CHAPTER 7

As Harry's sixth birthday approached, Severus felt his son was ready for a proper tutor. It did not seem advisable to send Harry to school, as Albus Dumbledore was continually sniffing round, trying to find Prince Manor and gain an audience with Rennard Prince. Sending Harry to school outside the Prince wards every day would make the little boy vulnerable. Even though he no longer looked like the son of James and Lily Potter, Severus was taking no chances of Dumbledore meeting Harry and realising to whom he had been born. Call him paranoid but he did not want Dumbledore anywhere near his son.

Severus also wanted to requalify as a Potions Master. Rennard Prince's background story was that he had been born to older parents and had been fragile as a child, hence their tendency to wrap him in cotton wool and their consequent decision not to send him away to school. After their passing, he had rebelled somewhat against his quiet and restricted lifestyle, and had gone off to travel the world instead of settling down immediately to marriage and a profession. Harry had been the result of a liaison during his travels. The boy's mother had died in childbirth and Rennard had spent the past few years devoting himself to his son. During those years, Rennard had taught himself for his Mastery and, now that his son was ready for a tutor, he would have the time to gain this important qualification.

Severus had been in contact with a number of Europe's most distinguished 'Light' Potions Masters, people with whom he had occasionally corresponded in the past but had never actually met in person. His plan was to invite one of these Potions Masters to come and visit Prince Manor after Harry began lessons with his new tutor, an invitation which, after Severus published and patented some of his new potions in the name of Rennard Prince, he felt confident they would happily accept. Severus hoped that once they had met him in person and had tested his knowledge of and ability with potions, they would be willing to grant him Mastery status, even though his skill had supposedly been gained through independent study rather than the traditional apprenticeship route.

Severus had created many potions which he had not previously published, since Dumbledore would not have approved of this use of his time and would very likely have tried to make Severus put the patents in Hogwarts' name. While Severus did not begrudge the school, he did begrudge Albus Dumbledore the credit for his hard work, and so had kept his original potions a secret. Severus' potions journals, which detailed the development and recipes for these potions, were written in Muggle shorthand. Dumbledore may speak many languages but he was completely unfamiliar with the concept of shorthand. When Severus was growing up, a neighbour's daughter had attended secretarial college and had taught him shorthand, claiming it helped her to learn if she had a study partner. Fortunately, Tobias Snape was unaware of this, because he would not have approved since, in his chauvinistic outlook on life, shorthand was for girls. Even if Dumbledore had been able to break the wards on Severus' journals to look inside them, he would never have been able to read them, and this kept the knowledge of the potions which Severus had developed safe from the old man.

Severus put out the word to Gringotts and they soon had a number of potential tutors lined up for Severus to interview during the last week of July. Severus decided it was time to accustom Harry to being around people and he resolved to spend a couple of afternoons relaxing and sightseeing in Geneva with Harry after his interviews. During the interviews, Severus narrowed down the candidates to three possibilities and asked them all back for a second interview, wanting them to meet Harry, so he could see how they interacted with his son.

After the second round of interviews with his short-listed candidates, it was very obvious which candidate to choose. Claire Bonnay was the only woman to apply and Harry had adored her. Severus had specified male candidates to Gringotts, as he was not entirely comfortable with the idea of a single woman moving into his home, but Claire Bonnay's background and qualifications were too good to overlook. It turned out that she was the granddaughter of Marius Black, who had been disowned by his family for being a Squib. Marius' daughter had married a Frenchman and when it became obvious that Claire was magical, it was decided to send Claire to Beauxbatons, away from the rest of the unpredictable, and not entirely rational, magical Black family, for fear of how they might react to her presence at Hogwarts.

Upon completing her studies at Beauxbatons, Claire had gone to a Muggle university, where she qualified as a primary school teacher. The intelligent and caring young woman wanted to open a magical primary school, which would give the pupils both an introduction to magical education and a Muggle primary school education. Not surprisingly, there had been no interest in such an institution in Britain and so Claire had consulted Madam Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, regarding the possibility of opening such a school in France, ideally affiliated to Beauxbatons. Madam Maxime had promised to consider the idea and get back to Claire but had then heard about this job opening and had put Claire's name forward to the goblins. It was not what Claire truly wanted to do but she had come to realise that she needed more practical teaching experience before she could develop a successful school and this would be a good stepping stone towards her ultimate goal. Assuming all went well, she would spend the next few years tutoring Harry and then when he went to Beauxbatons, Hogwarts or Switzerland's highly exclusive Catius Pater School of Magic⁷, that would be the time for her to try and realise her dream. Besides, she had been unable to resist Harry when she met him.

Harry had been very nervous around the two male candidates but had gravitated towards Claire immediately. The young boy had latched onto her from the moment he met her and had been in close contact with her — sitting on her knee or holding her hand — during the entire second interview, which took place in his presence. Severus knew his son needed a mother figure, and as he himself was not interested in finding a witch to settle down with at this point in time, Harry seemed to have unconsciously selected Claire to fill that role. It was agreed that she would come to Prince Manor during the last week of August, which would give her sufficient time to settle in before she started teaching Harry on Monday, the first of September.

The first afternoon that Severus spent with Harry in Geneva, they went on a boat trip on the lake. Harry had never seen a body of water before — there was neither a pond nor a stream in Prince Manor — and was so fascinated by the lake that the day after meeting with Claire, Severus took his son to one of the lakeside beaches. Harry was instantly drawn to a little girl around his age, with bushy brown hair and chocolate-coloured eyes. Within minutes they had made friends and were happily playing together.

After watching the two children play for a several minutes, the little girl's parents approached Severus. "Hello. I'm Helen Granger and this is my husband, John," she said, holding out her hand with a smile. "And that's our daughter, Hermione."

Severus took her hand and shook it warmly. "I'm Rennard Prince and that's my son, Harry," he replied. "We live quite remotely, so Harry's not used to being around other children. I'm glad to see him playing so happily with your daughter."

"I'm not sure playing is quite the right word," said John with a wide grin. "I think it's more like Hermione's telling Harry what to do and he's doing it!"

Severus snorted in amusement. He liked this couple. They were friendly without being pushy and had been nothing but kind and welcoming to the strange little boy who had firmly plonked himself down on the sand next to their daughter. The husband at least had a deprecating sense of humour that appealed to Severus and there was an unmistakeable intelligence about both of the Grangers. Harry would be in safe hands for his first experience of mixing with others.

The three adults sat and chatted while they watched their children play in the sand. The Grangers, it turned out, were both dentists. They had spent the last two years serving on Mercy Ships' SS Anastasis⁸ but were now planning to return to Britain and settle down in one place. Hermione had lived on the ship with them but there were not many other children on-board for her to socialise with — and none as young as her — and it was time she began a more formal education. Hermione was extremely bright and home-schooling while on board ship was not challenging her enough.

John's parents had found a dental practice near to their home which was looking for new partners. John and Helen were on their way back to Britain to see if this practice might suit them but they had stopped off in Geneva on the way, since John had been offered a position at the World Health Organisation as a result of his work on Mercy Ships. John's parents lived in a small country village and the dental practice served several nearby villages. John and Helen were concerned that after their recent experiences they would find it hard to settle in the quiet countryside and that the local village school would not have the necessary resources to deal adequately with their inordinately intelligent daughter. They therefore felt that city living, with its inevitable variety of schooling options, would suit them better, and cosmopolitan Geneva, with its truly international community, strongly appealed to them. Although only John had been offered a position with the WHO, Helen was confident she would easily find work too. All three Grangers spoke fluent French and they would live and work in the French-speaking canton of Switzerland, should they decide to settle in that country.

The children had been happily playing in the sand for some time when Severus felt a tingle of magic. Not wanting to take out his wand in front of non-magicals, he nevertheless palmed his wand discreetly while he cast silent spells to help him pinpoint the source of the magic he had felt. With an internal groan, he saw Albus Dumbledore approaching him. Realising that the tingle he had felt was Dumbledore casting a Notice-Me-Not charm to prevent the other Muggles in the vicinity paying attention to the wizards, Severus added a wandless Muffliato, which would fill the ears of the people nearby with an unidentifiable buzzing sound; they would think they were hearing the buzz of conversation but that it was pitched at such a level that they could not make out individual words.

"Mr Prince?" Dumbledore called, as he neared them. "May I have a word?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Severus could see John and Helen trying not to gape. Here they were in a non-magical area and Dumbledore was in his usual brightly coloured wizarding robes and his ridiculously long beard and hair. The vain old fool probably thinks it makes him look like Merlin! Severus thought uncharitably, as he had countless times before.

"No, Mr Dumbledore, you may not," replied Severus firmly, rising from his seat and standing between Dumbledore and the rest of his party. "I do believe my representative has made that clear to you several times now. I have no interest whatsoever in speaking to you."

John and Helen sensed his unease and moved to stand between Severus and the children, adding another layer of protection for them against this crazy looking man. Severus gave them a grateful nod. Although they could not do much against a wizard, Dumbledore could hardly do anything to Harry if the Grangers were between Dumbledore and Harry, as the manipulative old codger would need a direct line of sight.

"Rennard, my boy," Albus began in his usual patronising manner, only to be cut off immediately by Severus.

"Mr Dumbledore!" he snapped. "Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe this is the first time we have ever met? I am not, nor have I ever been, your boy, and I take great exception to your offensively patronising and condescending attitude. I have not given you permission to use my first name, nor am I an ignorant child and I would appreciate it you would not treat me as such. You will address me with respect or you can leave. In fact, you can leave anyway, as I have nothing whatsoever to say to you."

Severus could tell that for all he was masking his emotions, Albus Dumbledore was fuming at being so summarily dismissed. Severus, on the other hand, was enjoying the freedom of finally being able to respond to Dumbledore in the manner in which he had always wished.

"Now, Mr Prince. Is there really a need for this hostility?" said Dumbledore through gritted teeth.

"This from the man who held my cousin in an illegal slave bond?" asked Severus, allowing his contempt for the older man to show through.

"You know, that could be construed as slander, Mr Prince," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling at having caught Rennard Prince in a misstep — or so he thought.

"Really? Tell me, Mr Dumbledore, were you not until very recently the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW? Were you not in fact the Supreme Mugwump when the ICW voted to make Unbreakable Vows illegal? And as Supreme Mugwump, were you not obliged to uphold and obey the laws of the ICW? And yet you forced Severus Snape into slavery with an illegal Unbreakable Vow. That's not slander, Mr Dumbledore. That's fact. And I have the evidence to prove it."

"And you're so sure this so-called proof is valid?" asked Dumbledore dismissively.

"Yes, Mr Dumbledore, I am. I have in my possession a memory of him taking the Unbreakable Vow, which has been certified as untampered with and which has been stored in a safe place. Besides, if you're claiming Severus was lying, then you won't mind substantiating that claim under Veritaserum, will you? As the current Head of House Prince, I have the right to defend my cousin's reputation, even after his death."

"That is what I wished to speak with you about," replied Dumbledore, as always completely ignoring what he did not want to hear. Who would insist that he, Albus Dumbledore, should be questioned under Veritaserum, after all? The idea was so preposterous that he immediately dismissed it and moved on to the reason he had tracked down the elusive Rennard Prince. "Regarding the Prince seat on the Wizengamot, I really must insist..."

Again, Severus interrupted him. "Who are you to insist?" he roared. "This is family business and you have no right or justification to interfere. Understand this, Mr Dumbledore, I will never give the proxy for the Prince seat to you! Now, if you'll excuse me, if you won't leave, then I will!"

At that moment, a boy of about nine or ten who was running up the beach, accidentally ran right through the sandcastle Harry and Hermione were building, thus spoiling it. Severus could tell it had not been intentional but rather he had not seen it due to the Notice-Me-Not charm that Dumbledore had used. The next thing Severus knew, there was another surge of magic, this one not as controlled, and the boy tripped over his feet and fell over. Looking at Harry to see if he was the source of this second burst of magic, he was surprised to see Hermione sitting there with a mutinous look on her face, glaring at the boy.

Did she do that? he wondered. Is she a witch?

Glancing at Helen and John, he saw them eyeing Hermione suspiciously. Yes, accidental magic would be another good reason to leave the ship, I would imagine, he concluded. Merlin only knows what kind of mayhem she could cause on board if she doesn't know she's doing magic or how to control it.

Dumbledore, of course, promptly whipped out his wand, ready to Obliviate the Grangers. Severus, however, had been expecting this from the moment Dumbledore had appeared. Of course, he did not know that the young Granger girl was a witch and would have a burst of accidental magic in front of Dumbledore, but he did know that there was no way Dumbledore would let a group of Muggles remember anything about this encounter. Severus, on the other hand, was not so sanguine about Obliviating people at the drop of a hat — or flick of a wand! — and with the discovery that Hermione was a witch, saw no reason to allow it.

"Expelliarmus!" he snapped, catching the wand as it flew to him. Unknown to Severus, he had just rendered the Elder wand useless to Dumbledore, much to the older wizard's despair.

"How dare you?" Severus continued. "Does your arrogance know no bounds? This is a Muggle beach and yet you come here dressed like a circus sideshow act and just assume it's your right to Obliviate people instead of your duty to try and blend in! What were you planning to do? Obliviate the entire beach? Well, let me tell you this, Albus Dumbledore: first of all, you have no authority to act in Switzerland; secondly, in this country we don't randomly mess with people's minds just because we can. In fact, as soon as a child has their first bout of accidental magic, they are informed of magic and are given guidance and help, so the child can control him or herself, and so the child is prepared for their entry into the wizarding world at age eleven. Unlike in Britain, where it's deemed preferable to let the parents and child struggle alone, and wonder if there's something seriously wrong with the child; where it's deemed appropriate to wipe people's minds and risk causing permanent brain damage, instead of teaching control so that accidental magic is minimised. I will not allow you to do that, Dumbledore. As of now, the Grangers are under the protection of the House of Prince and should you try to cause them harm, the House of Prince will declare a blood feud against the House of Dumbledore. Merlin knows, I have sufficient justification."

"But unless I'm mistaken, this family is British," protested Dumbledore, self-righteously.

"But unless I'm mistaken," Severus mocked him. "British or not, we're not actually in Britain right now."

Hermione's ire was abruptly transferred to Dumbledore. Harry was equally upset. Although neither child understood what was actually happening, one thing both children did understand was that this disturbingly peculiar old man with the long beard and garish clothes was a threat to them. They each unconsciously reached out and grasped the other's hand tightly. A wild surge of magic lashed out again, this time from both children, and enhanced by their close contact. Dumbledore found himself lying face down in the sand, with a mound of sand on top of him, anchoring him in place. Severus was quick to apply a Body Bind charm to the old meddler, before making sure that the Notice-Me-Not charm was at full force.

Of course, so much magic could not go by unnoticed and with silent pops, a team from the Swiss Ministry of Magic appeared. "It's all right," Severus called. "I'm Rennard Prince, Head of House Prince. At my feet is Albus Dumbledore. Mr Dumbledore came, dressed in wizarding robes, to accost me on this Muggle beach and then threatened to Obliviate these good people here when their daughter did accidental magic. I have now taken the Granger family under the protection of my House. The children — the boy is my son — reacted with accidental magic to the threat posed by Mr Dumbledore and I subsequently put him in a Body Bind to prevent him acting without authorisation. There is a Notice-Me-Not charm applied to this section of the beach and the non-magicals are unaware of what is happening. I offer you my wand to examine and my memory of the incident, if you wish."

The Ministry team, all of whom were credibly dressed as Muggles, listened carefully to Severus. When the Grangers confirmed that Dumbledore had approached them uninvited and that he had been acting in a threatening manner towards them, the man who was obviously the team leader took Severus' wand and performed Priori Incantatem on it, establishing what the last spells used had been. Seeing that the latest spells used supported Severus' story, he concluded that Severus and the Grangers had been telling the truth. "Thank you for the offer of your memory, Mr Prince. We will take you up on that offer," he said gratefully.

Severus picked up a handful of sand and transfigured it into an empty, glass potions vial. Because glass is made from sand, the transfiguration would last longer than a conjured vial would. Extracting the memory, Severus sealed it in the vial. "It's unbreakable," he commented as he handed it over. "In addition, if you require testimony under Veritaserum, I will gladly provide it."

The Ministry team looked surprised. "Let's just say that I am well aware of Albus Dumbledore's tendency to assume that the law does not apply to him, and I feel it is long overdue that he be held up to a greater authority than his own," Severus explained acerbically.

The leader of the Ministry team nodded and placed a portkey on the old man's back. With a touch of the team leader's wand to the portkey, Dumbledore was gone. The rest of the team apparated away silently but the team leader approached Severus. "Thank you for your assistance, Mr Prince. It's greatly appreciated. How can we contact you if we have further questions?"

"I have an owl redirection ward on my home. Mr Dumbledore has been trying to contact me for some time and I've been avoiding him. Obviously, he didn't get the message. Frankly, I didn't trust him not to turn any letters into a portkey, not that I would have opened them without due care in any case. You can contact me through Gringotts Geneva; they check my mail for unforeseen surprises and then forward it on to me."

"Thank you, Mr Prince. My name is Timon Erhard and you can contact me through the Accidental Magic Office of the Ministry, if you have any questions," he informed Severus.

"Thank you, Mr Erhard. I appreciate your assistance," said Severus gratefully. "Oh, and here is Mr Dumbledore's wand. I confiscated it before he could attack the Grangers."

Timon Erhard took the proffered wand and disapparated back to the Swiss Ministry. Severus turned to the Grangers, who were all looking at him in shock. "I promise that I will not do anything to harm you," he said solemnly. "I realise that this wasn't the ideal way to be introduced to the wizarding world but I promise that you will be safe with me."

"Wizarding world... magic..." said Helen faintly.

"This isn't really the ideal place to explain it all to you. Would you be willing to trust me enough to come with me?" Severus asked carefully. "You're welcome to visit me in my home, or I could take you somewhere in the wizarding district? It's more public, so you might feel more comfortable there."

John and Helen looked at each other. Helen raised her eyebrows and John nodded decisively. "We'll come with you," he said. "You seem to have saved us from that crazy old man, so we have no reason to distrust you yet."

"I hope I won't give you any reason to change your minds about me," replied Severus. The three adults quickly gathered together their belongings and Severus led the Grangers towards a nearby grove of trees. "As soon as we're out of sight, I'm going to call for a couple of the house elves who work for me. They're magical beings, like Brownies, who serve wizards. They're bonded to a Master, or to a family. I know it sounds like slavery but it truly isn't, as long as they're treated well — unfortunately, not all owners do actually treat their elves well. House elves need to be bonded to be happy and healthy. If they're not bonded they wither and lose their magic; once their magic is gone, they die. If they're bonded to strong witches and wizards, they can live for generations, with the bond being passed from parent to child. They're a bit strange looking but they're very loyal and good-hearted creatures."

"Do you have many house elves bonded to you?" asked Helen hesitantly, not sure if she liked the sound of this.

Severus smiled. "There's one elf, Dobby, who is bonded to Harry personally. His mate is bonded to the House of Prince, rather than to me personally. I've promised them that when Harry marries, if his wife doesn't have an elf already bonded to her, then she can become the personal elf of Harry's wife, so that they can stay together. Apart from that, I have four other elves — two couples — although that number may soon increase. Three are bonded to the House of Prince and the other is my personal elf and major-domo. I've promised all three couples that they can have elflings if they want, since house elves need their Master's permission to have babies, so I may soon be overrun with little elves. I live on a large enough estate that I'm sure I can find plenty of work for them all to do until the young ones are old enough to find new Masters and Mistresses. I'll be very careful who I allow them to go to, though. Some people truly treat their elves appallingly and I'm not willing to let any elf leave me for a bad situation."

By this time, they had reached the treeline. Severus, holding Harry's hand, walked a few steps into the trees, remaining in sight of the Grangers, who had paused at the edge of the trees. "Jibbs! Dobby! Flippity!" he called. With a crack, the three elves appeared. The Grangers jumped in alarm, startled despite Severus' warning.

"These are Jibbs, my personal elf; Dobby, Harry's personal elf; and Flippity, Dobby's mate. Jibbs, Dobby, Flippity, these are Mr and Mrs Granger and their daughter, Hermione. Jibbs, would you please apparate Mr Granger to Prince Manor? Flippity, please take Mrs Granger. Dobby, please take Harry. I'll take Hermione. I should warn you," he said looking at the Grangers, that the sensation of being apparated is quite unpleasant but it only lasts for a few short seconds."

John took a deep breath. This day was getting weirder and weirder. "What do we need to do?" he asked nervously.

"Please, just takes my hand, Mr Granger, sir," said Jibbs. John nodded and held out his hand. "All right, Jibbs. Please would you take me to Prince Manor?" Jibbs grasped his hand with a smile and with a quiet crack, they were away.

Severus knelt down in front of Hermione, who was wide-eyed in surprise. "Don't worry, little one," he said. "I'm going to take you with me. The journey won't be very nice but it'll be over very quickly. You'll be back with your Mummy and Daddy in just a moment. All right?" Hermione nodded and Severus picked her up, settling her comfortably on his hip.

Helen, who had been watching Severus' interaction with Hermione was reassured. "Hello, Flippity," she smiled at the little lady elf. "Will you take me, please?" she asked, holding out her hand.

"Of course, Mistress Grangy," Flippity squeaked and disapparated with the pretty lady who spoke so kindly to her. Dobby had already disappeared with Harry, who was quite the veteran at being side-along apparated by now. Severus gave Hermione a reassuring smile. Holding her firmly, he twisted and apparated away.

.o.O.o.

⁷ Catius pater was the Roman god who was invoked for sharpening the minds of children as they developed intellectually; it seemed appropriate for the name of a school: en dot wikipedia dot org / wiki / List_of_Roman_birth_and_childhood_deities # Child_development

⁸ mercyships dot org dot uk — I have no idea if personnel are allowed to take their families on-board ship with them, nor do I know how many children would be aboard at any given time, what sort of age they would be or how they would be schooled. For the purposes of this story, I'm saying that there is only a small number of children on board and Hermione is the youngest by a few years, hence her parents' need to rethink her schooling.