The first weeks into the next school year passed relatively uneventfully; everything went well, and according to Minerva, the Merlin firsties again were adapting to the school very quickly. And Poppy confirmed that she had to deal with less homesick students than in other years. Harry was nearly as busy as in the last year, although Julia was helping a great deal by doing a lot of the grading work for him.

Harry was still attending Quidditch practise on Fridays as well as Yakkitch practise on Sundays, while Anna had replaced Ginny on both teams. Harry had asked Ginny to stop flying completely until the babies were born, and Ginny had agreed immediately. However she attended every practise watching them playing from the stands.

Ginny’s condition was good; amazingly, she didn’t have any problems with her pregnancy, and according to Poppy, the twins were growing and developing well. Poppy had already told them that it would be a girl and a boy, so that they could already think about names, which proved to be very difficult. It was easier to decide on the godfathers; Harry had suggested, Fred and Julia for one, George and Anna for the other, and Ginny had agreed immediately, and all four soon-to-be godparents had taken their decision very happily.

Harry and Ginny had got used to living together, although in fact not so much changed as Ginny had already nearly been living with Harry for a few months. But it was a bit different, and both of them were enjoying it very much.

As soon as Harry had the opportunity, he asked his parents and grandparents, “I would like to invite Uncle Julian and Aunt Mariko for Christmas. Would you mind?”

Albus sighed and told him, “We have tried to invite them several times, but they have always declined. Probably the problem is that she doesn’t speak English.”

Harry laughed and said, “She speaks English, I am sure.” Noticing his curious glance, he added, “I have made her speak with my wish magic.”

Everyone looked at him in awe, and Ginny said proudly, “That’s my Harry,” and everyone laughed.

Finally, Minerva suggested, “Why don’t you phone them and ask, Harry? We would all love to have them here.”

Harry waited until late in the night in order not to wake them up and phoned them. He talked to Mariko-san for more than three hours – there was so much to talk about, and he noticed that Mariko-san and Julian were missing him as much as he missed them. Therefore, it was not too difficult to talk them into visiting Hogwarts for Christmas, and finally they agreed to come over for a whole month. It was already 4 o’clock in the morning, when he finished the conversation, and when he thought about Ginny’s upset face when she would check on him after only two hours of sleep, he felt a magnet pulling him into his office, where he could peacefully grade some tests and probably escape her clutches until breakfast.

Finally, he arrived five minutes late for breakfast, went over to his wife, apologized to her for being up early, gave her a kiss and sat down on his usual seat between his mother and grandmother. Then he told everyone that Julian and Mariko would come in the middle of December and stay for a whole month. Everyone seemed to be happy about it, but Minerva whispered to him,

“How did you manage that, Harry?”

And Harry giggled and whispered back, “I talked to her on the phone this morning… for more than three hours.”

Minerva gasped and asked immediately, “And when did you sleep?” Harry only laughed and turned to his mother, quickly pulling her into a talk about his sisters.

One day, while he was grading homework, an idea popped up in his head. He had still not forgotten the fright the other teachers had given him on his birthday. And he decided that the next time Poppy kept him over the weekend, he would play a prank on all the teachers. Of course, he hoped to never have the chance to play the prank, but as he knew his wife and Poppy, he was sure to be able to do it before Christmas.

A few weeks later, the opportunity arrived. Poppy had just told him the fever he had was spiking again was too high and she had to keep him over the weekend, simply ignoring his protests and excuses. Then she talked to Ginny and asked her to stay with Harry while she would attend Quidditch practise. To Poppy’s astonishment, he asked her for a sleeping potion just before she left. ‘Maybe he feels worse than I thought,’ she thought and put the requested potion on his night table, excused herself and left Harry’s old room.

As soon as she was gone, Harry got up, and when Ginny asked in a very upset voice, “What do you think you are doing?” he grinned and said,

“Sorry, Ginny, but I am going to have a little talk to the castle. However, you may sleep in my bed here.” He put both hands on the wall and asked the castle if she could hear him.

“Of course I can hear you. What can I do for you, Harry?”

Harry now whispered, “I know that what I wish today is not very nice. However, the other teachers frightened me very much on my birthday, and I want to play a prank as revenge. Can you please, just for tonight, seal all doors to the teachers’ quarters and rooms and tell the portraits to tell the teachers to write fifty times, ‘I will no more give anyone a fright on his birthday?’

The voice giggled and said, “Alright, I will do it for you. It will be valid until breakfast time tomorrow morning. Do you agree?”

“Yes. Thank you very much, however until dawn will be enough,” Harry answered and went back into bed, where Ginny was watching him suspiciously. He smiled at Ginny and used his wish magic to enlarge the bed, before he invited Ginny to lie down next to him.

However, Ginny declined and said smilingly, “I will, later. Now I am still on duty and have to watch you, which I will do, my sweetie. Who knows what you would be doing if I was asleep before you?”

Harry laughed and said, “I won’t do anything. I will take this sleeping potion and try to sleep, nothing else. Ginny still eyed him suspiciously, when he downed the potion, lay back and was asleep within seconds.

An hour later, Poppy returned from the practise, thanked Ginny and dismissed her, but Ginny showed her that Harry had enlarged the bed for her and wanted her to stay with him.

Poppy sighed and said, “No problem, you can of course stay here with him, however, he should know not to use wish magic when he has a fever.” She checked on him once more and shook her head in annoyance. Disapprovingly clucking her tongue, she returned to her office in order to retire for the night, but soon noticed that the door to her private chambers would not open. When she asked the portrait, what was wrong, it relayed the message from the castle. She knew immediately that only Harry could have done this, and rushed back to his room to ask Ginny a few questions.

“What has Harry done while I was away? Has he left his bed?” Ginny frowned. What was this about?

“Yes,” she replied. “When you were gone, he got up for maybe two minutes, put his hands unto the wall and talked to the castle, but I could not understand what he told her.” Poppy frowned and told Ginny, what he had done. “Ah,” Ginny realized. “That’s why he told me twice, I could sleep in his bed. So I assume he did that to everyone.”

Poppy growled and said, “So they will probably all turn up here and want to talk to him; that’s why he wanted a sleeping potion. I should have known that he would never ask for one. How could I have been so stupid? And how can he be in bed with nearly 40 degrees of fever and have energy enough to think about pranks?” She shook her head unbelievingly. Within the next hour, all teachers showed up in her office in order to speak to Harry. However, Poppy told everyone that he was asleep with a high fever and that nobody was allowed to disturb him, before she assigned all teachers beds in the Hospital wing.

In the morning, Harry was awake but not well enough to have visitors, so Poppy decided after checking on him. Early in the morning, she had noticed that her personal quarters opened for her, but she had not told anyone so far. Very quietly, because Ginny was still asleep, she sat down on the edge of Harry’s bed and asked softly, “How did you manage to get such a fever? I cannot find anything wrong, so I assume you just overdid yourself as usual, right?”

Harry nodded tiredly and closed his eyes. Until he was finally allowed out of bed on Monday morning in time for classes, everyone had already forgotten about the prank – everyone except for Harry, who was still giggling inwardly.

As Harry had more regular work than most of the other teachers, he normally was exempt from chaperoning on the Hogsmeade weekends. He only had to help when the teacher on duty was ill or too busy; however, this year he volunteered to chaperone one of the Hogsmeade visits at the beginning of December. He fully intended to buy all Christmas presents on time this year. First, he guided his wife to the jeweller’s shop. Knowing that he could not spend a lot of time off the main street, he told her to have a look first and then tell him what she would like. It took Ginny nearly two hours and Harry was already internally debating whether to enter the shop or to wait, until she finally showed off.

“Oh, Harry, it is so difficult to decide. But I can show you a few things I would like, and then the decision is up to you.” Harry gave her a smile. That was exactly what he wanted. She showed him three completely different items, and he made her watch the street outside, while he bought them all, thinking about Valentine’s day and other events on which he would need a present for his wife. While they were in Hogsmeade, he managed to get into all the interesting shops and ask for a catalogue in order to owl-order the other presents as soon as possible, which he somehow managed to do during the same weekend. While they were standing in front of The three Broomsticks, waiting for the last students to return to Hogwarts, Jack, the second year Gryffindor student Harry had helped last year, approached him and asked,

“Professor, do you think it will again be possible for me to stay in Merlin house over Christmas?”

Harry frowned and asked, “Are you staying here again?” Jack nodded eagerly, and Harry sighed, before he answered, “I am sorry, but I cannot promise that. It depends on who else is staying for Christmas. If any of your classmates stayed, I couldn’t just pull you out, right?”

Jack nodded and stated, “But no other second years will stay. They are already talking about their parents and Christmas every day.” Harry was appalled to notice the tears that were welling in the boy’s eyes.

“Alright,” he promised. “If no other second years are staying, then you will be allowed to spend the holidays in Merlin house. I will speak to your Head of House about it, and I am sure she will agree.” Suddenly he felt himself hugged, before the student shouted,

“Thank you, Professor,” and ran up the street towards the castle.

Harry did not waste time to talk about the matter and talked to his mother about Jack at dinnertime. After getting her agreement, he approached Minerva and asked her to distribute the ‘Presence during Christmas holidays’ parchments to the Head of Houses as soon as possible, and his grandmother assured him, he could accompany her after dinner and get them immediately. This time, apart from Jack in Gryffindor, one first year Gryffindor and two first year Slytherins, as well as eighteen Merlin students, four of them first years and the others all the same students who had stayed over Christmas last year, put their names onto the list. Everyone gasped, when Minerva stated these dates at the staff meeting a week later. Harry groaned. Why was it always him to get all the work?

Minerva threw him a worried glance and suggested, “As Jack has already approached Harry about staying in Merlin, I suggest we invite the three first years as well and let them all stay in Merlin, which does not mean, Harry, that you have to care for all of them alone. I am sure your parents are willing to take turns with you watching for them.”

Harry nodded and replied, “It’s alright, three students more or less doesn’t make a difference. What is worrying me is the fact that so many Merlin students are staying. I have checked their families, and I even went to watch a few of them during the summer, when the students were at home, in an invisible form of course, but they seemed relatively normal to me. Therefore, I just can’t understand why they won’t go home for Christmas. I mean, in my old time line, when I only had relatives who were abusing and starving me, of course I always stayed here, but if I was a student and my parents were not at Hogwarts but were living at Snape Manor, I would not be anywhere else but there.”

The confusion was clearly written in his face, and the others had to try hard not to laugh, until Severus said in his soft, silky voice Harry loved so much, “Probably, Harry, they just like it too much here. You are providing them with their own family here with older and younger siblings, with you as a father, and you are closer to them than their real family, as you are living here together for the most part of the year. You are acting like a father to them. None of us has ever gone to check on the students’ families during summer. It becomes clear when you look at the fact that they are mostly first and second years, which means students who have started Hogwarts with you as Head of House. The other houses don’t have this kind of family binding. We have talked about this here in the staff meeting, while you were ill last Thursday I think.”

Harry growled at Ginny for a short moment, before he threw his father an enquiring glance. Severus sighed and explained, “The point of the discussion was that your system of having the younger students do chores for the older ones and the older students help the younger ones, does not work with the other houses.”

Noticing Harry’s confused expression, he explained, “Your mother brought up the topic, because two Gryffindor second years had played a prank on two sixth years, because they thought they gave them too many chores. And the effect was that the two sixth years had to do their whole potions homework again, because it had been turned in unreadable.” Putting a calming hand on Harry’s shoulder, he continued, “and this is not a single case, Harry. I must admit that in Slytherin the system seems to work so far, but the three other houses have already cancelled it.”

Pomona continued, “And it is the same with the family meetings on Friday evenings. We have tried several times, but only a handful of students are coming to the meetings. Therefore, I have cancelled them as well. It just does not work in my house, I don’t know why.”

Severus went on, “They also work in Slytherin only.” Harry was surprised. What was it about Slytherin and Merlin?

Then he remembered something. “Do you spend regular times in your common rooms, for example a few minutes before curfew, to talk to the students?”

Lily, Pomona and Filius shook their heads, while Severus answered, “As you know, I have always made a round through the house around curfew. And many students use these times for a small talk.”

Harry nodded and said pensively, “I think that this time is very important and valuable for the students. I often wanted Mom to come and tell me good night, but I knew that the Head of houses didn’t do such things, so I didn’t really mind, but this was the first thing I thought to change when I became Head of House.”

On Saturday, Mariko-san and Julian would be coming, and everyone, especially Ginny, Harry, Minerva and Albus were looking forward to having them there for a month. A week before, Albus had flashed over to his nephew’s and given them a portkey, which would take them directly into their rooms at Hogwarts. Everyone had accepted Harry’s suggestion to let them use the guest bedroom in the Snape quarters.

On Friday morning before breakfast, after spending an hour in the Primary school’s potions lab to brew a certain potion, Harry had inspected the guest room and had asked the castle to add a small bathroom to the room permanently. Then he had put a few chocolate phoenixes on the table and had left two identical copies of a book he thought they should read on the two night tables. Making a note in his head to take Marina and Violet to the grounds after the lessons to put up some fresh flowers for the room, he left for breakfast.

In the afternoon, he again took the two energetic seven-year olds to the grounds and let them pick up flowers for everyone.

On Saturday morning, he didn’t feel really well, and Ginny told him to stay in bed and sleep some more. When he woke up, Minerva was sitting next to him… no, he realized, that was not Minerva, it was…. “Aunt Mariko?” he mumbled surprised.

“Yes, Harry, it’s me,” she replied softly and carefully stroked his head. Harry tiredly sat up and excused himself,

“Aunt Mariko, I am so sorry, I wanted to wait for you, but somehow I slept so long, but…” he trailed off.

Mariko-san laughed and told him, “That’s no problem, Harry.” They talked for about an hour, until Minerva entered the room and saw that Harry was awake. She motioned him to come over to the living room, where he sat on his favourite place on the sofa next to Mariko-san. Harry just listened to the two talking about anything imaginable, wondering where all the others might be.

Suddenly Mariko-san addressed him, “Harry, while you have been asleep, I have started to read the book someone placed so kindly beside my bed.” Harry glanced at her as innocently as possible, and she continued, “Do you think I should learn to become an Animagus?”

Harry threw an unsure glance at Minerva, before he answered, “Yes, Aunt Mariko, I think so. And in case you are interested, I have already brewed the potion for you to know which animal you would become.”

Minerva gasped and asked exasperatedly, “Harry, one question: When did you have the time to brew that?”

Harry thought for a moment, before he answered, “Yesterday morning, very early before breakfast; I brewed it in the potions lab at the Primary school. You know, it is an easy potion, and it only takes about an hour to brew, so it was no problem.” Minerva and Mariko exchanged a glance, which clearly showed that they agreed fully with each other. “Do you want to try it out now?” Harry asked smirking, and Mariko-san started to question him,

“Will it hurt? How long will it take? What will exactly happen?”

Harry grinned and stood up from the sofa, before he answered, “It might hurt a bit, but not necessarily. It will take probably about ten minutes. What will happen is that you will transform into the animal you will become in case you manage the transformation on your own. You will stay in the form of the animal for a few minutes in order to exactly know what it looks like. It will make the transformation much easier, when you know as much as possible about your animal.”

Mariko glanced at Minerva and asked, “Do we have so much time? I would like to,” and Minerva laughed and said,

“I don’t know, but you can try anyhow.” She turned to Harry and explained, “They have gone for a walk into Hogsmeade after lunch – everyone who would be here now, normally.”

Harry gave her a grateful nod – he had already wondered where everyone was – and said, “Aunt Mariko, you better lie down for the transformation, as it really could be uncomfortable.” He went over to his room, fetched the potion, handed it to Mariko and made her sit down on the sofa. “Now drink the potion and lie down please.” She did as she was told handing the phial back to Harry, who sat down in the chair next to Minerva.

She eyed him worriedly and put a cold hand on his forehead, before she shook her head and said, “You are warm again. By the way, you have not eaten anything today, have you?”

Before Harry could answer, Mariko had transformed, and their attention was drawn to the sofa.