kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Snape grumbled and sulked, but he couldn't refute her logic.

"Now then, may we proceed to the question of who is targeting Harry in this manner?"

That got his attention, and he sat upright. "And why? Until today, I had hoped it might simply be some fellow students with a grudge тАУ real or imagined тАУ but if Albus had difficulty undoing the spellsтАж"

"It is a very insidious plot," Minerva mused, "to undermine Harry with faculty and students alike. To set him up to take the blame for pranks he didn't do, thereby increasing his sense of resentment, mistrust, and alienationтАжIt is truly wicked."

Snape gritted his teeth. It would have been nice if Minerva had been similarly astute when the Marauders had been setting him up for all manner of mischief. He could recall far too many undeserved detentions тАУ some with the very witch sitting across from him. But that was in the past, and there was little value in raising it now. At least it made him vividly aware of what Harry was going through.

"What is it they are after?" Minerva continued thoughtfully. "To isolate Harry? To drive a wedge between him and us? To get him into trouble? To attract negative press attention? To see him punished unjustly? To ruin his academic record? To blacken his name? To keep him so busy with detentions that he can't keep up his grades? What possible goal could they have to make us think Harry is behind these actions? They're making the Weasely twins seem positive underachievers by comparison!"

Snape stiffened. Something Minerva had said rang a bellтАж Or more precisely, it was the one penalty she hadn't mentioned that had caught his attention. Of course she, like Snape, knew it would never happen, but what if the mysterious adversary were less knowledgeable about Albus Dumbledore and his approach to school discipline?

While Snape had been lost in thought, McGonagall had moved on. "Regardless of motivation, we still need to decide how to respond. Harry tells me that thanks to That Woman, the other students are beginning to accuse him of getting a free pass on all mischief. For the sake of his interactions with his peers, as well as to mislead our foe, Harry will need to be punished for this latest stunt. Or, to be precise, he will be punished for his actions in my office, but if the rest of the school chooses to assume it is for the furniture prank, so be it."

Snape glowered forbiddingly. "Punished how?"

McGonagall looked thoughtful. "Hmmmm. I have an idea. Leave it to me."

"Minerva," Snape said warningly.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, very well. I should think that having Harry scrub the floor of the Great Hall would convince any skeptics that he was well-punished for the prank."

Snape shook his head. "No. He is not to be treated like a house elf. It will be too reminiscent of the boy's treatment at the hands of his bastard relatives."

"I promise that will not happen." McGonagall had a suspicious twinkle in her eye.

Snape frowned, but in the end, he didn't want to jeopardize their alliance by flatly refusing. "If the boy becomes distressed тАУ"

"Severus. You really must learn to calm down," Minerva admonished, much to his annoyance.

The witch canceled the Muffliato and rose to fetch the boy, still standing dejectedly in the corner.

##

Harry wiped his mouth on his napkin and eyed the plate of biscuits greedily. While it was true he'd already had his pudding, the biscuits were just so tempting! When the house elves had popped in to offer a cup of after-dinner tea, both professors had accepted, and the elves had sent up biscuits as wellтАж including all of Harry's favorites. He tried not to drool as he did his best "puppy dog eyes" at his father. Draco had coached him on it, saying it usually worked with his parents.

McGonagall observed Harry's hopeful looks and Snape's stern glares with poorly concealed amusement. It really was so cute to watch the two of them together. "I believe Mr Potter should have one biscuit," she suggested to Snape. "He will need his energy for his task this evening."

Harry perked up and turned expectantly to his guardian. Snape looked as if he had just bitten into a lemon, but he very grudgingly nodded, and Harry's hand snatched a biscuit as quickly as if he were grabbing the snitch in a Quidditch match.

"Manners, Mr Potter!" his da scolded, and Harry mumbled a "th'nk'y" around the cookie crumbs in his mouth.

"Erm, Professor McGonagall, what'd you mean about me needing extra energy for tonight?" Harry asked curiously, swallowing the last of his biscuit. Once he'd rejoined the adults, his Head of House had summoned dinner trays for them, and there had been no further mention of the unpleasantness in the Great Hall or its aftermath.

"I meant, Mr Potter, that you have a detention with me this evening, and I suspect you will find itтАж tiring."

Harry gulped nervously, though he noticed that Professor McGonagall had a kind of twinkly look about her eyes. "UhтАж what is it?"

She glanced at her clock. "Yes, the rest of the school should have left the Hall. I think we can begin. Severus, we shall bid you good evening now."

With one last glare of warning, Snape rose to his feet, his cloak billowing behind him. "I trust you shall recall our discussion, Professor."

The elderly witch had the temerity to roll her eyes at him. "And I trust you shall recall my suggestions to you."

Snape growled. The nerve of some people! Just because he provided proper supervision over his ward did not mean that he "hovered". He tilted up Harry's chin and scowled at the brat. "You will behave yourself," he told him sternly. "AndтАж you may come to our rooms tonight if you need me."

Harry's face lit up. His da couldn't be really mad at him if he was inviting him to come home later. Harry nearly always slept in the dorm with his mates, but every once in a while he tended to sneak down to the dungeons, especially if he'd had a bad day or had had a nightmare or something. His da never snapped at him when he did, but this was the first time his father had ever openly said he could. "Okay, Da!" he agreed happily, oblivious to Professor McGonagall's sudden coughing fit.

Several minutes later, he was a lot less happy. He stood by Professor McGonagall's side in the center of the Great Hall. She'd chased out the last of the students, then closed and warded the doors. Harry watched nervously as she spelled the furniture to cluster in the far corner, clearing the enormous room and making it look as it had earlier that evening.

To Harry's dismay, several scrub brushes, rags, and buckets then magically appeared around them. "I expect this floor to be spotless when you are through, Mr Potter," she said, handing him a toothbrush.

Harry's shoulders slumped. The Hall would have been hard enough to clean with a regular brush, but with thisтАж He'd be here until breakfast!

Well, it wasn't like he hadn't had plenty of experience in scrubbing floors. Dudley's jeering voice was loud in his memory as he unhappily accepted the toothbrush and started to get down on his knees.

"Mr Potter!" Professor McGonagall's scandalized voice halted him in mid-crouch.

"Yes'm?" he asked nervously. What had he done now?

"Mr Potter, that will take forever. Have you forgotten you are a wizard?"

"Erm, no."

"Well then..." She looked at him expectantly, but Harry could only blink in confusion.

"Did I say you were forbidden to use magic to complete the task?"

"N-no," Harry admitted, eyes wide.

"Then I expect you to use this as an opportunity to practice your transfiguration skills. Come, come, Mr Potter! Don't dawdle. Take out your wand and get busy."

An incredulous grin slowly crept across Harry's face as the potential of this "detention" dawned on him.