Resonance

Chapter 15 - A Home

The door to the Wizard Family Council room opened and an old witch with a small girl in hand stepped out. She bent and spoke reassuringly to the child. Harry stood patiently for their turn--he was just grateful to have made it through the Ministry Atrium in one piece. The receptionist who registered his wand stared at him in silent shock for over a minute before he handed it back. By that time the entire Ministry, it seemed, had gathered 'round to shake his hand and thank him. When they'd finally escaped, Snape had commented, "You have not been very visible--it is true." Harry had been relieved by that, since he hadn't been certain how Snape would react to such a scene.

Fortunately, the hearing room was in an out-of-the-way corner on the second floor below ground. Harry'd been worried about running into Mr. Weasley. Since he hadn't owled Ron with the news, he wasn't keen on making up a story on the spur of the moment, especially not in front of Snape.

Kranden gestured that they should enter. As they stepped inside, a witch seated off to the side said, "Next we have the application hearing for Severus Snape. He is applying to adopt one . . . Harry Potter." The witch scowled at the paper and looked up at them in surprise. The members of the council murmured among themselves and perked up considerably.

As they approached the podium facing the tiered seats, the murmuring stopped and all the council gazed at Harry with amazement. Kranden ignored this and took out the sheaf of parchments. She unwrapped them, kept one copy of the long form for herself and handed the others over to the council secretary. "Good morning, members of the council, I am Felicity Kranden. I am assisting Mr. Snape in this application." She went on to explain their application in legalese. Harry stood to the side with his hands clasped extra casually in front of himself. That panicky feeling was trying to build again and he didn't want it to show.

Finished with her statements, Kranden stepped back and waited patiently as the secretary handed the forms over to the council chair after registering each document. "Any of them can ask questions now," the solicitor whispered.

After looking over each sheet, at least momentarily, the chairwitch leaned forward. "Mr. Potter," she began with a quizzical expression, "this is a bit unexpected." She cleared her throat and sipped from a teacup before continuing. "The first question that pops into my head is, why now? Why not while you were truly underage and in need of a permanent guardian?"

Harry moved to the podium and glanced at Snape in question.

The chairwitch said stridently, "Do not look to him--I want to hear your answer."

"Sorry, ma'am," Harry said. "It is just that there are some things Albus Dumbledore didn't want anyone to know and it is hard to remember that they don't matter anymore." The gazes of the council grew even more interested. "You see, Dumbledore put a spell on my mother's sister's house to make me safe from Voldemort while I was there. I had to consider it my home for the spell to keep working. None of that matters now." He started to step back and then added, "That is why now, rather than earlier."

More murmuring ensued. It quieted as the chair said, "And your mother's sister has provided a signature I see, as well as your uncle. Is there a reason they are not here in person?"

"They hate wizardry, ma'am," Harry supplied.

Kranden stepped up beside him. "I know my comment isn't necessarily relevant, but for what it is worth, I will strongly attest to that."

An old wizard in the back row said, "You have survived well enough, it looks to me. Seems like sticking with blood is the best thing."

Kranden stepped up again. "If I may." She pulled out another parchment and handed it over to the secretary. "This is just a partial chronicle of Mr. Potter's treatment by the Dursleys."

The parchment was subjected to the same procedure and eventually passed to the senior member, who frowned at it. "Locked in a cupboard, Mr. Potter?" she asked doubtfully.

"Yes, ma'am," Harry admitted with difficulty.

"Manhandled? Were you every seriously injured?"

"No, ma'am. Repelling magic usually kicked in before then." The council peered down at him now in dismay and sympathy. Harry deeply regretted being there.

"Starved?" she went on, reading the list. "For how long a time?" she asked in an annoyingly factual voice.

Harry sighed painfully then jumped lightly as fingertips brushed the back of his arm. He angled his head and determined that it had to have been Snape. Bolstered by that gesture, Harry replied, "Not usually more than two or three days. My friends were sending me food packages by owl, but one summer my uncle bolted the window closed. And another summer the Malfoy's house-elf charmed my uncle's neighborhood to prevent any owls from approaching."

"Why?" she asked honestly.

"It is a long story, ma'am, and not really relevant," Harry commented.

The chairwitch continued to read the list. "Let's see, basically the rest is a long list of general neglect incidents." She stared at Harry. "You are telling me that Albus Dumbledore, whom I know very well to be a kind and compassionate man, left you in this household for years, knowing this?"

Harry said slowly, "It turned out that there wasn't any choice, but I also didn't explain to him very well why I didn't want to go back."

"Well, that is something we are very familiar with here, I'm afraid." She put the parchment aside. "Anyone opposed to dispensing with the witness requirement?" The secretary looked over the council and made a notation when no one raised their hand. The chairwitch then pulled the long application out again. "Ms. Kranden, this is a standard form, I take it. Right of board, abode, inheritance, all that? Nothing untoward buried in here?"

"No, ma'am. It is standard." Kranden stepped back and waggled her eyebrows once at Harry and Snape.

The witch on the left of the chairwitch leaned over and whispered something that made the chairwitch's brow furrow deeply. "You are certain?" she asked her fellow member and received an emphatic nod in reply.

"Mr. Snape, if I may?" she said. Snape stepped forward beside the podium and took on a pose of attentiveness.

"Is it true you were a Death Eater, Mr. Snape?" she asked in a very serious tone. Gasps sounded around the room.

"Yes, that is true," Snape replied evenly. Harry saw Kranden blanch before her professional face reasserted itself.

The chairwitch seemed to be at a loss for words. She finally managed to say, "Why in Merlin's Realm would we allow a former Death Eater to adopt anyone, let alone Harry Potter?"

Snape opened his mouth and Harry put up his hand to stop him. He felt a renewing anger pumping through him. "There are seven Death Eaters on the official Ministry wanted list. I can name them for you if you wish. You know as well as I that Professor Snape's name is not on it. Otherwise, I would assume we wouldn't have been able to waltz through the Atrium as we did."

"It speaks to his character," a younger wizard on the council said.

"That he put himself at risk spying for Dumbledore?" Harry asked the man. The wizard's face puckered at that.

"Is that what you were doing, Mr. Snape?" the chairwitch asked.

"Yes."

The chairwitch's eyes locked onto Snape's. "That is why you joined He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named?"

"Yes," Snape replied again. Harry forced himself to remain casual at what he knew was a lie. Snape spent years fooling Voldemort, certainly he could handle one Family Council Chairwitch.

"Can't penalize him for that," the old wizard in the back stated. "Someone had to take a stand."

The chairwitch frowned deeply. "Mr. Potter, do you trust this wizard?"

Taken aback, Harry replied. "Of course, ma'am. I wouldn't have said yes to his offer if I didn't. He's saved my life several times."

"How many?" she asked.

"Um, I don't have a count. Well, the broom incident was probably the first time."

"I doubt you would have been killed. Just maimed," Snape commented blandly.

At the expressions on the council's faces, Harry elaborated. "Another teacher, Quirrell, was trying to get my broom to throw me in the middle of a Quidditch match. Professor Snape used a counter-curse to stop him."

"What happened to this Quirrell?" the chairwitch asked.

"Oh, he disintegrated when he touched me while he was trying to get the Philosopher’s Stone." Harry shrugged. "Having Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head turned out to be a bit of a disadvantage." He waited for their expressions of shock to neutralize. He hated to say the next part, but he did it anyway. " There was the time he stepped between a werewolf and me and my friends. And then four months ago when he and Dumbledore rescued me after two Death Eaters tried to get even for my helping get Lucius Malfoy arrested." The litany was draining him. With a sigh he added, "And again during the final battle when Belletrix Lestrange came at me after Voldemort had fallen."

The old wizard in the back grunted. "Wanda, I think we should just give this boy whatever he wants. He wants to be adopted by an ex-Death Eater, I 'spect he can handle it."

The chairwitch, appraised Harry. "You want this Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, ma'am."

She glanced over the application again. "Does anyone have any objections?" No one did. She held the parchments out for the secretary to pick up. "Register these, please."

The secretary embossed each copy and brought all but one back to the solicitor. "You are all set, dear. Have a good day."

In the corridor, Kranden leaned over to Harry. "Nicely done."

"Thank you, ma'am. It wasn't as easy . . . as it should have been," he commented tiredly. His usual lack of sleep was wearing on him now. He needed lunch and tea.

"You need a break from things," Snape stated as they waited for the lift.

"When can we leave for your house?" Harry asked as they stepped into a mercifully empty lift. "Our house," he corrected himself. "Merlin," Harry breathed, "do I really have a home now?"