The discussion concerning the classification of spells and enchantments as man-made creations has been long debated. Though spells themselves have been invented by man and are activated by man, the energy put to use is drawn from the natural forces of the universe. An important argument against spells being entirely nature-based is the fact that all spells, without exception, contain flaws, or ‘holes’. It has been widely agreed upon than mankind is incapable of creating a flawless form, thus the imperfection of spells, according to many, proves their inorganic nature.

That argument leaves the question of how one detects such flaws in spells. A study done by Orchard Jennings of Australia (1921-present), provided the data to develop his widely acclaimed theory, the Magical Flaw Theory, which states that the variations of magical flaws can be divided into three sections: (1) the vibrations of active spells used in combat, transfiguration, and charms, (2) the fractures along the foundation of static enchantments such as protective warding-

“Wards. There we go,” Harry muttered to himself, skimming through the next few paragraphs until he reached the section focused on warding.

Without exception, faint cracks upon protective warding can be detected, though it will only apparent to those it serves to protect. Should the warding have been erected by a novice, the fractures will be relatively simple to perceive; an individual positioned within six and a half feet of the enchantment will detect a shimmering wave traveling in a vertical direction on several points upon the length of the enchantment. If the wards were set by a professional, one must position themselves within seven inches of the enchantment, and said individual may detect an area that glows comparatively brighter than the remainder of the enchantment.

Either Dumbledore or Snape set up the wards, and I would assume they’re both professionals, Harry thought.

To one residing within the wards, he continued to read, breaking through the flawed area is fairly simple once detected, though the level of magical power of the attempting individual must be fairly high. There is no one method to achieving so; it has been said that techniques vary according to an individual’s particular strengths… The use of a wand is not strictly necessary… One must focus their power upon the area which they plan to break through…

Harry smiled slightly as he closed the book and stuffed it back onto its shelf. Breaking through wards, that sounded like an endeavor entirely within his capabilities. It took mainly magical strength and focus, which Harry knew he had in spades, and relatively little practical knowledge.

I just have to find a way to do it without Snape noticing…

Harry frowned when he realized the unlikelihood of such a scenario. He was pretty sure Snape still had monitoring spells set up.

I just have to do it quickly enough that I can be out by the time he realizes.

Satisfied with his findings, Harry rose slowly from his seat, arching his back slightly, hearing several vertebrae pop as he did so.

---

Harry picked at his food distractedly, his mind racing with the possibilities of bringing his plan to fruition. He tried to school his face into nonchalance when he noticed Snape glancing at him oddly.

I don’t want to look like I’m plotting something. The man can read minds…

Harry waiting nervously for Snape to speak, convinced that, somehow, the man had discovered the nature of his most recent research topic. But Snape did not speak; he studied Harry for a few moments more, then abruptly returned to his meal.

Harry continued eating in silence, anxious to finish so he could return to the library. He felt Snape’s gaze burning into the top of his head yet again, and he deliberately focused his eyes on his plate.

How am I going to stay out of his sight long enough to break through the wards? He’s watching me more carefully than usual. But how can he know…? He said he wouldn’t read my mind, plus I would know it, even if he did.

Harry gave a mental shrug and set down his fork, wiping his mouth surreptitiously with his napkin.

Snape cleared his throat, and Harry’s heat shot up, his eyes widening.

Relax, he doesn’t know anything. He might figure it out if you keep acting like you have something to hide, idiot.

“Harry, I-” Snape paused, seeming unsure of how to continue. The uncharacteristic nature of his hesitance brought up a whole different set of anxieties for Harry.

It must be something bad, really bad. Why else would he act like this; he usually the epitome of composure. He’s kicking me out for sure. He doesn’t want me here anymore, he-

“There is a matter I wish to discuss with you that is of a rather delicate nature,” Snape said carefully.

Harry was taken aback.

What’s that supposed to mean?

“Er… okay?” Harry replied, frowning.

Snape was silent for a moment.

“I understand that it may be an… uncomfortable topic for you,” Snape said in a low voice, “but it is important… no, vital, that you attempt to be honest with me.”

Harry inhaled sharply, beginning to get a vague idea of what this might be about. He just nodded faintly, hoping that his suspicions were incorrect.

“I would suggest we take this conversation outside, but…” The distant rumbling of thunder was enough to lay that idea to rest.

“We could just stay here,” Harry muttered, wanting more than anything to get back to his books.

“Very well.”

Snape waved away the dishes and set steaming mugs of tea in their place within moments.

“I am going to get straight to the point, Harry, because this is not a matter to be taken lightly.”

Harry tensed, gripping his mug with both hands as though it stood to offer him some comfort, though the heat radiating from the black porcelain did nothing to calm him.

“Has anyone ever touched you in ways that made you feel uncomfortable, or unsafe, in any manner?” Snape said clearly, his eyes focused upon Harry unblinkingly.

Harry froze, wanting nothing more than to run as far as he could from the room and break through the wards at this very moment.

He can’t know about what happened. It doesn’t matter, it’s in the past, and I don’t want him bringing it all up again. Plus he’ll never look at me the same way. He’ll pity me and probably be disgusted, and he won’t want… You better say something now or he’ll know for sure.

Harry looked up at Snape with the slightly confused expression of a naïve eleven year old who had not yet been introduced to the ways of the world.

“I- I’m not quite sure what you mean, sir,” he said tonelessly. “I told you that my uncle…” Harry did not have to fake the slightly shaky undertone of that statement.

Snape’s face tightened at that. “Yes, I have not forgotten.” The expression on the man’s face said: “If he weren’t already dead…”

“However,” he continued, “I am referring to something of a different nature.” He paused, studying Harry’s face again.

Harry couldn’t prevent his eyes from darting back and forth, as though in fruitless attempt to spot an escape route.

He can’t find out about this, he can’t know. No. I won’t tell. I can’t tell.

Harry faked an expression of sudden comprehension. “Oh, you mean…?” Harry wished he could induce a blush, but his acting skills were not quite that finely honed. “No, no way, why would you even-?” He shoved his trembling hands under the table, eyeing Snape apprehensively.

I don’t think he’s fooled. Well, too bad, ‘cause that’s all he’s going to get.

---

Severus sighed in frustration as he watched the child sprint from the room as though it was burning down. The boy was quite an accomplished liar for his age, but he hadn’t fooled Severus, not for a moment. The way he had tensed, the darting eyes, the forced nonchalance… Severus was now even more convince of his suspicions than he had been before.

He must admit to it to allow for any healing to begin its process. If the boy continues to deny it, the wounds will fester until he withers. I cannot allow that to happen.

Clearly, he had taken the wrong approach. Perhaps he had been too abrupt or straightforward, or the boy may have been too anxious or inhibited at that moment to consider opening up.

He is constantly anxious and inhibited…

Severus shook his head, running a hand through his limp hair.

---

Harry stood at the edge of the grounds later that day, squinting at the misty enchantments surrounding them. The rain had stopped a while ago, and the setting sun was just at a point where it beamed directly into his face, making it difficult to focus upon the wards.

Harry shifted his position slightly, shoes squelching in the wet grass, and he tilted his head until he was able to make them out without too much difficulty.

Okay… I need to spot an area that glows more brightly…

Twenty minutes passed, and Harry had not yet been able to spot a single flaw.

Of course, I had to get stuck with a bunch of damn professionals putting these together. They are standing in the way of scientific experimentation…

Harry snorted to himself. Sure, scientific experimentation, that was exactly what he was doing.

Though I suppose I could use that as my excuse if I get caught…

Harry searched for a while longer, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to see as the sky darkened. He huffed in frustration.

This would be so much easier if I could just Floo to Surrey…

Not that it hadn’t occurred to him before. Harry was quite certain, however, that there were no fireplaces in Surrey that were connected to the Floo network, and even if there were, it definitely wasn’t worth the risk.

I better go inside, or Snape will start looking for me. I’ll just try again tomorrow.

With difficulty, Harry turned away and trudged his way back into the house, then slinked into the library as quietly as he could as to avoid Snape. After a few moments of consideration, Harry decided to select a few books to take up to his room; it was more likely that he would be left in peace.

Despite the early hour, Harry readied himself for bed and clutched his blankets tightly.

Why do I feel so… so…?

Vulnerable. That was what it was. He was feeling more wound up in this room than he had since the first week or so that he’d been there.

It’s because Snape brought all that… stuff up.

Harry pressed his lips together and opened a book at random. He read for a while, though his eyes shifted in and out of focus as he struggled to ignore the unpleasant thoughts that insisted on plaguing him.

Eventually, Harry could keep his eyes open no longer, and hid book slipped from his slackened grip as he drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Not for long, however…

Harry let out an agonized scream and sat bolt upright in his bed, his chest heaving heavily.

Those hands, those cold, clammy hands…

Harry rubbed his arms frantically as he gradually blinked his way back into awareness, struggling to make out the dim image of his bedroom. His room. In Snape’s house.

Damn, I screamed again.

Harry realized he was shivering uncontrollably, and he was too overwrought to even attempt to stop.

Snape heard me for sure.

Harry took a shuddering breath, feeling his eyes well up with tears.

I want him to come. I want him- What the hell? No you don’t. You don’t want him to come, you don’t want him to find out about any of this stuff.

But he couldn’t relax. He could still feel those cruel, icy hands gripping him, making him wish he was dead. They weren’t like Snape’s hands, which were warm and firm, and felt as though they would protect him from anything and would maim anyone that tried to hurt him.

Harry felt a tear drop from his eye and down to his lip, where he could taste the salty wetness that was his pain and fear and horror, and then another tear fell, and then another, and he couldn’t do a thing to stop it, and he couldn’t even bring himself to care, when all he wanted was-

“Harry?”

And Snape was there.

Harry looked up, his face wet with tears and his arms wrapped around his knees. He looked at Snape through slightly blurred eyes to see the man’s face, wrought with concern. The sight just made him cry harder.

Snape walked over slowly to sit on Harry’s bed beside him. He then drew Harry into his arms, which Harry did not hesitate to melt into, hiding his face in the man’s dressing gown.

Snape rubbed Harry’s back gently, and his other hand held Harry’s head pressed into his chest. Harry breathed in the scent of Snape, the herbal, smoky scent, the scent of safety, and he gradually calmed. He didn’t want to leave Snape’s embrace, though, so he remained where he was, his eyes closed, breathing slowly.

Finally, Harry pulled away. Snape let him go immediately, but he did not rise from the bed, and Harry was grateful. He kept his eyes trained on his lap as he pulled his blanket over it.

“That must have been a particularly distressing nightmare,” Snape said quietly.

“Yes,” Harry whispered, not even attempting to deny it.

They were both quiet for a moment. Snape then reached out to lift Harry’s chin.

“Sharing a burden with another halves the burden, Harry,” he said intently. “It seems daunting, I know, but the pain lessens once shared with another.”

Snape let go of Harry chin, though he did not look away, maintaining eye contact with Harry through that magnetic gaze he had.

Harry took a shuddering breath. It was true, what Snape was saying, he knew it was. How had he survived this long, if not for those long afternoons with Jade in the treehouse, where the shared, though unspoken pain between them provided for them the strength and will to live another day?

He suddenly felt exhausted, but not because of the hour. He was too tired to care, to keep his secrets. What was the point, anyway? What was he gaining?

“There was a man,” Harry whispered. “H-he paid my uncle to- to-,” Harry couldn’t go on, but he didn’t need to. Snape grip his hands tightly into his own, knowing exactly what Harry needed, that he didn’t want to be held like he had before, but he just needed a gentle reminder that Snape was there, and would always be there.

---

You will make an appearance in my home at precisely half-past nine this morning, or you will no longer have a potions master.

With a final wave of his wand, Severus sent his Patronus bearing the message on its way.

Under normal circumstances, Severus would never have addressed Albus in such a manner; while they were good friends, Albus was undoubtedly his superior.

But this did not qualify as a normal circumstance.

How could Albus have allowed this to happen? Severus fumed, pacing the floors of the upstairs hallway. The sun had barely risen, but Severus wanted to remain in close proximity to Harry, loath for him to awaken alone after all that had transpired during the night.

I’m having difficulty believing that this was all an innocent mistake on Albus’ part? What was the fool thinking?

Severus barely retrained himself from pounding a fist into the wall.

Save it for Albus.

A Patronus in the form of a phoenix appeared then, bearing Albus’ affirmative reply. Severus had not expected any less; Albus knew him well enough to know what constituted an emergency.

---

Harry kept his head down during breakfast to avoid looking Snape in the eye. After last night, he was not quite sure where he stood with the man.

“Harry.”

He forced himself to look up.

“Professor Dumbledore will be arriving here shortly - you need not speak with him,” Snape interjected when Harry inhaled sharply. “I simply thought you would rather be forewarned.”

Harry nodded, looking down.

Why is he coming this time? I can’t deal with that man anymore.

Harry forcibly shifted his thoughts away from Dumbledore, remembering his plan involving the wards, or rather, the lack of progress on that front.

Maybe I can work on it more while they’re talking.

“Can I go?” Harry asked abruptly, setting down his fork.

Snape nodded his consent, and Harry sped to the library in search of more books that might assists him in spotting the flaws in the wards.

Oh… This was why I couldn’t find the flaws, Harry realized as he read a passage of the book he’d selected. I was looking for them at sunset, and the light of sunset apparently masks them…

Deeply engrossed in his reading, he was startled to hear the door of the library open.

“Professor Dumbledore had arrived,” Snape said, standing at the doorway. “He and I will be in my study. If you require assistance of any sort, do not hesitate to knock.”

“Yes, sir,” Harry muttered, hiding his anticipation. This was it. As soon as Snape and Dumbledore got talking, he could put his plan into action.

A few moments after Snape exited the room, Harry snuck quietly to the door. Pushing it opened carefully, hearing faint murmurings growing steadily quieter as the men walked toward Snape’s study. He then heard a click.

This was it.

I hope Hedwig won’t hate me for this, Harry thought as he made his way across the grounds. He would have liked to take her along, but she was out flying somewhere; Snape had adjusted the wards so she could come and go as she pleased.

Why am I worrying about Hedwig? Snape’s reaction is what I should be worried about…

Harry shoved that thought away. He needed to do this. He need to know what had happened to the Dursleys so he could forget about them and everything that had happened. Otherwise, it would mean that Vernon had won. He may have not managed to beat the magic out of Harry, but the memory of him and all that he had done would be burned into Harry’s mind permanently if he didn’t find a way to let it go.

Harry reached the warding and scanned the enchantments carefully, positioned within seven inches of them.

At last, he spotted it. The faint, shimmering flaw in the spell.

---

As soon as the door of his study clicked shut, Severus waved his want to muffle any sounds coming from the room. He did not want the boy overhearing any part of this conversation.

“So, Severus, I take it there is something of a serious manner you wish to discuss with me?”

Dumbledore, to his credit, was not smiling or twinkling. He obviously knew a dire situation when he saw one.

If he so much as twitches a lip, I will not be responsible for my actions.

Severus took a few calming breaths, intent upon confronting Albus in as rational a manner as he could manage.

“Tell me, Albus, exactly how closely were you keeping tabs on the child whilst he was in the dubious care of his aunt and uncle?” Severus said in a deceptively calm tone.

Albus closed his eyes. “I am aware that he was not treated well there; it is not difficult to tell, the boy being the way he is.”

Albus paused, looking tired. Severus felt no compassion, however; he merely tapped a foot in his impatience for Albus to continue.

“I felt that it would engender resentment if I made personal appearances, so I had Arabella Figg situated in the area to keep an eye on the boy.”

Severus raised an eyebrow.

“Clearly, she did not do quite as well a job as I had hoped,” Albus said quietly, fingering a loose string on his dark green robes. “I- I wish I had done things differently. It was a difficult situation, and I attempted do to my best.”

Severus took another breath, willing himself not to explode. “Clearly, Albus, your best did not come close to being acceptable,” Severus said in a hard voice. He was itching to come right out and tell Albus what was what, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for the man.

Albus closed his eyes again. “I know. The boy is one of many to have paid the price for my mistakes.”

Severus gritted his teeth. “That would be the least of it,” he all but growled.

Albus looked up. “But Harry… he is such a bright, talented child, despite what he has had to face in his short life. He is… remarkable.

Severus about had it right then.

“So, clearly, his abilities nullify the wrongs that have been done to him?”

Albus looked stricken. “No. I- Severus-”

Severus had it. He leaned forward so his face was inches from Albus’.

“Are you aware,” he said in a low, dangerous tone, “that the child opted to live on the streets of London for over a year rather than reside in the home of those monsters any longer?”

Albus’ eyes widened in horrified understanding.  

“They prostituted the boy,” Severus hissed. “He was no better than an object to them, to be used and discarded as they pleased.”

Severus paused for breath, perversely satisfied to see the sheet white color of Albus’ face. “You- you are certain?” he whispered, a trembling hand hovering before his mouth.

“No,” Severus sneered. “It is a likened pastime of mine to fabricate delightful tales of this nature- Yes, I am certain.”

Severus could not help but feel a sense of vindication at the agonized guilt that had overtaken Albus’ face. The man slumped against the wall, burying his face into his palms.

Severus waited in silence for Albus to gain ahold of himself. The man looked up a few moments later with watering eyes, his face looking older and paler that Severus had ever seen it.

“I did not know, Severus,” he croaked. “Truly, I didn’t. Had there been any indication, any at all, I would have taken the child in myself. I…” he couldn’t go on. Tears began to fall from his eyes, trailing down his face and into his silvery beard. He did not outright sob; it seemed that he had not given himself the right to do so.

Severus inhaled.

“I believe you,” he said slowly. “However, it is not me you need to convince.”

Albus nodded, conjuring a handkerchief and dabbing at his eyes.

“I- I must make things right by the boy. I will speak with him-”

“No,” Severus said sharply. “It is clear to me that you have long given up your right to assume an authoritative role in Harry’s life, other than as his headmaster.”

He paused while Albus took that in, and watched as the man nodded sadly, but firmly. “You are right, Severus, I-”

Severus cut him off again. “You will speak with the boy only if he is willing, and I will remain present during any interaction you might have with him.”

Albus swallowed. “Of course.”

“I want full guardianship of the boy.”

 Severus was at first shocked to hear those words come from his mouth, but after a moment, he fully agreed with the statement. He had been seeing Harry as his own for a while now; legal papers would only solidify the relationship and allow him to be there for Harry on a more consistent basis.

Albus looked at him for a long moment.

“It shall be done, Severus.”

“Only upon his agreement, of course, “Severus said firmly. “I-”

Severus stopped. He could feel a tightening of the band around his ankle as well as a faint humming coming from his wand, and from an additional, unidentifiable source as well. His eyes widened.

“The boy has breached the wards.”