As Hogwarts Express rolled into the station, Harry Potter was standing nervously on a stool in front of the bathroom mirror, as though by will alone his image would change. An amulet had been added to the chain that held his key, emitting a near unbreakable illusion. If anyone were to ask, they would say that the magical reading came from the accidental deaging and that the amulet itself was there for protection. This would only be half a lie; the amulet did indeed have charms for protection laid upon it, but its primary function was to make Harry the sphinx look more like Harry the boy. It could not, as Harry had wanted, make him look taller or older. Harry had even suggested polyjuicing himself to be his older self, until Severus asked if he had saved hair or toenail clippings from before the change. He was stuck being a child. But his pointed ears had been rounded out, as had his facial features in general. He no longer appeared quite so elfin, but now Harry was certain he looked even younger.
“Unless you are expecting to suddenly grow several feet in the next five minutes, I don’t think staring at yourself will change anything,” Severus said from behind him as he ran a comb hastily through his own hair, “I advise you to resign yourself to your fate and hurry up.” And with that said Harry was pushed from the bathroom and then shut out. Harry stared at the closed door for a few seconds before wandering into the sitting room, nervously playing with the sleeves to his school robe. He was already wearing his bracelet in anticipation of the coming students, which was a shame because he felt like he was bouncing off the walls with anxiety, and his cat form he had found was much better at using up energy than his boy form. Then the bathroom door opened and Severus appeared again, looking proper and unruffled.
“Are you ready to go, or do you want to admire yourself in the mirror a bit longer?” he asked. A few months ago, Harry would have taken serious offence at that. Now, he had to resist the sudden urge to stick his tongue out at the man. Besides, he was far too distracted and nervous to really pay attention.
“Can I have my wand now?” he asked, his nervousness coming out in a sudden stream of dialogue, “You said I’d get it at the opening feast, and that starts soon. And of course, we already did the testing to make sure I’d be able to handle seventh year spells, because everyone says children don’t have the proper control or something, and then you said I wouldn’t even get to take classes the same as the other children, well I will sit the classes of course, but not do most of the written work, but that just means I’ll get to practice even more practical stuff, so of course I need my wand. Do you think Ron and Hermione and everyone will think it weird with me so small?”
“Do remember to breathe,” Severus said, a slight smile playing about his lips though his tone was that of tired patience. Harry was never fooled by his tone anymore, anyway. He could sense what Severus was feeling easily, especially when his phiter had been sending him waves of soothing calm in the hopes of easing Harry’s nerves. “Yes, you may have your wand, but I am warning you it will be taken away if you misuse it. And no doubt your friends will get used to the change in your size. Are you ready to go?”
“Er…yes?” Harry answered, not sounding sure at all, and Severus pulled Harry’s wand out from his own robes to hand to the boy. Harry took it eagerly. It made him feel better that, even though he looked like a child, he had something no other child would be allowed. It was a reminder that he really was seventeen, even if he didn’t always feel like it.
They arrived at the great hall before the students. A few of the professors were already seated at the table or gathered in a group and talking. A few were notably absent, doubtless busy seeing to the arrival of the students. Harry knew Hagrid would be bringing the first years and Professor McGonagall would be getting ready to lead them in. The Potions professor, Slughorn, was also absent. Harry knew from last year’s experience that he was probably on the train, already recruiting among the students for his Slug Club.
Dumbledore was also missing, and Harry found himself suddenly curious as to what role he had in the arrival of the students. He had never noticed that the man did much of anything until it came time to address the school. There didn’t seem to be much of anything left to do in the hall itself; it was as clean as always and the sorting hat was already out and resting on its stool. Severus led Harry up to the staff’s table where a booster chair had been put in place for him, transfigured from a regular chair so that Harry could reach the table. It lowered itself to his touch, just like his bed did, and raised itself again once he was sitting. Harry didn’t know what he would do when he was eating at the Gryffindor table where there were no individual chairs. It was too embarrassing to even contemplate.
“Do calm down, Harry, I can hear your heart racing from here,” Severus remarked in a tone that was far from kind. Several of the professors turned to look at him in shock or glare with disapproval. Severus looked smug. This time Harry did stick out his tongue, causing the professor to very nearly smile.
“You know,” Harry whispered, leaning towards Severus so that only he could hear, “It will be hard enough convincing people you aren’t evil without you making comments like that.”
Before Severus could respond, Dumbledore appeared. They only just had time to nod their heads in a greeting before the first of the students began to trickle in. Harry sensed them before he saw them.
It was a very uncomfortable feeling, but not nearly so bad as he had feared. In his boy form and in familiar territory, with a known place of refuge that he could escape to, the panic didn’t come. He found himself seeking out Severus’s hand anyway, below the table. He wasn’t panicking, but he was still far from calm.
He didn’t see anyone familiar in the first wave of students. Then more and more people were coming in, acquaintances from his classes or house among them. None of them noticed Harry sitting at Professor Snape’s side, for which Harry was glad. He was not looking forward to his appearance being explained.
Malfoy and his gang swaggered in next, not even looking towards the high table. Harry was half surprised he felt nothing of malevolence as soon as Draco walked through the door. Not that they had really fought recently; Malfoy had been rather quiet during their sixth year in fact, ever since the fall of Voldemort.
Then, at last, came the people Harry had been waiting for and dreading. He saw Ron first, towering over the others though Neville seemed to have grown a bit over the summer himself. Hermione was at Ron’s side, of course, as was Ginny and Luna. Unlike Malfoy, who had gone straight for his table without deigning to look about, this group began to scan the room. They looked at the Gryffindor table first, and then at the staff table. Luna spotted him first, giving a friendly wave without seeming the slightest bit perturbed or surprised by his change in appearance. Then Hermione saw him and gave a small squeak of surprise, her hands going over her mouth. She had been told what to expect, of course, but knowing and seeing were definitely not the same thing. Her squeak got everyone else’s attention and soon they were all staring at Harry. It took all of Harry’s will power to not lower his chair and attempt to hide under the table.
The girls recovered first. Hermione was already attempting to appear as though everything was perfectly normal while Ron and Neville continued to gape. Ginny took it upon herself to whap Ron on the back of his head. Then there was a brief, nearly silent argument among the five teens about if and how they should approach their friend. Harry, feeling decidedly odd, made no move to go towards them. He still had not let go of Severus’s hand. Finally, Hermione shooed the other four towards the Gryffindor table and approached alone. Of the five of them, she was the best at being discrete and the least likely to call attention if she approached the professors. It hardly mattered anyway; the room was nearly full of students by then and it was too much to hope that none of them would happen to see Harry. Already, a wave of whispers was sweeping the room though it had yet to drown out the louder noise of students settling in for a new year.
“Harry!” Hermione squeaked excitedly when she finally reached him, “We missed you this summer!” She leaned in to hug him, which Harry allowed as he finally released his phiter’s hand. A wave of tumultuous emotions radiated off her in a great jumble, excitement mixed with worry and interest all rolled together, but most predominate was affection. Thankfully, in boy form and with Severus helping him to shield, her emotions were easily read and then distanced from himself. Harry smiled shyly back at her, some of his nervousness easing. “The others wanted to come see you too, of course, but we didn’t think it would be good for all of us to clamor up here.”
“Indeed,” Severus mumbled, but he held back any further remarks he might have made. Hermione glanced at him, then turned her attention back on Harry.
“I missed you too,” Harry said, and then, “Perhaps you can come see me in my room, before curfew. Severus keeps saying he wants to talk to you, anyway.” Hermione looked startled at Harry calling their professor by his first name, even more so that said professor would allow it, but she recovered quickly.
“Of course,” she said, “I’ll let the others know.” Then she dashed back down to her table just before the first years were led in to try on the hat.
The sorting felt longer than usual to Harry. By then, nearly all the students had noticed a small boy sitting at Professor Snape’s side, and whispered discussions questioned who he was. Not everyone had put together the fact that Harry Potter was missing with a child suddenly appearing. In fact, Harry picked up a whispered conversation as to whether or not he could be Severus’s son. The thought that people might think that made him feel strange. He wanted to belong to Severus, as odd as the thought still made him feel, but he didn’t want to cease being his own father’s son.
After the sorting came the feast. Still feeling rather anxious, Harry didn’t have much of an appetite and finished quickly. Professor McGonagall, who was seated at Harry’s other side, kept trying to convince him to eat more in a manner that implied detentions would soon follow if he didn’t. Severus suggested she start docking house points, to which she glared at him and turned back to Harry with a motherly tone which was slightly alarming coming from her. Long before the feast was over, a time that Harry had been dreading because he knew Dumbledore would be explaining his youthful appearance, Severus suggested that they leave.
“Don’t we have to stay until the end?” Harry asked, “For the announcement?”
“I don’t see why,” Severus answered, “Unless you need to hear the announcement to know what happened to you?” Harry gave him a look in return that was meant to be fierce but instead made several of the table’s occupants coo at how cute he looked. After that, Harry was more than happy to leave.
“Besides,” Severus said as they slid away from their seats, “I want to talk with your…friends…before I go talk to the Slytherins.” Harry nodded and looked towards the Gryffindor table. All five were seated together, despite the fact that Luna really should have been at the Ravenclaw table. Ron was still shoveling food into his mouth though the others seemed mostly finished already. “You can tell them there will be refreshments,” Severus added, a sneer evident as he watched Ron try to speak and chew at the same time, and then he gave Harry a light push in the direction of his friends. Harry hesitated only a moment before he went to them.
“Hey guys,” he said, trying to sound as though everything was perfectly normal. Ron jumped and nearly choked on his food.
“Hello, Harry,” Luna answered, “Are we leaving now?”
“Harry!” Ginny cried, her arms making an aborted move to pick him up. Neville was gaping again until Ginny nudged him.
“Hello, Harry,” he said then, giving a faint smile. Harry smiled back, feeling suddenly shy. He wasn’t quite so anxious as when he met Remus, but he wasn’t quite comfortable either. If he hadn’t known them so well, and if he weren’t able to sense their general group affection, he probably would have gone running straight back to Severus.
“Severus wants you all to come with us,” he said instead. Ron nearly choked again at hearing Harry call the professor ‘Severus’, despite having no food in his mouth that time. “He said there will be refreshments,” he added, glancing towards Ron’s still full plate. Luna was already standing, even before Harry started talking, and now the others began to stand up as well, though Ron still tried to shovel in one last bite. That was when some of the girls at the table finally noticed the tiny child standing in their midst.
“Ooh, he’s so cute!” he heard Lavender Brown squeal and Harry’s eyes widened in alarm. Ron, with equal alarm, stood up at last. Together the six teens hurried away to where Severus was waiting. Severus looked them all over with an expression of ill concealed contempt before turning on his heels and striding towards his and Harry’s rooms. As Harry half jogged to catch up, he started to truly worry about how the school would react to him. He had been prepared for them to mock him, in Malfoy’s case, or to stare and whisper behind his back. He had not considered how the girls might react to a small child, though from the amusement he had gleamed off his phiter, Severus obviously had.