Chapter 2 - The visitor

"Ding-dong!" ringed the doorbell at Privet Drive number four.

"Who's there?" wondered Petunia Dursley while holding a feather duster. "I hope this is important because it's interrupting my cleaning!" she thought.

She peered through the front door's peephole: there was a man in an entirely dark suit outside.

Men in suits were surely intimidating: they usually meant business, in a good or a bad way. Maybe it was one of Vernon's commercial partners; maybe he was just a regular salesman; she hoped he wasn't some kind of preacher, especially those ones who ask for money after a long discourse.

She opened the door and was just about to politely query "Good afternoon, sir. I'm Mrs. Dursley, how may I help you?".

But, before she could say anything her eyes observed the man's face from a short distance, and after that she was in a complete loss of words while staring at him with a perplexed expression.

His clothes were dapper and fitted him well, his hair had a decent and short haircut, his shoes were shiny and he carried a black leather suitcase. But under all that tame he still had those remarkable features, those ominous black eyes, and that oversized hooked nose, so it was impossible to not recognize him.

He couldn't help but sneer at seeing her reaction.

"Hello, Tuney, long time no see!" said Snape.

"Do you mean that during my absence you sent Severus to the Dursley's to try convincing them to let Harry Potter come to Hogwarts?" inquired Dumbledore.

"Exactly!" answered McGonagall.

"Why did you think it's a good idea, Minerva? Snape was not very fond of James Potter, as you may remember. He was always trying to get James expelled, why do you think he's a good option to bring Potter's son to the school?"

"I can list some reasons why I think he's an excellent choice: first, He's a half-blood, and as someone who has been raised between the Muggle and the Wizarding world he's able to transit between those two societies with ease and discretion. Second, he and Potter's aunt are old acquaintances, since she and her sister were his neighbors for a long time, I'm sure of that because I still have the Evans' and the Snapes' old addresses registered here; since they already know each other, Snape probably already has an idea of how her reasoning works, and will know how to deal with it better than someone who's not familiar with her. Third, Snape isn't a social butterfly, but it doesn't mean he's socially inept; he doesn't like being around people, but he knows how to deal with them, he knows how to build an argument and he can be pretty convincing when he wants to."

"Makes sense." said Dumbledore, smiling. "I just hope he doesn't find a way to make Harry expelled even before he get into the school! Or worse: convince the boy to ask the Hat to sort him into Slytherin!"

"That thought crossed my mind too." said Minerva, chuckling "So I made him promise me he would be completely impartial if he ever needed to talk about the Hogwarts' Houses to Mr. Potter."

"Was it an unbreakable vow?" questioned Dumbledore, joking.

"No, his word was enough." answered Minerva.

"Yes, his word is enough." said Dumbledore, more to himself than to McGonagall. "Let's just hope his concept of impartiality isn't different from yours and mine." he jested.

"There's also a fourth reason." spoke McGonagall, seriously. "Due to his family history, I think Severus could have an above-average sensibility for spotting a child abuse case."

Severus and Petunia were before each other. She was so baffled and scared she needed a couple minutes before she could bring herself to say something.

"Lily!" she whispered her sister's name like it was an enchantment able to protect her from him. "Lily said you were hanging out with bad people, she said you were going to be a criminal. You're a criminal! You're well-dressed, so you must have ties to the Mafia! I'm calling the police!" she said that as she was shivering like a puppy in the rain.

Snape sniggered while he shooked his head slowly.

"I worked hard, really. I made an honest effort to look like someone you would let into your house. But the most I could do was to make you mistake me for a classy Gangster. Well, I'm disappointed." he said, sardonically.

Petunia remained silent with her eyes wide open and her feet pointed to her house's interior, clearly demonstrating she was feeling an urge to run into it and hide.

"Your sister said that many years ago. I actually did some mistakes in the past, but I've been just a regular teacher for a decade now. Also, even if I was a criminal, I'd be a supernatural criminal, and regular cops couldn't stop me. So, anyway, you don't have much of a choice than letting me inside since I was sent here to have a friendly conversation with you."

Petunia leaned on her door's threshold, defeated.

"I need a tea, a very strong tea." she muttered, desolated.

"Listen," said Snape. "I'm not a Mafioso, but I'm going to make you an offer you can't refuse."