After their conversation with Poppy, Albus and Minerva returned to the dungeons to help with cleaning the debris and start preparing the reconstruction. While the transfiguration Professor talked to the head-house-elf about searching the original plans for Hogwarts construction, the Headmaster could not take his mind from the problem of Severus’s de-aging. Voldemort was not going to be happy at loosing his ‘spy’. If the recent reports he received were to be believed, Severus was not in HIS good graces.

The rumors among the lower ranking Death Eaters, where he had other spies posted, were that the Dark Lord suspected the Potions Master was passing information to the light. But since Snape was still useful he had been allowed to live. Voldemort would not hesitate in killing the Potions Master now. Severus Snape’s career as a spy was finally over.

After turning himself into an infant, Severus lost all his usefulness to the Dark Lord, especially because there was no chance of turning him back in the foreseeable future. Poppy was going to investigate with some of her colleagues, but she could not guarantee to find a cure anytime soon. Their best chance at the moment was to find Severus work journal.

Keeping an infant Severus at Hogwarts with all they had to do; including reconstructing the dungeons was not going to be neither easy nor safe. A child that young required constant attention, and he was sure none of the female professors would mind baby-sitting. But they all had things to do for the Order now that Fudge had no choice but to admit Voldemort was back. Most of the Professors had not been members of the Order of the Phoenix before, although all were trusted colleagues. Now it became imperious to enlist them. Thankfully all of them volunteered aware of the seriousness of their situation.

Despite having more Order members at school, it was still not completely safe. Voldemort’s people had managed to infiltrate into the school before, and even with increased security it was no guarantee that he would not find a way to do it again. Dumbledore decided it was better to keep quiet the details of Severus ‘injuries’ to avoid accidental slips. So far only three people and five of their most trusted house-elves knew. The old wizard wanted to keep it that way for as long as he could. He had already come to the conclusion that he needed to create a decoy to keep the appearance that the Potions Master was in a coma. They could keep it in one of the private rooms the infirmary had. Now the only thing left was to find a safe place away from the public eye for the real Severus.

Albus was brought back from his pondering as a house-elf moved him to safety. A large wall of the dungeon hall they were currently working at crumbled and it would have crushed him if it was not for Winky’s quick action. The damage was really serious and the castle still could not sense that area of itself. It worried that some of the main wards had either been damaged or worse, disabled and it could not do much to solve the problem. So far Hogwarts had been able to asses that the anti-apparition wards for inside the castle’s walls were not working, although those that extended outside were functioning all right. In other words, wizards or witches inside the castle’s wall could apparate anywhere inside the castle, but no one from outside could get in or those inside out.

Dumbledore thought that it really was a miracle Severus had survived the cave in of his workroom. He did not want to think what would have happened to the students had this took place during term, when the children were at the school. After several long hours of non-stop work, Dubban finally convinced him to go back to his quarters and rest. Albus was not as young anymore despite still being one of the most powerful wizards of the world. The old man made his way back to his office –which connected with his private quarters- tiredly, looking dirty and disheveled. To his surprise Alastor Moody was in his office waiting for him.

“What happened old friend? You look terrible!” The retired Auror asked apprehensive. He stood up to offer help but Dumbledore signaled for him to remain seated. So the Auror called a house-elf to bring tea and a light dinner. Winky complied explaining that she had been assigned to the Headmaster, while most of the other house-elves were working in the dungeons.

“A severe potions accident is what happened my friend,” he responded after he seated in one of the comfortable chairs near the fireplace. Mad-Eye sat on the one facing him. “Half of the dungeons lower levels are either gone or turned into rubble. The higher levels are a mess too, and the castle itself has been cut out of that area”

“So Snape finally showed his true colors? I’ve told you…” He gloated. The old wizard had never trusted the Potions Master. In his opinion, once a Death Eater always a Death Eater; of course, the paranoid Auror did not trust anyone beside Albus Dumbledore and that only to a point.

“Alastor please, we’ve talked about that enough,” Albus said tiredly, there was probably no meeting with the old Auror that he did not bring up his misgivings about Severus’ loyalties. “I do understand your reservations about Severus’ loyalties. He became a Death Eater in his youth, it wasn’t completely by choice. You know we all make mistakes in our youths. Severus saw his almost immediately, he came to me for help and he has been loyal to our cause since then.”

“You were always to trusting Albus,” he said reproachfully.

“And you too paranoid Alastor,” Albus stated tiredly. He took off his glasses to clean them with his robe before he spoke again. “But we have agreed to disagree in this, and really you should believe me when I tell you Severus is loyal to us.”

“After destroying the dungeons you still…”

“It was an accident,” Albus interrupted waving a hand in a dismissive gesture. “It has happened before, and probably will happen again as long as potions are taught down there.”

“You really believe it? Where is he anyway?” His magical eye swirling as he searched for the younger wizard. “I can’t find him anywhere.”

“He’s in the infirmary. He was gravely injured and at the moment we don’t even know what he had been working at. Some of the house-elves are looking for his potions journal. He meticulously recorded everything he worked on there, even those things he did for Voldemort.” The old Auror did not cringe at the name like most people, but he looked disapproving at the mention of it.

“How bad is he injured that he can’t tell you himself?” he began to believe that it might be as Albus suggested, and accident. No Slytherin would risk his or her hide to achieve their goals. He purposely ignored the fact that Snape risked his every time he went to a meeting with his ‘other Master’ to get information. “And for your information he does not appear to be in the infirmary.”

“Oh he is there, believe me. He isn’t able to leave on his own, as he had a few fractures, and concussion among other things,” Albus said thinking about the signs of abuse Poppy had found in Severus’ seven month old body. He did not like it at all, but perhaps now that he was back to being a small child they could make it up for him. Give him the happy childhood he did not have the first time around until he was returned to his right age. “He was also completely doused in the potion; whatever it was caused him to… to have some unexpected and frankly strange reactions.” Dinner arrived and both wizards began eating. “Now, what brings you here old friend?” He asked wanting to change the subject of the conversation for a moment, he needed to think if it would be wise to inform Alastor of Severus’ condition. The man had, with no doubt, already seen the baby in the infirmary.

“The Potter boy’s situation,” he stated, his voice a mixture of worry and anger.

“Harry? What happened? He should be safe with his relatives.” Albus commented unconcerned.

“Albus, your idea of safety greatly differs from the rest of us if you believe that. From what I’ve seen he’d probably be safer in You-Know-Who’s hands than with those despicable muggles.” The disgust at the muggles was barely contained and it made Albus wonder. He knew Alastor was not prejudiced against them.

“Now, now Alastor, they are his family. Surely you’re…” He tried to soothe his friend’s anger only to be interrupted by a furious Auror.

“Albus you’re blinder than I thought. Those muggles HATE the boy! We threatened to hurt them if they did not treat him well this summer, and what do they do? They are blatantly defying us, and those extra wards you put on their house won’t allow us to do anything! We promised to help him if they treated him badly and WE CAN’T! Did you know he’s not allowed out of the house, they overwork him, and he has barely eaten since he left two weeks ago!”

“He’s bound to be depressed and mourning Sirius, it’s a normal reaction for grieving. I see nothing to worry about if he keeps to himself for a little while; it’s been only about a month since his Godfather died.” Albus reasoned, although he began to worry a bit, it was not good for Harry to loose more weight; he had already lost a few pounds before leaving for Surrey, and he was already such a skinny and small fifteen year old.

“That’s not it. They don’t feed him; I’ve seen it and heard them threaten to starve him like they used to! Like they used to Albus! What does that tell you about those despicable muggles?” At this Albus frowned, why would they starve Harry? And if they did, why did the boy never mention it before? “They all have gone so far as to hit him for not finishing the massive list of chores they give him, not even with magic would he be able to do so. The fat ‘thing’ they call a son has a game called ‘Harry Hunting’. Believe me, it isn’t nice to watch, especially when the boy has no where to escape. Do you know how hard it is to watch and know that due to the reinforcement of the house’s protections we CAN’T do anything to help? Albus this can’t keep going, you ARE going to loose the boy. It’s a wonder he hasn’t sided with You-Know-Who yet, but mark my words if you don’t do something soon you WILL loose him.” He was very angry and did not feel any remorse as he saw his friend sag tiredly on his chair, a worried and sad expression on his face.

“I see…” He finally was able to say. “I never thought they were that bad, I knew of course they did not like him, but he never hinted at abuse from them. He has asked me many times not to send him back there though.”

“Of course he would never have, do you think that boy wants people to know how he’s treated at his so called ‘home’? I bet Potter has never called that place home.”

“He must for the wards to work efficiently, but I have not checked them conscientiously in a very long time. It seems a revision is in order. If his home life proves to be what you’re telling me, then we’ll have to make arrangements to remove him from their care,” He sighed. That was going to be difficult as Hogwarts was not an option at the moment and he was sure the boy did not want to be at 12 Grimmauld Place. “Fudge has finally got some sense and agreed to lower the age for students to use magic outside of school.”

“So I heard yesterday. They lowered to sixteen for all types of spells, and to fifteen for any defensive spells, jinxes, or curses. The fifteen year olds have, of course, to prove that they cast them in self defense,” he said approvingly. With the Dark Lord around he was sure it would be needed, just as better DADA classes would be required at Hogwarts. He had heard of Potter’s little club, it might be a good idea to continue it with some supervision and open to more of the children. It was important to keep constant vigilance for their safety.

“That was still not enough to keep Harry, and those children members of the DA that were at the Department of Mysteries safe. There’re a few weeks until Harry’s sixteenth birthday, and both Miss Weasley and Miss Lovegood are a year younger than the others. So I managed to convince Cornelius to grant those children permission to use all types of magic during the summer break and to take specialized training.”

“That is good. Potter is too small and scrawny to fight on his own strength. But the boy is a strong wizard; being able to use magic at all times should keep the muggles off him.” He approved of this with a nod; it would give the boy the edge he needed to avoid a beating and to get the nourishment he needed. “and the girls would have still been at a disadvantage with the new law should they need to defend themselves.”

“I had planned on sending Fawkes with a letter informing Harry and the rest of the children today, but with Severus’s accident…” he trailed off, and then all of a sudden he seemed to come back to life, eyes twinkling madly.

“You’re twinkling Albus, that’s usually not good for the rest of us mortals. Should I begin to worry?” Alastor inquired wearily, it was never good for most people when Albus twinkled. It meant that he just had one of his crazy ideas and planned to set it in motion.

“Not at all Alastor, not at all; there’s nothing for you to worry about. But I just found the answer to some problem I had been pondering all afternoon. I just could not find a place where I could keep Severus safe, as he can’t go back to spying…”

“Why would you need to keep him safe? The man can protect himself, besides, why has he to stop spying? The Order still needs all the information we can gather, even if it comes from him.” The wizened Auror asked intrigued, he might not have trusted Snape, but he did know the younger wizard was a worthy opponent. If he admitted it to himself, he was among the best duelers he had seen during his long career in Magical Law Enforcement.

“The accident left him quite defenseless, and in need of constant attention.” At the retired auror’s puzzled expression he explained. “He had a bout of uncontrolled magic and turned himself into a seven months old baby…” He had to stop because Mad-Eye Moody, the hardened Auror was laughing so much that he was crying.

“Snape… turned himself… into a baby…” he wheezed and then was off laughing again. That was something he would not have believed of the stoic Potions Master, that wizard was famous for being extremely controlled, except when in a rage.

“Seriously Alastor this is no laughing matter,” Albus reproached him, although he was sure that once he had Severus back to himself he would probably end laughing just as much.

“I really think it is, so when are you turning him back, I want front row tickets for that,” he chuckled.

“Actually, we can’t change him back,” Albus stated sadly. This got the old Auror’s undivided attention.

“What do you mean you can’t? I know for a fact magical accidents are Madame Pomfrey’s specialty.”

“They are; she’s actually one of the best in the country. But this was caused by uncontrolled magic, and apparently assisted by whatever concoction Severus was brewing. She can’t change that kind of accident, and does not know who cans. Poppy has asked for time to investigate and consult, but in the worst of cases Severus will have to grow back to himself the long way, year by year.”

“What about his knowledge, is it all lost?” Alastor frowned, whatever he thought of the younger wizard’s loyalty he had been extremely useful to the Order, and the best Potions Master in Great Britain.

“According to Poppy’s diagnostic spells, the knowledge and his memories are still there. It is just not accessible to Severus at this age.” Albus looked sad and at the same time resigned, “He is, for all effects, seven months old with no recollection of people or things he knew when he was older. But maybe Poppy will find a way for Severus to access his knowledge.”

“That does not sound good at all; I guess I understand why you want to keep him safe.” Despite not liking the man he did sound a bit preoccupied by the turn of events.

“Good, you know we need to keep this as quiet as possible. Voldemort won’t hesitate in killing Severus if he is no longer useful to him. Now that I’ve thought about it better Harry’s relatives’ home is the safest place against Voldemort that we have.”

“Albus have you forgotten already what I told you about the boy’s relatives? Those people are abusive and hate magic as much as You-Know-Who hates muggles. You’re precious Potions Master won’t be any safer there than Mr. Potter is at the moment.”

“No Alastor I haven’t forgotten. We will deal with that, don’t worry. But I believe you must be grossly exaggerating.” The old Auror harrumphed; his friend was too trusting in human kindness for his own good. “Think about it, if we leave Severus in Harry’s care then we have the pretext to keep a closer eye on the both of them. The muggles will be forced to treat the boy better if they don’t know when someone will be visiting, and as I said Harry will be receiving extra tutoring this summer.”

“Albus, Mr. Potter is not yet sixteen. He is still a child; you can’t expect him to take care of another child, especially when he is grieving over the death of his Godfather. I don’t think this is a good idea at all.”

“I think believe it might be Alastor. You said Harry’s depressed, and he has a right to be. He barely had a chance to get to know Sirius, but he was family none the less. He probably blames himself for it, although the blame is not sorely his. A lot of us made mistakes in handling last year’s situation,” Albus admitted regretfully. He was where most of the blame rested; he should not have kept so many things from the boy.

“I did warn you Albus, but at least now you have finally seen what kind of damage comes from keeping things from that boy.”

“Yes you were right old friend. Going back to Harry, I believe that if he has someone to look after, that needs him for himself and not because he is 'the-boy-who-lived' might help him come out of his depression. Feeling needed and loved should do the trick. ”

“Albus I did not say he was depressed. I said the boy was grieving, and that’s not the same thing. Besides, this idea of yours is completely crazy! We’re talking about SNAPE! That man does not love; he does not have feelings at all, save anger.”

“You’re wrong Alastor, Severus does have feelings. He just had a hard life and prefers to keep them to himself. He’s a really accomplished actor, has to be to survive this long as a spy. But anyway, now he is only a small, skinny baby, not the sour and vitriolic man he used to be. If this works all right, and I know it will, he will have good memories of Harry and his childhood when we manage to get him back to his old self.” He assured the old Auror.

“I still think it’s not a good idea my friend, the boy hates Snape. I would not put it past him to blame the git in some part for Black’s death. Even though against my better judgment, I believe Snape holds little blame in those events at the Department of Mysteries. He did what he had to do in order to remain a spy,” Alastor admitted grudgingly.

“You’re right; Severus has no more blame than the rest of us. Perhaps his most grievous error was to have stopped the Occlumency lessons; and I can’t really blame him for that. Severus is a very private man and Harry did invade that privacy by looking in the pensieve.” The Potions Master had reluctantly told him his reasons for refusing to teach the boy occlumency, and Albus in turn had informed his most trusted Order members; Remus Lupin –who was barely able to function in his grief- and Alastor Moody. “He did warn Sirius it was better to remain at Headquarters, that he believed this to be some kind of trap. But Sirius would never listen to him.” Albus sounded tired and sad; the death of Sirius Black had been bad for the Order’s morale. He was appreciated by most. It had hit Harry, Remus and Tonks especially hard. The young Auror spent a long time recovering in St. Mungos.

“Those two never did get along, and you know Black also influenced Potter on Snape’s regard. Not that Snape did anything to prove Black wrong. In fact, he did his best to make the boy hate him, when what was needed was to earn his trust.” Alastor argued. He did not believe anything good would come of keeping Harry Potter and Severus Snape living under the same roof.

“I have to admit that they don’t get along, and that Severus is greatly to blame here. But… what can a small defenseless child do to Harry now? Severus is completely helpless and completely dependent on others to survive. I also know Harry still has a good and compassionate heart,” Albus countered.

“That is, if the muggles have not darkened it by now.” He warned the Headmaster, as there was only so much abuse someone could take. Then with a sigh he added. “I know you won’t change your mind regardless of what I say, so, when are you going to visit him.”

“Tomorrow, early in the morning since I want to talk with his relatives; I would appreciate it if you would come with me.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss the boy’s reaction for anything.”