kbinnz - Harry's New Home

"Mm." Snape wasn't sure he trusted himself to say anything else; the brat's unqualified trust both delighted and terrified him.

Harry thought of another question: "Erm, why did that lady ask about my godfather? She made it sound like I should be scared of him."

Snape internally gnashed his teeth. That idiot Skeeter woman had a lot to answer for. "Your godfather was one of your father's closest friends. During his Hogwarts days, your father had three best friends. Unfortunately, they turned out to be an idiot, a werewolf, and a coward." Snape smirked as Harry's eyes widened. "Your father made his closest friend your godfather. It is widely believed he also entrusted this same man, Sirius Black, with the Secret of your location when your family went into hiding. When the Dark Lord found you, it was assumed that this man betrayed you to Him. There was subsequently a battle between your godfather and another of their little gang, resulting in several deaths and the disappearance of the other wizard. Your godfather was captured and imprisoned in Azkaban, a dreadful place."

Harry was trying to keep up. "Why would my dad have such awful friends?" he demanded, then he gasped. "These were the ones who picked on you?"

Snape merely inclined his head. At Harry's horrified countenance, though, he softened. "Your father did тАУ eventually тАУ develop a more mature outlook, Potter. He demonstrated a latent intelligence when he fell in love with your mother and successfully courted her. He displayed great courage when the prophecy was made known, and he died bravely, defending you and your mother. Perhaps his friends did not grow up as he did, and that caused the rift which led to their betrayal; I don't know. While they were all in school, however, they delighted in swaggering around campus, picking on those whom they could get away with tormenting. I was, unluckily, their favorite target, perhaps because I was often able to defend myself."

"So my godfather helped kill my parents an' he was sent to jail an' now he's locked up," Harry said bleakly.

"Not exactly," Snape admitted. "First of all, your godfather has recently escaped, and there is speculation that he will seek to harm you for your role in defeating the Dark Lord. That is why the reporter asked if you were frightened of him."

Harry gulped. "You won't let him hurt me," he said, a little shakily.

Again, warmth blossomed. "I will not let anyone hurt you, especially Sirius Black," he spat, imbuing Black's name with all the vitriol of twenty years of hatred.

Harry relaxed. "Then that's okay. How would he get here, anyway?"

"Precisely," Snape agreed. "However, there is another misperception I should correct. As I said, your godfather was imprisoned in Azkaban. There was never a trial, however, and it appears some in the Ministry now seek to re-open the case."

Harry gaped at him, scandalized. "How could he not have a trial? People can't just be sent to jail without a trial тАУ can they?" he asked, realizing anew that he was no longer living in the Muggle world.

Snape shifted in his chair. "Not usually, but at the time everyone was convinced of his guilt, and it appears that certainтАж formalitiesтАж were overlooked."

"But that's wrong! So he's just been locked up this whole time? What if he didn't do it?"

"That is distinctly a minority opinion, Mr Potter," Snape sniffed. It wouldn't do to have the brat appear too convinced of Black's innocence when the rest of the world expected him to be terrified.

"Yeah, but тАУ"

"And it now appears that there will be an investigation and presumably a trial, so the matter is moot," Snape continued in tones that brooked no argument.

"It just isn't fair," Harry muttered. Then he looked up again, his brow creased. "If you were a spy an' people thought you were a Death Eater, then how come when Voldevent тАУ" Snape had given up trying to correct the brat "- disappeared, you didn't get sent to Izkibibble like my godfather did?"

"Azkaban. And I was spared imprisonment because the Headmaster spoke up on my behalf and revealed my role as a spy. The facts were not well publicized, but the truth was made known to the Ministry, and they accepted the Headmaster's word."

Harry's frown deepened. "So how come the Headmaster didn't speak up for my godfather or make the Ministry give him a trial?"

Two points for thinking like a snake and not a lion, Snape thought, smirking. "Well reasoned, Mr Potter," he replied. "Such perspicacity has earned a chocolate frog." He accio'd the treat from the stash he had hidden in his quarters, knowing that those blasted books insisted that he have some way of rewarding the little brat.

Harry stated in astonishment as the frog landed in front of him, but his paralysis was quickly overcome by his greed for chocolate. "Thanks!" he said, munching away at the frog. "Erm, but what's perssicacity?"

Snape rolled his eyes. He would have to get the brat a "Wizarding Word of the Day" calendar. "Perspicacity is another word for cleverness. It indicates that you are able to perceive subtleties and make fine distinctions. In this case, you correctly identified similarities between two unrelated cases and inquired about them. That was clever and shows that you possess the ability to think critically."

Harry beamed proudly.

"To answer your question, you will have to consult the Headmaster, as only he can share his motives with you." Snape had no intention of opening that Pandora's box. Oh, he had his suspicions, but he wasn't going to share them with the brat. Even if Dumbledore had believed in Black's guilt, he still should have pressed for a trialтАж unless he had another reason for wanting the entire matter to vanish quickly and quietly. A reason like his extremely unorthodox handling of Harry's placement with the Dursleys. Sirius Black's trial would certainly have involved plenty of questions about The Boy Who Lived, and considering how closed-mouthed Dumbledore was being at the time about everything related to Harry, Snape could well imagine that he would not welcome anything that kept the spotlight on the Potters and their orphaned child.

He didn't want to contemplate whether Dumbledore truly believed Black was guilty and the trial a mere formality that could, if held, have placed Harry at risk from the remaining Death Eaters. If he didn't think him guilty, yet cold-bloodedly allowed Black to languish in Azkaban in order to have Harry grow up in the environment he had chosenтАж No, that thought was almost too horrible to contemplate.

Still, even if Dumbledore wasn't that chillingly manipulative, he had at the very least not intervened when he bloody well knew he should have, and Snape had a horrible feeling that as a result an innocent man тАУ well, Black anyway тАУ had endured years of undeserved torment. That alone was enough to convince Snape not to place his own or Harry's life in the man's hands. Dumbledore was, at best, fallible, and that meant that he wasn't going to be trusted with Harry's safety. Not any more.

"SoтАж do you think he did it? My godfather, I mean," Harry asked tentatively.

"The vast majority of the wizarding world is convinced he did, Potter, assisted by inane articles by Rita Skeeter and others. The alternative тАУ that the Ministry could allow a miscarriage of justice this enormous тАУ is simply too much for most to tolerate." He tossed his head back. "I, however, have no faith in the Ministry, so while I have every reason to know how spiteful and reckless your godfather is, I am unwilling to condemn him on the sole evidence that 'everyone knows it's true'," he sneered.

Harry looked mournful. "I wish life worked out an' was fair an' тАУ"

"Do not prattle on like a na├пve nitwit, Potter. If that were the case, you would not have spent ten years of your life in those Muggles' cupboard, treated like a house elf and thrashed mercilessly."