Harry shivered and drew the thin blanket closer. He knew he should probably be worried. He was on the dirt floor of a hut in the middle of a sea listening to Dudley snore after all. And during a huge storm no less. But as far as he was concerned this was still the same Dursleys, just a different location. Aunt Petunia had taken the time to find him a blanket though, which took him completely by surprise. Then again, they've been acting weird ever since those letters started showing up. Really though, it wasn't as if the Dursleys had shown any inclination to give up the chase they'd gotten started. Harry had the opinion that if they'd just given up and accepted one of them, they'd stop coming after them. They had started it by running after all. Not that he could have voiced this opinion.

"Kind hard to say anything when you can't talk. And it's not like they'd listen to me anyway." He'd come to terms with not being able to speak years ago. It had been gone for at least five or six years after all. Just after that disaster in the public library. It had been his refuge from the Dursleys until then. He'd even met his first (and only) friend there. True she was a lot older than him, but Pamela's interest and friendship had been genuine. She had even defended him when Dudley had found out where he went in his free time.

Dudley had come after him one day and started a fight, destroying a ton of books and making a huge mess. Pamela had intervened when Dudley had tried to place the blame on Harry. The end result had been that the librarians had listened to them and Dudley was banned from the library for the damage he had caused.

"Uncle Vernon didn't like that much. Especially when he couldn't get them to take it back." He had barely gotten back inside that day before his uncle had come looking for him. Apparently Dudley had come straight home and told his parents what had happened.

He couldn't really remember what had happened next. All he knew for certain was that he woke up some time later in a strange room. The time in between was rather fuzzy. He later discover by listening from his cupboard to an argument his aunt and uncle had that he had been taken to a hospital, apparently at the insistence of his aunt. His voice had been gone ever since. And Harry had been banned from ever setting foot in the library or else he'd get the worst beating of his life.

"It's not like I haven't had some bad ones anyway. Adults can't be trusted." A little voice in the back of his head told that wasn't quite true. "Well Pamela was practically an adult, she just dressed funny. She even remembered my birthday and meant it." His last gift from the Dursleys had been a moldy left sock two years ago. Pamela had hidden a small book away in the backyard. How and when she had done it he couldn't figure out. It had taken some work to smuggle it into his cupboard successfully, but in the end he achieved it. It had helped relieve the monotony when he was stuck inside it for displaying his freakishness. 

He hadn't seen Pamela since that fateful day in the library; she obviously realized she had gotten him in severe trouble. He reasoned she was still around somewhere though, or he would never have found the book. As to how he knew it was from her he couldn't explain, even to himself. He still found odd things outside on his birthday or days near it.. "Guess I won't find anything this year. There's no way she could possibly know what's going on." He shuffled uncomfortably. "Uncle Vernon says that freaks like me don't deserve presents anyway. It's not like I do weird stuff on purpose. It just happens!"

And not once in a while either. Strange things happened around him all the time. Once, when he somehow managed to make all of Aunt Petunia's plates vanish, which had netted him almost a week without meals, she had said in irritation that his one saving grace was that he looked as strange as he acted. "At least the normal people will know to avoid you."

Harry knew he looked strange. His skin was so pale that it was almost white; it had had the clerk in the Cokeworth hotel thinking he was wearing costume makeup. And his skin was always cold, almost freezing really. The skin color in particular always led to a lot a taunting from Dudley and his gang. And then there was that odd shaped scar of his. The result of the car crash that had killed his parents, Aunt Petunia had said. It was one of the few questions his aunt and uncle had ever answered.

A loud double beep broke him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see Dudley's wristwatch blinking. Apparently it was five minutes to midnight. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and eased himself up. "Almost eleven."  Thunder rumbled in seeming agreement. He sighed to himself as he drew a crude looking cake into the dirt. He added candles and then flames. "This is gonna be the worst one yet." He surveyed the image before him before glancing at Dudley's watch again.

Less than a minute to midnight. "Make a wish Harry."  He frowned and leaned down. The watch beeped shrilly as the flames dissolved under the current of air. The second round of beeping was completely drowned out by the explosive crashes that came from the rickety door of the ramshackle hut. Harry jerked himself to his feet as Dudley sat bolt upright, sleepily (and stupidly) asking something about a cannon.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia appeared in the room as the door splintered and fell to the floor. Vernon was carrying a rifle in his hands. Harry took one look at the enormous shadow illuminated in the door frame and decided that enough was enough. He hid behind the sofa, having no great faith in his uncle's aim. He chanced a glance around the edge of the furniture.

The giant shadow resolved itself into a giant man. The man stepped over the door into the room. "Sorry about that." He reached down and hefted the door in a few fingers before slamming it into place. The sounds of the storm dropped sharply. He turned back around and Harry took the opportunity to examine him.

Most of him was covered by an overcoat that looked to be moleskin, but he had a rather large (and scruffy) black beard and long hair that looked just as scruffy going past his shoulders. He was also extraordinarily tall, easily filling the entire doorframe. He had beetle black eyes which were crinkled in apparent confusion. Harry found him fascinating. So much so that it took him a moment to notice the considerably more average sized man that must have slipped in behind the apparent giant. He cursed himself soundly inside his head when realized how badly he was slipping.

Vernon appeared not to have seen the other man at all. In fact Harry would bet money that his uncle was entirely hung up on the intruder's height. He brandished the rifle in a threatening manner. "You are breaking and entering! I demand you leave at once!" The giant man's eyes crinkled again, this time in what was unmistakably irritation.

"Dry up Dursley, you great prune!" He covered the distance between them in several steps and grabbing the end of the rifle barrel, actually bent it straight upward. Vernon and Petunia both jumped when the rifle fired abruptly, blasting a hole in the ceiling and consequently, the roof. He strode towards the sofa looking satisfied. Dudley squeaked and threw himself off it as he approached. The enormous man settled himself down on the sofa with a sigh. It creaked audibly under his weight.

He grunted when he caught sight of the shriveled chip bags in the grate, Vernon's failed attempt to start a fire. He reached into his overcoat and withdrew a flowery pink umbrella from it. Holding the umbrella out in front of him, he leaned over the grate muttering what sounded like, "Bloody muggles can't even make a proper fire." There was an odd whooshing sound, and when the man drew back there was a fire burning as if it had been going for hours. Harry only had enough time to let his jaw drop partway before he felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. He closed his mouth and whipped his head around to find the other man watching him.

Harry decided that his size was probably the only thing approaching normal. His hair was such a deep black that it looked faintly purple in the low light of the hut. It was cut so that it perfectly followed the outline of his shoulders. His clothing put Harry in mind of a medieval sorcerer. The upper half resembled a tee shirt, though the sleeves were so long that they covered his hands with plenty of fabric to spare. The collar was cut low enough that he could see a blue stone of some kind on a silver chain around his neck. Though the majority of the fabric was a shade of dark ruby, the sleeves and collar had a dark golden trim. He was wearing a belt the same color as the trim, and the lower half of his clothing was the same shade of dark ruby as the top, though a brighter swatch ran straight down the front of it. It was obviously some kind of robe, and was cut in an odd way that managed to convey somehow that it had been made with a male wearer in mind.

Harry abruptly realized that the man's clothing looked remarkably close to what he remembered Pamela wearing. The man raised an eyebrow at Harry's scrutiny of him. Then his lips quirked into a smile and he met Harry's gaze full-on.

Harry shivered. Aside from the fact that he had never seen anyone with purple colored eyes before, the man's gaze was quite intense. Harry attention snapped back to the giant man when he cleared his throat and addressed Dudley.

"Haven't seen you since you was a baby Harry. You're a bit more along than I expected, particularly round the middle." Harry grinned to himself when he saw his aunt and uncle stiffen at this last part. Dudley just shook his head.

"I...I'm not Harry." Dudley obviously had to strain himself to get this much out. He pointed suddenly at Harry's hiding spot. "That's him over there!" The giant man turned to stare at him, and very reluctantly Harry crawled out of his hiding place. The giant grinned broadly and stuck out a hand the size of a dishpan, acting for all the world as if he was an eleven year old himself.

"Rubeus Hagrid, but you can call me Hagrid. I'm keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts. You know all about Hogwarts of course." Feeling nonplussed, Harry shook Hagrid's hand even as he shook his head. Hagrid blinked. "You don't?" His eyes narrowed as he dropped Harry's hand and whirled to face the Dursleys. All three of them huddled together upon catching sight of his angry glare. He snapped his attention back to Harry. "Blimey! Haven't you ever wondered where you're parents learned it all?" When Harry's look of confusion only increased, Hagrid growled and rose up to his full height and pointed his umbrella at Harry's uncle.

"You mean to tell me he doesn't know nothing about anything?! You haven't told him nothing at all?!" In danger of being speared by a giant's umbrella, Vernon Dursley let out a sound like a mouse being trodden on.

"Rubeus!" Harry jumped violently at the sharp outburst; having completely forgotten about the man perched on sofa's threadbare armrest. He seemed to have a knack for fading into the background. Rubeus had forgotten him too it seemed, because he jumped almost as much. "Honestly! You're not being so clear yourself." He hopped off the armrest and moved around Hagrid. Upon catching sight of him, Harry's uncle seemed to regain some of his earlier bravado.

"What is this, the circus?! How many more of your lot are going to come traipsing in here?!" The man quirked an eyebrow.

"I arrived with Rubeus." He said coolly. "I simply didn't want you to notice me yet." He caught Harry's startled expression and smiled slightly.  "I am rather good at it, I'm told." He made a strange sort of bow from the waist at Harry. "Mahalestro Ambervale, at your service Mr. Potter." While Hagrid's accent sounded somewhat Cockney, Ambervale's was distinctly foreign, sounding something like a very thick Russian, though it was carefully enunciated. He too held out his hand for Harry to shake. After a few minutes of Harry staring at it, he withdrew it and cleared his throat. "I suppose you must be bursting with questions if you were never told about Hogwarts." Harry nodded warily. Ambervale spread his arms. "Then ask away. We have time to answer a few things."

Harry opened his mouth and without even thinking tried to speak. He realized his folly when absolutely no sound came out. He closed his mouth and turned away, feeling frustrated. "Figures. For once I'm allowed to ask something and I can't do it." He was embarrassed to feel tears trying to prickle behind his eyes. He dashed them away angrily. "Stop that! I should know better to than to expect something to go right by now. I know life isn't fair."  Ambervale looked at him in some concern.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" He turned his gaze back to the Dursleys when Petunia suddenly spoke up.

"You won't get anything out of him. The boy's mute, never said so much as a word." She squeaked when Ambervale's eyes narrowed at her.

"Really now." His gaze snapped back to Harry, who jumped slightly at the speed of it. "You can write, yes?" Harry nodded. Ambervale straightened and started fishing around in his sleeves. "Then we have way to communicate." He frowned after moment and suddenly snapped, "Scheda, pluteus, penicillus." This time Harry's jaw really did drop as the man withdrew a sheaf of paper from his sleeves along with a pencil and of all things, a clipboard. Harry supposed he could have hidden the first two up against his arm, but he had no possible explanation for the clipboard. Smiling indulgently at Harry's expression, the man passed the items over to him. "Ask your questions, Mr. Potter."

Feeling elated, Harry scribbled out, "What is Hogwarts?" Ambervale frowned slightly as he read it.

"For a proper answer to that, I do believe you will need to see your letter." He turned to the enormous man. "Rubeus, if you would?" Hagrid nodded and patted his pockets for a moment before producing one of the strange envelopes that had caused the Dursleys such alarm. Grinning like a loon, Hagrid passed it over to Harry.

He saw the address on the front read, Mr. H. Potter. The floor, Hut on the rock, The Sea. Opening it, he found a strange looking sheet of paper sitting on top. "Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He promptly stopped reading and picked up the clipboard. "You're having me on. There's no such thing as magic." Hagrid was the first to see the message. He frowned.

"Course magic's real!" He gestured at the fire. "As real as you and me!" He grinned. "And I ain't exactly easy to miss, now am I?" Seeing that Harry was not even remotely convinced by this, Ambervale coughed to get his attention.

He reached into one sleeve and pulled out a long thin stick of wood. "Perhaps a demonstration would help." He twirled the stick thoughtfully before suddenly pointing it straight at Harry. He smiled slightly as the child's mouth opened in a soundless gasp as he was levitated into the air, dropping the clipboard. Still smiling he said, "This is a prime example of magic, Mr. Potter. It can do the most extraordinary things with the simplest of intents." He gently lowered Harry back down to the ground. Hagrid's smile had become infectious, at least towards Harry.

"Haven't you ever made things happen? When you're angry or scared?" Harry nodded. Hagrid leaned back looking satisfied. "You're a wizard Harry, and a thumping good one I'll wager, with a bit of training." Unfortunately, this sentence proved to have too much strain on Vernon Dursley's temper.

"He'll not be going there I tell you! We swore when we took him in that we'd put a stop to that nonsense!"

Ignoring Hagrid's snarl, Ambervale said, "So you did know. I was beginning to wonder."

"Knew?!" Petunia burst out suddenly. "Of course we knew! How could he not be, my dratted sister being what she was?! My parents were so proud, the day she got her letter. We have a witch in the family! Isn't it wonderful?" Petunia looked like she had swallowed a lemon whole. "I was the only one who saw her for what she was, a freak!" She stopped to draw a deep breath. It looked to Harry as though she had been dying to say this for years. "Then she went to that school and met that man and had him!" She stabbed a trembling finger towards Harry. "I knew you'd be the same, just as strange, just as abnormal!" She seemed to draw herself together. "Then if you please, she went and got herself blown up, and we got landed with you!"

By now, Harry's skin had lost what little color it had, making him look an odd ghostly white, and throwing his eyes and hair into sharp contrast. He grabbed the clipboard and scribbled out, "Blown up? They told me my parents died in a car crash!" Unfortunately, it was Hagrid who saw the message first. He whirled back on the Dursleys.

"A car crash! A car crash kill Lily and James Potter?!"

"We had to say something." Hagrid appeared to totally ignore this.

"It's an outrage!  A scandal!" Harry grabbed the clipboard again.

"Then what did happen?!"  He thrust the question towards Ambervale. The smaller man glanced at it and sighed slightly.

"Rubeus! Enough." He glanced at Harry. "This may take some time. You'd better let Albus know we've accomplished our goal for today." Hagrid clapped a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart.

"Gallopin' Gargoyles! I almost forgot!" He reached into his coat and shuffled around for a moment. Then to Harry's amazement, he pulled out a live, and somewhat ruffled looking, owl along with more of that strange paper, a battered looking quill of some kind, and an inkwell.

A sharp "Pluteus!" from Ambervale had him pulling another clipboard from his sleeves, though this one was considerably larger. Harry watched in fascination as the fabric stretched to accommodate it. Hagrid took it and sat down on the worn sofa with a thump. It creaked forbiddingly under his weight. He dipped the quill into the inkwell and started writing something, muttering quietly as the owl perched on the sofa-back and watched, preening itself.

"Now then." Harry's attention jumped back to Ambervale. The man let out a sigh and with complete disregard to the laws of physics, sank into a seated position on thin air, facing him. "We knew you were having difficulties receiving your letter..." He trailed off and sent the Dursleys a cutting look. "I must admit that I had no idea as to the extent of your unawareness of our world." He took a deep breath, surveying him intently. "First of all, know this Mr. Potter, because it's very important. Not all wizards and witches are good." He shifted slightly. "Some time ago, one wizard turned as dark as it can be possible to go."

Hagrid grunted and rose from his seat, taking whatever he had written and giving it to the owl before opening a window and throwing it along with its burden out into the storm. He dropped back down on the sofa as if he had done something as ordinary as take a letter to the mailbox. "They was dark times Harry, very dark. He called himself..." Hagrid trailed off before trying again. "He called himself Vol..."

Ambervale sighed slightly. "Perhaps if you wrote it down, Rubeus." Hagrid shook his head.

"Nah. I can't spell it." He wiped his brow before sighing in apparent defeat. "Oh all right. Voldemort." He shuddered. "Don't make me say it again." He visibly composed himself. "He called himself a dark lord. He did all kinds of horrible things."

"Many people came together to fight against him, Mr. Potter. Your parents included." Ambervale shook himself slightly. "They were very brave. Some of the bravest people I have ever known." He pursed his lips. "They were persuaded to go into hiding not long after you were born." He drew in a breath. "Unfortunately, few people lived once he decided to kill them."

"He started doin everything he could to find em' somehow." Hagrid looked utterly morose. "One night he finally did it. He came to the place they were hiding and killed em'." He met Harry's gaze head on. "And here's the mysterious part Harry, he tried to kill you too.

"Why?" The question was written across his face rather than written down, but Hagrid seemed to understand it just the same.

"Dunno why. Wanted to make a clean job of it, I suppose. But something happened when he tried to kill you that night. He failed that night Harry. You're the Boy Who Lived."

"Load of old tosh." Harry jolted, having completely forgotten the Dursleys were still in the room. Ambervale obviously hadn't.

"That is an appropriate description for the story you have given him! Car crash indeed!" He snapped, stressing the "you". He shook himself and appeared to regain his composure. Hagrid went on as if there had been no interruption.

"Some say he died. Codswallop in my opinion. Don't think there was enough human left in him to die." He shook his head. "I think he's out there somewhere still, biding his time, waitin' for a chance to come back." There was silence for a moment. Finally, Ambervale cleared his throat and rose from his non-existent seat.

"Well Mr. Potter, I must be returning to Hogwarts. Rubeus will escort you on an excursion tomorrow so that you may procure your school supplies." He shot Hagrid a look. "I need to confer with Severus on a few things." He paused and shot Harry a look. "That's Professor Snape to you. He teaches potions at Hogwarts." Noting Harry's look, he smiled. "Have you ever had chemistry?" Harry nodded.

"Yeah. It was one of my Favorite classes." Ambervale smiled.

"Then you may like potions. The work is rather close to being the same, though potions are much more volatile than chemicals. Much like Professer Snape himself really." He frowned here. "If you can get past his nasty exterior, you'll probably do just fine. Professer Snape is a rather...unique individual. I would advise you not to arouse his temper if I were you." This left Harry with a decidedly unpleasant impression in his mind. Ambervale dusted himself off briskly before striding towards the center of the room. Then he paused. "I will look into the matter of your voice."  He watched as Harry's eyes widened. "I promise I shall have a temporary solution at the very least by the time school begins." With these as his parting words, he turned stiffly on one heel and vanished with a loud crack.

Ringing silence was left in his wake. Hagrid's sudden sound a minute later made everyone jump. He rummaged in his coat for a moment before withdrawing a box and passing it to Harry. "Here we are. Not everyday a young man turns eleven!" He grinned. "Baked it myself, words and all."

Thoroughly confused by this proud statement, Harry opened the box to find a large cake with the words, Happee Birthday Harry in blue icing staring up at him. A rich chocolaty scent wafted up from the box. He snapped it shut in embarrassment when his stomach growled. Hagrid just chuckled.

"Suppose we could do with a bit of supper." He started rummaging around in his coat. He stopped briefly when Harry wrote out a question to him.

"Will I be able to do things like that?" He motioned at the fire. Hagrid just chuckled again.

"Course you will. Plenty more than that too. Fires are small things really." He started to say more, but Vernon Dursley's temper finally seemed to have overridden his common sense.

"I've had enough of you lot! We wrote back when the first of those blasted letters came. We have him down for Stonewall, and that's that!" Hagrid seemed to swell with anger as he rose to his feet.

 "He's been down for Hogwarts ever since he was born!"

"He'll not be going!" Hagrid pursed his lips.

"And I suppose a great muggle like yourself's going to stop him." He caught Harry's confused look. "It's what we call non-magic folk. It's your bad luck that you've had to grow up with the biggest bunch of muggles I've ever seen!" He gave Vernon Dursley a rather baleful glare. "He's going to the finest school of magic in Europe! And he'll be under the finest headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen, Albus Dumble-."

"I'm not paying for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic tricks!" But Vernon Dursley had finally gone too far.

Hagrid surged up to full and considerable height. "Never insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me." His voice was low and menacing. He whirled the umbrella abruptly and pointed it at Dudley. There was a flash of light accompanied by a loud bang. Then Dudley started screaming, clutching at his bottom. The cue was quickly taken up by Vernon and Petunia. Still screaming, they hurried Dudley up and bundled him through the door into the opposite room. Just before the door closed, Harry caught a glimpse of curly pig's tail poking out through the back of Dudley's pyjamas.

Hagrid lowered the umbrella as the door slammed shut. The clicking of a lock was audible in the sudden ringing silence. He looked a strange mixture of embarrassed and pleased. "Meant to turn him into a pig. Suppose there wasn't much left to do." He glanced at Harry. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about that once you get to Hogwarts." He coughed. "Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to do magic." Harry nodded eagerly. "Good. What do you say to some supper then?" The question was answered by Harry's loudly grumbling stomach. Hagrid chuckled loudly at Harry's accompanying embarrassed glance.

He proceeded to produce a package of what looked like sausages and promptly began to cook them over the roaring fire. It was much later, when he was bedded down beneath Hagrid's enormous coat that Harry thought things were finally starting to change.

"At least if I'm going insane it'll be a change of pace. And I'll be away from the Dursleys. Though it sounds like i'm not going to like this Professor Snape. He sounds like he's got as short a fuse as Uncle Vernon." He fell back onto the pillow Hagrid had given him. Just before sleep claimed him he thought, "I meant to ask Hagrid and that other guy about Pamela too. Maybe they've heard of her." He fell into the embrace of sleep before the train of thought could go any further.

Quite some distance away, Mahalestro Ambervale materialized in front of a gate flanked by a set of winged boars. He pushed the gate open and practically sailed up the pathway to the castle. As he entered, he was met by two adults. The taller and more elderly of the two politely took his cloak from him.

"Mahalestro." Ambervale nodded to her. "How did it go?" Ambervale sighed.

"Well enough I suppose Minerva." He frowned slightly. "He was like frightened rabbit towards me, but he took to Hagrid well enough." His frown became more pronounced. "Though he did seem to recognize something about me." He shook his head even as the shorter of the two witches laughed.

"That's just how Hagrid is. You know he can't pull off frightening." Ambervale shook his head again.

"To one who knows him, he can't. The muggles were rather afraid of him." He paused before fixing his gaze on the shorter witch. "Have you received his medical files yet Poppy?" The witch shook her head.

"Not yet. They should be in within the week. Apparently they proved rather difficult to find. How muggles can be so disorganized I shall never know." She sounded completely exasperated. Ambervale nodded to her.

"I should like to examine them when they do arrive, if you don't mind. I need a copy for his case-file." The medi-witch nodded.

"Of course." Minerva blinked rather owlishly.

"He actually has a case file?" Ambervale gave her a rather startled look.

"Of course he does. All orphans of the magical world do." Minerva shook her head as they set off across the entrance hall.

"I know that! It's just that...well, considering how fast Albus worked to transfer him, I thought..." She trailed off, waving a hand vaguely in the air. Ambervale gave her a crisp nod.

"Ah. He does have one. It is mostly just a collection of facts, since no one has been able to visit with him, but it does exist." None of them noticed when another person showed up, hanging back in the shadows to listen to their conversation. Poppy cleared her throat.

"How did he look to you?" Ambervale's expression soured.

"Far too pale and much too skinny." The person watching them let out a very soft growl and drifted closer. Ambervale took no notice. "His uncle met us with a shotgun and a great deal of bravado." He ignored the startled gasps from the two witches. "The muggles were rather unpleasant in general. Mr. Potter however, I discovered behind the sofa. As near as I can tell, he dived there when his uncle arrived in the room." He smiled slightly. "I think it was quite the prudent course of action. Especially if one considers how much control, or lack thereof, his uncle was displaying." His smile vanished like a burst soap bubble.

"He hadn't the faintest idea of just what he was. I had to levitate him before he'd even begin to believe in the existence of magic. He's in for quite a shock when he arrives in Diagon Alley with Hagrid tomorrow." Minerva stared at him.

"He didn't know anything about us?" Ambervale shook his head.

"Nothing. Rubeus and I had to tell him how his parents died. Apparently he was laboring under the impression that they were killed in a car crash." The person watching them let out a barely stifled oath, though it was drowned out the outraged sounds from Minerva and Poppy. Ambervale gave both of the witches a sharp nod. "He has much to learn about our world." He paused. "Is Severus in his lab?" Poppy nodded.

"He's brewing potions to restock my infirmary." Ambervale nodded.

"I need to consult him about a few new students." Minerva winced.

"Be careful what you say. You know he's been in a sour mood over this being Harry Potter's first year of school." Ambervale scowled.

"He'll have to get over it eventually, I suspect. I must go find him. Good evening ladies." He swept off towards the dungeons, the figure in the shadows following along behind him. His brisk pace brought him to the potions lab in minutes. He rapped sharply on the door and stepped back. A few minutes later it was opened by a sallow faced man dressed entirely in black. He sighed and waved him in.

"Mahalestro. Finished at last?" Ambervale swept in and perched himself on an empty counter."

"Would I be here otherwise Severus?" He watched the as the potion master returned to the cauldron he had been tending. Severus rolled his eyes.

"No, I suppose not." He dropped something into the cauldron and stirred it before sniffing the fumes appreciatively. As he stirred in another ingredient he said, "How many children did you identify this year?"

"Seven. One has a rather difficult problem, but the rest can be helped fairly easily. No learning disabled this year, as near as I can tell, but most of them will most likely have some need of my services." Severus began pouring the potion into flasks.

"You are the counselor. How severe a problem does this other child have?" Ambervale pursed his lips again.

"Very. I'm afraid it's going to take some doing to deal with it. At the moment I'm at a loss as to how to go about it."

"Potions are not a cure-all. If I make one it'd have to be specific to the cause." Severus felt his lips give a faint twitch as the counselor huffed.

"I've been working here since before the birth of Albus' great-grandfather! Think I don't know things like that?" Severus shook his head.

"No. But you do tend to forget things when you get caught up in something." Ambervale snorted.

"So it take my job seriously." He pointed a finger at the other man and shook it. "Just remember, you may be in same boat if you ever reach my age."

"Merlin forbid."

"Don't sass me." He frowned. "I do not think a potion would work in this particular instance anyway." He paused, and said carefully. "I went with Rubeus to give Harry Potter his letter." Severus sat the cauldron he was carrying down with stronger force than necessary.

"This is the part where you try to convince me of how normal he is. Perfect Potter, our saviour. The golden boy, or whatever else you want to call him. The boy must be spoiled rotten. I can hardly wait to see how he acts in class. He'll be every inch his father." Ambervale scowled at him.

"Severus Snape!" Severus flinched despite himself when Ambervale pinned him with a glare. "He is boy, not god, Severus!"

"Wouldn't know it from the way Albus talks." He muttered quietly.

It wasn't quiet enough. "Albus is Albus. All beard and riddles." He waved a hand dismissively in the air. "The man likes to be a mystery. Been that way since he was a child." The potion master snorted softly.

"You would know I suppose." Ambervale crossed his arms.

"And yet everyone forgets." Severus shook his head.

"That's probably because unlike Albus, you don't look your age." He scowled briefly. "Was there any particular reason you brought up Potter besides baiting me?" Ambervale scowled right back at him.

"You shouldn't be so harsh. The two of you may have more in common than you think." Severus actually snorted.

"I'll believe it when I see it." He set another cauldron forcefully under the table and pointedly busied himself lighting a fire beneath it. Lips pursed, Ambervale vacated his seat.

"You may regret that statement, mark me on that." He paused briefly at the door. "I think at least four of the students will end up under your care." Severus scowled over his cauldron.

"There's more every year." He set up another cauldron. "I'm taking my godson to Diagon Alley tomorrow. Do you need anything in particular?"

"Just my usual supply kit of potion ingredients, thank you." He passed through the door and turned. "And Severus, try to keep an open mind about Harry Potter. I think you'll be suprised."

Severus response floated out the door just before it snapped shut. "I'll take it under advisement." Ambervale snorted softly and swept off, heading out of the dungeons. As he turned a corner, the person watching him floated out into the middle of the hallway.

"So Harry's finally coming here." She smiled slightly. "Mahalestro said he was going to be in Diagon Alley tomorrow. I think I better set something up. Maybe at Flourish and Blotts?" She shook her head. "Better make it Madame Malkin's. He's always looked like some begger's child in those oversized clothes." Giggling slightly, the ghost faded until she was almost invisible and passed through the ceiling, heading for the owlry.