Chapter Text
Severus was getting the worst of both worlds. He couldn’t decide if it was the whole bloody world that was out to make him miserable, or just Albus Dumbledore.
Probably both and then some.
Gilderoy Lockhart was going to be the Defense against the Dark Arts Professor, and that was bad. Remus Lupin was going to be the new grounds keeper, and that was infinitely worse.
Severus had skimmed through Lockhart’s books and was utterly convinced that the man was a fraud. His students would suffer academically under his tutelage, and Severus swore that if he ended up as a thinly disguised vampire in Lockhart’s next piece of fiction, he was going to sue the man into oblivion.
The only reason Severus had considered Lockhart and Lupin to be equally bad choices for the DADA spot was that Lockhart’s incompetence was balanced out by Lupin’s innate danger.
Now, Lupin would not be teaching the students anything. He would be on school grounds, endangering everyone, while keeping the thestrals fed.
It was a poor trade all around.
Not only was he going to have to put up with yet another pompous arse that thought he was better than everyone else around him, while working overtime to keep his students safe, but he’d been roped into making wolfsbane every month, too.
He couldn’t even assign the bloody potion as detention work to the older students, for a myriad of reasons. The brewing process was too long and complex to be completed within an evening, it would be catastrophically dangerous to risk the potion being brewed ineffectively, and the fact that Hogwarts was now employing a werewolf was a closely guarded secret.
Severus had to imagine that if word got out that Dumbledore was actively hiding this from parents, there would be a revolt, especially after last year, but Severus was helpless to spread the word.
His oaths and obligations bound him to discretion.
Still, his Slytherins were known for their cleverness on good authority.
If he was careful, he could drop hints.
Someone would figure it out; hopefully before a child maimed or eaten.
It was a pity that Severus could not get into Harry’s vault to pre-read the letter the wolf had written for the boy, but Severus was reasonably confident that he could protect Harry from any lies or misconceptions that might lie within.
Harry had finally gotten back to him about visiting Diagon Alley, wrapped in a rambling apology about not responding sooner and being grateful but not wanting to waste Severus’ time.
Honestly, the boy’s anxious groveling set Severus’ teeth on edge.
Some Head of House he was, utterly unable to instill a little confidence into his favorite student.
Maybe plying the child with ice cream after their visit to the bank would be enough to convince him that he wasn’t a waste of time.
Couldn’t hurt.
He could use the extra time to make sure Harry kept his guard up when he returned to school.
Both Lockhart and Lupin would want to get their claws into the boy, although for vastly different reasons.
Lockhart would want to both use and manage Harry’s fame in relation to his own.
Lupin would want to relive his glory days and conv8nce himself that he hadn’t dropped the quaffle and then face-planted into the pitch for the past ten years of absence from Harry’s life.
Not that Severus condoned any werewolf spending time with children anytime close to a full moon, but Merlin, Lupin had been one of Potter Sr.’s best friends. Surely he could have spend the five minutes necessary to check up on the boy and realize that the Dursleys were neglectful, abusive, unsuitable guardians.
Severus closed his eyes mournfully. He hadn’t spared those five minutes, either.
It was a miracle that Harry liked him at all.
Which was all the more reason to protect Harry from growing unduly attached to the wolf.
Severus was now a permanent fixture in Harry’s life. Nothing short of his own death would be enough to stop Severus from watching over the child.
He did not trust Lupin to do the same.
No, he would abandon Harry again sooner or later. Severus was certain of it.
Strengthening his resolve to not hex Petunia Dursley nee Evans on sight, Severus walked briskly up to the Dursley residence and knocked impatiently on their front door.
Hopefully Dursley was not so foolish as to point a firearm at him this time, or he would hex the bastard, consequences be damned.
Harry opened the door with a Slytherin grin and quietly slipped outside.
“You didn’t tell them I was coming, did you?” Severus asked dryly.
Harry tugged at Severus’ sleeve to speed their getaway. “Nope. They go ballistic enough when the Malfoys visit, and I remember how they reacted to you last time. I may have implied that I would be hanging out with Draco all day today.”
“That was probably wise. Shall we?”
Harry nodded and shifted his grip from Severus’s robe sleeve to his arm.
Severus apparated them directly to the Gringott’s lobby.