kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Snape did his best to hide his dismay. Of course the occlumency тАУ which Harry thought of a "relaxation exercises" тАУ would shore up a disintegrating mind, but it wouldn't be able to hold off the inevitable for long. Harry clearly needed urgent medical assistance.

"I think we have done enough tonight," he announced, needing to get the brat back to his Tower before he lost the ability to hide his true emotions. "As far as these 'weird voices' of yours go, if you make a greater effort to do your mental exercises, then they should cease to trouble you." At least in the short run.

"Okay, Da," Harry agreed cheerfully.

Once the boy had left, Snape passed a shaking hand over his face. How was he to break the news to Albus?

TBCтАж

*Chapter 49*: Chapter 49

A/N: Caution! Cliffhanger ahead! (And yes, I will post the next chapter ahead of schedule to make up for it.)

In the end, Snape decided not to speak to Albus.

While he was quite certain that the Headmaster would want to know that The Boy Who Lived appeared to be showing the first symptoms of a severe mental illness, Snape wasn't all that certain that it was wise to share the information just yet. He hadn't even gotten formal custody of the boy yet, and once Harry was formally diagnosed with such a problem, whether its roots were Muggle or magical, the chances of that happening were miniscule. No, Harry would be whisked away into whatever program Albus felt had the best chance of curing the boy, and Snape wasn't willing to risk Dumbledore's judgment again. Better to wait until formal adoption proceedings were complete, and then he could quietly take Harry to be evaluated тАУ perhaps somewhere abroad тАУ before deciding what to do and whom to tell.

It just meant that he had to watch the boy even more closely, so as to be able to watch for worsening symptoms. He convinced Minerva to give the boy some extra transfiguration lessons, on the pretext that the boy showed exceptional promise. She had been skeptical, but agreed. He told Harry that these were in preparation for animagus lessons with Sirius once he was a little older, and the brat fell for it.

That meant that most of the time, Harry was within sight of either a faculty member or prefect, and Snape further hedged his bets by asking Hagrid to keep an eye on the boy as well. As he had expected, the half-giant was thrilled at the prospect of spending time with Harry, and Harry seemed inexplicably fond of the nitwit and his hypersalivating hound. Usually some of the other children accompanied Harry on his forays to Hagrid's hut, but occasionally Harry went by himself, as it was then easier to slip the inedible rock cakes to Fang without Hagrid noticing.

Of course, while Hagrid would unquestionably give his life for Harry, his judgement often left something to be desired.

"Da! Guess where Hagrid's taking me tomorrow!"

Snape frowned at the brat, who had just burst into his heretofore quiet quarters. "Good evening, Mr Potter."

"Oh, sorry. Hi, Da. Did you have a nice day?"

"Ye тАУ"

"Guess where Hagrid's taking me tomorrow!"

"I assume you are trying to ask permission for Hagrid to take you somewhere tomorrow?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Oh, Daaaaaaa!" he groaned. "Don't make it so hard! You know you'll say yes eventually."

"I hold no such conviction, Mr Potter, and with every discourteous outburst, you reduce the chances of such an outcome still further," Snape said forbiddingly.

Harry huffed and threw himself down on the couch opposite his father, not in the least dismayed. "Fine. Be that way. I just won't tell you!"

"Harry Jame-"

"Okay, okay," Harry gave in. "He's gonna take me into the Forbidden Forest with him to look for baby unicorns! Isn't that great?"

Snape frowned. "Into the Forbidden Forest? I hardly think that's an appropriate outing for a first year. The dangers of the Forest - "

"Oh, Da!" Harry threw up his arms in exasperation. "It's not like I'm going by myself! I'll be with Hagrid, an' it'll be broad daylight, an' we're looking for unicorns, not some Dark creature. Please say I can go, pleeeeeeeeeease?"

Over the next ten minutes, Snape found out just how grating the repetitive nagging of an eleven year old could be. "Oh, all right!" he finally exploded. "You can go, but if I hear that you didn't do exactly what Hagrid told you, you will be on restriction for the rest of the year. Do you understand?"

Having won the day, Harry beamed with delight. "Yes, Da," he replied obediently.

Dear Annals of Wizarding Science, Snape thought resentfully. I would like to propose an investigation into the debilitating power of childish whining on adult nervous systems. As someone who successfully withstood the Dark Lord's punishments, including repeated bouts of Cruciatus, yet could not withstand a similar period of whinging by a pre-teen, I suggest that these whiny tones contain some peculiar blend of mental control and pain receptor stimulation. Please investigate and advise as to any protective methodologies, from the wearing of aluminium foil hats to bludgeoning oneself unconscious.

##

Harry thought the Forbidden Forest was one of the most exciting places he'd ever been, though seeing the size of some of the acromantula's webs had made him a bit queasy. He resolved not to share that part of his adventure with Ron, lest the redhead wake the dorm up with his nightmares.

Still, trotting alongside Hagrid, it was easy to feel invulnerable. Not only was the giant amazingly knowledgeable about the Forest's denizens, but he was on good terms with most of them.

"So, how're you likin' school, 'Arry?" Hagrid eventually asked, having finally run out of new things to show the boy.

"I love it!" Harry exclaimed, practically dancing by Hagrid's elbow.

The half-giant sent him a fond look. "You doin' okay in y'r classes then? Teachers not givin' you too much grief? Makin' friends an' all that?"

Harry nodded vigorously. "I've got a whole bunch of friends, though Ron was my first," he added conscientiously. "And I like all the teachers тАУ well, I do now. I didn't really like Professor Quirrel or Umbit- erm, Professor Umbridge, but they're gone now an' the Headmaster's teaching DADA, an' he makes it fun." Harry chuckled. "He makes my da mad though, 'cause he gives us lemon drops as well as points when we do something right, an' my da doesn't like me to have too many lollies but he can't really yell at the Headmaster very well." Harry grinned at Hagrid.

Hagrid let out a shout of laughter. "Oh, I can see that, all righ'. The Headmaster does drive Pr'fessor Snape half-mad sometimes." He paused, giving Harry a worried look. "Now, 'Arry, you'd tell me if you weren't getting' along with Pr'fessor Snape, right? Seein' as how I was the one t' sort of bring you back into the Wizarding world, I feel kinda like responsible for you. You are getting' along okay, yeah?"

Harry nodded. "He's great, Hagrid тАУ honestly! He takes really good care of me. I mean, he won't let anyone hurt me, and he got rid of anyone who tried тАУ those older kids from Ravenclaw an' Quirrel an' the rat who betrayed my folks an' then Umbitch an' even that weird house elf Diddy тАУ he made them all go away. An' he made the Headmaster promise never to send me back to the Dursleys no matter what, an' he got me the coolest prezzies for Christmas, an' he's just been the best da ever! Did you know he was even tryin' to help me back when I was just a baby? He was! He was spying on Voldesnort so that he could help keep my mum and dad and me safe! AndтАж"

Hagrid beamed as Harry happily babbled on about how wonderful Professor Snape was. From what he'd heard, th' poor lad had had a horrible time of it among those Muggles, but if his shining face was any indication, that was all in the past. Then Fang barked, indicating that he'd caught sight of the unicorn herd, and the enormous man and the small boy hurried to catch up to the boarhound.