&What do you think you are doing?& the left head of the Runespoor hissed angrily. &If you are our new owner, why didn’t you come and get us out of here? It is cold here, and nobody is able to talk to us! We have tried to tell the big balloon head that we don’t like dead rats – we want them fresh. He just had to let us out, and we could find our food by ourselves. We can smell that there are many rats outside, but he wouldn’t let us. And his fireplace is always too cold.& Harry laughed at the complaints of the snake. Then he noticed his sister’s crying and asked,

“Marina, what is wrong? Why are you crying?” Marina looked up to him with big eyes and said warily,

“Are you alright, Harry? I thought this thing was going to attack you!” Harry pulled Marina into a big hug and said,

“No, Marina, everything is alright.” Then he turned to Hagrid and told him, “The left head is complaining, that your fireplace is too cold and that they don’t like dead rats, they want fresh ones.” Hagrid listened interested and said,

“Oh, that’s what they want. All right, they will get what they want. The left head is the most aggressive one; the others seem to be quite peaceful.” Harry snorted.

“Yeah, and the left one is the poisonous one. By the way, the left one is Habu, the middle one Hebi and the right one Migi. This is how the middle one introduced them to me.” Then he turned back to the Runespoor.

&Hagrid says, you will get what you want. Can you promise me, not to bite anyone?& By this time Habu had woken up Migi, and all three heads nodded affirmatively to Harry. Then Migi decided to speak to Harry.

&Hello new owner. What’s your name, by the way?&

&Oh, I am sorry; I’m Harry& he replied.

&All right, Harry. We promise not to bite anyone who has friendly intentions towards you. By the way, will you take us with you, or do we have to stay with this big balloon head?& Harry laughed at their attics and asked Hagrid,

“What are we going to do with them? Mom is afraid having them in our quarters because of Marina. They have promised not to bite anyone who has friendly intentions towards me, but as Marina is still so small…”

“I’m not!” Marina interrupted him furiously, but suddenly his vision started to fail and before he was pulled into a memory, he managed to transform to Icicle. He relaxed immediately – that had been an escape in the last second. As the others were watching him worriedly, he quickly explained to his mother,

#I felt my vision fail and was afraid to be thrown into a memory, so I just transformed in order to get away from the memory.# Lily translated his words to the others, and Severus said,

“Well done, Harry. Hagrid, maybe you could think about it, and we, or at least Harry, will come down again as soon as he is able to.” Hagrid threw a big smile at Severus saying,

“Of course, Severus, that’s no problem. Maybe it is safer to keep them here until Marina is bigger. They won’t like it, but if Harry can visit them from time to time, they’ll be able to live with it.”

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On their way back up to the castle, Lily gave Harry a ride on her shoulder, until they reached their chambers and Harry transformed back. It only took a few minutes until he was drawn into a memory vision.

An about two or three year old Harry was sitting on Severus’ lap watching a Quidditch match Merlin House against Slytherin. Lily and Minerva McGonagall were sitting on each side of them, eagerly watching the game. Suddenly Harry pointed to the sky and shouted,

“Dere, de nitch!” Everyone looked at him and followed his finger up to the sky where a small golden flash could be seen in front of the dark clouds. Not noticing the attention he attracted, Harry commented, “De seekews are not vewwy good, dey are too slow. Dey have to pwactise more wif’e nitch.” His high child’s voice could be heard very well; therefore the whole stand erupted with laughter, while the Merlin seeker quickly caught the snitch, which had not moved at all after Harry had pointed to it.

Harry held his throbbing head and smiled. Some memories just were too cute. When he noticed the questioning glances his parents threw at him, he explained giggling,

“That was a memory of a two-year old me helping the Merlin seeker to catch the snitch in a game against Slytherin.” Severus gave him a very annoyed look and said,

“Believe it or not, the Slytherin captain tried to annul the game because of your interference, but Madam Hooch told him, that you didn’t specifically help Merlin House, and that both seekers could have seen the snitch you showed to everyone. And the Merlin captain told you, you should see that you would be sorted into Merlin House, because they would always need a good seeker.” Harry snorted and asked,

“And that’s why they made me seeker in my first year, although first years are not allowed to play on the house teams?” Lily shook her head and said,

“No, Harry. That was an entirely different story!” When Harry glanced at her enquiringly, she sighed. “I am sorry, my dear, but you know that you have to wait until the memory comes back on its own; I should not tell you anything. Now, it’s lunchtime, and as Julia is already back as well, I think we should sit in the kitchen and have lunch.” She glanced at Harry and added, “Or shall I just make sandwiches and we eat here?” Harry gave her a thankful look and nodded. He managed to eat one of the delicious sandwiches before the next memory started.

An about ten year old Harry was standing in the pitch, his broom in one hand, watching the practise of the Merlin Quidditch team. It was raining, and the clouds were hanging low over the pitch. Harry followed the seeker with his eyes, trying to find the snitch at the same time. Suddenly the seeker crashed into one of the goal posts and fell from his broom. It only took Harry a few seconds to push his own broom into the air and race underneath the student to catch him onto his own broom. After another few seconds, he managed to land both of them safely onto the ground, where they were surrounded by the stunned team members. The captain was the first to move on. He made sure the seeker, who only seemed to have a small head wound and a broken arm, was able to walk and asked two students to take him to the Hospital wing. Then he turned to Harry and said,

“Very well done, Harry! You probably saved his life – thank you very much. Now, I will accompany you to your mother; she has to know what happened. And... you will be a first year after the holidays, won’t you?” Harry nodded while he was watching the floor – he didn’t like this kind of attention. Everyone would have done what he did; it was not a great deal. “Alright then. Our seeker, whom you just saved, is a seventh year and will leave Hogwarts in four weeks; therefore after he holidays we need a new seeker. Would you be interested to play seeker for us, provided you will be sorted into Merlin House?” Harry glanced at him with a twinkle in his eyes and whispered,

“I’d love to, but first years aren’t allowed to play on the teams, are they?”

“Normally not, but I will ask your mom to let you be our seeker, although you are a first year.” When the reached the Entrance doors, they ran into Professor McGonagall, who had witnessed the whole incident from her office.

“Has someone taken Mr. White to the Hospital wing?” she inquired sternly.

“Yes, of course, Professor. And I have found a new seeker for our team,” the team captain smirked. Seeing the astonished glance he received from Minerva, he added, “Don’t you think saving a student’s life should be rewarded somehow? I think Harry should gain the seeker’s position, even if he will be a first year.” McGonagall laughed and countered,

“Alright; if he is sorted into Gryffindor, I will make him seeker in his first year, but if he is sorted into Merlin, you will have to ask Professor Evans-Snape. But you can tell her my agreement in this matter.” Harry glanced at her and said,

“Oh, thank you so much, Granny; I would love to play seeker in the house team!”

“I know that, Harry, I know,” his grandmother assured him.

Harry came back to reality slowly. He hardly could open his eyes, because his head hurt so much. Suddenly he felt a cold phial pressed to his lips and far away, he heard his father’s voice saying, “drink, Harry.” He felt better immediately and gave Severus a grateful smile. Later in the afternoon, he had to watch a few more memories; one or two of them was of his discovering that he could speak to snakes.

Harry seemed to be about eight or nine years old. He was sitting next to the lake with Julia, his parents and his great grandparents having a picnic on a sunny afternoon. Probably it was during summer holidays, as no other students could be seen. Suddenly he heard a voice,

&It’s so cold here, I need a warm place to sleep. Maybe I should go inside the huge castle&. Harry wondered what it was but nevertheless hissed a reply,

&Maybe you should go down to the hut over there to see Hagrid. He’ll probably be able to help you.& He had no idea how he knew that he was not talking to a human, but somehow it seemed to be the best to send the speaker over to Hagrid. All of a sudden, the owner of the voice came into view – it was a small snake.

Suddenly the memory changed to a different one.

Harry seemed to be about the same age. He had a bad dream about this evil man with the red eyes again and woke up with tears in his eyes. ‘Maybe Mom or Dad are still up’ he thought and went out of his room to look for his parents. He couldn’t see them, but he noticed a black snake rolled up in front of the huge fireplace. The snake was looking at him and hissed,

&Don’t be afraid, Harry, it’s me, Dad.& Harry glanced at the snake and replied,

&You are a snake; how can you be my dad?& A second later Severus had transformed back to his human form and motioned to Harry to sit on the sofa with him. Harry was stunned.

“Harry, I am sorry, I didn’t want to startle you; the snake is my animagus form; I had a bad headache and knew I would feel better in this form, so I transformed and took a rest in front of the fireplace for a little while. Have you noticed that you are able to speak to snakes?” Harry jumped in fright. He hadn’t even thought about that.

“Do you remember the snake we met outside a few months ago, who complained that it was cold and you sent it to Hagrid?” Harry nodded surprised and a little afraid.

“But, Dad, why? Is it normal, that wizards can speak to snakes?” Severus sighed and said,

“No, Harry. Only people descended from Salazar Slytherin are able to speak Parseltongue. However, the Snape family is an old family directly descended from Slytherin, and as the youngest boy in the direct line, you are even the heir of Slytherin. That is why you are able to speak to snakes,” he explained patiently.

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The next time he was lucid enough to open his eyes, he noticed that it was dark outside and he was lying in his bed, his father sleeping next to him. Harry groaned and before he could try to sit up, his father held a phial out for him. Harry gulped it down and reached for the next, drank it and asked, “How late isit?” His father sighed, when he noticed that Harry was slurring the words and told him,

“You have been asleep or stuck in memories for more than three days. It is Thursday morning.” Harry looked at him in horror.

“But my animagus classes…” he started, and Severus smirked.

“Harry, you are in no condition to think about classes; I have just given you the memory suppressing potion, so you will have a few hours to rest properly. I will stay with you, because Albus and Poppy have been covering my classes for the whole week and will do so today too.” Harry shook his head.

“No, Dad,” he protested immediately, “I have to take the animagus class, and I have to organize the Quidditch tournament. I also have to help granny with the grading.” Severus snorted, rolled his eyes and asked,

“Harry, do I have to take your temperature with Poppy’s toy, or will you believe me, when I tell you that you have quite a fever and have to stay in bed today?”

“No, but…” Harry was getting upset. Could his father not understand that he had pressing matters to take care of? Severus sighed and shoved the thermometer in Harry’s mouth ignoring his protests. After a minute it flared red, and Poppy’s voice told Harry to stay in bed and rest. Harry sighed and asked,

“Have the answers from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang come concerning the Quidditch tournament?” Severus sighed and replied,

“Yes, Harry, and I have read them and fixed the final dates with Albus and Minerva. The first weekend will be the one, when Saturday is the 30th of April, and the second, when Saturday is the 21st of May. Apart from that, I didn’t organize anything, because I thought you would prefer to do everything on your own. I only asked Ms. Weasley to write a reply to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang on your behalf, which she did yesterday.” Harry threw his father a thankful smile and relaxed. He was nearly asleep again, when his mother entered the room, sat on the other edge of his bed and placed a cool hand on his forehead.

“Oh, my…” she started and having a good look at Harry, she continued delighted, “Harry – you are awake! How do you feel?” Harry smiled at Lily.

“Fine, Mom. I just want to get up, because I have to organize a few things,” Harry whined. Lily threw a questioning glance at Severus who slightly shook his head. She said,

“No, Harry, you can’t. But rest for an hour, and then we will all have breakfast together in the kitchen, alright?” Harry nodded thankfully. Lily turned to Severus. “Then I will floo-call Minerva and ask her to excuse us from breakfast and Harry from classes again.” Harry sat up excitedly and begged,

“No, Mom, please tell her that I will take the animagus class in the third period this morning. Please, Mom!” Severus rolled his eyes annoyed, and Lily went to talk to her grandmother. A few hours later, Harry and Severus put up quite a fight about Harry being able to take over a class or not, which ended abruptly when Harry said, “I am really sorry, Dad, but I have to,” transformed into Icicle and flashed away.

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Severus was stunned. His son… how could he? Didn’t he have any respect towards his parents? And why was he putting himself into danger? He knew that he should not flash when he was having a fever. And was he not aware how tiring it was to teach a class of dunderheads, when he was not feeling 100 well? Or hadn’t he gone to teach the class – had he gone somewhere else just because he was fed up with the discussions with him? Severus thought for a moment about going up to the Transfigurations classroom and look for Harry, but he abandoned the thought quickly. If he had gone there, Minerva would watch him and if necessary send him back or take him to Poppy. So he decided to try to relax and do what was best in order to relax, went to his private lab to brew a potion.

Harry flashed directly in front of the Transfigurations classroom and waited until the bell announced the end of the second class. Then he transformed back and went into the classroom as soon as the students started to leave the room. Minerva threw him an astonished glance and asked, “Harry, what are you doing here? Your mother said you were awake but too ill to get up let alone teach a class.” Harry frowned and replied,

“No, granny, I am fine and I want to teach the animagus class. I will stay here in the classroom with them, and when I have any problems, I will come to get you immediately, alright?” His grandmother watched him sternly and said,

“Alright, Harry. But we can go outside if you prefer to have the class there, because I would prefer to stay and watch today, if you don’t mind.” Harry smiled at his grandmother and nodded gratefully.

“Of course not, Granny thanks.”

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By this time, the seventh years’ students had filed in and Harry turned to them. “All of you, who prefer to have the lesson outside, please raise your left hand.” As there was not a single left hand remaining on the tables, Harry told them, “Alright, we will meet outside in two minutes,” offered Minerva a ride and after transforming into Icicle flashed them down to the lake. When everyone had joined them for their outside class, he raised his voice. “I am sorry, that I have missed our last lesson, but I hope you have progressed during this time. Please show me, how far you are able to transform.” He watched his students expectantly, while he changed only his left hand into white feathers. This time, most of the students were able to change their left hands into the front paws etc. of their animagus forms. A few students were even able to change their right hands, arms or even also their feet. Harry was very content. He changed his hand back and told them, “Oh, you are doing very well. You have made great progress during this week. Try again to change each of your arms and legs, one after another.” The students tried hard during the lesson, and in the end, Harry was very satisfied. His grandmother was stunned – never had a seventh years’ class been so successful with the animagus transformation. With a glance at her watch, Minerva noticed that it was already lunchtime.

“I am sorry, class, but it is already lunchtime, and the lesson is over. Did you have to announce anything else, Professor Snape-Dumbledore?” She glanced at Harry. He sighed and said,

“As you know, on Saturday morning will be our last class before the holidays. Next week, we won’t have any classes together, because you will have your tests during the week. If Professor McGonagall does not object however, I will hold animagus classes three times a week during the holidays, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. We will meet here directly after breakfast, or in case it is raining, we will meet in the Transfigurations classroom. Is that alright with you?” he asked turning to his grandmother, while the class was erupting in applause. She frowned at the tumult and replied sternly,

“Yes, you may have your classes during the holidays, but only these three times a week, and don’t beg Professor Snape-Dumbledore for more lessons, because he will not be allowed to teach any more during the holidays. And you,” she threw a strict glance around, “don’t forget that you have to study for your NEWTs.” With this, she dismissed the students and invited Harry to come to lunch with her, but he declined and headed back to their quarters. He was knackered but happy to have been able to teach his favourite class. By the time he returned to their living-room, his mother was waiting for him. Harry frowned; he knew he would be in trouble with his dad, and he had to apologize to him, didn’t he?

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“Harry, are you alright?” Lily asked worriedly. “How dare you flash away to teach a class against your father’s orders? He is very upset and said, that he is going to teach his own classes in the afternoon, so that you will have to stay with Poppy.” Harry groaned and said,

“Mom, I know what I did, and I’m sorry, but I had to. Where is Dad? I want to apologize to him.” Lily sighed and pointed to Severus’ private lab. Harry glanced at her and took a few steps in the direction of the lab, when suddenly the door opened and Severus emerged. Harry ran over to him, gave his father a big hug and apologized immediately. “Dad, I am really, really sorry, but please understand that I just had to teach the class.” Severus scowled.

“Harry, I am very angry with you. Why do you always have to put yourself into danger? In fact, I would like to ground you for at least a month, but I think you are kind of grounded enough because of your memories. Instead, until the Easter holidays, I will not stay here with you but go and teach my own classes. Therefore, you will have to stay with Granddad or Aunt Poppy during classes. And I tell you now, if you don’t behave and do exactly what they tell you, I will think about something else. I am very disappointed.”

Harry felt his eyes getting wet and quickly escaped to his room, curled up on his bed and tried to sleep. When Lily followed him a few minutes later and asked him to come to lunch, he declined and told her, he was too tired. Pomfrey kept him in bed for the next two days, but Harry didn’t mind, as he was drifting in and out of memories during the whole time and was hardly aware of his surroundings. His condition did not change over the weekend and only slowly got better the next week, and Harry was glad, that Albus had managed to convince Severus to stay with Harry while he would be watching over the Potions classes during the tests.

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On the last day before the holidays, Harry was finally allowed to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. He sighed while he thought about how much time had passed during which he hadn’t been able to do anything useful. ‘It is only a good week until Easter,’ he thought horrified, when he had an idea.