Harry's home. Perhaps a paranoid Auror lived nearby. It seemed the only probable excuse as Harry was not known in the wizarding world, and therefore had no use for such things, but it was a puzzle, and still very annoying to forever rely on the Knight Bus.
As he stepped onto the Dursley's carefully manicured lawn, Severus heard protests from within. He quickened his step as an owl began to shriek.
"Shut that ruddy bird up or I'll do it for you!" bellowed a voice that could only belong to Harry's odious uncle.
"Don't you dare-"
"Do not speak unless you are spoken to young man!" shrieked his aunt's………memorable………voice.
Severus rang the doorbell. The house went silent. Murmurs started up again from behind the door and there was the sound of dragging and a door shut and locked. The front door opened and Mrs. Dursley peered out at him suspiciously. He glared at her and she shrank back. If it wouldn't have ruined his image, Snape would have been rolling with laughter. Instead, he fixed her with his strongest Deathglare.
"Let me in. Now." She let him in. "Where's Harry? He's suppos-" he cut short as he caught sight of a few burning quills and books that were in the fireplace but quite clearly had an fire-repel charm on them as they refused to burn.
"Who are you?" boomed Vernon Dursley; standing beside his wife. He was an exceedingly large man with a red face and no neck. His tiny beady eyes shifted nervously. "Get out of my house before I am forced to call the authorities!" Snape turned his glare upon the man and stated very clearly: "I think not. I came for Harry and I am leaving with Harry. I will be more than pleased to take more………drastic measures, should you refuse to cooperate. So, where is he?" A thump down the hall answered him, and he very carefully /stalked/ toward the noise as the two Dursleys continued to bluster.
"Harry?" Snape called. "Harry, make a noise if you can hear me." A THUMP came from his left, which appeared to be a broom cupboard. ~Now why would Harry be in a cupboard?~ Snape asked himself with narrowed eyes. He unlocked the door and opened it to find Harry gagged with his wrists tied; clutching an owl cage as he lay curled on the floor. Other than a few scraps of clothing, the room was bare, and as Snape hissed his fury, he couldn't help but wonder if this was another 'punishment' technique by Harry's relations. He quickly undid the bonds with a few flicks of his wand and helped the boy to his feet.
Harry smiled at him. "Thanks. Please tell me you're here to pick me up." Severus laughed and levitated the trunk and owl out of the house. Waiting for the bus, he looked back at the door to No. 4 in time to see Harry limping out only to be pushed from behind by his porky cousin and go sprawling on the hard concrete.
"Harry! Are you alright?" Harry stood slowly, brushed himself off, and nodded to Snape in reassurance. He'd had worse.
"Fine," he said finally, "I always am." The Knight Bus appeared before them and they quickly boarded.
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{I did /not/ want Severus to see that,} thought Harry mournfully as he gazed out at the rain beyond his window. He was embarrassed at Severus' sight of his 'family life', and was worried whether or not he would still be permitted into Hogwarts, as he had not shown up at the appointed time. Snape smiled at him reassuringly, and Harry felt a surge of warmth as he basked in his mentor's approval.
"You'll do fine. I've been your teacher, haven't I? And it wasn't your fault you entered late." Harry hastily changed /that/ subject.
"What House do you suppose I'll be in?"
"Well, you're too smart to be Hufflepuff; too into the things around you to be Ravenclaw…………hmmm, I suppose it will either be Gryffindor-" he sneered faintly "-or Slytherin. But don't worry. I won't condemn you if you are in that House. Although I do hope you enter Slytherin." They climbed out of the bus and Snape pulled out a portkey. "Grab on and brace yourself," he warned. They touched it as Snape muttered an activation and with a jerk behind the navel, Harry and his mentor vanished in a whirl of color.
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Harry's feet slammed into the ground and last night's bruises caused his immediate collapse at Snape's hemline. [A/N: they wear robes, 'member?] They were positioned before a lake; on the opposite shore Harry could see an enormous stone castle twinkling with lights. His breath caught in rapture.
"Wow." Severus looked amused.
"Yes, they never do quite capture it in the pictures, do they?" Harry shook his head numbly. "Well, get in the boat," said Snape briskly; striding toward a tiny rowboat on shore. Harry ran to catch up; forcing himself to breathe evenly through the pain.
"What about my stuff?"
"The house elves will fetch it; don't worry." After they boarded, Snape sent the little craft skimming across the water towards Hogwarts castle. They then landed at a dock beneath the building and Severus lead Harry through a maze of passageways and rooms until they came to a huge pair of double doors which Snape – entering Professor mode – flung open with a BANG! All chatter within ceased, and students turned to regard them with surprise. An old man with a silvery beard rose slowly and nodded to Snape, who was glaring at the Hall.
"Harry Potter I presume?" Dumbledore asked the small, skinny boy in overlarge muggle clothing. Before Snape could protest that the Headmaster had the wrong boy, Harry replied in the affirmative.
"Yes sir." Snape looked at him in carefully disguised shock. He had been consorting with /Harry Potter/ for six years? And /this/ was the child he was prepared to bully for being spoiled!
"Very well," sighed Dumbledore as the students broke into excited whispers, "Come up to be Sorted. Professor McGonagall, please bring the Sorting Hat back out." The woman he directed this last to nodded and fetched a battered old wizard's hat. It began to squeak in a high falsetto.
"Hey! I'm not to be bothered until next year! I don't have a new song yet!" As the professor soothed the Hat, Harry walked down with Snape and regarded the tables with a critical eye. Taking a leaf out of Severus' book, he strode up with no expression and sat upon the small stool provided. The hat dropped over his eyes.
\Hmm, so you're the bother\
{Bother?}
\Yes. Well, let's see. Courage. Excellent mind. Powerful and with a thirst to prove yourself. You need friends though, and that Slytherin does not usually supply in generous amounts. Besides, you may perhaps solve this ridiculous squabbling over which House is best. Therefore, I will place you in -\
"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the Hat. Harry stood and looked nervously at Snape as the crimson-and-gold table burst into loud cheers. However, the man was still grappling with Harry being the son of his archrival. He couldn't see the resemblance. Sure, Harry's hair was black and unruly and he wore glasses, but there was really no resemblance between the two………
Harry sighed at the look of indecision on his only friend's face and walked down to the Gryffindor table; carefully ignoring the cheers. He sat beside a bushy-haired girl with rather large front teeth and across from a round-faced boy who was seated beside identical, redheaded twins. Both twins, who were around two years older than he, grinned at him, and the one on the right extended his hand across the mountains of food that Harry was gaping at.
"Hello mate! I'm Fred, and this is my counterpart George. Our whole family's been Gryffindors for ages."
"How many are you?"
"Seven kids, but one's too young and the two oldest graduated," said George.
"D'you really-"
"-have the scar?" Harry blinked and lifted his bangs. The whole table leaned forward and he let his hair drop, blushing. The bushy-haired girl spoke up.
"I'm Hermoine Granger. You are in three books about the Dark Arts and great wizards. This is Neville Longbottom-" she nodded to the round-faced boy "-and he's lost his toad. Have you seen it?" Harry shook his head, feeling dazed.
"Three books? I've read tons and never heard of me until I got my letter!"
"Really? Well, that's odd. If I were that famous I'd have read as much as I could."
"You already read as much as you can! Didn't you say you've memorized the textbooks?" interrupted another redhead Harry's age. He nodded to him. "Ronald Weasley. Brother of these two weirdoes," he jerked his head at Fred and George. "Never eat /anything/ they've touched!" he warned. "They tend to experiment." Harry nodded.
"I'll have to make something to counteract that then," he mused. "I really don't want to be a guinea pig." Fred and George frowned at him.
"Not be a guinea pig?"
"Why, those are unfortunate sentiments!"
"Why?"
"Because we've already begun on Neville here!" they laughed in unison; Neville choked on his soup and gazed at them in horror as his hair stood on end and his eyes seemed to glow. Harry had to laugh at their genius.
"Static charm mixed with eyebright? The effect is great! I'll have to try that one sometime………" he mused. A few students stared; Fred and George not the least.
"It took us /weeks/ to figure that out after we did it by accident on a garden gnome!" Fred exclaimed.
"How did you figure it out so fast?" asked his twin excitedly. Everyone was staring, and Hermione looked jealous. Harry shrank back a bit before ignoring everyone in exchange for the food. The table settled down and returned to eating. Harry looked about desperately; trying to calm his growling stomach. Hermione finally noticed.
"Why aren't you eating?"
"Am I allowed to?" asked Harry hopefully. Hermione frowned, and he feared she would say no.
"Of course you're allowed to eat! Why wouldn't you be?"
"No reason," Harry mumbled, before helping himself. He ate less than half of his plate, and leaned back; sated and content. Soon, the plates cleared, and Dumbledore stood.
"Now, before the feast I promised to tell you all what the school will be hosting this year. We have decided to begin anew the Ebony Orb Competition. For many of you, this is something you have never heard of. Those of you who do know of it, please allow your minds to wander freely as I lecture.
"This competition has not been held in over 500 years, and takes place between four schools of magic: Enteuben, from France; Sitontoon, from Australia; Glebbit, from Italy; and of course our very own Hogwarts from Great Britain. In two weeks we will test all students who want to enter. They must all be able to complete fifth year curriculum and present a project of difficult magic for each subject they are currently taking. It /must/ be considered difficult for your age group! This is to ensure your safety. On October 1st, we will announce our representative from all those who competed. The tournament will begin a week later, as all the other schools must arrive. They will be housed in the different towers of the building, so please be careful where you travel so as not to upset a dormitory, and behave." He glanced warningly at Fred and George; who looked away innocently. "Quidditch will still continue, so all teams a few players short: you better get cracking and train your new teammate! The sign-up sheet for the tournament will be posted from tomorrow to the day before the test. You may sign up at any time before then.
"Now, to bed! Hello and goodbye, I'll see you in the morning!" and he promptly ignored the lot of them. The school flowed out; talking loudly about the tournament. Harry stayed back though. He wanted to talk with Severus.
As said teacher stalked out of Great Hall, Harry stepped in front of him. A few students eyed them curiously, but the entrance hall quickly emptied under Snape's glower. After they were left alone, he bent down to Harry.
"Since you seem to be both Harry Potter /and/ a Gryffindor, I must keep a mean façade around you. Tomorrow I will give you a detention for………I don't know. When you come into my office for that detention, I'll explain everything, ok?" Snape looked at Harry with his 'mean mask' as Harry nodded. Snape sighed, ruffled Harry's hair, and strode off in the general direction of the dungeons. Harry watched him go and turned down an unknown corridor. The torches were unlit and his footsteps echoed as he tried random directions in search of the undisclosed location of the frustratingly elusive Gryffindor common room. [A/N: what a mouthful!]
Twenty minutes later Harry gave up and sat down to ponder over his dilemma. He didn't have his wand because it was in his trunk, and he was too sleepy to think a coherent spell anyway. He also had no clue as to his relative location. He sighed, and jerked his head up as a sound suddenly echoed throughout the corridor.
"Mrrow?" asked a scruffy-looking cat evilly. Harry didn't notice the evilness though and smiled – he loved animals – before stretching out his hand in a welcoming gesture.
"Here kitty kitty kitty. Here kitty," he called softly. The cat regarded him with surprise and walked over in a dignified, yet wary, way. However, she arched readily enough and purred loudly as he scratched behind her ears. Soon, she was twining around and investigating him as he laughed.
"I'm too tired to do wandless magic, pet. And too (yawn) tired to do anything. I'll sleep here. D'you have to go?" he asked wistfully. The cat considered this before curling up next to him. "Thanks," he said, smiling. Harry laid down with a hand on the cat and his head pillowed on his arm. After he fell asleep, Mrs. Norris (for it was she) carefully crept away to fetch someone to care for the boy she had so quickly grown fond of.
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Harry awoke not much later to murmurs moving toward him. finding the cat missing, he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
"This had better not be a wild-goose chase," warned a sharp, feminine voice, "And you had better have a good reason for bothering me instead of Filch. Part cat that I am, you-" she stopped as her eyes fell upon a little dark form on the floor. Harry wracked his memory for a name………ah yes – Professor McGonagall, his new Head-of-House. Uh-oh.
"Um – hello," he squeaked nervously. Would she hit him? Her face seemed angry enough.
"Mr. Potter, what are you doing out of bed?" she snapped.
"I………got a detention from Se – Professor Snape! And everyone was gone by the time he was done and I walked all over the place but didn't see anybody – oh hey! The cat's back!" exclaimed Harry, spotting Mrs. Norris by McGonagall's ankles. The teacher looked puzzled.
"Yes, this is Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat."
"She found me, the pretty little thing; isn't that right?" he cooed to the cat. McGonagall found herself strongly reminded of Hagrid and a certain three-headed dog.
"Yes………well, Mr. Potter, I cannot fault you for being lost. Now come along; I'll show you to the common room."
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After seeing Harry put to bed, McGonagall stormed down to the dungeons. She halted at a torch sconce near the classroom.
"Aquiliturn. Snape loves James Potter. Q-" the sconce twisted creakily and the wall opened. McGonagall blinked. "Well," she sighed, "It /is/ the most unlikely thing for anyone to say near Severus." She quickly reassembled her anger and stormed in.
"Severus!" she yelled, "get out here now before I hex you!"
"Really Minerva. Do you know what time it is?" smirked Snape from the door to her right. He nodded at her. "I see I need a new password."
"Focus on the subject! Do /you/ know what time it is?"
"Around one."
"My point! And guess who I found asleep and nowhere /near/ his dormitory?"
"Well, I'm assuming it isn't Filch-"
"Harry Potter! He said you gave him a detention and left him to his own devices after everyone left. He wandered around and made friends with Mrs. Norris and /went to sleep/ in the /corridor/!" She looked at Snape for a reaction, but only saw a flicker of surprise. Behind his mask though, Severus was berating himself. He should have walked the boy up………poor Harry! |Yes,| he thought angrily, |I messed up big.|
~
Aaaannnd, end chapter! Yay! Now review! I want ten more by the next chapter is loaded!
