Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J K Rowling, not me.

A Change of Identity

Chapter 1: The Beginning

Elvira Snape was a gifted seer. Her visions were few and far between but what she saw almost always came to pass. And so, when she foresaw that her newly born child, Harry, would not live to see his second birthday she was devastated. She was also terrified of the reaction of Severus, her husband, who was so proud to have a son to follow in his footsteps and hold in trust the family name. For two solid hours she lay in her bed in the maternity ward at St Mungos and despaired. Then her eyes fell upon the sleeping form of Lily Potter who likewise had a baby boy and, by an unfortunate coincidence had named him Harry also. A glimmer of an idea began to form in her mind. The details quickly followed and Elvira acted before the other witch could wake up and spoil everything. The charms were many and complicated but Elvira was a witch to be reckoned with and she knew what she was doing. When she was finished everything seemed the same as before on the ward. But there was one difference. In the basket beside Lily Potter's bed lay Harry Julius Snape. In the basket beside Elvira Snape's bed lay Harry James Potter. Because of the spells Elvira had cast the boys' physical features had been swapped. No one would ever know that the change had taken place and Severus Snape would not have to suffer the loss of a treasured son.

An event which Elvira Snape had failed to see in advance was her own death. Just three months after giving birth she contracted a severe case of dragonpox. In spite of the efforts of the best healers at St Mungos she died and Severus was left to raise the child alone.

A year later the wizarding world was rocked by the deaths of Lily and Harry Potter. James had been out at the time, trying to help with the aftermath of a Death Eater attack in a small village in the Cotswolds. His wife and son ought to have been perfectly safe, protected by the Fidelius charm. But James's friend Peter who was their secret keeper had betrayed them, telling Lord Voldemort where the Potters' were hiding. James arrived home to find the house wrecked and Lily and Harry lying lifeless in Harry's bedroom. It appeared that Lily had done her best to protect her son's life. A lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry's forehead showed that the killing curse had partially rebounded, stripping Lord Voldemort of his powers. But even the selfless sacrifice of Lily's own life had not been enough to save the life of her precious son.

Wizards across the country celebrated the downfall of "He who must not be named". Harry James Potter went down in history as the innocent babe who gave his life so that the rest of the world might be safe. And a heartbroken James Potter spent a year searching in vain for the traitor who had destroyed his family. After that he took up the post of Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts upon the retiral of Professor McGonagall. The years dulled his grief and he was able to carry on living but he would never again be the carefree young husband and father his friends had known.

After the destruction of Voldemort, Severus Snape took up the post of Potions' master at Hogwarts. One of the Hogwarts house elves moved into his house at Spinners End to look after his young son. Most days he would visit for an hour or so to check on Harry. When the boy grew a little older he would bring him to Hogwarts for special occasions such as quidditch matches and feasts when Harry would delight in the company of the Slytherin students. School holidays were when Snape would spend time intensively tutoring his son in basic skills such as reading and arithmetic, making up for the lack of attention he could give him during the term. He didn't teach him magic, saying that it would be time enough when he started at Hogwarts. Once Harry was reached the age of nine Professor Dumbledore decided that he was old enough to live at Hogwarts during the school year, studying on his own in his father's quarters during lesson times and spending free time with the Slytherin students. This pleased young Harry no end. It was rather a lonely existence at Spinners End and now he would be able to see much more of friends and father.

Among the majority of the Hogwarts population it was thought that Harry Snape was an arrogant young upstart. He looked down his nose at any student not in Slytherin and also at many of the teachers. He seemed to believe that he was better than even those in his father's house; though no Slytherin would ever dare to say a word against their head of house's son. The relationship between Professor Snape himself and Harry appeared to be a fairly formal one, Snape insisting that Harry behave in a dignified manner befitting someone who bore his name. It was clear that they cared for each other though. Sometimes on a sunny afternoon the two would be seen walking together around the lake, identical sneering smiles on their faces as they talked. And when Harry ate at the Slytherin table those passing would often here him start a speech with the proud words, 'My father says,'

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At long last Harry's eleventh birthday arrived. They were sitting down to breakfast in their home when the owl arrived bearing the letter from Hogwarts. Harry took it and opened it calmly. Then without a word he walked over to the small desk at the side of the room, wrote quickly on of piece of parchment, rolled the letter up and tied it to the waiting owl which promptly took off with it.

'I take it you accepted?' asked his father dryly. Harry answered indirectly though he had a big grin on his face.

'Can we go to Diagon Alley today please, Father?'

'Of course,' replied Severus. But remember what I told you about your wand.'

'I know,' said Harry. 'Once I'm sorted you'll let me try all of the old family wands and I can have the one that suits me best. And at Christmas you'll take me to Ollivanders and he'll check it's good enough for me. If he thinks it's not then you'll by me a new one then.' Privately, Harry was hoping to be able to use his great grandmother's wand, a beautiful silver birch containing a dragon heartstring.

'Go and get ready then,' his father told him and Harry obeyed willingly.

Four hours later they returned, laden with all that Harry required for school. In addition Harry was carrying the latest broomstick, a Nimbus 2000. Severus had refused to teach Harry to fly up till now, saying that there were more important things. But as he had said, it wouldn't do for Harry to be a complete novice if he had to share flying lessons with one of the other houses-it was taken for granted that Harry would be in Slytherin. What was more; it solved the problem of what Severus could buy his son for a birthday present.

'But remember you can't take it to school this year,' he warned Harry.

'I know, first years aren't allowed their own brooms.' Harry felt he could reel off every rule of Hogwarts, he had heard them all so often. 'But at least I'll have it for next year when I'm on the team.'

'Don't get your hopes up too much,' said his father sternly. Not many second years even get onto the house teams. And you won't get a lesson this afternoon unless you behave properly at lunch.'

There wasn't a chance of Harry risking missing out on his first flying lesson so he went to put his purchases away before coming down to enjoy the rest of his birthday.

The rest of the summer passed pleasantly enough. The week before school started they packed and moved to Hogwarts to get ready for the start of term. Harry would not travel on the Hogwarts Express but join the rest of the first years just before they entered the Great Hall to be sorted. The week went quickly with Harry dividing his time between helping his father, flying on the school brooms and avoiding Professor Potter for whom he had an especial dislike, inherited from Severus. September the first arrived. When Hagrid brought the new first years into the castle Harry quietly slipped onto the end of the line and thus began the start of his school career proper.

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Author's note: No prizes for guessing where this is heading! Be warned: the Evil Muse is back and those of you who read my last story will realise that this is not good news for Harry. If you like Harry to be happy all the time and life to be good to him then this is not the story for you. Otherwise, read, enjoy and review.