Poppy went over the parchment with him and they discussed which potions he would need to take with him in order to stabilize Harry based on the readings from the scan, she also pointed out some others that she thought he may need. Severus thanked her curtly grateful for her help and vast knowledge, but aware that time was running short for him to go back and save Harry within a safe window.

A short time later he was ready to begin armed with a time turner supplied by the Headmaster and a veritable first aid kit of selected potions ad other essentials shrunk in his robes he walks outside of the ground and apparates to Little Whinging and finding a discreet spot to activate the time turner he is aware that he will only have a limited time to act when he reaches the desired point in time he turns it back multiple times and sees time running backwards on itself around him thinking how strange it is to see the muggles rushing about there pathetically mundane lives around him in reverse, typical that Petunia would choose such a boringly prim and proper suburb far away from the reaches of the magical world.

When time returns to normal it is early morning, he emerges pocketing the time turner and makes his way over to the address he has been given. He casts Alhomora on the locked door and enters, casting a silencing charm around him, hoping that he can get in and out quickly with Harry without disturbing the rest of the family.

He looks around frowning as he noted the photos on the wall, all of them featuring a fat boy with cruel eyes, an ugly sneer and more features in common with an overfed pig than a child. The repulsive-looking pig boy was the kind of child that only a parent could love and even then that might be pushing it. There were more photos of an equally bloated and very angry looking man whose moustache made him resemble a walrus and a familiar horse-faced woman whose expression was so sour she looked like she'd been constantly sucking Albus's lemon drops, clearly Tooney hadn't aged gracefully. The distinct absence of Harry in any of the photos only served to increase his worry for the boy. He wonders where to start searching before an idea comes to him. Taking out his wand, he casts a quick charm to point him towards Harry.

The wand moved about excitedly before pointing firmly towards the bottom of the stairs, he walks in the direction indicated, frowning as it points firmly at a small padlocked cupboard beneath the stairs. He stares at in confusion for a minute, surely even his relatives would not stoop so low he thinks for a minute before silently cursing as he remembered the state in which he found the boy after just one day. He sighs and casts Alhomora again on the door, bracing himself for the worst before opening the door and casting Lumos softly to illuminate the gloom.

He looks around gasping in shock trying not to cough as he breathes in the putrid smell coming from inside. He casts his wand around the room illuminating shelves full of cleaning supplies and the rough shape of what looked like broken toy soldiers and crayon stubs, neatly arranged in a gloomy corner as if they were his prized treasures. He lets his eyes linger for only a moment before casting the shelves in shadow and moving along the wall, his heart clenches as the light from his wand reveals a sign proudly declaring this to be Harry's Room in the messy colourful scrawl of a child.

Could it really be so, it would be bad enough if the child was locked in here as a punishment as his own father had done to him on occasion but for it to be his bedroom was deplorable beyond measure, what kind of a heartless person would think this tiny cupboard an appropriate room for a child he wondered. He lowered the light further to illuminate the floor and gasped as he spotted a small emaciated body huddled up in the corner of the cupboard on a thin and grubby sagging mattress. Inwardly he groans cursing his infernal relatives for leaving him like this, no wonder he was at death's door when he found him, he looked as though he had been locked in here for days if not weeks with little in the way of food and water.

He reaches in gently rubbing the boy's shoulder and calling his name to try and rouse him. Slowly, reluctantly the boy stirred from his troubled sleep, groaning quietly before startling awake and looking around unfocused in a panic "sorry Uncle Vernon, I must have overslept, I'll get up and start making breakfast now" he manages to stammer nervously before grabbing a very old bent looking pair of glasses and stumbling out of the cupboard tripping over his own feet and causing a startled Severus to move out of his way to avoid being knocked over.

Recovering himself, he quickly gets up, grabbing the boy firmly by the shoulders, turning him around and bringing him back to him "Harry" he calls trying to get this attention.

The small boy cowers away looking at him with unfocused panicked eyes not thinking clearly through his fear and illness "sorry Uncle Vernon, it won't happen again I swear, I'll get started right away, just please don't beat me" he blurts out, whilst trying to get away from him.

"Harry!" he snaps at him to try and get his attention and successfully startling out of his panic. He grasps him firmly by the shoulders to ensure he does not run away before relaxing his grip slightly and lifting his chin so that he's looking at his face. He takes a breath to regain his composure before speaking to him more softly "it's alright I'm not your Uncle. I'm Professor Snape, one of your teachers and I'm here to take you to Hogwarts"

The boy looks at him with wide-eyed wonder "you're here for me? To take me to Hogwarts?" he asks in disbelief. The strange man nods "but I can't, I've got to do my chores first, otherwise I'll get in trouble" he whispers, panicking again and looking frantically to the kitchen.

Severus restrains him, pulling the boy back as gently as he can as he tries to bolt towards the kitchen, noting how he flinches away from him, another sign of the abuse he's suffered at the hands of his so-called loving family. He puts a hand to his temple reminding himself to stay calm and breathe, it's not his fault he reminds himself, the boy's not thinking clearly in his ill fevered state. "Harry, you're sick, all you need to do is rest"

"But …" he starts to protest "but nothing I am taking you to Hogwarts you don't need to worry about your family or your chores. Now then come I need to take a look at you" he says steering him in the direction of the living room, catching him as he stumbles forward unsteadily, he scoops him up deciding that it'll be safer to carry him since his legs are probably weak from lack of use.

He lifts him on the sofa, propping his head up with one of the pillows before casting the diagnostic scan over him again. His eyes flit quickly over the results, they are still shocking and cause for great concern but fortunately they are not quite as bad as when he found him. He sets to work, casting several charms over him to stabilize his breathing, heart rate and other vital signs.

The boy looks up at him questioningly "is that magic sir?"

"Yes, it's a special spell that tells me what's wrong with you so I can treat you" he says distractedly as he works on healing him.

He puts a hand lightly to his forehead. He feels warm, definitely running a fever, he thinks setting out the potions he needs and lifting him onto his lap in a sitting position supporting his head against one arm as he rummages for the correct bottle. "Here drink these, they'll make you feel better" he says encouragingly, deciding to start by giving him a calming draught.

He obliges, looking up at him before pulling a face at the bitter aftertaste "I know they don't taste nice, sorry I probably should have warned you but they'll help you feel better" he explains calmly.

The boy relaxes his head, clearing a little as the potion takes effect "uh Sir I was just wondering, you said you were a teacher, what do you teach?" he asks curiously.

"I teach potions" he replies absently trying to find the next potion he needs.

The boy takes this in thoughtfully "oh will you teach me how to make potions? I heard my Mum was really good, I want to be just like her"

Severus pauses from his task turning to look at him curiously "yes Harry I will teach you how to brew potions just like your Mother, she was very good at potions much like myself" he replies sincerely brushing his messy dark hair out of his face, his dark eyes never leaving his wide green eyes before feeding him more potions one to relieve the pain, a fever reducer and a blood replenisher to replace all the blood he'd lost.

"You promise?"

"Yes Harry I promise" he says with a slight chuckle, "I remember your Mother, I'll turn you into a fine brewer just like her" he reassures him.

The boy looks at him open-mouthed in shock "you knew my Mum?"

"Yes, I did. She was one of my best friends" he replies softly, smiling down at him. She was also my only real friend he recalls sadly thinking of all the Slytherins who were only interested in him for his brains and talent with potions and the dark arts or interested in grooming him as a future Death Eater and stroking his ego.

"Will you tell me more about her?" he asks drowsily as the potions begin to take effect.

"I will tell you all about her, Harry when you are well enough" he assures him.

A smile curls his lips in response as sleep takes hold "promise?" he manages to mumble.

"Yes I promise, now though you need to rest and concentrate on getting better" he says pointedly, giving him a stern look before more gently stroking his cheek.

He pauses sniffing with his long pointed nose. The poor child stinks, clearly he hasn't had much chance to clean himself. Well, that at least is easy to remedy, he thinks carefully casting a Scourgify over his body and clothes and casting some gentle warming charms over him. There that should be better at least and make him more comfortable he thinks before producing a soft warm blanket and wrapping it around him.

He adjusts the boy so he's secure in his arms before standing up, noting again how worryingly light the boy feels and how small he looks nestled in his arms. He's been starved and not just of attention, they'd have to work hard to correct that.

He turns to leave before a thought occurs to him. He'd best take the boy's school things with him since he won't be coming back and he hopes that Harry won't be coming back here any time soon, certainly not if he's got any say in the matter he won't.

He wonders where his things are, mentally cursing that he didn't ask the boy while he was awake, well he doesn't have time to search for his things now, getting his wand out he calls quietly "Accio trunk" before a trunk flies out of the basement towards him. Is this it? he thinks shrinking it down and sticking it in his pocket. He hopes so, wait what was Hagrid saying when he came back after taking Harry for his school supplies, he was certain that he was bragging about something he ponders trying to remember. Unfortunately, he hadn't taken much interest in the conversation at the time, he thinks hard, ah yes that was it he thinks, he was talking about some creature he'd bought for him, an owl he thinks it might have been recalling him boasting about how it was a magnificent snowy white specimen.

Well, there was only one thing for it "Accio owl" he casts again, he'd soon know one way or another if it was an owl or not. A moment later a cage came flying towards him from upstairs, he just about managed to catch it with a free hand, floating the cage in front of him. He wondered what he was going to do with it as he gazed curiously at the snowy owl inside which glared back at him with wide amber eyes looking decidedly affronted at being summoned in such a fashion.

"Ah sorry about that, I didn't exactly have time to come and search for you. Look, I need to get your master Harry to Hogwarts quickly so he can be healed. I'll let you out when we get outside, you can either fly straight there or apparate with me and Harry alright?" he explains to the angry-looking owl.

He steps outside making sure to leave no more traces of his visit before checking the blood wards, he frowns at the results with concern, it appears they are already starting to fail clearly the old coot didn't know as much about the properties of blood wards as he let on, even he with his limited understanding of how they worked understood that they needed to be built on a foundation of love in order for the protection to work. He makes a mental note to mention this to the headmaster later before opening the door to the cage.

The owl stepped out glaring affronted at him and nipping him on the finger causing him to yelp "ow! I said I was sorry" he glares at her nursing the finger. She ignores him choosing to perch on his shoulder, looking down and hooting sadly at the small boy bundled in his arms. "Yes, quite," he grumbled in agreement, "I see chosen to stay with your boy then, clearly you will make him a loyal companion"

She appears to agree with that statement, letting out another sad hoot and looking up at him with imploringly "you're concerned about him too?" he asks putting a hand out warily and lightly stroking her feathers when she showed no sign of nipping him "Don't worry I'll make sure he gets the best care, our healers will do all they can for him" he vows that this time he won't be too late.

"Well in that case if you're coming with me you'd best come under my cloak with him, I've never apparated with animals before I certainly wouldn't want any unexpected mishaps" he warns lifting his cloak off his free arm, the owl obliges hopping down and settling herself against his chest next to the boy, he drapes his cloak back over her before shrinking her cage and adjusting his cloak to cover the boy better to conceal him from prying eyes before apparating away.