A/N - Hello everyone and welcome to the next chapter of my ongoing X-Men / Harry Potter crossover. This chapter is not for Snape lovers (see rant at the end of the chapter). Otherwise I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: The X-Men were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and belong to Marvel Comics. Harry Potter was created by and belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this and the only thing that's mine are the original parts of the story.
Quotes taken from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
16) MAKING AN ENTRANCE
Hogwarts had been in a bit of an uproar over the last couple of days. Ever since the naming of the Triwizard Champions everyone had been speculating on who the mysterious fourth champion was. How his or her name had gotten into the goblet had been cleared up almost immediately. During breakfast on November 1st Headmaster Dumbledore had stood up and announced to everyone what had been found out since the previous night. The school and its guests now knew about Barty Crouch Jr. and how he had added an extra name to the goblet although the exact reason why he had done this was still being kept under wraps. The headmaster knew that the truth would come out once it was revealed that Harry was the fourth champion. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out who, more than anyone else, would want to see him dead.
Crouch Jr. had been questioned under Veritaserum in addition to having his mind read by Professor Xavier and he had confessed about acting under Voldemort's orders. Dumbledore, however, was very aware that a lot of people probably wouldn't believe Crouch's testimony that Voldemort was alive. They wouldn't want to face the possibility that the worst dark lord in recent memory might not be as dead as they all hoped. Dumbledore didn't blame them but he wouldn't let that stop him from preparing for Voldemort's eventual return.
The next day was November 2nd and that evening at Hogwarts dinner had just gotten started when Neville looked up from his place at the Gryffindor table and saw two strangers enter the Great Hall.
"Who are they?" he asked Ron and Hermione who were sitting across from him.
"Who?" asked Hermione as both she and Ron turned looked toward the doors of the Great Hall and then both of them stared in surprise. They were not the only ones. More and more people saw the newcomers and as they did the chatter in the Great Hall died down until it was almost gone.
The taller of the two was a thin man dressed in robes. He was an elderly man although it was clear that he was not as old as Dumbledore. Although he was very distinguished looking it was his companion who was drawing all of the attention. He was clearly a teenager but no one could tell who he was except that he was well built and by no means short. He was dressed all in black: black boots, black jeans, black t-shirt (tucked in), black belt, and over that a black leather biker jacket. His eyes were covered by sunglasses and a black baseball cap worn backwards sat on his head. His clothes fit him very well and he looked good in them, even sexy with perhaps a hint of a danger. As he walked down the aisle between the two middle tables, his boots clicking on the floor, more than one girl followed him with her eyes and everyone wondered who he was.
"He can cast his spell on me any time he wants" Lavender murmured to Parvati who giggled appreciatively. Hermione heard her and rolled her eyes although she watched him with appreciation too. Unlike the other girls she had an idea of who he was.
When the two newcomers reached the front of the room they stood in front of Dumbledore who looked at them with his usual twinkle.
"Furnell" Dumbledore said to the older man, "I see you both made it."
"Yes" said Headmaster Pope, "we are here, although we don't have all that long."
"You can at least stay through dinner?"
"Of course, and some time beyond."
"That should be sufficient" said Dumbledore who looked at the room, "students of Hogwarts, Beauxbaton, and Durmstrang, allow me introduce our guests to you. First please welcome Furnell Pope, Headmaster of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in America." Headmaster Pope turned around and raised a hand in greeting to the room, receiving polite applause in return.
"Secondly" said Dumbledore with a big smile, "please welcome back to Hogwarts his student, the fourth Tri-Wizard Champion, Harry James Potter." A collective gasp was heard around the room from students and teachers alike. The leather clad teen simply turned around to face the room and, as if he was starring in a movie, whipped off his sunglasses to reveal his eyes. Then he reached up and pulled off his cap exposing his messy hair and his scar.
There was no doubt about it: it was Harry, but one look at him and everyone who remembered him from Hogwarts realized that this wasn't the Harry they used to know. No longer was he the short, scrawny kid they went to school with. He'd shot up several inches and it was obvious that he'd filled out quite well. He looked very good and many girls in the room (and a few boys) eyed him with definite interest.
Of course there's always someone in these situations who just can't keep his mouth shut and has to spoil things.
"POTTER!" yelled Professor Snape from his seat, "detention and 50 points from Gryffindor for inappropriate attire in this school you attention seeking brat – just like your father. He always thought he was above the rules too. You're nothing special and it's time you realized it."
"SEVERUS!" yelled McGonagall, "that's enough!" She turned to Harry but was rather surprised that Harry hadn't reacted at all. In fact most of the people who knew Harry from Hogwarts were surprised by this. His temper was well known and they'd expected him to blow up at Snape but he didn't. First he looked at the point counters over on the far wall. Then he turned and calmly faced Professor Snape. After being an X-Man for over a year he no longer had any fear of Snape and it showed in his body language.
"Professor Snape" he said in a calm, clear voice, "you can't take points from me nor can you give me a detention as I'm not a student at this school anymore. Perhaps you should look at the Gryffindor point counter? You'll see it hasn't changed a bit. If you really think I deserve a detention then you may speak to Headmaster Pope about it. I'm sure if he thinks I deserve one he'll give it to me."
"That's correct Mr. Potter and you don't" said Pope before he turned to looked at Snape, "Professor Snape, I was acquainted with your mother many years ago. She was a very nice lady and I must say she would be very disappointed in your behavior." Snape began to turn red and opened his mouth but Pope didn't let him speak.
"Your animosity towards Mr. Potter is well known to me" he said, "and for what? Just because his father bullied you in school and since you can't get revenge on him because he's been dead for 13 years you've decided to take it out on his son, a person who hadn't even been born when it all happened. When Mr. Potter first came to Hogwarts he'd never done anything to you, he'd never met you, he knew nothing about you and his father, but you couldn't let it go. You antagonized him from the very beginning and you continue to do so even now when he hasn't been a student here in over a year. You accuse Mr. Potter of being nothing special and thinking he's above the rules. If you truly want to see someone like that look in a mirror. You call him a brat – but you're the one who's acting like one today. You need to grow up. You should also see a mind healer because you need mental help very badly." Pope now turned to Dumbledore.
"Albus" he said, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to demand that when Mr. Potter is here at Hogwarts that Professor Snape not be allowed to have any contact with him – not even be in the same room with him unless that is absolutely unavoidable. It's obvious that his hatred of Mr. Potter has not abated since the latter left your school and as his behavior has made clear today he is looking for opportunities to make trouble for my student for no other reason than because he can't let go of an old, dead grudge."
"Agreed" said Professor McGonagall speaking up now, "Severus you will stay away from Mr. Potter at all times when he is here or you'll answer to me." Snape began to turn purple and he began reaching for his wand but Dumbledore caught his arm.
"That's enough" the headmaster said, "control yourself Severus. We'll discuss this later." Then he turned to Harry and Pope. "I'm sorry for this unpleasantness. You are our guests and do not deserve to be treated in such a manner. Furnell if you would care to join us at the staff table, and Harry if you would like to join your friends we can all partake of dinner. Afterwards we will introduce you to the other champions and inform you about what you need to know."
"Thank you Albus" said Pope. Harry nodded at Dumbledore. The two parted ways as Pope went up to the staff table while Harry went to the Gryffindor table and sat in between Ron and Hernmione who had moved apart to make room for him. His year mates, most of whom had not seen him since the end of second year all greeted him and he greeted them back.
"I see some things are still the same at this school" said Harry to his friends once everyone had settled down again.
"Is that really you Harry?" asked Neville, "What have you been doing to yourself?"
"Nothing" said Harry, "except taking better care of myself than I used to. Do you like it?"
"Where are your glasses?" asked Parvati.
"I wear contacts most of the time these days" said Harry.
"You look really good" said Dean who was sitting next to Neville, "never figured you for the biker look though."
"Times change and so do I" said Harry in a nonchalant manner, "I thought for once in my life I'd make an entrance." He had acquired his jacket about a month ago having decided he wanted one ever since seeing the Ramones the previous April. Now he let it slide off of his arms and after removing it put it down on the bench. He was only wearing a t-shirt underneath it so his friends had a good look at his upper build.
"You've been working out mate" said Seamus.
"For well over a year now" said Harry.
"It shows" said Dean, "I bet the girls are all over you these days." Harry shrugged but before he could answer Dean an unpleasant voice sounded from across the table.
"Bet you liked that Potter" Harry looked up to see that Draco Malfoy had come over to the Gryffindor table and was sneering down at him in his usual way, "always have to be the center of everything, don't you? What did you have to come back for? And dressing like a muggle too. You've really gone downhill since I last saw you."
"Have I?" asked Harry calmly, "then I guess you and I are keeping good company together. Actually I'm surprised you don't look worse." Malfoy's sneer became even more pronounced.
"What nonsense are you jabbering about?" he said.
"Well" said Harry in an innocent manner, "Ron and Hermione told me you got struck by lightning last April. That's really dangerous. People can get killed that way. Are you sure you're all right?" Malfoy turned red while many of Harry's Gryffindor year mates laughed.
"Keep your nose out of stuff that doesn't concern you" he spat.
"Well!" said Harry feigning indignance, "try to show some concern for a guy and this is the thanks you get. Say Malfoy, why are you alone? Where are Crabbe and Goyle?"
"Don't you remember?" asked Hermione, "didn't Ron or I write you about that back in September? They don't spend much time with Malfoy anymore, not since he got held back a year and they didn't."
"Oh yes" said Harry, "I remember now. Wow Malfoy, that's gotta hurt. I thought they were supposed to be the stupid ones."
"They're not that stupid" said Hermione, "at least they didn't challenge Magneto, or try to ambush one of the X-Men who then proceeded to beat them in three straight duels." Malfoy's expression turned thunderous.
"No one asked you for your opinion you filthy little mudblood!" he said and everyone at the table gasped in shock with some of them opening their mouths to yell at Malfoy but Harry got there first.
"Take that back Malfoy," he said in an intensely quiet voice which was clearly heard all the same, "and apologize."
"Or what?" said Malfoy with a renewed sneer, "do you think you're going to make me?"
Harry took a breath and began to move. At a deliberate pace he stood up and faced Malfoy over the table. It now became fully apparent how much Harry had changed. It wasn't just that he was taller, he had shot up enough since the end of second year that now, instead of being the shortest in his year as he had been when he first got to Hogwarts he was taller than most of his former classmates. He was taller than Malfoy. He was also clearly bigger than Malfoy as his now muscular frame showed. He wasn't scrawny anymore and he was completely unintimidated by Malfoy. Malfoy, however, took an involuntary step back when he finally saw what Harry really looked like now. He didn't want to show it to anyone but he was a little afraid and was starting to wonder if trying to bully Harry was such a good idea anymore.
"Don't make me come over there" Harry said in a soft voice which was all the more scary because of that, "you really won't like it if I do." Harry worked very hard at keeping a straight face as he spoke. He'd always wanted to say things like that to either Malfoy or Dudley (or other bullies in his life) and found it quite satisfying to be able to do so, especially since he could back up his words if he had to. By now they had attracted attention from everyone else in the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall was on her feet and heading toward the confrontation. Professor Snape was right behind her as was Headmaster Pope.
Malfoy pulled out his wand and fired off a hex at Harry who moved just enough to avoid it before raising his hand and making the motions for the disarming spell with his index finger.
"Expelliarmus" Harry said quietly and Malfoy's wand was ripped from his hand and flew over to Harry who caught it. Malfoy stared at him in complete shock mixed with some fear as Harry had wandlessly disarmed him. He wasn't the only one as all of the Gryffindors around him were staring at him with surprise too, the sole exceptions being Ron and Hermione. By that time the three professors had arrived at the table.
"Potter!" yelled Snape, "you stop that at once! Return Malfoy's wand immediately!"
"After he apologizes to Hermione" said Harry not looking at Snape.
"Severus return to the staff table" ordered McGonagall.
"Headmaster Pope" said Snape, "I demand that you punish Potter for attacking Malfoy."
"Why would I do that?" asked Pope, "it looked to me like young Mr. Malfoy threw the first spell. Mr. Potter never raised a wand to him. The only wand I see him holding is Mr. Malfoy's wand. Besides, I thought I asked you to leave my student alone."
"When it comes to dealing with me" said Harry, "Professor Snape thinks he has the right to treat me however he wants, regardless of what anyone else says. Isn't that right professor?" Harry turned and looked at Snape who glared at him and then tried to use a silent legilimens attack on him. Snape often passively legilimensed students. They usually couldn't detect when he did it and so never knew about it. That was how Snape had gained the reputation of being able to read minds. Unfortunately for him after more than a year under the tutelage of Professor Xavier Harry had built up a good set of mental defenses and he knew when Snape tried to break into his mind. Although he had not been able to do anything against Loki when the Asgardian had entered his mind back in September Snape, excellent legilimens though he might be, was no Loki. Harry reacted instantly and forcefully pushed Snape out before he could penetrate his shields. This took Snape completely by surprise and it showed in his face.
"That wasn't very nice Snape" said Harry who looked angry, "my mind is my own, thank you very much. Kindly stay out of it."
"Severus you didn't!" gasped McGonagall.
"He did" said Harry. By now Dumbledore had joined them.
"Severus I'm very disappointed in you" said Dumbledore, "you know it's illegal to use legilimency on a minor. Harry could have you arrested for that."
"So what?" said Snape, "the boy is obviously lying. It's not like anyone will believe him."
Now Harry was furious. Whenever a student complained about something Snape did it was a favorite tactic of the professor's to accuse that student of lying and demean him or her as much as possible. What really made Harry angry was how often Snape got away with it just because he was a professor and had power over the students. Harry had heard many stories where people who had initially complained about Snape had later withdrawn their complaints due to being intimidated or threatened with retaliation, threats which everyone knew were not bluffs.
Not this time.
"Would you care to wager on that?" asked Harry in an icy voice, "if I were to drag you into court who do you think they would believe? The most hated professor at Hogwarts today? Or the Boy-Who-Lived?"
Normally Harry hated using his fame in such a manner but Snape had made him angry enough that for once he was willing to do it. Harry stared at Snape, although he was careful not to make eye contact with him again even though the potions professor was staring back at him. There was a long, tense silence as everyone in the Great Hall held their breaths. Finally Snape looked away.
"Severus that's enough" said Dumbledore as everyone in the room gave a collective exhale, "you will meet me in my office in two hours' time. We will be discussing this incident very thoroughly. For now it would be best for you to leave the room. If you haven't finished eating call one of the house elves to bring you the rest of your dinner." Snape threw Harry one more venomous look before he nodded and left the Great Hall.
"I apologize for that Harry" said Dumbledore, "now would you please return Mr. Malfoy's wand?"
"I will" said Harry, "once he apologizes to Hermione."
"Why should I?" sneered Malfoy. Harry narrowed his eyes at Malfoy and held Malfoy's wand by its ends.
"Well now" said Harry as he slowly began to bend the wand, "wands are usually made of wood, right? And wood can break if it bends too far – "
"I'm sorry!" yelled Malfoy suddenly causing Harry to stop applying pressure to the wand.
"You're sorry – what?" asked Harry.
"I'm sorry I called your friend a filthy little mudblood" said Malfoy.
"Don't say it to me" said Harry, "say it to her and mean it." Malfoy looked mutinous so Harry began to bend the wand again. Malfoy quickly apologized to Hermione. Harry looked at Hermione and raised an eyebrow. She nodded.
"Fine" said Harry and he tossed Malfoy's wand back to him, "now run along little Malfoy and lord it over your fellow third years." Harry made a shooing gesture at Malfoy. Malfoy glared at him but didn't dare do anything with the teachers standing there. Instead he turned to go back to his table when Professor McGonagall stopped him.
"Detention Mr. Malfoy" she said, "and 25 points from Slytherin. Now go sit down." Malfoy slunk back to his table looking resentful. Dumbledore took a breath.
"I think that's enough excitement for now" he said, "we should all return to our meals."
"Wow, Harry" said Dean after the teachers had gone back to the high table and everyone was sitting down again, "I've never seen anyone handle Malfoy or Snape like that. When did you get to be so badass?" Harry just shrugged.
"It's been an interesting year" was all he said as he picked up his fork and began to eat. For the rest of the meal they only spoke about light matters. His friends at Hogwarts all wanted to know about Ilvermorny and what it was like. More than one of them also wanted to know why he'd had to leave Hogwarts in the first place but he wouldn't answer that just telling them it was a delicate matter that he wasn't at liberty to talk about. When he said that he happened to catch sight of the Weasley Twins further down the table who were giving him knowing looks. He winked at them in reply.
After dinner was over Harry and Headmaster Pope accompanied Professor Dumbledore to his office. The password this week was "Pumpkin Pasties." Almost as soon as Harry entered the office Fawkes left his stand and flew over to perch on Harry's shoulder.
"Hello Fawkes" said Harry greeting Fawkes warmly, "it's always a pleasure to see you." Fawkes trilled out a few notes in thanks before rubbing his head against Harry's upraised hand.
"It's nice that you and Fawkes get on so well" said Dumbledore, "he sat on your shoulder the last time you were in my office too, did he not?"
"He did" said Harry. Neither of them went into specifics on that visit as Harry had been Lightning at the time and he and Dumbledore (and Fawkes) were the only ones in the room who knew that. After a couple of minutes Fawkes returned to his perch after giving Harry a last trill. Right after that the other people involved with the tournament entered the room. Madame Maxime came in accompanied by Fleur Delacour, Karkaroff entered with Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory arrived with Professor Sprout at his side followed by Ludo Bagman and, to Harry's surprise, Percy Weasley. As Harry learned later from Ron Percy was currently acting as the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation since Mr. Crouch Sr. had been arrested two days earlier after the discovery of his son. Percy would stay in that position until a new head of the department could be chosen. Professor McGonagall brought up the rear.
"Thank you all for coming" said Dumbledore, "this shouldn't take very long. First we just want you all to meet Harry since he wasn't here on the 31st." Dumbledore introduced Harry to everyone that he didn't already know.
"I just want to say that I'm sorry about this" said Harry looking at the other champions and Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff.
"Do not distress yourself over this" said Madame Maxime waving away his apology, "it is not your fault that this has happened."
"It really isn't" said Cedric, "everyone knows what really happened and how your name got into the goblet. It doesn't take a genius to realize that someone is trying to harm you. Nobody blames you."
"I'm glad to hear it" said Harry. He stepped forward and shook hands with Cedric, Viktor, and Professor Karkaroff. Then he took Fleur's hand and kissed the back of it like a perfect gentleman before doing the same for Madame Maxime.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter" said Fleur.
"Thank you Ms. Delacour" said Harry, "the pleasure is all mine."
"You're growing up to be a real charmer" said Bagman to Harry now holding out his own hand for Harry to shake, "Ludo Bagman."
"How do you do" said Harry shaking Bagman's hand.
"Fine, thank you" was the reply, "now everyone else has heard the information we're going to give you. There's not all that much you need to know right now and all of it has to do with the first task which will take place on November 24th.
"The first task is designed to test your daring, so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard . . . very important. . . .
"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over.
"That's all that the champions need to know right now" finished up Bagman before looking at Percy who took that as his cue.
"Headmaster Pope" Percy said addressing the Ilvermorny headmaster, "as the headmaster of one of the competing schools you are entitled be one of the tournament judges. All of the school heads are judges along with Mr. Bagman and it normally would have been Mr. Crouch but since he's no longer available I'm not sure who will be taking his place."
"It may very well be you" said Bagman, "you were his assistant."
"If it is then I will be honored to do it" said Percy sounding just a little pompous, "do you have any questions?"
"Are there any other times we'll need to be here for tournament related things besides the tasks?" asked Harry.
"Yes" said Percy, "you'll need to be here one week before the first task, the 17th, for the Weighing of the Wands ceremony. Also there will be a Yule Ball on Christmas Day but you'll get more information about that later."
Mr. [Bagman] turned to look at Dumbledore.
"I think that's all, is it, Albus?"
"I think so," said Dumbledore, "Harry, Furnell, do either of you have any questions?" Headmaster Pope and Harry looked at each other. Harry shook his head.
"Not at this time" said Headmaster Pope, "but I'm sure we will later."
"Then we're done here" said Dumbledore with a nod, "Furnell will you and Harry be leaving now? Or will you stay a little longer?"
"If it's all right I'd like to see my friends for a bit before we leave" said Harry. Pope nodded and told Harry to meet him back here in the office in half an hour. Harry agreed, said good-bye to everyone, and left Dumbledore's office. He walked to Gryffindor tower as he'd asked Ron and Hermione to meet him outside the entrance and when he got there they were waiting for him.
"I hope I haven't kept you waiting for too long" he said greeting them both.
"No mate" said Ron, "there's still time until curfew. Do you want to come in?"
"Actually I'd rather we found a private place to talk" said Harry. They headed away from the tower entrance and soon found a deserted classroom. Harry wasted no time in telling them everything that had happened to him regarding the tournament starting with the capture of Crouch at the X-Mansion.
"That explains how they caught Crouch Jr. so quickly" said Hermione, "we wondered how they'd managed it."
"It obviously helps to have a telepath around" said Ron.
"Some of it's down to the two of you" said Harry surprising them, "your notes to Dumbledore at the beginning of the term was the first thing that told him there might be a problem with Moody. Without that Dumbledore might not have suspected him for a good deal longer."
"Hopefully that stops You-Know-Who's plan" said Ron.
"Yeah, about that" said Harry who went on to tell them that he actually didn't have to be in the tournament if he didn't want to but Professor Xavier had convinced him to do it anyway and why.
"I wanted the two of you to know" said Harry, "but please don't tell anyone else. It's X-Men business now and I consider you both to be part of it because it was your notes that initially tipped off Dumbledore. I thought you had a right to know."
"Thank you" said Hermione while Ron gave Harry an odd look.
"Merlin Harry" said Ron, "so much seems to happen to you that you don't ask for. Hermione and I thought about the possibility that you might get entered against your will. I have to say I'm glad you weren't here when your name came out of the goblet. There are a lot of people at Hogwarts who probably would have thought you cheated to get your name into the tournament. I'm ashamed to say that I might have been one of them. I've been jealous of your fame and your money in the past and, well, I could have been a real prat to you."
"Thankfully it didn't happen that way" said Harry, "so don't worry about it. Actually my biggest worry is participating in the tournament without exposing myself as Lightning although Professor Xavier said he would deal with that if it happened. Hopefully he's right." He looked at his watch.
"I have to get back to Dumbledore's office soon so Headmaster Pope and I can go back to the States" he said, "I'll see you both next time I'm here which I'm told will be on the 17th for something called the "Weighing of the Wands," whatever that is. If anything happens here please let me know."
"We will" said Hermione, "I know the teachers can't help you but nothing says that we can't."
"Yeah mate" said Ron, "I just remembered something that might be important. Before we came back to Hogwarts Charlie told me that I might see him relatively soon but he wouldn't say why. I wonder if he's coming here to help with some of the tournament." Harry looked thoughtful.
"If he is" he finally said, "it might mean they're going to use dragons in the first task. I researched the tournament too and they always use magical beasts for the first task. Thanks for letting me know Ron. That might really be important."
Shortly after that Harry said good-bye to his friends and went back to Dumbledore's office. He and Pope portkeyed back to Ilvermorny and Harry went home. As soon as he got back to Xavier's school he went to see Professor Xavier and asked him to assemble the team. Once everyone was in Xavier's office Harry told them what had happened at Hogwarts.
"Dragons!" said Jean, "why would they use monsters like that?"
"It's a tournament tradition apparently" said Harry, "although I thought it was supposed to be safer this time."
"I fail to see how facing off against a dragon would be safe" said Hank.
"This is one of those times where being Lightning would be very helpful" said Harry, "but I can't see how it would be possible without everyone finding out my identity. I'll have to use strictly magical approaches, or maybe mundane ones that have nothing to do with the X-Men."
"I'd wait until you have more information" said Professor Xavier, "we'll all help you as best we can when you do."
"I thought you couldn't help me" said Harry to Xavier, "teachers aren't allowed to help the champions."
"That only applies to the participating schools" said Xavier with a smile, "and I'm not part of any of those schools."
"Oh" said Harry as he realized the truth of the statement.
"I'm not either" said Sirius, "Remus is teaching at Hogwarts again so he can't help you but I can and I will if you want."
"Thank you" said Harry suddenly feeling better about his situation.
(To Be Continued)
A/N - (Start of rant) Some of you may think I went over the top with Snape in this chapter. Maybe I did. I've never liked him and as time goes by I like him less and less. He's not a good guy. He had good intentions when he first met Lily, he came from a bad background, and he was a bullying victim – all of this is true – but he went bad and he never really came back from that. Supposedly he loved Lily but I'm not sure of that. Real love means wanting the person you love to be happy regardless of whether they're with you or not and that certainly wasn't the case with Snape. He didn't care if Harry and James died as long as Lily lived. If he'd really loved Lily he wouldn't have bullied Harry like he did because he would have seen him as her son rather than just James' son.
Also, good people don't revenge themselves on innocent parties because their real enemies are gone but from Harry's first day at Hogwarts Snape was out to get him even though Harry had nothing to do with any of what Snape had endured from James and his friends.
I have often heard fans say that, since Snape had a bad home life growing up, if he had ever found out how bad Harry's life with the Dursleys really was he would have changed his attitude towards Harry. I'm sorry to say it but no, he wouldn't have. In canon he did find out about Harry's home life. In book 5 when he began teaching Harry occlumency J. K. Rowling mentions a whole bunch of memories that come out the first time Snape uses legilimency on Harry. One specific one she listed was when Ripper the bulldog chased Harry up a tree while the Dursleys watched and laughed. Snape even asked Harry about it afterwards. That was only the first of many times Snape used legilimency on Harry during those lessons so there is no way he didn't see more such memories of Harry's time at the Dursleys. By the last of those lessons he would have known how bad Harry's home life was – and it made absolutely no difference whatsoever to his attitude or in his behavior towards Harry!
Snape behaves horribly to almost everyone who isn't a Slytherin but his hatred of Harry seems to be on another level. Even though in this story he has what he wants, which is Harry no longer being a student at Hogwarts, he still can't let the past go. In this chapter when he sees Harry for the first time in over a year (so he thinks) he can't resist trying to cut him down again even though Harry has done nothing to deserve such ire. You may remember that in Part 1 of this story Harry only saw Snape on one occasion and that's when the X-Men came to Hogwarts to fight the Brotherhood. Snape was civil to him then, even punished Malfoy in front of him, but Harry was Lightning at the time and Snape didn't know who he really was. If he had I'm sure he would have behaved much more like he usually does towards Harry and Malfoy would probably have gotten off a lot more lightly than he did.
There's a lot more I could say on this subject but then we'd wind up with a rant that would be even longer than the above chapter and there's no need for that. Suffice it to say, Alan Rickman's marvelous performance notwithstanding, I don't think Snape was a good guy and he doesn't deserve all of the love he gets from fans who just "know" he's really a poor misunderstood angel underneath it all. (Okay, rant over).
Yeah, Harry went for the rocker / biker look, something he's been thinking of doing since he saw the Ramones in Part 1. He wanted to make a point to everyone who hasn't seen him since the end of second year that he's not the same Harry they knew. And what can I say? He's a developing teenager, and thanks to his regular exercising and his X-Men training he's developing really well!
All right everyone, as usual please take a moment to leave me some feedback. Constructive comments are always welcome but no flames or trolls please. As always stay safe and well everyone.