Once they were done with their meal, Snape made Harry help with drying the utensils they had used. After the kitchen was once again tidy, the man lead the way back to the front hall and then to a large but cosy living room. Harry remained standing at the door, not really sure where he was allowed to sit. Snape noticed and pointed to the soft-looking couch. "Come sit down, child."

The boy walked closer to the couch and sank into it. "My name is Harry."

The man looked slightly amused. "Yes, I'm aware."

The boy blinked. "You know? I didn't tell you!"

Severus leaned against the armchair he was sitting in. "There are many ways to find out someone's name. In this instance it was hardly necessary since I've been expecting you. Even though I have to admit I didn't think we would meet until you were nine at least."

Harry frowned. "You were waiting for me? But then, why didn't you come get me?"

There was a small trace of hurt in the child's voice. Even though he barely knew the man he was sure he would have been better taken care of here than at the hands of his loving relatives. Severus shook his head slightly.

"I didn't know where you were, I just met you once as a small baby and knew that one day you would be coming here, just like my kind always knows when someone is born to join them."

Harry's frown didn't diminish, the man was confusing him. "I don't understand."

Severus made himself comfortable against the armchair. “It's a bit complicated, mostly because you probably don't know much about yourself.”

Harry's frown changed into a slight pout. “I know things about myself!”

Snape nodded with a small smile. “Yes, of course you do, but I doubt your relatives were truthful about your origins, or about your parents."

A slight resentful look entered the boy's eyes. "I know my father was a drunkard and that he killed himself and my mother in a car crash."

Black eyes widened slightly, before he shook his head sadly. "Your relatives are even fouler than I had thought, to tell you such lies."

Harry jumped up from his seat. "They are not lies, they have always told me..."

Severus' eyes narrowed, a scowl appearing on his face. "Sit down, now!"

Harry cringed at the sharp tone. The man hadn't even raised his voice but his expression told Harry that he better obey. "I'm sorry, Sir."

Snape scowl didn't lessen. "You will not raise your voice to me, if you don't agree to what I'm saying you are free to tell me so in a civilised way else I will send you to your room until you're ready to discuss things rationally. Understood?"

Harry bowed his head slightly. "Yes, sir." Inwardly he was confused. The concept that he was allowed to disagree on something was completely foreign to him. Also, the implication that the other man would listen to his opinion on any matter as long as he was able to expose it rationally amazed him. No one had ever given a damn about what he thought. He would have to think very carefully about what he said from now on, he didn't want to lose this privilege and neither did he want the man to think he was not able to have an opinion of his own.

"Anyway, lets continue. I knew your parents fairly well, I taught at their school when they attended."

Harry's eyes widened. "You knew them?"

The question held such a degree of longing that the last traces of annoyance left Severus. "Yes, child. Your father and I didn't get along. He was a troublemaker, loved to play pranks on his classmates and I had to try and reign him in. You mother, on the other hand was one of the best students I have ever had in class. We shared many evenings discussing the finer points of my teaching during her last year at school. That is also how I met you, she took you to me once, just after you had been born, so I could see you and then I knew you would come to me one day."

Harry scratched his hair. "I'm still confused about that. Why were you so sure I would come? I didn't even know the Dursley were going to allow me to come to this trip."

Severus chuckled slightly. "Even if you hadn't gone to that school trip of yours, you would have come, maybe in a month or two, who knows. Anyway, I'm going to try and explain, you're probably not going to believe me at first but I ask that you hear everything I have to say before asking anything. All right?"

Harry sighed and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Severus looked intently over the child, wondering what his reaction was going to be like. "Firstly you have to know that your world is not the only one that exists on this Earth, there are other worlds that coexist with yours without muggles, meaning normal people, knowing about them. One of these worlds is the wizarding world. There are people around that can use magic, they live in their own cities or hidden from the view of the muggles. Two muggles can have a child and this child may be born a wizard, no one knows exactly how such a thing works, but it's an accepted fact. The contrary is also true, two wizards may have a child without an ounce of magic, which is what they call a squib. Now, your parents were both wizards. Your father came from a long line of witches and wizards that still now has a large influence over our world even though you are its last member. Your mother, on the other hand, was born of two muggles and was the only one in the family with any kind of magical power. Your aunt probably resented her because either she couldn't do magic o because she didn't understand her."

Harry was looking at the other man with wide eyes. This hardly could be. How was he supposed to believe wizards existed. They were just part of children books, weren't they? He was dying to ask for some proof about the existence of magic, but he remembered the promise he had made and remained quiet. Noticing his restlessness, Severus took out a thin piece of wood. "This is what they call a wand. Do you want something to drink?"

Harry blinked and nodded slightly, unable to form any words at the moment. The tall man waved his wand and muttered something softly. In an instant a tray with two steaming cups appeared on the table in front of the couch. Severus watched in amusement as the child looked at the service with a distrustful gaze before reaching out to touch one of the cups with a finger.

Harry quickly drew his hand back when he felt the warmth coming from the steaming cup. "It's warm."

Severus laughed very softly. "Of course it is, you don't take your chocolate cold, do you?"

The boy looked up at him. "I've never drunk chocolate before, but Dudley says it's the best thing in the world."

The wizard pressed his lips slightly and motioned towards the tray. "Time to try it out, then."

Harry gazed back towards the cups and hesitantly took one in his hands, he was half afraid it would disappear as soon as he touched it, but the cup remained solid. He took a small sip of the dark, brown liquid and sighed in pleasure. It tasted sweet and it chased down the chill that had yet to leave him since he had entered the house. Severus waited for a few moments, until the child's eyes opened once again and looked up at him.

"I trust you like it, then?"

Harry nodded quickly. "It's the best thing I've ever drunk."

Severus refrained from commenting "Now that I've shown you that magic does exist, lets move onward. As I said the magical world exists separated from the muggle world, but it is not the only other world. Sometimes, from a magical couple a special wizard or witch is born, these special people are called the protectors by the wizarding world and they know very little about them. For the first few years, nothing distinguishes these children from other magical children, except, perhaps, an exceedingly tendency to perform accidental magic. Around their tenth anniversary, the children have their First awakening. They become aware that there is something more going on with them and feel themselves drawn to their mentors. That is what happened to you today. You were born to be a protector and I knew, as soon as I saw you, that you would be in my care as you, like me, are a Silvanimus."

Harry wore a glazy look in his eyes that told Severus that the boy was not taking much in, but he decided it was preferable to continue even though he might have to go over everything a few more times at a later date. "Protectors are divided in a few categories depending on the affinity they show for the six points of power which are water, air, earth, fire, light and darkness. You, just like me, are drawn to the earth more than any of the other points and so you belong to the Silvanimus. During the first awakening of a Silvanimus, the need to be in contact with a forest is all consuming and rather dangerous, if you remain too long in contact with it, it will start to draw on your magic and in the end you will become one with it, losing all your own identity as the forest feeds on your power until you die. This is why you felt so poorly when we entered. This house is protected against the drain the forest has on you but it also cuts down the connection that all Silvanimus need to grow. It is a very delicate balance, you need the forest to survive but it will kill you if you don't remain in control."

The glazed look in Harry's eyes had turned to fear at the man's words. Severus shook his head slightly. "There's no need to be afraid, it is my job to keep the balance for you while you learn to do it yourself. It will take a few years for you to do so, and during that time you will remain here, in my care, learning everything that being a protector implies, our ways and our customs. Now, I think you've had enough information for today, I doubt you'd be able to take much more in. So, how about I take you to your room and we leave the questions for tomorrow?"

Harry nodded and stood up. He was more than ready to go to bed. The information the man had given him was overwhelming him and he would have been tempted to call the man insane if he hadn't felt for himself how the forest had affected him. Severus didn't comment this time about the voiceless answer, he just walked out of the room and motioned the boy to follow him. He had already had a few apprentices in his live, and even though he had not been expecting Harry for a few years yet, he had kept the room his apprentices always used clean. If he had learned something about the children in his care was that they never did what you expected them to do so having Harry here two years earlier than he had expected was not that much of a surprise. A chocked gasp came from behind him as soon as he opened the door and he turned just in time to see Harry stumble back, away from the opened door, a look of fear on his face. Severus quickly leaned down and scooped the child up in his arms. Harry fought him, the fear that filled him giving him strength despite the obvious tiredness he was feeling.

Severus really had to admire the boy. The apprentice room was spelled to allow a bit of the forest's magic to enter through the walls, it was in no way enough to hurt but it was so that the apprentice would grow used to the feeling and also to comfort him after a hard day when the child may not be inclined to search him out for comfort. Harry was obviously feeling the magic strongly, and any other apprentice would have surrendered to it at once and run into the room just after his awakening. And yet this child was fighting the feeling with everything he was worth, trying to get away from something that he knew might pose a danger to him. Were he got such a strength, Severus didn't know, but he was sure that this one was going to give him many problems.

"Calm down."

Just like before, Harry felt himself go limp at the other man's voice. It was strange, Severus didn't offer any reassurance, he didn't try to explain, he just told him to calm down and Harry found himself doing so. He was sure it had something to do with being a Silvanimus but was too tired to try and figure it out.

Severus shifted him slightly so that the child was pressed against his chest, head slightly tucked into his shoulder. "There's no need to be so afraid. I told you I would protect you from the dangers of the forest. This room has been occupied by my apprentices before and none of them have ever been harmed by it."

Harry shivered slightly. "I'm feeling the forest."

The taller man nodded slightly. "You need to feel the connection from time to time, child. Being near me is enough for a few hours, but like a child needs to feed to grow strong, you need to feel the forest itself to be able to develop your potential. This room will allow you to be in contact with the forest's magic. Should there ever be the need, there are charms in place to close down the connection."

Harry looked to the blackness behind the door. "Has it happened?"

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Yes, it has, not very often, but it has. It will probably happen to you at least once while you are here."

That answer didn't reassure the child at all and he pressed himself closer to the tall man. "Can't I get another room?"

The tall Silvanimus rolled his eyes slightly. "Harry, nothing is going to happen, the only instances the forest has tried to draw magic from one of my apprentices has been when they were too tired to counteract it. You all have natural defences against the forest, it's only when you are extremely exhausted that they might slip and put you in danger. I am usually able to notice when you are that tired and you will not be sleeping anywhere near that room if it happens. But I can't always judge the situation properly, often because the apprentice tends to downplay just how tired he is. That's one of the reasons I demand full honesty from you. I assure you that if something happens because you were not truthful, the drain on your magic will be nothing like the punishment you will get from me, understood?"

When no answer came from the child, Severus was forced to draw the boy away a bit. He couldn't suppress a chuckle when he saw the child was completely out of it. He would have to remember to repeat what he had said tomorrow. Each time he took an apprentice he hopped he would never find himself in a situation to have to break the bond between the apprentice and the forest, but till now it had always happened at least once. He counted himself lucky that the process was quite distressing to the child, making sure that it didn't happen again in most cases.

Stepping into the room, the lights started to shine softly, showing a room painted in greens and dark browns. He quietly moved towards the bed and deposited his slight charge on the fluffy pillows. a soft word and a wave of his wand and Harry was dressed in dark green pyjamas. He would need to buy the boy some clothes, from what he had heard from the Dursley, he doubted they had taken care of such mundane things as proper clothing. Shaking his head, driving away thoughts of those muggles, he tucked the boy in. After activating one of the many monitoring charms that were intertwined in the room's walls, he left the room ready to enjoy his last night of relative freedom.