The Mysterious Tower

CHAPTER TWO - Return to the Scene

Don't let go of what you've got hold of,
until you have hold of something else.
     -- First Rule of Wing Walking

Harry rode his broomstick out and away from their hiding place under the cover of twilight, a Disillusionment charm on him. He couldn't just Apparate from there without raising attention from the Ministry, and his target was also inside Britain, so Apparating there was out of the question.

Harry had very little idea of how to get where he was going. It wasn't that he had never been there; he was going to the place that he had called home for seven years, after all. The problem was that it was enchanted to be difficult to find directly. He was going to have to get there somewhat indirectly, which could pose its own problems.

He'd have to make his way to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express train station, and then find his way from there. He hoped that the Charm and his black robes would be enough for him to blend in. He also hoped that there would be the right combination of people there, the term not having started yet.

Getting that far took a number of hours, just enough time for the reality of what he was doing to sink in. He was going back to Hogwarts, a place that had been both friendly and fearsome to him over the years. Almost every important event in his life had centered around the school, and he wondered if this visit would qualify for inclusion as one of those events.

There were butterflies in his stomach as the station came into view. He wasn't only apprehensive about the chance of being caught. He was scared of what the faculty would say to him if they ran into him. He could face Trelawney, who after all would mainly be surprised that he was still alive, but how could he face McGonagall or Dumbledore? He hoped that he could avoid that being a problem.

He'd decided to brace his old Divination's professor on a whim, but he couldn't think of what else to do. While Professor Trelawney's predictions had only proven true twice, she did have a good knowledge of Divination resources.

The station was lit up, which surprised Harry. It was usually left dark during the school year, when the Hogwarts Express wasn't running. He was even more suprised when he saw the carriages lined up, waiting. It was only the beginning of August, not the end -- it was weeks before the students were due here. Something wasn't normal.

~.~.~

Severus Snape was pacing in his Dungeon. He had feared this week for most of the summer, feared the reminders that would come with it. He knew what most of them thought of him, and he'd realized that they weren't all wrong.

He had spent the summer trying to redefine himself through a strange sort of penance. His penance hadn't been ordered by Albus precisely, but the Headmaster always seemed to have something for him to do. The tasks had been welcome, even if they were a strain on his sense of self.

Everyone knew that Severus Snape did not hand Canary Creams to graduating Slytherins. The thought would never have crossed anyone's mind, which is probably why he'd been able to get so many of them. Everyone also knew that Severus would never prank a Gryffindor, as he would much rather just punish them. He'd been amazingly satisfied with proving them wrong, with the use of a supply of practical joke items from the Weasley's shop in Diagon Alley.

He still didn't feel totally satisfied. As much fun as it was to pull a few pranks on unsuspecting students, he still felt like a wolf that was making amends by comforting some sheep. He was still Severus, and that still wasn't good enough.

Tonight, the sheep would come back, and he knew that most of them would still shun him. A few might be glad to see him, mostly because they hadn't been the ones he had attacked over the years, and they, too, had built themselves up on the misery of others.

He thought about avoiding the event entirely, but he knew that would just delay the inevitable. Besides, the Headmaster had been quite clear that he was expected to be there.

Sometimes, he wondered what the Headmaster was trying to accomplish by his assigned penances. While Severus enjoyed surprising the students, he would never really be a prankster. He enjoyed doing things that were different from his usual behavior, partly because it made him feel like he was really a new person. He wasn't, though, and he knew it. He had done things that left people in real pain, and making up for it would require more than just changing his image now.

Severus sighed, and looked down at his desk. The artifact there was one that was never meant for his hands. Its creators certainly would have thought so -- from time to time, it still flashed taunts from them. Dumbledore had given him the Map over the summer, requesting that he find the collapsed secret passageways that it demonstrated and fix them. He hadn't asked for it back, yet, and Snape hadn't volunteered.

Tapping the Map, he gave the code phrase, an evil smirk on his face. "I solemnly swear," he said dryly, "that I am up to no good."

The Map's surface swirled into view, showing Hogwarts. The guests apparently weren't at Hogwarts yet. He still had a little more time, although not enough to actually get anything done.

He rolled up the Map, putting it neatly in his inside robe pocket, next to the other item that had occupied his mind of late. If he couldn't accomplish anything important, he could at least take a walk around the battlements before his command performance.

~.~.~

Harry was silent, trying to fade into the darkness outside the reach of the lights at the station. Nothing had happened at the station yet -- the carriages still stood waiting, the thestrals unusually calm.

He heard a faint sound, far away. It was the sound of a train traveling in the distance; the Hogwarts Express approaching the school. He drew back into the shadows, watching the train pull into the station.

It looked even longer than usual, and it was packed. He could make out shapes moving inside the dim cabins. As soon as it had stopped, the passengers started to disembark. They looked quite... big... for students. He watched as they moved towards the carriages, dismayed. He saw a few familiar faces amongst the carriages, a few that he would rather not see. Percy was there, his tall form and red hair setting him apart. There were probably people he would have liked to see less, but not many of them. He realized that even the Malfoys would have been more welcome.

The carriages set off towards Hogwarts. Harry wondered what was going on. Could someone have figured out that he was coming? He smiled ruefully; he was assigning himself too much importance again. He doubted that anyone thought much of him anymore. After all, even Sirius had been forgotten fairly quickly at Hogwarts, after he stopped slashing up paintings in the middle of the night, and he'd been a much more impressive figure.

Harry had intended to enter by one of the secret passageways from Hogsmeade, but he was curious about the visitors. He didn't think that he should enter without knowing what he was getting into.

After the last carriage had left, the station lights went out. Harry took that as his cue to creep towards the school, although he had to keep stopping. The carriages were taking a long time to disembark their passengers.

Finally, the carriages were empty, and he could creep forwards once more. Harry thought it was probably past midnight, but the school still seemed alive. The visitors were bearing luggage, which the house-elves were taking in. Then he saw the banner, and remembered what Dumbledore had mentioned two years ago, when he'd asked him to take care of Hermione; the banner proclaimed, in letters three feet tall, that the annual Hogwarts Alumni event was ongoing. He hadn't thought that it would be this week. His invitation must have gotten lost in the mail.

Harry hoped that his dark robes and the Disillusionment Charm would be enough to find his way inside the walls without their notice. He saw that there was still a light on in Trelawney's tower, and hoped that meant that the Divination professor was at home. The windows were closed, though, so he wasn't going to enter that way. He saw another entrance, though. He could fly his broomstick up to the Astronomy Tower, and cut across from there. He didn't see any lights in those corridors, so he hoped that he could get through without running into anyone.

When the doors to Hogwarts had finally shut securely, and the house-elves had gotten the last of the luggage from the carriages, he decided it was time to put his plan into action.