Snape was in his office. He had finished reading "Pushing the Limits of Magic to its Outer Most Boundaries" by Ignotus Peverell and decided to consult the book on blood magic he bought at Knockturn Alley to see if it had a copy of the potion that Ignotus Peverell described. The book, written about a hundred years before Hogwarts was founded, would hopefully contain some reference to the potion since blood magic was described as anything that involved human blood.

Skimming through the book, he found the following on a mostly faded page:

Ingredients:

1 gallon of water

2 ashwinder eggs

1 augurey tail feather

5 finely chopped flubber worms

1 lb of doxy excrement

½ lb of jarvey fur

1 cup of lobalug venom.

36 square inches of moke skin

2 cups finely chopped monkshood

1 live common garden slug

2 drops of blood willing sacrificed from the potion's brewer

Steps:

add one gallon of water and bring to boil

add ashwinder eggs to boiling water and stir counter clockwise for 5 minutes

add augurey tail feather and stir counter-clockwise for 5 minutes

The rest of the text was faded beyond the ability to read with the exception of a line on the bottom of the page that said "(optional) Pinch nose while drinking". Snape tried every spell he knew to get the rest of the text readable on the page but the ink appeared to have been smeared due to someone spilling something on the page. All he managed to do was make it look as if someone had poured ink over a large portion of the page. He was confident that he had found a more complete version of the horcrux removal potion as that it had the ingredients from the incomplete list but he could not be sure beyond any doubt if he couldn't find out what the potion was for. He either needed to find a portrait of a Hogwarts Founders Era potions master or another ancient book on blood magic. Just then there was a knock one of the doors

"Just a moment." Snape said calmly. 'Why must people insist on interrupting my work?' he thought to himself. He quickly book marked the page in the book and put it back on the shelf.

"Enter." He said.

The door opened. It was Flint and Harry. 'I have a bad feeling about this...' Snape thought.

"I just finished doing the Quidditch trials and would like Mr. Potter to be allowed a broom so he could be on the team." Flint said.

Snape couldn't believe this was happening. 'Students were not supposed to know that first years could be on the Quidditch teams! How did Harry know he could be on the team,' Snape wondered privately to himself.

"You held open trials like I suggested?" Snape inquired.

"Yes. I had all first and second years try out. Mr. Potter was easily the best seeker out of all the ones I tested for the position. The closest person only caught the golf ball 7 out of 12 times. Mr. Potter didn't miss even one. I have never seen anything like it." Flint answered in disbelief.

Snape used passive legilimency on Flint and saw he was telling the truth. He knew from his experiences in the old timeline, once Flint had his mind set on something, there was no stopping him. He remembered in the old time line that after Lucius Malfoy bought Draco a spot on the Quidditch team, Flint insisted on him giving the team permission to practice even though Gryffindor had booked the field. No matter how hard he tried to explain to Flint he didn't have the authority to grant that permission, Flint wouldn't listen and turned the entire team against him and was forced to give them a note saying he had their permission. He hoped the Gryffindors would complain to Madam Hooch but they never did and Flint went unpunished.

"I will allow Mr. Potter a broom. However, Mr. Potter must keep up with his assignments. I know how you train the team and I noticed that once a person was on the team, their grades dropped significantly. While I want the team to win the Quidditch Cup, I also don't want people to fail to get the grades they need to pursue their chosen careers. Not everybody is from a wealthy family or can get a spot on a professional Quidditch team." Snape answered.

"I understand sir. Thank you." Flint said. Harry and Flint left the office leaving Snape to think on how he could help Harry maintain his grades.

The next day after supper, Snape went to his office and noticed a cat in his office. There was only one cat that could manage to get into his office.

"Professor McGonagall, would you care to explain what are doing in my office?" Snape asked annoyed. In the old timeline during his year as Headmaster of the school, Dumbledore's portrait would tell him McGonagall would enter the Headmaster's office while he was away. She would search for anything that might help people she knew in the Order of the Phoenix in stopping Voldemort. After all, every one believed he was Voldemort's favorite Death Eater after 'assassinating' Professor Dumbledore.

The cat quickly turned into McGonagall who looked surprised.

"How did you know?" McGonagall asked astonished.

"Besides myself, only a person who knows the password or someone who I let in can enter my quarters. This would eliminate the possibility of a student locking a cat in my office. Also, you couldn't be Mrs. Norris since Mrs. Norris is too skinny and mangy. With the fact you are registered as a cat Animagus, I deduced it could only be you. Now what are doing in my office?" Snape asked again. He feared Dumbledore had asked her to do his dirty work of investigating him.

"If you must know, you haven't been behaving like yourself for sometime and I want to know why."

'Typical Gryffindor candor - charge in where others would be more clever...' Snape thought to himself.

"So you think you can find the answers by entering my office without my permission? Did the headmaster ask you to do this?" Snape queried, looking McGonagall in the eye. If she was lying, he wanted to know.

"No and I'm surprised he hasn't. I know Albus is watching you but to my knowledge he hasn't done anything other then watch." McGonagall said before pausing. There was no lie in her eye.

"I know this maybe foolish to say - but I fear that you aren't Severus Snape! Albus must suspect this as well, otherwise he wouldn't be watching you so closely." McGonagall continued.

"First, you suddenly change your opinion of Mr. Potter. Then you change how you deal with students in your house. Those are things that the Severus Snape that I know wouldn't do. In addition, you have books on dark and possibly illegal magic in your office." McGonagall went on.

"First of all professor, you know I have always had an interest in the dark arts. I have those books for research purposes only. Since the fall of the Dark Lord, I have only used them to assist Madam Pomfrey in treating students that are cursed in a manner she cannot heal," Snape explained. "Second, I am who I came to be."

"You have several books on horcruxes here. I know what a horcrux is and I hope for your sake you aren't planning on making one." McGonagall accused.

Snape was rather shocked that McGonagall knew what a horcrux was.

"I'm working on a way of getting rid of one." Snape responded truthfully.

"I'm sure if that is the case, you would have no objections to me informing Albus of your questionable books and what you are doing."

McGonagall had him cornered. He often wondered why she was placed in Gryffindor. At times she acted more Ravenclaw or Slytherin. Especially when she was questioning people or questioning their motives.

"I must ask you not to. I swear on my life and magic I am Severus Snape. I am not using those books on horcruxes for anything other than what I am just claimed. I don't want you to tell the headmaster because I do not trust him as much as I used too." Snape responded. He just invoked a wizard's oath and the magic glowed around him indicating it. The fact he didn't drop dead on the spot should be enough to convince McGonagall of his sincerity.

"All right. I believe you. I apologize for my intrusion. But I must ask, why don't you trust Albus? If it wasn't for him, you would be in Azkaban." McGonagall questioned.

He knew now that he had no choice but to tell her that he was from the future. Anyone who remembered the Death Eater trials in the early 80s would know how if it wasn't for Dumbledore's testimony, he would have been sent to Azkaban for his involvement with the Death Eaters. He didn't want anyone else at the moment to know the truth so he locked the doors and casted a silencing charm so no noise would leave his office.

"I must ask you not to tell anyone this but I'm actually from the future. To be more precise, a future where Voldemort returned to full strength and was close to winning a second war he had started. I swear on my life and magic what I just said is true. In that future, I learned things about our headmaster that has made me decide it is best if I create my own front against Voldemort." Snape answered, invoking another wizard's oath.

McGonagall brought her hand to her chest as she drew a quick breath of air. "I need to sit down." she said in disbelief as she sat down in one of the chairs in Snape's office.

"Interesting. What did you do to your younger self? I would hate to think you went backwards in time and killed your younger self." McGonagall inquired after she got a hold of herself..

"The way I traveled backwards in time was not a conventional method, nor did I agree to be sent backwards in time. At least not to this period of time. I died and the Fates decided to send my mind backwards in time to last July. I would have preferred before the owl exams in my fifth year but the Fates said no. Would you like some tea?" Snape answered.

"No thanks. I've had enough today to ensure I won't sleep tonight." she said. "Anyways, that is rather unconventional method of time travel. What did you learn in the future about Albus that makes you not trust him?"

"For one, he is very careful in what he tells you and will mislead you if it suits his purposes. He tends to leave out the piece of information you need to know and sometimes tells that one piece of information to someone else you need to seek out.

"For example, after Voldemort had left Harry an orphan that Halloween night, our headmaster made me promise to look after the boy. To keep him safe for Lily. Years later, our headmaster informed me that Voldemort had accidentally turned Harry into a horcrux the night he gave Harry that scar. What was worse was that he told me I must tell Harry, but not until just before a prophesied final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort that our never wrong Divination teacher predicted during the first war. He told me that Harry must die!

"All this looking out for Harry our headmaster convinced me to do wasn't for Lily but was for Albus so that he could train the boy to be the perfect little soldier and march to death without question.

"What is worse is that Voldemort had deliberately made 6 other horcruxes. Dumbledore sent the boy, who wasn't even 17 at the time, to go on a quest to find and destroy the ones that were still in existence and Voldemort. After being taught everything he needed to know about horcruxes, Dumbledore conveniently left out the fact Harry was a horcrux and was not supposed to survive destroying Voldemort.

"Our headmaster didn't tell me about the horcruxes or about the mission he sent Harry on. He only told me that Harry had a piece of Voldemort's soul inside of him and not to tell him until he was ready to kill Voldemort. I found out about the Horcruxes quite by accident.

"Our headmaster had died. He was cursed when he attempted to destroy one of Voldemort's horcruxes and there wasn't anything anyone or I could do but to ease his passing. He had the nerve to request me to be the one to kill him in front of a bunch of Death Eaters. Even in death he continued to manipulate people.

"Voldemort, shortly after the Headmaster's death, had taken control of Ministry and installed me as the new Headmaster of Hogwarts. I was asked to attend a Death Eater party during the winter holidays and an escaped, not to mention intoxicated, Bellatrix LeStrange had let slip to me that Voldemort had given her his horcrux to guard in her vault.

"I confronted our headmaster's portrait. It ordered me not to get this vital piece of information to Harry He said that with Harry being a horcrux, he had a link with Voldemort and our Headmaster didn't want my position as a spy comprised. Voldemort might be seeing into Harry's mind at the time and instead opted for Harry to find out that information on his own which he eventually did months later.

"But what really infuriates me is that Harry didn't have to die! Once I obtained information about how to destroy horcruxes, I have found that there are ways to get rid of that piece of Voldemort's soul out of Harry that doesn't involve killing him. One of those ways is discussed in a book in the school library that the Headmaster checked out! He cares absolutely nothing about the boy! To him, the boy is nothing more then a way to destroy Voldemort! He doesn't care if Harry lives or dies! He probably has more feelings for a pig going to slaughter! How he can do such a thing to Lily's child?!" Snape explained. Towards the end he was loosing control of his emotions.

McGonagall was in disbelief.

"I find that... Shocking. It's like finding out that Albus was romantically involved with Grindelwald." McGonagall managed to say.

"Actually he was. Shortly after our headmaster had died, Rita Skeeter investigated his life and published a book called the Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore as a message to Harry that the headmaster isn't to be trusted. I consulted our headmaster's portrait about the book and he did say there were a great many facts in it. However Skeeter couldn't get the whole story and filled in the gaps with speculation that seemed logical and/or newsworthy to her.

"One of the things he said Skeeter was mostly right about was his involvement with Grindelwald when he was 18. The two of them had a rather intense relationship where they plotted to take over the world. They did dangerous experiments with their magic, among other things, before Aberforth tried to talk sense into our headmaster. His break up with Grindelwald didn't go smoothly and his younger sister died in the cross fire. Since then he has been trying to redeem himself by stopping dangerous witches and wizards by doing what ever it takes - all for the greater good." Snape replied.

"Oh my... I just don't know what to think here. This is a lot to take in... You being from the future... Albus not only being close to a dark wizard but to be using Harry like that... I remember the evening that he left Harry on the Dursleys' door steps. I told him not to leave the boy with them. They were the worst sort of Muggles imaginable. But he didn't listen. It must have been part of his plan for the boy. I always thought it's because he believes in families." McGonagall stammered.

"I won't tell anyone what you have said. If I did, they would think you had gone insane and we would be without a potions professor. Its hard enough to find people interested in the Defense Against the Dark Arts post with that curse You-Know-Who placed on it in the late 60's. People must be scared to get any jobs here at Hogwarts out of fear the job is cursed somehow..." McGonagall said after a moment of silence.

"Just out of curiosity, when you volunteered to give Harry his letter, was what you said about the Dursleys' true? Hiding Harry's letters and his being ignorant of the Wizarding World?" McGonagall asked.

"Yes. In Harry's 5th year Dumbledore had me attempt to teach the boy occlumency. While using legilimency to test Harry's shields or lack of them, I saw worse things about Harry's life with his aunt and uncle that reminded me of my youth except he didn't have a mother figure that tried her best to protect him. In that timeline, Harry was in Gryffindor and I was convinced he was another James and made his life miserable for nearly six years while I did nothing more then to keep my oath to look out for him while he was at school. When I finally admitted to myself that Harry and I were more alike then I both of us would care to admit, it was too late and the wrong time for us to have any positive relationship without risking my position as a spy due to the number of students in my house that had joined the Death Eaters or were close to joining. Right now, the only evidence I can get now is to force Harry to talk about it but, like me, he finds talking about our relatives difficult and uncomfortable... I'm working on a way to remove him from the Dursleys' care." Snape answered thinking about his own child hood and having to grow up with a constantly drunk father and a mother who was in denial until it was too late.

"How are you going to go about removing Harry from the Dursleys' care? I can imagine Albus will put up a big fight. After all, it sounds like he put Harry in such an unloving environment to condition him. I will gladly help you with this."

"It's a risky plan but it may work. It involves freeing an innocent person who we all assumed was guilty of betraying James and Lily Potter to their death." Snape said causing McGonagall to look puzzled.