Harry Potter and the Forgotten Magic

I don't any character you can plainly identify.

Author: Aloysha Star

Rating: Pg-13 to potential hard R

Pairings: Snape/Harry/OMC, and some past Remus/Sirius. Everything else is still being decided.

Summery: Harry returns to Hogwarts changed and Snape notices. When Albus orders that he and the new DADA teacher teach a class in Old Magicks together he finds things better left buried in Potter's past.

Warnings: Slash, Het, Incest, mentions of sex, rape, child abuse, torture, and other darkly themed things. Abused!Draco and Harry, Idiot!Ron, and other fun staples of Snape/Harry fiction. Touches of fluff and humor.

Disclaimer: This dabbles in the practices of Wicca and Animism a bit. I myself am not a Wicca but my best friend is and I'm slightly obsessed with all of it though I have no interest in it personally. I haven't heard the call of the Goddess so I'd suck at it I'm sure. Anyway like I said it deals with Wicca, Animism, and Paganism but it's not called by any particular name but rather "Old Magick". I also don't want to offend any Wicca's, Polytheists, or those who follow one of the Animism practices by not being exact or taking it super serious. It's just a story folks.

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Prelude

Avalon Bound

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Hogwarts

1991

Severus Snape had been teaching at Hogwarts for eight very long years. He had found teaching to be at best tedious and at worst vaguely depressing. To see hundreds of kids enter Hogwarts each year only to leave as foolhardy and imbecilic as the year before was enough to make one reconsider their profession.

Not that he had much of a choice. He was bound to Hogwarts for as long as Albus Dumbledore requested him and though he'd never let the old coot know it, he didn't mind it so much. The old castle had been more of a home to him than the drafty manor he'd lived his life in had ever been. Even with the torment he'd endured the place had held a certain…feeling of home for him.

A warmth that no other place could duplicate and the only two places that came close… well his mother was long since dead and the other place was a mere myth in the eyes of many.

He may have hated teaching but Hogwarts itself he had grown accustomed to.

And teaching had proven to have its upsides, rare though they were. In the seven years he'd taught he'd finally met a student with a grasp of potions of the true art form it was and how it connected Old Magick to the newer magic.

True Magick was a dying art in the Wizarding World. Rituals and the more subtle arts were lost on even the purest of families in favor of instant results with the flick of a wand.

"Sir?" A low slightly raspy voice called from the doorway. He looked up and found the seventh year he'd called for. William Rite was eighteen and had proven to have a talent for potions by the time his second year had rolled around.

"Come in Mr. Rite."

The cinnamon haired teen walked in, dark blue eyes reflecting his confusion. It was an interesting change from the fear and hatred the rest of his students regarded him with. William didn't posses the presence of mind to be afraid of him and had no reason to hate him. He was simply curious.

He sat down at one of the desks and cocked his head off to the side, waiting.

"You're graduating top of the Ravenclaw class you know. Your marks are so far above the rest of your house there is no way it could be anyone but you. Not an easy feat."

"You're not surprised are you?"

He smirked. "I confess I half expected you'd be expelled long before you made it this far. Professor Flitwick has wanted nothing more than to have you removed from Hogwarts and your wand broken for years."

"Flitwick's an ass." William muttered then shrugged. "I suppose I'll go down in history as the first Ravenclaw with a definable sense of humor."

That seemed very probable considering how stuffy and uptight the Ravenclaw house insisted upon being. Even the Slytherins had more fun than the Ravenclaws dared to even consider. "What do you plan to do once school lets out?"

"I'm not sure really." He smiled wryly. "My mother wants me to go to University and make an effort at salvaging what's left of the good name I've tarnished. The Sorting Hat suggested I go into work at Gringotts as a Safe Charmer."

That made him chuckle. Oddly enough he imagined that William would be one of the best safe charmers since he had the uncanny ability to disarm even the most powerful of sealing charms with just a thought. Who better to charm a safe than the ultimate spell cracker?

Dumbledore had admitted he hadn't seen anything of that nature since…

Well, since he had graduated from Hogwarts, well over a decade ago.

"McGonagall said that as long as I don't end up in Azkaban she'd be satisfied."

He nodded as that sounded very much like something the dry humored Minerva would say, and then reached for a folded piece of parchment in the corner of his desk.

"I have a suggestion, should you be willing to hear it out." William nodded while taking the offered the parchment. "Every year one of the house heads is permitted to choose one student from their house for a…specialized learning course at Avalon. You've heard of it I trust?"

William's eyes were so wide the blue was nearly overtaken by black. "Of course! Avalon and Camelot are the two original schools for magick users in the world, founded by the Ladye and Merlin. Of course it's not supposed to exist anymore and even those who think it does haven't been able to find it."

"Dumbledore is a good friend of the Headmistress and she trusts that any student he sends to her is worthy of Avalon's knowledge. I was permitted to attend shortly after I came to work at Hogwarts, one of the oldest students ever admitted." If the teen had been surprised before he was in complete awe now. For once no sound left his mouth. Severus resisted the urge to laugh. "Normally there is a screening process and one student is chosen by Dumbledore himself during their fifth year. However Dumbledore has decided to forgo the process this year and send you."

"I…I don't understand."

He made a slightly dismissive gesture. "I've never participated in the selecting before. He trusts my judgment."

Minerva, Flitwick, and Sprout had voiced serious objections to having William admitted to Avalon. As his fellow House Heads they were the only ones with any knowledge of Avalon though none had ever actually attended. They thought that a student not from his house being selected on his word alone, not to mention in seventh year instead of fifth, was a foolish choice for Dumbledore to make but as usual once the headmaster had decided on something he wouldn't hear any argument.

With the parchment he now held in his hand William Rite would be able to learn things most students would never hear about, let alone dream of taking part in.

The old ways of magickal things, while mimicked to a degree, were forgotten by all except for the ones who graced the shores of Avalon and Camelot, the school run by one of Merlin's descendents. Magick, true and honest Magick, was a myth of old. Avalon was a myth in a way, treated by history books as a bit of a fairy story. Only a precious few heard the tales and believed them and even less actually managed to get there.

"You'll go by boat tonight. Your parents have been notified of the fact you never arrived on the train and that the school is most distressed. Not even they are to know of where you are going. It'd be wise to not let anyone else see you today."

"Yes sir." William said softly. His eyes were bright and Severus had to admit he was suddenly a touch uncomfortable. Never the most social person he'd become even more of a recluse since coming to Hogwarts. All of his fellow professors were much older, having taught him at one point, and were far from interested in dealing with a former student on a personal level.

He swallowed then sat back in his chair. "That's all."

William nodded and stood up. The letter was clutched in his hand. "Thank you professor." With that the teen all but ran from the room.

Severus let out a breath then glanced around the classroom. Tomorrow it would be full, once again, of foolish first years, naïve to the true potential of potions and frightened of the horrible Potions Master they'd all hear so much about.

He wasn't looking forward to it really…yet part of him was intrigued at the prospect of what this year might grace him with. Though, considering the Potter boy had been sorted into Gryffindor not an hour ago, he had a feeling this year would be even more frustrating than what he was used to.

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TBC. Review, please. Makes my little world go round