Title:Where the Wild Thing Runs
Author: Gold-Snitcher
Chapter Three: A Trick of the Light

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The blue-painted boy sat in the elegant Victorian chair across from the large cluttered desk of the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The sight was very peculiar; to see a boy so clearly wild, with rakish hair and blue runic designs along his body, without a shirt, chest covered only by the blue symbols and shoulders covered with a robe that Remus had tucked around him as if on after-thought. This wild creature was seated in an office which, cluttered though it was, was still so very confined and elegant. Severus found himself fascinated by the contrast of the sight.

The boy did not fidget. He sat perfectly calmly looking at the portraits on the wall, which in turn looked at him. Severus observed the young man out of the corner of his eye as he did his best to focus on the hurried and whispered conversation that was going on between Remus Lupin and Albus Dumbledore, updating the headmaster on this, their peculiar find.

Finally, after the entire account had been relayed and as many questions as could be answered addressed, Albus Dumbledore turned to the young man and smiled. "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Albus said. The boy blinked back at him blankly with large verdant eyes. "Hm," was Albus' thought on that.

There followed a rather amusing one-sided conversation between Albus and the boy, with the old wizard using bizarre hand-gestures to attempt to convey his meaning as he described what Hogwarts was, and that the boy would be staying there in order to be educated.

"This is the Sorting Hat," Albus said, and pantomimed sorting things into piles, and then contorted his fingers to form a hat-shape. "I will place it on your head," Albus said, with the appropriate hand gestures for hat, and then pantomimed placing it on the boy's head.

The boy blinked. Albus took this to mean that it was all right to proceed and removed the Sorting Hat from the shelf and carefully placed it on the youth's head. The silence that followed was choked with nervous anticipation, and Severus spent the time wondering whether or not he wanted this wild thing in his house. On the one hand, Slytherin had a tendency of being filled with a certain class of magical child – mainly, wealthy and self-involved youths, and to have this youth added to his collection of students would certainly break things up a bit. On the other hand, Slytherins had keen minds and were almost always scheming, with the traits the wild child had displayed, he would certainly be a handful and Severus wasn't certain if he was inclined to tolerate the integration process this boy would have to endure.

"Gryffindor!" the hat suddenly cried, and Severus had a moment to come to grips with the odd conflict of disappointment and relief that rose within him before the hat cried out again, "Slytherin!" And Severus' emotions shifted to complete bafflement.

"A dual sorting?" Remus asked. "Or was that an error?"

"A dual sorting, most definitely," Albus said. "The Sorting Hat does not make errors. This is very interesting. It has not happened in some many years. Well, I suppose we need to make the arrangements." Albus turned to his desk and began shuffling things about while Severus eyed the boy skeptically and Remus seemed torn – staring first at the boy with curiosity, then the headmaster with confusion, and finally, Severus, with first a lost look and then remembering that they were not exactly friendly, a slight frown.

"This has been done before? It doesn't affect the socialization and education of the child?" Remus asked.

"No, no, not at all," Albus said. "Meals are eaten alternately at either of the house tables, a room provided with an entrance into either dormitory."

"But Gryffindor is in the tower and Slytherin in the dungeon!" Remus said.

"And I was under the mistaken impression that you were a wizard," Severus muttered quietly, though not so quietly that Remus didn't hear, Severus quirked an eyebrow at the man's glare.

"Indeed, providing rooms with odd characteristics is a quirk of Hogwarts. Classes can be arranged easily, as well. As I have said, this sort of thing has happened before."

"Though not often," Remus prompted.

"No," Albus admitted. "Not at all often." He paused and clapped his hands together. "We shall have to arrange tests for his magic so that we know what classes he should be attending. I will notify the other professors, perhaps you both can arrange something as well."

"I'll have something arranged by tomorrow," Severus said, and Remus nodded his head in agreement.

"Test for all levels, I do not think whatever his placement will be can be exactly accurate, but we will do our best," Albus said. "Now," and here the headmaster finally turned and acknowledged the quiet presence of the wild child. "Let's get you situated in your rooms, my boy."

………………………….

Leaf, as the boy had been dubbed by Hagrid who had taken to the boy as quickly as he did to any number of dangerous and obscure creatures, looked quite normal in the simple grey trousers and dark sweater, with a black lined cloak to keep out the chill. He had bathed and there was no sign of the blue designs on his skin – which went a long way in making him appear more civilized, though Severus wasn't sure what he thought about that. The boy's hair was still a chaotic mess, as if he had simply sprung forth from his bed without stopping a moment to fix it.

The boy had nothing but the clothes he had been brought in wearing, and Minerva had agreed – as the boy was a member of her house – to take him into Diagon Alley and fetch him the clothes he would be needing as well as the wand which was very necessary for the testing the professors had planned for the boy. Since they were unsure where he would be placed it was decided that any further supplies would be owled to the school as needed.

"Come along," Minerva gestured Leaf forward and he hastened to keep apace. Severus watched them disappear out the front door on his way in to breakfast. The student body had not been notified as of yet. Albus had thought it best to wait and to introduce the boy as a transfer student. Severus wondered how the headmaster planned to deal with the problem of communication. They had no idea whether the boycould even speak. Had he learned? How long had he been in the forest? So many questions, and getting the answers seemed highly unlikely.

……………………

Minerva tried very hard to appear strict as she and Leaf attempted to navigate through the crowds. The truth was that it was so very apparent that the boy was in awe of everything, and was eyeing the surround with childish amazement and enthusiasm. She humored him when it seemed as if he was barely refraining from pressing his face to the glass to examine some new thing by pretending to observe something nearby and allowing him time to survey things closely. In truth, Leaf was very much more reserved than she had expected.

She had wondered, when she had accepted the task of getting the boy his things, how he would be. Thoughts of the boy turning savage while being measured at Madame Malkim's had her clutching her wand within her cloak pocket as precaution. Madame Pomfrey had yet to examine the boy because he would not settle for her to get near him, but he did all right when faced with a measuring tape and had been quite cooperative – for a silent and uncommunicative child.

With the promise that the clothes they had ordered – a mixture of school robes and casual fair, as well as night things, since the boy literally had nothing – would be delivered to the school, they were now on their way to Ollivander's shop.

The chimes jingled merrily as she opened the door, ushering Leaf in before her. She felt a bit silly referring to him as such, but with the boy unable or unwilling to speak, perhaps not even knowing English, it was the only way to address him, short of calling him 'boy' which seemed rather silly. As the shop doors were about to close behind her, there was a screech and a disorienting flutter of feathers in her face, and when it had passed she was faced with Leaf smiling faintly – the first open expression she had seen on the boy – with a raven perched on his shoulder.

"What's this, now?" Ollivander said, stepping out from behind the shadows of the shelves to the front desk. "Ah, professor McGonagall," he greeted. For a moment, she wished very dearly that he would refrain from speaking to her in that tone which never failed to remind her that he was the one who had helped her find her own wand. It made her feel bizarrely young.

"We are here to find a wand for this young man," she said, her hand moving close to but not touching the boy's back as she moved towards the desk. He understood her meaning and moved along with her.

"Ah yes," Ollivander said, turning his attention to Leaf. He stared a moment at the boy, seeming to know not to bother with the standard questions, and instead turned abruptly a moment later and disappeared once more into the back. He returned with a wand, which he retrieved from the box and handed over.

Minerva, knowing how these sorts of things went, remained several feet behind the boy, and as expected, a flick of the boy's wrist set a stack of parchments resting by one of the shelves on fire.

"Hm," Ollivander said, retrieving the wand from a stunned teenager and tucking it back in the box before disappearing again.

One vase crushed to fine powder, one ladder smashed into splintered pieces, several fires, and a meticulously categorized filing system sent into complete disarray later, Ollivander grabbed Leaf by the shoulder and this time they both disappeared into the back.

Minerva tried to remain patient, but she was all too familiar with the saying about the cat's curiosity. She began stepping forward cautiously, attempting to peer down the isle where the boy and the wandmaker had disappeared, and was just about to get a clear view when a bright golden light filled the whole of the shop, and then she heard Ollivander's happy bark of laughter. A moment later and both the old man and the boy returned. "Bit of a puzzle, that one," Ollivander said. "But I knew it had to go sometime." Minerva did not know what that meant, exactly, but Leaf was clutching a very finely carved wand of a brightly polished though dark wood, and since that was why they had come in the first place, she did not inquire further.

They traveled via floo into Hogsmeade and made the rest of the walk in relative peace. Minerva keeping an eye on her charge, and Leaf seemingly distracted by the Forbidden Forest that they had to pass as they entered onto the school grounds. Minerva had let her guard down as they had crossed onto Hogwarts grounds. She associated the school with safety, what with the wards and the fact that the staff was comprised of many powerful and skilled witches and wizards. Being back at the school also meant being out of the way of prying eyes. While the student body still knew nothing about Leaf, the staff did know and would be understanding, and the majority of the student body would be inside anyway. Indeed, she could see not a single person on the grounds. Of course she relaxed as she walked the familiar pathway that led to the school. Leaf, however, seemed to perk-up, his enthusiasm which Minerva had been observing throughout the trip to Diagon Alley returning and he scanned the trees as they passed them.

The growl was soft, almost a whisper carried in the wind, but she heard it just the same. Her reaction was swift, drawing her wand and stepping before her student she kept Leaf behind her. Only, Leaf seemed to be trying to move past her towards the woods. It took her a moment to realize Leaf himself was returning the growl with one of his own, and a moment later a large silver baal trotted out of the woods and sat two feet from a shocked Minerva McGonagall, as if it were a well-trained house pet. Leaf pushed passed her and scratched the beast behind the ear before turning and smiling so broadly at her that it felt as if the sun had come out from behind the clouds.

"You cannot bring that thing into the school," Minerva asserted, keeping her wand out. Leaf frowned and turned back to the baal, he crouched down and continued to pet the beast. "Come away at once," Minerva said, the sight of the boy so relaxed with such a dangerous beast was greatly unnerving her. At that moment, the raven that had arrived at the school with the boy returned in a flurry of flapping wings and settled primly onto Leaf's shoulder. "We cannot keep the headmaster waiting," Minerva said.

Leaf whispered something to the wolf, the first words Minerva had ever heard the boy utter and it was in a language she had never heard and could not recognize but could freely admit liking the sound of. The wolf trotted away into the woods, and Leaf stood and returned to her side. They continued on their way towards the main entrance as if a dangerous dark beast had not just interrupted their walk. As they climbed the steps into the school there was more flapping of wings and a second raven settled on Leaf's other shoulder. Minerva did her best to ignore the shiver that the strange silver eyes of the second raven sent down her spine, but Leaf seemed perfectly content to have the birds there, and she did not say another word on it.

……………………

Severus paid little attention to the chatter in the staff room as very often it was news he was long-since aware of. As a Slytherin Severus made it his business to know all the secrets that the school attempted very ineffectually to keep.

As the days of testing of the strange youth progressed however, the gossip around the staff room suddenly became intriguing. He learned for instance, that while the boy had a startling lack of knowledge when it came to wizard history, he was transfiguring things at the level of a well-advanced seventh year. The boy's charms skills were rivaling those of the professor – apparently he had used several spells that Flitwick had never heard of before. Remus Lupin was unusually silent after he came from his session with the child but recorded on the sheet of the boy's progress that he was well prepared for seventh year Defense.

Severus had no idea what to expect that morning as he set the required things out on one of the student desks. As far as he could ascertain, no one was quite sure what to do with the boy since in certain classes – arithmancy and history of magic for example – he was at a first year level. Other classes he was casting spells the professors had never heard of and with a skill of an advanced seventh year, and yet there were basic spells and charms he was lacking. Professor Sprout had marveled at the boy's ability to handle some of her more dangerous plants, yet she had due to the language barrier – been unable to test his knowledge of what to do with those plants.

Severus had prepared several practical tests that would take the entire day to run-through, unless the boy failed at one, at which point Severus would assign him to a skill-level, however approximate.

The boy was prompt, at least. He arrived on quiet feet, dressed in dark robes and peering at him curiously. Severus refused to pantomime for the boy's behalf, instead, he explained very clearly what he expected the boy to do, gestured to the several stations, and waited expectantly. The boy – Severus refused to think of him as 'Leaf' – stepped forward hesitantly to what Severus had indicated was the first station. He took a moment to survey the ingredients and Severus was impressed that the boy examined each ingredient to assess its level of freshness – something that would affect what potions were available to brew, and also how the brewing progressed. After a brief assessment, the boy settled into brewing with an ease that reminded Severus of himself.

A halt was called at lunch so the boy could eat. A house elf delivered a plate of sandwiches that the boy devoured with interest. Severus took one and ate it as he examined the contents of some of the potions the boy had already completed. There were ten stations in total, the ingredients varying at each. Severus explained that each ingredient had to be used in the potion, but did not specify what could or should be brewed, nor did he supply a textbook. It was a rigorous exam but he had no intention of admitting a student into a class he was not prepared for.

Six of the ten stations had been completed. Thus far, the potions were brewed well and the boy showed appropriate decorum while brewing. He waited as the boy finished off his lunch and then sent him back to work. By the time the last potion was complete, Severus sent the boy away and proceeded with his testing of the potions.

Seven of the ten were excellently brewed potions, ranging from beginner potions that he might have assigned a first-year, to sixth year potions. One was an acceptable brew, but not as well made as the others, and one more was improperly brewed. The last, however, was a potion that he had never seen before.

Setting aside the results, Severus retired to his private rooms. How could it make sense that the boy could achieve the results he had, in any of the subjects? He mustn't have spent all that time in the forest. It would be impossible, wouldn't it? Someone had to have taught him, there was no other way to explain his knowledge.

By the next morning, Severus had come to a decision regarding the boy's placement and sent a house-elf to bring the boy down. As the day prior, the boy knocked quietly and entered when beckoned, standing politely across the desk and not sitting until Severus gestured for him to do so.

"I will speak to you as if you understand me," Severus began. "Because if you do not, then I have no idea how the year will progress. Regardless of your dual sorting, you are a student of Slytherin House, my house, and as such I will expect the proper conduct from you." Severus paused because he had no idea if the boy knew the proper conduct. He decided to see how things went. "I am certain the headmaster meant to speak with you about this, but as he has not done so, I will say that the faculty of this school cannot call you 'boy', and the nickname Hagrid has assigned you will do you no good with your peers. As such, you will have to think of an appropriate name for yourself, or I will have to think of one for you."

Severus leaned back in his chair and looked piercingly at his newest student. Green eyes watched him closely. "I will say, at this time, that I am a man who appreciates order. You will understand that as a professor, I have no tolerance for foolish misbehavior in my class. As head of house, I will not tolerate improper conduct outside of class. So long as you are not an unruly trouble-maker, we shall have no difficulties, you and I." Severus glanced down at the pages on his desk. "Several of your professors have, in lieu of deciding where you fit, opted to simply give you private tutoring. In light of the results of your test, I feel confident that placing you in a sixth year class will be the best option; however, if you should wish to move to a seventh year level, I will provide a list of extra credit reading and assignments and provided you complete this work in a satisfactory fashion, I will promote you to the higher class."

Severus tapped his fingers on the desk, eyeing the boy closely. "Now, with regards to your name …"

"Harry Potter, sir," the soft voice interrupted.

Severus was stunned for a moment. Then followed where the boy's eyes were resting. An Appian fruit – a very hairy and darkly colored fruit – was sitting on a shelf. Beside it was a clay pot. Severus smirked. "That would be acceptable," Severus commented. Harry Potter grinned a little cheekily, and then reached into his pocket and withdrew one of the crackers Severus had left on the rock, he flicked it between his fingers and then bit it. "That will be quite stale."

"Preservation charm," Harry Potter said with a shrug.

Severus sat and eyed the boy closely, his fingers steepled and his thumbs pressing lightly against his lips. "The question arises, if you are capable of full comprehension of the English language, why not share that earlier? It would have gone a long way in simplifying these tests." Harry simply held Severus' gaze. Severus thought that his meaning was altogether too clear. "Hm. It would appear you are, indeed, Slytherin, Mr. Potter." It made Severus wonder what exactly had been going through the boy's head as he sat in the headmaster's office and watched the most powerful wizard of their time pantomiming and enunciating and, in general, acting ridiculous. "Ten points to Slytherin," Severus said, with a fond smile. Then he frowned. "And Gryffindor."

……………………….

The Great Hall was buzzing with chatter as Albus Dumbledore rose from his seat, but they quietened when they noticed the headmaster standing, arms outspread. No one noticed the figure that stood off to the side, somewhat behind the headmaster until Albus introduced him – the new student, Harry Potter, who belonged to both Slytherin and Gryffindor at once – and suddenly that figure was all the students could see.

He wasn't much to look at: unruly, dark hair, neither particularly tall nor very small, not very plump, nor was he apparently very strong. The only thing of note about him was the crest on his robes, on which a snake and lion both posed together in a dubious friendship. They applauded, because that seemed the thing to do – and then both Gryffindor and Slytherin proceeded to call-out in an attempt to draw the new student – apparently a transfer from a small French school – towards their house table.

Harry Potter walked a bit shyly perhaps, but despite his head being perhaps a bit too tilted towards the ground, his eyes were keen and watching. He paced towards Gryffindor table and settled in between a redheaded freckled boy and another dark-skinned boy, with short-cropped hair.

"You're from France?" the redhead asked as Harry settled onto the bench and began to dish out some roasted chicken onto his plate. In answer to this (rather inane) question, the boy received a brilliant green stare followed by a slow blink. The boy spoke with his mouth full, but stretched his arm to bridge the distance, offering his hand. "I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley. That's Dean, and this is Seamus and Neville," he indicated the boys who sat with them as he spoke their names.

"Harry Potter," Harry Potter said. The handshake was firm but short. Questions flowed throughout dinner – why had he transferred? How did Harry get into two houses at once? – and Harry's answers served only to prompt further questions.

As Harry described his class schedule, Ron dropped a cardboard box onto Harry's plate. "Bet they didn't have those in France."

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously, as he picked-up the box and inspected it.

"Chocolate frog," Ron explained. Harry opened the box and a frog that did appear to be made of chocolate leapt out. "Rotten luck," Ron said as the thing took-off into the air. "They've only got one good jump in them." But as he spoke Harry had picked-up his fork and in a motion too fast for the others too clearly see he speared the leaping chocolate frog, and pinned it neatly to the table.

"Wow," Dean said. Harry broke-off a chocolate leg and bit it delicately, then turned to his fellow students and grinned.

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