Waking up, Harry immediately knew something was wrong. For one thing, this was NOT his lumpy mattress, or the hard floor of his cupboard. Also, he didn't wake up to his usual aches and pains, horrible nightmares, or his aunt's screeching. Slowly opening his eyes, memories came rushing back to him. He vaguely remembered the headmaster showing him to this room and him collapsing on his bed, not even bothering to take off his shoes.
Looking around the room, he found that it seemed much bigger then the boy's dorm in Gryffindor tower. The bed itself was two times as big as those beds, and the walls were a royal blue color. There was a wardrobe and desk the seemed to be made of dark polished wood. The carpet was a beige color and the bed drapings were a mixture of various shades of blue and beige.
Harry, somewhat liking the homey feeling the room gave off, opened the wardrobe to find his trunk there. He didn't bother unpacking, not knowing how long he was going to be there. He searched through the trunk for his wand. Then he opened the pillowcase he must've dropped by the bed earlier and searched for one of Dudley's better old shirts.
After he finally found one that wasn't too big and only had a few small holes, he grabbed a pair of old, oversized jeans. After putting the case by his trunk, he realized that his only belt was left at the Dursleys.
Even if he had brought it, he didn't think he would even want to wear it again. He would prefer well-fitting trousers to wearing a belt ever again. He would have to ask Professor Dumbledore if he was allowed to do magic whilst there. He then headed off to open the nearest of the two doors, which happened to lead to a bathroom. After taking care of his needs, he went to sit in the chair by the desk, pondering what he was to do.
He couldn't go flying, as he was still soar, and he wouldn't want to be murdered by Snape for hurting himself worse and be sent off to the infirmary. How he truly hated that place. No sooner did he finished that thought did Dobby apparate in with a loud pop, nearly causing Harry to fall back off the chair. Attaching his self to Harry's leg, causing a flinch from said boy, he began.
"Mister Harry Potter sir! How great it is for Dobby to be seeing you! What Mr. Potter is doing here during the summer? Dobby is honored to be helping you on headmaster Dumbledore's orders. What is you be needing? Dobby was sent to ask what Harry Potter is to be wanting for breakfast…"
Harry couldn't help but smile at the house elf's overexcitement. Attempting to stop his babbling, Harry interrupted.
"Hey Dobby! It's great to see you again. You can just send up whatever's been prepared already thanks."
He said all of this while slowly attempting to pry the elf off of his bad leg.
Harry wasn't exactly surprised when the house elf burst into tears, wailing about how Harry was such a great wizard and everything before apparating away. Barely a minute later, the elf was back with the food and began his rant for a good 10 minutes before he was coaxed to go make sure everything was ok with the other elves. After eating, Harry decided to go look at the Marauder's map before leaving the room.
Seeing that what the Headmaster said about the current attendance of the castle was true, he slipped the map into his trunk and left, not noticing the spot of Professor Snape moving briskly away from where his temporary rooms lay. It was soon that Harry realized he was never able to truly explore the castle during school time. Not to mention the fact that he always had to watch his back for Slytherins when down in the dungeons. There were rumors that only a small part of the castle was being used at the moment. Right there he decided that he would take advantage of all the extra time he had by exploring the castle.
Settling to start from the bottom up, he went off to one of the slightly darker parts of the dungeons. Despite the fact that everyone was gone from the castle, Harry couldn't help but be jumpy at even the slightest movement. He felt somewhat like he did entering the chamber of secrets, which was also Slytherin's territory, even though he was the only one able to get into that place. Lost in thought of the chamber where he had found Ginny unconscious, he fell backwards as he walked into a doorknob of a huge door.
Muttering about the ache he now felt in his chest and backside, he moved to open the door. He was surprised as he realized that the door was opened. The torches ignited as he entered the room, lighting a chilled, somewhat damp, chamber. It took his thoughts back to when he ended up flooing to Knockturn alley by accident in his second year. The dark atmosphere was similar. At Knockturn Ally, there were dark items littering the shop. Here there were jars filled with liquid and other….things.. sitting on racks attached to the wall. He could barely make out a few large cauldrons in the back corner.
He stayed well away from the cupboards, knowing that there could be many dangerous things in them, like boggarts. Looking around, he saw various things that reeked of dark magic so strong that he could actually feel it. It seemed to dampen his spirits even more. There was an eerie silence except for something dripping from one of the recently used cauldrons. Recently used. That would mean this belonged to someone here or something. Probably professor Snape.
He went rigid as he saw what looked A LOT like a death eater mask on one of the marble tables by the cauldrons. A black cloak partly covered it and there was a half empty vile of something dark green next to them. On another table lay a pensieve. It was dark and worn with age, but a pensieve nevertheless. One might think it was broken, as the silver liquid that normally lay inside was, in this case, a dark shade of grey, with a tinge of blood red and a halo of black.
He silently tried to calm himself. Despite the fact that Snape was a spy for the light, he was still terrified of that mask, which was only seen in the worst of times. He was curious, yes. But even he realized that searching through any of those things would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. Any one of them could be a portkey leading straight to Voldemort. Deciding it was definitely time he left the freaky place he retreated slowly out of the room… until he backed up against something. First thought he had was that the door has closed silently on its own, but he went green as he realized that doors didn't breathe.
Scowling, the professor continued to prowl the dudgeons in hopes of calming his nerves. He was silently hoping that the headmaster thought to leave the potions master's chambers after his exit. Thinking of what he was going to tell the brat the next day did not help to settle his anger. He was actually being made to help Potter. Of all people. Ok. Maybe the boy would need help with everything if things were that serious. Which he was sure it was. He actually cringed away from the headmaster's touch. Obviously, it meant the damage was serious.
Nevertheless, that was what Albus was for! He helped Severus dearly, but what gave him the idea the Severus would be able to do the same? And to POTTER of all people. The one person that he truly couldn't stand. Severus was sure that the feeling was mutual too. He could tell the headmaster had wanted him to share past experiences with the boy. Bah! Like that was possible. The menace would probably go off and tell all his lackeys about the greasy git's miserable childhood. They'd probably have a good laugh about it too. Probably the same reaction they had when they found out he had been the recipient of James Potter's taunts, increased tenfold.
A new wave of anger surged him as he remembered that the brat had the nerve to look into his personal memories the year before. He had practically thrown Potter out that day. He nearly stopped in his tracks when he realized something. He couldn't exactly remember how Potter had reacted to being bodily thrown out, but he did remember that Potter had immediately ran out to escape the potions masters' wrath. He was blinded by anger that day. He sighed in frustration when he couldn't recall if the boy was truly scared that day or not. Was he truly so oblivious?
Snapping into reality as he herd a low rustled movement, he looked up to hear something lurking in the darker part of the dungeons. Taking caution and having his wand at the ready, the professor silently made his way towards the origin of the sound.
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