Redux

  Harry stood stock still in his new best friend’s sitting room as a stranger stared at him after calling his name. He didn’t know this woman, and had no idea how she even knew his name in the first place. It was very confusing, until he remembered Mr Snape’s letter, and that teachers would be visiting prospective students. This must be one of those teachers, and Hermione would get to go to that school. It seemed that people from this school knew who he was, which matched with what Mr Snape said too. This was going to take some getting used to.

Gathering up his courage, Harry rubbed the back of his neck, “Um, yeah, that’s me. I’m just visiting my friend, but it’s always neat to meet new people. Since you’re obviously here to see her, do I need to go back to the garden?” He looked between the new woman, and his friend, waiting for an answer. Hermione grabbed his hand and shook her head, then looked at the woman.

“Oh, dear me, no, that's not necessary, Mr Potter, I can say what I need to with you here. If you don’t already know about all of it, you’ll be getting your own explanation in a few weeks,” the woman said. “Oh, I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Professor Charity Burbage, I teach at a school for Gifted children in Scotland, which I’ve come to invite Miss Granger to attend. If it’s alright, I should get started explaining, there’s quite a bit of information to get through so you can make your decision.”

Professor Burbage launched into an obviously rehearsed speech, explaining about magic, Hogwarts, and the basics a Muggleborn would need to know to join the Magical society. Harry and Hermione listened with rapt attention, as all this information felt new, yet also familiar, and they didn’t want to miss a single detail.

When it was time for a demonstration, Hermione felt a tingle down her back just in time to “wish” her mother’s books from falling as the bookends holding them up turned into sleek black cats and jumped from the shelf. Professor Burbage was ecstatic, praising Hermione for her “accidental” magic.
“It wasn’t accidental ma’am, I just wished for the books not to fall.” Hermione explained, “Harry and I have been wishing things to happen since before we met. Is that normal for people with magic?”
“Not really Miss Granger, most children with magic, even those born into magical families, don’t do magic on purpose until starting school.” the professor replied, “I suppose this “wishing” could just be a way to direct your magic, I’ll have to ask other muggleborn children if that’s how they did it, random wishes aren’t a common thing in Magical society.”

Professor Burbage returned the cats to their original states and put them back on the shelf. When everything was cleaned up and the rest of the questions answered, the professor handed Hermione a letter that had her required materials listed, including special books for muggleborns. It was decided that another professor would come by in about two weeks to take the Grangers to the shopping district to pick up the materials.

Once the professor left, Hermione and Harry did what they could to calm the adults down from the excitement the news caused, and finished their visit in the back garden. Harry tried to figure out when to call on Mr Snape, or Professor as they figured they should get used to saying. Hermione told him to head to the park before bed, but Harry thought that was too public. The garden at the Dursley’s wasn’t a good idea either. They decided that the woods outside the park would be best, if Harry could find a clearing.

Dr. Helen drove Harry home right after supper, making it back to Little Whinging in time for Harry to unpack and make his way to the park. He debated what to say to the man he was about to summon, and couldn’t think of anything more than asking more about his mother. He also had a feeling that Professor Snape would be leading the conversation, if his letter was anything to go by.

Harry found a small clearing in the woods, and pulled out the seal with the ribbon. He realized he didn’t have a way to light the ribbon, but after some thought, he pinched the fabric between his fingers and Wished. It worked, and the ribbon grew warm and lit with an eerie green flame.

After a few minutes, Harry heard a crack behind him and turned around to see a tall man in black robes standing before him. The man definitely looked similar to how his aunt had described him as a child, with the oily black hair and the Roman nose, but his clothes were obviously not as threadbare.
“Harry Potter, I presume?” the man said, in a deep and bored voice, “I am Severus Snape, or Professor Snape, as you will be in my classroom come autumn. You want an explanation about the things you’ve been lied to about, yes? I will explain as much as I can, but before your questions, I do need to ask you something. Are you treated well at home? Your aunt was not the kindest person growing up, and I need to know if she ever started acting like an adult.”

Harry paused for a moment while he thought about his answer. “Well, sir, I wasn’t. I made a friend though and now it’s a lot better. The worst part about growing up wasn’t Aunt Petunia though, Uncle Vernon and Dudley were worse. But now, they can’t hurt me anymore, Aunt Petunia won’t let them.”

Snape’s already dark eyes darkened considerably. “Mr. Potter, your new friend wouldn’t happen to have been visited by one of my coworkers today?”

“Yes sir, we met Professor Burbage… I think that was her name.” Harry replied.

“Good. Now I’m going to take my wand out and cast a spell, it won’t hurt you, or do anything to you, but I will be able to see your state of health and if there’s anything that needs healing. I’m just a little worried about the “anymore” part of your answer.” At Harry’s nod, Snape pulled out his wand, waved it in sync with his left hand, and chanted a diagnostic spell. The air around Harry wavered and his body started to glow, green in some places, reddish orange in others, gold around his head, and black around his scar.

“Mr Potter, I found a few injuries, they mostly seem to be healing, but the fact that you’ve received them gives me pause. There’re also a couple things that have showed up, that usually wouldn’t on this spell. Tell me, have you been told how you got your scar?” Snape explained.

Harry thought for a moment and replied, “Well, I was told it was from the car crash that killed my parents, but you said that that’s not how they died. So, no, sir, I don’t know how I got it.”

Snape sighed, “Well, they got it partially correct, you did receive that scar the night your parents died, but, like I explained, it wasn’t from a car crash. Your parents were powerful Magical people, and we were in the middle of a war. For reasons I can’t explain right now, they were targeted by their greatest enemy and killed in their home. That enemy tried to kill you too, but something happened, and his curse failed, banishing him, and leaving you with a cursed scar. Has it been bothering you at all?”

“No, sir. I haven’t felt it more than itch in my life. I mean, it gets a little warm when your left arm comes near it, which is weird, but other than that, no pain or anything.” Harry replies, earning himself a quizzical look from the man in front of him. “I didn’t say anything weird, did I? *Mr Snape*, is there something bad about my scar?”

Snape’s eyes started to glass over, but he shook his head to clear it. “Cursed scars are always “bad”, Mr Potter, but I’m afraid I can’t explain the specifics about yours right now. It showed up black on my spell’s scan, which means there’s active Dark Magic in it, but I can’t say what kind. Your head also shone gold, which isn’t a normal color that spell shows, and you performed some accidental magic or something when you said my name.” He checked his pocket watch and his eyes widened a bit, “It is getting rather late though, and you best be off, as should I. I’ll send another letter with a summoning seal when I have time to explain more. Good evening, Mr Potter.”

Harry bid the man farewell in return, and turned to leave the forest, hearing a crack behind him just before he reached the edge. He turned back to find the dark haired professor gone, and started to head home. Aunt Petunia was going to make him clean the dishes for being out so late. Oh well, the hard work would let him sleep soundly tonight.

He finished the chores he had to do for staying out late, said his good-nights, and climbed into bed, in his new room. It was sagging, springs crushed from so many forgotten toys laying upon it, but it was his now. The blanket he had was threadbare, but it was summer and he didn’t need warmth, just some weight.

He closed his eyes on Privet Drive, and opened them in Thanatos’ office. Hermione arrived shortly after, her body materialized sleeping on the couch provided. She hugged him as soon as she stirred, before stepping away and asking about his meeting with Snape.

“We have something important to talk about. Snape can see we’re not normal, and I Nudged him to talk about my scar, and his Mark, and he almost didn’t say anything. He called it “accidental magic”, I think the Nudges are Celestial Legillimency or something.” Harry explained. “We need to talk to Thanatos about Snape, we might have to bring him in, especially if he looks into the gold that showed up on his scan.” Harry looked up from Hermione’s face as he heard a sound behind her. “Speak of the Devil.”