First day of wizarding primary school

Since it was Harry’s first day of primary school, Severus and Remus delivered Harry to school together.  They were able to floo directly into the school’s arrival hall where Harry was met by his new teacher, Ms. Tillery.  She was a kind woman with big brown eyes and light blonde hair. Remus fondly remembered her from school. She had been a Hufflepuff. After she had knelt and greeted Harry, she encouraged him to say goodbye to his family, reminding them that they could come back for him at 2:15.

Harry ran to Severus who gave him a hug and reminded him to behave himself, then Remus, who did the same. The three had just turned to the fireplace when it lit up green and a little boy stumbled out, followed by an older lady wearing a vulture hat. Harry thought she looked kind of scary. The boy had fallen and was covered in soot just like Harry usually was. Harry didn’t usually fall down because his Dad or Uncle usually held onto him, but he always was sooty even when he was with his father who came through pristine. His Dad would just tap Harry with his wand and remind Harry that as he gained experience he’d probably learn to floo without stumbling or getting dirty. That’s what Harry expected the witch in the vulture hat to do, so he was surprised when she started berating the little boy.

“Neville, I just can’t understand why you can’t exit the floo without falling all over the place. Your father never had that problem. And just look at you, you’re filthy. Your teacher is going to think that I’m raising a heathen.”

Ms. Tillery stepped forward shaking her head. She was probably going to say that she understood that most little boys got dirty in the floo, but Neville’s grandmother didn’t give her a chance. Instead Mrs. Longbottom, Neville’s grandmother, turned to Ms. Tillery and exclaimed, “I am so sorry about my grandson. He is just a mess. He’s probably a squib, but even if he isn’t, he’ll never be the wizard that his father was.”

Harry (and Severus and Remus for that matter) was shocked that someone would speak like this. He felt his magic gather around him as the torches in the room flickered. Before anyone could stop him he stepped toward the woman and her grandson. “STOP IT!” he yelled.

Mrs. Longbottom turned and faced him. “You are certainly impertinent.”

This didn’t stop Harry he continued his rant, “How could you talk to him like that? I would fall out of the floo every time if my Dad didn’t hold onto me.” Severus and Remus stepped forward to stop Harry before he said too much, but they found themselves pushed away by his magic. That’s when the woman started shaking her finger in his face. “I said, ‘STOP,’” he yelled and she flew against the wall. The wind began to blow through the room and the windows broke as Harry moved toward Mrs. Longbottom who was splayed against the wall like a dead squirrel on the road. “Never talk to anybody like that. He’s just a kid and you should love him even if he’s different from his Dad.”

Severus and Remus stared, frozen in place as Ms. Tillery cleared the other children out of the room and gently approached Harry. She knelt beside him. “Harry?” she said gently, “We need you to calm down.”

“No!” he screamed and the pot of floo powder fell off the mantle and shattered on the hearth. Remus actually gasped which caused Severus to turn and give him the patented Snape look.

“Harry, you’re scaring everybody. Look at Neville. Do you want him to be afraid?”

Harry turned and looked at Neville. The little boy did look scared. Harry noted that the boy was shaking and had tears running down his face. “No, but I don’t want her to be so mean to him.”

“Okay, Harry, I understand, but you’re going to need to take some deep breaths and let her down from the wall.” She paused. “Here, breathe with me. In, out, in, out.” She prolonged each word as she breathed slowly and soon Harry began to calm. The wind stopped whipping around the room. “Now, let her down gently.” Reluctantly, Harry did so.

Mrs. Longbottom looked none the worse for the wear, except that she was breathing heavily. Severus stepped forward and began to apologize about Harry’s behavior, but Mrs. Longbottom spoke up, “No, Professor Snape, he’s right. I have not been treating my grandson fairly. I need to show him that I love him for who he is, not who his father was.” She turned and faced Neville. “I’m sorry, Neville. Can you forgive me?” She knelt down and her grandson rushed into her arms. As she held him, she looked to Ms. Tillery. “I’m going to need help to improve. Can you give me some advice?”

“Certainly and I’ll start by recommending a therapist who can help both of you.”

“Thank you.”

Harry was standing with his mouth agape as he was just starting to realize what he had done. He took several steps backward until he was standing against his father’s legs. Mrs. Longbottom looked at Severus and said, “I think your little boy is going to be very powerful.”

“Perhaps, but he will have to learn to control himself,” Snape whispered as he knelt down to comfort his son.

Christmas

“All the other kids at school say that they get lots of presents for Christmas, but I only get three. How is that fair?” Harry asked plaintively.

“It was your idea. Our first Christmas together you thought having too many gifts was greedy,” Severus answered gently. “And don’t forget, you get three from our family, but other people also give you gifts and Santa brings you a stocking.”

“Wait, how could I decide that too many gifts was greedy? I was only two years old.”

Severus told Harry all about their first Christmas.

“Wait, so you gave the Slytherins my toddler gifts?”

Severus nodded as he replied, “That’s what you wanted. We went to the common room together and distributed them. The kids were so touched by your sharing, that they didn’t laugh when they got tub toys, stuffed animals, and baby books.”

“That’s funny,” Harry giggled.

“Indeed, it is. I believe I spotted a rubber duck in the prefect bathroom a couple of months later.”

Harry giggled. “Your Slytherins are nice. Why don’t people like them?”

“That, my boy, is a very big question.” There was a long pause.

“Aren’t you going to tell me?”

“You know that there are some evil wizards in our world, right?” Harry nodded. “Well, some of the most evil were Slytherins at school.”

“Was it ‘cause they were Slytherins?”

“No, but our founder had kind of a poor reputation, too, and that doesn’t help.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, he left the school because he had a disagreement with the other founders. Some people think that the disagreement was because he didn’t like wizards that were not purebloods.”

“But it wasn’t?”

“I don’t think so. According to his portrait, he wanted different treatment for children of muggles. He thought they should go to a prep school for Hogwarts when they were 9 or 10.”

“That would be cool, wouldn’t it?”

“I think so, but others would disagree.”

Just then Remus walked in the door carrying a large, wrapped present. Harry jumped up to help him place the gift under the tree.

---

When Severus awoke on Christmas, there was a package on his pillow. Severus read the attached note: Open me now. Feeling quite intrigued, Severus gently removed the paper from a small box. Inside the box was a cracked ring. There was another note. It read, “For your collection, only four to go.” Severus smiled as he placed the ring inside the safe where he kept the destroyed diary. Then he hurried to wake Harry for breakfast.