Chapter Text
Prologue.
Once the man in front of him had sat down, refusing his offer of a lemon sherbet, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, began to speak.
"It seems that Vernon Dursley went out with young Harry earlier today, Severus," he began. "However, when he returned to his home, it seemed that the boy was no longer with him. When my agent in Little Whinging enquired as to the reason for his absence, Mrs. Dursley informed her that the child was in hospital, but I cannot understand why anyone would just leave a child there and not stay with them, or why the nursing staff allowed it. This is hardly the Seventies."
"And you are telling me this because...?" Severus Snape, professor of Potions at the school, enquired.
"I need you to visit the Dursleys and find out exactly what they have done with Harry. It's very important that we know he's safe."
"I'm sure the brat will be fine, and is probably having the time of his life with all those nurses fussing over him and cooing about his petty accomplishments."
"That may be so," Dumbledore stated, "but we still need to know his whereabouts so that he may be protected adequately. Do try to remember, Severus, that he is also Lily's son."
Snape sucked in a sharp breath at this, then abruptly left with a handful of Floo Powder flung into the fireplace in the Headmaster's Study.
✱ ✱ ✱
After stepping out of the green flames burning at the Hog's Head, Snape left the wizarding pub, then transfigured his clothes to muggle attire before apparating to Little Whinging. Then, once at the suburban village, he followed the directions Dumbledore had given him, noting the pulled up flowers in the weed infested beds. Barely holding back a snort of derision, the Potions Master walked up to the front door and pressed the bell.
The front door opened, and a thin, horsey woman appeared from behind it, saying, "What do you want? My husband hasn't arrived home from work yet, so if you have some business with him, you'll just have to come back this evening."
"You always were more miserable than your sister, Tuney," Snape said, causing the woman to recognise him instantly.
"Severus Snape!" she spat. "You get out of this house right now! We'll have none of your kind around after we've just got rid of one freak!"
Instantly, Snape was pointing his wand at her as he asked, "Would that freak be Harry James Potter?"
"He was even freakier than most of your kind! That's why we had him put away, because he might have hurt my poor Diddykins one day!"
Rather than asking why Petunia believed that, Snape simply growled, "Where did you leave him?"
"Vernon took him to St. Peter's Hospital, then left him there once they agreed to assess him. The boy is crazy, pulling up flowers instead of weeds after I told him clearly which ones to pull up, and stacking up tins of food in the lounge whenever he's not in his room. He even insisted on taking a ragged old blanket with him when we told him he wouldn't be coming back!"
With her last words, Petunia gave a dismissive sniff, and the Potions Master felt like hexing her into a pegasus before leaving her to the tender mercies of her husband. However, he simply turned on his heel with a growled, "I will return!" then left for the nearest bus stop in order to travel to the hospital.