01/08/2012

Chapter 2: Realization

Harry heard his Aunt Petunia scream in the hall as the door flung open. He quickly rushed to out the kitchen door and into the hall to see what the problem was and saw his Aunt cowering slightly in front of a man slightly taller than her. He had greasy, long black hair, and a hooked nose. He seemed to be glaring at Petunia, but looked over at Harry. The man smiled in a way that seemed a little strange, and Harry remembered him from his old dreams.

The man walked over to him. Harry noticed his clothes while he walked. He had a long, black trench coat that he swept when he started walking, and a dark purple buttoned shirt underneath, with black dress pants. He continued towards Harry, his awkward looking smile growing with each step. He eventually stopped in front of Harry, smiling down at him.

"Hello, Harry. I know that I probably did not have to come as early as I did, but I insisted with Albus that you needed all the information as soon as possible. Harry, do you know who I am?" the man asked in a silky, though not unkind, voice and Harry shook his head slowly. The man's eyes hardened slightly, and continued. "Of course not. I did not expect so. Am I to understand you received a letter this morning?" Harry nodded again.

"Yes, I did," Harry replied. "Only a minute ago, actually. How could you know that? Who are you?" Aunt Petunia, Harry noticed, had composed herself now that the man was not looking at her, though she was extremely pale. More so than usual. The man looked to the letter still clutched in Harry's hand.

"Does any of this make any sense to you at all, Harry?" the man asked. Harry could only shake his head.

"Not a lot of it, no," Harry responded. "It talks about 'witchcraft' and 'owls' and a school, but witchcraft isn't real. This has to be fake." The man's eyes hardened again and he turned to Petunia, who shied away. The man turned back to Harry.

"No, witchcraft and wizardry is very much real," the man said quietly. "You are a wizard."

"I'm a what?" Harry asked, in shock. "A wizard? As in...magic?"

"All of this is a surprise? Yes," the man nodded as he spoke, as if answering his own question. "Harry, I know that you must think all of this strange, but think of the evidence. Has anything every seemed unordinary, like it should not have happened at all?"

Harry had to look down in embarrassment. To tell the truth, he had a long list of unexplainable occurrences he could easily pass off as magic. Making flowers dance, creating powerful winds in a park, healing injured birds by wishing they were better, running at extremely high speed to get away from Dudley and his gang. But was magic really the reason, or was it all just coincidence?

The taller man noticed his confusion, and decided to continue. "Harry, what do you know of your parents?" Harry's eyes snapped up quickly and met the steely grey eyes of he man in front of him.

"My parents? They were killed in a car crash when I was young, sir. I don't know anything else," he said sadly, hoping silently that this stranger could shed some light on this topic, even though he probably knew nothing. The man didn't seem to hear Harry's plea, he turned swiftly to Aunt Petunia, staring her down again.

"A car crash, Petunia? That was your explanation? She was your sister!" the man yelled, frightening Harry. "Your sister, Petunia! You should have told him! Harry should know how they died!"

Petunia had tears streaming down her face as she struggled to answer to the strangers' anger. "I know... But Vernon said-"

"Oh, so it is that fat Muggle oaf's fault that your own nephew is unaware that his parents were murdered by the Dark Lord?" The anger that this man was displaying was beyond anything Harry had ever seen, yet he didn't really comprehend that as he was shocked by the last statement.

"What? Murdered? Dark Lord? What do you mean?" Harry asked quickly, not seeing the tears forming in the strange man's eyes.

"Harry, I do not think that today is the right time for that. Before today, perhaps. But not now. Perhaps some day before school." He wiped his eyes, and turned back to Harry. "Harry, before we continue, do you have any questions?" Harry thought for a second, and looked up at the now red-eyed man.

"Um... What's your name?" he asked, feeling stupid. The man laughed, and looked down at Harry once again.

"My apologies, Harry. I had hoped you would remember me, but I guess I must introduce myself. I am Professor Severus Snape, Deputy Headmaster and Potions Master of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," the man, Professor Snape, answered, extending his pale white hand. Harry took Snape's hand, and looked up at him.

"I'm Harry Potter. Did you know my parents?" Harry asked, remembering the man's outburst towards his aunt. Professor Snape laughed again at the eagerness Harry was showing.

"Yes, Harry. I was one of their best friends." Harry looked at the man, slightly in shock, and waited for more information. "There were six of us. Myself, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and your parents, James and Lily Potter," he said, ignoring the sob that came from Petunia when Lily's name was mentioned. "We were close for so long. Then, one night... Well, as I said before, not for today. Harry, is there anything magic related you wish to ask? We can discuss your parents later, I promise."

Harry had no idea why, but he seemed to implicitly trust this man. He said he was a close friend of his parents. And, he was a representative from the school he had just received a letter from. He had no choice, really. "Professor, is magic real? I mean, truly real?"

Severus nodded, as if expecting this response, and removed a small, empty vial out of his coat pocket, and a wooden stick that had strange symbols etched into it out of his pants pocket. He pointed his stick thing at the glass bottle, and spoke clearly, "Engorgio." The vial grew in size until it was at least double its normal size. Harry was speechless, but the demonstration was far from over. Severus flicked his stick and spoke again, "Winguardium Leviosa," and the bottle floated into the air, following wherever Snape's stick was pointed, and was flown around the hall. Harry stood with his mouth slightly ajar, staring in disbelief. "Sufficient enough for you, Harry?"

Harry nodded, and asked a string of questions, all of which were swiftly answered by Professor Snape. Finally, Harry was asked a question by Snape.

"Harry, you and I should go to get your supplies now. Is that quite alright with you?" Harry looked at the professor, utterly confused. What supplies? Harry thought to himself, as he nodded dumbly. "Come. We will not be long."

Harry followed his new professor out the door, neither of them speaking a word to the still sobbing Petunia Dursley, even though Harry felt a slight bit of guilt. He was part of the reason he was crying, after all, and he and Professor Snape just walked by as if she wasn't there. Harry saw a nice looking car outside the house, and assumed it was the professors.

Harry was correct apparently as Professor Snape walked right up to the car and unlocked it, opening the passenger seat door for the eleven year old boy. Harry got in the car, and went to buckle in his seatbelt. However, he was interrupted by Professor Snape, who was now sitting in the driver's seat. "That will not be necessary, Harry. The car is a cover. The Muggles cannot see what happens inside here. To them, we are not here."

"How are we going to get to... Wait. Where are we going, sir?" Harry asked politely, despite his obvious confusion.

"You will see, Harry," Professor Snape said as he pulled out a set of car keys. "Hold these with me, please." Harry held the keys, his eyebrows furrowed. "The first time may be disorientating, but you should be fine. On the count of three. One... two... three." On three, Harry felt a tug at his navel as he began to spin, and landed on his back in a dark lit room.

"What was that?" Harry said, holding his head as he stood up.

"That, Harry, was a Portkey," Professor Snape said, standing above Harry, but not looking at him, instead looking around the room. Harry looked up and looked around, as the professor continued explaining. "It teleports us from one place to another. It can be anything, like a football. I used car keys. Conspicuous, you see?"

Harry nodded, but did not answer, as his eyes adjusted to the dark lit room. He saw men and women, all dressed in coats and odd headwear. Pointy hats, strange cap like things, and top hats. In fact, the man in the top hat looked strangely familiar...

"Oh, hello Severus!" said a friendly voice, as Harry stood up and brushed himself off. "Not every day you come in here!" Harry looked over, and flinched at the man he saw. He was smiling a toothless grin at Professor Snape; his bald head making him look like a nut of some sort.

"No, Tom. You are correct, is has been quite a while," Professor Snape replied politely. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." He pulled Harry by the shirt to a door that was not in the pub a moment ago, and dragged him outside.

"Um... Professor? Why were you rushing?" Harry asked as Professor Snape let go of his shirt, and drew his wand from his pocket.

"In about ten seconds, there are going to be at least thirty people racing after us, certain they saw Harry Potter. I thought we may do better with a head start."

Why would they be chasing me? Harry thought, but watched as Professor Snape tapped some bricks on the wall in a hurry. The bricks moved, reforming their position to form an archway, and Professor Snape pulled Harry by the shirt once again. The bricks moved back in place, and Professor Snape let go of his shirt.

"No offence Professor, but could you at least try to ask me to move first?" Harry asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice as he straightened his shirt out.

Professor Snape laughed a strangely hearty laugh that drew the stares of many peculiarly dressed men and women around him, and said to Harry, "Sarcasm. Just like Lily."

Harry had a look around the cobbled area that Professor Snape had practically forced him into. The buildings along the street seemed disjointed, like they shouldn't fit together, yet did. There were buildings of all shapes and sizes, but the one that drew Harry's attention the most was the one that sat at the end of the strange street. A giant marble structure that towered over even the taller of the others, it seemed to sparkle with mystery.

"Harry." He turned to see Professor Snape staring intently at him. "First, I must say welcome to the heart of Wizarding London, Diagon Alley." Harry snickered, and Snape raised a hand. "Yes, you're mother was similar, as I suppose other Muggle-borns were. Our founders weren't the best with naming things. Or maybe they just enjoyed the use of puns. Nevertheless, while we are in the open, you must do as I say. You do not understand as of yet, but there are many people in this place that would love to see you. The majority would be pleased. The minority... Well, they would be less pleasant. I will protect you, but they will notice eventually. I would charm you, but I fear that they need to see you. I just loathe being the one who will be spotted with you," Snape sighed, and Harry could not tell if he was being serious or not. "First, we must go to Gringotts." And he walked directly towards the white marble building that Harry was enthralled by.

Harry was feeling excitement fill his insides as he followed his escort to the building. "What exactly is Gringotts, Professor?" he asked.

"A bank, Harry."

Harry felt saddened, like a balloon deflated inside him. "But sir, I have no money. My family is... Not that well off," he almost whispered, as if telling a secret.

Without turning around, Snape replied, "I think you may be pleasantly surprised." Harry looked up at the man, curious, and followed him inside. Harry saw some writing on the way in, and craned his neck to read it, but Snape put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't bother reading that sign, Harry. It'll give you a headache just trying to figure its meaning out. Basically, it says, 'do not steal from us, or we'll be very cross with you'. Personally, I believe that should be everyone's approach to theft, but I digress."

Harry entered the bank, and was surprised by the things that blocked his way. They were shorter then he was, with brown skin and pointed teeth. "What is your business here today, child?" one sneered at him, as Harry backed away in fright.

"Mister Harry Potter is here to retrieve money from his vault," Professor Snape said from beside him. The change was immediate. The strange beings both looked gobsmacked, then straightened up.

"Of course. My apologies, Mister Potter," the second creature said, and they moved out of the way. Professor Snape stepped forward, pushing Harry to do so as well. He walked through the hall, and looked around. There were more of the creatures, all counting strange coins, and looking down their unnaturally long noses at him. He shivered under their gaze.

"Goblins," Professor Snape whispered, as not to draw attention, but almost reading Harry's mind. "They're rather intelligent when it comes to economics. Never trust a goblin Harry. Slippery little things."

They reached the large desk at the front, where a goblin was waiting for them. "Hello, Professor Snape. This must be Harry Potter," he said. "My name is Griphook. I will be your guide today. Follow me."

Harry and Snape followed the small goblin into a backroom that contained only a cart. This cart was sized for a few passengers, so Harry got a lot of room to himself. Which was great, as the trip down made him feel ill.

There were so many twists and turns that Harry felt like he was going to throw up his entire stomach. He stepped off after what felt like twenty minutes of sharp turns and steep falls, and bent over to catch his breath. Professor Snape stood behind him, looking much the same as he did before. Griphook stood in front of them.

"Vault 687. Mister Potter, your key please," he said, holding a clawed hand out in front of him. Snape pulled a key out of his pocket. He dropped it in the outstretched hand of Griphook, who raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He slid one long fingernail down the centre of the door as Harry stood up straight. The key was put into the door, and Griphook pushed it open.

All Harry saw was a lot of gold.