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“Severus, by any chance would you happen to remember Petunia Evans?” There sat a wizened old man with half-moon spectacles and an ever present but ambiguous twinkle in his eyes. He seemed like a knowledgeable professor or a kindly grandfather, but the outlandish style of his robes and the innumerable baubles and trinkets surrounding him suggested otherwise.“I do, however I could not imagine why that would be of any significance,” drawled the man across from him. He appeared as if every unpleasant thing in the world were happening all at once- unceasingly, and in his face. There was a curl in his lip at the sound of Petunia as if he had smelled something unpleasant, and an icy impassivity at the sound of Evans.“Excellent! I was just in mind to ask you for a favor." Severus said and did nothing to indicate his acceptance, but still the elder went on.“It has to do with Harry Potter,” At that there was a reaction, but still no words.“Minerva has tried several times to give him his letter, and every time they have failed to reach him. It is my hope that nothing is awry, but to be sure I’d like for you to go and give his letter to him personally.”“I’m quite sure that the boy who lived is quite alright. However you’ve failed to mention what Petunia of all people has to do with any of this.”The twinkle in the old man’s eyes could not have been any brighter than at that moment.“Why, of course because he lives with her!”***Number 4 Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey, was the most ordinary, unexciting, and muggle place that Severus had ever seen. Amongst the carefully tended gardens and white picket fences, the darkly dressed man stood out like a raven in the snow.Walking swiftly but calmly down the street, he reached a plain and innocuous house that none would ever guess to be the home of the most famous child in wizarding history. But before he could knock on the door, he was stopped by the sight of a boy coming from around the side of the house. There was dirt all over his baggy clothes, and gardening gloves covering his hands.Then he looked up, and he saw the bright green eyes of Lily Evans.
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There was the unmistakable lightning shaped scar on his forehead, but everything else about the child screamed that something was terribly wrong. The boy looked to be barely nine or ten, and even then he looked weak and underfed. There was a tiredness on his face where on most children there would be an inexhaustible energy, and of course there was the ragged ensemble of clothes and the thick black glasses that he wore.He was without a doubt Lily’s son, but at the same time, he wasn’t.Something in his gut wrenched at the sight of him, but he swallowed it down and sneered. He was Lily’s son, but he was also (hatefully, regretfully) Potter’s as well.“I am looking for Harry Potter,” He said, as the child stared up at him with wide eyes. Upon hearing Harry Potter they got even wider.“Me?! Er- I mean, that- that’s me,” The boy said, the shock on his face was clear as day, and it only made the bad feeling in Severus’ gut grow.“Oh? Well then, I have questions for you and your aunt Petunia if you would be so kind as to bring me to her,” He said blandly, gesturing towards the door.“Oh, um, sure Mr…?” Harry stuttered in a flurry as he struggled to take his dirty gardening gloves off, trying his hardest not to stare at the strange man in front of him.“Snape.” Harry nodded.“I’ll go… tell her you’re here,” And with that he hurried inside leaving Severus alone to contemplate just what exactly had happened to Lily’s son in all those years.*** Harry Potter was not a shy child. Or at least, he hadn’t been. But years of neglect, barely disguised hatred and palpable disgust had made the once lively child meek and wary.So when a strange man in strange dark clothes came looking for him, he hardly knew what to do.“Me?! Er- I mean, that- that’s me,” He stuttered, painfully aware of his scruffy appearance. “Oh? Well then, I have questions for you and your aunt Petunia if you would be so kind as to bring me to her,” Said the man in a manner that made him want to run away. He looked like he’d rather have his hand bitten off by a shark than be here, and Harry could guess that aunt Petunia would rather destroy her beloved flower garden than be seen inviting such an… unusual man into her home. “Oh, um, sure Mr…?”“Snape,” The man said curtly.“I’ll go… tell her you’re here,” And with one last glance at the surly man, he went inside knowing that no good could come of this. Luckily uncle Vernon was out somewhere for work and Dudley had gone off with his friends so he only had to deal with his aunt. “Boy! You’d better have finished weeding my garden if you’re back in here again!” She shrieked from somewhere in the house.“I’m finished! And there’s someone here to see you,” He replied. Petunia quickly appeared once she realized she had a guest. “Who?” She asked sharply, unable to guess who it might be.“Er, Mr. Snape…” Petunia first went pale, and then a brilliant red that he had only ever seen on his uncle when he was angry.“You tell that… that freak that he and your lot are not welcome here!” She shrieked, turning back around and out of the kitchen before Harry could get another word in.Well, this was sure going to be fun.***There was the shrill sound of a woman screaming something, and then the boy reappeared. “Sorry sir, my aunt says she’s busy right now.”At that he raised a brow.“Busy? And will she still be busy for the next few days?” He asked drily. The boy nodded embarrassedly. “Then let her know that if you do not answer your letter in the next few days I will return, and I will not leave until I receive a response.” But before he could leave the boy called out.“Wait! You know about my letters?” He asked.“Yes, which you have elected to ignore for the past few days,” He said, his voice dripping with disdain.“No! I mean, I haven’t chosen to ignore them I… My aunt and uncle took them away. I haven’t even gotten a chance to open at them!”There was a glimmer of hope in the boys eyes that threw him off for a moment. Well, this was certainly not the development he had been expecting. “Then it seems we have a problem, take me inside.”
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Severus would have preferred to leave without setting foot in Petunia’s abode, but the situation was growing so unsettling that he could not, in good conscience (and contrary to popular belief, he did have one, albeit typically absent) leave without learning all that he could.However Harry seemed even less inclined than Severus, paling a touch as he thought of an excuse.“I don’t think I can she’s-”“Wasting my time,” And without a moment of hesitation he opened the door and whirled past the panicking boy.As he entered the house he was greeted with the sight of Petunia’s scowling face. If possible, it became even more pinched as she caught sight of him.“You! Get out! I have nothing to say to you! You want the boy? Then take him and all his freakishness too!” She shrieked, not caring about the trembling boy that had crept in behind him. “On the contrary, I have many things to say to you,” He sneered, and with a flick of his wand she was seated in the nearest chair, immobile except for her overly active mouth. Harry looks like he’d just been stunned, gaping at his seated aunt.There was an unsightly green hue on her face from the use of magic, but her outrage exceeded her fear as she continued to demand his exit from her home.“Quiet,” He snapped, it hadn’t even been a full minute and he was already irritated beyond imagination, “Unless you want the neighbors to hear.”And finally there was silence.***“What have you hidden from him?” He asks.Petunia sneers.“Hidden? We’ve done that… that boy a favor by squashing out the freakishness in him!” “So he knows nothing?” He snarls back. He should have known. Of all people, Lily’s sister had to be this jealous, vile, disgusting-“Hidden what? What are you talking about?!” The boy beside him exclaims, both exasperation and desperation written on his face.“Enough! Not another word!” His aunt demands to no avail.“You, Harry James Potter, are a wizard. Which your aunt and uncle have seem to forgotten.”“I’m a what now?”“Nothing! Nothing but a freak, just like your mother!” This time nothing can be done to silence Petunia who’s almost hysterical with rage.Severus ignores her.“A wizard. One amongst many others,” With a flourish, he summons the letter in his pocket which floats gently in front of the awestruck boy who takes it with a sort of reverence.Mr. H. Potter,The Cupboard Under the Stairs,4 Privet Drive,Little Whinging,SurreyWithout a moment of hesitation he tears it open, and carefully reads its contents.HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRYHeadmaster: Albus Dumbledore(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards)Dear Mr. Potter,We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.Yours sincerely,Minerva McGonagallDeputy Headmistress“Hogwarts… huh,” Harry says, for a moment unable to process it all.“He won’t be going to any school of yours,” Petunia hisses, but Harry disregards her entirely.“Sir, were you sent here from Hogwarts?”He nods, and then looks back to address the boys seething aunt.“Whether or not he goes is not your decision. And now, if Mr. Potter agrees, you won’t be seeing him again until next summer. Mr. Potter?”Bright green eyes glitter up at him.“Yes!”Severus and Harry didn’t stay in the house for much longer after that. He sneered as he lifted the charm on Petunia.“Then there’s no need for us to stay here any longer. Show me your room so I can help you pack away your things, it will take to long otherwise.”Harry’s enthusiasm dims just the slightest bit as he hesitates to lead him out of the kitchen.“Well?” Severus snapped, his patience run thin from talking with Petunia, deeply irritated but not surprised. They walked down the hall to the stairs and stopped in front of, a cupboard… “Is this a joke?”Harry shook his head with a mix of embarrassment and opened the door. Sure enough, there was a tiny mattress, and a small pile of clothes shoved into the corner.Severus hadn’t thought things could have been much worse, but he swallowed it down and spelled the meager contents into a bag for Harry to carry with him.The boy gaped as he held it.“That’s incredible,” He said.“It’s a simple charm,” And with that, they left the house that was never really a home.“Where are we going?” Harry asked, as they walked towards a secluded area.“You’ll see, now hold on to my hand and do not let go,” He said, offering his hand. When the boy grasped it, he took out his wand.“Brace yourself,” And with a pop, they disappeared. ***“I think I’m gonna…” Harry held his stomach as he leaned against a wall.Severus curled his lip in disgust.“It will pass,” He walked towards the red brick wall in front of them.“What was that?”“Apparation. In muggle terms, teleportation.” “That’s wicked,” He grins “When will I be able to do that?”“Not until you’re much older. But enough questions for now, pay close attention,” He carefully counts the bricks up the wall finally tapping at one with his wand. As if he had flicked a switch, the bricks begin to move and part, and behind it a bustling street is revealed.“This, is Diagon Alley.”