Chapter 7: Suspicions.
Before classes had began after the holiday, Snape had received a letter from Dumbledore. He dropped by Dumbledore's office just before breakfast.
"I'm afraid I have grave news. During the holidays, Mr and Ms Granger dropped by my office." He said.
Snape's eyes narrowed, his lips curled in a frown.
"What does this have to do with me? By extension what does this have to do with Potter."
"The Grangers were quite concerned when their daughter was found to be unable to speak. I recommended that they take their daughter to St. Mungos. The doctors there seem to think someone might have been providing means of making sure that their daughter keeps her mouth shut.
"What makes you think that?"
"There is a unremovable device around her neck. Trying to touch or remove it seems to trigger severe pain. Ms Granger has fears that removing the device will bring about her death."
"It could be the work of Quirrell." Snape said.
"I have no doubt that it's Quirrell but one must wonder why he'd stoop to such tactics." Dumbledore mused. "Whatever happens to I have your word that you'll protect the boy?"
"Undoubtedly."
The holiday was short lasting as Snape had taken Harry back to Hogwarts through less than preferable means. Apparation was not one of Harry's strong suits and he had to stop every now and then to let the dizziness subside. Nothing however could dampen his mood now that he was back at Hogwarts however. He was looking forward to meeting his friends again.
On the way to the Great Hall, he met up with Susan who was taken aback by his exuberant behavior.
"What's got you so excited?"
"Oh nothing." Harry replied. "How are you?"
"My two aunts came over for Christmas. Aunt Lindy brought over my three cousins and we enjoyed a nice turkey dinner. You?"
"I had Christmas at Professor Snape's house."
"Really?" Susan asked in surprise.
Harry chuckled.
"As you can see I made it to tell the tale."
"Does he celebrate it?" Susan asked in excited anticipation. The two had tossed some theories over whether or not Snape celebrated Christmas or not with them coming to a theory that he did not.
"No." Harry replied with music. "Not only did he prove our theories right, he thought the holiday was a waste of time and insisted staying in his lab during the rest of the holiday."
"You don't seem to mind it either way." Susan said.
"Haha, well he's quite a fun man to be around if you don't let his insults get to you." Harry said dryly. "Anyway Emily insisted he set up a Christmas tree in the middle of his home."
"How did that turn out?"
"Well I got gifts from Uncle Lionel, Aunt Malory and Professor Dumbledore. After that Professor Snape had Emily clean up the pine quills on the floor for the rest of the week."
Susan's eyes darted up at the darkened look on Harry's face.
"Something seems to bother you."
Harry told Susan everything that had happened.
"He didn't try anything on you did he?" She asked. All that time that Harry had been talking of how fun it was at Snape's house, Susan realised he must have also had been quite scared, and a bit cautious.
"No."
"Luckily Emily was there then."
Susan seemed to be deep in her own thoughts as this occurred not noticing when someone approached them.
Harry poked her to get her attention.
"Oh, I have someone I want you to meet." Susan said eyes popping up in realisation it seemed as she was looking beside Harry.
A girl with a pink face and blonde hair had ran up to Susan.
"This is Hannah Abbott. We became friends before the holiday."
Harry's eyes lit up.
"Nice to meet you, Hannah."
The three headed to the Great Hall where they split off and went their separate ways. At the table Harry could see Ron sitting next to Hermione. He appeared to be sulking.
'He's awfully whiny.' Harry thought.
"Hey Hermione."
Hermione's eyes lit up at the sight of him.
Harry took a seat between her and Seamus.
When there was no reply, Harry turned to ask Seamus about it.
"What's with her?" Harry asked, puzzled by the lack of reply from the girl.
Dean piped up.
"She can't talk because she lost her voice." He said.
"Oh."
Ron looked a tad upset with that revelation.
"You shouldn't tell everyone. She doesn't want much people to know about it." He snapped at Dean.
"Say Harry did you hear about the new professor for History of Magic?"
"Professor Moreau? He took over Binn's position. Snape said Dumbledore sent him on a permanent sabbatical."
"Good. With him around we'd never receive any of our graded weekly homework assignments."
HPSS
Upon sitting in the classroom of History of Magic, Harry could see Professor Moreau had decorated the front of the classroom with mirrors that were reflecting posters with unreadable writing depicted by the fact that some letter of the words were missing giving Harry the impression that the writings were ancient.
He found himself eager for his first class with Professor Moreau. Harry however was unprepared for the insanity he had to face.
The students were murmuring amongst each other as he introduced himself.
Professor Moreau began to lecture on the gradual decay of ancient magics through the years.
"Back in the 1000 a.d, dark magic wasn't illegal like it is now. Over the years the Ministry for Magic has tightened regulations on the practise of some magics which is why there are rarely any masters in one area of magic."
At the sound of snoring, the man looked up in irritation his face contorted and ugly a complete three sixty from his calm demeanor. He shot several sparks from his wand capturing the attention of the class.
"Quit sleeping." He snapped. "I have a class to teach."
Most of the students began to laugh at the professor's silly voice.
"Quiet, I say."
The noise gradually died down.
"Mr Potter."
Harry's eyes looked up in attention.
Professor Moreau motioned towards the seat nearest his desk.
"You are to sit up here in the front of the class."
Harry was puzzled at the professor's word but immediately obeyed.
At the front of the class, Moreau began to ask him some question concerning what he had been talking about. Harry however had only been listening to half of it as he had dosed off every now and then.
"Why does the Ministry for Magic regulate the magic of necromancers?" He asked.
From the information gathered from the lecture, Harry made an educated guess.
"Because it's dangerous?"
"I see you obnoxious students aren't the only ones with a short attention span." He said, his mirth seeming to be at Harry's expense.
Harry flushed.
"Mr Potter, would you mind telling me what exactly were the purpose of geomancers?"
"Are they wizards who study rocks?"
"No need for any cheek. You will address me with respect or face the end of my rod." Moreau said sternly.
Harry gulped. The man looked completely serious. It had been years since the last time he had been issued a spanking.
"As you know geomancers are wizards whose magic is connected to the earth."
Everyone deligently took notes not wanting to fall asleep in case Professor Moreau issued a spanking.
"Mr Potter, mind telling class why you're not taking any notes?"
"Uh-no." Harry said honestly. The paper he had been using to take notes had several scribbled notes that look illegible. He had been in such a hurry since the teacher talked so fast.
"Get up, Mr Potter. I will not be made a fool of."
Harry was bewildered by the complete 360 degree behavior coming from his doctor. The man had seemed quite pleasant despite looking a little looney however now Harry was feeling something equivalent to fear.
"Stand in the right corner, face towards the wall."
"What?"
His confusion didn't seem to register as Professor Moreau mistook it for disobedience grabbing Harry by the upper arm and shoving him in the corner. Harry could feel magic permanently binding him so he was glued to the wall.
The gesture filled Harry with confusion, bewilderment, betrayal and a slight amount of guilt for not being upfront.
Yet a part of himself couldn't help but feel the man had been unfair.
Why hadn't Professor Moreau given him time to say his story?
How could he have left that narrow-minded man to punish him without fighting back in self-defence. His magic practically binded him helplessly against the wall with most of his classmates laughing at him.
The disgust as the professor grew until the end of class in which Harry became free of his enchantments. He didn't like feeling so helpless in front of his enemies and he felt that Professor Moreau was his enemy.
HPSS
That afternoon during lunch, Harry courageously dropped by Snape's office. Usually he'd express caution when approaching him but he was certain if things began to fall to pieces Professor Flitwick or McGonagall would rescue him because by the looks of it they also hated Snape and likely didn't trust Dumbledore.
"Come in."
Harry walked inside seeing Snape pacing around his office in thought.
"What's the matter with you?" He asked curiously.
Snape looked up, appearing to just notice Harry standing in front of him.
"What are you doing here? Don't you have something better to do?" Snape grumbled.
"Actually, I was wondering whether you can tutor me on some useful spells and potions."
"Why? What are you motives, Potter?"
Harry flushed. "Look I'm not trying to cook up any trouble. I'm being honest."
Snape looked at Harry, eyes narrowed in doubt.
"Then what could you possibly want to learn from me that you haven't learned from your other professors?"
"I want to know some spells that I can use to defend myself." Harry explained. "I would ask Professor McGonagall or Professor Flitwick but I heard they're not taught until our second year."
"With good reason. From the looks of it, using them with that brawn of yours you'd cause more destruction than provide any beneficial help."
Harry pouted.
"Look professor, you're a good teacher and I'd really like to learn."
"There's more to this isn't there?" Snape asked irritably. He'd have normally used legilimency to get the answers from the boy, but the control he had over his emotions often slipped when dealing with him.
The boy often tested his emotional control so it was the upmost patience that Snape stood there waiting for him to come clean however Harry just stood there looking very stoic. He also had a sickly palor as if he were ill.
'Is the boy alright?' Snape thought before he could stop it. 'Damn it, I won't be concerned for the Potter incarnate.'
"Look I don't have time for your games." Snape explained. "If you don't have anything more to discuss with me I have grading to do."
Harry's eyes lit up curiously.
"Oh then I can meet you tomorrow to discuss about this then?"
"Yes Potter." Snape muttered, his left hand clasping his head in exasperation.
"Then that's good. I guess I'll stop by tomorrow then." Harry said before running off with a grin on his face before Snape could say anything.
"Pot-Damn it, Potter. I didn't say I agreed to train you. Damn you." Snape growled to himself.
Harry however found himself visibly relieved that Snape hadn't further questioned him. The truth of the matter was there was pride at stake. Professor Moreau made him feel so terribly weak and he felt if he went to Snape just to talk, he'd seem even weaker.
'It probably better not to give the enemy any more information about their opponent than necessary.' Harry thought. Snape did try to kill him after all.
HPSS
During Transfiguration class, Harry was lost in thought and he found it hard to focus as Professor McGonagall began to start her lecture.
Why did Ron look so confused so long ago when Harry had accused him of attacking him? Did he really have no idea why he had attacked Harry? No that was impossible, the intent had been very clear in his eyes so unless there was magic that could cause someone to have deadly intentions towards someone else than that theory was impossible.
Another thing was bothering him as well. Ron had been looking at him with distrustful eyes. Did he have a different memory of the events?
Even from his experience with the otherwise Harry had known there was simply no going by first impressions of a person to convey their personality. Even if his first impression of Snape was spot on it didn't mean that he should judge a person based on first impressions. There was no ruling out anything perhaps Ron might be capable of shedding light on the fuzzy events.
He didn't think Quirrell had anything to do with it either. Really the person he suspected from these events was Snape. That was really the only person he wanted to talk to right now.
After class, his frustration mounted as he approached the door to Snape's office.
Snape didn't appear to be present however.
He needed someone to talk to, the desire to talk to a friend about his worries and anxieties.
His desire to talk with someone led him to look for Susan however who he saw was Hannah lurking by the kitchens.
Draco Malfoy with his two buddies, Blaise and Pansy taunting her.
"I see you're finally away from your lovely posse."
'Posse? Who in their right mind uses that word to describe it?' Harry thought.
Hannah looked absolutely bewildered with fear at the look of the three.
"Get away from me." She cried out.
"Not as courageous without your friends are you?"
"Leave her alone, Malfoy." Harry bravely spat out.
Draco turned eyebrows raised with surprise.
"My, my you've finally turned up for the show?" He taunted.
"I didn't know I was Mr Hotshot."
Draco flushed.
"You have the weirdest taste in friends, Potter."
"Oh, thinking of joining my weird posse?" Harry asked before chuckling at the look on his face.
"I don't have any desire to join your band of friends, Potter." Draco snapped, bumping intentionally into Harry's shoulder as he roughly cut through them heading in the opposite direction.
Blaise chuckled, winking at Harry before they left. It seemed there was more to that boy then what met the eye.
After Draco had left, Harry and Hannah used this time to converse with each other.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Hannah said.
"Where's Susan?"
"Oh she had detention with Professor Moreau."
"I see."
"Did you want to talk to her?"
"Yeah."
"You can talk to me if you want."
Harry told her about his memories of the confrontation with Snape, about his conversation with Ron and how he suspected that his memories weren't quite right.
"There is magic that can cause memories to be erased from anyone's head. Most wizards need discipline to perform that kind of thing though. You could talk to Quirrell, he might know something."
Now that Harry thought about it that did seem like a good idea.
HPSS
Over a period of weeks proving that Harry deciding to learn new powers isn't only instigated by the women in his life, he began training with Snape his motivation fueled by his sense of self-preservation.
Snape started with standard spell used with dueling.
"You are to only use this in self-defence are we clear?" He said sternly, leaving no room for argument.
"Of course." Harry replied, a little puzzled by the twitch of the man's eyebrows which he equivocated with irritation. "What's the matter with you?"
"I believe that is none of your business, Mr Potter."
"None of my business? The irritation on your face is completely obvious."
"If you must know several things were stolen from my classroom in case your curious and if you're the one responsible for this you better come clean right now, Potter."
"I may have stolen several potion ingredients from your stores before I think I made it pretty obvious it was me at the time. Remember, I'm Mr Incompetent." Harry scoffed.
"Sulking doesn't suit you. Now get your arse over here."
Snape began to show him proper wand stance after that instigating a wizarding duel.
"A proper wizarding duel has two people. The one whose in the fight and the second who's on the sidelines in case the other perishes." He explained. "These fights can be with wands, swords or a combination of swords and wands."
"Do we learn about sword fighting in our second year at Hogwarts also?"
"No that's reserved for third years as it's quite dangerous. If the Ministry for some reason finds it in their heart to ban it there is a chance you won't even learn about it."
Harry looked a little grim at that piece of information.
"Since we have no seconds, we are going to stage a duel so to speak in order to practise your spell-casting. The only way to learn more efficiently is to practise this in real life combat so I will not be going easy on you."
"I didn't expect you to." Harry said in return.
"On the count of three."
Snape was poised in the dueling position, arm extended in the back of his head at a ninety degree angle with his wand pointed straight at Harry.
"One, two...Expelliarmus."
Harry ran to the side in just the nick of time as the red light hit the back wall of Snape's office which had been cleared of potential obstacles.
"Now that's not playing fair, Professor." Harry said, laughing mirthlessly. Fear fueled his moves now.
"Would you learn otherwise?" Snape replied with sadistic malice. "Terraemotor."
Harry saw large rock began to rise from the ground following a trail Snape had made with his wand.
The rocks were heading towards him.
"Bombarda." Harry said.
The rocks shattered in small pieces.
"Diffindo."
Harry was startled at the use of the severing hex.
"Terroscutum."
The bits of debree left by the rocks formed into an earth shield that had stopped the severing hex from getting through.
"That's a handy piece of craftwork." Snape said panting as if their duel had him working up a sweat.
"You certainly seemed to enjoy it." Harry pointed out not in the slightest bit amused.
The revelation however didn't make Snape all too happy. He found himself so carried away he had nearly killed the boy with the severing hex it was lucky he had taught him that shielding charm from before. It was a fairly minor one that wasn't as great as a protego would be but it seemed to do it's job.
"We are going to practice more next week, it could be helpful to quickly maneuver yourself away from spells should you find yourself in a situation where you are attacked." Snape explained. "It could also help buy you time should you find yourself in a situation where you are bombarded by spells and need to think of a strategic defence."
"Um Professor."
"What is it?" Snape asked irritably.
"Did you ever get the feeling that you might be forgetting something important?
Snape found himself perplexed.
"What could have possibly instigated that question?"
Did Snape not know that he had tried to attack Harry nearly a month ago?
"You're all about details. The duel. We did this before, what's different now?" Harry said with an expression of utter perplexity.