First Place - Angst

Severus went over his beginning of the school year mental checklist on the last day of August.

"Classroom clean, but not too clean."

He needed something to occupy the first detentions of the year and scrubbing cauldrons and desks was a good deterrent. Preparing the more distasteful potions ingredients he would assign to the younger troublemakers.

"Lesson plans finished, sufficiently frightening jars on display in office."

Intimidation was essential.

"Slytherin Common Room and dormitories cool and spotless, house elf instructed to light fire upon my arrival. Slytherin Quidditch Captain selected."

Then there were the new elements to the checklist.

"Harry's trunk sent to Gryffindor, connection from seventh year Gryffindor boys to my quarters reestablished, Wolfsbane Potion for the month brewed."

Severus sighed and started going through his books. He had made another trip to the Snape Vault and taken out every book written before 1800 and any that concerned ancient magic. It was a sizable collection and he had yet to sort through them all and shelve them according to potential usefulness. He was strongly tempted to let Granger have a go at the additions to his private library in the search for ways to defeat Voldemort. If Albus approved he would mention it to Harry.

As he went through the stacks that the house elves had uncrated when he arrived from Highlands Cottage he noticed that a few books he thought he had packed were not accounted for. They had been in the pile before Dobby had packed them all away. Harry had helped him pull out the books in Highland Cottage that could be helpful.

Harry.

Severus could feel the grey hairs forming. Though he had told Harry that learning the dark arts did not make one dark... that the intention behind magic was most often the dividing characteristic between light and dark, he did not want Harry reading that book by Slytherin. Just the fact that Voldemort wanted him to read it was reason enough not to.

Damn Gryffindor.

He could only hope that Harry had the sense not to read it where someone could see him. It was well known that Harry was a Parselmouth, but publicly flaunting a book written in the snake language was courting disaster. Now that he was back in the public's good graces the last thing Harry needed was to remind them of his supposedly 'dark' talents.

Severus was going to have a talk with his son at the first opportunity, hopefully before he made a mess of things.

The day the Hogwarts Express arrived in Hogsmeade to delivery roughly four hundred teenagers was always an irritating day for Severus. Albus had the day scheduled tightly with meetings of various sorts. There was first the breakfast for the full staff, introducing new members to their colleagues. For the first time in over a decade no introductions were necessary. Remus had broken the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position.

Following breakfast the majority of the staff was left to their own devices and the Heads of House met with Albus and Poppy. The medical records of all incoming students were meticulously examined by the nurse and any conditions that might require attention were explained. It varied from chronic bedwetting to allergies to a muggle-born girl with juvenile onset diabetes.

The last required a description of exactly what diabetes was, as the disease did not occur in the wizarding population for some reason. Whoever became the girl's Head of House would schedule a meeting for her with Poppy and the parents would be contacted to consider magical treatment for her ailment. It had been many years since any student had arrived with noted psychological problems and there were none that year.

Severus reflected to himself that afternoon at lunch that Harry had never been mentioned in that meeting, and questioned Poppy.

The nurse flushed, "We were unable to obtain medical records."

"There has never been trouble getting the records from muggle healers," Severus replied.

"The trouble stemmed from there being no records to obtain," Poppy reluctantly admitted, "not from a difficult muggle."

"No..." Severus trailed off at the insinuation. How the Dursleys had managed to avoid taking Harry for medical treatment was beyond him. There had to be a doctor for his glasses, and records from the broken ankle Severus had seen in Harry's memories. "There are records somewhere. He was treated at a hospital at least once. He wears glasses."

Poppy gave him a sharp look, "I will speak with Albus."

It was left at that for the time being. Such discussions between staff members frequently ended with those five words. The other staff member would usually let the subject drop and only check in from time to time for an answer.

After lunch the class scheduling was reviewed, followed by outside responsibilities. For the first time, Severus would not avoid at least one weekend of Hogsmeade chaperoning. This year he did not mind as it would prove much easier to keep an eye on Harry if he was there in person. He had considered restricting Harry to the school grounds but knew that if he did his son would find a way out as James always had. It was much better to know where Harry was.

There was a short time between that meeting and tea. Severus made his way to the headmaster's office. He was sure he would know if Harry had missed the train again but he wanted to make sure anyway.

"He promised me he would talk with you and Severus after the feast," Charlie Weasley's voice spoke from inside the office.

Severus stepped inside and saw Albus sitting in front of his fire, talking to Charlie who was most likely at Grimmauld Place.

"Is there something we should know?" Albus questioned and gestured for Severus to sit with him.

Charlie tilted his head in greeting when he saw Severus, "He'll tell you. I promised I would let him."

"Was Harry reading anything peculiar this week?" Severus asked.

Albus did not react, though Severus assumed the old man immediately guessed where that was leading. The Order did not know about that book and it was quite possible Harry never mentioned it to Charlie.

"No," Charlie looked a little perplexed, "just his textbooks for this year."

"Thank you for delivering Harry to the station Charlie," Albus smiled and his eyes twinkled.

Charlie laughed, "Harry's the one that can apparate a thousand miles across two time zones without breaking a sweat. I was just along for the ride."

"Is there any further news?" Albus asked, clearly indicating that the conversation was ending.

"Not really," Charlie shook his head. "The handlers in Romania are even closer to Harry now though. Chances are all of them would walk through fire for him."

Albus looked pleased, "Thank you Charlie. We'll see you soon."

The fire was suddenly empty and back to the normal red, orange, and yellow shades. Albus held out his open tin of sour lemon drops and Severus raised a hand in refusal. Albus just continued to smile and sucked on one of the drops. Severus waited.

"Before you address your house this evening I would like you and Harry to come here," Albus ordered. The rest of the talk was concerning the House dynamics for Slytherin.

Severus, Filius, Minerva, and Remus had tea together and compared their schedules to find a night for their weekly chess games. Albus would occasionally join them. It was a longstanding tradition that the victor of the most games at the end of the year received a gift of some sort from the other players. Remus had taken the prize both years he taught and remarked playfully that unemployment left more than enough time to hone his chess skills.

"Very well," Severus stood and nodded at his associates, or possibly the only people he could actually call friends though several Weasleys were attempting to join that select group. "Chess will be on Wednesday evenings. I must change for the feast."

"You are already wearing black robes Severus," Filius teased.

"But not sufficiently intimidating black robes," Remus continued the banter. "The collar needs to be higher and there is not quite enough material in the back to billow properly."

Severus merely leveled a glare at them, "I do not expect you to understand the subtleties of intimidating Slytherins, especially those Slytherins who know you have surrounded yourself with Gryffindor companions."

The three other professors chuckled at his expense. Minerva gave him a sympathetic smile, "You do have your work cut out for you this year." Her smile grew reminiscent of the Weasley twins, "Perhaps I should send Mr. Longbottom down to assist you this evening."

"Minerva," Severus scolded, feigning shock, and shook his head in disapproval, "I did not figure you for ritual sacrifices. Whatever would Albus say?"

Laughter followed him out of the staffroom and for once he did not mind it. The smirk that crossed his face was one of amusement and could almost be classified as a smile. In his quarters Severus donned his most severe robes. His task would be more daunting than ever with his identity as the father of The-Boy-Who-Lived and traitor to the Dark Lord out.

"Getting ready to frighten the children again?" his mirror questioned in an amused tone. The mirror's personality was well suited for Severus.

"Quite," Severus responded. He made a stop in the Slytherin Common Room to check things over once more before making his way to the great hall and taking his seat at the end of the table by the head of the Slytherin table. For the rest of the year he would sit closer to Albus, but at the Welcoming Feast all the Heads of House sat near the heads of their House tables.

The students began to file in, noisy as they chatted with their friends and caught up on all the gossip discovered on the long train ride. Severus kept an ear out for anything of consequence while maintaining his customary glare.

"She said he tried to..."

"Did you see...?"

"When did she become a fox?"

Severus assumed that one had nothing to do with the animagus transformation.

"Does he like her too?"

"I heard that Macmillan heard from Creevey that Potter was already accepted for Auror training."

"Malfoy is Head Boy. We're so dead."

Deciding that he would hear nothing of value, just like most years, Severus directed his gaze towards the Gryffindor table in search of Harry. With two heads of flaming hair to use as beacons it wasn't hard to find him. He was the shortest of his roommates, and only an inch taller than the shortest Gryffindor girl in his year, but he had a commanding presence. There was a respectful distance around him, no one invading his personal space, and all attention was on him.

Harry gestured and Severus tried to determine what he was talking about from his movements, without any luck. The dark haired boy started shaking hands with his best friend and continued talking, gesturing with his other hand, not letting go until Weasley wrenched his hand away to the accompanying laughter of those around them.

Severus shook his head and turned back to his Slytherins. There were clearly two factions in the snake house. Draco Malfoy was holding court at the top of the table, keeping his associates between the seats for the first years and the Voldemort supporters. Parkinson looked mutinous but stayed nearby, required as a prefect to follow his directions.

Crabbe and Goyle, no doubt still loyal to their parents but still acting as Malfoy's goons, flanked the blond boy who had shot up another few inches over the summer. Malfoy's skin was not as pale as it had been in previous years. He must have spent a good portion of his summer in the sun and limited his potion use, or altered the formula somehow.

A good portion of the younger students were at the far end of the table but looked somewhat out of place. Several of them had listened for years as Malfoy vilified all Gryffindors and Harry Potter in particular. Now their charismatic elder had completely altered his stance and was actually seen talking to Potter congenially. Most of the children of Death Eaters were at the Voldemort supporting end of the table but as close to Malfoy as possible.

It would be a difficult few years for Slytherin House.

Minerva entered the great hall and the students took their cue to sit. She gave them all a stern look and then turned around to bring the first year students in. A silence fell over the hall as a line of dazed eleven year old boys and girls followed the stiff gait of the Deputy Headmistress towards the staff table.

The children clumped together, several of them looking beyond anxious, all of them nervous, and a few seeming queasy. Severus glanced over all the tables quickly and noticed that Harry and his friends had commandeered the seats next to those the first year students would take. Granger was sitting with her back ramrod straight, shooting death glares whenever she heard talking from any Gryffindors.

Eyes watched from all over the hall the ragged hat sitting on a simple stool. The first year students shuffled in place as they always did, wondering what was so fascinating about an old piece of headgear.

Ancient stones and glass and wood
A tale to tell you if they would
Of two young boys and two young girls
Who with their wands changed the world
Once like you
That much is true
With their hopes and dreams
Sewed in my seams
A thousand years have come and gone
Many nights and many a dawn
Through them all I sat and heard
The thoughts of those this school tutored
I send young ones to Gryffindor or loyal Hufflepuff
To Slytherin or Ravenclaw if they've got the stuff
All this according to what's between your ears
Your bravery, ambition, and even your fears
Four houses compete though they need not
Their talents together would ne'er be forgot
Two boys and two girls were friends through their years
They lived, fought, and loved with laughter and tears
So put this hat atop your skull
And I will look inside
Remember I am just hat, that's all
You choose where you reside

For all his years as a student Severus never paid any attention to the sorting hat. After all, it was just a hat. In recent years he saw that the hat knew much more than any would expect and he wondered if it listened to all the conversations in Albus's office.

He watched the sorting carefully. There was a large class of first year students, born in the several years of relieved freedom following the first defeat of Voldemort. The fifth and fourth year classes were still the largest though, most of them born approximately nine to twelve months after the Halloween when James and Lily were killed. They were generally known as the 'Celebration babies', that year saw the largest number of pureblood births in perhaps a hundred years.

Slytherin gained twelve new students, an even balance of six boys and six girls. One of them had looked a bit sickened when the hat placed her, and Severus made a note to take the girl aside and talk with her, perhaps introduce her to Harry and his friends. At the very least he would have Malfoy keep an eye out for her. His concerns were allayed when he saw Malfoy direct of the very few half-blood Slytherins, a fifth year prefect, to talk to her.

Albus made his usual announcements regarding some of the more crucial rules the students had to follow and introduced the Head Boy and Girl. Severus stood swiftly when the students were dismissed and began walking towards the Gryffindor table when he saw Harry headed in his direction.

"I need to talk to you and the headmaster," Harry looked him in the eye but did not give his intentions away.

Severus looked his son over. Something about Harry had changed in the week they had been apart but he couldn't identify it offhand. He just nodded, exchanged a meaningful glance with Malfoy, and led the way towards the headmaster's office.

Finding the Key - Chapter 14

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