Chapter 10
Harry spend the rest of the day in the library. Diligently writing down his homework and going through the books he’d been given. The books were interesting, though it didn’t take him long to realize that he already knew most of the spells in the spell book. As for the book on potions, it seemed to be filled with simple potions he had already studied, yet most of the instructions deviated slightly. It also had a lot more side notes explaining the need for certain steps and reasoning behind others. He’d only read through the first three potions and was already certain that he had learned more than he ever had during Snape’s lessons.

It didn’t take him more than two chapters before he realized that Ancient Runes was definitely going to be the hardest. It was like learning a new language, a dead language at that. Not only would he had to learn the different symbols (which included hieroglyph as well as runes and several other symbolic scripts), he had a whole new set of rules for combining words as well as how exactly to use them.

Harry had just finished marking the spells he hadn’t managed yet when Snape returned. Which coincided with the appearance of the dinner he had asked Dobby to bring. They sat down together and ate in a not entirely uncomfortable silence. Had dinner not consisted of Harry’s favourites, he may have considered how strange it was that he could relax with the potions master in the room. As it was, Harry was completely focussed on his food and had almost forgotten the man was even there when Snape interrupted him.

“Tomorrow, we will go to Gringotts to sign the necessary papers.”

Looking up in surprise, Harry frowned at the mention of the bank. “If this house belongs to the Potters, why did nobody tell me about it?”

“You will get access to the whole of the Potter estate when you become of age.”

“But Griphook told me about the vaults I would get once I turned 17. Why didn’t they mention the house?”

“Probably because they do not know of it. It is possible for the head of a family to hand certain properties to the goblins to be held in a trust. In that case, they will ensure the house is kept secure and in a decent state until the recipient comes to claim it. However, with family homes like these, this is usually not done.”

“Why not?”

Snape sighed and shook his head “I will add some lessons on proper behaviour, traditions and expectations of an heir to a family name to our summer plan.”

Harry groaned but didn’t comment on the additions to his as of yet undetermined schedule. “Why not, sir?”

“There are several reasons, the most important being the repercussions if a recipient does not claim the home within the allotted timeframe.”

“Which are?”

“That depends on the contract. Usually, the home becomes to property of Gringotts and is sold at an auction. Under some circumstances, the house is connected to a vault and will be kept in trust until there is no more money left for the upkeep, at which point it will be sold.”

Harry nodded slowly, starting to understand. “So, I’m assuming that the ownership papers to the mansion can be found in one of the Potter vaults?”

“Probably. I don’t know if the mansion was still in your family’s possession when your parents were murdered. Since Albus has it under a fidellius, it is possible that your father gave it to him.”

“So, this might not be Potter mansion any longer?” Harry asked, disappointment lacing through his voice. He’d gone through most of the rooms and hadn’t found anything of interest. There were no portraits or belonging left of any kind. Yet, he felt connected to the house. Even if there was no trace of his father left, he’d still grown up here.

“Don’t worry about that Potter. If the headmaster is in possession of the ownership papers, I’m sure they will be returned to you once you come of age.”

Harry wasn’t so sure of that. He had a feeling that Dumbledore would keep the house until he no longer needed it. And since it was one of the houses under the fidelius, that would probably be until the war was over. Instead of worrying, he let the subject drop. It didn’t matter right now. He was too young to own the house in any case. By the time he was of age, the war might be over. If it wasn’t, he would just have to find a way to convince the headmaster to return the mansion. It wasn’t as if he was afraid to never get it back. After all, Dumbledore had returned his invisibility cloak which was a lot rarer than the house. “So, what about this schedule you mentioned. Am I going to be forced to do chores all day?”

Snape scoffed “That’s what house elfs are for Potter.”

“I don’t have house elfs.”

“I suspect some of the school elfs have been taking care of the place, since it seems to be in perfect order. If not, I’m sure that annoying free elf will be happy to help out.”

“His name is Dobby.”

“I’ll endeavour to remember that. Now, as for your schedule.” Snape gave a nonchalant wave of his wand and a parchment appeared in front of Harry. “We will have breakfast at 8am. You may make it yourself or ask Dobby, it doesn’t matter to me, but you will be in the dining room to eat on time. If I find you still asleep, you will not like my method of waking you.”

Harry rolled his eyes at the man’s warning glare, as if Harry ever had the chance to sleep in during the summer. Breakfast at 8am suited him perfectly, especially if he didn’t have to make it himself.

“Lunch will be at noon and will be made by you. Whether it is a hot meal or simple sandwiches does not matter, as long as you ensure it is edible and has some variation. Between breakfast and lunch, you will study. Did you finish that list of homework?”

Nodding, Harry pulled the parchment out of his back pocket and handed it to Snape. Who looked it over quickly.

“I expect you to finish at least one of these essays every two days. When you have finished one, you will bring it to me so I can look it over. If I am unhappy with your work, you will fix it. I will not accept the kind of atrocious summer essays you normally hand in.”

“They took away my books and if they didn’t, they kept me so busy I had no time to even think of homework.”

“I am aware of that Potter. Which is why I expect better from you this summer. You will have enough time to do your work in peace. Now, as for the rest of your day. After lunch, you have two hours to do as you wish. The wards extend to the outside so you may go flying if you wish. However, if I see any of those death defying stunts you do during the games, I will take your broom away.” Snape gave Harry a warning glare which made the boy gulp but nod in acceptance.

“What you do between 2 and 5 O’clock will depend on my own schedule. You will either be helping me in the lab, reading one of the books I give you, or you will have a lesson on a subject of my choice.”

Harry just stared at the man. He was supposed to help him in the lab? Had the professor gone insane? He had to remember that Harry was completely useless in a potions lab. Well, technically that wasn’t true. He was only useless when there were Slytherins in the room. He didn’t get a chance to comment though, as Snape was already continuing.

“Dinner will be at six and will usually be made by me. Though there may be days I ask you to cook because I’m busy. If you behave during the day, you will have the evenings to yourself. If not, you will be scrubbing cauldrons.”

Harry gaped “You can’t give me detention, it’s summer.”

“Behave and we won’t have to test whether I can give you detention or not.”

“Fine. How about these lessons? What exactly are you planning to teach me?”

Snape pursed his lips, as if considering something, before he answered “We will start with the basics. Due to the way you were raised, you lack much of the basic knowledge the other children have.”

“I have the same background as any of the muggle-born students. If that is so lacking, why aren’t there any classes to catch us up?”

“Because muggle-born witches or wizards have a lifetime to learn. Not to mention that they do not need to know pure-blood traditions.”

“I thought you didn’t believe in the whole blood-purity spiel.”

“This isn’t about blood-purity. It’s about you becoming Lord Potter when your turn 17. You need to know what comes with being the head of a family.”

“It’s not like I have a family to be head of you know…”

Snape stared at him “You may have children one day. I assume you would want to know how to take care of them.”

Harry nodded reluctantly, Snape had a point. “Fine, I get your point. Is that all or is there something else you think I lack?”

Snape smirked “We could sit here for days and I’d still be listing things you lack. However, for the summer, I think we will stick to working on your lack of common sense as well as expand your defensive training.”

“I don’t lack common sense.”

“Yes, you do. But if you truly belonged in Slytherin as you claim, we can fix that.”

Harry grumbled under his breath but didn’t have the energy to protest. It was hard to find the anger he usually felt for the man when he was being mostly civil. The little jibes he made towards Harry weren’t all that bothersome as long as they weren’t about his father or the comfy life Snape believed him to have. If the professor managed to keep the information about Harry’s family life to himself, Harry might even come to be happy that the man knew. Even if Harry had always hated Potions, he was well aware that Snape was absolutely brilliant. He was more than a bit curious what the man was planning to teach him. So, Harry was going to try and get along with the man. “What kind of defensive training? Am I going to learn new spells?”

“Indubitably. In two weeks, you will also start physical training.”

“Why in two weeks?”

Snape looked Harry up and down with a slight sneer. “Because you have been malnourished for most of your life. While you seem to be smart enough to regain some weight during school, none of that will ever make up for the years you have missed. You need at least two weeks of my strongest nutritional potions before we can even begin to think of training. You are also in need of reconstructive glasses and a new wardrobe, though those can wait until you start conditioning. I doubt you will be able to run the full hour within the first week.”

“You realize I’ve been playing Quidditch for four years right? Well, three years but since the tournament was a lot more gruelling than a Quidditch season…”

“I expect you to run laps, not fly them.”

That made Harry outright laugh “I don’t know how the Slytherin team works, but we do laps. Quite a lot of them in fact.”

Snape stared at him for a moment, his lips pursed “Why?”

Shrugging, Harry answered with a simple “Wood.” He wasn’t sure if Snape understood the comment, it wasn’t like the man had any reason to know of Wood’s unrelenting drive to win. But since he made no further comment, neither did Harry. “So, for tonight. I have some free time?”

“Since you did everything I asked of you, I will leave that up to you. I will be in the lab, brewing that nutritional potion for you. You are welcome to join me.”

Harry gaped at the man “Join you?” His voice came out rather squeaky and his cheeks flamed in embarrassment.

Snape just rolled his eyes “I have a list of potions I must brew for Poppy. There are a few that you should be able to brew easily.”

“Did you hit your head?” Harry’s eyes grew wide at the question that left his lips. He hadn’t meant to ask that. Normally he wouldn’t have. He would have thought it, but he would have had the sense to swallow it. Clearly, Snape being civil was throwing him off.

“Since I find myself curious about your ability to brew in a less… hostile environment, possibly.”

Harry snickered at the answer but eventually nodded in acceptance. There was a part of him that really wanted to go to the room he had chosen for himself and stay as far away from the professor as possible. It was almost a reflex. Much as staying out of his relatives view had become second nature. Except that being around Snape had been going rather well these last few days. Scurrying of now would not work in his favour. Plus, there was the fact that Harry was rather curious about his ability to brew as well. He had a feeling it would be a lot easier without Draco in the room, and with Snape focussed on his own work.

So, they had gone downstairs to the potions lab, which was located in the second basement. Snape had handed him a recipe and handed him some of the ingredients that were still packed in boxes. Apparently, Snape had brought everything he needed that afternoon, while Harry had been reading in the library. He’d then gone to the other side of the room to a second cauldron and started to work on his potion, no longer paying attention to Harry.

At first, Harry had still been slightly tense and he had screwed up while slicing one of the ingredients. He had banished the mangled roots with a spell. Snape had looked up with a raised brow but hadn’t said anything. Instead, he had levitated a jar with more roots over to Harry and gone back to his own dicing. It had still taken a few more minutes before Harry was finally able to relax but soon he was brewing happily. At some point, he had started humming under his breath and Snape had given him a strange look. Harry had felt the eyes prickling on his neck and stopped humming at once. Snape never made a comment.

An hour and a half later, Harry had finished a perfect Sleeping Draught. It was only a second year potion but still, Harry was extremely proud of himself. Even during the few lessons that Snape didn’t pay attention to him, he had never managed to brew a perfect potion. He bottled his potion, cleaned up his work station and put the vials on one of the empty workbenches. He was about to leave when Snape told him to sit and put a stasis spell on his cauldron.

Turning back to wait for Snape’s judgement on his potion, Harry closed his eyes and wished with all his might that for once, Snape wouldn’t completely bash his hard work. He watched the potions master as he looked at the colour, twirled the liquid around the bottle, and took of the cork for a sniff. Putting the vial back, he glared at Harry so fiercely that the boy took a step back. As he did that, Snape held up a hand and his expression turned blank once again.

“Explain why you never, not even once, handed in work like that. I highly doubt your work would be influenced that much simply because I like to hassle you.”

“It’s not just you. It’s Draco throwing in stray ingredients, Neville blowing up cauldrons, and the never ending looks and whispers.”

“You are blaming others for your lack of concentration.”

Harry sighed and shook his head, he should have seen that one coming. “No, I’m blaming the constant need to look after my own back. It makes me miss the obvious. Normally, it’s not that bad. Once every so often I miss Malfoy coming around the corner because I’m trying not to hear what they are saying. Or I don’t pay attention when the stairs change because of the looks. Then off course, there are the times I run into people because I’m trying to get away from those idiots that think they know me because of the stories…” He paused, there were more examples he could give but there really was no need. Snape only cared about his lack of attention during Potions. “I realize how dangerous potions can be. One wrong ingredient and you could blow up the classroom. I am not willing to risk anyone getting hurt just because I’m not paying attention to what is going on around me. Do you have any idea of how many times I only just managed to catch a dangerous ingredient being thrown in my cauldron?”

Snape stared at him for a moment “Mr. Malfoy is an arrogant child, but he is rather good at potions. And he is well aware what would happen if I ever caught him trying to cause an explosion…”

Harry scoffed “You are way too busy keeping Neville from destroying your classroom and bullying me to ever catch him, and he knows it.”

Snape made an annoyed face but didn’t say anything to contradict Harry’s statement. It was a nice change. Not only was the man not whining about the way Harry spoke, he was actually admitting Harry was right. Well, maybe not admitting, since he remained silent. But silence from Snape was the same thing as agreement.

After a few moments of silence, Snape went back to his work. “Outstanding second year potion, Potter. You may pick another potion from the list or go and do whatever it is teenage boys do.”

Harry debated on that for a moment, eventually asking “Would you mind if I came back tomorrow? I wanted to finish the chapter I started on natural magic.”

Snape gave him an odd look, then gave him a curt nod. “As long as you are quiet, you may join me whenever you wish. I do not want you down here alone though.”

Harry made a face “That’s fine. And sorry about the humming, sir. I didn’t realize I was doing it until you gave me that look.”

Snape inclined his head in acceptance of the apology and Harry left him to his work.

The following week went by quickly as Harry followed Snape’s schedule diligently. It wasn’t hard. His relatives worked him much harder and their jobs were usually useless to Harry. Sure, they thought him how to cook and clean, how to take care of a garden as well as people. But those were things Harry had learned years ago, and he saw no reason why he’d have to do everything every day while his so called family did nothing.

Making lunch and doing the rare chore for Snape was not nearly as taxing as the demands of his relatives. And while he wasn’t a fan of the morning homework session, he knew that it was for his own good. Besides, if he kept going through his work at the rate he was doing, he expected to be done by the second week. Though, he was fairly certain that Snape would have something to comment on each assignment and make him fix whatever the man thought wrong. But that too, Harry was perfectly fine with. The only person to ever check his homework was Hermione, and while she was very good at schoolwork, she had nowhere near the amount of knowledge as the professor. Harry would never admit it, but he kind of liked having an adult to help him.

Especially when the etiquette lessons turned into discussions on everything magical. Snape wasn’t just smart, he was intelligent. He could twist words and make a no sound like a yes, as well as the other around. Towards the end of the first week, they had a discussion on the dark arts. By the end of it, Snape had convinced Harry that no such thing existed. According to the Potions Master, magic had no concept of light or dark. Only witches and wizards made that distinction. Which in Snape’s mind, meant that the distinction lay in said witch or wizards intention.

Harry tried his best to disprove Snape’s theory. Citing spells he knew to be evil, since there simply was no way one could use certain spells with good intentions. Being Harry Potter, he’d started with the Killing Curse, which Snape quickly dismantled when he mentioned euthanasia. They went through a whole list of spells often considered dark. In the end, they had thought of light, or at least neutral, ways to use them all except for one. Neither Snape not Harry could come up with a non-evil use for the Crusiatus Curse.

Before he had gone to bed that night, Snape had given him another book called Magical Neutrality. Which held a fountain of information on any kind of magic Harry could imagine. Most of the book seemed to be written for teenagers, never going to deep into one subject or using words no decent teen would know. Though Harry was certain the book would not be found in the Hogwarts library, and the headmaster would definitely not have wanted him to read it. Since many of the chapters held examples of how one could use a particular kind of magic for bad, as well as good.

Harry absolutely loved it. There were no spells or anything like that in the book, neither was he particularly interested in the gruesome ways some people had used certain magic. What interested him were the amount of different kind of magic, and more importantly the diversity of each one. Blood magic for example, which generally considered dark magic, could not only be used for the kind of evil spells that Riddle did in the graveyard. According to the book, one could heal the most grievous wounds with only a single drop of blood from a close relative.

The chapter on runic magic was small yet still large enough to flame some interest in the subject. He’d always known there were many ways of using runes, but he’d always thought it to complicated. Who has the time to draw runes in the middle of a duel? Sure, they could be used as wards and such, but if you have the time to draw them, you have the time to research the ones you need. Except that the book had mentioned the possibility of placing rune stones on a cauldron, as a way of shielding it from outside influences. Such runes would have to be chosen with a specific potions in mind, and would have to be temporary if one wished to use a cauldron for more than one potion. But if he could learn enough to find the correct runes for each potion, they wouldn’t just allow him to keep Malfoy from throwing in stray ingredients. They had the possibility of reducing or prolonging the brewing process, allowing for more time to do certain steps, as well as enhancing the effects of the finished project. It was an interesting possibility, removing his potions problems with the help of runes.

Then there was the chapter on soul magic, a chapter Harry had trouble reading. It was a kind of magic that mostly relied on sacrifice, since usually one needed a soul on this side of the veil to work it. There were a lot of references to sacrificial offerings and such, which was rather creepy, even if most of the sacrifices involved animals. What was worst though was the fact that Harry was certain his mother’s sacrifice had been used for soul magic. He was fairly certain it had been completely unintentional on his mother’s part, but somehow she had used her own sacrifice to weave some kind of protection around Harry. Dumbledore called it a blood-ward but Harry was fairly certain that is was some kind of soul-magic attached to his mother’s family.

The book had given him so much information -even though there was nothing on practical use- that he had needed several hours of silence to mull it all over. There were so many possibilities, so many examples. And there was something in the back of Harry’s mind that kept niggling at him. Something important that he just couldn’t…

The floo flared and all of a sudden, Professor Dumbledore stood in front of him, smiling jovially. “Good evening, my boy. How are you doing?”

“Good evening, sir. I’m doing well. How about you?” Harry smiled at the man. Now that he was away from the Dursleys, the annoyance with the grandfatherly headmaster had mostly left him. Though, he was still miffed at the fact that everybody refused to tell him anything about the war.

“I’m fine, my boy. How about a cup of tea?”

Nodding, Harry called for Dobby to bring them some tea and motioned for the professor to sit down in one of the comfortable armchairs. Dobby appeared with the tea seconds later and handed them both one. As Harry took a sip, he noticed Dumbledore frowning at something on the table.

Following his gaze, Harry grimaced. The book was still laying there, and he was quite aware that the headmaster would not approve of him reading it. For a single second, he wondered if he should just say that Snape had been reading it. But as soon as the thought came, it vanished. Blaming Snape would not do. Whether it was because Harry was well aware that Dumbledore would know that Snape’s knowledge was way above that particular book, or because it was simply that Harry didn’t want to get Snape in trouble, he wasn’t sure. Eventually though, he gave the headmaster what he hoped to be a pleading look “Please don’t tell Professor Snape I was reading that. He’ll forbid me from going through the library on my own, and those books used to belong to my family.” The lie fell of his lips so easily, he almost fumbled it all up by looking too surprised at his own words.

Luckily, Snape entered the room at that precise moment. Changing Harry’s surprise at him own lie into surprise of Snape saying “Good evening, Albus.”

Professor Dumbledore looked from Harry to Snape, something like confusion but different written all over his face. “Severus.” The headmaster inclined his head towards the man.

“Are you here for me or the boy?”

Dumbledore looked between the two, then answered “Both.”

Snape nodded and sat down on the couch next to Harry. Glaring at Dumbledore for some reason Harry couldn’t divine.

“Well now, tell me. How have you two been getting along?”

Harry shrugged as both of the younger men answered “Fine.” Snape gave Harry a glare, probably annoyed at speaking together with a Potter.

Dumbledore grinned at them and nodded sagely, then turned to Harry. “Sirius has asked me if you would be willing to visit soon.”

Harry sat forward eagerly “When?”

The headmaster chuckled “I think we may be able to manage a visit somewhere next week.” Turning to Snape he added “That is, if it’s okay with you.”

Snape made a face, clearly unhappy with just the thought of Sirius. “As long as I’m not needed as a chaperone, fine.”

“I doubt that will be necessary. In fact, I think that would be rather counterproductive.”

Harry couldn’t help but snicker at that. The headmaster was right. Having Sirius in the room with Snape was like giving the latter a de-aging potion. Harry’s godfather was always rather childish, he’d realized that last year. Snape on the other hand, was perfectly mature until Sirius stepped into the room. Then he reverted to his teenage year, getting into verbal spats over every little thing.

Snape shot a glare at him, then returned to the headmaster “Is that all you wanted? I do have some work to get done.”

Dumbledore shook his head “No actually. There was something I wanted to ask you.” The headmaster paused, apparently expecting Snape to say something. When the potions master remain silent, Dumbledore sighed and continued “There is something I would like you to teach Harry.”

Again the headmaster paused, giving Snape the chance to say no in advance, as the dour man usually did when it came to Harry Potter. This time though, Snape merely raised a brow in inquiry. “I want you to teach Harry Occlumency.”

Harry had no idea what Occlumency was, but the horrified look on Snape’s face told him he really didn’t want to know. Or at least, that he really wouldn’t want to be thought by the man. “No. There is no way the brat has any aptitude for it. And we both know that I can’t teach those without talent.”

“He resisted the Imperius.”

Snape shot Harry a glance, then shook his head “That doesn’t mean he can learn Occlumency. You know it takes a certain kind of mental disposition. Potter doesn’t have it.”

“Maybe not. But you would never have thought him capable of throwing of the Imperius Curse. He may surprise you.”

Snape huffed in annoyance, his face twisting as if he really wasn’t happy with what he was going to say. “The fact that I wouldn’t have thought him capable of throwing the curse was an oversight on my part. He is stubborn enough for it. However, he is completely incapable of hiding his emotions. You can’t learn Occlumency to an open book.”

Dumbledore glanced down at the book that was still on the small table, then back at Snape. “Harry is quite capable of telling a believable lie.”

Harry blinked at that, then he glanced from Snape to Dumbledore, neither of whom seemed to have anything else the say on the subject. Harry on the other hand, remembered Snape’s challenge and asked eagerly “Can Occlumency help me to be a better liar?”

Snape scoffed “Forget it Potter. Not even becoming an Occlumens will help you.”

Dumbledore looked from him to the professor with a smile. “Aah, I see a friendly competition.” Glancing at Harry with that twinkle in his eyes he asked “What is the challenge?”

“If I can make Professor Snape believe a lie, he will award 100 points to Gryffindor.”

Laughing softly, Dumbledore said “Well then, Severus. Teach the child Occlumency and make it an even competition.”

“I’m a Slytherin, not a Hufflepuff. We care nothing for fair play.”

Dumbledore gave Snape a hard look, then shrugged “Hmm, I suppose you’re right. You will still teach him though.”

The two men stared at each other for a long time, making Harry feel decidedly uncomfortable. Teachers didn’t usually squabble like this when he was present, something that Harry might have found annoying once upon a time. Now though, he sincerely wished the two would just quit it already. Finally, Snape reluctantly agreed and Dumbledore left happy as a clam, promising Harry to let him know when exactly he could visit Sirius.

Snape left soon after and didn’t show himself until lunch. When they had eaten, Snape had handed Harry his corrected homework, told him to fix his mistakes, and had once again disappeared. More than a bit curious, Harry tried to find something about Occlumency and why Snape was so against teaching it, but was unsuccessful. Hoping to appease the professor into explaining, he stayed in the library the rest of the day, redoing the essays Snape had checked.

The first comment on every single essay was Keep practising your writing, which in Harry’s mind meant Well done, I can actually read what you wrote. Seeing as that had been Snape’s demand during his writing lessons. For the first week of their stay, Snape had handed him a line to write over and over again, until Snape deemed them readable. The lines had been generally ridiculous things like My cousin is a whale and I am famous, everybody loves me. Something that had confused Harry to no end, especially since Snape refused to explain why he had to write those particular things.

But no matter how frustrating, the repeated practise as well as the helpful comments to angle his feather differently and to not grip so tight helped. The mandatory pause after every ten minutes of writing was also very helpful, even a single minute of flexing his fingers was enough to stop the cramp from lasting. In the end, he had written almost one thousand lines, the number necessary for Snape to deem his days’ work acceptable went down each day. During the last practise he had written the line Professor Snape is terrifying and I will never forget it ten times and each was deemed sufficient. Snape had told him to continue practising on his own, and continued saying so every time he saw Harry write anything.

As he continued reading over the other comments, he noticed that most of the comments were of the same ilk. About half of Snape’s scrawl were scathing remarks about the amount of Quidditch references Harry used. A small part were names of books with chapter numbers, which Harry later realized all held a piece of information Harry had overlooked. And then there were the other notes, most of which were scribbled across his potions homework, that told him he needed to learn how to listen to voices besides his own. Which Harry assumed meant that Snape had told him something that Harry had apparently forgotten to include.

He had looked up most of the chapters Snape had suggested and was positive he had found everything that he was supposed to add. Then he went over the Quidditch references, doing his best to switch them with more acceptable examples. Something at which he failed miserable. He simply knew too little about the wizarding world to make any other references. Using historical events was out of the question due to the sleep inducing professor they had. Ordinary life was out since Harry only had experience with small bits and pieces of the wizarding word. He expected most muggle-born witches and wizards used their breaks to explore the magical world outside of the castle to gain said experience, but Harry never had that option. He was locked away at privet drive during the summers and in Hogwarts during the school year. Wrecking his brain, he tried to think of possible examples to use but gave up when he felt the start of an actual headache coming on. He would just have to ask someone for help. If only there were other options besides Snape.

Groaning at the prospect, he continued on to the last set of comments. The ones that meant Harry had missed some vital information Snape had imparted. For most essays, those kind of comments were easy to fix. They didn’t often discuss subjects that were thought at Hogwarts, besides Potions and DADA, so it was easy to suss out which conversation would have included the information. And from there it wasn’t that far to remembering the exact piece of information Snape wanted him to add. Remembering things had never been a problem for Harry, it was finding the memory in his brain that caused the problem.

At the end of fixing everything but his potions essay -and his divination essay since Snape refused to even look that over- Harry’s forehead was red from all the slaps he’d given it for his own stupidity. It was frustrating to see all the obvious things staring at him. Like each red comment was screaming Screw your head on Potter, you know this. It wasn’t like Snape’s comments were anything new, after all Harry’s essays always came back defiled by red ink, it was that the man’s comments were right. Before, about half of the comments were mean jibes that were completely useless. Therefore, Harry never had any problem ignoring the comments that were right on the head. Now though, he couldn’t just ignore it and he hated the fact that Snape still found so many flaws.

By the time he gave up trying to fix his potions essay, it was dinner time and Harry went downstairs with his essays in hand. Snape had cooked a simple pot-roast, which they ate in silence. Finishing around the same time, Snape vanished the plates and held out a hand for Harry’s corrections. Handing him over, he tried to leave the room, but Snape told him to sit and wait.

Snape looked over the changes quickly, while Harry twisted the edge of his robe around his fingers nervously. He knew the man would never accept the essays. He’d left ay to many comments untouched. But he needed him to see he had made an effort. It was the only way Snape would ever listen to his explanation as to why he couldn’t fix the rest.

As expected, the head of Slytherin house wasn’t pleased with Harry’s work. But the things he had done were indeed good enough for Snape to be willing to listen. As Harry explained, the man’s face remained blank, making him rather nervous. It turned out to be unwarranted fear. Snape simply inclined his head at Harry’s explanation and summoned a few books to the kitchen. Handing them to Harry, he smirked rather evilly “These are a few books that might help. An overview of important historical moments, a collection of fairy tales, a directory of possible jobs and a book with often used household spells and appliances. You can read them this week during study time.”

Harry wanted to pull his hair at the addition of more books. If the rest of his summer continued like this, he was going to have an informational overload by the end of July. Biting the inside of his cheek, he tried his best not to say something nasty about more work. He’d asked for help for a reason. He wanted to know more about Occlumency and the only thing that might get Snape in a better mood was showing that Harry really was trying his best. After only a small battle to reign in his annoyance at getting more work instead of actual help, he asked for what he really wanted “Are there any books on Occlumency?”

Snape rolled his eyes at him, making Harry’s lip twitch at the silliness of the action coming from Snape. “We will get to Occlumency in time. You will finish the work you have before we start something new.”

Harry gaped at him “You just gave me four new books!” Snape gave him that look that screamed Manners!, and Harry looked down “Sorry, sir.”

“Those books are meant as reference material. They contain vital information and other material that is often quoted in the wizarding world. When I told you, you could read them during study time this week, I meant that you could leave your homework for this week and read up on some of the material you say you are lacking.”

Harry slumped back and looked at the professor with wide eyes “Oh, okay. Thank you, then.”

Snape inclined his head and stood up “You may go and read or join me in the lab. Either way, you will be in bed by ten.”

Standing up, Harry leaned over the table indignantly “But.. But I never have a bedtime.”

Snape conjured a mirror, holding it in front of Harry’s face. As the Gryffindor stared at the reflection, his eyes grew wide. He looked absolutely terrible. He had bags under his eyes and his cheeks were as pale as Snape’s. Grimacing at himself, he led out a sigh. “It’s the nightmares.”

“I will give you some dreamless sleep for tonight, under the condition that you speak to somebody about them.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?” Snape narrowed his eyes. The man had some serious problems with not getting his way. Harry thought he should probably think of ways to say no without giving Snape the idea he was being ignored.

“My nightmares are mine. They won’t understand. I’m the-boy-who-lived.”

Snape’s face went blank, then he inclined his head. “You can come and pick up your potions before bed.”

Harry smiled slightly, glad he wouldn’t have to make a promise he would never be able to keep to get what he needed. And he needed the dreamless sleep. His reflection had made that clear. Deciding to start the books tonight instead of brewing, Harry grabbed the small book with wizarding bedtime stories and went upstairs.

Another week went by. The mornings he spend in the library, switching between the books Snape had handed him. During the evenings, he switched between brewing with Snape and reading some more. The afternoons however, varied greatly from day to day.

After lunch he went outside for the two hours of free time. Using the time to practise his flying or just to enjoy the sun. After his time outside, Snape either told him to come to his office, or to one of the dungeons.

The time they spend in the office was used for theoretical lesson on subjects like magical society, laws and legalities, the endless possible uses of magic and, according to Snape the most important subject, logic. He didn’t mind the lessons about the wizarding world, they were usually rather fascinating. Snape had a way of making even the lessons on etiquette fun, constantly commenting that is was all ridiculous. According to him, social necessities were useless, but only if one knew them. If you didn’t know the rules, you would look like an ass by accident instead of design. Which was the epitome of stupidity in Snape’s book.

The lessons about using logic on the other hand, were frustrating. Snape had him doing logic puzzles for hours at a time. When a single puzzle took too long, the man started ‘helping’ in a rather snippy way, and Harry always ended up striding out of the office. Of course, Harry only needed to walk away ones for Snape to change his strategy. He started handing Harry puzzles after each lesson, whether they had done practical work or theoretical. Eventually, Snape didn’t need to hound him any longer, since finishing quickly was the only way for them to have dinner without the simmer anger.

The time they spend in the dungeons had quickly become Harry’s favourite pastime. Well, it was when Snape wasn’t making Harry do complicated potions. Simple potions were fun in the way that it was relaxing. When Harry wasn’t making mistakes that pushed Snape to snap, they spend the time in the second dungeon in relative peace. They rarely spoke while working but both of them seemed perfectly happy with that.

The time they spend in the first dungeon though, was the time Harry relished. The dungeon itself was empty. Which was why Snape had chosen it to be the only place in the house where Harry was allowed to use magic. Technically, the ministry wouldn’t be able to tell who was using magic anywhere in the house. But Snape had told him in a rather ominous voice that if he felt the need to do magic anywhere else this summer, he would simply have to learn how to do it without a wand. Harry had found it annoying but had quickly realized that it wasn’t that bad. He knew some wandless magic, this way he might learn more. It was still miles better than the ‘magic is a fairy-tale and doesn’t exist, so you better never mention it’ rule the Dursleys maintained.

With Snape, Harry was allowed to use magic whenever he wanted. The only stipulation was that wand work belonged in the first Dungeon room, and that he was only allowed in there if he asked Snape first. So far, Snape had never said no to any of the spells Harry wanted to try in there. He’d even given him a general pass for any of the spells from the first three years. Though Snape had followed that up with a threat of scrubbing every toilet in Hogwarts with a toothbrush, if he detected any unauthorised spells. Knowing the potions master, Harry was not stupid enough to test the man’s ability to find out.

He had been stupid enough to challenge the professor to a duel ones. He’d been having a good day. He’d finally finished his homework as well as 7 out of 9 books Snape had given him. He’d managed to brew a flawless dreamless sleep potion and he’d learned a new healing spell to mend all kinds of flesh wounds. Then Snape had tried to teach him how to use his patronus to send a message, and Harry had failed. For some reason, he couldn’t conjure up the memory. Snape had made some snide comment and Harry had snapped.

The duel hadn’t lasted long. Snape was incredibly fast, able to fire three spells for every single one that Harry managed. Harry had managed to shield himself from Snape’s barrage by using Protego over and over again. Ones he was able to dodge a spell and took the break in shield charms to fire a Petrificus at Snape. The potions master had simply stepped aside and returned the volley. It took no more than a minute for Snape to catch the Gryffindor of guard and knock him down with a Jelly-legs jinx, but to Harry it felt like a lifetime.

Afterwards, Harry whole body hurt. His arm was tiered, his legs were boneless and every muscle in his body felt as if it was going to die any moment. He had closed his eyes and had fully expected Snape to leave him there. After all, Harry had challenged the man. It had been his own fault.

But then Snape surprised him for the hundredth time this summer when he simply said “Impressive spell work, Potter.”

Spanning his eyes open, Harry sat up and stared at the man. He had to be hallucinating. That was a thing right? Auditory hallucinations? But then Snape smirked at him and held out a hand. Harry grabbed it after only a slight hesitation, and led himself be pulled up. He couldn’t help the soft groan that escaped him when his full wait was back on his legs. After another minute had gone by and Harry regained his balance, he cast a glance at the professor. “I’m sorry, sir. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

Snape just waved him of. “It would have happened at some point. It’s good you learned your lesson now. It will ensure you understand how much work you have left to do when we start your defence training.”

Harry groaned again, this time deliberately “We will do this again?”

“Possibly. It hinges on your predisposition to learning to defend yourself. If you manage to progress quickly enough, than yes we may do this again.” Harry grimaces, causing Snape to add “If you manage to reach that point, I will give you a free pass on one detention.”

Harry snorted “You’ll just find a reason to give me a detention during a Quidditch game or something so I will spend it on an unearned detention.”

“Fine. I will promise to move any of the detentions I give you so they will never again interfere with Quidditch games, practise not included.”

Harry thought that over. That still left him open to punishment during Hogsmead weekends but considering the current state of affairs, no detention during games would have to do. Maybe later he would find a way to make a deal for Hogsmead weekend as well. After all, when he had mentioned the Quidditch games, Snape had done exactly what Harry wanted. That had to indicate it was possible to manipulate the man, right?

After that lesson, they had dinner in relative peace and Harry had retreated to the comfort of his bed immediately after. It was still early but he would be visiting Sirius the following day. He would need to rest now, unless he wanted to be incapable of moving tomorrow. Picking up the Book of Spells, Harry continued reading through it. He still had to read about half of the book before he would be allowed to try any of the spells that hadn’t been discussed during his previous years. Before he could get through more than a single page, his eyes started closing, and Harry fell asleep. The book of Spells on his chest, his glasses still on his head, and dressed in the clothes he had been wearing all day; Harry Potter slept better than he had in weeks.