Disclaimer: Severus Snape belongs to JK Rowling.

Chapter 5: Snape

Diagon Alley

Severus Snape didn't let his emotions show on his face, but he was probably in more shock that most of the students this morning. Albus and Hagrid had been driven out of the castle in the space of an hour—something that Umbridge woman had been trying to do for months. True, he appreciated the discipline she was imposing on the school, but she and Fudge were dooming them all long term. This was going too far.

When Pomona handed him the book, he examined it as quickly as he could. He flipped through the initial pages, saw that it was a muggle publisher, saw the copyright date that had so disturbed Minerva. That would theoretically explain where the information came from, but it raised a lot more questions.

As he tried to collect his emotions, he bought some time with, "I feel I must repeat Filius's request: are we really continuing with this farce?"

"It is hardly a farce, Professor Snape," Umbridge replied. "We've already seen how vital this information is. We would be remiss in our duties if we did not see it through."

"I fail to see why we need to read this juvenile rambling to the entire student body."

"As I said before, Professor, it is the fastest way to correct the lies that have been told to them and the public."

"Quite so," Fudge agreed. "Hogwarts has been the centre of misinformation thanks to Potter and Dumbledore. It's only right that we begin publicly correcting the lies here as well."

"Minister, we've just lost two of our staff!" Minerva protested.

"That will be handled soon enough, and the rest of you have nothing else to do this morning," Fudge shot back. "We'll need to restructure anyway. We might as well take care of all of it at once."

And what did he mean by that? More firings coming? Severus wondered if there was any incriminating evidence against him in the book. Albus had always protected him, but he was gone now. What about the other teachers? Sadly, it didn't look like he was getting out of this anytime soon. They would all just have to push through it, at least until Umbridge let them out of the Great Hall. Some days, it just didn't pay to get out of bed. "Chapter Five: Diagon Alley," he grumbled.

"Harry woke early the next morning. Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.

"'It was a dream,' he told himself firmly. 'I dreamed a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards. When I open my eyes, I'll be at home in my cupboard…'"

His voice trailed off. Oh, that had hit too close to home. Harry Potter sounded more like a young Severus Snape in that moment than James Potter had in his whole life.

He should have seen the signs.

"Ahem," Umbridge said. He kept reading, using his Occlumency to separate his thoughts from the words on the page.

Granted, Potter did a good job at hiding it. He was short and scrawny, yes, but so was his father. He didn't have trouble making friends, or at least, the ones he was close to stuck by him. He was socially well-adjusted and—there was no other word for it—snarky. He really didn't initiate human contact, but he didn't seem averse to it, at least from Granger and the Weasley brood.

But Severus knew specifically how to spot the signs of abuse, and if the book was accurate—and Albus seemed to think it was—Potter had led anything but a charmed life. He wasn't as badly abused physically as Severus had been, but emotionally, it seemed hard to believe, but it might have been worse. And even if he'd otherwise missed the signs, he definitely should have put the pieces together from Potter's abysmal Occlumency lessons.

Of course, he knew why he hadn't; he hadn't wanted to see the signs. And now…he thought might actually resent Potter more for having overcome the abuse so well when he himself had been so badly screwed up, but contrary to popular belief, Severus did have enough humility to reserve judgement and wait to hear what the rest of the book said—if they ever got that far without turning the school upside-down. Unfortunately, that still left the big question: what was he going to do now?

Albus had left one instruction: Make sure she reads all the way to the end of the book. He had anticipated that Umbridge might use the book to force him out (which was concerning in itself), but he believed that the full story would vindicate him. That told Severus two things: first, Albus believed the book was accurate and would record Quirrell's and the Dark Lord's actions faithfully, and second, Umbridge hadn't read the whole thing. There was no way she would do this if she knew that it confirmed the Dark Lord's return.

Severus thought both of those assumptions were dubious. The smart thing to do would be to start making contingencies in case Dumbledore's "plan" went off the rails. Searching for where the book came from would be pointless. However, finding out where Umbridge had got it might be doable. He had some capital with her, and he doubted she knew Occlumency. He would also need to start laying the groundwork to discredit the book if it turned out to be an elaborate trap. And as for the Dark Lord…He would know what he thought soon enough. Hopefully, a short message that he was investigating and attempting to mitigate any damage would suffice for now. In the meantime, he needed to prepare for himself. If Dumbledore was right about the book (books?), Severus might not be able to show his face in Britain for a while.

As he read, he learnt that, contrary to Pomona's belief, Harry did explicitly agree to cover up some of Hagrid's magic use, but in that particular instance, it was mostly harmless: "'If I was ter—er—speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?'

"'Of course not,' said Harry, eager to see more magic."

"Wait a minute," Hermione said to Harry. "If Hagrid flew in and took the boat out, how did your relatives get off the island?"

"I think the owner of the hut got worried when they didn't come back the next day and went to get them," Harry replied.

Ginny got a confused look on her face and said, "How did he fly to the island, though? No broom would be able to carry him, and it couldn't have been the motorbike because it wasn't there."

Everyone stared at each other. There was no sound except for Snape's droning. No one seemed to have an answer.

"Fawkes could have done it," Harry said. "I don't know if he would've, though."

Hermione considered adding it to her list of questions, but she decided to just jot it down in her notes, since it wasn't as important.

"Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters and saying loudly, 'See that, Harry? Things these muggles dream up, eh?'"

Severus stopped in disbelief. Were wizards raised in the magical world really this ignorant? Even Hagrid, couldn't be that clueless, could he? "Minerva, as much as I hate to agree with Professor Umbridge, sending Hagrid into a muggle area was a disaster," he said. "Not only is he incapable of not drawing attention to himself if he tried, but I'm surprised the train could support his weight."

He could tell Minerva wanted to defend Hagrid, but he was oddly pleased to see that no words were coming to her—and with good reason. He wondered how much trouble it had been for the Ministry to clean that up.

It also didn't help when Hagrid mentioned how much he wanted a dragon.

Surprisingly, he thought, Potter took being mobbed by admirers in the Leaky Cauldron in stride—not basking in it, but not cringing away from it either. Then, Severus had to suppress his emotions yet again at reading about Professor Quirrell. That was going to be a mess.

"Huh, I don't think he was possessed yet," Harry said.

"How come?" asked Hermione.

"He shook my hand without turning to ash. And he wasn't wearing the turban yet."

"Huh. That does raise the question, though…" She added to her list:

8. Did Dumbledore know he'd hired a follower of Voldemort to teach DADA?

9. Why did Dumbledore tolerate Quirrell's clearly dangerous presence?

In the book, Hagrid moved Harry along from the Leaky Cauldron to Gringotts. For most witches and wizards, this was old hat, but Harry's wide-eyed description was a fresh look. Even Hermione didn't experience the wonder she once had in the Alley after having been there enough times. There was, however, one bit about the bank that got her attention.

"'If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there,' said Griphook.

"'How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?' Harry asked.

"'About once every ten years,' said Griphook with a rather nasty grin."

"That's not right!" Hermione hissed. "They shouldn't be allowed to use lethal countermeasures. There should at least be an alarm on the vault."

"They're goblins, Hermione," Ron said. "That's how they do things."

"That still doesn't make it right." She started to at that to her list of questions as well, but she thought better of it and started a new list of those that weren't of immediate importance, adding it below the one about Hagrid.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Ron said. Harry nodded in agreement.

"In the back of the shop," Snape described Harry's visit to Madam Malkins, "a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes."

"That was Malfoy," Harry told his friends, and from the description, it wasn't hard for everyone else to figure it out soon enough. Neither Harry nor Malfoy learnt the other's name in that encounter, but the Harry in the book was left with a distinctly negative impression of him despite not being directly insulted. No one had much to say about that, though, since everyone knew Malfoy could get much nastier.

Severus noted how inadequate Potter felt about not knowing anything about the magical world. He really needn't have worried, since muggle-borns never knew anything entering the magical world either—although it also wasn't an uncommon feeling for those muggle-borns. Nonetheless, the brat was much more in awe at the displays of magic around him. Gloomily, he remembered Lily's own wide-eyed wonder when he first told her about magic…

It was good to see old Ollivander was just as creepy as ever, if a little too intrusive, talking about the Dark Lord's wand like that…He stopped.

"Is there a problem, Professor Snape?" Umbridge said.

There was, of sorts, but it would be unwise to say it himself. He looked down the table to his colleagues, and Filius made the connection: "It seems Ollivander knows You-Know-Who's identity."

"That's hardly relevant," Umbridge bristled.

Not to her, Severus thought, but it was significant and potentially useful to the Order (if Albus didn't already know). Not many people did know the Dark Lord's true identity, and far fewer were willing to admit it. If Ollivander could be persuaded to confirm he was back…but that was a matter for later.

"That was rude of him," Neville said to Harry. "He ought to have known that would make you uncomfortable."

Harry shrugged, not letting it bother him: "It was more the way he was acting that got to me. He's kinda creepy."

Hagrid blatantly lied about not using magic, but Ollivander ignored it and got to Harry's wand matching. Most everyone smiled, being quite familiar with the wandmaker's eccentricities. It took rather a lot longer than usual, though, and Harry did grow concerned when he remembered how his visit to Ollivander had ended.

"'I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather—'" Severus stopped seeing what sensitive information he was about to release. Albus wasn't here to intervene if he thought it was going too far. He looked to Minerva, but she was no help. She might not even know. He had to make this decision for himself—if he could even stop Umbridge at all. The Dark Lord already knew of the connection between the wands, he reasoned, so there was no threat there. Would it hurt Potter's reputation further, making people see him as a rising dark lord instead of just a liar? Actually…no, it probably wouldn't. That wasn't how wizards thought. This could work. "'—just one other,'" he continued. "'It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother—why, it's brother gave you that scar.'"

A quiet gasp rippled through the Great Hall. "Wow, I didn't know that," Neville whispered.

Harry's head dropped to the table with a thud, and he groaned softly. "Everyone's gonna think I'm evil now, aren't they?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Ron said casually.

"Yeah, haven't you ever read the old stories?" George agreed. "Twin wands in the hands of bitter enemies? That's a classic. Everyone knows You-Know-Who's the evil one, so that makes you the good one."

Harry looked up. "Seriously? In muggle stories it would mean I was following in his footsteps or something."

"Eh, muggles. What do they know?" Fred said.

"'I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter…After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things—terrible, yes, but great.'"

"I don't know," Harry said. "I really don't think Ollivander's helping."

"I'm with Harry," Hermione agreed. "What was he thinking saying something like that to an eleven-year-old?"

"But now he can finish filling out his tragic hero card," George said with a grin.

"Well, sort of," Fred corrected. "To really do it right, the wise old mentor has to die at the end of the first act, and that'd be bad for everyone, so…maybe don't."

"Gee, thanks," Harry grumbled.

"The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone."

"Aha! So not only did Hagrid perform multiple acts of illegal magic, conspicuously assault a muggle, and deliver a decidedly substandard introduction to the magical world," Umbridge said, "but he also abandoned an eleven-year-old boy on an unfamiliar train and expected him to get home safely."

"I'm more concerned that he didn't tell Harry how to get onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters," Minvera said quietly. Hagrid really hadn't been a good choice for that job. "However, he's already gone, Dolores, so the point is…hardly relevant," she echoed. "Incidentally, it is growing close to lunch time. I suspect we don't have time to read another chapter, especially since the next most senior teacher is Professor Binns."

Umbridge checked her watch. "Quite right, Professor McGonagall, and I'm sure the Minister has other business to attend to. Attention everyone," she called out to the students. "Lunch will be served shortly, and the teachers will distribute shortened schedules for the afternoon. We will resume this public reading tomorrow promptly at nine o'clock.

The reaction to that wasn't too bad from most of the students. The story was actually very interesting. That was no comfort to Harry, though.

Albus Dumbledore had not been idle in the hours since he left the castle. He had been thrown from his own school, but there was much more he could still do, and his first order of business had been to figure out where that twice-damned book had come from. He was very lucky that both Minerva and Severus had got a close look at it, and each had sent him a message that afternoon. If the book was truly from the future, that was troubling in a number of ways, but he needed to check to be sure. He started at Grimmauld Place.

"Dumbledore?" Molly said in surprise when she met him at the door. "Is something wrong?"

"A great deal, I'm afraid, Molly. Your children are safe at Hogwarts, but we have a far more serious problem."

"What? What is it?" she said.

"Could you call Sirius and Remus, please? I have some questions for you."

"Well…alright. Come in; we'll meet in the kitchen."

The three of them assembled quickly—the only Order members in the house right now, and coincidentally the three he most wanted to talk to. There were other possibilities—Arthur especially—but they seemed the most likely if Harry himself wasn't involved.

"What's wrong, Albus?" Sirius asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I will explain, but first, I have some questions. Things have happened that I do not understand, and I hoped you could shed some light." That certainly got their attention. "Do you know which room Harry slept in at his relatives' house?" he said.

Sirius shook his head: "Haven't had much time to talk to him about things like that."

"Me neither," said Remus.

"I think he mentioned something about his cousin's spare room?" Molly said in confusion. "Why?"

Nothing about the cupboard, then. And they would be in for a shock if this hit the newspaper, as he expected it would. "In a moment," he said. "Did Minerva ever tell you about the night we dropped Harry off there?"

"What? No," she said. "Or nothing important, at least."

"Did something happen to Harry?" Sirius demanded.

"Not directly, no," Dumbledore said. Or not recently, anyway. "The situation is far more complicated. Umbridge has made a move we did not anticipate, using information she should not have had. I have been ousted from the castle."

"Ousted?!" Molly gasped over the men's shouting. "You mean, she got you sacked? But the students—"

"Minerva is still there, and I am hopeful that she will remain there. Unfortunately, Umbridge uncovered some of my past mistakes, and she and the Minister used them against me."

"You said information," Remus said. "Do you mean…?"

"Someone has been revealing secrets. Secrets that are harmful to the Order, to me, and especially to Harry. They have not yet reached the big secrets, but I fear it is coming if I cannot track down the source of the leak."

"Okay, that's bad," he said.

"Indeed," Dumbledore replied. Well, that settled it. They weren't involved—at least not in the present. They didn't seem to know the requisite information now, but an Order member or group of Order members working together in the future could conceivably do it. Little else made sense. But that didn't explain how the book had got a year or more back in time. Could the intent have been benevolent? While the book revealed some hard truths, if it recorded everything faithfully, it could ultimately be beneficial so long as it did not reveal sensitive information like the prophecy. He just didn't have enough to go on right now. If he knew more of the circumstances of how Umbrige acquired it, he might have enough information to take action, but until then, all he could do was wait and hope—and prepare for the worst.

"How much trouble is Harry in?" Sirius asked.

"Beyond the obvious, that is?" Remus added.

"Physically, very little. Mentally, however, I fear he had relieved quite the shock. His relationship with his relatives was publicly revealed."

"Ouch," Sirius groaned. Though he didn't know about the cupboard, he knew enough about the Dursleys to get that it was bad.

"Yes, and moreover, there could be legal trouble for him further down the road if we do not play things carefully," Dumbledore added.

"Albus, where are these secrets coming from?" Remus demanded.

"An unauthorised biography of Harry's life. Not written by Rita Skeeter. Rather, one that describes his life at Hogwarts in a stunning level of detail and accuracy. I am trying to ascertain where it came from, but I am having no luck."

"A biography?" Sirius said in confusion. "Is it that bad?"

"I'm afraid he has already had a number of personal secrets revealed. He will probably be wanting to talk to you soon, although given your limited mobility—"

"That shouldn't be a problem," he interrupted. "I gave him a communication mirror. He can call me any time he wants."

"Except he hasn't called you at all yet, has he?" Remus pointed out.

"Hmm, you're right. I wonder why he hasn't used the mirror." He growled slightly. "If I could just ask him about it—but we need the mirror for that. Any way we can look into it, Moony?"

Remus thought for a bit: "I think I have an idea."

Harry was the talk of the castle all afternoon. It wasn't as negative as it had been before, given the new revelations about him, but he didn't much appreciate the mawkish sympathy half the school was shoving his way. Honestly, he was over it. And most of the teachers were even worse than the students, though they at least didn't have much time to talk to him. He mostly stayed out of people's way except for Ron and Hermione, but after classes ended, Hermione insisted they needed to get answers right away (with which he agreed), so the three of them made their way to Professor McGonagall's office.

She opened her door, and Harry said, "Professor, we need to talk."

McGonagall nodded firmly: "Indeed we do, Mr. Potter. Come in. Come in."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats, and Hermione pulled out her list of questions. However, before they could get started, McGonagall removed her glasses and rubbed her forehead wearily. "Before we begin, Mr. Potter, I want to say that I can't tell you how sorry I am about my part in the ordeal you've suffered," she said. "I made several very serious mistakes regarding what Professor Dumbledore did with you. If there is anything I can do to help you, I will make every effort."

Harry did his best to answer calmly: "I'd really rather never have to see them again. Otherwise, I just want to put the past behind me."

"Very well," she nodded. "If it is my decision to make at the end of the school year, consider it done. Unfortunately, with the way things are right now, I can't guess what the situation will be next week, let alone months from now."

"I understand, Professor. So what's up with the book?"

"I wish I knew Mr. Potter. The book recorded things that I was quite certain only Professor Dumbledore and I knew, but it also recorded things that I'm pretty sure neither of us knew. I presume everything you heard was accurate to the best of your knowledge?"

All three of them nodded.

"But how could it have been written?" Hermione said. "Legilimency?"

"It's theoretically possible, Miss Granger, but that is not our leading theory," she said. "Professor Dumbledore is an expert Occlumens, and I know enough to notice if I'm being read. No…I'm only telling you this because you three have experience with time turners…Professor Snape and I believe that the book is from the future."

"The future?" Hermione said with wide eyes.

"Yes, we got an up-close look at it. The publication date is listed as 1997. It appears to have been printed by a muggle publisher under a pseudonym. If it was truly written in the future, that would be the easiest way for the author to learn all of the secrets it contains."

"But if it was a muggle publisher, wouldn't that violate the Statute of Secrecy?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, although if it were published as fantasy, it would not attract much attention."

"Hmm…Can you tell me the author's name? I can ask my parents to search through muggle databases."

"I suppose, although I doubt they'll turn up anything. It was J. K. Rowling."

Hermione made a note of that on her parchment while Harry asked the most important question: "How did Umbridge get the book?"

"I have no idea. I was as surprised as you are by this whole mess…You have questions, I assume?"

"I wrote them down, ma'am," Hermione said, handing over the parchment.

McGonagall read the questions over, frowning as she moved down the list. They didn't paint her and Albus in a very good light, but they were definitely important. Skipping the first three, as she had already told them all she knew, she took a deep breath and started talking. "Number four: why Professor Dumbledore claimed not to know how Mr. Potter had survived…I'm afraid I can't answer that. The Headmaster keeps far more secrets than you know, and not all of them for good reasons in my opinion."

"He knew at the end of my first year," Harry said. "After the thing with Quirrell."

McGonagall flinched as she remembered that would probably come out in the book. "Earlier than that, Mr. Potter. I'm afraid he did know that very night." she said. "And that ties into the next question; that one I can answer, although I did not learn the true reason until last summer. Professor Dumbledore may not approve of me telling you, but I think we're past that point now. There is a protective charm that he placed on you, Mr. Potter, the day after you were taken from your parents' home. I don't fully understand it. I can't even tell you whether he found it in some ancient tome, or he invented it himself. You will remember that your mother's protection prevented You-Know-Who from touching you when he confronted you through Quirrell."

Harry nodded.

"Professor Dumbledore has explained to me that this charm extends that protection to the place where you live, so long as you are living with a blood relative of the one who saved you."

"Oh…" Harry whispered. He leaned back and slowly nodded in understanding. "And the only choice was Aunt Petunia," he said.

"Yes. As long as you are living with your relatives, You-Know-Who cannot cross the property line. If you spend a minimum of several weeks per year there, they are protected even when you are absent, and the house is available to you as a safe-house. The charm will last until you turn seventeen."

"But you'll keep him out now, Professor?" Ron spoke up.

"If I can, Mr. Weasley. The protections on Headquarters should be more than adequate. I hope that is a satisfactory answer for you, Mr. Potter. At the time, when many Death Eaters were still at large, I would have even said it was necessary if I knew about it, although I would have reevaluated it later."

"I think I understand, ma'am," Harry agreed. "I still don't want to go back, though."

"Quite understandable."

Hermione has been surprised and even a little amazed at this revelation, but her feelings quickly shifted back to anger as thought about it. "That still doesn't explain why no action was taken with the Dursleys when Mrs. Figg knew he was being mistreated," she reminded them.

"Unfortunately, I fear only Professor Dumbledore himself knows that," McGonagall replied sadly. "I was not aware of Mr. Potter's treatment, or I would have had a frank discussion with his relatives, at the least. I can only guess that he wanted to ensure the greatest chance that Mr. Potter would be able to remain there, but I still consider it a serious mistake on his part. Not enough to arrest him, mind you, but enough that I will be keeping a closer eye on him from now on."

"And the letters? And Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Mind, it was pretty funny," Ron chimed in.

"Funny, but counterproductive, Mr. Weasley. Another thing I can't hope to understand. The foibles of an eccentric old man, perhaps. And as for your final questions, Quirrell was not possessed when the Headmaster hired him—or rather, rehired him, as he had been the Muggle Studies teacher before that. I'm afraid I don't know when he figured it out, but I suspect it was late enough that he decided, since Quirrell had not hurt anyone yet, he could safely wait and keep a closer watch on him and hope the curse would deal with him at no cost to us."

"Bloody hell! Wasn't that dangerous?" Ron said.

"Certainly, but it was also exactly the kind of thing the Headmaster would do. I'm sorry to say I expect there will be further trouble for him if and when that decision is revealed. I do wish I had better answers for you three, but that is the way it is. Now, did you have any other questions?"

The trio looked at each other, and Harry asked one last thing: "What do we do now?"

"I'm afraid there is very little we can do at this point, Mr. Potter. Professor Dumbledore is already investigating and trying to mitigate the damage. If you can uncover any relevant information, bring it to me at once. Otherwise, do not let yourself be alone with Umbridge or in any other position where you could be arrested. Do not get detention with her. I will protect you from punishment for any that happened before this year, but I can't do much after. And if you simply need to talk about what happened, I and several of the other teachers will be available to you at any time."

"Erm, thank you, Professor," he said awkwardly. "Maybe not right now, but…thanks."

"So we use the emergency override to force the connection and shine a light through it," Remus explained.

"And we can at least see what's on the other side," Sirius agreed. They connected to Harry's mirror and took a look. The other side appeared to be a sheet of brown paper. "But that's the paper I wrapped it in! He never even opened it?" he said, sounding betrayed.

"Well…maybe he was worried you'd put yourself in danger if he called you for help?" Remus tried to cheer up his friend.

"I…I don't know. Maybe. I just wish I could talk to him about it."

"You'd have to get his attention first, though. And no other way of getting a message into the castle is safe."

"I know. It's just…Wait a minute!" Sirius perked up with a smile that signalled an imminent prank. "Molly, I need your lungs!"

Harry was lying in bed that night, trying to process everything that had happened, when he heard a strange sound. Looking around for its source, he found that, impossibly, it seemed to be coming from his trunk. And it sounded eerily like Mrs. Weasley shouting into a pillow.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, YOU OPEN THIS THING UP RIGHT NOW!"

"What the hell?"