Muggleville by Jan_AQ
Past Featured StorySummary: With a strange potion, new location and the odd Muggle Studies Professor along for the ride, Harry's in for an interesting summer, but why is Snape here? Dumbledore had better pray he gets all three back in one piece! Humor, Angst, No Mary Sues, No Romance, no real plot.
Categories: Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Original Character
Snape Flavour: Snape is Kind, Snape is Stern
Genres: Angst, Drama, Humor
Media Type: None
Tags: Child fic, Deaged!Harry, Deaging, Injured!Harry
Takes Place: 6th summer
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 32 Completed: No Word count: 163476 Read: 499481 Published: 15 Jan 2005 Updated: 17 Jul 2016
The Buildup to... by Jan_AQ
Author's Notes:
Last chapter: Harry practices junior Occlumency, has a play date with his neighbor friend Michael, and is forgotten in a cupboard.

After dinner Snape brought Harry back up to his room, which was a mess from earlier. Snape went over to the forgotten Wizard doll and picked it up.

“If you don't treat your belongings better, perhaps you don't deserve them,” Snape threatened. “Why are your play things scattered all over the floor?”

“Mi-” Harry quickly changed what he was going to say, he didn't want to tattle on his friend, Micheal, “We were looking for Ninja Turtles.” Which I don't have. He started to toss his toys back into a box carelessly.

“Potter,” Snape warned, exasperated with this child.

Harry was starting to understand the difference of when Snape called him Harry, or when he called him Potter. He called him Potter when he was upset, or mean. And when he called him Harry he was possibly, almost, a little nice.

“Sorry,” Harry said sheepishly as he put his toys back into their box more carefully.

“Thank you.”

Harry stopped and glanced back at Snape, who was looking at the Wizard doll. Snape, Severus Snape just thanked him, Harry Potter.

“Where does this go?” Snape asked, holding the doll. Its glittering Wizard robes reminded Harry strongly of someone he knew but couldn't quite remember.

Harry came over and took the Wizard from Snape. “Up here,” he placed it on top of his small dresser, and then put all the Knights back up next to it.

He finished cleaning his room, while Snape watched, and helped once in awhile.

It was strange. What did Snape want? Did he want to play with some of Harry's toys? Harry remembered when they played with his dinosaurs on a make-shift chess board. It had been fun, actually. Fun was something he never associated with Snape before.

“Potter,” Snape began after thinking, “We will begin to try something different with your lessons.”

Oh? Harry waited for him to say more, but Snape seemed lost in thought, unwilling to explain as he surveyed Harry's toys. Perhaps he was making plans for them.

Was it possible that Snape wanted Harry to break his own toys next time?! Harry shuddered at the thought. He would have to hide them before Snape could get to them, or make Harry do something terrible to them. He decided to hide them under his bed, or maybe in the linen closet before his next lesson with Snape.

That also meant that Harry was not going to leave his toys alone now while Snape was still in the room. If Harry left, he may never see them again. What was Snape doing in here anyway? The room was clean, and Snape didn't seem to be coming up with any other plans for it or Harry.

“Isn't there something you should be doing?” Harry prompted, his eyes squinting at Snape.

He immediately regretted it as Snape rounded towards him, narrowing his own eyes to look meaner than Harry could ever. Luckily, he was saved from Snape's latest verbiage by Hoppity calling out to him before sticking her head into his room.

“Harry, what are you up to?”

“Cleaning,” was Harry's angelic reply. Never mind that he was only doing it because Snape was there and made him. “May I stay up late tonight?”

“Yes, you may,” Hoppity said at the same time that Snape barked, “Of course not!”

Hoppity blinked before smiling, “It's not a school night, he can sleep in tomorrow. Wow, Harry, what a clean room!” she exclaimed as she entered the room and looked appreciatively around.

He beamed at praise and went to his box of toys to make it even more neat.

“Barely acceptable,” Snape bit back, clearly annoyed that the Brat-Who-Lived received yet another reward with barely any effort. “If he sleeps in, he won't want to go to bed the next night,” Snape warned, displeasure in his tone.

“I'll be fine,” Hoppity replied blithely, and Snape turned with a warning look at Harry before stalking off.

“So, Harry, what do you want to do before bed?”

What did he want to do? Everything. The possibilities were endless for a six year old with a fun guardian.

Harry grinned and followed Hoppity down the stairs.


The next morning, Harry was rudely awoken by someone shaking his shoulder.

“Wake up,” someone said harshly.

“Nuah,” Harry mumbled, trying to burrow deeper into his blankets. He was having a wonderful dream about dragons, and he was not getting up.

“Up, Potter,” the voice was heard again, and Harry's blankets were pulled off of him, bringing a rush of cold air. Harry whined in protest and tried to burrow into his mattress, but it wasn't working. It was still cold.

A hand grabbed his ankle and dragged Harry to the edge of his bed. Tipping precariously on the edge of his mattress, Harry woke up quickly to avoid falling to the floor.

Snape was there, crossing his arms, a rather pleased expression on his face. Harry glared at him, but Snape's expression only got more pleased, if it were possible.

“You may sleep in for hours, but you may not sleep the whole day away. Shower and come to breakfast.”

Harry rubbed at his eyes. He hardly slept any of the day away, it seemed.

“And comb your hair, it's sticking every which way,” Snape bit out before leaving the room.

Harry mumbled to himself. He'd get up when he was good and ready. He grabbed at the blankets and pulled them back up to his bed, crawling in under them. His bed was so comfortable and wonderful...

The blankets were just starting to get warm again when “Potter!” was shouted from his doorway.

“Ah!” Harry yelled, sitting up in his bedding like a startled owl in a nest. A hand reached in and then a disoriented Harry was dragged from the bed, blankets falling to the floor as he was pulled out of the warmth and into the cold air.

“Ah- no!” Harry shrieked as suddenly cold water was poured over his head. It splashed over his hair, face, and down his pajama collar, making him uncomfortably wet. This was definitely NOT the way he wanted to wake up!

It was Snape with a cup of water, apparently not happy with how slow Harry was getting up this morning.

Harry got down and tried to crawled away on the floor, trying to burrow under the bed and escape. Snape let him, but Harry couldn't crawl away from the uncomfortable wetness that drenched his pajama top and head. “You're mean!” Harry accused from against the side of the bed, eyes glaring, trying to keep himself from chattering.

“Yes, I am. And to prove it I made you a full English breakfast, which you will eat as soon as you are done here.” Snape went into Harry's bathroom, and Harry could hear the sound of the water being turned on in the shower. The Potions Master came back in and warned, “Remember to get up when I say next time,” before leaving the bedroom, and shutting the door behind him.

Harry scowled before getting up and struggling with his wet clothes. How would Snape like to wake up in a cold shower? He may not be able to do it now, but when he was big again, Harry would just like to show him.

Harry did hurry though, just in case Snape decided to come back up and check him.

He'd shower, alright, but he wouldn't comb his hair.

When Harry came downstairs, Hoppity was watching a program on the telly. It was one of the those home shopping networks, and Hoppity was sitting in front of it with a pad of paper and a pen in one hand. He had seen her do it before, but didn't take much note of it.

“Morning Harry!” Hoppity chirped once she saw him.

“Morning,” Harry replied, moving closer to her as he rubbed at his eye. He was awake now, but still sleepy. His hair stuck up every which way after his shower, not that it didn't always. “Whatcha up to?”

“I'm doing some more research for my future Muggle Studies class,” Hoppity explained. “I'm ordering some materials to try out beforehand so I will know what to order in the fall.”

Harry remembered something about this, something about her being a new teacher but it didn't seem very important right now. The telly had some infomercial channel on, and the people on it were showing off a child's baking set. It looked pretty neat, and Harry wondered if Hoppity was going to order it and try it out. She wasn't a child, although she liked childish things. It was just one more reason why he liked her so much.

Maybe she would let him help her try out all the new Muggle things...

“Potter, breakfast,” Snape barked from the kitchen. “It's cold because you lolly-gaged in bed all morning, but you had better eat it without complaining.”

Harry didn't think that he had been in bed for all that long, but he didn't mind Snape's bad mood if he indeed made Harry a big breakfast. Harry turned away from the telly, and eagerly went into the kitchen to sit at the closest chair. Snape had set him a plate of bacon, sausage, fried eggs and tomatoes, with toast and jam. A small glass with orange juice sat in front of it. It wasn't a lot, as Snape had placed small portions of everything on it.

“Sit and eat it all,” Snape commanded as he sat at the other end of the table, looking down at some of his notes, and correcting them with a quill.

The sound of infomercials played in the background as Harry munched on his breakfast.

Harry ate most of the food on his plate, leaving behind some of the eggs and half of the toast. He wiggled as if to get up when Snape looked up from his notes and gave Harry a look.

“Finish it all.” Snape then scowled, “Didn't I tell you to comb your hair?”

“Sure you did,” Harry replied and tried to hide the eggs under his half-eaten toast. “It's no use though, it'll just stick up the same.”

“All the same, you should try.” Snape got up and disappeared into hall, coming back momentarily with a black comb. He walked over to the kitchen sink and wet it, coming up to attack Harry's unkempt hair.

“Hey!” Harry yelped, and tried to twist and turn away from the comb Snape wielded. “Ouch!” The comb had got stuck on a particularly tough knot and Snape yanked the comb through it. “Stop! Stop! I'll do it!” Harry yelped but Snape ignored his protestations and tried to get Harry's hair neat, and flat.

Harry scooted off the chair, under Snape's hand and hid under the table.

“Harry! Get back up here this instant!”

“No. It hurts.”

Snape huffed above him.

“Ow...” Harry complained, gently patting his head while under the table.

“Potter, get back into your seat and let me finish. I was almost done.”

“But it'll hurt.”

Snape huffed again, but paused before stating somewhat painfully, “I'll be more gentle.”

Harry thought for a moment before climbing out from under the table and back up onto his seat. If it was almost over and wouldn't hurt as much, surely he could stand it, and it might make his guardian more lenient about other things.

“Thank you.” Snape said, before picking up and the comb and running it through Harry's hair. He was indeed more gentle, but not by much. Most of the knots were out now, and Snape tried over and over again to get certain parts to lay flat. It was certainly a long combing, and Harry started to feel lulled by the sensation, despite his guardian's ever increasing frustration.

“Lay flat, you bloody menace...” Snape mumbled.

“Told you it wouldn't,” Harry quietly sighed, not minding now that Snape had stopped running the comb over the sensitive areas where the knots had been.

Snape tsked in disgust and threw the comb into the sink. “Impossible, your hair is just as recalcitrant as you are.”

“I'm not – not recala-whatever.”

“Don't contradict me, and do finish your breakfast,” Snape said as he pulled out an advertisement paper from under his notes and perused it.

“I'm not hungry any more, and my head hurts,” Harry whined.

“If you combed your hair more frequently, it would not,” Snape retorted. At Harry's morose look, Snape relented, “Fine, don't don't complain if you are suddenly hungry. No treats and sweets for you today while we are on our errand!”

Harry was relieved that he didn't have to finish his breakfast. It was cold and unappetizing now that he was no longer hungry. He was curious as Snape didn't often decide to go out. “What errand? And am I coming?”

“Yes, Potter, we are going to a store and you are not to touch anything while we there. No mischief will be tolerated from you today.”

Harry crossed his arms. It wasn't fair. He didn't try to get into mischief, things just happened, and he'd touch things if he wanted!

Hoppity broke his bad mood as she entered the kitchen. “Are we ready to go now? Her happy tone erased any peevishness Harry had.

“Yeah!” Harry smiled at her. “Where are we going?”

“To some Muggle technology store, it will be fun! Where are your shoes?”

Harry quickly jumped up and run to find them and put them on. He wondered if they had any electronic Dinosaurs at the Muggle store. Even though Snape had forbid him to touch anything at he store, he was positive that Hoppity would let him, want him to, even.

Once everyone was ready, they piled into the car they were given to use during their stay in America, and drove to a brightly crowded store.

Once there, Snape split up from the group, and Harry and Hoppity were left to look at all the different Muggle electronics. Hoppity wanted to buy some things to take back with her for her future Muggle Studies classes, so she pushed a large cart in front of her, and put whatever she wanted into it.

“Will they work at the castle?” Harry asked her as they played with a set of walkie talkies. She stood with a blue walkie talkie to her ear, listening. Her red hair was just as curly as ever, and Harry thought that red was his favorite color.

“I think so,” Hoppity replied. “Over.”

Harry giggled as Hoppity's voice came over the walkie talkie and then broke into static. He hadn't quite mastered the use of walkie talkies, but he thought that they were awesome. He pressed down on the talk button, “Will they like to play with Dinosaurs?” he asked. “Over,” he quickly added at the end. He almost forgot to say it.

“I'm sure they will, but it will be difficult to put into a lesson plan. Over.”

“Oh. Over.”

“You can have one though, Harry. If we're all getting toys, you should get one too. Over.”

Harry beamed at the news. His guardian was the best guardian ever!

After looking at radios, walkie talkies, tellies, cameras, toasters, and lots of other things, they moved to the game and toy section.

Harry admired the remote control cars and helicopters, and then he spotted it. “Look! Look! A dinosaur!” he exclaimed, almost jumping in his excitement as he pointed.

“Aw, how cute,” Hoppity reached up and pulled the box down. Inside it was a baby dinosaur in a greyish egg. Harry could tell from the picture that there was a dinosaur inside. “You can hatch it, and then it will move around on the ground. Looks like batteries are included.”

Harry thought that that was wonderful. “Can – can I have it?” he asked, almost shyly.

“Only if you really, really want it. Do you want it?”

“Yes, please!”

Hoppity gave the dinosaur box to the beaming boy. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough that Harry could wrap his arms around it. “Thank you!” he just barely remembered to say.

“Shall we go see what Severus is up to?”

Harry nodded, too pleased with his new toy to pay too much attention to anything else.

They found Snape near the checkout counter, discussing something about a delivery. He gave Harry a warning look when he saw him carrying a new toy, but he didn't say anything or try to stop Hoppity from buying it. Snape seemed in a good mood to Harry.

Once they got home, they unloaded their purchases from the Muggle electronic store. Snape poked through the bags, sneering at some things but not saying anything about them. Yes, he was definitely in a good mood. Maybe he bought something and was happy, Harry thought.

“Can I go to Micheal's?” Harry asked, almost squirming with excitement once everything was in. He wanted badly to show Micheal his new dinosaur toy.

“You must have a sandwich first,” Hoppity told him, “and I'll call and see if you can today.”

“You have an Occlumency lesson today,” Snape warned Harry.

Harry suddenly remembered his fears from yesterday, that Snape might make him break his own toys during their next lesson. He clutched his dinosaur egg closer. He wanted nothing more than to skip the lesson altogether.

Hoppity opened the fridge and pulled out some sandwich things. “Come and eat. I'm sure that there is plenty of time to play with Micheal and have a lesson too.”

Harry ate his sandwich quickly, while Hoppity called Micheal's mom.

“Well Harry, their family is going on a trip tonight but you can go over and play until they leave,” Hoppity told him after hanging up the phone.

Harry swallowed the last bite of his sandwich. “Can you open this for me please?” he asked as he held up the box with his dinosaur egg. Hoppity took it.

“Sure, remember to be back before five!” She opened the packaging with scissors and handed the newly freed egg back to Harry.

“Okay, bye!” Harry grabbed his egg and ran off to Micheal's house. He was so excited to play with it.

To be continued...
End Notes:
This story is finished in my head and written out in disjointed segments in documents. I just have to be reminded that other people want to read it, and then work on putting the pieces together. I love this story as a creator, and I know what it is like as a reader to love a story, especially a work in progress one that kills you because it isn't updated. Ever. Please keep reminding me kindly to update as it will motivate me to finish. I don't want to end with the story incomplete if there is someone out there who enjoys reading it. I take so much out of the fandom, I have to give something back. :)


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