Prologue from the Future
Potion Master and Hogwarts resident Potion Professor walked through the Forbidden Forest a basket of potion ingredients hanging off his left arm. His right arm tense and wand at the ready. It was more dangerous at night to wander through the Forbidden Forest, but the ingredients he needed to collect could only be collected at night. He’d been collecting ingredients in the forest for years and knew never to let his guard down.
He walked along eyeing a patch of Deadlyius mushrooms, not ripe, he thought and glanced around his surroundings once more. There wasn’t much to look at, even with the moon high, bright and full in the sky when he entered the forest, it didn’t matter. The forest repelled light, and everything appeared dark; black. It was only years of venturing in the forest that Severus walked with almost confidence, but even he knew to expect the unexpected.
Severus enjoyed collecting his own ingredients, he ensured he got the best crops of what was available to him which wasn’t a lot considering his teacher’s pay. It also got him out on his own, away from the children he detested, away from his light master that was definitely a little senile, away from dealing with thoughts of the Dark Lord’s return.
He maneuvered around a tree that seemed to spring up in his path out of nowhere and paused, in an opening in the forest were two shapes on the ground. He walked cautiously forward and realized that the shapes were people. Small, perhaps students. They weren’t moving. He quickened his steps.
The Potion master hastily set his basket of ingredients down as he kneeled next to the first body, gently rolled them over. It was boy. Dark hair, glasses. Oh. It was impossible, of course. He thought even as he ripped his hands away from the boy. It couldn’t be, because he knew that the body was dead. Unless.
Unless.
Unless someone dug up the body.
Why?
No, they couldn’t have. They wouldn’t have been able to restore the flesh that would have decayed throughout the years.
A glamour?
“Finite Incantatem” he said, pointing his wand at the teen.
Nothing happened. So not a glamour.
How was James Potter, his childhood bully, here? He was dead. Snape knew because his childhood best friend had married James, produced a spawn and then she and her husband were killed by the Dark Lord.
The body groaned, and twitched, and seemed to do a check of his body before opening his eyes. “Professor?” The teen asked, “Where are the Death Eaters.”
Because of course everyone in Slytherin was a death eater to James and his crew of idiots. The marauders, “Potter.” He bit out, glancing towards the other body as they started to come around, an unknown teen girl, “James Potter.” He clarified, and he did not stutter, damn it.
“Harry Potter.” He teen said, confused, “Look, we don’t have time explain, but…”
Of course James would try to talk his way out of this, whatever this was, somehow, “Potter, whatever jok- What is this?” He demanded.
“Sir.” The girl said as she struggled to sit up, once she was up, she continued, “How are you alive? You were just…we just…Did we leave you to die?” She asked and Severus could hear an almost pained tone in her voice. What
“What are you talking about girl? Whatever game James Potter is playing I suggest you think twice about playing it.” He bit out, annoyed and shocked, and okay maybe a little bit scared. He turned back to his childhood tormentor, “How did you survive? How are you here? Why have you only just come now?” He fired off questions, but none of them close to what he cared about, If you’re here, why isn’t Lily?!
“Sir.” The boy said slowly, exchanging a glance with his partner, “I’m not James Potter. I’m his son Harry.”
Snape would have snorted if this wasn’t so messed up. But no, James couldn’t be back from the dead. And no, this couldn’t be his spawn that Snape had the misfortune to teach starting this year. Polyjuice potion? A curse? A creature that could take a human form? How could this be, and why? He sneered, jamming his wand into the teen, or whatever and whoever it was, “Harry Potter is a child in his first year at Hogwarts. I suggest you try a new lie.”