The Boy: Brandon Dursely

Chapter 20: What Transpired?

As Albus swept his eyes over his Potions Master, he readied himself for a thorough questioning. Severus looked livid, and that was probably an understatement.

"Severus, my boy. Come in, come in." Albus ushered the man inside his office and levitated a tea set in front of him. Snape took the seat, but not the tea. Instead he asked, "Albus, I did not come here to dally. I demand to know what happened to the boy."

Albus stared at Snape, searching for any sign that might reveal what transpired over the day, "What are you exactly asking, my boy?"

Severus definitely was not a boy, but to Albus, he always will be one, it seemed, "Potter. He's different. What's wrong with him?"

Albus' eye twinkle lost its shine almost instantly. Surely, the boy's different, but oh, Albus wished he could've done so much more. The old wizard sighed, "Oh, you have found out, it seemed. Was it... the elf, the young elf I gave to you, was it him who told you this?"

Snape nodded, not trusting his voice to speak, "I shall get on with the story," a dry laugh and Snape fidgeted. It was unlike Albus Dumbledore to give off a laugh as dry as what he had just done, "You see, the Durselys, they had agreed to take Harry but it was a time of financial crisis for them. As you well know, during the last War, it wasn't only us wizards and witches who suffered, but muggles as well. Sadly, it was Petunia's little family who were one of them. The husband was fired from the job and Petunia's little business collapsed. They barely had anything to eat and the husband had to find another job, this time outside the country. Their other boy was almost the same age as Harry, but the Social Services found out that Harry was not their legitimate child and so, they deemed them as unlikely to raise a child, more or less two. They took Harry away and put him in an orphanage, where he became a foster child. Unfortunately, the families where Harry was given to be fostered for always gave Harry up, due to his 'abnormalities'. To this, we can conclude that it must have been accidental magic that has caused young Harry to grow his hair back, or transport from the lawn to a roof. From what we heard, Harry was put in five families that only took children for the weekly stipend. Thus, when Harry would let off an accidental magic, three of these families actually beat Harry. Oh, Severus, if I had only known this, I could have taken him and put him here. Perhaps put him with the Weaselys or somewhere else where he could grow up to be normal and as you say, indifferent. Thank the Heavens that the Durselys had rebuild their lives and was searching for young Harry before it could do more damage to the poor boy. They adopted Harry and here he is now, with you."

Severus only listened in shock. Potter... that was why he knew chores that was why he was silent, that was why his thinking was so matured, and that was why he was tolerable with emotional pain.

"They found him a few months before he turns seven. It was almost too late. Had they not found him in time, Harry- or should I say the Brandon Dursely he is now would have been different. So, so different. Maybe even bothered. Or broken."

Potter had a rough childhood. That was the darker part of his mind! That was the lingering hushed murmurs he had heard as he travelled through the boy's consciousness.

He had just found his family, and they were taken so easily from him.

Oh...

And he must have thought by now that Snape didn't want him. Severus wanted nothing more than to protect the boy and keep him from being broken again...

"Severus, I hope that you won't take this against the boy."

Those were the Headmaster's words before they had their first day of class.

And Snape felt the tight, uneasy feeling again, and he tughtened his hold on the armchair until his knuckles turned white.

Guilt.