The Elvin Consequence
Chapter two
Two hours later found the two men sharing sandwiches and pumpkin juice while scanning texts for anything that may be considered useful to their cause. Severus was not one dir general chit chat while working, he preferred silence so he could achieve complete concentration and Harry honoured that.
"The pointed ears match that of two other worldly creatures." Severus said suddenly, "Pixie and Elf."
Harry stared at Severus blankly, not really sure what the older man was suggesting to him.
"However the problem with that is that you must be born a Pixie of an Elf, you cannot just become one. There was certainly no Elvin or Pixie blood on either side of your family."
"You know a lot about my family?" Harry asked curiously and with complete innocence.
"Who doesn't?" Severus replied smoothly. "What are you reading?" He suddenly asked looking over at the history tome that Harry was studying.
"It's an account of the night my parents were killed, or at least what was found there."
"Is there anything helpful?"
"Not really, but I was sort of wondering what happened in the time between the house being destroyed and Hagrid coming to get me."
"I could not tell you but it is significant, what with the explosion and especially if you were crying then someone should have noticed sooner."
"Would Dumbledore have any explanation for it?" Harry wondered out loud.
"He may appear to be all knowledgeable however he does not always have all of the answers."
"Then who would?"
"To answer the questions that you want answered I would say no one. There were no witnesses at the scene to my knowledge, not even the Dark Lord he was gone long before anyone was anywhere close to arriving on the scene."
"Even if he hung around, which I know is highly unlikely, we could hardly just walk up and ask him."
"Don't even let that notion cross your mind Harry, it isn't happening." Severus said quickly, as if he was almost scared that Harry was actually about to go off and do this.
Harry merely shrugged his shoulders and went back to reading his book. It didn't enter his mind that Severus' outburst of emotion was a sign of concern. He was far too busy worrying about what was happening to him.
After five hours of non-stop research and no results Harry had a throbbing headache and he felt a little queasy. He voiced this to Severus who agreed that they should adjourn for more comfortable surroundings and something proper to eat before continuing and Harry agreed whole heartedly.
It was strange being in the company of the older man but it was also enjoyable, it was great spending time with Ron and Hermione but their was a great deal of calm when he was in the Professor's company, a calm that he couldn't find with anyone else.
It was almost getting to the point where Harry was dreading the return of the other students as it meant that he would be able to spend as much time with the older man.
They headed down the marble staircase to, Harry assumed, the Great Hall but instead they continued down into the dungeon. Harry had never been down to Severus. Own private chambers before now and it had him a little on edge, especially knowing how private the man could be about himself.
Severus spoke the password and motioned for Harry to go through the portrait hole first. He stepped inside and in to the most un-Snape like room that was possible.
It was warm and cosy; the walls were a warm cream and around fake enchanted windows hung beautifully tailored burgundy curtains. The carpet was a rich cream colour and thick beneath Harry's trainers. He wondered what it would be like to warm on it bare food and sink his toes into the luxurious carpet.
There were two burgundy sofas that had been arranged near the fire place that had a roaring fire in the grate, filling the room with it's warmth. Harry instantly felt so completely relaxed, he began to look around the room properly, taking in more details.
Almost every inch of wall space was taken up with dark mahogany bookcases that had not an inch of space left in any of them. They were packed with ancient tomes and thick volumes. There were very few personally items, if there were any at all.
There were two other doors in the room that were closed, Harry assumed that they led to Severus bedroom and bathroom.
"Please make yourself comfortable," Severus said motioning towards the small dinning table that was fit only for two people, it was made of the same dark wood as the book shelves and fit into the room perfectly with its matching chairs.
Harry did as he was told and sat, placing the two books that he had been carrying on the floor beside him. He sat looking around the magnificent room somewhat awkwardly as Severus scanned one of the nearby bookcases.
"Severus, you have a really nice place, it's so … unexpected."
Severus chuckled, not a sound that Harry was accustomed to hearing from the older man and for that reason he was a little taken aback by it.
"This place has long since been my sanctuary, not even Albus Dumbledore can gain entry unless I specifically give permission for him to do so."
"You like your solitude, I feel as if I should apologise to you for invading your personal space."
"Do not apologise, I invited you in, you are by no means intruding on my personal space." Severus reassured the boy, "Now, allow me to summon a house elf and we can eat."
Harry nodded and continued to sit very quietly lost in his own thought.
"Not that I am complaining but you do not seem your usual self, far too quiet, what's on your mind?" Severus asked startling Harry out of his day dream state.
"I don't feel so great and I could swear that I'm getting paler." Harry said looking down at his hand that was no longer its usual bronze colour but in fact several shades lighter than normal.
"You do appear to look a little sickly, if your conditions worsen any further then I shall fire call Poppy, until then perhaps you should remain here, so that I can keep my eye on you."
Harry looked a little embarrassed about staying with Severus in his personal chambers but nodded his agreement to the plan. Gryffindor tower did tend to get extremely lonely since he was up there on his own, and he did so crave the company of the older man.
Severus summoned Dobby and ordered food which arrived a few minutes later. Harry picked at his meal politely, unable to meet Severus' eyes across the table. It was one of the most awkward things he had ever had to do.
"I think that I might get some sleep if that's okay." Harry said putting down his fork and finally looking up at the Professor.
"Maybe it is for the best." Severus said as he finished his meal and looked over at Harry's plate that had barely been touched.
Harry looked a little awkward as he asked: "Umm, where should I sleep?"
"You may take the bed, I will sleep out here on the sofa, the bedroom is the room to the left and the door to the right is the bathroom." Severus explained.
"Are you sure?" Harry asked, "I wouldn't mind the sofa."
After a few more moments of bickering Harry went into the bedroom and crawled into the king sized mahogany four poster, taking of only his shoes.
Severus had a few more texts that he had wanted to look through over the course of the evening. It was painfully clear that research was not Harry's strong suit. Severus was genuinely concerned about the boy, he couldn't understand why it was that a perfectly healthy teenage wizard would suddenly transform into what so far could be either an Elf or a Pixie.
There was no way to test exactly what kind of magical creature that Harry was becoming, not until there were more changes.
Severus sat studying all of the evidence that he had in front of him, mulling it all over, thinking about all the exact details. His hair had changed colour, his eyes were not their usual emerald green but electric green and they were no longer hidden behind those awful glasses. He had shot up to 6ft, which was only just a few inches taller than his own 6ft3 frame. Harry had told him that he body had become more defined, he had not seen this, although he would have like to if only to figure out what it was that the boy was turning into. Plus his magic was draining.
It was odd by all accounts but when was it not odd when Harry Potter was involved?
Then another symptom that Severus had completely forgotten about sprang into his mind. He flicked through a book about magical creatures to the section about Pixies. As a general rule Pixies lived in woodland and their skin was bronzed not pale. To confirm his thoughts and check that he was correct he flicked to the section about Elves.
It wall fit perfectly but instead of running to tell Harry what he had found he sat back in his chair to think. He was over ninety five percent sure that there was no Elvin blood in Harry's family. Besides there was no record of anyone having transformed into another magical creature entirely after coming of age.
Again Harry Potter was the exception to the rule. He wondered why it was always him. Severus stood up and went over to his bedroom door so that he could check on the boy. He opened the door a crack and looked inside.
Harry could not have looked less like James then right at that moment. It was almost as if he was no longer a Potter. Suddenly, completely out of the blue a thought struck him, he knew that it was impossible to transform from one magical creature to another so the problem remained how had it been done, was it possible that he had never really been a Potter to begin with?
Harry had made a very valid point in the library earlier that day. There had been a short amount of unexplained time where it had appeared nothing had happened the night that the Potter's had been killed but the possibility remained that something had happened.
Severus stood and watched as the boy slept. There was so much that was unexplained, if that wasn't Harry Potter then why did he have a connection to Voldemort, if he was an Elf then how had he faked wizard power for six years of his life. No matter what no one can fake power. It must have been a powerful charm to disguise him for the last seventeen years, unless it was supposed to fade at a certain point, which was certainly an interesting concept.
Harry stirred, turning over in his sleep but he did not wake. Something stirred inside of Severus, something that he would deny point blank later.
Severus closed the door and went to sit back down in front of the dying fire that was still emitting a fair amount of heat, making him sleepy. He began to mull over all of the thoughts in his mind trying to answer unanswerable questions.