Harry gripped his head and glanced at his father, who tried to steady him. Then the sight of his father faded away, and he found himself in a dark chamber, where he heard himself say, “My faithful servants, come. I have received a note from one of my faithful servants that the Minister of Magic will speak to the wizarding citizens in front of Gringotts tonight. Now, I want to show the Muggle loving wizarding world a spectacle. Let’s show them what wizards are capable of.” He sent a few spells at his Death Eaters, and Harry cried in agony.

In the meantime, Salazar had taken Harry up into his arms, and Minerva had conjured a soft mattress, so that Salazar could put his son down on it. Now everyone was watching in horror as Harry thrashed around, his scar bleeding.

Salazar tried to wake him up. “Harry, wake up. What’s wrong?”

Harry opened an eye and saw his father towering over him. He groaned and mumbled, “Get Dumbledore. Voldemort’s going to attack Diagon Alley tonight.” He just managed to add, “I’m going to be sick.”

Minerva quickly transfigured a fork into a bucket, before Harry turned on his side and threw up into the bucket.

“Can you tell me exactly what happened, Harry?” Harry could hear Dumbledore’s voice, which was interrupted by his wife’s.

“His scar is bleeding and he is burning up, Albus. We should take him to the Hospital Wing.”

“No, I must tell you something. It’s important,” Harry requested urgently. “I don’t know how it happened, but I had a vision. Voldemort is going to attack Diagon Alley tonight when the Minister of Magic will be speaking in front of Gringotts. You must do something about it!”

The professors looked unbelievingly at Harry. McGonagall whispered to Dumbledore, “He seems to have a fever. Maybe he is hallucinating?”

Now Salazar jumped into the conversation. “No! I believe what he says is true. He got his scar when the Dark Lord tried to kill him at the age of one. Since then he seems to have been connected to Voldemort with this scar. A few months ago, we had a professor at Hogwarts who was housing the Dark Lord’s mind, and Harry’s scar often hurt while he was in his company. However, he has – of course – no experience concerning this connection to a real version of the Dark Lord. Maybe he can really look into his mind. Maybe it was just a strange dream. However, I believe it would be wise to follow his advice and alert the Aurors.”

“As unbelievable as it is, Minerva, I deem Harry as very trustworthy and believe what he says. Therefore, I will contact the Aurors and some of our friends to meet me in Diagon Alley in the evening. Please guard the school for me tonight.”

“Dad,” Harry croaked, “please, don’t let them take me to the Hospital Wing. Take me to our quarters, please.”

“All right,” Salazar agreed and turned to his colleagues. “I will take Harry to his own room. You are free to come and see him whenever you need to talk to him, and if necessary, I will call Poppy to have a look at him. But I think he will be all right.” He helped Harry to get up and walk to their quarters, not minding that his younger self went with them and steadied Harry on the other side. Back in Harry’s room, Salazar did a quick check on Harry, determined that he needed a Pain Relieving Potion and a Fever Reducer, and Accio-ed both potions out of his still not unpacked travel bag.

Harry gulped down both potions and felt better immediately. He thanked his father and chatted a few minutes with the thirteen-year-old Severus, before he fell into a deep sleep. It had been a very long day.

Severus silently left Harry’s room and joined Salazar in the sitting room, talking to him for a while. “Thank you, Salazar,” he said suddenly, “for doing this for Lily, for me, and for our son, of course.”

“You are very welcome, Severus,” Salazar replied. “However I will not be able to do it without your help.”

“May I ask you one question?” Severus asked hesitantly and continued when Salazar gave him an encouraging nod. “Will my son’s name be Harry?”

Salazar hesitated. He could easily come up with a lie and make sure that Severus would no longer have these suspicions – on the other hand, he wanted Severus to know that he was his younger self. He made up his mind and replied, “I know that you are not a dunderhead. However, you have to keep this for yourself.”

“So you are me?!” Severus stared at his older self, who have him a short nod, the edges of his mouth slightly moving upwards.

-----

Later in the evening, Minerva and Poppy knocked at Salazar’s door and were invited for tea. They talked for a few hours, until a spell Salazar had put on Harry alerted him that the boy was awake.

When he entered his son’s room, however, Harry told him, “It’s all right, Dad. Voldemort was just angry that his plan failed, nothing else.” He turned around and was asleep again.

Lily, Severus, James and Remus had gotten the permission from their parents to stay at Hogwarts and returned in the morning. They didn’t want to use the Houses during the summer holidays because of the distances within the castle, as Severus would have to stay in Slytherin and the other three in Gryffindor, while Harry wanted to remain in his father’s quarters. Therefore, Albus provided an apartment for the four students just next to the Snape quarters. They had a common room, which led to four small rooms, each with a tiny bathroom.

After lunch, the group met for the first time in the Headmaster’s Office. Salazar explained to them as much as he knew about Voldemort and his activities and told them once more that the problem was to find a way to vanquish him in the near future without coming to war. They discussed several topics in this context, and finally each of them was told to search the library for some kind of method they could use to reach their goal.

During the next weeks, Harry had lessons in the morning, although all his teachers seemed to acknowledge that his knowledge and his abilities were far beyond third class level. The only class where he was behind was Herbology, but Professor Sprout said she didn’t doubt that he would be able to catch up before the end of the holidays. During this time, the other students did their summer homework or used the library for their research. In the afternoon, the group used to meet in the Snape quarters to discuss their ideas and research.

“Where is Voldemort normally? Dad, do you know?” Harry asked once in their meeting.

“Most times he lives at Riddle Manor, as far as I know,” Salazar replied. “Why do you ask? Do you have an idea?”

“Um… no. Not really. I mean… I can’t just go there and kill him. So maybe, first of all, we have to think of a way to lure him away from there. If we wait for him to come to Hogwarts, it will be a battle, and unfortunately, I’ll lose. Therefore, we have to get him at a time when he doesn’t expect it at all. Right?” Everyone nodded, and Harry continued, “So, maybe first of all we think about magical methods of transportation. What do we have? The Floo Network, but that won’t work of course. What else?”

“Portkeys,” James said.

“Apparating,” Severus added.

“Flashing, but I can only flash people together with myself of course,” Harry went on.

“Flashing?” Lily asked. “What’s that?”

Harry laughed and transformed into Breeze. Ignoring the “Aah’s” and “Oh’s” of the others, he flashed to the other side of the room, before he transformed back.

“That was wicked,” James said, staring at him in awe. “How did you do that?”

Harry remained quiet. Why did he do that? He didn’t want anyone to know now, did he? Suddenly he noticed that everyone was watching him expectantly.

“Oh, sorry. I’m an Animagus,” he explained casually.

“Wow,” James said. “Can you teach us how to become one?”

Salazar sneered. “As soon as we have solved the problem at hand, we can teach you. However, you may not talk to anyone about it. Nobody is supposed to know that Harry is an Animagus at all.”

“All right, sorry,” Harry resumed speaking. “What else do we have as a magical transport method? Ah, Potions we have,” he remembered.

“A potion would be the best, of course,” Salazar said. “However, how do you want to get him to drink a potion? A Portkey would be easier. Severus has told me that his uncle is urging him to join him for the meetings with the Dark Lord. So he could – without taking the Dark Mark of course – join his uncle for a meeting and just toss a Portkey at him. That wouldn’t be a problem.”

“And how would he get out? I mean Severus?” Harry asked.

“He would – of course – take his own Portkey with him, son.”

“Can we be sure that the use of a Portkey will work at any time?” James asked. “I mean you can put up Apparition Wards or something. Can you put up something to prevent the use of a Portkey?”

“As far as I know, no. I have never heard nor experienced such a thing, and I am sure that Voldemort only applies Apparition Wards,” Salazar answered firmly.

They discussed the pros and cons of several magical transportation methods until dinnertime, and so far the only half-way possible way seemed to be a Portkey delivered by Severus. However, they still would have to do a lot of research.

-----

One day, Harry noticed that Remus was very nervous and not his usual self. Therefore, he talked to his father during the hour after lunch, which they had declared as free period for everyone, and asked, “Dad, do you know when the full moon is and what Remus is going to do during the night of the full moon?”

Salazar went over to his office, consulted a calendar, and stated, “The full moon will be the day after tomorrow, so it’s two nights away. I remember that he always went to the Shrieking Shack and spent the night there.”

“Dad, when I am in my phoenix form, he cannot harm me, right?”

Salazar immediately snapped at his son. “Absolutely not; you will not go near the werewolf!” He let out a deep sigh. “You would be quite safe because you can fly. However, you wouldn’t be able to communicate and I don’t think it would be a pleasure for you. Moreover, if your Animagus form failed for any reason and you transformed back, it would be deadly.”

“All right, Dad, I will not join him. However, I’ll talk to him and ask him to share his secret with the others. I will tell him that I know. I’ll be back soon,” he said and left their quarters only to enter the next door and knock at Remus’ door.

“Hello, Remus. May I come in or would you like to come over to our quarters? I would like to speak with you for a few minutes,” Harry said, smiling at his friend.

Remus invited him in immediately. “Now, Remus, please let me talk first and don’t interrupt me and don’t be angry at me, ‘cause I only want to help you. I know that you are a werewolf, and of course, I don’t mind at all.” He noticed that Remus’ face had taken a shocked expression at first but now relaxed a little.

“Anyway, I think you shouldn’t keep this for you, you should tell Lily, James, and Severus. They wouldn’t mind either. They wouldn’t tell anyone, and it will be much easier for you when everyone knows. We can help you, you know. For example, as I am a phoenix, I can flash you into the Shrieking Shack before you transform, and I can even spend some time with you. Maybe the others will also be willing to become Animagi in order to spend these nights with you.”

“Do you really think so?” Remus asked anxiously.

“Yes, Remus. I think so,” Harry confirmed honestly.

“Does your father know?”

Harry nodded affirmatively. “Yes, Remus, that’s why I know. But we won’t tell anyone else.”

During their afternoon meeting, Remus told the others about him being a werewolf. Everyone took this information very well and promised not only to keep quiet about it but also to help Remus whenever possible.

On their way down to the Great Hall for dinner, Remus whispered to Harry, “Thank you very much for pushing me into talking. Otherwise, I would never have told them. I’m very relieved and happy now.”

-----

One day, James had an idea. “I think we are so good students, studying and researching and planning all day. So what about having some fun in the evenings? We could go and explore the castle. I’m sure there must be parts of the castle that nobody knows. And in the worst case, if we got lost, Harry could just flash us back, couldn’t you, Harry?”

“I don’t know if I’m able to flash four people at the same time, but maybe we should try that out sometime!”

“Let’s try it out now,” James urged Harry. “We have to go down to dinner anyway.”

Harry sighed. “I don’t think we should try it on our way to dinner. If something happens and we have problems, they will know of it immediately.”

“Yes, Harry, I think you’re right,” Lily agreed immediately. “We can try it on the way back.”

“All right,” James said. “And then we can go and explore the castle. Are you all in?” he asked the others.

Remus nodded his acceptance, before Severus reluctantly agreed as well. Harry thought for a moment and said, “I want to come. However, I have to go by the Hospital Wing every evening. It only takes five minutes, but I cannot skip it.”

“Then we will accompany you on our way, Harry. That’s no problem,” Lily said immediately, and Harry finally agreed, too.

After dinner, Harry flashed his four friends from the Entrance Hall up to his friends’ common room. He managed to bring his friends into their room safely. However, when he transformed back, he noticed that he was tired beyond measure – this must have taken a lot of magic, so that he shouldn’t do this too often. He explained to his friends that he wouldn’t go on any walk tonight but would head into his own room and just go to bed.

-----

Salazar was busily brewing potions and didn’t notice that his son returned to their quarters and retreated to his own room. When he glanced at his watch and saw that it was thirty minutes before curfew, he sighed and hesitantly cleaned up the place in order to sit in front of the fireplace and read something until Harry returned. However, curfew came and went and Harry didn’t show up. For a moment, he considered visiting the students next door to see if Harry was there but dismissed the thought. Harry was very careful; he would know better than to roam the halls alone.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Salazar nearly jumped to open it. Outside was Madam Pomfrey, throwing him a disapproving look.

“Did something happen to my son, Poppy?” he asked, quickly assessing in his head in what kind of trouble Harry could have brought himself now.

The Healer shook her head and replied sharply, “Not that I heard of. However, he did not show up for his check-up tonight, so I thought I would come and look after him.”

Salazar, now fearing the worst, knocked at the next door, which was opened soon by Severus. “Where is my son?” he asked impatiently, scowling at the student as he was too pre-occupied to wonder if his scowl would even work on his younger self.

Severus frowned and answered, “He was very tired and went to bed. But that was hours ago.” He shut the door and ran after Salazar who had turned on his heals rushing into his son’s room, followed by Pomfrey.

There he was; Harry was fast asleep. Poppy quickly checked on the boy, shook her head and asked sharply, “Mr. Snape, what have you been doing tonight? Why was he so tired? He has depleted his magic to a degree of 60 percent, which I cannot approve at all.”

“Oh, I am sorry; we did not do anything really. We wanted to see if he was capable of flashing all four of us at the same time and…”

“…and you tried that out?” Salazar interrupted his younger self impatiently.

“I am sorry, Professor,” Severus replied, looking straight at his older self.

‘No, the boy is definitely not afraid of me,’ Salazar assessed and turned to Poppy. “How long should he refrain from doing magic?”

Poppy sighed. “For a few days at least; let’s say, until further notice. I will tell him when he may use magic again. His levels should be back to 90 percent. He may attend theoretical lessons. I will inform the other teachers accordingly.”

“All right, Poppy. Thank you. If you could wait a moment, please. I have just made a batch of potions for you.” Seeing her astonished look, he elaborated, “It is a newer version of the Pepper-up Potion, which I have invented ten years into the future. Severus here already knows that he is my younger self, and I am going to teach him several potions so that he can provide them for you when I return to the future.”

Poppy followed him into his lab and let out a deep sigh. “Then I can just hope that Albus will hire Severus as soon as he has taken his NEWTs – I’m really looking forward to seeing Professor Slughorn retiring.”

-----

The remaining days of the holidays passed very quickly. Salazar had decided that Harry shouldn’t have any lessons during the last week of the holidays, but that he should use the time to rest and to enjoy the time together with his friends. He hadn’t forgotten that he had promised Harry a broom for his birthday, which he hadn’t bought him yet. Professor McGonagall had told Salazar that her older self had informed her about Harry’s Quidditch activities. She had even promised to suggest him as new Seeker for Gryffindor to her Quidditch captain as soon as the students arrived back from the holidays.

As Harry also needed his books for the new school year Salazar decided to take him to Diagon Alley on Saturday morning, which was the last day before the students would return to Hogwarts. He knew that his friends would have liked to go as well, but his father had told him before that they would go alone, because otherwise they’d have to get the approval of their parents first. And with Voldemort as active as he was recently, it would be safer for the two Snapes to go alone.

First they went to get Harry’s Potion ingredients; afterwards they took some time in the Quidditch shop, because Harry couldn’t decide if he wanted a new Nimbus 170 or a used model of a Cleansweep 7, which was a tick newer than the Nimbus. Finally, he decided on relying on his father, who – from his own experiences in the past – recommended the Nimbus 170.

Flourish & Blotts was their last stop. As Snape knew how hard it would be to lure Harry out of the book store, he had insisted on finishing all other business first and then enter Harry’s favourite store.

Harry had just gathered his school books, while his father was engrossed in the Potions section, when suddenly several shouts could be heard from the street. “Death Eaters!”