Year 1 - Chapter 4
Harry sat at the end of the boat that the strange man was rowing, huddled in on himself, hiding from both the watchful glare of the man in front of him and the cold. The man scared Harry; he’d burst into the house with all the grace of Uncle Vernon after a few drinks – which was not a lot. His piercing glare made Harry shiver. Looking at the man now from the corner of his eye, Harry was unsure about exactly what the stranger before him wanted. He wasn’t saying anything and Harry wasn’t about to strike up a conversation. He'd learnt the hard way that children should be seen and not heard.
“Potter. Are you cold?” The stranger asked him. No Professor Snape. That’s what he said his name was. Professor Severus Snape. But Harry was never going to call him Severus. You don’t call your superiors by their first name. Another lesson Harry had learnt from Uncle Vernon.
“Potter?” Professor Snape asked again. Harry shook his head. He was cold but he couldn’t let Professor Snape know that. He’d only get accused of wanting to take the clothes off of other’s backs so no, Harry would continue to shiver against the cold and he would like it. After shaking his head, Harry ducked his head again and looked down, fists clenched in his oversized shirt.
Severus was confused by the boy in front of him. He was clearly cold. He was shaking and based on how thin he looked, Severus wasn’t surprised. But why the boy shook his head when asked, Severus wasn’t sure. The man looked at the boy quizzically and took in his appearance. The boy was as thin as an Azkaban prisoner. His clothes were way too big for him and fell of him. The shirt was rolled up at the sleeves revealing frail, bony wrists and nails that were bitten down to the quick. That spoke of a nervous boy but the boy before him didn’t look nervous. He looked frightened. His green eyes, whilst partially obscured by the messy mop of black hair, were bright and wide. But what worried Severus more was that the boy had not said a single word. No snappy remarks or clever whit that Severus would have expected from the spawn of James Potter.
“So, Potter, do you want to hear about Hogwarts?” Severus asked, trying to engage the child in a conversation. He assumed the boy would jump at the chance to hear about magic but instead, the child stayed silent and didn’t even look up to meet Severus’ gaze. “Potter. You can talk to me.” Severus reached a hand out to touch the boy’s arm but at the movement the boy flinched horribly and started shaking more than he was before. Severus pulled his hand back, putting both up in surrender. The green eyes flickered from one of the professor’s hand to the other and then looked back down again. The child started breathing heavily and began pulling on his fingers.
“Potter. It’s ok. I won’t hurt you.” Severus said calmly. Not wanting to push the boy, the pair finished the boat ride in silence.
When the boat reached the shore, Harry looked at the professor before standing up. He wasn’t about to assume anything and he had learnt to take the lead from adults. Professor Snape stood up and stepped from the boat. He offered his hand out for Harry but the boy ignored it and clambered from the boat, gripping the edge as he went. He still avoided eye contact with Snape.
“Potter, we are going to apparate to London where we will be getting your school supplies. Hold my arm please.” The man said to the boy. He offered his arm again but the Harry hesitated in taking it. Was he going to trick him? Hit him? Harry wasn’t sure. He began pulling on his fingers again; twice on his ring finger, three times on his little finger and then once on every other finger – rinse and repeat.
“Potter. It’s ok. I won’t hurt you.” Harry noticed a touch of sincerity and softness in Snape’s voice so Harry shakily put his hand on the man’s arm. Almost immediately, everything went black and Harry felt sick.