Harry Potter: Changing the Course of History

This is an ongoing series. If you would like to read or reread chapters 1 and 2 CLICK HERE.

Chapter 3: The Story behind Riddle’s Manor

“Harry?” Dudley whispered, lingering to Harry’s bed frame.

“Hmmmm...what Dudley?” Harry replied, groggily.

“How did you come to be here? And how do you know those two?” Dudley asked.

“Alright.” Harry sat up and pushed the sheets off, his feet touching the cold floor. “Storytime.” Harry yawned and walked down the stairs, montioning Dudley to follow. Once they got down they saw Tom and Severus strolled out, like they’d just fallen asleep. Harry grabbed a pot and ran back up the stairs. He dropped and it made a loud thud.

“What the^__” Tom was the first to arise, his sleep messy from sleep, his eyes half open, and the look on his face that made you just want to burst out in laughter. “Harry.”

“Yes?” Harry asked, twisting his feet innocently.

“Severus get up, the demon child wants something.” Tom said, shaking Severus who was known to sleep through anything.

“Demon child? Really Tom?” Severus said, sitting up next to Tom. “What did you do Harry?”

“Oh nothing!” Harry perked, “Just dropped a pan to get you guys to wake up.”

“And why would you do that?” Severus asked.

“Storytime.” Harry climbed down the stairs and sat next to Dudley who was a good three feet away from them.

“Alright.” Severus said in his professor voice. “What does he want to know?”

“Everything.” Harry paused. “Well, basically everything.”

“You're starting, Harry.” Tom said, finally fully waking up.

“Finnne.” And so Harry began his long tale. “It was the year before last year on a saturday in march. I had just gotten yelled at because I broke Aunt Petunia's favorite china. Normally, I would’ve stayed quiet but I was already mad that I couldn’t go outside. So I snapped at her with a witty come back.” Harry made sure everyone was listening, and had seen the Severus had called a house elf. “Severus!” He said admittedly.

“Yes?”Severus asked, about to give his order.

“We have magic. Make your own food.” Harry said, and with that got back to his tale. “Anyways, I told Aunt Petunia, If you have a favorite china why don’t you use it? And I earned a good slap for that. Then, I ran out to the forest where^___you guessed it^____the one and only Severus Snape was calming down a very, very angry Tom Marvolo Riddle.” Harry heard a hiss at him saying Tom’s full name but nonetheless he conutined. “His skin was all gray and he was bony. This is what we call Tom’s evil^____and angry^____side. Preferably known by the public^___wizard public anyways^___as Lord Voldermort. Or, rather, in this case you-know-who. Personally, I had experience with calming Dudley down, as he did with me.” He paused to look at Dudley with a smile then started again. “So, I asked if I could try. Of course, Severus being the person he is said no. Of course, me being the person I am, ignored his warning. So, I did what Dudley told me to do when I was mad and Tom, of course, calmed down. He thanked me and asked if I wanted to stay at his manor.” Then Harry’s face turned grim and his eyes went misty. “Then, a couple weeks after that, Dudley was at a friends house and I was home late. I got a good hard slap that knocked me against the door frame. I ran..I was scared. I ended up finding myself at the Riddle Manor and I was hissing in parseltongue. It was the first time had^___uncontrollly^__hissed in parseltongue. Either I said something threatening or something that worried him, because Tom admittedly came out. Ever since then he called me his hatchling^____and don’t ask me why because I don’t know. And every since then I’ve been visiting them, to work on magic and stuff like that. Or just to have some plain old fun.” Harry’s face brightened “Your turn Severus!”

“Alright,” Severus said, giving his best teacher's voice. “As Harry said, I met Harry in the forest while trying to calm down Tom. His stubbornness surprised me. Most muggle children would have taken no as a no and left. He didn’t. That bothered me, especially when Tom invited Harry to the Manor. Then when he came in a few weeks later I knew what he was. A horcrux. Of course, Tom eventually told Harry and it took about a month for Harry to get over it,” Then he stopped and prepared himself, as if he was teaching a class of first years. “But what did Tom tell Harry? Everything. How he had killed Lily Potter and James Potter. How he was Voldemort, or Voldy-Moldy as the kids at Hogwarts like to put it. Harry did forgive Tom after seeing his reasoning. And of course, he asked who I was and I told him. He was shocked, and surprised.” Severus' voice dropped a bit, and a sentence came out of him that filled warmth within the three. “We became friends, and then more than that. We became brothers. I was never able to keep my guard up with these two and it’s for a reason I’ve had yet to figure out. Only our minds could explain that.” Severus smiled, finishing his not-so-long tale. “In the end, Harry came to hang out with us every saturday he could, loving every minute of it. As did I.” Severus then clapped his hands together as if he was closing a storybook.“Your turn Tom.”

“Alright, I’m going to go back in time. To where I met Severus.” Tom grinned deviously at Severus and Severus gave him a you-better-not-do-what-I-think-you’ll-do look. “Severus was in Hogwarts and was warting off my many attempts to contact him. Of course, me, being stubborn like Harry refused to get up. So, when he was alone I simply offered him something he couldn’t give up. Tea. To be exact, Vahdam Tea. Of course, it had a truth potion lingered somewhere in there. And I asked him what I needed to know and then felt bad. For him at least. So, I became his friend instead of enemies and we became close. Of course, then we met Harry and it and”^___He deepened his voice as a storyteller does^___ “Then there was three.” Tom kept his tale short.

“Wow-” Dudley said at last. “You guys went through all of that. In two years?”

“Of course we did Dudley!” Harry said. “ Two years is enough for someone to change isn’t it?” Dudley and Harry looked at each other and gave each other a small smile.

“Alright!” Severus announced. “Since it’s eight in the morning, me and Tom are going to the Dursley’s you and Dudley will stay here. Oh and Harry? Check the mail for once.”