Severus Snape, snarky Potions Master, ‘greasy git’ and ‘slimy bat of the dungeons’ was in his element. He excelled at his ‘beginning of first year’ speech. The eleven year olds cowered when he glared, they looked impressed at his ‘even put a stopper in death!’ He waved his wand at the board and the nervous first years started madly taking down the directions for the simple potion base he always had them start on. He started to sweep down the first aisle when he realized that Shaun no longer had hold of the strap on his belt. In fact he couldn’t feel the child anywhere under his robe. ‘Oh blast, he had scared his son as well as the first years!’ He strode silently back to his desk and sat down heavily, his head down in his hands. He couldn’t leave the classroom; he couldn’t call Nippy to check on the boy, what was he to do now?
His mind in turmoil and his emotions running rampant, it took a moment to feel the small form standing up and leaning against his leg under his desk. He leaned back to make more room and felt the tremulous presence of his boy. He sighed and placed his hands under the desk. He placed one hand on the small head that was lying on his knee and rubbed the small shoulders with the other. He looked to make sure the students were busy before beginning to softly talk to the child.
“It’s all right, Shaun, it’s just the game. Shh, now I’m not mad at you, I just needed to frighten the students enough at the beginning so they never stop paying attention to what I say. It would be too dangerous if they get careless or Merlin forbid, think they can prank each other or play in here. Potion’s accidents are not as easily repaired as a spell cast wrong. And a cauldron explosion can kill people.”
Shaun dried his tears, “You aren’t going to chop them up for potion’s ingredients if they make a mistake?”
Severus could feel the corners of his mouth threaten to turn up so he forcibly scowled, “Now child, that would ruin everything I brewed, wouldn’t it?”
The small head nodded and then climbed further up into his father’s lap. He hugged him around the middle, not caring if anyone noticed anything odd in his need for his father’s reassurance. Severus patted his back, leaning over to whisper, “I will summon you a couple of books for the next class and you can sit over there and read or watch if you like, okay?”
Shaun nodded and climbed down, grabbing the strap to let his father know he was ready to continue with their game once again. The class finished without further upset and Severus was happy to see the classroom door close behind them.
They had made it to lunchtime, but then it was still only the first day of classes. They had one second year class left and then he could take Shaun outside to play while he corrected papers in the late afternoon sun while the students were still in their second class of the afternoon.
000000000000000000000
The second year’s class had gone very well, Severus had placed a large box in a corner of the classroom that wasn’t visible and lined it with a big soft blanket and a pillow. Only ten minutes into class, Shaun had climbed into it with his favorite book, “The Young Wizard’s Guide to Beginning Potions Making”, read a few pages, and promptly went to sleep.
Severus had begun grading the massive pile of summer essays he had assigned and sighed, each year he promised himself he wouldn’t assign such long ones that he would have to grade, and each year he forgot and assigned them anyway. Oh well, at least they had had to write them over summer. He had finished all of the seventh year essays, most of them adequate and a couple actually quite good, the sixth years of course had none, no one knew if they would be in N.E.W.T. potions until after they got their O.W.L. scores after all. He began on last year’s fourths, now his fifth year students and turned at a small sound to find Shaun waking up.
He conjured a satchel and placed the ungraded essays, quills, ink and a small snack that Nippy had provided for them, and asked Shaun if he would like to go outside to play for a while. He was rewarded with a large smile and a lap full of small boy. He went to the coat rack and pulled down the two cloaks there. It never ceased to amaze him that anything Shaun wore became just as invisible as he did. He took the cloaks over one arm, the satchel on his shoulder and his son’s hand in his as they walked through the corridors to the large outside entrance. He never noticed the several pairs of eyes out in the corridors around the castle as they widened and wondered at the man walking with his arm held out to one side, hand curled in a loose fist, talking to himself.
000000000000000000000
The entire castle was buzzing by dinner. No one knew what had happened to the snarky git, but he was now talking to himself in the halls and pretending to hold someone’s hand, a very small someone’s hand. The students were very careful to never talk about Professor Snape anywhere a member of staff could overhear them, but that didn’t stop the speculation in the common rooms, the hallways, the empty classrooms, and the dorms.
Several students had observed him out the windows from various classrooms where they were supposed to be paying attention to the professor’s lecture; but found the view by the lake much more exciting. Terrence, a fifth year Ravenclaw was telling his four dorm mates that he had seen the man set out a picnic basket and then pat a spot for no one. He had even put out a plate of food for the ‘pretend’ friend. Then he had repeatedly thrown a ball and apparently summoned it back in a bizarre game of catch.
The second year Slytherin who had been on his way to the infirmary to have Madame Pomfrey heal the nasty bite he had gotten in Herbology told the entire Slytherin common room that he had seen Professor Snape pretending to be carrying something, and had been talking to it as he walked down the hall towards the potions classroom before dinner.
Even the Hufflepuff table noticed when Margaret dropped her napkin and then excitedly explained in a whisper that when she bent over to pick it up, she saw Professor Snape put a plate full of food down onto the floor by his feet. But there was nothing there; he didn’t have a cat or a dog with him!
The second year Gryffindors were all wondering why Professor Snape hadn’t yelled at anyone, he had wandered up and down the aisles and he had taken the obligatory points for minor mistakes, but he hadn’t yelled at anyone and he had actually glared at the two Slytherins who had tried to cause a Gryffindor cauldron to explode. He had actually given them detention! Maybe the man was in the middle of a mental breakdown?
00000000000000000
Arabella Figg got an urgent owl from her daughter, her youngest granddaughter was very ill, and she wanted her Grandmother Bella to come and stay with her while she got better. Since her daughter and granddaughter were both squibs also, she would need to pack to be away for a while, potions and spells just didn’t work very well for them. She charged Mr. Tibbles, her kneazle, to keep an eye on young Harry, and to step on the special parchment that would notify Professor Dumbledore if there was a problem.
She hastily scratched out a note for the Headmaster, telling him she would be gone for several weeks and that everything was fine. She had seen Petunia walking to the park just two days ago, her blonde son holding one hand, her dark haired nephew holding the other. And it appeared that Harry had actually grown several inches, maybe he was finally growing.
As she packed she checked off a mental list, ah, just time to pop down to the opticians and pick up her new glasses; she had been getting headaches ever since she broke them two weeks ago, then she had had to wait for an appointment to get a new order, and now finally, they had rung just yesterday saying they were ready. Then she would need to stop at the chemists and pick up some more headache powder…
0000000000000000
The students took to watching Professor Snape carefully without appearing to be watching him. It was obvious the entire staff knew what was happening; they could hardly not notice the man’s bizarre behavior after all! And it was getting worse as time went on.
It had been so gradual that the students couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but the man didn’t take points off nearly as often. None of the students could recall the great bat finding anyone out after curfew this term, and no one had seen him patrolling constantly as he had in past years. And he walked so slowly and cautiously now, not like the ground eating pace he had used every year before.
He was spotted frequently out in the grounds, sitting on a blanket with a picnic basket open beside him, playing a weird game of throw the ball and then summon it back. It was even rumored that he had a small shrunken toy broom in one pocket and that he had been seen flying out over the lake and the Quidditch pitch, smiling!
000000000000000000
Vernon and Petunia had been afraid to breathe too hard the first week their nephew had disappeared; but they gradually relaxed as no one showed up for the boy, no wizards, no social services, no police. The days stretched into weeks, the weeks stretched into a month then two, and Vernon and Petunia decided that they could just pretend they had never had the boy in their lives at all. Petunia had scoured his filthy cupboard the day after they noticed he was gone, the cupboard had still been locked from the outside.
Vernon came home early in the middle of September with the most wonderful news. Petunia and Dudley weren’t home; perhaps they were still at the play park. He made himself a cuppa and sat down to savor the moment. Petunia came in, holding Dudley with one hand and his dark haired friend Piers with the other. She sent both boys upstairs to play in Dudley’s room and went into the kitchen. She stopped at the door, surprised to find her husband home so early, a big smile on his face.
“Petunia, dear, I got it! The new office opening up in Vancouver is mine, and Grunnings wants us there in just two weeks. They have agreed to buy this house and pay all of our moving expenses. They have an executive house we can stay in until we find something. We have our passports already and they are getting the permits to live in Canada expedited. We can leave this house and all these nosy neighbors behind. And it’s a huge promotion and a very large pay raise and bonus!”
He stood and swept his wife into his arms and planted a big kiss on her cheek, “And best of all, no more weirdoes or freaks!”
She kissed him back and said, “Let me call Pier’s mother and have Dudley spend the night, then we can go out and celebrate! And tomorrow, I’ll begin packing!”
000000000000000000000
By the middle of October Snape had started wearing robes that weren’t black, they were very dark green, blue and grey, but they weren’t black. The students who had written home got confirmation from older brothers and sisters that that had never happened before. His hair was now tied back, it might still be just as greasy, but it didn’t look bad at all. He had gained some weight, he would never be anything but skinny, but he wasn’t skeletal any more, and his skin looked much better for all the time he had spent out in the sun.
First year Bill Weasley told the Gryffindor common room that when he went up to fetch his old owl Errol that had landed on Hagrid’s head by mistake, he saw a small table with a little chair behind Professor Snape’s seat, and it had silverware and a plate and cup like his stupid girl cousins’ when they played tea party.
Kristina told the other fourth year Hufflepuff girls, that when she bent down in potions to pick up the quill she had dropped, she saw crayons and coloring books under Professor Snape’s desk, and a play cauldron! She had to explain to the others exactly what crayons and coloring books were, them not being muggle born, but then they were just as shocked as she was!
0000000000000000000000
The pleased topic of the October staff meeting was the surprising amount of school spirit and lack of inter-house rivalry this year. Everyone had noticed that students of all years and all houses seemed to be meeting in out of the way places all over the castle, just to talk and visit. No one was hexing other house members, and there had been no major fights or out of class duels. Even Slytherin house was being included in the activities.
None of the staff knew exactly what the students were all buzzing about, but they knew the castle was always rife with gossip and intrigue, and suspected that this year was no different. Dumbledore was pleased and said perhaps they could have a special Halloween ball this year as well as the traditional Hogsmeade day for the third year and above students. After all, inter house cooperation and harmony should be encouraged wherever it was found!
The staff all got to work right away on planning the treat for the students, and for once even Severus Snape raised no objections. Professor Flitwick had noticed that all four houses seemed to have many more points than they had ever had at this time of year, perhaps since there seemed to be so little rivalry, so fewer points had been lost than any other year. He didn’t mention that not losing tons of points every day in potions or someone lying in wait to find students out in the corridors every evening probably had a lot to do with it too.
0000000000000000000000000
It was almost 8 p.m., when Arabella Figg paid off the muggle taxi driver after he helped her carry her luggage up to the steps of her house. ‘Ah it is so good to finally be home. Little Beth was so ill and then it seemed to take forever for her to get her strength back,’ she thought as she struggled to unlock the front door. She had not intended to be gone over five weeks after all! She pulled her suitcase inside the door and checked with Mr. Tibbles, where was that kneazle; she needed to check on little Harry after all, now where could that nasty cat have gotten to?
“Mr. Tibbles… Mr. Tibbles… here kitty, kitty.” No answer; so she went next door to see Cathy, the lady she always paid to keep an eye on her mail and yard, and to feed her cats. She knocked on the door and was shocked to see Cathy carrying Mr. Tibbles, a strange plaster thing on his hind leg.
Cathy handed the cat over to his owner, “I’m sorry, Arabella, I didn’t know how to get in touch with you, but your cat had a run in with a car the day after you left. A large dog was chasing him and he ran out in front of a car. The driver was very sorry and paid all the vet bills, I have his name and number for you, he wanted you to call him when you returned to make sure everything was fine. Mr. Tibbles just needs the cast for one more week, and then the vet says he will be as good as new. I have had a terrible time keeping him inside; he really tries to get out every time the door opens. I’ve had to start answering the door with him in my arms.”
After assuring Cathy that it was fine and that she wasn’t mad at her, she managed to take the kneazle home and settle him into her bedroom. She went immediately over to check on poor little Harry, grabbing the small toy she had bought for him as a present. She almost fainted on the spot to find the house totally empty, no curtains, no furniture, empty!
She rushed home, threw floo powder in the fire she had hurriedly started and yelled, “Hogwarts Headmaster’s Office, Albus, we have a problem!” When the headmaster opened his floo, she stepped through and looked around. “I think you need the others here, too, Albus. They will need to hear this and I don’t think a wait for them to arrive will make any difference now.”
Albus sent messages to the four heads of House that they were needed in his office as soon as possible. When Severus heard the chime that meant he was needed by the headmaster, he called for Nippy to watch his already sleeping son. He absent mindedly rubbed the small head, at least his hair was finally growing back. He supposed he would have to begin cutting his hair himself, he could imagine taking an invisible child to the barbers and asking for a ‘trim, please’. He smiled at the thought. ‘It’s remarkable how much this one little soul has changed my life so much. I almost wish he would never become visible, for the first time in a very long time, I like my life.’ He left as soon as Nippy assured him he would send word if the boy woke up.
Severus was the last to arrive in Albus’ office and nodded greetings to Minerva, Pomona and Filius as well as Albus before he noted the presence of Arabella Figg. His face didn’t automatically snarl at the thought that this must have something to do with the Potter boy then. He thought with surprise, that he almost felt sorry for James Potter, who would never know the small joys that Shaun brought to his life every day. He sat down in the last empty chair, a pensive expression upon his face and listened intently.
“So, Arabella, what brings you here so late, I hope your granddaughter has fully recovered?” The Headmaster asked her.
“Yes, thank you Albus. Well, for those of you who don’t know, my granddaughter got very sick about the first week in September and I left to go help her mother with her. I had seen Harry out walking with his Aunt and cousin just two days before so I knew everything was all right. I set my kneazle up to watch the house, as he has done before, notified Albus and left. I got home just this evening. I couldn’t find my kneazle, so I went to the neighbor’s house who watches after my place to find that he had been hit by a car the day after I left and had not been let out of her house since then.”
She stopped and wrung her hands in agitation, “I immediately went to the Dursley’s house and it was empty, no furniture, no cars, no nothing. There is no for sale sign, nothing to follow up on. So I came straight here. It’s too late at night to go knocking on the neighbors doors to find out if they know anything. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
Minerva looked at Severus and asked, “Could it be Shaun? You said he has black hair and green eyes, just like Harry. What day did he show up in your lab, Severus?”
Severus blanched, “When did you say you last saw the boy, Arabella?” She thought for a moment, “I left on the fourth of September and I saw him two days before walking to the park with his aunt, so the second of September. And who’s Shaun, Severus?”
Severus sighed and sat back in his chair relieved, “Shaun is my son, but he came to me the last week in June, I think the 29th but it could have been the 30th. And when Poppy examined him on August 30th she said he was three and a half. Isn’t the Potter boy a little bit older?”
Albus was pulling the Registry of Magical Children book out of his desk drawer as he answered, “His birthday is the 31st of July, so he was already four years old by the time Poppy examined Shaun.”
Albus sat back, steepled his fingers and looked worriedly at his colleagues, “There is no Harry James Potter in my magical registry. Either he is no longer alive, or his family no longer lives in Great Britain. I will ask the other magical schools around the world to check on their registries. Arabella, I need you to ask around the neighborhood and find out what you can, Minerva can you send an owl to Kingsley Shacklebolt to check for a missing boy matching Harry’s description in both the magical and muggle world. And maybe he can see if there were Muggle papers for the Dursley family to leave Great Britain? Severus, can you make discreet inquiries amongst your former associates, I know some of them still wish Harry dead.”
After another agonizingly long hour of discussion and planning the six left the office, each deep in their own thoughts and worries, but Severus was just relieved that his Shaun wasn’t Harry Potter!