Severus stalked across the lawns on Private Drive, just two days after talking with Potter. He'd be damned if he didn't go ask Petunia what in Merlins name was wrong with her. He went during the day, figuring this way Potter would likely be off with one of his miscreant friends, and he wouldn't have to see the child.
He sneered at the matching houses and immaculate lawns. It was no surprise that Petunia was attempting to prove to the world how 'normal' she was by matching every other drab Muggle home on the street. Petunia was an insufferable bland whisp of a personality as a girl, clearly adulthood had not brought her any great changes.
Severus stalked up to number four and knocked briskly on the door.
A man's booming voice sounded throughout the house. "Pet! Get the door!"
Petunia Dursley neé Evans opened the door with a simpering smile on her face.
"Hello, how can I- oh god, what do you want?" Her smile had turned in to a grimace when she recognized Severus.
"Now Tuney, is that any way to greet an old friend?" he drawled, a smirk firmly settled on his lips.
"Get out of here! I never wanted to see your face again," she hissed, trying to close the door on him.
He stuck his foot in the doorway to prevent her from closing it and raised his brows at her. "I'm here to discuss your sister, you know the DRUG ADDLED ONE."
Severus purposely raised his voice at the end of his statement to incite her to let him enter her home or risk the neighbors hearing their conversation.
It would be a pity if her neighbors began asking questions. Questions that might shake the bland 'normality' Petunia hoped to exude.
It worked. Petunia paled and ushered him in, "Well get in here and lower your voice."
He stepped inside and looked around the interior hallway. There were photos lining the walls in the hall and the wall leading up the staircase. He curled his lip at the slovenly blonde youth portrayed in every photo. Oddly, there were no photos of Potter. Was the brat camera shy?
"Pet? Who was it?"
A large, mustached man, who adorned many of the photos on the walls, came lumbering in.
"Ah, you must be Tuneys husband." Severus looked the man up and down and curled his lip in distaste, "The pleasure is yours, I'm sure."
"Vernon darling, this is Severus Snape. He was one of her friends when we were children." Petunia was trying to speak calmly, laying her hand on Vernons arm, but her voice quavered the whole time.
The man, Vernon, puffed himself up. "Listen I don't know what you want but we don't need any of your freaky kind hanging around here."
Snape ignored him and looked sharply at Petunia. "I am here because I had an interesting conversation with Mr. Potter. He was under the impression, an impression you gave him, that Lily had not died and had instead abandoned him to pursue an addiction to drugs?"
Petunia, to her credit, was a marvelous actress. She truly looked confused.
"Potter? He died when they got blown up didn't he?" She managed to turn several shades paler than she already was, a true feat really. "They didn't- didn't come back to life did they?" Her voice had lowered to a horror filled whisper.
Merlin.
"Don't be obtuse Tuney," Severus sneered. "I meant with the child, Harry Potter."
Vernon glared at him. "Look here- we don't know who this whelp Potter is and we don't care. I've heard all about you and your freaky friends, and we don't want your nonsense anywhere near us. Now you better leave before I ring the police!"
Severus sighed. He had hoped to do this peacefully but these muggles were being deliberately unhelpful. He pulled his wand out and flicked it at them; placing a stunner on both.
"Now," he said smoothly, "why don't we have a rational conversation?"
Severus turned to Petunia and fixed her with a piercing stare, one he perfected over years of discovering lies. "Where is the boy at currently?"
"What boy?!" she shrieked. "My Dudley is with his friends!"
"Not your whale of a son- Potter. Where is Potter at today?" Severus hissed at her, fed up with the nonsense and a headache growing.
"Please, we don't know any Potter children." Petunia was wailing, struggling futilely. "The only boy we have is our Dudley."
What is wrong here?
Severus sighed. If they were going to be like this, then so be it. He looked Petunia in the eyes, pointed his wand at her forehead, and whispered, "Legilimens."
He was immediately sucked in to a torment of Petunias memories and emotions.
It is difficult, but not impossible, to search a persons mind for memories attached to a specific person or event. All an experienced practitioner needs to do is suggest to the mind the person or event they wish to see.
He whispered, "family" to Petunias mind. He swept past any memories attached to "Diddikins" or the walrus of a man she calls her spouse. He ignored painful flashes of Mr and Mrs Evans; two wonderful people whom Severus mourns more than his own father.
And ah, there is Lily.
Petunia's memories of Lily are wrapped up in envy and bitterness. Her memories of Lily flashed quickly, as though her mind was trying to reject the presence of her sister within it.
No arguments from Severus. He would rather not be assaulted with the memories Petunia holds of Lily, his own are plenty to cause him distress.
"Harry Potter. Lily's son," he whispered.
Severus waited for the memories of the child to appear when Petunias mind when completely black.
The black was disorienting. It wasn't the fuzzed blankness of a person struggling to recall memories of a specific person or event. It was the void blackness of something being completely removed from a mind. It held a specifically cloying taste, almost medicinal.
He withdrew from her mind sharply, paying no need to her comfort.
"Obliviation?" he murmured.
There was no other explanation as to why any memory of Potter was blackened from her mind.
Petunia whimpered, with tears running down her cheeks. "Please, I don't know what you want. Just leave us alone."
Well this is certainly curious.
Severus came here, intending to right a slight done to a dead woman, and instead finds himself ensconced In a troubling mystery.
Who obliviated Petunia Dursley, Potters guardian, into forgetting the child? And more pressing, when had they done it? Was the child present?
Son of a bitch.
Where is the blasted boy?!
Severus began imagining scenarios of the family running afoul followers of the Dark Lord when they purchased his school belongings. They could have kidnapped the child and obliviated him from his relatives minds to lower the chances of his kidnapping being immediately reported.
Severus steeled himself and turned to Vernon Dursley. He would have to try a different approach, and Petunias mind would be too fragile to enter again at the moment.
He stared in the terrified eyes before him and slipped in to Vernon's mind.
As soon as he entered the man's uncommonly simple mind he threw up as many shields as he could around the bulk of the man's mind to block out all incoming thoughts, emotions, or unwanted memories.
He concentrated on the image of Potter in his own mind and eased that image into Dursley's. If the man had glimpsed Potter after his obliviation, and Potters likely abduction, he would pull up the memory and Severus could remove it for his own use to study it and identify the culprits.
He lowered one of the shields he placed in the mans mind as he concentrated on displacing the image of Potter from his mind to Dursley's.
He was preening in the mirror, combing his mustache, thinking of the deal he hoped to broker for the day. He grabbed his suit jacket off the bed post when Petunia started shrieking from a different part of the house.
"VERNON! CALL THE POLICE! THERE'S A VAGRANT IN OUR HOUSE!"
He snatched his golf club from the bag against the wall and lumbered as quickly as he could to the kitchen.
He burst through the kitchen door and was partially relieved to see it was a bruised, bloodied, tiny child. He couldn't be much more than 5 or 6 years old.
He swung the golf club toward the kid and screamed at him, "GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR HOUSE! I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"
The child stared at him, gobsmacked. Probably just scared he got caught before he took off with their valuables. There were tears forming in his big green eyes and Vernon was having none of that. He grabbed the scrawny welp by his shirt cuff and drug him to the front door.
He easily threw the child out the door and told him firmly, "If I ever see you near my home or my family again I'll have you locked up for the rest of your life, is that clear boy?"
He slammed the door shut and the memory ended.
Severus pulled out of Dursley's mind and occluded his own. He needed to focus on the task at hand before he began deciphering the details.
"Memoria Extractius," whispered, pulling the silver thread from Dursley's mind into the silver vial he conjured.
He whispered a spell to put both to sleep and released them from the stunner. He debated on clearing their memory of his visit but ultimately decided against it. Too many obliviations to a mundane mind could tip it over in to madness.
And someone, (Potter?) had clearly already done it one.
He shot one last sneer at Petunia then swept out the door, apparating to Hogwarts.
Upon his arrival at Hogwarts he made quickly to his office. He knew Albus would, undoubtedly, want to know immediately about the oddity surrounding Potters relatives but he needed time to analyze the memory beforehand.
He tipped the memory in to his pensieve and entered it once again.
Aaaand, there.
He held up his hand and paused the memory at Dursley's first sight of Potter.
He walked closer to the boy, who was frozen in his look of surprise. The child had fewer scars on him than the Potter he saw the day before yesterday but still too many for a mere child of roughly 5 or 6 years old.
This Potter was pale; much paler than the tanned child he saw before. He was also gratuitously bruised. Even with the oversized, and bloody, clothes he wore, Severus could see the bruises on his face, his neck, wrists, and collar bones.
There was a look in the child's eyes as well; he was absolutely terrified, exhausted, and utterly clueless about why his relatives were referring to him as an intruder.
Severus had to occlude and clear his mind multiple times to examine every angle of this memory without receding and going to curse Petunia and her bloody whale of a spouse.
Lily's eyes should never hold that much pain and fear.
After replaying the memory multiple times, Severus withdrew and burrowed his hands in his hair as he thought about it.
Who obliviated the Dursley's? If this is the only memory that Dursley had of Potter, and he would return eventually to verify Petunia as well, then they had been obliviated sometime before that morning. However, if the bruises on the child were from the whale, which Severus strongly suspected they were based on the child's fear in his presence, they were only hours old. Had the man beat the hell out of the child then been obliviated that night?
Was it Potter?
Could a child that small cast a charm that strong?
Or, perhaps, was there a witch or wizard who knew of Vernon's abuse who thought they were doing the Boy-Who-Lived a favor by erasing him from the Dursley's minds?
Where has Potter been living since then? If the boy was 6 in this memory, and supposing the Dursley's truly never allowed him to return as Dursley's memories indicated, that left five years that he was unaccounted for.
Damn them.
At least Severus could be reasonably sure the boy would attend Hogwarts if the way he clutched his letter had been any indicator.
He sighed deeply and resigned himself to attending to Albus. He would need to inform him on his meeting with Potter and his discovery of the Dursley's.
"Severus! My boy! Come in, please, come in!" Albus stood and waved his arms open in a welcoming gesture.
Severus curled his lip at Albus' ridiculous robes of bright blue with green dragons embroidered throughout it.
"Albus," he said coolly, sitting down. "I assume you would like to know how it went with Potter?"
The older wizard chuckled. "Never one for small talk are you Severus?" His blue eyes twinkled as he smiled at the Potions Master. "I do admit myself to be a tad curious at how your conversation went with young Harry."
Snape snorted, 'a tad curious', was the equivalent of saying Hagrid was 'a tad fond' of dangerous creatures.
"A memory, I presume?" he asked, seeing the pensieve already prepared on Albus' desk.
Albus inclined his head, his eyes never losing that infernal twinkle. "If you would be so kind."
Severus recalled his meetings with Potter; both the incident at the park and the later conversation at the deli. He delicately pulled the strand out and placed it in the pensieve.
"Will you be joining me?" Albus inquired politely.
"Certainly."
Severus would likely need to reassess his initial findings of Potter's behavior to seek for clues regarding the incident with the Dursley's.
His first view of Potter certainly should have held some clues towards abuse. And it likely would have, had he not been so focused on the boy's filthy state of dress, poor manners, and irksome accent.
Too small for his age and hungrily watching the parents with their children. He looked envious and resigned in his stares.
His flinches. His wariness. His easy evasiveness. Although... interesting.
Albus noticed at the same time Severus did.
"Did he... imperius Minerva into leaving?" Albus whispered, shock radiating from every fiber of his body.
That certainly explains Minervas abrupt, and unexplained, departure... Though not how the boy became so adept at using such a dark curse.
Severus cringed when he saw Potter's fear and meek submission appear when he grabbed his arm.
Albus paused the memory when the child whispered, "I don't wanna hurt you, but I will." Severus recalled how later the child confirmed that he was able to make bad things happen to people who hurt him.
Does erasing their memories of him count as a 'bad thing'? Severus mused silently.
Albus was pale and obviously shaken. "An unforgivable cannot be completed accidentally. It requires intent and a strong control of the casters magical core."
Severus nodded thoughtfully. He was much less reserved in his ire when Albus continued the memory and he realized that Potter had intentionally incapacitated him.
'Accidental magic' my arse.
Although... it was worrisome that a young boy had mastered the wandless ability to put a possible threat to sleep with nothing more than a whispered desire to see it happen.
It did not bode well that the boy had peace since being unceremoniously thrown from his home.
Albus looked grim. The twinkle in his eyes had dimmed, and his lips were pressed in a thin line.
They both watched as Severus cornered the boy on the bus. He felt a bit of shame when he now recognized the boys defense mechanism of curling in to himself and attempting to appear as small of a target as possible.
Potter also snapped personas rather quickly when Severus had been eyeing his distasteful clothing.
The child went from scared and submissive to aggressive...
The back of his neck felt relatively hot when he thought of the different ways an abused child may have interpreted his frank and assessing gaze.
"Curious..." Albus murmured when the child protested Severus purchasing his lunch. "He barters rather like Lucius, does he not?"
Severus almost snorted at that assessment. He perhaps would have, if Albus had not said Lucius' name as an insult, rather than a compliment. The child did seem to hash out the terms of their 'deal' over lunch rather thoroughly.
Which begs the question of where and why the child learned to not trust food freely offered...
"He was unaware of the letters delivered to his Aunt's home?" Albus asked.
Severus raised one shoulder delicately, he had not yet told Albus of his visit to Petunias home and had planned on doing so after they viewed these memories.
Albus paled so dramatically when the child described all he was able to do wandlessly already that Severus was momentarily concerned for his health.
"Merlin..." Albus whispered.
Severus was rather disturbed by the child's admission as well. Especially listening to it with a new perspective now.
'I can take away my cuts and bruises' speaks to a child with consistent injuries.
'I can make myself warm when it's cold out' tells him the boy is used to going without the basic amenity of adequate shelter.
'I can make bad things happen to people who are mean to me, I can make them hurt if I want' raises the question of who all had hurt the child and how? It must happen with an alarming frequency if the child had trained his magic to hurt his attackers.
The Headmaster watched the rest of the memory play out; still pale faced and grim. They exited the pensieve together and Severus gave him time to collect himself.
He was also rather disturbed at the boys obvious abuse and grim life; he imagined Albus was feeling guilty as he had placed the child with Petunia's family to start with.
The wolf would have been a better option.
Except, he hasn't been there in years... where has he been hiding since then?
Albus finally sighed and steepled his hands together, his face still grim. "The boy will need to be watched carefully Severus."
He nodded his head in agreement. They would need to tread carefully with the child if he was as abused as he suspected.
"At this rate, with all we have learned, I believe the boy will be placed in your house Severus. Do you believe yourself capable of handling the situation?"
Severus inclined his head. "I believe I have plenty of experience in this area," he said. "I should be able to handle Potters case if he ends up in the Slytherin house."
Sadly he did have plenty of experience with abuse cases. Most abused children tended to build a strong sense of self-preservation and became cunning in order to survive.
"I believe this will be more of a challenge than any others you have had in your house before Severus." Albus still spoke grimly, his eyes were uncharacteristically stern.
"I agree. Nevertheless, I should manage to at least help the child find some sense of peace." Severus owed Lily that much at least.
Albus peered at him intently. "And if you are unable to sway him to peace I shall need you to inform me at once and I will handle the boy."
...Wait, what?
Severus felt rather wrong footed. "Handle the boy?" he asked.
Albus nodded, still stern and grim. "I won't allow another Dark Wizard to terrorize these halls. If he cannot be contained or swayed from the path he is on, then he shall have to be stopped before he can cause irreparable harm to our wards and our world."
"I am misunderstanding you Albus. Are you concerned for Harry or concerned about Harry?" Severus asked slowly.
The child was undoubtedly sly, his ease of not hinting that he had left his relatives care spoke easily enough of that. But was Albus frightened of the child?
He has stopped referring to him as 'Harry' and has switched to 'the boy'. Is he distancing himself from the child already?
"Severus, that boy has all the markings of a Dark Wizard written in every word he speaks. His manipulations, his control of his magic, and the disregard with which he uses unforgivables is eerily reminiscent of a young Tom Riddle." Albus looked weary but determined. "I will not idly stand by and assist another threat to our world to gain traction in these halls."
Severus frowned. The Headmaster didn't even acknowledge that Potter's behavior spoke more towards a frightened young boy than it did that of a 'budding dark wizard'.
He shouldn't be surprised. Albus' refusal to see abuse in children coupled with his fear of any branch of magic aside from Light had always made him biased against his Slytherins.
He supposed he had only escaped that bias once he became important to the man through the position he had held at the Dark Lords right hand.
"Well, my boy," Albus clapped his hands together, calm once more. "I believe we shall keep this between us and agree to keep an exceedingly close eye on the boy, shall we?"
Severus tilted his chin minutely. He would certainly keep a close eye on Potter. Even if his reasons vastly differed from the Headmasters.
"Wonderful. Thank you Severus. I understand the vow you swore to the boy and if it comes down to stopping him, I will ensure it is done in a way to keep you separate and safe."
Well, that's certainly ominous.
"If there's nothing else then?" Albus looked at him inquiringly.
Severus hesitated. He had planned on showing Albus the memories of confronting Petunia about her vile lies of Lily, not that Albus seemed concerned about that... but with his concerning thoughts towards the child, what would he say when he reviewed the rest?
Would he force Potter back to that home? Would he refuse to see the bruises and behavior of an abused child?
"I would merely like to request a few days off before the term starts, if you please Albus," Severus said coolly. "I have ingredients I would like to procure for my NEWTS class that would be best harvested before term begins."
Albus agreed cheerfully. "Of course! Take all the time you need. I will see you at the Sorting?"
"Certainly, Albus. I shall see you then."
If Severus wanted answers about Potter's past and his behavior he would have to seek them alone. To involve Albus would clearly be dangerous to the child's safety.
He prayed the child would be simpler to find this time and willing to broker another deal with him.