“Just be careful when you’re moving about up there, and don’t make any holes in the ceiling,” Petunia instructed. “I’ve left your lunch on the kitchen table, and I want this finished before we get home. No skiving off watching the television. And don’t break any of the decorations when you’re carrying them down.”

“Ok, Aunt Petunia,” replied Harry, unhappily surveying the large pile of unwanted books and toys from Dudley’s second bedroom, which Harry was to move up into the loft to make room for the new items his cousin was expecting to receive for Christmas.

“Hurry up, Mummy!” yelled Dudley from downstairs. “I want to go and collect my presents now.”

“Coming, Diddykins, darling,” she called, giving Harry one more pointed look. “Don’t get into any trouble while we are out Harry, please.”

Harry waited while he heard the front door slam, and then the Dursleys’ car move off down the road. When he was sure that they’d gone he dashed down to the kitchen to see what his Aunt had left for his lunch.

He must have been good lately as it was a nice lunch. Ham and tomato sandwiches, a few grapes, a whole bag of crisps, and even a little cup cake. Wow. There was also an orange squash bottle, with just a little juice remaining. Harry quickly made himself a glass of squash, then topped up the dregs in the bottle, transferring the weak squash into the plastic bottle he kept in his cupboard for emergencies. Finally, rinsing the glass bottle again he put it on the draining board so that Petunia could put it in the recycling, which she always liked to do herself.

Harry decided to eat his lunch straight away, before starting on his allocated tasks. When he’d finished eating, and washed up his plate and glass, he noticed Dudley’s treat tin. It had been refilled to overflowing yesterday, but Dudders had already eaten quite a few of the biscuits. Harry thought carefully, then opened the tin. They wouldn’t notice one missing. Swiftly removing a Penguin, and replacing the tin in its proper place, he stashed the biscuit out of sight in his cupboard with a grin. He wouldn’t go to sleep hungry tonight if he didn’t manage to complete all the work left for him.

Back upstairs, Harry picked up the first pile of books, and began to climb the loft ladder. This was going to be really hard work as he could only carry a few at a time. Why didn’t Dudley just throw away the things he no longer wanted?

It was quite dark in the attic, but Harry could see the Christmas tree and big box of ornaments close by so he decided to transfer those downstairs first so that Vernon would see immediately that he had been working. He dropped the tree through the hatch, and followed slowly and carefully with the box of decorations. Harry thought it was a shame that they didn’t have a real tree, just this silver imitation one, but Aunt Petunia liked it and in truth there was less mess for Harry to clear up afterwards.

Harry climbed the ladder again with an armful of old toys and considered where to put them. He really needed to get to the far corner of the attic, but it was a bit dark and dusty. As he looked around he spied a cardboard box marked ‘LILY’ in felt pen. Recognising his mother’s name Harry slid over to investigate. Removing the lid, the first thing he saw was a piece of wood. Puzzled as to why Aunt Petunia would have stored that he picked it up, and was surprised to feel a soft warmth run through his hand. The stick felt quite pliable and swishy, so Harry waved it around like a conductor’s baton. Whoa!! Red and gold sparks poured out of the end of the piece of wood.

Harry carefully inspected the strip of wood trying to see where the batteries were, but couldn’t work out where they were hidden. He waved it again and got more sparks. “I wish you’d light up properly so I could see better,” he said, and it did! “Out” and “Light” he cried, delighted when the stick produced the desired effect. This was a seriously good toy, better than any of Dudley’s, and it must have belonged to his Mum!

“I wonder if it can do anything else,” Harry thought. He pointed the stick down through the loft hatch and shouted “Come up here!” then laughed uproariously as a steady stream of books and toys came up through the hatch, and piled up neatly in the corner of the attic. This was the best thing ever!

Harry wondered if the swishy stick could help with the regular tasks Aunt Petunia gave him. “Dust,” he commanded, waving the stick around. “No! Stop. Pthh. Stop! Aatchoo! That wasn’t what I wanted,” he said when the cloud of dust he’d produced settled on the floor joists again. Oh, well. It had been worth a try.

As his allocated job was completed so quickly, Harry went back to the box marked ‘LILY’. “Light,” he ordered the stick, and investigated the contents further. There were quite a few photos, but he wasn’t sure who the people were. Maybe some were of his Mum and Aunt, but he didn’t have an Uncle, except Vernon, and there was a boy with a big nose in a lot of the pictures. Poking further down he found two framed certificates - one to say that Lily Evans had graduated from a school with a funny name, and another, the glass cracked, with the name James Potter. Harry handled them reverently as they had surely belonged to his parents. He wished he could take the box to his cupboard to sort through further, but he wouldn’t be able to hide it in the small space.

Hearing the Dursleys’ car pull back into the drive, Harry quickly closed the box, grabbed the lighted swishy stick, and raced down the stairs two at a time. “Go out,” he ordered and then put the innocent looking piece of wood on the top edge of the skirting board behind his bed: no-one would see it there.

He made it back upstairs just as the front door opened and the Dursleys spilled in.

Petunia climbed the stairs to check on Harry’s progress.

“I’ve finished,” he told her. “Uncle Vernon just needs to slide the ladder back up. Aunt Petunia, Dudley had two copies of this book. Could I have this one?” Harry asked, holding out a Christmas puzzle book he’d found in the first pile of books that he’d moved to the loft.

Unable to find fault, she agreed, and they went back downstairs. Harry put the book in his cupboard, and emerged to find Vernon waiting.

“Did you eat any of Dudley’s treats?” he asked.

“No, Uncle,” Harry relied truthfully.

“Well, go and help your Aunt with tea, then.”

**

Harry spent several pleasant evenings solving puzzles by the light of the stick, and even managed to get it to amplify the television sound so he could listen. Despite his best efforts he couldn’t get the TV picture to show in his cupboard though, only managing to scorch a part of the wall which he was hoping no-one would notice.

Severus Snape strode purposefully along Privet Drive, counting down the numbers for the right house.14, 12, 10. Of course, he’d managed to start at the wrong end, and had to walk past all the Muggle homes with their leftover Christmas decorations looking sad in the January rain. He wondered for the umpteenth time how it was that he had once again been conned into doing a job that he had no desire to do by that crafty Gryffindor headmaster. Just because he knew the family and could ‘do’ Muggle really didn’t mean that he was the only man for the task in hand. Speaking of which, if someone truly was using a wand inside Number 4 he hoped it was the boy. Severus double checked that his own wand was securely placed up his sleeve.

Finally reaching Number 4 he marched decisively up the path, smirking at the luridly decorated tree gracing the front room window - definitely Petunia’s handiwork, before ringing the doorbell firmly.

The door was opened by a thin, blonde, neatly dressed woman who gasped when she saw him. “Severus!”

“Hello, Petunia,” Snape replied. “I know it’s been a while, but are you going to keep me standing on the step all day while you impersonate a goldfish?”

“Oh! Come on in – it’s good to see you again, Severus. What brings you here? Whatever it is, you’ll have to be quick. Vernon has gone to pick up his sister from the station and they’ll be back in less than an hour. It wouldn’t do for you to be here then.” Petunia showed him into the front room.

“Still the jealous type is he, Petunia? I’ve come about Lily’s boy. Have you let him have her wand to play with, by any chance?”

“No, of course not. It’s up in the attic…..oh. The little devil must have found it when I gave him a job to do up there just before Christmas. He hasn’t been doing m..magic in the house, has he?”

Sensing issues, Severus asked, “Have you told the child anything of his heritage, Petunia?”

“No. I know I should have told him something, but I never knew where to start, and Vernon said we could only keep him if he behaved normally. He’s tried to train the magic out of Harry by shutting him in his cupboard when anything strange happens. It hasn’t quite worked, but suits them both.”

“Cupboard?” Snape said sharply.

“Um, yes. Harry sleeps in the cupboard under the stairs. It’s not that bad, Severus! It’s warm and safe, he’s small, and it’s not as if Vernon is ever violent towards him. He just doesn’t get everything Dudley does, because of the expense.”

“You get an allowance for his upkeep though,” Severus pointed out.

“Oh, yes,” Petunia replied sarcastically. Stalking to the sideboard she opened a drawer and removed a sheaf of papers and waved them in Severus’ face. “Promissory notes from Gringotts. Unfortunately we don’t have a branch locally. I did try going to Charing Cross Road, but I couldn’t remember where the entrance to that alley is.”

“Well, why didn’t you contact Dumbledore to let him know you had an issue with the finance?” Severus asked in the tone of voice he normally used on an errant first year.

“Oh, yes,” Petunia said again. “His note when he left Harry on the doorstep said to Owl him of any problems. You’ll find plenty of post Owls in Little Whinging High Street too.”

Severus thought a moment, and then made a quick decision. It was the least he could do for the Evans girls. “Well, someone’s going to have to sort this out, and I suppose it will have to be me. Why don’t you let me take Harry for a couple of days and I’ll introduce him to the wizarding world as a start. He could come with me now, and I’ll bring him back, say, Wednesday evening?”

“That would be wonderful!” Petunia cried gratefully. “He really does need to know. Be kind to him, won’t you, Severus. He’s a good boy usually, although his tongue can run away with him when he gets in a temper.”

“Like someone else I used to know,” observed Severus. “You’d better introduce us then, although I think he may have been listening.”

Petunia opened the cupboard door to find Harry close behind it, wand in his hand.

“Accio wand!” called Severus swiftly, pocketing the willow stick efficiently.

“Hey, give me that back!” yelled Harry. “Who is he, anyway?”

“Harry, this is Mr Snape,” Petunia introduced. “He was a good friend to your mother and to me when we were children. He’s a teacher now, and he’s offered to take you to stay with him for a couple of days. Let’s pack your rucksack and you can be away quickly.”

“Why do you want to send me away? I’ve been good, and I don’t know him!”

“Come on, Harry. He sent that Christmas card with the picture of a snowy castle on it that you liked. It’ll be like a little holiday for you, and it would be best if you got away before Marge gets here with Ripper,” Petunia persuaded. “Mr Snape has lots to talk to you about, and things to show you.”

Recognising defeat, Harry pulled out the little nylon rucksack from under his bed.

Severus and Harry walked out of Privet Drive and on towards Laurel Green while Severus debated which form of transport they should use. “Don’t jump in the puddles,” he admonished as Harry prepared to have fun. “Only little children wearing wellington boots do that.”

Dipping one toe in the puddle and making a little splash, Harry muttered to himself. “Huh, don’t know why I had to come with you anyway.” Although in truth he was already fascinated by the tall man, even if he did seem a bit strict, like old Mr Rogers from Number 9 who always got grumpy if a football landed in his garden. He had also stolen Harry’s swishy stick by saying something like ‘Ackyoh’ and Harry wanted it back. He was going to try that out if he got the chance.

Deciding on the Knight Bus, Severus stuck out his wand and hustled the boy aboard.

Harry immediately forgot his bad mood. “Where did that come from?” he asked. “I’ve never seen a purple bus in Little Whinging before. Ooh, it’s got three decks! Can we go upstairs?”

“Oh, very well,” Severus agreed. The ride would be rough wherever they travelled. “One and a half to Cokeworth,” he told the conductor, “and I hope it won’t be a long trip.”

“No, sir, it’s just Mrs Johnson and Miss Edwards to Shepton Mallet, then the Wilson family over to Skegness. You’ll be the next stop. Half an hour tops,” assured the conductor. “Don’t get much call for Cokeworth these days,” he continued conversationally.

Severus just grunted in response as he followed Harry to the top deck.

They grabbed hold of the front rail as the bus lurched off to its first destination.

“Wow!” Harry was enthralled. “This bus is really fast! Hey – was that Stonehenge?”

Severus allowed the chatter to wash over him – the child didn’t seem to be expecting any answers – while he considered his meeting with Petunia. It was a bit of a strange situation at the Dursley house, but they seemed reasonably ok. Perhaps he should ask Harry for more details as they got to know each other. He hoped the boy would be able to concentrate while he explained the basics of magic to him.

Very soon, before Harry had grown tired of the view of the countryside speeding rapidly past, and before Severus needed to think of anything to chat to him about, the dismal factory towers alerted him that they were reaching their destination.

“Cokeworth!” confirmed the conductor’s shout as the bus shuddered to a halt.

Severus cast a Gripping Charm on his boots when they alighted, and pulled his coat closer. The town always did feel cold to him, and greying snow was lying on the pavements. The boy, in his thin anorak, didn’t seem to notice and happily glided along the icy slides that the local children had already created, as they took the long route to Spinners End so as to pass the local chip shop.

“I suppose you are hungry,” Severus said. “Growing boys are always hungry. We’ll have to take fish and chips home tonight as I wasn’t expecting to be staying here. Come on, don’t dawdle. You can have sausages if you’d rather.”

“I don’t know,” mumbled Harry, fingering the lone fifty pence piece in his pocket.

“I’ll choose, then,” said Severus, pulling the boy into the warmth of the shop. “Cod and chips twice,” he requested at the counter. Strange child, he thought. All boisterous and exuberant one minute, then hesitant the next.

“Here, you can carry them,” he said, giving the parcel to Harry. “Put that away, I’m not asking you to pay,” he continued as Harry held out his money.

They soon reached Spinners End, and Severus ushered Harry quickly into the dark house. He lit the lamps and the fire with a rapid wave of his wand, and went on into the kitchen to plate up the food while Harry was still trying to work out how he’d done it.

“Severus, my boy, are you there?” a worried voice came from the fireplace. Harry squeaked and dived behind the sofa.

“Hello, Albus,” replied Severus. “It seemed best to bring the boy here, but we’ve only just arrived and I have yet to explain anything or ask any questions. Give us a little time, please. Harry, come out from behind there and meet my employer. It’s nothing to be scared of – just a sort of telephone. To think both your parents were Gryffindors,” he huffed.

“H..Hello,” said Harry hesitantly to the face in the fire.

“Hello, Harry,” it replied cheerfully. “Don’t you look like your father? You have your mother’s eyes though,” it said, peering at him closely. “Ah, well. I’ll leave you to it for now, Severus. Goodnight, both.”

Once they’d eaten and cleared the dishes, Severus told Harry to sit on the sofa in front of the fire for a moment. “I’ll just go and sort out a bedroom for you. Do not touch anything,” he warned.

Harry watched as Severus slid some book shelving aside, and disappeared upstairs. He took the opportunity to have a good look around the room. A bit shabby and definitely dustier than Aunt Petunia would have allowed, it was not a particularly welcoming place but the sofa was comfortable and the fire nice and warm. Mr Snape seemed ok too – at least he wasn’t going to starve Harry and he’d promised to explain what was going on.

Harry suddenly noticed his swishy stick sitting on the sideboard! He leapt up to grab it, and began to stuff it into his rucksack.

Unfortunately Severus came back into the room, and reclaimed the wand with “Accio.”

“That’s mine,” whined Harry, annoyed that it had whooshed out of his grasp when he nearly had it safe.

“No, it was your mother’s.” Severus corrected.

“Finders keepers,” retorted Harry angrily. “I want it back!”

“Come and sit down, Harry,” said Snape wearily. “You should have been told this a while ago. Listen to me carefully, please.” Once Harry had settled down he continued, “You are a wizard, Harry, which means you can work magic and makes you very special.”

“Magic doesn’t exist,” asserted Harry. “Uncle Vernon says so.”

“And hasn’t Uncle Vernon ever been wrong? How do you think the bus travelled so fast today? Haven’t you been using this stick to do unusual things?” Severus twirled the wand in his hand.

“You are a wizard, Harry. So am I. Look.” He made a figurine of a horse jump down from the shelf and gallop around the room, then transfigured a candle into a teapot and back again.

“Your Dad was a wizard, and your Mum was a witch – that’s a lady wizard,” he said quickly as Harry’s eyes narrowed. “But your Aunt Petunia and her family are Muggles – they can’t use magic.”

***

Severus flopped down on the sofa and took a sip from the glass of Ogden’s Finest that he really felt he deserved. It had been a hard day – more so than a schoolday packed with Slytherin/Gryffindor classes, but a rewarding day too. Lily’s boy was a bright child, and was clearly going to make a fine wizard judging by the way he’d already been able to get her wand to work for him. Severus had thought he’d never stop asking questions once he’d grasped the idea that magic was real. He’d only got him to bed with the promise of a whole day for questions tomorrow, well, that and the help of a subtle Sleepyhead Charm.

Severus suspected that tomorrow would be another equally tiring day, and how parents coped with more than one child he could not imagine, but he was looking forward to the challenge.

Harry felt as though his head might explode.

Mr Snape had told and shown him so much about wizards, witches, and magic – MAGIC! - that he was struggling to process it all. But his main strand of thought was that Uncle Vernon had been wrong all these years. Harry was not a freak. Harry was special!

He giggled as the miniature Hungarian Horntail dragon depicted on the open page of the section on magical creatures in the Junior Encyclopaedia of Magic which Mr Snape had given him tickled his finger. He scratched it gently behind the ears, making it purr with pleasure and then carefully closed the book, returning it to the magic shelf, invisible to his family, which also housed the small bowl of fruit which Mr Snape had told him would replenish when Harry ate a piece (Harry was keen to watch that happen, but hadn’t yet been sent to his cupboard without food) and the light cube which allowed him to read in bed. It wasn’t as much fun as his swishy, wishy stick, but Mr Snape was looking after that for Harry. Children were not supposed to use a wand until they were eleven – ages away – because as Mr Snape had explained, it wasn’t really safe to use a wand without the training which would come when Harry went to Hogwarts – the school where Mr Snape was a teacher – no a professor. He’d promised Harry that he could have it back then because it seemed as though his Mum’s wand had chosen Harry to be its next master. Harry trusted Mr Snape to keep it safe even though he’d only known him for a few days because already his life was so much better.

Uncle Vernon was much happier because Mr Snape had promised to take Harry for a few days each holiday, and that meant the Dursleys could go on holiday with Aunt Marge at Easter without having to find somewhere to leave Harry. Harry was happy because he was going to learn more about magic. Petunia was happy because they were happy, and Dudley was always happy as long as he got sweets and toys.

AND!! Harry’s cupboard was to become Dudley’s toy store, and Harry was to move up into the smallest bedroom! Harry was fairly sure that Mr Snape’s black wand had something to do with that, as Uncle Vernon had looked rather surprised when the suggestion came out of his mouth, and Harry had caught a glimpse of the wand poking out from Mr Snape’s sleeve. Oh, just wait until Harry could use a wand! Mr Snape was also going to take Aunt Petunia to collect the money issued for Harry’s keep, and was to send his post owl, Solomon, once a week to collect any messages so that problems could be dealt with if they arose.

Harry smiled as he ran his hand over the light cube to put it out. Solomon should be visiting Privet Drive for the first time tomorrow, and Harry was eager to try out his skills at attaching letters to the big barn owl. He already had his thank you letter to Mr Snape folded and waiting.

**

This year promised to be a good one for Harry, and all because he found his Mum’s special stick. Magic was marvellous!