The refinement of Harry's "persona" continued, but with mixed success. The boy himself didn't understand why the role that had recently been so familiar to him suddenly became so uncomfortable, like old clothes he'd finally outgrown.
"That's exactly it. You continue to develop too rapidly," Snape explained to him. "Part of what we came up with earlier is no longer any good. The image is falling apart like old rags. And most importantly, you still speak too smoothly and well, and hiding this, along with your increased vocabulary, is now unrealistic."
"It's very difficult... Words just jump onto my tongue, and when I get carried away, I can't always manage to keep my speech simpler."
"Yes, and besides that, I'm afraid this will affect you, mm, negatively."
"You think I'll slide back? No way!" Harry bristled.
"I have one idea. When you think and speak simultaneously, your speech changes significantly. It looks as if you're searching for words. We could try to play on that..."
"So now I need to always be thinking about something?" Harry smiled. "That's wonderful! Shall we try?"
Snape inwardly shuddered: if this boy would constantly be thinking about something, he'd come up with such things... Although spontaneously he produces no less, so in principle, it doesn't matter anymore. As long as Hogwarts remains intact.
They conducted a "thinking-training session" immediately, and both emerged with dissatisfied expressions.
"Ugh, it's all so awkward."
"You won't make a fool of yourself anymore, Potter."
Harry smiled. He'd been nurturing one interesting idea for some time and kept thinking about how to present it to his mentors so it would definitely work.
Professor Flitwick finally arrived for the "meeting" about the persona, and the expression on his face after viewing the memories quickly became as sour as everyone else's.
"Something about the stupidity of this alter ego of yours doesn't sit right with me," he said thoughtfully. "It's somehow too much."
"Yeah, and it'll also seriously interfere with my normal studies!" Harry picked up. "I'd like to actually study at school, not play a stupid show. Especially since I'm not an actor at all."
"Of course, you have a brilliant idea about this?.." Snape prodded.
"Not sure about brilliant... But look what I've got. Dumbledore asked you to help me with potions and Occlumency, right?"
"Quite right. Only I don't think he actually wanted that."
"I don't think so either. But what if the headmaster's authority is so high for me that I started trying with all my might, just practically bursting at the seams?.. You did report to him that we had some, ahem, progress?"
"I even reported that I myself had shifted," Snape smirked. "Interesting thought, Harry, continue."
"Great! And in what way did you..."
"In relation to Harry Potter: supposedly I became more loyal, seeing your efforts and sufferings."
"Yeah, excellent!" Harry nodded. "I was moved too, and besides, while you were teaching me Legilimency, I accidentally learned a lot."
"What exactly?"
"Your 'Death Eater' past. And your spy present. And I was moved by you, as a teacher and an incredibly brave and courageous person, a true comrade of the headmaster I worship..."
The mentors had to make some effort to restrain themselves from snorting—with such an expression Potter said all this. And they couldn't help but admit that it came out quite organically.
"Yes, playing enthusiastic attitude toward the headmaster while remaining as you are now... quite interesting. But then you'll have to come to him with your questions."
Harry smiled predatorily.
"I have questions—a whole notebook, you've seen it! I believe so much in the headmaster's genius that I won't doubt in the slightest the necessity for my upbringing of his every step, every order! He's so brilliant! But now nothing prevents me from asking what exactly he planned with this or that step."
"Dumbledore will interfere," Flitwick noted.
"Will he run away?" Potter grinned.
"More likely, he'll send you to Severus."
"And I'll continue hunting down the headmaster after conversations with Potter to also ask him questions, but slightly different ones... related to Potter's upbringing, of course. 'What should I do with the boy so as not to ruin your plan'—something like that."
"Will he flee the school?" Harry chuckled.
"Not at all. But I think after a couple of such conversations we won't be able to catch him ourselves."
"So that's just what we need!"
After the ritual was performed, all three felt each other at a considerable distance and began to frequently guess each other's thoughts.
"This could be interesting."
"And considerably ease our lives."
"This seems to me the optimal way out of the current situation."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. It worked!
"But this must be within the framework of your previous images. Severus, you should show in all its glory your perfectionism, which led you to take on the boy and invest all your strength and mind in this. And Harry..."
"And I fervently believe the headmaster and am ready to carry out any of his orders..."
"You'll be walking on the edge, Harry. He can demand anything from you!"
"Like from you, sir? But I'm already learned, thanks to you... And nothing will prevent me from asking long and tediously—for the headmaster, of course—clarifying what, where and why, and how to even better fulfill what he asks," Potter smiled cunningly.
"Ah, well yes, of course," Snape smirked. "He won't find it pleasant. Well then, Harry, get ready, we'll go tomorrow morning."
***
Albus Dumbledore, awaiting Snape's next visit with a report, couldn't even suppose that he would arrive not alone. When the potions master emerged from his fireplace, holding quite calmly by the hand Harry Potter, he could only exhale. He shifted his gaze from their clasped hands to Harry's face—completely happy...
He allowed himself to delve a bit into the boy's thoughts and sighed with relief: he was happy to see him, Albus, which he immediately voiced.
"Hello, Headmaster, I'm so glad to see you! I missed you terribly! And Hogwarts too."
And only then did he release the potions master's hand.
The boy's unclouded joy was balm to the headmaster's heart: after all, he still places him above everyone else. That means all he needs to do is use his authority to tear him away from his newly appointed mentor. And who would have thought that Severus would handle the task... Now there'll be nothing to reproach him for, which is annoying. Although that's also not a problem, there are plenty of hooks in his past. But still, how quickly he managed to change his attitude toward Harry and, it seems, even win his trust. And just how did this happen, it definitely needs to be found out.
"Tea, my dears?"
Two nods of gratitude... While the school house-elf was setting the table, the headmaster tried to carefully slip into the potions master's thoughts, but saw in them only satisfaction from an honestly and qualitatively completed task, which Albus himself had assigned him.
A completely even attitude toward the boy was the "background," it seemed Severus now perceived him as one of his own achievements. Actually... that's what it is. If only he could have supposed it would turn out this way! With Potter's appearance, Snape's obstinacy only increased, and suddenly... Dumbledore sighed and smiled affectionately.
"Well, and how are your successes, Harry?"
Let the unsophisticated boy speak first, and he'll meanwhile carefully observe Severus, to finally determine what their relationship with Potter represents.
While the boy enthusiastically described how under Snape's guidance he improved his potion-making skills, he still endured. But when he moved on to Occlumency, he decided there wouldn't be a more convenient moment.
"Severus, you don't mind if I try Harry's defenses now?"
To his surprise, the potions master only shrugged and advised him to be careful. Careful? Him?! What does he think of himself!
Albus fixed his pupils on the trusting green eyes, and...
The labyrinth was beautiful! One wanted to walk and walk through it, each new passage curve beckoned so much that it was a shame not to visit each new branch. And he visited... To understand that behind this beauty lurked true horror.
Albus came to on his own sofa from being constantly shaken and something mercilessly stinking near his nose... His back was wet and his hands trembled when he, gradually coming to his senses, weakly waved away the foul-smelling rag that Snape was holding near his nose.
"What... what was that?" he asked in a weak trembling voice.
"Ammonia," Snape was already wiping his fingers with something.
Harry began a bit later, when he understood that his teacher wasn't going to say anything more.
"Uh, I don't know which one you mean, Headmaster: the Critters, Pennywise, the Predator or the Alien? How are you? Professor Snape warned they're really scary when you're not used to them, especially the Predator and the Alien!"
"You have someone else there besides those horrible eternally snarling furry creatures?!" he was amazed.
"Ah, that's the Critters, so you haven't seen the rest yet!"
"Severu-us..." Dumbledore tried to draw out threateningly, but due to the treacherous weakness in his whole body, the threat still looked more like a plea.
"Headmaster, I merely used images available in Potter's memory."
Snape helped him sit up and lean his back against the high bolster. Opening his mouth, Dumbledore shifted his astonished gaze to Harry, and he began to tell what cinema and video were and how he watched horror films at the Dursleys'...
"Would you like me to pour a couple of episodes into a Pensieve? The Professor taught me how!"
"Muggles show children SUCH things?! Was I so right in my assumptions, and should I continue the policy of rapprochement with their world? Perhaps I need to learn a bit more?"
He automatically nodded to the boy and, while he was extracting memories under the supervision of his new mentor, thought about how, apparently, he had insisted in vain that Harry always return to his relatives. No, how cruel must one be to force a child to watch such things! To show such nightmares to children, even teenagers, this is... this is... completely heartless.
Poor Harry, it turns out this is how he was tormented! No wonder the child became so attached to the one who, even briefly, took him from this hell! And the boy asked so many times to leave him at school. Ah, if only he had just hinted at what was happening to him... But now it's too late. And to think he had to entrust him to Snape!
Now driving a wedge between him and the potions master won't be easy. Openly expressing hostility or distrust of Snape is now out of the question: if he doesn't want to lose Harry's proper attitude, he'll have to only praise his new mentor. And monitor exclusively to ensure that he continues to mentor the boy correctly.
But how loyal to him is Severus himself? Although if he managed to fulfill his request so well (too well, it must be said)... then he should be loyal, otherwise he hardly would have started seeking contact with Potter, whom he hated with every fiber of his soul for two years now. Hated so much that after a year he didn't even have to specifically maintain this attitude. In Severus's psyche, the feelings and attitudes the headmaster needed took root surprisingly quickly. That's what proper work from childhood means!
Dumbledore tried to look closely at Harry's scar, but it, as if on purpose, was almost entirely covered by grown hair. Yes, they're much less disheveled now, but a bit more, and he'll start to look like Snape.
Wait... Look like Snape? No, why would Lily... And yet there is some resemblance between them, especially when Potter takes off his glasses.
Why didn't that girl keep a diary, like all proper young witches? He and Arabella nearly turned the whole house upside down then, but found nothing. And who, if not a woman, can find another woman's hiding places? But alas. All he took then were dark magic books, editions on Runology and Blood Magic—the future heir of the Potters doesn't need such things. They're dangerous.
Yes, Figg turned out to be an excellent spy, especially after he turned her into a cat and then gave her an amulet for transformation—she loves her Kneazles so much that soon she'll likely turn into one of them herself. At least her mind is becoming more and more like a cat's. And as for getting along with cats and achieving what he wanted from them, Albus knew how. He had one completely unique means.
But now Harry finished with the memories (Dumbledore shuddered, imagining that he'd actually have to watch all this) and took some kind of notebook from his bag. And soon the headmaster had no time for reflection... The boy had indeed become smarter. Cat-a-stroph-ically!
By what miracle did he remain trusting, simply mind-boggling.
Still, he's lucky! And yet he had to... justify himself! Just think! Starting with "someone knew about the cupboard, otherwise couldn't have written the exact address," fortunately he managed to dodge that it wasn't him and that addresses are formed by a special spell, but the flocks of owls and the Statute of Secrecy made him squirm. And after another couple of questions about Hagrid he felt the edges of his favorite hat getting wet with sweat. Why didn't he send Minerva?! It seems he called this luck? No way... Let Snape continue working with the boy! Although he'll also come to him with the same questions, but how to distract the potions master from them, he knew.
"Severus, your lessons proved truly miraculous," there was obvious sarcasm in the headmaster's words. But he didn't expect such a calm reaction.
"Isn't this what you wanted from me? I really worked with Potter, and he began to resemble a human being..."
Apparently, Snape was proud of himself and, oh Merlin, had every right to be, damn him.
"Thank you, Professor, I tried my best... Headmaster, I tried very hard, and Professor Snape helped me!"
"Harry, you and Professor Snape are great achievers," he squeezed out along with a smile, and did the right thing: the boy beamed. And Severus... straightened up? Scary to think what he might do if you start praising him.
Scold Snape? Forget it. And how to scold someone for work done too diligently? Dumbledore sighed, thrust some book into Harry's hands and shielded himself and Severus with a "Silencing Dome." He could still do something.
... — I didn't expect such efforts from you, my boy, didn't expect...
... — I didn't expect it myself, but the boy tried so hard as soon as I took him to my place and told him how you worry about his academic performance... Literally bursting at the seams...
"Did I imagine it, or am I actually hearing them? — Harry thought, looking with surprise at the bookplate with his own surname on the inside of the cover. — So that's where one of the Potter books ended up. My books. Excellent, I'll just take it back."
... — What should we do now and how should we behave? Are you still sure that... he'll return?
"Is he talking about Riddle, or what? So-o, and what will the headmaster answer?"
... — You need to protect yourself, my boy, so no contacts with Harry in the presence of outsiders...
... — Suggested increasing the number of detentions...
... — Really smart... of course, Severus, do just that... If he continues to show better results, just pay less attention to him...
"And they didn't mention the cloak. Neither one nor the other! Aha-a! So-o, interesting, since I hear everything through the 'Dome,' that means we can be 'ears' for each other, and will I be able to see through Snape's eyes?"
Harry turned away, mentally trying to imagine how he was looking through the potions master's eyes.
And he saw the headmaster's displeased and somewhat confused face... Ooh, how he'll tell all this to his mentors when they return! His lips spread into a smile.
At this time the headmaster was observing the boy from the corner of his eye, and the sight of his delighted face finally completely calmed the Great Light One.
"Harry still worships me... This is good. This is simply wonderful! Let it be necessary now to be softer with Snape, the boy shouldn't even suspect that I might be dissatisfied with his mentor, which means Snape himself shouldn't even feel my dissatisfaction. Nothing, there are other methods of influence that the potions master, with all his mind and talent, simply won't recognize, he's not strong in charms."
When Snape with his charge headed to the fireplace, Dumbledore reached out for the book and met the boy's extremely surprised look.
"Isn't this my book?" he asked, showing...
"Oh damned pixies! How did I not check!"
"Ah of course, Harry, I prepared it for you, taking it from a reseller, I just wanted to finish some excerpts..."
The cursed boy held out to him a sheet on which in Albus's own handwriting was written: "Read, no copies needed."
"Ah, I must say, I completely forgot... I should already be at the Ministry!"
The guests immediately took their leave, carrying away the Potter book and the remnants of his composure.
"What was it even about, I hope not particularly important!" — thought the headmaster, digging his fingers into his beard, which seemed to have become even whiter...
***
"Good work, Potter!"
"We're not at the headmaster's anymore, sir... can we use first names? And you know what? I heard everything he was saying to you under the dome! And I even looked through your eyes!"
"Well now, in more detail..."
When the mentors and their charge established that they could be "eyes and ears" for each other, even being in adjacent rooms, Flitwick started a new research journal...
Harry had already shared with his mentors his conversation with the Grangers, and Snape even accompanied them to Diagon Alley, though both he and Harry were under Polyjuice. Hermione whispered then that she'd never have guessed who their companion actually was, and periodically cast admiring glances at his mentor, which even her father noticed. True, the potions master's comment, describing his appearance and behavior at school in a couple of phrases, quickly reassured him.
But all purchases were made in record time, and Mr. Granger acquired another contact in the magical world. Well, and the potions master approved their communication with the Dursleys.
***
Harry spent the second day before leaving for school visiting the Grangers: they needed to thoroughly discuss with Hermione many important things: Harry's relationship with the Potions Professor, attitude toward studies, choice of subjects and, finally, the line of behavior toward Ron, and also try to predict his reactions.
"Ask about clothes... Although he's a boy, maybe he really wasn't interested. But he couldn't not hear family conversations! Especially when a younger sister appeared."
"I'd ask Mrs. Weasley too. I'm ve-ery curious," Hermione squinted. "Ron is still a boy, and his attitude toward things... you remember yourself. I'm not making excuses for him, don't think that, but..."
"You're right, we need to keep that in mind."
"About chess and logic, which he doesn't apply at all in ordinary life..."
"Listen, exactly. How can it be—there's one thing he's very smart at, and in everything else... hm. Yes, there's definitely something not right with Ron."
"What remains is to understand what's the reason for this 'hm.'"
"And who's its author."
"Whether the parents support it. Whether the brothers know. Generally, what the Weasley family represents."
Hermione shuddered:
"Imagine, they offered me to live with them the last week! Good thing my parents helped me make excuses, that, like, I'm getting my bite corrected... And their Burrow—it's just some kind of horror! How can they live like that, they're wizards! And they're not the weakest, I'm not confused about anything, right? Or is something else wrong here again?"
"You know, for now let's not meddle with adult wizards..."
"Agreed, but how then to deal with the children? They depend on their parents in any case."
"I suggest starting with Fred and George."
"Why?"
"Because they're different. They're sort of Weasleys... but sort of not quite."
"You noticed too?"
"Well yes. They only communicate with each other and a bit with Bill, and they speak warmly about Charlie. And those two don't live with the family anymore. I've heard almost nothing from them about their parents. They joke it off, change the subject... There's something there."
"Not a school, but continuous mysteries! But this is so interesting..."
"If only it weren't also dangerous, I'd be happy too."
And the next morning an owl arrived from Mr. Weasley with a letter from Ron, in which Hermione was appointed to meet tomorrow at Fortescue's...
"Well, shall we go together then," Harry suggested.
Hermione nodded gratefully. She absolutely didn't want to find herself alone in this noisy and too strange family.