Chapter 22: Snape-ified

Lily watched her son leave the hall behind Feadir anxiously. She and James had both expected that since Harry had never really had a family, he would have trouble understanding how to react. They had agreed not to push him, hoping that over time, he'd start to open up his emotions more with them.

Still, she had had to restrain herself greatly from wrapping him in a hug and never letting go when she had first seen him upon awakening.

She sighed. Time would tell.

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Harry moved through the hallway quickly, his destination being his room. He needed to check through his possessions for a few necessary items for his planned prank.

He entered his room and promptly opened his trunk, rummaging around inside its magically enlarged interior. He began pulling things from it, digging deeper, until uncovering something he had forgotten about.

"Oops," he said, as he pulled said item out of the trunk, giving it a bit of a shake.

Nothing.

He shook again.

Still nothing.

He took it in both hands, and shook it vigorously, as the thing contained within it bounced against the sides.

"Uh oh..."

He opened it slightly, reaching in, and poking the thing lightly. Nothing.

He poked harder, and was rewarded with a slight twitch, and wobble from the prone rat.

Harry gave a breath of relief, and focussed his magic, healing the rat somewhat, before closing the door to the cage, having reassured himself that Pettigrew was still alive, however barely, and would at least stay alive for a while yet.. He lifted the cage to eye level, looking the half-dead rat in the eyes.

"Can you believe I forgot all about you? It's a wonder you didn't suffocate in there," He said lightly. "Well, might as well deal with you now."

With that, Harry started back towards the hall, his arm swinging, the rat bouncing against the walls of the cage in time with Harry's steps.

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He entered the hall quietly, the cage hidden behind his back, as he approached the table where his parents and god-father sat.

"Hi," he said, grinning widely, in anticipated glee.

His father rose an eyebrow at his rather obvious happiness.

"Umm...hi?" James replied, looking confused.

"Guess what?" Harry asked.

"What?" Lily asked, confused, while Sirius looked on. Remus, sitting next to him, watched the conversation for a moment, before understanding dawned in his eyes and he grinned.

"Well, I know how much you just love animals...so I got you a pet," with that, he pulled the cage from behind his back, and plopped it down onto the tabletop.

The hall echoed in silence, as his parents and godfather stared wide-eyed at the cage, and the rat contained within.

James felt his breathing stop as he beheld the traitor that had stolen away his chance to raise his son. He rose slowly to his feet after a moment, his face a mix of emotions. One part of him wanted nothing more than to take out a dagger and end the rodent's miserable existence. The other part of him however, knew that he couldn't. He couldn't kill him. Not in cold blood. It was one thing to slay in battle. It was entirely another thing to do so when not.

Sirius however felt no such restriction. Rising to his feet, he made a lunge for James's dagger, ripping it from its sheath, and advanced on the caged rat, his eyes burning with vengeance and rage.

A hand shot out, gripping him by the wrist, and Sirius looked up, into his godson's deep green, and suddenly very sombre eyes, and he paused.

"Sirius," Harry began, in scarcely more than a whisper. "I stopped you from killing him once, and look what happened. I won't stop you again, if it is what you truly desire. But are you absolutely sure it is what you desire? Once the blood is on your hand's, it never comes off."

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment, emotions flashing across his face. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathing deeply, before nodding silently, and dropping the dagger to the table.

"What are you going to do to him?" Sirius asked after a moment.

"We cannot kill him. But we cannot set him free. He'll stay here," Harry said. "Under the watchful eye of the Sentinels, where he can bring harm to nothing. I know its not what you may wish Sirius, but something tells me he may yet have some uses."

James nodded in satisfaction, as he signalled to one of the nearby guards.

"Take this," he said, handing the elf the cage. "To Lord Elrain. Tell him this rodent is now officially a charge of the Sentinels."

The guard gave a curt nod of his head, before turning and walking silently out of the hall, on his way to deliver the rat into the custody of the Ranger Lord.

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Harry walked aimlessly along the winding street that afternoon, mind wandering, lost in thought. A part of him had badly wanted to take his revenge upon Wormtail. It scared him how badly.

He suddenly paused in his walk, recognizing where his wandering steps had taken him. He grinned, mind turning back towards the prank against his father, and quickly took the steps leading up the door of the building in front of him.

"Hello," he called in Elvish, sticking his head in through the door, looking around the dim, plant filled interior. The smell of soil and life was rich in the air. "Anybody here?"

"Emrys?" A voice called from an adjacent room, as a tall, female elf entered the room, dusting off her hands. She approached him, stopping a few feet in front of him, looking him up and down.

"Hmmph. Well I must say its about time you actually paid me a visit...I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me," she said, glaring at him.

"Well, uh-you see," Harry stuttered, looking uncomfortable.

Suddenly she grinned, and pulled him into a hug.

"Oh don't be silly dear, I'm just fooling. Feadir's told me all about what's been happening, I'm not surprised you've been busy," she said, releasing him from the hug. "You look well."

"Thanks. So do you," Harry said.

"So let me guess why you're here. Hmm...from what Evelyn told me-"

"She told you?" Harry interrupted, looking wide-eyed.

"Of course she did! She knows better than to keep such interesting pieces of information from her mother! Anyway, I'm guessing that you're here because my dear husband wants you to do some silly prank on your father in order for him to grant Evelyn permission to go," she said wisely.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked, looking somewhat dazed.

"Feadir was looking far to happy at lunch this afternoon, and kept getting a very...disturbing little grin on his face. That and I know he never forgot about something your father did to him ages ago, and has spent several hours a day the past few days trying to convince Allia to pull some prank on him. His sudden happiness, combined with what Evelyn told me, it wasn't hard to figure out he's getting you to do it for him," she said, shrugging.

Harry shook his head, smiling faintly.

"Sometimes Aya, you just seem so bloody smart its creepy," he said, smiling at his aunt.

"Yes, well. So what did you need?" She asked, cutting straight to the point with a wry grin.

Harry eyed the room carefully, acting as though nervous about spies, before leaning in to whisper into her ear.

Aya's eye's widened, and she took a step back.

"I can understand the first two, good for causing illusions, but why on earth do you need a phial of Silverleaf oil?" she asked suspiciously.

Harry's eyes twinkled.

"Wait and see dear aunt...wait and see."

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Harry smiled innocently as he moved to sit between Ginny and his mother that evening at supper. He was a few minutes late, but no one seemed to notice, other then the two seated next to him.

"Harry...why are you late?" Ginny asked in a whisper.

"No reason, don't worry about it," was all he replied, grinning down at his plate, as he began to fill it with the food that magically appeared on the table.

Ginny accepted his answer, before looking in confusion at the food spread before them.

"Why are there mint humbugs on the table?" She asked confused, looking around the table to see several bowls of them spread out at even intervals.

"No real reason. Seemed like a good idea at the time I suppose," Harry replied, giving a quick look to Dumbledore who sat across the table from them, and flashing a quick smirk. "Don't eat them though."

"Hmph," Lily said, looking at them with slight disgust in her face. "I don't know why either. None of the elves I know like them anyway...other then your father of course. Don't know what he sees in them...honestly..."

Harry smirked, his grin widening.

Ginny quickly looked from the bowl before them to Harry and back again, her mind quickly making the connection.

"Harry...where were you before?"

"Who, me?" He asked, not looking at her, as he looked up the table to where his father was helping himself to several of the mint humbugs. "Just had to make a quick trip to the kitchen..." he said, before making eye contact with Feadir, and giving an almost unnoticeable nod of his head.

Feadir practically bounced in his seat in excitement, eyeing his brother in anticipation.

Harry discretely lifted his hand, and with a slight wave, activated the magic held within the humbugs that he had prepared especially for his father.

Sirius looked up from his plate, opening his mouth to speak to his friend, and stopped in horrified shock, mouth open, revealing the half-chewed food within. His mouth flapped for a bit, eyes widening, before he tried to stand up and back away quickly. Unfortunately, he tripped over his chair, and fell backwards to the floor with a thud, eyes still locked on James.

Remus looked over when he heard Sirius's commotion, and was too stunned to move as he stared in mixed horror and shock at James.

Lily looked beside her and was just stunned, eyes wide in shock.

Feadir was gleeful, his eyes alight with happiness, bouncing in his seat, laughing.

Ginny had been watching when Harry had lifted his hand, she had felt his magic reach out and touch something.

She had seen as James's face seemed to..adjust itself. His nose became longer, and somewhat crooked, lips thinner, skin paler.

She watched as he slowly changed from himself...to Snape.

"What?" James asked, looking around in confusion, seeing the varying reactions. "What?" He asked again when no one answered.

Sirius pointed at him, and stuttered; "S-s-s-s-nape!"

Looking confused, James conjured a mirror on the table, and looked into it.

And froze in horror.

"Wha-ahh!" He cried in horror. He lifted a hand tentatively to his hair, and felt it. It was oily and greasy. "My hair! Noo!" He whispered in a voice of utter horror and agony, before his eyes rolled up into his head and he fainted to the floor.

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That evening, the last before the groups departure from Falandais, Harry and Ginny sat on a chair before a roaring fire within their chamber, simply sitting and enjoying each other's company.

Feadir had readily agreed to sending Evelyn to Hogwarts. He had claimed the look on his brother's face had more then made up for anything he had ever suffered, and was well worth it.

Harry smiled faintly at the memory of his father's annoyance when he had woken from his faint.

Ginny smiled as well a she saw the trace of the smile on his face, and sighed contentedly, snuggling herself closer, her head resting on his shoulder.

"It's been a very eventful few days hasn't it Emrys?" She asked, using his elven name. It just felt...appropriate to her for some reason.

"That it has," he agreed, as he noticed Apollo come flying in through an open window. It had been several days since he had seen the phoenix. The phoenix glided silently to the mantle over the fireplace, where he began to croon, singing softly, but with an unusual...power behind his song. "And it's about to get more eventful,"

"Hmm?" Ginny mumbled, looking over at Apollo.

"Not him Beloved," said Harry, and her heart swelled at his word. "There," he said, indicated the fireplace.

Looking closely, she saw something sitting within the flames. Something that was slowly glowing brighter and bolder shades of silver and blue.

Apollo's song grew in volume as the egg began to rock, rolling from the fireplace as if intentionally, and stopping mere feet from their chair.

Looking at Harry, and seeing him nod encouragement, Ginny rose from the chair, and knelt before the egg, her hand nervously reaching out towards the egg.

Apollo's song flared higher in volume as her hand touched the surprisingly warm, but not hot, shell of the egg, just as a large crack spread across the egg.

Apollo's voice crescendoed upwards further as the egg split open suddenly, revealing the pale blue bird within.

"I am reborn." The phoenix's voice said, and Ginny was surprised for a moment that she could understand it, before remembering she was now an elf. "It has been...a long time."

Harry's eyes widened as he heard the words. Apollo had said much the same thing when he had hatched...

"That it has Aerys." Apollo said, stopping his singing. "It is good to see you again. I have been waiting for far too long."

The new born phoenix nodded its small head at Apollo briefly, before looking Harry in the eye for several long moments, before turning her attention to Ginny.

"My mistress," The phoenix said, bowing her feathered head low.

Ginny stared in astonishment, tears threatening her eyes as she looked at the beautiful bird who was now her familiar, and her friend.

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The group rode out of Falandais that morning, making there way up the trail towards the edges of the enchantment that hid the elven forest from others.

As they reached the ridge that overlooked the city, Harry once more paused.

He didn't know why...but he had a strange feeling he wouldn't be seeing Falandais again for quite some time.

He looked down over the city, taking in all the green and beauty...

And suddenly his vision flashed, flaring white briefly, then returning but drained of colour.

He looked down on a Falandais unlike the one he had seen moments ago. Flames licked the tops of the great trees, their leaves burnt and branches dead. The buildings billowed a black smoke that clogged the air, smothering and dark.

And on the ground, an unknown shadow, an inky black darkness, spread out across the once green and lush ground, and all that it touched turned to darkness and death.

His vision flared again, returning to normal.

"Emrys?" Ginny called back, looking at him oddly.

He shook his head, trying to clear it, and looked down into the valley again, but it seemed still full of life as it always had.

Shaking his head in confusion, Harry turned Rathi, and rode off after the others.