Severus woke to Fawkes staring down at him with a letter in his beak. "Fawkes, it's a bit early." Fawkes dropped the letter. He opened the letter.
"Sev, what type of birdie is this? He was kind enough to spend the night with me."
Severus looked at Fawkes. "He stole you, didn't he?" Fawkes did a bit of head bop with a flutter of his feathers. "That brat is going to drive Albus Dumbledore out of any sanity the man had." He wondered how they missed the boy walking out with Fawkes. Severus got dressed and made his way to the boys' dorms. He had a snake to speak to.
"Uncle Severus, I wasn't expecting you so soon." Draco was still in bed which didn't surprise him. Actually, all the snakes were except for one.
"I'm looking for Potter." He knew the boy should be in here.
"He's in the shower." Blaise sat up.
"I don't think he spent the night here." Draco pointed to the made-up bed. "He wasn't here when we went to sleep."
Severus wasn't sure why Draco was ratting out his new dorm mate. "Draco is just being prissy because Potter wasn't in awe of him. Draco, it isn't a good enough reason to be a tale-teller." Theo muttered from under his blankets.
Blaise started laughing. Draco threw a pillow at him. "Potter didn't know how important the Malfoy family is." Blaise starting laughing again. "You should have seen Draco's face when Potter went who."
"Still don't have a clue." Harry put his toiletries away. "However, anyone against Dumbledore is a friend in my book."
The Slytherins were shocked but Severus noticed that Harry didn't seem worried about it. "What did you do?"
"Privacy spell the goblins taught me. Nothing said in this room can be shared with anyone." Harry gave Severus a small smirk. "You know I wasn't going to trust that old fool."
"My office, Potter." Severus held up his hand as Draco, Blaise, and Theo were about to object to the privacy spell. "It works for you also." Severus turned and left the room.
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"Potter, I'm going to lay down some rules, you will follow-"
"Rules? Really? Do I strike you as a rule follower?"
Severus watched the boy sit down with a grace he had noticed only in pure blood or those who were very confident in who they were. Usually, children didn't have that type of confidence at 11. "None the less you will or you will find out what I consider punishment."
"Wow, you said that with a straight face."
"Potter, you will refrain from stealing. You will obey all of Hogwarts' rules. If you get caught breaking them, you will earn detention with me. If you lose points, it's two detention. I don't care who you are, what you have experienced. You are here in Hogwarts and you will be a model student or you will be expelled."
"Not happening. First, if I do get caught it will be a frame job. Second, I don't steal. I liberate useful items for future endeavors. Third, I'm not even sure if I will remain a Hogwarts student so threats of being expelled don't scare me." Harry slowly rose. "Now, are you done trying to exhort your authority over me so we have a real discussion?" He started to walk around the office. He stopped at Severus' bookcase with a small display on top of it.
Severus leaned back in his chair. He knew whatever choice he made now would affect him for the rest of his life. Something in his gut telling him that Harry Potter wasn't going to be anyone that Dumbledore would be able to control. The boy was Slytherin. "I will make you a deal. You don't get caught, don't liberate from me, and I will teach you what Dumbledore won't teach. You had lessons from the goblins."
"Potions included? You're ranked number 3 in the world, 1 in Europe. Also, I'm sure I am lacking in etiquette."
"I believe those areas can be included."
"Deal." Harry held out his hand.
"Deal. You can read any book that-" Severus thought about his wards. He knew his wards wouldn't keep the boy away from his book. "Isn't under a ward. Do not remove my wards. If you wish to read a book that has been warded, ask."
Harry pulled three books out of his robe pockets. "May I borrow those?"
Severus knew he shouldn't have been surprised but he was. He looked at the books in question and knew they were from his quarters, not his office. "No breaking into my quarters."
"I didn't break anything." Harry gave him an innocent look.
"We will discuss some rules." Severus pulled out some parchment. He had a feeling a contract was going to be needed in the future and helpful for any future discussions.
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Harry looked at the massive three-headed dog. ~This is what he considers protection?~
~Doggie easy to distract.~
~Yes, now I wonder what the old fool plans on hiding. It's too soon for him to have it in place. He is going to want to tease whoever he plans on trapping.~
~The chain limits the range. The doggie isn't hungry, seems like a puppy.~ Amber slithered around the edges of the room. ~No magic.~
~That is interesting.~ Harry glanced around the room again. ~Has to be some kind of tunnel or maze under the trap door. Not guarded with wards.~
~Smell plant.~
~Interesting. I do believe Amber we have a job.~
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"Fred, I do believe I have a question for you." Harry sat down next to Fred who had a potion book opened.
"I'm George."
"Nice try. The question is what type of dog has three heads?"
"Dog? Oh!" Fred leaned back in his seat. "Not exactly sure but there is a book on magical animals that will provide you with all the information you need. You have to mail order it. Someone hasn't returned it from last year. Mrs. Pince has been most upset about it."
"Interesting. By the way, your younger brother has been trying to befriend me. What's his deal? He started ranting about Slytherin until he saw me." Honestly, the youngest freaked him out.
"Ronnikins is like our dear mother. They hate all things Slytherin. So expect a howler from her when Ronnikins writes home and tells her."
"Howler?"
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It was Monday, the first day of classes. Harry was sitting between Draco and Blaise discussing the DADA book when the owls swooped in. Harry looked at the red letter that was in front of him. "Howler?"
"Yes. Why would you be getting one?" Draco and the rest of the first years were a bit confused.
"Ronald Weasley's mother. I have no idea who the woman is." Harry prodded it with his wand. "What do I do with it?"
"I say throw it away. I don't think you can. If you open it, it will scream at you." Blaise and the rest of the first years started to debate what to do with it.
Harry glanced up and saw the smug look on Weasley's face. He picked up the letter, walked it over to Weasley. "Sorry, Weasley but having your mommy yell at me won't make me be your friend. You do need to work on making your own friends. Perhaps your mommy can arrange a play date with babies your age." Harry dropped the howler into the boy's eggs. Harry didn't linger but exited the Great Hall to the laughter of students.
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Severus watched Harry walk with the howler to the Gryffindor table. He wasn't sure what Harry planned on doing but he knew it wouldn't be what Molly Weasley or Albus Dumbledore would expect.
"Sorry, Weasley but having your mommy yell at me won't make me be your friend. You do need to work on making your own friends. Perhaps your mommy can arrange a play date with babies your age." The letter landed in the eggs.
"Albus, did Molly send a howler?"
"I believe so." Dumbledore knew she had. He had wanted her to write a letter to Harry for Harry to get to know her. He knew she was upset about the train and having to bring her boys to Hogwarts via floo. He had listened to her rant last night about Harry being in Slytherin. He had told her to write a letter, inform Harry about his parents. He didn't think a howler was going to be sent.
"Yes, that will certainly endear him to the Weasley family." Severus heard Minerva's comment.
"He handled it very well." Filius liked the boy's style.
Severus knew Ron Weasley was going to find a lot of his items liberated.
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Harry was staring at the cat sitting on the desk. He had arrived before anyone else. He had seen the cat enter the room, hop on the desk, and settle in. He walked to the desk, he tilted his head. The cat stared at him. Ten minutes later students were getting nervous. "I wonder where Professor McGonagall is?" The Rule Lover looked around the room again as if she was going to appear.
"Who cares." Ron Weasley was loudly talking about a game called Quidditch with two of his cohorts.
"I think we need to tell someone." Rule Lover announced, causing her fellow lions to groan.
Slytherins were quietly talking or reading their books. Draco was sitting next to Harry. "Bet she goes running to Dumbledore."
"That is a sucker's bet." Harry knew the girl was going to get up in a few minutes. Not too soon as she didn't want to get into trouble if the professor arrived while she was gone. "How about how soon? I say ten minutes."
Soon all the bets were placed. Harry had his watch out. "10.6 minutes," Harry announced as the Rule Lover got up.
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"Potter, a word." Severus had just left Dumbledore's office. No one could find Professor McGonagall.
"Which word? Do I get to keep it?" Harry had been heading toward the library. He wanted to find out about some of the DADA spells.
Severus pulled Harry into the closest alcove. "Do you happen to know where Professor McGonagall is?"
"Nope. The last time I saw her was at breakfast. She didn't appear during our class. Rule Lover went and reported it."
"Granger did inform Professor Dumbledore." Severus was trying to think about what could have happened to Minerva.
"Severus, what is the pet policy? I have Amber, a birdie, and now a cat. Do I need to get rid of one? I don't want to. Amber likes having friends."
"Amber? A cat?" Severus knew he was going to regret asking.
"Yes, a sweet tabby. No collar and looked a bit lonely."
"Where is this new addition?" Severus pinched the bridge of his nose.
Harry reached into his robe pocket and pulled out the expandable pouch. "I need to buy supplies for the new kitty." Harry reached in and pulled out the confused cat. He held onto her, running his hand over the fur. "Isn't she pretty? So sweet."
The cat transformed into Professor McGonagall. "In all my years!"
"Hey, what did you do to my cat!" Harry wasn't happy about his missing cat.
"Potter, come with me right now." McGonagall tried to get by Severus who was standing in the front of the exit.
"She stole my cat!"
Severus couldn't believe he was going to say this. "I believe there has been a slight misunderstanding."
"She stole my cat!"
"I'm the cat, Potter."
"Oh." Harry looked at her. "How? Is it painful? The movies make shifting forms painful. Are you Catwoman? Are Bob Kane and Bill Finger wizards too? I have every edition of Batman. I love DC comic books. Stan Lee writes for Marvel so I have his stuff too. He has great superheroes. Are they wizards?" Questions spilling out of the boy's usually calm demeanor.
Severus and McGonagall exchanged a quick look. They discovered an area of interest for the little hoodlum. "Minerva, perhaps allow me to handle this."
"I will agree with the exception being he is to write a three-foot essay on animal transfiguration."
"Cool beans!" Harry was excited about this. "How common it is? How many forms?"
"I believe you will find the answers yourself." Minerva waved her hand and Severus stepped aside. "I will inform Albus."
"Potter, we have some things to talk about."
"I'll say. Do you think Mrs. Norris will let me have one of her kittens?"