Snape looked at the envelope and wondered just what he would find. He opened the note and read the next instructions.

"Number 2

The most obvious stop for us to go, if we are going in chronological order which we are, would be to where my mother died. I considered it but decided that everyone already knows that story so there is no point in telling it. Our next stop will be to where 'freak' was born. Just hold on to the parchment and say 'freak's birth' and it will take you there. It's up to you to figure out how the memory works. Good luck.

Harry potter

The boy-who-survived"

With that snape spoke the password and off he went. He landed in the front garden of a muggle home. Snape found that he was at number 4 private drive. 'Potter's muggle relatives live here' he realized with a jolt. He opened the front gate with trepidation wondering if that would start the memory. He quickly walked up to the front door. When his feet made contact with the door step he was pulled into the memory. He saw a fat walrus man and a horse-faced woman cooing over a baby walrus while a tiny baby that looked nothing like the family looked on sadly. When he stepped closer he realized he was looking through the door into what seemed to be the living room with the young boy, who he realized must be harry, stood in the doorway. He watched as the parents praised the walrus boy for taking horribly unsteady steps. While this was going on memory harry started to walk into the room on steady feet as though he had learnt to walk years ago.

"Uncle Vernon," memory harry said quietly, "look I've gotten better at reading."

"Trying to show up my Dudley are you freak!"

"No uncle freak would never try to show up Dudley he know that Dudley is better than him."

"The freak should know then that he deserves to be punished?"

"Yes uncle of course uncle." Snape couldn't believe people would do this to their own nephew. Snape wanted nothing more than to go in there and throw the muggle, who was now beating memory harry, into the wall.

"There is nothing you can do," snape whipped around to see the five year old harry standing there, "you must remember that this is just a memory. I'm probably a little under two years old at the time. I wanted to impress the dursleys so that maybe they would love me to. This wasn't the first time something like this happened and sadly it won't be the last. It seemed it would take me a lot longer to learn that this family would never accept me but learn I did. It's partially his fault but I could never blame him." He had said all this while never taking his eyes off of memory harry who was still being beaten. Suddenly the beating stopped and memory harry was thrown into a broom cupboard.

"Before you ask my uncle force me to refer to myself as freak when being punished or discussing punishment. And I used to live in that cupboard until I got my Hogwarts letter, so in a twisted sense dursley was 'sending me to my room'.

"I don't understand why you would show me this harry."

"Don't you? Admit it professor no matter what I write in my letters to you, you will always have the belief that I am pampered so I must ask you professor am I? It's ok professor it took me a long time to see the truth about me professor."

"And what truth would that be potter."

"That harry potter isn't real, that he died that Halloween night. You see professor everyone sees who they want to see not who I am if I am anybody at all. The wizarding world saw their savior in a little boy, Ron weasley and Hermione granger saw a ticket to money and fame, the teachers see a boy who gets into trouble just like his father and a Gryffindor, the headmaster sees his pawn, voldemort sees his true greatest enemy, the dursleys see a freak, and you professor you see James potter reincarnated but that might not be true anymore is it?" harry said with no emotion in his voice.

"And you potter what do you see?"

"I see a boy that was never given a chance but professor we aren't here for me to draw conclusions but for your conclusions so go on tell me."

"I think you're right you weren't given a chance. It's hard to see such childish innocence beaten out of a child. To be able to read before you were two Merlin. You were a prodigy potter but your relatives didn't see that. I think you were right in your initial letter. Your relatives were afraid and seeing you being able to do things that weren't 'normal' sent your relatives over the proverbial edge. But I don't know who to feel sorry for more you or your cousin. You were abused and ridiculed but at least you stopped trying to help and be part of this family but on the other hand your cousin grew up thinking this was right. That it was normal to pick on another child and to call your own family 'freak'. The truth is I would wish neither life on a child for they both destroy innocence."

"Yes it took me awhile to realize that Dudley was a victim in a sense here to. After that I stopped hating him as much. I still hated him because he could've figured out that this was wrong when we went to school and saw that other kids weren't treated like this but at the same time he was basically brainwashed. You should know professor that that was the reason I chose you. Most people would see only me suffering but never see Dudley which is kind of ironic in this, and most dursley memories, but you, you are completely objective in looking at my life. I hope you can continue to do so, come let's move on." With that a note appeared at snape's feet. He opened it with slight fear wondering what could be coming next.

"Number 3

Many of these will be in and around private drive. Now we will take time to see a day in the life of the boy named 'freak'. We won't be traveling far just a couple of feet after this memory I would recommend stopping. You don't have to but this is going to give you a lot to think about seeing as you're going to see a whole new twist on the word 'house-elf' with that I will let you go. Good luck professor

Harry potter

The boy-who-survived"

'The next one is only a few feet away what does that mean potter' snape looked around the room 'what could be a few feet away that could have any meaning.' He had realized that every point that started the memory had a significant meaning. The gate which leads to the house and what should've been. The doorstep where Dumbledore probably left him. But he had no clue what; suddenly he stopped the cupboard where potter used to live. He strode over there and opened the door to find nothing. 'What the hell this should've been it' snape then turned around to leave when he was suddenly sucked into a memory. The kitchen suddenly was filled with the light of early morning. According to the clock on the wall it was 5:55 in the morning. Snape sensed someone on the stairs. When he looked over he saw a memory version of harry who seemed to be muttering something. Snape leaned closer and heard him muttering 'I'm late I'm late please don't let him know that I'm late' snape had a suspicion that he knew who memory harry was talking about. Memory harry quickly started breakfast and the coffee. Exactly an hour later memory harry set the table and not five minutes later, at 7 o clock, the dursleys came down. First petunia came down and inspected the delicious looking meal 'it'll do freak' 'thank you aunt petunia'. Next came down the walrus, who it seems had gotten even fatter, who kissed his wife and sneered at his nephew. Then petunia went upstairs and then came back down. Five minutes later stomping could be heard that sounded like the ceiling above was going to cave in and a small whale walked into the room. Without looking at anyone he sat down and served himself half the food on the table it seemed, and there was enough to feed a family of 10 for probably 3 days. While the family ate memory harry stood in the corner sometimes getting things for the family when ordered to. 'A slave' was snape's first thought then he realized that he wasn't a slave but a house-elf he then looked up when he heard the walrus, I mean uncle, speaking ,more like yelling, to his nephew about chores and not eating. Then memory harry was handed a piece of muggle parchment, paper, when he heard the distinctive 'pop' of his "guide".

"That piece of paper was a list of chores for me to do. I got one every day with the threat of no food and a beating."

"What type of chores?"

"Why don't you read it for yourself." With that the memory seemed to freeze and he summoned the paper which he quickly handed to snape. It read:

"Vacuum the whole house

Dust the whole house

Clean parlor

Mow the front yard

Trim hedges

Pull garden weeds

Go to the store and buy food for veal with potatoes and a garden salad

Clean kitchen

Clean bathrooms"

"You had to do all of that in a week?"

"No I had to do all of that in a day."

"You're wrong potter you weren't treated like a house-elf, you were treated even worse. That would explain why when you do any sort of cleaning for detention whatever you clean looks brand new. But what I don't understand is if you are so good at cooking then why are you so dismal at potions."

"That professor will be explained in-depth later but I will give you a partial answer now professor. I was never given a chance professor. So let's dissect a memory, what do you think how does this tie into the harry potter roadmap?"

"I think that you were treated worse than crap but you gained a great skill from it; adaption. I think you used this skill on all of your adventures. I also think that you weren't resentful of them back then I mean how could you be it was all you knew but as you said you knew this was wrong. But I think you kept at it anyway because you liked the power it gave you. You controlled the order of your relatives lives even though they could and did beat you for messing up weither on accident or on purpose the reprocussions on their 'perfect and normal' life could be greater. And I also think they knew this as well but figured, and hoped that you didn't. but what I don't understand is why you aren't a slytherin gryffindors aren't known for their adaption skills."

"Good job professor you seemed to piece everything together nicely so far but you still have a long way to go. And you will gain your answers in time but like I said you have a long way to go. Now lets leave the dursleys to their breakfast."

With that snape was back in the dark hallway and at his feet appeared the next note. 'you know what potter I'm going to take your advice and go to bed' he then apparated to Hogwarts where he was met by the headmaster.

"Where were you?"

"I had some matters to attend to. I'm actually going to have to leave the castle for periods of time. It'll probably go on until the end of the school year at the most."

"When will you tell me what you are doing?"

"Probably when I'm done if the person I'm doing this for says I can plus I don't even think you would believe me anyways. If you'll excuse me professor I'm going to retire for the night." With that snape went to sleep all the while wondering what he was going to find next in the mystery that is harry potter.