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Chapter Text

On a late night at the end of October, a pair of twin children dressed as a pumpkin and a ghost walked hand in hand on the square. They tightly held each other's hands and curiously tiptoed to admire the spider and skeleton decorations in the shop windows.

A man wearing a black robe floated past them from behind, and the accidental collision of their bodies made the older child turn his head. In this dark night, he could only see the pair of crimson eyes hidden under the heavy hood.

The boy was frightened, and he instinctively tightened his grip on his brother's hand. But the man did not stop because of his gaze. He had a more important purpose: he had been waiting for this moment, which was his victory. He used a spell to open the door of the family and was looking for -

Until he heard the sound of children playing and laughing. He kicked open the hidden door at the deepest part of the room. Two similar children in the cradle were attracted by the stranger, and their parents placed them here but did not accompany them.

When they saw this stranger walking into the room, they thought he was a friend of their parents. So, they boldly reached out to invite him to play together. The man ignored the children's actions. He carefully identified the appearance of the two children with his wand and he didn't know which child was the one in the prophecy.

He looked at the two children. The slightly smaller child with a pair of beautiful green eyes like forbidden curse. He seemed to be tinier than his brother. He carefully hid behind his brother, but also poked his head out curiously to look at the man.

The man showed a twisted smile. He could have killed both children directly, but he knew that leaving only one non-prophesied child would cause more pain to the family.

"It's you." The man silently pronounced in his heart. He picked up his wand and chanted the most vicious curse in the world:

"Avada Kedavra"

A green light flashed, and the larger child stood in front of the black-haired boy. The curse brushed against the child's forehead and leaves a scar like lightning on his forehead. But it still attacked the black-haired boy directly, but -

There was no fear in those emerald-like green eyes.

The curse seemed to be bounced back by some invisible force. The room returned to calm again, and the man disappeared into the night sky on the last night of October.

**********

Chapter.1 Twins, Brothers, You and Me

"Anders, Harry, the guests have arrived, go to the door to greet them!" Lily told to the children playing in the living room while she cooked in the kitchen.

"Okay, Mom!" The boy with deep red curly hair responded first, throwing down his toy and rushing to the door, leaving his younger brother sitting alone on the sofa.

Two men were standing at the door, both old friends of James. Each held a cake, coming to celebrate the 6th birthday of the two boys.

"Anders!" the man with black hair called out the boy's name.

"Padfoot! I missed you so much!" the boy jumped into his arms. The man put down the cake and lifted him up.

"Did you bring that thing for me this year, Padfoot?" Anders asked slyly, hinting at the gift he wanted.

"Of course, I did," Sirius raised his eyebrows, pinched his cheek, and laughed. Lupin, the man with light brown hair who came with them, stood aside and watched their secret conversation, helplessly smiling. The three of them were like a warm family scene.

But they didn't notice the black-haired boy sitting alone on the sofa in the living room. Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived 's younger brother, was playing with his toys quietly, without a smile on his face.

Today was their birthday, but Harry didn't have much expectation. His brother was always the focus of attention. When it was his birthday, his admirers had sent countless gifts to Anders for his birthday, while Harry could only receive up to four gifts each time.

Padfoot and Moony, the godfathers of the two children, loved Anders more than the silent and introverted Harry. Anders was full of energy and always had mischievous ideas. When he played pranks, he always looked innocent and blinked his hazel eyes, just like his father James. Except for his hair color, he was a younger version of James, which made Sirius and Lupin love him even more.

Harry tried to focus on his toy to cover up his fragile expression. He was just a 6-year-old child who also wanted everyone's love and care.

Lily was a gentle and caring mother who could see Harry's loneliness, but as the mother of the famous the-boy-who-lived, she couldn't take care of both children's emotions at the same time. She always comforted Harry by saying that his brother had a bigger responsibility than others, as the scar on his forehead was the symbol of that responsibility. Harry was a obedient child. He felt aggrieved, but he still believed his mother's words.

Harry sat alone on the sofa, playing with his toy and eavesdropping on the conversation of the three people at the door. Sirius seemed to be taking Anders to practice Quidditch, and Lupin peeked his head into the living room from the door, seemingly wanting to invite Harry too, but Sirius and Anders took him away.

Being alone was actually quite nice, wasn't it? Harry said to the lion doll in his hand. At least he had a gentle and virtuous mother and a father who was good at playing with children. He saw through the window in the living room that Sirius and Anders were chasing each other in the garden, while Lupin was using his wand to protect them.

Harry also loved Quidditch, but no one knew or cared about his passion. Everyone thought he was a quiet boy and never to know his love for outdoor sports. The gifts he received were always books and indoor toys.

The lion doll in his hand was not his favorite either. It was a gift from Sirius, and Anders and Harry each had one. Sirius had been looking forward to them being sorted into Gryffindor in the future.

Harry sighed. He was already a sensitive person at such a young age. The piles of books had filled his little head too early, making him even more mature than his brother. Of course, that didn't mean Anders was childish. Whenever someone bullied Harry, he always stood up for him. As an older brother, he couldn't understand Harry's true thoughts. He could only take care of Harry materially, such as sharing his birthday gifts with Harry or leaving his favorite food for him.

But Harry didn't like this kind of treatment. What he wanted was not his brother's favoritism, but everyone's equal treatment and care.

There was another sound of footsteps at the door. James had come back.

James was an excellent Auror, but also a good husband and father. After changing his shoes, he walked straight to the kitchen and sneakily kissed Lily's cheek while she wasn't paying attention. However, he was mercilessly pushed out of the kitchen by Lily.

"Dad, you're such a troublemaker..."Harry commented on the scene in front of him. James sheepishly stuck out his tongue at his son, then shamelessly clung back to Lily.

In fact, Harry thought this kind of life was pretty good. He had already gotten used to the adults treating him and his brother differently. It wasn't a pleasant feeling living in his brother's shadow, but Harry still liked the plain and simple days.

"Dinner's ready. James, go call them back for dinner."

"At your service, my queen!"

James was once again kicked out of the kitchen by Lily. Harry couldn't help but laugh, but as soon as James found out that he was laughing, he mercilessly ruffled Harry's hair.

"Dad, stop it!" Harry struggled to push away the big hands messing up his hair, but his smile only grew wider-he loved this warmth.

"You naughty boy, will you dare to make fun of me again next time? "James finally stopped and grinned, showing his white teeth, a victorious expression on his face.

"I dare not!" Harry loudly answered, and James finally let him go, humming a tune as he went to the garden to find Anders.

**********

The birthday party started with everyone sitting around the table. Lily's food was always delicious, and Harry thought he would never get tired of it; James's corny jokes were mercilessly mocked by Sirius, but Harry still wanted to hear him tell jokes for the rest of his life; Anders once again saved Harry's favorite food for him,and he hoped he would always be favored by his brother.

As he blew out the six candles on his cake, Harry silently made a wish:

He hoped that his family could always maintain this kind of life, even if he still suffered from being treated differently.

Taking a deep breath, he blew out the candles.

He hoped his wish would come true.

**********

Today was still a calm day. Harry was holding his birthday present-a few heavy books and walking barefoot in the garden.

He liked the feeling of stepping on the grass barefoot. Nature was fair to everyone; it didn't give different treatment to people based on their status.

He leaned against the big tree in the center of the garden, reading those dull books, squinting his eyes and feeling the sunlight passing through the cracks in the leaves.

James took Anders to the training field in Auror, because of his brother's special status, James and Lily had started teaching him some simple spells early on. However, for Harry, they still insisted on their own views, believing that Harry needed a normal and happy childhood instead of learning too early, so Harry had never learned any magic since birth.

Anders often showed off in front of Harry with the wand borrowed from James. He often performed some small tricks in front of his younger brother using the temporary wand, such as using the Summoning Charm to summon dessert or changing the wand into a bouquet of flowers to amuse Harry.

Harry envied them, but he has a special skill, too-

That was something he discovered by chance one day. When he was resting in the garden, a small snake crawled out of the corner of the garden. Any other child would have screamed and run to find their parents, but Harry was different. He still leaned against the tree calmly reading his book.

"This kid is really strange; he doesn't even run when he sees me." He heard the snake mocking him, but he still ignored it.

"Let me scare him." With a twist, the little snake burrowed into Harry's arms and poked a head out from between him and the book.

"Why are you as childish as my father."Harry put the book down helplessly and let it crawl around his body.

"You understand what I'm saying?" As if startled, the little snake slid off him in a hurry, squinting its eyes as it cautiously surveyed Harry.

"I don't know why; it doesn't sound much different from English." Harry cocked his head at it, this was the first time he had ever communicated with a snake, but it all happened so naturally.

"Do you want to be friends with me?" His emerald, green eyes locked on the dark green pupils.

"Mum doesn't let me be friends with strange snakes." The little snake hesitated for a moment to throw out the words, its actual age not much older than Harry's by any reckoning. "But if you're human then it shouldn't matter. " It slithered an against Harry's waist, a feeling Harry didn't hate.

"I have to go, my mum's going to scold me if I don't get back." The little snake dragged its long body and disappeared around the corner of the garden.

Harry guessed that no one in the family could talk to snakes, and not only did he make the "hissing" sound naturally, but he could communicate with them without any problems. As a result,Harry was very complacent about this skill. But he didn't tell Lily and Jaime about it right away, he wanted to wait until he was 11 years old to learn the spell before he surprised them.

**********

Harry heard someone knocking on the door. Lily, who was cleaning the house with magic in the living room, quickly put down her wand to open the door. He saw an old man with white hair following Lily into the living room, and they sat down on the sofa, apparently discussing something important. Lily's eyebrows had been furrowed tightly since the conversation began. Through the glass, Harry couldn't hear what they were saying at all.

If only the glass could disappear.  Harry thought to himself.

Suddenly, the glass shattered with a loud noise, and the shards fell to the ground, making a clattering sound.  Even Harry, who was usually calm, was a bit disoriented by this sudden event.  He was just sitting under the tree, not even close to the glass.  He saw Lily, who had always been calm and composed, staring at the glass shards in shock, while the white-haired old man just smiled kindly at him and winked like a child.

"This child has great talent.  It's a good thing he hasn't started learning spells too early."  The old man patted Lily's shoulder and waved his wand, and the glass was restored.

"I'd still be a bit uneasy if I did send him to my sister's house..." Lily escorted the old man out of the living room, Harry hadn't heard the whole of their conversation, he had only heard these last two sentences.

He didn't care what Lily said, because Harry didn't think Lily meant Harry by "he". He continued to look at the book as the little snake once again emerged from the corner of the garden. They had known each other for a long time, and since that day the snake had often come into the garden to talk to Harry. Today, however,it looked very dejected, its head hanging there looking listless.

"Did something happen?" Harry closed the book behind him and watched as it wrapped itself around his arm in silence. It radiated coldness. Although snakes were cold-blooded animals, it was even colder than usual.

"Mum's going to take me away from here." It hissed, its tone all much lower than it had ever been.

"But you're my only human friend, and I won't be able to find you later..."It slid off Harry's arm and lowered its green head to lie next to Harry.

"It's okay, I'll be here for you as long as you can come back."Harry reached out and stroked its smooth head with his fingers. He couldn't want to let it go either and he wanted to introduce this friend to James, Lily and Anderle when he was eleven.

"Then it's a deal, I'll come back for you, make sure you're here wait for me." He was in a slightly better mood, and he exhaled his tongue happily again.

"I should still be living here until I'm 11."

"Okay! See you later!" The little snake wriggled happily away, looking less dejected than when he had arrived.

Harry shook his head helplessly, he didn't think it would be goodbye forever, so he didn't take the matter to heart. He reopened his book and continued to read it. The little snake was his best and only friend outside of his family. But they had never asked each other's names; it was an invisible bond that bound them together.

The dark-haired boy leaning against the tree hummed softly, and every now and then a few winds blew across his cheeks and lifted his dark hair, and the peace returned to the garden.

He was so relaxed and at ease, enjoying the comfort that nature brought him.

Would he know that many years later, his only friend was searching for him there?

He didn't know, and he wouldn't know either.

He was still there humming his favorite song and thinking about whether his favorite steak would be his dinner today.

Chapter Text

Chapter.2 Change, Pain, Suffocation

"Harry, wake up, Harry..." The young woman with deep red hair called out to him softly by the bed.

Harry rubbed his eyes and opened them groggily. It seemed like the sky was still dim, and the room was still pitch black. He reached over to the bedside table to grab his glasses. His brother, Anders, was still sound asleep in the nearby bed, mouth agape and snoring loudly, his blanket kicked off onto the floor. Lily gently picked it up and covered him with it again.

Harry didn't know why Lily was waking him up so early, but he obediently got out of bed, his emerald, green eyes misty with sleep.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Harry shivered, feeling a chill in the cold morning air.

"Harry, pack up your things. We're going to your aunt's house today." Lily gently put a coat on Harry and reached up to tousle his black hair.

"Why are we going to Aunt's house, Mom?" Harry had never heard Lily mention his aunt before, and he looked at her curiously, but her eyes seemed to avoid his gaze.

"Because your brother's status is special, and it's too dangerous for us to stay here. We need to take him somewhere else..." Lily didn't have the courage to go on.

"So, we're going to stay at my aunt's?"

"No... We're going to let you stay at your aunt's house alone. It's too dangerous to move with us..."

'Why?”

"We've put a spell in that house. It'll protect you." Lily held Harry in her arms, and Harry could feel her hands shaking. Harry was still confused, but he didn't want to upset Lily. So, he made no further inquiries. He had always trusted Lily.

Lily loosened him, and a trace of guilt and regret flashed in her green eyes. But she was soon back to her usual self and helped Harry pack his clothes.

Harry stood in front of his bookshelf thinking what to take away, but his family had never given him something memorable. In the end, he chose to tuck the unfinished books and his diary into his backpack.

Moments later, Lily had helped him pack his suitcase, and James, who always cheerful, stood in the doorway waiting for them in silence. Somehow, Harry sensed something was wrong, but he shook his head and pushed the negative thoughts out of his mind. He trusted his father and mother, and he did not think he should suspect them so.

Harry followed James into the car, carrying his small bag containing only a few books. Until he got off the car, Harry had been hopeful that he might simply be staying at his aunt's house for a few days. In the car, Lily had assured him that she would be back to take him home when the danger was cleared, and James had assured too, which had more convinced of his own ideas.

When Harry got out of the car, however, he felt a tinge of fear. He saw the tall, burly, fat man talking to Lily, while the thin, blonde woman was yelling at Lily at the top of her voice and seemed to be glaring at Harry from the corner of her eye.

"Dad, I don't want to stay here..." Harry tugged at James' sleeve, hoping that James would turn around and take him away. Just standing here made him feel disgusted.

"Harry, you have grown up and you should understand us. When the danger is over, we'll pick you up and buy you everything you want." James comforted him and surreptitiously tickled Harry's armpit, making him laugh.

"Okay, it's a deal. But you can't go back on your word." Harry felt slightly more relaxed. He saw that Lily had finished conversation. Before leaving, Lily seemed to have given them a wad of cash.

"We're leaving now. Harry, you have to wait for us obediently, okay?" James hugged Harry one last time before handing him over to the blonde woman.

Harry stood next to the woman, watching as James and Lily waved goodbye to him with reluctance, then drove away from the Dursley house. His eyes were fixed on the car, until it disappeared at the end of the road.

"Come in, you little brat. Let me make it clear first, if you're staying in my house, you have to listen to me obediently. As a member here, you also have to do your share of chores. We're not going to keep a useless person here for free." Before entering the house, the woman shouted a series of rules in a shrill voice. Harry picked up his luggage, feeling lost, and followed her inside.

It's all right, Harry. It's just for a while. Mom and Dad will pick me up after a few days. Harry consoled himself and moved slowly toward the house.

But he didn't know that behind that door was an abyss with no end in sight.

*********

The dark-haired boy was curled up like a cat in the dark cupboard, asleep with the few reading books he had with him. His hair soaked with cold sweat that from his forehead. He was like a drowning man struggling in the water, but unable to free himself from the nightmare.

In the first week of Harry's stay with the Dursleys, he felt despair. It was the first time he had seen the ugliness of human nature. They were hypocritical, arrogant, violent, and lazy. On his first day there, they put him in a room upstairs, but after a week of living with him, they seemed to realize that Lily and James had no intention of coming to get him, and so they heartlessly threw him out of the room and into this narrow cupboard.

Harry felt his body heavy and cold, even when he wrapped the entire small blanket around him. He had to shrink his body as much as possible to reduce heat loss.

Harry had never felt so uncomfortable before. It was a suffocating and helpless feeling. He had no one to complain tearfully, and he could hardly open his eyes. He could only let his tears flow from the corners of his eyes, dripping into the pillow.

After only a week, his aunt had ridiculed Harry more than a hundred times. He didn't think he was useless before, but now the fact was in front of him: he really couldn't do anything right. Whenever he cleaned the floor, he would accidentally spill the water; whenever he made breakfast, he would burn the bacon; whenever he trimmed the garden, the flowers and plants would grow uncontrollably. The more he tried to do something well, the more reality developed in the opposite direction. The Dursleys used this as a reason to mock him and didn't provide him with any food.

The acid in his stomach was boiling, burning his body, and burned his last bit of reason to ashes. He didn't want to open his eyes. He heard Aunt Petunia screaming outside, urging him to wash the dishes. He heard Uncle Vernon cursing his parents and insulting him as a waste. But he was too weak to argue. He just wanted to lie on the bed and rest and fall asleep.

He didn't know how long he slept, when he woke up again, his body had recovered a little bit, at least he no longer felt cold. Perhaps Aunt Petunia didn't want him to die in the cupboard, he saw a few pieces of moldy bread on the ground at the door of the cupboard, and a few small ants were wandering on them.

His stomach growled, and he didn't know how long he had been hungry without a clock. After hesitating for a moment, he succumbed to his stomach. He reached out and picked up the few pieces of bread, shook off the small animals on them, carefully broke off the parts with white fluff, and swallowed the remaining parts.

He imagined the taste of the dishes Lily made and imagined that the bread in his mouth was a dessert made by Lily. His eyes couldn't shed a tear, and only pain remained.

It was only half a month, but he had already chanted Lily and James' names more than a thousand times.

He imagined James coming to the Dursleys' house to pick him up tomorrow, and he would take him to buy everything he liked; Lily would make him his favorite food; Anders will come to comfort him and leave him his favorite food as usual; Lupin will take him to the bookstore, and he can hold his favorite book and watch Sirius and Anders play Quidditch under the big tree in the garden...

Everything will return to normal; everything will be happy and peaceful.

But all of these were just in his dreams.

Aunt Petunia was roaring outside again, Dudley was still making trouble on the sofa in the living room, and Uncle Vernon kept insulting him. In order to get his food, he had to get up early every day to make breakfast for them and endure their mockery.

He remembered the little snake, his only friend, which have left his garden with its mother and gone to a place Harry didn't know. Harry had a lot of things to talk to it about, but it was no longer by his side.

Harry used a stolen pencil from Dudley to record time on the wall. He didn't even have the strength to write in his diary anymore. He believed that Lily and James would come to get him, and maybe tomorrow.

Harry had thought of running away. He was just a six-year-old child, and he could not withstand this physical and mental torture. In extreme hunger, he even planned an escape route, but every time he was about to do it, Lily and James' voices would ring in his ears again.

He was afraid, afraid that Lily and James would never find him if he left. He could only endure it and endure the ridiculous everything.

Lying in bed, he stared at his rough and fragile hands. He found that he had learned a new ability: to gather light in the center of his palm without relying on a wand.

But he had no friends to share this new discovery with. This beam of light silently accompanied him, it was his only dependence in the dark night. He wondered if Lily had anticipated that he would endure this kind of life, and if they had taken Anders to a safe place. In the dark night, he could only stare at the faint and boring light and force himself to sleep.

But even though Harry had countless questions in his heart, he still believed that Lily and James would come to get him. The boy fell asleep slowly with this hope, and the tears in the corners of his eyes stayed at this moment.

********

They began to hit his body with their fists.

They began to pull his ears with their nails.

They began to strike his head with a cane-

"He's a useless waste of space, a freeloader!"

Aunt Petunia exaggeratedly described Harry's "crimes" to her neighbors, in her mouth, Harry's "useless" parents were deeply in debt and couldn't afford to keep him, so they handed him over to them. She described herself as a noble saint, who gave Harry a room, enough clothes to wear, and even prepared free food for him to eat and drink. Those neighbors were all moved to tears by her "kindness" and they were angry at the Potter family.

She was satisfied with these words, swaying her body back to her home. But Harry's appearance made her scream again-he had burned the dinner again, leaving only a pile of black residue in the pot. She grabbed his ears with a fake smile and slammed him to the ground as punishment, letting him climb back into his cupboard to reflect. Before Harry acted, she intentionally crushed her high-heeled shoes on his hands a few times, before she was satisfied and let him go.

She knew Lily and James wouldn't come to pick him up anymore, it had been almost two years. This made her taken for more granted. She hummed a happy tune in the living room, praising her Uncle Vernon's tasteless shoes.

She was so happy these past two years, there was never a time when she was happier.

Harry stared at the bruises on his hands quietly, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

He had become accustomed to these rotten days, and to these rotten people.

His emerald, green eyes had lost their shine, they were completely dull, not the look an 8-year-old child should have.

His book torn apart by Dudley during their struggle, and all he got in return were broken books and a broken self. In the cupboard, the old wall had already been painted with countless marks.

He no longer dreamed of Lily and James, only of freedom and food.

He would feel pain, but no one knew he would feel pain.

He lay on the bed, trying to apply the medicine to his back that was already beyond recognition.

He stole the medicine, but its owner found out about his actions. They continued to hit his back, but he never returns the medicine to them. Because it was the only thing that could alleviate his pain, tears could no longer alleviate his pain-

Because he could no longer cry.

He still didn't have the courage to run away, he hated himself for still waiting for Lily and James to come and pick him up. He even looked for excuses for them: the lack of letters might be due to them being intercepted by the Dursley family; the reason they didn't come to pick him up might be because Voldemort's forces were too strong for them to escape the threat of death. He even worried about the life and death of Anders when he was being beaten.

He didn't know that Lily and James didn't have much free time to send him letters.

He didn't know that Lily and James didn't come to pick him up because they thought the Dursley family was safer.

He didn't know, or maybe he didn't want to know, either.

He was still a coward who just knew how to escape the truth, escape reality.

He stared at the spider web in the corner of the wall, watching the little bug being entangled by the spider web on its six legs.

The spider slowly walked out of the corner, but the little bug was still struggling, trying to leave this place.

The spider eventually captured it, slowly devouring it, from the legs to the body, until it disappeared from this world.

If he disappeared, would anyone remember him?

He didn't know, or maybe he didn't want to know, either.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3. Escape, Accident, Who Are You?

They never let him go to school, nor have they ever allowed him to go out. He was locked in a cupboard under the stairs, losing his basic knowledge of the world. The only chance for him to see sunshine was to trim the weeds in the garden.

The sunlight shining on his wounds and bruises gave him a burning sensation, but he had to endure the sunlight and use his scarred hands to trim the prickly weeds.

The strong will to survive made him unknowingly learn some wandless magic: he could use healing spells to heal his broken nose caused by Dudley, and use repairing spells to repair some vases he had broken. But he was not happy about it. For him, these things were not as good as a meal that could fill his stomach.

Harry touched the bruises on his arm. The touch still brought a sharp pain, and his healing spell could only heal the injuries on his bones but could not eliminate the physical pain, which made him very frustrated. It meant that he could only rely on stolen potions to remove these annoying bruises.

Harry lay on his small bed and used a crayon to record something in the old, yellowed diary. His long, uncut hair covered his vision. Aunt Petunia once grabbed his hair and tried to cut his hair with scissors, but his subconscious resistance caused his hair not to be cut short, but to become longer and longer, passing his neck. Aunt Petunia cursed him as a freak, and eventually gave up the idea of cutting his hair short, but still pinched his shoulder fiercely before letting him go.

Harry pushed aside the stray hairs on his forehead. His eyesight had gotten progressively worse, and his old spectacles no longer suitable for his current vision. He had to lean in close to see what he was writing on the paper. After finishing the last word, he closed his diary with a heavy sigh. He's planning to escape.

**********

After a year of preparation, he finally put his plan into action. In the dead of night, he climbed out of the window he had broken with a spell, carrying his tattered backpack on his back-he was going to be free!

He greedily breathed in the fresh air, ignoring the gash on his thigh caused by the broken glass. Blood dripped along the path, he was leaving, never to be imprisoned in the dark cell again, never to labor for Dudleys, never to be beaten or humiliated.

He was free, although he felt the bruises on his body beginning to ache, his wounds starting to tear, it didn't matter to him. A few warm drops trickled from his eyes, and he felt happiness in this moment.

Overwhelmed by fatigue, he fell into a coma. He didn't know where he was sleeping, but he knew he was happy and free, with no one to restrain him or hinder him.

He didn't want pain; he just wanted to live freely. That was all.

In his coma, he heard the sound of sirens and he wanted to escape. He didn't want to go back. He tried to get up from the ground, but he fell back down. He saw a beam of light shining on his face, and the police car's flashing lights made him feel miserable. He saw two people walking out from behind the police car in the darkness.

They dragged him from the ground and onto the car, not caring about the pain he felt. They violently pulled him up. They sneered, insulted, and accused him, their hypocritical smiles covering up their crimes.

He had no strength to say any words of defense. In his confusion, he only knew one thing: he was back in captivity.

They told the police that their nephew had run away from home because he was going through a rebellious phase. They fabricated lies, saying that Harry was a freak, and he always fool around with freak people who have a tendency towards violence, so there were hence the bruises on his body. They pretended to care about Harry's injuries in front of the police, asking hypocritically, "How did you fall down? Does it hurt?"

Their acting was convincing, successfully covering up the violence they had inflicted on the child. The police believed that they were two caring guardians and returned Harry to them.

Harry struggled and screamed, clutching onto one of the police officer's thighs, begging him not to send him back. But the police seemed oblivious to Harry's terror, thinking he was just a rebellious child and forcefully pulled him away, handing him over to his Aunt Petunia.

They walked away with fake smiles. The police glances at their peaceful departure, unaware that Aunt Petunia was fiercely pinching Harry's hand with her sharp nails, leaving another bruise that would not fade easily on his hand.

He went back, back to hell.

********

Aunt Vernon had even barricaded the doors and windows of the house in order to shut him up, so that no one else but them could open the door and the window.

Harry resigned himself to the fact that he was like a forgotten stone to be trampled on and kicked away at will. Every morning he worked like a puppet for the Dursleys and every night he slammed his head against the wall of the cupboard like a madman.

He did not want to die, but this life was worse than death. Harry knew that if he died, to the Dursleys, it would be like losing a servant and nothing more. He didn't want to waste his life in the hands of such scums.

He wanted to be an adult so that he could leave the Dursleys sooner rather than later and go to the place where he wanted to go. Harry didn't know how old he was now, the thousands of his household duties had made him forget the time and the records on the wall were scribbled. He could only know how old he was through Dudley's birthday.

Harry tried to protect himself with spells, but he could not control the attacking spell well and the most he could do was to cause pain to Dursleys, but no harm to them.

The price for resisting was that he would be choked by Dudley with even more force, but he didn't care about that at all, he would laugh and mock his opponent's impotent rage until they let go of his hands out because of boredom. He would never bow down to them.

**********

Today is Dudley's birthday, and the dining table is almost overflowing with Dudley's presents. Nowadays, Dudley's favorite thing to do is to use Harry as a punching bag for his exercise routine. But Harry doesn't just stand there and take it; he runs away and hides on the roof or locks himself in the cupboard so Dudley can't get to him. Although He may end up going hungry or getting beaten even worse for these actions--

Who cares? Anyway, he doesn't care.

When Uncle Vernon enters the kitchen, Harry is frying up some bacon.

"Look at yourself Comb your hair like a rag! "He growled, his way of saying hello when he met Harry in the morning.

Harry doesn't respond and just puts the plates of eggs and bacon on the table before taking his own bread back to the cupboard. Hey don't allow him to eat at the table with them.

Today, they're planning on taking Harry out--not that they want to, they can't explain why Harry did not go with them to their neighbors. It's a hot summer day, and they've covered Harry up to hide the bruises on his body. But Harry doesn't mind; he hasn't been out of the house in years. This is the calmest morning Harry has had because the Dursleys are afraid of being found out by others that they mistreated him.

After lunch, they take him to the reptile house. Surrounded by bright glass, and you can see lizards and snakes and other reptiles climbing on trees and rocks. Dudley wants to see the python, and he quickly finds the biggest one in the reptile house. He pressed his nose against the glass to get a better look at the brown and gold snake inside.

"Move! "Dudley tapped on the glass, but the python didn't react. Vernon pound on the glass, attempting to wake the python, but it remained asleep. "What an annoying creature, just like a certain 'tagalong'." complained Dudley before he went to bother some of the other animals.

Harry looked at the python through the glass and it reminded him of his old friend, the little snake. He wondered if it had grown to be as large as this one." Hello, Mr. Python, "Harry greeted politely. The python opened its eyes and slowly raised its head until it was at the same height as Harry's eyes. It blinked.

"Are you addressing me, young one?"

"Yes, you remind me of a friend of mine. I was wondering if you knew him, "Harry said, glad that he had not forgotten how to speak snake language. It was like a natural ability that came with his being, and he could speak it without thinking. He did not have high hopes of getting any information about the snake from the python.

As expected, the python thought for a moment, then shook its huge head and said to Harry, "I come from Brazil and have not encountered any other snakes outside of Brazil." Harry thanked it.

Just as Harry was about to leave, a deafening scream came from behind him, startling both him and the python. "Dudley! Mr. Dursley! Come quickly, you won't believe what this snake is doing!" Dudley staggered over to them. "Get out of the way, "he said, punching Harry in the chest. Harry groaned in pain, falling heavily to the concrete floor. But then something unexpected happened–the glass in front of the python's enclosure disappeared. The python quickly uncoiled its body and slithered onto the floor–everyone in the reptile house screamed and ran for the exit. As the python slipped past Harry, he heard a hissing voice say softly, "Thank you, I'll keep an eye out for your friend. "The python was free, but Harry was once again grabbed by his hair-He tossed into the dark cupboard.

He was used to it–used to not having enough to eat, used to being punished for no reason, used to staying alone. He no longer hoped that someone would come and take him away from there. He clenched his fists and stared directly at the spiders and bugs in the corner. He would never let himself become a prey–he would become the predator and control all those who had hurt him. A glimmer of light returned to his dull green eyes.

Because of the Brazilian python's escape, Harry was forced to endure the longest punishment of his life. He was locked in the cupboard and the Dursleys would leave a pitiful amount of bread in front of his door every day, and the only thing he's allowed to do is to open the door and take it.

He was going insane. Though being locked up meant he was no longer needed to do chores for the Dursleys, his skin had become pale and fragile from being in the dark for so long. His nails caked with filth and dried blood.

By the time Harry was allowed out of the cupboard, Dudley's summer vacation had begun. Dudley and his friends were more than happy to engage in their favorite pastime: chasing and beating up Harry. He never tired of it, and they took pleasure in bullying someone weaker than themselves.

They could make Harry do anything they wanted, such as setting traps to ensnare him and playing pranks on him. The traps were obvious, but Harry would fall into the traps without a second thought just to appease their fragile egos. They called him a coward and laughed at him, but Harry didn't want to waste his time with them.

*********

On the second day of July, after cleaning up the house, Harry went to get his own bread and noticed a foul smell in the kitchen. The stench seemed to be emanating from a large metal basin in the sewage tank. Upon inspection, he found gray-black water with what looked like a tattered cloth soaking in it.

Aunt Petunia had given Harry this basin and asked him to dye his own clothes. Harry "obediently" accepted it in front of Aunt Petunia, but as soon as he returned to the cupboard, he threw the disgusting clothes into the ground.

He hated his current self, a hypocrite.

Harry returned to the cupboard with his breakfast, where Dudley and Uncle Vernon were sitting on the living room sofa. Uncle Vernon opened the newspaper as usual, and Dudley slapped his walking stick on the table.

They heard the mailbox clatter, "Go get the mail, freak." Uncle Vernon said from behind the newspaper. "Hurry up and pick up the mail!" Dudley tapped Harry's door with his walking stick, forcing Harry to end his breakfast.

Harry opened the door. He was not in the humor to dodge, and as expected, the walking stick left a deep purple mark on his body. There were three items on the doormat: a postcard from Aunt Marge, Uncle Vernon's sister; a brown envelope that looked like a bill; and-a letter addressed to Harry.

Harry picked up the letter and stared at it intently. Since being sent to the Dursleys, he had never received a letter from James and Lily, so he knew this could not be from them. He recalled Lily saying that every wizard receives a letter of admission to Hogwarts School at age 11. He speculated that this was likely a letter from the school, but he had no interest in it.

He loathed the world of wizards which had deprived him of his parents and everything that should have been his. He handed the three letters to Uncle Vernon truthfully, and as he expected, Uncle Vernon's eyes widened when he saw the letter addressed to Harry-perhaps surprised that someone would send a letter to Harry.

But as he opened the letter, his face twisted with anger, and he tore the letter and envelope to shreds before throwing them in the bin in front of Harry. He looked up at Harry with a sneer, attempting to provoke him and give him an excuse to use violent against Harry. To his disappointment, Harry remained calm and returned to his cupboard.

Harry felt relieved, he didn't want to go to that world and his uncle had inadvertently granted his wish. But to his surprise, the next few days saw a constant stream of letters from Hogwarts pouring through the letterbox, no matter how they nailed the windows and doors shut.

They moved house, taking a small boat to a tumbledown shack on a rock out at sea. The storm hit that night. Waves crashed around the flimsy walls and rattled the windows of the shack. Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets and threw them over Dudley's bed, which was a sofa, and she and Uncle Vernon went to the lumpy bed next door and fell asleep instantly. They didn't care whether Harry was alive or dead. Harry found a corner of the room and curled up in a ball.

He was a stray dog once again, hungry and cold, trying to find shelter under a place on a rainy night. It was his birthday. He was sure of that, because he inadvertently knew at while Uncle Vernon was reading the daily newspaper. But birthday has no practical significance for Harry.

Cold. That was the only thought he had at 12 o'clock, a moment when all he wanted was a blanket to warm his body. He shivered as he lay on the floor, the chill coming from all sides. He heard the door open and thought it was a hallucination from his long freeze, so he didn't get up and ignore it.

But then he heard another powerful footstep. He looked up from the corner and a dark-haired man stood in front of him, his eyes cold and empty, like two dark tunnels. He frowned at Harry and asked:

"You are Harry Potter?"

Chapter Text

Chapter.4 Snape, Confrontation, Refusal

When Dumbledore sent Snape to pick up the Potter's son, Snape instinctively refused. He roared at Dumbledore, demanding why Hagrid wasn't sent instead. However, his refusal was ultimately silenced by the words "It was Lily's request."

He loathed James Potter, as well as everything related to the Potter family. Although he was reluctant, he eventually agreed to go.

Snape felt guilty towards Lily because his selfishness nearly caused the death of Lily's two children. To atone for his mistake, he ultimately sought help with Dumbledore and promised to work as a spy by Voldemort's side when the return of the Dark Lord, protecting the Potter family, especially their son, Anders Potter.

But that didn't mean Snape could tolerate the Potter family's two little monsters.

When Lily and James brought Anders to meet Snape because of their mission, he almost pulled out his wand and chased the arrogant brat away from him. The boy had dark red hair that was very similar to Lily's hair color, but his eyes and soul were completely typical of a Potter.

From the first moment of eye contact, Anders saw that Snape was dissatisfaction with him. He stared at Snape with a face that resembled James Potter's disdain. And father and son stood on the same side, watching him, which made him feel extremely annoyed. If Lily wasn't there, he would have kicked them out long ago. Of course, after the incident, Lily criticized them harshly, and the matter was settled.

At that time, Snape didn't pay much attention to the whereabouts of the Potter's youngest son. He only heard James and Lily mention in that they had entrusted Harry Potter to Lily's sister.

To protect the child named Anders Potter, Lily had no other choice. Fighting the Death Eaters every day had exhausted all their energy, and they hadn't seen the child for almost five years which made their relationship with the child had also gradually weakened.

They have written letters to the Dursley, but they only received simple sentences like "He's doing well, and we hope you won't disturb our family's life anymore." Therefore, they gradually stopped sending handwritten letters to the Dursley family and instead sent money to Petunia every month, asking her to help Harry meet his daily needs.

**********

Snape always believed that Lily was a smart person, after all, she was the woman he once loved. But this time even he, who always taken sides with Lily, had to admit that she had made a mistake in how she treated her young son.

Snape thought Harry Potter would be as arrogant and conceited as Anders Potter, relying on the money Lily gave to the Dursleys and being doted on by Dursleys. But he was wrong. He should not have thought that Lily's sister was a good person:

The boy curled up in the corner cautiously lifted his head to stare at the stranger in front of him. When the man approached him, he almost instinctively tried to escape. He trembled helplessly in the corner like a wounded deer. If it weren't for the black hair and the green eyes that were supposed to be as brilliant as Lily's, he wouldn't have believed that the skinny child in front of him was James and Lily's child.

Has no one ever trimmed his hair? In the darkness, Snape carefully observed the child in front of him from top to bottom. The boy's black hair had grown past his shoulders, and his messy hair, like his father's, was pointing in all directions without any pattern. His body was obviously several times thin and weak than his peers. If he didn't know in advance that Harry was a boy, he would definitely mistake him for a girl at first glance, but those eyes-

Hollow to the point that he couldn't see any emotion. If their gazes hadn't touched, he would never have thought that this child was looking at him.

On his neck...what was that? Snape's first reaction was abuse. There were faint purple marks left on it, and there were finger-like marks above it, as if that part had been choked by someone--

He dared not continue looking down. He took off his black coat and threw it to the Potter boy.

"This is for you, put it on. "Snape said unkindly, he just didn't know how to express his kindness properly. But the Potter child did not reach out to catch it. He just watched it fall to the ground without any reaction.

"I don't need your charity."

The black-haired boy answered coldly, still unmoved. He maintained a distance from Snape with caution, his hand still groping nearby, trying to find a strong weapon to protect himself. His body was still trembling, not out of fear but due to the cold. And he was not afraid that he might die.

Would using a wandless spell on this tall man be effective?Harry squinted his eye.The man had holding with his wand,so,he couldn't act rashly.

His body seemed to act faster than his brain.

Crack! Accompanied by crisp sounds, the glass around them shattered into countless fragments,which along with the rainwater, attacked the two people in the room randomly. Snape instinctively picked up his wand for protection, but Harry took the opportunity to reach out his hand towards Snape's sleeve. Harry cast a flame spell to his sleeve before Snape could finish the incantation. The fiery flames burned and spread on his clothing. Such a change momentarily threw Snape off his rhythm, and Harry took this opportunity to pounce on him,attempting to snatch the wand from his hand--

But when he was just one centimeter away from the wand, his legs were suddenly forced off the ground.

"...Don't give me any more trouble." Snape glared at him through gritted teeth, his hand grabbing Harry by the back of his collar and lifting him to eye level. Harry struggled in mid-air like a cat being held by the scruff of its neck, flailing his fists wildly but unable to land a blow on Snape.

"Let me go!" Harry's voice was hoarse, rainwater pelting his face through the shattered glass and causing his body to tremble, but his eyes remained fixed on Snape's without a hint of fear.

Snape waved his wand and solved the trouble Harry had caused. He instinctively wanted to taunt the boy, but as he shifted his gaze slightly, he saw the bruises on Harry's body extending from beneath his clothes all the way up to his neck. His arms so thin they looked like they could snap with a gentle touch. And his forehead appeared to be oozing a little blood-presumably was the glass shards had grazed him. For once in his life, Snape swallowed his venomous words and released Harry back onto the ground. The instant his feet touched the floor, Harry immediately curled back into the corner.

"I'm here to take you to Hogwarts, " Snape Half squatted, lowering his body as much as possible to convey that he wasn't there to harm him. He picked up his coat from the ground and draped it back over Harry's shoulders. Though Harry immediately started twisting to take it off, Snape used a bit of force to keep him still and wrap the coat tightly around him.

"Who are you? "Harry was now bundled up tightly, which reduced some of the coldness.

"Severus Snape, "Snape introduced himself simply, his inner still struggling as he couldn't believe this child could be Harry Potter, the youngest potter. In this child, he could only think of two extreme adjectives to describe him: weak but powerful.

This child was clearly abused, wearing only a thin shirt as his sole garment. He looked like a small animal to be slaughtered, but when faced with a stronger opponent, he could quickly come up with ways to fight back. Though he failed, it still made Snape admire him greatly.

If this child had grown up in a normal environment, he would have become an even more powerful presence than his brother. Snape thought to himself.

"How did you get these injuries? "Snape asked Harry directly. The scars and bruises on Harry's body were not seemed to the result of simple collisions. He urgently needed to know the truth, and this truth needed to be verified by Harry himself. Only then could Snape help him.

He saw the boy's pale lips move slightly, his eyes flashing with surprise but soon disappearing, becoming empty again. In the end, he just kept his lips tightly closed, and the room fell into silence, only the sound of rain outside hovering rhythmically around them.

He must take this child away. This was Snape's only thought, he absolutely could not allow this child to continue living here. If this went on, Harry would surely be abused to death or go down an even more extreme path, such as suicide.

**********

The door was open, and the howling wind swept into the whole room. In the midst of the cold wind's moaning and the shattering of glass, Dudley woke up. "Why is it so cold? "he mumbled.

He lifted his head and saw a stranger with black hair standing in their house. He heard the man mention Harry's name. "Who are you? "Dudley woke up, but the stranger remained silent.

"Dad! Mum! There's a stranger in our house!" Dudley moved his bulky body and clumsily hid behind the sofa, screaming his parents 'names.

Uncle Vernon woke up from his sleep and quickly picked up his gun, coming to Dudley's side. His mother also hid behind his father. She was too scared to come out.

"I want you to leave immediately sir!" Uncle Vernon let out a sharp scream, pointing his gun at the man's nose. "You're trespassing!"

But it didn't work. The man pointed his wand at them and muttered some words they couldn't understand. Uncle Vernon's gun flew out of his hand and shattered on the ground.

Uncle Vernon and Dudley widened their eyes, looking at the man in front of them in confusion. Harry just curled up there, not wanting to get involved in the dispute.

A flash of lightning passed, and the room was filled with its light. The man's appearance was clearly revealed, his jet-black hair hanging on both sides like curtains, with a very pale face and a pair of dark eyes.

"How could it be you?!" Aunt Petunia emerged from behind Uncle Vernon at some point, screaming as if she had seen a ghost. She waved her hand, pointing with her sharp nails at him.

"Lily had cut ties with you long ago, haven't you any shame coming here? "Though Petunia's relationship with Lily was not the most cordial, as basic family members, she still spent every summer living under the same roof during their school years. Petunia happened to overhear about Lily's falling out with Snape and she was ecstatic for months about it.

She hated Lily. She couldn't understand why Lily always won everyone's approval and could make more new friends than her. Lily was so outstanding and shining that she took all of their parents 'praise and everyone's attention. She hated Lily, but she never sought to find the reasons for her own shortcomings; she just vented her anger onto others instead of changing herself.

On that day five years ago, when Lily begged Petunia to take care of her son Harry, she almost laughed out loud-she had finally found a new target for her resentment. She commanded, beat, and insulted him, putting all of her jealousy and anger toward Lily from over the years onto Harry.

Because he was Lily's son, he couldn't get fair treatment; because he was Lily's son, he couldn't be better than her own son; because he was Lily's son, he had to bear all of this.

Her jealousy had already become deformed, but she still reveled in this kind of revenge.

She grinned triumphantly at the man, boasting of her success and mocking his failure. She had no idea that Snape had reconciled with Lily long ago, or that she couldn't get ahead of Lily. Everything was changing, and she hadn't changed a bit.

Snape sneered and he didn't say a word to the Dursleys, knowing that it would be a waste of breath. "Come with me, Potter. " He said to the boy in the coat. He expected Harry to obediently follow him and leave this place where he had been bullied for so long. But to his surprise, Harry remained motionless and made an unexpected gesture-he took Snape's coat off his own shoulders and handed it to him.

"I'm sorry, I think I'll continue to stay here," Harry said calmly.

Harry didn't want to go with him. The world of wizards and magic had ruined everything for him. Now he didn't want to add any more chaos to his life, and he just wanted to live a normal life, even though he still had to endure the mistreatment of the Dursleys. He didn't want wizards to ruin his future anymore.

Harry's stomach was starting to feel sour, and all he wanted was to be able to eat three full meals of bread today. That was his 11th birthday wish. He didn't need any fancy gifts or congratulations from others, just that would be enough to satisfy him.

He calmly scanned everyone in the room with empty, abyss-like eyes.

Chapter Text

Chapter.5 Forced to leave, a long-awaited break, a conversation with Snape

Aunt Petunia was grinning almost from ear to ear. The black-haired man's expression on his face got worse and worse, which made her more excited.

"You listen here, our little Harry doesn't want to go with you!" Aunt Petunia spoke in a sharp and exaggerated tone. Then she moved to Harry's side and placed her hand on his shoulder in a false show of kindness.

Harry's body stiffened at the moment Aunt Petunia touched him. The woman's perfume was nauseating, so strong that it was pungent. The smell went straight up his nose, which made the acid in his stomach boil again. Harry reflexively slapped away her hand and he bent over and covered his mouth, beginning to retch. He didn't mean to, and he didn't want to show any discomfort in front of others, but the smell forced him to feel nauseous.

The woman's smile froze, she didn't expect the boy to be so disrespectful to her. She screamed and ready to beat him on the head, but her movement was immediately stopped by a sudden spell.

"If you try to use violence again, the next spell will hit your hand directly. " Snape squeezed out these words coldly, his wand tip still glowing.

Aunt Petunia widened her eyes, she still wanted to say some malicious words to curse Harry, but the man's cold eyes made her realize that if she continued to target Harry, he might really use magic against them. She swallowed back those words and glared at him again.

Harry listened quietly to their conversation, without any reaction. When he watched Snape protecting him, he only felt a tightness in his chest, but then he returned to his original state. He recovered from the nausea and looked at the people on both sides with indifference. His eyes showing no emotion, as if he had nothing to do with everything here.

Snape couldn't understand why Harry would refuse him and it was obvious that leaving Dursleys would be the best choice for Harry. Now, he could not give up because of Harry's refusal. He needed to take a stronger way to deal with this situation.

"I have to take him away from here, and he has no right to choose. " Snape looked at Petunia. As long as Petunia stopped being hostile, he would put away his wand.

But Petunia was completely unaware of this and instead continued to shout at him, " I see that you couldn't get Lily, so you wanted to get his son instead!" She did not notice that Snape's face was getting worse and continued to provoke him more loudly.

"How could Lily ever be interested in someone like you!" Petunia went on and she tried to break him down on a psychological level with a bunch of words related to Lily.

"Shut up！"

Another curse flashed, but this time the target was not Petunia, but her son Dudley. The curse went straight to Dudley's hair, which scared him into screaming.

"I don't think you want your son to have an 'accident'. " Snape pointed his wand at her son and let out a mocking laugh, but his face didn't show any joy, and his eyes seemed to be burning with anger.

"How dare you!" Petunia tried to rush forward to protect Dudley, but Snape was one step ahead and used the tip of his wand against Dudley's thick neck.

"Mom, save me!" Dudley cried out, afraid to move. He feared that the man would turn him into a corpse the next second.

"Don't cry, Dudley, Mommy is coming to save you!" Petunia's voice became gentle and indulgent as she spoke to Dudley, but the next moment, her voice turned sharp and sarcastic again.

"It's just a servant you want, isn't it? Why cause so much trouble? I'll give him to you now!" Aunt Petunia shoved Harry hard from behind, pushing him towards Snape. She didn't care about Harry's feelings at all, and her actions were as casual as throwing away garbage.

Harry felt like he was nothing more than a commodity to be traded, discarded or exchanged at will-maybe not even a commodity, as every item has a price tag, but he had nothing. He didn't say a word, he silently endured it all. He should have known that no one would respect his choices, because he couldn't choose his own future anyway.

"Okay, you can take him away, but I don't allow him to appear in my house again, and from now on, you are not allowed to approach my son, " said Aunt Petunia.

Snape put away his wand and ignored Petunia's words. He addressed Harry directly:

"Let's go, Potter. " Snape crouched down and once again draped his coat over Harry, his fingertips cold and without any warmth.

Harry didn't want to leave with this man, but he had no place in the Dursley household anymore and he couldn't bring himself to beg them to take him in. He reluctantly followed the man and he saw Aunt Petunia hugging Dudley tightly with a spiteful glare at him.

He didn't understand why she always had to hold a grudge against him when he did nothing wrong, but he didn't bother to think about it now. He needed to plan how to escape from this man and take control of his own future.

**********

As an adult, Snape's one step was worth two of Harry's, and with Harry's ill-fitting shoes, he could barely keep up with Snape's walking pace.

Harry stumbled behind him in his oversized black coat, and every time Snape turned to look for him, Harry was quite far away from him. Have no way, Snape picked him up like a small animal from the ground and carried him like an object.

Harry was too small and skinny, at 11 years old he looked like he was 8, and Snape effortlessly carried him for a long distance. Harry's back collar was held by Snape, and he couldn't break free, he just let him carry him around.

**********

Harry had no idea how long he had been carried; he only knew that he couldn't control the urge to sleep. He hung his head and closed his eyes, his hair falling over his face, obscuring his view. He hadn't slept properly for several days.

Occasional jolts would wake him up from his slumber, but the next moment he would drift off again. When he finally woke up, he found himself lying in an unfamiliar bed, covered by Snape's coat, but Snape himself was nowhere in sight.

Harry set his plan in motion. Without thinking, he jumped out of bed barefoot and headed straight for the door to freedom. He eagerly opened the door and took the first step.

"What are you doing? " A dark figure loomed over him, blocking his vision and crushing him.

"I just want to see where I am. " Harry immediately made up a reasonable lie. He carefully sized up the man in front of him and weighing the strength difference between them. He knew he couldn't beat Snape right now, so he decided to temporarily obey and slip away when he let his guard down.

Harry put on an innocent expression and looked up at Snape, as if he really was just wonder to know where this is.

"Go back to bed, haven't you noticed the blood on your forehead? " Snape ordered him, his face darkening. Harry instinctively touched his forehead, his fingers immediately stained with sticky fluid. Only then did he realize that the wound on his forehead had been bleeding steadily from before until now. The pain was nothing to him, after all, he had once almost had his artery cut by Aunt Petunia with a pair of scissors at.

The insignificant wound on Harry appeared severe in Snape's eyes. He looked at Harry seriously and commanded him to sit back on the bed, which Harry reluctantly obeyed. Despite sitting back down, Harry continued to touch the wound by his hand, as the slight pain helped him stay alert.

"Don't touch the wound, " Snape said as he mixed a potion and gave Harry another command. Harry disliked Snape's tone, and he resented being ordered around by a stranger. Not to mention the stranger forcibly took him away. He was not a servant. Harry also didn't bother pretending to be obedient anymore, as his green eyes silently stared down Snape's dark ones in a stalemate. Harry was not weak, and he didn't fear Snape just because of their strength difference.

"Have you seen enough? " Harry said coldly to Snape, hating being subjected to someone else's mercy. After stating his thoughts, he ignored Snape and tore off a piece from his loose and tattered clothing to wrap around the wound.

However, Snape grabbed Harry's hands as he was about to bandage, and Harry struggled to break free but failed. Harry felt like a fish waiting to be cooked. Snape wasn't good at dealing with children, especially not Potter.

Snape pointed his wand at Harry, and Harry instinctively tried to dodge. But his wound was healed under spell" Episkey". Snape then handed him the potion he had been mixing and said, " Drink it. " Snape didn't care whether Harry accepted or not and continued on, 'I'm in the next room. I've put a spell on the door of your room, so if you need anything, just come to the door and I'll sense it. 'Snape didn't know why he was explaining this to Harry.

"I'm not going to thank you. You're just a kidnapper. " Harry said, still in a defensive stance, wary of Snape.

"You can thank me or not. It's all up to you. " Snape replied calmly. He was a grown man and Harry's remarks didn't provoke him.

"Tomorrow, I'll take you to buy a wand and some necessary supplies. For now, get some rest. " Snape didn't plan on prying into Harry's past all in one day. It was late, and he couldn't let the child stay awaked all night. Over the next few days, he needed to gain Harry's trust and gradually heal the physical and psychological scars that Harry carried. It would be a long process, but Snape wouldn't give up by lightly.

After leaving these words, Snape got up and left Harry's room. Harry watched his departing figure with confusion, not understanding why he was being so helpful. But it didn't matter, he had the potion and that's enough Harry looked at the expensive looking medicine bottle, and it seemed very valuable. He opened the lid and sniffed the scent, recognizing the precious ingredients used in its making.

What a luxury. Harry thought silently to himself, his hand carefully put the potion into his only pocket. Such a precious item had to be kept well. He thought.

With everything sorted out, Harry relaxed and lay back in bed. In such a comfortable environment, sleep defeated his hunger. With an empty stomach, Harry fell asleep.

**********

The next morning, Harry's biological clock forced him to wake up from his slumber. He instinctively thought about he should make breakfast for the Dursley family, but then realized he was no longer living in that cramped cupboard. He buried his head back into the soft pillow again. However, the smell of food squeezed through the door crack and filled the entire room. Harry's stomach couldn't resist and growled, so he got up again, ready to sneak a peek and see if there was anything to fill his belly.

"Come out of the room when you wake up, " a low voice came from outside the room.

As it turned out, even if Harry didn't take any action, the bat-like dark man would still watch over him. Harry pushed open the door reluctantly, feeling uneasy being watched.

It was his first time outside the room. In a dim and narrow living room, a candlelit lamp hung from the ceiling, and several walls around were covered with books.

It really looked like a place where kidnappers would live. Harry silently thought.

The food was casually placed on a long table next to the sofa, and the smell of butter penetrated his nose, tempting his stomach to taste it. Snape sat calmly on the sofa, watching Harry standing like a fool.

"If you don't sit down soon, I'll remove them, " Snape squeezed out the words after a moment of silence. He was used to expressing his concern for others in an awkward way.

Harry sat down on the opposite side of Snape, away from him. Hungry for almost a day and night, he grabbed a piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth. He didn't care whether Snape would be angry with his rudeness or not.

After chewing and swallowing quickly, he grabbed another piece of bread and stuffed it into his mouth Last night, Harry thought he was going to starve to death in his sleep, but fortunately, he was still alive.

Snape furrowed his brow as he sent the house-elf to bring some milk. Observing Harry's reckless eating habits, he feared that Harry might choke on a piece of bread before even reaching Hogwarts. Of course, he suspected that the Dursleys had never considered Harry's food and clothing problem, but he decided to deal with that later. He had a more important task to take Harry to.

Harry, without hesitation, grabbed the cup of milk and started chugging it down. After a few cups, his stomach was half-full, and he leaned back on the sofa contentedly.

"So, what do you want to take me to do, sir? " After satisfying his stomach, Harry had regained some strength. He had a stretch and looked relaxed. But he was still wary of Snape, even though Snape wasn't as bad as he had initially imagined.

"I was merely ordered to bring you back. " Snape stared at the eleven-year-old boy before him. Despite being just a child, he was no less imposing than Snape.

"That doesn't benefit you in any way, does it? " Harry tilted his head and pretended to ponder for a moment before continuing, " Taking care of the son of someone you hate. Nothing could be more uncomfortable than that, right, sir? "

Harry was guessing. Based on Snape's conversation with Petunia earlier, he guessed that Snape had a grudge against James. That's why he said what he said. But all that love and hate had nothing to do with him he just wanted to provoke Snape with this guess and get thrown out by him, so that he could start a new life.

As he had guessed, Snape widened his eyes at the statement after hearing these words. But Harry was wrong, his shocked not out of anger but at Harry's perceptiveness.

Seeing Snape remain silent, Harry narrowed his eyes and gave a fake smile of impending victory. "How about we make a deal? You give me my freedom, and I won't cause you any trouble. Does that sound fair? "

But Harry was still just a child, and he didn't realize that despite his fierce demeanor, he still looked like a kitten trying to roar in Snape's eyes. Snape didn't immediately retort to Harry, choosing instead to remain silent.

Letting out a sigh at the lack of response, Harry sat on the couch and absentmindedly swung his legs back and forth. His tattered clothes hung off his body, loose and baggy, revealing the hideous bruises with even the slightest movement. Harry did not shy away Snape's gaze, as there was nothing to conceal. But he would never tell anyone the true cause of those scars, as he didn't need anyone's pity.

Harry continued to swing his feet back and forth and his hair swaying slightly along with his movements. He had enough patience to wait for Snape to initiate the next conversation.

Chapter Text

Chapter.6 Going Out, the Blonde Boy, " Girl"

After a long silence, Snape finally broke the deadlock，" Follow me, Potter. " Without waiting for Harry's response, he got up from the sofa and walked straight to the front door.

"Are we going now?" Harry used his fingers to roll up a strand of hair. He hadn't taken care of it in a long time, and he didn't want to face strangers in this messy appearance. He blinked at Snape, indicating that he needed to tidy up his appearance before going out.

"The bathroom is over there, and there are spare towels in the bottom drawer." Snape pointed to one side of the living room. There seemed to be only one wall standing there, but after Snape uttered a simple spell, a door appeared behind it.

Harry's interest was piqued at the moment the secret door appeared. He didn't expect there to be so many hidden doors in this cell-like house. He was very curious about how it was designed, but he needed to prioritize cleaning himself up over that.

**********

He pushed open the door and was immediately enveloped in hot steam. The lenses of his glasses fogged up and before him was a bathtub filled with steaming water. Harry stripped off his clothes and jumped in. His body was surrounded by warm liquid, and he couldn't remember the last time he had felt this way.

At the Dursleys', he had only been allowed to wash with cold water and Aunt Petunia had limited his number of showers. His hair required regular cleaning to avoid looking greasy. So, when necessary, Harry would wet his hair with a hose in the garden, although it was freezing.

Harry squeezed shampoo onto his hair and worked it in with his fingers, creating a lather of white foam. He did the same with body wash before submerging his entire body in the water. The warm liquid caressed his body, causing a slight sting as it touched his bruises. But Harry ignored the pain, and he savored the moment.

The foams floated in the liquid. With closed eyes, he could feel his muscles were relaxed.

Harry lifted his head out of the water and leaned his body back against the tub's edge. Though the tub only held one person, it was already quite large for his frame. He relaxed in a comfortable position, watching the foam rise and fall.

If he had a home of his own, Harry would buy a bathtub a hundred times larger than this one so that he could enjoying this feeling every day.

After cleaning his body and his hair, the water in the tub automatically changed to clear liquid. It seemed to be controlled by magic, adjusting the temperature and replacing the water according to the user's needs.

Harry didn't know how long he had been in the hot water but finally he stood up from the tub. Looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, he noticed that he looked better than before, although he still looked pale and sickly. Harry ran a comb through his hair, but his long hair refused to cooperate him, sticking up in all directions. So, he gave up. He dried himself off, got dressed, and walked out of the bathroom barefoot.

***********

As Harry walked out of the bathroom with wet hair, he heard Snape let out a heavy sigh.

"Come here." Snape said.

Although Harry didn't know what Snape wanted to do, he walked over to him. Having enjoyed the pleasure of his shower, he decided to give the owner of the house some face. As soon as he stood in front of Snape, Snape murmured some spell low, which immediately made his hair dry.

"What spell is that?" Harry wanted to learn the spell so that he wouldn't have to shakily wait for the water to evaporate when every time he got wet.

"If you listen to me and come back to Hogwarts with me obediently, I'll teach it to you. " Snape said, but as expected, he received Harry's refusal.

"In that case, forget it. I'll figure it out myself." Harry stuck out his tongue and ran to put on his shoes.

Watching the boy, Snape felt like he was looking at a miniature version of Lily. Although Harry's hair color was vastly different from Lily's, the color of his eyes, was almost identical to Lily's, which making it hard for Snape to look away. This thought frightened him because he had almost forgotten that Harry was also James Potter's child.

"Sir, aren't we leaving?" Harry stood in front of him again, and being so small, he had to tiptoe to look up at Snape. His emerald eyes are very beautiful. Snape shook his head and quickly removed the terrible thought from his mind.

"Let's go. " he replied to Harry.

**********

After going out Snape realized he had been completely wrong about Harry-Harry's personality bears no resemblance to Lily's.

Snape swore that he had never encountered a child more difficult to deal with than Harry. He had taken on the task of bringing Harry back, so he could only try to maintain a good image and tried to communicate with Harry, even though the other completely could not listen to what he said.

Now Harry was shouting that he wanted to go eat ice cream. Snape's headache was about to explode, but he had to fulfill Harry's request because once he did not, Harry would start yelling on the roadside as if Snape was really a kidnapper. He asked Harry to wait in place while he went to the store to buy it himself. But when Snape returned to the original spot with chocolate ice cream that was extremely incompatible with his image--

Harry was gone.

Snape's face immediately darkened, realizing that Harry must have taken the opportunity to escape. Finding Harry was not a difficult task for him, but if he didn't correct this behavior, Harry would definitely do it again next time.

After thinking for a while, Snape didn't throw the ice cream into the trash can. He cast a spell to keep the ice cream from melting before setting out to find Harry.

***********

On the other side, Harry was wandering aimlessly down the street. He felt proud of himself for successfully escaping. But he was so lost in his thoughts that he accidentally bumped into someone else.

"Tsk, don't you have eyes when you walk?" The blonde boy in front of him fell down the ground, and Harry narrowly felled on top of him. Using his hands to support himself, Harry managed to avoid any physical contact with the boy. The boy rubbed his back where he had hit the ground and grumbled: " Get off me now! OH...A... A girl?"

Their eyes met for a moment, Harry noticed that the boy's fair face quickly turned red, and he even began to stutter. Harry didn't answer his question, as he didn't think himself looked like a girl.

While Harry was at fault this time, he didn't like the boy's tone of voice, so he got up from the ground, dusted off his hands, and prepared to leave. He was still in the process of escaping away, and if he delayed any longer, Snape would catch up with him. He couldn't waste time on this blonde boy.

However, the blonde boy didn't seem to want to let him go. After realizing that the issue at hand was Harry bumping him down, his tone became forceful again: "How come you don't even apologize? Your father did not teach to you the basic etiquette?" The blonde boy grabbed Harry's arm tightly. Harry was so weak that he couldn't get away from him.

"Let go!" Harry tried to pry the boy's fingers off his arm. The blonde boy's hand was flawless and white, and looked like it belonged to a pampered aristocrat. Harry disliked people like this. He struggled, but it was useless. The blonde boy refused to let go.

Harry thought he couldn't use magic on an innocent person, but a cornered rabbit still would bite someone. He lowered his head and opened his mouth, biting down on the blonde boy's fair hand.

"Apologize to me!" The blonde boy screamed. His hand left the marks of Harry's teeth. " Even if you're a girl doesn't mean I'll forgive you!" Harry didn't have time to apologize now. As soon as the boy released his grip, he fled, disappearing from the boy's sight in a flash.

The boy muttered a curse under his breath, vowing to tell his father when he got home. He would find this" girl" and punish her properly. Even though he had to admit that the" girl" 's scent was quite pleasant when she got close to him.

**********

Harry was free, but his freedom didn't last long.

"What are you doing here, Mr. Potter?" Snape's voice drifted over from behind, a dark shadow falling over Harry's body, making him feel like he couldn't breathe.

"I'm...looking for a shop that makes clothes." Harry's mind spun quickly, and he came up with a reasonable and not too far-fetched reason immediately.

"Is that so?" Snape looked at him with interest, although he was still angry, he wanted to know what other reasons Harry could come up with to deceive him. Snape still had an ice cream in his hand, which made him look somewhat ridiculous.

"Of course, I'll vouch for my surname." Harry put on a serious expression, but at this moment his fingers were busy pinching the flesh in his palm to prevent himself from laughing–because Snape really looked quite funny.

Snape tried to suppress his anger and handed the ice cream to Harry as calmly as possible. Harry took it without hesitation and began to lick it. The sweet cream flavor melting in his mouth, cold and icy, making Harry shiver. He hadn't had this kind of sweet treat in a long time, and he wanted to swallow it in one gulp. But in the end, he chose to savor this ice cream.

**********

Snape brought Harry to the entrance of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Harry didn't expect Snape to take his excuse seriously and bring him to the store without even buying his wand. This wouldn't have been a big deal-until Harry saw a blond head bobbing around inside the store.

"Can we go buy my wand first?" Harry tugged at Snape's sleeve. He definitely didn't want to get into a confrontation with the boy inside the store, but Snape didn't pay any attention to him. He even grabbed Harry by the back of his collar and threw him into the store before walking in himself.

At the back of the store, the pale, skinny blond boy was standing on a stool while a witch pinned his black robe to fit his body.

Harry tried to make himself inconspicuous and pretend he was just a regular customer. Madam Malkin asked Harry to stand on another stool next to the boy and fitted him with a robe that was pinned to the appropriate length. Harry turned his face away from the boy, hoping Madam Malkin would finish soon. There was no time more nervous than this.

To his dismay, although the blond boy didn't notice Harry, he noticed Snape standing at the store entrance. Due to his father's acquaintance with Snape, Draco had known him since he was little. They weren't close, but out of courtesy, he waved to Snape who was not far away, and he saw Snape reply to him by nodding. But then Draco's brain began to work quickly-why was Snape here? And it looked like he was waiting for someone. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the store except Madam Malkin and him, wait! There was also...the girl he ignored?

He looked closer and found that it was the black-haired girl who had bumped into him and didn't apologize. It was too coincidental for him to meet her here, and sure, he definitely wouldn't let her off that easily.

On the other side, Harry might have sensed Draco's inner thoughts. After he heard Madam Malkin say, "It fits you perfectly, my dear. ", he jumped off the stool quickly.

But immediately, Draco grabbed him by the clothes. Harry didn't stand firm and stumbled, falling to the ground. His collar open, revealing those terrifying scars.

" I can't believe I'm seeing you again. This time, I won't let you off easily!" The blonde-haired boy bent down, instinctively grabbing Harry's collar. His eyes filled with anger.

Harry's neck was uncomfortable from his grabbing, but a thought jumped out of his mind: since the other party saw him as a girl, why not use that to his advantage? He innocently looked at the gray-blue eyes of the other person, then slowly and calmly spoke, " You hurt me. Is this how you treat a 'girl'?" Harry pointed to the bruises on his neck and body with his idle fingers. Harry knew that falling down couldn't have caused these injuries, but he believed that his acting skills could convince the other person. " You used too much force and left me with bruises. "

As expected, Draco suddenly became flustered. After realizing that he was grabbing the collar of a " girl", he quickly let go of his hand and prepared to explain himself. But Harry didn't give him the chance and instead grabbed Draco's hand and placed it on his collar.

" I'm sorry I bumped into you. But if it makes you feel better, I don't mind. " Harry said, looking at the visible reddening of Draco's ears. Before Harry could continue, Draco struggled to break free from his grasp. Not only that, but he immediately moved away from Harry, afraid that Harry would once again pull his hand back to his collar.

" I...I'm not angry..." Draco's face turned red. He didn't want to continue pursuing the matter. The innocent pair of bright green eyes looked at him, and the long black hair swayed gently with Harry's small movements. " She" took steps towards him.

" You can't be so rough with others in the future, " Draco heard the" girl" whisper in his reddened ear.

" I... I know, I know!" Draco reluctantly squeezed out these words. The black-haired" girl" was too close to him, and the sweet cream-like smell rushed into his nose. His whole body stiffened, not knowing whether he should keep a distance from" her. "

Just as Harry was about to further confuse Draco, he was stopped by someone else.

" Potter, don't go too far. " Snape said mercilessly. He took Harry away. Harry stuck out his tongue to express his innocence. They left, leaving confused Draco alone.

Chapter Text

Chapter.7 Pet, wand, " Petrificus Totalus "

"Do you know him? " After tiding up the collar Harry looked up at Snape and asked. He was a bit disappointed for he couldn't continue tricking the blonde boy.

"That's none of your concern. " Snape answered him coldly. The boy had already caused him enough trouble in just one hour of going out. Now he could only hope that this Potter boy would be sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin when he arrived at Hogwarts.

"You're so cold. " Harry muttered. He touched his hair that the back of his neck thinking about when he could cut it all off. Even though being a" girl" brought him some amusement, he didn't want to be mistaken for one all the time.

"So, where are we going next, sir? "

"To buy books. "

**********

They arrived at Flourish and Blotts.

Harry picked up a book called " Curses and Counter-Curses". He began to read it, celebrating that he hadn't lost his basic reading skills after all these years.

The book contained many spells on how to play pranks on friends or get rid of enemies by hair loss, broken legs, or bound tongues. Harry didn't have any friends, but perhaps he could use these spells on those who bullied him. He sneakily glanced at Snape and realized that Snape didn't object to him buying the book, so, he held it in his arms.

As the head of Slytherin, Snape was usually annoyed with students who liked to play pranks, and the typical representatives of such students were the Weasley twins from Gryffindor. The Professor McGonagall's constant headaches caused by those two boys; Therefore, Snape was grateful that there were no such students in Slytherin.

At the moment when Snape saw Harry pick up that book, he felt a headache coming on. He had a vague premonition that this headache would last for many years. He had wanted to refuse Harry, but the rare glimmer of light in Harry's lifeless jade eyes made him hesitate. In the end, he allowed Harry to purchase it.

"Thank you. " Harry said as he hugged the book as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. Even though it only contained spells that weren't very useful, Harry still wanted to learn them. They might come in handy one day.

**********

After purchasing the necessary textbooks and tools for brewing potions, they visited a potions material shop emitting a foul smell of rotten eggs and cabbage. But Harry was not bothered by the smell at all, instead, he was fascinated by these peculiar materials.

Despite it being his first time seeing these materials, Harry found himself uncontrollably drawn to learn about each one. If he could master the way of potion-making and then slip a little potion into Dudley's breakfast-But the excitement in his eyes faded as he realized that he no longer needed to return to Privet Drive. He had been thrown away by Dursleys in the cheapest way possible.

If only he had learned about potions earlier, he could have made them pay.

After purchasing the necessary materials, Snape looked at Harry and gestured Harry that they needed to leave. However, Harry's eyes were still glued to the potion materials in the store. Even though his body moving, his eyes were not looking at the road ahead.

"If you're interested in making potions, I will teach you how to make them. " Snape said after a moment of silence. Snape was good at making potions and respected those who shared his interest, even if he was a Potter.

"I don't think I need you to teach me. " Harry replied to him with a deadpan face.

Harry did not trust everyone except himself. Snape was accustomed to Harry's instinctively self-protective, but such an excessive sense of self-preservation should not be seen in an 11-year-old. Although Snape didn't want to meddle, Harry needed someone to reach out to him and pull him out of his pain and excessive caution now.

Ever since he forcibly took Harry away from the Dursleys, Harry had held a grudge against him. Snape was well aware of he was not the best one to help Harry.

Perhaps letting Harry interact more with his peers would help him?

Snape recalled the scene at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. During Harry's communication with Draco, Harry didn't seem to hold much animosity or caution towards him.

But helping Harry drop down his guard was not Snape's job; he was only in charge of taking Harry to Hogwarts. Afterward, he would talk to Lily about it.

**********

Snape checked Harry's shopping list and realized that Harry needed a pet in addition to a wand. " Potter, what kind of pet would you like to have? "

Harry blinked his eyes twice, and he seemed to remember something. His emerald-green eyes lit up, " a snake, of course. "

Harry remembered his friend, the little snake. Every night, when he was curled up alone in the cupboard, he always regretted not saying a proper goodbye to it at that time. At that time, he never thought he would leave the Potter family or end up in his current situation.

If he were given another chance, he would never make that promise to the little snake again–Because he could never go back again.

Harry wanted to know if the little snake had returned to the garden to look for him and if it was still as innocent and cute as before. Harry was no longer the innocent and kind child he used to be, but he still hoped that the little snake would live an ordinary but happiness life during the five years he was away.

For Snape, this answer was unexpected. He thought Harry would answer with some pets like an owl or a toad, but he never expected Harry to answer snake without hesitation. Snape wanted to know the reason, but after thinking for a while, he swallowed the words at his lips. The more he got to know this Potter boy, the more he couldn't help but care about him.

This is absolutely not OK. Getting involved with Potter would never lead to anything good. Snape warned himself in his mind.

Although the representative animal of Slytherin was a snake, it did not mean that students could keep snakes freely in the college. Therefore, Snape flatly refused him, " This is not allowed. You had better consider other animals. "

"Then, an owl." Harry replied casually. For him, if he couldn't have a snake, the other options seemed very indifferent. Of course, he would never tell anyone that he could speak to snakes. When he was young, he was proud of it, but now he just wanted to keep it as a secret forever.

**********

As soon as Harry stepped into the owl shop, the owls all turned to him with wide eyes and their fluffy little heads poking out curiously. Perhaps it was Harry's wild hair that looked like a bird's nest, the moment he entered the store, he was surrounded by these adorable creatures. They eagerly rubbed their cheeks and paws against Harry's face and palms as he reached out to pet them.

Harry was drawn to a beautiful snowy owl, which made a rustling sound as it flapped its wings. Its feathers were soft and velvety to the touch and sparkled like jewels in the midst of the other owls. Unlike the other owls, it waited for the perfect moment to approach Harry.

"I want her. " Harry said as he gazed at the snowy owl, which responded with a pleasant hoot.

Dressed in a black cloak, Snape looked strange amid the cute little animals. He silently paid for the owl and urged Harry to leave this shop as soon as possible.

Harry carried a large birdcage as he stepped out of the shop, and the beautiful creature nestled its head under its wings and fell asleep. Harry could only describe it in a word adorable. He found that he preferred to stay with animals.

The moment he got the owl, Harry decided to name her Hedwig, which was his favorite name, although he had forgotten where he had heard it before. He walked unsteadily with the cage, trying not to disturb Hedwig. However, he did not notice a pair of dark green eyes in the corner next to the shop watching him intently.

**********

Now there is one more thing to do-to buy a wand. The only shop that sells wands is Ollivanders Wand Shop here.

A wand-this is what Harry has been dreaming of, as it would allow him to use more powerful spells.

Ever since Anders show off with his makeshift wand in front of him, Harry has been looking forward to having his own wand. He has heard that every wand is unique, and he wonders what kind of wand someone like him would get.

The shop looks small and rundown from the outside, with a faded gold sign and a dusty display case in the window showcasing a single wand. As they enter the store, a jingling bell can be heard from somewhere in the back. The shop itself is small, with nothing but a long bench.

Snape is sitting quietly on the bench, waiting for him. Harry feels a strange sensation, as if his wand is calling out to him, waiting for him to come and find it.

"Good afternoon." A soft voice says, startling Harry.

Snape stands up silently and nods at the person, before sitting back down. This sparks Harry's curiosity about the stranger, as someone who can get Snape's respect must be a person of some ability.

Harry watched the old man carefully. He has pale, moon-like eyes that shimmer in the dimly lit shop. But if he were on the street, he would look like any other elderly person.

"Hello." Harry says hesitantly. He can't figure out what special abilities this seemingly ordinary old man possesses, so he remains on guard just in case he underestimates the strength of the old man.

"Oh, yes, " he hears the old man say, " I know who you are, Harry Potter, the youngest son of the Potter family. "

"You know me, sir? " Harry is shocked. He thought the wizarding world only knew his older brother, Anders. As the famous Boy-Who-Lived's little brother, Harry's name has appeared in the Daily Prophet only a handful of times and after living with the Dursleys for so many years, he never thought anyone would recognize him.

"I've seen your name in the Daily Prophet, haven't I? You're Anders Potter's brother, right? Your brother Anders Potter was here not long ago to buy a wand with Lily. His hair was the same color as your mother's. He took a wand made of oak, 14 and a quarter inch long. "

Mr. Ollivander walked up to Harry; his silver eyes fixed on Harry's. He continued on, ignoring Harry's growingly dark expression:

"The person who has a wand made of oak has-"

"You needn't say any more. His business is none of mine. I just want to buy my own wand." Harry interrupted. The mention of his brother had dampened the joy he had felt, and now he just wanted to get his wand and leave.

He couldn't remember what they looked like anymore, and hearing about them only made him feel worse.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Potter. I may have said too much. Now, let me see. Which arm do you use to wield your wand? "

" My right arm. " Harry answered simply.

He began to measure Harry with a long tape measure, and after a moment, he set it down on the ground. " All right then, Mr. Potter, try this one. It's made of holly and unicorn hair, nine inches long, quite flexible. Give it a wave. "

Harry took the wand, but before he could even wave it, Mr. Ollivander snatched it back from him.

"Maple and phoenix feather, seven inches. Quite whippy. Try it. " He said. Harry was about to try it, but the wand was taken away again.

Harry tried wand after wand. They were piled up on the bench, growing higher and higher. Harry didn't understand why it was so difficult to choose a wand that was right for him. He wondered if others also had tried so many wands when they came to buy one.

"Don't worry, I think we'll be able to find the perfect wand for you, the one that suits you best. Let me think...an exceptional combination, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches long. Quite pliable. "

As soon as Harry took the wand, he felt a sudden warmth in his fingertips. The wand seemed to have been made for him, and it felt completely different from the ones he had held before. He waved the wand lightly, and it emitted a dazzling light from its tip, stirring up dust in the air before rushing towards the wall. With a loud bang, the box containing the wand fell off the shelf under the influence of powerful magic. But Harry didn't do anything; he didn't even utter a spell. He stared at the wand in his hand in amazement, not knowing whether he should apologize to Mr. Ollivander.

However, Mr. Ollivander didn't seem to care that Harry had made a mess of the store. Instead, he shouted excitedly, " Oh, excellent! OH, bravo, yes, indeed, oh, very good!" Even Snape, who had been silently observing, stood up from the bench with a look of surprise on his face.

Although it wasn't a good thing to do, now was a great time for Harry to escape. Since he had obtained a suitable wand, it mean he didn't need to wait for Ollivander explain his words.

Harry recalled a spell he had seen in the bookstore, and although he couldn't guarantee that he could cast it perfectly on the first try, he would do anything to escape.

While Snape was still in a state of amazement, Harry pointed the wand at him and softly uttered the incantation- " Petrificus Totalus".

Under the astonished gaze of Mr. Ollivander and the twisted expression of Snape, Harry ran out of the store.

Chapter Text

Chapter.8 Self-Harm, Little Snake, Enjoying Life

Harry rushed out the store at the fastest speed of his life. Although this behavior was very unfair to his newly bought pet, Hedwig, he couldn't care less about that now. The most important thing for him was to escape first now.

Harry tightly held onto his own wand, but in this extremely urgent situation, he couldn't think of any useful spells to escape the predicament. He walked through the crowds quickly desperately wanting to find a safe place to hide, but he found that every place seemed easy to be discovered by others.

He ran, sweat seeping from his forehead and sliding down his cheeks. Now he just could only to keep running forward, only in this way could he completely get rid of Snape.

In the end, he found a corner that nobody cared about.

**********

Harry had exhausted his physical strength. He curled up in a corner, holding his knees and hiding in the darkness. He hoped that Snape wouldn't find him.

He stared at his wand, trying to figure out a spell to protect himself. His mind was in chaos, and he could barely maintain a normal heart rate. He kept a wary eye on his surroundings, ready to pick up his wand at any moment to defend against those who were searching for him.

So where should he go next?

Harry had no idea. Since his failed escape at the age of eight, he had never tried to run away again, and he had never thought he would be able to leave the Dursleys 'house before he came of age. He was completely unprepared and had no plan, and also, he had no money on him. Perhaps he would end up wandering the streets and becoming a homeless person?

Even becoming a homeless person would be better than going back to the wizarding world with Snape. He would rather work in some Muggle shop to earn money than meet with Anders Potter at Hogwarts.

After resting for a moment, Harry stood up and prepared to find a new place to hide. But he was suddenly felt a chill, as if there was something watching him from his behind.

"Potter, where do you want to go? " The black, towering figure made the darkness even darker. Snape appeared in front of him once again. He frowned and speaking to him in a seemingly calm tone which gave an invisible sense of pressure.

Harry instinctively pointed his wand at Snape, his body leaned against the wall to put himself in an absolutely safe position. But even so, he knew one thing very clearly: he had no to escape.

What should he do? Should he really listen to him and went to Hogwarts?

Harry watched as Snape ignored the wand in his hand and took steps towards him. Snape was now prepared and wouldn't be hit by Harry's spell again. Harry had no choice but to resort to the most extreme method to threaten Snape.

"Don't come any closer! " Harry aimed the wand at himself. He had just received the wand and didn't know any lethal curses, but it was easy enough to use it to inflict some wounds on himself.

He had to at least make himself bedridden for a few months. Harry swallowed, knowing that using empathy to threaten others was unethical, but since Snape had forced him into this situation, he didn't think it was wrong to use this method.

He saw Snape's eyes widen at the moment when Harry pointed the wand at himself.

"Put it down, Potter! " Snape almost roared at him. He had to stop his step and used the gentlest voice possible to calm Harry, " If you're only hurting yourself just to avoid going to Hogwarts, then in the end, I won't suffer any loss, will I? "

"So what? " Harry didn't care whether he got hurt or not; he only cared about escaping from someone else's control. Harry focused his attention on the wand, trying to recall the feeling of touching the wand for the first time in the wand shop. At that time, he had cast a spell without any incantations, He believed he could do it again now.

"Put it down quickly! " Snape drew his wand. If he didn't take action now, he might feel guilty for not protecting Harry and failing to live up to Lily's expectations.

Just as Snape was about to use the Disarming Charm to take the wand from Harry's hand, a green, rope-like creature darted out like lightning and grip Snape with teeth.

The pain immediately spread throughout his body from the point of the bite, and Snape shook his hand forcefully, trying to shake off the creature that was biting him. Harry's attention was interrupted by this sudden event. He squinted his eyes to see what Snape had on his hand, and he noticed its emerald, green eyes-

"Are you. . . "

Harry recognized it, it was his only friend, the little snake with dark green eyes. Reunion after almost five years, but he didn't expect it to be in this situation.

"Run away! I'll hold him off! " He heard the little snake hiss while biting Snape tightly, it was helping Harry. This was the best time to escape, but Harry couldn't just abandon his friend and run away.

When Snape was about to use a spell to deal with the snake, Harry interrupted his action.

"Don't hurt it. "

" Why? " Snape put down his wand. He thought that if this could distract Harry's attention, being bitten by a snake didn't seem like a big deal.

"It's my friend. " Harry reluctantly spoke. He did not want the little snake to be harmed because of him. " I'll make it release your hand, so. . . "

Seeing Harry's tangled expression, Snape realized that this might be a breakthrough, so he seized the opportunity and said, " So you won't hurt yourself anymore, as long as I don't hurt it? "

Harry forced himself to nod, for the sake of his friend, he had to give up something. He approached the little snake and reached out to touch its head.

"I'm safe now. " Harry didn't want to reveal in front of Snape that he could speak snake language, so he spoke to the little snake in English, hoping it would understand his meaning.

"Can't you speak Parseltongue anymore? Although I don't understand what you're saying, you look safe now." the little snake hissed, releasing its grip on Snape's hand, which left two not-so-deep but not-so-shallow bite marks on his hand. It twisted its body and coiled around Harry's neck.

"Long time no see, " it nudged Harry's chin with its nose. " Finally, I found you. " Harry wanted to tell it how much he missed it, but in the end, he resisted the urge to speak Parseltongue in front of others and simply scratched the scales on its chin with his finger and replied in English, " Long time no see. "

Snape finally understood why Harry had answered without hesitation that he wanted a snake when buying a pet. The little snake with Harry relationship was very close, although Snape did not understand how their friendship was built. However, after experiencing what had just happened, he realized that he might be able to continue using this relationship to persuade Harry to voluntarily go to Hogwarts.

"Hogwarts will provide you with the best protection. If you are willing, I will help you apply to bring the snake into Hogwarts. "

"We can protect us even if we don't go to Hogwarts. "

"But you can't even protect yourself. "

After hearing this, Harry fell silent. Snape was right. For so many years, he could not escape the abuse of the Dursleys. He had no qualified to say that he could protect the little snake. For Harry, his life was insignificant, but he must not let the small snake suffer with him.

"If you are bullied at Hogwarts, just tell me, and I will protect you and your snake. " Snape added.

"Do you promise? "

"I promise. "

"Okay. " Harry finally relented. If he were still alone, he would never have agreed to Snape's proposal. But now he had a friend who needed protection, and he had to prioritize his friend's safety.

"Then come with me. "

"Where to? "

"To get your other pet back. "

Meanwhile, on the other side, Hedwig was lonely and hooted in her cage on the bench. She looked up at the ceiling helplessly, wondering when her owner would come to take her back.

**********

"Where have you been all these years? " The little snake hiss into Harry's ear, expressing its dissatisfaction.

For years, it had been searching for Harry. It waited for Harry at their agreed location. But that garden had long been abandoned. There was no Harry there, and even the house where Harry had once lived had disappeared completely, as if it had been as if the house didn't exist.

This made the little snake both angry and sad. At first, it thought that Harry had betrayed their agreement. But after a long looking for and inquiries, it learned of Harry's whereabouts from a giant python.

"I'm sorry, I'll explain later." Harry replied in Parseltongue. He lowered his voice to ensure Snape wouldn't overhear his conversation with the little snake. " It's so good to see you again." he added, touching the scales on the snake's body, and the snake immediately hissed contentedly in his ear, seeming less angry.

Snape walked ahead of Harry and his friend, still reflecting on what Mr. Ollivander had told him:

Harry's wand and Voldemort's wand were both made from the feather of the same phoenix.

And Voldemort also kept a snake as a companion.

It was all too coincidental.

Snape glanced over his shoulder at Harry, who was currently chatting happily with his friend, unaware that Snape's view of him had drastically changed-

Harry might grow up to be the next Voldemort.

It was a bold speculation, but Snape thought he wouldn't let something like that happen.

**********

After bringing back Hedwig from the shop, they were ready to return to Snape's house. Snape did not reveal the uniqueness of Harry's wand core to him. Before letting Harry know about it, he had to inform Dumbledore.

"Oh, one more thing." Snape stopped in his tracks, as if he had just remembered something.

"What is it, sir? "

"Happy birthday. "

He saw Harry's emerald eyes widen for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. Harry pretended to nonchalantly run his hand through his hair, but the slight upward curve of his mouth gave away his joy at the moment.

"Thank you, Mr. Snape. "

**********

Harry needed to continue living with Snape for almost a month before he could go to Hogwarts. However, living with Snape wasn't as unbearable as Harry had imagined. In a way, he even enjoyed this period of time-living in Snape's house, he didn't have to worry about not having enough food or doing any household chores. Snape had sent a house-elf to arrange everything for him, and all he had to do every day was drink the potion Snape had brewed for him and regularly let Snape check the healing of his wounds.

But whenever Snape asked how the wounds came about every time, Harry would always remain silent or simply change the subject. He didn't want to tell anyone, nor did he want anyone's sympathy. Likewise, he knew that if he mentioned that experience, he would definitely experience a stress reaction. Therefore, he kept the past five years of experience hidden in the deepest part of his memory and not let anyone know.

Snape tried many times but couldn't get any useful information from Harry's mouth. In the end, he had to give up and prepare to find another breakthrough.

In order to make up for the knowledge he lacked, Harry almost read books every day. He occasionally practiced spells from the book or practiced making potions in Snape's basement.

Sometimes, Snape would give Harry some guidance on the side, helping him pinpoint errors. Although Harry refused Snape's help on his mouth, he still had to admit that having Snape's help could save him a lot of trouble.

Harry seemed to be a gifted potion-maker, and his first made bottle of potion had only a slight flaw in color, but otherwise had no other problems. Snape could hardly believe Harry was still a beginner.

During Harry's potion-making or spell-practicing, Hedwig would stare at him next to him and the little snake would sleep in Harry's clothes pocket most of the time. After explaining his five-year experience to the little snake, it forgave him and promised to go to Hogwarts with him. For the snake, it was idle every day, so it didn't matter where it went.

Harry enjoyed this period of calm very much. It was the first time in five years that he could live without worrying.

**********

The month passed neither quickly nor slowly, and soon it was the last day of August.

Harry was confused about his future life at Hogwarts. And he discovered something terrifying: he was starting to be attached to about the days he spent living here.

He enjoyed Snape's help for him and also the company of his pet and friend.

But he knew he shouldn't be content with the status quo, and he needed to force himself to become more independent and stronger.

He felt pain over his own weakness, but he didn't realize he was only an 11-year-old child.

He blinked, and nothing drained from his dry eyes, but his heart felt a sudden strange pang of pain.

Chapter Text

Chapter.9 Anxiety, Twin Brothers, Depart

Harry had an odd dream. He dreamed of a snake much larger than his little snake, hissing at him. The color of its eyes was different from the little snake's-they were an eerie blood-red color. Harry summoned his courage to get closer, but before he spoke Parseltongue to it, he awoke from his dream.

Harry rubbed his messy hair and then got out of bed. He chalked the dream up to a weird dream and didn't pay too much attention to it. He was leaving for Hogwarts today, and he had a lot of things to do before he could think about this strange dream.

He put on his Hogwarts uniform and walked out of the room. Snape was sitting on the couch, as usual, reading the newspaper. The house-elf had prepared breakfast for them. Harry sat down at the table and absentmindedly picked up a piece of bacon with his fork putting it in his mouth. But he swallowed it without chewing it and then he downed the milk in one gulp. After doing these actions, he didn't touch anything else on the plate.

"Harry, are you going to stop eating more?" The little snake slid from the other end of the table to the front of Harry. Compared to the plate, it seemed particularly huge. It had already finished the small rats and fresh meat that Snape had specially prepared for it, but it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy its greedy appetite. Its eyes fell on the bacon and ruffled eggs left on Harry's plate, waiting for Harry to say the words it wanted to hear.

"I'm full. You can have the rest." Harry saw right through the little snake's mind and pushed his plate in front of it.

"That's what you offered me, I won't be polite."  Harry did not speak Parseltongue to it, but the little snake understood what Harry meant. The little snake opened its mouth wide and swallowed the food directly from the plate into its belly. It hissed contentedly, not realizing that Harry was a little different than usual.

Harry poked at his empty plate with his fork constantly, himself not even realizing that he was an extra anxiety today. But Snape noticed something different on Harry. He put down the newspaper, asking to Harry.

"Why are you eating so little today?"

"I just don't have much of an appetite." Harry answered without thinking.

Most of the time, Harry wasn't willing to voice his inner thoughts to Snape, so Snape could only speculate on what the boy was thinking based on his behavior.

"It's not just for that reason, isn't it?" Snape got up from the couch and came over to Harry's side. Then he continued "Whatever worries you have; you can tell me."

"But telling you won't solve my problem." Harry turned his head to look at Snape and so answered. After nearly a month of living with Snape, he was becoming more and more unscrupulous in front of Snape. For questions he didn't want to answer, he would just respond vaguely. Because he knew that even if Snape was unhappy for it, he could only endlessly tolerate him.

"As long as you don't just change your mind on the spur of the moment, I'll do my best to help you with any other problems." Snape once again patiently replied to him.

"That's quite a coincidence. In fact, I'm thinking about what I can do to stop going to Hogwarts. So, what solutions do you have for me? "Sure, these words are just words. Although Harry didn't want to go to Hogwarts, he would be a man of his word. Now that he had already promised Snape that he would go to Hogwarts, and he would fulfill that promise.

Snape sighed heavily. He knew Harry was speaking out of anxiety, so he didn't get angry about it. But he still didn't know how to respond to Harry's words and eventually he had to divert the conversation to the two bottles of magic potions on the table.

"Remember to drink them."

**********

Snape sent a letter to Dumbledore in which he described in detail about Harry's physical condition and the uniqueness of Harry's wand core. In his view, the sooner Dumbledore learned of Harry's situation, the better. Because Snape felt he couldn't tackle Harry's psychological wounds problem by himself.

After a month of examination and treatment, Snape had a basically understanding of Harry's physical condition. Harry suffered from severe malnourishment and calluses on his hands from long-term domestic labor. Chilling scars all over his body, even with spells and potions, it was impossible to fully heal all of Harry's physical injuries at once.

Despite this, Harry always calmly removed his clothes and accepted Snape's treatment nonchalantly every time. Snape couldn't imagine how much fear, sadness, and pain were hidden behind Harry's calm expression. Whenever he saw the scars that couldn't be erased on Harry's chest and back, Snape always felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

Snape knew it wasn't his fault, but he still felt that he had violated his promise by not protecting Harry well. Everyone focused on protecting Anders Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and Snape was no exception. But now, Snape realized that Harry Potter only should deserved even more protection.

Snape soon received a reply from Dumbledore. In the letter Dumbledore told him to take good care of Harry. Considering the strained relationship between Snape and James, Dumbledore decided that he would come to tell Lily for Snape about Harry's situation. But as for Harry's wand, Dumbledore only stressed that he should not tell anyone else about it for the time being, without explaining too much to him why.

Snape didn't know what the mysterious old man had hidden from him, but at least now he didn't have to shoulder the responsibility of explaining everything to Lily.

In order to fulfill the promise, Snape wouldn't let Harry get any hurt at Hogwarts, he would protect Harry and his snake, he promised.

**********

Harry carried the cage containing Hedwig, while the little snake coiled around his arm and spat its snake's tongue lazily. His little snake had no name of its own, which didn't make it easy for Harry to call it. So, Harry gave it a name, called Clover. Legend has it that the four-leaf clover brings luck to those who find it, and Harry thought the name was perfect for his snake. Since the little snake returned to him, his life seems to have been a lot luckier.

Until now, Harry had not cut his long hair. It was not that he didn't want to, but, as soon as someone touched his hair, he would reflexively hide away. He never thought he would fear cutting his hair because of the actions of his Aunt Petunia in the past. At present, Harry didn't want anyone to touch his hair and he also didn't dare to cut his hair by himself. Therefore, his long hair remained for the time being.

After packing his bags, he and Snape headed to King's Cross Railway Station together.

Snape was a professor at Hogwarts, and although Harry knew they would meet again at the school, he was still a little sullen-He wasn't sure if Snape would really be able to protect him and Clover at Hogwarts as well as he had promised.

They arrived at the station and Snape helped Harry push his trolley with the luggage towards Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. Harry followed closely behind Snape, he watched a boy in Hogwarts uniform walk towards the junction of Platform Nine and Ten before disappearing. It was amazing, but Harry controlled his curiosity and continued to follow forward calmly.

Snape still had tasks to complete, so he didn't go to Hogwarts with Harry this time. After taking the trolley with the luggage from Snape, Harry whispered "Thanks" to him. He rushed towards the wall, not even noticing Snape behind him waving goodbye to him.

**********

As he came out of the wall, a crimson steam train pulled up alongside the platform. The sign hanging from the train read, Hogwarts Express. Harry turned around and saw that where the ticket gate had been now a wrought iron archway with a sign that read, Nine and three-quarters platform.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some of them peeking out of the windows to talk to their families, others talked with each other in their seats. Harry pushed his trolley forward, ready to find a compartment to be alone in. People were coming and going, and as Harry searched, he didn't even notice that he had inadvertently past by a blonde boy.

However, the blonde boy seemed to notice him. He looked up and gave Harry a glance, then-a smile curled up at the corners of his mouth as if he had a bad idea.

**********

Harry pushed his way through the crowd, and he found an empty compartment near the end of the car. He first put the cage with Hedwig in, then tried to lift his trunk onto the footboard, but he couldn't lift it at all. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact Clover coiling around his arms tightly, he tried twice, and both times the suitcase hit his feet heavily. Just as Harry was about to use a magic spell to move it up, a voice appeared in his ears.

"Do you need help?" A red-haired boy came over and asked him.

"No thank you. I think I can do it." Harry whispered. He hadn't spoken to any other children since he was six years old, apart from Dudley and the blonde boy he happened to meet. So, when he faced this enthusiastic boy, Harry felt a bit at a loss and didn't know how to communicate normally with him.

But the other boy seemed to ignore his refusal, and he turned back to call out to the other red-haired boy who looked almost exactly like him.

"Hey Fred, get over here and help!"

He was simply too enthusiastic, and Harry ended up accepting their help in silence. With the twins' help, Harry finally got the boxes into the corner of the compartment.

"Thanks." Harry said, keeping his head down. He really didn't know how to react to these enthusiastic people and just had to lower his presence as much as possible so that their eyes didn't linger on him too much.

Harry gently lifted his sweat-soaked fringes out of his eyes. His messy, curled hair looked like a messy bird's nest when viewed from the front.

"Helping girls is our duty-wait, you look a bit like..." One of the twins said suddenly, pointing at Harry's hair and eyes.

"Oh, Merlin's beard, it does look like it." the other twin said.

"Maybe are you..."

Harry cocked his head and looked at them with a puzzled expression, not really able to understand exactly what they were talking about.

"Are you the Boy-Who-Lived 's sister?"

Hearing this, Harry probably understood what they meant, but he answered them straightforwardly.

"I'm not." Harry hadn't lied, because he really wasn't the boy's "sister".

"We could be mistaken, couldn't we?" They looked at each other and came to this conclusion. Hey then turned their gaze back to Harry.

"Then we'll leave you to it! But if you get sorted into Gryffindor..."

"... you can come to us for help anytime, lovely girl."

Harry could only helplessly say "Okay." He didn't expect that besides that blonde boy, there would be others who would mistake him for a girl.

After saying goodbye to the twins, Harry turned around and prepared to enter the compartment, but at this moment, a familiar voice came from behind him.

"Can I sit here?"

It had occurred to Harry that he might meet the blonde boy on this train, but he hadn't expected the boy to be so haunting him, even offering to stay in the same compartment as him.

"Sorry, I'd like to be alone. You can go find another empty seat." Harry turned around, and the familiar blonde boy appeared in his sight. He coldly refused the boy's request. Now he didn't have the mood to argue with the blonde boy, and Snape had instructed him not to let others know that he was bringing a snake to school. If Clover crawled out from under his sleeve, it would be difficult to explain to the blonde boy.

"There are no seats left anywhere else." The blonde boy spoke as he walked into the compartment and sat down. He crossed his arms over his chest with a smug look that made Harry want to just throw him out with a magic spell. Not wanting to make a big deal out of it, Harry sighed and eventually he chose to compromise and came to sit opposite the boy against the window.

**********

Harry didn't speak to the blonde boy. He leaned silently on the edge of the window and watched the bustling crowd of people coming and going. The scene outside the window where the children were saying goodbye to their families was painful to Harry. Suddenly, Harry felt a twinge in his chest-

Will James and Lily take Anders to school like this? Would they kiss each other goodbye before they put Anders on the train. No, no. He shouldn't be thinking of them at this time. He hadn't remembered what they looked like anymore, wasn't he?

Harry closed his eyes and tried to suppress the pain that continued to rise in his chest. To erase the names from his mind, his thoughts drifted elsewhere-Should he really take Clover to Hogwarts with him? What if he was bullied by his classmates and Snape failed to protect Clover?

Harry shook his head from side to side. He wondered why his mind kept creating hypotheticals that displeased him.

He shouldn't be thinking about those things. He was about to start his new life.

He would take back control of his fate.

Chapter Text

Chapter.10 Liar, Friend, Anders Potter

"Why don't you say a word?" In the midst of a silence, Draco broke the silence first. He leaned forward with his legs crossed and his grey-blue eyes looking Harry up and down. He was completely unaware that Harry wasn't in the mood to talk to him at the moment and continued, "You lied to me before, don't you think you should apologize for that?"

It wasn't until he heard the words that Harry opened his eyes. A hint of confusion in his eyes, but he soon came back to himself. He blinked rapidly and then casted his eyes on the person who had spoken.

"What did you just say?" Harry asked.

Draco frowned, he annoyed at the distraction of the dark haired boy. But considering Snape's relationship with the boy was unusual, he resisted the urge to get mad and patiently repeated what he had said.

"You lied to me, you're not a girl at all."

"I didn't lie to you. I never said I was a girl." Harry shrugged with his face unruffled. He had anticipated that Draco might guess that he was not a girl. But he had never admitted that he was a girl, wasn't it?

"You..." Draco seemed to want to contradict Harry, but in the end he swallowed his anger and didn't argue about it with Harry again.

Before getting on the train, Draco's father had told Draco a few things.

When Draco returned to Malfoy Manor that day, he immediately told his father, Lucius Malfoy, about the "girl". Surprisingly, however, Lucius didn't defend for Draco and instead asked about the “girl”.

"You said it was Snape who brought the girl to the shop?" Upon hearing the name Snape, Lucius' brow visibly tightened as if he recalled something.

Draco nodded, then he complained to his father in a very aggravated tone, "That girl bumped into me and didn't apologise, Dad you can't let her off so easily just because she knows Mr Snape!"

Lucius did not answer his words immediately, and it was only after a few moments of thought that he slowly spat out, "The 'girl' you speak of would be a Potter, Anders Potter's brother."

Draco's eyes widened at the reply, he had never heard that The-boy-who-lived, Anders Potter, had a brother - wait, brother? Draco finally realised that something was wrong-he had been fooled by that boy's appearance!

How did he have the audacity to come and cheat a Malfoy? Draco thought angrily with his teeth gritted,he continued to ask his father.

"Dad, what was that guy's name?"

"If I remember correctly, his name would be Harry Potter." Lucius paused, his furrowed brow gradually relaxed, followed by a sly smile on his face-he seemed to have come up with a great idea.

"Draco, remember to get along with him when you meet him in Hogwarts."

"But Dad, he's a liar!" Draco's thought of revenging on the boy were shattered by his father's words. He was eager to tell Lucius how devious the boy was, but Lucius didn't give him a refuting chance. He patted Draco on the shoulder and said, "Making an extra friend won't do Malfoy any harm."

Although Draco did not understand the underlying meaning of his father's words, he still nodded and agreed to them.

**********

Draco remembered his father's words, and for that reason he had deliberately asked to stayed the same compartment with Harry. But the boy called Harry Potter preferred to keep looking out of the window rather than say a word to him. This made him somewhat frustrated.

After the end of the conversation about “liar”, Harry grew even more tired. Therefore, He shrank his body against the window and leaned against the edge to gaze at the buildings that were speedily moving outside the glass,trying to relax yourself in this way.

However, the calm was broken by words from Draco.

"I almost forgot I hadn't introduced myself to you. My name is Draco, Draco Malfoy, maybe we can make friends." Draco extended his hand, seemed to want to shake Harry's hands.

Harry gazed at the hand that reached for him and hesitated to take that hand.

No one ever offered to make friends with him. Since he was a child, those his age seemed to prefer to be friend Anders or Dudley than him.

After staring at the hand for a long time, Harry finally put his hand on Draco's hand.

"Harry, Harry Potter."

Before Draco could tighten his grip on Harry's hand, Harry immediately withdrew his hand back. His gaze redirecting to the river and the hills outside the window, not lingering on Draco's body any longer.

Their handshake lasted only a moment, but from it, Draco understood that Harry didn't hate him. It was the first step in the beginning of their friendship and Draco was glad he hadn't messed up the task his father had given him.

**********

Silence returned to the compartment. Draco felt a little sleepy,he wondered why Harry could look at those boring views for so long. He yawned, ready to take a nap before they arrived Hogwarts, but an unfamiliar voice burst into his ears and fighting the sleepy out of him.

"Excuse me," a chubby little boy stood in the doorway and inquired inside, "I wanted to ask if you've seen my toad?"

"..." There was a silence, neither Draco nor Harry seemed about to answer his question, but the boy spoke to himself and continued, "I lost it again! It always tries to run away from me!" He burst into tears.

"I think it will come back." Harry spat out the words slowly.

A ripple of emotion couldn't be heard in his calm tone of voice, but his emerald eyes faded slightly. He continued to speak to the boy, but the words were more to himself.

"What should belong to you, it will automatically come back to you."He gave the boy a polite smile, but it was clear that smile is like a fake smile, a disguised.

"I hope so. Then, if you see it be sure to let me know..." The boy left in a hurry.

Draco stayed on Harry, expecting Harry to talk with him. But Harry still seemed to have no interested to talk to him and he lowered his head and began to gaze at his hands.

Harry's hands were not as smooth as those of a normal child, and even had a layer of calluses that did not match his age. Although he was now completely free of the Dursleys, the trauma that remained mentally and physically could not be easily erased.

Harry hated his hands, and when he looked at them he always remembered the pain of past injuries. The marks of broken skin still lingered on them, and seemed to feel the vague tingling sensation when his fingers touched them.

Harry's fingertips grazed over the scars without noticing Draco's eyes shift from his face to his hands.

"...Doesn't it hurt?" Draco's head poked over in Harry's direction, the scars looked even more shocking to his eyes, but he didn't know how to comfort Harry. Normally pampered Draco couldn't put himself in Harry's shoes to imagine what had happened to Harry, he just knew that those scars shouldn't be on a boy of his age.

"It had healed, so it won't hurt anymore." Harry answered him lightly. After feeling Draco's gaze, he Immediately withdrew his hands into his sleeves.

"Alright," Draco didn't continue to ask him. He thought that Harry didn't want to go into the subject too much, "I'm going to take a walk and come back for you soon."

Before getting on this train, Draco had heard that Anders Potter was also on this train as well, he would have asked Harry why he wasn't sitting with his brother, but his instincts told him that he shouldn't bring up the subject at this point in time.

No one could fail to be curious about The-Boy-Who0Lived, and Draco was no exception, ready to see the boy who only existed in stories for himself.

Draco walked out of the compartment, leaving Harry alone.

**********

"I don't like that boy." Clover couldn't wait to get his head out of Harry's sleeve as soon as Draco had just left. He had had to smother the narrow space for so long because of the blonde boy, and it spat its tongue at Harry, "He must be approaching you for a reason!"

"I'll be careful to keep my distance from him, thank you for your concern." Harry tickled the scales on Clover's chin soothingly with his fingers as he continued, "Whatever happens you mustn't forget you can't be in front of too many people."

"Okay, I know." Clover rubbed his head against Harry's fingers before retreating back up Harry's sleeve.

Harry sighed, the truth was, he didn't hate Draco. After all, Draco was the first person to offer to be Harry's friend. But Harry was still a little overwhelmed by Draco's overly blunt way of speaking, he preferred to maintain a certain distance from others.

"Oh, you guys want to fight, don't you?"

Harry heard Draco's voice coming from not far away which sounded like an argument with someone. Curiosity urged Harry to find out what happened, but his reason warned him that he should not meddle.

In the end, curiosity overcame reason.

Harry got up from his position and walking out of the compartment.

**********

Harry had a vague feeling that something bad would happen ahead, but now that he was out of the compartment, he wasn't about to turn back. He walked forward down the train aisle, looking for Draco.

He saw Draco standing pale outside a compartment while what appeared to be two men were in it, and one of them, who had short crimson hair and hazelnut eyes which identical to those of James Potter.

Harry's pupils dilated and a shock filled his emerald eyes. The blurred figure in his memory became clear all of a sudden. He had not expected to meet him in this way -

Anders Potter.

He uttered the name silently in his mind.

The brother who he remembered as being so gentle was now so close in front of his eyes, but he didn't know how to face him.

It's not too late to turn around and leave. Such voice rang in his head and Harry held his breath, trying to calm himself down a little.

The noise of the people became noisy in his ears that he could not hear a word clearly, and his legs felt as if they were bound by an invisible spell that prevented him from moving.

Anders Potter-For as long as he could remember, Anders had always given him the best, whether it was a snack or a toy. But those things are in the past, and Harry wasn't sure what would Anders treat him now.

If without Anders, he would not have been sent to the Dursleys; If without Anders, he would have had a joyful childhood. Should he still think of Anders as his brother?

Harry clenched his fists, the pain of his nails embedded in his flesh numbing his nerves slightly. His reason told him that he shouldn't hate Anders, and that it wasn't Anders's own choice to be made the savior, but he couldn't help but blame, to resent, to blame Anders for all his mistakes.

Harry told himself it was time to get out of here; told himself there's no need to get involved in the argument. He was still jealous-he didn't understand why Anders's life seemed so comfortable, while he had to worry every day about whether he had food to fill his stomach; he didn't understand why Anders would always have everyone's attention, while he had to live in the shadow of what they gave him.

It was disgusting.

Harry turned away and tried to leave this place. He still unable to get over the pain the past had caused him.

No one could heal his wounds of the spirit.

Harry ducked his head, intending to get away without anyone noticing him, but accidents happen.

"Potter, you've come over too?"

Draco recognized his back at once and without thinking he called out to Harry. He unaware that the other man was not hoping him to recognize him at the moment.

"Anders, did you hear that, this guy's name is Potter too!" The red-haired boy beside Anders said.

At that moment, all attention immediately shifted from Draco to Harry, who had his back to them, not knowing what to do.

Harry's mind envisaged in which Anders would answer to this statement, but his answer was still more than Harry's could have anticipated.

"Is that so? I think it's just a coincidence." Anders said lightly.

Harry instinctively bit his lip and his fingers subconsciously clenched into fists.

Yeah, it's just a coincidence.

After all, they had long forgotten about him after all these years.

Harry laughed lightly, his clenched fists relaxing a little. Anders's words were a relief to him-Anders treated him like a stranger. So why should he care so much about Anders?

Harry turned frankly to face them and said in a very calm voice:

"I'm so sorry for the trouble my friend has caused you."

He should be grateful to Anders, because his words saved Harry from having to think about how to face him.

"Potter, why did you take the liberty of just..." Before Draco could finish his sentence, Harry grabbed him by the arm and took him away.

Harry wouldn't look back at their expressions, he just kept his head down and kept going.

He wouldn't look at Anders one more time.

Chapter Text

Chapter.11 The focus of the wizarding world, Lily's Perspective, Arrival at Hogwarts

"Anders, was that girl really not your sister?" the red-haired boy asked Anders with curiosity. He keenly noticed the resemblance between Anders and that girl. He guessed that if they weren't brother and sister, they might be distant relatives.

"It was just a coincidence." Anders replied nonchalantly. He furrowed his brow, squinting his hazel eyes as he watched the two figures disappear from his view.

**********

Anders Potter once had a brother—but that was in the past. Due to certain circumstances, His younger brother had to leave their homes.

After his younger brother left, Anders felt gloomy every day. He unable to accept that his beloved brother had disappeared without a word. Lily and James had tried their best to console him, persuading him to come to terms with Harry's departure.

But As time passed, Anders's memories of his younger brother slowly faded. He even began to realize that without his younger brother, he received more care and attention from Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus. He not only enjoyed everyone's admiration but also everyone's love.

Anders believed himself to be the focus of the wizarding world.

This idea made him increasingly arrogant. Though he appeared humble in front of adults, in reality, he felt complacent about his unique status.

But he wasn't content with just that—he wanted more praise and to be the center of everyone's attention.

If Harry Potter returned, the family's care and attention would shift to Harry.

Therefore, Anders didn't want his younger brother back by his side.

**********

Over the years, the Death Eaters didn't stop trace them after they moved from Godric's Hollow. These Death Eaters always lurked in the shadows attacking on them, especially targeting James and Sirius. They were forced to spend energy fighting back while Lily had to constantly transfer Anders to different locations to protect him.

Lily put a lot of effort into protect Anders. And she and James had originally planned to go to Privet Drive to bring Harry home in person, but due to their missions, Lily had to write to Dumbledore to ask him to send a professor to take Harry home. She also sent a letter to Petunia. However, little did she know that after Vernon Dursley received the letter, he didn't even bother to read it and threw it along with Harry's Hogwarts acceptance letters into the trash.

Lily's original plan was let that professor to bring Harry directly to their home and then she and James would take Harry and Anders to King's Cross station together. But when she proposed this idea to Dumbledore, he replied instead, "For some reason, Harry is not willing to go home, but Severus will take care of him."

Lily was shocked that Snape was willing to pick up Harry. But then she felt sad that Harry didn't want to see them. She knew Harry would hate them, given how they left him alone at the Dursleys' for so many years. But Lily firmly believed that she could mend their relationship. And when Harry was willing to come back, she would do everything to make up for Harry until he forgave them for their neglect.

To avoid adding more pressure to James, she didn't tell him about Harry being temporarily cared for by Snape. Instead, she vaguely told him that the professor appointed by Dumbledore would bring Harry to the station on the first day of school.

At Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Lily seemed preoccupied. She tried to search the crowd for Harry and Snape, but unfortunately, she didn't find any trace of them. She had to refocus her thoughts on Anders, bid him goodbye, and charged him to take care of his younger brother, Harry at Hogwarts.

**********

Under Harry's urging, they finally returned to their original compartment. Harry sat back in his previous seat alone.

Draco tidied up his collar. He unable to understand why Anders looked as if he didn't recognize Harry and why Harry was so eager to leave upon seeing Anders.

Weren't they brothers? This confused Draco. He had no siblings, so he couldn't comprehend the Potter brothers.

"Potter, Isn't he your brother?" It was a bit impertinent, but Draco was curious to this, so he voiced his bewilderment.

He saw Harry's emerald eyes widen slightly, his lips turning pale. Realizing he couldn't avoid the topic, Harry spoke with a flat tone, "I don't know why he would say something like that. But his matters have nothing to do with me. Can you please be quiet, Malfoy?"

After realizing that Harry was getting a little angry, Draco obediently closed his mouth and stopped pressing further. He ran his hand through his hair and awkwardly returned to the seat opposite Harry.

Maybe He could find an opportunity to ask about it again when Harry was in a better mood. Draco thought. His gray-blue eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before turning his gaze to the dull scenery outside the window.

**********

Harry's thoughts were in turmoil. It was a lie that he didn't care. Anders' words were like sharp needles, piercing into his already fragile heart. It hurt, but Harry couldn't pull them out. And Draco's questioning was like an arrow that he couldn't dodge.

Whenever someone heard the name "Harry Potter". They would immediately associate it with the famous "Anders Potter". Harry had to explain the relationship between him and Anders repeatedly to those who didn't know. This would only drive the needle in his heart deeper until his death would stop the pain.

"We're almost at Hogwarts. My luggage is in another compartment. We'll meet after we get off the train!" Draco said goodbye to Harry, then left the compartment.

Harry felt the train slow down and finally come to a stop. Harry had his luggage with him and Hedwig's cage, following the crowd towards the exit.

Just as he got off the train, Harry heard a loud voice shouted, "First-year students, this way!" It was a tall man with a big beard, probably the professor responsible for leading the new students into Hogwarts.

"Come on, follow me. Watch your step, everyone! First-year students, follow me!" the man called out to them.

Harry followed the man down a path that led to a black lake, with a castle perched on a hill on the other side. Hogwarts, as Harry had seen in the books, now stood before him. But it didn't cause much excitement in his heart. The castle felt like a prison to him, and Harry had no idea what he would encounter inside.

"No more than four to a boat!" The man pointed to the small boats moored by the shore, addressing the students.

Harry chose an empty boat and waited for the boat to set off.

"Potter, are you alone?"

Harry heard a familiar voice coming from another boat. He turned to see Draco. He didn't answer, but Draco didn't hesitate to jump from his already full boat onto Harry's. The boat rocked a little under Draco's jump before steadying. Harry stared at the blond boy, but Draco paid no attention to the stare.

"I'll keep you company. You don't have to thank me," Draco said smugly, ignoring whether Harry agreed.

"Alright." At least this would make him appear less unsociable. Harry thought.

"Is everyone on a boat?" the big man called out. "Good...forward!" The boats set off.

As the huge castle neared, Harry had no way to turn back. The boat finally docked, and the surroundings seemed even darker now, and Harry followed the crowd. In this dim environment, Draco carefully followed Harry, afraid of getting separated.

They finally climbed a flight of steps and stood before a giant oak door. "Is everyone here?" the man raised a huge fist and knocked on the castle door three times. The door slowly opened, revealing a tall, stern-looking witch with black hair and a green robe. Harry guessed she was the head of Gryffindor house, Professor McGonagall.

"First-year students, Professor McGonagall." the man said. "Thank you, Hagrid." she replied and opened the door. Torches flickered on the walls, and the high ceiling made Harry dizzy when he looked up.

Harry followed Professor McGonagall into the castle, and she led them to a small room at the other end of the Great Hall. Everyone squeezed in, nervously observing their surroundings.

"The first thing you do at Hogwarts is to be sorted into your houses," Draco whispered to Harry. "Nobody really knows which house they'll be in. But I know I'll be in Slytherin, because our whole family graduated from there—if I were put in Hufflepuff, I think I'd drop out."

"Drop out?" Harry looked puzzled. He never thought that not getting into the house they wanted would cause such serious consequences.

"If I were sorted into any other house, my father might disown me." Draco replied with a serious tone. "I won't go anywhere except Slytherin. How about you, Harry? Which house do you think you'll be in?"

Before coming to Hogwarts, Harry had considered this question. Snape thought he would be in Gryffindor, as everyone from the Potter family had been. Young Harry used to think the same way, especially since Sirius and James would always mention "Gryffindor" in his and Anders' ears. But now, Harry didn't have the strong desire to be in Gryffindor. He didn't want to be in the same house as Anders.

"Maybe Hufflepuff?" Harry felt Hufflepuff would let him to have a peaceful school life.

But what if he wasn't sorted into Gryffindor? Would James and Lily want him to drop out as well? Just thinking about it, Harry felt a strange rush of excitement—he wanted to see the shock on their faces.

"That's a shame, but as long as you're not in Gryffindor, it's fine." Draco said consolingly, patting Harry's shoulder and seemingly lamenting that Harry couldn't be in Slytherin.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall's voice interrupted their conversation. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. While you wait, take some time to tidy up." She scanned the room, seemingly glancing at Harry but quickly shifting her gaze to others.

"...Please remain quiet while waiting here."

Among the crowd, Harry saw a flash of bright red hair, and he chose to ignore him. "We can take a walk around during this time." Draco suggested, seemingly unconcerned about whether they'd be criticized by the professors.

"I want to stay here." Harry rejected Draco. He thought wandering around at this time would draw too much attention, and he preferred to stay hidden in the crowd.

"Fine, if you don't want to, then I won't go either." Draco reluctantly replied, "Boring." Harry ignored the latter half of Draco's mumbling. He was interested in the nearly translucent ghosts that emerged from the walls.

"Ah!" Draco suddenly grabbed Harry's arm, he was startled by the sudden appearance of the ghosts. Realizing that his behavior was inappropriate, he quickly pretended to be calm and let go of Harry, saying in a seemingly composed tone, "Just ghosts. What's so special?"

"New students, eh?" A plump friar smiled at them. "I suppose you're here for the Sorting?"

"Yes, sir!" Someone among the crowd replied loudly, and everyone turned to look at the source of the voice-red hair, hazel eyes, and that distinctive lightning scar-Wasn't that the legendary child, Anders Potter?

"It's Potter!" Someone recognized him and shouted excitedly.

In an instant, the place was filled with the noise of children discussing Anders, and a few outgoing kids went up to talk to him directly.

"Just Potter, what's so great about him?" Draco muttered under his breath, but he suddenly realized that Harry's last name was also Potter. Panicking, he quickly corrected himself, "Uh, I mean, just what's so great about Anders Potter? I didn't mean to say anything about you." Draco explained anxiously, fearing a complete fallout with Harry. However, much to his surprise, Harry didn't react to his words, seemingly unaffected as he calmly watched the crowd.

Draco sighed with relief, and obediently closed his mouth to avoid saying anything wrong again.

"Now, come forward." Professor McGonagall's voice resounded once more, "the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin." The ghosts immediately disappeared. "Now, line up in single file." she instructed them, "follow me."

Harry stood behind Draco, and Anders seemed to be at the very front of the line. This arrangement made Harry not worry about any chance encounter with Anders. Everyone nervously walked out of the room, through the entrance hall, hoping to be sorted into their desired houses.

Harry was no exception. He bit his lip and clenched his fist. He wanted to let everyone to know that he was different from Anders.

Chapter Text

Chapter.12 The Sorting Ceremony, Slytherin, Pain

Professor McGonagall led them into the Great Hall. Harry noticed the twin brothers he had met on the train sitting at the Gryffindor table, craning their necks to observe each new student.

When their gaze fell on Harry, they winked at him which seemed to tell him, "Come join us in Gryffindor!" However, Harry had already made up his mind about his desired house, and he wasn't going to change it just because the enthusiastic twins.

In front of new students, there was a four-legged stool with a patched wizard's hat placed on top of it. At the center of the high table sat the famous Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Harry didn't have much fondness for the white-haired old man. He vividly remembered that it was because of Dumbledore's words to Lily at that time that he was sent to the Dursleys. Even though Dumbledore noticed Harry and smiled kindly at him, Harry pretended not to see and looked away.

Professor Snape also sat on the high table, but he didn't notice Harry's gaze. He was observing the new students with a deeply furrowed brow, showing obvious displeasure. It seemed he wasn't fond of this year's new students.

Snape rarely discussed his personal matters with Harry, so Harry wasn't sure why did he dislike new students so much. After scanning the surroundings for a while, Harry's attention returned to the hat. Was this the legendary Sorting Hat? It looked like an ordinary hat. As Harry was contemplating this, the hat suddenly began to move, and its brim split open like a mouth, and it started to sing, which startled Harry.

After what seemed like a long time, the hat finally stopped singing. Amidst thunderous applause, the Sorting Hat bowed in each direction before falling silent.

"It will decide which house we'll be sorted into," Draco whispered, seemingly worried that Harry might not know the hat's purpose. "But even if you were sorted into different house from me, I won't mind—as long as you're not in Gryffindor." Harry made no reply, only a look of helpless.

**********

Professor McGonagall took a few steps forward, holding a piece of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." she explained as she began to call the first name, "Abbott, Hannah!"

Harry focused on the first girl going for sorting. The girl walked forward and donned the hat, and after a moment, the hat announced her house—"Hufflepuff!"

It didn't seem as complicated as Harry had imagined, but he realized a grave issue-the list of names seemed to be arranged alphabetically by last name. If nothing unexpected happened, his name would come after Anders Potter. This was bound to create a stir.

What should he do? He had never considered this before coming to Hogwarts. How should he face this situation? One by one, the names were called, but Harry had no interest in their sorting results anymore. The most crucial thing for him now was how to face the gazes of everyone present.

"Draco Malfoy."

When Draco's name was called, Harry looked up him. As the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "Slytherin!" Draco grinned and shot Harry a triumphant look.

There weren't many students left now. Harry took a deep breath-as long as he wasn't sorted into the same house with Anders, he could accept any result.

"Anders Potter!" Professor McGonagall said.

Harry kept his head low, nails digging into his palm as he tried to appear composed. But he still couldn't help but observe Anders' every move.

As Anders approached the stool, the hall erupted into commotion-"Potter, is he the one we're thinking of?" "Is he Anders Potter?" Anders seemed to be aware that he was the center of attention. He held his head high, exuding confidence and pride. As the hat touched Anders' head, it immediately shouted, "Gryffindor!" Anders walked naturally to the Gryffindor table, seemingly expecting this outcome.

The thunderous cheers made Harry feel dizzy. He could almost imagine the reactions of the students when he went up for sorting-The Boy-Who-Lived even has a relative?!

If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have agreed to Snape.

Clover seemed to sense Harry's nervousness, it slid towards his sleeve opening, ready to get out and protect him if necessary. However, Harry gently patted its head, signaling it to stay hidden.

As the students buzzed with discussion, Professor McGonagall called out the next name, "Harry Potter!"

All eyes turned back to the hat placed on the stool. Harry heard someone whispering, "Potter? Why is there another Potter? I've never heard of another child in the Potter family." "Maybe she's a distant relative of the Potters?" "I heard the Potters have always been in Gryffindor. Maybe he'll be in Gryffindor too?"

Harry clenched his lips and held his breath as he stepped out of the line. Despite the countless gazes on him, he remained calm. He approached the stool and, without paying attention to the whispers, calmly placed the hat on his head.

"Hmm," a voice said in his ear, "Difficult, very difficult." Harry had never expected the first words the Sorting Hat spoke to him would be this. He focused entirely on the hat, ignoring the sound of those students' discussion.

"You seem to pursue a calm life on the surface, but your heart yearns for honor."

"My heart? Yearns for honor?" Harry was puzzled by the hat's words. He had never considered it. He was about to argue when the hat interrupted, "You also don't want to stand out too much. Interesting... where should I sort you?"

Realizing the hat could read his thoughts, Harry cleared his mind. Even though he ignored the murmurs in the hall, he still felt uneasy, hoping the Sorting Hat would decide quickly.

"You're brave, willing to rebel... yet you also desire recognition..." The faint voice continued, and Harry was doubtful about these words, but he continued to listen.

"Perhaps Hufflepuff could offer what you seek, but you know, I can provide the best option for you—Slytherin!"

As the hat's sound end, the noise in the hall disappeared instantly. Senior students exchanged looks, realizing the gravity of the situation-this boy named Harry Potter wasn't sorted into Gryffindor but into Slytherin which was the known rival of Gryffindor!

They didn't know the relationship between Harry and Anders, but two children from the same family were sorted into two opposing houses was bound to cause a lot of disputes.

Harry jumped down from the stool and walked towards the Slytherin table, ignoring the gazes of the others. He had a smile on his face. Although he hadn't been sorted into Hufflepuff as he initially thought, he thought that Slytherin wasn't a bad outcome too.

"Potter, welcome to Slytherin. Let me reintroduce myself, Draco Malfoy." The blond boy extended his hand towards Harry.

Other students in the Great Hall secretly observed their interactions. They seemingly more interested in the mysterious Slytherin Potter than the famous savior Anders Potter. They craned their necks, hoping someone would ask Harry's family situation, but as the sorting continued, nobody dared approach him.

**********

After the last student was sorted into the house, Dumbledore stood up to begin his speech, but Harry had no interest in listening. His mind was preoccupied with Snape's reaction to him being sorted into Slytherin.

He glanced up at the high table, but Snape merely gave him nodded before directing his gaze to Anders at the Gryffindor table. Harry felt a twinge of sadness, but he understood—the Boy-Who-Lived would always be the center of attention.

Dinner time commenced, and Harry took a roasted potato and steak from the platter in front of him. As he picked up his knife and fork, he noticed some Slytherin students observing his every move. Feeling self-conscious, he awkwardly cut a piece of meat and mechanically chewed on it. All the eyes on him made him uncomfortable. The meat should have been tender and juicy, but Harry didn't eat with relish as normally.

"What are you staring at? Haven't you seen someone eat before?" Draco noticed Harry's discomfort and glared at the students who were unabashedly staring. They quickly lowered their heads, pretending nothing had happened.

Those students were older than Draco, but all were awed by his words. It seemed that the Malfoy family had some influence. Harry thought that perhaps befriending Draco wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

He picked up his fork again, and this time, no one's looking at him anymore. Harry quietly ate the potatoes and meat he had cut into pieces, but he didn't eat much before feeling full. Snape always said he ate too little, but he couldn't help it. His habit couldn't be changed overnight.

He ate a breath mint and let the sweet and refreshing taste melt on his tongue. In peripheral vision, he noticed Draco chatting with other Slytherin students. Slytherins seemed eager to flatter famous Malfoy family heir, and this made Harry wonder-was Draco getting close to him because he knew Harry was Anders' brother?

Of course, Harry wasn't angry about it. Instead, If Draco was approaching him because of he was a Potter, then he could use Draco to secure his position in Slytherin. With both the Head of Slytherin and Draco's protect, he thought no one would dare harm him and Clover.

As the breath mint dissolved in his mouth, Harry felt dizzy for no apparent reason. He didn't understand why he suddenly felt unwell. He tried to maintain his composure, hoping no one noticed his discomfort. When he inadvertently glanced at the high table, he saw a peculiar man with a scarf wrapped around his head talking to Snape.

In that instant, his heart felt as if it had been pricked by a needle, causing an intense and unbearable pain. The pain spread from his bones to his entire body, making it difficult for him to catch his breath. His cutlery fell onto the table, but the faint sound was quickly drowned out by the noisy chatter around him. He could only hunch over and grasp his chest with his fingers, trying to subdue the pain.

His nails dug into his flesh and the pain lessened slightly. No one noticed his abnormality. He was used to that; the pain was nothing compared to what he endured in the Dursleys' house. He could endure it.

Just like it came, the pain disappeared in an instant. Harry no longer cared about the situation at the high table, the sudden pain left him unable to recover easily. Why had it happened? He had never felt anything like that before. So, in the end, he attributed the pain to the effects of the abuse he had suffered formerly, not dwelling on it too much.

Chapter Text

Chapter.13 Hermione Granger, Quiet life, Potions Lesson

After dinner, the Slytherin prefect led the first-year students to their dormitory. Harry and Draco were assigned to the same dormitory, and they had two other roommates. Harry wasn't sure who they were but judging by Draco's friendly demeanor while talking to them, he guessed their relationship wasn't bad.

As he lay on his own bed, Harry buried his face in the soft pillow. He was so tired that just blinking his eyes made him feel exhausted. After lying here for a few minutes, he forced himself to sit up, drew the bed curtains around his bed, and got Clover out of his sleeve.

"I'm hungry!" Clover hissed as it poked its head out in displeasure. After forcing to stay in the sleeve all evening, it was unavoidably a little annoyed. But its eyes noticeably widened when it saw Harry pulling out a handkerchief with the meat out of his pocket. Its dark green eyes seemed to sparkle, and it gazed at Harry as if saying, "I knew you'd have food for me."

Harry sighed and ran his finger over Clover's scales. After Clover had swallowed the meat whole, he used a simple silent spell to the handkerchief to clean it up, before changing into his pajamas and lying back on the bed.

Before he fell asleep, he faintly heard someone calling his name and saying goodnight to him. He tried to respond, but before he could say a word, his consciousness blurred. Finally, He closed his eyes, slipping into sleep.

**********

Harry could hear no sound except the sound of waves lapping against the window. In the pitch blackness, he saw the peculiar professor with a large scarf on his head approaching him, but the man's voice seemed to come from the back of his head as he spoke to Harry in a low, strange voice-

"We are the same..."

Before Harry could ask why, a green light rushed towards him, and he woke up in a start.

Cold sweat soaked his pajamas, but Harry thought it was just a nightmare. He rolled over and fell back into sleep.

**********

The next morning, Harry could only vaguely recall the words, "We are the same..."

Harry stretched, having slept well overall despite the nightmares of yesterday. He looked at Clover, who was still sound asleep in the bed. After thinking whether to take it with him to class, he decided to leave it in the dormitory and back later with some food for it.

After Harry dressed and washed up, his roommates were still sleeping. Finally, he chose to head to the great hall alone.

The whole of Hogwarts seemed to be still asleep. Harry enjoyed this time when no one would disturb him, and he strolled towards the great hall as admiring the scenery outside the windows.

Just as Harry was indulging in the scenery, a girl with long brown hair appeared from another direction. She walked with her head down and almost bumped into Harry. It seemed she hadn't expected anyone else to be here at this time.

"Sorry," the girl, who holding books in her arms, apologized. When she looked up and saw Harry's face, her brown eyes lit up, "I know you, you're-"

"Harry, Harry Potter." Harry preemptively introduced himself. He didn't want to be referred to once again as 'Anders Potter's sister' or anything else. "If there's nothing else, goodbye then." Harry instinctively tried to steer clear of the Gryffindor student, but the girl stopped him-

"I'm Hermione, Hermione Granger. Are you going to the great hall? We can go together."

Harry couldn't think of any reason to refuse, so he nodded.

The Hogwarts remained silent, with only the occasional hooting of owls echoing in the vast sky. Harry felt a bit nervous, worrying that she might be asking about his relationship with Anders.

However, this girl named Hermione didn't seem to mind Harry was different from her house. Not long after they walked together, she spoke again. But her words took Harry completely by surprise.

"You have nice hair. It's just that I rarely see boys choosing to keep long hair, did your parents ask you to? " She didn't mistake him for a girl or mention anything about Anders, which was a relief to Harry.

"No, it's because I'm afraid to get my hair cut." Harry instinctively touched the dark hair on the side of his ear, then continued, "When people come near my hair, I reflexively want to run away - of course, I don't know why that is, maybe it's out of physical instinct." He added the last sentence.

"I've never heard of someone being afraid of getting a haircut, but I understand. It's like how patients going to my parents for dental treatments are scared of getting fillings. Maybe you can use some spells to cut it?" Hermione suggested after some thought.

Harry vigorously shook his head; he couldn't imagine what his hair would look like after using spells to cut it. "That would probably make my hair look even worse."

"If you want to cut it, I can help you. I often trim my own hair at home. Maybe I could give it a try." Hermione offered.

Harry silently nodded. They had made their way to the entrance of the great hall without realizing it. After this brief pleasant chat, they probably wouldn't have any more contact. Gryffindor and Slytherin had always been hostile, and if anyone saw Granger walking with him, it might have a negative impact on her.

"It is nice talking with you." Hermione said goodbye to him before walking towards the Gryffindor table, while Harry found a secluded spot to stay. The two never spoke again.

**********

"Potter, I can't believe you didn't wait for me!" Draco said angrily to Harry as soon as he entered the classroom.

The first thing he did in the morning was to look for Harry to go to the Great Hall together, but Harry was nowhere to be found in the dormitory. Even their roommates Theodore and Blaise claimed they had no idea.

However, the green-eyed boy just put down the book in his hand with a bewildered expression to look into his grey-blue eyes and then he spoke slowly, "You didn't tell me last night that I needed to wait for you," he paused and then continued, "But if you have a need to, I can wait for you every morning."

Draco's anger was quelled by this statement. Harry's expression looked so innocent that it made Draco feel himself was being unreasonable, and he had to go along with it, "Alright, alright! You're forgiven this time - but definitely remember to wait for me next time." With that said, he sat down next to Harry.

Harry returned to flicking through the book in his hands. Dealing with someone like Malfoy, who was spoiled, just required following their thought to easily let them guard down. Harry didn't mind using this approach to get what he wanted from Malfoy.

**********

The first year's lessons consisted of nothing more than learning some simple spells and some theoretical knowledge. Harry was not content with that, so after class, he would go to the library alone to search for some senior books to read. Though some of the content in these books were hard to comprehend, Harry diligently tried to understand every word and spell.

Harry knew one thing very well- only by mastering more advanced spells could he truly become powerful.

When going to the library alone, Harry would occasionally see Anders there studying with the red-haired boy and Granger. The fact that Granger and Anders had become friends made Harry a little bit lost, but he accepted it - after all, anyone would want to be friends with the golden boy of Gryffindor, let alone Granger, who was also a Gryffindor.

However, there seemed to be a strange rumor spreading around Hogwarts that Harry was a illegitimate child of the Potter family and had come to Hogwarts with Anders to compete for the Potter family's heir position. Harry paid little attention to such rumors as he had no interest in the heir position. Every day, he would selectively ignore those rumor and just focus on his own path.

Defense Against Lesson was taught by the peculiar professor with the scarf around his head, Professor Quirrell. There was always a strong garlic smell in his classroom, and due to that strange dream, Harry had a bad impression of this professor. He was even a little afraid that Professor Quirrell's back of the head would start talking to him just like in the dream. And Draco had also told Harry that he would ask his father to have this unpleasant professor replaced.

Harry always felt that Professor Quirrell looked at him strangely, which made him very uncomfortable, but luckily, they only had to attend his class once a week, and Harry was relieved about that.

**********

On Friday, Slytherin was going to have Potion lesson with the Gryffindors. Harry was very resistant to this, but eventually he had to spend some time adjusting his mindset to accept it.

The Potions Classroom was located in Dungeons of Hogwarts Castle. As soon as he entered the classroom, Harry chose to sit in the very back row. Despite his desire to gain Snape's attention in the class, he wanted to get through the class in peace to that.

Anders and his friends sat in the front row. When Snape began taking the roll call, he didn't show much favoritism towards Harry, but he stopped when it was Anders's turn.

"Ah, yes," he muttered, "Anders Potter. Our-- celebrity." Draco, sitting nearby Harry, stifled a laugh, but Harry still wasn't known why.

Was Mr. Snape equally biased in Favour of Anders? Harry couldn't help but think, feeling a pang of bitterness.

After Snape finished taking attendance, he looked around the classroom with cold, unfamiliar eyes. Harry had never seen him show such a look before. Feeling uneasy, Harry shifted in his seat, trying to ease the sudden tension.

"...I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

"We certainly aren't dunderheads." A voice suddenly spoke in the silent classroom, and all the students turned to see who had dared to talk back in Snape's class.

Of course, among all the students, it was only Anders Potter dared to talk back to Snape. Harry saw Granger shake his head helplessly and the rest of the Gryffindor students began to sigh as they admired and worried about Andel's behavior.

Why were they reacting this way? Harry didn't think Snape was that kind of terrifying professor, and in a way, he even felt that Snape was... Quite patient and gentle with him. Though using those words to describe this professor would likely terrify everyone present.

The classroom fell into a hushed silence. They all kept their heads down, afraid to make eye contact with Snape, fearing that they would be implicated.

Draco raised an eyebrow and smirked at Harry, seeming to already know what would happen next. Granger reached out towards Anders, as if trying to stop him, but it was too late—

"Anders Potter!" Snape's voice filled with unmistakable anger. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"A sleeping potion, isn't that one of the most basic points in the book, Professor Snape?" Anders answered confidently. A number of Gryffindor students shot him glances of admiration and they thought it was incredible that Anders could answer the question correctly.

Snape sneered slightly; he didn't seem content to ask just that one question. "Then tell me, Anders Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"From the stomach of a goat, my mum used to teach me." Anders held his head up with slight pride. For a moment Snape's face darkened even more.

Harry knew that Snape hated and even loathed his father, James Potter, but what surprised him was that Snape seemed to hate his brother, Anders Potter, just as much. Snape's low voice rang out throughout the room, his voice was like a cold ice blade that causing those who heard it to shiver involuntarily.

"Mr. Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Anders finally couldn't answer, but his hazel eyes locked onto Snape's with undeniable hostility, as if they had some deep-seated enmity. "We haven't even learned this yet, have we?" Anders's voice sounded again, only this time the arrogance was clearly missing from his tone.

"Anders Potter, due to your disrespecting the professor, ten points will be taken from Gryffindor House."

"I didn't..."

"Anders, stop!" The red-haired boy sitting next to him hurriedly whispered a reminder. He didn't want Anders to make Gryffindor lost points again.

"Let me tell you something, celebrity. Monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite-Why aren't you all copying that down?"

There was a sudden rustle of fumbling with quills and parchment in the classroom, but Harry didn't pick up his quill as they did-He had long since memorized these and he thought no need to copy them down.

Harry noticed Snape watching him, but Snape didn't accuse him. He walked around the classroom, going to monitor everyone's situation except Harry's.

Chapter Text

Chapter.14 Office Conversation, Concealment, Conflict

At the end of the Potions lesson, Gryffindor had lost a total of thirty points. Snape used "Anders didn't help a fellow student" as an excuse to let them lose more points. Every Gryffindor could see that Snape was targeting Anders, but no one dared to intervene because they knew that stopping Snape would only result in them be taking away even more points.

Draco was very pleased with this, and his smile never left his face from the beginning to the end of the Potions class. He was certain that the House Cup this year would undoubtedly belong to Slytherin. He patted Harry on the shoulder, wanting to share his joy with him, but Harry's face was expressionless, he just calmly organizing his quill and parchment and preparing to leave. "You seem not very happy?" Draco asked. It was the first time he encountered a Slytherin like Harry, who remained unmoved even when Gryffindor lost points.

"I just don't see the need to be happy about such matters." Harry replied. Now, he had more important things to do-he was going to find Snape and ask Snape if he had targeted Anders in Potions lesson because of him.

Harry didn't sympathize with Anders. That guy was no longer the gentle brother from his memories. The things Anders said on the train were enough to make Harry let go of the last bit of affection he had for him. Harry believed that Anders deserved the punishment for his arrogance in the Potions class, but-

If Snape was targeting Anders so much for Harry's sake, Harry didn't see any need for it.

**********

After saying goodbye to Draco at the entrance of the Potions classroom, Harry headed to Snape's office alone. It was the first time Harry had taken the initiative to seek Snape, and he was unsettled by the fact that he wasn't sure if Snape would still be in a good mood to talk to him.

Snape's office was also located in the dungeons, and soon Harry arrived at the door of Snape's office. He stood there for nearly a minute before finally knocking on the door. After hearing Snape's voice, he pushed it open.

The interior of the office was even darker and narrower than he had imagined. Various glass cabinet filled with plants and creatures were placed on shelves against the wall, something Harry had already seen a lot of in Snape's basement, so it didn't surprise him.

Snape was sitting behind his desk with a frown as Harry entered, a piece of paper that looked like an envelope pinched between his fingers. However, upon noticing Harry's arrival, Snape hastily pressed it under his newspaper, as if trying to conceal something. It was an unnatural movement, and Harry easily noticed it. But Harry didn't say a word and just stared directly into those dark eyes.

It seemed both were waiting for the other to speak first.

Snape, slightly uncomfortable by those eyes of Harry's, cleared his throat, raising his voice to inquire, "Mr. Potter, what can I do for you? I'm glad you've been sorted into Slytherin, but I don't think that's why you came to me."

"Professor, I came over to make sure of one thing with you." Harry said, breaking eye contact with Snape and instead focusing on the newspaper on the desk. He instinctively swallowed before continuing, "I want to know if you targeted Anders in Potions lesson because of me."

Harry noticed that Snape's previously tense body naturally leaned back in his chair after he heard the question. He stood quietly in front of the desk, waiting for the black-haired man to respond.

"I'm not one of those great kindnesses who will help others out of a flood of sympathy, Mr. Potter." Snape's fingertips tapped the desk, seem to emphasize his point to Harry. "Anders Potter committed a disciplinary offense and he deserves to be punished."

Indeed, Snape really didn't seem like the type of person who would do such inconsequential things for others. But Harry cautiously added another question.

"So, did you take points from Gryffindor purely because you hate Anders? Or because you hate Gryffindor?"

It was impolite to ask such a question to a professor. If it had been any other professor in front of him, Harry would never have asked a question like this one, but this professor was Snape, Harry felt there was no need to beat around the bush with him.

Snape raised an eyebrow-It was no secret that he hated Gryffindor. Out of fear of him, none of the students dared to ask such a question in his face.

He looked up at Harry, a mocking smile appearing on his face as he replied, "Congratulations on discovering my nature, Naive Mr. Potter. I am not the kind of professor who keeps fair and impartial you thought I was."

Faced with Snape's sarcastic response, Harry only blinked and redirected his gaze back to Snape. "But I don't see anything wrong with being such professor." The corner of his mouth lifted in a slight curve and then continued, "Besides, this professor promised to protect me. I don't think he's as terrible as you say."

Snape obviously hadn't expected Harry to answer him that way. Before he could speak, Harry went on, "If there's nothing else, I'll be off then. Thank you for your willingness to answer my questions, Professor Snape." He turned on his heel and made to leave.

"...Potter," Snape stopped him. Harry stopped his step because of this. "Remember to come here every week to take away your potions and don't do anything dangerous."

"Okay, Professor," Harry responded softly, then left the office.

**********

After Harry left, Snape let out a heavy sigh and furrowed his brows again. He pulled out the letter he had hidden underneath the newspaper and began to think about how he should write back to the owner of this letter.

This was Lily's first time writing to him proactively. Snape couldn't believe that Dumbledore had directly informed Lily that Harry was currently in his care. If James Potter, found out about this, he would definitely be furious. Of course, Snape was quite satisfied with this-just thinking about James Potter's face when he heard the news made him feel amused. However, the key problem now was – how should he explain everything to Lily in the letter?

In her letter, Lily expressed her gratitude to him, but she hoped that Snape could talk Harry to go home at Christmas. This was an easy task to say but difficult to do. Snape didn't think Harry would agree to this, no matter who tried to persuade him.

This kid is tough to deal with. Just the things that he had just said when he came into the office had made Snape feel mentally exhausted.

In Potions lesson, the main reason he targeted Anders was he detested the boy with eyes identical to his father's. Arrogant and conceited - the boy named Anders Potter was clearly spoiled by everyone.

Before Anders entered Hogwarts, Snape couldn't do anything to sanction him, even if he hated him. But now, the famous the-boy-who-lived had unexpectedly fallen into his hands, and of course, he would take some measures to target him.

Snape was an evil and selfish person. After nearly causing Lily's death, Snape had a clear understanding of his self. It was precisely because of this that he didn't want to leave a "good professor" image in Harry. When faced with Harry's straightforward question, he inwardly mocked the boy's naivety and replied to him with sarcastic words.

But out of surprise, instead of being annoyed by his sarcasm, the boy - On the contrary – said to Snape, "I don't think he's as terrible as you say”.

A very naive idea, but at that moment, Snape was a little shaken.

Snape's original plan was to push anything to do about Harry onto Dumbledore as soon as they arrived at Hogwarts. However, Harry's words " this professor promised to protect me" made him change his mind.

Before Harry left the office, he was going to tell him about Lily wanting him to come home for Christmas, but after a moment's hesitation, he swallowed those words - perhaps he didn't need to be so eager to persuade Harry to accept it.

***********

It was obvious that Professor Snape was hiding something from him. But unfortunately, Harry couldn't get any information out of him. Just after Harry left the office, the smile that had appeared on his face vanished. After suggestively emphasizing his previous agreement to Snape, Harry was sure that Snape would keep his word, but - what was that letter?

What was Snape concealing from him? Despite wanting to know, there was nothing he could do. Therefore, he had to put the question on hold for now and try to find out from Snape when he had the chance.

***********

On Thursday, the Slytherins, along with the Gryffindors, need to have their Flying class together. Draco was excited about it, and before Thursday he was giddily proclaiming his Quidditch talents on the couch in the Slytherin common room, "I've been playing Quidditch since I was little, and I will blow these Gryffindors' minds!"

Draco was always complaining to Harry about how first years weren't eligible to play on the House Quidditch team, and he desperately wished he could hurry up and get to second year and make it big on the team soon. And Harry always listened to him patiently about this, it wouldn't do him any harm to learn more about something new.

On the Thursday afternoon, Harry and Draco walked together towards the Flying class field. More than twenty broomsticks were neatly lined up on the field, waiting for the students to arrive.

However, it seemed they arrived a little early. The field was still empty except for a couple of Slytherin students. Harry sat on the grass, looking up at the sky, watching the few clouds drifting slowly under the breeze, while Draco had already chosen a broomstick.

The azure sky never belonged to Harry. The dazzling sunlight hurt his eyes, and he closed his eyes to the breeze blowing through his hair.

After a long wait, the Gryffindors finally arrived. Anders, as usual, was surrounded by the crowd. He glanced at Harry, who was sitting on the grass, and turned his head away disdainfully- he didn't think that his younger brother was going to be any better than him at flying.

Here came their flying lesson teacher, Madam Hooch, "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." Harry stood up, and Draco had already picked a broomstick for him and waved him over. All the students stood quietly next to their brooms waiting for Madam Hooch to give the instructions.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!"

With a simple "Up," Harry's broomstick immediately jumped into his hand. This didn't surprise him, and Draco also managed to pick up his broomstick after a couple of tries. There were only a handful of people who managed to pull this off, and on the Gryffindor, only Anders managed to do it. He was proud of himself, and he began to teach the others, which drawing looks of admiration from those Gryffindors to Anders.

"What's the big deal." Draco muttered under his breath, "Do they really need someone to teach them such a simple action?" Harry didn't respond to him. He just gazed quietly at the broom in his hand, contemplating how to use it to take to the sky.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle-"

However, an accident occurred. Before Madam Hooch's whistle blew, Neville shot off into the air. Before Madam Hooch could stop him, Neville crashed heavily onto the ground, looking pale and in pain.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! Leaving those brooms where they are." Madam Hooch said, leaving those words and taking Neville away.

As soon as they left, Draco burst into laughter, "Did you see his face? What a fool!" Other Slytherin students echoed his laughter. Ron and Hermione stepped forward to argue with Draco, but before they could speak, a Slytherin spoke up-

"Malfoy, you shouldn't mock an innocent student."

The voice was so close that it surprised Draco – it was from Harry.

Draco widened his eyes, he hadn't expected Harry to help the Gryffindor, "Potter, you're blaming me because of these people?"

For a moment, Draco could only feel the anger of being 'betrayed'. He, who had been pampered at home, had never experienced such treatment. He frowned, wanting to confront Harry, but before he could say anything, their conversation was interrupted by another girl's voice-

"I think Potter is right." Harry looked towards and found it turned out to be Granger speaking for him. "I think you're going too far in mocking an innocent man." She said to Draco.

"Hah, defending the mudblood, aren't you?" Pansy sneered. She despised Hermione. Now Harry was now defending Gryffindor, she was just as unforgiving of Harry.

"What right does a Potter's illegitimate child have to stand in front of us and tell us what to do." Pansy scornfully shouted at Harry.

The noisy crowd fell silent. The rumor that had been widely circulating at Hogwarts, hadn't been expected to make itself known to Harry Potter of it in this way. For a moment the atmosphere here was one of extreme awkwardness, everyone held their breath, their eyes focused on Harry and Pansy, waiting for one of them to break the ice.

Chapter Text

Chapter.15 Explain, Chase, Help

Illegitimate Child?

While the rumor was circulating at Hogwarts, Harry had long predicted that someone would use the word to humiliate him at some point in the future, but he just didn't expect it to come so soon.

Harry didn't think he had any need to explain this, he didn't care what anyone thought of him. His face didn't change in any way at the other man's words and his emerald eyes, hidden behind thick glasses, just stared indifferently at the girl who was sneering at him in front of him.

In contrast to the calm Harry, the others present looked extraordinarily flustered. Draco's face grew paler and paler: he hadn't expected Pansy to attack Harry with this rumor.

As one of few people who knew Harry's true identity, Draco's rationality told him that if he didn't stand up to defend Harry now, then he would lose the chance to be friends with Harry. But- they had just been at odds over the matter of Longbottom. It put him in a bit of a dilemma. Just as Draco hesitated to open his mouth, Hermione stepped forward and stood directly between Harry and Pansy:

"Why are you so sure that Harry Potter is an illegitimate child, Parkinson?" Hermione's expression was serious, seeming greatly displeased with Pansy's words. "Everyone knows this is a rumor, only you believe it to be true."

Harry was taken aback by Hermione's words. He had never thought someone would stand up to defend him at this moment.

"If he's not a Potter illegitimate child, then why has 'The Chosen One' never explained it?" Pansy turned sarcastic.

"Anders just didn't expect anyone to believe such a stupid rumor, right, Anders?" Hermione retorted sharply, raising her voice. Her eyes turned to Anders, who was standing in the Gryffindor crowd, indicating for him to say something.

"Anders, so is it really just a rumor?" "Why have you never mentioned this?" The Gryffindors surrounding Anders began to question him one after another in response to Hermione's words, forcing Anders to be forced to take a step forward and force a smile to explain to everyone:

"Perhaps there's been some misunderstanding, but it's indeed just a rumor."

Another round of murmurs erupted in the crowd. Although some still didn't believe, at this moment, nothing seemed to be more convincing than Anders admitting that it was a rumor in person. They were forced to swallow the doubts in their hearts back into their bellies, waiting for the events to continue.

Pansy also didn't believe it was just a rumor, she opened her mouth to continue with something, but a cold voice interrupted her:

"Shut up, Pansy," Draco said mercilessly. If he let Pansy go on and on, he wasn't sure if she would stir up even greater conflict.

Anders glanced at Harry, saying no more. Harry also just looked at him lightly, his expression did not change because of Anders's explanation.

**********

Anders had indeed heard of the rumor that Harry was a Potter bastard. But out of some selfish thoughts, he had not clarified it at all. But now, to avoid the situation out of control, he was forced to explain that it was just a rumor, even though he didn't want to step forward.

Anders thought the matter would end there, but then Draco picked up a spherical object, and lifted it up provocatively, "Isn't this something Longbottom's grandmother sent to him? If you want it back, come and get it." He shouted at Anders.

Harry wanted to stop Draco before things got out of hand, but Draco acted first, "I'll put it on a tree and let Longbottom go get it, how about that?"

Draco jumped on his broom and flew into the sky.

"Come on! You wouldn't dare, would you?"

Upon hearing these words Anders completely ignored Hermione's obstruction, and likewise grabbed a broom from nearby and flew into the sky.

Looking at the two dots gradually shrinking in the air, Harry couldn't help but be a little worried about Draco's well-being: he didn't think that Anders would let Draco off the hook so easily.

Though Harry was surprised by Anders's explanation for rumor just now, after careful thought, he realized that if Anders didn't come out to explain, the rumor would also affect Anders's own reputation. Therefore, Harry didn't feel grateful to Anders for this - if Anders had really cared about him, he should have explained for him from the beginning of the rumor spreading.

Anders had been good at Quidditch since he was a child. Harry knew that Anders's level must have improved quite a bit in the meantime, and he had a bad feeling because of it:

They were circling in the air and there might have been just a hand's distance between their broom. Draco made a turn and left Anders directly behind him as he threw the memory ball in a direction that looked like he wanted Anders to go after it.

However, Anders seemed to lose control of his broom after an emergency turn. His broom wobbled in the air, and in his eagerness to go after Draco, he completely failed to notice that Draco had thrown the memory ball. He rushed straight at Draco, but this also made the distance between Anders and Draco extremely dangerous. If Anders's speed were a bit faster, they would collide -

"Danger!" Harry cried out involuntarily. Without hesitation, he grabbed a broom and jumped on it, rushing towards where the two were about to collide.

The air whizzed past his hair; his robes fluttered behind him. Harry was thankful that the broom obeyed him very well, heading in a direction exactly as he wanted it to. People's screams and the howling wind mingled together, his ears began to ache, but he continued to accelerate forward...

He had to stop Draco before he collided with Anders.

Harry didn't know why he had gone to Draco's aid. It was obvious that they had been arguing at loggerheads about Neville just a few minutes before, and the incident had started because Draco had taken Neville's memory ball-

Yet at this moment, his broom was still accelerating.

**********

Harry caught up to the back of Draco's broom.

"Catch me!" He held onto the broom with one hand and reached out to Draco with the other. Harry wasn't sure if he could fully control the speed of the broom, but at this point, he didn't have time to think about it. He could only grit his teeth and charge forward.

The wind whistled in his ears, and the sand hit his glasses, making a faint "pattering" sound.

"What are you doing?" Draco slowed down at Harry's shout, and although he didn't know exactly what Harry was trying to do, in the end he chose to trust Harry and hold the hand.

In the next moment, Harry grabbed his hand and without hesitation pulled him downwards to dive to avoid Anders' broom, which, as Harry had expected, was rushing uncontrollably at a great speed past the same spot where Draco had been just now. It was only at this point that Anders realized that he should have gone to control the broom. He urgently went to make adjustments, but the broom carried him around in the air a few times before it successfully hovered him in the air.

After making sure Draco was okay, Harry then let go. His whole body was shaking due to his nervousness, even his palms were sweating. He couldn't believe he had actually done it.

Draco realized if Harry hadn't pulled him away just now, at the speed at which Anders was losing control, sooner or later Anders would have collided with him and then they would suffered severe injuries.

Just when Harry thought the situation was over, a serious and stern voice came from below:

"Anders Potter, Harry Potter, and Draco Malfoy, get down here!"

Professor McGonagall walked towards them with a memory ball in her hand. Fearful of McGonagall's authority, they almost synchronously landed back on the lawn, lowering their heads, waiting for McGonagall's reprimand.

"If it wasn't for this memory ball smashing the window just now, I almost didn't realize that you guys were actually doing something so dangerous! You guys would have broken your necks from that!"

The lenses of her glasses glittered with anger, and the ball of memories that she had repaired seemed as if it was about to fall apart again in her hands the next second.

"I'm sorry, Professor." Anders said with his head down.

"Anders Potter, I hope you don't cause as much trouble as your fathers did."

Since Harry and Draco were not Gryffindors, McGonagall only glanced at Harry without directly criticizing him by name. But in her words, she hinted for Harry to behave.

"It's not Anders' fault, Professor—" A Gryffindor tried to explain, but McGonagall interrupted directly:

"You don't need to explain anymore."

"But Malfoy—"

"Enough, Mr. Weasley. Well, Anders Potter, come with me. As for Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, I will inform your Head of House about this."

McGonagall strode towards the castle, with Anders following behind her. Before leaving, he even turned back to the Gryffindors, showing them a smile, telling them he would be fine.

**********

They had caused trouble.

Draco was still laughing at Anders, who had been taken away by Professor McGonagall, but Harry was already worrying about his future:

Not long ago, Snape had warned him not to do anything dangerous, but now, not much time had passed, and he had caused a big mess. He could almost imagine how dark Snape's already unsmiling face would be.

"That Anders Potter, he didn't even say a word for you when rumors were spreading everywhere. He should be punished." Draco said.

"So, you picked up the memory ball so he could chase you in order to get him punished?" Harry glanced at him.

"Of course —but don't worry, with my father around, Professor Snape won't do anything to us." Draco had a triumphant look on his face. However, when he noticed Harry's expression wasn't right, he quickly added, "Are you angry?" Draco asked cautiously. Although he still harbored some resentment towards Harry for standing up for Longbottom, Harry had saved him from, so he couldn't bring himself to be mad at Harry again.

"...No." Harry replied, "But I seem to remember someone promising me 'wouldn't be so rough with others again'—who was that?"

Draco's face turned red instantly as he recalled that embarrassing experience and that very insincere promise.

"Alright, alright! I'll listen to you from now on, okay?" Draco had finally given in. Harry had saved him, plus he still had the task of making friends with Harry, so he had no reason to argue with Harry anymore. Draco pouted, seeming somewhat unwilling, but when he saw Harry looking at him with a triumphant expression, he realized Harry was teasing him.

"Potter, how can you be like this?"

"What did I do—I just don't want you to forget that promise." Harry blinked innocently.

Draco had no way to deal with Harry and could only shut his mouth obediently.