Chapter 1- The Letter and the Professor

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 a place 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,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Harry gaped at the piece of parchment before him in astonishment. Witchcraft? Wizardry? OWL?! His thoughts screamed. He just couldn't make sense of any of it.

"Hurry up, boy! What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" Uncle Vernon chuckled at his own joke. His Uncle's voice brought him back down to earth. Harry scrambled to put his letter away, his instincts screaming at him to not let his Uncle see the letter which he will surely think of as another thing which proved Harry's 'freakishness'. He shuddered to think what his punishment would be if his relatives caught wind of someone writing to him. Especially using words such as wizardry. He pushed the thick envelope of parchment down his baggy shirt and headed to the kitchen, handing the morning's post silently and sitting down. He resolved to deal with the letter when he was back in his cupboard. He didn't need another punishment when he had just been let out of his cupboard for setting the boa constrictor loose in the zoo.

Summer vacations have started and come September, he would be going to secondary school, Stonewall High which was the local comprehensive, while Dudley would be going to Smeltings, Uncle Vernon's old school.

Of course, if the letter he had was true… Harry didn't know what he'd do.

Later, Harry firmly thought, scared that his relatives would know something was up by the expression on his face.

Harry didn't know what to make of it. The list in the letter named books like A History of Magic, Magical Theory, Standard Book of Spells and said that student would require a wand and mentioned broomsticks. He also didn't understand what they meant by they await his owl. But there was one thing that he was sure about, he couldn't tell the Dursleys about this.

After much thinking, he decided to write back.

He took out his ragged and torn school bag from beneath his mattress, turned the lone light bulb above his head on, which flickered a few times before providing a dim light, and set to work.

Dear Deputy Headmistress McGonagall,

Thank You for your letter. I'm sorry but I don't know about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and I don't understand many parts of your letter, especially the parts about owls or the book list. My Uncle and Aunt have informed me that I will be attending Stonewall High, coming September, and I don't think they will let me go to any other school.

I will be grateful if you could answer a few questions.

Is this true? Are wizards really real? And wands?

I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude but I find this really unbelievable, so if you could give some kind of proof?

Yours sincerely,

Harry Potter

Harry didn't know if his response was adequate or not but he didn't know how he could make it more polite. He wanted to know more because if it was true, it certainly gave him some answers about the strange things that often happened around him, like the glass containing the boa constrictor disappearing, or the time when he had ended up on the school roof, or how his hair always grew back the next day no matter how many times it was cut.

It could also be a simple prank by some kids at school who always bully him alongside Dudley's gang. If that was the matter, then Harry would prank them back and show them not to mess with him. Though Harry didn't think it was likely after the last prank he had played on two of them that had stuck them both in school for four hours after their swimming class, shivering in the changing room with no clothes and towels with their hair blue for the whole month.

No one had been able to blame him though they all knew it was Harry and just the thought of all his pranks brought a satisfied smirk on his face as he wrote the address on the envelope.

Ms Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry didn't know how it would reach them as he was sure people still thought magic was myth and he wasn't sure if sending it through regular post was a good idea but he didn't have any other options.

With that thought, he put the envelope in his bag, took off his glasses and fell to a restless sleep filled with green light and high cold laughter.

Harry had posted the letter a few days ago. He had taken to carrying the Hogwarts letter around in his pocket, worried that someone would find it in his cupboard and he would be punished.

It was Tuesday morning, and his eleventh birthday. The Dursleys didn't usually acknowledge his birthday but he knew they remembered it because he usually got a bigger list of chores on that day. He was making breakfast when the doorbell rang.

Aunt Petunia got up to answer the door. A few moments later, they heard a screech and then a cold, drawling voice.

"Now, Tuney, is that a way to greet your guest?"

Uncle Vernon got up and marched out of the room with thundering footsteps.

"Who the ruddy hell are you?" he rumbled.

Harry sneaked around the doorway, looking into the room, half-hidden by the door. A man dressed in all black was standing just inside the house. He had black lanky hair, a sallow face, and a hooked nose. He stood at an imposing height and all together, looked quite scary. Dudley was hiding behind his father.

"I am Professor Severus Snape, Potions Master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Professor Snape smiled coldly.

Harry gasped before he could stop himself. Harry cringed but only Professor Snape had turned to look at him, his Uncle and Aunt were gaping in horror.

"You must be Harry Potter?" He asked coolly.

"Y-yes, sir." Harry whispered, eyes wide with disbelief. Professor Snape opened his mouth to speak but Uncle Vernon had recovered his voice.

"I command you to leave right now! I will not have any of you freaks in my home!" He thundered, his pudgy face a dangerous red.

"Believe me," he drawled, "I feel as much pleasure in being here as you feel at having me, but the Headmaster has ordered me to talk to Harry Potter in response to his letter." He looked disdainfully at Uncle Vernon.

"There was no letter," Aunt Petunia spoke at last, looking shaky, "He didn't get any letter from that place."

"So, it's true?" Harry asked, his heart thundering in his chest.

"Is what true, Mr Potter?" Snape looked at him.

"About Hogwarts. It's a school for magic? And," Harry looked hopefully at the professor, "I'm a wizard?"

"How did you know about this, boy!" Uncle Vernon demanded.

Harry flinched and looked down at his feet, staying silent.

"Answer me, boy!" His Uncle looked threateningly at him.

"I took the letter from the morning post. I knew if you saw it you wouldn't let me have it." He muttered, scowling up at him and knowing he would pay later.

Uncle Vernon started in his direction with his fists raised, his face turning a bright purple and Harry stumbled back, scared. But in a quick move, Professor Snape was in between them, pointing a stick at Uncle Vernon. He guessed the stick was a wand.

"Why don't we have this enlightening conversation somewhere else?" He said sardonically and gave a pointed look to the living room.

Aunt Petunia shrieked at seeing the wand, Uncle Vernon's face turned a sickly pale and they quickly moved to the pointed destination, standing at the far corner of the room with their back to the wall. Dudley had already fled to the safety of his room.

The Professor then looked at his wide-eyed face and softened his expression just a little.

"Come, Mr Potter, we have a lot to discuss."

Harry followed the Professor who had so easily scared his relatives. He was starting to really like him.

Professor Snape sat in an armchair and motioned Harry to take the seat across of him, ignoring the Dursleys, who were cowering against the wall.

"Now, Mr Potter, would you please explain about your letter and I will answer whatever questions you have."

"I got the letter five days ago Professor and I hid it from them because I knew they would take it from me. But, then I didn't know if it was true or if it was a prank and I knew they wouldn't tell me anything so I decided to write back," Harry said.

Then, he asked hesitantly, "So, it's true, sir?"

Professor Snape sighed, "Yes, Mr Potter it's true."

Harry took out his letter, and asked, "And what does it mean, they await my owl?"

"That's how witches and wizards send letters to each other, Mr Potter, through owls."

Harry gaped, "Owls? Then, how did my letter reach you?"

He smirked, "The Ministry has connections," he said.

"So," Harry hesitated, "were my parents a witch and wizard, too?"

"Yes, they were," Snape's expression was unreadable.

"And they went to Hogwarts?" Harry asked, excited.

"Yes, they were both Gryffindors," he said shortly.

"What's a Gryffindor?" Harry asked curiously.

"It's a Hogwarts house," he explained. "There are four houses, the other three are Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, each named after the four Hogwarts founders. Students are sorted in a house and each house shares common room and dormitories."

"Oh," he said, "Did you know my parents, sir?"

The Professor's expression turned cold, "They were in the same year as me."

Harry was still looking at him expectantly, nearly breathless with excitement.

Professor Snape sighed and his face softened just a little, "What do you know about your parents, Mr Potter?"

"Well," Harry thought a bit, "I know they died in a car crash, and…" Harry looked sheepishly at him when he realised he didn't know anymore.

"No, Harry," he said sharply, "That's not what happened," then he turned to his Uncle and Aunt, looking angry. Petunia gave a slight whimper.

"How dare you lie to him? How dare you keep Harry Potter's heritage from him? This boy is hailed as a hero in the wizarding world and he doesn't know what he is?" Snape hissed.

The Dursleys looked more cowed than ever, but Uncle Vernon was nothing if not stupid and it showed in the way he immediately puffed up and spoke, "The boy is nothing but a worthless freak and we swore when we took him in that we will beat it out of him! He will not be going to that place you call a school and I won't have any freakiness under my roof!"

Now Professor Snape looked positively murderous, "And I suppose a great muggle," he made a disgusted noise, "like you will stop him?

"A what?" Harry interjected.

"Muggle, Harry. Non-magic people." Snape said, not looking away from the cowering couple.

"We won't be paying a single penny for him to go there! He will NOT be going, and I demand you remove yourself from my property at once! You are trespassing!" Uncle Vernon practically screeched.

"He will go, and I swear to you, he will thrive under the tutelage of his Professors, and he will become the powerful wizard the world knows he is, and I would like to see how you would stop him because, believe me, I will be standing in the way to protect him from people like you!" He spat out.

The next thing, there was a fierce wind blowing inside the house, throwing everything around, and Harry and his Professor were standing right in the middle of it. Harry felt a great warmth inside him, looking at his Professor who was just a bit wide-eyed and was looking at him with gently and, dare he say it, protectively. The Dursleys were all but forgotten in Harry's mind.

Professor Snape, looking a bit shaky – though Harry was sure he wouldn't have been able to tell that before a few seconds ago – turned back to his relatives and spoke but Harry wasn't listening. He just kept looking wonderingly, at the first adult who had ever defended him like that and looked at him like that.

Then, his Professor took him by the hand and pulled him to the front door. Harry followed on numb legs, holding his hand tightly.

A/N : Eep. This is my first Harry Potter Fanfiction and i soo love Slytherin!Harry. I am so new at this, I don't know what to say. So i guess please comment and review and favourite and tell me how you like it!