From the first glimpse of Potter's mind, it was obvious the boy had not read any of the books he had recommended. The boy's head was as open as a book!
"Potter, I did not send you that list for the good of my health. You are aware that you need to be able to clear your mind before you can start any sort of training correct?"
"Sorry, what sir? I was thinking about something much more interesting than those books. They were as dull and dry as anything I have ever read."
Snape took a deep breath. Really the child was infuriating!
"This is a skill you must learn Potter. I can assure you I do not like this arrangement any more than you do, but the Headmaster has gone to great lengths to make this happen and we must make the best of it. Now clear your mind."
The second trip into the boy's mind was no better than the first. Snape broke off sharply, almost spitting mad. Harry just continued to chew on his fingernails, as if this were the most normal thing in the world.
"Funny thing isn't it, the way information works," Harry mused. "You say you must remain here, where you have Dumbledore's protection and so you do everything he requests, and yet you do not afford the same courtesy to I, the one who could destroy your liberty at will."
Snape looked up sharply and when their eyes met, the images of him arriving at the castle beaten and bleeding, whilst avoiding his colleagues showed clearly in the Gryffindor's eyes.
"You will not do such a thing whilst the Dark Lord is at large," Snape hissed.
"As you say every time, and you are correct. But what about afterwards? Wouldn't it be prudent to get on such a person's good side now, so as to hope for a reprieve when Voldemort is no more?"
"Get. Out."
"Certainly, but you're not doing yourself any favours."
Harry took great delight in letting the door slam before setting off down the corridor.
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Harry sprinted up the stairs to the Room of Requirement. If only he could goad Snape so well every lesson to let him out early. He needed to practice his patronus more. It wasn't good enough yet, but it was close.
After third year, Harry had researched patroni thoroughly. He wanted to know how to make the strongest one possible. He had spent many nights in the library under his cloak and then countless hours of practise on the spell itself.
He'd known that the power of a patronus was tied to the emotion he was feeling when he cast it, but he'd always thought that that came solely from the single memory he was using. Not so, he'd found out. There were other things that could be used too.
If you created a barrier between the positive and negative emotions in your head, he'd learned, then the patronus would instantly be brighter. And also, what he found best of all, was that if he linked memories together it amplified the effects even more.
Whilst researching ways to reinforce the barrier between his positive and negative emotions, Harry had come across the branch of magic known as the Mind Arts. He had precious few other things with which to occupy himself at the Dursleys so he practised clearing and closing his mind frequently. Harry soon realised how much this improved both his memory and his mental emotions barrier, and he also found that he rather enjoyed it, so he threw himself into learning as much about the subject as he could.
Not wanting anyone to know what he was doing, Harry changed his first line of defence to look as if he was untrained. This was now providing an excellent way of annoying Snape, whilst actually still benefitting Harry's long running project.
Harry was very good at pretending he didn't know things. He was always punished if he did better than Dudley in primary school, so he wrote the wrong answers down on tests. Really sometimes it was harder trying to do worse than the fat lump. He would always get given the answers afterwards so he could see which answers he actually didn't know.
For some reason he'd carried on at Hogwarts. He was never sure quite why he had but it was reaping all sorts of rewards now. It was well known that Hermione did all the book work for their group and that he and Ron only did as well as they were because they got her to help them with their essays. His distinctly average student persona was something he had carefully cultivated.
Now he could fool Snape to his heart's content, and then once old Voldy was gone, the revenge was going to be superb. Harry could almost taste the anticipation of it all.
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It was another two months before Harry felt that he was satisfied with his patronus. He couldn't wait. The twice weekly sessions with Snape were now irritating him immensely and soon he was going to let slip to the man something that he shouldn't.
Harry knew he would only get once chance - Voldemort would make certain that he couldn't have a second go. Knowing that wizard as he did, Harry thought wryly, the retribution would be very likely both excruciating and fatal. He was pretty sure he was ready, but ultimately what he was relying on was a lot of practice and a lot of hope.
Settled on his favourite couch in the Room of Requirement, Harry took a deep breath, closed his eyes and cast his patronus. If anyone had been watching, they would have said that nothing happened, but Harry hadn't cast his patronus into the room, he'd cast it into his mindscape.
It was really just a huge collection of positive emotions: hope, love, satisfaction, pleasure, smugness and enjoyment. He'd found the channel that connected his head to Voldemort's months ago, and this was where he directed his patronus. Nothing happened for several seconds and Harry began to feel like it wasn't going to work. Then a scream and a bizarre echo of an exploding sensation had him jumping off the sofa with a shout of triumph. The sofa turned into a bed beneath him and he lay down, panting, but grinning. A quick look for the link between their minds yielded only a few frayed edges and a rapidly closing space. It had worked! When he got his breath back he was going to enjoy telling Snape what had happened. He would maybe just take a little nap first.
Two minutes later he was fast asleep.
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The brat was late for their training session. Snape didn't really know why he continued to try anyway. All Potter did was antagonise or ignore him and then completely refuse to do anything he asked, ordered or requested. Well, if the boy couldn't now even be bothered to turn up that was fine by him. He'd get back to brewing. His personal supplies needed refilling, the Death Eater meetings were making quite a dent in them and this extra time would be a godsend.
By the following morning it was obvious that Harry Potter was missing. Hermione Granger approaching the head table at breakfast just compounded that fact.
"Professor McGonagall?" she asked hesitatingly. "Um, Harry's not here and Ron says he didn't sleep in their dorm last night."
"I believe you had Mr Potter for Remedial Potions last night, Professor Snape? Did you notice anything different about him? Did he mention anything?"
Snape sighed. He should have known he wasn't going to get away with that.
"Potter did not see fit to come to our lesson last night."
"I see. Thankyou for this Miss Granger. We will find Mr Potter and let you know if there are any developments. Please try not to worry."
"Yes Professor, thankyou Professor."
After breakfast an emergency staff meeting was called. Snape knew what it would be about but he also knew of a better way to find the boy than teachers simply searching with fruitless Point-Me spells. After everyone had been given their tasks and areas to search, Snape snuck back down to his dungeons and called Potter's favourite elf.
"Dobby!"
The elf appeared with a crack. "Yes Master Professor Snape?"
"Do you know where Harry Potter is?"
"Great Master Harry Potter sir is missing? Dobby cans surely find him for you!"
"Take me to him."
"Yes Master Professor Snape sir! Dobby be doing that right away sir!"
After a spine-popping jump, Snape found himself standing next to the boy everyone was hunting for. He looked calm in his sleep and not obviously fevered, but Snape knew that was no indication of health. He would take the boy to Poppy, and tell her he found him-
"Where are we Dobby?" he demanded.
"Elves call it the Come and Go Room Master Professor Snape sir. Dobby believes it cans also be called the Room of Requirement sir."
Ah the Room of Requirement. He had only heard rumours of this place. If he left through the door, he would see which part of the castle he was in. It would be another good place to use when he needed to hide from annoying colleagues.
"You may go Dobby. Do not tell anyone about this."
"Yes Master Professor Snape sir. Dobby be keeping his mouth tightly closed he does!"
With a crack, the elf vanished.
Snape picked up the sleeping boy and strode towards the door. Coming out he realised he was on the seventh floor and he'd always wondered why the wall opposite that tapestry of trolls dancing was empty. Once he got rid of the brat he would come back and investigate.
"Poppy!" Snape yelled as he entered the Hospital Wing.
"What can I- Oh you found him Severus! Where was he?"
"In an abandoned room on the seventh floor. I shall leave him in your care now, I must get back to my brewing."
"Brewing what Severus? You restocked all my supplies just yesterday."
"Well if you must know, its bases for OWL and NEWT students. There just isn't enough time in their lessons to do everything" he lied smoothly.
"I see. Well do come and see me when you've finished, I want to know how you found Mr Potter so quickly."
"Mere luck, I assure you."
"I believe that as much as I believe you don't self-medicate Severus. Goodbye for now, we'll speak later."
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When Harry woke, it was not to the beautiful yellows and golds of the Room of Requirement but to the blinding white of the Hospital Wing.
"Wha-How?" Harry mumbled blearily.
"Ah Mr Potter, glad to see you back in the land of the living! You gave everyone quite a scare you know. Don't you dare try to get up, you've been asleep for three days, you are not going anywhere."
"I'm fine Madam Pomfrey, I was just tired. I didn't expect to sleep for so long though. I'm sorry for worrying everyone."
"Your magical core was down to practically nothing Harry. You are not, as you put it, fine. You are on strict bed rest until I say. No visitors, no books and certainly no magic."
"Has Professor Snape been in?"
"Apart from when he brought you to my care, no."
"Ah. Well I think I might go back to sleep now. As you say, I need to recharge my magic."
As soon as Madame Pomfrey had left, Harry stopped pretending to sleep.
"Quiet Dobby" he thought loudly. The elf appeared silently a second later.
"Bring Snape here at midnight with a core repair potion. He can damn well return the favour" Harry whispered into the elf's ear.
Dobby's eyes lit up and he grinned. With an emphatic nod which made his large ears bounce around, Dobby vanished as silently as he had come.
Man and elf appeared directly on the stroke of midnight.
"Here" Snape hissed, thrusting the bottle towards Harry. "Take it and get this damned elf off me."
"Thankyou Dobby" Harry whispered, draining the potion. "Do leave it somewhere incriminating won't you?"
Dobby grinned and nodded again before vanishing.
"Oh dear sir. It looks as though you're stuck here now. How are you going to get out? You said yourself the main doors are well warded at night."
"Potter bring that elf back this instant."
"Now now Snapey not too loud. Madame Pomfrey might hear you" Harry chuckled.
Snape let out a bellow of rage and strode towards the door. As he put a hand on it he heard a slight cough from behind him.
"Going somewhere Severus?" asked an amused feminine voice.
Snape spun slowly round, mind working frantically.
"I, erm, I was just checking that your potion count was acceptable and did not need restocking."
"At midnight Severus? After you refilled it just four days ago? I think you were looking for something, sit."
Snape paled. His leg still hadn't recovered from the last meeting last week. He had no issue walking on it, but there would be pain relief potions on his system still which wouldn't avoid even a simple test.
"I assure you, I was not. I could not sleep and so decided a walk might do me good."
"And yet you did not trip the wards on entry Severus."
"I did not wish to wake you up."
"And yet you have done, in a very suspicious manner. You are walking a very fine line young man."
"I always have done. Good night Poppy."
Poppy stared at the closing door for a few seconds until she heard a groaning coming from one of the beds.
"Madam Pomfrey?" Harry croaked.
"Yes dear?"
"My head hurts. Can I have a pain reliever?"
"Of course. I'll just fetch one."
Harry smirked as she left. He knew there wouldn't be any of them on her shelf. Dobby had removed them all. Combined with Snape being caught and noticing the winces of pain he gave every so often, it wouldn't take a genius to add up the clues.
The click-clack of the medi-witch's shoes brought him out of his moment.
"I'm terribly sorry dear, I seem to have run out. I've asked for some from St Mungo's, they should be here soon."
"Ok."
After Harry had gone back to sleep, Poppy pondered on her missing potions. All signs pointed to one man. She would let him sleep for now, but tomorrow he would not know what had hit him.