After dinner, Harry practically sprinted down to the dungeons after asking a prefect where Professor Snape’s office was. Skidding to a stop outside the door, Harry raised a hand to knock when quiet laughter behind him drew his attention. Professor Snape was walking down the hall towards him, looking mildly amused.

“I can assume that you are ready to continue our conversation from earlier?” he asked, still smiling slightly. That boy…I swear, after I help him, the others are going to wonder how they ever thought that boy was anything but brilliant. Filius is going to have a fit that Minerva  stole one of his Ravenclaws.

“Yes,” Harry said eagerly, following Severus into his office. It felt so good to talk to someone who understood, and Professor Snape wasn’t half as horrible as he had thought. As soon as the door was closed and privacy wards were in place, Harry jumped right back into his questions from earlier. “What’s occlumency? Will it help me focus for class? Does anyone know you have ADHD? How will we  know if I do have it?”

Severus shook his head. “Again Harry, I can only answer one question at a time. Occlumency is the art of shielding your mind so someone skilled in Legilimency can’t read it and use your thoughts against you. I have found that, since clearing your mind of all thought is necessary for that to work, it is helpful for when I need absolute focus.”

“Like potions,” Harry said, wincing as he remembered his teacher’s earlier reprimand. He’d deserved it, but he never wanted to get on Snape’s bad side again.

“Yes, like when brewing potions,” Severus agreed, sensing where Harry’s thoughts were, “I wasn’t attempting to be deliberately cruel child, but I needed to bring your attention back to your potion quickly to prevent an explosion.”

“It’s ok Professor, I understand,” Harry said, and it was the truth. It was better to get yelled at for that mistake than to get hurt because of it. “So if you teach me occlumency I’ll be able to focus better?”

“I believe so,” Severus replied, “But it also helps if you are honestly interested in the class.”

“So History of Magic is definitely out then,” Harry sighed, “Professor Binns actually managed to put me to sleep.”

“He does that frequently,” Severus admitted, thinking back to his own student days, “Perhaps I could tutor you in that subject so you will do well on exams.”

“That’d be great Professor,” Harry said, eyes shining. Then he remembered another of his questions from earlier. “Does anyone else know you have ADHD?”

“No. I haven’t made it public knowledge simply because very few would understand what I’m talking about,” Severus said, summoning a house elf for tea.

“Even Madame Pomfrey?” Harry asked.

“Poppy deals with healing broken bones and such, and she leaves mental disorders to St. Mungo’s. Wizards and witches seem to think that magic can heal everything, and if it can’t, it angers them.”

“That’s stupid,” Harry said angrily, “Magic can’t fix everything. An injury is still an injury whether magic can fix it or not.”

“Very astute Harry,” Severus said approvingly.

“Professor,” Harry said after a moment, “How can we be sure that I do have ADHD? Maybe Professor Flitwick is right and I’m just like my father.”

“Harry, for all that you look like him, you are not James Potter,” Severus said. “Filius had no right to compare you to him. I’ll admit, when I first saw you, I wanted to believe that you would be exactly like your father, and I was prepared to hate you for that reason.”

“Why Professor?” Harry asked, confused. This was not where he imagined this conversation would be going.

“We didn’t get along when we were at school,” Severus said, unconsciously sneering as he remembered, “He and a group of his friends saw fit to terrorize me and others who they didn’t care for.”

“So he was like Dudley?” Harry asked sadly. He didn’t want to know that his dad had been a bully.

“While in school,” Severus said, sighing, “He was a terror. He grew up, however, and he died a good man.” While he hadn’t had any intention of singing James Potter’s praises, he didn’t want Harry to believe that his father was a bully until the day he died. From all reports, Potter had really matured after dating Lily.

“Ok,” Harry said, smiling slightly. It made him feel a little better to hear that his dad wasn’t always a bully.

“I believe we were distracted from your original question,” Severus said, attempting to get away from the subject of his schooldays. That was something he rarely thought about anymore. “You wanted to know how we would tell if you had ADHD or not?”

Harry nodded.

“I will ask permission from Headmaster Dumbledore to escort you to a muggle doctor, who will examine you. They will be able to diagnose you if you do have ADHD, which I honestly believe you do, and can offer suggestions on how work with it.”

“When will we go?” Harry asked, wanting to go as soon as possible, so his teachers stopped thinking he was lazy, or dumb.

“Tomorrow is Saturday,” Severus replied, “And the doctor I plan on taking you to has limited office hours. Meet me in the Great Hall at eight o’clock tomorrow morning, and we will go speak to the Headmaster. It would probably be best if you eat breakfast first, as I doubt we will be back before lunch.”

“Ok sir,” Harry agreed easily. He sat and talked until curfew with his Potions Professor. I bet Ron would faint if I told him that Professor Snape was nice and I actually like talking to him. He’s like an uncle, not like Uncle Vernon, and he actually cares about me. I can’t wait to start learning occlumency. Just wait till I learn; I bet the other professors will be really surprised.