Title: Before and After
Author: LadyBelz
Summary: Before Harry found out he was a wizard, he was The Freak. After he found out he was The Boy Who Lived, it only took one person to remind him of his proper place in the world.
Characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, Various
Crossover: Addams Family and Bewitched.
Genre: AU from 1st year on.
Rating: Starts off G and may go up.
Warnings: Dumbledore/Snape/Weasley Bashing most likely, language
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers, including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author Note: This is my first time trying to write a full-length HP fic in a very long time.



Before and After


Chapter 2: What Happened After...


Hagrid had pointed out where Harry could get all his supplies, needed for potions class and left Harry to his own devices, as he had to run a quick errand back at Gringotts.

Nervous, Harry entered the store. But he was a determined young man, having always held an interest in science and chemistry classes at his primary school. Potions didn't sound all that different, from what he'd read in the course books.

"Hogwarts Firstie, then?" The man standing at the counter stated, startling him in the process.

"Yes, sir." Harry nodded as he got his heart rate back under control.

"Will you be needing the standard first year kit or something more specialized?"

"There's a difference?" Harry wondered.

"Idiot boy, of course there's a difference!" came a scathing voice to his left. Harry's head whipped around so fast, the shopkeeper winced in sympathy.

"I'm sorry, sir. I meant no disrespect." Harry stammered as he came face-to-face with what his unconscious mind thought of as a great, overgrown bat. The man was strikingly pale, with dark eyes that seemed to look into your very soul. His nose was hooked and his shoulder-length black hair was lank and stringy. He was dressed all in black, down to his shiny-toed boots.

"Good afternoon, Professor Snape." the shopkeeper greeted the sour man. The professor nodded briefly, still staring at Harry. Harry felt like a bug under a microscope.

"Checking the First Year kits, sir?" the man asked, drawing Snape's attention away from Harry, who gave an inaudible sigh of relief.

"Yes. My Slytherins require the best, as you well know, especially since the esteemed Harry Potter will be joining us this year."

It took all of Harry's considerable Dursley teachings not to react at the mention of his own name. The way the professor said his name, like a curse word, made him uncomfortable.

"Is that so? Wasn't he living with muggles? That's the rumor floating about the Alley."

"As if that makes a difference. Damned brat was probably spoiled rotten. Arrogant and self-deluded into thinking the sun shines out of his arse!" the man, Snape snarled. "Well I'll be making sure that his swelled head will be shrunk when he reaches Hogwarts! Mark my words!" Without so much as a "Good day!", Snape turned on his heel and stormed from the shop. The shopkeeper sighed before looking at Harry.

"I am sorry for that, Mr Potter. Not the best way to meet one of your teachers, I'm sure."

"You know who I am?"

"I was good friends with your parents before they passed on. Your father and Professor Snape were bitter enemies in school, both competing for your mother's affections. He's hated your father ever since. I fear nothing good will come of it once you enter his classroom."

"What can I do? I wouldn't want to be around someone who's held a grudge for a dead man, passing it on to his son whom he's never met." Harry wondered, deciding then and there that there was no way in hell he was stepping one toe into Hogwarts if that was the caliber of treatment he was expected to get.

"Go back to the bookstore. Ask for the book on magical schools across the world. That will give you a start in the right direction."

"Thank you, sir. You've been most helpful." Harry graced the man with a shy smile and left the store.

"Good luck, Mr Potter." the man whispered, watching the dark haired child from the window.

Things changed after that day. Harry got the books he needed just before Hagrid found him to take him back to the Dursleys.

He was passed a train ticket for September 1st with no instruction on how he was to find the platform.

He was given Dudley's second bedroom upon his return, and immediately set out writing letters to a few promising schools in America.

On August 5th, he was accepted to the Salem Academy for Young Witches and Warlocks. On August 15th, he traveled by portkey to his new school.

There he was given a complete physical, discovering the liche attached to the scar on his forehead and numerous blocks on his magic, as well as treatment for the abuse suffered at the hands of his "family".

He spent a week in the Hospital, having the blocks and the liche removed, and undergoing a potions regime to combat the effects of his malnourished state before he was deemed healthy enough to attend school.

The Magical Congress of the United States (MagiCon) took a harsh view on child abuse and granted Harry political asylum, even going so far as having him declared an emancipated minor so he wouldn't have to return to The Dursleys.

The Headmistress of his new school, a kindly witch by the name of Samantha Stephens made him a Ward of the school so he'd have a semi-permanent place to live until he found a place of his own. He settled in well with his new classmates, and it was after his class on Business Practices and Ethics with a Professor Gomez Addams that he wondered about his finances. The man enthusiastically offered to take Harry to the American Branch of Gringotts to see about Harry's money matters, and through judicious investigation by the goblins, discovered that someone by the name of Albus Dumbledore had been stealing his inheritance from him. Harry recognized the name from his Hogwarts letter and the goblin, an account manager by the name of Blitzkrieg, grew angry on Harry's behalf. After speaking to the Director of the bank and leader of their Nation (a goblin by the name of Fangthief) was on the Floo with the British branch, raking some poor unfortunate goblin named Ragnok over the coals for allowing a wizard to steal from a minor, and an Heir of an Ancient and Noble House such as Harry. Ragnok immediately rectified the situation by beheading the former Potter Accounts manager (an unfortunate goblin who had been bribed by Dumbledore) and fining the Dumbledore vaults the full amount, plus interest of what was stolen from Harry and magically recalling all heirloom items, books and such belonging to Harry, or any of his ancestors back into Harry's possession (this included a pensieve in Dumbledore's office, several books he had claimed for his private library, the Elder Wand, and several properties he had rented/loaned to others, which unknown to Harry, included a Fidelus-charmed No 12 Grimmauld Place that Dumbledore had been using for his Order of the Phoenix activities). Also revoked, upon Harry's emancipation, was Dumbledore's proxy votes for House Potter, House Black and House Perevelle in the British Wizengamot.

Dumbledore knew none of this, as he was out of the country at an ICW meeting in Africa. He would not receive notification until his return to Hogwarts the evening of the new school year. As he had all his mail redirected to his office so as not be bothered when he was at meals, he missed seeing the sanctions against him by the ICW for what he'd done to Harry. He was too busy worrying over the fact that his wand, the fabled Elder Wand, had gone missing while he was in Africa and had to hurry to the feast to greet the new First Years before he could look into it.

By the time September First rolled around, Harry Potter was no longer a British citizen, having taken up his Head of House duties as well as accepting an offer from Samantha Stephens and her husband Darrin to live with them and their young daughter, Tabitha until he was old enough to move out on his own.

As the new crop of first years were being lead into the Great Hall of Hogwarts, Harry Potter was having the best time of his life, with his new friends at Salem.

Albus Dumbledore's face when Harry's name wasn't read from the scroll would fuel Snape's Patronus for weeks.

When he got to his office after the Welcoming Feast and saw the pile of notifications on his desk from Gringotts, the Wizengamot and the ICW, only then did he find out what happened to his Pawn.

And he was NOT pleased.

Through some very discreet inquiries and interviews with various shopkeepers in Diagon Alley did he find out what happened that made Harry decided to change schools.

His anger was so great, Snape actually feared for his life.

No amount of pleading, begging, bribery or trickery by Albus could get the Americans to return Harry to England. Notification from the President of the United States to the ICW saw Albus lose his position as Supreme Mugwump of that august body.

Kidnapping was tried with swift retribution to the attackers and another ICW sanction on Albus when it was discovered he was behind the plot. This resulted in him losing his position as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and he was warned that any other infractions would cost him his Headmastership at Hogwarts.

He fumed.