Whose Test is This, Anyway?
An answer to the writing challenge on Potions & Snitches: Hogwarts Enrollment Test by Jan_AQ
Summary: Before students are accepted to Hogwarts they must be assessed by a teacher or Ministry Official for academic proficiency. Professor Snape is assigned Harry Potter.
**OO**
A/N: Thanks to my wonderful Beta, LtsHrIt4ThBoyz.
If this is your first time reading one of our stories - welcome! To those returning to the fire, grab a cup of your preferred beverage, get comfortable. You'll see some returning OC's, but we'll try to give them proper introductions as we go along.
If you enjoy the tale, wonderful. If you aren't fond of a redeemed Severus, or a story where he is playing a father's role for Harry, you are not going to enjoy this one. The rules are simple, no whinging for the story not being what you envision. We have already written most of it, and are polishing what we have finished.
If you are looking for a certain story, then write it! You'll have fun, and if you ask nicely, you will find help out there. Or even a new best friend! ;) MelJ
Now, again, this is a family story, no slash, no mention of it. Tonks has also wormed her way in again. If you squint, you'll see a Harmony story, but not the focus of this tale. If you are looking for a Harry Potter finding a mentor and family, then you came to the right place.
**OO**
Chapter One - The 'Unpassable' Test
Professor Sprout was always the first one to volunteer for new student assessments. She just loved the task. After all, it wasn't like the middle-ages where most of the population were illiterate serfs.
Severus had hidden behind his new potions journal, hoping there would be time to brew this day. Sprout always took the few students assigned to him. The rest of the teachers were all standing, and the doorway beckoned. Staff meetings like this were mandatory. He'd done his duty. It was time to make his escape.
And then the lioness' paw clawed his arm. He was so close to freedom!
Her face looked pale, her hand shaking.
"The headmaster has refused to allow me to go. He feels that I would be an…irritant to the guardians of this child. He wants…that is…he has assigned…you."
"To whom, madam? Or am I to visit all of the new intake for this year as some sort of penance for past sins?" Severus was trying for stern and heartless. It always worked on Sprout. If she wasn't involved with Babbling, talking about muggle fashion changes, he was sure she would be rescuing him.
"Just please. Be careful. It wouldn't take much to have this woman forbid the child from attending at all, and then where would we be?" Minerva was too pale to twit, but Severus really wanted to say something cutting to the huntress.
"Am I allowed to know anything? Name? Address? Or am I to go to our resident Seer for help?"
Severus tried to avoid ever mentioning her, and Minerva was suddenly white as a ghost.
"Harry Potter, Number Four Privet Drive. I have the apparition coordinates." The cat animagus whispered. "Petunia Dursley is his aunt and legal guardian." She thrust his letter, automatically generated by ancient magic into his hands. He put it away unread.
Severus swallowed. Why did he have to mention Trelawney right now?
"May I ask why his magical guardian is not doing the assessment?" The potions master queried.
The papers had been full of nothing but excitement over the Boy-Who-Lived returning to Britain from his many adventures overseas. Bah!
"Albus has deigned to…keep his distance, so as to protect the child." Minerva stated woodenly.
Severus didn't mean to; his mental gift was extraordinary.
He caught a glancing look at several annual fights on this matter. McGonagal wanted to check on the boy, wanted to be the one to do this assessment and take the boy shopping.
Wanted to touch base with the son of her favorite, Lily. How the old woman loved the brilliant witch!
How Severus loved the brilliant witch, and missed her every single day.
Part of him thought that the boy deserved being raised by Petunia as punishment for getting his mother killed. He'd seen pictures over the years. James Potter with his mother's eyes.
Then, a sudden thought. What if the young Potter brat failed? He was the youngest of the class. It shouldn't be that hard to find a reason to keep him from Hogwarts. Perhaps a small adjustment to the standard test?
Bowing to hide his smile, plans made, Severus appeared to give in.
"Fine! The sooner I get this done, the sooner I can get back to brewing." the dour man huffed.
The deputy handed over a tiny key and an unopened parchment envelope with the Gringotts seal, "Please make sure the boy doesn't take out too much. His aunt has been getting his maintenance, but even so. There should be a solid foundation for the boy to get a mastery or three. Tell him that I…tell him. Ach. Ne'er mind."
The man looked at the tiny key. He was not tempted in the least for some theft of either the petty or grand larcenous kind.
He knew what goblins would do to a marked Death Eater caught in their realm, under their laws. Severus shuddered.
He was Slytherin. He would administer the assessment, fail the child, and return the key to the headmaster to await another year.
At least Potter then wouldn't be in the same year as the Malfoy brat, or Nott's boy, or any of the other followers' children. There seemed to be an inordinate crop this year.
There. That was an excuse Albus would listen to. Much better to wait.
**OO**
Harry Potter was pulling weeds happily. His punishment from the zoo incident was over. He had most of an egg, a full half piece of toast and all of the leftover mushrooms from breakfast.
Petunia adored mushrooms, and seemed to be incapable of remembering that neither land barge liked them. Which was fine with Harry as he adored them as well. Not that he acted like he did.
He would whinge and moan about having to eat the leftover 'shrooms and anything else that Dudley detested. Petunia was made happy by Harry's seeming unhappiness, and Harry was happy as he finally got the semblance of a normal serving.
A man was walking up the street. He was different from most of the people on Privet Drive. It wasn't his clothes, though the clothing was different somehow. It wasn't his demeanor, though he seemed particularly bland.
It was the frisson of a white glow on his outside edges. The closer he got, it was almost like electricity in the air.
Whatever this man was, Harry was like him. Maybe. Just maybe. Was this the real relative Harry had been waiting for all of his life?
The man stopped a few feet away, taking out a paper, and pretending to indifference.
"Is Harry James Potter here? Of Number Four Privet Drive? The Cupboard under the…What is this?" The disinterested demeanor was gone. He was suddenly livid. "Do you mean to tell me that Petunia has stationed you under the stairs?"
Harry knew how to deal with angry.
"I don't know what you mean sir, but I think you have the wrong…"
"You have your mother's eyes in your disgusting father's face. You are a Potter, no matter how much anyone would try and deny the reality of it. I am here to administer the admissions test. A test you have no hope of passing."
"I could have told you that, Mister. I don't dare pass a test. Not after talking to a snake last week and accidentally releasing it. Not that it wasn't funny, seeing Dudley all afraid, like a boa could bite him? Honestly! I wanted to ask him if he had read the sign, but clearly not. You should give Dudley the test. I can't make better grades than him, but a dead light bulb is brighter. He'll fail my test for me, right quick!"
The boy seemed pleased that his test was a forgone failure. What trick was this?
Severus then peaked inside the boy's mind. He could talk to snakes, he had just had his first meal in a week and was very happy about it, and he really did sleep in a cupboard under the stairs.
All of a sudden, he didn't see Potter's son, getting what he deserved. He saw Lily's only child, her legacy, being abused. The world tilted for a moment, as Severus renewed the promise he made to Lily on her deathbed. He would do anything, everything to protect her child.
Petunia was about to become potion ingredients.
**OO**
Severus Snape entered the house, and saw the overly fancy dining room. Lily couldn't stand overly formal furniture in a casual space, and would have no problem saying so.
He placed the test on the table, along with a pencil, eraser, and pointed to the chair when the boy kept his distance.
"Sit! You'll do this until Petunia returns."
"Yes, sir, but I'm not allowed at the table."
"You are today. And do you know why? You are being invited to the premier school of magic. That is what you are. What we are, Mr Potter. You are a wizard. And if you take after your mother at all, you will be one of the highest caliber."
The professor spent a few minutes giving him a brief introduction to his new world. He debated taking off his 'additions' to the placement test, but truly was curious. The boy had not been allowed to succeed at school. Did this mean he had become lazy?
Or, as he suspected, learned to hide his intelligence in plain sight.
Severus got the child situated, and went to look for clues. While Harry did the assessment to the best of his ability (there was a bribe of ice cream involved), Severus went wandering about the house.
Two rooms in the house were filled floor to ceiling with broken junk for a rotund boy. There was a pristine guest room that smelled very faintly of disuse and perhaps a whiff of mutt.
While not advertised, Severus had studied and become an animagus after his unfortunate encounter with a werewolf. The abilities did linger.
He was going nowhere near Petunia's bedroom. One presumably shared with the older lard, unless he just spent all of his time at home in the broken down recliner that seemed to be a fairly new purchase.
The rest of the house appeared to be out of a magazine. A magazine featuring a designer with zero taste in home decor.
Finally! There was the woman herself coming up the walk and bursting angrily through the door before slamming it shut.
"Freak! I have the bridge club coming in two days! What are you doing sitting at the dining room table? You know you aren't allowed in there! You should be outside doing your chores!"
She raised her purse, preparing to charge towards the little freak for daring to sully her pristine dining room!
Severus took that moment to come around the corner. The woman squeaked, and nearly fell into the recently closed door.
"You! What are you doing here?" Petunia gasped.
Harry had never seen her so white, and piped up, "I have wonderful news! I'm not going to be here most of the school year. I'm going to a school. Don't panic about money. My parents paid for it when I was born."
"Yes, did you know that your sister was rather well off? I got to see the statements recently. A hundred galleons a month. Depending on where you went for conversion, you could have gotten as much as fifty pounds to the galleon."
"Woah! Five thousand pounds? Is that for the whole time I've been here?" Harry asked, heading back to the test at the professor's scowl. "That's a lot of money, and I haven't been able to buy anything! Ever!"
How dare the imp disobey him by getting up! A pointed finger had him retreating to the table.
"No, Mr Potter. That is per month. Now Petunia. You have a choice. You can give me the money you got at the beginning of the month for me to buy the boy new clothes after he is treated for the…treated for malnutrition, or I can force you to buy them later. Your. Choice."
Petunia's thoughts had already gone through why she had denied the boy food. Less food equals less magic.
Idiot woman. The boy's magic would then just feed on the magic around, and convert it to what the boy needed. Not that it was pleasant to be treated that way. He knew from personal experience all too well,
The woman went upstairs and returned with a large manilla envelope that clearly contained months worth of maintenance.
Petunia was looking frightened, "We haven't spent it, and didn't know how to send it back. It came to us as normal money. We didn't want anyone to think we liked it. Him.
"You take him away. Take this with you. And never come back." She snarled as she thrust the envelope into his hands.
As Severus had been about to threaten them into letting the boy go, this worked for him.
Professor Snape was powerful. Intimidating. "You'll have to sign legal papers. Papers that I don't have with me."
"We'll sign. We never wanted him, and just waited for the first magical person to come around to give him to." Petunia spat.
"But you don't know if I'll abuse him!" Severus pointed out.
"I know you. I think you'll do just fine in that department." She replied snottily.
Snape didn't want to see the hope that Severus would kill the child. She really wanted the child dead and buried. And from the memories of thoughts expressed by the land whale in his wife's presence, he thought the same.
"Mr Potter? Please pause your test, and pack your things. We're leaving."
"Woo-hoo!" Harry put his few measly toys and a single shirt that looked big enough for a sail, in a knapsack that might have been World War II surplus. "Will I be coming back?"
Severus started, "Hopefully not…" "Over my dead body!" Petunia shouted at the same time.
"That can be arranged for a small fee, madam." Severus stated somberly.
Harry stifled giggles at that, but neither waved farewell or said anything to her. Severus just looked at her up and down and looked at the pictures around her.
"I wish you all the happiness you deserve, Petunia." Severus waved his hand.
Petunia didn't know about wandless magic, and didn't know she'd just been cursed by a vengeance curse that Snape had made as a teen.
Until she repented of her biggest sins, the woman would continue to remember everything she had done. In this case, all the times she made Harry feel unloved, unwanted. Unhappy.
And in her own home, she would feel unwanted, unloved, unhappy.
She wouldn't be able to eat, she'd feel locked up. She'd feel abused. Until she recognized that she had done something wrong and apologized.
It was a great curse, and because it had not been cast with a wand, there was no magical trace. None at all.
**OO**
The first stop was to his own tailors for clothes the boy could wear and not be embarrassed later for. Severus had finited the transfiguration on himself, returning his muggle disguise to his teaching robes. Harry had stared at the man's clothing in awe and open longing.
While waiting on Harry to make his choices and be measured, Severus sat down to examine the contents of the muggle envelope Petunia had given him. He was surprised to discover that they'd received their allotment in easily negotiable pounds sterling, but he already knew that the muggle package couldn't possibly contain the nearly 600,000 pounds that Petunia believed was there. There was only the equivalent of four months' maintenance left in the envelope; 'someone' had been helping himself to the contents without Petunia's knowledge.
No matter, Harry's statements showed that the boy should not want for anything while in school or even after, for all that.
The wizard helping them showed no amusement on his face for the young man's choices, but he personally thought he was adorable. He didn't know Snape had a child, and wondered who the mother was. But nothing would be said now; he had several day robes ready to wear, and the black clad wizards, who appeared to be father and son, left for the bank.
It was time to go to Gringotts.
Severus had stopped Harry before leaving the shop to hand him his key. He then noticed the boy's glasses for the first time since he was no longer in rags, Severus tapped them with his wand and a quick reparo charm to the child's delight. He then proffered the golden vault key.
He showed him the specialty pocket in the inside of the robes where such small things were kept secure.
"Return it to this pocket immediately when we are done. We are going to be entering a building, but in reality, it's like visiting a foreign country. Be respectful to the goblins, but don't let them intimidate you." Severus advised.
Harry had clapped his hand over his mouth when the dark man had said goblins, but this was not the sort of teacher to sass in the least. He waited for him to finish his thoughts.
"Goblins? Real goblins? This tiny key means something?"
"Yes, the goblins are thinking beings, but unlike humans with their own culture and morals. Their own laws. They think nothing of killing thieves, so never take anything that isn't yours. This key is likely to your student or trust vault. There will be a goodly amount of gold in it. I'll show you how much to take. There are shopping catalogs that we will purchase for you in order to buy more books and potions supplies for the year as you need. You will be shown how to do this later. Best behavior, Potter."
"You can call me Harry, sir. If you want."
"When we are in private, I might do so. To do so in public is not wise. I offer myself to be your muggle guardian, if you agree. Dumbledore would argue with you against it. But I will fight to the death to keep you away from Petunia's…hospitality."
Harry was wearing a simple day robe now, but had ordered one that was a smaller version of this man's. Professor Snape was powerful, reserved, and had a ruthlessness that Harry admired. He'd clearly put up with no nonsense, but would take care of him.
"I can cook and clean and help around the yard, sir. I won't be a burden. And if I really do have gold, I can help pay for food and such." Harry offered anxiously. "Please. I would like that very much."
Poor Lily. Her child was so very eager to get away from his family, just as Severus had been. The Evans' home had been open to him before they started at Hogwarts. Even after Lily left home, Mrs Evans had been kind to Severus.
They entered the bank together, and Severus made an appointment to see a solicitor and an account manager. They were then escorted to Harry's vault.
Harry was glad he'd been warned about the gold or he'd have made a scene of some kind. Professor Snape didn't seem the kind to put up with such nonsense. Harry scooped up enough coins for supplies and a few extras, knowing they would be shopping for regular things later.
He liked the magical money so much more than normal pounds. And this entire vault was his! But they couldn't linger. The professor had legal things to get done.
The appointment with the goblin lawyer was very straightforward. The man had a deformed left hand that left it in a club shape. Harry noted it, but didn't stare. He wondered if other goblins teased him about it.
"My name is Briokz, young mage and Potions Master Snape. I am happy to serve you both." The goblin bowed, and the wizards bowed back with Harry copying the man who rescued him from the Dursleys. Now, he wanted to become his guardian.
Harry was having trouble believing it was all real.
The goblin was very organized, and took notes on what the professor told him. Harry also heard his concern, and desire for healing for Harry.
Briokz stated, "I will have the paperwork you requested delivered by a human or human looking courier tomorrow. I will inform you of the court date. You will not need to appear, Mr Potter, but you would be welcome to come."
"You do not need to be his legal guardian to initiate care for him, Potions Master. I saw the original will the Potters made. You were on it as a potential parent to the child should anything happen to them. They knew they were targeted.
"Even if Mr Potter had been placed properly, Lady Potter wanted you to be part of her son's life. She cherished your friendship, sir. To keep you two apart is a crime. To exacerbate it with neglect? Gringotts will not deny a child needed healthcare. You can schedule the ritual on your way out.
"I have looked forward to meeting you, Heir Potter, as I worked for your father. My father and your grandfather worked together, lad. Did you know, Mr Snape, that my father also attended to the current Lord Prince's father's needs? He was dismissed upon your grandfather's elevation to Lord, however. I know he is still alive and well. I also know he asked his Account Manager many times why you had not responded to his letters in regards to the heir ring. It is available to you, after all. As are the two rings for Mr Potter."
Two rings? What was that about? Well, Severus had to prioritize. First things first. He spoke calmly but Harry noticed that the man had been shaken about learning his grandfather had tried to contact him.
"I will have to address that matter soon. I have never received his owl. Most unusual.
"Dharma Briokz, thank you for your time." Severus bowed, and again, Harry made a good copy. "I did not know about the heir's ring. I have need to remove ourselves from the Alley, so cannot linger now to investigate this further. I will be in touch soon to ask more questions. Please, charge me for our consult today, and send me a time when we can meet anon. I assure you, I have gold of my own, and will not use the boy's resources."
"What? You're helping me! And I can afford it." Heir Potter was most insistent he pay.
Dharma Briokz smiled, seeing in the child both parents that he had liked, and were gone too soon.
Severus was handed a bill to pay at the front desk.
"I will let you two decide how it is to be paid. Heir Potter, I wish you a good term at school if I don't see you when you return for your ritual."
Harry nodded, and continued his pitch to pay for it as they headed to the front of the bank. In the end, they agreed to split the charges.
Severus knew at that age, he would have needed to contribute to such if he could. But for Lily's sake, he needed to contribute as well. Lily would have never allowed his little boy to stay in an abusive environment if the roles were switched.
The thought of a redheaded daughter, too skinny, too bruised brought a small tear to his eye. No, Lily would have cursed them something fierce. And apparently, she had tried to set something up to prevent such.
He didn't know who had interfered, but he knew it had to include Dumbledore. And wasn't that a terrifying thought.
"We can shop soon but not today. You need to be seen in public doing that test. Now, I think that a bit of lunch, and maybe some ice cream for dessert before tackling that task is in order."
Harry smiled up at the man. His stomach chose that time to announce, loudly, that it was all in with his suggestion.
The man tried to hide his smile.
**OO**
The Seer's teeth were sparkling white compared to the dark, dark skin of the Kenyan witch. She was nearly blind, and older than even Quartermain himself but had a power and skill that was unique in all the world.
She was the one who had told him he had a special quest coming nearly eleven years ago. Was it about that, or something different?
"Abuya, be welcome. I'll call for some tea." Despite all of the years in Africa, Allan was still a British aristocrat at heart.
"Curse-breaker, adventurer, companion and protector. It is time to return home for a half-decade or so. Protect the child too young to be called Chosen, he is a nexus for change. His death now would doom the wizards from your homeland."
Ursula emerged from their home that appeared a modest native house outside. Inside was much like an English manor. Like the Seer, her skin was dark. She appeared to be in her early forties. How old she really was had never been said.
"No! He can only be killed when away from Africa!" Ursula complained, "He's risked enough. We have a good life now. Begone, demon woman!"
Stella came at the shouting, and put her cream-colored arm around the Seer, "Sister! Please do not shout at our holy woman. She is prompted by the Light! And you are wrong. Our husband can only die in 'the land of the wilds, after his quest is complete'. That means here, not Britain! He's safer there."
Stella had learned to read and write from white missionaries, taking in the caucasian girl whose parents had disappeared in the night. They never stopped loving her, even when she expressed magic, and made arrangements for her to go to school. She in turn taught the local children who hadn't the resources.
Ursula slapped her sister-wife hard, and Stella stood there, and turned her face, not reacting in anger.
This caused the first woman to burst into tears and shout in the local dialect about how this was all Allan's fault.
He kissed Stella, and took the Seer's hand. "I'll go. Can you give me any hints as to where to start?"
"The small mens who live deep in the ground. Some be evil, some be good. Some be helpful, some try to kill. Avoid the evil there, and you will be defeated. Join the Chosen there, and you will win."
Quatermain wrote down everything she said, but in the back of his mind, he wished for once that someone would just use plain Queen's English! Or was it King's now?
He'd lost track. Victoria was not yet on the throne when he first came to Africa, but was queen when he had his first adventure.
**OO**
Lunch was followed by picking up the new robes that Harry begged to be allowed to wear immediately, then on to the ice cream place for dessert and testing.
**OO**
Severus Snape sat with a small child who looked like his son. Harry was now arrayed in smart robes that were a miniature version of Snape's teaching robes.
Harry just loved all the buttons, and selected that. Severus insisted on lots of growth charms on the new and expensive clothing. Nutrient potions were in Harry's future. Perhaps not as tasty as the ice cream, but vitaly important.
Harry was sitting, eating a three scoop sundae, and finishing up his assessment.
He was sure he was going to flunk the astronomy and potions section, as he had never heard of potions before, and knew little of astronomy. But as he started to work on the potions portion, he began to see connections between chemistry, –which he adored and had devoured the school text book, and even managed to steal some time in the school library looking up additional and more advanced reference material. Gardening, which he'd been set to working at, beginning at the age of four –he found he had a knack for making things grow and he would snag Petunia's gardener's magazines when she'd thrown them in the bin.
And finally, cooking. Another chore he'd been assigned, as soon as his eyes cleared the cooktop while standing on a kitchen chair. He'd learned to read early in self-defense, as Petunia's rapid fire reading off of a recipe –ONCE through– was supposed to suffice as the instruction for a souffle for her bridge party! She'd smirked, evilly, as she'd turned to go ready the parlor for the gathering; looking forward to punishing him for his failure. But instead, had to punish him for having spilled chocolate on Dudley's old elephantine shirt he'd been wearing. (It wasn't chocolate, it was blood from the bloody nose that Dudley'd given him for wearing, what on tiny Harry, had looked like a dress, and the stain was two days old!)
Harry'd figured out what the recipe said by rehearing the bits and pieces of what she'd said in his head!
His only fear was that the plants he named for the section probably weren't magical plants and that he'd be downgraded because of it. Sigh.
He cheated a little on the astronomy test though. He used the names of the astrological references he'd gleaned from the trashy horoscope mags that Petunia brought home from time to time. Just to have something to put in the glaringly empty spaces on the test.
Harry had no idea that the assessment test that he took was far more advanced than what other students had to pass. Severus had added several sections that were not on the original test; in the hope the boy would fail.
The standard assessment was to make sure that students were literate and at least a bit numerate. Most wealthy households employed specialized tutors, while the more humble, like the Weasleys, took on the responsibility for teaching reading, maths, and writing at home.
Severus had already decided that Harry had passed just looking at the bit he'd finished on Privet Drive. His conclusions for the potions section were eye-opening. Lily would have been so proud of him this day, and Severus could feel her loving presence nearby. And that prompted another thought.
Knowing that Dumbledore would return him to Petunia's hateful care regardless of anything he shared, Severus debated where to go.
Hogwarts? No, impossible to hide the boy there. Cokeworth? Too many muggles around poking their noses in on how a single bachelor came to have a child that looked too much like himself. Besides, both Dumbledore and Lucius had the floo address.
There was a lovely thought: Lucius sneaking in while he was brewing, catching the boy who lived doing a bit of gardening or some such thing. Then they would both be dead. No.
He really had only one choice. He had to go to the Evans' cottage, a place that he had avoided for a decade. A place of too many memories, as it held pictures of Lily and himself as children. A cottage that Lily had bought to keep her parents safe. A place that in turn had been deeded to Severus upon the Evans' deaths per Lily's wishes. A place of peace. Of safety.
But safety only applied while they stayed there, and they had made one trip too many to visit Petunia and baby Dudley. The wards had kept Death Eaters from attacking the Dursleys or Evans while at home, but an automobile was far too tempting a target for the terrorists.
**OO**
The professor had made sure that several people had seen Harry Potter in public before escorting him 'back home'. The tall man's robes were once again transfigured into muggle clothes, and Harry was in a long sleeved shirt, jumper and neat khaki slacks. Much to Harry's unconcealed delight and wonder.
Severus had to school his expression to his usual sternness; he did not find the boy's antics at all gratifying!
They had gone out the front door of the Leaky Cauldron where Harry cautiously reached out and took the professor's hand when the wizards and witches gathered there tried to crowd Harry. The Potions Master's patented glare had them all taking a step or two back. Severus never noticed Harry's hand as his own off hand gripped the child's without thought.
His wand had never left the other.
They stopped at a nearby department store where Severus quickly picked up a few essentials, like underwear, pyjamas, toothbrushes and such. He then walked to the Tube, and got onto a train that if anyone was watching would lead them to think they were heading to Surrey. At the first stop, they got off, and went part way up the stairs, taking a cement walkway to the side. The professor pulled a necklace off.
"Touch this and in a moment, we'll be home. It's not the easiest method of travel, but from here, no one will track us."
Harry did as instructed and stoically survived his first portkey experience, the professor's strong hand preventing him from falling on landing.
The dark man raised one eyebrow and looked at the child, holding out a potion. "I'm most impressed, Potter."
"Harry. What's this?"
"Stomach soother, if you need it."
Harry drank down the potion, then drank in the sights. The cottage itself was adorable, covered in a trellis of roses, and all sorts of other flowers. There was a neat garden there as well.
The ocean was visible in the distance. The land was wide open, though a neighbor's cottage was half-covered by trees on the far side of the property. They were far enough away to have privacy but close enough for an emergency.
"Who has been tending to this place I wonder? Perhaps one of the house-elves?" Professor Snape pondered aloud.
"Whoever it is needs to know that you don't put henbane and goat's bloat together. They do better with other plants." Harry shared.
Severus' right eyebrow disappeared into his hair. "Indeed. Well done, Pot…Harry. If we were at school, I would give you points."
Harry smiled and the two entered the house. Once inside, and away from prying eyes, an elf popped in, making Harry jump.
"Jam is welcoming Master Potions and Master Harry to Rose Garden. Be happy here. What is you wanting for dinner?"
Harry was struck dumb for a moment. He'd just seen goblins, and now elves. This was an impossible day. If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up. Then what the elf had said caught up with him. He'd already eaten more today than he got in a fortnight. But the tall man was answering him.
"Jam? I thought perhaps Dittany, but no. I never told her about this place." The potions master swept his hand, and his clothes were restored to normal. He left Harry's as they were, much to his disappointment. Seeing the frown, his clothes too were now restored to a miniature of Severus'.
"Would you please escort Harry to his room? I bought him enough for tonight, but after a few days, the boy is going to need proper clothing. You'll attend him. I'll give you access to my account…"
"Master? Jam having access to Potter Family account. Will bring Master Harry's maintenance here! Lovely place for Master Harry."
"I've never seen the ocean before. It's very nice." Harry shared, not sure what to say.
They were standing in a lovely parlor that was to the left of the front door. Going right was the quaint cottage kitchen. Beyond that, Harry could see a dining room. Nestled in an alcove to the right of the front door was the breakfast nook. But Harry was looking past the curtained windows.
Severus noted where the boy was looking. The sea was indeed peaceful, and the beach was only a fifteen minute drive away. If he had an automobile that was. And if anyone mentioned how short it was in terms of a broom flight, he'd show off just how powerful a magic Potions really were.
Severus ordered a simple dinner, just stew and bread, with maybe a bit of egg custard for Harry and tiramisu for himself for afters. He was happy to have it purchased from the Three Broomsticks, and had Jam buy something for breakfast as well.
Harry spoke up. "I can make breakfast! Whatever you like! Eggs benedict or a nice quiche. As long as we have supplies that is."
Severus looked at him, "Your life has changed in a twinkling, it will be difficult for you to adjust to. You have gone from being a house-elf to employing one."
"But sir! Cooking soothes me! The Durselys let me be in the kitchen. It is my only place of safety."
Severus smiled warmly. "I envision us doing much brewing together in the future, Harry. Trust me. Your mother loved the subtle science, the pure magic of potions. Lily built a potions lab here so she could brew while visiting her mother. She loved to brew. I think you will too. In the meantime, if you are to cook, you will need some basic ingredients.
"Rose Evans was the loveliest woman. She loved you; this isn't your first visit here. I'm sure we'll find baby pictures of you here."
"Wait! If you have pictures of me, what about her? I've never seen her. Dreamed of her, yes. But I can't remember what she looked like."
Severus had been looking into the stores of the kitchen, and the cupboards were quite bare. Something the house-elf could take care of in the days to come when he suddenly focused on what the boy said.
"You've never seen a picture of your mother? Now that is a crime I blame Dumbledore for. We'll ask Jam when he gets back about them. If nothing else, I can make copies of my own. We were friends before school and during. For a long time. Until I…"
Severus couldn't finish that thought, not with her son.
"Sir? Do you know that you are the first adult to really listen to me? I used to try and tell teachers about my 'happy homelife'. No one listened. I learned I could tell them that I flew to the roof of the school, or talked to a cat, I mean had a conversation in cat that I understood just fine."
"So you can speak snake and cat? Any other languages?"
"Well, I tried to talk to Aunt Marge's bulldog, Ripper. But all he said was 'Gonna bite, gonna chew, gonna eat you up! He's super mean, and I don't like him one bit! Look there; that scars from him!"
That explained the pooch. Too bad he hadn't been around to take out some frustrations on. Not that the muggles would understand.
"But really sir. Wigglesworth is an awesome cat. He's supposed to watch out for me. I'm going to miss him. He says that while he likes his servant at home, she's really broken. He likes me, and wants to bury the Dursleys in his litter box. But I mean, before you, he was really the only person I could talk to."
Severus looked away. Growing up, he had his mother and Lily and her family. Harry had had no one.
Jam popped back with food from a place called the Three Broomsticks. He even had tankards of something called butterbeer that was brilliant - and the pewter mugs would leave to go back to the inn and return with more if they wanted more!
They sat to eat, and Severus pushed a vial towards Harry halfway through the meal.
Harry drank the potion the man had given him which allowed him to eat more of the stew than he had originally wanted which was very little. He tasted the egg custard, but asked to save the dessert for another day.
Severus moved to put a stasis charm on the dessert, but then was ready to cast curses when the boy flinched away from him at the motion. He was clearly used to cuffs and random violence.
Harry helped to clear the table; putting the butter, and the other leftover food into the cold box.
Harry loved it, as it looked a normal size from the outside, but when he opened it, it was huge!
Jam put the leftover warm stew into a small pot and put it on a different shelf.
"This will keep warm and ready for lunch tomorrow, or whenever you want a bit."
Harry watched in fascination as the house-elf used magic to wash and put away all of the used crockery, before Harry could even begin to drag a chair over to help wash up. The serving dishes magically returned to the restaurant.
"Wicked!" Harry shared, clapping his hands at the show.
Jam's cheeks turned a bright shade of green, but the elf was reminded of a young Lily Evans visiting Potter Manor for the first time, and seeing house-elf magic.
Her son had her wonder and sweetness that all of his bitter life had not been able to change.
**OO**
After dinner, Jam had supervised bathing ("Yes, you really get to use warm water; yes, as much as Master Harry wants, as hot as you want, Master Harry"). While they were busy with that, Severus took out the assessment test.
Was it just this morning that he had so cavalierly added sections in order to fail the boy in order to delay the inevitable for a year?
He read the 'real' sections in mild surprise, but the additional sections had raised his already high opinion of the child.
Here was a boy that had thrived in his abusive environment growing up. Ignoring the walls around him, he dug in and read, found information. Gotten around the boundaries of poverty and privation. Hid his intelligence in poor grades. But still learned all he could.
Just like himself. Only when he was growing up, he had Lily, and Mrs Evans to help him. Who provided him safety and food and shelter. But Lily too had been relentless in her pursuit of knowledge and information. Harry was truly her son.
Severus shuddered in the quiet night. The sudden thought of what he knew of Tom Riddle's early background; raised in a muggle orphanage during a time of war.
Had Dumbledore intended to create another dark lord with Harry Potter? The thought would not leave him all that night.
The man pulled out his pipe, and special blend of mild tobacco. He wandlessly and silently summoned the journal he'd purchased that day in Diagon.
No doubt there would be upset at his message winging its way to Hogwarts now.
'Potter passed. He is safely home. Found rare plant that needs sheltering. Will return to the castle before September first. SS.'
Snapping his fingers, he pulled the muggle cash from the envelope.
"Jam? Do you know of any Gringotts employees who do babysitting? Perhaps ones that double as bodyguards?"
He explained the healing ritual that Harry was to go through. One that would remove any dark magic lingering. One that would hopefully return Lily's eyes to perfect eyesight. And Severus had felt his Dark Mark react to Harry's scar. Something awful was stuck there, and it needed to come out.
Jam shook his head. "Master, you wanting goodly clothing for Master Harry once he done growing. Then muggly shots and things. Suggest using goblin healers and goblin guards for a few days. They be renting holes in the ground to wizards for goodly gold. They call it commerce. Shearing the sheep.
"Jam be thinking they should be calling it robberies." He added softly.
Then Severus remembered a witch returning to Hogwarts for her last year. A metamorphmagus with blood ties to the boy.
"I think I know the perfect person to hire. Her boyfriend just moved to Romania, too. Shame for the English National team. The Potters have been friendly with goblins for years. I remember hearing stories of Spurnik and Charlus Potter adventuring in Egypt together. No, I don't think they will shear too much off of Harry. I must be seen, in public, without him soon, or my cover, as they say, will be blown."
"Jam knowing Mistress Andromeda. Can take message to Missy Tonks."
"Just don't call her Nymphadora, or she'll turn you blue or pink or something other than your lovely green."
Jam looked appalled and quickly agreed to not call her that.
Snape hid his smile and wrote a sincere offer of employment to watch over one of his Snakes that was undergoing treatment soon at Gringotts. The gold offered, with oaths of secrecy, would be enough.
He also sent Jam to obtain those appointments. Jam and he were both concerned about Harry's physical condition.
How Dumbledore would react to the new and improved Harry Potter would dictate whether or not Snape was staying there with his charge for the next seven years.
Or looking for work in one of the many English-speaking countries around the world.
It was his oath protecting Harry that had kept him at Hogwarts. Now, his oath might encourage him to leave his first home if he felt the boy was unsafe from the head of the school.
The situation was fraught. And gaining an ally in Miss Tonks, a future auror, would be a good first step. And with her, an introduction to Hufflepuff.
Snape was sure that his new ward was going to his own house. The ability to talk to snakes wasn't the main reason either. To survive his childhood spoke of cunning and cleverness most people never achieved.
He cast a preservation spell on the child's assessment test. He had already sent the copy of the portion that had the original test.
Now, if he could just catch a break, he might be able to get through this summer undetected of having undergone a tremendous life change.
Severus Snape was now a parent of his own free will and choice.
**OO**
The Gringotts elf popped in before Jam had returned.
"Please excuse Jexter for not knocking, Master Snape. Am sent by Spurnik and Briokz. Read please. Jexter wait."
What was this?
Severus opened the missive. They had a cleansing ritual that could unbind the Dark Mark, remove owl wards placed by others, and a series of other cleanses.
Goblins were blunt; it laid out the cost, the pain involved, and the benefit to him. And their profit margin.
Spurnik gave him a chilling note at the end, "If you don't do this, you put the lad in danger should the dark one make his way back to full life. He could force you to turn the child over to him. Do this ritual to become free for yourself and him. For both of your safety."
The message was clear to the potions master. If Harry was in his company when the Dark Lord returned, and he still bore that mark, Spurnik would guarantee that he would be unable to betray the boy as he, Severus Snape, renowned Potions Master, would be busy.
Being dead.
The reply was quickly penned to indicate the affirmative of accepting this 'invitation'. He had long regretted taking the Dark Mark. It had cost him everything.
The problem was timing. He had to be seen out and about without the child while Harry was at Gringotts. Well, until the guardianship was set.
At least his ritual wouldn't take as long as Harry's. Buying back his freedom! If anyone came to try and force him to join the Dark Lord after this, he knew what it would mean. A fight to the death.
But isn't that what it would mean to keep it? And worse, be subject to a magical master's commands?
Severus Snape would rather die free and fighting than ever submit to any master ever again.
He would fight to save Harry as well and teach the boy to use his innate cunning to not just survive but achieve success.
**OO**
Tonks wasn't accepting anyone using 'Dora' anymore. That was Charlie's nickname for her. The same wizard who would rather get burned by dragons than stay here with her.
He loved her, she was sure. But having no resources, and being completely uninterested in any of the jobs currently available locally, what choice did he have? She understood it intellectually. But her heart wanted what it wanted, and didn't understand.
They had discussed it like adults, and decided that it was better to break up than strive to keep things going in a long distance relationship. Of course they could stay friends. It didn't mean she wasn't hurt, though. Or angry.
She had been wallowing at home, rarely going out when she was offered what appeared to be a security guard job. At Gringotts?
The job title said babysitting, but no babysitter was paid so well. She was legally an adult, but still wanted to talk to her father; who currently worked secretly with the DMLE.
"It could be just about anything, Dora. But one thing I know this isn't: It is not a setup to hurt you. Goblins will defend a female goblin or human to the death. And the offer is from their health clinic.
"I would accept it, my dear girl. You want to be an auror. Use this as an opportunity to get your feet wet. I doubt that anyone would dare bother you, but being granted wand rights within Gringotts during the time contracted? That is indeed a special remit. I know you won't be able to say who the client was, but it's likely a celebrity like a singer who needs a spiritual cleanse. Do a good job, be a good listener, and you might make a new friend."
Tonks' hair rainbowed for a moment before going pink, her color of happiness. "And maybe a gratuity that would pay for Hogsmeade visits this year."
Ted patted her trouser clad leg. "That too." He smiled at her, and she smiled back. Good. No matter if it was a rough gig for a few days, it would get her out of the house and out of the rut she was in over Charlie Weasley.
Choosing dragons over her, his little princess. Puddlemere United had seemed interested in him at the trials. What in the world happened there? No offers from any team, not even to be a reserve?
He'd offered to teach the boy accounting, but his mother had a squib cousin doing that. And now, Charlie thought Ted was a squib? Brat!
**OO**
BloodRage, a goblin guard, was there to meet Tonks and guide her to the briefing room. A few other guards were there. Security oaths were administered, and Spurnik, the Potter account manager came out to talk to them.
"Harry Potter is presumed to be at home. If in four days time, that presumption is still public sentiment, you'll all receive fifty galleons bonus. Oaths only go so far; but gold speaks a different language. What say you?"
The growl and waving of weapons startled the witch, but the female goblin guard next to her just rolled her eyes at the 'boys' antics.
She beckoned Tonks a bit closer, "My public name is Thistle. That is my father, rallying allies. You and I will need to work together. Because the child is new to magic, his guardian wanted a female presence. These louts will likely scare a boy raised muggle."
Then the real briefing started. It was like no business meeting that her father had ever had to attend. But then, her father never worked with goblin guards!
**OO**
After that, she finally got to meet her distant cousin, Harry Potter. He was being accompanied by Professor Snape, who was surprisingly holding the child's hand. They were in the waiting room for the physical before the ritual.
Harry got a warm hug that surprised him. It was his first hug from a lady; maybe his first hug ever. He basked in her embrace for a moment before taking his seat. She took his other hand.
The cleansing would be the following day. Snape couldn't afford to linger, though he wished he could be here for Harry.
Severus stated, "Miss Tonks, I am glad you are here. The rest of the security team is a normal part of any ritual reservation where the client has to stay overnight. You'll share a flat with Mr Potter, but have your own room.
"You may summon Mr Potter's house-elf for any food requirements if needed, though nourishment is supposed to be included."
Severus had never dined on conde lumbra and other goblin delicacies. Harry would likely find such 'interesting.' As a child, he might have.
"There may be other times that your help is needed. If both you and Harry agree, then you'll be hired again. I would expect you to act then as you do now. Caretaker and bodyguard. Are we in accord?" The potion master's eyebrow was raised, but his voice was calm. But she knew his little tells. He was concerned for this child; Harry Potter! Why did he call him his Snake as though he was one of his House?
She had a lot of questions, but stifled them. He was not a talkative man nor was he renowned for his patience. "Accepted. I guess we are here to get whatever dark magic is in Harry's scar out?"
"What. Dark. Magic?" Severus asked carefully; feeling a cold frisson wash over him. He had noticed that, but was it that apparent?
Tonks had two very different parents - one of whom was a witch raised in the Black family. Like her, Tonks was very sensitive to dark magic. Sensitive, and didn't like it.
In a group setting, or at Hogwarts, she would likely have never noticed. But sitting right there, trying to look supportive to someone she just met? Had she blown it?
Fortunately for them all, a healer came out just then. All three stood, Harry following Severus' lead.
Tonks bowed her head while Severus bowed. Harry copied him, performing his bow perfectly. Tonks hid her amusement well, though her eyes sparkled with mirth.
"I am BrightBlade. You may call me by that or by Healer. I am Goldrub's mate, so he'll have told you about me."
"No ma'am. I haven't met Goldrub before. Just Spurnik. I met him and his daughter. She's very scary. As are you." Harry had learned that it was a goblin compliment.
She bared her teeth in delight at the last, "I will inform him that you two have not met. In the meantime, come in. Lay on the table. I will use stones and crystals. No talking while they are out. We do not need them to be infected with human noise. You adults are asked to stay here and observe through the portal."
Tonks stood taller, "I will be quiet, but I prefer to come in and hold Harry's hand."
The child had somehow snuck his hand into both Tonks' and Snape's hands. The healer would have thought it adorable if she knew Snape better.
He was not a cuddly sort.
"Fine, you can come, but you sir, cannot." She then leaned over to his ear. "Come back on your own if you want a clean arm. Your brewing will be better, and the dark one could never find or punish you again. He is not completely gone, you know."
Snape startled at her frankness of the knowledge of his secret shame. He should never have joined the Death Eaters. He also knew the Dark Lord was not fully vanquished, as the tattoo occasionally gave him great pain, and lately had flared now and again, like the Dark Lord's spirit was close by.
The healer was unaware apparently that he already had an appointment for this exact procedure in two days time. Gringotts was good at keeping secrets.
"Thank you, madam. I will."
His gaze was focused on the parent portal. Harry had something dark in his scar, and desperately hoped they could remove it. The thought of a second account manager was banished for the moment.
With Severus' permission for the expense, an expert was called in; a young curse-breaker from Egypt to take a look at Harry's scar, and help determine the best ritual to remove it. Severus couldn't linger as he needed to be seen in public. At least the child was not being left alone.
Snape reluctantly left the bank, knowing that Miss Tonks wasn't really needed to keep the child safe. He chastised himself for worrying. But a frightened Lily Evans, jumping at a goblin growling at a rude pureblood wizard who called her a bad name, had meant he couldn't leave Harry alone with just goblins.
The goblins would be good to him for his gold's sake. Tonks would be good to him for his own.
Walking out, Snape lingered in the Apothecary, talked to a few of his Snakes in the bookstore, growled at several Gyrffindor students, and threatened first of the year detentions to the Weasley family's twins, all before heading to Cokeworth to brew a bit. They had dared ask him where the Boy-Who-Lived was. Did Dumbledore have the entire Order out or just the Weasleys? With their reduced numbers, the Weasleys practically were the Order of the Phoenix.
It was going to be a long three days.
**OO**
"Hey Tonks. If I had known I was going to see you, I would have saved myself the cost of the international post. You should get my condolence letter in a couple of days."
"Bill! It's great to see you." Tonks gave him a warm hug.
"I'm so sorry about everything. Charlie's an idiot. But he never got the invite to Puddlemore he was hoping for and everyone expected. He's trying to do right by you, in his own inept way. I offer my fists for one free hit should you need."
Tonks laughed, "No, it's not like that. I know he was disappointed about not playing professionally. I think he took the offer of the dragons as he would feel imprisoned to work at a desk job. And he still gets to fly. So what about you? I'd heard you were quite the prodigy. Would it be alright to watch you work?"
Harry watched the two interact. It helped him trust the new stranger.
Bill really liked Tonks, but his mother had sent too many letters saying that 'now was his chance'. Honestly woman! He worked in Egypt, and had the same long commute Charlie would. No. Worse.
If she really wanted him to date the girl, she should have let it be.
After shaking Harry's hand, Bill got to work.
As soon as he had his scans, they were all directed to the next door consultation room. The female goblin who had shown up to guard from the outside of the room was now inside this room, and stationed to the left of the door.
The goblin healer took her customary place at the head of the table, while Bill examined the results of his scans that were being written out on the magical parchment he had prepared. His face was getting redder, his ears scarlet, as the man was visibly upset.
He left the room more than once to 'check on something important' but when he returned, he was even angrier.
BrightBlade was clearly a no-nonsense sort of healer. While Tonks and Harry were quietly chuckling over Bill's stream of swears –the list was most impressive– she stopped the river with a swift slap to the head.
A slap that was administered by standing on a conjured stool, and vanishing it the moment she was done.
"Enough Curse-breaker!"
Tonks laughed at first, but then noticed that Harry flinched when the healer administered the slap and cowered away from the punishment.
Almost as though it had been aimed at him.
The room immediately had a new visitor. The guard, BloodRage, stood behind Harry for a moment, scowling at the healer. But it was only long enough for the boy to realize his protection was within axe throwing distance. BloodRage then joined Thistle leaning on the wall just inside the door, taking the flanking position. They shared meaningful looks. Whoever had hurt that child was due some goblin justice.
They were waiting on Spurnik, and didn't have long to wait.
Bill bowed when the Potter Account Manager came in, less than courtly, but the handsome redhead was clearly agitated. The hand signal to get on with it was understood.
Weasley reported, "We already knew there was something in Harry's scar. I have detected a layer of protection; nearly a blood ward, that has been protecting the child from having that dark influence actually enter him. I believe it had to have come from his mother."
The goblin nodded; that made sense.
"What disgusts me, and should be a crime, is the layer OVER the abomination. There is a ward, or curse, preventing the dark magic from leaving. I know this signature. I was able to match it from the one on file.
"And whose signature was it, curse-breaker?" Spurnik demanded darkly.
"Albus Dumbledore." Bill said through gritted teeth; both fists clenched, as though ready to strike.
There was no way of knowing whether or not the meddling wizard knew about the loving layer of protection left there by Lady Lily. But had it not been there, the soul shard would have possessed the child within the year.
The thought of a dark lord baby, causing havoc in the muggle world was just too terrifying for everyone there.
All happy feelings left Tonks, the minute Bill said it. She trusted him, and counted him as a close friend. Bill was several years older than Charlie. An infrequent visitor to the Burrow, but she still had gone to school with him for a time, and liked the wizard.
The former head boy would not state something like that without being able to prove it.
Spurnik growled and abruptly left the room, returning with someone only called the Archivist.
He pulled out a crystal much like the healer's.
"I've captured the signature. Good work, Curse-breaker. Not many could have determined the layers. Well done. You saved Mr Potter here much pain in removing the dark magic. Do be careful not to remove his mother's ward." The Archivist commanded.
"No sir. I'll anchor it. Thank you." Bill promised.
Tonks and Harry shared a look.
"Do I really have to go to school where this guy works? I don't think he likes me." Harry asked in a small voice.
Tonks knew very well the laws of the land. If you were magical, and lived in Britain, you went to Hogwarts. Period. Those that couldn't afford the tuition were provided for. Minimally. And mocked, which was unfair to the Weasleys.
They were good people.
"But just because you go there, doesn't give him the right to hurt you." Tonks whispered back.
For just a moment, the boy's eyes were haunted, "He hurt me all my life. He's the one that made me go to the Dursleys in the first place." He stated quietly, as though speaking to himself.
Tonks earned a permanent place in Harry's heart when she said, "Snape is fighting to get your guardianship. My mum is your godfather's cousin, though she doesn't like to talk about it. We are related in at least six different ways. If Dumbledore tries to take you back there to those horrible muggles, he'll find them gone, the house burned to the ground. And he'll never find you, as I'll hide you in my house. My dad wouldn't mind in the least."
Harry sought her hand as the others discussed risk factors for the upcoming rituals. They had to take care of the dark magic before they could heal him.
But goblins weren't humans, and didn't spare Harry's feelings. In a way, it was refreshing, as he was matter of factly informed. Of everything.
Harry was pleased to see a house-elf serve snacks as the adults talked. One of the bowls had what appeared to be a squirming mass or mess of worms.
"Conde lumbra. Spicy. It's for you. It would be rude to refuse it, humon." BloodRage told Harry.
The boy had eaten worse things. He grabbed a slippery worm, and slurped it down. As promised, the brown sauce was indeed spicy, but had a great flavor.
"Oh, I detect ginger, garlic, and some kind of other spices. Maybe red pepper? Very nice." Harry commented before reaching for the broth that accompanied the dish, to put out the fire in his mouth.
BloodRage handed his mate a coin before she gave him a pint of a goblin beverage.
"Drink up. You did fine. And no, Miss Tonks, you don't have to try it."
Snacktime was interrupted by a decision having been made by the team.
BrightBlade shouted in goblin, then repeated it in English. They were dealing with something dangerous, and had to keep in mind what was best for everyone involved. Child or not.
Tonks, though, was appalled at the calm, chilling way the healer stated they wouldn't let a dark lord live. Not that they spelled that out to the lad.
Tonks clutched Harry's hand to herself.
It was going to be a long three days.
**OO**
Story Recommendation by our friend Incantations7 "The Sniper" by Dobbyelflord.
s/3918135/1/The-Sniper
**OO**
ƺ parseltongue
₲ galleons
₰ sickles
ķ knuts