The sunrise woke him. Not the real sunrise, but the sun rising on the painting on the bedroom wall. He had found the painting in a room in the Hufflepuff part of the castle, and had remembered how much Lily had liked to watch the sunrise, so …
No time to think about that, now.
Severus got up, went to the bathroom and hesitated. He was going to go to Knockturn Alley. Personal hygiene wasn’t something most of its denizens cared about, and he wanted to blend in.
On the other hand …
He was looking for a hag.
So he shaved.
Breakfast? He could get some at Diagon Alley.
The world seemed strangely peaceful outside, helped along by the autumn mists that rose from the ground.
He walked through the schoolground gates and waited until they had swung closed behind him before he apparated.
Diagon Alley looked idyllic in the early sunlight. He had always loved it so much as a child. Even now he felt tempted to just walk through the empty street, admiring the shops ...
No, he had no time to waste.
Child. That was it.
He took a deep breath and aimed a shrinking charm at himself. It could be done. He knew. He had seen the results in the hospital ward often enough.
Severus was no stupid teen. He managed to shrink himself just enough.
Just enough to pass for a child.
Would it be enough?
It was easy to feel like a child again, being so small. So defenseless. So lonely.
He walked to Knockturn Alley.
Looked at the dirty cobblestones as he shuffled around.
„What are you doing here, all on your own, little boy?“, a voice crooned.
He had found a hag. Perhaps not the hag, but he was almost certain …
„None of yer business“, he growled.
„Your teachers will miss you …“
„No, they damn well won’t. No one cares about me, do they? They’ll be glad I’m not there.“ He swallowed. The worst thing about it was – it was true. Or had been, back then.
„Poor child. They only care about the Quidditch stars, do they?“
The voice was warm, gentle … seductive. Not in a sexual way … there was the promise of a mother’s love. So tempting.
„They’ll never care about me.“
„Oh, but they will. I can help you. A simple potion …“
Either this was the hag he was looking for or they all used this trick. Severus raised his gaze, carefully, slowly, as he would have had as a sullen preteen.
Yes, definitely a hag. She wore tattered clothes and a brown headscarf that obscured her face, made her look, at first glance, like an elderly witch who couldn’t brew a potion to cure warts, but he was not fooled.
„Potion?“
„Come with me and I will show you.“
Severus followed her to the dark, small side alley, reaching for his wand. As soon as they were out of sight, he pointed the wand at himself. „Finite incantatem.“
The hag rummaged in her bag, a horrible thing made out of the skin of some animal … or sentient creature. She didn’t seem to notice that he was his normal size again. Did she have several different potions?
„Now, we talk“, he stated plainly.
Her gaze snapped up. The watery blue eyes widened.
„You sold a potion to a blonde girl. I do not know if you know her name, and I do not care. But I demand that you release your hold on her.“ He was not some witch in the woods who never got a Hogwarts education and had to rely on subtlety. No, Severus was confident he could easily overpower a hag.
The hag chuckled. „That is not how that works“, she replied, her voice now cold and hard as the ice on the ground of a lake. „A bargain was struck.“
„Potter didn’t know what she was doing. Any contract signed by an underage child is null and void.“
Now, the hag cackled. Of course. Old magic had never cared for such things. A toddler might be spared – might – but a girl who had entered puberty was an adult for magical purposes, no matter how ignorant. At age eleven …
„She? Oh, no, this is not about her. Her guardians wanted to be rid of her. She is not loved. She belongs to us.“
Severus shivered. He knew, intuitively, the truth in the hag’s words.
Us. The hags. So it was true. „She is loved.“ Everyone loved the Girl Who Lived. Except for some few Death Eaters, that was.
The hag bared her yellow, crooked teeth. „By whom? You?“ She cackled. „You think it your duty to save her, but you don’t care and never will. She knows she is not loved. And that is all that matters.“
Severus contemplated those words for a moment. She knows … it must be about how someone felt.
He had recalled his childhood, vividly, and attracted the hag. This must be the key.
The fog grew thicker. Darker. This was not the pleasant mist rising out of the Hogwarts grounds. It had an ominous quality to it.
He had only felt that kind of thing once before. In the ceremony where the Dark Lord had branded him. This was old magic, and not of the pleasant kind.
Severus decided to disapparate.
He stumbled when he reappeared in Diagon Alley, only a short distance away.
Morning sun shone on his face.
There was more to hags than he had previously assumed. Of course there was. A creature that to this day haunted the fairy tales of muggles all over the world … no, hags were much more powerful than trolls or vampires.
And he was not entirely sure he wanted to mess with them. Not when there was another way to fulfill his promise and protect Lily’s child.
If it was all about how the child felt, then there was a loophole there.
Severus found a bakery that was just opening and bought a crossaint and a cup of coffee, then sat down at one of the old cherrywood tables.
Why didn’t he do that more often? Just go to Diagon Alley for breakfast. He could easily apparate, after all.
It was lovely quiet, the room smelled of freshly baked bread and coffee, not a student in sight …
He finished his meal and stepped out into the early morning, half expecting to see Lily walk down the street …
Right. That was why he didn’t breakfast in Diagon Alley more often.
He didn’t deserve it.
When he arrived at the castle, there was only half an hour left before breakfast. Severus was about to firecall the headmaster’s office when two puzzle pieces aligned in his head.
The girl mentioned in the witch’s account had wanted to be pretty. The hag had offered to make Severus good at Quidditch. It logically followed …
She must have offered Potter something. She must have told Potter exactly what the potion would do – minus the unfortunate side effects of enabling the hag to suck the marrow from her bones, that was.
Yet why would a child have a reason to …
His blood ran cold. There was only one reason he could fathom – and he dearly hoped he was wrong, yet if he was not … then it was better Dumbledore did not know about it, so that he couldn’t stop Severus from murdering Petunia, and especially Petunia’s husband.
Severus locked his office door and sat down at his desk with a sheet of parchment and a quill.
He had about twenty minutes to write a letter.
„Dear Miss Potter“
No, that wouldn’t work. She’d immediately know he was a teacher. The normal way to talk to a child was using their first name.
Merlin, he felt like such a creep.
But it was all for Potter’s safety.
„Dear Harriet,
I was a friend of your mother’s.“
That should get her attention. He hoped. In any case, it was the only excuse he could find for writing to her.
„You are now at an age where you might wonder what your parents were like. I did not contact you beforehand, as I did not know whether you were aware you were adopted, but now I presume that your adoptive parents told you already. You could not help but find out once you were at Hogwarts, after all.
Lily Evans was one of the kindest people I ever knew, and my first friend.“
Damn, he couldn’t start crying now.
And did Potter have to know that?
Thinking that she knew a lot about him would probably make her more likely to trust him, though …
„I will gladly answer any questions you have about her, if I can.“
He had not ever willingly talked about Lily. The sacrifices he made to save the Potter brat …
„Your sincerely
The Half-Blood Prince“
Not nearly good enough. Would probably not work. But it was the best plan he had.
If it failed, he would have to tell Dumbledore about his findings and make sure Potter got a good adoptive family before the year was over.
He went to the owlery, sent the letter, then walked at a brisk pace to the Great Hall.
Fortunately, the students were distracted from his unusually late appearance by the arrival of the owls.
Severus sat down at the High Table and watched Potter intently.
The owl with his letter arrive, Potter opened it and briefly talked to Granger about it before pocketing it.
At the distance, it was impossible to tell what Potter thought of the letter.
„How is research on your new project going, Severus?“ Dumbleodore’s tone was casual, it was a question asked between two bites of buttered toast.
By now, he knew the cues well enough. Dumbledore did not want this to be discussed publicly. Or rather … not in front of Quirinus, most likely.
There was something wrong with the man ever since he had returned from his yearlong break and applied for the position of the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
And of course, it was Severus’ job to keep an eye on the man. Same as with all previous teachers for the subject, ever since he had started teaching.
„It is … slow“, he replied. „I confirmed that milk thistle is indeed the only antitoxin that will counteract liberty cap. Do you think you could assist me in procuring some?“
Quirinus had never been very interested in herbology, and would hopefully not know that milk thistle was a rather common plant.
„I shall see what I can do.“
Professor Sprout had noticed, but fortunately waited until breakfast was over and they all walked to their respective classrooms and greenhouses before she walked up to him.
„You need milk thistle? I hope none of the students has eaten something wrong?“
„It’s Potter. She has gone and bought some questionable potion in Knockturn Alley. There is long-term damage, so a bezoar is not practical.“
„Oh! I did think she looked a bit under the weather lately. I suggested she ought to see Poppy for the hair loss, but I would never have dreamt that it is that bad.“
He shrugged. „She will live. Probably. Her father always survived his stunts, after all.“
Severus put the whole thing out of his mind for his first double lesson of potions.
When he retired to his office for a short break, he found that the house elf in charge of the owl post had left a letter there.
Addressed to the Half-Blood Prince. Either house elves were able to communicate with owls, or they had their own means of determining for whom a letter was meant.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
He opened the letter.
„Dear Half-Blood Prince,
Please call me Harry. I don’t really feel like a Harriet.
I live with my aunt and uncle and they always told me I’m not theirs, so don’t worry. They never told me anything about my parents, so I don’t know much about my mother.
Can you tell me what her favourite subjects at school were? Did she like her sister?
Yours sincerely
Harry“
Very well. The seed was sown. Hopefully, this would protect the child. Halloween was a dangerous time.
Severus kept his eyes on Potter during the Halloween feast, but he was distracted when Quirrell ran into the hall and stammered something about a troll.
For some reason Dumbledore decided to order the students to go to their common rooms. Did he suspect it was only a distraction and Quirrell had some sinister plan that he would enact in the Great Hall?
Well, at least the Slytherin prefects would be able to deal with a troll.
Severus followed the Gryffindor group. Just to be sure. Just in case Quirrell was working together with the hag …
And indeed, Potter stayed behind with Granger, and the two entered a corridor to the side.
„I can’t believe how stupid boys are“, Granger complained. „To go looking for the troll just because I told him not to.“
„Perhaps you shouldn’t have said that bit about him being bad at magic“, Potter replied.
„But it’s true! If he can’t even get a levitation charm right, how could he fight a troll?“
Severus followed silently.
They rounded a corner, and Severus heard the heavy footsteps of what could only be a troll.
And the scream of a boy.
„Wingardium Leviosa!“
When he came close enough to observe the scene, Severus had to admit that Granger’s levitation charm was flawless.
The boy – it was Ronald Weasley – floated below the ceiling, while a confused troll shook its club at him.
Severus had just performed a silent Levicorpus charm to drag the boy out of the way of danger, when the confused troll decided to attack Granger.
Potter threw herself at the troll, clung to its shoulders and rammed her wand up its nose.
Another Levicorpus charm and she was safely away from the troll. Severus stepped out of the shadows. „What part of go back to your common rooms did you fail to understand? Off with you before the creature recovers from its confusion.“
Severus strode up to the troll. „Expelliarmus!“
That, at least, got Potter’s wand free.
Three stunning spells were needed to incapacitate the creature.
And of course, the children were still there.
Severus handed the troll-snot covered wand to Potter. „What on earth were you thinking? Do you value your own lives so little? Are you so arrogant to think that you could defeat a troll with the two spells you have learnt yet, Granger?“
„Hermione said it was a bad idea“, Ronald Weasleys voice came from the ceiling. „My brothers bet me I wouldn’t manage to defeat a troll, and Hermione told me it was nonsense and no first year had a chance. They only tried to save me, professor.“
„Hmph.“ Severus used a Levicorpus to drag the boy down to the floor, then ended the levitation charm. „Thirty points from Gryffindor and you can tell your housemates it is all your fault.“
Perhaps it would be advisable to be somewhat kinder to Potter?
He turned to look at the girls. „And five points each for the two of you, for a recklessness that befits your house. Your father would be proud, Potter. He would also be proud to learn that you already earnt detention.“
Damn, where had that come from? He had intended to be nice!
But whom was he fooling? He just wasn’t a nice person.
After returning to his office, he wrote his letter to Potter.
„Dear Harry,
what do you mean, you do not feel like a Harriet? What would a Harriet be like, in your opinion?
Your mother’s favourite subject was potions, but she was also very good at charms. She was a member of the then potions teacher’s club for especially gifted students.
To answer your other question, yes, Lily did like her sister, Petunia. They were very close as children, but then Lily found out she was a witch, and Petunia was not.
Petunia was angry that her sister could do something she could not, I think. Lily was very sad that her sister did not like her anymore.
I assume Petunia is the aunt you live with? How does she treat you?
Yours sincerely,
The Half-Blood Prince“
Just when he had finished the letter, the fire flared green. Severus hid the letter under the book that was still lying on his desk and stood to greet Dumbledore.
„To what do I owe the honour of your visit?“
„We have not yet talked about your research.“
Oh right.
„I found the hag who sold Potter the potion. As you instructed, I did not attempt to kill her, but merely sought to gain information. She told me that, by not loving her, Potter’s relatives gave her to the hags.“
Dumbledore paled. „This should not have been possible. Lily’s sacrifice …“
„It seems to be more about how the child feels. A boarding school environment might not quite be what is needed. Perhaps you should place Potter with a new family right now. She can spend Christmas there.“ Twelfthtide was a time even more dangerous than Halloween.
„If Lily’s sacrifice does not protect her from hags, I can think of no safer place for her than Hogwarts.“
Hogwarts was not capable of protecting her. That was well established by now. „What about the hag sucking her bones out?“
„Harriet has only been here two months. Her emotional state will change over time. She has just started making friends.“
Severus was quite sure friends her own age would not help. It just wasn’t the same thing as a parent, not even close. „You need to make her feel wanted. Invite her to your office and have a chat with her or something. According to my source, an apprenticeship worked, but Potter has not even spoken to you personally, has she?“
Dumbledore smiled sadly. „You forget that I visited the hospital wing. I fear I am not Harriet’s favourite person right now.“
Right.
„Professor Sprout or Professor Flitwick?“ The child’s own head of house would have been the logical choice, but Severus had a feeling that Professor McGonagall wasn’t very good at being kind. Oh sure, she would always favour her Gryffindors … something he still felt bitter about … but he had witnessed the way she treated subpar students. How impatient and annoyed she could get ...
She wasn’t much better than him, really.
„I am sure they already do their best to make her feel welcome. As they do with all students.“
Severus gave up. „Then we can only hope for the best.“
He took his letter to the owlery after that.
Potter survived the night, and turned up for detention punctually, along with Granger and Weasley.
Severus gave Granger and Weasley some pots to scrub, then turned to Potter. „Considering your fragile health, physical work does not seem advisable. You will instead write an essay about hags.“
Scaring them straight was a time-honoured tactic of parents everywhere. He could at least try.
He put the Defense Against The Dark Arts textbook in front of Potter. „I expect a well-rounded essay that contains all necessary information, in your own words.“
Potter did not look healthier than before. Perhaps worse. She worked slowly, seemingly unable to focus.
When Granger and Weasley were finished with their task, Potter was still writing.
„You may leave.“
She got up and he collected the essay.
It was a terrible essay, the words of the original text only changed slightly, none of her own experiences added …
But he would not make her write another one. It would not be wise to alienate her.
Chapter 3