Chapter 3

Severus Snape was livid. "Surely you must be joking, headmaster!"

"No, Severus. He must be returned."

"After all that I have told you, you still deem it appropriate to leave the boy with those despicable muggles?"

"The protections offered..."

"Mean nothing if the boy comes to us broken from abuse. Surely you realize that Potter is being raised in just the environment that helped to bring the Dark Lord to power!"

Seeing that Albus was not going to listen, Severus stalked from the headmaster's office. So be it. He could not say that he had not tried to protect the boy.

A week had passed. Severus did not know how or when the boy had been returned, although he had heard rumors that the child had at least been fed before being sent back. During that week, Severus was the surliest he had ever been. Every house but Slytherin had lost a record number of points, and even the children of his own house were in fear of igniting the potion master's temper.

Finally on Friday, Minerva had enough. Her house had lost over 200 points during the week, and she was going to stop this foolishness. McGonagall knew what the problem was, and though she knew Albus would be angry if he found out, she had decided on a solution. She strode to the dungeons to Professor Snape's office. She banged on the door several times to no avail. "Severus, I know you are in there. Open this door at once!"

Still there was no answer. The man was ignoring her. Knowing full well that Severus could hear her, she said conversationally, "Very well. I will inform my 7th year students that they may indeed redecorate the dungeons. Red and gold would look splendid down here..."

She turned as if to leave and the door to Snape's office flew open. Entering the office, she sat, ignoring Snape's glower. "Severus, it does not become you to sulk," she said.

"To what do I owe this visit?" asked Severus, continuing to glare at the unwanted intruder.

McGonagall handed him a scroll. "Take the weekend off. Sort this out and find out if your suspicions are true."

Severus' eyebrow rose as he read the scroll, "#4 Privet Drive, Little
Whinging, Surrey."

He looked at McGonagall suspiciously, "And why would you trust me to do this?"

"I agree with you, Severus. I tried to tell him when he put the boy with those muggles, but he wouldn't listen. In addition, I watched over Potter last week until he was returned to his relatives. The boy seemed too frightened and wary for my tastes. I must warn you though, Albus went to a great deal of trouble to modify the memories of the muggles. They believe the boy climbed on the roof of the school. I'm not sure what Albus gave the child, but he said Potter would think everything he had seen was a dream. He may not even remember you."

"Very well," said Severus. "I'll instruct my prefects to come to you if there are any problems. What do you plan to tell the old man?"

McGonagall's eyebrows rose at Severus' choice of words. "I see you are still quite angry with him. I'll simply say that you requested additional time to work on that potion you seemed so keen to make last week, since your weekend was interrupted. I'm sure no one will have difficulty believing that."

Severus inclined his head, accepting the arrangement. Once Minerva left, he called his prefects, informing them to watch over the students and report to McGonagall if there were any problems. Satisfied with his plans, Severus prepared to head to Surrey. He was going to do some reconnaissance, and find out what exactly was going on in the boy's house.