Chapter 1
The day was almost over, all Harry had left was potions. He had been dreading this class. Specifically because of the fact they no longer used the textbooks, and rather started relying on the board. (Which is too far away for Harry to see, even with glasses.)
He entered the classroom, and sat down. Just waiting for the class to be over, it was going far to slow. He found a nice corner to stare at.
“—If you manage to botch this potion, it will explode onto you.” Snape droned on, at this point the corner was more interesting than Snape ever is. “To those of you that didn’t feel the need to pay attention, I hope you know that the textbook,” Snape slammed Harry’s textbook closed, “Will not be any help. The ingredients and instructions are on the board.” Harry glared at Snape, but quickly stopped at the fact he would have to read the board. The same board that’s too far for Harry to read. All writing was blurry, he had Hermione though
“What’s the first step again ‘mione?” Harry asked, squinting at the blurry letters. Hermione sighed dramatically.
“For Merlin’s sake Harry- invest in new glasses!” She said in a hushed whisper, “Add goats tongue and stir counter-clockwise for 3 seconds.” Harry did just that, making sure to glance at Hermione every now and then. To copy what she was doing.
“10 points from Gryffindor for cheating,” both Harry and Hermione jumped at the sudden voice, “and another 10 points away for helping another student cheat.” Harry wanted to speak back but apparently Snape was done and had walked away. He rolled his eyes and continued to copy off Hermione. He would until he would be moved away.
Hermione wrote down the instructions and handed the paper to Harry, who was much grateful. He whispered a ‘thank you’ and copied from the paper. Soon enough the potion began to bubble weirdly. He thought this was weird, Hermione never mentioned anything about the potion bubbling.
“Hermione, is it supposed to bubble like that?” Harry had leaned over to ask. Hermione looked positively revolted, and scooted away.
“It can’t be that bad Hermione-“
It was, in fact, that bad. Because it exploded onto Harry.
Snape had walked over to the area Hermione and Harry had been. Hermione looked less revolted and more scared. They were creating a de-aging potion. It should’ve only de-aged him to ten, if anything. If it had exploded that means he did something wrong. He could be a baby, or a full-grown adult. Though by the looks of it, he had gotten younger. It was hard to tell, because of the purple-ish smoke that surrounded the scene.
“CLASS DISMISSED!” Snape yelled, everyone but two left. Ron and Hermione stayed and Ron was crouched down, shocked.
The smoke had cleared up, and Snape now had a very clear image of what had happened. Harry Potter was de-aged, but, to around 3-4. Younger Harry looked terrified, but remained silent. His eyes flashed across the room. Ron was staring like an idiot, but what else is expected from a 13 year old when their best friend gets turned into a toddler in front of them.
Prepared for a tantrum, Snape looked at the young boy. But, was left waiting when a silence filled the room. The boy had calmed down, in fact, and had a very neutral look on his face. It looked as if he was in a daze, asleep with his eyes open.
“Harry?” Ron had asked, getting the boys attention, “Do you know who I am?” The boy contemplated for a moment before rapidly shaking his head no. Ron looked worriedly at his friend.
“Can you speak?” Snape had asked, not any nicer to the younger version of Harry. The child nodded and refused to make eye contact. Harry had his knees pressed against his chest, he was trying to make himself as small as possible. Snape sighed, “Verbal answers would be appreciated, Potter.” The boy glanced up at him.
“Are you hurt?” A gentle voice asked, it was revealed to be Ron who had asked. Harry had shook his head instantly, the overly large shirt had fallen off his shoulder.
“Verbal responses Potter,” Snape sneers, “Listen for once in your life, yes?” Harry winced at the discipline, and quickly looked away.
“Don’t listen to him, mate. You can answer how you want.” Ron glared at Snape, Harry liked the ginger guy.
“You two keep him in here, I’ll grab the headmaster. I mean it, stay here.” Snape walked towards the door to inform Albus. Hermione and Ron nodded. The boy relaxed a bit, and looked at the two others.
“My name is Hermione, this is Ron. The greasy git you saw earlier is Professor Snape. He’s going to get the headmaster, Dumbledore. Possibly Professor Lupin as well. We like Dumbledore and Professor Lupin, but you can make your own judgments.” Hermione explained, knowing how confused the child might be. Harry nodded, finding the name ‘Lupin’ to be familiar.
“How old are you bud?” Ron sits in front of Harry. Harry holds up 4 fingers, smiling slightly.
The door opened rather harshly, causing Harry to jump. He tenses back up, looking at 3 other unfamiliar faces. One with scars all over his face and kind eyes, an older woman with gray hair and black robes, and another old man wearing dress robes and a long beard. The one with scars looked slightly familiar but not really, Harry automatically liked him though.
“Hello there my boy, I see you got yourself into a mishap!” The old man says, oddly happy and loud. Harry wasn’t sure what to think of him. “Ah, how rude of me. You don’t even know who I am. Right, I’m Albus Dumbledore. Snape tells me your not very verbal?” Harry looked away, slightly getting closer to Ron.
“Albus, you’re scaring him.” The older woman whispered loudly to Dumbledore. “I’m Minerva. I’m sorry for my colleague.” She said in a far more pleasant volume. Harry smiled slightly.
“I’m Remus, you can just call me Moony.” Remus had said, that name was far more familiar. So was the voice. Harry relaxed, looking at ‘Moony’.
“Since your a little younger, my boy, we might send you back to the Dursley’s until we can come up with a cure.” Dumbledore suggested. Harry tried making himself even smaller, curling up more into a ball. His eyes were harshly shut, he clearly did not agree with the idea.
“Dumbledore-“ Remus was cut off.
“Ah, don’t worry my boy, they haven’t changed much. I’m sure they’ll be understanding!” Dumbledore attempted at reassuring the small child. But Harry just scooted further away from Dumbledore and closer to Ron. Ron was glancing at Hermione.
“Shouldn’t he stay here? So it’s easier to watch him?” Ron suggested, Remus agreed.
“Well, does anyone in here know how to take care of a child?” Dumbledore asked, a bit passive aggressively. Everyone except for Snape, Hermione, and Dumbledore raised their hand. Dumbledore frowned for a moment, before nodding. “I see, I guess he can stay here.” Remus suddenly looked very shocked for a moment.
“Where is he?” Remus asked quickly, looking around the room. The room suddenly went quiet.