It had nothing to do with Snape being determined to have the brat to himself on Christmas morning. Alone тАУ ha! As if Albus and the other teachers weren't likely plotting to crash on his door shortly after dawn just so they too could see Harry's expression when he saw all his presents under the tree.
Not that he intended to give the boy all of the presents the other faculty members had provided. The ones from Albus alone were numerous enough to allow Harry to set up his own toy store. The brat's room was already full of unnecessary trinkets. He would allow Harry only a few additional toys тАУ the ones that had clear educational value.
His gifts for the brat, for example, were purely scholastic in nature. It would be scandalous if a Potion Master's ward did not excel at Potions, and the deluxe brewing kit that he had purchased would ensure that Harry's technique was flawless. And the Quidditch supplies were merely to safeguard the whelp while he was zipping around the pitch so that Snape didn't have to waste his time brewing healing potions and Skele-Grow. And the photo album that he had unearthed in the Durselys' attic after paying a quiet visit to Petunia late one night was only to prevent the boy from whinging about not being able to compete with Draco when the little pureblood boasted about his family. It wasn't as if he had enjoyed using Legilimens on that horse-faced MuggleтАж Well, actually, he had. Knowing that she would suffer from blinding headaches for at least the next week had been quite an enticement, once the idea of getting Harry pictures of his grandparents had occurred to him.
But it was plain that all of his gifts to the brat were motivated by necessity, not sentiment. Even the chocolate frogs and Fortescue gift certificates merely gave him treats to withhold from the boy, thereby reinforcing his stern reputation. It wasn't as if he was going to drop everything and deliver the brat to Diagon Alley whenever he wanted one of those ridiculous sundaes, and the sooner Harry realized that, the better.
No, his presents were clearly designed to teach the boy obedience and respect and to assist with his schoolwork. It was Albus and the mutt and the werewolf, not to mention the other little dunderheads, who would naturally bestow all manner of useless and contraband goodies on him. Snape reminded himself to check all of Harry's presents before they went under the tree. Given Albus' (now-thwarted) wish to give the boy an Invisibility Cloak, he had no faith in the others' ability to discriminate between appropriate and inappropriate gifts, and he'd rather intercept the unacceptable presents before Harry saw them, rather than having to wrest them from the little monster's greedy grasp after the fact.
Snape sighed. It was bad enough that he had agreed to bring Harry to the Burrow on Boxing Day and to join the family for a festive lunch. Apparently Mr and Mrs Weasley had originally thought to leave their younger boys at the school, then visit Charlie in Romania or seek out some other member of their enormous family, but after the events of the last several months with Ron nearly being Crucio'd by that Ravenclaw, then facing down Voldemort in the Infirmary, they had decided it was better to bring the entire family home for the holidays. Snape snorted. He rather suspected that today's events тАУ learning that they had unwittingly harbored a dangerous fugitive for a decade тАУ would only make Molly more determined to gather all her chicks beneath her wings.
Besides, it would be helpful for the older two to help their parents reinforce the Burrow's wards. The present wards had been cast when Pettigrew was already resident in the home, a welcome member of the household. They now needed to be recast, presumably after the Aurors had confirmed that there were no other Death Eaters hiding in their henhouse or masquerading as garden gnomes. Snape suspected that Albus would also be visiting the Burrow to augment the wards тАУ a helpful precaution and one that he was confident would occur before Harry's visit.
He had reluctantly agreed to leave Harry there until New Year's Eve. Molly had pooh-poohed all of his concerns about homesickness, misbehavior, and troublemaking potential, finally asking point-blank, "Severus тАУ are you worried more about Harry missing you or you missing Harry?"
Snape had of course dismissed such an absurd comment with the scorn it deserved, but he also decided that perhaps his concerns were a trifle excessive. He had even agreed that the visit with the Weasleys was a good time for Harry to make use of his final gift from Snape. It was a trip for five to "Featherbee's Flights of Fancy and Broomstick Arena" тАУ an "adventure playground" that Hooch had promised Harry would adore. It had all sorts of flying courses, magical dueling games, and everything else that would overstimulate impressionable pre-teens. Harry would doubtless invite Weasley, Malfoy, Granger, and Longbottom to accompany him, oblivious to the fact that the latter two were hardly the flying fanatics the others were. Despite this, Snape suspected Granger and Longbottom would accept rather than be left out of the (alleged) fun and excitement.
He'd been a little apprehensive when Molly told him that she and Arthur would, with some of the money Dumbledore now regularly deposited into their account, buy tickets for the rest of their brood, so that the entire family could enjoy the outing along with Harry and his friends. Snape had rather dubiously inquired as to how Molly intended to keep order without his own threatening presence, but she had blithely assured him that Bill and Charlie would be there, pointing out that a dragon tamer and curse breaker should be able to handle a few children. He remained unconvinced until she added that Percy would surely invite that lovely new girlfriend of his along as well. Hearing that Davidella Jones would be in attendance, Snape no longer worried that Malfoy, Weasley, and the twins would lead Harry astray with their mischievous tendencies.
Charlie and Bill would have no qualms about walloping Ron or the twins if necessary тАУ or even young Miss Weasley, should she take after her older siblings as Snape rather feared she did. Similarly, Jones would not hesitate to use her Prefect status to rein in Draco, if the pureblood forgot himself to the point of misbehaving in public. That only left Granger and Longbottom, and even Snape's pessimistic imagination couldn't imagine either of them causing any trouble. He had Molly's promise that if Harry acted up, she would contact him immediately, but he tended to lump Potter in with Granger and Longbottom. He might be a "trouble magnet", but unlike the twins, Potter didn't actually set out to create mayhem. Snape was reasonably certain that Harry would be too awestruck by both the gift and his surroundings to get into trouble, and so he grudgingly agreed to Molly's plan.
On New Year's Eve, he would return to the Burrow and collect the brat, then they would immediately portkey to Switzerland, where they would then spend the next several days celebrating the new year with Black and Lupin. Snape could only shudder at the thought of what outrageous revelries those two had planned, and he had flatly refused allow them to have Harry unsupervised. Of course, much to his irritation that meant that he would be stuck there with them as well. Still, it was better than entrusting Harry to the care of his godfather and then having to deal with the fallout, which could be anything from Black "misplacing" Harry while he chatted up some witch to Harry returning to Hogwarts in a daze induced by fire whiskey and Cornish pixie dust.
Snape growled to himself. The things he did for that brat!
He grumpily drew his robe about himself and prepared to make an appearance at the Farewell Feast. Before he could reach the door, however, there was a soft, tentative knock on it.
"What is it?" he barked, somewhat nonplused to find Percy on his doorstep. What was more, the Gryffindor prefect seemed distraught about something. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his hands shook.