Chapter 12: The Boy Gets Many Letters
"Why did I get so many letters, Uncle?" Harry asked a few days before his eleventh birthday.
There was a pile of mail on the kitchen table that Harry had received that morning. Some had arrived through normal means, others not so much.
"I think it is because you are who you are, Har," Bella answered before Charlie could, jam coating her lips. She had baked scones that morning just so she could eat the apricot jam that some old lady in their neighborhood had made.
"There's some letters here for you too, Bell." Harry held up a smaller pile than his.
She frowned. Her magic had been non-existent until her ninth birthday. Sarah Black had told her that she was a late bloomer and that it was nothing to be ashamed of.
"Which schools?" she asked, walking closer to the table.
"Ilvermorny, Salem Academy, Seattle School for Magic. Hey, you even have some of the South American schools here! Oh, and Hogwarts." He deflated as he said the last name. Harry wasn't very keen on Hogwarts, but Astor Malfoy had told him that should he not go there, there would be a lot of problems coming from Headmaster Dumbledore.
Not that Astor wanted to pressure Harry into attending the supposedly 'best school in the world', which was a horrible lie. Hogwarts barely even sat in the last place of the top ten list of magical schools.
Bella's frown deepened as she liberated the letters from her cousin. "But… why?"
Harry shrugged. He didn't know why even Hogwarts and all the schools would send them invitations to attend their particular school.
Charlie drank his morning coffee, his eyes twinkling with amusement. The children had waited so long to get their letters and Bella won't be eleven until September, which made him wonder why she even got a letter so early. Normally she would've had to wait until the next school year for her letter.
"Which school do you think is best?"
Harry looked up from a letter that showed a magical military school's logo on the top right corner. "I don't know, Bella. Perhaps this one?" He held up the military school one, a mischievous grin on his lips.
Bella huffed. "It isn't funny, Har. We can't choose all of the schools."
"Well….some of them has brochures, Bell," Harry said. "If we go through them we might just find the best school for you."
"What about you?"
"….."
"What do you mean with '….'?"
"If I don't choose Hogwarts, I will have to choose one where I can't be found by British Magical officials, Bell."
Bella frowned at that. "That is so unfair. I want to go where you go. What if I didn't get a letter from the school you choose?"
"Then I'll choose a school that you have received a letter from."
"But, Har…"
"But, Bell…"
The phone ringing put an end to their antics. Charlie stood from the table to go answer it. He gestured for the children to take the letters elsewhere while he spoke to the person on the other line. They obeyed, but gave him questioning looks. He just shrugged at them.
"Who do you think is on the other side?" Harry asked as they placed the letters on the coffee table in the living room.
"Probably some lover."
Harry grimaced. "I did not want to hear that."
Bella giggled. "You asked, Har. Now, let's open these letters. Maybe we'll find the best schools for us. And no, you do not need to choose the same school as me."
Harry rolled his eyes and picked up a letter from Castelobruxo, the most popular of the South American schools. "Wanna go to Brazil?"
It was Bella's turn to roll her eyes.
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"And have you told him where to find me, Petunia?"
"No, Charles. I don't think that he'll appreciate the fact that I gave up the boy."
Charlie sighed. He didn't expect a call from his half-sister this morning. It wasn't her usual time to call. After that first Christmas visit, Petunia had called every two weeks to speak with Charlie.
"Is there something else you are not telling me, Petunia? You sound unhappy. Is it just the visit of one of Harry's people, or is there something more?" There was a pause and then a sigh from the other side. "Talk to me, Sis. Maybe I can be of assistance to you."
"You can't help, Charles. There is nothing whatsoever that you can do for me. I have to go. Vernon will be here soon. He has requested some leave from work."
Without so much as a "Goodbye" Petunia ended the call on the other side and Charlie felt his mood plummet from the height that it had been that morning.
He placed the phone back on the bracket on the wall and left the kitchen to go see if the children wanted his help in choosing schools. He was halfway there when the doorbell rang. With a deep sigh, he changed direction, walking to the front door where he was met with the sight of a tall man in an impeccable black suit.
"Hello," Charlie greeted the man, his eyes taking in the large hook nose and greasy black hair. Not to mention the black eyes that looked at him with so much disdain that Charlie wondered what he had done to deserve such from the stranger.
"Are you Charles Swan?"
"Yes, and you are?"
"I am Professor Severus Snape. I am here as a representative of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Am I correct in assuming that Isabella Swan is your daughter?"
"Yes, that is correct." Charlie eyed the man with suspicion because of the tone of his voice. He didn't exactly overflow with friendliness. Charlie wondered how many parents sent their children to Hogwarts if this man was a representative.
"May I come inside? I would like to speak to you for a few moments about your daughter's possible attendance of Hogwarts."
Charlie pushed down the urge to sigh and tell the man to take a hike, but instead he held open the door for the man. He really did not have the energy to speak to him, but had no choice in the matter. Such a common courtesy as politeness costs nothing, right?
"Kids," he called out as he closed the door after Severus Snape stepped into the house. "Clear the living room. We have a guest." He looked to his visitor with a look of apology. "The letters arrived today. They have been going through them in the living room."
"You have two children?"
Charlie nodded, gesturing for Professor Snape to follow him to the living room. "One is my own child. The other is my nephew, whom has been living with us since he was four."
"I see. And has your nephew received a letter from Hogwarts?"
Charlie nodded again. "Yes. He has. His late mother, my half-sister, has attended Hogwarts."
"Oh, then at least I don't have to tell you much about our world like I would have should you have been the parent of another muggleborn child."
"Well, actually, Isabella isn't a muggleborn child. We only recently found out that her grandmother, on her mother's side, are a witch. My ex-wife, Isabella's mother are a squib, I believe that is the term for a non-magical born to magical parents? Anyway, Marie Higginbotham lives in England at the moment. I don't know if you ever met her."
"No. I did not, I'm afraid."
Charlie shrugged at that, making no further comment. He supposed that not all of the magical population in England have met each other.
They entered the living room and the Professor halted just inside the room, his eyes on Harry, who was placing letters in a box that Bella held up for him.
Charlie narrowed his eyes at the expression that the man held as he observed Harry. It was of complete and utter loathing and Charlie didn't understand why, but he wasn't about to let the man harm his boy. So, he stepped in front of the man, pulling his attention away from Harry.
"Would you like something to drink, Professor Snape?"
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When Severus Tobias Snape were tasked to visit the United States because of the letter that had been sent to one Isabella Swan, he did not in any way expect to lay eyes on his former friend and her idiot bullying husband's son.
When they were young, Lily had only told him once that she had a half-brother who lived far away. Never had she disclosed to him that her brother lived in a small rainy town named after a utensil. Though, it can be argued that the name Forks meant something else like the forks of a river, or a road. But he actually likes to think of the utensil thing.
He did not expect the boy to look more like Lily than Potter. Especially without the round glasses that every silly fantasy book in the wizarding world portrayed him wearing.
Instead, the boy had no glasses and his eyes were as bright as Lily's had been. He was also much more quiet than Potter ever was, not even saying anything but "Hello" when prompted by Charles Swan.
After that short meeting, the boy, and whom Severus assumed to be Isabella, left the living room, not to return for the duration of his visit.
He ended up asking for only a glass of water to the answer of Charles's question if he wanted anything to drink. It might be the most cliché answer out there, but he cared nothing about it as he sipped his water, while observing Charles.
The man was young, but Snape had the thought that he himself was much younger than Charles. He could see some of Lily in the man's features and it made him wonder which one of Lily's parents is also his.
He, of course, didn't have Lily's red hair, his being dark brown and short. His eyes are also brown, just a little lighter and what Snape saw of Isabella, she resembled her father as far as hair coloring and eyes went.
Snape finished his glass of water and placed the empty glass on the coffee table beside his chair. Then he looked at the man before him who had taken a seat on a couch that had mostly seen better days. Not that Snape cared about such things, though.
"What do you know of the magical world, Mister Swan?" he started, folding his hands over one knee, having crossed his legs over each other at the knees.
"I know a few witches and wizards, one of whom had attended Ilvermorny. We also have a Healer on call for medical reasons that I do not think appropriate to disclose to you, as I am yet to decide which school would be best for my children. Thus it is irrelevant of anyone from Hogwarts knowing about it at this point. "
Snape frowned at that, his thin lips pulled into a sneer of disdain. He had come all this way and the children, especially Isabella might choose to go to another school. Why is he not surprised at the confirmation that it wasn't only Hogwarts that invited them to attend their school? Charles had said that the letters had arrived today; Snape had merely thought that he meant the Hogwarts letters.
Snape breathed in and out slowly to stop his usual temper from causing him to make a mistake in this foreign country that has different magical laws than his own.
"I see," he said and then stood, Charles following suit. "You will let us know if you made a decision?"
"Of course. Allow me to walk you out, Professor."
Snape wanted to tell him that it isn't necessary, but he held his tongue, allowing Charles to lead him to the front door. It was then that he caught another glimpse of the Potter boy and Isabella, both of them seemingly having eavesdropped from where they sat on the lower steps of the stairs that lead up to the second story of the house.
It allowed Snape a better look of the boy. The boy was dressed in casual muggle children's clothing that consisted of a pair of jeans and a checkered red and white button up shirt. His hair was cropped very short and his famous lightning bolt scar wasn't as prominent as those dratted fantasy books would have everyone believe. It was faded and barely there.
Snape found that amusing. The fans would be quite unhappy about it if they were ever to lay eyes on their famous icon.
"Well, goodbye for now, Miss Swan," he said, looking past the boy at the girl. "Should you decide on Hogwarts, I would be back to accompany you and your father to get your school supplies."
Isabella scrunched up her nose. "And what about Harry? Wouldn't he be accompanying us?"
Snape looked to the boy. "I suppose," was all he said before saying goodbye to Charles, who eyed him up and down as if weighing him. Snape wondered if the man found him wanting rather than good enough.
He probably will never know because he wasn't so sure that he would be seeing Isabella Swan and Charles again. After all, there are more magical schools than just Hogwarts and some of them are higher on the lists.
With a sigh, he left the Swan residence and then made his way to the forest where he activated a portkey within the cover of the trees.
He had a job to do. Dumbledore would have to be told of the whereabouts of one Harry Potter; if he didn't already know. Severus Tobias Snape did not look forward to that particular conversation.
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I am not sure if I should let Harry attend Hogwarts. I might just let him attend another school. Anyway, thank you for all the support so far. Sorry if my last note at the bottom sounded like the last chapter was the end of this story.