Severus frowned as Dumbledore stepped out of his fireplace. Experience had taught him that Dumbledore was a very busy man who only visited if he wanted something. The closest he came to making courtesy visits was checking on Severus when his owls had remained unanswered for too long.
Severus had answered all the more recent letters, therefore ... his sorely needed summer holidays would be interrupted with work. Hopefully Dumbledore’s newest strange request at least led him to a place with nice scenery.
“Good evening, Severus. How are you?”
“What do you need?”
Normally, this kind of directness brought about a chuckle from the old man, but not now. “I need you to check on Harry Potter.”
“Why?” Potter. Why on earth would he need checking on?
“Two days ago, an associate in the ministry informed me Harry had used a levitating charm and received a letter.”
“Threatening him with expulsion, as would happen to anyone. Your point?” Being set some boundaries would do Potter good.
“He hasn’t been seen outside the house since. I won’t bore you with the details, but my informant considers this an irregularity we should investigate.”
The boy was probably sulking about not getting his way for once. “And why does it have to be me?” Severus knew that most members of the now inactive Order of the Phoenix did not know about him, and vice versa, he did not know about most of them. There must be a dozen, at the very last, whom Dumbledore could ask.
“I need someone who is both a teacher at Hogwarts and a member of the Order of the Phoenix. You know what is at stake, Severus. You will simply tell Petunia you are there to investigate the instance of underage magic, and then do exactly that. Report to me what you learn while you do so.”
“Dealing with underage magic is the ministry’s job.” He knew he had lost. The other Heads of Houses regularly visited muggleborns to make sure they and their parents knew they weren’t allowed to use magic at home. The only reason Severus rarely had to do that was that few muggleborns were sorted into Slytherin.
**
Using a photography provided by Dumbledore, Severus apparated to Privet Drive. There went his hope for nice scenery – there was possibly no more boring place on earth than this street.
He dreaded having to talk to Petunia.
It would be the first time he met her after Lily’s death, and she would blame him for it, he was sure.
Her hate he could deal with, but not the fact that, for once in her life, she would be right.
The hoot of an owl interrupted his thoughts. Potter’s owl! If he followed the owl, he could find Potter’s bedroom, check on Potter and never have to talk to Petunia.
As the sound seemed to have come from the other side of the house, he walked to the end of the street and inspected the back gardens. They were all fenced in, but not by high enough fences to actually keep him out.
Boring, as expected. He couldn’t even distract himself by looking for potions ingredients. Lawn, lawn, lawn, roses, lawn, lawn ... ah. This must be the back side of Number 4. Severus looked up at the windows. Blinked. Rubbed his eyes. Looked up again. There was no doubt about it, one of the windows had bars on it. Not the pretty, ornate iron bars some homeowners seemed to hope would keep burglars out, but ugly steel bars that were attached from the outside, in a haphazard way. Stupid thing to do, attaching them from the outside – it’d be easy to remove them the exact same way, from outside.
And the window was on the first floor. The ground floor window below had no such safety precautions.
Strange. If Potter had tried to run away that often, surely Dumbledore would have told him? He did like his little secrets, but he usually told Severus everything he needed to handle a situation.
As he drew closer, Severus could see the telltale flickering light of a TV from the ground floor.
Perfect – that meant the muggles were distracted.
Severus used a levitation charm on himself and floated up to the barred window.
Holding to one of the bars, he cut two others off, putting a levitation charm on them so they gently floated onto the lawn below, making no sound.
Conveniently, the window was open and he climbed inside.
An owl hooted softly.
“Lumos”, Severus whispered.
It was a good thing he had thought to make light, for the floor was littered with toys. Potter really should keep more order ... but as he looked around in the room, Severus couldn’t see any furniture that might be used to keep the toys in.
There was just a bed and a wardrobe.
Careful to not step on anything, he drew closer to the bed.
A mop of messy dark hair. Unmistakeably Potter.
Severus cast a silencing charm and continued his exploration of the room. The wardrobe turned out to contain a very small collection of clothes. They were all good quality fabric, but weirdly large – larger than Severus’ own, almost. Damn teenagers and their ridiculous fashions. He had hated having to wear clothes too large for him as a child, and now here was Potter, doing it on purpose.
There was a TV, but it was broken beyond muggle repair, at least as far as Severus could tell. Someone ought to remove it, the sharp edges of the glass shards sticking out were a safety risk.
He looked back to the bed. Potter sat up and stared at him, lips moving without a sound.
Severus placed a finger on his lips, the universal gesture for silence.
It took Potter at least five seconds to understand. At last, he nodded.
“You were caught using a hover charm”, Severus stated quietly after lifting the silencing charm. “Explain.”
Potter blinked. Stared at him with those terrible green eyes. “It was the house elf”, he said at last, spitting out the words like an insult.
“What house elf?” Surely, a house like this did not have an house elf. The very idea was ridiculous. Even if the house had been inhabitated by a magical family previously ... no, just no.
“He said his name was Dobby”, Potter replied. “He wanted me to promise I wouldn’t go back to Hogwarts. When I didn’t, he threatened to destroy the Dursleys’ pudding. How is it possible they know someone used magic, but not that it wasn’t me?”
“The Dursleys’ pudding?” That wording was strange.
“Pudding. Dessert. You know. It was cream with sugared violets, but that’s really not important. The important thing is that it is Dobby who dropped it on the floor, not me.” The rebellious tone in Potter’s voice started to grate Severus’ nerves.
Severus breathed deeply and emptied his mind of all emotion. He couldn’t yell at Potter. Not with the muggles listening. He really didn’t want to have to talk to Petunia. “What about the hover charm?”
“Dobby used it. On the pudding.”
Ah right, the pudding. “Why is it the Dursleys’ pudding?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Potter asked back cheekily.
Focus. He had to focus. “Did you eat something different for dessert?”
Potter frowned. “No, obviously. Why would that even matter?”
“Headmaster Dumbledore wishes to know exactly what happened. Describe what happened, from the appearance of the house elf until the hover charm was performed. If you give a plausible explanation, you might not be punished.” Not that Dumbledore would punish him at all, anyway.
Severus listened to Potter’s story without interrupting. Only after Potter had finished did he ask: “So the family was eating downstairs. Why weren’t you with them?”
“The Masons were visiting”, Potter replied, as if that explained anything.
“Who exactly are the Masons?”
“I don’t know? Mr. Mason is someone Uncle Vernon wanted to do business with.”
Severus had gathered as much. “So your cousin eats with the family when they have visitors, but you don’t?”
Potter shrugged. “Yeah.”
“And why is that?” Considering who the boy’s father was, it wouldn’t surprise him the least if he had been sent to his room as punishment, but no punishment had been mentioned, and something just didn’t sound right.
“They’re ashamed to have a wizard in the family.”
He should have expected this. He really should have, but for some reason, it had never occurred to him. Perhaps because he had tried his best to forget everything to do with Lily. Petunia had always acted like this towards Lily. Tried to hide her from her friends. Not that she had succeeded, the Evans parents hadn’t supported her behaviour, but now that she was in charge of the household ... of course she would treat Lily’s son like she had tried to treat Lily.
So obvious in retrospect.
Or perhaps Potter was lying to him? But the bars ... Potter might have ran away one time too many, but there was the curious thing: Potter hadn’t tried to run away from Hogwarts. Not even skipped a class, Severus had to admit that, however grudgingly.
How likely was it that he ran away from doting relatives who bought him his own TV?
And Potter had answered without hesitation, meaning that he had either thought of the lie in advance, or it wasn’t one.
He couldn’t have predicted Severus would be the one to question him, could he?
An exploration of the room might yield more hints. Severus intensified his light charm and looked around. “Locked up your owl? I can imagine most animals wouldn’t enjoy your company, Potter, and flee at the first opportunity, but it rather defeats the purpose of an owl to lock it up.”
Potter glared at him. “That was Uncle Vernon”, he hissed. “So don’t you - ” The boy interrupted himself. “Please sir, can you let her out? Please?”
“Why would I do you a favour?” He would do it anyway, the poor animal had done nothing to deserve this, but Potter deserved to suffer some.
Potter glanced to the owl, then to him. “If you – if you let her out, you can ... keep her.”
The owl made an angry noise. Poor thing must feel betrayed. It was considered bad form to sell an owl that had been in your service for a while. They often didn’t change loyalty.
“She’s a snowy owl. Very valuable”, Potter continued.
Was that a tear glittering in those Lily-green eyes? As soon as Severus spotted it, Potter averted his eyes.
Very well. “Don’t be silly Potter. Owls don’t change allegiance. She’d be useless to me.”
“She will!” The boy got up and walked over to the cage. “Please go with him, Hedwig”, he whispered. “It’s no use to anyone if you starve.”
Severus was thunderstruck by how soft and gentle Potter’s voice could sound. So much like ... no, he couldn’t indulge in memories now.
“I don’t need an owl, anyway, Potter. But there’s something else you could do for me ...”
“Yes, sir?” Potter asked eagerly.
“I want your word, on your honour, that you’ll be respectful in class from now on. No talking back. No whispering with your friends. No sabotaging potions.” Potter would obviously not keep his word, but Severus could taunt him about forfeiting his honour. Oh, he would find excuses, of course he would, but watching James Potter try to come up with reasons why his four against one attacks on Severus weren’t cowardly had always been entertaining. “That’s the condition on which I’ll free your owl.”
Potter frowned. Then, suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he had thought of a loophole. “Yes, sir. Thank you. I swear on my honour that I’ll never talk back to you in class, or whisper with my friends in class, or sabotage someone else’s potion in Potions, if you get Hedwig out of here and let her fly.”
Ah. The brat had limited his promise to class, which meant he intended to be extra disrespectful outside of class.
Severus raised an eyebrow. “Remember that I can still punish you for misbehaving outside class, Potter. Trying to cheat even while giving your word of honour, are you, Potter? Just like your father.”
Potter glared at him, but bit his lip. “I know you’ll punish me anyways. Please, sir?”
“Very well. Alohomora.”
The lock sprang open. Severus cautiously removed it and opened the cage door.
With a delighted noise, the owl hopped outside, stretched her wings and flew a round through the room. She stopped to land on Potter’s shoulder, nipped his ear with her beak, and then she was up and away through the hole Severus had created in the bars.
“When do your relatives usually go to bed, Potter?” He would search the house. That was bound to be less annoying than trying to question Potter.
“Around ten or so. But Dudley watches TV in his room until midnight some days.”
Severus checked his watch. Anytime now. “Do your aunt and uncle check on you before they go to bed?”
Potter didn’t answer.
“You gave your word, Potter. Proper respect. Breaking it so soon?”
“No! Sir. I just can’t think why you want to know.”
“Obviously I wouldn’t have made the effort of going directly to your room if I wanted to talk to Pe- to the muggles, now, would I?”
“Yes, sir. They don’t check on me. Aunt Petunia only opens the door two times a day, and she already did this evening.”
Two times a day? How could he be so sure? Severus’ mother had been quite a bit more distant than Lily’s parents, but she still had sometimes checked on him during the day. And even though he had spent a lot of time in his room when he was forced to stay in the house, he scarcely ever had spent a whole day there ...
The noise of the TV abruptly stopped, and shortly after, Severus heard heavy steps on the stairs.
They waited in absolute silence until the noises from the bathroom ceased and the sounds of a TV could be heard across the hall.
“Will your cousin stay in his room?” Severus asked, quietly.
“Probably. He doesn’t like to move much.”
Good.
Severus went to the door and tried the handle. The room was locked. There was no key in the lock. He gave Potter a questioning glance.
“It’s locked. You’ll have to use a spell. Sir. Or perhaps more than one, I don’t know, there’s a couple locks on the door.”
Severus took a better look at the door. He could see more keyholes than any sane person would put on an ordinary bedroom door.
There was also a small door at the bottom of the door. “Do your relatives have any pets, Potter?”
“No, sir.”
“Wasn’t your cousin jealous when you got an owl and he didn’t?”
Potter hesitated. “No, sir. I guess he’s too scared of magic.”
“Why would he be scared of magic?” Potter’s fault, probably.
“Hagrid, um, used some magic to, um, well, to make my Hogwarts letter arrive.”
A lie. “The truth, Potter, if you please.”
Again, Potter hesitated before speaking. “Actually, it is my fault, sir. I freed a snake when we were at the zoo for his eleventh birthday. It was an accident, sir. The snake told me how it wanted to go see its homecountry, and somehow, the glass disappeared.”
“A snake told you something?” Severus raised a brow. Parselmouths were incredibly rare, and were almost always sorted into Slytherin. And he still got the impression that, somehow, the boy was lying to him.
“Well, I couldn’t hear it behind the glass, but when I asked it how it was in Brazil, it pointed to a sign that said it was born in the zoo, and somehow ... I don’t know how I did it, sir.”
“Did the snake tell you anything else?”
“No, it just said goodbye and that it was going to Brazil.”
He could check the muggle newspaper archives for an escaped snake. It would have made the headlines. Unless someone noticed magic was involved, in which case the Ministry would know of it.
Severus made short work of the locks. “If the family doesn’t own a cat, then what is this?” He pointed at the small door.
“Um. It is ... a cat flap,sir. Dudley used to have a cat, and this used to be his room.”
An obvious lie. The temptation to use legilimency ... but no. He must not. It was illegal.
With enough patience, he could uncover the secret without such means.
He sneaked through the door and downstairs.
Only when he was at the foot of the stairs did he notice Potter had followed him. Severus glared at him. “Maybe I was not clear enough”, he hissed. “I am finished with you. Go back to bed.”
“I ... I just ... wanted to tell you that ... there’s a creaking floorboard on the way to the front door, it is safer to use the back door.”
“I don’t need your help, Potter”, Severus hissed. He needed peace and quiet to search the house.
“Suit yourself.” Potter slipped away, but not upstairs. Instead, he entered the kitchen.
And Severus couldn’t really do anything about it unless he wanted to risk waking the family. Well, at least the boy was gone.
Using his wand as a source of light, Severus looked around. The cupboard under the stairs caught his attention. Why was there a padlock?
“Alohomora.”
Severus opened the cupboard. Ah. He had found Potter’s school trunk. And broom. Locking away Potter’s broom was a good idea, but why the trunk?
He opened it, and found nothing remarkable. Wand, school books, robes ... wand? “Priori Incantatem”, he whispered.
Mouse to snuffbox. Potter hadn’t used his wand since the exams. And certainly wasn’t capable of wandless magic, so that left accidental magic. Or the house elf story was true.
Under the trunk, there was a mattress. Strange. It looked like there was a bed in here. People kept all kinds of stuff, but ...
Suspicions growing, Severus closed the cupboard door. And there it was. A bolt. The flimsy kind you could just nail to something, but here it was. This cupboard had been used to lock someone inside.
Perhaps, if he asked Potter, there would be an entertaining story about a cat.
He looked for more proof, and now that he knew what to look for, it was easily found. Black hair on the mattress, caught in the roughcast of the walls and ceiling. He took a sample to test later. The initials H.P. etched into the wooden frame of the bed. There was little doubt.
Severus turned away from the cupboard, just in time to catch Potter leaving the kitchen, using the oversized t-shirt he was wearing as a kind of makeshift bag to transport ...
“Accio bread”, Severus whispered.
Sure enough, Potter’s stash started moving, the boy desperately trying to keep hold of it.
Severus ended the spell. “Show me, Potter, or I’ll summon it again”, he hissed.
The boy stepped closer. “Just food. It’s not yours, why would you care?”
It was, indeed, all food. Some bread, some cereals, some oatmeal, some flour ... all portions small enough their missing wouldn’t be noticed.
“No dessert?”, Severus sneered.
“No, sir.” Potter stared at the ground. “I’ll just go back to bed, now, professor.”
“Do that.” He could see, now, why Dumbledore had sent him. Anyone else would just have removed Potter from this house. He himself was tempted to. But the blood wards ...
Severus used a shrinking spell on the trunk and its contents, put it into his pocket and closed the cupboard door. He locked the padlock and hesitated.
Now, the evidence of them keeping Potter’s school things from him was gone. He could just leave, tell Dumbledore everything was in order, and let Potter suffer as he deserved to.
But deep down, Severus knew he couldn’t. Potter was an annoying, disrespectful, spoiled – alright, not spoiled – brat, but still a child.
So he went back upstairs.
Potter was busy filling the cereals into a vaguely bowl-shaped broken plastic toy. Severus discreetly placed a spell on it that increased the quantity somewhat. Not enough to be noticed.
“Your school trunk. I expect you to do your homework.” He placed it among the assortment of broken things and undid the shrinking spell, then slightly covered it in some toys he found on the ground.
He took one of the oversized shirts from the wardrobe and put it over the empty owl cage, locking the padlock again.
A wave of his wand, and the collection of locks on the door locked again.
“Thank you?” Potter sounded surprised more than anything.
“Get your homework done”, Severus told him, then apparated to the garden. The last thing he did was a repair spell on the bars in front of Potter’s window, locking the boy in again.
After apparating home, he lost no time in flooing Dumbledore.
The man was still fully dressed. At least he hadn’t had the time to sleep. Severus would have been very angry if this task had been foisted on him even though the headmaster had enough time to do it himself.
“I take it you found something amiss?”
“When I entered the back garden of Number Four, Privet Drive I saw bars on one of the upper windows. Potter’s room. There’s also additional locks installed on the door of his bedroom. He expressed worry that his owl would starve, and offered to gift it to me if I would rescue it. Need I continue?”
Dumbledore had the decency to look shocked. “Is he injured?”
“I didn’t see any injuries, but that doesn’t have to mean anything. If you want me to protect him still, I demand that you move him.”
He didn’t like the grave look on Dumbledore’s face one bit. “Severus,you know, the blood wards ... as long as they don’t beat him ...”
“He’ll run away, I am sure of it. He would have while I was there, after I opened the door of his bedroom, if I hadn’t been in the way. They don’t feed him adequately.”
“I shall write to Petunia.”
“Nothing you write will change the fact that she hates magic. It is a wonder they didn’t turn the boy into an obscurial.” That seemed to make an impression. But Severus had more. “Besides, I have reason to believe the blood wards do not work as well as you think they do.” And he recounted the tale of the house elf. “I happen to know that Dobby belongs to the Malfoy family”, he finished. “The wards might prevent anyone from entering with harmful intent, but let’s say he was put under the imperius and told that he needed to hurt Potter to keep him safe? His actions resulted in harm to Potter. What extent of harm do the wards allow? We cannot know.”
Dumbledore listened, frowning. At last, he nodded. “House elves. Of course! How could I be so blind! You are right, Severus. We have to move Harry.”
Chapter 1