Harry and Severus re-appeared in the garden of Mrs. Figg’s house. Seeing that Harry, who hadn’t been able to stay on his feet when they landed, made no move whatsoever, Severus held out a hand to help him up.
“Did you and Dumbledore lie to me?” Harry blurted out. “Do I have to go back to them after all?”
Severus looked at Harry’s face and in horror, realized that there were tears running down his cheeks. Severus groaned inwardly. “I am very sorry, Harry, for not talking to you about it beforehand. You will of course NOT stay at the Dursleys. However, we have to go there in order to get their signed proof that they are releasing you to my care, so that I can get the guardianship over you from them. That’s what we are going to do now. I also intend to leave them a small thank you present for all the care they awarded you during your stay at their house. Afterwards we shall return to our quarters at Hogwarts, where we will stay over the summer.”
Harry looked straight in Severus’ face but couldn’t recognize any sign of betrayal. Hope replaced the expression of fear in his face, and when Severus gave him an encouraging nod, he stood up and gave the teacher a small hug – slight enough for both of them to feel comfortable with it.
-----
On their first knock, Dudley opened the door just to shut it in their faces. “It’s him, and he’s brought another freak,” they heard him shout, and Harry, feeling safe next to the Professor, let out a small giggle. However, it vanished quickly when Vernon Dursley appeared at the doorframe.
“What do you want?” he hissed at Severus. “I was told I had to pick up the brat in the afternoon.”
“Perhaps, Mr. Dursley, it would be more agreeable if you let us into the house, or do you want the whole neighbourhood to witness our conversation?”
Grudgingly Vernon opened the door and ushered them inside into the sitting room. Harry was careful to stay close to his teacher, who sat down on the sofa and put a bunch of parchments onto the table.
“Now, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,” he started in the tone he always used for students who showed up for detentions. “I have come to understand that your relationship with your nephew is not the best. Therefore, I would like to take over the guardianship of Harry. If you please could sign here and here.” He pointed to two different spots on the parchment. “After that, Harry and I won’t bother you any longer.”
As soon as Petunia and Vernon had signed the parchments – without any comment at all – one copy of them folded up automatically and disappeared on the spot. Harry couldn’t believe his luck. He smiled happily. Severus pocketed the other copy and turned to Harry. “Now, would you like to show me your cupboard, Harry?”
Harry went out into the hall and opened a small door under the staircase. Severus stretched out his hand into the tiny room and waved his wand a few times, while Harry was staring at him incredulously, wondering what the professor could be doing in his cupboard.
When Snape straightened and pocketed his wand with a very content expression on his face, a tiny, white ghost emerged from the cupboard and hovered through the hall into the sitting room, where it began to murmur with a voice sounding like Harry’s.
Before Harry could even think about asking a question, Severus pulled the boy close to him and Apparated both of them back to Hogsmeade. This time he had Harry in a close grip so that he didn’t fall down when they arrived.
“What was that, sir?” Harry blurted out, and Severus had to try hard not to laugh aloud.
“That, Harry, was kind of a ghost – conjured from your cupboard’s memory of you. It speaks with your voice and has your memories. This ghost is not bound to the cupboard, but I have bound it to the Dursleys. So even if they think they’ll be able to get rid of it if they move houses, the ghost will follow them wherever they go. Until the end of their sad lives, they will never forget what they have done to one Harry Potter.”
-----
When they arrived at Professor Snape’s quarters, they stopped in front of the door and Severus suggested that Harry should choose a password he would be able to remember. However, Harry didn’t know what to chose and didn’t want the teacher having to remember his passwords, so he declined.
“Any password will be all right with me, Professor,” he said in a small voice. Would the Professor behave differently towards him when he officially became his permanent guardian?
“Would you be agreeable to ‘Potio Temporis’?”
Harry threw him a strange glance but nodded affirmatively. “Yes, of course, Professor.”
As soon as the Portrait let them in, Severus motioned Harry to sit down on the sofa. When he complied, the teacher sat down as well, Accio-ed parchment and a quill, and put both in front of Harry. He cleared his throat and started to speak. “As you will be living here with me for at least two month each year until you finish Hogwarts, we have to agree on certain rules. Have the Dursleys ever put up rules for you?”
Harry wondered what the professor meant, but he couldn’t remember anything that had been specifically called ‘rules’. “I don’t think so, sir,” he said hesitantly.
Severus gave him an encouraging look. “You know, here in our quarters or whenever we are alone, it is all right for you to call me Severus. Then let me start telling you what I would assume appropriate rules for you.” Seeing that the boy was watching him expectantly, he continued.
“1. No sleeping in on week days. The holidays are too long to just sleep in and do nothing all the day.
“2. Fixed meal times: Breakfast is at 7 o’clock, lunch at twelve, and dinner at six. I suggest that we take breakfast here in the kitchen, dinner in the Great Hall, and lunch as we see fit. You are not to miss meals.
“3. A fixed bedtime: You will be in bed at 9:30 every night. After that I will check on you, if you don’t mind; otherwise you will have to see Madam Pomfrey every evening. And then you may read until 10 o’clock, but I don’t want to see any light in your room after 10 o’clock.”
Harry frowned but didn’t say anything. He was not a baby after all. Why would he have to go to bed so early? But anyway, living with the Professor was so much better than with the Dursleys that he could live with a few rules, couldn’t he?
“During the weekend, you may stay up an hour longer,” the Professor continued.
“4. I will set up a time table for you and you will study according to this time table. If you have finished your work before 3 o’clock in the afternoon, we will go flying together.
“5. Although Tipsy will keep our quarters clean, you will clean up after yourself and keep your own room tidy at all times.
“6. You will not leave the castle without escort, and you will let me know where you are going to be at all times.
“7. You will not enter my room or my private lab when I am not there. If I am in the room, you will knock and wait until you are called in, except for a case of emergency.
“8. If you are ill, in need of something, or have any other problems, you will tell me immediately.
“That’s all I can think of at the moment. Maybe we will have to add a few more during the next days or weeks. I expect you to follow these rules. Is there anything you deem unacceptable?”
Harry thought for a moment and then shook his head. “No, sir. These rules are all right for me.”
Severus said, “All right, Harry. Now, once again, there is no need for you to call me sir when we are alone. Except for our classes, we will have more of a parent to child relationship than a teacher to student relationship. I have told you a lot about your rules; however, in the same way, I will have certain responsibilities towards you.
“I will care for you, for your safety, for your health, and for your needs – which means I will provide food, clothing and anything you need for school. I will be here for you and help you as much as I can. And, concerning things I deem necessary for you to know, I will always tell you the truth. This is one thing I forgot in my list of rules: I want you to tell me the truth. I will not starve nor beat you. If you do something, which is clearly against the rules, I will assign you a task like writing sentences or cleaning cauldrons without magic.”
“All right, Severus,” Harry said lazily. He was slowly getting problems concentrating. Severus’ voice was so smooth and calming that Harry just liked to listen without grasping the content. However, he had tried hard and so far understood everything the teacher had told him.
-----
They went down to the Great Hall to attend dinner, which took place at an even smaller table than during the Christmas holidays as there weren’t any students staying in the castle. Except for Severus and Harry only Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sprout, and Pomfrey had remained at Hogwarts during summer. Some of them would go away for a week now and then, but these were the people mostly staying at the school as Severus had told Harry before. Suddenly, a parchment appeared in front of Severus, and Harry watched him opening it hesitantly. A minute later, Severus put the parchment away into his robes and glanced around, getting conscious of several eyes looking at him expectantly.
“Yes,” he told them, “I managed to become Harry’s guardian.”
While everyone proceeded to congratulate the two of them, Harry threw the Professor a huge smile and mouthed, “Thank you, Severus.”
During the next weeks, Harry and Severus slowly got used to living together. Harry especially enjoyed the feeling of having a caring parent watching over him. He had already finished all his summer homework during the first week of holidays. Afterwards, Severus made a schedule for him, which contained lessons as well as study projects in Potions, Defence, Transfiguration and Charms. Every morning he had lessons with either Severus or Professor McGonagall, and in the afternoon, he was supposed to work on the study projects with the aim to finish them before 3 o’clock in order to go flying whenever the weather allowed it.
Harry was grasping things so quickly that Severus decided to sacrifice a few hours of their Defence lessons in order to teach the boy Occlumency and if possible Legilimency. It could help the boy a lot against the Dark Lord, and even if Defence was very important too, Harry had already finished the second years’ book and was a year ahead of his classmates.
As Severus had given him a detailed explanation why he found Occlumency and Legilimency useful for Harry, Harry had been trying very hard so far, however, so far had not managed to improve even a little bit in either subject. One day, however, something happened that made Harry use his abilities more efficiently.
-----
One Sunday afternoon at the end of June, Draco Malfoy came to visit his godfather and Harry together with his parents. They had announced themselves a few days in advance, and Severus had used the days to tell Harry several things about the Malfoys. Among other things, Severus had warned Harry that Lucius Malfoy would perhaps try to put a Legilimency spell on Harry and that he should try to occlude his mind as well as possible.
At first, Harry and Draco went flying together for two hours. They had so much fun that they completely forgot the time. However, their enjoyable time ended quite abruptly, when the two boys, who were trying to catch the Snitch, which Draco had brought from home, suddenly crashed into one another, and Harry lost the grip on his broom.
Professor McGonagall, who had witnessed the scene from her window, nearly had a heart attack seeing that Harry was steadily tumbling down towards the ground. Suddenly, however, she couldn’t see Harry anymore, but a green phoenix was flying around.
Draco watched the beautiful bird in awe. “Harry, when did you manage to become an animagus? I’ve heard that’s very difficult and advanced magic!”
Harry quickly transformed back and replied, “I don’t know if it’s difficult. I have been practising during the last six months, mostly at night when everyone was asleep. I’m supposed not to talk about it, so please keep it a secret, Draco.”
Draco gave his friend a sharp nod and warned him, “Harry, please be careful around my father. Don’t tell him any secrets. I believe that he is still a follower of the Dark Lord; therefore, I don’t trust him. Of course, he doesn’t know that though. He thinks that I’m going to follow him in whatever he does, but I have decided that I’m on your side just like Severus and Blaise.
When they arrived back in Severus’ quarters, Tipsy brought tea and cake, and after Harry and Draco had washed their hands, they sat down at the table where the others were already seated. Severus worriedly took in Harry’s white face and his shaking hands.
“Is everything all right, Harry?” he asked in a very concerned voice, and Harry gave him a sharp nod, before he proceeded to staring into his guardian’s eyes. Fortunately, Severus understood the hint and stared back, very carefully casting a soft Legilimens spell to enter Harry’s mind, where Harry presented him with the memory of his fall and the escape.
Shortly after Severus had left his mind, Harry felt a different power trying to enter his thoughts. He knew instantly that it couldn’t be his guardian this time. Severus was very careful and always tried not to hurt him, but this mind was rough and forceful. He saw the memory of his flight passing in front of his eyes and suddenly thought, ‘NO! I don’t want him to see that,’ and with the combination of his Occlumency abilities and his wish magic, he managed to push Lucius Malfoy out of his mind.
In the evening, Harry and Severus talked about the event and agreed that Harry should only use normal Occlumency and Legilimency during their lessons. Severus explained that the use of the combination of both would be too tiring for a boy of his age, and from his experience during the afternoon, Harry had to admit that he was right. However, when he felt that he was in danger like with Lucius Malfoy, he should use his combined powers.
-----
One day, after his Transfiguration lesson Professor McGonagall told Harry that the person who would probably become the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher would be joining them for lunch on the next day. “So if you want to see him, you’d better come for lunch into the Great Hall,” she told him and gave him a copy of one of his books to read until the next day.
Harry spent the afternoon lying on his bed, completely engrossed in the book. Severus noticed surprised that Harry wasn’t standing in front of their quarters’ entrance door, broom in his hand, and jumping from one foot onto the other, waiting impatiently for Severus to come and go flying with him. Therefore, Severus came looking for him and noticed with astonishment what Harry was reading.
“Do you prefer this piece of dragon dung to flying?” he asked incredulously, but Harry calmed him down immediately.
“No, Severus, but I don’t want to go flying today,” he mumbled, and seeing Severus’ curious look, he added, “I’m having breathing problems, and I somehow don’t feel too well. Therefore, I prefer to lie here and read ‘what did you call it – dragon dung’. But if you want to go flying, I’ll stay here on my own – no problem,” he added.
Severus threw a short glance at the boy and waved his wand a few times to assess what could be wrong with him. It only seemed to be a slight cold, so there was no need to drag him up to see Poppy. He fetched a dose of Pepper-Up Potion and fed it to Harry.
As Harry wasn’t feeling better in the morning, Severus waived his Potions lesson and let the boy stay in bed and read his book, which he finished shortly before lunchtime. Then he insisted on getting up and going to the Great Hall for lunch. Not believing that this was a good idea but wanting to let the boy have some fun anyway, Severus relented, and the two of them joined the other teachers to have lunch.
Harry was very excited to meet someone who could write so many lies in one book. He didn’t believe one thing that was described in the book as it would be impossible for one person to do all these things without reducing their magic level too much and without having lived for at least one hundred years. Anyway, he was going to ask some questions. He wasn’t very hungry, and so he started asking his questions only five minutes into the meal.
“Professor Lockhart, may I ask you a question, sir?” he asked as innocently as possible.
“Of course, you may. You are Harry Potter, right?” the Professor replied.
“Yes, Professor, um… I have a question. You know, in the seventh chapter of your fourth book you describe how you defeated the Maho Yakuza (Japanese Wizarding Mafia) in Kyoto. Why would the Expelliarmus Spell not work on them? And how did you communicate with them? Do you speak Japanese, or were they able to speak English?”
The Professor seemed to be a little besides himself by this question. “Oh, no, I had to speak Japanese; they don’t speak English,” he replied curtly. “And concerning the Expelliarmus Spell… There we had the phenomenon that it didn’t work at all in Japan. However, I am not sure why; I would have to look it up in one of my books.”
“Oh, Professor, do you think you could teach me how to speak Japanese?” Harry asked again and elaborated, “You know, I have a girlfriend, and she lives in Japan during the holidays. She invited me to visit her next month, but as I don’t speak Japanese…”
“Oh, yes, of course, I could try to teach you, although it is quite difficult, and in fact, I will be very busy during the next month, so I am not sure…”
Harry got ready for another question. “All right, Professor, sorry to bother you again, but I have one more question. You describe how you fought against several magical creatures with the help of a dozen phoenixes, and I have read in another book that you are very acquainted with this wonderful kind of bird. What kind of phoenixes were they? And how did you communicate with them?”
The Professor let out a stupid laugh. “Ah, my boy, that is a very difficult question. It was several years ago, so I don’t remember exactly. Wait a moment…”