Snape couldn't have been more ready to string up a student than he was when he finally arrived at the Slytherin dorms. Just having the Potter brat attending Hogwarts was bad enough, but having the boy spending time down in Slytherin territory for the summer was something Snape had only ever had nightmares about. Granted, the boy would've been completely out of his element if he had been put anywhere else. No other house would've been able to deal with a child that spoke only parseltongue.

All the way down to the Slytherin dorms, Snape had had to nearly constantly be making sure that the boy was following. Even though he didn't show it, Potter was injured, and it would do no good to have him further injure himself by falling over trick stairs or turning the wrong way and getting lost.

Harry had nearly wandered off eight times by the time he and Snape made it down to the dungeon. Harry couldn't help but be distracted by the portraits, or the suits of armor, or the ghosts. Everything in the castle was a new experience for him. Besides, following behind the dark man was a rather difficult task as the castle itself was rather dark and the man kept blending into the shadows.

Finally, they made it to a fairly long stretch of blank wall. Snape had suddenly stopped, causing Harry to almost run headlong into him.

Severus had never had to do this for a student before. In the spells that had been placed on the entrances to the dorms, an override had been placed. This was just in case a student was unable, for some reason, to say the password. In the past, students with speaking difficulties had been in attendance, but never had there been a student in which so much of their past (and therefore speaking ability) been unknown.

Severus had only read about the override once, but he still remembered it thanks to his near photographic memory.

Grabbing one of the Potter boys hands, Severus placed it on the wall that was the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Snape then placed his own hand over Harry's smaller one, and, touching his wand to each of his fingers, Snape uttered a quick incantation. He then removed his hand from Harry's, changed his grip to the boy's wrist and placed Harry's had back on the wall.

Severus was actually rather anxious. If he failed at the override, Potter Jr. would have to stay with him.  Luck was on his side for the first time that day as the wall split and opened up to the Slytherin common room.

Harry, meanwhile, was feeling so many mixed emotions; he felt he wasn't going to be able to stay standing for much longer. How was the dark man able to make the wall split? What was going on? Where was he?

Before Harry was able to even attempt at finding any of the answers to these questions out, he was being dragged into the common room and forced onto a couch.

Severus believed that the boy sitting in front of him wasn't going to have any idea what he was saying, so Severus decided to keep the "Welcome to Slytherin" speech and rules very short. Generally, when all the first years were there, this beginning of the year ritual took at least an hour. With Harry though, it would be rather fruitless explaining everything to him when there was no way for him to understand.

"Welcome to Slytherin house. I am the head of your house, and my name is Professor Severus Snape," Severus began, making his sentences shorter and far less eloquent than what he was used to. Obviously, he was making some form of progress, as the boy had cocked his head slightly when Severus had introduced himself.

"Bat?" Harry said quietly. To Snape's ears however, it sounded as though the boy had said, "Ssssse-hy-ussss."

"Did you just say my name? Can you truly understand what I'm saying? Answer me Potter!" Severus nearly yelled. If that boy was playing him on, there was going to be hell to pay.

‘Bat? His name is Bat? Is that what he said?' Harry thought, watching with apprehension the "Bat" man get rather angry. Harry, however was used to people not understanding what he was trying to say. Gestures however, seemed to be far easier for others to understand.

Shaking slightly as "Bat" got more angry with something, Harry quickly pointed a Snape and repeated "Bat."

Severus was quickly getting frustrated. Something must have gotten lost in translation as Potter was now making gestures trying to get some form of information across to Severus. Something about the name "Severus" seemed to be making the boy rather excited, though this excitement was rather dampened by the obvious fear that was shining in Potter's eyes.

Potter was now making flying types of motions with his hands, but Severus had had enough stress for one day. He wasn't about to try playing charades with the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Potter, you are here because you were sorted here. If you have any problems, my quarters are two portraits away on the right." Severus said, sweeping over to the first year dorms and motioning for Harry to follow. "Here is where you shall be staying."

With that, Severus left the house that had been his home for seven years.

Harry, meanwhile, stood staring at the beds. He had no idea what he was doing here. All the beds were made, every piece of furniture was dusted, the floors were clean, and the fireplace was spotless. Obviously "Bat" didn't want him to clean, but there was no reason for Harry to be here then. Granted, "Bat" had motioned very vaguely towards one of the beds, but there was no way he meant for Harry to sleep on the bed.

Maybe he meant underneath the bed?

Harry then checked under the bed. There was some form of storage and no room what-so-ever for him to sleep. Besides, Harry wasn't tired quite yet. He'd only been awake for a couple of hours and wasn't feeling too tired despite not having the best night's sleep. Emotionally, he was feeling rather strained, but these feelings had yet to actually move to his body.

Now that "Bat" had left, Harry was more curious than anything. He'd never been outside the Dursley's other than the weeks after Uncle Vernon had dropped him off in London. Now he was in a castle! His life seemed to be getting better and better then longer he was out of the Dursley's house.

And he had noticed there were several large bookshelves in the first room they'd walked into. There had to be some books with math or pictures of some sort in them. Harry also knew that they weren't going to be books that he'd ever read before. He'd never seen leather bound books before and could only hope that he was actually allowed to touch them.

Quietly, he opened the dorm room door and stuck his head out to see if "Bat" was still around. No one was there though. Harry quickly ran over to the bookshelf and pulled out the first book that caught his eye. Opening it, he saw that it was written in English and had no pictures. He flipped through it just to make sure he wasn't missing any, but there wasn't a single picture in the entire thing.

Harry replaced that book and grabbed out the next one. Still no luck, though he did find several diagrams of a hand holding a stick and making some sort of complex movement. Harry set that one on the side to look at more closely later.

A little over an hour later, Harry had gone all the way through the first book shelf and had pulled out all the books he could look at and at least make some sense of. For the most part this consisted of more books with diagrams on the different movements and several books that seemed to be on cooking. Now the only question was which one to begin with.

Harry stared at the books he had set aside for a while before finally deciding on the one of the "cooking" ones. While it didn't have pictures it did have some numbers in it. That and Harry loved to cook. The Dursley's might have made his life terrible, but he had learned how to cook, and cook well, while living in their house.

Harry soon grew frustrated with this book though, as he had actually never used a cookbook to make anything with. If Aunt Petunia had wanted him to learn a new recipe, she would have him watch while she made it first. The next time the Dursley's wanted the same meal, she would hover behind Harry and make sure he didn't do anything wrong. If he did, she had no problems with hitting him over the head for his mistakes.

Moving on to one of the books with the diagrams, Harry was quickly enthralled with the different movements. For not the first time, he found himself wishing he knew what the rest of the book said.

Eventually, Harry got rather bored with just looking at the pictures and decided to find some way of doing them. Looking around the common room for a bit, he eventually found a feather that was pointed, slit, and stained at one end. It was straight like the stick in the pictures, though, so Harry decided it would have to work.

It took Harry a few tries, but eventually he managed to figure out how to wave the feather without it catching too much air and rotating in his hand to much. Once he had worked around this, he then started to attempt making his wrist movements match those in the book. The first couple of times he rolled his wrist the way the picture showed, he heard it pop several times and a sharp pain ran through his hand. He didn't think too much of this though, since the pain had happened ever since Dudley had slammed Harry to the ground and stood on it several years ago. Harry thought it might've broken, but it wasn't as obvious as when he'd broken other bones, so he didn't think too much of it.

Once his right wrist was aching, both from the popping and from the repetition of the motions, Harry switched hands. It was slightly more difficult with his left hand, but he'd already taught himself how to do many other things with his left hand. Other more difficult things that he normally would've done with his right hand, like paint by the ceiling when the Dursley's decided that they needed to have their dining room repainted.

Finally, Harry began to feel tired and curled up in the corner. The couches looked rather inviting, but Harry wasn't going to try them out, just in case "Bat" was watching. Pulling out a few of the letters he'd kept in his pockets, Harry laid his head on them and slowly drifted off to sleep.

No more than two hours later, Harry awoke in a cold sweat. Nightmares had always been a problem for him, but tonight was different. Tonight, he didn't dream, yet again, of his mother's death, but he instead dreamed of "Bat" holding him while Harry's mum laughed.

While it wasn't really a nightmare, it was still disturbing in a way. He'd never dreamed about anyone other than his parents, the green light, and the flying motorcycle.

But now...

Harry felt he needed to see "Bat." He needed to find out if that was truly a dream, or if it was actually a memory. The only way he could think to do that was to find out where "Bat's" room was. He had pointed to the right, but this was a huge castle. Harry could only hope he was nearby and not several stories up. Harry was suddenly hit with a wave of fear and doubt. What if "Bat" would get mad? Would he hit Harry like Uncle Vernon did?

Harry sat there with his back against the corner for a while, trying to summon the courage he needed to stand and find "Bat." Swallowing thickly he stood and made his way to the door. He then sighed and walked out, turned right, and walked down the corridor a ways.

There were no doors. There were quite a few portraits though, and they were all asleep. Maybe they were like the wall and there was a room behind them. Turning around, Harry walked back to the first portrait and tried to get the occupant's attention. The elderly wizard just waved his hand at Harry though, as if shooing a fly. Harry tried again, but the man just did the same thing. Finally, Harry gave up with that portrait and went on to the next one.

Trying yet again to gain the attention of the occupant, Harry managed to at least rouse the occupant, but this one only answered him in English.

"Oh dear!" It exclaimed. "I must find Salazar and tell him the news! Did you need something dearie?"

Harry just stared at the lady in the portrait. She would've been more attractive if she wasn't burning on a stake. He just pointed at the portrait and cocked his head.

"Oh, you want in? Silly me, here I thought you just stopped by for a chat. Do you have the password?" she asked, giggling slightly as though the flames were tickling her.

Harry just stared.

"I'm sorry, but if you don't have the password you can't come in. Severus was very strict about that."

"Bat?" Harry said, repeating the one word he understood.

"Yes, Severus. So do you have the password or not?"

"Bat?" Harry repeated again.

"That's not the password, that's who lives here! If you don't have the password you'll have to go."

Harry knew there was no way he would ever be able to make sense of what the burning lady was saying, so he turned around and headed back to where he thought the common room was. He came to the large blank wall, placed his hand on it, and nothing happened. Harry just stared at the wall in disbelief. Why wouldn't it open?

Trying again, Harry moved a little farther down the corridor, but the effect was the same. There was no secret door here. Walking back to where "Bat's" chambers were, Harry sat down with his back against the wall. He could only hope that "Bat" would come out soon.

When Severus awoke the next morning, he couldn't quite figure out why he felt that something was wrong. He'd done nearly everything the previous day in the same fashion that he did every other day. He woke early, ate a small breakfast, chatted with the headmaster, found Potter...

Severus groaned and wished he could roll back over and fall asleep. No luck. Once he was awake, there was no way he would be falling asleep until nightfall. It didn't matter that he was in the dungeons, for some reason, when the sun was up so was Severus.

Potter. Why did everything have to revolve around Potter? At least there were certain aspects that Potter Sr. and Potter Jr. didn't have in common. Eyes and language made all the difference in the world to Severus. There were two people that he wouldn't/ couldn't curse in all the years that Severus had lived. Lily Evans was his only friend for quite a long time and the Potter brat was her son. He had her eyes.

The other person Severus didn't even want to think about at this time in the morning, but that language sent shivers down his spine every time he heard it.

Sitting up, Severus summoned his robe and house shoes. No need to catch a chill this close to term. No one could sound very intimidating with a stuffed nose.

After those initial thoughts of the boy he had placed in the Slytherin common room the night before, Severus wouldn't have thought of the boy again for quite some time if the fates hadn't intervened. Or Albus Dumbledore, for that matter.

Severus had just sat down to begin reading the Daily Prophet when his Floo flared and out stepped the Headmaster.

"To what do I owe the pleasant surprise, Headmaster?" Severus said, calmly. He had long ago given up trying to ward his Floo against Dumbledore's arrival. If that man wanted to speak with someone, there was no stopping him.

"I was just wondering how Harry was settling in to Slytherin," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

"Just fine, I would imagine. There are plenty of snakes for him to converse with there," Severus growled, knowing that he would most likely be doing Dumbledore's bidding again today.

"Have you spoken with him?"

"As much as is possible for him to comprehend."

"Did he reply?"

"I have no idea. He said something, and it sounded very similar to my name. I don't know if he was saying something or just repeating sounds."

Dumbledore had taken a seat in one of the few chairs in Severus's quarters that wasn't covered in books. While the potions master was very picky about some things, cleaning wasn't one of them. So long as he knew where the object he was searching for was located, cleaning wasn't necessary.  For the most part, flat surfaces were notes taken from the books that were open near-by. Books on chairs all had to do with approximately the same subject or had to do with a new theory Severus was in the middle of investigating.

"Well at least it seems he is willing to get along with you, my boy," Dumbledore said, popping a lemon drop into his mouth. "Now, the reason I came down here, other than to check on how your new charge was actually to ask a favor of you."

"No," Severus didn't even wait for the old coot to tell him what it was. He'd already done several "errands" for the man, he did not want to have to do another one.

"Severus, I implore you to reconsider. All I ask is that you make sure your new charge is healthy."

Severus couldn't help but glare at the man he considered to be his mentor.

"And how, may I ask, do you purpose I go about doing this?"

"At the very least, making sure that he is properly clothed for living in the dungeons with you," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling madly behind his half-moon spectacles. "And I don't mean just shrinking some of your clothing down so it fits him."

"Fine, I will be sure to owl order some for him."

"Oh come now, Severus! A little fresh air would do you both good! Besides, the boy is starting school this coming fall. I have access to the Potter vaults, so paying for everything won't be a problem." Dumbledore exclaimed, though it was obvious he wasn't about to let Severus get out of the task at hand.

By the time Dumbledore had left, Severus was enraged. Not only did the man have the gall to tell him what to do with his spare time, he also made Severus promises of rare potions ingredients Severus would never have been able to turn down.

Now, to find the Potter brat and get this ridiculous excursion over with. Severus was actually rather pleased with his new charge's inability to speak English. This meant Severus wouldn't have to put up with whining for different odds and ends throughout the trip.

Stepping out of his quarters, Severus did something he was overjoyed no one was around to see. He tripped over what he first thought was a mound of rags. Managing to right himself before he ran headlong into the wall, he turned to find a rather tired looking Potter staring back at him. Potter was the pile of rags lying outside his door.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Severus nearly screamed, as the boy shrank back against the wall, expecting to be hit. Though "Bat" had been nice last night, Harry couldn't help but remember that was how all adults acted at first.

Though it took him several minutes, Severus managed to reign in his temper enough to speak civilly with the child who had just tripped him.

"The Headmaster wishes me to take you shopping so as to procure some more suitable ... clothing for you," Severus said, feeling as though he were talking to himself.

Harry just frowned as he tried to make sense of the sounds "Bat" was making. Finally, "Bat" said something Harry comprehended.

"Come."

Harry stood and cautiously followed "Bat" into probably the oddest looking room he had ever seen. There were books everywhere, as well as jars of unidentified substances. "Bat" reached into one of them and pulled out a handful of a green substance. He then motioned for Harry to come forward and stand in the fireplace.

Harry didn't have time to worry that "Bat" was going to burn him alive. Only seconds after he stepped into the fireplace, "Bat" said something and Harry found himself spinning very quickly in place as colors flashed by. All of a sudden, he found himself falling face first out of the fireplace.

But it wasn't the same fireplace he had stepped into.  He now found himself in a bar he had never seen before. Granted he had never actually been in a bar before, but he had seen pictures. And this one was nothing like any of the pictures.

While he would've liked to stand and gawk at his surroundings, "Bat" had grabbed his shoulder and started pulling him towards the back of the bar. Harry didn't even have time to try to escape the sudden grab, as "Bat" had drug him to the other side of a door Harry hadn't seen.

Severus was on a mission. Like every other time he had the misfortune of coming to this dreaded place, he had only one goal in mind. Get in, find what was needed, and get out. Three simple steps, but he knew with the Potter brat it would take much longer than his normal ten minutes.

After opening the archway (which left Potter Jr. gaping), Severus then took his charge straight to Madame Malkin's. Thankfully, they were the only ones in the shop at the time, as it was still rather early in the day. After ordering the required uniform and several articles of everyday clothing for the boy, who had stared at the floating tape-measure like it was about to eat him, Severus then took him to the apothecary to gather all the necessary ingredients.

 While Severus was in his element, it was quite obvious The-Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Die was far from at ease. Granted, jars full of pickled body parts were not normally found in most muggle homes. In fact, the majority of wizard homes didn't even have an operating potions lab, a fact Severus found ridiculous.  If the parents knew next to nothing about potions, how did they expect their children to know anything about the subject?

Quickly grabbing all the necessary ingredients, Severus then grabbed his charge and pulled him along to the bookstore.  By this time, Harry was getting rather freaked out (for lack of a better word) by all the people that were arriving in the alley. The last thing he wanted to do was stay there for much longer. He knew that at least "Bat" trying to get whatever it was they had come to buy as fast as he could, but Harry couldn't help feeling overwhelmed by the shear amount of people who were now milling around in the alley.  While he normally would have loved looking around the bookstore, it was getting crowded as well.

Severus had to admit, the boy was holding up rather well. If they continued on their excursion at this rate, they would be done quite soon. The sooner they finished shopping, the sooner he could get back to brewing the required potions for the hospital wing.

Next, a wand. Severus couldn't help but hope Harry could find a wand in a short amount of time, but he knew he shouldn't get his hopes up. Nothing with that boy ever went according to plan. He was supposed to be loved by his family, that didn't happen. He was supposed to speak English, he definitely couldn't do that. He was supposed to not be in school during the summer, but here he was living in the dorms.

Walking into Olivander's, Severus couldn't help but feel slightly nostalgic. This was the same shop he got his own wand. Now where was Mr. Olivander?

"Severus Snape. Ebony and dragon heartstring, 13 ½ inches. Supple yet strong, good for the instantaneous reactions needed when brewing dangerous potions. Come for a wand for Mr. Potter?" the wispy voice of Olivander filled the shop.

"Correct. Potter if you would come here," Severus said, motioning the boy forward.

Harry stepped forward, staring at the strange man who was now measuring him, much like the lady at the clothes shop had. She, however, didn't measure the distance between his nostrils.

"Which is your wand hand, Mr. Potter?" Olivander asked the frightened boy standing in front of him.

"He doesn't speak English," Severus stated abruptly, as Harry just cocked his head.

"Ah, am I right in assuming he doesn't speak any language recognized by any established institution?"

"You are very correct."

Olivander reached over very calmly and took Harry's chin and made him look up away from the floor.  Olivander then stared into Harry's eyes for a short time before exclaiming, "Ambidextrous."

Severus couldn't help but feel like he missed something in that exchange. While it was not a good feeling for someone who had been a spy for the light, Severus had to accept it. Olivander was someone most did not ever understand. He was an enigma even to Dumbledore.

After going through quite a few wands, Olivander finally handed Harry a "most curious" wand.

‘Of course,' Severus thought as he led Potter away from the wand maker's shop. ‘Of course he would end up with the brother wand to the Dark Lord's! Not only does he speak the same language, but he also has nearly the same wand.'

Before they could get back to Hogwarts, Harry did something he had never done around Severus, he grabbed Severus's sleeve and purposefully got his attention. Naturally, Severus was not pleased by this development.

"What!" Severus snapped.

"Bat." Harry said, looking at one of the bats he saw right outside the pet store.

"Yes, that is my name." Severus practically snarled.

"BAT!" Harry said, more insistent. He then pointed to the bat.

Severus finally understood, but could hardly believe it. All those years of students calling him the ‘greasy bat of the dungeons', and he now knew that was more true than he'd thought. Thinking about this revelation a little more, he found himself realizing why the Dark Lord seemed to adore dragging out his name.

"Come, Potter. We need to be going."

Bat indeed.