DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY IS BASED ON CHARACTERS CREATED AND OWNED BY JK ROWLINGAND BLOOMSBURY BOOKS. I MAKE NO PROFIT OUT OF THIS AND NO COPYRIGHT OR TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT IS INTENDED.

Author's notes: A lot of you complained that the almighty Albus Dumbledore would never let his hero be sent to jail or be abused. I'd like to point out the dementors in fifth year in canon and also the various psychological abuse canon Harry took from the Dursleys. I've always hated blindly bashing someone and I am a psychology student so I shall try to dive into their minds to show why they turned out that way. I hope the part about Harry turning criminal was right. It wasn't easy. Also, I've let out two major details of this fic deliberately from the bio. These details will make a lot of sense with the fic. Hope you like this. Review and enjoy.

CHAPTER 3

Previous Day

Minerva McGonagall sorted impatiently through the letters out to be delivered. These letters were acceptance letters, telling a few select children that they were invited to study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

These letters were magically written by a Founder's heirloom called the 'Identity Quill' which was connected to the Book of Identity, a self-updating book which contained all the names of the people who had studied at Hogwarts and children who were enrolled since birth by the innate magic of the school and the bloodlines of the wizarding world.

The quill would automatically write the name and address on the letter but it needed to be manually guided from one letter to the next, which was what Minerva was doing.

Ideally, the school headmaster would do this job as it was his duty to welcome new charges to the school but since the said headmaster was Albus Dumbledore, the greatest light wizard since Merlin and her old transfiguration master whom she had apprenticed under, Minerva gladly took over the additional duties when Albus had asked.

After all, Albus had so many responsibilities in their world, Minerva had thought, with him dealing with the Wizengamot and the ICW, he was too busy to simply write welcoming letters to children.

This was how Minerva spent a day in the summer break, guiding the magical quill and musing over her thoughts in the silence of the castle.

She had begun a few minutes ago and was idly checking if the quill was doing its job. It started alphabetically and already had reached Carrow Hestia.

In the past, Minerva needed days to sort everything right since the number of students joining was huge. The past few years, there was hardly fifty students joining per year. The war with the Dark Lord had decimated their thriving population.

Minerva's thoughts turned darker as the Dark Lord and his band of terrorists came up. So many promising young folks lost to his cause or his wand.

Entwhistle Kevin.

The Dark Lord was charming and dangerous and that was what made him the terrifying figure that he was now known as. His goals, Minerva admitted reluctantly in the privacy of her mind, was an inspiring one.

For too long, the Dark creatures like werewolves and vampires were forced to live in the edges of civilization, equal rights seeming like a distant dream. The power struggle in the Wizengamot lead to standstills of good and well thought out laws keeping their world stagnant at best and degrading at worst. The economy was in shambles with the goblins solely in charge and the last good invention they had had was the charmed mirrors and that was two hundred years ago!

It wasn't hard to guess why the Dark Lord had so many followers. He promised to fix it, to fix a corrupt regime and build a new system where all these problems would be addressed and even Minerva had considered joining his cause.

The problem was the methods the Dark Lord employed. He was firm in his belief that, to fix something corrupted, it had to be razed to the ground first and this gave him a lot of enemies.

Longbottom Neville.

Minerva's eyes softened as she glanced at the name. The name was one of the most popular ones in recent history, almost as famous as Albus when combined with the moniker he had earned when he was a baby.

Neville Longbottom, the Boy Who Lived.

If it wasn't for the miracle that Neville Longbottom pulled off, the Dark Lord would have already won by now, and while his victory wouldn't be a bad thing, Minerva shuddered at the loss of life that would have paved his way to power.

She had lost so many of her former students and friends to the Dark Lord. Most of them had stood against him and while the Dark Lord was fair to his followers and neutrals, he was absolutely ruthless against his enemies.

Even with all the loss of lives, especially gruesome ones like the death of the Prewitt twins who fought to the death than surrender, Minerva never regretted the loss of students more than the ones who had actually joined the Dark Lord's ranks as his lieutenants.

Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, Regulus Black, the names went on, names of the students who were among the smartest to enter Hogwarts, and those who had immense potential in life who had thrown it all away and now perishing away in prison.

MacDougal Morag.

At least Minerva had consoled herself saying these students were all from Slytherin alumni and it had been the failed responsibility of the ex-head, Horace Slughorn but her heart could never find solace as the biggest names in Death Eater ranks were a part of her house, and they were students whom she had fondly dubbed as her favourite rascals.

Sirius Black, Barty Crouch Jr, James and Lily Potter.

It was still unknown James and Lily Potter of all people joined forces with Voldemort but after they were exposed, they were known to be the strongest of the Dark Lord's forces and were truly loyal to the Dark. It broke Minerva's heart to see two of her favourite students join him for no obvious reasons.

Nott Theodore.

Minerva's expression darkened. While the Potters came as a surprise, it probably wasn't a surprise Sirius Black joining the Dark. The two brothers were from the Black family, legendary for their skills with a wand and with their seemingly endless wealth, the Dark Lord had greatly benefited from them.

Lily, most of all surprised Minerva the most. Model student, Charms runes and potions mistress, Unspeakable and a member of the Order of the Phoenix, there wasn't any job or position Lily could not have gotten with her skill with the wand and her intellect, yet she had joined the Dark Lord for reasons unknown to most and the sole person who knew, wasn't around to enlighten them.

Potter Hadrian.

Minerva snorted, though she was secretly thankful there was no one nearby to hear her do it. That particular name sounded almost like….

"WHAT!"

Minerva snatched the envelope off the desk and looked frantically at the name and it was clearly written

Mr. Hadrian Potter

Isloation cell, 43, West Wing

Howland Prison

London.

'The boy is not supposed to receive a letter.' Minerva thought frantically, as she gazed wide eyed at the innocent letter. 'And the address, isolation cell….'

"PRISON?!"

She quickly marched towards the fireplace, her face had gone sheet white as she grabbed some floo powder and threw it into the fire and bellowed "Severus Snape!"

The fire turned green and after a while, a man with a black curtain of hair, hooked nose and shallow skin came into view. "Minerva, I'd have thought I wouldn't see you yell at another fellow colleague." He drawled.

"Sod that! Hadrian Potter is a wizard!"

The Potions Master, Severus Snape lost his smirk and he bellowed. "WHAT! GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

The fire roared green and the Potions Master stepped out of the fireplace and immediately grabbed the offered letter. His face paled dramatically as he whispered "It can't be." Turning around to the equally shocked McGonagall, he asked "Can the quill be false? Can it write down the name of every student born in a year regardless of them being able or not?"

"No." McGonagall shook her head. "The quill is specifically enchanted to write down only the names of the children who possess magic only."

"Someone will have to answer my questions why this boy was deemed a squib and I think Albus can answer these." Severus said scathingly, his coal black eyes burning with rage.

"Albus.. Albus isn't in Britain. He's in France for an ICW conference. He won't he back till the weekend." Minerva said, shook at the blatant loss of control from the master occlumens.

"Be as it is, I will go and inform the boy of his heritage. I owe it to Lily and James." Severus said, the last part softly so Minerva wouldn't hear.

"Of course."

"Then it's settled. Now the address…. PRISON?!"

Severus looked wide eyed at Minerva who shook her head sadly and muttered "The apple didn't fall far."

Severus was about to retort but thought better of it. Lily and James were well known death eaters and there was no point in arguing with Minerva anyways without knowing all the facts.

"I will find out the entire truth from the boy himself." Severus said tightly, taking the letter and strolling through the fireplace.

Minerva shook her head again, already deciding the boy was a bad apple.

Within an hour, Severus was ready to leave. He would have left sooner but he had potions brewing which absolutely couldn't be left on stasis and had to wait for them to finish their cycle so the stasis could be applied again.

He waved his wand over his black robes which changed into a black suit which Severus had last seen. He decided to visit the sister of Lily, Petunia to find out what had actually happened before meeting the child.

Severus threw floo powder into the fireplace and called "The Leaky Cauldron." With a whoosh, he disappeared from his office and arrived in the infamous bar which was known throughout the magical world.

Bringing the address Lily had told him aged ago, and swallowing the grief that came with the memory, Severus spun on his heel and disappeared with the barest 'pop'.

Severus reappeared at the edge of a road which led to a neighbourhood with houses on either side. Severus wrinkled his nose in distaste at the symmetry of the houses on either side and quickly made his way forward.

As he walked forward, he could notice the staring he could from the women in some houses and wondered what sort of life did the boy live till now? What could have possibly happened to make him end up in prison? He subtly applied a notice-me-not around him and continued forward.

He made his way up the walkway towards the door which read number four, and knocked on the door. Severus heard shuffling and a woman with a horsey face answered the door with what was an obvious fake smile "How may I help you?"

On catching sight of his face, her expression turned ugly and hissed "YOU! You and your kind are not welcome in this house. Leave!"

She tried to shut the door in his face but Severus discretely held his hand up and with the limited wandless magic he knew jammed the door. Severus then pushed his hand forward and the door flew open throwing the thin Petunia Dursley off inside the house.

Severus walked inside and wrinkled his nose at the sight of the utterly muggle house. He curled his lip and sneered. "This is not a social call Petunia. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is see your horse face and have tea inside your stable."

Petunia bristled at the insults and tried to slap him. Severus caught the hand easily and twisted her wrist before throwing her directly towards the sofa. Petunia fell with a thud, making a lot of racket.

Petunia wailed loudly and threw a nasty grin at him "The neighbours would have surely heard that. They will have called the police already and soon you will end up in jail, just like that freakish son of Lily."

"There is a spell around me which makes me invisible to the filthy muggles you call neighbours. All they will have seen is you open the door then decide to wail like a banshee, not good for your image I reckon." Severus sneered back.

"How dare you use that…that abomination in my house!" Petunia hissed, deciding not to yell since it was futile. "How dare you show up at my doorstep and make threats to me?"

"I will dare all I want and you can do nothing to stop me, you filthy muggle. Like I said, I am here on business, and don't want to be in this freakish place any more than I have to." Severus said, scorn in his voice.

Petunia looked insulted before she sniffed and asked "What do you want freak?"

Severus growled at the insult and drew his wand slowly. Petunia paled at the sight and decided to listen to her survival instincts than her pride which was screaming at her to stop insulting this dangerous man.

"Look Snape, I loathe the sight of you and your kind and the sooner you are out of MY house, the better it is for all of us." Petunia said slowly, eying the wooden stick that the hook-nosed man was casually twirling.

"Better." Severus drawled before he asked. "Where is Hadrian?"

Petunia had a vicious smile on her face. "Oh he's where he belongs! The little freak was a criminal in training and would have influenced my son Dudley if he was not caught red handed!"

"What are you blabbering about woman? He is but a child."

Petunia scoffed. "The little hellion is no child. He tried to poison us and our guests when he was six. Last year, he even set our neighbours treehouse and shed on fire. He was charged with arson and attempted murder and was imprisoned" she finished with a crow of triumph.

'Despicable woman.' Severus thought disgustedly but he did not allow it to show on his face.

"Why would he have criminal tendencies? Did you do something?"

Petunia looked offended. "We took him in and fed and clothed him and put a roof over his head and he brought us a bad name in return. Honestly I think the apple didn't fall far from the tree."

"You lie." Severus said slowly.

There was a small flash of fear in her eyes before it disappeared. "As nice it is talking about Lily's criminal spawn, he isn't here and he won't be coming here. The judge has no love lost for him and he's probably in for life. I did not bother to find out and I don't care either way."

"Poison you, you say?" Severus asked slowly and wandlessly cast "LEGILIMENS"

Petunia didn't even see it coming. The words were uttered purposely so that Petunia would guide Severus to the correct memories unconsciously saving him a lot of work. A wizard, even with sufficient mental defences wouldn't have been able to identify the foreign presence in their mind and Petunia, being a muggle stood no chance.

Being a muggle, Petunia had no mental defences whatsoever and Severus could even get basic feelings and thoughts what she was feeling when experiencing it.

'helpless….weak….no magic…innocent…revenge….delight…pleasure'

These basic thoughts and feelings assaulted Severus's consciousness as he saw through Petunia's eyes how the child was basically slaving away for their benefit.

The boy had been clearly overworked and Severus saw his hands wobble violently before the dish fell and the subsequent episode where Petunia had glanced at him scooping what remains of the dish off the floor into the platter.

Suddenly, the feelings and thoughts made horrible sense to Severus and a gale storm of anger surged through him and he was barely able to stop himself from destroying Petunia's mind as he drew out of it.

However, Petunia screamed, clutching her temples as Severus hadn't been fast enough and his anger had surged through her mind for a few milliseconds, causing terrible pain.

"You petty, selfish, despicable lowlife! How could you take your jealousy out on your own nephew?! You hate magic yet you were so jealous of your sister having it and not you? And you take it out on an orphan boy just because you thought he wasn't magical to defend himself?" Severus raved, beyond furious at the thought of Lily's child being abused so badly.

Petunia whimpered, mucus dripping from her nose which she hurriedly wiped with her sleeve and glared at Snape. "You call me a bully when you are torturing me here knowing I cannot defend myself! Such hypocrisy!"

"That pain is nothing compared to the pain you should feel for abusing such a small child. You even took pleasure from making him slave away didn't you?!"

Petunia had the audacity to look affronted. "He is not a freak like you and Lily anyways, so why do you care?!"

"How did you know he was declared a squib?" Severus seethed.

"That crackpot Dumbledore wrote a letter informing me he was just as 'normal' as I was." Petunia said with a hateful sneer thinking about the man who refused her begging to learn at Hogwarts.

"Magical or not, no child deserves to be abused like this. Let's see what else you are guilty of." Severus snarled as he bared his teeth.

Petunia went white with fear but she couldn't do anything as Severus, ignoring all subtlety, entered her mind with a force of a rampaging rhinoceros and drew all memories pertaining to her nephew.

Severus watched, numb with disbelief as a magical child was forced to such depravity as he was bullied, thrashed and abused to an inch of his life, just because he was son of her gifted sister and thinking he couldn't protect himself with magic.

What seemed like hours but was just few minutes as time was different in a mindscape withdrew from the horrid woman's mind. Petunia was drooling a little with a slightly vacant eyes which Severus reckoned was due to her mental architecture being disturbed because to his forceful invasion.

Severus also curious why the child simply let it go on rather than defend himself and use accidental magic. In fact, if not for the letter he was carrying, he would find it hard to believe Hadrian was a wizard at all.

Intrigued, Severus entered her mind again, albeit gently this time as he did not want to make her a vegetable yet and browsing through her memories of Hadrian's early life.

One particular memory caught his eye. Petunia was sitting and weeping, covering her eyes while occasionally peeking at the small boy who was being kicked to death.

'sadness..loss..respect lost..Dudley shunned…blame…the freak?...'

As Severus suspected, the child was innocent of his crimes. Mostly.

There was another Severus reviewed carefully. The whale of her husband was happily kicking away and the boy looked like he was about to pass out from the pain.

There. Just before he passed out, Severus paused the memory. Usually, a wizard or witch's inherent magic would refuse a legilimen's to pause or slow a memory, even without mental shields but again Petunia's muggle heritage made it so much easier. Even if Petunia had been a squib, Severus would have had to view it in a pensieve to see it in slow motion.

Just before passing out, Severus saw the poisonous green eyes, so much similar to Lily, fill with emerald flames of fury, which was the only incidence Severus could notice where the child showed visible anger.

Then his eyes sparkled green.

'Sparkled?' Severus frowned. Usually, accidental magic happened whenever the child was in a heightened state of emotion but there was no visible traces other than the effect. Usually sparkling eyes was a sign of…

'Of course.' Severus breathed. It all made absolute sense now. Him being declared a squib upon birth, perfect control of his temper, which if was anything similar to his mother, would have to be volatile in the least.

Severus hurriedly viewed some later memories of his life which was even more abusive, which Severus chose to ignore for now as he watched every interaction.

The child had a perfect mask, clear green eyes at all times, even he was being pommelled to death.

"Incredible." Severus intoned as he drew out of her mind. He took a few moments to collect his wayward thoughts before he looked at the drooling woman in front of him. No doubt her mental architecture had collapsed due to repeated assaults from legilimency.

Severus had a half a mind to leave her there as punishment for her horrible deeds against family but he changed his mind. If Hadrian was anything even remotely similar to James and Lily, he'd want payback himself and Severus would be damned if he let James and Lily's tormentor get off free without punishment.

Knowing it was not his place to dish out the punishment, Severus sighed and entered her mind again before constructing her mindscape again. It was tedious work as the structure was damaged badly but being a master in mind arts, it was no challenge to Severus.

Finally, he was done and he looked around to notice the time was well into the afternoon. Severus grumbled as he looked at the sleeping Petunia. "This is much than you deserve you hag but I'm sure you will get what's coming for you. You cannot remember this so you won't run away now."

He roused Petunia from her coma and as she groggily opened her eyes, Severus pointed his wand at her forehead and whispered "OBLIVIATE IMPERIAX."

His personal creation, the obliviate imperiax was a modification and combination of the Memory charm and the Imperius curse, which would allow the caster to wipe recent memories and force the brain to make fake memories according to the castor, which would seem as real as a memory.

Seeing the blank look take hold, Severus said "You will not remember this meeting at all. You had a headache so you skipped lunch and took some pills and fell asleep. If the neighbours ask about any screaming, it was the telly."

Even if the mindscape was fully reconstructed, due to it's breaking Petunia would be assaulted with horrendous migraines from time to time. Severus could have solved that but he wasn't that generous.

Seeing as he had a few moments before Petunia's brain kickstarted again, Severus rose to his feet and cast a notice me-not again and made his way out seething.

One thing was clear. He would hear the details from Hadrian himself and guilty or not, he would not let Lily and James's son languish in a filthy muggle prison.

He wanted to head there immediately but cursed at the time wasted on helping Petunia.

Severus swore Petunia would get what she deserved, with or without Hadrian's assistance and he disapprated as soon as he reached a secluded ally.

Severus appeared in the Leaky Cauldron and made his way towards the floo. He threw a few sickles carelessly into the tray and flooed back to his office.

'I will need to keep this from Minerva, at least until I know the full story.' Severus thought as he hurried to dinner.

He entered the Great Hall to find it devoid of everyone minus McGonagall and the Matron, Madam Pomfrey, which wasn't surprising as students were at home and only those who had duties to attend to before the commencement of the next year were present.

Severus took his usual seat and Minerva looked up from her soup and asked "Well? How did it go?"

"My apologies Minerva. I was not able to visit him today." Severus said smoothly, it was technically true after all. Seeing the raised eyebrows, he continued "I had a meeting with a supplier that I simply couldn't put off and haggling him for the prices took me all day. I will visit him tomorrow."

Minerva simply nodded and went back to her meal. Severus finished his meal and retired to his chambers where he would be up late into the night with a glass of firewhiskey thinking about the abuse James and Lily's only child had to face.

Sleep would not come easily.

The next day morning, he rose after a fretful slumber and forced his tiredness away with his mental skills and finished his morning rituals. As he soon as he was done with breakfast, he transfigured his black robes into the muggle suit and flooed to the Leaky Cauldron again.

Looking at the address on the letter, he muttered "Howland Prison."

He disappeared with a pop and appeared in a side alley near the max security prison. He took in the tall, barbed wire upon the fences and cursed softly. He would need documents to visit prisoners.

He stealthily drew his wand and conjured some muggle papers. Rest, Legilimency and a confundus charm would take care of.

He walked towards the security at the entrance and showed him the blank papers and a whispered "CONFUNDO" followed by a "LEGILIMENS" later, the guard saw what he wanted to see on the blank paper and gave him the proper authorisation to enter the prison.

Severus made his way inside towards the visitor's section and took a seat behind the steel mesh and waited.

He didn't wait for long.

Severus had to manually control the shock from showing on his face. The boy was tall, not the tallest he'd seen for his age group and had shackles binding his hands and feet. He wore an orange prison overall and was accompanied by a guard who looked…reluctant to be near him?

Severus took in the boy's emotionless mask and unblemished face, which looked like a carbon copy of James yet Severus had never seen such blankness in James's face. The eyes, eyes were pure Lily. Same shape, same poisonous green shade but with a noticeable difference.

Lily's eye was warm and passionate when she was eleven while her son's was cold and empty like a shark.

Discretely casting a privacy charm, Severus said "Mister Potter. My name is Severus Snape and I have come to offer to offer a place at our school, Hogwarts school of witchcraft and Wizardry, provided you explain your 'staying conditions."

XXXxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXX

Harry had seen and heard many weird things in his young life, most of which was his life itself and a few from the other inmates but nothing was weirder than this person say 'witchcraft' and 'wizardry' as if it were real.

"I'm sorry Mister Snape but you've come to the wrong establishment. This is a prison, not a mental asylum." Harry drawled, as he took a seat in opposite the man. He looked behind at the guard and said "This will be a private conversation Derrick, make yourself scarce."

The guard didn't utter a word a word before making his way out of the room leaving them alone.

Severus almost bit his tongue. Whatever little knowledge he had about prisons (magical and muggle), he knew a guard should always be present whenever an inmate has a visitor.

"You seem to have a certain pull here." Severus said shrewdly, watching his reaction. Harry simply shrugged and said "You could say that."

"I had taken precautions to make this private using privacy charms but it was unnecessary I suppose." Severus drawled, quietly pocketing his wand. "Using magic of course."

Harry leaned forward and said "Mister Snape, you seem like a serious person and I don't believe you to be the type to prank around or be 'touched' in the head. Unless you have proof to back these claims, you will find my opinion changes quickly."

Severus was impressed. Such control of his emotions at his young age. Prodigious.

Severus nodded crisply and said "You are correct in that assumption Mister Potter. I detest all sorts of pranks and tomfoolery and wouldn't waste my time or yours unless I had something important to say."

"Then speak whatever you have to say Mister Snape." Harry said simply.

Severus drew his wand and placed it on small counter in front of the fence between them. He could see the child's eye follow it wearily. Good.

"This is my wand Mister Potter and I am a wizard, blessed by Mother Magic. I am here to tell you that you too are a wizard and you have the gift to perform magic as well."

Seeing the still impassive look on his face, Severus held his wand and conjured a few birds. Seeing the boy's eye widen fractionally, he decided to stop beating around and ask "Are you sure the guard will not barge in on us?"

"If he knows what's good for him, he won't." There was an interested gleam in his eyes which was very familiar to Severus.

Lily, through and through.

Deciding to enquire about the threat to the guard later, Severus waved his wand and actually vanished the steel fence between them.

Severus internally smirked as he finally saw the mask shatter and the open astonishment show on the young boy's face. He had much to learn and Severus intended to teach him.

Impressively, the boy gathered his mask back in seconds though the curiosity in his eyes hadn't dulled. "I will be honest Mister Snape. At first, I thought it was a parlor trick making those birds appear and unless I am in a TV show where you are fooling me using props, I have to agree you are the real deal."

"Professor Snape." Severus corrected automatically. 'Mister Snape' sounded disgustingly close to his father.

"Professor Snape." Harry agreed.

"To answer your question Mister Potter, I have no interest nor need to go around the country pranking juvenile criminals all for muggle entertainment." Severus snarked.

"I'm sorry, a 'muggle'?"

"Non magical people." Severus answered. "People without a shred of magic in their veins."

"Sounds degrading'" Harry noted.

"Muggles are often looked down by wizard folk due to the absence of magic in their blood." Severus said.

"They are." Harry said simply. Seeing the curious look, he elaborated "Muggles, I mean. Monsters the lot of them. They enjoy ganging up on the weak. If they possessed a little magic also, the world would be in trouble."
"A critical viewpoint Mister Potter. If someone from 'our' world heard you speak, they would peg you for a blood purist so I would advise you to keep such opinions to yourself unless you are in the right company." Severus said.

Harry shrugged. "I don't care. I've lived through hell and I have no intentions of changing my views for someone else unless it benefits me of course. As for 'our world', I don't think I am magical like you." It was barely there but Severus could see the sadness there.

"Why not Mister Potter?" Severus asked slowly. "Your name appeared in our school register magically and it doesn't make mistakes."

"Well, if I had magic, let's just say you and I wouldn't be having this conversation here rather at my relative's place." Harry said slowly, envisioning the punishment he would have inflicted on the Dursleys and the rest of Private Drive for mistreating him.

Unknown to him, his eyes had a dangerous glint which made Severus shudder involuntarily. He had seen that glint in eyes of one other, a man much dangerous than the little boy in front of him.

Harry saw the man swallow and wondered what brought that on. Severus continued "Be as it is, I can assure you that you are magical. Magic runs in your family for generations."

Hearing this, Harry was horrified. It must have shown drastically on his face because Professor Snape looked startled. "You don't mean to say my aunt, uncle and cousin are magical too?"

Severus gave a thin smile. "No, you misunderstood me. I meant you father's side and your mother as well." Severus then muttered to himself mostly "Petunia is as magical as hippogriff shite."

Harry always had sharp hearing and asked suspiciously "Do you know my aunt Petunia?"

Severus nodded. "I am unfortunately acquainted with her."

"Wait, does that mean you knew my mother as well?" Harry asked, hardly hoping for it to be true.

Severus nodded and said softly "I knew your mother very well. I was also friends with your father, though that's a long story."

"Wow! Can you tell me about them? Please? Please?" Harry asked, hoping this man wouldn't disappoint him too.

Severus was shook to the core. Just what did this child live through which made him ignore the wonderous thing that was magic and focus on parents' identity?

The child's mask was gone. In fact, he looked like child now, with hope shining in his eyes.

Severus could only nod. "Of course, I will tell you about them. Did Petunia tell you nothing about them?" he asked curiously.

The mask instantly slid back into place but the happiness refused to vanish from his green pools as he softly snorted "Petunia had this wonderful game where she would tell one horrible lie about my mother everyday and as each day passed, the lie would get worse. The last one was 'Lily did drugs, worked in a brothel but then nobody except homeless hobos wanted her and I was son of the most horrible, stinking hobo around the area."

The anger in Professor Snape's eyes frankly scared Harry.

Professor Snape took a deep breath before he continued, seemingly calm. "Well I had a talk with Petunia yesterday when I went to talk about your 'stay arrangements' and I think she got off a little scot free from the punishment I should dished out."

"Wait you already punished her?" Harry asked, looking disappointed.

Severus smirked "Well, I entered her mind and viewed her memories forcefully so her mental architecture broke under the assault. I reconstructed it back but because of it, she will get unbearably painful migraines whenever she is stressed."

Harry actually cackled. "She does get a little stressed every time she throws her little parties and now without me there as their slave, the migraine might be an often thing."

Harry sobered up and asked "Did you get my uncle and cousin as well?"

Severus shook his head. "No they were both absent from the house and your aunt alone took a lot of time to repair. I knew if you were even a little like James, you would want payback."

Harry nodded. "My sincerest gratitude Professor Snape. I do have much planned for them."

Severus inaudibly gulped and nodded. He then retrieved a letter from his robes and handed it to Harry who took it slowly, enjoying the feel of parchment in his fingers.

"My name is Hadrian?" he asked curiously. Severus said "Yes you were named Hadrian by your mother upon birth. I think Petunia desecrated your name as another insult to Lily's memory."

Harry sneered. "Sounds like her. Is there a way I can legally take my name as Hadrian again? My school records all show up as Harry Potter and I don't to be stuck with a name as common as 'Harry'".

Severus said "Yes, it is possible. Once you update your name in Gringotts, that's the Wizarding bank run by goblins" he added seeing the questioning look "the records in the muggle world will auto update itself."

Harry then opened his letter and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,

Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

Headmaster

A second piece of parchment read:

OGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS

ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK.

"Awaiting my owl?" Harry questioned.

Severus said "That is for the wizarding families. For muggleborns and muggle-raised such as yourself, you can give your approval to your guide, which in this case is me."

"Professor, I have a few questions before I give you my answer. The questions about my parents can wait for later. If I was magical like you said, why have I ever not noticed it? Believe me, vanishing steel fences is the least I would have done." Harry said.

Severus considered his question for a bit before asking. "Mister Potter, to answer this question in order. While a magical child is young, they can't usually voluntarily do magic unless they are born prodigies. The magic is done only when the child experiences heightened state of emotions. Hunger, fear, happiness, anger, feelings like these. Your case is most peculiar and everything that has happened to you is all because of one thing that nobody expected."

"Which is?" Harry raised one eyebrow perfectly.

"You are a natural in mind magic."

"Mind Magic? Is it what you said about entering my aunt's mind? Can I do that as well?"

"Yes and no." Severus answered. "Mind magic is majorly two fields: Occlumency and Legilimency. Occlumency is the defensive aspect while legilimency is the offense in the most basic sense. With me so far?"

Seeing Harry nod attentively, Severus continued "Most people studying mental magic have to start from scratch. While most witches and wizards have weak mental shields and have to strengthen them manually, there is no such thing with legilimency which has to be learnt and practised for years."

"But some people have a natural aptitude for the mind magics. Some are born with natural strong mind shields, a natural Occlumen, and some with natural instinct for Legilimency. These individual skills are rare and naturally gifted people are very few in number."

Taking a breath, Severus continued "Then comes those who are talented in both at the same time. This is extremely rare as the mind when it is born has either a defensive or offensive orientation only. While you can learn to be both later as the mind grows, it is difficult for the mind to be both and few people in centuries have had such a gift."

"And let me guess. I am one of these few people in a century?" Harry asked drily.

"Yes." Severus nodded. "The fact that there was already a wizard with the gift so you were not considered to be natural in mind arts. I believe this is the reason they declared you a squib."

"I'm sorry, a squib?" Harry asked.

"A squib is a non-magical child born in a child born in a magical family. Usually it is due to inbreeding but in your case, it was believed that your mother's blood destabilised the magic in the Potter bloodline. It is a great source of shame foe the house and squibs are usually abandonded." Severus said.

"I don't follow." Harry frowned.

"Well, let me tell you the story in brief. After all the guard might return as we used up a lot of time here." Severus said and Harry carelessly waved his hand off. "Don't worry about the guard Professor. He knows the penalty for disturbing an inmate's talk."

"I will tell you the story then you must tell me yours. Everything. I will need to petition your case in the Ministry since you are a prisoner and it will be good if I know all the details." Severus offered the deal and was pleased to see the boy consider it before jumping into it. He was not a dunderhead.

"Would I have to continue my term in a wizarding prison or will a deal be worked out between the prison and this 'Ministry' you speak?" Harry asked, considering the pros and cons. In his excitement, he had forgotten he was a prisoner yet to serve 29 years of his term.

Severus shuddered involuntarily at the mention of the wizarding prison and answered "Pray you never set foot into the wizarding prison. As for your term, unless you have committed any crimes against wizarding nation, nothing will stick. Wizards don't care about crimes against muggles. They only care if you use magic against muggles and expose the magical world as a whole."

"So, this 30-year-old term will vanish? Just like that?" Harry asked, who couldn't stop a massive grin appearing on his face which made him look boyish.

Severus involuntarily smiled. "Yes, most probably. We will need to prove no magic was used or involved and you won't even have a criminal record in our world."

"I am starting to like your world already Professor. My answer is yes. I would like to enrol for Hogwarts." Harry said calmly, getting his emotions under control. "Now before I tell you, tell me why was I declared a squib?"

"Well Mister Potter, I was not present inside the hospital when you were born but I heard the news from your mother nonetheless. You see, whenever a child is born, they cast a charm to determine whether the child was magical or a squib. The charm scans any brain activity which is significantly higher in magical child than muggle children. It is very technical so bear with me." Seeing Harry nod, he continued "It was found that even the weakest of all magical children had a higher brain activity than muggle children so it was calibrated to give reading for magical children only."

"As you know you were born with mind magic affinity so the charm will come up nil because you had natural mind shields which resisted the charm from reading your brain activity. The healers assumed you were a natural Occlumen and performed legilimency to verify it. Whenever a new born is exposed to any new magic, it will try to pick it up. With me so far?" Severus asked and Harry nodded calmly. "You had natural legilimency talent and when you were exposed to the charm, you instinctively performed it back on the tester."

Seeing Harry's face light up in understanding, Severus continued "You were declared a squib because the legilimency attacks cancelled each other and the healer couldn't get readings. The fact that you have natural mind magic affinity was not even considered."

"So, I was abandoned by my parents because they thought I am a squib?" Harry asked quietly, sorrow clearly visible in his eyes.

"Preposterous!" Severus scowled. "Lily would eviscerate anyone who would even suggest abandoning her only child. Even James, for all his faults, would rather die than throw his child to the wolves."

"Well what happened to my parents then? How did I end up with aunt Petunia?" Harry questioned.

"They were murdered." Severus answered quietly.

"By whom?" growled Harry and Severus was taken aback seeing the maelstrom of magic ignite in his eyes. There was absolutely no doubt that Harry was a wizard now.

"Calm yourself Mister Potter. The story of your parents' murder is a tale of its own which we have no time to cover now but rest assured I will tell you after you are released. As for ending up with your aunt, you went to the closest blood relative as your father was the last of his house and with you being a squib, no wizarding family could adopt you."

"Why is that? What's wrong with adopting a squib?"

"There is a law which says squibs cannot inherit lands, wealth or position. Also, while it was the family's choice to keep them around, they could not be adopted because they were considered as an abomination of magic, being born in a magical line without blood. Short of being a werewolf, being a squib is the worst fate you can end up with."

"What rubbish is that?" Harry asked calmly. "They can do other jobs like shop, cook or such?"

"House elves. They are a breed of creatures that adore work and work for wizards for free in case for a little of their magic to sustain themselves." Severus lectured.

Severus checked his pocket watch and cursed how much time had gone by. He looked up and said "Mister Potter, I have a lot of work to finish and I can only start after hearing your side and your charges. We can discuss the rest once you are free."

Harry simply nodded and said "I am sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment in Howland Prison for the charges of theft, assault, arson, poisoning, attempted first degree murder and malicious criminal intentions towards a community."

Severus looked quietly impressed. "Quite a few achievements under your belt already."

Harry had a sinister grin. "There will be more. Much more."

With that, Harry told Severus everything. From the start till the end where was sentenced for burning down an entire treehouse and being knocked out by his uncle.

Severus listened without interruption and when Harry was finished after two hours telling each and every episode of his life. "None of these charges will stick with the Wizengamot." There was a triumphant glint in Severus' eyes. "There is absolutely no evidence magic was used so you won't even get a slap on the wrist."

"Hang on, you never told me why I didn't do any magic during my childhood?" Harry asked curiously.

Severus looked at him for a second before answered "I thought you figured it out already Mister Potter. Accidental magic occurs only when there is a heightened state of emotions and with your occlumen skills, your mind was always calm hence the magic wasn't unleashed."

Severus got up and Harry did as well. He offered a hand which the boy shook. "Rest assured Mister Potter you will not be here for long. Wizards care less about what muggles think and when they find out the heir of Potter, Black and Lestrange family is sitting in a muggle prison, hell will come for muggles."

"Black and Lestrange?" Harry asked.

"Next time, I'll tell you everything. Expect me to return by next week. Well met Mister Potter." Severus said, already walking towards the door, causally waving his hand to return the fence between them.

"Well met Professor Snape" an awestruck boy replied softly.

When the man was gone, Harry suddenly remembered something and cursed softly "Drat! I forgot to ask him who else have natural mental abilities. Oh well, next week then."

If everything that Severus Snape said was true, Harry would be out here by next week at least. His natural instinct, which Harry suddenly realised was legilimency was telling him that Professor Snape was being truthful and he would wait and see.

Whistling softly, Harry drew a small, tightly rolled wad of money which Deon had given him, and threw it at Derrick outside who caught it easily "Good talks kid?"

"The best Derrick. The best."

Author's Notes; A long chapter I know. Initially I had planned to include Diagon Alley and shopping here itself but it was already around 8000 words and I decided to split it into 2. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing this. Now we know why Dumbledore didn't care what happened as Harry wasn't even a pawn to consider with. The tragic story of James Lily and Sirius in the next chapter. Also, the name of the prison is something I made up and I am not sure whether it exits or not. Review and enjoy!

Words: 8154 words.