Potions and Snitches
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Breaking and Entering

Next Chapter: Breaking and Entering

 

               Severus stared at his watch as he waited for Harry to come down the stairs for breakfast. Day one and the boy was already running late. He had knocked on Harry’s door at seven thirty and Harry had announced that he was awake. The time changed from eight a.m. to eight o’one, and Severus heard Harry running down the stairs and toward the table.

               He sat down in his seat and looked expectantly at Severus. Severus almost laughed at the boy’s guilty but hopeful expression. However, he had made it clear that if Harry was even a minute late, he could expect a plain and simple breakfast. Not that it would hurt the child in the least.

               “Plain porridge it is,” Severus decided.

               “No, come on,” Harry complained, “I’m here. It was one minute.” 

               “One minute late,” Severus corrected as he waved his hand in the direction of the kitchen, and items and objects began flying about.

               “You got to give me at least a minute to get down the stairs.”

               “It hardly took you a minute to get down the stairs when I brought ice cream home last Sunday.”

               “It did too.”

               “Enough,” Severus said. “Do not for one second think that whining at me will get you anything but sent back to bed for a long nap.” Severus waved his hand and a bowl of plain porridge flew out to Harry and settled in front of him. “Sit back and eat. You knew the stipulations of your punishment.”

               Harry grumbled while he slowly picked at the porridge.

               “Couldn’t I get a little cinnamon for being only a minute late?”

               “Would you get five points rewarded to you for being a minute late to class? Absolutely not. Hush up and eat. You have a long list of chores to complete, and I will not spend my morning listening to you complain about it or your breakfast.”

               Harry sighed and ate a couple bites.

               Severus tapped the table and coffee appeared for him and orange juice for Harry. He lifted his paper and began reading while Harry ate. Once Harry pushed the bowl away, Severus folded his paper and set it aside. He held out a slip of paper for Harry, who opened it to read.

               Clean the kitchen

               Dust the bookshelf and fireplace

               Rest period for thirty minutes

               Pull weeds in front and back of house

               Lunch

               Study

               Clean the bathroom

               Scrubbing cauldrons

               Helping with dinner

               Take out garbage

               Rest period before bed

               “That’s it?” Harry asked aloud.

               “You will do a thorough job with each task,” Severus said. He knew the list was probably nothing compared to what the Dursleys had forced Harry to do within a day, but Severus would not stoop to their level, even for a punishment. “And you will pace yourself accordingly. Your study time has not changed, so I expect you to be in a good place to stop and take that time you need to work on your summer homework and reading material.”

               “Okay,” Harry said.

               “You will find everything you need in the hall closet or in the cupboard under the sink. Any questions?”

               “No, sir.”

               “Good. You may start with your dishes.”

               Harry drank the rest of his juice before standing up and heading to the kitchen sink, filling it with water and soap. Severus returned to his paper, keeping an eye on Harry’s work. The boy was quick to get to work, and after washing the dishes and leaving them in the drying rack, he started wiping down all the counters and stovetop. After a while, Severus retreated to his desk in his bedroom to write out his lesson plans for the upcoming year. He started with the first years as they would be the easiest, then worked his way up. He had just finished his plans for the third years when he rose, stretched, and went to check on Harry’s progress.

               The kitchen was spotless, the floor swept and mopped. He moved through the living room and was surprised when he noticed the floors cleaned and every nook and crevice dusted and shiny. He spotted the mop bucket inside the bathroom and glanced inside to see the bathroom already completed. Sighing, Severus moved to the front door, scanning the yard for Harry.

               The front of the house had three large piles of weeds in various places, and as he worked his way around, he noted another pile on the side of the house. He finally found Harry in the back of the house in the newly plotted garden, the smallest sprouts of green just breaching the surface. Harry was pulling out the unwanted greens, beads of sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

               “Jumping ahead schedule, are we?” Severus questioned.

               “I knew I could get the list done early,” Harry replied, turning to face Severus, his hands, forehead, and cheeks smeared in dirt. “Then I can have the afternoon free.”

               “And pass out from the amount of energy you exerted rushing through everything. I’m sure a nap was exactly how you wanted to spend your afternoon, after your study hours and scrubbing those cauldrons for me, of course.”

               “Well, no. But I never passed out after a long day of work at my relatives. I’ll be fine.”

               “The point of what you are doing is to learn how to pace yourself and use your time wisely, not complete various chores in the least amount of time possible. Is that how you want your time at the library to be spent—rushed and exhausting?”

               “No. But I’m pacing myself well.” Harry looked at the watch he had shoved in his pocket. “I’m almost done with weeding, and it’s still an hour till lunch.”

               “And now, you’ll need to shower before then, after which I’m sure you’ll feel the effects of having worked so much in such little time, you’ll probably want to rest, which you should have done earlier. And before you bring up the Dursleys again, keep in mind it’s been a year since you’ve done chores like this, your body isn’t adjusted like it once was.”

               Harry frowned in thought at that, though Severus could still see the slightest gleam of rebellion in the boy’s eyes.

               “Also think about how the neighbors might feel about you working as you are. I did say pull the weeds around the house, but I didn’t say all of them, or that it all had to be done today. Now I look like the slavedriver forcing my young child to work himself to death. And now I’ll have to find more things for you to do tomorrow, perhaps ones that are more time-consuming.”

               “Oh,” Harry muttered, eloquent as ever.

               “Indeed,” Severus said. “I could always have you repaint the house. A taupe would be a nice change, don’t you think? Besides, I’d rather you enjoy your free time than sleep through it.”

               “So, can I stop for the day then?” Harry asked with a smile.

               “You’re the one who decided to do everything and more in one morning,” Severus smirked as Harry’s smile fell into a pout. “Might as well as finish what you started.”

               “But you were just saying . . .”

               “I know. Consider this a reason to obey my words the first time.”

               Harry huffed but turned back around to pull the rest of the weeds from the garden.

               “Finish this row and then head to your room and wash up. I’ll work on lunch.”

               “Yes, sir.” Harry chucked a large weed to his pile.

               The doorbell echoes around the house, and Severus groaned before walking around the building. A man stood at his door patiently, a colorful flyer in his hand.

               “May I help you?” Severus asked.

               “Good day, sir,” the man said cheerily, waving to Severus and stepping toward the man. “You must be Mr. Severus Snape.”

               “Who’s asking?” Severus couldn’t help but say.

               “Let me introduce myself,” the man went on, “I am Peter Putkin, I own the library down the road. Your son seems to be a very avid reader, and I didn’t get a chance to yesterday, but I wanted to give him this flyer. There’s a boy’s reading group starting up, started by two local boys here, actually. They’re about Harry’s age, and they love to read and with help from their parents and myself, well, they started a book club.”

               Severus accepted the flyer and looked it over. The Dive into Adventure book club for ages eleven to fourteen, boys and girls included, starting July first and the first book they were going to read first was The House with a Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs. Severus quirked a brow at that.

               “I thought Harry might be interested with how much he loves to visit the library, and of course, it’d give him a chance to meet some of the kids around here.”

               “A book club?” Harry asked, coming around the house. He snatched the flyer from Severus to read it over. “Cool! I haven’t even read that book yet, either. Dad, could I?”

               “Unfortunately,” Severus said, taking the flyer back. “Harry is grounded until further notice.” Severus did not miss the way Harry’s cheeks burned at that. “However, I’ll gladly hold on to this. Perhaps he’ll manage to unground himself by July first. Miracles do happen.”

               Harry glared up at his father while Peter smiled.

               “I hope so,” Peter said. “Be good, Harry. I know a few kids who would love to have you at the club.”

               Peter strolled off, and Severus folded the flyer and tucked it into an inner robe pocket. He leveled Harry with a glare of his own, and asked, “Did you finish the weeds in that row?”

               “I heard the librarian and wanted to see what he was doing here.”

               “Is that a no?”

               “Yes, it’s a no. You can’t ground me from the library forever.”

               “Not forever. Just until you learn how to tell time. Go finish up, then wash up, as we’ve discussed.”

               Harry huffed, but went back around the house to finish weeding the row he had started. 

               Severus went back inside, working on a quick chicken salad for himself and Harry. He heard Harry come in through the back door and called out a reminder to take his shoes off. While the shower was running, Severus took his time to make a macaroni side dish, knowing how much Harry liked them. When he was done, he called for Harry to join him at the table. When Harry didn’t show after a couple minutes, he made his way toward the boy’s bedroom, knocking once before opening the door.

               Harry was passed out lying across his bed, dressed in fresh clothes and his hair still dripping. Severus smiled and casted a drying charm on Harry’s hair. He unfolded a light blanket at the end of the boy’s bed and laid it over him, then silently left the room.

 

               About an hour later, Harry emerged from his room and found Severus working in his lab, an open space that opened through his closet. Severus was busy working on restocking his depleting inventory while a few potions simmered at the table he had set up. He sent Harry to the kitchen to eat his lunch that he had missed. After eating his fill of the chicken salad and macaroni, Harry began working on his Transfiguration homework.

               Severus checked on him later.

               “How are you doing?”

               “I’m almost done with Transfiguration,” Harry said.

               “Good,” Severus said, “I shall review it when you’re finished. Are you feeling better?”

               “Yes. Do I still have to scrub cauldrons later?”

               “I think I’ll have you reorganize my ingredients supply closet. That should be less intensive. You’ll scrub cauldrons tomorrow at the time I write down for you.”

               “Okay.” 

“I am heading to town for groceries. Want to take a break and come with me?”

               “No thanks, Dad,” Harry replied with a shake of his head. “I want to finish this.”

               “Is there anything you’d like for dinner this week that I should add to my list?”

               “Err . . . fish and chips?”

               “Small bag of chips,” Severus said as he wrote on his list, “large bag of peas. Got it. Anything else?”

               “No.” Harry rolled his eyes.

               “Keep your eyes in place, you’ll see better. You know the rules. Stay in the house. Do not open the door for anyone while I’m gone.”

               “Even Freddy?”

               “Especially that insufferable muggle. I’ll be back shortly.”

               Severus walked down to the small greengrocer near a petite, yellow café building. He picked out a variety of vegetables and fruits, making sure to add in extra strawberries as Harry seemed to have a particular fondness for them. When he had gathered what he needed, he found a secluded spot between two buildings, then shrunk his bags with a charm to keep everything fresh. He moved on to the meat market that was located a bit deeper into town. He didn’t mind the walk, as it gave him a chance to see familiar faces, and unfamiliar faces. He kept an eye out for any suspicious characters that could have stalked Harry last night. No one gave him any strange vibes, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

               Finally, he had all the groceries he needed for the next week and then some, and he made his way home, slowly, so to enjoy the warmth of the sun against his back. He offered the small “good days’” to anyone who greeted him first.

               Glad to see his new house still standing, Severus entered, pulled everything out of his pockets, returned them to their original state and size, and set them on the counters.

               “Harry, come help put these groceries away,” Severus called.

               He was met with silence, then a loud crash.

               Severus paused, registering where the sound had come from, then pushed off the counter and ran to his lab, crossing through his bedroom and stopping short in the entryway. The room he had spent the last couple of weeks transfiguring into a lab space was trashed. Vials and cauldrons were tossed about the room, and glass sprinkled the floor from the broken ones. The shelves of ingredients around the room were all collapsed, and several containers had opened, and ingredients had mixed on the floor, and a few areas were creating a noxious fume that visibly steamed upward. The three potions that had been simmering for the day had boiled over and burned, partially melting the rims of his cauldrons. And on that same table, Harry was reaching for the ceiling with a shell-shocked face.

               “I can explain,” Harry said. He jumped off the table and held up his hands in surrender.

               “Please do,” Severus growled under his breath as he took a slow step toward Harry, his fists flexing and clenching at his sides.

               Harry backed up a step as he started talking a mile a minute.

               “Wait,” Harry started, “there was a house elf here and he was saying all this crazy stuff about me not going back to Hogwarts because it was dangerous or whatever and then he kept hurting himself and saying how bad he was for disobeying his master, but he really wanted to keep me safe but I told him I have to go—and he’s actually the reason my friends haven’t been writing. He’s been stealing all my letters so I would think they didn’t like me or whatever. I got them from him but then he said maybe getting me in trouble would ground me from Hogwarts. I tried to stop him but he kept running away and breaking more things. Stop!”

               Harry had kept backing away as Severus walked toward him with slow, purposeful steps. Despite the anger he was feeling and the impulse to just take some of his frustration out on Harry for simply being in the room, Severus had been listening, and he finally stopped tormenting his son and paused in front of him, tilting his head curiously. It was certainly a first he had heard of a house elf destroying another wizard’s property, but the guilt and self-punishment Harry had described was so accurate to what a house elf would do for disobeying their master, and he knew he had never told Harry about that aspect of house elves.

               “I swear I didn’t do any of this,” Harry said, breathing an audible sigh of relief when Severus stopped advancing on him. “He said his name was Dobby. He wouldn’t tell me where he was from or why he was doing this, just that I couldn’t go back to Hogwarts.”

               I’ve heard that name somewhere before, Severus thought, a frown forming on his face. He crossed his arms, drumming his fingers against himself for a moment as he tried to remember where he may have encountered that name.

               “I’m telling the truth,” Harry said. “I promise.”

               “Please go put the groceries away,” Severus said, pointing out the door.

               Harry hesitated, eyeing the distance between the door and Severus.

               “Now,” Severus demanded, “I need to think.”

               Harry scooted out as quickly as he could. Severus sighed and rubbed his hands down his face. He moved around the room and vanished the mess in his ruined cauldrons, which he flew over to the sinks for a good cleaning before they were disposed of. He could have Harry scrub those tomorrow. He flicked his wand at a broom which sprung to life and cleaned up the glass on the floor while he eyed the ingredients all over the floor.

With careful precision, he managed to separate certain piles of powders and herbs and managed to rebottle many of his ingredients. The liquid forms had to be disposed of, and that unfortunately included his last jar of dragon’s blood. He also had to get rid of the easily contaminable ingredients that had fallen on the floor such as his frog livers and hen yolks. It was a lot of money down the drain, and a day’s work of potions ruined. He had been hoping to restock on his basic healing salves for cuts and scrapes, pepper ups, and a fever reducer, common over the counter potions that disappeared like candy on Halloween.

The rest of the mess was cleared away with a swish of his wand, and there was still damage to fix, it would do for now.

Frustrated, Severus took a few calming breaths. Harry’s story had a lot of detail to have been made up on the spot, and Harry really had no reason to act out in this fashion. If a house elf had been here, and to warn Harry of a potential danger at Hogwarts, that could mean someone was planning, and potentially initiating a scheme that he would have to watch out for. The elf might be the clue as to who was up to something.

He had an idea to get a good look at the elf, but he would need Harry’s permission first.

Walking out of his lab and to the kitchen, he found Harry sitting at the table, fiddling with an orange that he was still tearing peel pieces off of. Harry spared him a worried glance as he entered.

“I believe you, Harry,” Severus said. He pulled out a chair across from where Harry was sitting. “But I need you help.”

“Yes, sir. With what?”

“If it is okay with you, I’d like to see your memories of what transpired today; to make sure there truly was nothing malicious and to potentially identify who this house elf may have belonged to.”

“How would you see my memories?” Harry asked.

“By entering your mind through Legilimency,” Severus said. “It will allow me to see what happened while I was gone, and I may be able to find something about the elf you may have missed. It won’t hurt, but it might feel weird.”

“Okay. Do I need to do anything?”

“All you have to do is think about what happened, which will bring the memories to the front of your mind, making it easier for me to find them.” Severus leaned forward slightly. “And look at me.”

When Harry’s eyes met Severus’s, he gently prodded into Harry’s mind, being as careful as he could so he didn’t hurt Harry in the process. Harry had no walls around his mind, no resistance to his intrusion, so it was very easy to slip right into a memory and the elf immediately came into view. Severus settled himself into the memory, watching from a corner of Harry’s bedroom.

“How did you get here?” Harry asked, turning in his chair at his desk. He set his quill down. “Who are you?”

“So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir,” the house elf said. “Such an honor it is.”

“Err, right,” said Harry, who looked rather confused about the elf. “Not to be rude or anything—I mean, it’s very nice to meet you and all—but is there any particular reason you’re here?”

"Dobby has come to tell you, sir ... it is difficult, sir ... Dobby wonders where to begin . . . ."

"Sit down," Harry said, pointing at his bed.
Not to Severus’s surprise, the elf burst into loud tears.
"S-sit down!" he wailed. "Never ... never ever. . . "

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything, I was just . . ."

"Offend Dobby!" choked the elf. "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard—like an equal!"

Harry looked beside himself as he tried to shush the elf as he ushered Dobby onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing. While the elf collected himself, Severus made a mental note to strengthen the wards around his house.

"You can't have met many decent wizards," Harry said.

Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he leapt up, ran for the window seat and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

Severus eyes the elf’s tattered clothes and searched for any identifying marks. A small fancy M was embroidered in the back of the elf’s tattered sheet-turned-into-shirt. Severus knew that trademark anywhere and he narrowed his eyes at the elf.

"Don't - what are you doing." Harry shouted, jumping up and trying to catch the elf.

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir . . ."

"Your family."

"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir. Dobby is a house elf - bound to serve one house and one family forever.”

“That sounds awful. Who do you serve?”

“Dobby must not say. He must not speak badly of his family, even when they treat Dobby do horribly.”

“If it’s that bad, why don’t you just leave then?”

“A house elf must be set free, sir, and the family will never set Dobby free.”

“Oh. That’s too bad. But you’re here now, maybe you can just not go back.”

“Dobby cannot stay. Dobby must keep the great Harry Potter from going back to Hogwarts. It is too dangerous for Harry Potter. He must stay home.”

“I don’t think that’s possible. Why is it dangerous?”

The elf whimpered, then went back to banging his head on the window.  

               “Hey, stop it!” Harry said.

               “Dobby has tried to stop Harry Potter from going back. He even took all Harry Potter’s letters from his friends, so he’d think he’d have none.”

               The elf held up several envelopes, and Harry gasped, then snatched them away.

               “You were stopping my letters? Why?”

               “Dobby did it for the best. Dobby just wants Harry Potter to be safe.”

               “You wouldn’t have been the one following me yesterday, were you?”

               Severus raised a brow at that, a small smile growing on his lips at Harry’s ability to connect the dots. He eyed the elf again as it nodded its ugly head.

               “How is any of that helping me? You know my dad is a professor at Hogwarts. What is he supposed to do if I have to stay here?”

               “Harry Potter can be grounded.” Dobby’s eyes brightened.

               Dobby jumped off the window seat and he ran for the lab. Harry ran after him, shouting, “No! Stop! You can’t be in there.”

               Severus followed slowly, wincing at the sound of glass breaking. He paused in the entryway, watching Harry trying to catch the elf while attempting to salvage everything the elf was throwing. Dobby turned the heat up on all three cauldrons, and while Harry tried turning them down right after, the sensitive potions were quick to react to the heat change and boiled over. Harry was lucky to have avoided skin burns.

               The elf jumped on the table and threw empty cauldrons around the room, smashing them on the floor.

               “How long do you think Dad would ground me for?” Harry asked, jumping on the table and reaching for the elf. “Especially for something I didn’t do?”

               The elf threw another cauldron then jumped out of Harry’s grasp. Dobby picked up another cauldron.

               “Harry,” Severus heard his own voice say, “come help put these groceries away.”

               Harry and Dobby froze, shared a look, then Dobby threw the cauldron in the air and disappeared with a loud crack. Harry tried to catch the cauldron, but it struck the ground with a loud crash.

               Severus withdrew from Harry’s mind at that, noting Harry’s dazed look before the child shook himself slightly and looked at Severus curiously.

               “That was weird,” Harry said.

               “But very helpful,” Severus said. “Thank you for allowing me to view that memory.”

               “Do you know who’s elf it was?” Harry asked.

               “No,” Severus said a bit too quickly. He knew of Harry’s relationship with Draco Malfoy at school and he did not want to bring any more feud between them, especially when he did not have all the details as to why the elf thought Harry was in danger. He would have to do some investigating himself.

               “Could anyone do that?” Harry asked. “Read my mind?”

               “It’s not exactly reading you mind,” Severus corrected. “It’s a complicated magic, as the brain is a complicated source, and it takes years of training to master Legilimency, and few have the patience for it, so there is no need to worry about anyone using it against you. However, now that you know how it feels, you will know when someone might be using it on you, and my use of it was very gentle on you, compared to someone who might mean you harm.”

               “You’ve done that before,” Harry said. “After Fudge tricked me into not signing the papers that one day. You used it.”

               “I did,” Severus agreed. “You were rather hysterical and refusing to tell me what happened.”

               “Would you use it on me like that again?”

               “No, not without your permission.” Severus reached across the table and laid his hand over Harry’s. “I shouldn’t have invaded your mind without your permission, but I felt that if I had not, we wouldn’t be where we are today, understand? Not that that excuses my actions. I will strive to always ask for your permission if and when it might warrant this kind of magic. Like today.”

               “Okay,” Harry said in a soft voice. He smiled. “Thanks for listening to me and not going mental.”

               “Come here,” Severus said, waving him over.

               Harry moved around the table and stood in front of Severus, who pulled him closer and into a strong hug.

               “Thank you for being honest,” Severus said. “And I will do my best to always listen to you first. Clearly, I never know what trouble might follow you.”

               “Obviously,” Harry smiled.

               Severus snorted.

               “Don’t you have letters to read?”

               “I do!” Harry exclaimed, running for his room.

               Severus sighed as he rested his head in his hand, thinking over his options. He needed a way to get information from Lucius Malfoy without coming off suspicious. Why would Hogwarts be any more dangerous than it already was? Severus knew he would have to investigate sooner rather than later for Harry’s safety. If Hogwarts truly was dangerous, Harry would not be going back until it was.  

              

              

              

 


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