At breakfast following the fateful Christmas day, on which Severus and Harry found out they were father and son, Severus had announced to his colleagues that he had decided not to give Harry the Aging Potion anymore but to let him grow up at Hogwarts as his son.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Severus noticed that Dumbledore was obviously fuming although he was trying hard to hide his feelings. Severus finished his breakfast early, intending to leave the Great Hall as soon as Harry was finished too. However, the instant Harry pushed his plate away, Dumbledore raised his voice. “Poppy, could you please take Harry for an hour; I need to discuss something with the adults here.”

“Of course, Albus,” Poppy replied and crouched behind the child turning his chair over so that Harry could see her. “Harry, do you feel up to going out to build a snowman?”

The small boy’s eyes began to twinkle happily. “Yes, Aunt Poppy, I’d love to build a snowman.”

The two quickly left the Hall. Poppy took Harry with her into her office and transfigured a tissue into a warm snowsuit for the child. It was green, exactly matching his green eyes, all over covered with white, red, blue, and yellow dragons. Afterwards, she transfigured more tissues into a red scarf, a yellow hat, and blue gloves. She helped Harry put his new clothes on and led him out onto the grounds.

Harry was very excited. Never before had he been allowed to play in the snow. During the next hour, Poppy and Harry were busy building a huge snowman. Finally, Harry stood there tiredly, looking up to the top of the three large snow balls. “Finished?” he half asked, half stated.

“No, Harry, that’s not finished yet. Don’t you think he needs eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth, Harry?”

“Oh, yes,” the child replied, eagerly jumping up and down. “But how…?”

The question was struck in his throat when he saw that Poppy had already started to transfigure snow into a carrot. “Here, Harry. This is his nose.” She picked Harry up and held him high enough so that he could place the nose into the snowman’s face. Then they gave the snowman eyes, a mouth, and a hat. Finally, Poppy conjured a small toy broom and gave it to the snowman.

-----

While Harry and Poppy were building the snowman, the teachers remained in the Great Hall. Dumbledore was the first to speak.

“Severus,” he addressed the man to whom he had always tried to give the appearance of being a caring father figure. “What do you think you’re doing? Harry is already sixteen years old. He has many friends like Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who are exactly the same age. Moreover, Voldemort returned eighteen months ago and is threatening to throw the wizarding world into a second war. We need a grown-up Harry in order to fight the evil. You all know about the prophecy, don’t you? Harry has to finish Voldemort; nobody else is able to do so. However, a four-year-old Harry cannot do anything to help the wizarding world.”

Severus sneered. “I know about the prophecy, but I don’t believe it at all. Maybe the wizarding world should try to do something by themselves and not just hope that my son will do everything for them. I will not allow anyone to take advantage of my son. He has had a very bad childhood. At the Dursleys, he was neglected and abused. Therefore, I have decided to give my son a second chance for a better childhood and nobody will be able to talk me out of this.”

Minerva frowned. She had always been very fond of Harry and had loved him as if he was her grandchild. Even with Lily she had always had a very close relationship. Moreover, Minerva had an exact knowledge of what was happening in the wizarding world. However, so far, she had hidden her knowledge from everyone for Albus’ sake. Severus and Poppy were the only ones, who knew what she really thought about the whole war, but it seemed that the time had come to blow her cover. Minerva sighed before she spoke up. “I am sorry, Albus, but I fully agree with Severus. Harry has had a very bad childhood. I still cannot understand why you let him grow up with the Dursleys, but anyway, he deserves what Severus is offering to him – a second chance for a better childhood.”

Dumbledore became angrier and angrier. “And how do you suggest he fight Voldemort?” he barked at his Deputy Headmistress. “What kind of magic can he do as a four-year-old?”

“Who says that he has to fight Voldemort?” Pomona Sprout asked, getting very upset with the Headmaster, too. “I would love to help little Harry growing up here in the castle, just like Minerva and Poppy would probably want to help.”

The Headmaster sighed. “How do you think you’ll be able to keep such a little child safe from Voldemort?”

“As long as he remains here at the castle, he should be safe enough,” Filius Flitwick replied. “Maybe we should use the rest of the holidays and renew the wards and strengthen them,” he suggested.

“A very good idea, Flitwick,” Severus agreed immediately.

“All right, then let me ask something else,” the Headmaster spoke again. “Apart from the fact that the Death Eater children will tell their parents on the first day of school in January and then Voldemort will know immediately what has happened, what do you think Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger are going to do, if you take their best friend from them without an understandable reason?”

“First of all, I could charm Slytherin House, so that the children won’t be able to speak about Harry. You know well that this won’t be a problem at all. Now, concerning Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger’s reaction, I am sure that Mr. Weasley won’t care at all, while Ms. Granger will fawn about the little tyke and will offer me her baby-sitting service on the second day of term at the latest.”

“What lets you believe that Mr. Weasley won’t care at all, Severus? He is Harry’s best friend,” Minerva asked, her lips very thin.

“When Harry was de-aged to a baby, Mr. Weasley didn’t seem concerned. He didn’t even look at the child or try to help when Harry was crying in Ms. Granger’s arms. Moreover, he hasn’t even sent anything for the boy for Christmas. Ms. Granger on the other hand, sent a Christmas card and a book for Harry,” Severus replied. He couldn’t place it but there was something about the Weasley boy he just didn’t like.

“Anyway, if that’s all, I will go to look for my son,” Severus said and receiving an angry nod from the Headmaster, he got up and left the Hall. He went straight out onto the grounds, shaking his head about Dumbledore’s stupidity. However, he couldn’t see Poppy and his son out on the grounds, so he re-entered the castle after throwing a look at the snowman, which gave him the impression to be the artistic work of his son and Poppy. Finally, he found the two sitting in Poppy’s office drinking hot cocoa, while Harry was busily cuddling a stuffed dragon.

-----

Seeing his Daddy entering the room, Harry smiled happily. Harry immediately held the dragon out for his father to see. “Look, Daddy, what Aunt Poppy gived me, a dwagon!”

“Yes, son. It is beautiful. Maybe you could think of an adequate name,” Severus suggested. Exchanging a glance with Poppy, Severus received confirmation that everything had been alright and that his son had had a lot of fun during the last hour.

Finally, Poppy spoke up. “Will you tell me?”

Severus groaned. “Come to my quarters in the evening. Then I’ll tell you what the stupid….” Just in time, he remembered his son was in the room, looking in awe at his father.

“I will do so, Severus. Thank you. By the way, you should take your son down to your quarters for a most needed nap. He hasn’t yet gotten over the aftermath of the recent potion, and he has tired himself out building a snowman.”

“So I will do, Poppy. I saw your snowman, Harry. It’s beautiful!”

Harry threw him an enthusiastic smile, his eyes twinkling happily.

“All right, Harry, let’s go down to our quarters,” Severus said firmly, taking his son by the hand, who was holding his dragon firmly in his other hand. The two Snapes spent the remainder of the day in their quarters, resting and bonding. Severus didn’t even think about attending any other meal in the Great Hall that day.

-----

Knowing how close Harry had been to Dobby while he was big, Severus called Dobby and told him about Harry being de-aged before he asked him if he could help take care of Harry.

“Of course, Professor Snape, sir. Dobby is Harry Potter’s, oh, no, Harry Snape’s House elf. Dobby is being paid by Harry, and Harry is Dobby’s real Master.”

“Oh, I thought it was Professor Dumbledore,” Severus said, astonished.

“At first it was, but since last year, Dobby is Harry’s elf. Dobby is very happy, sir. Dobby knows that Harry cannot pay Dobby now, because Harry is a child, but Dobby wants to remain Harry’s elf, sir, please,” the elf begged Severus and bowed deeply.

“Didn’t Harry tell you not to bow?” Severus asked amused. He had once observed Harry’s interaction with the small elf and was quite sure about the matter.

“Oh, yes, Professor Snape, Dobby is sorry, Professor Snape, sir,” Dobby stuttered.

“All right, Dobby. Now tell me how much Harry used to pay to you every month and I will see to it. It is not your fault that Harry is a child now. But he will need you to keep him safe here in the castle.”

Severus explained several matters to the elf before he asked him to bring lunch for Harry and himself and went into Harry’s room. According to his arrangement with Dobby, Severus placed a charm on Harry. This charm would alert the House elves at Hogwarts which were not bound to Dumbledore, in case Harry was in danger or somewhere alone with Dumbledore. As much as he regretted it, Severus couldn’t trust the Headmaster to have the best intentions concerning his son. When he was sure he had all the charms safely in place, he woke Harry up.

-----

At breakfast the next morning, Severus noticed that Albus was still very angry even if he didn’t say anything. The younger man quickly finished his breakfast and as soon as Harry had eaten up too, they left the Great Hall. Although Severus knew that Poppy was still in the Great Hall, he headed for the Hospital wing, motioning Harry to take a seat in the Healer’s office before he sat down, too.

When Poppy finally arrived, throwing them an astonished glance, Severus asked her a favour. “Poppy, I need a certificate about Harry’s real age, as of today as I intend to take Harry to the Ministry in order to claim him as my own son and have the guardianship over him transferred to me. Moreover, I want to have him registered with his real age.”

Poppy threw the man, whom she had known well since he was eleven, a proud glance. “Severus,” she said, smiling. “I believe that this is the right decision. And don’t forget that I’ll always be on yours and Harry’s side.” She waved her wand over Harry, who was already so used to her check-ups that he remained in his seat waiting patiently, busily cuddling his dragon. Finally, Poppy announced, “Harry is exactly four years and two days old, which means that you,” she thought for a moment, “should claim his birthday to be December 24, 1992, right?”

Severus gave her an acknowledging nod. “Yes, Poppy. I believe that will do. Thank you.” Then he turned to Harry. “Now, Harry, shall we go to the Ministry of Magic and let you get registered as my son?”

Harry gave him an enthusiastic smile before he asked in a small voice, “But what wif Aunt Tunia and Uncle Banon? Hawwy is not ‘loud to tell…”

“Harry, please forget about your relatives. They were not nice to you, were they? They behaved very badly although you’re such a good boy. Now, you’re going to live with me because I’m your Daddy; I just didn’t know that before. Would you like that?”

“Yes, Daddy, I’d like dat vewy much,” Harry replied eagerly.

“All right, my son. In this case, you’ll never have to return to your aunt’s and uncle’s house. Do you understand that?”

Harry nodded happily.

Before they left through the fireplace, Severus turned to Poppy once more. “Poppy, I’m going to list Tom as his godfather. I spoke with him yesterday evening. Would you be willing to be Harry’s godmother?”

Poppy threw an astonished look at the man in front of her, her face turning into a happy smile. “Oh, yes, Severus, thank you. I’d like to become Harry’s godmother very much.”

Finally, Severus and Harry left for the Ministry in order to get Harry registered properly.

Severus had brought all necessary documents like the certificate from Poppy as well as one phial of an unused Paternity potion in order to prove that the child was his son with a few drops of blood from each of them. Therefore, everything went smoothly, and an hour later, Severus had gained the permanent guardianship over his son and held his son’s birth confirmation card in his hands. As Harry still couldn’t read, Severus read the card out to his son.

Name: Harry Alexander Snape

Father: Severus Salazar Snape

Mother: Lily Evans-Potter

Date of Birth: December 24, 1992

Godparents: Poppy Pomfrey and Tom Riddle

“Who is dis Tom Widdle?” Harry asked surprised. He had never heard of that name and felt slightly confused.

Severus laughed and explained, “Tom Riddle is my second cousin, your Uncle Tom. We can go to Riddle Manor and see him if you wish.”

Harry looked at his father in awe. “Hawwy have mowe uncles?” he then asked curiously.

“No, Harry. Uncle Tom is your only uncle from my side. I don’t have any other relatives. However, I have to tell you a story about Uncle Tom before we go and see him. Therefore, let’s go back to Hogwarts first.”

Severus apparated them back to Hogsmeade, and the two Snapes silently walked up to the castle. Half the way up Harry stopped walking and held both hands up to his father. “Up, please?” he asked hesitantly, giving his Daddy a pleading glance.

Severus complied and put the boy onto his shoulders, carrying him home. They entered their quarters and sat down next to each other on the sofa in front of the fireplace, which lit when Severus directed his wand toward it. Harry stared at the brightly dancing fire in awe.

“You know Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of this school, don’t you, Harry?” Severus inquired.

“Yes, I know P’fessow Dumdowe,” Harry replied evenly, averting his eyes to the floor.

“Don’t you like him?” Severus asked. Harry’s reaction had taken him by surprise.

“I don’t know,” Harry said, shrugging. “He knowed dat you awe my Daddy, but he didn’t tell us, wight?”

“Exactly, my son,” Severus answered calmly. That’s why I’m also a bit upset with him. However, as he is the Headmaster of this school we have to try to get along with him. You especially, have to be very careful around him and try not to be alone with him,” Severus said urgently, giving the child a piercing look. “I trust all the other teachers here, but I don’t really trust Professor Dumbledore. Anyway, Dumbledore and Uncle Tom hate each other. They are both very powerful, and they’re the greatest rivals you could imagine. Moreover, Dumbledore is doing a lot of evil things, making everyone believe that Uncle Tom and his friends, the so-called Death Eaters have done them. Unfortunately, many people don’t know about this and blame Uncle Tom.”

Harry listened intensely to his father’s musings. However, he couldn’t understand much. At the Dursleys, he hadn’t had any chance of interacting with other people and he hadn’t had any experiences with the wizarding world either. The only point he was sure he had understood was that Uncle Tom seemed good and Professor Dumbledore evil. However, what exactly did that mean? Before, his father had told him that the Dursleys were evil. Somehow, this was too complicated for his four-year old mind, and Harry slowly became tired, just thinking of everything his father had said. He put the thoughts aside and proceeded to stare at his father, who seemed to be wrapped up in his thoughts.

In fact, Severus was thinking about all the things he couldn’t tell his son at this stage. How devastated Tom had been to find out that Harry, Lily’s son, was afraid of him and that he believed in the fake prophecy Dumbledore had put up in order to get Harry to help him when they found out during Lily’s pregnancy how extremely powerful her baby was. Fortunately, Severus could give Harry the chance for a second childhood, and he would definitely try to make everything better. ‘Maybe I should award Longbottom one hundred house points for giving me this opportunity,’ he thought and decided to speak with the boy as soon as he returned from the holidays. He would have to involve Harry’s friends at least a little in order to keep the boy safe from the manipulating old coot.

When Severus finally remembered that he had promised Harry he could visit Tom, and looked over to his son, he saw that the little tyke had fallen asleep, his stuffed dragon safely tucked under his arm. Severus frowned but at the same time remembered that it was only two days ago that Harry had taken the potion that had given him back his normal look, so that he no longer looked like the spitting image of James Potter. Probably, the boy was still suffering from the aftermath of the potion. He picked the child up into his arms and carried him over to his bed, tucking him in carefully. While Harry was asleep, Severus Floo-called Tom and announced that he was going to visit him later, together with his son.

-----

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. It was Minerva. When Severus asked her in and offered tea, which Dobby brought in a crack, she asked, “How are you and Harry faring, Severus?”

Severus sighed before he rose from his seat and went over to the shelf, where he had put Harry’s birth certificate. He knew that he could completely trust Minerva. His old teacher had always been on his side and had often helped and advised him. Without comment, he handed the card to Minerva, who looked at the certificate curiously. “Oh, congratulations, Severus!” she exclaimed, obviously surprised by his quick action.

“You know, Minerva, that I cannot trust Albus with my son,” Severus replied. “Therefore, I have to take all necessary precautions in order to keep Harry safe.”

“Of course, Severus,” Minerva agreed, throwing a strong silencing charm around them. “I am very disappointed with Albus, too. I have known about his actions and everything for a very long time. However, until now I have kept quiet for Albus’ sake. You might not know, but we have been best friends for more than fifty years. But this time, he has really overdone it. I love Harry very much, and I never could understand Albus’ decision to place him with Lily’s horrid relatives. It is so important to me now that he gets a happy childhood, that I’m even prepared to blow my cover in order to keep the boy safe.”

Severus was impressed by this declaration. Minerva really seemed to love his child if she was ready to blow her cover. However, noticing that tears were welling in his older colleague’s eyes, Severus contradicted, “No, Minerva. Let everyone believe that you’re on Albus’ side. People on our side of course know about you being our spy, but there is no need to let Albus’ people know. That’s the reason, by the way, why I’ve asked Poppy and not you to become Harry’s godmother. I know that Lily would have wanted you to be Harry’s godmother, but I thought it would be too dangerous for you… at least as long as Albus is still the Headmaster here.”

“I thought so, Severus. All that I can ask for is that you let me be his unofficial grandmother,” she said, smiling.

“With pleasure, Minerva,” Severus replied, smirking. “As soon as Harry wakes up, we’re going to visit Tom, and I will ask for his advice in several matters, mainly concerning Albus of course.”

“That’s good,” Minerva had to admit. “However, before Harry joins us I’d like to give you some advice, too. Go to Gringotts, tell them that you are Harry’s guardian and enquire about his accounts. Sorry, but I can’t tell you more. And before you get angry, I’ve only known about it since Sirius died half a year ago.”

“In this case, we should go there first of all. All right, thank you, Minerva.”

Suddenly, a very sleepy Harry entered the room, heading straight to Severus, who pulled him up onto his lap and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Seeing the professor sitting opposite his father he remembered his manners and mumbled tiredly, “Mowning, P’fessow.”

Minerva laughed. “Good morning to you too, Harry. And you may call me ‘Aunt Minerva’ or ‘Granny’ if you want.”

Harry gave her a small nod and smiled. “Yes, tank you, Gwanny.”

Minerva threw Harry a smile and rose from the sofa. “All right, Severus. I will leave you to do what you need to do. Will I see you at dinner?”

Severus shook his head. “Probably not. But I know where to find you in case there is something to discuss.” He put Harry down and accompanied his colleague to the door before he took the child to the bathroom to wash his face in order for him to become a bit more lucid.

“Harry,” he started to talk to the child, while he conjured a glass of pumpkin juice and biscuits for him. “Minerva – or Granny if you wish – has alerted me of something that we need to do in London first. Therefore, we will go into the town for a while before we can visit Uncle Tom. Are you ready for an afternoon trip?”

Harry, who was still busily drinking his juice, quickly put his glass back on the table, saying, “Yes, Daddy. Can my dwagon come too?”

Severus glanced at the dragon Harry was cuddling and gave his son a comforting nod. As soon as Severus had cleaned Harry up from afternoon snack, he took Harry with him into the fireplace and Floo-ed over to the Leaky Cauldron.

-----

Harry didn’t know what happened to him. Everything turned and turned around endlessly. When they had Floo-ed to the Ministry the day before, he hadn’t felt so bad about it. Fortunately, his Daddy held him close in his arms, and finally, they were thrown out of the fireplace. Harry took in their surroundings, frightened because he had never seen this place before. On their way through the pub, Severus introduced Harry to Tom, the barkeeper, as well as to several other people as his son Harry, and the boy relaxed a little as everyone was very friendly to the cute child.

Shortly afterwards, they stood before a high stone wall, and Harry watched in awe when his father tapped several stones with his wand, so that the wall opened up, revealing a busy street with many people around. Severus and Harry then entered Diagon Alley, and Severus explained to his son that this was the shopping area of the wizarding world.

Finally, they reached Gringotts, and Harry anxiously glanced at the Goblins, who were sitting there watching them with stern expressions. Severus explained to Harry what they were, before one of the Goblins, who introduced himself as Griphook, guided them into his office. After Severus provided the Goblin with the proof that he was Harry Potter’s guardian, Griphook gave him an approving nod.

“Thank you, Professor Snape. I shall fetch the documents, so that you can have full sight into the books of Mr. Harry’s vaults.”

“Thank you, Griphook. I appreciate your help in this matter,” Severus replied curtly. It took Severus only a minute to understand Minerva’s reason to send him to Gringotts. Dumbledore had helped himself to a lot of money out of Harry’s vaults. He had taken money every month and had even sent a monthly amount to the Dursleys and to the Weasleys. In case of the Weasleys, the transfer was specified as ‘compensation to Ron Weasley for befriending Harry’ and ‘Hogwarts school fees for Ron’.

‘He has done this over all the years, making Harry believe that he was something like a kind grandfather to him. Moreover, the Weasley boy only played being his best friend?’ Severus thought angrily. “That manipulating old coot,” he mumbled so loud that the Goblin smirked.

“It is not my place here to voice my opinion, Professor. However, I am more than ready to assist you the best I can. We can stop these transactions immediately, Professor Snape,” Griphook said. “Moreover, we can call back all money that has been paid from Mr. Harry Snape’s vault from the death of his father onwards.”

“Yes, please,” Severus agreed immediately, glancing to Harry, who was sitting next to him. The child was still too small to understand anything of this business. However, in a few years’ time, he would explain everything to his son.

Harry stared at the Goblin, whose behaviour seemed very friendly, his demeanour in sharp contrast to the frightening expression on his face. The child couldn’t understand what this talking was about, but he knew better than to ask any questions. He put a little thumb in his mouth and leaned back in his seat, still watching the Goblin, while his other hand was busily cuddling the stuffed dragon.

Twenty minutes later, the transactions were finished and all money that had been taken from Harry’s vault had been returned.

“Professor Dumbledore and the Weasleys are in for a huge surprise,” Griphook announced, smirking. He handed Severus a card. “If you encounter any problems concerning this matter, just fire-call me. I shall be glad to assist you.”

“Yes, thank you,” Severus replied, helping Harry to put on his snowsuit again in order to leave the bank.

-----

“Do we have to go twough de fiweplace again?” Harry asked worriedly when they re-entered Diagon Alley.

“We can apparate to Riddle Manor if you prefer that. Let’s try and later you can tell me which you like more, all right?”

“Awwight,” Harry confirmed, nodding his head.

As relatives to Tom, Severus and Harry could directly apparate into Riddle Manor. Harry, however, didn’t take the apparition well. His stomach churned with the movement, and when they finally appeared in the Entrance hall of his unknown uncle’s manor, he couldn’t help getting sick. Still feeling queasy and very afraid of his uncle’s reaction he buried his head in his father’s robes. With a flick of Severus’ wand, the floor in front of them was clean again when Tom entered the room, alerted by the wards that someone had entered his property.

“Hello Severus, Harry,” Tom said, smiling.

Hearing his uncle’s friendly voice, Harry turned his head towards the man and said, “Hello, Uncle Tom. I am Hawwy.”

“Hi Harry! I’m glad to finally get to know you. You’re the spitting image of your father, do you know that? Except for the eyes – amazing! Is everything all right?”

While Harry gave the man a confirming nod, Severus felt inclined to explain that Harry had just experienced Apparation for the second time and that he obviously felt a little ill afterwards.

“Oh, that’s not nice at first but you get used to it rather quickly. Do you prefer to Floo?”

Harry shook his head. “No, I didn’t like dat eidew.”

Tom threw him a stern look. “I know that it’s unpleasant, Harry. However, you have to get used to it as fast as possible.” Tom led them into a bright living room with a huge fireplace. He motioned his guests to take a seat before he continued to speak to Harry. “You know that I’m your godfather, don’t you?” When Harry gave him a curious nod he continued, “In case that you get into trouble at Hogwarts you can put a bit of Floo powder in any fireplace and just shout, ‘Riddle Manor’, and you will be taken here.” He handed Harry a tiny pouch. “Here, keep this always with you. There is just enough Floo powder in it to Floo once. You never know when you could need it.”

“Tank you vewy much, Uncle Tom,” Harry said gratefully. It was a strange feeling having people around who seemed to worry about him and his safety. His other relatives had never been concerned about him. But his Daddy, Aunt Poppy, and Aunt Minerva or Granny seemed to care about him, and Uncle Tom obviously did too. He threw his uncle a bright smile.

Tom handed him a small parcel, wrapped in Christmas paper. “I’m sorry, Harry, that my Christmas present is a bit late. But I hope you’ll enjoy it nevertheless.”

Harry looked at his uncle, stunned. It had been a huge surprise to get presents from Santa at Christmas but to get a present from an uncle just like this… He threw his father an uncertain glance.

“It’s all right, Harry. You may take your present from Uncle Tom and open it,” Severus said, smiling at his son. ‘What did these terrible Muggles do to my son?’ he thought, trying hard to hide his anger so that Harry couldn’t think it was directed at him.

Harry hesitantly took the present from Tom and carefully tried to open it. “Oh, just tear the paper away, Harry. There’s no need to be so careful,” Tom advised the boy.

Harry obeyed and soon held a floor puzzle with the Alphabet in his hands. As he hadn’t had any possibility of learning anything at the Dursleys, he still couldn’t read any letters. However, he loved books very much and was therefore eager to learn reading. He gave Tom a grateful look. “Tank you so much, Uncle Tom. Hawwy wants to leawn to wead vewy quickly, so dis is gweat. Tank you!”

“You’re welcome,” Tom told the enthusiastic boy and proceeded to help Harry with the puzzle while he started to talk to Severus at the same time.

“So the f… old b… just kept this from you for sixteen years?!” Tom shouted, enraged. “Sorry, Harry, I’m not angry at you but at Dumbledore, the old coot,” he apologized, seeing Harry’s anxious expression.

“Wait until you hear this,” Severus replied and told Tom about what they had come to know at Gringotts.

At first, Tom sat there, stunned.

“Uncle Tom, what comes after de ‘G’?” Harry suddenly asked.

Tom quickly answered the boy before he turned to Severus. “I believe it’s time to really do something against the f… old coot. In fact, I know a very dark potion, which doesn’t poison the person who takes it, but it slowly makes them oblivious to everything. How about we feed this to Dumbledore? You could put it into his lemon drops, couldn’t you?”

Severus was just thinking about the matter when Tom pulled him out of his thoughts. “No, Severus. Don’t do that. You brew the potion and then give it to me. I will ask my House elves. Some of them are very close to the Hogwarts House elves, and they will surely be able to help. Now, as it’ll take about a month to brew the potion, it will be better to brew it here I suppose.” Seeing Severus’ surprised expression he added, “Yes, Severus, I already checked that out. Although I can’t brew potions, I’m at least capable of reading.”

Severus smirked. “All right. Please show me the recipe and I shall see when I can brew it.”

“T like tiger,” Tom told Harry, who immediately started to frantically search the floor for the piece with the tiger on it.

“As you know we’re going to have our Christmas Death Eater meeting at Malfoy Manor tonight. Will you be going to join us?” Tom asked, turning back to Severus.

“I don’t know,” Severus replied thoughtfully. “What am I going to do with Harry?”

“You will bring him with you, of course. You have to introduce him to everyone as your son. And while we will be talking about the Order of the Phoenix’s recent attacks, we could ask Draco to look after him, couldn’t we?”

“Dwaco!” Harry shouted happily. Draco was a very big boy, and he had been staying with him at Hogwarts playing with him all day long. “Hawwy likes Dwaco,” he eagerly told Tom.

“So, that’s clear, isn’t it?” Tom laughed.

“Tom, I’m not too sure about this,” Severus said pensively. “Harry doesn’t have any experience with people. As far as I know from what he has told me during the last week, the Dursleys kept him in a small cupboard under the stairs and he didn’t have any possibility to interact with people. That’s why his talking is a bit behind other children of the same age.”

“Oh, but you are here and I and Draco. I’m sure he’ll be alright. Harry, would you like to join us tonight when we go to Malfoy Manor to see Draco and his family?”

“Yes,” Harry replied, his eyes twinkling.

“Tom,” Severus asked considerately, “Do you know if there are any other Death Eaters, who have children in Harry’s age? As all his old friends are twelve years older than him now, he doesn’t have any friends and I somehow have to remedy that.”

“Umm… I don’t know, but let’s just ask the others tonight,” Tom decided resolutely.

In the meantime, Harry had finished his puzzle and had already put it back into the box. Now, he tried to climb up onto Tom’s lap. However, a few minutes later, it was time to Floo over to Malfoy Manor. “Maybe we should go a few minutes earlier,” Tom suggested. Then we won’t have to introduce him to everyone at the same time.”

“Yes, I believe that would be better. Moreover, he will be very scared of you when you put your ‘Dark Lord’ face mask on,” Severus replied, frowning.

Severus pulled Harry close and stepped into the fireplace with him. This time, Harry still didn’t like the sensation of Floo-ing but at least he realized that taking the Floo Network was much better than Apparating. Severus and Tom introduced Harry to everyone present as Severus’ son, and their friends greeted the child in a friendly way. Apart from the Malfoys and a few Death Eaters, several of Draco’s friends and their families were attending the Christmas dinner.

During dinner, Tom asked the students if any of them had younger siblings, who happened to be about the same age as Harry.

“I have a younger sister, Evelyn,” Millicent Bulstrode spoke up. “She turned four in October.”

“I have a little brother, Marc. He is also four, and my sister is five,” Blaise Zabini said.

“And I know for a fact that Susan Bones has two younger siblings, twins actually, who are the same age as my sister,” Millicent added pensively. “From time to time, they seem to be playing together.”

“Oh, that sounds good. Let’s invite them to Riddle Manor in order to have a belated birthday party for Harry. What do you think, Harry? Severus?”

While Harry threw him a shocked glance, Severus sneered and was just going to say, “A whole afternoon with a bunch of dunderheads? I’m glad that there are no lessons at the moment.” However, seeing Harry’s anxious face he kept quiet and said instead, “Why not?”

-----

After dinner, Tom and his Death Eaters got ready for their Death Eater meeting. The students were not allowed to attend the meetings until they turned seventeen. Therefore, Severus and Tom had arranged with the students that Severus would take Harry with him for a few minutes and then send him out, so that the students could take the child with them into Draco’s room.

Finally, Tom had put on his snake like ‘Dark Lord Voldemort’ mask and Severus his Death Eater mask, and together they entered the huge room with Harry in tow.

Harry was a tiny bit afraid seeing so many unknown faces in the badly lighted room. However, knowing that his Daddy and Uncle Tom were with him, he hurried to keep up with their fast paces, his dragon safely in his hand.

“Now, my faithful servants,” Tom addressed the Death Eaters. “Today, I want to introduce someone to you.” He took Harry by the hand and walked up to the front row of the Death Eaters. “Do you know this boy? This is Harry Potter, who…”

Before he could say anything else, Harry saw himself confronted with what seemed to be dozens of wands pointed at him and let out a bloodcurdling cry.

Tom turned to Harry and pulled him close. “It’s all right, Harry. They were a bit stupid because they didn’t know who you are, my boy. Now, let’s tell them, right?”

“What do you think you are doing?” Tom hissed at his Death Eaters. “Don’t you dare frighten Harry like this!” he shouted, enraged. “He is Harry Snape, Severus’ son and my Godson! Will you please behave like Death Eaters and not like people of the old man’s crew – look how you have frightened the child.”

The Death Eaters hurriedly put away their wands and bowed deeply in the direction of Tom and Harry. Then Tom brought the frightened child out of the room and handed him over to Draco, who was waiting at the exit. Harry was still very upset but Draco managed to coax him into his room in order to play together with Draco’s friends. However, when the two boys reached Draco’s room, Harry was so tired that he curled up on Draco’s lap and fell asleep.

-----

When Harry woke up in the morning, he was back in his own bed at Hogwarts. He was still very confused and a little frightened about what had happened at the Death Eaters’ meeting. Deciding that he had to ask his Daddy about it, Harry climbed out of bed and went to look for his father, whom he found sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper.

While Harry approached the breakfast table, however, he remembered his new puzzle. “Daddy, can you pway de puzzle fwom Uncle Tom wif me after bweakfast?” he asked eagerly, completely forgetting about what he had wanted to ask originally.

“Yes, my son, I shall help you with your puzzle. If we do it once or twice, you’ll probably be able to do it on your own.”

“Yes,” Harry said happily. “I want learn to wead books quickly. I lof books.”

During the night, Severus had thought about how to explain what had occurred to his son, and he had decided that he had to tell him the truth. However, he wanted to wait for a few days or, if possible, weeks. Otherwise, everything would be too much for the little tyke.

During the next days of the winter holidays, Severus spent a lot of time with Harry. One day, Severus took his son to Hogsmeade in order to buy proper clothes for the child, another day they travelled to the zoo in London, and one day, Tom had organized a belated birthday party for Harry at Riddle Manor. He had invited the few four or five year old children he knew of, which only were five children: Evelyn Bulstrode, Marc and Angela Zabini, and Enid and Frank Bones.

Severus had taken Harry over to Riddle Manor immediately after lunch, and the other children arrived shortly afterwards. While Harry was very unsure about how to interact with other children, the twins were not frightened at all. They approached Harry without being told anything by her older sister Susan, who accompanied them, and said, “Hello, we are Frank and Enid. Happy Birtday to you.”

Harry hesitantly extended a hand. “Hello. I’m Hawwy. Tanks fow coming to play wif me.”

An hour later, the boy seemed to have fully assimilated. Harry was running all over the Manor together with the other children and as noisily as the other children. As much as the noise and the mere existence of so many children annoyed Severus, he was glad that Harry had found so nice friends that were about the same age as him and would likely be attending Hogwarts together with him in the future.

When they returned to Hogwarts just in time for dinner, Harry was dead on his feet and in no condition to attend dinner – fortunately! During dinner on this evening, Albus received an official letter from Gringotts stating that a huge amount of money had been taken from his vault and been returned to one Mr. Harry Snape’s vault.

According to Minerva and Poppy, who secretly visited Severus late in the evening, Albus had thrown a temper tantrum at the Head table. However, as it had been Harry’s – or as his guardian Severus’ – full right to request the money, there was nothing the Headmaster could do about it.

-----

Dumbledore even had to pay the Weasleys a visit to confess about the money, which was especially unpleasant as Mr. Weasley and Ron had been the only ones who had known about the agreement. The rest of the family hadn’t known anything about it. “I’m very sorry, Molly, but even Ron’s school fees have been paid by this money. If there isn’t another way to get an adequate amount of money, I’m sorry to let you know that Ron cannot attend Hogwarts anymore. Or do you still have the money you received personally, Ron?”

“Wait!” Mrs. Weasley shouted. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t get so upset, Molly,” Mr. Weasley tried to calm his wife. “Ron received a certain amount of money for befriending Harry Potter and to see to it that Harry remained on Professor Dumbledore’s side.”

“Oh, Ron…”

“…you are…”

“…disgusting!” the twins finished their sentence together.

“But as you’re family…”

“…you can work for us…”

“…at our joke shop…”

“…to occupy yourself,” they kindly offered to their brother.

Ron gave them a confirming nod. “Thank you, Fred and George.”

Immediately after Dumbledore had left, Molly began to shout. “Ron Weasley! What did you think you were doing? Taking money for befriending Harry! I can’t believe it. The poor boy! I’m going to Floo to Hogwarts to apologize to Harry. As far as I’ve heard he has been staying with Severus over the holidays because he had been de-aged to a baby. However, he should be about back to normal now, and I will go and apologize for my horrible son and his too stupid father. Excuse me!”

The enraged woman stepped over to the fireplace and Floo-called Severus Snape at Hogwarts. Being allowed to step through, she entered Severus’ living room, astonished to find him drinking tea with Minerva and Poppy.

“Good evening, Minerva, Poppy, Severus,” she said hesitantly. “Severus, I came to apologize to Harry for what I’ve just been told by Albus. I don’t know what my husband and Ron were thinking but…”

“Now, now, Molly, sit down and have a cup of tea first,” Minerva interrupted her firmly. “And then you will tell us what happened.”

Molly complied and told them everything she had learned. Everyone gave her a friendly smile, and Severus told the surprised woman that Molly didn’t have to apologize and couldn’t even apologize to Harry as he was only four years old and couldn’t understand things like that. After Molly had heard the whole story, she was laughing too. “Congratulations, Severus, for having such a fine son. And whenever you need my help, don’t hesitate to call for it.”

“Thank you, Molly,” Severus replied, sipping his tea, while the three women engaged themselves in a conversation concerning the needs of toddlers.

-----

Finally, the students came back. At the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledore announced that unfortunately Ron Weasley had decided not to return to Hogwarts but to start working at his twin brothers’ shop. Ignoring the huge commotion at the Gryffindor table, Minerva walked over to her House table and spoke in a firm voice, “Ms. Granger, Ms. Weasley, and Mr. Longbottom, Professor Snape wishes to see you in his office directly after dinner in order to speak about your detention schedule.”

When Hermione shot her favourite teacher a shocked glance, Minerva returned a rare smile, making her student wonder what this was really about.

After dinner, Hermione ushered a frightened Neville and an excited Ginny down the stairs to the dungeons. “If I tell you it’s all right, he won’t eat us alive, and I don’t even think he’ll give us detention. Just wait and see. I’m also eager to know how Harry is faring, and maybe Professor Snape knows what happened to Ron.”

Neville only let out a deep sigh before Hermione knocked at the door of the professor’s office. They were called in immediately, and Severus took them through a door that was hidden behind a book shelf into his private quarters, where a four-year-old Harry was silently playing with his floor puzzle. The three students couldn’t help staring at the child that was looking so happy and peaceful. Before they could even wonder why he looked a bit different, the teacher spoke up.

“When you think you have stared enough at my son, sit down here please so that we can have a talk.”

Hermione, Ginny, and Neville hurried to comply, and Severus told them everything about Harry being his son, his decision to give his son a second chance for a childhood, about Ron, and finally about Tom and Dumbledore. When he finished his explanation, which fortunately hadn’t been interrupted even once, he added, “Mr. Longbottom, a hundred points to Gryffindor for de-aging Harry.”

Before Neville could react, Hermione cleared her throat and voiced a question. “Sorry, Professor, but could you please explain what Dumbledore’s problem is, and why Tom suddenly isn’t evil anymore after we have been told that he is evil since we entered Hogwarts? Moreover, why is Hogwarts only teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts and not also the Dark Arts itself? So far, I believed that the ‘light side’ was the good side and the ‘dark side’ the bad side, but that doesn’t seem to make sense, right?”

Severus sighed. ‘Leave it to Ms. Granger to ask so many questions at once. Why did I speak to them at all,’ he thought but then started to answer her questions.

“As I told you, Tom and his Death Eaters use Dark Magic, which is not necessarily evil. Dumbledore uses Light Magic, but he uses the Light Magic to kill people and do many horrible things making the wizarding world believe that Tom did them.” He thought for a moment.

“Dumbledore wants power. Tom is very powerful and has therefore always been Dumbledore’s rival. When Lily was pregnant with Harry, the baby performed very strong magic from inside his mother’s womb, which was a clear sign that the boy would become an extremely powerful wizard. Therefore, Dumbledore became afraid of him and set up the fake prophecy, which stated that Harry had to vanquish Tom in order to give peace to the Wizarding world. He intended to keep the boy close and let him kill Tom. Finally then, Dumbledore would kill or at least somehow weaken Harry, so that Dumbledore would be the most powerful wizard in the world. So far, his plan seemed to work quite well. However, this time, I know that Harry is my son and won’t have him manipulated by the old coot.”

“But why did Tom then fight Harry every year since he has started Hogwarts?” Ginny threw in.

“He hasn’t. That was all organized by the Headmaster and his allies. When Dumbledore killed Harry’s parents, Tom was there in order to warn them, but he was late, unfortunately. However, Tom was hit, when the spell Dumbledore shot at Harry backfired and hit Tom. Tom spent many years hidden in a wizarding hospital in Germany and was just released about two years ago. When Dumbledore found out Tom was released, he prepared his fake return of the Dark Lord after the Triwizard Tournament.”

Severus glanced at the three students, reading the thoughts that were clearly written in their faces. “Now, why don’t we teach Dark Arts? Because Dumbledore so far has the Ministry behind him, and if Dumbledore tells them Dark Arts are evil, they’ll believe it. However, Tom is working on a peace contract with the Ministry, and we hope to get it through and then start a Dark Arts class in Hogwarts, too. Dark and evil are not necessarily synonymous. Neither are light and good.”

At this instant, Harry came over to his Daddy and said proudly, “Daddy, Hawwy finished de puzzle all on my own.”

“Very good, Harry,” Severus replied, pulling his son onto his lap. “Harry, do you remember Hermione?”

Harry threw an unsure glance at the three students in front of him and slightly shook his head. “All right then, these three students are Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. All three are Gryffindor students, but they want to be good friends with you.”

Harry smiled at the three students before he tiredly leaned back into his father’s robes, a little thumb wandering into his mouth. He was already asleep when Hermione whispered, “Oh, he is so adorable! Professor, on one hand I am very sad because I didn’t only lose Ron today; I also lost Harry. I already miss the sixteen-year-old Harry. On the other hand, I can only admire your decision. I believe it was the best decision you could make and I hope for Harry that he’ll have a very happy childhood. And whenever you need my help, Professor, I’ll be here for Harry.”

“I can only agree to everything Hermione said,” Ginny agreed.

Finally, Neville spoke up hesitantly, “I’ll help too if there’s anything I can do,” before he asked in a small voice, “Sorry, Professor, but who are you and what have you done to Professor Snape?”

“Neville!” Hermione admonished the boy, flabbergasted, but Severus only smirked.

“I believe it’s nearly curfew. I shall see you in your next lesson,” the teacher said with a menacing look on his face. Only the slightly pulled up edges of his mouth told Hermione that he wasn’t angry at all.

Back into the Gryffindor Common room, Ginny said to Hermione, “I have to tell that story to my mother. You know, about Tom and everything. You can’t imagine how upset she is with Dumbledore. I’m sure she will be ready to change sides immediately.”

-----

As Severus didn’t have anyone to look after Harry during the day, he took the child with him into the classroom. He had set up a playing corner for Harry near his desk where Harry could draw, read, or play, and it seemed to work well. Harry got used to the students very quickly, and he often sat at the House tables during meal times. To Severus’ great amazement it wasn’t only Gryffindor or Slytherin he could find his son sitting but also at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Being so cute, intelligent, and friendly to everyone, Harry had many friends in different classes throughout all Houses. The only person who seemed not to be pleased with Harry’s happiness was the Headmaster. However, so far, he kept quiet.

Harry really enjoyed himself. His only problem seemed to be the recurring nightmares. He often received the memories of his previous childhood during his dreams, and he often even woke up with small bruises that had suddenly appeared during the night. Whenever a dream was bad enough for Harry to wake up during the night, he toddled over to his Daddy’s bed, and his Daddy always cuddled him close for the remainder of the night. Severus always asked him in a soft voice what the dream had been about, and Harry learned quickly that it helped to talk to his Daddy.

Every weekend, whenever Severus wasn’t occupied with school duties like Quidditch matches, Severus and Harry spent their free time at Riddle Manor where Severus completed a certain potion. Tom eyed it contentedly and called his House elves to hand the potion over to them. However, even knowing how many lemon drops Dumbledore consumed, they assumed that it would take about a year – two in the worst case – until the potion could begin to work. Severus had made it as strong as he could without giving it a taste or smell.

While Severus had been busy brewing, Tom had either entertained Harry by himself or had invited Harry’s little friends so that they could play together. The Zabini children were often accompanied by their aunt Rolanda Hooch, who was the Flying Instructor at Hogwarts but loved to join the children visiting Riddle Manor as she seemed to have taken a liking to the handsome owner of the manor. Tom didn’t protest either when Rolanda decided to stay and help him entertain the six children.

-----

Too soon, the summer holidays came, and Harry enjoyed immensely spending so much time together with his father. Severus had decided to stay at Hogwarts as it seemed to be the safest place for Harry – in spite of the Headmaster’s presence within the castle. Originally, he had intended to take his son to Riddle Manor, but Tom and Rolanda had recently agreed to spend their holidays together, and Severus didn’t want to disturb the happy couple.

At the beginning of the holidays, Severus took Harry to Diagon Alley and purchased a ‘Child’s first Potions kit’ for his son. Harry was very excited. “Are you going to teach me Poshuns, Daddy?” he asked excitedly.

This was too good. The Dursleys never taught him anything apart from chores. He already knew that he always had to prepare the meals for them. But they didn’t teach him to talk properly, and he hadn’t received even one single book from them. But now, his Uncle Tom had given him the puzzle, which Harry had done so often that he knew the letters of the alphabet and was even able to read easy books by now. And soon he would be able to learn potions. He was very happy.

“Yes, my son, I intend to start teaching you easy Potions. However, you are not allowed to play with your Potions kit alone, you have to wait until we are together. Is that clear?” Severus asked sternly.

“Yes, dat’s clear,” Harry confirmed obediently. However, during the rest of the day he pestered his father asking once an hour, “When will we brew poshuns?”

Severus inwardly groaned. “Tomorrow morning we shall start,” he said firmly, throwing an irritated look at his son, who took the book, which had been inside the package of the Potions kit, with him and retired to his room.

When Severus entered his room in order to give Harry a bath, the boy was sitting at the small desk in his room with the book lying open in front of him, where several pages were marked with small pieces of parchment. “Oh, Daddy,” the child squealed happily. “I have marked several poshuns I’d like to start wif. But where can we get fresh moon fern?”

Severus couldn’t help laughing. If there was a four-and-a-half-year-old sorting out potions to brew, wondering where to get the ingredients, it had to be his son. However, something seemed wrong. Moon fern was exclusively used in Healing potions. “Harry?” Seeing that the boy was looking up to him he asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern, “Why do you need moon fern? Which potion do you want to brew?”

Harry fidgeted a little in his chair before he replied solemnly, “Look, Daddy, dis seem to be a Healing salve. I tink we can brew it for Aunt Poppy to help.”

“Really?” Severus enquired. Something seemed to be wrong, although he couldn’t place it. He threw his son a piercing look, noticing that Harry’s face turned slightly red. “What is wrong?” he inquired.

Finally, Harry sighed and hesitantly told him, “Hawwy’s back is sowe, it’s only a little though.”

“Arms up,” Severus commanded and pulled Harry’s T-shirt over the boy’s head. He let out a loud gasp. “Harry! How did you get this? Who did this to you?”

“Uncle Vernon,” Harry replied anxiously. “But Hawwy’s not allowed to tell.”

Severus sighed. It was slowly time to tell the boy everything about his past, at least partly. “Wait a moment, Harry. I’ll get some salve for your back. You don’t have to brew it yourself.” He fetched some salve and carefully put it onto the child’s back, where his son had obviously been beaten with a belt. Then he coaxed the boy into accompanying him to the living room.

Severus took the boy onto his lap and started to explain. “You know Mione, Draco, and Neville, Harry, right?” Harry’s face lit with the mention of his friends. “Now, until half a year ago, you were of their age. You were a big boy, but then a potions incident happened and you were turned into a baby again. At first, I began to feed you a potion, so that you gained a few years. But when you came to the age of four, I got to know that you’re my son and I decided to let you grow up once more with me because you had so bad experiences when you grew up the first time. Do you understand so far?”

“Yes, umm… a little,” Harry answered around the little thumb in his mouth and leaned back into his Daddy’s robes. “’m tired.”

“All right, Harry. Just let me say, your uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia are the bad people you grew up with the first time, but you won’t have to see them again because this time you’re growing up here with me at Hogwarts.”

During the next weeks, Harry and Severus proceeded to brew one potion each day, and Severus soon noticed that Harry seemed to be far more adept at brewing than the bigger Harry had ever admitted to be. ‘How and why did he hide his obvious talent for Potions so well?’ Severus thought, and a small voice in the depth of his head whispered, ‘because you didn’t give him a chance.’ Shortly before the new school year started, Severus decided to have Harry sit at a table trying to brew easy potions during classes. If there were Slytherin purebloods with the first years, they would probably come to Hogwarts with certain knowledge about Potions, so that he could even let Harry partner with them and brew first year potions.

-----

Finally, it was the day on which the students were supposed to come back. Harry was very excited, looking forward to seeing all his big friends again. As Severus had to do some last minute preparations, the Headmaster had entrusted him with, Minerva suggested that Hagrid could take Harry with him to the station to greet the students and let him ride the boat back to the castle together with the first years.

Harry happily joined Hagrid walking to the station. The huge man’s steps were so large that Harry had to run to keep up with him. Nevertheless, they had to wait a while until the train finally entered the station. While Hagrid called the first years over, Harry was busy greeting his friends. Suddenly, Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere and motioned Harry to board the last boat together with Hagrid. Shocked because of his own obliviousness, Harry ran to the boat and quickly sat next to Hagrid. “Oh, there you a’e, Harry. I couldn’t find you, already thought you’d gone with’e ol’er ones.”

The boats left as soon as Harry had sat down. The view onto the castle was terrific. However, there seemed to be a problem with their boat, and suddenly Harry found himself flying overboard, landing in the dark, cold water. Unfortunately, he couldn’t swim and was soon pulled down by an invisible force, quickly losing consciousness.

Harry was unconscious and didn’t notice that the Giant Squid had heaved him up to the surface where Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix, picked him up and flashed him straight into the Hospital wing, making himself comfortable on the head of the bed. Poppy was just going to leave in order to attend the Welcoming Feast but stopped dead in her tracks seeing the Phoenix carrying her godson into the wing. As she couldn’t communicate with Fawkes to ask what happened, Poppy rushed over to Harry, noticing that he was completely wet and cold. With a flick of her wand, she dried Harry up and threw a warming spell on him. Then she called Dobby and asked him to send Professors Snape and Hagrid to the Hospital wing immediately.

A minute later, Dobby apparated back with the two teachers. “Hagrid, what happened?” Poppy asked the man.

“He suddenly fell off the boat, I have no idea how that could’ve happened,” Hagrid answered. “I was still outside looking for him when the Squid told me she’d saved him and Fawkes came to take Harry with him.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Severus asked impatiently.

“He is completely under cooled and he seems to have gone into shock. We must try to wake him up and slowly warm him. Nevertheless, I fear that he will get a lung infection out of this. I would like to know what really happened. Severus, can you view his memory when he is awake?” she asked, frowning.

“Yes, Poppy, I can and I will. Harry is not so stupid as to jump out of the boat of his free will, and he is always very careful. Somehow, I don’t believe that this was a mere accident. What a pity that we cannot talk to Fawkes.”

Poppy gave him a nod and proceeded to wake Harry up.

Harry’s mind slowly drifted back to consciousness. He noticed immediately that he felt horrible. He was cold but his skin felt as if it was on fire. Hearing people talking nearby he lazily opened his eyes to see his Daddy, Aunt Poppy, and Hagrid standing beside his bed. Then he remembered how he had been in the boat and some strange power had forced him to jump off, and into the cold water. Harry tried to explain to his family but he could only croak and it hurt to talk. Instead, Harry started to cry silently.

#Hello, little one,# Harry could suddenly hear a voice from above. Slightly moving his eyes in the direction, he could see Fawkes talking to him.

“Hello Fawkes,” he whispered back.

“Can you understand Fawkes?” Poppy and Severus asked at exactly the same time, and Harry returned a small nod.

“Then ask him what happened, please, son. He will probably know.”

#You can tell your impatient father chick that I was going to explain anyway,# Fawkes commented, and Harry let out a small giggle before he whispered what Fawkes had said.

#The old crazy one has put you under the Imperius Charm in order to make you jump into the lake and drown,# the phoenix told Harry. #He has done a lot of things, but trying to kill a nestling is too bad for me to stay with him. Therefore, I’ve abandoned my nest. I’ve come to stay with you from now on, little nestling.#

Harry silently translated what the bird had told him, and everyone looked at Fawkes in awe.

“Of course,” Severus commented. “A phoenix is a purely good being. He cannot stay with an evil master. Congratulations, Harry. You’re the only person I know, who has a phoenix as a familiar. Thank you Fawkes.” He turned to the bird, who inclined his head in his direction.

“Now, Harry, how do you feel?” Poppy went back into Healer mode.

“Cold and hot and a bit sowe,” Harry whispered.

Poppy fed him a few potions before she said, “Severus, I will stay up with him during the night. However, we should take him into one of the teachers’ rooms and ward it against the Headmaster. If he really wants to kill the child, it’s too dangerous here.”

#I am well capable of looking after my nestling,# Fawkes trilled and made a face as if he was sneering.

Harry quietly translated what the bird had said, and Severus agreed. “All right, thank you Fawkes. Nevertheless, Poppy, we can take him into our quarters, and I will take turns with you, looking after him.”

When Poppy agreed, Severus spoke to Fawkes once more. “Would you be willing to take my son to his own bedroom in my quarters, please?”

Fawkes nodded his head and jumped onto Harry’s bed. #Grab my tail feathers, baby chick,# he told the child.

During the night, it turned out that Poppy’s prediction had been correct and Harry had sustained a lung infection from the incident. He had to stay in bed for a few days, and Fawkes stayed with him all the time. Severus could even go to classes without needing to worry, knowing that the phoenix would alert him if Harry encountered any problems and that Poppy would look in on his son every hour. In the evening, his former friends, as well as the teachers, took turns visiting him. On the first school day, Minerva was sitting on the edge of Harry’s bed, when Fawkes suddenly interrupted their conversation.

#Now, little one, could you please ask Minnie to bring me my perch from the crazy man’s office? She can enter the office at any time and can easily bring it to me.#

“Um… Fawkes asks if you perhaps could bring him his perch from Professor Dumbledore’s office,” Harry translated.

“Yes, I could do that, but it will be easier if we just ask a House elf. That way, it will be done immediately.” She called one of the elves, and minutes later, Fawkes’ perch stood next to Harry’s bed.

Fawkes flew over onto his perch immediately and let out a happy trill. #Please tell Minnie that I’m very grateful,# he trilled to Harry, who informed Minerva accordingly.

Later in the evening, a different visitor came to see Harry. “Uncle Tom!” Harry shouted happily.

“Yes, Harry, I’m here. I’m the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, and my name is Thomas O’Neill. Only your father, Rolanda, Minerva, Poppy, and a few of the Slytherin students know who I really am,” Tom explained.

Harry giggled happily. “Great to have you here, Uncle Tom!”

-----

Later the same evening, Severus and Harry had another visitor. Severus was just reading Harry his favourite story about a dragon that was friends with a snake and a phoenix, when the fireplace flared and Molly Weasley’s head appeared. After the attack on Harry, Severus had warded the Floo, so that nobody except for Harry, Severus, and Poppy could Floo directly into the Snape quarters. When Severus allowed Molly to step through, she hesitantly followed him over to Harry’s room where his son was impatiently waiting for him to return.

“I was just reading my son a story,” Severus said, apologizing.

“Oh, then go on, Severus. I’m sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you,” Molly replied immediately, taking a seat on the offered chair.

“You don’t know who this is, do you, Harry?” Severus asked his son. When Harry slightly shook his head, he explained, “That’s Mrs. Weasley, Ginny’s mother.”

Harry’s eyes started to twinkle. “Sinny is my friend. I like her very much,” he told Mrs. Weasley sleepily.”

“I’m glad to hear that because I know for a fact that Ginny also likes you very much, sweetie,” Mrs. Weasley answered before she turned to Severus. “My daughter has told me everything. The attack and the fact that Fawkes had decided to be Harry’s familiar made me consider my preferences, and I have decided to take action. To tell you the truth, I don’t believe Albus anymore that there is a threat because of You-Know-Who. I think the only threat is Albus himself. I have been on Albus’ side far too long. The twins, Ginny, and I are going to change sides, over to the dark side that seems to be much less corrupt. And when I tell Bill and Charlie about this, they will probably change sides too. I’m not sure with Percy however. Sorry for asking, but could you help us with this, Severus?”

Severus smirked and told the surprised woman that most of the teachers at Hogwarts in fact were on Tom’s side and promised to talk to Tom about her and her children’s wish to join him and contact her in time for the next Death Eater meeting, while he carefully adjusted a cloth on Harry’s forehead, seeing that the boy was sleeping peacefully.

-----

From the next week onward, Harry was finally allowed to accompany his father to his lessons. As Severus had promised, he set up a working space for Harry, where he could brew potions using his Potions kit. After a few weeks, the professor even allowed Harry to brew a potion together with the first year class’ best student, Lisa. The older girl was very kind and let Harry do everything his small fingers were already capable of. After the class, Severus called Lisa over and awarded twenty points to Ravenclaw.

When Hermione, Draco, Ginny, or Neville had a free period, they often spent the time with Harry in the Snape quarters, playing with the child or reading books to him. With Fawkes nearby, Severus could be sure that Harry was safe. Fawkes never let Harry out of his sight. Even in the Potions classroom or in the Great Hall, Fawkes was always present, looking after Harry – much to the Headmaster’s chagrin.

With the safety of Fawkes’ company Severus even allowed Harry to spend Saturday nights together with his friends in the different common rooms, sleeping together in the dormitories with one of his friends. All the Heads of House had agreed to this and even visited their Common rooms during these evenings to make sure that Harry was all right. Harry enjoyed these weekends very much and always made sure not to forget any of the Houses. The weeks passed quickly, and the winter holidays were going to start soon.

“Oh my… it’s already been a year,” Severus groaned when he was sitting together with Minerva, Poppy, and Tom after the students had returned home for Christmas.

“Yes, and Harry is going to be five in a few days,” Poppy spoke up. “Harry,” she called the boy over, who was engaged in his potions book, pulling him up onto her lap. “What do you want for your birthday, sweetie? Is there something you would like to have?”

Noticing Harry’s confused expression, they all remembered that Harry had seen his first present last Christmas. “Harry, Aunt Poppy would like to give you a present for your birthday next week. That’s why she wants to know what you’d like to have,” Minerva explained calmly.

“Oh,” Harry understood and wrinkled his forehead, deep in thought. “Um… I’d like have a book,” he then answered hesitantly, carefully glancing at his father in order to assess if this was perhaps too much to wish for, but Severus gave him an encouraging nod.

“That’s a good idea,” Poppy agreed. “I love books very much, too. And I’m very impressed how well you can read although you’re not even five.”

-----

Finally, Christmas Eve arrived and with it, Harry’s fifth birthday. Severus had invited Minerva, Poppy, Tom, Pomona Sprout, and Rolanda Hooch to their quarters for a birthday breakfast. When he woke Harry up, the boy jumped in surprise seeing so many people gathered around a huge birthday table in their living room. A birthday cake with five big candles stood in the middle of the table.

While Harry stared in awe at the beautiful cake, Minerva explained to the child that he had to blow the candles out. Very anxiously, Harry tried very hard and finally managed to extinguish the candles. After breakfast, Rolanda and Tom pulled Harry over to the sofa where the table was full of colourful birthday presents. Harry received many books; several students had even given him books for his birthday. It had probably been Hermione, who had told everyone how the little tyke loved books. Harry had just started to pick up a square package wrapped in dark blue paper when Fawkes jumped between Harry and the parcel, causing the package to fall from the table. It made the sound of hitting the floor before it was whisked away.

“A Portkey!” Severus and Minerva exclaimed together. “Dumbledore,” shouted Tom, gritting his teeth.

“Thank you, Fawkes,” Severus said to the bird, who was now sitting on Harry’s shoulder, whispering into the small boy’s ear. Harry was crying silently.

“Why?” Harry suddenly asked. “What have I done to the P’fessor? Why does he want to kill me?”

Severus sighed before he explained. “Do you remember, Harry, that I told you about you being grown up before?” When the child nodded, he continued, “Dumbledore knows that you are a very powerful wizard, and he is afraid that you might become more powerful than even him, and he doesn’t like it because he wants to be the most important person within the wizarding world. That’s why he always fights Tom – because of his power.”

#However, as I am with you, you have nothing to fear, little one,# Fawkes said, proudly shaking his back feathers before he inclined his head so that Harry could stroke his plume.

“How can we prevent Albus from giving Harry the aging potion for example at one of the House tables? He only has to put Harry under the Imperius charm again, and then we couldn’t prevent him from taking it,” Minerva enquired worriedly.

Severus sneered. “First of all, I have put an alert on Harry for when he is in danger or alone with Dumbledore without anyone from our side. The alarm will alert the House elves that are not bonded to Dumbledore. As they can Apparate within the castle, they will come and take Harry away immediately. Additionally, Poppy and I have refused to make the aging potion for Albus, who by himself cannot brew at all. I have also put a charm on all apothecaries so that they won’t sell any potion to Dumbledore. The only chance for Albus to get the potion is to brew it by himself, and that won’t work.”

-----

However, this was not Albus’ last attempt to attack Harry. It was the day of the Leaving Feast of Hermione’s, Draco’s, and Neville’s last school day when he tried again. Harry had spent the whole afternoon after his friends’ last Potions lesson in the Gryffindor Common room, talking to his friends. He was very sad that his friends – even if they were so much bigger than him – were leaving Hogwarts and, except for Ginny, wouldn’t come back after the holidays.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Hermione asked softly, noticing the miserable expression on the normally happy child’s face.

“I’m sad because you leave Hogwats and won’t come back after the holidays,” Harry admitted sadly.

“Harry!” Hermione shouted happily at the boy who had once been her best friend. “Shall I tell you a surprise?”

Harry threw her a bored glance. Nothing could make him really happy today. “Okay,” he replied sullenly.

“I’m not going to leave Hogwarts. I mean, I’m going to come back after the holidays as I’m going to be the new teacher for Muggle Studies.”

Harry stared at her in awe before he brought himself back to reality and asked, “Honesy?”

Hermione laughed. “Honestly. Harry, do you think I would joke about things like that? Of course it is true. And I’m looking forward to being your teacher in a few years’ time.”

“Ah, all right. Then I know that I’ll have to avoid Muggle Studs,” Harry returned smilingly and proceeded to climb onto Hermione’s lap.

“Oh, look,” Ginny said suddenly. “It’s already time for dinner.”

Hermione took Harry by the hand and led him to the Gryffindor table, where Harry sat down between Hermione and Ginny.

Harry had just lifted his glass of Pumpkin juice when suddenly Fawkes jumped onto the table and kicked the glass out of Harry’s hands. However, the potion spread all over Harry’s left arm and chest, and Harry cried out in pain. Fortunately, Hermione was quick-witted enough to grasp the empty glass, so that Severus would be able to assess what had been in the drink.

-----

Ten minutes later, Severus was hovering near Harry’s bed in the Hospital wing, where Poppy was checking on the barely conscious child. The normal blank mask on the professor’s face had been replaced by an expression of utmost worry.

“Professor,” Hermione softly called out to the worried man. “I brought the glass with me because I thought you’d need it to brew an antidote.”

“Yes, Severus. Don’t hover around your son like a mother hen. Go and try to make an antidote,” Poppy agreed immediately.

‘Of course, that’s the only way I can help him. What am I doing here?’ Severus reminded himself of his duties, grabbing the glass from Hermione. He carefully sniffed at it. “I don’t know what it is,” he admitted, frustrated. “Of course I can check out the ingredients, but to look for an antidote could mean weeks of intensive research,” he said, sighing.

“Professor,” Hermione spoke up. “You know how much I like to research things. I won’t go home tomorrow but stay here and help you. Even if I’m not a professional in Potions, I might be able to help you and if it’s only cutting ingredients,” she immediately elaborated her suggestion, seeing the strange look Severus gave her. Hermione was sure that under normal conditions, Severus would have returned a sarcastic comment, accompanied by a sneer.

However, all the Professor said was, “Fine,” as he looked at his former student – future colleague piercingly. “Then I suggest we retreat to my Potions lab, Miss Granger.”

While Dumbledore used the summer holidays, forcing the members of the Order of the Phoenix to carry out several attacks throughout the county, for which he could blame Tom, Severus and Hermione were frantically searching for an antidote to the poison Dumbledore had given to Harry. Fortunately, he hadn’t ingested any of the Potion; otherwise he wouldn’t have survived it.

Poppy and Tom took turns staying with Harry to cool down his burning fever and help him drink water every few minutes. However, Harry’s health was declining quickly. Whenever Albus was away, Minerva took the chance to spend time with Harry too. However, they had to be very careful not to let him know that Minerva was on their side as Albus still thought of her as his most faithful confidant.

“I don’t think he will do much more against Harry,” she said to Poppy, Tom, and Rolanda one day. “I believe that the potion Severus has brewed for him has slowly began to work. He is gradually losing it and keeps asking me ‘Why did I want to do this or that?’

“Oh, that’s a huge success,” Tom cheered.

“However, we have to hope that Severus and Hermione will be quick with their antidote,” Poppy countered seriously. When the others looked at her in shock, she elaborated, “Harry won’t make it much longer. His health is decreasing as we speak.”

Two days later, on July 31, which would have been Harry’s eighteenth birthday had he not been de-aged, Severus and Hermione had finally finished the antidote. Harry was barely conscious when his father made him drink the fresh-made Potion. However, a few hours later, the child was as good as new.

While Harry was still asleep under the watchful eyes of Fawkes, Hermione, Poppy, Severus, Minerva, and Tom sat together in the living room, drinking tea. After a month of worrying and researching, it was the first time they could really relax.

“What can we do to ensure that it doesn’t happen again?” Hermione asked, turning the cup in her hand absentmindedly.

Severus sighed. “It’s difficult. I’ve already given Dobby the order to prepare food for Harry, so that he doesn’t have to eat or drink anything the Hogwarts’ elves belonging to the Headmaster place at his place at the table. I would like to see Albus in Azkaban, but unfortunately, we don’t have any proof that it was him, which would be acceptable for the Ministry. Dobby has done some research in the kitchen and has found out that it was an elf named Nina who had been ordered by the Headmaster to put the poison into Harry’s glass. However, the Ministry would never accept a House elf as witness.”

“What!” Tom shouted. “Oh, wait. I’m going to the Ministry anyway as I want to suggest them to conclude a peace treaty between the Ministry and I, which I have prepared during the last months. I also want to have the class of “Dark Magic” re-installed to Hogwarts. Moreover, the treatment of Magical Creatures is a part of the treaty.”

“Tom, let’s go immediately. I know the Minister of Magic very well as we have been friends for sixty years. We’ll be able to talk to him immediately,” Minerva said firmly.

Tom gratefully accepted Minerva’s suggestion, and during the next months, he was busy negotiating with different parts of the Ministry. Shortly before Christmas, the peace treaty was signed by the Minister of Magic and Tom Riddle.

On Harry’s sixth’ birthday, the front page of the Daily Prophet was full of surprises for the Wizarding world:

Ministry of Magic and Tom Riddle A.K.A. Lord Voldemort conclude Peace Treaty – You-Know-Who and Death Eaters innocent? – Dumbledore trying to kill Harry Potter?

After five months of negotiations, Rufus Scrimgeour, Minister of Magic, and Tom Riddle, Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts (for his own protection under the alias of Thomas O’Neill) have concluded a peace treaty for the wizarding world. This treaty also includes every type of Magical Creature and ensures them full rights within our world…

The article filled the whole front page, and the next pages were packed with information about different persons like Tom Riddle, Harry Snape (A.K.A. Harry Potter), Albus Dumbledore, and Minerva McGonagall, who had blown her cover for the safety of a small boy.

Unfortunately, although Scrimgeour seemed to believe what Tom and Minerva had told him about Dumbledore, the Ministry was not yet ready for a trial against the Headmaster of their poster school, Hogwarts. However, so far, Dumbledore hadn’t tried anything else against Harry, and it was obvious that the Headmaster was slowly starting to forget what the whole war was about.

-----

This became obvious to all the teachers on Harry’s birthday. The teachers had decided that it should be safe enough for Harry to have a birthday party in the Great Hall because this year many students had remained over the Christmas Holidays and wanted to participate in the party. When Severus and Harry entered the Great Hall, the other teachers and students were already sitting at the round table, which replaced the four House tables during the holidays. Harry, hating the attention, tried to hide in his father’s robes until Hermione walked up to the pair and dragged the birthday boy off his father.

She pulled Harry into a bear hug, ignoring the annoyed trilling of Fawkes, who had been sitting on Harry’s shoulder and left in a huff, making himself comfortable on the back of an empty chair. “Good morning, Harry, and a very Happy Birthday to you!” Hermione proclaimed, pulling Harry’s eyes off his phoenix.

“Thank you, Hermione,” Harry replied shyly.

“Look, Harry, they all want to wish you a Happy Birthday. Do you think you can go around the table and speak to them for a moment?”

Harry slightly shook his head, throwing a pleading glance at the young woman.

“All right, then we’ll just sit down.” Hermione gave in and pulled Harry over to the seat Fawkes had occupied, just between her and Minerva, opposite of Dumbledore.

Before he could sit down, Minerva pulled him in a hug too and wished him all the best.

“Thank you, Granny,” Harry returned, uncomfortable with all the attention.

“Oh, Minerva, is that your grandson?” Dumbledore asked astonished.

Minerva threw him a piercing glance and answered, “Yes, Albus. He is Severus’ son and my grandson.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” the Headmaster replied. “And your phoenix is beautiful, Harry. I had one of these for a long time but then he suddenly vanished. It’s a pity really.”

Fawkes mumbled something in Harry’s ear, and the boy had to try hard not to laugh at his familiar’s antics. Dumbledore clapped his hands, and breakfast – consisting of a huge birthday cake in the shape of the castle – appeared on the table. Harry stared in awe at the six candles and remembered from last year that he had to blow them out. The others had just finished singing the birthday song for Harry, when the doors to the Great Hall opened and revealed two wizards unknown to Harry.

The two wizards approached the table, and Dumbledore – obviously remembering his manners – conjured two chairs to his sides and invited the men to share a piece of cake with them.

Minerva rose from her seat, extended her hand to greet the men and introduced them as Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister of Magic, and Remus Lupin, a former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Noticing the curious glance Remus shot at Harry, she said, “We are just celebrating Harry Snape’s sixth birthday. You surely have heard about him, Remus?”

“Yes, Minerva, Molly has told me everything,” Remus replied, eying the piece of cake on his plate. “What’s this? The Gryffindor common room?”

“Look, Mr. Moony, I’ve got the Transfigation Classroom, where Granny teaches,” Harry said excitedly, oblivious to the shocked glance he received from the man.

“Does he remember?” Remus whispered to Severus, who was sitting on his other side.

“No, but he was a baby only two years ago. He probably remembers from that time. I’ve made many tests to see if he remembers anything of the time when he was big, but there seems to be nothing,” Severus whispered back.

When they had finished their cake, the Minister stood up. “I’m very sorry to disturb you here on this fine morning. However, I have an announcement to make. I’m sure you’ve already read the Daily Prophet today, so it shouldn’t come as such a surprise.” Seeing that some of the students shook their heads, he pulled two copies of the newspaper out of his pocket and handed them over to the students.

“From January 1st onwards, the class ‘Dark Magic’ will be re-installed at Hogwarts. Teacher for this class will be Tom Riddle, who has so far been the Professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts under the name of Thomas O’Neill. His place will be taken by Remus Lupin.”

While a few of the students let out loud gasps, all of the teachers gave the Minister a huge round of applause, even Albus clapped his hands, obviously not grasping the level of offence against himself.

“Granny?” Harry whispered to Minerva. “What’s Dawk Mashic?”

Minerva gave Severus a helpless glance, and Severus leaned over to Harry. “Harry, in the magical world, there are spells that are considered as Light Magic, and there are others, which are considered as Dark Magic. But in both types of Magic, there are useful spells and unnecessary spells as well as there are good spells and bad spells. Therefore, wizards and witches should learn both types of Magic in order to be able to tap their full potential doing Magic.”

"Ah, alwight," Harry answered. He hadn‘t understood everything Severus had told him but at least he had an idea. "Thanks, Daddy."

Finally, breakfast was finished and the Minister left the Hall with the Headmaster in tow. Remus, however, remained seated. Hermione stood up in order to pull Harry over to the table that was flowing over with presents.

However, “One moment please.” Severus’ voice stopped the eager young teacher. “I would like to say a few words, before Harry can unwrap his presents.” Seeing that he held everyone’s attention, he continued, “A few weeks ago, I have asked Harry what he wanted for his birthday. Harry, can you tell the others what your wish was?”

Harry’s face turned a deep red colour, and the boy hesitantly said, “Yes. I want to sit in all classes with all teachers. Um, no,” he shook his head. “Not dination or muggle studs, but most classes and not only Potions, although I love Potions very much.”

Everyone started to laugh, and Severus told his son, “I have spoken to the other teachers, and they have all agreed to let you attend their classes. Moreover, all the teachers have agreed to teach you Primary School knowledge during their free periods. Granny has promised to put a time table together for you.”

“Thank you, Dad, thank you, Granny,” Harry beamed. “That’s the bestest birthday present!”

Everyone laughed, and Hermione told the child, “Come, let’s have a look at what else you got for your birthday.”

Harry received many books and toys for his birthday, but what he loved most were the books, and soon everyone got used to seeing the boy sitting at random places in the castle, with Fawkes on his shoulder, reading a book. One day in the teachers’ staff meeting, Filius Flitwick suggested, “Let’s make a bet! I bet that Harry will be sorted into Ravenclaw this time.”

Everyone laughed, but finally most of the teachers agreed to accept the bet. Tom, Albus, and Hermione, who remembered that the Hat originally had wanted to place Harry into Slytherin, voted for Slytherin. Severus, Poppy, and Filius bet Ravenclaw, and Minerva, Remus, and the rest of the teachers voted for Gryffindor. Only Sibyll Trelawney predicted that Harry would die before his first day of school anyway so that there was no need to bet.

Harry liked his private lessons with the teachers a lot, who taught him maths and other useful subjects, but he just loved attending classes together with the students. And the teachers were in for a huge surprise.

One day in the first week of classes after the holidays, Minerva had just held a geography lesson with Harry in her office during her free period and then took him with her to the Transfiguration classroom. The next class was a mixed class of Slytherin and Gryffindor first years, who had to transfigure a wooden cat into a plush cat. The teachers had agreed to let Harry have his wand during lessons, so that he could actually try to do the same magic like the students, although his magic would probably not be strong enough yet.

“Good morning,” Minerva addressed the class. “Most of you probably know my grandson, Harry Snape. From now on, Harry will sometimes join you in your class as he lives here in the castle and is very eager to learn about magic as much as possible. Please accept him as a younger student to this class.” Then she motioned Harry to sit down in an empty seat between a Gryffindor girl and a Slytherin boy and handed him his wand.

Harry hesitantly took the wand, which warmed up and let out a few sparks as soon as he gripped it. A feeling of happiness streamed through his small body, and Minerva observed how his eyes started to twinkle merrily. Harry was so engrossed in his interaction with his wand that he didn’t hear a word of what Minerva talked about the transfiguration she wanted the class to do. He only heard the last sentence. “Now, take your wooden cat and say the incantation ‘Coacta Transfiguro’ to turn it into a plush cat. Colour and form are up to you for the moment.”

Harry didn’t hesitate for an instant. He threw a glance at his wand, which he still held firmly in his right hand, and pointed it at the wooden cat. “Coacta Transfiguro,” he incanted properly, and on his table sat a black plush cat with sparkling green eyes. Harry threw a happy smile at Minerva and said, “Look, Granny!”

The professor threw a look at Harry’s cat, and her face took on a flabbergasted expression. How could the child do that? Even for the first years, it was very difficult. “Very good, Harry,” she said to the child before she went through the class to help the students. “You can try to change it back,” she told Harry when she returned to his seat.

“I’ve already changed it back a few times,” Harry said and pointed to the green cat in front of him.

Before Minerva could answer, one of the students shouted happily, “I got it!” and she turned around to look for the next plush cat.

After the lesson, Minerva asked Harry to show him his timetable. “I don’t have it with me, Granny, but I have a private lesson with Hermione, and afterwards I’m going to stay in the Potions classroom.”

“All right, Harry, thanks. Would you mind if Hermione practised magic with you, using your wand?”

Harry shook his head. “No, Granny. I love my wand. It’s warming me up, and it makes me happy.”

-----

After lunch, Hermione took Harry into her office. “Now, Harry, your Granny has told me that you want to learn easy spells with your wand, is that right?” Hermione asked the child. Minerva had talked to her colleagues at lunchtime and Hermione had been asked to check his magic. Although Harry obviously had no memory of his earlier time at Hogwarts, Minerva had the impression that his magic was still as powerful as the sixteen-year-old Harry’s had been.

“All right. Do you know the charm to make light?” Hermione asked.

Harry threw her a confused glance and shook his head. “No.”

“All right. Look. You move your wand like this and say ‘Lumos’.”

Harry complied and the tip of his wand became very bright.

“Very good,” Hermione commended her small friend. “Now can you try to open this door?” Noticing the unsure glance she received she explained, “the incantation is ‘Alohomora’.”

Even this was no problem for Harry. “All right. You’re very good at magic, do you know that? Shall we try some more difficult spells?” At Harry’s enthusiastic nod, she let him try several spells that she was sure had been part of their OWL exams, but Harry could manage everything she asked him. She only had to tell him the incantation. Slowly, the ideas were leaving her, so she asked Harry, “Is there anything special you want to learn?”

“Yes,” Harry replied immediately. “I want to learn to become a phoenix like Fawkes, so that I can go flying with him.”

Hermione laughed. “You want to be an Animagus? Harry, that’s very advanced magic, and only very few wizards are capable of becoming an Animagus. As you’re extremely powerful, I’m sure that you’ll be able to learn it. However, I’m not the right person to teach you as I’m not an Animagus. You should ask your Granny, and she’ll be able to help you.”

“All right, I’ll ask Granny. I’d like that really, really much.”

-----

A few hours later, Harry had dinner at the Head table. “What is the matter?” Severus asked, worried. “Are you feeling unwell?” He knew that when Harry was feeling sick or sad or just unsure about something he tried to stay close to his daddy, his granny, or his godparents.

“No, Daddy, everything is all right. I just want to speak with Granny about something.” He sat down between Minerva and Severus to whom he talked while Hermione filled Minerva in about her lesson with Harry. As soon as Harry noticed that they had finished, he turned to Minerva and asked, “Granny, can you teach me how to become an Animagus?”

His high, childish voice had penetrated to the House tables, and the Hall erupted with laughter. Everyone knew how difficult the Animagus transformation was and that it had to be impossible for a six-year-old to manage such a complicated transformation. Harry threw a confused look over to the House tables, noticing that everyone was looking at him. “Why are they laughing at me, Granny?” he asked innocently.

“They laugh because they cannot do the Animagus transformation and can’t imagine you to be capable of it. But we’ll show them, won’t we? Yes, sweetie, I’m going to teach you. We’ll start tomorrow. Do you already know which animal you’d like to become?”

“Yes!” Harry beamed. “I want to become a phoenix like Fawkes.”

-----

A few days later, Remus took Harry into his office for a maths lesson. Harry was very excited, because the next lesson would be his first Animagus lesson. Although he loved maths very much, he just couldn’t concentrate well today.

“Would you like some pumpkin juice?” Remus asked suddenly, and Harry happily agreed. Remus poured some juice out in a glass for Harry, but before Harry could even lift the glass Fawkes jumped onto the table and greedily drank the contents of the glass before the phoenix suddenly burst into fire.

“Fawkes,” Harry shouted horrified and started to cry.

“It’s all right, Harry,” Remus said calmingly. “Phoenixes do this from time to time. They have their burning day and become re-born as a baby. Look, there he is.” He pointed to a small, naked something, crawling out of the ash. “You just have to take care of him, so that he won’t get cold,” Remus advised his small friend.

“All right, Remus, thank you,” Harry replied, consoled, and took the small phoenix baby onto his lap, carefully wrapping it into his robes.

In the meantime, Remus had poured out another glass of juice for Harry, who absentmindedly took a few sips. Suddenly, Harry’s vision started to fail and he noticed that his head hurt very much. He just managed to say, “I don’t feel well,” before he passed out.

Shocked, Remus carried the boy to the Hospital wing and told Poppy what had happened. “Go to my office and call Severus over. Tell him to cancel his classes for the rest of the afternoon and come here immediately. Afterwards return to your office and collect the remaining juice you gave Harry,” she ordered her colleague before she proceeded to wave her wand over the unconscious child, who still held the baby phoenix firmly in his hand. Finally, she took Baby Fawkes from Harry and placed him on the next bed where she fixed a small nest for him.

It only took Severus two hours to assess the contents of the pumpkin juice. Completely enraged, he came back into the Hospital wing where Remus, who had also cancelled all afternoon classes, and Poppy were sitting next to Harry’s bed. Both of them jumped when the doors of the Hospital wing flew open with a bang. “Do you know what the fool gave Harry?” Severus shouted. “It was the memory restoring potion that gives Harry all his memories back that he had when he was older! So far, he didn’t remember anything, but now, he’ll not only have his magic but also all his memories of being older. I will get Albus for this. Remus, did the old coot put you under Imperius?”

“I’m sorry, Severus, but I don’t have a clue. Maybe he put a Memory Charm on me?”

“Would you mind me doing Legilimency on you?”

“Of course not, Severus. Do whatever you need to do,” Remus replied immediately.

Severus pulled over a chair and threw the Legilimency spell at his colleague. A few minutes later, Severus found the hidden memory of Albus putting the Imperius charm on Remus and later, a Memory Charm. He quickly restored Remus’ memory before he ended the Legilimency spell.

“Oh, Severus, Harry, I’m so sorry,” Remus groaned.

“It’s not your fault,” Severus replied as calmly as possible. He went to the fireplace and called Minerva over, who after hearing the whole story Floo-ed over to the Ministry immediately.

Half an hour later, Minerva returned with the Minister and two Aurors in tow. In the meantime, Severus had ordered Dobby to bring him the Pensieve, which the older Harry had once received from Dumbledore, and had put the specific memory as well as the memories of the previous attacks into the Pensieve, so that he could share it with the guests from the Ministry.

“All right,” the Minister finally said. I will see that Dumbledore gets a trial as soon as possible; however, this will probably take a few weeks. As he is the Headmaster here, I would prefer letting him stay here under the care of a few Aurors. On the other hand, as this seems to be the fourth attack on the boy we shall question him under Veritaserum and probably take him away to the Ministry. Now, I would like to ask Professor McGonagall, Professor Lupin, and Professor Snape to accompany me to the Headmaster’s office.”

Noticing that Severus threw an anxious glance at his son Poppy said calmingly, “It’s all right, Severus. I’m going to Floo-call Tom and ask him to join me immediately. Together we’ll see to Harry’s safety until you return.”

“Thanks, Poppy,” Severus replied, relieved, and followed the others out of the Hospital wing while Poppy rushed over to the fireplace.

-----

An hour later, Harry suddenly started to whimper. It continued for about ten minutes before he calmed down again. Poppy and Tom watched their godson worriedly.

“Poppy, would it be possible to wake Harry up and to try Legilimency on him? I believe it would be better if someone was with him, especially during the memories of when he starts Hogwarts, after all that I heard how Severus behaved towards Harry.”

“Yes, Tom, we should try to do that. You’re as good in Legilimency as Severus. Of course, it should be Severus to do this but he isn’t here,” Poppy replied pensively.

“As soon as he comes he will join us, I’m sure,” Tom stated, and waited for Poppy to wake Harry up.

As soon as Harry’s eyes started to open, Tom managed to get into his godson’s mind. He saw memories of Harry’s stay at the Dursleys, realizing that the boy’s childhood had even been worse than he had imagined. He stood behind little Harry, who was watching the memories, and started to talk to him. “Harry, Daddy has told you that you grew up once already, hasn’t he?”

“Yes,” Harry confirmed.

“Then you already know that you don’t have to return to these horrible relatives again. The Headmaster has given you a potion, so that you are getting all your memories from your previous childhood back, that’s all. It doesn’t mean anything. Do you understand me?” Tom asked.

“Yes,” Harry replied.

“If you have any questions, you can ask me, right? I’ll be right here with you.”

“Okay, thank you, Uncle Tom,” Harry said.

On the day Hagrid arrived to pick Harry up and told him about Hogwarts, Severus joined them. Just before the first potions lesson, Severus told Harry how he had hated him because he thought Harry was James’ son and that he, Severus had behaved really badly. Severus apologized to his son and told him that he loved him very much and promised that everything would be much better this time around.

Fortunately, during the past years, Severus had been suspicious enough of Albus to tell Harry several things ‘just in case’. Therefore, in fact, he had already spoken to Harry about what the Headmaster had done to Harry in the name of Voldemort, and Severus had also told him about his own behaviour towards the boy and the reasons for it. Therefore, Harry was not as shaken as he would have been, if he had been thrown into this situation completely unprepared.

The memories lasted until late in the evening and ended with the scene, in which Neville’s potion turned Harry into a baby. Severus and Tom retreated from Harry’s mind immediately, and Harry woke up. Too wrapped up in his thoughts, Harry didn’t notice that not only his father and godfather but also Poppy, Minerva, Hermione, and Remus were sitting at his bedside.

“Who was it then fighting against me? Is it your wand, Uncle Tom, which is the equivalent to mine?” Harry asked, a hint of accusation lying in his voice.

“Yes, Harry. It was my wand. However, when I was hurt trying to save you when Dumbledore went after your Mummy, Dumbledore took my wand off me, and I’ve never received it back. I’ve been in the Hospital for so long that I didn’t need a wand anyway, and now I have a new wand but,” he sighed. “My old one was definitely better. One of Dumbledore’s men was attacking you in the Ministry and in the cemetery, and all the people whom you knew that Dumbledore and his crowd had killed came to speak to you when the wands connected.”

“But Mr. what-was-he-called Oleander or so… He could make you the exact equivalent of what you had before, couldn’t he?”

“Mr. Ollivander could certainly make a new wand for Uncle Tom but he needs a feather from Fawkes, which is freely given. Maybe you could ask your familiar when he’s be back to normal in a few weeks, if he is willing to give a feather for your godfather’s wand,” Severus answered.

“Oh, all right, I will do that,” Harry replied and turned to Poppy. “My head hurts.”

“Oh, my poor sweetie,” Poppy said, shaking her head. Had she really been so engrossed in the conversation that she forgot to check on her patient? She waved her wand over Harry before she retrieved a Headache Potion and fed it to the child, who visibly relaxed and proceeded to ask further questions.

“And how did Dumbledore do the thing with the diary?” Harry asked unbelievingly.

Severus sighed. “He obviously used dark magic on the diary, which of course didn’t have to do anything with Tom. I’m not sure how he did this, and I have thought for quite a while about it, trying to figure out if he somehow managed to make a copy of Tom, which he fully controlled. Maybe he could manage such a feat because he had Tom’s wand. He could also have used a real person. However, this person had to be a Metamorphmagus and a Parselmouth at the same time, and I don’t know such a person. Therefore, I tend to believe that my first assumption is correct, but I’m not sure.”

The others looked at Severus thoughtfully, until Minerva raised her voice. “Yes, Severus, as far as I know you are correct. Albus somehow created something like a copy of Tom that was destroyed when Harry managed to kill the dark magic he had put into the diary.”

“What happened to Albus?” Tom asked eagerly. “Has he been taken away?”

“Yes,” Severus replied. “He confessed everything under Veritaserum, and they took him to a Ministry cell. Fortunately, Minerva was alert enough to inform them that Albus is a phoenix Animagus, so that they put an Anti Animagus Charm on the cell and its surroundings.”

“So, Harry, how do you feel?” Hermione asked carefully.

“All right,” Harry replied, throwing an amazed glance at the young lady he had seen so many memories about. “I mean, some of the memories really were kind of a shock, but Daddy already told me before how badly he had behaved towards me, and that Dumby made it like if Uncle Tom had done bad things to me. And I already knew that the Dursleys were bad. So, I’m fine. And everything that happened was in the past. It won’t happen again, right?”

“Yes, Harry, that’s true,” Hermione replied, throwing the child an amazed smile, impressed by his reasonability.

“Very good,” Severus said sternly. “If you are not all right with anything, you can talk to any of us here. Each of us will be able and willing to help you. And in case you have a nightmare about anything, you will come and wake me up immediately. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Harry replied, smiling.

“For tonight, however, I will give you a Dreamless Sleep Potion,” Poppy said sternly and held out a phial.

Harry gave his godmother a grateful smile and gulped down the potion. The adults still talked for a while before they went to bed, too. With a flick of his wand, Severus enlarged Harry’s bed and made himself comfortable next to his son, who immediately curled up close to his father.

-----

While Dumbledore was still officially the Headmaster in spite of his absence, Minerva had to act as Headmistress and became very busy. She had offered the post as Head of Gryffindor to Hermione, but the woman had declined, saying that she still would like to use her free time to do research about various topics. Hermione also pointed out that there was a slight possibility of Albus’ coming back so that Minerva had better stay Head of House. However, as busy as she was, Minerva still found time to teach Harry how to become an Animagus.

In their first lesson, Minerva told Harry strictly that he was only allowed to practise in her presence, and Harry nodded his agreement, listening interestingly how he had to imagine his hands into parts of the animal he wanted to become. Minerva was very protective of Harry, and she knew that even if he had the Magic and the memories of a sixteen year old he was still a boy of six years old. Therefore, she only let him practise about half the time she would allow another student. Even with the time restriction, after only two months, Harry managed to transform his left hand.

“Granny?” Harry asked hesitantly, after Minerva had congratulated him and had hugged him happily. “Sorry, I mean… may I still call you Granny?”

“Why not?” Minerva asked confused. “What happened that you possibly couldn’t call me that anymore?”

Harry blushed deeply, and Minerva suddenly understood. “You mean, because in your memories we just had a normal student – teacher relationship?”

Harry gave her an anxious nod, playing with a small car that he was carrying with him in his robe pocket.

“At that time, you came here as a normal student, so I had to treat you as such. The situation was completely different. Please believe me, I have always loved you as if you were my grandson, but I couldn’t show it in front of others. Now, everything is different. You will always be my grandson.”

“Thank you, Granny. Um… what I wanted to ask… Are you all right? You look very tired today.”

Minerva laughed a bit, amazed by the child’s thoughtfulness. “Yes, Harry, I’m tired and have a headache. But I didn’t have time to ask Poppy or your father for a potion yet, and I didn’t get much sleep. But I’ll be fine.”

“Hmm. All right, I will go to Aunt Poppy and get the potion for you. And… I’ve thought about something. As you know, I have all my memories from when I was a student, and I had already taken my OWLs. So, perhaps I could help you grading homework? Maybe just the first years’ work?”

This question took Minerva by surprise. Her six-year-old grandson wanted to help her grading essays? On the other hand – why not? They had to find something to occupy Harry anyway as it must have been boring attending the same classes again and again. He would have to go to classes when he turned eleven anyway in spite of the fact that he already knew everything.

“Harry, thank you very much for offering. This is a very kind offer, and I appreciate it very much. However, the students don’t write very neatly, and we have to see if you can read it at all. And we must be sure that you can write well enough so that the students don’t notice who corrected their essays.”

She hesitated for a moment before she asked, “Harry, would you prefer to be aged up to sixteen again instead of growing up a second time?”

Harry threw her a shocked glance and said firmly, “No! I don’t want that!”

Minerva soon found out that none of her reservations were going to be a problem, and after a few weeks of grading first years’ homework, Harry was allowed to do all the grading up to third years’ essays for Minerva. From time to time, he even helped the other teachers, when they were sick or too busy with something else. Whenever someone asked for his help, he always agreed happily as he loved grading very much. He still attended lessons whenever he wanted, and the teachers also took turns teaching him several things during their free periods. When Harry reached his seventh birthday, even his deficit in speaking had diminished, and he was able to talk as well as his friends, whom he was meeting at least once a month.

Harry sometimes had nightmares but growing up with so many people loving him nearby it didn’t affect him as it had been affecting older Harry. Little Harry knew that it only was a bad dream of something that had happened in the past and wouldn’t happen again. He either cast a Lumos Charm and proceeded to read for a while until he forgot about the dream or he went over to his father’s room, climbing onto the bed and curling up next to his Daddy.

-----

The months passed, and when the New Year began, Harry and the teachers in Hogwarts were still waiting for Albus’ trial. Finally, the trial was fixed for August 15th, which was still a few months away.

“Daddy,” Harry spoke up eagerly the instant his father left his room in the morning after the students had returned home over the summer.

“Harry!” Severus exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing up? It’s only five o’clock in the morning!”

“Yes, Daddy, but it’s summer holidays and I couldn’t sleep any more. And, do you know what? I want to go flying. Getting my memories last year, I knew for the first time how much fun flying was, and now I want to try it out. Do you have my broom here?”

“Yes, but you’re too small for such a big broom. I shall take you to Diagon Alley, and we will buy a children’s broom for you, all right?”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Harry replied happily.

Severus kept his promise, and a few hours later, father and son headed to Diagon Alley and bought a smaller broom for Harry. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I’m not the right person to teach you flying as I can hardly fly myself.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Daddy, I can ask Uncle Remus or… no! I’m going to ask Aunt Rolanda. May I go now, please, Daddy, please?”

“Yes, you may go,” Severus said, feeling assured by Fawkes’ presence and by Harry’s promise to never fly on his own.

Harry excitedly left their quarters in search of Aunt Rolanda, whom he finally found together with his Uncle Tom in his office.

“Hi, little one,” Uncle Tom greeted him, pulling him up onto his lap.

“Wow, you’ve got a broom, haven’t you?” Rolanda cheered at the energized boy. “Do you want to go flying?”

“Um, yes,” Harry replied hesitantly. “But Daddy said I cannot go flying alone. Can you teach me flying, Aunt Rolanda?”

“Of course, Harry. Let’s go and see what we can do,” Rolanda told the child and rose. “Are you coming with us, Tom?” she asked before holding her hand out to Harry.

“No, I’m going to use my ‘free time’ to do some preparations for the next school year,” Tom declined, let Harry down to the floor and gave his godson a kiss. “Please be careful, Harry, and do exactly what Aunt Rolanda tells you.”

“Of course,” Harry returned, smiling, and eagerly followed Rolanda out of the castle.

When Severus went looking for his son thirty minutes later, Rolanda and Harry were flying around the Quidditch pitch, feverishly searching for the Snitch, which Rolanda had released after she noticed that little Harry flew as well as his older self had flown before. Severus came just in time to see his son going into a huge dive. He stood there stunned, a Cushioning Charm on his lips, when Harry finally pulled up and caught the Snitch in the next instant.

When Severus angrily called his son down, Harry came immediately, pride shining on his face. “Look, Daddy, I catched the Snitch!” he shouted excitedly, and Severus found it difficult to be upset with the cute child anymore.

Nevertheless, he felt inclined to warn him. “Harry, you did very well. However, what you did was very dangerous. Please don’t do such a stunt again, or you won’t be allowed to play Quidditch anymore.”

-----

During the night, Severus was woken up by a hand on his forearm and a whispered “Daddy.” He lazily reached out for his son who held both arms up and Severus pulled him onto the bed, where the child curled up next to him. “Daddy, I don’t feel well,” Harry then whispered, and Severus could feel the heat he was radiating.

“Oh, Harry, are you ill?” he asked worriedly and proceeded to get up. “Don’t wake Aunt Poppy, it’s not so bad,” Harry croaked, and Severus fetched a Fever Reducer and fed it to Harry, who fell asleep immediately.

In the morning, Harry’s condition was even worse, and Severus didn’t waste time to call Poppy. She checked on her godson and with a confused expression told Severus, “Harry is very ill. He has got pneumonia, but please don’t ask me how he could get that here. I have no idea.”

“The Dursleys,” Harry croaked. “I got it at the Dursleys. I had a cold, and they didn’t do anything about it, and then it became bad.”

Poppy and Severus exchanged an annoyed glance.

Harry had to stay in bed for a week but he didn’t mind because he really felt awful and all his favourite teachers, aunts, and uncles spent a lot of time with him. They took turns even during the night, so that Harry never was alone.

One day, Severus and Tom were sitting at Harry’s bedside during the night while Harry seemed to be fast asleep. “Severus,” Tom said hesitantly, and Severus noticed that his uncle’s expression had become very stern.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Harry will be able to revive his mother,” Tom cautiously told Severus.

“Harry what!” Severus exclaimed, exasperated. “Tom, do you think this is the right time to joke?” He threw his uncle a menacing glance that would have scared any student to death.

Tom sighed. “You know that I went after Dumbledore when he went to kill Lily and James. When Dumbledore tried to kill Lily, I managed to put a spell on her at the same time, so that she wouldn’t be dead but instead would be in a second reality like in a coma. Her body is still at the house, however she is invisible and charmed. I don’t know if she’ll be her real age or still as young as she was then. We just have to make her visible and give her a potion including Harry’s blood, saying an incantation at the same time. I didn’t tell you before because I was sure it had to be the blood of an at least eleven-year-old Harry, so that the magical level would be strong enough. But as we now know that he has the magic of his older self, we should be able to manage with his blood, and he’ll also be able to cast the spell.”

Severus threw his uncle a horrified look. “Did I hear you correctly that Lily is alive?” he enquired, in a dangerously calm voice.

“Yes, Severus. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t tell you before. First, I was too ill, and then I didn’t have a chance to speak to Harry. He never would have done anything you or I suggested. And when he finally got to know us he was too young. But as soon as he is recovered completely, we can try to pull this through. Maybe you could brew already the potion in the meantime?”

“The potion?” Severus hissed. He was too excited and upset to think properly. “Which potion are you talking about?”

Tom laughed. “The ‘Revimundi Potion’ of course. I’m sure the recipe must be in ‘Moste Potente Potions’.”

Severus wasn’t seen for the next few hours.

-----

In the meantime, Harry had woken up, listened to Uncle Tom for a few minutes, let Poppy check on him, drank a few potions, saw that his father wasn’t around, and fell back to sleep. When he woke up the next time, Minerva and Hermione were sitting with him. “Where’s Daddy?” he croaked huskily, glancing at the two women.

“Your Daddy is busy today brewing a potion,” Minerva told him, watching surprised as Harry started to cry silently. “Harry, sit up and eat your breakfast, and I’m sure your Daddy will come soon,” Minerva tried to distract the boy but to no avail. Harry shook his head and continued to sob.

“Shall I go and ask your Daddy when he’ll be able to take a break?” Hermione asked, worriedly, receiving a grateful nod from the child.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong, Harry?” Minerva asked softly, amazed by the fact that the child’s behaviour still was according to his age in spite of having the memories of a sixteen-year-old and acting so grown-up for his age sometimes. “Are you feeling worse? Shall I ask Aunt Poppy to come and check on you?”

“No, ‘m fine,” Harry sobbed and whispered, “I had a strange dream that Uncle Tom told Daddy we could bring my Mummy back, and I now want my Mummy.”

“Oh, Harry, sweetie,” Minerva said flabbergasted. She sat down on the edge of Harry’s bed and carefully stroked his flushed face.

-----

Severus was completely engrossed in his potion and his thoughts about Lily and oblivious to the rest of the world. He jumped in surprise, nearly losing his potion when he heard a knock at the door of his private lab. He groaned and grudgingly waved his wand towards the door, which opened, revealing Hermione. He let out a relieved sigh. They had worked together for such a long time when they were searching for the antidote to cure Harry before, that he was used to her company in his lab and didn’t mind her entering his private room.

“I hope this is of utter importance,” he growled nevertheless. “I have a most important potion to brew.”

“I’d like to take over for a moment if you don’t mind, provided you believe that I’ll be able to do so,” Hermione said softly, ignoring her colleague’s menacing grimace.

“Wait two minutes,” he answered before he carefully added the next ingredient and proceeded to stir the potion five times counter-clockwise and then eighteen and a half turns clockwise. Now the potion had to simmer for five minutes, so he sat back and turned to his young colleague. Severus pointed to the book. “Here, read this potion recipe carefully. And when you are sure you’re able to continue from this point onwards…” He pointed to a spot shortly above the end of the recipe, “…then you can take over. However, let me tell you that this potion is of utmost importance to Harry and I, and if you manage to fail, I’m going to use your limbs as potions ingredients.”

Hermione let out a short snort. She was already used to the professor’s threats. “I will do my best, Severus. But I think Harry needs you. Normally, he is so very reasonable considering his age, but when he is ill he really behaves according to his age. Anyway, he is crying for his daddy.”

Severus gave her a shocked glance. “Is he really crying?”

“Yes,” Hermione answered and proceeded to read the recipe. Two minutes later, she turned to Severus, making sure she had understood the next few steps correctly.

“All right,” Severus confirmed. There were only a few steps to do until the potion had to simmer again for ten minutes. He would make sure to be back by then. “I’ll try to be back by this stage,” he told her, pointing to the book, and received a comforting nod from Hermione.

“Don’t worry; I’ll continue if you’re not back,” she replied softly.

Severus hurried over to Harry and sat down on the edge of his son’s bed, which Minerva had vacated immediately when Severus entered the room. Harry put his head on his father’s lap and told him about the dream that had upset him so much.

“You know, Harry, that wasn’t a dream,” Severus told him. “Uncle Tom told Daddy that we can try to save your Mummy, and that’s why I’m brewing this potion instead of keeping you company. Hermione has taken over for a few minutes but as this potion is very important, I’d like to return to my lab and finish the potion myself. It will take another…” – he thought for a moment – “…two hours I suppose.”

‘But how…’ Harry’s mind was turning quickly. “Daddy,” he asked, disbelief showing clearly in his eyes, “One cannot bring people back from death, right?”

“Yes, of course, you’re completely right, Harry, but…” Severus tried to explain the obviously impossible.

“And Mummy is dead, right?” Harry asked quickly, dreading the confirmation.

“That’s what I’ve thought for so many years, but obviously Uncle Tom used some extremely rare magic when he was trying to save your Mummy. Uncle Tom said it requires us to give her a potion, and you have to put a spell on your mother to save her. However, I don’t know if it will really work to bring her back. We can only make every effort to do so. But please don’t get your hopes up too much.”

“All right, Daddy,” Harry concluded, looking straight into the onyx eyes in front of him. “Um… when can we go and save Mummy then? Today?”

“I don’t think so, Harry. We have to ask Poppy when you’ll be well enough as it is you who has to do the important spell. And she won’t let you go if your fever is too high. If I were you, Harry,” he threw a glance at the untouched plate with Harry’s breakfast, “I’d eat my breakfast and would make sure to get well as quickly as possible.” He placed a kiss on his son’s forehead and carefully stood up, motioning Minerva to take his place.

“Is this really true?” Minerva asked Severus on his way out of the room, her eyes shining with excitement.

Severus quickly filled her in on what Tom had told him during the night before he hurried back to his lab, where Hermione had just started with the next step. Seeing that the Potions Master was back, she stepped to the side and began to prepare the next ingredients. Together, they managed to finish the potion in one and a half hours. “Thank you, Hermione,” Severus acknowledged his younger colleague’s help and quickly told her what the potion was for.

Hermione’s reaction was similar to Minerva’s. She knew better than anybody else how much Harry had always longed to have a mother. She followed Severus over into Harry’s room where he quickly added three drops of Harry’s blood into the still warm potion.

As soon as Harry’s blood was mixed into the potion, Severus bottled it and put it into his robe pocket. Then he walked over to the fireplace and called Poppy in order to know when she thought Harry would be well enough to travel to Godric’s Hollow. Sensing that this could be a longer talk, Poppy asked Severus to step back and Floo-ed over as she wanted to check on Harry anyway. Severus told her the whole story before he asked for her opinion when Harry would be able to come with him.

Poppy waved her wand over Harry and sighed. “There is no way that you can go today or even tomorrow. You’ll have to wait a few days. I’m sorry, but I’m sure you don’t want to exchange your son’s life for that of his mother, right?”

Severus gave her a horrified look and replied, “Of course not, Poppy. We will go when you tell me that Harry is well enough.”

Harry didn’t take this decision so well, however. During the next days, he cried a lot, refused to eat, and didn’t speak to anyone if not absolutely necessary. The people around him couldn’t believe it as Harry normally was so reasonable and well behaved.

Harry couldn’t help being very upset. He knew he had every reason to be happy because now as he had the memories of his former childhood, he was aware of how blissful he was this time, having such a loving huge family. But he was feeling awful and wanted his Mummy. He was sure that she could make him better immediately. Therefore, he just couldn’t understand why Poppy and Daddy wouldn’t let him go. Daddy could easily Apparate him there and back, and he would very much be able to do one single spell, thank you very much!

This attitude of course didn’t help to improve his condition at all, and Poppy told him in a very strict tone, “Harry, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know what to do with you. If you keep on worsening your condition, I will have to send you to St. Mungos.” Seeing his shocked expression, she continued, “If you want to help your Mummy fast, you have to see that you get well soon, which means that you have to stop crying, and you must eat your meals and do what you are told.”

With this, Harry’s behaviour changed immediately, and he was finally back to the well-behaved child they all admired so much. But he still had to wait for a few days until he could try to see if his Uncle Tom was right.

-----

On the same day, Minerva received an urgent owl from the Ministry. The trial against Professor Dumbledore had been brought forward and would take place in three days’ time. Minerva, Severus, Remus, Poppy, Tom, and Harry were asked to attend as witnesses.

Harry wasn’t yet fully recovered but as he was one of the main witnesses and his condition had at least improved a lot, Poppy allowed him to go. When Harry used the opportunity to ask if they could go to Godric’s Hollow on the way back, she threw him a stern glance and stated, “Ask me when the trial is over. I can’t answer that question now.”

They Floo-ed directly from the Headmaster’s office to the Ministry. The trial took place in a large courtroom and was even open to the public. As soon as Harry entered the courtroom, Fawkes appeared in a flash and made himself comfortable on Harry’s shoulder.

The judge greeted everyone and opened the trial, “Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, is accused of attacking the child Harry Snape four times during the last three years, two of which were definitely attempted murder. He is also accused of killing James and Lily Potter and badly wounding Tom Riddle nearly eighteen years ago.

As Harry was the most important witness, he was called up immediately. When he was asked for his name and birthday, everyone who didn’t already know who he was, gasped. When someone requested they should give Harry Veritaserum, Poppy spoke up.

“As his godmother and his Healer, I have to reject this request. My godson is only seven years old and is just recovering from pneumonia, taking very strong potions for such a little boy. Because of that I fear that Veritaserum could do a grave damage to his system. However, I am willing to take Veritaserum and confirm his statement as I am the person to whom he was brought after the attacks.”

The judge accepted this, and Poppy had to explain everything she knew about the first attack, while Harry only had to confirm what Poppy said and had to clarify additional details. Additionally, he could only describe how he had met Professor Dumbledore in Hogsmeade, who urged him to board the boat although he had just been on his way up to the castle together with his friends. Moreover, he told the judge how he had felt urged to jump into the water by an invisible force although he didn’t really want to jump. Then Severus, Tom, Minerva, and Remus were asked if they had anything to add, and Severus stood up.

“I only want to add that I used Legilimency on my son in order to know what really happened and to be sure that it was Professor Dumbledore who had put my son under the Imperius Charm. That memory is the first in the Pensieve here.” He went to where the judge was seated and handed over the Pensieve.

“Thank you, Professor Snape,” the judge said. “We will be sure to watch all the memories in the Pensieve immediately after our questioning. Now to the second incident. Healer Pomfrey please.”

The questioning lasted until lunchtime when the judge announced a break of an hour. As most of the participants seemed to head for the Ministry’s canteen, Tom suggested they go to a nearby Muggle restaurant for lunch, and so the group left the Ministry. During the last hour, Harry had been asleep on Minerva’s lap. Now, Severus picked up the child and put him onto his shoulders, so that the still sleepy Harry didn’t have to walk. Noticing that Poppy unobtrusively waved her wand in Harry’s direction, Severus asked, “Is he all right, or shall we ask the judge if it’s really necessary for him to be here in the afternoon?”

“He can stay on our laps and sleep. If he’s needed, we’ll wake him up,” Poppy answered.

While Dumbledore was questioned, Harry was peacefully asleep on his father’s lap, his belly full of pizza and potions. As Dumbledore was questioned under Veritaserum, it soon became clear that he obviously was off his rocker. Finally, after another break of thirty minutes, the judge announced the verdict.

“Guilty on all counts but insanity! This means a lifetime sentence to Azkaban. However, he will be granted a stay in the warded section of St. Mungos until a possible recovery.”

With this, a huge commotion started in the courtroom, and the spot where the Hogwarts teachers sat was swamped with reporters in a blink. Fortunately, the Minister arrived at the same time and motioned everyone outside for a press conference. “May I ask you to join me for the press conference, please?” he addressed the teachers.

-----

Severus and his colleagues conferred for a few seconds and agreed to join the press conference but only for a few minutes. Finally, Minerva told the Minister, “Each of us will answer exactly one question. After that we have to head back to Hogwarts as we have a sick child with us and need to get back to the school.”

The Minister greeted the reporters and said, “At the beginning, the Hogwarts teachers are willing to answer one question each. Afterwards you will have to be content with my colleague and me.”

Only now, Harry noticed Mr. Weasley, whom he knew from the memories of his older self, standing behind the Minister. From Severus’ shoulders he waved his hand to the man, who smiled back at the child. Soon, the reporters began to ask questions.

“Who will be the next Headmaster of Hogwarts?”

Severus spoke up. “Of course we have to discuss this with the Minister and with the Board. However, the teachers have so far chosen Professor McGonagall as new Headmistress.”

Minerva couldn’t help blushing at the tremendous applause, which even increased when the reporters saw little Harry clapping his hands as well.

“What is the reason for Mr. Potter’s de-aging and why has his name changed to Harry Snape?”

Poppy answered this time. “The de-aging was a Potions accident. Harry was de-aged to a baby. At that time, Dumbledore finally saw fit to reveal to Professor Snape that Harry was in fact his son.” Hearing a loud gasp, she explained, “Professor Snape was together with Lily Evans until a few weeks before she was married to James Potter. As Professor Snape knew that Harry had a terrible childhood, he decided to let the boy grow up again instead of giving him an aging potion.”

“Did nobody notice that the Headmaster was losing it? How could he become so insane in a few weeks?”

Tom proceeded to answer this question. “I always had the impression that he was crazy. I believe it had already started twenty years ago when he began to do evil things, blaming me for them.”

“You accused Dumbledore of killing James Potter. Didn’t he kill Lily Potter too?”

Minerva threw Severus a helpless glance before she replied. “I’m sorry but I don’t know anything contrary.”

“I’d like to ask Harry something,” Rita Skeeter said. “Are you glad that Professor Dumbledore isn’t at Hogwarts anymore? And do you remember everything of your former childhood?”

“Yes,” Harry replied in his high, childish voice. “I was very afraid of him. Fawkes always tried to help me, but once Prowfessor Dumby made him burn and become a baby when he tried to save me.” He glanced at the phoenix on his shoulder and softly stroked his familiar’s head feathers while he replied to the second question. “I remember that you’ve always written many lies about me and that you’re a beetle Animagus.”

-----

Accompanied by a huge gasp coming from the journalists due to Harry’s last sentence, the Hogwarts group left the press conference and returned to the area within the Ministry from where they could Floo home. Severus glanced at the huge clock on the wall. It was still half past four, so they had two hours left until dinner.

“All right, now, Harry, can you come down now?” Severus asked his son and carefully put him onto the floor. Then he leaned over to Poppy. “Poppy, do you think we could take Harry to Godric’s Hollow?” he whispered, hoping that his son wasn’t listening so that he wouldn’t get his hopes up.

The Healer quickly waved her wand over her godson before she asked, “Harry, do you feel well enough to try the spell for your Mummy?”

“Yes!” Harry squealed happily. “When are we going there? Now?”

“Yes, Harry. But, don’t get up your hopes too much. The possibility that this won’t work is much higher than the chance that it will,” Severus replied and turned to Minerva. “Tom and I will take Harry…”

“No,” Minerva interrupted him sternly. “We will all go together. At least, I will join you.”

Poppy nodded and said, “I’m going too.”

#Tell them that I can flash you there. They all have to grip my tail feathers, little one,# Fawkes told Harry, who happily translated for the others.

Two minutes later, the group stood in front of a half destroyed house, in which they had all spent many happy hours until eighteen years ago.

Tom went first, waving his wand over the area before him to assess if it was safe to proceed as it wouldn’t help having the house collapse over them. Everything seemed fine though and they soon arrived at the spot Tom was sure Lily should appear back. He motioned everyone to the other end of the room and stayed in front of the others when he mumbled a long incantation nobody else could understand properly.

Severus took Harry into his arms, cuddling him close. Harry laid his head on his daddy’s shoulder and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a stiff and unlively Lily appeared on the spot Tom was pointing to. A huge gasp alerted Harry to the fact that something must have happened and he lazily opened his eyes, while Severus slowly averted Harry’s head so that he could look in his son’s face.

“Harry, don’t get a fright. Your mummy is not really alive yet. We have to help her now with the potion and the incantation you have to say. Shall we say it together?”

When the boy gave him an anxious nod, Severus turned around, so that Harry could see Lily.

“Mummy!” Harry shouted excitedly and wiggled in Severus’ arms until his daddy put him onto the ground, so that he could rush off toward Lily. After a few steps, however, Harry stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight of his supposed mummy. Gladly noticing that his father put both hands on his shoulders, Harry slowly turned to Severus. “Daddy, is Mummy all right?”

Severus gave his son’s shoulders a squeeze and nodded. “Yes, Harry. I’m sure we will manage and she’ll be all right. Let’s try now.” He took Harry’s hand and led the boy over to the spot where his mother was lying on the floor. Severus pulled the potions phial and Harry’s wand out of his robe pockets and handed the wand to Harry, whose face lit immediately.

The others had backed up and were waiting at the other side of the room to give the Snapes enough space for their difficult task.

“Are you sure you remember the incantation correctly, Harry?” Severus asked sternly.

“Yes, of course, Daddy,” Harry replied, suddenly having the confidence that he would be able to perform the necessary magic. “First the potion or first the magic?” he asked determinedly.

“First the incantation, and as soon as you’re finished, I shall give your mother the potion. Poppy, could you come and help me holding her head up, so that I can make her drink the potion, please?”

“Of course, Severus,” Poppy replied softly and approached Lily.

Knowing that the only reason for him to say the incantation was to give Harry more confidence as only Harry’s words could help his mother back to real life, Severus recounted the sentence together with his son.

The others silently watched as Harry didn’t waver once but firmly cast the spell, pointing his wand at the somehow unreal form of his mother. When he was nearly finished, the glassy form slowly turned into a normal human’s form. As soon as Harry was finished, Severus and Poppy stepped over to Lily. While Poppy held up her head, Severus poured the potion into her mouth and made her swallow the liquid.

Harry, whom Minerva had taken into her arms as soon as Severus had left his son’s side, watched as his mother suddenly let out a small cry and opened her eyes. “Mummy!” Harry shouted and wanted to rush over to his mummy, but Minerva held him close.

“Not now, Harry. Wait and give your mummy a minute to wake up, please,” Minerva told him softly.

Knowing that his daddy often needed a minute to wake up properly when he tried to urge him out of bed in the morning, Harry hesitantly waited for a moment, watching his mother’s mind coming back.

Lily’s mind slowly turned back to awareness for the first time in so many years. Everything felt unreal and she had problems remembering what had happened. Noticing a slight movement in front of her, Lily tried to focus her eyes on the black figure, which was hovering there. “Sev?” she asked, confused.

“Yes, Lily, it’s me. And Harry is here, too. Everything is all right now, Lily.”

Harry, whom Minerva had finally let go, appeared next to his father and knelt down beside Lily, shouting, “Mummy!”

“Harry? That can’t be Harry. Harry’s still a baby,” Lily insisted, pain shining in her brilliant green eyes that matched her son’s exactly. “Dumbledore, he came, right?” she asked horrified. “Harry and James, are they all right?”

“No, Mummy, it’s me. Some years have passed, Mummy, while you were away.”

“Look at Harry’s eyes, Lily. He is definitely your son,” Severus agreed softly.

Lily immediately pulled her son over, so that his head came to rest on her chest and said with a relieved but unbelieving expression on her face, “Oh, my dear son. You are so big. What happened?” she asked, averting her glance to Severus.

Severus knelt down on Lily’s other side and asked, “Lily, what is the last thing you remember?”

Lily frowned, trying to remember properly, and suddenly, everything came back. With a horrified expression she looked around, taking in the destroyed form of her house. “Yes, I remember Dumbledore, he came after us tonight,” she answered, her voice filled with pain. “But Harry is alive, only older than he was. What about James? He is dead, isn’t he?”

With this, Severus proceeded to tell Lily the whole story, and averting a happily sobbing Harry to the side a bit she tried to sit up and proceeded to thank Tom, who appeared at Severus’ side, for saving her.

“You’re very welcome, Lily. I’m glad you’re back!” Tom answered, giving his friend a huge smile.

“How much time has passed then? About four years?” Lily asked, trying to assess Harry’s age, oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room except for her son looked much older than only four years aged from when she had seen them for the last time.

“Perhaps we should return to Hogwarts, where we can sit more comfortably,” Severus suggested and turned to Fawkes. “Could you take us back to Hogwarts all together? Or are we too many persons now?”

#I’d prefer to flash twice,# Fawkes told Harry, who translated immediately.

Lily watched in awe how the bird communicated to her son. She was still very confused, and there were many things she still didn’t understand. But she was also extremely happy, knowing that the two people she really loved were alive and with her.

#Please tell the big chicks to get ready and grab my tail feathers,# Fawkes instructed Harry, who laughed and told the others what Fawkes said.

Everyone except for Poppy and the little family flashed away with Fawkes, and Poppy used the minute until Fawkes’ return to quickly cheek on Lily. “You seem to be completely fine. Are you feeling well?” she asked her younger friend, more than glad to have her back after such a long time.

“I feel great, just a bit confused. Why am I going to Hogwarts?” she asked, puzzled.

“Harry and I are living together at Hogwarts, where I am teaching Potions. And we had hoped you would join us.”

“But Dumbledore?” Lily asked hesitantly.

“He’s finally gone,” Harry shouted excitedly.

Seeing Lily’s confused expression, Severus told her, “Today, we had a trial against Dumbledore and he has been sent to St. Mungos because of being crazy, and in case they manage to heal him, he has been sentenced to a life stay in Azkaban.”

Lily let out a deep sigh before she answered, “All right, that’s good. Of course I will join the two of you.”

Fawkes flashed the Snapes and Poppy straight into the living room of the Snape quarters. Poppy turned to Lily. “I will leave you to your family now. Congratulations, Lily! Severus, it’s dinner time, please don’t forget to eat.” She called Dobby and instructed him to bring dinner for three persons, before she quickly waved her wand over Harry, sighing. “And Harry has to go to bed immediately after eating. I’ll come to cheek on him tomorrow morning. If you need me earlier, Floo call me.” With an amused glance on the two male Snapes, who seemed to be over the moon with joy, Poppy left, heading for dinner in the Great Hall.

After dinner, Lily and Severus put Harry to bed and proceeded to sit next to their son, answering the many questions Lily still had to ask.

“Lily,” Severus hesitantly started to voice a question. “We would love you to live here together with us. Will you, however, be comfortable? Moreover, will you be all right sleeping in my bedroom, or shall we ask Minerva to make the castle add an extra room to our quarters?”

Lily laughed. ‘Oh, how I have missed her laugh,’ Severus thought happily, giving Lily a fond smile back.

“Yes, Severus, if you didn’t mind, I’d love to live together with you and Harry. And I don’t mind sharing the room with you; it’s not as if it was the first time. By the way, what’s wrong with Harry?”

They spent half the night talking about their son and his first and second childhood. Severus was a bit hesitant, not knowing if Lily would approve what he had done but she pulled him in a bear hug and said, “Severus, thank you so much for giving Harry this chance. I appreciate it very much and I believe it was the right thing to do apart from the fact that I’m very glad not to have missed his whole childhood.”

-----

In the morning, Harry woke up to a cool hand on his forehead. ‘Mummy,’ he thought instinctively and opened his eyes. But it was only Poppy. “I thought it was my mummy,” Harry mumbled. “Is she really back or was it a dream?”

“Yes, Harry, your mummy is really back,” Poppy told him. “But your parents still seem to be asleep. Your father probably told your mother everything she has missed during the last eighteen years, so that they went to bed very late. Now, when you’re feeling well enough today, you may get up, but I want you to rest a lot. No running around or such. Do you want to join me for breakfast in the Great Hall?”

“No, thank you, Aunt Poppy. I’m not hungry yet,” Harry replied, cuddling his dragon.

“All right. If you get hungry, please call Dobby and ask him for breakfast. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Aunt Poppy, thank you,” Harry answered, giving Poppy a huge smile.

While Poppy left his room, Harry scrambled out of his bed and silently went over to his daddy’s room and climbed onto the bed, noticing that it had been enlarged during the night. He lay down between his parents and closed his eyes, sighing contentedly.

Several hours later, Severus woke up when the fireplace flared and alerted him that someone wanted to speak with him. Seeing that Harry was fast asleep, curled up in Lily’s arm, he smiled one of his first true smiles in more than eighteen years and got up quickly.

It was Minerva, who told Severus that the three of them were expected to attend lunch in the Great Hall as well as an adjourning staff meeting afterwards. Severus promised to be in the Hall in an hour’s time, shutting off the connection. ‘Why does she want Lily at the staff meeting?’ he wondered on his way to the bathroom in order to take a shower.

When Lily woke up, she saw that Harry was cuddling close to her, still asleep, and that Severus had already left the bed. Before she could determine how late it was, Severus entered the bedroom, his hair still damp from the shower. Seeing that she was awake, Severus sat down next to her on the edge of the bed and kissed her.

“Did I tell you how glad I am to have you back, Lily?” he asked then.

“Yes, Sev, you told me. Thank you,” Lily replied, smiling at his soft, silky voice she loved so much.

Harry woke up with a jolt. ‘My Mummy’s voice,’ he thought happily. “Mummy!” he squealed, slinging both arms around his mother.

“Yes, Harry, I’m here,” Lily answered, cuddling the small boy close, thinking about what a strange feeling it was to hold such a big son in her arms, considering that according to her memory she had just been changing his nappy the evening before.

“I’m afraid you have to get up,” Severus said. “Minerva Floo-called to tell us she expects us for lunch in the Great Hall as well as for a staff meeting afterwards.” He gave Harry a piercing look. “Harry, did Poppy come to cheek on you?”

Harry smiled brightly at his father. “Yes, Daddy, she told me I can get up, just not run.”

“Then let’s comply to Minerva’s request and get ready for lunch,” Lily suggested and proceeded to get up and conjure clothes to wear for the day as she possessed only the clothes she had on her the day before.

“Wow, Mummy, you’re pretty,” Harry said in awe, seeing the dark blue robes his mother wore.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Lily returned, laughing. “Now, let’s get you dressed, shall we?”

-----

Twenty minutes later, Harry and his parents walked into the Great Hall, where the teachers who hadn’t been with them the day before greeted Lily with a huge applause. While they had breakfast, Hermione watched Harry smilingly. The child was sitting at the breakfast table between his parents, devouring his meal. Hermione had never before seen the boy so happy.

When everyone had finished breakfast, Minerva raised her voice. “Shall we just stay here for our staff meeting, or do you prefer to adjourn to the staff room?” she asked sternly.

“Oh, I think we should stay here,” Professor Trelawney, who had surprisingly joined the colleagues for breakfast, spoke up. “My inner eye has told me that Peeves is bouncing about the staff room, and as we are twelve persons here, we would be thirteen in the staff room, which would be a bad omen for our meeting.”

Most of the teachers didn’t even try to hide their reactions. While one half of them groaned, the other half laughed, and Harry asked interested, “Does Peeves count as a person? I could go play with Peeves, then you wouldn’t be thirteen,” he added jokingly. Not that he believed in anything the Divinations professor said. He could very well remember how she had predicted his own death from his third year onwards.

“All right, Sibyll, let’s stay here,” Minerva said, sighing inwardly. She asked the House elves for tea and biscuits and suggested they start meeting. She shortly explained to her colleagues how Tom, Severus, and Harry had managed to save Lily and introduced Hermione to Lily as she was the only teacher Lily hadn’t met before.

“I’m very glad to have you here, Mrs. Potter,” Hermione said, extending her hand over the table. Before Lily could answer, she continued, “When Harry was growing up the first time, I was his best friend, so I really know how much he has missed you all these years. I’ve known him for nine years now, and I’ve never seen him as happy as he seems to be today.” She obviously had to try hard not to cry, and her eyes were swimming in tears.

“I’m also very glad to be here, and I want to thank you very much for being such a good friend to Harry,” Lily replied softly.

“All right,” Minerva brought the conversation back to the meeting. “This morning, I have received an owl from the Ministry of Magic, and the Minister already officially appointed me as the new Headmistress of Hogwarts. Therefore…”

She was interrupted by a huge applause. Harry quickly climbed off his chair and ran over to his granny, pulling her into a hug. “Are you the new Headmaster, Granny? I’m very happy. Congratulations,” he beamed. When he noticed that everyone laughed, he quickly returned to his seat and turned to Severus. “Why are they laughing at me, Daddy?” he asked, a little offended. He had only meant so well.

“Oh, Harry,” Severus smiled at his son. “They are only laughing because you’re so smart and cute. But it’s Headmistress, by the way. Headmaster is only used for a man.”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Headmistress Granny,” Harry corrected himself immediately.

“Thank you, Harry,” Minerva said and gave the child a fond smile. “Therefore, we have to solve a few staff matters. First of all I would like to ask Severus to be my Deputy Headmaster. Would you be willing, Severus?”

Severus glanced over to Lily, who gave him an encouraging nod. “Yes, Minerva, if you think that it should be me to fill the post, I shall do so.”

“All right, thank you, Severus,” Minerva said, obviously relieved. “Now, I know this comes a bit sudden but I’d like to as Lily to become my successor as Transfigurations professor. You do not have to give me an answer just now, but I’d like to ask you to at least think about it. If you agree, I would also like to offer you the position as Head of House for Gryffindor. As I said, this all must be very sudden for you, but there are still four weeks until the beginning of the school year and in case you wouldn’t be ready to take over completely from September 1st onwards, I would of course be here to help you and continue teaching until you were ready.”

Lily smiled at her former teacher to whom she had always had an extremely good relationship. “Thank you very much for your offer, Minerva. However, apart from the fact that I don’t know if my knowledge in Transfiguration would be enough to be a professor here…”

“It definitely is, otherwise I wouldn’t have offered this position to you,” Minerva interrupted her firmly.

“And I also have to discuss it with Severus. Who has been looking after Harry during the day?” Lily asked, turning to her son’s father.

“If one of us has a free period he or she looks after Harry; if nobody is available he attends lessons or helps the teachers grading homework as he already knows everything that is taught here until the end of fifth year. I don’t think Harry would mind you teach Transfiguration,” Severus said, giving Lily an encouraging nod.

“Harry, what do you think?” Lily asked nevertheless.

“If you want to teach, you should. Can I attend your classes too, Mummy?” Harry answered sincerely.

“Yes, of course, Sweetie. In that case, Minerva, I’d like to accept both your offers. However, I will probably need your help as I believe I still have to adjust to this new life, which seems to be quite different from what I experienced until yesterday.”

“You will get as much help as you need,” Minerva promised and finished the meeting.

When everyone left the Hall, Severus motioned Lily, Minerva, Harry, Poppy, Hermione, Remus, and Tom to stay behind. “I believe we are in need of a party, and I would like to invite you all of you for a drink after dinner in our quarters.”

While everyone smiled happily, Minerva said, “Thank you for the invitation, Severus, Lily. We will surely join you tonight and have a welcome back party for Lily. However, I believe there is something urgent for you to do. You should head to the Ministry in order to get Lily off the list of deceased persons, don’t you?”

“Oh, right,” Severus answered pensively. “Lily, Harry, are you up to a trip to the Ministry?”

“No, Severus!” Poppy interrupted her younger colleague. “I want Harry to stay here and rest today. He had a very long day at the ministry yesterday. You can either leave Harry here with one of us or go to the Ministry tomorrow morning.”

“All right, Poppy,” Lily threw in immediately. “Then we will go tomorrow morning after breakfast. I don’t think a few hours will matter.”

Harry gave Lily a grateful hug, and she felt Severus squeezing her shoulder comfortingly.

-----

In the morning, Lily, Severus, and Harry intended to go to breakfast early and head to the Ministry immediately after breakfast. However, when they were about to leave for the Great Hall, Severus motioned Lily and Harry to go on, saying he would follow in a few minutes. Lily and Harry had breakfast together with the others, but when they had finished eating Severus hadn’t yet shown up.

“I’m afraid we have to return to our quarters to look for Dad before heading to the Ministry,” Lily told Harry.

Harry shrugged. “Do we have to Floo to the Ministry? Can’t we ask Fawkes to flash us?” he asked.

Before Lily could reply, Fawkes appeared in a flash and hovered in front of them. While Lily gave the bird an admiring glance, Harry thanked his familiar and asked him to take them back home. When Lily and Harry arrived in the living room an instant later, the door to Severus’ office was open, and they could see that the always extremely neat office was turned upside down.

Seeing Lily and his son, Severus apologized immediately. “I’m sorry, I was looking for something, but I just can’t remember where… Ah,” he suddenly interrupted himself and rushed into his bedroom, opening a drawer. With a relieved sigh, he put the small blue box into his robe pocket and left the bedroom, apologizing once more.

In the meantime, Lily had waved her wand around his office, so that it was already returned to its normal neat state. “All right, shall we go?” Lily asked, and Harry told Fawkes that they wanted to go to the Ministry.

“No, please, wait a moment,” Severus suddenly said.

Harry gave his father a curious glance. He seemed to be worried about something. “What’s wrong?” he asked enquiringly. He couldn’t remember seeing his father so nervous except for the time when they went to Godric’s Hollow the day before yesterday.

Severus thought for a moment if he should send Harry into his room for a few minutes, so that he could speak to Lily alone, but dismissed the thought immediately. Harry should not feel as if he would be abandoned now when his mummy was back, and Severus knew that Harry was very sensitive.

“Could you please sit down for a moment,” Severus asked Lily and Harry in a tone that didn’t allow anything other than compliance. As soon as they were sitting, Severus turned to Lily.

“Lily, I…” he nervously cleared his throat, “I wanted to ask you if it would be agreeable for you to take my name instead of registering again as Lily Potter or going back to Lily Evans.” He knelt down in front of the seat Lily was occupying and pulled the blue box he had been looking for out of his robe pocket, opening it slowly. “Will you agree to become my wife and not simply my son’s mother?”

“Yay,” Harry let out, bouncing up and down excitedly on the sofa. “That’s beautiful! Oh, Mummy, yes, you’re going to be Lily Snape, then we will be Daddy Snape, Mummy Snape, and Harry Snape, that’s great!” He ran over to his parents, trying to hug them both at the same time.

Severus put an arm around the excited boy and said as calmly as possible, “I’m glad that you share my opinion, but in fact I was asking your mummy. Please be quiet for a moment, all right, little one? You are our child anyway, and nobody will be able to take you away from us anymore.” He sat down on his favourite chair opposite the fireplace, pulling Harry onto his lap.

“I’m sorry, Lily, if this was too all of a sudden. So, if you want to think about it…”

“No,” Lily interrupted him. “I don’t have to think about it. I don’t know if you’re aware of the fact that I only married James because there was no chance that you and I could have married and because I was pregnant with your child that I wanted to save from Dumbledore. Of course, Severus, I love you and I want nothing more than to become your wife. Thank you!”

When Harry happily shouted, “Mummy!” she couldn’t hold her tears back and started to cry.

“What’s wrong, Mummy?” Harry asked worried.

“Nothing, sweetie, I’m just so happy,” Lily sobbed, feeling herself pulled into a strong embrace, sensing an indistinctive smell of herbs and potions very near.

Harry watched in awe when his parents started kissing each other. Suddenly, he felt happier than he could remember feeling ever before. After a few minutes, Severus let go of Lily and gave his son a huge smile. “In this case, we need to take two witnesses to the Ministry. Whom would you like to ask, Lily?”

“Minerva,” Lily replied immediately.

“All right. Harry, who do you think we should take as second witness?” Severus asked, turning to his son.

“Hmm. Uncle Tom is already my godfather and Aunt Poppy my godmother. What about Uncle Remus?” Harry suggested.

“Oh, Harry, you’re such a sweetheart,” Lily said proudly. This method of choice could have been hers. She was very glad to have such a fine son.

Severus went to the fireplace and called Minerva and Remus to their quarters urgently. When they arrived a minute later, Severus motioned them to take a seat and asked Lily to talk to them. However, before Lily could start to explain anything, Harry blurt out, “Mummy is going to marry Daddy!”

When Minerva and Remus gasped, Lily smiled and asked, “Would you two be willing to accompany us to the ministry as our witnesses?”

Seeing that Minerva was unobtrusively wiping away a tear, Harry climbed onto her lap. “It’s all right, Mummy has cried too.”

Minerva Floo-called Tom in order to ask him to represent her during her and Severus’ absence, and Fawkes took the five persons to the Ministry. Three hours later, the new little Snape family and their two witnesses entered Muggle London for a late lunch. After a short discussion about where to go, they complied with Harry’s request to go to a pizzeria, where he had enjoyed the pizza that they had eaten two days ago very much. After lunch, Minerva and Remus returned to Hogwarts, while the happy family proceeded to Diagon Alley in order to buy new clothes for Lily.

-----

When the Snapes entered the Great Hall for dinner the same day, the Hall was decorated beautifully. Harry squealed excitedly when he saw hundreds of colourful balloons all over the Hall. Apparently, Tom hadn’t hesitated before informing all inhabitants of the castle about the ad hoc wedding that had taken place at the Ministry in the morning. As soon as Lily, Severus, and Harry sat down at the table, Minerva raised her glass. “Congratulations, Lily, Severus, and Harry for becoming a real family! We are all very happy for you!”

After everyone gave them a huge applause, Minerva handed Severus an envelope, saying, “This is from all of us, and we wish you much fun!”

Severus handed the envelope to Lily, who curiously opened it and gasped. Inside the envelope was a card, which seemed to be a Hotel voucher for a wizarding holiday resort at the seaside for a whole week. On the card, the address of a fireplace was noted and Minerva explained to them that they were supposed to travel by Floo in case they weren’t going to ask Fawkes to take them.

“When are we supposed to leave?” Lily asked curiously.

“A honeymoon normally starts on the wedding day,” Tom informed her curtly.

“But we didn’t have time to prepare anything,” Lily countered horrified.

“You don’t have to prepare anything,” Minerva told her and handed Lily a small travel bag, which had about the size of a small toy. “Don’t enlarge it now – have a look at it when you arrive. Don’t worry, in this bag is everything you will need. Yes, Severus, even potions and children’s books. You are not allowed to take anything else with you apart from your wands of course. And you should take Harry’s wand as well, so that he’d be able to defend himself if something happened.”

Lily smiled at their colleagues. “Thank you very much. I’m looking forward to our first family holiday very much.”

Severus inclined his head. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”

And Harry? Harry had fallen asleep the instant he had sat down between Lily and Severus.

“Today probably has been too much for him,” Lily mused, pulling her child over, so that he could sleep on her with his head on her shoulder.

“Yes, he is still suffering from the aftermath of his illness,” Poppy agreed. “Before you leave, I want to have a word with you concerning Harry anyway.”

Minerva rose from her chair and conjured a soft looking red sleeping bag on the floor next to the table. Opening the zipper, she motioned Severus to take the child from his wife and put him to sleep in the sleeping bag, so that Harry could sleep and Lily would be able to eat properly.

A wedding dinner and much advice later, Lily and Severus were ready to depart for their honeymoon. While Lily was still talking to Minerva and Poppy, Severus fought hard to wake Harry up. Finally, he decided to let the child sleep and carried him through the Floo as they had decided to leave Fawkes at Hogwarts anyway because even if they were staying at a Wizarding hotel, having a phoenix with them would definitely attract too much attention.

-----

Harry slept through until the next morning. When he woke up, he nearly chocked, noticing the strange surroundings. Fortunately, his parents were sleeping on both sides of him, so that the small boy didn’t see a reason to panic. However, he curled up close to his mummy and waited impatiently for his parents to wake up. Severus was the first to stir, and as soon as he had lazily opened an eye, Harry blurted out, “What’s wrong, Daddy? Where are we?”

Severus pulled his son close and whispered into his son’s ear, “Harry, you know that Mummy and Daddy got married yesterday, right?” When Harry nodded happily, Severus continued, “The other teachers at Hogwarts have sent us here for our honeymoon for a week. Get up and have a look out the window, Harry!”

Harry didn’t have to be told twice. He quickly crawled out of bed and made his way over to the huge window, stopping dead in his tracks when he caught sight of the blue sea and the white sandy beach in front of it. He gave his father an anxious glance. “What is it, Daddy? The moving, blue thing I mean?”

Severus laughed. “Oh, Harry, sorry, I forgot that you haven’t been to the sea yet. It’s the sea, and the moving parts of it are waves. After breakfast, we will go down to the beach and have a look, won’t we?

“Yes,” Harry shouted, happily, completely forgetting that Lily was still asleep.

Lily woke up with a jolt and lazily opened her eyes. “What’s wrong?” she asked, yawning.

“Mummy, have you seen the sea? It’s so blue and it’s moving!” Harry informed her excitedly, quickly climbing back into bed to hug his mummy.

Lily laughed, pulling her son close, caressing his little cheeks. With a soft hand she pulled up his fringe, frowning at the scar he owed Dumbledore. “Then we should better get dressed and go down for breakfast,” she said and proceeded to tickle Harry until suddenly Severus let out a huge gasp.

“What’s wrong, Daddy?” Harry asked and was at his father’s side within seconds, followed closely by his mother.

While in the evening they had just magically exchanged their clothes into pyjamas and used the toothbrushes the hotel had provided, Severus had now started opening the bag their colleagues had given to them. The enlarged bag had revealed about a dozen small bags in different colours that enlarged themselves, forcing Severus to gasp, when he suddenly saw himself surrounded with a dozen travel bags. Lily and Harry couldn’t help laughing at the professor’s face and began to open the different bags. Harry quickly discovered that the green bag with the tiny yellow dinosaurs on it held a lot of toys and books for him and squealed happily. Seeing that, Severus interestedly took up the dark blue bag with bubbling cauldrons on it and looking inside confirmed that it was full of potion phials. Happily he saw that it also contained a Potions book he had wanted to read for quite a while but so far hadn’t found the time. After this discovery he set the bag aside. In the meantime, Lily looked through the other bags in search for children’s clothes.

-----

An hour and a huge breakfast later, the Snapes headed for the beach. They decided on a place to sit, which was not too far from the entrance and still near the water. Lily quickly drew her wand and pointed it at Harry. “Umbra Affectus.” Seeing Harry’s enquiring expression, Lily explained, “This spell protects you from getting sun burned.”

“Oh, wow,” Harry shouted in awe. “Oh, please, Mummy, may I cast it on Daddy and you, please?”

Lily laughed and handed Harry her wand. “Sorry, dear, we didn’t bring your wand down today but you can try if you can do magic with mine.”

Harry took Lily’s wand and glanced up to the windows. He knew which apartment was theirs because he had left his stuffed dragon sitting on the sill of the open window, so that his teddy could watch him playing on the beach. Nodding his head contentedly, he raised the wand. “Accio Harry’s wand.”

Under the flabbergasted looks of Harry’s parents and Harry’s excited glance, Harry’s wand made its way through the window, nearly kicking the dragon out too. Harry smilingly returned his mother’s wand, taking his own one safely into his hand. “Uh, sorry, Mummy, what was the spell?” he asked, frowning.

“Umbra Affectus,” Lily repeated patiently.

“Ah, all right, thank you, Mummy,” Harry said, eager to learn a spell he didn’t already know. He pointed his wand at his father and said the incantation before he repeated the spell with his mother.

“Thank you, Harry,” Severus said, glancing around the book in his hand.

“Very good, sweetie,” Lily commended her son, watching him proudly as he dug into his bag for something to read before she lay back and enjoyed the still peacefully quiet beach.

Ten minutes later, Harry was standing in front of Lily, excitedly jumping from one foot onto the other. “Mummy, look, there are children in the water. Can we go into the water, too, please?”

Lily looked over to the water, where children were bathing in the waves, shouting happily. Before she could reply to Harry however, Severus looked up from his book and motioned Harry to sit down between them before he explained, “Harry, today we will only put our feet into the water. Tomorrow we can go for a bathe and I can try to teach you how to swim.”

“Oh, yes, Daddy, I want to learn how to swim. Can you teach me now, please?” Harry shouted impatiently but Lily shook her head.

“No, Harry, Daddy said tomorrow. Poppy told us to wait at least a day before going for a bathe in order to give your body the chance to get used to the climate, especially as you have been very ill.”

“Ah, okay,” Harry said disappointed. “Um… can we then go into the water with our feet only?”

Under his son’s plead Severus couldn’t resist and grudgingly put away his book. “All right, let’s go all together, shall we, Lily?”

Lily hardly had a chance to voice her opinion before she saw Harry dashing down in the direction of the water, while Severus ran after his son. She raised her wand, ready to stupefy the child in case Severus didn’t reach him before Harry entered the water. However, Harry knew better than to do something stupid. He stopped right in front of the water, waiting for his parents to arrive. When Lily caught up with Harry and Severus, she opened her mouth to shout at her son for running away, but Severus beat her and complimented the boy for waiting and not entering the water on his own.

“But next time, Harry, do not run away on your own but wait for us, please,” Lily added sternly.

“Yes, Mummy, I’m sorry,” Harry replied automatically. He extended both hands to his parents and they entered the very light blue water, which was surprisingly warm.

When they returned to the beach after floundering around in the water for an hour, Severus helped Harry build a sand castle. “Dad, I want it to look like Hogwarts. How can I do that?”

“Oh, Harry, that we should ask your Mummy. She’s much better at Charms than I,” Severus replied, giving Lily a glance, who waved her wand at the castle, mumbling an incantation Harry couldn’t understand.

“Wow, this is beautiful. It really looks like Hogwarts,” Harry said, looking at the castle in awe.

Too soon it was lunchtime, and in the afternoon it was so hot on the beach that Harry spent the whole afternoon sleeping. On the next day, Severus tried to teach Harry swimming, which he enjoyed very much. However, it wasn’t as easy as Harry thought seeing the other children swimming around, and after two days of intense practising he couldn’t yet manage more than two strokes.

“That’s normal, Harry. I’m sure you’ll be able to swim by the time we go home,” Severus said calmingly when Lily and he tucked the child in, kissing him good night.

-----

On the third day on the beach, Lily was fast asleep while Severus was so engrossed in his book that he didn’t even answer Harry’s repeated question, “When will we go swimming, Daddy?” Harry looked around, noticing that everyone on the beach seemed to be asleep and suddenly came up with a plan.

He reached out to his mother’s robe pocket where he knew that Lily had pocketed his own wand, carefully snatching it from the pocket. Then he waved his wand around a free area of sand and very carefully levitated the sand onto the person sleeping nearby so that only the woman’s head was free of sand. Then he repeated the procedure with at least twenty people until his father looked up from his book, wondering what Harry was doing. Fortunately, Harry had spared his parents, fearing his father’s reaction discovering that he was covered by sand.

At the sight of his son pointing his wand at a man and silently muttering an incantation, Severus looked around, slightly irritated, and gave Harry a menacing look. However, the slightly pulled up edges of his mouth gave him away and Harry knew that his father was at least slightly amused by his prank.

Seeing that Harry tucked away his wand, Severus averted his eyes back to his book, while Harry started building a castle.

When Severus looked up from his book the next time, Harry was standing in front of him, shifting from one foot to the other. “Daddy, I have to go to the toilet.”

“All right, Harry, shall I accompany you?” Severus asked, throwing a last longing glance to his book.

“No, I’m fine, thanks. I know the way to our apartment, and I’ll be back soon,” Harry promised and hurried away.

Strangely, Harry had a feeling someone was watching him but he couldn’t place it and he couldn’t see anyone either. However, when he touched the door of their apartment so that it would magically recognize him and open, he felt someone pushing him from behind, forcing himself into the room with Harry. When he looked around, Harry saw two men, both of whom he had seen in the memories of his older self. However, as Severus had helped him to put all these memories to the very back of his mind they were not easily accessible, and before Harry could ponder on who these men were, one of them pointed his wand at him, shouting, “Cru…”

“Everything is your fault, you pampered little urchin. Because of you, my family thinks badly at me and I couldn’t finish school. But I promise, you’ll pay for it.” The man drew his wand, pointing it at Harry. “Cruci…”

Harry quickly drew his wand and shouted, “Expelliarmus!” before the man even had a chance to finish his spell. Harry quickly cast the Wingardium Leviosa spell and let the two wands hover onto the top of the huge wardrobe at the left side of the room.

The two men didn’t take these actions well. They approached the child and started beating him badly before Harry could use any more magic. Unfortunately, the seven-year-old child was not able to fight against two adults, the Muggle way and he soon fell to the floor, dangerously wounded. Just before he fell unconscious he got a glance at his familiar, appearing at his side in a flash.

Quickly assessing the situation, Fawkes flashed onto the beach, hovering in front of Severus, who, sensing that Harry, who had yet to return, could be in danger, didn’t waste time. He grabbed Fawkes’ tail feathers. It only took seconds for Fawkes to flash back to the room, where the two men were still grabbing their noses, which Fawkes had hacked into in order to force the two men to stop their attack on Harry. Before Ron and Mungundus could even move, Severus drew his wand and stunned the two men.

“Fawkes, please go and get Poppy immediately,” Severus instructed the phoenix before he carefully picked up Harry. He had just carefully laid him down onto the bed, when Fawkes arrived together with Poppy. While Poppy quickly waved her wand at Harry, Severus instructed Fawkes to fetch Lily. He quickly filled his wife in and asked her to write a short notice to Minerva about what happened, so that she would send Aurors to take away the culprits.

Lily obeyed immediately and half an hour later, while Poppy and Severus were still working on Harry under Lily’s watchful eyes, Fawkes returned with Minerva, Tom, Nymphadora Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt in tow. Minerva introduced the two young Aurors to Lily, and Lily relaxed a little, knowing that they were on their own side. The five adults discussed for a moment if the Aurors should take the two men to the Ministry or question them on the spot and decided on the latter, hoping to be able to speak with Harry afterwards as well.

-----

When Tonks held out her hand for the two men to turn over their wands, they tried to lie, saying that they hadn’t brought their wands. This, however, was too absurd for the Aurors to believe and they decided to administer Veritaserum.

“Why did you come here, Mr. Weasley?” Shacklebold asked.

“To punish Harry,” was the straight reply from the red-haired man who gave the small figure on the bed an angry glance, which wasn’t missed by the two Aurors.

“Were you going to curse him?”

“Yes, I wanted to Crucio him but he was faster and took our wands away, levitating them onto the wardrobe.”

“Therefore, you decided to beat him. Did you want to kill him?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s his fault that I couldn’t finish Hogwarts and that my family thinks badly of me now. I’ve even lost my girlfriend because of him.”

“How did you know that he was here?” Tonks enquired.

“My brother Percy had requested information within the Ministry in case Harry used his wand, so that he could tell me about Harry’s whereabouts. Percy alerted Mungundus and me today that Harry had been tracked, so we Apparated to the beach in order to get to Harry.”

“Been magically outdone by a seven-year-old, Mr. Weasley?” Severus sneered, while Poppy turned to Lily and Minerva and filled them in about Harry’s condition after throwing a Silencing Spell around them.

“I’m sorry, but you won’t be able to question Harry today,” Poppy told Tonks and Kingsley firmly when they had finished questioning Mungundus.

“All right,” Kingsley acknowledged immediately. “Would it be possible to have his memory put into a Pensieve?”

Severus beat Poppy answering, “Yes, I suppose that would be possible. Fawkes, could you please retrieve Harry’s Pensieve?”

A minute later, Fawkes returned with the requested item and Severus sat on the edge of Harry’s bed, talking softly to his son. “Harry, do you know how to put a memory into a Pensieve?”

Harry looked at his Daddy, the ‘No’ clearly written in his face. “All right then, Harry,” Severus said and patiently explained, “You have to put your wand here…” – he showed Harry the spot – “…and think of what happened from the moment you first noticed that something was wrong until I arrived here and stunned the two men. Do you think you can do that?”

Harry held out his hand for his wand, which the two men had been too stupid to take from him, and concentrated on the memory. When the others went into the Pensieve to watch what had happened Lily stayed sitting next to Harry, softly speaking with her son and trying to ignore the attackers who were again stunned at the other side of the room.

After viewing the memory, Severus sat down on the edge of Harry’s bed while Shacklebolt explained to Lily what they had seen. “You’ve probably been told that Dumbledore took a lot of money out of Harry’s vaults and gave part of it to Ronald Weasley, right?”

“Yes,” Lily replied hesitantly. “Severus told me about it.”

“All right,” Shacklebolt continued, “Mr. Weasley obviously had the impression that it was Harry’s fault that he couldn’t go to Hogwarts anymore, and so he tried throw unforgivable spells at him. However, Harry beat him magically and took his wand away, so they decided to beat him. Fortunately, Fawkes seemed to have arrived in time.”

Lily gave him an appreciative nod. “Thank you.”

“All right, Messrs,” Shacklebolt said grimly, turning to the two stunned men. “This will be a one-way-ticket to Azkaban, I’m afraid, Mr. Weasley and Mr. Fletcher.” He went over to Ron and activated his Portkey while Tonks took Mungundus away.

-----

“Should we return to Hogwarts?” Lily asked the others, still sitting next to Harry.

“You mean because of what happened or because of Harry’s injuries?” Severus enquired.

“Both,” Lily replied, giving her husband an anxious glance.

“What happened won’t happen again. You don’t need to leave because of that,” Tom threw in.

“I think so as well,” Minerva agreed. “Just don’t let him go anywhere on his own.”

“In fact I’d prefer to take Harry with me,” Poppy said pensively. “We have healed everything I believe. However, he had many injuries on important organs and we still have to see if they are all going to work properly. Therefore, I’d like to be able to cheek on him every now and then. Do you think Fawkes could flash me here a few times during the next twenty-four hours?”

“How about you all stay here for the rest of our stay?” Lily asked suddenly. “Then Poppy could look after Harry whenever he needs it, and I’d feel much safer with all of you around.”

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Severus agreed immediately. “Tom, why don’t you ask Rolanda to join you for a few days? And Minerva and Poppy…”

“We could share a room, Severus. We’ve already shared a dormitory when we went to Hogwarts together; but we don’t want to disturb you on your Honey Moon!” Minerva told him sternly.

“You won’t disturb us, Minerva. Weasley and Fletcher already managed to do so. However, Lily would feel safer with you around and I’d feel better with Poppy here for Harry.”

“Will you stay with me, Mummy?” Harry mumbled and – receiving a comforting nod from Lily – closed his eyes.

In the end, they all agreed to stay for a few days. Harry woke up in the morning to his parents talking to each other quietly.

“No, Lily, I don’t mind at all. I’m just happy to have you back, and it’s Harry’s safety that counts most. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to him. But I think that it was only a one-time thing because of…”

“Ssh.. look, Sev, Harry’s smiling,” Lily said, sounding very happy.

Harry lazily opened his eyes to see his parents leaning over him. While his mother was smiling amazingly, his father’s expression held a tad of concern.

“Good morning, sweetie, did you sleep well?” Lily asked.

“Mowning,” Harry mumbled tiredly.

“How do you feel, Harry?” Harry could hear his daddy’s voice penetrating his ear as he slowly fell back to sleep.

When he woke up the next time, his parents were already dressed and sitting on the edge of his bed, talking quietly and obviously cuddling each other. Harry tried hard not to giggle at the sight and remained silent for a few minutes until the lack of his even breathing seemed to alert his father that he was awake.

“Good morning, Harry. How do you feel?” Severus asked, turning around to his son.

Harry’s “fine” stuck on his lips when he first tried to move and it was soon replaced by an “ouch”. Everything hurt terribly. “I’m sore,” he mumbled, averting his eyes from his father.

“I believe that, Harry. You’ve been beaten badly and were in a really bad condition yesterday and although Poppy has healed everything, you’ll be quite sore for a few days,” Severus explained and carefully put a cool hand on Harry’s forehead before he stood up abruptly. “I’m going to get Poppy so that she can check on you, right? Afterwards you can get a pain relieving potion.”

When Severus left the room, Lily lay back next to Harry and cuddled him, careful not to aggravate his injuries. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and stood up immediately when Severus returned with Poppy.

“Hello Aunt Poppy and thanks for healing me yesterday,” Harry told his godmother when she came into view.

“Oh, sweetie, you’re welcome. Are you in a lot of pain?” Poppy asked, noticing how Harry tried to follow her wand movements with his eyes without moving his head.

“Yes, my head and my stomach hurt,” Harry admitted.

“Where exactly does it hurt?” Poppy asked moving her wand once more over the spot Harry showed her. “All right, Harry, I’m very sorry but you have to stay in bed today. You can have a Pain Relieving Potion now and I’ll be back with your breakfast in a few minutes. Then we will see what happens. You’ll probably be fine or at least well enough to get up by tomorrow.”

After taking the potion, Harry felt much better and even managed to sit up in order to eat the porridge Poppy brought him for breakfast.

“Daddy,” Harry asked lying back after eating, “Why? I mean why did these two men attack me?”

Severus sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. “Harry, do you remember from the memories of your grown up self who the red haired man was?”

Harry slightly shook his head. “No, Daddy. I remember that I have seen him in the memories but they are so far in the back of my mind, you know the only thing I remember really well is magic – spells, charms and whatever. I only know that I knew him but nothing more.” He glanced at his father whose face had once again taken on an emotionless expression.

“This man, Harry, is Ronald Weasley, Ginny’s brother. When you went to Hogwarts, he, Hermione, and you were best friends. Everyone called you ‘The Golden Trio’.” Ignoring Harry’s disbelieving look, he continued, “However, after you were de-aged and I received the guardianship over you, we found out that he had only pretended to be your friend. In fact, he received money from Dumbledore, which he had taken from your account, for befriending you. Once we ordered the money back from Dumbledore’s account, Weasley had to leave Hogwarts because his parents couldn’t pay his school fees anymore. As far as I know he didn’t even try to find a way to get the money for his last year and a half of schooling but decided to work at his brothers’ joke shop. And now he wanted to blame you for not giving him any more money, although you were four years old when this happened and he shouldn’t have been in a position to have any of your money at all.”

Harry didn’t understand everything his daddy told him, but when Severus added, “Anyway, none of this is your fault but only Dumbledore’s. Mr. Weasley has been brought to Azkaban because of what he did, so he won’t be able to attack you again,” he visible relaxed.

“Mummy, can you read me a story?” Harry proceeded to ask his mother and smiled happily when Lily complied and chose one of Harry’s books to read to him. “Thanks, Mummy, that’s my favourite story,” Harry squealed happily when Lily started to read the story about the dragon, the snake, and the phoenix, which Harry loved so much.

Lily carefully stroked his cheeks and patiently read the story for Harry three times. Then she proceeded to talk to her son. “Harry, you still have to tell me about your friends. What are their names, how are they? I want to know everything, you know.”

Harry gave her a small smile, but he just couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore and his breathing evened after a few seconds. Glad that she hadn’t missed all of his childhood, Lily lay down next to her son, cuddling him close. Soon, she fell asleep too. When Severus looked up from his book seeing his wife and son asleep, a small smile played around his lips.

Harry woke up when Poppy came to check on him. She waved her wand a few times before she explained to Harry in a low voice, as not to wake Lily, “Everything seems to work well. However, I’m afraid that you will be in pain for a while and we have to watch your organs further because you have a slight temperature. If it’s not worse tomorrow, you may go to the beach after breakfast.”

“Thank you, Aunt Poppy,” Harry replied. “But can’t I get up now? I feel fine.”

“No, I’m sorry, sweetie. You only feel fine because I gave you a strong potion. You aren’t fine yet. Do you want Granny to visit you for a while?”

“Um… could you or Granny perhaps stay with me for a short while, so that Mummy and Daddy could go to the beach together? I’m so sorry for them, I mean… it’s their honeymoon, and they can’t do anything together because of me.”

“Oh, Harry, you’re such a cute, loving sweetie. Of course, we can stay with you if you don’t mind your parents being away,” Poppy answered, astonished and turned to Severus to tell him about Harry’s suggestion.

Severus gave his son a surprised but grateful look and asked if he was sure before he turned back to Poppy. “Poppy, I’m very worried about Lily. She always seems to be tired and since we’re here she is taking at least two naps during the day. Do you think she’s all right?”

Poppy gave him a comforting smile. “Yes, Severus. Believe me, I’ve already checked on her, and she’s completely fine, she only needs a lot of rest. There’s nothing else we can do for her than letting her rest as much as possible. How about you wake her up and take her out on the beach or wherever you want to spend some time on your own? On your way out you can ask Minerva if she would mind spending some time here with Harry and I. And, please, take your time Severus. As this was Harry’s suggestion, he’ll be fine with you being away for a few hours.”

While Lily and Severus enjoyed a few hours resembling a real honeymoon, Minerva and Poppy stayed with Harry, talking to him, reading him books, and playing with the child until his parents returned after eating dinner as Poppy had instructed them firmly. When Harry saw Lily and Severus returning to their room with happy smiles on their faces, he knew that it had been worth spending the afternoon without them as badly as he wanted to have his Mummy near-by.

-----

When Harry was finally allowed to go to the beach on the next day, he played a while in the sand before Lily knelt next to him and helped him build a sand castle. When they were finished, Harry gave his mother an excited glance. “Mummy, can you make it look like Hogwarts again, please?”

Lily complied and waved her wand resulting in many happy squeals from Harry. The boy happily showed the castle to Minerva and Poppy who were sitting on Lily’s other side. Tom and Rolanda had taken the spaces next to Severus earlier, but they had since decided to go on a long walk.

“Do you know, Harry, that your mother had the best marks in her Charms NEWTs that anyone had achieved in more than a century?” Minerva asked, and Harry threw a proud glance at his mother.

Harry proceeded to read through his books for a while before he got bored and glanced around in order to find something to occupy himself. Unfortunately, Poppy had forbidden him to go swimming at least today and had made sure that Severus had heard this instruction. But it surely wouldn’t hurt to go into the water just with his feet Harry thought and seeing that his mother was asleep, his father was engrossed in his book, and the others had gone for lunch, Harry decided to go and play in the water for a short while. He carefully got up, slightly wincing at the pain in his stomach, and went down to the edge of the water.

As soon as Harry put a foot into the water, a girl and a boy who were playing with a beach ball invited him to join them and Harry accepted the invitation happily. He soon noticed that it was great fun playing with the two children. After trying to catch the ball for a few minutes however, a wave made Harry stumble and he couldn’t help falling into the water. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach when he tried to get up and Harry was reminded that he hadn’t been allowed to enter the water at all. It took out a lot of effort to make it out of the water and onto the beach, where he fell down, crying.

His play partners were at his side in an instant. “What’s wrong? Did you hurt yourself?” the girl asked worriedly.

However, before Harry could even answer, Severus had been alerted by his son’s cries and was at his side in a blink. “Harry, it’s all right, Daddy’s here,” he said, putting a comforting hand on the child’s shoulder. “What happened?” he then asked the two children who were standing next to Harry, watching him.

“We were playing beach ball in the soft water and then a huge wave came and made him stumble, and then he suddenly started crying as if he was hurt.”

Severus quickly instructed the children to call Poppy, who appeared at their side within minutes, worriedly checking on Harry. “He has aggravated his injuries, and he’s bleeding internally,” she mumbled only for Severus to hear before she mumbled several incantations to heal her godson’s injuries a second time in two days. Twenty minutes later, she looked up at Severus, relieved. “The internal bleeding seems to have stopped. Can you carefully carry him to your room, please? We have to give him a few potions.”

“Is he all right?” Severus asked, concerned.

“He will be all right,” Poppy promised. “However, I don’t know how fast it will heal this time. He’ll have to stay in bed until further notice. And frankly speaking I don’t pity him this time. It is entirely his fault, going into the water against my explicit orders.”

“Yes, you’re right, Poppy,” Severus agreed, sighing.

The next day, Harry’s condition was worse. As he obviously was in a lot of pain and had a high fever, Poppy kept him asleep nearly the whole day to let his new injury heal. Everyone took turns staying with him, so that Lily and Severus could at least spend a little time on the beach as it was the last day of their holidays.

After breakfast the next day, it was time to return to Hogwarts.

“Mummy, Daddy, can we come here again next year?” Harry asked, sitting in his bed and looking out of the window at the blue sea in front of him.

“We can’t promise you anything now, but I don’t see a reason why we couldn’t do so,” Severus replied, softly nudging his son. He still had a very serious conversation to conduct with his son, but it could wait until they’d returned home.

-----

Fawkes flashed them home to Hogwarts just before dinner and brought Poppy and Harry directly into Harry’s room, while everyone else headed straight to the Great Hall. They took turns telling Hermione, Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick, who were the only teachers present at the moment, about the happenings during their holidays. When they were finished with their story, Flitwick cleared his throat, changing the topic.

“I have thought about something concerning the Transfiguration position. It’s not a good idea to have Lily take over this position.”

Ignoring the offended looks of his colleagues, Flitwick continued, “Lily was the best Charms student I ever had in all my years of teaching. She would surely be good at teaching Transfiguration but it would be a waste. Therefore, I want to suggest a few personnel changes.”

Seeing that he had everyone’s attention, Flitwick elaborated, “I believe it is time to let the ghost retire, Minerva.”

“All right,” the Headmistress replied, surprised but without hesitation.

“Well, in that case I would like to take over the position of History of Magic teacher under the condition that Lily will be my successor as Charms Professor,” Flitwick continued, seeing that the faces of his colleagues brightened a little.

“But who is going to teach Transfiguration, Filius?” Minerva asked exasperated. “I cannot be Headmistress and a fulltime teacher at the same time.”

“Yes, of course, I know that and I have already had a little talk with a former student of mine, Luna Lovegood. She is willing to take over the Transfiguration position and she is quite able as well. Moreover, as she is a Ravenclaw, I’d like her to be my successor as Head of House in a few years’ time, as well.”

“You have really worked this out, haven’t you, Filius?” Minerva said, smiling. “What do you think, Lily? You seem to have the choice between Transfiguration and Charms.”

Lily glanced from the Headmistress to the Charms teacher. She couldn’t believe her luck. Charms had always been her favourite subject and she would choose the position of Charms professor above everything else.

“Thank you very much for offering me the Charms position, and if everyone was all right with me taking the position I’d really love to do so.”

“All right, then we will do as Filius has suggested. Lily for Charms, Filius for History of Magic, and Ms. Lovegood for Transfiguration. Filius, please contact Ms. Lovegood and ask her to come to see me as soon as possible,” Minerva concluded the conversation.

Lily was very happy with this decision, especially as there was only a little time left until the beginning of the new school year and it would have been much more work for her to prepare Transfiguration classes than Charms classes, which she was much more confident with. In fact, Lily’s condition was not too good due to the fact that she had gained eighteen years during the time she had spent wherever it was that Tom had sent her to save her from death; although in her mind, only seconds had passed. So instead of being twenty-one she was now thirty-nine years old, and it was difficult to adjust to the new state of her body. She felt very old and tired all the time. So far, Lily hadn’t told anyone except for Poppy who had asked her straight away, seeing how much Lily slept while they were on the beach. Unfortunately, the Mediwitch couldn’t do much to help Lily with her problem.

The only people that could help Lily were Severus and Harry, who had both noticed what was wrong very quickly and were extremely considerate and helpful.

-----

After their return to Hogwarts, Harry still had to spend a few days in bed until Poppy finally allowed him to get up. As soon as Harry started to feel better, Severus and Poppy gave him two very stern talks.

Harry thought his conversation with his godmother, in which he had ended up feeling very ashamed and had even cried, had been bad. However, his talk with Severus made him feel much worse.

“Do you know how much your mother and I care about you, Harry?” Severus asked in a tone which Harry knew was normally reserved for students doing detention. As Harry looked at him anxiously, he continued, “We did everything we could to keep you safe, even inviting others to our honeymoon just for your safety.”

Seeing that Harry had averted his eyes to his bed cover, Severus said, “Look at me, Harry. We told you many times that you were not to go anywhere on your own. Moreover, Poppy had explicitly made it clear that your condition was not improved enough to go into the water. So, please do tell me what you were thinking, heading straight into the water on-your-own!” Severus had to try hard not to shout at his son. However, his facial expression let Harry very well know how his father felt about the matter.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Harry mumbled, not able to keep the tears from running down his cheeks.

“Sorry is not enough!” Severus stated, glaring daggers at his son. “You have to promise not to do such a stupid stunt again.”

“I’ll try, Daddy,” Harry replied anxiously and as his father continued to glance at him, a memory of his first childhood appeared in front of his eyes and he began to shake, panicking. “I’m sorry, I’ll be good,” he insisted, backing away as far as he could.

Severus frowned at the sight of the terrified child. “Harry,” he said as calmly as he could manage. “You know that I love you very much and that I’d never hurt you deliberately. I know that in your first childhood your uncle punished you with beating or the like, but I promise you, I will never do that to you. Look at me, Harry,” he told his son as he carefully reached out to stroke Harry’s head, noticing with relief that Harry didn’t back up further.

“In order for you to know how you’ll be punished in the future, I’ve thought of introducing a points system similar to the Hogwarts House system. Points will be awarded for good behaviour and will be taken for bad behaviour. When you manage to accumulate twenty points, your mother or I will take you to the bookshop and you may choose a book. If you manage to have five negative points, you will serve detention with me scrubbing cauldrons. Do you think this is a fair trade?”

Harry slowly looked up to his father. “Yes, Dad, thanks.”

Severus conjured two small Hourglasses, which he fixed on the opposite wall of Harry’s room, one with a phoenix on it and one with a spider. At the top of the two glasses were many colourful marbles. “Now, Harry, all good points go into the phoenix’ glass, the negative points into the spider’s glass.” Severus put a charm around the glasses, so that only Lily and he could award or take points. Then he added a Silencing Charm and an Unbreakable Charm, so that the glass wouldn’t break when the marbles, which were the size of small apples, fell down.

“All right, Harry.” Severus gave his son a piercing look, searching for approval in the bright green eyes. Then he lightly tapped the left glass three times and three marbles fell down into the spider’s glass. “Now, that was for bringing yourself into so much danger,” he explained sternly, before he tapped the left glass twice, so that two marbles made their way down into the phoenix’ glass. “And these points are for helping Mummy so much during the first days with us.”

Seeing that his son was staring at the glasses uncomfortably, Severus said soothingly, “Harry, I know, you’re starting with more spider points than phoenix points but I’m sure you’ll catch up collecting good points very soon. As I told you before, when you have twenty phoenix points you may choose a new book. Or you can use your good points to get rid of the bad points if you want to. If not, you have to scrub cauldrons at five spider points.”

Harry managed to show his father a small smile. “All right, Daddy, can you please make two points go’way? Then I’ll only have one spider point.”

Severus waved his wand at the two hourglasses and two phoenix points as well as two spider points vanished. Harry let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Daddy.”

-----

Too soon in Lily’s and Severus’ opinion, the new school year started. Harry however was very glad to have the students back. At the Welcoming feast, Harry sat at the Head table between his parents. When everyone had finally started to eat after the Sorting was finished, Severus leaned over to Lily and said, “Enjoy dining together with your son. Normally he only eats at the Head table when he is sick, afraid of something, or wants something.”

Everyone around them laughed and Harry protested vehemently. “I just don’t want to be in your way. Maybe you have something to discuss with the other teachers,” he said, smirking. “How can I know that?”

“It’s all right, Harry. Until you’re sorted into a house you may do as you wish,” Lily assured her son, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

A few minutes later, Minerva addressed Harry from Severus’ other side. “Harry, I would like to speak with you about your timetable. Can you come to my office after dinner?”

Harry glanced over at Severus, who gave him an encouraging nod and said, “Unless you want to accompany me to the House meeting in Slytherin, you’re free to go. However, you may not return home on your own. Let Fawkes take you back to our quarters.”

“Ah, all right, Granny. I’ll come with you after dinner. Mummy, do you have a House meeting, too?”

Lily threw Minerva an astonished look. “Do you do House meetings in Gryffindor now?”

“No,” Minerva replied calmly. I have never done that. However, if you wish…”

“Oh no, I don’t think so. I have to get used to so many things,” Lily replied, sighing tiredly. “If you wish I can accompany Harry.”

“It’s all right, Mummy. You better return home and rest. I’ll be fine together with Granny.”

Everyone laughed, and Luna who was sitting between Lily and Hermione said, “My, you’ve become a fine big boy.”

Harry shyly hid his head in Severus’ robes.

-----

Later in Minerva’s office, the Headmistress handed Harry a timetable and explained, “Harry, this is just a suggestion which we can change anytime. As far as possible I’ve put in private lessons with most of the teachers. During the remaining hours, I have planned your schedule according to the first years’ classes. However, provided that I’ll be available, I intend to continue teaching you the Animagus transformation during these times. Look at your time table, these lessons are marked in green. If you ask me at breakfast, I’ll be able to tell you if I have time or not.”

“All right, Granny. Thank you very much,” Harry replied sincerely, glad to be able to learn many new things during the school year.

“You might wonder why you have more lessons with Uncle Tom and your father than with the other teachers. This is not without a reason. Uncle Tom has expressed a reasonable as I believe interest in teaching you wandless magic and your father intends to intensively teach you Potions.”

Seeing Harry’s eyes twinkling happily, Minerva continued, “During the last school year you did a very good job helping all the teachers with their grading work. If you wanted to help again, I’d like to ask you to help Professor Lovegood and your mother first as both of them are new and will surely need some time to adjust to everything. They will be more in need of help than the others, especially your mother as she also has the Head of House position to get used to.”

“All right, Granny. I will do so. Um… Could you speak to Professor Lovegood about it? I mean, I don’t really know her. Hermione told me that she was a friend of mine before and knows me well but…”

Minerva laughed. “Yes, my child. I have already spoken to Ms. Lovegood, and I’ve reserved a few hours for grading – look here at the hours marked in red on your timetable. They are the free periods of your mother and Ms. Lovegood. I don’t think she’d mind if you called her Luna by the way. But Harry… Please remember that you may help with the grading but you don’t have to.”

Seeing that the boy was tiredly rubbing his eyes, Minerva said, “All right, you should return to your room and go to bed, Harry. If you have questions, we’ll be able to talk about it at breakfast. All right?”

“Yes, thanks, Granny, good night,” Harry replied and gave Fawkes a pleading glance who flashed Harry back into his room immediately.

-----

During the next months, Harry enjoyed himself immensely. He especially liked his lessons with Tom and Severus as both of them taught him things he had never heard of before. Severus told Harry at the beginning of the school year that he wanted to teach him easy Healing Potions. In the near future, he intended to do some research to which Harry would perhaps be able to contribute to, if he had a certain level of knowledge about these potions. Healing potions had to be brewed precisely. Therefore, Severus didn’t go easy on Harry, and Harry eagerly tried not to disappoint his father.

On weekdays, Harry often spent the evenings either reading the Potions book his father had given him at the beginning of the school year or helping his mother grading homework whenever he noticed that she was tired or busy.

Tom’s lessons were very difficult, too. He not only taught Harry wandless magic but also silent magic. At first, Harry only tried very easy spells like Lumos or Wingardium Leviosa. However, it was very difficult.

During their fifth lesson, Harry lost his patience. “Uncle Tom, I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I’m just too stoopid,” he suddenly started to wail.

“Oh, Harry,” Tom said, putting both hands on Harry’s shoulders. “Nobody expects you to be able to manage wandless magic within two weeks, especially as you’re only seven years old. Why do you think we don’t teach the students wandless magic?” When Harry didn’t answer, he continued, “Because it’s very difficult, Harry. We just thought you’d like to learn something different, and as your magic is so powerful you’ll likely be able to manage wandless magic eventually. But you don’t have to learn if you don’t want to.”

Harry wiped the tears from his cheeks and started rubbing his forehead against the headache that he always got attempting wandless magic. “It’s not that I don’t want to learn, just that I think I’m too stupid,” he finally said.

“No, you’re not stupid at all. Shall we try once more? Try to levitate the parchment in front of me over to your side of the table,” Tom instructed his godson.

Harry really tried hard, but it took the boy several weeks until he was able to levitate a parchment to the other side of the table.

“Very well done, Harry,” Tom commended his godson. “The fact that you managed to do this proves that you’re able to do wandless as well as silent magic. It is not a common ability,” he added, seeing that Harry enquiringly raised an eyebrow. “Now how about you try to levitate the cushion over there onto the chair next to you?”

Harry frowned. He was already very tired from trying to lift the parchment and his head hurt but he knew that he couldn’t tell anyone about it, otherwise he wouldn’t be allowed to practise wandless magic anymore.

His hesitation must have been too obvious because Tom asked, “Harry, what’s wrong? Are you tired? You know that you can only practise wandless magic if you feel completely well. If you’re too tired you have to tell me immediately. It’s no problem to finish a lesson earlier. Sit here on the sofa and rest for a while,” he instructed his godson and Harry complied, relieved.

-----

The Animagus practise with Minerva was no less tiring. Harry had so far managed to transform his whole body except for his head, which just seemed to be impossible to transform.

“Don’t worry, Harry,” Minerva said, putting a calming hand on Harry’s arm. “Even much older wizards than you have to practise years in order to be able to manage the Animagus transformation, and more than ninety percent of the wizards aren’t able to transform at all.”

“But maybe I belong to these ninety percent,” Harry said, feeling frustrated.

“No, you’re not,” Minerva replied firmly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have managed to transform at all, not even your left hand. But it might take some more time, and you’ve time enough. You’re not even a Hogwarts student yet. Remember, you’re still seven…”

“Nearly eight,” Harry interrupted proudly.

“All right,” Minerva laughed. “Anyway, try to be patient; you’ll manage when you’re ready for it, that’s for sure.”

And Minerva was right. On the first day of the winter holidays, Minerva offered Harry a lesson directly after the students had gone home for Christmas. Probably because he hadn’t had any other lessons before and was well rested, Harry managed to transform into his phoenix form completely.

“Oh, Harry, congratulations. You’re beautiful – just like Fawkes,” Minerva commended him, excitement shining in the older woman’s eyes.

Fawkes flew down from the shelf where he had been sitting next to the Sorting Hat and onto the floor, landing just in front of Harry.

#Well done Firefly. That’s what I’m going to call you now by the way. Now you have to learn to walk, fly, and flash. I’m going to teach you, nestling.#

#Thank you, Fawkes,# Harry as Firefly answered and carefully tried to make a step ahead. He only managed two steps however, before he stumbled and fell down to the floor.

Fawkes let out a giggling trill, joined by Minerva’s laugh, who then asked, “Is Fawkes going to teach you everything you have to know as a phoenix?”

#Yes,# Harry answered excitedly.

“Was that a ‘Yes’? Sorry, Harry, I can’t understand you,” Minerva told him smiling and Harry nodded his head.

#Now come on, get onto your feet and try to walk again,# Fawkes urged Harry and he tried again and again until he was finally able to walk on his bird’s feet.

At the same time that Fawkes let out an enthusiastic trill, #Well done, Firefly,# Minerva commended Harry, too. “Very good, Harry!”

#All right,# Fawkes trilled. #Shall I teach you to fly, or do you want to rest for a while first?#

#I’m a bit tired,# Harry admitted, and Fawkes showed him how to avert his head so that he could rest his head on the plume of his back. Harry immediately followed his familiar’s example and took a short nap. A few minutes later, he woke up to his father’s voice.

Severus came to see Minerva in order to discuss the Christmas schedule and Harry’s birthday party with the Headmistress. However, he stopped stunned when he saw the two birds sitting on the floor in the middle of Minerva’s office. “Harry?” he asked, astonished.

#Yes, Daddy, it’s me,# Harry shouted happily and excitedly started to flap his wings and took off in order to fly up to his father’s arm.

Noticing too late what Harry intended to do, Severus bowed down, holding out his arm for Harry, but Harry already tumbled down onto the floor. #Ouch. Fawkes, how do I do that?#

#You have to send a bit of your magic into your wings and flap your wings as you already did. Try again. Maybe you’ll have to try for a few times but then you’ll manage.#

Harry tried again, and after about twenty small crashes onto the floor, he managed to land on his father’s arm. Fortunately by then, Severus was sitting down in a chair talking to Minerva, so that the height of his arm was much easier to reach than before. Severus immediately started to pet the beautiful phoenix. Getting stroked his head feathers felt so good that Harry soon turned his head onto his back and fell asleep.

When he woke up a few hours later on his bed in his own room, Fawkes was looking down from his perch. #Hi Firefly, did you have a nice sleep?#

#Yes, Fawkes, thank you# phoenix Harry replied, very glad to have finally managed the transfiguration.

#All right then, let me show you how to flash# Fawkes suggested, and Harry agreed eagerly.

After a few tries, in which nothing happened, Harry managed to flash himself to the other end of the room.

#Very good, little nestling# Fawkes commended and suggested, #Now let’s see if you can manage to flash you out into the living room where your parents are.#

Harry concentrated on where he wanted to flash, and seconds later, he appeared in a huge room he had never seen before. ‘Where am I?’ he thought, panicking. ‘Am I still at Hogwarts?’

Chapter 11 – Lessons with Fawkes

Ignoring the offended looks of his colleagues, Flitwick continued, “Lily was the best Charms student I ever had in all my years of teaching. She would surely be good at teaching Transfiguration but it would be a waste. Therefore, I want to suggest a few personnel changes.”

Seeing that he had everyone’s attention, Flitwick elaborated, “I believe it is time to let the ghost retire, Minerva.”

“All right,” the Headmistress replied, surprised but without hesitation.

“Well, in that case I would like to take over the position of History of Magic teacher under the condition that Lily will be my successor as Charms Professor,” Flitwick continued, seeing that the faces of his colleagues brightened a little.

“But who is going to teach Transfiguration, Filius?” Minerva asked exasperated. “I cannot be Headmistress and a fulltime teacher at the same time.”

“Yes, of course, I know that and I have already had a little talk with a former student of mine, Luna Lovegood. She is willing to take over the Transfiguration position and she is quite able as well. Moreover, as she is a Ravenclaw, I’d like her to be my successor as Head of House in a few years’ time, as well.”

“You have really worked this out, haven’t you, Filius?” Minerva said, smiling. “What do you think, Lily? You seem to have the choice between Transfiguration and Charms.”

Lily glanced from the Headmistress to the Charms teacher. She couldn’t believe her luck. Charms had always been her favourite subject and she would choose the position of Charms professor above everything else.

“Thank you very much for offering me the Charms position, and if everyone was all right with me taking the position I’d really love to do so.”

“All right, then we will do as Filius has suggested. Lily for Charms, Filius for History of Magic, and Ms. Lovegood for Transfiguration. Filius, please contact Ms. Lovegood and ask her to come to see me as soon as possible,” Minerva concluded the conversation.

Lily was very happy with this decision, especially as there was only a little time left until the beginning of the new school year and it would have been much more work for her to prepare Transfiguration classes than Charms classes, which she was much more confident with. In fact, Lily’s condition was not too good due to the fact that she had gained eighteen years during the time she had spent wherever it was that Tom had sent her to save her from death; although in her mind, only seconds had passed. So instead of being twenty-one she was now thirty-nine years old, and it was difficult to adjust to the new state of her body. She felt very old and tired all the time. So far, Lily hadn’t told anyone except for Poppy who had asked her straight away, seeing how much Lily slept while they were on the beach. Unfortunately, the Mediwitch couldn’t do much to help Lily with her problem.

The only people that could help Lily were Severus and Harry, who had both noticed what was wrong very quickly and were extremely considerate and helpful.

-----

After their return to Hogwarts, Harry still had to spend a few days in bed until Poppy finally allowed him to get up. As soon as Harry started to feel better, Severus and Poppy gave him two very stern talks.

Harry thought his conversation with his godmother, in which he had ended up feeling very ashamed and had even cried, had been bad. However, his talk with Severus made him feel much worse.

“Do you know how much your mother and I care about you, Harry?” Severus asked in a tone which Harry knew was normally reserved for students doing detention. As Harry looked at him anxiously, he continued, “We did everything we could to keep you safe, even inviting others to our honeymoon just for your safety.”

Seeing that Harry had averted his eyes to his bed cover, Severus said, “Look at me, Harry. We told you many times that you were not to go anywhere on your own. Moreover, Poppy had explicitly made it clear that your condition was not improved enough to go into the water. So, please do tell me what you were thinking, heading straight into the water on-your-own!” Severus had to try hard not to shout at his son. However, his facial expression let Harry very well know how his father felt about the matter.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Harry mumbled, not able to keep the tears from running down his cheeks.

“Sorry is not enough!” Severus stated, glaring daggers at his son. “You have to promise not to do such a stupid stunt again.”

“I’ll try, Daddy,” Harry replied anxiously and as his father continued to glance at him, a memory of his first childhood appeared in front of his eyes and he began to shake, panicking. “I’m sorry, I’ll be good,” he insisted, backing away as far as he could.

Severus frowned at the sight of the terrified child. “Harry,” he said as calmly as he could manage. “You know that I love you very much and that I’d never hurt you deliberately. I know that in your first childhood your uncle punished you with beating or the like, but I promise you, I will never do that to you. Look at me, Harry,” he told his son as he carefully reached out to stroke Harry’s head, noticing with relief that Harry didn’t back up further.

“In order for you to know how you’ll be punished in the future, I’ve thought of introducing a points system similar to the Hogwarts House system. Points will be awarded for good behaviour and will be taken for bad behaviour. When you manage to accumulate twenty points, your mother or I will take you to the bookshop and you may choose a book. If you manage to have five negative points, you will serve detention with me scrubbing cauldrons. Do you think this is a fair trade?”

Harry slowly looked up to his father. “Yes, Dad, thanks.”

Severus conjured two small Hourglasses, which he fixed on the opposite wall of Harry’s room, one with a phoenix on it and one with a spider. At the top of the two glasses were many colourful marbles. “Now, Harry, all good points go into the phoenix’ glass, the negative points into the spider’s glass.” Severus put a charm around the glasses, so that only Lily and he could award or take points. Then he added a Silencing Charm and an Unbreakable Charm, so that the glass wouldn’t break when the marbles, which were the size of small apples, fell down.

“All right, Harry.” Severus gave his son a piercing look, searching for approval in the bright green eyes. Then he lightly tapped the left glass three times and three marbles fell down into the spider’s glass. “Now, that was for bringing yourself into so much danger,” he explained sternly, before he tapped the left glass twice, so that two marbles made their way down into the phoenix’ glass. “And these points are for helping Mummy so much during the first days with us.”

Seeing that his son was staring at the glasses uncomfortably, Severus said soothingly, “Harry, I know, you’re starting with more spider points than phoenix points but I’m sure you’ll catch up collecting good points very soon. As I told you before, when you have twenty phoenix points you may choose a new book. Or you can use your good points to get rid of the bad points if you want to. If not, you have to scrub cauldrons at five spider points.”

Harry managed to show his father a small smile. “All right, Daddy, can you please make two points go’way? Then I’ll only have one spider point.”

Severus waved his wand at the two hourglasses and two phoenix points as well as two spider points vanished. Harry let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, Daddy.”

-----

Too soon in Lily’s and Severus’ opinion, the new school year started. Harry however was very glad to have the students back. At the Welcoming feast, Harry sat at the Head table between his parents. When everyone had finally started to eat after the Sorting was finished, Severus leaned over to Lily and said, “Enjoy dining together with your son. Normally he only eats at the Head table when he is sick, afraid of something, or wants something.”

Everyone around them laughed and Harry protested vehemently. “I just don’t want to be in your way. Maybe you have something to discuss with the other teachers,” he said, smirking. “How can I know that?”

“It’s all right, Harry. Until you’re sorted into a house you may do as you wish,” Lily assured her son, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

A few minutes later, Minerva addressed Harry from Severus’ other side. “Harry, I would like to speak with you about your timetable. Can you come to my office after dinner?”

Harry glanced over at Severus, who gave him an encouraging nod and said, “Unless you want to accompany me to the House meeting in Slytherin, you’re free to go. However, you may not return home on your own. Let Fawkes take you back to our quarters.”

“Ah, all right, Granny. I’ll come with you after dinner. Mummy, do you have a House meeting, too?”

Lily threw Minerva an astonished look. “Do you do House meetings in Gryffindor now?”

“No,” Minerva replied calmly. I have never done that. However, if you wish…”

“Oh no, I don’t think so. I have to get used to so many things,” Lily replied, sighing tiredly. “If you wish I can accompany Harry.”

“It’s all right, Mummy. You better return home and rest. I’ll be fine together with Granny.”

Everyone laughed, and Luna who was sitting between Lily and Hermione said, “My, you’ve become a fine big boy.”

Harry shyly hid his head in Severus’ robes.

-----

Later in Minerva’s office, the Headmistress handed Harry a timetable and explained, “Harry, this is just a suggestion which we can change anytime. As far as possible I’ve put in private lessons with most of the teachers. During the remaining hours, I have planned your schedule according to the first years’ classes. However, provided that I’ll be available, I intend to continue teaching you the Animagus transformation during these times. Look at your time table, these lessons are marked in green. If you ask me at breakfast, I’ll be able to tell you if I have time or not.”

“All right, Granny. Thank you very much,” Harry replied sincerely, glad to be able to learn many new things during the school year.

“You might wonder why you have more lessons with Uncle Tom and your father than with the other teachers. This is not without a reason. Uncle Tom has expressed a reasonable as I believe interest in teaching you wandless magic and your father intends to intensively teach you Potions.”

Seeing Harry’s eyes twinkling happily, Minerva continued, “During the last school year you did a very good job helping all the teachers with their grading work. If you wanted to help again, I’d like to ask you to help Professor Lovegood and your mother first as both of them are new and will surely need some time to adjust to everything. They will be more in need of help than the others, especially your mother as she also has the Head of House position to get used to.”

“All right, Granny. I will do so. Um… Could you speak to Professor Lovegood about it? I mean, I don’t really know her. Hermione told me that she was a friend of mine before and knows me well but…”

Minerva laughed. “Yes, my child. I have already spoken to Ms. Lovegood, and I’ve reserved a few hours for grading – look here at the hours marked in red on your timetable. They are the free periods of your mother and Ms. Lovegood. I don’t think she’d mind if you called her Luna by the way. But Harry… Please remember that you may help with the grading but you don’t have to.”

Seeing that the boy was tiredly rubbing his eyes, Minerva said, “All right, you should return to your room and go to bed, Harry. If you have questions, we’ll be able to talk about it at breakfast. All right?”

“Yes, thanks, Granny, good night,” Harry replied and gave Fawkes a pleading glance who flashed Harry back into his room immediately.

-----

During the next months, Harry enjoyed himself immensely. He especially liked his lessons with Tom and Severus as both of them taught him things he had never heard of before. Severus told Harry at the beginning of the school year that he wanted to teach him easy Healing Potions. In the near future, he intended to do some research to which Harry would perhaps be able to contribute to, if he had a certain level of knowledge about these potions. Healing potions had to be brewed precisely. Therefore, Severus didn’t go easy on Harry, and Harry eagerly tried not to disappoint his father.

On weekdays, Harry often spent the evenings either reading the Potions book his father had given him at the beginning of the school year or helping his mother grading homework whenever he noticed that she was tired or busy.

Tom’s lessons were very difficult, too. He not only taught Harry wandless magic but also silent magic. At first, Harry only tried very easy spells like Lumos or Wingardium Leviosa. However, it was very difficult.

During their fifth lesson, Harry lost his patience. “Uncle Tom, I’m sorry, I can’t do that. I’m just too stoopid,” he suddenly started to wail.

“Oh, Harry,” Tom said, putting both hands on Harry’s shoulders. “Nobody expects you to be able to manage wandless magic within two weeks, especially as you’re only seven years old. Why do you think we don’t teach the students wandless magic?” When Harry didn’t answer, he continued, “Because it’s very difficult, Harry. We just thought you’d like to learn something different, and as your magic is so powerful you’ll likely be able to manage wandless magic eventually. But you don’t have to learn if you don’t want to.”

Harry wiped the tears from his cheeks and started rubbing his forehead against the headache that he always got attempting wandless magic. “It’s not that I don’t want to learn, just that I think I’m too stupid,” he finally said.

“No, you’re not stupid at all. Shall we try once more? Try to levitate the parchment in front of me over to your side of the table,” Tom instructed his godson.

Harry really tried hard, but it took the boy several weeks until he was able to levitate a parchment to the other side of the table.

“Very well done, Harry,” Tom commended his godson. “The fact that you managed to do this proves that you’re able to do wandless as well as silent magic. It is not a common ability,” he added, seeing that Harry enquiringly raised an eyebrow. “Now how about you try to levitate the cushion over there onto the chair next to you?”

Harry frowned. He was already very tired from trying to lift the parchment and his head hurt but he knew that he couldn’t tell anyone about it, otherwise he wouldn’t be allowed to practise wandless magic anymore.

His hesitation must have been too obvious because Tom asked, “Harry, what’s wrong? Are you tired? You know that you can only practise wandless magic if you feel completely well. If you’re too tired you have to tell me immediately. It’s no problem to finish a lesson earlier. Sit here on the sofa and rest for a while,” he instructed his godson and Harry complied, relieved.

-----

The Animagus practise with Minerva was no less tiring. Harry had so far managed to transform his whole body except for his head, which just seemed to be impossible to transform.

“Don’t worry, Harry,” Minerva said, putting a calming hand on Harry’s arm. “Even much older wizards than you have to practise years in order to be able to manage the Animagus transformation, and more than ninety percent of the wizards aren’t able to transform at all.”

“But maybe I belong to these ninety percent,” Harry said, feeling frustrated.

“No, you’re not,” Minerva replied firmly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have managed to transform at all, not even your left hand. But it might take some more time, and you’ve time enough. You’re not even a Hogwarts student yet. Remember, you’re still seven…”

“Nearly eight,” Harry interrupted proudly.

“All right,” Minerva laughed. “Anyway, try to be patient; you’ll manage when you’re ready for it, that’s for sure.”

And Minerva was right. On the first day of the winter holidays, Minerva offered Harry a lesson directly after the students had gone home for Christmas. Probably because he hadn’t had any other lessons before and was well rested, Harry managed to transform into his phoenix form completely.

“Oh, Harry, congratulations. You’re beautiful – just like Fawkes,” Minerva commended him, excitement shining in the older woman’s eyes.

Fawkes flew down from the shelf where he had been sitting next to the Sorting Hat and onto the floor, landing just in front of Harry.

#Well done Firefly. That’s what I’m going to call you now by the way. Now you have to learn to walk, fly, and flash. I’m going to teach you, nestling.#

#Thank you, Fawkes,# Harry as Firefly answered and carefully tried to make a step ahead. He only managed two steps however, before he stumbled and fell down to the floor.

Fawkes let out a giggling trill, joined by Minerva’s laugh, who then asked, “Is Fawkes going to teach you everything you have to know as a phoenix?”

#Yes,# Harry answered excitedly.

“Was that a ‘Yes’? Sorry, Harry, I can’t understand you,” Minerva told him smiling and Harry nodded his head.

#Now come on, get onto your feet and try to walk again,# Fawkes urged Harry and he tried again and again until he was finally able to walk on his bird’s feet.

At the same time that Fawkes let out an enthusiastic trill, #Well done, Firefly,# Minerva commended Harry, too. “Very good, Harry!”

#All right,# Fawkes trilled. #Shall I teach you to fly, or do you want to rest for a while first?#

#I’m a bit tired,# Harry admitted, and Fawkes showed him how to avert his head so that he could rest his head on the plume of his back. Harry immediately followed his familiar’s example and took a short nap. A few minutes later, he woke up to his father’s voice.

Severus came to see Minerva in order to discuss the Christmas schedule and Harry’s birthday party with the Headmistress. However, he stopped stunned when he saw the two birds sitting on the floor in the middle of Minerva’s office. “Harry?” he asked, astonished.

#Yes, Daddy, it’s me,# Harry shouted happily and excitedly started to flap his wings and took off in order to fly up to his father’s arm.

Noticing too late what Harry intended to do, Severus bowed down, holding out his arm for Harry, but Harry already tumbled down onto the floor. #Ouch. Fawkes, how do I do that?#

#You have to send a bit of your magic into your wings and flap your wings as you already did. Try again. Maybe you’ll have to try for a few times but then you’ll manage.#

Harry tried again, and after about twenty small crashes onto the floor, he managed to land on his father’s arm. Fortunately by then, Severus was sitting down in a chair talking to Minerva, so that the height of his arm was much easier to reach than before. Severus immediately started to pet the beautiful phoenix. Getting stroked his head feathers felt so good that Harry soon turned his head onto his back and fell asleep.

When he woke up a few hours later on his bed in his own room, Fawkes was looking down from his perch. #Hi Firefly, did you have a nice sleep?#

#Yes, Fawkes, thank you# phoenix Harry replied, very glad to have finally managed the transfiguration.

#All right then, let me show you how to flash# Fawkes suggested, and Harry agreed eagerly.

After a few tries, in which nothing happened, Harry managed to flash himself to the other end of the room.

#Very good, little nestling# Fawkes commended and suggested, #Now let’s see if you can manage to flash you out into the living room where your parents are.#

Harry concentrated on where he wanted to flash, and seconds later, he appeared in a huge room he had never seen before. ‘Where am I?’ he thought, panicking. ‘Am I still at Hogwarts?’

Harry slowly transformed back and couldn’t see a thing; it was completely dark. As a magical creature, the phoenix could easily see in the dark, which was only one of the phoenix’ abilities but back in his human form Harry didn’t have this comfort. As Harry didn’t have his wand, he tried to cast a wandless Lumos Charm, which fortunately worked immediately. He looked around; he was in a large room. The room was so dusty however, that Harry could hardly recognize anything. He attempted to use his wandless magic to clean his surroundings up a bit, but it didn’t work. Harry contemplated feverishly what to do. Would he be able to flash back? He wasn’t sure, but he did know he wanted to figure out where he was.

Suddenly, a thought penetrated his mind. If he was at Hogwarts, he could just try to call Dobby and he’d find him. “Dobby!” Harry whispered anxiously, and an instant later the small house elf appeared with a crack. Harry relaxed immediately and tried to resist the urge to pull the little elf into a hug.

“Harry Snape, sir, what is Harry Snape doing here?”

“I transformed into a phoenix and flashed here by chance,” Harry explained quickly. “Dobby could you please cast a cleaning spell. It’s so dusty here.”

Dobby snapped his fingers and in an instant the dust was vanished away. Harry anxiously eyed his surroundings and found that he was in a place similar to the Ravenclaw common room. “Dobby, do you know where we are?” Harry asked curiously, but the elf sadly shook his head.

“Dobby is sorry, Master Harry, but Dobby not knows where is here.”

Suddenly, Fawkes appeared in front of Harry and Dobby. #What are you doing here, my nestling?# Fawkes asked, astonished and Harry explained how he flashed himself here by chance.

“Where are we, Fawkes?” Harry tried once more, raising an eyebrow as he looked at his familiar.

#This is the fifth house,# Fawkes answered shortly. #I will explain to you back in your room tonight, all right? Your parents are very worried about you; I have to take you back home.#

“Only if you promise to bring me back here tomorrow and explain everything about this fifth house,” Harry challenged, and the phoenix agreed immediately.

-----

When Fawkes and Harry arrived in the Snape quarters, Lily and Severus were very upset. “Harry, where have you been?” Severus asked sternly, trying to cover his anger, in order not to frighten the child.

“I’m sorry, Mummy, Daddy,” Harry apologized immediately. “Fawkes wanted to teach me how to flash and at first I managed in my room, but then I wanted to flash out here but I ended up in an unused room somewhere here in the castle. Fortunately, Fawkes came to bring me back as I don’t know if I’d have been able to flash back here properly. Sorry.”

“It’s all right now, Harry,” Lily said softly, putting a calming hand on her husband’s shoulder and pulling Harry close with her other hand. “But please be very careful from now on, Harry.”

“Now, let’s go to the Great Hall for dinner then,” Severus suggested and Harry suddenly noticed how hungry he was.

“Yes, I’m hungry,” Harry agreed immediately. Somehow he seemed to have missed lunch, perhaps when he had been asleep in the Headmistress’ office.

-----

Later in the evening, after Severus had read a story to Harry, and Lily had tucked her son in, Fawkes explained to Harry what he knew about the fifth House.

#I don’t know if you’re aware of the fact that I was Merlin’s phoenix.#

When Harry looked at him in awe, Fawkes continued, #Anyway, I’ve known this castle from the beginning. About two hundred years after the foundation, the heir of Ravenclaw, who was a teacher and Head of Ravenclaw at that time, invented the Fifth House. The reason was that the Sorting Hat always complained that there were students that didn’t fit into any house or those that would fit into more than one house. So, the new House was founded and the Sorting Hat sorted all students he couldn’t sort properly in that house. However, about one hundred years later, there were a few years when only ten students were in the House, and the teachers decided to close the house.#

“But why? I mean, it’s a very good thing actually. As far as I remember from the first time I came to Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat couldn’t decide if he should put me into Gryffindor or Slytherin. And why have I never before heard of this house?”

Fawkes let out a trill, sounding like a small laugh. #That, my nestling, is because nobody knows about the House any more. But now as you have discovered it, you only have to make your discovery public to the Headmistress, so that the information will once more show up in the respective books.#

“So as long as I don’t tell anyone, nobody will know, right?” Harry asked mischievously.

#Yes, that’s true. As long as the Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts doesn’t get this information, it won’t show up anywhere. Only the Sorting Hat and I know about it – apart from some of the ghosts of course.#

Before he sank into an exhausted sleep, Harry decided not to tell anybody about his discovery.

-----

Two days later, Harry finally had the opportunity to visit the interesting place again. In the meantime, his parents kept a close eye on him so that he couldn’t get away, so he had to wait as he didn’t even want his parents to know about the House he had found. At first, he wanted to discover everything about it on his own.

On December 23rd Harry helped his parents, Minerva, and Filius to decorate the Great Hall and the huge Christmas tree in the Hall. However, the magic he used to conjure baubles and to place Christmas Charms on the tree, which his mother taught him, was obviously too much for his small body and Harry sat down tiredly.

Severus had watched him the whole time and had admonished Harry several times to stop doing magic but Harry had thought he had known better. Severus sighed, looking at his son. “Fawkes, could you please take Harry back into his room? Harry, I want you to take a nap. Mummy or I will return before dinner to wake you up.”

Harry only gave his father a small nod, already grabbing Fawkes’ tail feathers. When Fawkes had flashed Harry into his room, he turned to the phoenix and said excitedly, “Please, Fawkes, flash me into the Other House, so that I can have a look around. We still have three hours until dinner.”

#I can do that nestling, but you know that your big chicks will go ballistic when they notice your absence. Are you sure you want to gain spider points?#

“It’s worth a few spider points, I don’t mind,” Harry answered curtly and grabbed Fawkes tail feathers. “Please Fawkes.”

Seconds later, Fawkes and Harry arrived in the room, which probably had been the Common room of the House. This time, Harry fortunately had his wand with him as he had needed it to help the teachers decorating. With a few waves of his wand, he cleared the whole House of dust, not only the Common room as Dobby had done a few days ago.

Harry looked in every room throughout the House but couldn’t find anything interesting. While the Common room was similar to the Ravenclaw Common room, the dormitories were exactly like those in Gryffindor. The only thing really unique in this House was the colour. While the other houses were done in two colours, this House was more colourful and was done in green, blue, red, and yellow. Everything looked very bright and friendly here, and Harry liked it immediately.

Harry held out his arm to his phoenix to step on. “All right, Fawkes. Thanks for bringing me here. Now, I’d like to find out where exactly we are. Let’s take the exit from the Common room and try to find our way back home, all right?”

#All right, nestling. Go on and let me sit on your shoulder,# Fawkes replied approvingly.

Harry opened the Portrait hole seeing that the portrait on the other side of the door didn’t hold a human being like in the portraits leading to the other Common rooms. This one here was a picture of several – magical as Harry noticed – creatures. He could make out a phoenix, a basilisk, a unicorn, and several other animals he didn’t know. Several of them started to talk immediately when they spotted Harry and Fawkes. Harry however could only understand the phoenix and the basilisk.

#What are you doing here? Oh, it’s Fawkes, right?# the portrait’s phoenix asked excitedly.

While Fawkes trilled a reply, Harry turned to the basilisk that had asked, “Who are you? Are you a ssspeaker?”

“Hello, I’m Harry. Yes, I can understand you,” Harry replied in Parseltongue. “I will come from time to time to visit you if you don’t mind,” he added, glancing hesitantly at the other animals that were talking as well in spite of the fact that he couldn’t understand them.

“Come back any time. I’m glad to be able to talk. Haven’t met a speaker in a few hundred years and it’s getting boring,” the basilisk told Harry.

“Will you let me in any time, or do I have to know a password?” Harry enquired, just to be on the safe side.

“Just come and talk to me. I’ll let you in,” the basilisk promised and Harry turned to Fawkes, seeing that his familiar had finished his conversation too. “All right, let’s see where we are,” Harry said, looking out of the window where he could see the Forbidden Forest. He started to walk in the only direction possible, waving his wand from time to time to clear up the dust in front of them. Harry and Fawkes passed several classrooms on both sides before the hall led to a wide flight of stairs, which Harry recognized to be near the Ravenclaw Common room.

‘Ah, all right, now I know where this house is,’ Harry thought. ‘Strange that nobody has found it before; it’s so near to Ravenclaw. But of course, even if people discovered the portrait with the animals, they wouldn’t know what was hidden behind it and they wouldn’t be able to talk to the animals either,’ he reminded himself.

Now that the excitement about the discovery and his curiosity had come down a bit, Harry suddenly felt very tired and asked Fawkes to take him back to his room, where he lay down and fell asleep immediately without even having a chance to think about what he had seen and heard.

-----

The next day was Harry’s eighth birthday and Harry was very excited. It was his first birthday together with his Mummy, and Lily had organized a birthday party for him. Harry had always had a small party together with the teachers and students who had remained at Hogwarts during the winter holidays and Tom had always organized a birthday party for Harry at Riddle Manor a few days later, but he had never had a birthday party at Hogwarts, which was his home.

Harry was awake very early. He excitedly glanced at the green dragon clock above his door, noticing that it was only five o’clock. Nevertheless, Harry got up and went straight to the Hourglass to cheek his points. Seeing that he had eighteen phoenix points, while the spider was angrily licking its mouth, Harry became very eager. He only had to receive two more points and he would be allowed to choose a new book! ‘What can I do to get two points?’ he thought feverishly and finally decided to have a look at his mother’s office. Maybe there were some papers to grade.

Harry hurried into his mother’s office and immediately noticed several piles of test parchments on her desk. He picked up the pile with the first year tests and started to grade them, which was very easy for him. Harry loved grading the students’ work and he enjoyed himself so much that he didn’t notice how fast the time passed. When he was finished with the first and second years’ tests he reached out for the third years pile when another pile of parchments caught his eye. He knew that it were the papers his mother used for her lessons.

When he picked up the first few parchments and looked at them curiously he noticed that they were completely mixed up. Parchments for the first years on the top were followed by parchments for the sixth years and so on. It was a complete mess. Harry sighed. His mother must have been really tired to leave her lesson papers in such a mess. He pulled the pile of parchments over to the part of the desk that Lily had assigned him and started to sort every parchment according to the year that was written on the top of it. This took quite a time as Harry didn’t remember any spell to do the work for him but had to sort the papers manually.

When he was finally finished, he was famished. He went over to the other side of the office where Fawkes was peacefully sleeping on the back of a chair and pried the bird’s feet off the chair and onto his fingers from where the phoenix lazily stepped over onto Harry’s shoulder. Together with the bird Harry left his mother’s office and stepped into the Snapes’ living room in order to look for his parents.

Harry couldn’t see his father anywhere but his mother was crouched in front of the fireplace talking to someone. Harry stepped behind his mother and recognized Minerva in the fireplace. “Good morning, Granny,” he shouted happily. His happiness however vanished quickly when Lily let out a huge gasp and turned to him, so that he got a look at her tear-stricken face.

“What’s wrong, Mummy?” he enquired, horrified.

“Where were you, Harry?” his mother asked back, obviously trying hard to stay calm.

“I was in your office grading the first and second years’ tests,” Harry replied proudly and gave his mother a true smile.

However, Harry’s smile turned soon into a gasp when he heard Minerva’s voice sounding throughout the school. “Harry has been found safely in his quarters, thank you all for searching. Please come to the Great Hall for breakfast.”

“Have you been looking for me, Mummy?” Harry enquired and – seeing that his mother was still crying – went over to Lily, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so sorry, Mummy, I only wanted to help,” he told his mother, crying now too.

“It’s all right, Harry, you’re safe now. We just didn’t know where you were, and Fawkes was gone too, and Daddy couldn’t find you on the Marauders’ Map, so we were very worried,” Lily said, letting out a relieved sigh.

An instant later, Severus entered their quarters and went straight over to Lily and Harry, pulling both of them into an embrace. “Harry, where were you?” he asked softly, noticing the tears on his son’s face.

“I’m sorry, Daddy, I didn’t intend to hide; I was in Mummy’s office grading tests and arranging some papers,” Harry answered quietly. “I noticed that I need two more phoenix points, and I wanted to do something to help,” he added softly.

“Thank you very much, my son,” Lily answered calmingly and put a few kisses onto Harry’s face.

“Of course, Lily’s office is new, so it couldn’t be on the Marauders’ Map. All right then, Happy Birthday, son,” Severus said, pulling Harry close.

Before Harry could even answer, Lily echoed, “Happy Birthday, sweetie.”

“Thanks. Um… I’m very hungry. Can we have breakfast now?” Seeing his parents nod, Harry hurried to the Great Hall.

-----

After Harry had devoured two large pieces of birthday cake, Severus addressed his son. “Originally, we intended to let you open your presents now, but due to the happenings this morning it has become very late. Hermione and Luna have offered to take you to the bookshop in Hogsmeade as several people have given you book vouchers. Therefore, I recommend that you only open the envelopes containing the vouchers and have a look at your other presents later as your friends will be arriving in about three hours’ time and you’ll have to be back by then.”

Harry agreed happily and gratefully accepted and opened the envelopes his father summoned for him. Afterwards, he struggled to put on the red snow suit with small lions Minerva quickly conjured for him. When he had finally managed, he turned to his mother. “Mummy, could I borrow your wand for a second, please?”

Lily gave him an enquiring look but knowing that her son normally behaved very reasonably she handed him her wand. Harry pointed the wand at himself and used silent magic to change his outfit to a dark blue colour with small green dragons on it, before he gratefully handed back Lily’s wand.

“Oh, getting fashionable, are we?” Rolanda teased him and everyone laughed.

“Very well done… your silent magic,” Luna commented the boy, and Hermione nodded her head approvingly.

Severus put both hands on Harry’s shoulders and whispered, “I’m proud of you, son, and so is your Mummy. Be careful when you go to Hogsmeade. Fawkes will flash you.”

-----

Two minutes later, Harry, Hermione, and Luna arrived at the bookstore. Before Harry could rush over to the children’s bookshelf, Hermione asked, “Harry, are you aware of how much money you can spend? Have you added the amount on the vouchers?”

Harry shook his head. No. He hadn’t thought about that at all. He hastily pulled the six vouchers out of his robe pocket and handed them over to Hermione who gave him a stern look. “Hmm?” Harry asked innocently.

“You can already do maths, can’t you, Harry? Hmm?” Hermione asked, looking straight at Harry, who shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

“What have you been doing this morning to be so tired, Harry?” Luna stepped into the conversation, quickly taking the vouchers from Hermione and counting them for Harry. “By the way, Harry, just to let you know… I didn’t give you a book voucher because I’ve thought about something else. From me you’ll get a membership card for the huge Muggle library in London. I’ll take you there as soon as your parents let me.”

Harry’s eyes started to twinkle happily. “Thank you, Luna. I love libraries.” He only knew the library at Hogwarts, but it couldn’t be so different now, could it?

It took Harry nearly two hours to choose six books he wanted to buy. When he showed the selected books to Hermione and Luna in order to know if he had calculated correctly and could actually buy the books, Hermione threw Harry a proud glance seeing the kind of books the boy chose. There was a Potions book, a book about wandless and silent magic, a children’s book on Ancient Runes and three children’s books with stories about animals. Getting his friends’ approval, Harry proudly went to pay for the books and smiled happily at the voucher that was left. He carefully put it away so that he could use it the next time.

-----

Fawkes flashed Harry, Hermione, and Luna straight back straight into the empty living room of the Snape quarters. While the two young teachers took the Floo to their own quarters, Harry brought his new books into his room. He proudly put the pile of books onto his desk and stopped dead in his tracks when his eye fell onto the Hourglass. The phoenix smugly smiled at the eighteen marbles in its glass, but now the spider was feeding from two marbles! Harry glared horrified at the Hourglass ready to kill the spider that looked at him evilly.

‘Why? What have I done?’ Harry thought, terrified. Was it because they had been searching for him in the morning? But that hadn’t been his fault, and his Daddy had said ‘All right’. Hadn’t he been such a good boy all the time? Harry just couldn’t understand what had happened. Very upset, he made the few steps over to his bed, threw himself onto the bed and started to cry his eyes out.

Harry cried himself into a light sleep, and when Severus came an hour later searching for his son to wake him up, Harry’s eyes were red and puffy, his head hurt, and his sobs had turned into coughs.

“Harry, what’s wrong?” Severus asked astonished. He had spent a few hours adding birthday decorations to the Christmas decorations in the Great Hall, and Hermione and Luna had told him about their trip and that they had left a very happy Harry in their quarters. And now, Harry seemed to be outright distressed.

As Harry didn’t answer and seemed to be fully concentrated on catching his breath between his sobs and coughs, Severus quickly went over to his office and fetched a Calming Draught for his son. He helped Harry to sit up and drink the potion. “Now, are you ready to get up for the party?” Severus asked softly, but Harry shook his head and turned towards the wall.

Severus sighed and sat down on the edge of Harry’s bed. “Harry, why don’t you tell me what happened? You have to get up. We have invited your friends for your birthday party, and you cannot miss that…”

He was interrupted when Lily entered the room. “Harry, your friends have arrived.” Seeing Harry lying in bed she came over and asked, “What’s wrong? Are you ill, Harry?”

“He’s a bit upset but he’ll be all right,” Severus answered on behalf of his son. “Could you please tell his friends that Harry’s not feeling well and will be a few minutes late. I’m sure our colleagues will be well able to entertain the kids for a moment.”

“All right,” Lily replied and took the Floo back to the Great Hall.

“Now, Harry, I’m afraid you have to get up now,” Severus insisted. “Don’t let me make you get up, child.”

Harry sat up and requested in a very upset and impatient voice, “Then please explain to me why I’ve received two bad points as a birthday present!” Knowing very well that he wasn’t supposed to talk to his father in this tone, he averted his eyes to his bed cover, watching a small dragon roar.

Severus threw a surprised glance at the Hourglass and replied, “I’m sorry, Harry, but I didn’t do that and I didn’t even know about it.”

When Harry turned his head to look at him, Severus continued, “I can imagine why Lily gave you the points but I do not think you earned them. On the contrary, I would have given you phoenix points, but we will discuss this matter tonight together with your mother, all right?”

A bit consoled, Harry gave his father a small smile and whispered, “I’m sorry, Daddy, for shouting at you.”

Severus pulled Harry in an embrace and replied, “That was uncalled for, Harry. I can understand that you’re upset but there was no need to shout. All right, now forget about it please, go to the bathroom and make yourself a bit more presentable.”

-----

Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Severus arrived at the Great Hall. Severus had insisted on walking up from the dungeons as it would give Harry a few more minutes to get into a better mood.

When Harry and his father arrived in the Great Hall, the Hall had been turned into a playground. Only the normal dining table that was there over the holidays and a small children’s table as well as the Christmas tree had been spared – the rest of the Hall was covered with sand, and there were many attractions where the children could play. At the moment, however, Harry’s friends were sitting quietly at the table, obviously waiting for Harry.

A few steps into the Great Hall, Severus stopped walking and turned Harry around so that his black eyes could meet the green ones. “Everything all right now, Harry?” he asked softly.

“No, not before I talk to Mum about it. But I’ll be good for now,” Harry promised.

Severus quickly reached out to wipe an errant tear from Harry’s cheek. At that moment, Lily came over to them. “Are you all right, Harry?” she asked worried.

“Yes, Mum,” Harry replied, eagerly watching a spot on the huge Christmas tree.

“Then you have to introduce your friends to me, Harry. Can you do that?” Lily asked softly.

Harry gave her a nod before he turned to his father once more and mumbled, “Thank you, Daddy.” Then he approached the children’s table, Lily in tow.

“Hello, everyone. I’d like to introduce my mother to you all, Lily Evans-Snape.”

“Hello, Mrs. Snape,” the children chorused. They had heard the story about Harry’s mother but they hadn’t met her yet.

“All right, Mum, this is Evelyn Bulstrode, she’s already eight, Marc Zabini, he’s still seven, and his sister Angela, who is eight. And these are the funny twins, Enid and Frank Bones. They are eight, too.”

“All right,” Lily said, smiling at the kids. “Then I will leave you to your friends, Harry. Have fun, son!” Lily put a kiss on Harry’s forehead and went over to the adults’ table.

Harry sat down next to Evelyn, knowing that she was a bit shy compared to the other four, who always were together with their siblings when they met Harry. As soon as Harry sat down, Dobby started to put large pieces of cake on the children’s plates. Before Harry could start eating his cake, Enid told him, “No, you can’t start eating yet, we have to sing first.”

The five children started to sing Happy Birthday and the teachers and students from the other table joined in. Harry wanted to hide in a mouse hole but since he didn’t have one, he just stared at the Christmas tree, mumbling a small “thank you,” when the children finished singing.

The twins were the first to finish their cakes and shouted, “Oh, let’s go play!”

Marc and Angela agreed immediately, but Harry had not finished his cake and saw that Evelyn threw a longing glance at the remaining cake that stood in the middle of the table. Knowing that she’d be too shy to ask for another piece, Harry concentrated on one piece, sending a silent and wandless levitating spell over. All the children followed the piece of cake with their eyes when they noticed it floating over the table and landing exactly in the middle of on Evelyn’s plate.

“Wow,” Frank said, impressed. “Did you do that, Evelyn?”

The girl fiercely shook her head and mumbled anxiously, “No, sorry, I’ve no idea.”

The others looked around confused, except for Harry and Evelyn who concentrated on their cakes. “It’s all right,” Harry said suddenly. “You don’t have to wait for us, you can go over and play, we’ll be there soon.”

Enid, Frank, Mark, and Angela gave him a nod and stood up, running over to the huge slide that was placed in one of the corners of the Great Hall and had a very interesting structure, slowly winding its way down onto the floor. When Harry looked up from his cake, he noticed that Evelyn was watching him closely. “What’s wrong?” Harry asked surprised.

“Can you do such magic without a wand?” the girl asked incredulously.

“Um… only a little bit,” Harry answered softly and couldn’t help his face getting red all over. “But please don’t tell anyone,” he added, feeling very uncomfortable.

Evelyn reached over and pulled Harry into a hug. “Thank you Harry, that was very kind of you. Shall we go play with the others?”

“All right,” Harry answered, stood up and took the girl by the hand, pulling her over to the play area.

Harry enjoyed the afternoon with his friends very much. After dinner, however, when his five friends returned home, he became very solemn, remembering what had happened before.

“What’s wrong, Harry?” Luna asked softly, noticing Harry’s change of mood within a minute. She sat down on one of the swings, pulling the child onto her lap. “Are you sad because your friends have gone?”

“No.” Harry shook his head and silently started to cry.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong then, little one?” Luna asked again and Harry gave her a sad glance.

“I won’t ever help my Mum with the grading again!” Harry suddenly blurted out. “I corrected the tests of two classes for her and helpded sorting her lesson papers, and when I came home from Hogsmeade I didn’t get even one phoenix point but two spider points!” While Harry was sobbing into her robes, Luna tried to understand what the child was implying.

“Do I understand you correctly that you received two minus points although you did many good things?”

Harry nodded fiercely. In the meantime, Lily and Severus had approached Luna and Harry, and several others followed them. Severus quietly filled his wife in on the problem.

“Why he received the spider points you mean?” Lily asked, anger sounding in her words. “I can tell you that. He corrected the tests of two classes, that’s correct, yes, and that was very helpful and I appreciate it very much. But do you know what he did afterwards?”

Severus shook his head, while all teachers were watching Lily curiously. “He messed around with my lesson papers. You know, I have all my papers sorted so that they are in the order in which I need them. And Harry has mixed them all up so that it will take me several hours to put them all back in the correct order. They are a complete chaos now. Don’t you think that warrants two spider points?”

Luna slightly shook Harry’s shoulder. “Listen, Harry,” she said softly. “Did you mix up your Mummy’s papers?”

Harry fiercely shook his head. “Did not,” he answered firmly between two sobs.

“Yes, you did!” Lily replied angrily.

“Did not!” Harry sobbed. “Mummy’s papers were completely mixed up and I sorted them and put all the papers for each class together. I didn’t do anything bad, I only helpded.”

Luna carefully stroked his cheek and pushed herself and Harry off from the ground, swinging high into the air. “I know that you didn’t do anything bad, sweetie, it was just a misunderstanding, and I’m sure your Mummy will see that and turn the spider points into phoenix points,” she promised.

“Of course we will do that,” Harry could hear Severus’ voice from the ground.

Only when Harry’s sobs quieted twenty minutes later, Luna made the swing stop, so that Severus could take a very sleepy Harry from Luna’s lap. By the time Lily and Severus with Harry on his arms arrived at their quarters, Harry had fallen into an exhausted sleep, snuggling deep into his father’s robes.

When Harry woke up in the morning, his mother was sitting on the edge of his bed.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, I was very angry because I thought you wanted to play a prank on me,” Lily explained as soon as Harry had lazily opened his eyes.

“I didn’t play a prank. I don’t play pranks, I’m a good boy,” Harry mumbled.

“I know that Harry, but your Mummy still doesn’t know you as well as I do,” Severus who had just entered the room confirmed, giving Harry a comforting nod.

Lily waved her wand at the Hourglass, and the spider points vanished while the phoenix gained three points. “One point is meant as an apology,” Lily explained when Harry gave her an enquiring glance.

“All right, thank you, Mummy,” Harry returned, throwing his arms around his Mummy, who pulled him in a bear’s hug.

-----

During the next days, Harry concentrated on his flashing abilities and by the end of the winter holidays, he was able to flash all over the castle. However, he noticed that it was very tiring and had to promise Severus not to flash too often. While it was very convenient to quickly flash to the other end of the castle, it was more fun and less strenuous to fly. Whenever his parents allowed him to fly, Harry flew around the Hogwarts grounds and the castle. Fawkes, who knew Hogwarts in and out, often joined Harry and showed the tiny phoenix interesting spots on the outer wall of the castle where they could sit, being able to glance into a classroom or a teacher’s office.

After spending some time watching Remus working in his office, Harry sighed, trilling to Fawkes, “Maybe we could prank Mrs. Norris, the ugly cat. I’d love to anger her by flashing around her a few times.”

Fawkes let out a giggling trill and replied, “That’s a good idea. I’ll help you prank the stupid cat.” And in a flash of flames they were gone and did as Harry had suggested.

The two birds flashed around the cat a few times until she dashed off into Filch’s office, frightened. Afterwards, Harry pondered whether to visit Uncle Remus for a while but suddenly remembered the House he had discovered the other day. So far, he hadn’t had a chance to flash there because his parents had always been nearby during the holidays. Now he was supposed to be with Fawkes, but if the phoenix came to look for him, he would find him anywhere anyway. Therefore, Harry quickly told Fawkes where he would go, concentrated on the portrait hole with the animals, and flashed away, landing exactly in front of the picture.

#Hello, welcome, who are you?# The phoenix was the first to speak.

#Oh, sorry, I’m Harry. I forgot that you hadn’t met me in my phoenix form# Harry replied, and the phoenix greeted him enthusiastically.

#My, you’re a beautiful little nestling. Did you come to spend some time in the House?#

#Yes, if you don’t mind# Harry answered timidly.

#Of course not, you’re always welcome# the phoenix replied and the portrait hole opened.

Harry wanted to exchange a few words with the Basilisk, too, but the huge snake was fast asleep. #Please give my regards to the Basilisk and to the other animals# Harry instructed the phoenix and transformed back into his human form before he entered the House. He lit the large fireplace in the Common room and made himself comfortable on the sofa, pulling out a book from his robes and starting to read. He was so engrossed in his book that he didn’t notice how fast the time passed and got the fright of his life when Fawkes suddenly appeared in front of him.

#You have to flash home immediately, my nestling, otherwise your big chicks will get worried# Fawkes instructed Harry.

The boy quickly collected his book from the floor, where it had fallen when he had jumped, startled at Fawkes arrival. Then he grabbed Fawkes’ tail feathers and the phoenix flashed them home just in time to leave for dinner in the Great Hall.

-----

On the last day of the winter holidays, Luna and Hermione took Harry to the huge Muggle library in London. Minerva allowed them to use her fireplace in order to Floo over to the Leaky Cauldron from where they could walk over to the library. Harry was just getting tired from walking when they finally stopped in front of a huge building and Luna stated, “Here we are.”

Luna and Hermione helped Harry to register before Luna took him on a tour through the library, which she had learned to know well during the time between finishing Hogwarts and starting teaching at Hogwarts. Harry was delighted at the sight of so many books, especially when he was told that he could borrow whatever he was interested in. They spent nearly five hours in the library, and when they were ready to return to Hogwarts, Harry had borrowed ten books from different areas. He had even chosen a book about animals and one about computers. When the lady at the reception told him that he had to bring the books back within three weeks’ time, Luna and Hermione promised Harry to bring him to the library every third week and to discuss the timing with Harry’s parents.

Lily and Severus appreciated that Harry had found something interesting to entertain himself as they knew that Harry wouldn’t learn a lot in the classes at Hogwarts having his memories up to his OWLs. They had agreed with Luna and Hermione that the two young teachers could take Harry to the library every third Sunday morning, provided that they were back for a late lunch. During the next weeks, Harry spent every free minute reading books on various topics.

One day, Poppy addressed Lily, Severus, and Minerva. “I know that Harry loves reading and studying but he has to get more fresh air. He is much too pale and he gets colds too easily. Maybe you should allow him to practise Quidditch with the Quidditch teams so that he can fly a few times during the week?”

“That’s a good idea,” Severus agreed immediately, and Minerva and Lily nodded. “Maybe he could help the Quidditch teams – of all houses of course – out when a player is sick or injured. In this case he would have to train together with all teams.”

“Very good, Poppy, Severus,” Minerva approved. “Dobby!”

Dobby appeared in a blink. “Yes, Headmistress Professor McGonagall, what cans Dobby do for you and the professors?”

“Please fetch the four Quidditch captains for me, Dobby,” Minerva asked politely. When the four captains arrived, the Headmistress spoke to them, and the team captains of all four houses agreed immediately to let Harry play in their practise and to have him as a reserve when the need arose. Each of them had seen Harry fly and catch the Snitch, so that they felt letting Harry participate in their practises would do their team good.

Therefore, during the rest of the school year, Harry was very busy. Apart from his Wandless Magic training with Tom, his special Potions lessons with Severus, and helping Luna, Lily, and sometimes other teachers with grading, he now had Quidditch practise nearly every evening.

However, due to his reading, he had discovered something that really intrigued him. He borrowed several books from the area and did quite a lot of research. As he didn’t want anyone to know what he was reading, he charmed the books so that nobody apart from him could read what they were about. He also used every chance he got to read in the Common room that only Fawkes and Harry knew about.

------

One day, Harry was supposed to stay in Hermione’s class during the whole afternoon. In spite of the fact that he was allowed to read his own books during the lessons as Hermione knew that Muggle studies didn’t interest Harry at all, he just didn’t want to attend the class. Therefore, he approached Hermione just before the lesson began. “Hermione, I’m sorry, but I don’t feel so well today. Can I go back into my own room and rest for a while?”

Hermione gave him a piercing look and extended a hand to carefully feel his forehead before she answered, “Of course, Harry, but I’d prefer if you went to Poppy to let her check on you.”

Harry gave her a small smile and said, “No, I don’t think I need Aunt Poppy. I see you later, thank you, Hermione.”

When Harry didn’t show up for dinner, Lily asked Hermione, “Where is Harry? I haven’t seen him after classes at all.”

Hermione’s face turned white and she told Lily and the others that Harry had retired to his room before the afternoon lessons and that she had advised him to go to Poppy. As Poppy hadn’t seen the child either, Severus stood up in order to look for Harry. He quickly returned to his quarters, his robes billowing behind him. However, Harry wasn’t in his room.

“Fawkes,” Severus addressed the bird. “Do you know where Harry is?”

#I can imagine where my nestling is but I know that he doesn’t want the big chicks to know# Fawkes answered boldly, knowing that nobody except for Harry could understand him.

“I can’t understand you as you know but I’d appreciate if you could flash me over to my son,” Severus said firmly.

Fawkes motioned the man to hold his tail feathers and flashed away. When they arrived at Harry’s secret room, Severus looked around in awe. ‘Where is this?’ he thought, amazed by the room that looked like one of the Common rooms but was surrounded by white book-shelves. The fireplace was lit, and in spite of his size the room looked very cosy. Then Severus’ eyes fell onto Harry. The boy was huddled on the floor surrounded by hundreds of plates, cables, and many very strange looking objects. Everything was a total mess, and Harry was lying in the mess obviously fast asleep if not unconscious. It looked as if a bomb had exploded just in front of Severus’ eyes.

“What happened here? Harry! Wake up!” Severus shouted and tried to get over the whole mess towards his son, who woke up with a jolt.

“Dad! What are you doing here?” Harry asked, flabbergasted.

“I would appreciate if you could enlighten me as to what you are doing here, what happened here, and where we are,” Severus replied sternly.

“Dad, can I tell you another time, please? I’m starving,” Harry answered.

Knowing that Lily and their colleagues were worried about Harry, Severus agreed and asked Fawkes to flash them in front of the Great Hall.

“Where have you been?” Lily asked immediately when Severus and Harry approached the teachers’ table.

“Oh, sorry, I was asleep,” Harry answered innocently, and Severus nodded curtly.

“Are you feeling better?” Hermione asked worriedly.

“Yes, sorry, I’m fine now,” Harry replied automatically, absentmindedly thinking about why he had failed to do what he had intended to do.

-----

When Harry was in bed this evening, Lily came as usual and spoke with Harry for a while before she tucked him in and gave him a kiss.

“Good night, sweetie.”

“Good night, Mummy.”

“Are you still awake, Harry?” his father’s voice sounded into the room. I’d like to speak with you for a moment.

When Lily left the room, Severus sat down on the edge of Harry’s bed. He sighed, thinking about how easily frightened the boy was when he was scolded. “Harry,” he started to speak in a soft voice, trying not to let his son hear how angry he was. “You were very naughty today. Everyone is trying to help you and keep you safe. How could you sneak off like that, worrying everyone?”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” Harry said quietly, trying to ignore the fact that his fingers were starting to shake.

“I’m sorry, too, Harry, but I’ll have to give you five spider points,” Severus told his son sternly.

“No!” Harry shouted, horrified. “Oh, please don’t, Daddy. I won’t do it again, I promise…” He slowly trailed off. As upset as he was, he knew that he couldn’t promise not to do it again as he definitely would sneak off again at the next chance.

“You don’t believe that yourself, do you?” his father asked angrily. “You snuck off although you knew very well what the consequences would be.” He pointed his wand at the Hourglass, and the spider hungrily started fawning over his new marbles.

Harry burst out in tears. Severus, determined to remain firm, chided, “I suggest you think hard about the consequences next time you consider doing something you know you should not,” Harry tried to nod and Severus, satisfied Harry had gotten his point, softened his tone a bit, “Now, Harry, it’s not the end of the world, and you can either try to get new phoenix points in order to vanish the spider points or you come to my lab tomorrow after lunch to scrub cauldrons, and then the spider points will be gone as well.” Severus pulled his son in a hug, holding him until the tears stopped running down the small cheeks.

“Harry, I still need an explanation what that room was and what you were doing there,” Severus said softly, black eyes searching green ones.

Harry sighed deeply. Those were both his secrets, which he really didn’t want to spill, at least not yet. ‘But whom can I speak to if not to my father? He’s the person I have the most confidence in, isn’t he? Maybe it would even be good to have someone to confide in,’ a small voice at the back of his mind spoke up. Biting his lower lip, Harry sat up again and slowly averted his eyes to meet his father’s.

“Daddy,” he slowly started to speak, waving his hand to throw a Silencing Charm around them. “Can you promise me that you won’t talk about it to anyone? Not even to Mummy?”

‘Oh my… What can he be doing that has to be so secret? But anyhow, it’s better that I know than nobody knows, and Harry is a good boy, who normally behaves very reasonably. And if he trusts me with this, I shall have enough confidence in him to promise secrecy, but…’ Severus thought.

“Yes, son, I promise to keep your secret,” he answered softly.

“All right,” Harry began to explain hesitantly. “I’m trying to build a computer.”

“A computer?” Severus asked confused. “Isn’t that a Muggle thing?” That was the last thing he had expected.

“Yes, it’s a Muggle thing but I wanted to do a bit of research. I’ve read at least twenty books about it and it seems to be really interesting. I’ve tried to build one after reading a bit about it but I’m obviously too stupid.”

“No, you’re not stupid,” Severus said firmly. “Are you sure that you have to build that by yourself? Is it not something you could buy in a Muggle shop?”

“As far as I know you can buy it but I don’t know how expensive it is, and I don’t have any money either.”

Severus let out a small laugh. “Don’t you remember from being grown up that you have a full vault of galleons?”

Large green eyes were looking at him. “No, I didn’t know that,” Harry replied solemnly.

“All right, Harry. I can offer you a trip into Muggle London as soon as the summer holidays start next week. We can find somewhere to buy a computer and see how much it costs. However, are you sure it will work here in the magical world? Don’t you need electricity for that?”

“Yes, Daddy, normally you need electrical power, but I want to try to adapt it to magic, so that it works by magic instead of electricity. Thanks for offering to take me to Muggle London. I really appreciate it.”

Severus stared at his son in awe. “Very well, I shall try to help you whenever you need my help. However, I think it would be prudent to let your mother in on this project. Otherwise she will always wonder where you are and what you’re doing. It will be much easier for all of us if she knows.”

“All right, Daddy, I will tell Mummy sometime then. But she has to promise not to speak to anyone about it.”

“All right, now care to explain what the place was where I found you this evening?”

Harry hesitantly explained that he had found this room accidentally but that he didn’t want others to know about it.

“Fawkes?” he then addressed his familiar, who lazily lifted his head from his plume. “You know you said as soon as the Headmistress knows about the House, everyone can know. How about the Deputy Headmaster?”

Fawkes let out a giggling trill. #As long as the Headmistress doesn’t know about it it’s all right.#

“All right, thank you, Fawkes,” Harry said relieved and proceeded to tell his father about the fifth House that he had discovered.

-----

On Saturday, Severus and Harry went to Hogsmeade together to send the students off with the Hogwarts Express. On one hand, Harry was sad not to be able to see his friends during the next ten weeks; on the other hand he was glad to have more time for his research and for a project that his father intended to start. Harry didn’t know what kind of project it was; Severus had only said that Harry was good enough at brewing Healing Potions so that they could start a very difficult and probably very lengthy research together.

The Hogwarts Express was still pulling out of the station when Severus asked, “Harry, do you have an idea where we can find a shop selling computers? I know the largest bookstores in London of course, but I don’t know anything about computer shops.” Somehow, Severus felt incredibly stupid asking his eight-year-old son such a question.

Harry remained pensive while he followed the train with his eyes. “You know they have kiosks in the Muggle world selling magazines and newspapers, right? Maybe we can buy a magazine about computers and look at the advertisements inside? I remember that Dudley always had magazines but I was never allowed to read them,” he added solemnly.

“That, Harry, is a good idea. Shall we just Apparate to Muggle London and have a look?” Severus suggested and when Harry agreed eagerly, he pulled his son in an embrace and Apparated them straight behind the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry and Severus walked through the Leaky Cauldron and into Muggle London. After a few minutes’ walk they spotted a small magazine shop and went in, surprised about the number of computer magazines that were sold here. “I have enough Muggle money with me, so you may choose two magazines,” Severus whispered to Harry and helped him to select two that held many advertisements including the addresses of shops. He also bought a Muggle map of London. Finally, they left the kiosk and Severus Apparated them back to Hogsmeade immediately.

During the rest of the day, Harry studied the two magazines, finally deciding where they could look for a computer and that he wanted to buy a notebook.

On Monday morning, Harry and Severus Flooed to Diagon Alley and after a short trip to Gringotts where Severus helped Harry to gather enough Galleons for the notebook and change them into Muggle money, the two Snapes headed for the shop Harry had chosen to go. Two hours and a lot of instructions later, Harry followed his father back to Diagon Alley, a rucksack containing his new notebook on his back.

While the two Snapes were walking back toward the gate to London’s magical world, they discovered an Internet café only fifty meters from the Leaky Cauldron. “Oh, Daddy, can we go in there and try it out please?” Harry begged his father, who finally relented, knowing that Harry wouldn’t be able to use his notebook at Hogwarts until he found a solution to make it work with magic instead of electricity.

Harry plugged in his notebook, which automatically connected to the Internet and started the Google search engine. He put in ‘Magic’ and followed a few of the links the page provided. “This is not satisfying,” Severus sneered. “May I?”

When Harry agreed, Severus typed in the names of certain Potions ingredients of which he was sure they had to be known in the Muggle world as well, and it was like an open invitation in a sweet shop to a child. An hour later, during which Harry had drunk two cups of cocoa, watching his father amusedly, the boy hesitantly asked, “Dad?”

Severus nearly jumped, startled before his mind turned back to reality. “Harry, this is extremely rewarding,” he stated. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to come back here every second day during the holidays in order to do some research.”

“No problem, Daddy,” Harry replied, grinning.

-----

When Severus and Harry were back at Hogwarts, Severus explained to Harry what he wanted to research. He carefully described the existing Potion he wanted to improve.

“Are you interested in helping me with this, Harry?” Severus finally asked and when Harry gave him an enthusiastic nod he admonished him, “Then you had better take notes about the ingredients.”

Severus’ monologue about each single ingredient lasted for more than two hours, and in the meantime Harry had filled twenty pieces of parchment.

“All right, Harry. I expect you to study your notes intensively; I will quiz you about the ingredients the day after tomorrow. Tomorrow, we shall brew this potion together in the normal way as you have to learn this first before we can start researching on an improvement. After your quiz, I’d like to go to the Internet café once more to do some research on the internet. As I told you, many of the ingredients involved are also used in the Muggle world. Therefore, I hope to acquire certain hints and ideas from the use of the ingredients in Muggle medicine.”

“All right, Daddy. Shall I accompany you, or would you prefer going alone?”

Severus gave his son a confused look. “You want to assist in this project, don’t you? Then you should feel yourself involved in this research as much as possible. By the way, Harry, do you know if the Muggles have a method to get their notes they make on the computer on a parchment?”

Harry smiled. “Yes, the notebook actually has a small built-in printer. I can show you when we return to my room. You only have to activate it, and then you’ll have access to a flap where you can insert paper to print whatever you want. Finally, you push the ‘print’ button.”

“Ah, all right. In that case, we shouldn’t forget to print everything out while we are able to do so. By the way, don’t you think you should ask your mother to assist in your research of trying to operate your notebook with magic? You know that she is the best at Charms, don’t you?”

“Yes, Daddy, I know. It’s just… I mean… I know it’s already eleven months since Mummy came back, but I’m still not used to having a Mummy and to confide in her with everything. You and even Aunt Poppy and Hermione and Luna are still closer to me. I know it’s a horrible thing to say, I love Mummy a lot, and I’m glad to have her back, but…” He slowly trailed off.

“It’s all right, Harry,” Severus said calmingly, putting an arm around the child’s back. “This conversation is only between you and I, son, all right?”

Harry gave his father a grateful nod. “Yes, thanks, Daddy.”

During the next twenty-four hours, Harry didn’t have any time to think about the question if he should tell his mother about his notebook. Severus had kept to his promise and had not told Lily anything. He had just explained to her that they went to Muggle London to do some research and that they intended to repeat this every second day.

Lily didn’t really mind as she wanted to use as much time as possible to prepare for the next school year. The first year as a teacher and as a Head of House as well as a mother to a seven-year-old boy with a tragic first childhood had taken a lot out of her. Only because of Harry’s help, who graded homework, essays, and tests of the younger three classes for her, had she managed to get through the school year relatively comfortably. However, Lily felt sorry for her son, thinking that he was still a child and should enjoy his time playing rather than helping his mother with her work.

During dinner the next evening, Harry hesitantly turned to Severus. “Daddy, do you think we could do the test tonight? I think I’m quite firm with the ingredients and would prefer to be over with it.” Noticing that the teachers around them either grinned like Hermione or glared at his father like Minerva and Poppy, he asked, “Sorry, did I say something stupid?”

“No, my sweetie, you didn’t. They are only impressed how studious you are,” Lily explained calmingly, frowning at her colleagues.

“If you are sure that you prefer to do the test tonight, I am agreeable,” Severus answered as if he was talking to one of his students, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes, please, Daddy,” Harry said quietly.

Two hours later, Harry had finished his test to his father’s contentment and went to bed very relieved.

-----

In the morning, Harry woke up with a lot of memories of the Dursleys and a completely sore body. He wasn’t even able to drag himself out of his bed. When Lily came to wake him up for breakfast, astonished that Harry wasn’t up yet as he normally was the first to be up and about in the morning, Harry only said, “Sorry, Mummy, I don’t feel good. Can you get Daddy for me, please?”

“What’s wrong, sweetie? Are you sure Daddy will be able to help you?” Lily asked worried.

“Yes, I’ve had it before; it has to do with my first childhood,” Harry replied quietly, and Lily hurried to get Severus.

“How did you get these injuries, Harry?” Severus asked sternly after waving his wand at the child.

“Uncle Vernon,” Harry mumbled, playing with his bed cover. “Can you heal me or call Aunt Poppy, Dad?”

“I have to call Aunt Poppy, Harry; these injuries are too serious for me to help you.” Two minutes later, Severus returned with Poppy in tow.

Poppy checked on Harry and fed him several disgusting potions before she ordered him to stay in bed for the day. “You’ll probably be sore for a few days, sweetie, but we can give you Pain Relieving Potions anytime.”

“All right, thanks, Poppy,” Harry replied before he drifted off and his breathing evened.

While Harry was asleep, Severus carefully explained to Lily what had happened to Harry during his childhood at the Dursleys. Finally, after sobbing for half an hour, Lily was so enraged that she promised, “Petunia is going to hear from me!”

-----

On the next day, Harry resumed his research together with his father. During the next weeks, they did a lot of research. Every second morning, they checked several ingredients on the Internet, and every other morning, they occupied themselves in the Hogwarts library. Afterwards, Harry and Severus talked about their findings and decided how to try to alternate the original potion.

The afternoon was spent in Severus’ private lab, where they tried to brew slightly different versions from the original potion. It always took two afternoons to brew one potion completely as the potion had to simmer for a long time before they could finish it.

To Harry’s chagrin, he wasn’t allowed to do any more practical or theoretical research after dinner. Poppy had again talked to her colleagues complaining that Harry was too pale and worked too much. Therefore, the teachers had decided to take turns taking Harry outside to fly, walk, or play during the evening.

Harry enjoyed the evenings very much; however, he was a bit sad not to have the least bit of time for his computer studies. A month after he had bought his notebook he still didn’t have a clue how to get it to work at Hogwarts. However, he knew that the research he was doing together with his father was far more important as they could help many people if they succeeded. Working together with Severus, he was very confident that they would be able to reach their aim sometime in the future.

During the first two weeks of the holidays, Harry had only been allowed to prepare the ingredients under Severus’ watchful eyes while the older man brewed the potion at the same time. As soon as Severus saw that Harry could prepare the ingredients flawlessly he had allowed Harry to brew the difficult potion. After two weeks of brewing, Harry could do it perfectly even if each potion was slightly different from the others. Therefore, Severus had gone over to occupying himself by brewing another version at the same time. Brewing at the table next to Harry’s he was still able to keep an eye on his son, ensuring that he didn’t make any mistakes, which could be dangerous.

One day at the end of July Harry had just started to cut the first ingredients when Severus said, “Tomorrow we will pay the Minister of Magic a short visit as we are in need of persons who can test the different samples we have already brewed. I don’t think that we’ve already found what we’re looking for but if we don’t test the Potions we won’t know. I have already asked Tom and received his consent to use Riddle Manor to accommodate the test persons for two days while Tom and I will watch them in order to see if your Potion has any effect. Would you be willing to accompany me to the Ministry?”

Harry gave his father an unsure glance. “I don’t mind, Daddy, it’s up to you if you prefer to go alone or with me.”

“All right, in that case I shall ask Minerva to Floo-call her old friend Scrimgeour and arrange an appointment for us for tomorrow morning. Now let’s get to work.”

Harry gave his father a short nod and concentrated on his ingredients. Nearly four hours later he had only to stir the potion eleven times counter-clockwise and eighteen and a half times clockwise to finish the potion when he suddenly gripped his head and moaned in agony. Fortunately, Severus had already finished his own potion and took over from Harry immediately, motioning the child to sit down for two minutes until he could tend to him.

“Is it your scar?” Severus asked horrified, silently counting while stirring the potion.

“Yes,” Harry confirmed.

As soon as Severus had finished the potion he turned to Harry, watching him worriedly. “Harry, does your scar hurt badly? I can see that it’s bright red. Did you see a vision or does it simply hurt?” He quickly summoned a Pain Relieving Potion from the shelf and held it to Harry’s lips.

Harry slowly relaxed as he felt the potion’s effects. “No, it just hurt. But why? Was that Dumbledore’s doing again?”

Severus carefully touched Harry’s forehead, which was burning hot. “Yes, obviously it must have been Dumbledore’s doing. I’m afraid he must be getting better if he can remember what he can do to you with your scar.” He thought for a moment before he added, “We shall talk to the Minister about it so that they can make sure that Dumbledore goes straight to Azkaban when he is healed.”

Harry gave his father a small smile. Noticing that his son’s smile didn’t reach his eyes and that he was obviously not his usual self, Severus motioned him to stand up and walked him to his room. “Now, Harry, I want you to lie down and rest until dinner.”

Fortunately, this incident remained a solitary affair for the time being. When Harry and Severus went to the Ministry in the morning, the Minister asssured them that he had made contact with St. Mungos, to enquire about Dumbledore’s condition, and that he had been told it would still take a while until the old man would be healed…if indeed it were possible at all.

“Concerning your request, Professor Snape,” said the Minister, changing the topic, “I have spent the whole evening contacting eighteen werewolves, whom I know quite well and can assure are harmless persons and don’t belong to the group of radical werewolves. I have not spoken to Mr. Lupin, assuming you would talk to him at the school. Is that correct?”

“Yes, of course, Minister. Lupin was the first to offer to pose as test subject. So we have nineteen subjects. Have they all agreed to Floo over to Riddle Manor at the fixed time between seven and eight o’clock on Friday evening?”

“Yes.”

“Very well, have they all agreed not to take the Wolfsbane or any other potion until then?”

“Yes.” The Minister thought for a moment before he asked, “Who will be there and whom should I arrange for?”

“Riddle and I will be there, and Madam Pomfrey will be on standby at Hogwarts, ready to Floo over at any time.”

“All right. I shall arrange for five Aurors and two Healers from St. Mungos to spend the night with the werewolves. Moreover, I’m thinking about joining you myself.”

Severus frowned. “Of course, you are very welcome to join us, Minister. However, frankly speaking I don’t think that we will succeed with any of the potions. I believe that we still have a long way to go until we might be able to find a cure someday in the future.”

“I’m aware of that, Professor. However, I want someone from the Ministry to be there, and this topic is so important that I have decided to make it an affair the Minister should care for.”

“Very well,” Severus acknowledged. “I assume you have a list of all the participants. Please number the participant from one to eighteen on your list. I do not wish to know in advance which person will receive which potion as I do not know about the side effects and can make no guarantees. I hope you have informed the test persons accordingly. Normally, I try new potions on rats but in this case, that method is obviously impossible.”

“Yes, Professor, of course.”

“Lupin will take potion nineteen, which I personally esteem as the most promising variation, right, Harry?”

“Yes, Daddy,” Harry agreed quietly. So far, he had only listened to the adults’ conversation but not participated.

“Of course, this is your decision, which I can fully understand.” With this, the Minister finished the conversation.

-----

During the next two days, Severus and Harry spent a lot of time in Riddle manor. Together with Tom and Remus, they prepared everything for the arrival of the werewolves. After dinner on Friday evening, Severus, Tom, and Remus left for the night for Riddle manor.

“When will you be back, Daddy?” Harry asked anxiously just before his father stepped into the fireplace. Even knowing that the werewolves would be properly secured in the dungeons of Uncle Tom’s manor, it was an uncomfortable thought having so many werewolves in the same house where his father was going to spend the night.

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning, let’s say for lunch at the latest,” Severus promised, giving Harry a piercing glare. “Harry, you look absolutely exhausted. Maybe you should go straight to bed, hmm?”

Harry sighed. He was indeed completely knackered and wanted to bring the night with its frightening thoughts due to the werewolves behind him as soon as possible. “Yes, Daddy, I’d like to do that, but I have to go for a walk with Luna tonight.”

Severus groaned. “No, Harry, if you are too tired or don’t feel well you don’t have to do that. Just talk to Mummy or to Aunt Poppy or Luna and tell them that you want to go to bed.” He gave Harry a kiss and stepped into the fireplace.

Harry made a beeline back to the dining table, where most of the other teachers were still drinking tea together. He sat on the seat his father had just vacated and excused himself with Luna for the evening.

“You’re too tired to go out to the lake?” Luna asked unbelievingly. She had arranged with the other teachers to meet at the lake this evening but Harry didn’t know that of course.

Harry gave her a small nod. “All right then, Harry, sleep well,” Luna told him, watching him suspiciously.

Harry turned to his mother. “Good night, Mummy, I’m going to bed.”

“Are you all right, Harry?” Lily asked worriedly. “Shall I accompany you?”

“No, Mummy, it’s all right, I’m fine,” Harry answered, quickly transformed into his phoenix form and flashed into his room.

When Lily came thirty minutes later to look after Harry, he was already fast asleep. He didn’t even notice Poppy entering his room and checking up on him. When Harry woke up in the morning, he knew immediately that his mother was sitting on the edge of his bed. He still felt tired but lazily opened his eyes, confirming that he had been correct.

“Good morning, Mummy, have your heard from Daddy? Did it work?” he asked excitedly.

Lily gave her son a proud smile. “Daddy Floo-called me yesterday evening. It worked. Uncle Remus didn’t transform during the night.” Seeing her son’s eyes starting to twinkle happily, she added, “Are you feeling better now, Harry?”

Harry averted his eyes to his Hourglasses, where the phoenix was loudly turning around the marbles in his glass while the spider threw him furious glances, and said, “Yes, I’m fine, Mummy.”

Lily sighed. “Aunt Poppy came to check on you yesterday and told me that you’re running a slight fever, probably from exhaustion. She doesn’t want you to do any more research or whatsoever during the next four weeks.”

“But Mummy…” Harry started to protest when Severus and Remus entered the room.

“Remus!” Harry shouted happily. “Is it really true? Did it work?”

“Yes, Harry, it worked. Thank you so much,” Remus answered, pulling Harry in a bear’s hug.

“However,” Severus spoke up sternly. “We don’t know yet if Remus is really healed or if he has to take the potion every time, and we won’t know until the next full moon. During the next four weeks, we will only brew eighteen portions of potion nineteen for the other test persons. At the next full moon, they will take that potion while Remus won’t take any potion, and we will have to see if he still transforms or not. But even if he transforms, we do know we’ve found a potion that prevents the transformation once. This is a huge success, Harry!”

When Remus left the room, Severus turned to Lily. “I’ve thought about what you told me last night. We could go to the beach hotel where we spent our honeymoon for a week or two. What do you think, Lily? Harry?”

“How about going to a Muggle holiday place where we can use our notebook?” Harry returned the question.

Lily frowned. “I told you that Poppy said you’re not allowed to do any research.”“Playing with the notebook isn’t research,” Harry objected. “It’s just fun.”

“No, Harry, your mother is right,” Severus agreed with his wife.

“Do you want to go alone, I mean only the three of us or shall we ask the others if someone wants to come with us?” Lily asked.

“We can ask the others. It’s time for breakfast anyway. Did Poppy say if Harry had to stay in bed?”

“No,” Lily shook her head. “She didn’t say anything.”

“All right, Harry, can you get up so that we can go to breakfast?”

“Of course,” Harry replied and got up.

Minerva, Poppy, Tom, Rolanda, Remus, Hermione, and Luna made their mind up to accompany the Snapes on their holidays for two weeks and to leave the castle in a week’s time. Hermione and Luna even decided to invite their boyfriends, provided that they were able to take holidays on such relatively short notice.

-----

Severus spent the week until their holidays brewing the required potions for the Hospital Wing for the next school year. Harry was so upset and disappointed when he wasn’t allowed to help at all that he escaped from Lily and ran to the Hospital wing only to throw a huge temper tantrum in front of his godmother. However, that didn’t help him much.

“No, Harry. Do you really think if you behave like that, I’m going to change my mind? You will not do any research or brew any potion for the next four weeks. Do you understand me?” Poppy replied sternly.

Harry stubbornly shook his head. “No!”

“Very well then.” Poppy sighed. “If you continue to behave like this, I’ll keep you here and stun you for the rest of the week. Is that easier to understand?”

“That’s just unreasonable and mean,” Harry mumbled before he quickly transformed and flashed away. An instant later, he reappeared in his own room, transformed back only to pick up his notebook, and changed into his phoenix form again to flash over to the unused Common room.

The rest of the day, Harry tried to make his notebook work, trying out several Charms he could think of. Once, he even managed to start the notebook. However, it shut off as soon as he stopped the Charm when he noticed how much magic it required.

Harry was very disappointed. He had finally thought he had found the right Charm, then it didn’t work because he had to keep the Charm going all the time. But maybe he could use that Charm and do some research about how to improve it. He was deep in his thoughts when suddenly Fawkes flashed in, bringing Severus with him.

“Hey, Daddy,” Harry said, smiling a little.

“Son,” Severus answered, giving his son a menacing glare. “Do you know how worried your mother is? You had a fight with Poppy, who is very upset as well, and then you vanish for the rest of the day? I hope you’ll be able to give your mother a good explanation.” He tried hard to keep his anger at bay but he was aware of the fact that his son was very sensitive and would feel his emotions anyway.

“I’m sorry, Daddy. I know what I’m going to do though. I’m stuck here with a Charm, and I’m going to ask Mummy if she can help me.”

“That’s a very good idea, Harry. Your Mum is the best at Charms, and I believe she’d be very happy if you asked her. Nevertheless, I have to give you five spider points, and don’t even think about complaining; you knew about the consequences before you came here.”

Harry sighed. “You know, Daddy, it’s much easier to talk to you and to confide in you than in Mummy. I don’t know why, maybe just because I’m still not used to having a Mummy. I know she has been here for a year now but…” He slowly trailed off.

“It’s a year, but you have already lived fifteen years without parents, and you started being small again and lived for more than three years only with me. So I can well imagine that it is still difficult for you, especially as your mother has not been well this past year and had to adjust not only to you being not a baby anymore and I being her husband instead of James, but she also had to start teaching and being Head of Gryffindor on top of everything. However, I believe by now your mother has well adapted to everything, so that she will be able to help you if you need help with anything. Just try and talk to her.”

Harry gave his father a small nod. “Yes, Daddy, thanks for speaking with me about it.”

“Anytime, Harry,” Severus replied, ruffling his son’s hair. “However, Harry, please don’t forget to go to Aunt Poppy and apologize for your behaviour. You know very well that Aunt Poppy always wants what’s best for you and if she tells you something you have to obey and not to fight with her. She is in no way ‘mean’ or whatever it was that you called her,” he said sternly.

“Yes, Daddy, I know, but sometimes she is so overprotective,” Harry said, feeling very ashamed when he recalled his behaviour towards his godmother.

“She is protective of you because you’re her godson and she loves you, but she is not unreasonably so,” his father emphasized.

“Okay, Daddy, I will go and apologize.” Harry quickly shrank his notebook and pocketed it before he asked Fawkes to take him and his father back to his room. When they entered the living room, Harry saw immediately that Lily was sitting in front of the fireplace, staring into the flames.

“We’re back, Lily, and I believe Harry wants to speak to you,” Severus softly addressed his wife.

Harry ran over to Lily, climbed onto her lap and started to cry. “I’m so sorry, Mummy, I didn’t want to make you sad.”

Lily carefully stroked his cheeks, a small smile starting to play on her lips. “It’s all right, Harry, I was just very worried because I didn’t know where you were. I’m glad you’re back now.”

“Um…” ‘How can I tell her what I’m doing?’ Harry thought feverishly. ‘Maybe she’ll think I’m stupid.’ “Um… I don’t know if Daddy has told you that I’ve bought a notebook…”

“A what?”

“A notebook, you know a computer.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie, but what’s a computer?” Lily asked again.

Harry let out a deep sigh. ‘Of course, Mum died nearly twenty years ago. Maybe there weren’t any computers at that time.’ “All right, a computer is some kind of machine you can use to play or do some research on the Internet.”

When he saw that Lily was listening intently, Harry continued, “On the Internet, there are a lot of pages concerning different topics. For example, Daddy and I always went to an Internet café where we could access the Internet with my notebook in order to research Potions ingredients. And I want to get my computer to work here at Hogwarts.”

Noticing that his parents exchanged a quick glance, he threw his father an unsure look. “What?”

“No, Harry, it’s all right. You’re explaining that very well. Go on,” Severus answered, giving his son an encouraging nod.

“I’ve read a few books about computers before I bought the notebook, so I know a bit about how it works, and I’ve researched a few Charms, which I found in a book but so far I can’t get the notebook to work.”

He hesitated for a moment before he continued, “There was one Charm, which made the computer switch on, but I couldn’t hold the Spell because it was too tiring and so it shut down again soon.”

“What was that Charm, Harry? Maybe we could try to change it accordingly. I don’t know if I’ll be able to help you, and maybe it’ll take years and we’ll be none the wiser. But I’ll try to help you, sweetie.”

“The Charm is ‘Adiunctio Energio’ but as I said I can’t hold it longer than a minute or so.”

“Where did you hear or read that Charm, Harry?” Lily asked, obviously confused.

Harry felt his cheeks getting red. “Oh, um… I invented it.”

Severus smirked. “He’s your son, Lily, what did you expect?”

Lily snorted. “All right, Harry. Maybe we should go to the library together tomorrow. I’m afraid it will take some research until we’ll be able to manage this task.”

“I believe that’s a good idea,” Severus agreed immediately. “However, let’s head to the Great Hall for dinner. Harry, you do remember that you still have to speak with Aunt Poppy, right?”

“Yes, Daddy. Should I speak to her before dinner or while eating or afterwards or…?”

Severus gave his son a fond smile. “I don’t think it will matter when you do it. Just do it your way, and Aunt Poppy will be all right with it.”

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Harry immediately rushed over to Poppy, climbed onto her lap and placed a kiss onto her cheek. “Aunt Poppy, I’m so sorry about what I said to you. I’ll be good now. Do you still love me?”

Poppy gave him a very stern look. “Yes, Harry, I’ll always love you. Nevertheless, your words hurt me very much. But if you’re sorry then it’s all right and I’ll forgive you.” She pulled Harry close and carefully wiped away a few tears that had started to run down his cheeks hearing Poppy’s stern voice. “Now, sit down and eat your dinner, Harry,” she finally told him and gave him a small smile.

During the week, Harry and Lily spent a lot of time in the library researching different kinds of Charms to no avail. “As I told you, Harry, this can take a lot of time. Don’t be disappointed, Harry, we’ll do some more research when we come back from our holidays,” Lily told Harry, noticing that her son was becoming impatient and frustrated.

“All right,” Harry answered, slightly consoled. In fact, he had hoped to be able to take his notebook with him but unfortunately they still didn’t have a clue how to get it to work within the Wizarding world.

On Sunday morning, Harry and the teachers, who wanted to go on holidays together, assembled in the Great Hall to use a Portkey together.

“Whom are we waiting for?” Harry asked for the fifth time in five minutes.

“Now, Harry, don’t be so impatient,” Tom told him amused. “Are you excited?”

“Yes, Uncle Tom!” Harry answered brightly, jumping up and down. “Can we go swimming right when we arrive?”

“We’ll probably be able to leave soon,” Minerva explained calmingly. “We’re only waiting for Hermione’s and Luna’s boyfriends. They are supposed to come here through the Floo.”

Finally, the two men arrived through the Floo Network. Draco Malfoy, Hermione’s boyfriend, was working at the Ministry, and Neville Longbottom, Luna’s boyfriend, was studying for his Herbology Mastership. Both of them came to Hogwarts to go on holidays together with their girlfriends and their colleagues. Therefore, twelve people took the Portkey together, which brought them to their destiny.

Late in the evening on their first day, they all sat together on the balcony of the Snape’s room, as they didn’t want to leave Harry alone; he was already peacefully sleeping in the middle of his parents’ bed.

Suddenly, Minerva spoke up. “I don’t know if you have noticed but they’ve built a Quidditch pitch behind the house. I’m quite sure it wasn’t there when we were here last year.”

“Really?” Draco asked excitedly. “We are – how many? – twelve people including Harry. We could play Quidditch!”

A while later, everyone had agreed – in spite of Hermione and Lily insisting that they couldn’t play – to form two Quidditch teams. They quickly agreed on Minerva and Draco as team captains.

“All right, now the captains have to choose their teams. So, which position are you going to play?” Tom addressed the captains.

“Chaser,” Minerva replied.

“Seeker,” Draco said smugly.

“All right, then,” Tom continued. “Who is going to start and who do you want on your team?”

“Ladies first,” Draco offered kindly.

“Thank you, Mr. Malfoy,” Minerva answered and called out, “Harry.”

“Please call me Draco. Unfortunately, I haven’t seen any of you play before – except for Harry of course. Now this is difficult. Hermione, I know you pretend you can’t fly but you just have to give your best.”

In the end, Minerva, Harry, Poppy, Severus, Luna, and Remus were one team, and Draco, Hermione, Tom, Neville, Lily, and Rolanda made the other team.

During the two weeks they spent at the holiday resort, they played Quidditch every morning and sometimes even once more after dinner. However, Harry’s Seeker abilities were so good that Draco’s team didn’t have a chance to win. With Tom and Rolanda they had good chasers and Remus as keeper of Minerva’s team wasn’t too bad either and Harry always caught the Snitch before they could manage to be enough points ahead of Minerva’s team to win the match. The only times Draco was able to catch the Snitch was during the few times they played in the evening, when Harry was already too tired to properly search for his favourite golden ball.

The rest of the holidays were spent on the beach. Harry was glad that he still remembered how to swim, and his parents and the other teachers accompanied him into the water several times a day. Harry remembered Draco and Neville from their time at Hogwarts, as he had known both boys very well. He was happy to have them there, especially as Draco often helped Harry build sand castles.

-----

One day, Harry addressed Minerva, “Granny, I have been thinking about something. Why don’t the teachers have a Quidditch team? When the Houses play against each other they could play against the teachers too, couldn’t they?”

Minerva gave Harry a thoughtful look. “Hmm, I don’t know, sweetie. The idea to have a teachers’ team is not bad I think. But I’m not sure if the team should play for the Quidditch cup.”

“You don’t think the teachers would win against all the Houses, do you, Granny?” Harry pulled her out of her thoughts, grinning.

“Oh, Harry, I’m not sure. As long as you aren’t a Hogwarts student, you could play Seeker for the teachers’ team, couldn’t you? With you as Seeker the chance of winning would be quite high.”

Harry laughed. “Then perhaps the students’ teams should play against the teachers’ team but the points only count for the House teams, and the teachers don’t compete for the Quidditch cup.”

“That seems to be a good idea. I’ll talk to the other teachers about it. Do you have a suggestion about who should be on the team?”

“Hmm. Uncle Remus does okay as Keeper, I think; then you, Luna, and Aunt Poppy as Chasers, maybe Daddy as Seeker, and Uncle Tom and Aunt Rolanda as Beaters. Or if you really want me to play Seeker, Daddy could be Chaser instead of Luna,” Harry added pensively.

“All right, Harry. Thanks for your suggestion. We will talk about it tonight.”

The other teachers were all for the plan and commended Harry a lot for his good idea. “During the next three years, you are going to play Seeker for us, Harry,” Minerva told him in the morning. “Everyone else will take the positions as you suggested, and I’m going to be the team captain.”

Harry had so much fun that the two weeks went by in a blur and much too soon, they had to return home.

-----

When they returned to Hogwarts, Severus and Harry became very busy brewing several batches of their wolves cure Potion as the full moon was only six days away and they had to brew the Potion for eighteen people.

While Harry spent every morning with his father in the Potions lab, in the afternoons, he accompanied his mother to the library to research his computer problem. One week in particular, Luna spent quite some time in the library in order to prepare a study project for her students. Seeing Harry and his mother there looking through piles of books every morning, one day Luna asked curiously, “May I ask what you are researching?”

Lily and Harry exchanged a glance, and Harry finally gave his mother a reluctant nod but Lily motioned Harry to speak. “Harry, it’s your secret. If you don’t mind that Luna knows about it, you can tell her about it. It’s completely up to you.”

“Um… Sorry, but can you promise not to talk to anyone about it?”

Luna gave Harry a bright smile. “Yes, Harry, I promise to keep your secret. But you don’t have to tell me if you’re not comfortable with it.”

“No, it’s all right. Mummy and I are trying to find a Charm to Charm my computer into working at Hogwarts. But we’ve been researching for weeks and didn’t find anything so far.”

“Hmm. That sounds very difficult indeed,” Luna mused. “Why don’t you start with something smaller and maybe easier like a mobile phone, hmm?”

“A mobile phone?” Harry repeated. “Ah, is that what you always see the Muggles using on the street? Are those things telephones?”

“Yes, and I believe that they are quite convenient because you can use them everywhere and don’t need a fireplace to communicate.”

“Maybe the idea is not bad,” Lily said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should go and buy two mobile phones in order to try it out. At least they are smaller than the notebook and we could have them with us here in the library.”

“All right but where can we buy a mobile phone?” Harry asked, closing his book.

“I can take you if you want me to,” Luna offered. “We have to go to the library and return the books you borrowed anyway.”

Lily, Luna, and Harry decided to go to Muggle London together, the following afternoon. Using Minerva’s fireplace, they took the Floo to The Leaky Cauldron from where they went to the library first. Luna and Harry gave a very enthusiastic Lily a tour around the library before each of the three retired to the room they were the most interested in. After only two hours instead of the normal three or four hours, Harry had decided on five books, each of them concerning computers and the internet.

Finally, the three headed to a Muggle telephone shop, where they bought two identical mobile phones, a light blue one for Lily and one in a bright green for Severus that Harry could use for testing.

When they re-entered the Leaky Cauldron, Lily glanced at her watch and suggested, “Shall we go for a walk through Diagon Alley?”

Luna and Harry agreed immediately, and Harry watched in awe as the opening to the shopping street appeared in the wall. He had already seen that about a dozen times, but nevertheless it was always great fun.

When they passed in front of Fortescue’s ice cream parlour, Luna and Lily exchanged a glance before Lily asked Harry, “Do you want to eat an ice cream?”

“Oh, yes, yay,” Harry shouted happily. He had already been to Fortescue’s a few times with Tom, with his Daddy, and last year with Mummy and Daddy on their wedding day. And he loved Fortescues’ ice cream; it was very delicious.

When Harry had finally finished a huge bowl of ice cream with mixed fruits, Lily, Luna, and Harry made their way through Diagon Alley, looking at all the shops. They had just passed Flourish and Blotts, where Lily had promised Harry that they would visit the shop just before they had to go home, Luna suggested they turn right into a very small side street. When Lily threw the younger woman a curious glance, Luna explained that there was a T-shirt shop at the end of the street where they sold really funny T-shirts and sweat shirts.

“Oh, let’s have a look then. Harry has grown so much that I have to take him to buy new clothes anyway,” Lily agreed.

The shop was not small but there were so many T-shirts hanging everywhere that it was difficult to move around. “Oh, Mummy, look here, I’ve found something for Daddy,” Harry suddenly shouted. He had found a black sweatshirt with a white cauldron in the front that was sparkling small green sparks. A red ingredient was hovering above the cauldron, saying ‘Oh, don’t put me in now!’ Seconds later, the ingredient dropped down into the cauldron that exploded immediately sending bright sparks in different colours all over the shirt.

Lily and Luna laughed. “I wonder if Severus would wear something like that. In fact, I can hardly imagine him in anything else than his black robes,” Luna admitted.

“He normally wears what I lay out for him, so he would probably wear this as well. However, he wouldn’t leave our quarters without his robes on top of whatever he’s wearing.”

“Maybe if he had such a pretty sweat shirt, he’d wear it without his robes, Mummy!” Harry shouted excitedly.

“All right, then let’s try and buy this for Daddy,” Lily agreed and then began looking for something for Harry.

Finally, the two ladies chose three T-shirts and three sweatshirts for the child. All of them were in blue or green tones and had funny designs of Snitches, Potions cauldrons, or dragons on them. Harry was very happy with their choices.

Just before they intended to go home, they entered Flourish and Blotts, Harry’s favourite of all the shops. Lily and Luna followed Harry into the children’s corner and Lily asked, “Harry, do I remember correctly that you had a little more than twenty phoenix points?”

“Yes, Mummy, I’ve already thirty-two phoenix points. May I choose a book for twenty points now?”

“Yes, of course, sweetie,” Lily replied, giving her son a kiss on the cheek.

“All right, now, this will take some time,” Luna whispered to Lily when Harry had begun to engross himself in checking the first bookshelf. “I can stay with him if you want to have a look at something. I don’t mind because I just came here the day before yesterday,” she explained quietly.

“All right, Luna, if you’re sure, I’d like to have a glance at the Charms corner. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“No, Lily, it’s all right, Harry won’t even notice that you’re gone for at least thirty minutes. So take your time, please,” Luna suggested.

Lily gave her a grateful smile and went to a different part of the shop and looked in awe at the many interesting books. During the last year, she had never been able to take the time to just come to the bookshop just for fun and there were so many books that had been published during the last twenty years, which she had of course never heard of. Knowing that Harry was safe with Luna she thoroughly skimmed the bookshelves. Thirty minutes later, she went back to the children’s section, two books in her hands.

Lily had just returned to the children’s corner and was quietly talking with Luna, when Harry suddenly let out a small cry and put both hands against his forehead. “Harry, what’s wrong?” Lily asked worriedly, pulling her son into her arms.

“My scar,” Harry groaned, leaning into his mother.

“Come Harry, sit down on the floor and try to clear your mind of all thoughts,” Luna told the boy softly.

Harry obeyed until he relaxed a few minutes later. “Sorry, it’s all right now. It was Dumbledore,” he whispered.

“Are you all right, Harry?” Lily asked worriedly. “Should we go back home quickly?”

“No, it’s all right. Wait a moment, please. I was just trying to decide between these two books. Which one do you think will be better?” Harry held two books out to Lily and Luna.

“Let’s take them both,” Lily decided after getting a glance at the books. One was a book out of a children’s adventure series of which Harry already had a few books, and the other one was an advanced Charms book for NEWT class students.

Harry’s eyes lit for an instant. “Are you sure, Mummy?”

“Yes,” Lily replied simply before she explained, “If we didn’t have the Hourglass system, we’d buy a book for you from time to time anyway, wouldn’t we?”

“All right, Mummy, thank you,” Harry said gratefully.

Lily paid for the books, and Luna and Lily agreed to Apparate straight to the Hogwarts gates. Lily pulled her son into a strong embrace, and a few seconds later, Harry found himself back on the road between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. He still had a terrible headache from the attack on his scar and silently trailed after the two teachers, whishing his father was there, who always carried something like a headache potion in his robe pocket, especially when Harry was with him.

“I think it’s already time for dinner,” Luna said when they reached the Entrance Hall.

“Yes, we should just go into the Great Hall,” Lily agreed before she glanced at Harry, taking in his pale face. “Harry, are you all right?”

Harry gave his mother a small smile. “Yes, Mummy, I’ve quite a headache, but apart from that I’m fine. I need to see Daddy before I’ll be able to eat anything.”

“Maybe he’s already in the Great Hall. Let’s have a look; otherwise we can ask Poppy, she’s always carrying potions around too.”

Harry agreed, and they had just entered the Hall when Severus showed up from behind. Harry immediately went over to his father. “Daddy, my scar hurt again!”

Severus gave Harry a worried glance. “Did you have a vision, or did it just hurt like the last time?”

“It only hurt like the last time, but I still have a headache. Do you have a potion with you?”

Severus gave Harry a short nod and pulled a phial out of his robe pocket, opened it, and handed it to his son, who gulped down the potion, relaxing visibly. “Thank you, Daddy,” he said relieved.

As soon as they sat down at the dining table, Severus addressed Tom. “Dumbledore attacked Harry again today, not by a vision like he did before, just by causing him pain.”

“Are you sure?” Tom asked, glancing at Harry.

“Yes, Uncle Tom. Believe me, it’s different from any other kind of pain. I’ve never had such a headache before, apart from the other time he attacked my through my scar.”

Tom sighed. “We have to speak to the Minister again. Maybe we can talk to him during the full moon. They should assess Dumbledore’s condition again to see if he’s fit enough to move to Azkaban. The problem is how can we prevent him from torturing Harry through the scar?”

Severus frowned. “That’s really a problem. We have to try to teach Harry Occlumency as fast as possible. It would probably help if he were able to Occlude his mind. I believe that he already should be able to do so to a certain amount but it’s obviously not enough. I will speak to Harry about it in the morning.”

-----

The next day was the day before the full moon. As they had finished with the wolves cure potion the day before, Severus and Harry sat together in the living room for a talk.

“Harry, do you know what Occlumency is?”

Harry sighed. He had a very vague idea but it wasn’t concrete enough to explain. “I’m not sure,” he finally said.

“You know that I entered your mind several times after Dumbledore’s attacks on you, right? Do you remember that?”

“Yes.”

“Very well. That was Legilimency. Now, at that time you wanted me to enter your mind, and you put the specific memories you wanted me to see in the front of your mind, right?”

“Um, yes.”

“All right. Now, in case you didn’t want me to enter your mind, you’d Occlude your mind, which means you’d try to hide your thoughts in the back behind something, for example behind a wall or behind an image that’ll block people from entering your mind. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, That’s easy.”

Severus smirked. “You know, son, I am naturally gifted at Occlumency, and you seem to have gotten this trait too, very luckily. When you were big before, you didn’t have that talent because your natural abilities were altered with your appearance. At that time you didn’t have your talent for potions either. Anyway, you should try to Occlude your mind at all times. If you do that, it will be much more difficult for Dumbledore to harm you. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, I’ll try. Can you help me, Daddy? Can I try and you enter my mind and tell me if I do it all right?”

“All right, son. Are you all right now?”

“Oh, wait.” Harry concentrated on something he had seen during their beach holiday last week. “All right,” he said finally.

Severus carefully entered his son’s mind, trying to hurt Harry as little as possible. “Legilimens!” In the front of Harry’s mind was an image of waves. When they moved he could see four dolphins, obviously a family with two adults, a child, and a very small baby dolphin. They were happily playing in the sea. Severus tried his best to get behind the image – to no avail. Finally, he left Harry’s mind, feeling very assured that his son was well able to occlude his mind.

“Very good, Harry. I like your dolphins very much, and I couldn’t get behind them. Don’t forget to always Occlude your mind. Dumbledore will still be able to hurt you, but he won’t be able to easily plant a vision into your mind. Maybe he even wanted to do so today or the other day but couldn’t because your mind was Occluded so well. Well done, son; I’m very proud of you.”

“Thank you, Daddy,” Harry said happily.

“All right, then, let’s go to the Great Hall for lunch before I have to go take a small nap as I will have to stay up during the night,” Severus concluded the Occlumency talk with his son.

With each hour that passed, Harry, Severus, and Remus became more excited, and when Severus, Remus, and Tom left for Riddle Manor for the night of the full moon, Harry begged his father to let him join the three teachers. However, Severus stayed adamant. “No, Harry, we aren’t sure if the potion works with everyone, and of course we don’t know if it works for more than once. You have to stay here like you did last time.”

Later in the evening, Severus, Tom, and the Minister of Magic sat together in the living room of Riddle Manor talking about Dumbledore’s recent attacks on Harry and how to prevent the old man from harming the boy when suddenly the noises of a werewolf’s howling sounded through the house.

Severus had to try hard to keep his face from revealing his disappointment. “Remus,” he said, sighing. “Harry and I have to continue our research.”

“However,” the Minister threw in, “your invention is more than helpful. Of course we will appreciate it even more if you manage to invent a potion that’ll heal the werewolves permanently, but even if they have to take a potion once a month in order not to transform it’s a huge step forward.”

Scrimgeour remained pensive for a moment before he continued. “We will let all the werewolves know about the existence of this potion, and we will invite them to register with us in order to come to the Ministry on each night of the full moon in order to take their potion and stay in a safe room within the Ministry for the night at least during the next few months until we know that the potion really works for everyone. We will let you know the amount we need of the potion and will ask you to brew the potion for us each month. Please make the potion for us for a reasonable price according to the cost of the ingredients as well as the combined brewing time of you and your son. There is no need to publicise the recipe of the potion and you shall receive the patent for your recipe and will be the sole brewer, together with your son of course. Moreover, I will award both of you the Order of Merlin second class, which is endowed with twenty-five thousand Galleons each.”

“This will be far more than adequate, Minister. Thank you very much,” Severus replied immediately. “I promise now that my son and I will continue to research until we find a complete cure to Lycanthropy.”

“That will be appreciated very much, Professor,” the Minister replied. “These eighteen people have assured me that they are willing to test your potions until you find the cure. However, we should know in advance how many of them are needed each time.”

“Oh, we will need them all I believe. If we know that we have eighteen persons, we will make nine slightly different potions each month to give to nine people, while the other nine won’t receive a potion in case we found the permanent cure, provided that they didn’t transform the previous month. Nine of them will of course receive our established potion next month. They will receive their first test potion one month later while the others won’t receive any potion at that time.”

-----

“Harry, we’ll have to continue our research,” Severus told his son, entering the living room in the morning.

Harry gave him a flabbergasted look. “That means that Remus…” He slowly trailed off.

“Transformed. Yes,” Severus replied to the unasked question.

“Where is he? Is he all right?” Harry enquired worriedly.

“I’ve just brought him to the Hospital wing. He’s not in the best shape but I’m sure a day in Poppy’s care will make him much better. If you promise to stay quiet, you may visit him later.”

---

“Hey, Uncle Moony,” Harry said quietly, taking in the already healing cuts and bruises on the man’s face.

“Hey cub,” Remus replied tiredly, giving Harry a small smile.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry mumbled, carefully pulling Remus into a slight hug.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry,” Remus replied sincerely. “On the contrary, I’m very grateful that you and your father spend so much time in order to help me. I appreciate it very much.”

“But still I’m sorry that you were hurt last night,” Harry whispered. “Now, I’m going to let you sleep, I’ll come again later.”

-----

During the next months, Severus and Harry spent every free minute researching their potion. The Minister had made a new law concerning werewolves. Each werewolf had to come to the Ministry every month on the day of the full moon to take the potion. Afterwards they were considered safe and were free to go until the next month. In the meantime, the number of werewolves ready to test Severus’ potions had increased to fifty people, so that Severus and Harry could try every small change to the potion that could help them achieve their goal. So far, nothing had happened yet. The only potion that prevented the werewolves from transforming so far was the potion they had invented in summer even if it wasn’t permanent.

Harry and Lily were also continuing on their research in order to make their mobile phones or Harry’s notebook work at Hogwarts but so far, they hadn’t made make much progress.

---

From the new school year onwards, the Headmistress had established the Quidditch teachers’ team. Minerva met with the four Quidditch captains of the Houses in order to agree together with the students on a schedule for the matches as the new team meant that they had to fit in four more games during the school year. When she told the students that Harry was going to play Seeker for the teachers’ team, the four Quidditch captains were very upset and angrily told the Headmistress that they had let the child participate in their practises and that he already had played in their matches a few times when one of the players was sick or injured. The Gryffindor captain was especially angry. “Professor, don’t you want us to win the Quidditch cup? Our own Seeker is not so good; we really need Harry to play for us at least once or twice.”

In the end, Minerva had to give in and promised the students that Harry would still play for the students as a reserve. If a reserve was needed due to the absence of one of the players, Harry would play. Otherwise any team could ask Harry to play for them anytime. Depending on the required position, Harry would choose the first offer he was comfortable with.

The Gryffindor team captain was the first to ask Harry if he would play Seeker for them in the first game of the season Gryffindor versus Slytherin. Harry laughed and told him, “I’d love to play, but as it is still two months until the game, we have to wait and see if I must play for an injured player or something. If not, I’d like to play Seeker for you.”

However, at the end of November, when the match took place, one of the Slytherin Chasers had fallen ill, and the Slytherin team captain had ordered the Seeker to play Chaser so that Harry could play Seeker for Slytherin. Harry didn’t mind of course as he liked all houses. He was just glad to be able to play, and he managed to catch the Snitch only twenty minutes into the game.

In the evening, Harry was allowed to attend the victory party in the Slytherin common room, which he enjoyed very much. He had many friends among the younger students in Slytherin, with whom he had often attended Potions lessons.

While Harry spent the evening in the Slytherin common room, Lily and Severus sat in front of their fireplace, talking about their son. “Why don’t you let him stay with the students in Slytherin overnight? Don’t you think Harry would enjoy that very much?”

Severus raised an eyebrow. “I know that Harry would enjoy it. The problem is his scar. You have no idea what Albus is capable of doing with the scar. He can implant visions in Harry’s head; he could possess him, and he could even curse or kill him. Fortunately, Harry is a natural Occlumens, so it would be very difficult for Albus to really harm him. But I believe that it’s much safer for Harry to stay with us. The students wouldn’t be able to help him at all if he encountered any problems.”

“You would be able to help, Sev?” Lily asked worried and longing for a positive answer.

“Of course, Lily. I’m a much better Occlumens and Legilimens than Albus, and Harry fortunately has enough confidence in me to let me in his mind anytime. Tom would also be able to help Harry in case I wasn’t available for some reason.”

Severus put an arm around his wife, mumbling, “Relax, Lily.” Then he leaned towards Lily and kissed her softly. Around curfew, Severus went to the Slytherin common room and escorted Harry back to his room.

-----

On Friday afternoon just after the last classes before the beginning of the winter holidays, Ravenclaw had to play the Quidditch match against the teachers and the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain had begged Harry to play Seeker for their team. Of course, Harry happily agreed and asked his mother to Charm his Quidditch robes from Slytherin to Ravenclaw colours.

The afternoon of the match was bright and sunny, but a thick layer of snow had fallen during the night, and it was bitter cold. Harry happily cruised above the other players, finding it extremely strange to play against the teachers, especially as his father was playing the teachers’ team’s Seeker. Suddenly, he saw the Snitch hovering just at the opposite side of the pitch. Harry rushed over to the other side, nearly crashing into his father, who seemed to have spotted the Snitch at the same time. Now it was gone. Harry sighed and started to feverishly look for the small, golden ball.

Suddenly, Harry’s scar exploded in pain. Harry groaned, pressing a hand against his forehead. Severus was the first to notice that Harry wasn’t all right and on his way over to his son, he quickly instructed Luna to fly down to Pomona Sprout, who was refereeing the match, and tell her to stop the match for a moment. However, the pain in Harry’s head had become so unbearable that Harry couldn’t help pressing both hands against his head, moaning in agony. With both hands off his broom, he couldn’t keep himself on his broom and started to tumble down to the ground. The whole school watched in horror as Harry fell down from a height of nearly fifty meters. The teachers all rushed after Harry but nobody was able to catch him in time.

About five meters above the ground, Harry vanished and a beautiful phoenix slowly flew down to the ground. Harry didn’t know how he had managed to transform but in fact he felt much better in his phoenix form. His terrible headache had turned into a slight buzz; although he felt a bit dizzy after his fall. When the teachers and his team players landed around him, watching him worriedly, Harry remembered that he still had to play a Quidditch game. He quickly flashed out of the ring the others had build around him and transformed back into his human form. He slowly walked over to the others and went straight to his father. “Daddy, do you have a headache potion?”

“Of course, Harry. Lily has everything,” Severus answered immediately, reaching into his wife’s robe pocket as she was standing next to him.

“Harry, are you all right?” Lily asked with concern after Harry had gulped down the potion.

“Yes, I’m fine, sorry for that. Let’s continue,” Harry answered and mounted his broom again, completely ignoring Poppy’s and Minerva’s protests.

Twenty minutes later, Harry caught the Snitch with his father on his heels and the stands erupted with deafening applause. On his way down to the ground, Severus caught up with him and told him, “Harry, I don’t want you to attend the victory party right now. I want you to accompany me to our quarters.”

-----

In the evening, Harry still didn’t feel his usual self and was lying on the sofa in the living room, talking to his parents when suddenly the fireplace flared and Luna entered their room. She held a huge package of chocolate frogs in her hand, which she handed to Harry. “Harry, this is from Ravenclaw House – a thank you for playing Seeker for them and winning an important match. The students asked me to take this to you as they aren’t allowed to use the Floo and don’t know where you live.”

“Are you already assisting Filius with Ravenclaw?” Lily asked, grinning.

“No, why? The students just came to meet me after dinner because none of you were in the Great Hall. They only came to me because they know that I’ve been in Ravenclaw before and that I know Harry well,” Luna explained patiently.

“Wow, so many chocolate frogs,” Harry said, admiring the box in awe. “Maybe I should visit the Common room in order to eat the frogs together with them,” he voiced his thoughts.

“If you feel up to it, I can accompany you,” Luna offered.

“Yes, please, at least I want to say ‘thank you’.”

Lily and Severus exchanged a glance, resulting in Severus asking Luna to bring Harry back in an hour as he was supposed to rest. On Harry’s request, Luna and Harry didn’t take the Floo but walked up to the Ravenclaw common room where the victory party was still under way. Harry shared his chocolate frogs with the students and had a lot of fun. Much too soon, Luna returned in order to take Harry back home.

-----

The attack just before the holidays had the consequence that Harry’s parents and the other teachers didn’t let him out of their sight during the holidays. Harry had hoped to spend a few hours in the secret common room, but there was no way for him to get away from the adults.

However, the adults couldn’t prevent Harry from being attacked again on his birthday. His friends had just gone home after a hilarious birthday party and Harry sat down for Christmas Eve dinner with his parents, the other teachers, and a few students, who had remained at the castle over the holidays. Harry was exhausted from romping around with his friends and tiredly leaned into his godmother, who was sitting next to him. Suddenly, his scar erupted in pain. However, this time Harry didn’t only have to deal with a bad headache, but he was pulled into a vision.

Noticing that Harry gasped and gripped his head with both hands, Poppy had pulled him onto her lap immediately. Everyone watched worriedly as Harry obviously drifted into a disturbed sleep, thrashing around as much as he could in Poppy’s strong grip. Suddenly, Harry opened his eyes, struggled to sit up and mumbled, “I’m going to be sick.”

Minerva quickly conjured a bucket and held it just in front of Harry, who emptied his stomach immediately. Finally, he tiredly leaned back into Poppy and said, “He sent me a vision but I don’t know if it really was a vision or if it was one of his memories from a few years ago.”

“Can you show me, Harry?” Severus asked, worried that Albus was already healed enough to send his son a vision.

Harry quickly gulped down the pain relieving potion that Poppy handed to him and looked straight into his father’s dark eyes. He loved those eyes, they had something really calming and he knew that he could fully rely on the man they belonged to.

Five minutes later, Severus pulled off. “That was an older memory, however, one of the worst he could have sent you, Harry. It was obviously meant to be Tom torturing his Death Eaters with diverse curses, even unforgivable ones.”

Poppy gave Harry a piercing look. “Severus, we should take him up to his room. He’s obviously suffering from the after-effects of the Cruciatus curse.”

Severus picked the child up and carried him back to his quarters, followed by Poppy and Lily. While Harry’s mother and godmother watched the boy, Severus went to his lab to brew the Anti-Cruciatus Potion for his son.

This time, the attack had greatly affected Harry. On Christmas day, he was still in bed with a fever and a headache that was somehow resistant to Severus’ strongest potions. While Severus spent half of the day researching a stronger potion that might help Harry, Lily stayed the whole day at Harry’s side.

In order to distract Harry, Lily told him a lot about Charms, which lead to a conversation about their research concerning the mobile phones. Suddenly, Harry sat up, wincing at the movement, and waved his hand at the mobile phone on his desk, casting a silent spell. Lily stood up and went over to look at the phone. She nearly jumped with surprise. The mobile phone was switched on.

“Harry, how did you do that?” Lily asked amazed, listening intently when Harry described the Charm he had just created.

“Very, very good, Harry. I’m very proud of you, son.”

Harry lay back and gave his Mummy a tired smile before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

-----

During the next weeks, everyone was afraid that something would happen to Harry again. However, nothing happened, and Harry slowly started to forget the incident that had ruined his birthday and Christmas day. In the meantime, with Lily’s help, he had perfected the Charm for their mobile phones to work at Hogwarts. Harry had given his mobile phone to his father, and his parents used them from time to time.

One evening, when all the teachers sat together in the Snape quarters drinking tea, Lily and Severus showed their colleagues their mobile phones and explained how they worked. This demonstration of course resulted in everyone wanting their own mobile phones, so that Lily promised to assist Harry buying mobile phones for everyone and charming them to work in the magical world.

A week after Harry had handed the teachers their mobile phones, Hermione and Luna approached Harry. “Look, Harry,” Hermione started, handing him two more mobile phones. “Would you please be so kind to charm these two for Neville and Draco?”

“Of course,” Harry giggled and waved his hand at the first device. Two minutes later, he gave both phones back, now working as if they were made for the wizarding world.

As soon as the general excitement about the mobile phones had ebbed down a bit, Harry remembered what had originally triggered him to try to get the mobile phones to work. The Charm he had invented for the phones was obviously too weak for his notebook, and Harry and Lily had to start all over in order to find a Charm strong enough to work on the computer.

Finally, the summer holidays started, so that they had more time for their research. In the morning, Severus and Harry were still researching the wolves cure. So far, however, they hadn’t made any progress and still had to brew the potion for the nearly two hundred werewolves coming to the Ministry to take their potion every month. Apart from these people, they still had thirty werewolves coming to Riddle Manor in order to test new potions every month.

However, during the last year, Harry and Severus had tried so many ways of making the potion with so many different ingredients that it slowly became difficult to invent any more different mixtures.

-----

One evening after a long day of research and a Quidditch game with the teachers after dinner, Harry was very tired and went to bed early. Lily talked to him for a few minutes before she asked Severus to check on the child and tuck him in. Finally, Severus left Harry’s room, leaving the door slightly ajar, and proceeded to sit next to Lily on the sofa. While they were waiting for the other teachers, who would be coming over for tea like they often did during the holidays, Severus and Lily spoke about the holidays and that it would be better for Harry to leave the castle with all the research again for at least two weeks.

Harry was already half asleep with one ear listening to his parents’ quiet talking, which was very comforting. Suddenly, a phoenix appeared in a flash of fire and sat down next to Fawkes. Within seconds, Harry was wide awake and sat in his bed, getting especially alarmed, when he heard Fawkes trill #Albus!#

Harry waved his hand at the intruding phoenix and threw the strongest silent stunning charm at him that he could manage. In the next instant, he shouted for his parents before he collapsed on the bed.

“Harry! What’s wrong?” Severus asked concerned.

“Daddy, the phoenix on the floor, that’s Dumbledore. I stunned him,” Harry mumbled lazily.

“Are you sure that it’s Dumbledore?” Severus asked, throwing a glance at Fawkes, who nodded his head.

With a flick of his hand, Severus held his mobile phone in his hand, pushing a button. “Minerva, Dumbledore is in Harry’s room, stunned, in his phoenix form. Call the Ministry immediately please.”

He left the room, pointing his wand at the fireplace in order to open the Floo for a short while, and waved Lily over, quickly filling her in on what had happened. Then he returned to Harry’s side, training his wand on the phoenix on the floor, who had fortunately remained stunned thus far. Lily sat down on the edge of Harry’s bed, pulling her son close.

Ten minutes later, Minerva entered Harry’s room, followed by the Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt. Severus explained that the stunned phoenix was Albus Dumbledore, who had flashed into the room a few minutes ago.

“Are you sure that it is Dumbledore? He is supposed to be in a safely warded part of St. Mungo’s,” Shacklebolt said sternly.

Harry sat up excitedly and jumped into the conversation. “As a phoenix he can just flash away. But my phoenix, Fawkes, knows him even in his phoenix form and told me immediately that it was Dumbledore. That’s why I stunned him before he could do anything to me.”

“You stunned him? Wow, that’s very good work indeed, quite a powerful stunning spell,” Tonks commended the boy, who felt his face getting red with embarrassment.

Shacklebolt waved his wand at the stunned phoenix, forcing him back into his human form, and placed an Anti-Animagus-Charm on the man. “Good evening, Albus. We didn’t really expect you here.”

“Ah, but I wanted to say ‘hello’ to my friend Fawkes and my former student Harry. Moreover, I didn’t have a chance to welcome Lily back. I’m going to return to St. Mungos immediately,” Albus answered in his nice grandfather voice he had always used with Harry when he was at Hogwarts the first time.

“I’m sorry, old man, but you’re having a one-way-ticket to Azkaban and I don’t think you’ll be returning to St. Mungo’s. You will accompany us to a Ministry holding cell until the Minister clears you for your journey to Azkaban. As to your motives concerning young Harry here, we might question you under Veritaserum once more in case the Minister deems it necessary.”

Shacklebolt excused himself and activated a Portkey that took him and Dumbledore away. Tonks once more commended Harry for his fast action before she returned to the Ministry through the Floo.

“I wonder if this was the last time Albus will show up,” Severus said, shaking his head. “Thank you Fawkes for alerting us to the problem so quickly!”

Fawkes trilled a happy response and inclined his head, a gesture Severus knew well from his son, who always did that when he wanted him to stroke his head feathers. Severus held out his arm for the phoenix to step on and proceeded to caress his son’s familiar. Harry, who was lying in his bed with his head on his mother’s lap, smiled at the scene before he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

-----

When Harry’s mind slowly turned back to consciousness, his mother was sitting next to him, carefully shaking his shoulder. “Harry you have to get up; you’re having visitors.”

“Hmm?” Harry mumbled tiredly.

“Here, Harry, quickly get up and wash your face and get dressed. You have to Floo to Granny’s office; Minister Scrimgeour is waiting for you.”

With that, Harry quickly crawled out of his bed and ran into the bathroom, emerging only two minutes later. “You dress me, Mummy, ‘m too tired,” he begged, yawning.

Lily sighed and helped her son get dressed. “Now, do you want to eat a quick breakfast or do you think you’ll be able to wait half an hour until lunchtime?”

“I’ll wait. Will we eat in the Great Hall?”

“Yes, Harry. Either come back here early enough or go to the Great Hall with Granny. I’ll drag Daddy along and we’ll meet there. Now, take the Floo to Granny’s office then, please.”

When Harry stumbled out of the fireplace in Minerva’s office, he saw that the Minister wasn’t the Headmistress’ only guest. There was an unknown man as well, who somehow looked official. Harry dragged himself into a standing position and said politely, “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Harry,” Minerva answered immediately. “Harry, please take a seat.” When Harry complied and sat down comfortably, she continued, “The Minister of Magic and the Head Healer of St. Mungo’s, Healer O’Brien, have come to see you.”

Harry threw an unsure glance at the two men. “Hello Minister, I’m sorry that we still don’t have the complete cure for the werewolves,” he blurted out.

Scrimgeour laughed. “Oh, Harry, I know that you and your father are trying hard, and I know that there’s no guarantee that there will be a complete cure. However, I know if anyone was to find a cure, then it would be you and your father. You’re doing a great job.”

Harry blushed terribly. “No, Minister. I’m only helping my father research and prepare the ingredients as well as brewing the potions. He is the one who is doing most of the job.”

“No, Harry; you’re doing a very good job, too. Your father keeps telling us how valuable your help is,” Minerva interrupted the boy firmly.

“I am sure,” the Minister acknowledged. “However, this is not why we came here today. In fact, I came to tell you that Dumbledore is now in the wizarding prison Azkaban. He won’t have another trial as he already had a trial two years ago and was already sentenced to a life-long stay in Azkaban.” The Minister gave the Healer sitting next to him a short nod.

“Hello, Mr. Snape. I’m glad to meet you as I’ve already heard so much about you in connection with the wolves cure. However, I came here today to give you my sincere apologies for not keeping Dumbledore safe in our warded part. We didn’t know that he was a phoenix Animagus and as such could just flash away. I’m sorry, Mr. Snape.”

“Oh, just call me Harry, please, sir. And it’s all right; I mean, fortunately my phoenix was there and recognized Dumbledore immediately, so it was no problem as I could stun him before he was even able to transform back.” ‘Very nice that they came, but was that important enough to drag me off my bed? I’m still so tired,’ Harry thought, glad to see that the two men excused themselves and stepped into the fireplace.

When Minerva turned back to Harry after showing the two visitors off, she couldn’t help smiling, seeing that Harry had curled up on his seat and was fast asleep.

-----

Apart from researching the wolves cure together with his father and researching Charms to make his notebook work with his mother, Harry spent most of the summer holidays reading books. Fortunately, Luna had renewed his membership card for the Muggle library for another year, and Luna, Hermione, or Lily took him to the library whenever he wanted to go. Even Severus had accompanied Harry a few times. After dinner, everyone who had remained in the castle over the summer, used to go out and play Quidditch together. When Severus and Lily suggested to their colleagues to leave the castle for two weeks for a beach holiday like the year before, everyone agreed happily except for Professors Flitwick and Sprout who promised to look after the castle during the Headmistress’ absence. This time, they decided to leave the castle during the last two weeks of August as they had to consider the dates of the full moon for their planning.

---

Two days after Dumbledore’s sudden appearance in Harry’s room, Dobby suddenly popped up in front of Severus, very agitated. “Professor Snape, sir, we is having a big problem, sir.”

Severus laid the test papers he was just grading aside and asked, “What is it, Dobby?”

“Professor Dumbledore, sir, he flashed into the kitchen a few days ago, sir. And only now Dobby is hearing that the professor is been asking a house elf to put a very bad thing in Master Harry’s and Professor Evans-Snape’s drinks and house elf Tipsy is doing that this morning.” Dobby ended up crying.

“Now, keep calm, Dobby,” Severus said, trying not to panic. “Now, what is it that Tipsy put into my son’s and my wife’s drinks?”

“Dobby is not knowing, sir. Something he is bringing from St. Mungo’s I hears.”

“Bring this house elf to me immediately,” Severus ordered and hurried to the fireplace, calling Minerva to his office too.

A minute later, Minerva, Dobby, and Tipsy had arrived and Tipsy confirmed that Dobby had told the truth.

“How can you do something like that?” Minerva asked, glaring daggers at the house elf. “You are a Hogwarts elf, aren’t you?”

“The problem, Professor Headmistress, is that the house elves is sworn to Professor Dumbledore, sir, and not to Hogwarts or Professor McGonagall, Headmistress. So they is to do what Professor Dumbledore is telling them,” Dobby explained.

“All right, thank you, Dobby,” Minerva said thoughtfully. “I shall deal with this later. However, we need to know what has been put into Harry’s and Lily’s drinks.”

Tipsy shook her head. “I is sorry, Madam, but Tipsy is not knowing that.”

“Do you still have the phial where the potion was delivered in, provided it was a potion?” Severus asked impatiently.

Tipsy nodded eagerly. “Yes, Professor Snape, sir. Professor Dumbledore is telling me to use half of it today and half tomorrow, so I is still having half of the potion in the phial.”

“Bring it to me immediately,” Severus ordered the house elf, who popped away and was back in his office a minute later.

Severus carefully sniffed at the potion, which had a strange, green colour, but couldn’t tell what it was. “I’ll be in my lab for a while examining the potion. I suppose it will take one or two hours, maybe more. In the meantime, someone should ask St. Mungo’s if they’re missing a potions phial.”

“I’m going to ask Poppy to do that, while I’ll deal with the house elves in order to bond them to the castle,” Minerva said firmly. “Where are Lily and Harry, by the way?”

“They are in the library together,” Severus replied flatly before he rushed off towards his private lab.

-----

In the meantime, oblivious to the discussions in Severus’ office, Harry and Lily were doing research in the library, inventing Spells and immediately trying them on the notebook. As nobody was in the library during the holidays, Harry had decided to take his notebook with him so that they could try their new Spells and Charms immediately. Harry had just invented a new Spell and he pointed his wand at the notebook, silently incanting the Spell.

Suddenly, “Wow, Mummy, it’s starting,” Harry shouted excitedly.

The notebook was in fact starting up and shortly, the Windows surface appeared. Harry gave his mother a happy glance and explained to Lily how the computer worked and what he could do with the computer. They didn’t have an Internet connection, but Harry and Lily were sure that they’d be able to work something out. Unfortunately, after twenty minutes the screen turned black and the notebook shut off.

“Oh,” Harry could only say, disappointed.

“Hmm. Maybe it only lasts for a while depending on the magic involved when you incant the Spell,” Lily mused.

“Oh, yeah, that could be,” Harry said thoughtfully. “But then I think quite an amount of magic will be needed in order to have it work longer, because I was so excited that I’ve probably sent a lot of magic with the Spell.”

“Very likely so, but at least it works; now we can still try to improve the Spell,” Lily replied calmingly and gave her son an encouraging nod. “Maybe you should add something like ‘Infinitas Tenere’?”

“Oh, yes, let’s try that out. Do I add it at the end of the Spell or where?”

“Yes, as the Spell itself already worked and you only need it to maintain the Spell, it has to come after the rest of the Spell,” Lily confirmed.

Harry tried the longer Spell out but to no effect. “Now it doesn’t work anymore. Why is it so complicated?” Harry exclaimed, very annoyed.

“If Charms and Spells were easy, anyone could do them. If you really want to research it you have to be patient,” Lily admonished her son softly. “Do you know, Harry…” She smiled, looking straight into his green eyes, “I’m very proud of you, my son and I enjoy being able to do research with you very much.”

Harry put an arm around his mother, pulling her close. “And I’m glad to have you back, Mummy.” He enjoyed doing research together with his parents too. But the research with his notebook, which he started more than a year ago, was slowly getting frustrating.

-----

In the meantime, Minerva had talked to Poppy, who Floo-ed over to St. Mungo’s immediately. Fortunately, she knew the hospital very well and everyone knew who she was, so that it only took ten minutes until she could enter Healer O’Brien’s office.

“Healer Pomfrey,” the Head Healer greeted his colleague politely. “What can I do for you?”

Poppy sighed. “I hope you’ll be able to do something for us. A few days ago, Professor Dumbledore escaped from your warded section and flashed over to Hogwarts in order to harm young Harry. I’m sure you have heard about the incident.”

“Yes, I have,” the Healer confirmed.

“At that time, he brought a green potions phial with him and ordered a House elf to put half of it in Harry’s and his mother’s drinks today and the other half tomorrow. We only knew this after Harry and Lily already had drunken the first half of it. Therefore, we need to know what was in the phial. Professor Snape is currently examining the potion, but we thought it might be faster to know which potion you are missing.”

“Oh no!” the Healer exclaimed. “That’s horrible. Now, let’s head to the laboratories and enquire about it. They should know if something was missing.”

The two Healers quickly began their research, rushing all over the hospital, visiting every single laboratory and talking to the specialists. However, even after two hours they still hadn’t received the necessary information.

“There is only one more laboratory left,” Healer O’Brien told Poppy. “It’s at the far end of the building.”

“Let’s go,” Poppy replied worriedly.

When the two Healers arrived at the laboratory and questioned the two men working there, they were very astonished. “We thought that a phial was missing…”

“Then why didn’t you report this fact immediately?” O’Brien asked sternly.

“Because we weren’t sure and thought it was just our imagination that the phial had been there before, but now as you asked us it became clear that the phial was there and was stolen.”

“All right, now, what was in it?”

The two men’s faces darkened immediately. “The Anguigena Sugillationis virus.”

“Oh no!” Poppy blurt out horrified. ‘Of course, Dumbledore was able to flash anywhere in a blink in order to steal such a thing, even during the night, and he’s very clever. How could anyone believe that he was stupid?’ Poppy thought angrily.

“How high do you assess the possibility that Harry and Lily will get the disease?” Poppy asked the Head Healer when they were back to his office.

“Very high,” Healer O’Brien confirmed darkly. “If they have inhaled half a phial between them the chance that they will come down with it is about 90 percent. If they had taken the whole phial it would be 100 percent. However, the virus is one of the worst forms and is strong enough to infect the whole school.”

“How likely are their chances?”

“To survive you mean?”

Poppy nodded darkly.

“Frankly speaking I don’t know. However, we need everyone at Hogwarts to be vaccinated immediately. Oh, wait,” he suddenly remembered something. “When did they drink the content of the phial? If it was less than five hours ago, a simple counter potion containing a Bezoir would prevent them from getting sick.”

Poppy glanced at her watch. It was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon. If the House elves had mixed the phial’s content into Harry and Lily’s lunch, they had time enough. “I’m not sure if it was at breakfast or at lunch,” she said finally.

“All right. In that case you should head back immediately. How many people are in the castle at the moment?”

“About a dozen,” Poppy replied.

“All right. I will send someone over with the vaccine as soon as possible. In case they drank it less than five hours ago please contact me immediately.”

“Oh, wait a moment, I can phone them,” Poppy suddenly remembered. “Oh, no, maybe they still don’t know about it. Let me just phone Professor Snape and ask him.” She pulled her mobile phone out of her robe pocket and quickly talked to Severus. “No, unfortunately, the House elves said it was at breakfast,” Poppy told the astonished Healer after putting away her mobile phone.

O’Brien quickly made a fire call ordering the vaccine. “Healer Pomfrey, could you please explain why you can use a Muggle tephelone at St. Mungo’s?” he then asked curiously.

“Oh, that is Mr. Snape’s invention. With his mother’s help he invented a Charm to make mobile phones work in the wizarding world.”

Hearing this, the Healer became very excited. “Can you please ask Mr. Snape to provide twenty of these mobile phones for St. Mungo’s? He can give the invoice directly to me. Either that or he can patent the Charm if he hasn’t already and sell it to us.”

“I will speak with Mr. Snape today and ask him. I’m sure he will be pleased to help you,” Poppy promised.

“Thank you very much. However, if it involves a lot of magic to Charm the mobile phones he should let someone else do it. He and his mother better save their magic now. They’ll need a lot of it to survive the next weeks,” O’Brien added pensively.

Harry and Lily were still in the library trying out Charms for the notebook when suddenly Minerva’s voice echoed through the school. “Everyone in the castle please come to the hospital wing immediately.”

Harry groaned. “Do we have to go too?” he asked his mother, absolutely annoyed.

“Yes, Harry, I think so; Minerva said ‘everyone’,” Lily confirmed. “Now, Harry, let’s go. We have been doing this now for four hours, so it’s time for a break anyway.”

At that moment, Lily’s mobile phone rang. It was Minerva, who told Lily that she and Harry didn’t have to come to the hospital wing and that they’d tell her what it was about later when Harry was in bed.

“Oh, it’s all right, Harry. We don’t have to go. Shall we continue then?”

Harry gladly agreed and returned his attention back to the book he was just skimming when he had heard the announcement.

An hour later, Poppy entered the library. “Harry, I’d like to speak with you for a moment.”

“Hello Aunt Poppy,” Harry said pleased as he liked his godmother very much. He carefully put a bookmark into the book and replaced it on the table in front of him.

“Harry,” Poppy started, sighing worriedly. “I have spoken to Head Healer O’Brien from St. Mungos. He wants you to provide St. Mungos with twenty mobile phones, Charmed so that they’ll work at St. Mungos.” Ignoring the happy twinkle in Harry’s eyes, she asked sternly, “Harry, do you need much magic for that Charm?”

Harry shook his head. “No, Aunt Poppy, it’s fairly easy.”

“All right. Now, Harry, I want you to refrain from using much magic during the rest of the holidays. You need the holidays in order to rest as much as possible.” Poppy sighed. It was difficult to admonish Harry without telling him the truth. However, they had decided not to let Harry in the problem yet. It would be early enough to inform him when Lily and he became ill.

“I will try, Aunt Poppy. But the mobile phones are really easy and don’t take much magic. Can anyone go with me to London to buy them tomorrow?”

Poppy turned to Lily. “Lily, would you mind me taking your son to Muggle London tomorrow afternoon?”

Lily shook her head. “No, of course not, Poppy. I’m glad that Harry is able to help people. Let me guess how long it will take until the Ministry comes to Harry, asking for mobile phones.”

Harry’s eyes started to twinkle happily. “That’s all right, Mummy. As long as they pay for the mobile phones, I can Charm them for them.”

Poppy thought for a moment. No – there wasn’t really anything she could do for her godson at the moment. They could only wait. “Harry, would you like me to take you to the zoo for the day?”

Harry gave his godmother an enthusiastic glance. “Yes, Aunt Poppy, that would be so great! Oh, please, yes, let’s do that. Can we go, Mummy, say yes, please!”

Lily shook her head at her excited son and said, “All right, if you promise to behave for Aunt Poppy.”

“Yes, Mummy, I promise,” Harry answered immediately.

-----

In the evening when Harry was fast asleep, Severus told Lily about the virus, with which Dumbledore had infected her and Harry. Lily gave her husband a shocked glance. “So that means we only have two weeks until Harry and I are going to fall seriously ill and perhaps die of the illness?” She should clutch him fearfully or desperately, willing the illness to go away. ‘If I stay here in his arms nothing bad can happen to me,’ she wanted to believe so badly.

Severus sighed, rubbing her hair soothingly. “You’re very strong, and your magic is very powerful, so you’ll survive it although it might be rough for a few weeks.” He hesitated and took in a shaky breath before continuing. “However, I’m very concerned about Harry. His magic is as strong as yours or mine – at least – but his body is much too weak for the amount of magic he has. For him, it’s much more dangerous. Therefore, we have to make him rest and not let him use magic at all if possible.”

“All right,” Lily agreed immediately. “We will stop doing our research and tell him we want to enjoy the holidays until we’ll be back from our real holiday.”

“That’s a good idea,” Severus said, giving his wife an approving smile.

“That reminds me of something I should have done long before,” Lily suddenly blurted out. “Poppy is going to take Harry to London tomorrow to visit the zoo. In the meantime, I’m going to see my sister. I’m looking forward to seeing her face when she sees me!”

“Lily, don’t kill her,” Severus admonished his wife, who was giggling mischievously, having the same twinkle in her eyes, which Severus knew so well from Harry. “Don’t forget that Harry needs you here and not in Azkaban.”

“Oh, Sev, I won’t kill her but you know, during my research with Harry I’ve found a few very nice new Charms,” she said wickedly.

-----

In the morning, Harry and his godmother Floo-ed over to the Leaky Cauldron from where Poppy Apparated them near the zoo. Harry had been to the zoo a few times, and he liked it very much. There was a baby polar bear that had just been born the week before, and it was absolutely adorable. Harry stood there for a very long time, watching the cute, white polar bear baby playing in the mud.

“Oh, look, Aunt Poppy how naughty he is, playing in the mud. He’s getting brown all over,” he said, pointing at the bear.

“I don’t think he’ll stay white for a long time,” Poppy answered. “But he isn’t naughty; that’s what baby polar bears do. They’ll give him a bath afterwards and he’ll be clean again, at least for the moment.”

The time passed much too quickly for his liking, and suddenly Poppy told him they had to leave the zoo in order to buy the mobile phones for St. Mungos.

---

At the same time, Lily headed to Little Whinging to pay her sister a visit. She Apparated to a small side street of Privet Drive and walked to the Dursley’s house. When Petunia opened the door, she looked at Lily as if she were a ghost. “Who are you and what do you want?” Petunia finally hissed.

“Oh, hello to you too, Petunia. Is that a way to greet your long lost sister?” Lily asked, trying to stay as friendly as possible. “I came to speak with you. Do you want to talk here or would you like to invite me inside your house?”

Petunia hesitantly opened the door fully and let Lily in, guiding her into the living room. “What do you want?” she asked again as soon as Lily had taken a seat.

“Oh, Petunia, I wanted to thank you for taking care of Harry all those years,” Lily offered with obvious sarcasm.

Petunia snorted. “I don’t know how you managed to come back from the dead but be glad that you didn’t have to be with that horrible child all the time. He was such a nuisance, such a burden, taking everything from my Dudley. Then suddenly he stopped coming over the summer, and we just couldn’t believe our luck, finally getting rid of the freak.”

Lily couldn’t keep quiet anymore. “Harry is neither a nuisance nor a burden; he is a very fine child. But what you did to him is reprehensible. She paused and drew in a breath to continue her tirade. “You mistreated and abused him, starved him and provided a horrible childhood for the boy that is your nephew! You’re the most horrible person I’ve ever met!” Lily shouted at her sister angrily, enunciating every word with a wand point before stopping when she was toe to toe with Petunia.

“I don’t think we’ll meet again,” she said finally, after casting a silent Spell at her sister. “From now on, you will feel every pain and every illness Harry feels, and I can tell you it will be a lot as he is de-aged and is nine at the moment. You’ll be able to feel your own treatment of my son, so have fun!” With this, Lily Apparated back to Hogsmeade from where she slowly walked up to the castle.

Lily went straight into Severus’ lab and threw herself into her husband’s strong arms. “I kind of killed her, Sev,” she sobbed into his robes. “When Harry gets ill, she won’t survive it because she doesn’t have magic, right?”

Severus sighed. “Now, calm down, Lily. You haven’t done anything bad. You can’t even know if Petunia is able to get the illness, as it is a magical disease. And if you look at Harry and see how his first childhood is still affecting him you don’t have to feel bad about putting the Charm on her. It’s all right, Lily. Now, why don’t you go and rest for a while. I’ll just finish this potion and then I’ll join you, hmm?”

Lily gave Severus a grateful look and kissed him softly before she went through the adjacent door into the living room. Severus followed shortly later, and Harry’s parents for once enjoyed what parents can enjoy best knowing that their children are away in good hands.

-----

When Poppy and Harry returned to Hogwarts, they sat down in the living room of the Snape quarters. Under Poppy’s watchful eyes, Harry Charmed the twenty white mobile phones, which they had bought today.

“Do I have to take them to St. Mungos, or can I just ask Fawkes to deliver the phones?” Harry asked softly when he finished the Charms.

“I thought we could go together but if you’re tired, you should just ask Fawkes,” Poppy answered, sighing.

Harry gave her a nod and called Fawkes. “Please, Fawkes, could you take these mobile phones to Healer O’Brien at St. Mungos?”

#Of course, my Nestling. I’ll be right back# Fawkes trilled happily and was gone. Five minutes later, the phoenix appeared back on Harry’s shoulder and handed him a ‘Thank you’ note from Healer O’Brien.

The next few days were very eventful. During the next two days, Harry received exactly twenty ‘Thank you’ letters from different Healers at St. Mungos as they immediately noticed how convenient the mobile phones were compared to the Floo Network.

A day later, Lily discovered that she was pregnant, which Poppy confirmed immediately. “I don’t know if that was such a good idea, Lily, but we’ll do what we can. I don’t know how much the illness will affect such a small baby,” the Healer told her honestly.

In the evening, Lily told Severus about her pregnancy, sobbing fiercely. “Now, Lily, stop crying, don’t spend your energy unnecessarily. We have to wait and see and if it’s not all right this time then it’ll be fine the next time. Don’t worry about it now,” Severus advised his wife softly, carefully pulling her into a fierce embrace.

The next day, Harry was called into the Headmistress’ office again. As Lily had foreseen, the Minister of Magic had come to see Harry.

“Good morning, Harry,” the Minister greeted Harry as if he were a good friend. “I’ve heard that you again managed to invent something very useful for the Magical world.”

Harry gazed at the Minister uncertainly. “You mean the mobile phones, sir?” he enquired softly.

“Yes, Harry. Would it be possible for you to provide the Ministry with fifty mobile phones, please? I also suggest that we patent the mobile phones for you, so that nobody else will be allowed to Charm them.”

Harry smiled. ‘They wouldn’t be able to anyway,’ he thought but answered, “Thank you, sir. Yes, I think I can Charm fifty phones for you. I just have to go to Muggle London to buy the phones first.”

Here, Minerva jumped into the conversation. “Minister, I know that Harry is glad to be able to help. However, I cannot approve that he has to go to Muggle London to buy the phones in order to first help St. Mungos and now the Ministry. Maybe you could send someone to retrieve enough mobile phones and that way, Harry only has to Charm them?”

Harry gave Minerva a grateful glance. In fact, he didn’t feel well at all that day, although he tried to hide it as best as he could. Charming fifty mobile phones would be bad enough but he didn’t want to think about travelling to London today. “Yes, that would be really nice, sir,” Harry added quietly.

“All right, Harry, Minerva. What exactly do they look like, and do we have to consider something when we buy them?”

Minerva quickly showed the Minister her mobile phone as Harry was still too small to have his own phone, and Harry simply explained what kind of phone it had to be.

“Okay. I will see to it and you’ll probably receive the phones in two hours the latest.”

“All right. I’ll Charm them immediately and send them back to you with my phoenix,” Harry promised, glad that the talk was finished.

As the Minister had promised, two hours later Harry received a huge box containing fifty mobile phones. He started to Charm them immediately. However, the task was so strenuous that he stopped after thirty-five phones and thought about asking his Mummy if she could help him and Charm a few for him.

When Harry left his room to look for his mother, he found her in his parents’ bedroom, lying in bed. “What’s wrong, Mummy? Are you ill?” he asked worriedly, hesitantly sitting down on the edge of her bed.

“Oh, it’s all right, I just don’t feel so good today, Harry. Could you perhaps Floo-call Aunt Poppy, Harry?”

“I’ll just send Fawkes to fetch her,” Harry replied and quickly walked back to his room to speak to his familiar. Then he returned to his mother’s bedside until Poppy arrived and threw him out.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry had only two mobile phones left, when Poppy entered his room. Harry threw the Healer an absentminded glance, saying the incantation to Charm another mobile phone.

“Harry!” His godmother’s stern voice got Harry’s attention. “Your mother is very ill, Harry,” Poppy told him. “It will take a few weeks, but then she’ll be all right.”

“Why is she so ill?” Harry asked flabbergasted. “What’s wrong with my Mummy?”

Poppy sighed. “She has Basilisk Pocks, which is one of the most serious magical diseases, much worse than Dragon Pocks, which is already very bad.”

“But she will be all right, you can help her, Aunt Poppy, right?” Harry questioned his godmother, horrified. “Are you going to take her with you to the Hospital wing?”

“No, Harry, I will leave her here for the moment. As she will be very ill for a few weeks, she should have it as comfortable as possible. Therefore, I want her to remain in her own room. However, the Headmistress has asked the castle for a connecting door from my office directly into your living room for the time while your mother is so sick, so that I can care for her even if she stays here.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Harry answered, slightly relieved. “Can I do anything for Mummy?”

“I will tell you whenever you can do something. However, I’m afraid that you might get sick as well. Therefore, I’d like to check on you now. Can you lie down on your bed for a minute?”

Harry frowned. He knew that he was probably getting ill too as he had been feeling unwell the whole day. “Wait a moment, please, Aunt Poppy. Let me just Charm the last mobile phone. Then I’m finished here.”

“All right, go on,” Poppy said, patiently waiting for Harry to finish the Charm and box the phones, so that Fawkes could take them away.

As soon as Fawkes flashed away Harry lay down on his bed, noticing how good it felt to lie down. Poppy waved her wand at him, frowning at the reading. “Harry, you’re much worse than your mother; you must feel horrible. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I don’t know,” Harry replied quietly. “I haven’t felt well the whole day but somehow I was very busy and just didn’t think it was so bad.”

Poppy waved her wand at Harry, transfiguring his clothes into light pyjamas. “Now, Harry, I don’t want you to stay here in your room all on your own. I want you to stay in your parents’ room together with your mother.”

“But I can’t…”

“Harry, listen to me,” his godmother spoke in the stern voice, which she knew that Harry used to listen to. “In fact, we knew about the possibility that you and your mother could get ill because Dumbledore tried to make you ill. You don’t have to worry about your father or anyone else here in the castle falling ill because everyone else has been vaccinated against the disease. Therefore, I want you to sleep between your parents, so that your father and I are able to look after you at the same time.”

“All right,” Harry said and climbed out of his bed, following his godmother into his parents’ bedroom.

During the next weeks, Poppy, Severus, Minerva, Luna, and Hermione took turns taking care of Lily and Harry. Both of them had many green boils all over their bodies, which hurt so much that their caretakers had to put a cream on them every hour. Fortunately, Severus had already prepared enough cream in advance, so that they could start applying it to the boils as soon as they appeared. At the beginning, Severus hadn’t relished the thought of his colleagues staying in his bedroom, caring for his wife and son, while he was sent away to eat, sleep, and brew potions even during the night. However, as the weeks passed he had gotten used to the situation.

Lily and Harry were in bad condition. Apart from the ache due to the boils that seemed to bite into their skin, both of them drifted in and out consciousness, and Harry was often stuck in fever dreams and nightmares. Sometimes he was even thrashing around violently, which worsened the pain to his boiled skin.

However, after three weeks, Lily’s condition started to improve slowly. Her fever broke and she started to become more and more alert. However, Harry so far didn’t get better at all. In fact, his condition began to worsen daily. His fever rose to dangerous heights, he remained unconscious all the time, and his body started to reject the potions, which Poppy forced into him.

One day, when Lily was allowed to get up for the first time, Poppy remained at Harry’s bedside the whole day. In the evening, she asked Severus to attend dinner in the Great Hall and bring the others with him down to his quarters after dinner.

When everyone had assembled in Lily’s and Severus’ bedroom, watching the white face of the small boy, Poppy gave her colleagues a sad glance. “I don’t know what else to do, I’m losing the fight,” she confessed in a hoarse voice. “Harry’s inner organs have stopped working, and it’s only his strong magic that’s keeping him alive. However, I don’t know how long that is going to work. Probably not long enough for his body to recover.”

Poppy turned away, grabbing Minerva’s arm, and started to cry into her friend’s robes while Lily lay down next to Harry, cradling the child close.

The others looked at each other, horrified. It must be really bad. Nobody except for Minerva, who had known Poppy from their first school year onwards, had ever seen the calm Mediwitch crying.

“We have to do something. We can’t let that happen!” Luna was the first to speak between sobs.

“But what? If Poppy can’t help Harry, how can we?” Hermione cried, unaware of the tears that were running down her face.

“Now, first of all stop crying please, everyone,” Severus ordered his colleagues, trying to stay as calm as possible. “We don’t know what Harry is able to hear, and it won’t help him to hear everyone crying.”

“Of course, you’re right, Severus, we’re sorry,” Tom apologized, wiping a tear off Rolanda’s face.

“I have an idea!” Hermione suddenly spoke up excitedly. “Minerva!”

“Yes?” the Headmistress asked, unobtrusively wiping a tear from her cheek.

“Do you remember in my third year I had a Time Turner, right? We have to borrow one again, and one of us has to go back in time and prevent the house elves from putting the virus potion into their drinks!” Hermione suggested.

“Minerva, please go, talk to Scrimgeour about it immediately. I will be going back four weeks into the past. I’ll tell your younger self about it and ask her to take care of the house elves right in time,” Severus agreed immediately.

While Minerva went to the Ministry in order to borrow a Time Turner, Hermione carefully admonished Severus how to use the Time Turner. “The most important thing is that nobody except for Minerva sees you,” she insisted firmly.

“Just ask Minerva to provide you with an apartment, let the elves add a potions lab, and then you can very well stay in there for a month, right?” Tom threw in.

Severus smirked. “Yes, of course, Tom, especially when I know that my wife and son will be fine.”

Two hours later, Hermione and Luna helped Severus count the turns of the Time Turner in order for him to return exactly four weeks and one day into the past. Before Severus left however, he quickly walked up into the Headmistress’ office in order to arrive at the correct place where nobody except for Minerva could see him. In the meantime, Minerva had written a letter to her younger self explaining everything.

--- Four weeks into the Past ---

Severus was more than glad to have the letter when he showed up at the Headmistress’ office out of nowhere four weeks earlier with the younger Minerva glaring daggers at him.

“Where do you come from, coming to my office like out of nowhere, Severus?”

“Please, Minerva, don’t curse me, listen to me first,” Severus pleaded, handing his colleague her older self’s letter.

Minerva admonished Severus to sit down before she carefully read what her older self had written. “Oh my!” was her horrified reaction. “So the only thing we have to do in order to save Harry is that I have to bind the house elves to me by oath and tell them to bring anything straight to me that Albus might leave with them?”

Severus gave his colleague a confirming nod. “Yes, Minerva, that’s all. Unfortunately, I have to stay here in the past now, and nobody except for you should see me.”

“You can stay in my guest quarters, Severus, that’s no problem. I will tell Dobby the whole story, and he will care for you while you’re here. He will also make a small Potions lab for you.”

Severus spent the four weeks testing several variations of their wolves cure, longing to see his family. Although he knew that the house elves had brought the phial to Minerva, so that nothing could have happened to Lily and Harry, he was still very worried about them, and the pictures of a small fragile Harry with a much too pale face lying in his bed and of Poppy crying into Minerva’s robes just didn’t want to leave his mind.

--- Back in the Future ---

Finally, the four weeks were over, and Severus watched himself going into the past with the Time Turner through a slightly ajar door in Minerva’s office. As soon as his other self had vanished, Severus thanked Minerva for her help and returned home. When he arrived, Lily and Harry were cuddling on the sofa. Lily had obviously just told an excited Harry about her pregnancy.

During the four weeks, which Severus had spent with only Minerva to talk to, the two colleagues had often spoken about what had happened during the four weeks and had compared the two timelines. On the first day when Severus was officially back from the past, he accompanied Minerva to the Ministry in order to speak with Scrimgeour and thank him for letting him use the Time Turner. At that opportunity, Severus also told the Minister about the mobile phones Harry had charmed for the Ministry and for St. Mungos in the previous timeline, aware of the fact that it didn’t happen in this timeline because Poppy didn’t go to St. Mungos to speak with the Head Healer, using her mobile phone during the talk. The Minister listened interestingly and immediately ordered the phones from Harry, glad that Severus had told him about the matter.

On their way back to Hogwarts, Minerva and Severus made a short trip to Muggle London and bought a hundred mobile phones, which Harry could Charm and sell throughout the magical world as he saw fit.

A few days later, Poppy and Harry travelled to St. Mungo’s to speak to Healer O’Brien about the phones. The Healer was eager to have twenty mobile phones as well and thanked Poppy and Harry profoundly for including him in their thoughts.

On their way back to the Floo, Harry smirked at Poppy and when she gave him an enquiring look, he asked frankly, “Aunt Poppy, do you like Healer O’Brien?”

Poppy nearly chocked but managed to hide it behind a cough. “Why Harry, he seems to be a very nice person, don’t you think so?”

“Yes, I think so,” Harry admitted, smiling at his godmother.

-----

A week later, someone had obviously told Rita Skeeter about the mobile phones as an article about them appeared in the Daily Prophet. The article informed the wizarding world that Harry Snape was not only the inventor of the secret Charm but also the only person to be able to produce the phones due to the patent the Minister had granted the boy.

During the next weeks, Harry received many owls from all over the magical world with orders for one or even more mobile phones. As the newspaper article had mentioned the price the Ministry had paid Harry for Charming the phones. Everyone was willing to pay the same price in addition to the expenses for the mobile phones. Harry couldn’t believe his luck. It only took him a minute to Charm a phone; nevertheless he received twenty-five Galleons for each phone for doing the little task.

“Now, think about it, Harry,” Severus told him one day. “Even if it only takes you a minute and a bit of magic, try to remember how much time you spent trying to invent the spell to get the phone to work at all. You have to consider that time as well, your time as well as Mummy’s time. So, don’t you ever think you’re receiving too much for it, do you understand me?”

“Yes,” Harry replied obediently, chuckling. “It’s good to have the money in case I need to buy another notebook or something in case I’m able to get it to work as well.”

“Exactly,” Severus agreed, giving his son a proud look.

-----

During the Welcoming Feast, five students approached Harry at the Head table in order to ask if he would be willing to make mobile phones for them. Before Harry could even reply, his father jumped into the conversation, telling the students that the teachers had to think about the matter first and would make an announcement later. This led to a lively discussion at the Head table throughout the feast.

Finally, Minerva stood up. “Due to several requests for mobile phones we have decided the following. For those interested, Harry Snape is willing to provide everyone with a mobile phone. You only have to bear the costs for the phone, which are five Galleons at the moment. Harry has agreed to Charm them for you for free. You may use the mobile phones throughout Hogwarts, with a few exceptions. They may not be used in the classrooms, in the Great Hall, in the library, in the Hospital wing, and in your Houses. They have to be switched off as soon as you enter one of these five places. Mobile phones used in these places will be confiscated immediately.”

Ignoring the huge commotion starting among the students, Minerva continued, “The students, who want to have a mobile phone, please hand your Head of House a parchment with your name and the colour in which you want your phone as well as the five Galleons. One of our teachers will buy the phones, and then Harry will start Charming them. However, he cannot Charm all phones at once, so it might take a few weeks until you get yours.”

When Minerva sat down again, Severus stood up, throwing the students a menacing look. “When I hear anyone pestering my son about hurrying up, I will see to it personally that you won’t get a phone. Moreover, consider yourselves very lucky that Harry offered to Charm the phones for free. Everyone else in the wizarding world has to pay twenty-five Gallons just for the Charm.”

Harry, whose face had already taken a deep red colour while his father spoke, embarrassedly hid his face into his mother’s robes, when a few students started to clap and finally all students joined in. Luckily, the Feast was nearly over, and Harry hurriedly transformed into his phoenix form and flashed home before anyone could talk to him. Nearly every student wanted a mobile phone, and it was nearly Halloween when Harry had finally finished Charming all the mobile phones for the students.

-----

A few days after his tenth birthday, Harry finally managed to invent the Charm he had been searching for so long. Harry and Lily were sitting on the sofa in front of their fireplace trying different Charms, when the notebook suddenly started. The two hopefully stared at the screen, afraid that the computer would shut down itself any minute. However, when they returned from dinner in the Great Hall, the notebook was still working and didn’t cease to function until Harry shut it off.

Harry gave his mother a hopeful look. “Do you think that was it, Mum? Will this work tomorrow, too?”

Lily threw Harry a fond glance. “We’ll see that tomorrow, but so far it looks good. Congratulations, sweetie!”

“Um, Mummy?” Harry asked hesitantly, and when Lily gave him a curious glance, he continued, “I don’t want anyone to know about it. I mean, I don’t mind Daddy, Uncle Tom, Aunt Poppy, Granny, and Luna and Hermione to know about it, but nobody else please. You know how it was with the mobile phones.”

Severus chuckled and Harry jumped startled. He hadn’t noticed that his father had entered the room. “You mean you don’t want to Charm two thousand computers earning lots of money?” Severus asked his son teasingly, and Harry vehemently shook his head.

“No, definitely not; at least not yet. Um… I’ve already thought about it, and I’d like to learn some more about computers first and then maybe I can give people lessons operating a computer as well as I can’t imagine they want to learn from Muggles, at least many wizards would prefer to learn from a wizard. I also want to research the Internet and try to get the notebook connected first. Then maybe we could also make magical pages. Anyway, I have to do a lot of research before anyone can know about it.”

Lily and Severus, who had been listening intently, threw each other a proud look. “Um… I’ve thought about something,” Harry said hesitantly. “Um… you know, after a year and a half I’m going to start Hogwarts and I’ll be sorted into a House and have to stay there. Will I still be able to come here sometimes?” he asked anxiously.

“Of course, sweetie,” Lily replied immediately. “This is your home, Harry. The other students can’t go home easily of course, but as your home is here at Hogwarts, you can come here anytime. And as long as your dorm mates and your Head of House know where you are, you can even stay here overnight from time to time, during the weekends if you want to.”

“Of course, Harry,” Severus assured the child and pulled him into a firm hug, noticing that Harry eased immensely.

-----

Lily’s stomach grew bigger quickly now, and she soon noticed that the baby was as agile as Harry had been. Harry loved to sit next to his mother on the sofa, putting his hand on her stomach in order to feel his little sister moving and kicking around.

One day, when Luna and Hermione took Harry to the library in London, Harry asked the two teachers if they could accompany him to a toy shop.

“Do you need a wizarding or a Muggle toy shop, Harry?” Luna enquired.

“Hmm, I don’t know exactly what the difference is,” Harry admitted and explained that he wanted to buy a plush animal for a baby that could make music. Somehow, he could remember that Dudley had had a teddy bear that could play music for him whenever he was sad or frightened, while he himself had never had such a toy.

The two adults decided to take Harry to a Muggle toyshop, where he finally purchased a cute teddy bear, which could play a nice baby song. When Harry, Luna, and Hermione arrived back at the Hogwarts gates, Harry thanked the two teachers, transformed, and flashed back home before the two girls even noticed what he intended to do.

Harry went straight into the living room, where his parents were sitting at the table, grading papers. “Look, Mummy. Look what I’ve bought for my little sister,” he shouted excitedly and pulled the teddy bear out of his pocket. He put the teddy onto his mother’s stomach and made it play music.

“Hey, little sis, can you hear that? That’s a teddy… um… it’s brown and has a nice red scarf with small yellow stars, and he has the same red and yellow on his ears, and he has a yellow string to fasten him somewhere and a white string, which can be pulled so that he plays music. The teddy’s for you. I’ve bought him so that you can hear music,” Harry eagerly told the baby.

Lily pulled him into a bear’s hug. “Thank you, sweetie, that was very kind of you,” she told Harry, who noticed with astonishment that tears were threatening to run down her cheeks.

-----

A few weeks later, Minerva started to take over Lily’s classes, which she was going to do until the beginning of the summer holidays. Hermione took over the position as Gryffindor Head of House for the rest of the school year. As his mother was staying at home the whole day, Harry had decided to stay with her instead of taking private lessons with the teachers and attending classes from time to time. At home, he could proceed with his computer studies, and – as he had proudly promised his father and his godmother – he would be able to look after his mother.

One day, Harry was sitting at the table in the living room, trying to connect his notebook to the Internet, while his mother was sitting on the sofa, reading a book.

Suddenly, Lily let out a small cry. “Oh, Harry, you have to call Daddy quickly. He has to take me to the Hospital wing immediately,” Lily told him urgently.

When Harry went over to the sofa, he saw that everything was full of blood. Somehow he knew that there wouldn’t be enough time to call his father. “Mummy, grab my tail feathers, I’ll flash you, that’s faster,” he quickly instructed his mother and transformed into his phoenix form an instant later.

Lily obediently grabbed his feathers, and in a flash she found herself on a bed in the Hospital wing. Harry quickly flashed himself over to Poppy, hovering in front of her, so that she immediately understood she had to grab his feathers to be taken to where she was needed. When she saw Lily, her face turned white. Ignoring Harry, who remained on the floor next to his mother’s bed, completely exhausted, Poppy ran into her office, grabbed her mobile phone, and phoned Healer O’Brien.

“I have to perform a very urgent C-section here, and I need at least two people to help,” Poppy told the Head Healer of St. Mungo’s. Receiving the promise that help would arrive within minutes, she switched off the phone and returned to Lily’s side in order to prepare everything for the section.

When she noticed Harry still sitting on the floor, she picked him up and put him on the next bed. “Now, sweetie, I must urgently see to your mother and your sister. Stay here and rest, transform back if you can but stay here; you may not stay with your mother at the moment.”

Harry worriedly watched the commotion until Poppy finally drew a white curtain all around his Mummy’s bed. Finally, five people from St. Mungos arrived and took over for Poppy. Poppy came over to Harry and told him, “Harry, are you all right? Can you transform back, please?”

Harry sighed inwardly and transformed back into his human form. “Will Mummy be all right?” he asked his godmother anxiously.

Poppy sighed. “She will be all right and she has you to thank for that. If you hadn’t brought her here so quickly, it might have been too late. You did very well, Harry.”

“What happened?” Harry asked, still frightened.

“I don’t know,” Poppy admitted. “I’ve heard of something like that but it is a very rare complication with child birth. But the Healers in there are professionals. Healer O’Brien sent the best Healers, who work at the hospital. They have much more experience in this area than I have.” She gave Harry a piercing look. “Harry, you look completely exhausted. Are you all right?”

“Yes, Aunt Poppy, I’m just tired. I’ve never flashed people, it was the first time and then I did it twice, so…”

Poppy handed him a phial. “Here, drink this; it’s Pepper-up Potion. And then try to rest for a while; I’ll wake you up when we know more.”

Harry lay down and tried to sleep, which was just impossible. Somehow they had forgotten to throw a Silencing Spell around Lily’s bed, so that Harry could hear everything that was going on, and it was not very calming.

Suddenly, Harry heard a small cry as if it came from a very small being. But then he heard scraps of conversations.

“Inhaled too much blood, should be fine…”

“Now, we need you here, just give the baby to Pomfrey!”

“Won’t stop, be careful, or we’ll lose her!”

Hearing this, Harry became very frightened. His whole body started to convulse, and slowly the voices faded into non-existence. The last thing he realised before he drifted into unconsciousness was that his godmother stood next to his bed with a tiny baby in her arms, her face white like a sheet and her eyes full of tears.

Oh no!’ Poppy mumbled to herself. ‘What’s wrong with Harry now?’ She quickly pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket and called Severus. “Severus, you have to cancel your lessons for the rest of the day and come to the Hospital wing immediately please.”

A minute later, Severus strode over to Harry’s bed. “What happened?” he asked, not even noticing the baby in Poppy’s arms.

“First of all, congratulations!” Poppy exclaimed, holding out the baby for him to take. “And now I need you to look after your daughter while I check on your son. I don’t know what’s wrong but he obviously has gone into shock.” Only when Severus had taken over his daughter, Poppy realized that all sounds from around Lily could be heard. She quickly cast a Silencing Spell and filled Severus in what had happened and that they were still working on Lily because they couldn’t stop the bleeding.

“And nobody cast a Silencing Spell, so that Harry had to hear everything?” Severus hissed angrily. “Why was he here in the first place?”

Poppy explained how Harry had flashed Lily to the Hospital wing but had been too tired to go anywhere, so that she had made him rest on the next bed. After a thorough check on Harry, Poppy quickly went into her office and returned with a small baby bottle of tea for the baby and a few potions for Harry. “You have to be careful, Severus. Your daughter has inhaled some blood, so it might be that she’ll sick up after drinking a bit. She already threw up immediately after they took her out. So, only let her take small sips please and be prepared to get them back.

Severus made himself and the baby comfortable on the edge of Harry’s bed, trying to make his daughter drink tea instead of thinking about what was happening behind the white curtain, while Poppy tended to Harry. Ten minutes later, one of the Healers approached them. “We stopped the bleeding; she’ll be all right.”

‘Thank God,’ Severus thought, closing his eyes in relief until his daughter pulled him back to the present situation by sicking up a few sips of tea.

-----

Lily slept for a few hours. When she woke up, Poppy was sitting next to her bed. “Is the baby all right?” Lily asked sleepily, remembering what had happened before.

Poppy gave her an encouraging nod and explained that everything was fine before she went to fetch Severus, while she took his place on the edge of Harry’s bed. They had decided that one of them should stay with the unconscious boy and try to speak to him as much as possible. During the rest of the afternoon, Lily struggled trying to feed her daughter, who hadn’t yet recovered from inhaling so much blood. When Lily asked for Harry, Severus only told her that he had overdone himself bringing her to the Hospital wing and was asleep on the bed next to her.

In the evening, however, two of the Healers, who had saved Lily’s life, came to check on her and told her how close she had come to death, which was a huge shock to Lily, especially as the Healers couldn’t give her a reason for what had happened. They could only tell her that it occurred in one in a million births and was likely to occur again after happening once. Severus did his best to calm Lily, who cried and sobbed during the evening until her daughter started to wail and had to be fed. It took three hours until the little girl finally calmed down and went back to sleep, when Severus fetched the teddy bear for her and started the music.

“Ah, thank God for the teddy,” Lily sighed exhaustedly. However, caring for her daughter had been exactly what Lily had needed to change her mood at least a little. “She’s beautiful,” Lily whispered and watched her daughter sleeping in awe.

The little girl looked entirely different from Harry. She had her mother’s red hair and her father’s onyx eyes. As she had been born two weeks before she was supposed to be, she was a tiny bit small but otherwise completely healthy.

As soon as Lily was asleep, Poppy let Harry’s bed hover next to Lily’s and drew the curtains around both. She and Severus took turns sitting between the two beds. Before Poppy returned to her quarters, she apologized to Severus. “Severus, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault that Harry is unconscious.”

“No, it’s not,” Severus replied immediately. “You had to save Lily’s life; you couldn’t care for Harry at that moment. Moreover, he’ll probably be fine in a few hours, don’t you think?”

Poppy gave him a short nod. “I hope so. It is my fault because I forgot to put a Silencing Spell around Lily,” she insisted distressed.

Severus shook his head and handed her a Calming Draught. “No, Poppy. You and Harry saved Lily’s life. You couldn’t do more at the time. Everything is all right. Drink the potion and go to bed. I’m going to stay with them until you come back in the morning,” he ordered his son’s godmother softly before he enlarged Harry’s bed and lay down next to his son.

When Harry finally woke up to his sister’s whining, he was over the moon with joy over his small sister and the fact that his Mummy was all right. “May I hold her? What’s her name?” he asked excitedly.

Lily laughed. “Yes, you may hold her as soon as I’ve finished feeding her, sweetie. And her name is Isabella.”

Harry was very proud when his parents told him how much the musical teddy had helped the baby to calm down. “It was obvious that she recognized the teddy by its music and relaxed as soon as it was turned on,” Severus told his son.

The next weeks passed quickly. Harry tried to help his Mummy as much as he could and soon he became proficient in changing nappies. He just couldn’t wait for his sister to grow and be able to run around the castle with him.

When the summer holidays started, Isabella was already two months old and slowly started to remain awake for certain times during the day. Whenever he knew that she was awake, Harry remained firmly at her side, talking to the baby or reading to her from his children’s books. The little girl absolutely adored her big brother and always gave him the brightest smiles.

Lily sometimes even felt a little jealous deep in her heart in spite of knowing how stupid it was. ‘Harry is adorable, and he’s a little charmer as well,’ she told herself, proudly watching her son trying to feed her daughter some sips of tea from a bottle.

-----

At the end of the holidays, Harry was in for two surprises. Together with Isabella he attended a staff meeting, sitting on the floor and watching his sister, who was feverishly trying to sit up in vain. He looked up confused when the name ‘Neville’ penetrated his ear. Pomona Sprout was just telling her colleagues that Neville Longbottom was going to become her assistant from September 1st onwards. A huge smile covered Harry’s face. He knew Neville, and he adored him. Neville was Luna’s fiancé, and he used to accompany Luna when most of the Hogwarts staff spent one or two weeks of their holidays at the seaside. Neville always talked to Harry about interesting things, and during their recent holiday two weeks ago, Harry had even confided in Neville telling him everything about his computer research. He knew that Neville was normally very quiet and seemed to be well able to keep a secret.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when the tiny Professor Flitwick raised his voice. The older teacher announced that he intended to retire from his position as Head of House and suggested Luna as his successor like he had already told his colleagues a few years ago. When Luna hesitantly accepted the position, Harry started clapping his hands, causing everyone to join him. Just as he liked Neville, he also adored Luna. Although all of the teachers were always very nice to Harry and were like a huge family to him, Luna always took time to accompany him to the library, and she was always there for him if he needed to talk with someone. Of course his parents and his godparents as well as his granny were always there for him too, but somehow Luna was very easy to speak to, maybe because she was much closer to his own age.

-----

From the beginning of the new school year onwards, Lily went back to teaching her classes. Lily and Severus had set up playpens in Lily’s and in Severus’ classrooms as well as in Poppy’s office, so that Isabella could stay in either room during lesson times. Lily had carefully weaned her off, so that Harry would be able to feed his sister milk from baby bottles. Harry normally stayed wherever Isabella was during lessons. Fortunately, she was still sleeping a lot during the day, so that he could do his own studies and care for the baby when she was awake. During his private lessons with the different teachers, he always took the little girl with him, having an eye on her all the time.

Recently, Neville had started teaching Harry about Herbology. As assistant teacher he didn’t have to do many lessons and spent a lot of time doing research. Whenever Lily had a free period and could care for her daughter by herself, Harry went down to the greenhouses in order to help Neville with his projects and learn more about herbs that could be used in Healing potions. During Severus’ free periods however, nothing could pull Harry away from the potions lab, where he continued helping his father to research the werewolf potion.

-----

On the November full moon, something strange happened. The werewolf, who had taken potion number 251 in October and was supposed to transform that night, stayed human during the night without taking any potion.

Harry was silently playing with his computer in the living room, while his mother and sister were still asleep after an obviously rough night, when Severus entered the room and told him that there was a huge possibility that they had finally found the long researched cure. However, as there was still a slight chance that it was some kind of coincidence, Severus told Harry sternly not to get his hopes up too much.

During the next four weeks, Harry and Severus were busy brewing many batches of potion 251 for the fifty test persons apart from the many potions they still had to brew for the Ministry every month. However, it would only be on the January full moon that they would finally know if the new potion had worked as it was supposed to work.

After the next full moon at the beginning of December, it was clear that the new potion at least worked as well as the patented potion the Ministry was always feeding the werewolves. Therefore, Severus and Harry agreed with the Minister to replace the older potion with the new potion in order to have only to brew one kind of potion that month. Although Harry was actually brewing at least half of the batches needed, Severus and Harry were very busy with the brewing apart from lessons and everything else.

‘If by chance this potion will be the cure to Lycanthropy it will be a nice surprise for everyone,’ Severus thought, while he worriedly watched his son stirring a potion. Harry was always there helping him in spite of his being only ten years old. ‘Nearly eleven,’ Severus corrected himself. Nevertheless, he had to try to make Harry play more instead of researching and helping his parents all the time. Hopefully, next year when he became a first year student, Harry would become a little more like the Harry he was in his first childhood, doing mischief all day, even if he would upset Severus by playing pranks from time to time.

Harry’s voice pulled Severus out of his musings. Severus couldn’t believe what he had just been thinking about. No, of course he didn’t want Harry to return to his former self. His son was perfect as he was now. However, he would see to it that the child would have a little fun during the holidays. Severus decided to take Harry out to the zoo and to a few museums after Christmas. First they had to finish the potions for the werewolves though.

-----

The day before Christmas was Harry’s eleventh birthday. As the eleventh birthday was a special day in the wizarding world, Lily had thought about something extraordinary. She would have liked to invite Harry’s friends and let them stay overnight. However, as the next day was Christmas day that wasn’t possible, especially as all of Harry’s friends would start attending Hogwarts after the summer, so that they’d be separated from their families for ten months during the school year. However, unbeknownst to Harry, she had invited his five friends for the day before his birthday.

On December 23rd, Luna and Neville took Harry to the Muggle library and afterwards to Diagon Alley for some last minute Christmas shopping. As Luna knew they weren’t supposed to be back before three o’clock in the afternoon, she finally suggested heading to Fortescue’s for an ice cream. Just in time, they arrived back at Hogwarts.

When they entered the Great Hall, Luna and Neville let Harry go ahead, and Harry stopped dead in his tracks. The Great Hall was full of balloons and just as in the previous years the teachers had turned the Hall into a huge playground. Suddenly, from behind the playground toys his friends appeared and stormed over to Harry.

“What…? But…?” Harry stuttered, confused.

“As eloquent as ever,” Severus commented, who had just entered the Hall.

“Your Mum invited us here today and we can stay until tomorrow,” Enid and Angela quickly filled him in.

“Really?” Harry asked, and his eyes started to twinkle happily.

“Yeah, come on, Harry, this is great fun,” Marc and Frank shouted from the top of the slide.

The children played on the playground until it was time for dinner. After the meal, everyone headed outside for a Quidditch match children against adults, which ended in a tie because Harry caught the Snitch exactly when the teachers were 150 points ahead of the children.

After the match, Severus took Harry and his friends down to their quarters, where the house elves prepared hot cocoa, so that everyone could warm up from playing Quidditch in the snow for an hour. Finally, all the children headed into Harry’s room, where Lily had conjured six sleeping bags on the floor. Harry was very excited. Never had one of his friends stayed overnight, and now his friends were all there. Suddenly, he had a splendid idea, and a mischievous smile played on his lips. He reached for his alarm clock and set it to one o’clock in the morning. As soon as Lily and Severus had left his room, he quickly called Dobby and told him about his idea.

The little elf was bouncing up and down with excitement. “Of course, Master Harry, Dobby will see to it. Yous wills have much fun in the night.”

When Harry’s alarm went off in the middle of the night, he quickly got up and woke his friends, trying to be as quiet as possible in order not to alert his mother, who was often awake during the night, feeding his sister. Harry exchanged a few words with Fawkes, and the phoenix flashed four of his friends to Harry’s secret common room while Harry told Evelyn to grab his tail feathers, transformed, and flashed the girl after the others.

His friends looked around excitedly. “Wow, Harry, where are we?” Frank enquired curiously.

Harry explained to his friends where they were and told them that he had so far kept quiet about the house, so that they could meet there anytime, even if they would be sorted into different houses when they entered Hogwarts. His friends already knew about the House system, and so they could understand what it meant to have a secret meeting place just for them.

“Now, let’s have a midnight snack,” Harry suggested, pointing to the table that was full of delicacies the house elves had eagerly prepared for the six children. After eating so much that they thought their bellies were going to burst, Harry took his friends for a walk through the house, showing them the dormitories, the washing rooms, and even the Portrait hole, explaining that everything was very similar to the other houses.

The children, who were all looking forward to becoming Hogwarts students next summer, were very eager to learn everything about Hogwarts and life in the different houses and questioned Harry, until he suddenly noticed that it already was five o’clock in the morning. “Oh my, we have to head back to my room, otherwise my parents will know and we’ll be in so much trouble,” he told the others worriedly and called Fawkes before he transformed into his phoenix form to take one of his friends back.

Fortunately, nobody had noticed their absence from Harry’s room. Normally, Lily often checked in on Harry when she was up with the baby during the night, but with so many children sleeping in Harry’s room she didn’t want to take the risk of waking any of them up and had stayed away. However, when none of the children wanted to get up until ten o’clock and even refused to eat breakfast, Lily became suspicious. And when Harry and Evelyn, who obediently tried to eat a bite at the breakfast table, had to sick up, Severus questioned the other children what they had been doing during the night.

“We had a midnight party in a secret room Harry showed us,” the twins confessed in small voices. “We’re sorry,” they added quickly, seeing the professor’s grim face.

“Oh, I don’t think that’s your fault. I know exactly whose idea that was,” Severus replied sternly.

In the meantime, Poppy had taken Harry and Evelyn to the Hospital wing, given them a potion and told them to lie down for a few minutes until they felt better. When they returned to the Great Hall twenty minutes later, Severus gave Harry a very stern talking to.

“Harry, your friends will be fine here without you for a moment. Please come with me,” he told his son strictly and led him to an empty classroom nearby.

“Harry,” Severus sighed. A thought of how he had wished Harry would turn into a normal, mischief-doing child came up deep in Severus’ head, but he dismissed the thought immediately. “What did you think you were doing, endangering yourself and your friends by going to a room only Fawkes and Dobby can access? Moreover in the middle of the night and without telling anyone?”

Harry threw his father an anxious glance. He could see that Severus was very angry. “I’m sorry, Daddy,” he said quietly, trying to keep the tears at bay. “You know, Daddy, it was the first time that my friends could stay overnight, and I just wanted to do something really special with them,” he tried to explain. “Plus I wanted to show them the room, because… you know… when we get sorted into different Houses, we can’t meet easily, so I thought we could meet in the secret room sometimes. I know I shouldn’t tell you that because you’re a teacher,” he added sheepishly.

Severus gave his son a menacing look. “That hasn’t anything to do with the fact that I’m a teacher but that I’m your father and as such, I’m concerned about you,” he stated firmly. “Even if you’re a Hogwarts student, I’m still your father and would prefer if you don’t keep secrets from me, even if I might not like your decisions and might give you spider points. You already know that sneaking away is worth five spider points.”

“All right,” Harry promised quietly, trying not to think about the spider’s smug look on his Hourglass.

-----

After dinner, Harry’s friends took the Floo Network to return to their families. Harry sat down on a chair in front of the fireplace, very happy after having such a great birthday. He tiredly watched his mother feeding a bottle to his sister, while his father had retreated to his lab for a few minutes to wrap Christmas presents.

Suddenly, in front of Harry’s eyes, the bottle Lily was giving to his sister turned green, and his mother and sister were whisked away instantly. Obviously, Harry had been taken away with them, although he hadn’t felt the distinctive pull behind his navel like he normally had with a Portkey. They appeared in a huge stone room, and three men in dark robes with masks in front of their faces materialized in front of them.

Not exactly knowing how to behave in that situation, Harry quickly cast a very strong wandless Expelliarmus Spell in the direction of the three men, which the men countered easily. His sister, who was sitting on his mother’s lap, very upset about being disturbed in her meal, started to glow in a light blue colour and threw accidental magic at the three men. Instantly, the outfit of the three Death Eaters changed into that of three clowns like the clowns in one of her baby books.

Harry feverishly thought about what to do now, when he was hit by an unknown spell that made his head explode with pain.

“Harry!” he suddenly heard his father’s voice calling him over and over. He wanted to open his eyes but everything hurt so much that he couldn’t. He couldn’t even hear properly, the sounds around him just were a blur, and he felt as if his head had exploded. Suddenly he could feel something cold pressed against his lips, and he instinctively opened his mouth and swallowed. Fortunately, the blur cleared up a bit and he even managed to open his eyes a little bit before he closed them again quickly as the light was too bright and it hurt.

“Now, Harry, Mummy has dimmed the lights, try to open your eyes again, please,” Severus’ voice penetrated his ear.

Harry tried to open his eyes again but immediately felt his stomach roll and he and couldn’t help getting sick all over himself several times. He finally managed to slowly open his eyes; the room was much darker now. His parents and his godmother were gathered around his bed in his own room, watching him worriedly.

Harry caught Severus’ glance and looked pleadingly into his eyes, inviting his father to enter his mind. Severus carefully cast the Legilimens spell, trying not to aggravate his son’s condition further. When he finished the spell five minutes later, he looked at his son, concerned.

“Poppy, do you remember the vision Albus sent Harry years ago in his first childhood, the one that caused Black to lose his life?”

Poppy looked worriedly at Severus, nodding her head. “I remember that he sent him a vision forcing him to break into the Ministry in the middle of the night.”

“That was a vision showing Harry his mother, his sister, and himself being captured and tortured by Death Eaters,” Severus explained to the others.

“I have the impression that the recent attacks are not as frequent as they were in the past but that they are much worse and affect Harry much more,” Poppy stated and waved her wand at Harry, concerned. “It’s just like last year,” she then confirmed. “He has a horrendous headache and a fever in spite of the potion you gave him.”

“I believe it’s getting worse, too,” Severus agreed, taking his daughter from Lily in order to make her burp.

“Have you been hit with any spells?” Poppy asked Harry softly.

“I don’t know,” Harry mumbled tiredly. “I think they hit me with something to make my head explode.”

“We have to think about something to prevent Dumbledore from doing such things to Harry,” Lily said, horrified.

Poppy made Harry drink two more potions, and a minute later, Harry was sound asleep.

Just like the year before, Harry missed Christmas Day, being sick in bed. This time, however, Lily brought Isabella to his room, because she hadn’t stopped crying for her big brother. The child pulled herself up at Harry’s bed and threw up her arms in order for Harry to pull her onto his bed. Harry, who couldn’t resist the onyx eyes that resembled those of his father so much, gave in and pulled the baby up, cuddling and tickling her. When Lily returned twenty minutes later, her children were both fast asleep next to each other.

-----

Two weeks later was the night of the first full moon of the New Year. Harry was very excited and told himself that he would stay up late enough to be able to speak with his father when he gave his mother the important phone call or Fire call. Harry wasn’t exactly sure how his parents used to communicate on these evenings. However, sitting on the sofa next to his Mummy waiting for his father to call made him so tired that by the time Severus called with the best news they could have hoped for Harry was deeply engrossed in his dreams.

Harry received the good news in the morning when he woke up in his own bed, wondering how and when he had gotten there. He had just crawled out of bed and dressed in the clothes his mother had laid out for him when his father entered the room, picked Harry up, and pulled him into a strong embrace. “Harry, we did it! It worked! Not one of them transformed!” he shouted happily.

Harry couldn’t help laughing at the excitement that was so uncharacteristic for his father. “Congratulations, Daddy, that’s really good news!” Harry replied while returning the embrace enthusiastically, and his eyes started to twinkle happily.

Just then, Isabella crawled into the room, her teddy safely tucked under her right arm. “Ha-ha,” she addressed Harry, and pulled herself up by his legs and threw both arms into the air, certain that her adored big brother would pick her up before she fell backwards.

“Hi, sweetie, good morning,” Harry told her softly, picking her up. He held the baby up to his father and instructed, “Now, say ‘Daddy’.”

“Dada,” the girl repeated slowly, and a small smile played on her lips. Then she held out her teddy for Harry.

Harry took the teddy into his left hand and threw a wandless spell at him, which made the teddy’s eyes twinkle like his own. Then he handed the teddy back to its owner and asked, “Is that better, hmm?”

The little girl laughed and wiggled her way down onto the floor, crawling away quickly in order to show her teddy’s eyes to her Mummy.

“So, what are we going to do, Dad? Do we have to test one more month to be really, really sure? Or do we just make the potion for everyone at the Ministry…”

“No, Harry,” his father interrupted him. “We don’t have to do anything. Everyone has already taken the new potion the last time, so everyone should be all right. The Ministry should keep everyone overnight just for this one time to be on the safe side, but that’s not our problem but the Ministry’s. I’ve arranged a meeting with the Minister today after my afternoon classes at four o’clock, and I hope that you’ll accompany me to the Ministry.”

“Of course, Daddy,” Harry replied, giving his father a huge smile. “I’m so happy for Remus!”

“And I’m glad that all the research and everything wasn’t we’ve done hasn’t been in vain,” Severus answered.

-----

In the afternoon, Harry accompanied his father to the Ministry of Magic. Severus and the Minister agreed quickly that the Ministry would order the werewolves to stay a night at the Ministry, so that everyone would be safe even if something happened and one of them transformed for some reason. However, that was most unlikely to happen, and the Minister invited Harry and Severus as well as their family to a huge party at the Ministry, which all werewolves, actually former werewolves, as it seemed safe to say, were invited.

“This party will probably be held in conjunction with a press conference, which I’d like you both to attend. We have to make this achievement public in order to reach any werewolves we’re not aware of. We will invite them to contact the Ministry in order to receive your potion to be cured. I will contact you a week before the full moon next month and tell you if we need any more potions. Would that be all right for you?” the Minister asked Severus.

Harry was the first to reply, “Yes, of course, sir.”

-----

The party took place two weeks after the next full moon when it was confirmed that all werewolves, who had taken the potion, were completely cured of Lycanthropy. Along with Harry and Severus, the whole Hogwarts staff had been invited to the Ministry, and on February 28th, Severus, Lily, Harry and Isabella, Tom, Poppy, Minerva, Luna, Neville, and Hermione took a Portkey to the Ministry together. Due to the huge amount of batches Harry and Severus had brewed of the new potion they had expected a lot of people to attend the party but the number of people present at the party exceeded all expectations. When they arrived in the huge Hall, Harry clung to his father, frightened.

“Daddy, do I have to stay here? Can I flash back home?” Harry asked anxiously, trying to keep his shaking hands hidden in his robes.

Severus gave Harry an astonished glance. “What’s wrong, Harry?” he asked, concerned. “Are you afraid of the people?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. Dumbledore can’t do anything to me here, can he?” Harry asked, obviously panicking.

“What’s wrong?” Minerva and Poppy, who had noticed that Severus and Harry weren’t following the others, came back to them.

“Harry is afraid because there are so many people,” Severus explained shortly and the two older ladies worriedly took in Harry’s shaking hands.

“Here Harry, drink this,” Poppy told her godson softly, pressing a Calming Draught against his lips.

“Harry, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to. It’s no problem to ask someone return home with you,” Severus said calmingly.

“No, Daddy, it’s all right,” Harry replied, now much calmer. “Thank you, Aunt Poppy.”

When everyone had taken their seats, the Minister greeted them and explained the reason for the event before he asked Harry and Severus to come over to him. Harry gave his father a horrified glance and quickly gave Isabella, who had been sitting comfortably on his lap, to his Mum.

Isabella, however, didn’t take that change well at all and wailed after Harry, “Hawwy no!”

Part of the hall erupted with laughter and Harry quickly turned back to his sister. “Sorry, sweetie, I’ll be right back.”

When they arrived at the small stage on one side of the hall, the Minister introduced Severus first and then Harry. When Scrimgeour told the people that Harry was eleven years old and would be starting Hogwarts this autumn, a huge gasp filled the hall. Harry’s face turned white. He hated this kind of attention. He hesitantly put his small hand into his father’s larger hand, and his father’s long fingers, the ones that his Mummy found so pretty, wound themselves safely around his hand.

“Yes,” the Minister addressed the Hall again. “Mr. Snape is only eleven but he grew up at Hogwarts and learned everything about Healing potions from when he was…” he turned to Severus, “…four years old?”

“Six years,” Severus corrected, smirking.

“All right, he has been studying Healing Potions from the time he was six years old, taught by his father, our most famous Potions Master. Today, I would like to award both, father and son, with the Order of Merlin, first class.”

A huge applause accompanied the Minister handing over the awards to Severus and Harry. Afterwards, they could finally return to their seats.

“Hawwy!” Isabella shouted immediately, seeing that her adored brother had returned.

“She is already speaking?” The Minister, who had followed Severus and Harry in order to greet the Hogwarts staff, asked in astonishment. “How old is she?”

“Isabella will be a year in three weeks, but ‘Harry’ is her first and so far only properly spoken word except for ‘no’,” Lily explained, laughing.

“Oh, I see, the young lady adores her big brother,” the Minister said, noticing that the child had already climbed back onto her brother’s lap. “You’re right, young lady, your brother’s a very fine big boy,” he told the little girl, who squealed happily.

After a huge dinner, the journalists were allowed to ask questions, which Severus mostly answered. Harry only had to answer a very few questions, which were directed at him personally.

“Why do you like Potions? Isn’t that completely uninteresting for a small boy like you?” Rita Skeeter asked. Harry disliked her immensely although he couldn’t place why he would have that feeling towards the woman.

“I love learning new things, and my Daddy is very good at teaching Potions, so he has always taught me a lot about them and it’s very interesting,” Harry replied calmly.

“Are you looking forward to being a student at Hogwarts, and which House do you think you’ll be sorted into?” Mr. Lovegood, whom Harry had been introduced to as Luna’s father, asked.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to being a student, but I don’t care in which House I am in, because I already have friends in all Houses and I’m not going to stop being friends with them only because I’m in a different House. For two years I’ve played Quidditch for all House teams, and I can say I dislike the House system a lot. Everyone should be able to be friends with everyone they like and eat together with whom they want and not just because they’re in the same house. Maybe if I become Headmaster in a hundred years or so, I will abolish the House system.”

“Thank you, Harry, for a very interesting statement,” Mr. Lovegood replied, while the hall erupted with laughter, and Harry sat down again.

-----

A few weeks later, it was Isabella’s first birthday. Lily had allowed Harry to invite his friends, who arrived after breakfast. Fortunately, it was a Saturday, so no one had to attend lessons. In the morning, Harry and his friends played with the birthday girl and helped her open her presents. Just to be sure everything was all right Harry had asked Fawkes to check each present first before he let his little sister have the presents. Afterwards the children were allowed to take Isabella out on the grounds in order to play with the new green ball she had received for her birthday.

While the children were playing outside, Harry had the idea to show his sister how to fly. “Oh, yeah, let’s play Quidditch,” the twins shouted immediately.

Harry shook his head. “No, I can’t play Quidditch with her on my broom. When I play Quidditch I have to fly really fast. But with Isa sitting in front of me I can’t fly too high or fast. But we can just fly around a bit,” he suggested and pulled six school brooms out of the shed.

In fact, Harry felt a bit unsure, not about flying of course, but about not asking his Mummy before going to fly. However, the presence of his friends let him forget his worries and he mounted a broom, put his sister in front of him, and took off. Harry was very careful. He didn’t fly too high, and he flew quite slow, holding his sister close all the time. The small girl enjoyed flying very much and squealed happily.

Suddenly however, one of his friends approached him quickly from behind. “Harry, your father!” Frank shouted anxiously.

Harry threw a glance down only to see his father looking up at him with a menacing look on his face. He quickly turned around and flew down, landing directly in front of his father.

Severus immediately picked the child up from the broom and glared at his son. “Harry! How could you take your little sister flying? And without an adult being here and without even asking Mummy or me beforehand? Fortunately, I’ve seen that you’ve been very careful with her. However, have you even thought about what would happen if Dumbledore decided to attack you when you were up in the air with Isabella? You could transform, which is the only reason we allow you to fly at all, but what would happen to Isabella?”

Harry couldn’t hold back his tears and started to cry. “Sorry, Daddy, I didn’t think about that. I’m so sorry! How could I be so stupid? Sorry, Isa, I didn’t mean to put you into danger. I love you so much, sweetie.”

Severus saw that Harry was really sorry for doing something so stupid, and he was sure that Harry would never do such a stunt again. He sighed. “Harry, what you did was very dangerous and stupid. Can I be sure that you will never, ever do such a thing again?”

“Yes, Daddy, I’m sorry,” Harry cried.

“All right, son. In that case, I won’t tell your mother about it this time because I don’t want her to worry unnecessarily. However, if you do such a thing again, you will be punished severely, which means that you won’t be allowed to play Quidditch anymore.”

“All right, Daddy, thank you,” Harry whispered gratefully.

-----

One day during the summer holidays, when the teachers met for a staff meeting, Minerva kept the four Heads of House, Lily, Severus, Luna, and Pomona afterwards, motioning Poppy to take Harry with her.

“I don’t know which House Harry will be sorted; therefore, I want to speak to all of you. I believe it’s clear that he cannot only attend normal first year classes or he’ll become too bored. Therefore, I have thought about letting him attend Ancient Runes and Arithmancy with the third years as he didn’t take these two subjects during his first childhood. He also should have some free hours in order to keep on his computer and Internet studies.”

Seeing that everyone was listening interestingly, Minerva continued, “Since the other first years will be wondering why Harry doesn’t have to attend certain classes, we have to think about what to tell them. My suggestion is that Harry’s Head of House should go into the Common Room after the Welcoming Feast and explain to the first years that Harry has grown up at Hogwarts and therefore has attended many classes from since he was six years old onwards. The students should know that Harry doesn’t have to attend all classes because he already knows the content and has already taken the end of year tests in the respective subjects. We can make Harry take the specific tests at the end of the summer holidays every year.”

Everyone agreed to Minerva’s suggestion immediately, and the meeting was adjourned. During the last few days of the summer holidays, Harry took the first year tests in several subjects, especially his least favourite subjects like History of Magic, and passed all of the tests without any problems. Harry was very excited and couldn’t wait to finally become a student.

---

The evening before the beginning of the school year, Harry sat on the sofa between his parents and thought about being a student. On one hand he was looking forward to it because he would be able to see his friends every day, but on the other hand he liked his home so much and he didn’t know if he would be able to come home whenever he wanted. On top of everything else he was worried because all his aunts and uncles would be his teachers, and he would just be a normal student to them.

“Mum, Dad?” Harry asked hesitantly. “Um… you know… I’ve got to be sorted tomorrow, right? Do you mind what House I get sorted into?”

Lily and Severus exchanged a glance before Severus answered, “I believe that you’re completely right about the House system. It shouldn’t prevent students from being friends with others from a different house. You’re our son, and we love you. Nothing will change that, and surely the matter of what House you get sorted won’t either. There’s a huge possibility you’ll follow in our footsteps and probably end up in one of our Houses since we’re your parents. But I suppose, you may best fit into Ravenclaw, since you love books and studying so much.”

“It doesn’t matter at all to us what house you are in, sweetie, nothing will change.” Lily confirmed.

Harry went to bed very consoled and looking forward to seeing his friends the next day.

-----

Finally, September 1st arrived. Lily and Severus had agreed to let Harry travel on the Hogwarts Express, provided that Fawkes travelled with Harry in case Dumbledore should try to attack him again.

Although Fawkes would have been able to flash Harry to the platform, Severus Apparated Harry to London right on time to board the Hogwarts Express. His friends were already assembled on the platform and greeted him excitedly, glad that Harry had come to ride the train with them. Harry quickly gave his father a hug, receiving a kiss on the forehead, and the six friends boarded the train, glad they were able to find a compartment together.

The train ride was a lot of fun for the friends, and while they were talking about Hogwarts and their plans for the school year, time passed in a blur. Too soon, the train arrived at Hogsmeade station.

The day before, Severus had spoken to Harry and asked if he wanted to ride the boats with Hagrid together with the other first years, and Harry had agreed reluctantly. Although he didn’t remember the event itself, he had heard the teachers speaking about what happened to him a few years ago when Dumbledore had put the Imperius Curse on him, so that he had jumped into the ice-cold water in order to drown him. Harry tried not to think about it, but still he couldn’t help his fingers from starting to shake. He only relaxed when they finally reached the castle and Hagrid led them up the stairs, where his father was waiting for them. Harry watched amused as the Muggle born students stared in awe at the moving portraits along the halls. ‘Wait until they see the ghosts or watch Peeves play pranks,’ he thought gleefully.

---

After a short talk from Severus, the first years were led into the Great Hall. Harry anxiously waited to be sorted while the Hat sang something Harry was much too excited to listen to. He threw an unsure glance over to the Head table from where Poppy and Lily gave him comforting looks. Suddenly, Isabella had caught view of Harry and a small shout penetrated the Hall.

“Hawwy!” Harry couldn’t help smiling while his mother tried to keep his sister safe in her chair and his father called the first students to be sorted.

“Bones, Enid,” Severus read.

Enid stumbled hesitantly over to the chair and sat down, while Severus placed the Hat on her head. After a short while, the Hat shouted, “Hufflepuff.”

“Bones, Frank,” Severus continued.

A minute later, the Hat said aloud, “Gryffindor.”

Harry groaned inwardly. His hope that they’d all be sorted into the same House was already destroyed. ‘Good that we have the secret place as well as my own room at home where we can meet anytime,’ he thought and waited impatiently for his name to be called.

A few minutes later, Severus finally said, “Snape, Harry.”

Harry anxiously shifted in the chair when Severus put the Sorting Hat onto his head. It took a few seconds until he could hear a small, ‘Hmmm.’

‘Hm?’ Harry thought. ‘What was that?’

‘Hmmm,’ the Hat made again.

‘What? I’m sorry, am I supposed to do something?’ Harry thought feverishly, starting to panic.

‘Hmmm, no. Just… hmmm,’ the Hat made again, and before Harry could ask anything else, the voice continued, ‘I’m not sure…’

‘What are you not sure of? What’s wrong?’ Harry asked, trying to hide his shaking hands under his legs. He wanted badly to make eye contact with his father in order to confirm that nothing was wrong with him, but the Hat was so large that he couldn’t see out from underneath it. ‘What is it now? Can you sort me or won’t you?’ he finally asked impatiently, feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

Suddenly, he heard a ‘bang’ sounding through the Hall but couldn’t see anything from underneath the Hat.

‘I wonder what that noise was?’ thought Harry.

‘I believe your sister is trying to get to her big brother, anyway I’m sorry, but I don’t know where to sort you,’ the Hat finally stated.

‘So, what am I going to do?’ Harry asked, anxiously awaiting the answer.

‘I could sort you into Gryffindor, Slytherin, or Ravenclaw. Which do you want me to sort you in?’ the Hat suddenly enquired.

‘Hmmm. Gryffindor is Mummy’s House, Slytherin Daddy’s. Maybe I should go to a House where the Head of House is not one of my parents in order to be just a normal student and not anyone’s child,’ Harry thought.

Harry let out a relieved sigh when the Hat finally shouted, “Ravenclaw.”

Harry gave his father a grateful smile when he took off the Hat from his head. “Congratulations, Harry,” Severus whispered, throwing him a proud glance.

Before he could turn to the Ravenclaw table, Harry saw from the edge of his eye that something blue appeared seemingly out of nowhere, dashing over to him, and he felt small hands grabbing the edges of his robe. He let out a relieved laugh. That could only be Isa.

Slightly embarrassed he picked his sister up while multiple ‘aww, how cute’ could be heard throughout the Hall, he whispered, “Hey, sweetie, what are you doing here?”

‘Isa is indeed cute in her light blue robes and that huge smile on her face,’ Harry thought but told the small girl, “Sorry, Isa, but tonight you can’t sit with me. Starting tomorrow it will be all right, but tonight you have to stay with Mummy.” He carried Isabella back to the Head table before he finally headed to the Ravenclaw table.

At the Ravenclaw table, the Quidditch team gave a huge applause to Harry and one of the members shouted, “Welcome to our new Seeker!”

Fortunately, as soon as she became Headmistress, Minerva had abolished the – in her opinion stupid – rule about first years not being allowed on the Quidditch teams. Harry felt his cheeks getting red at the attention he was receiving. He quietly thanked the team and sat down next to a second year, which he knew because he was on the Quidditch team as well, and Evelyn, who had reserved the seat for him.

While Harry was talking animatedly with Evelyn and a few other first years, he heard that Angela and Marc Zabini were sorted into Slytherin. ‘So we have at least one of each House in our group, might be of some use some time,’ Harry thought while he absentmindedly introduced himself to the other first years.

Besides Evelyn and Harry, there were eight other first years in Ravenclaw, Brian, Cian, Aidan, and Noah were the boys, who would be staying in the same dormitory as Harry. Niamh, Lucy, Anna, and Maya were the girls. Each of them seemed very nice, and Harry relaxed a little. Maybe staying in the House wouldn’t be as bad as he had imagined.

As soon as dinner was finished, the fifth year prefect, Oliver, whom Harry knew well because he was on the Quidditch team, motioned the first years to follow him to the Ravenclaw Common room. Animatedly talking to his Housemates Harry followed the crowd to Ravenclaw, glad that he had already stayed overnight in Ravenclaw several times during the few last years, so that he knew what to expect.

The first years were supposed to go to bed directly after dinner. However, just when Oliver finished explaining the rules to the first years, Luna entered the Common room, throwing a smile around the room.

“Good evening, Professor Lovegood,” the older students greeted their Head of House immediately. Contrary to Professor Flitwick, who had never set a foot into the House except for emergencies, Luna used to come into the Common room every evening just before curfew to look after her students and to give the children the opportunity to ask questions concerning lessons or anything else. She also liked to look into all the dormitories later when the students were supposed to be in bed.

Luna gathered all the students around her and briefly introduced herself to the first years. Then she asked the new students to introduce themselves. When everyone was finished, she told the students that Harry had grown up at Hogwarts and therefore had already attended many lessons, so that he’d have a slightly different timetable than the other first years.

Before Harry could feel very embarrassed, the Quidditch captain, Silas, told Luna, “Professor, Harry is going to be our new Seeker.”

“What’s a Seeker?” Noah asked. He was a Muggle born.

“That’s a position in Quidditch, which is a sport in the wizarding world just like football in the Muggle world, but it’s played on brooms and is a lot of fun,” Harry explained kindly.

“If you have questions or don’t know the way to a classroom just ask Harry; I believe he knows Hogwarts better than anyone else,” Luna told the first years.

“That’s good to know. I’ve only known that I’m a witch for four weeks, and everything is new to me,” Maya said, obviously relieved.

“All right, now, if you don’t have any urgent questions I think it’s time for you to go to bed. I’ll come around your dormitories in half an hour, and then the lights will be switched off for the night,” Luna told the first years before leaving the Common room.

Harry suddenly felt his vision failing. ‘Oh no!’ he thought desperately, ‘not a vision, not now!’ He jumped up and ran up the stairs to his dormitory, and just managed to lie down on his bed before he was pulled into a vision.

Death Eaters were attacking Hogwarts in a brutal battle, which left many students dead on the grounds. Harry walked around the grounds, feverishly looking for his friends, when he felt himself being attacked by a curse that made his head feel like it was ready to explode. Somehow, he had the impression that he had been hit by the same curse before.

When he slowly regained consciousness, he just managed to lean his head over the side of the bed before emptying the contents of his stomach onto the floor. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing that his dorm mates stood around his bed, watching him worriedly.

“Harry, are you all right?” Brian asked with concern. “Shall we call Professor Lovegood?”

“No, thanks, ‘m fine,” Harry mumbled. “I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He quickly waved his hand, casting a Scourgify spell on the floor, while the four boys watched in awe.

Harry lay back, closed his eyes and tried to ignore his excited dorm mates as well as the headache, which was just as unbearable as it had been the last time he had a vision. Noah was still awake, when Luna entered the dormitory half an hour later, and told her what had happened. Luna went over to Harry’s bed and sat down on the edge of the bed, taking in that his cheeks were flushed and his face was scrunched up as if he were in a lot of pain.

“Harry,” Luna whispered. “What happened?”

Harry slowly opened his eyes, glad to see Luna. “Pfessor,” he mumbled tiredly.

“Nobody’s here, so you can call me Luna, Harry. Was it a vision?” Luna asked softly.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to tell me what it was about?”

“Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts, many students died, and I was searching for my friends outside on the grounds when he attacked me with a curse that made my head feel like it would explode, it was just like the last time,” Harry whispered.

“Shall I take you to Poppy, or shall I get your father for you?”

“No, please don’t. They’d only keep me there so that I couldn’t attend classes tomorrow, and I don’t want to miss my first day of classes.”

Luna sighed. “Harry, I can understand that but…” She thought for a moment and continued, “Harry, I’ll talk to your father and ask him for a potion to help you. I’ll be back in a few minutes, all right?”

Harry gave her a small smile. “Yes, thank you.”

A few minutes later, Luna returned and handed Harry two phials and Lily’s mobile phone. He quickly gulped down the potions, which helped at least a little. Luna put two more potions on Harry’s night table and told him, “Your father said you should take these in the morning before you go to breakfast, and if you don’t feel well afterwards tell somebody and stay in bed or go home to stay in your own room. If you have problems during the night, call your father or me with the mobile phone.”

Luna quietly talked to Harry until she noticed that his breathing had evened out showing he was asleep. Then she silently continued her rounds through the other dormitories.

In the morning, Harry still didn’t feel well, but there was no way he was going to miss classes on his first day of school. He quickly downed the two potions Luna had brought him, dressed and met his classmates in the Common room.

In the Common room, his classmates bombarded him with questions.

“Do you know what lessons we have today?”

“Do we have to take any books with us?”

“Can you show us the way to the Great Hall and to the classrooms afterwards?”

“Will we have homework?”

“Where can we do our homework?”

“Stop!” Harry groaned and pressed a hand against his aching head. “All right, I’ll try to answer everything, but please ask just one question at a time. Professor Lovegood will give us our timetables during breakfast. Yes, I will show you where everything is. We don’t have to take books now since we don’t know what lessons we’re going to have today. We’ll get lots of homework, and we can do them either here or in the library. We might be able to have a study group and study here together after lessons if you want.”

“Harry, are you feeling alright?” Evelyn suddenly asked, noticing that her friend was shivering and looked ill.

“He was sick last night,” Brian told her. “Maybe…”

“I’m fine,” Harry insisted. “Anyway, I’m not going to miss classes on the first day. I will tell you tonight what happened last night. Let’s meet in our dormitory tonight after dinner. The boys are not allowed to enter the girls’ dormitories; they can’t even climb up the stairs. But the girls can enter the boys’ dormitories. Now, it’s time to head to the Great Hall; if we don’t show up for breakfast, we’ll be in big trouble with Professor Lovegood, since we are supposed to attend each meal.”

To the teachers’ astonishment, all Ravenclaw first years arrived together for breakfast, talking animatedly. Harry had just sat down and sipped a bit of his pumpkin juice when Isabella climbed onto his lap. Harry gave her a small smile and said, “Hello, little one. Everything all right there?”

Isabella shook her head. “No. Isa sad.”

“Why are you sad, Isa? What’s wrong?”

“Miss Hawwy,” the little girl said.

“I miss you too, sweetie, but look, you can see me during the meals every day,” Harry said softly, giving his sister a kiss on the forehead.

“Hawwy hot,” Isabella said, frowning.

“Everything’s okay,” Harry told her. “Now, can you return to Mummy? Look, Auntie Luna is already giving out the timetables and I’ve to get mine.”

Isabella pouted but finally slid down to the ground and returned to the Head table.

“Are you calling our Head of House Luna? Evelyn whispered.

“Sorry, yes, only when nobody is around. You know, I’ve known her since she was a student here, she’s one of my best friends and my sister’s godmother,” Harry whispered back. “But in front of everyone, I have to call all the teachers ‘Professor’, even my parents.”

“That’s weird, isn’t it?” Brian, who had been listening in on their conversation, said. “You have to get used to it, won’t you? I bet that will be tough.”

Harry shrugged. “Yes, it probably will be.”

“Harry, don’t play with your food, you need to eat,” Evelyn admonished him, seeing that Harry still hadn’t eaten a bite.

“I’m not hungry; I’ll eat at lunchtime,” Harry replied, and began to explain to his new friends who the people at the Head table were.

Finally, Luna came around to the first years and handed out the timetables. Harry’s was the last one. “Harry I’d like to speak with you about your timetable. Just have a look at it, and we can change things if we need to, all right? Come to speak with me as soon as you feel better, please.”

“All right, thank you, Professor,” Harry replied, glancing at his timetable.

“Now, take your timetable and go back to your dormitory,” Luna added in a much smaller voice. “I’ll inform your teachers accordingly.”

“No!” Harry said vehemently. “It’s all right, Professor. Thank you for helping me last night.”

Luna gave him a concerned smile and walked back to the Head table, while Harry turned to his classmates, who were worrying about their schedules. “We have a double Herbology lesson first and since it’s in the greenhouses, we should leave now so we can be there on time,” Harry told them and all first years followed him out of the Great Hall.

The teachers laughed at the way how the Ravenclaw first years seemed to stick together and follow Harry. Lily however was very worried about Harry. He didn’t look well and he hadn’t eaten a bite at breakfast. It was strange not having him close by and be able to look after him. Severus put an arm around his wife, giving her a calming nod before he headed out of the Hall to be in the dungeons in time for the first lesson.

The first years learned something about the differences between the poisonous plants and the harmless herbs, which were mostly used in potions. Harry already knew everything and was glad that he could just sit there and tune out everything for the time being – at least until Neville showed up and after being introduced by Professor Sprout, asked Harry if he could help him for a moment. Harry wondered what help Neville needed but in fact the man only took him into his office to talk with him. He had obviously noticed that Harry hadn’t been listening to the lesson at all and was beside himself anyway. He made him sit down comfortably and questioned him about his first day as a student.

“Harry, how are your dorm mates? Are they all right?” Neville asked hesitantly.

Harry gave him a small smile. “Everything is alright I guess. For me, it’s easier since I don’t have to worry as much about the lessons, and I have my family and all of you nearby; it’s probably not as easy for the others. I’ve suggested to them that we study all together after lessons, and everyone agreed, so that’ll be should be a lot of fun I suppose. And yes, they are all very nice, and the girls are very nice too.”

Neville laughed. “You probably really fit into Ravenclaw very well. Do you remember the time when you first came to Hogwarts before you were de-aged?”

Harry sighed. “I often get my memories of my first childhood back while I’m sleeping. I know that I should have all my memories anyway since Dumbledore made me remember everything. However, Dad helped me bury those memories deep down in my mind, so that I don’t remember anything except for Spells, Charms, and other lesson contents from that time. But I get a lot back of the memories back while I’m asleep. I now remember how I remember that I was sorted into Gryffindor and remember you being a good friend.”

“But you don’t regret being de-aged, do you?” Neville asked hesitantly.

“No,” Harry answered determined. “I’ve had a wonderful childhood, and from what I remember from my first childhood it must have been horrible. Also, I have my Mum back and even have a little sister. She’s so adorable. No, I’m very happy very grateful, too. I believe it was you who de-aged me, right? Dad said something like that.”

“Yes,” Neville replied, smirking. “You know, I was really bad at potions. Your father always called me a dunderhead.” He shrugged. “Your father has changed completely since he discovered that you’re his son. He really was a git before and we hated each other, but now I like him a lot.”

“I’m glad,” Harry replied. “I like you and Luna a lot, and I’m happy that my parents made both of you my sister’s godparents. She couldn’t have nicer godparents. I’m also glad to have Luna as my Head of House,” he added quietly, thinking about how she had helped him the night before.

“Another bonus of your de-aging is that we got to know the truth about Dumbledore and also about Ron,” Neville remembered.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Harry admitted. “However, I hope Dumbledore will stop torturing me, especially as he really seems to know when it hurts me the most like on my birthday, which is Christmas Eve, or on my first day as a Hogwarts student. I really hate him for that.”

Suddenly, a voice penetrated his mind. ‘Hate is a very strong word; don’t you think so, my boy?’

Harry threw Neville a horrified glance, when he again began to feel sick. He quickly conjured a bucket with a wandless Spell and emptied his stomach. When he was finished, Neville took the bucket, cast a Scourgify Spell on it, and helped Harry lie down on the sofa. Sitting on the edge of the sofa, he asked, “Harry, what happened? Did he attack you again just now?”

Harry told him what had happened but had to admit that he wasn’t sure if Dumbledore had really talked to him or if it just had been his feverish imagination. He thought about the voice he had heard and finally said, “No, it probably was Dumbledore. We had just spoken about the old fool when it happened. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”

“No, probably not,” Neville agreed pensively and resolved to speak with his colleagues about it. He glanced at his watch. The first years’ double Herbology lesson was nearly over. “Harry, what should I do with you? Do I need to take you to Poppy?”

“No, please don’t. She can’t help me anyway. Just let me go back to class, it’s okay. I want to be at least physically present for my classes,” Harry objected and allowed himself to be led back to the greenhouse. The lesson had just finished, and Harry’s classmates threw him a relieved glance when he approached them and Neville went to talk to his colleague.

Harry led his classmates up to the Charms classroom, followed by the Hufflepuffs, who were glad to have a guide through the huge and unfamiliar castle. Enid joined Harry and Evelyn, while they were walking.

“Hey, Enid,” Harry said pleased. “How’s Hufflepuff? Do you get along well with everyone?”

“Yes, everyone is nice, although I’m a bit sad that we’re all in different Houses. When can we meet in the room you showed us on your birthday, Harry?” she asked eagerly.

Harry sighed. “Sorry Enid, but not today. But we probably have most of our classes together, as they always pair Ravenclaw with Hufflepuff for most of them, so I’ll tell you when I’ll be able to flash us to the room.”

They had already arrived at the Charms classroom and hurriedly sat down. Harry chose to sit in the last row, while Evelyn and Brian took the seats next to him. Harry had just sat down when Lily entered the classroom from her office with Isabella in tow. Isabella quickly looked around the room and saw her adored brother. She let out a joyous, “Hawwy!” and stormed up to Harry, ignoring her mother’s protest.

Harry lifted the little girl and settled her onto his lap, cuddling her close. Isabella frowned as Harry still felt hot to the touch like before. She turned her head and asked, “Hawwy goo?”

“I’m fine, Isa, thanks,” Harry whispered. “But you have to be quiet now, Isa, otherwise Mummy will become very angry.”

Isabella gave him a nod and leaned back into his robes, putting a thumb into her mouth while her other hand was busily cuddling her beloved teddy. Harry tried to listen to his mother for a while, until he tuned her out. His head felt so heavy that he couldn’t help resting it on his sister’s head. Isa stirred and quickly slid down to the floor. She determinedly walked over to her mother, ignoring the giggles and ‘aww’s’ that followed her through the class.

Reaching her mother, Isabella said accusingly, “Harry fik!”

Lily gave her daughter a sad smile and answered quietly, “Yes, sweetie, I know that Harry is sick and should be in bed but we’ll talk to him after the lesson. Go sit in your corner and play for a while, Isa.”

Isabella shook her head and went back to Harry’s lap, where she stayed quietly for the rest of the lesson. Lily shortly pondered if she should call her back but a look in Harry’s flushed face convinced her that Harry wouldn’t learn much today – with or without his sister on his lap.

“Sorry for the interruption,” Lily addressed the class. “My daughter hasn’t yet gotten used to the fact that her brother is a student. Now, let’s practise your first Charm.” She showed the class how to do the ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ Charm, and with a flick of her wand everyone had a feather on their table.

Only Lucy managed the Charm, while the others tried again and again to no avail. “Very good, Miss Tailor, ten points to Ravenclaw,” Lily commended. “Mr. Snape,” Lily then turned to Harry, whose head shot up. “If you’re able to do magic around the little angel on your lap, could you please show your classmates how to do the Charm?”

Harry pulled his wand out of his robe pocket, which forced Evelyn to giggle as everyone else had already been practising the Charm for ten minutes. Then he let his feather hover to Isabella’s delight. She squeaked happily and tried to get hold of the feather to the great amusement of the surrounding students.

“For our next lesson, please read the first chapter in your book and write a short summary. Mr. Snape, please stay behind for a moment,” Lily said, before she dismissed the students. “You don’t have to wait for Harry; to find the Great Hall you just need to go down the stairs around the corner,” she told the students, seeing that all Ravenclaws and even a few Hufflepuffs were lingering by the door, obviously waiting for her son.

Harry turned his head and gave his new friends a comforting nod, and the first years hesitantly left the room. Lily sat down next to Harry in the seat Evelyn had just vacated. She put a hand on his forehead and frowned.

“Harry, you’re burning up. What are you doing here? You are in no condition to attend and follow any lesson,” Lily asked, reprimanding.

“Yes, I know, but that’s exactly what he wants, making me miss lessons starting the first day,” Harry explained. “It’s not by chance that he attacked me yesterday and today.”

“Today?” Lily asked horrified. “Dumbledore attacked you again?”

“Yes, but he didn’t send me a vision; he only talked to me.”

Suddenly, Harry felt a new sharp pain in his head and he heard Dumbledore say, ‘Your father will regret what he did.’

Harry quickly passed Isabella over to his mother and gripped his head with both hands.

“Again?” Lily asked terrified, only getting a groan as an answer. Lily rushed to the fireplace and Floo-called her husband. She quickly filled him in about Harry’s problem, and ordered him to come and try to help Harry.

Seconds later, Severus stepped through the Floo, picked Harry up, and carried him through Lily’s office into the living room, where he laid him onto the sofa. Lily followed with Isabella before she lit the fireplace and tried to Floo-call Minerva, but the Headmistress had already left her office, for lunch in the Great Hall. As Lily knew that Minerva was the only one who kept her mobile phone switched on in the Great Hall, she quickly took Severus’ mobile phone and called Minerva to excuse them from lunch and Harry from his afternoon classes.

In the meantime, Severus entered Harry’s mind. Harry showed him the vision Dumbledore had sent him the night before and let him hear what the old man said to him. Pensively, Severus left Harry’s mind and waved his wand at his son to check on him. He shook his head and told Harry, “I’m afraid you have to stay here for the rest of the day. You’ve a high fever, and you’re in no condition to attend classes. Brewing potions in your condition is, as you know, especially dangerous, and you have Potions after lunch, right?”

“Yes,” Harry said darkly. “But don’t you understand, Daddy? That’s just what he wants.”

“Yes, but we have to find a way to stop him. We are having a staff meeting this afternoon once classes are over, and I’ll talk to the others about it. You may rest either here or in your dormitory if you want but only if Fawkes is with you,” he finally conceded, giving Lily a short glance.

“Then I have to take his perch with me, otherwise he won’t like it at all. He told me before that he doesn’t like dormitories and prefers to stay here.”

Severus frowned and addressed Dobby, who had just brought lunch for the four of them. “Dobby, please purchase another perch for Fawkes and have the money taken from the Snape vault. Place the perch next to Harry’s bed in his dormitory.”

“Yes, of course, Professor Snape, sir. Dobby is seeing to it immediately,” the elf answered and was gone with a ‘Pop’.

In the meantime, Lily had fetched one of the spare mobile phones out of Harry’s stock and had quickly charmed it. “Here, Harry, take this with you and phone us when you have problems. I’ve already charmed it for you,” she added.

“Thanks, Mummy,” Harry replied gratefully and handed back Lily’s phone.

“Harry, I want you to stay here at least until the next lesson is finished. During class, I’ll brew a potion out of the very strong Pain reliever and the Fever reducer, so that you can take it with you and only have one potion to take if you need it. However, it’s so strong that you can’t take more than three phials of it within twenty-four hours, is that clear?” Severus asked, looking sternly at his son while he handed him two phials.

“Yes Dad, thanks,” Harry replied and gulped down the potions.

“wunf, wunf, now, Hawwy!” Isabella impatiently joined the conversation.

“Yes, let’s have lunch,” Lily agreed.

Harry only slightly shook his head before he lay back and closed his eyes, while his parents exchanged a worried glance. “You can leave Isa here with me, Mummy,” Harry mumbled, before he drifted off to sleep.

Harry woke up to a sloppy kiss being placed on his cheek. “Hey, Isa,” he mumbled lazily.

“Hawwy pway?” his sister invited him cheerfully.

Harry groaned inwardly. “Shall I read you a book?” he asked hesitantly, hoping one of his parents would be back soon to rescue him as his head still felt as if it had been run over by a hippogriff.

Isabella gave him a delighted nod and dashed away only to return a minute later with what had once been Harry’s favourite book about a dragon that was friends with a snake and a phoenix. Harry patted the enlarged sofa to motion his sister to lie down again next to him and started reading the story to her. None of them noticed Severus entering the room when Harry was about half through the story. He waited patiently until Harry had finished reading before he addressed his son.

“Now, Harry, the afternoon classes are over, and I have to attend the staff meeting. So far I’d left open the connecting doors so that I could hear you if something happened but now you’d be really on your own here. Do you want to return to your dormitory since your classmates will probably return soon?”

“All right, I’ll ask Fawkes to flash me over. Shall I take Isa with me or will you take her?”

“Ifa tay Hawwy!” his sister shouted excitedly.

“You have to rest, Harry, and if something happens phone me immediately. I won’t switch off my phone, all right?” He handed Harry a shrunken batch of potions. “Remember, Harry, not too often. If it’s not too bad you only need to take a sip of it.”

“All right Dad, I’ll be careful,” Harry ensured his father before he turned to his sister. “Sorry, Isa, but I’d like you to go with Daddy now. It’s my first day of lessons and I’ve promised my classmates to help them with their homework. If I go to dinner today, you can come and eat together with my friends and me, all right, sweetie?”

“Harry, you are to go to dinner. If you really can’t attend, please have one of your classmates tell either your Head of House or me. That doesn’t apply only for today but anytime there is something wrong.”

“All right,” Harry agreed and called Fawkes, who flashed him to his dormitory.

Aware of the fact that his classmates would return any minute, Harry walked down to the Common room and made himself comfortable on the sofa in front of the fireplace while several older students filed into the room. He pulled out his new mobile phone and quickly made shortcuts for the most important telephone numbers, so that he could call them with only dialling one number. The group of first years joined him shortly after he finished.

“Harry, where have you been?” his friends shouted excitedly. “We were worried about you,” Evelyn added quietly.

“Sorry, but my Dad made me take a nap,” Harry told them uncomfortably. “As I said this morning, I’ll tell you after dinner. Now, shall we start doing homework?”

“No, wait,” Brian objected. “We’re all together, so why can’t you tell us now?”

Harry sighed. “Alright, then let’s go to our dormitory. It’s not an interesting story though.”

The ten first years entered the boy’s dormitory; Harry placed a strong Silencing Spell at the door before he explained to his classmates what he was doing. They sat down on Harry’s and Brian’s beds and Harry started to tell them about Dumbledore wanting to torture and perhaps even kill him because he feared that in the future Harry might be more powerful than him. He also told them how Dumbledore had tried to kill Lily and him and how Professor Riddle had saved them. He didn’t tell them about being de-aged however as he didn’t think anyone else should know about it, and he felt uncomfortable enough being so far ahead of everyone else even without them knowing the reason.

To his great relief, nobody interrupted him while he was talking. When he had finished the others started to ask questions.

“So, this Dumbledore is after you because your magic is so powerful? But you told us he’s in Azkaban, didn’t you?” Brian enquired.

“Yes, he’s in Azkaban because he tried to kill me several times,” Harry said darkly.

“And Professor Riddle saved you and your mother and brought your mother back when you were seven? Why not earlier?” Lucy asked curiously.

“I had to say an incantation and Dad had to brew a potion with my blood in it. My magic, which was in my blood of course, had to be strong enough for the potion to work, and I had to be able to cast the Spell properly. So we couldn’t do it earlier.”

“Professor Evans-Snape is your mother, right?” Aidan questioned.

“Yes, and Professor Snape is my Dad, Professor Riddle is my great uncle and my godfather, and Madam Pomfrey is my godmother,” Harry admitted.

“I don’t understand though why Dumbledore wanted to kill your mother in the first place,” Brian said pensively.

“I have no idea. Maybe so that she couldn’t give birth to any more powerful babies,” Harry mused, before he gripped his head and moaned in agony.

“Was that an attack again?” Noah asked, while Evelyn, who was sitting next to Harry, soothingly rubbed his back.

“Yeah, but it wasn’t a vision. They’re the worst. This time, he only told me not to tell lies about him, which I’m not doing, and sent me a curse. I don’t know what it is but it causes me so much pain that I get bad headaches and fevers from it, which won’t even go away with potions easily,” Harry explained quietly, reaching for one of the phials on his night table. He took a small sip and told his friends how Dumbledore had always attacked him on his birthday, so that he had been ill on Christmas, and not able to enjoy it.

Just then, their Head of House entered the dormitory, astonished to find all the first years huddled together on Harry’s and Brian’s beds. “Oh, am I disturbing an important meeting?” she asked, wondering about the disturbed faces on her students.

“No, Professor, Harry just told us about the attacks,” Brian explained to the teacher.

“Oh, you told them?” Luna said astonished. “That’s good, Harry, well done. In fact, I came to see how you were doing. Do you feel better?”

Harry slightly shook his head, and Noah answered for him, “He just had another attack happen, Professor.”

Luna’s face darkened visibly. “Your father told me he gave you a potion, so that you don’t have to wait for anyone to come. I also want you to put your mobile phone on the night table, so that your roommates can call us faster if you need us.”

“Yes, I already thought about that,” Harry explained and showed the others his phone. “I’ve programmed a few numbers. Just press ‘1’ for my father, ‘2’ for my mother, ‘3’ for Madam Pomfrey, or ‘4’ for Professor Lovegood.”

“Now Harry, your father and Professor McGonagall just went to the Ministry in order to ask the Minister to have the Dementors give Dumbledore the kiss; just to let you know.”

Harry let out a small snort. “You don’t think they’ll kiss him, do you?”

“Why not, Harry? The Minister owes you a lot. You have invented the cure for Lycanthropy and it was you who invented the Charm so that everyone in the magical world can use mobile phones. You’ve always collaborated with the Minister, so yes, I’m quite sure he will decide to have Dumbledore kissed,” Luna replied softly.

Harry’s classmates listened to the conversation in awe. An instant later, however, Harry was pulled into a vision. Harry and a group of students were sitting next to the lake, obviously studying together. Suddenly a huge group of Dementors came. Harry started to shiver violently. He desperately tried to conjure a Patronus. A phoenix Patronus appeared but flashed away immediately, leaving the Dementors free to continue their destruction. Just before the Dementors kissed each of his friends, Harry managed to get out of the vision. He leaned over the edge of his bed and was violently sick.

“Please go to the Great Hall for dinner and tell someone at the teachers’ table that I’m going to miss dinner because I’m staying here with Harry until you return,” Luna ordered Harry’s friends sternly, and everyone quietly left the dormitory.

Luna helped Harry take the rest of the potion and lie down, before she cast a slight warming Charm on him, seeing how he was shivering. “What was it, Harry?” she then asked softly, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

Harry reached for his wand and quickly asked Fawkes to fetch his Pensieve, so that he could put the vision into it. Luna was slightly shivering as well when she left the Pensieve. “Oh my, that was horrible, Harry. I hope it won’t take long until he receives the kiss.”

“Hopefully, because I don’t know how I’ll be able to even study at all otherwise,” Harry admitted.

“Now, don’t worry about that now. Fortunately, you don’t have to study a lot for your classes.”

“But Luna, I’ve already missed my first Ancient Runes class today. If this continues, I’ll have to drop it,” Harry replied in an upset tone.

“So, worst case scenario, just drop it, and pick it back up next year. It’s a third years’ class anyway. Apart from that, you can ask any of the third years to give you their notes. That’s not a problem. But you mustn’t do any homework or studying when you’re ill. It’s not your fault and you can’t change it. Don’t forget, you already know enough to take your OWLs. So, you don’t have to worry about your studies at all. You only have to care of yourself and stay healthy. Everything else is unimportant. And it’s very good that you told your classmates the truth because you may need their help and understanding,” Luna told Harry in a quiet voice.

“Thanks, Luna,” Harry mumbled tiredly.

Suddenly, Severus entered the room. Luna quickly filled him in about Harry’s vision, and Severus entered the Pensieve to watch it. When he left the Pensieve, he let out a deep sigh and quietly spoke to Luna as Harry had his eyes closed. “The Minister told us they probably won’t be able to give the Dementors to kiss Dumbledore. He wasn’t exactly sure, but he said the Aurors have obviously lost their control over the Dementors. That’s all I know at the moment. The Minister promised to enquire about it and contact us tomorrow.”

Luna gave Severus an exasperated look. “You don’t think Dumbledore is in control of the Dementors, do you?”

“Dumbledore controls the Dementors?” Severus pensively repeated Luna’s question. “Hmm. At least, that would be a good explanation as to why the Aurors don’t have any control over them. Then we have to think about something else to do with the old fool.”

“Daddy?” Harry suddenly asked quietly. “Do you really think Dumbledore controls them?”

Severus sighed. “Harry, I’m sorry, I don’t know that. However, you can rely on us to do everything we can to find out and find a way to make Dumbledore leave you in peace. Now, Harry, I want you to take this potion, and when you wake up, you’ll stay in bed until someone comes to look after you.” He held a potion to Harry’s lips, and Harry couldn’t do anything but swallow, and by the time he finished the potion he was already fast asleep.

Harry woke up to Isa squealing, “Hawwy!” He lazily opened his eyes and saw Poppy and Isabella at his side. Poppy was just waving her wand at him, and Isabella was trying to climb onto Harry’s bed.

“Hi, Aunt Poppy, Isa,” Harry mumbled tiredly. “Can I go to my classes?”

“No, Harry, I’m going to take you with me to the Hospital wing, where you can either rest or play with Isabella. You may come back here later when the lessons are over, that way you won’t be alone.”

Harry grudgingly crawled out of bed and spent the morning on the sofa in Poppy’s office, talking to Isabella and reading stories to her. Isabella had brought a few books with her, and she happily asked her brother, “Hawwy wead me stowwy?”

When Harry hesitated for a moment, she gave him a puppy dog’s look, emphasized by a “pwease”, and Harry couldn’t resist any more and read one book after the other to his little sister.

When Poppy asked Harry if he felt well enough to go to the Great Hall for lunch, he declined because he wasn’t hungry at all.

“I don’t mind if you’re not hungry but you are going to eat. So I can make sure you actually are eating and not playing with your food, so we will eat here,” Poppy decided sternly.

“Ah, no, it’s all right, let’s go. I mean, Mummy probably misses Isa, so…” Harry replied quickly, remembering how his godmother had forced him to eat a late breakfast a few hours ago.

When Harry arrived at the Great Hall, his classmates were already there and greeted him happily before they started to ask him lots of questions. “Harry, can you show us how to transfigure a tissue into a parchment?” Brian asked. “Lucy was the only one who managed the transfiguration.”

“Very good, Lucy,” Harry commended the relatively small girl with short blonde hair. “And I see you earned House points again, right?”

“Yes, that was Lucy, yesterday in Potions and today in Transfiguration,” Evelyn explained, while Lucy blushed terribly.

“I’ll teach you after classes in the Common room, Brian, all right? As long as Aunt Poppy lets me come back to the Common room after classes,” Harry promised.

“Harry, do you know what a Boggart is?” Lucy enquired hesitantly.

“Where did you learn about Boggarts?” Harry asked, astonished. “That’s third year material.”

“Oh, nowhere, sorry, I just read about it and didn’t know what it was,” Lucy replied, blushing again.

“Ah, all right, a Boggart is something that changes its form into the thing that the person who sees it fears the most. Boggarts often hide in dark spaces, cupboards or someplace similar. As I said it depends on the person that sees it, what form it takes. I don’t know what my greatest fear is, at the moment I suppose it’s Dumbledore, so if I saw a Boggart, it would probably change its form to look like Dumbledore.”

“Ah, I see. Thank you, Harry,” Lucy said happily.

Suddenly, Lily stood behind Harry. “Harry, don’t play with your food, eat please. Thanks for taking care of Isabella. Are you feeling well enough to watch her again in the afternoon, or should I take her with me?”

“I can take Isa, no problem – except for the fact that I’d prefer not to miss all my classes again but Aunt Poppy won’t let me go anyway.”

Lily laughed, glad that it wasn’t her who had to restrain her son today. “You have to complain to your father for making a Healer your godmother.” She lightly squeezed Harry’s shoulder before she returned to the Head table.

Harry, Poppy, and Isa had just returned to Poppy’s office when Minerva entered the room and sat down next to Harry, lifting Isabella onto her lap. She gave Harry a piercing glance. “Harry, the Minister contacted me right before lunch. The Aurors have obviously lost the control over the Dementors. They don’t know if Dumbledore has control over them or what’s happening. However, now that they know that, the Ministry has positioned several Aurors to ensure the safety of Azkaban in order to prevent a mass breakout and of course to prevent Dumbledore from leaving.”

“So Dumbledore can do to me whatever he wants, right?” Harry asked horrified, his eyes full of tears.

Minerva put an arm around Harry. “I’m so sorry, Harry. But we won’t give up, we will think of a way to stop him. We’re going to have another staff meeting after today’s classes in order to discuss the matter. Tom said that if the Dementors are really listening to Dumbledore, you may be able to talk to the Dementors as well through your scar. But I don’t know if that’s true and how it would work. Don’t panic, Harry, we’ll find a way. And don’t worry about classes now; you know that you can already do everything you’d learn in the first year classes.”

Suddenly, Harry heard laughter and Dumbledore’s voice told him, ‘Oh, Harry, they’re so stupid. I’ll send the Dementors over tonight. Or maybe better tomorrow. Let me think about it, I’ll tell you just before I do.’

Harry groaned in agony, leaning his head onto Minerva’s shoulder. “He just told me he’s going to send the Dementors over either tonight or tomorrow, he’d tell me just before he does.”

“Oh my, are you all right, Harry?”

“Yes, I’m fine; it’s just a very bad headache. I need Dad to make a stronger potion if he can. Otherwise I won’t be able to help fighting against the Dementors or try to talk to the Dementors.”

“I will speak to the others at the staff meeting. Maybe Tom or your father will have an idea how you’d be able to talk or do something to help us with the Dementors. Otherwise we’ll just have to fight the Dementors if he really sends them. Therefore, we’ll have a Defence evening in the Great Hall tonight for all students from the upper years starting with the fifth years. We’ll try to teach them to conjure a corporal Patronus,” Minerva said determined. “Harry, I know that you’re in no condition to do anything when he attacks you, but please try to let me know somehow in case he does warn you like he said.”

“Of course, Granny, please let me come to the Great Hall tonight as well. I think I should be able to produce a corporeal Patronus; however, as I’ve never really done it, I need to practise, too.”

“It is indeed very important. I will send Luna to check on you and bring you with her if she thinks you’ll be all right. Now I should go back and alert the Minister concerning Dumbledore’s threat. I will ask him to send a few Aurors to help protect us,” Minerva added pensively.

When classes were over, Poppy allowed Harry to return to his Common room. Harry sat down next to his classmates before he addressed the older students. “I’m sorry; I’d like to speak with you all for a moment.” It took a lot of courage to talk to the whole House, but he thought it was important for the safety of all the students, and somehow found the courage. Fortunately, he knew that all his Housemates had known him for quite a while now, and because he had won several Quidditch matches for them most people seemed to like him. So they probably wouldn’t abandon him because of what he was going to tell them.

When everyone quietened down, Harry continued to speak. He told them everything he had told his classmates earlier. At first, he gained many horrified as well as pitying looks but then the students started asking him questions, which he answered as well as he could. And when he told the students about the practise Minerva was intending to hold that evening, several students approved the idea, and wanted to participate.

“Thanks for telling us, Harry. I know it must have been difficult for a first year to speak to the whole House, especially when you’re still suffering from the after effects of the attacks, but we’re all behind you. As Ravenclaws, we’re a huge family and we will help you as best as we can,” Silas, the Quidditch captain, who was a fifth year student, told Harry and received a huge applause.

Harry thanked everyone for their understanding and kindness and finally turned to the first years to help them with their homework. They first had to do their Charms homework, which was very easy for Harry to help with as he had corrected many parchments of Charms homework, essays, and tests during the last four years.

“Don’t you have to do homework?” Brian asked suddenly.

“No, I’ve attended that class and have also done that homework several times,” Harry replied and continued correcting Cian’s essay. “There are classes, for which I have to do homework but at least for Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions I don’t have to do any,” Harry explained and added in a very small voice, “Last year, I even helped grading first year homework in Charms and Transfiguration. But I haven’t studied much in Dark Arts and a few of the other subjects yet.”

When everyone headed to the Great Hall for dinner, Harry went to his dormitory to rest until Luna woke him up and handed him a potions phial.

“What is it?” Harry asked confused.

“It’s a nutrient potion. I don’t have to tell you that your father and Aunt Poppy are very upset with you, right?”

Harry groaned. “Sorry, I forgot. I just wanted to lie down a bit to be ready for the Patronus practise tonight. Is it starting now?”

Luna gave him a short nod. “Are you sure you want to participate?”

“Yes, of course,” Harry said and followed Luna down to the Great Hall.

All the older students and teachers were assembled in the Hall. Remus and Tom had taken over the lesson and were just explaining to the students what the Patronus charm was and how it had to be cast when Luna and Harry entered the Hall. Luna led him over to the end of the Hall where the teachers were standing. Ignoring the stern looks Severus and Poppy gave him, Harry sat down on the floor and waited for the practise to begin. Hermione sat down next to him. “Harry, are you all right?” she asked worriedly.

Harry threw her a small glance. “Yes, I’m fine. It’s just a bit unnerving since I don’t know what he intends to do next,” he confessed in a smaller voice.

“That’s true,” Hermione confirmed. “However Harry, you know that you have the whole school behind you. Everyone wants to help you. Look at all the students and teachers here. Minerva didn’t force the people to come. She kindly asked them during dinner. Nevertheless nearly everyone from third year up is here.”

Harry looked at her, slightly consoled. “Thanks, Hermione.”

At that moment, the practise began. As he remembered from his memories of his former childhood, Harry tried to think of a happy memory and finally decided on the memory of reviving his mother. Then he silently thought the incantation, using his wand. A strong white Phoenix Patronus moved around the Great Hall.

Before he could try again, Tom gripped Harry’s right arm. “Harry, that’s enough. That was a very powerful Patronus, and I don’t want you to use any more magic today. Go back to your dormitory and rest so that you’ll be able to cast such a good Patronus again whenever he sends the Dementors.”

Harry sighed and mumbled something about too overprotective godparents when he proceeded to join his housemates and helped them casting the Patronus.

“You have to think about a really happy memory and then cast ‘Expecto Patronum’,” he told a few students, watching them trying to get white mist out of their wands.

He spent an hour going from one group to the next just like the teachers and older students, who were already able to make a corporeal Patronus. Finally, he went back to the teachers’ corner and sat down on the floor to wait for someone who could accompany him back to Ravenclaw.

In the morning, Harry was finally well enough to attend classes. The first years had Dark Arts and Transfiguration, which were both a lot of fun for Harry. However, the first years were just on their way down from the Transfiguration classroom to the Great Hall when it happened. ‘Heading for the Great Hall, my boy? Now, there’s a nice surprise for you outside on the grounds. Do you remember how to cast a Patronus?’ he heard Dumbledore’s voice again.

Harry, sat down on the floor, gripped his head, and quickly told his worried classmates, who gathered around him, “Take my phone, call McGonagall and my father, it’s beginning on the grounds.” He noticed that someone took his mobile phone out of his pocket and asked someone else to give him his potion out of his bag before he closed his eyes and tried to get the pain under control. He felt a cold phial pressed against his lips and quickly downed the potion and got up onto his feet before he cast a warming spell on himself. How could he face the Dementors if he was freezing even before that?

Harry sternly ordered his housemates to return to their Common room immediately. However, Brian decided to accompany Harry to the Great Hall so that he wouldn’t be alone. In the Great Hall, Brian motioned Harry to sit down, while he went to the Head table to inform the teachers about the attack.

Suddenly, Minerva’s announcement could be heard. “All students please return to your Common rooms immediately. The house elves will serve your lunch in your Common rooms. All elder students, who have already managed to cast a corporeal Patronus and are willing to help us fighting against Dementors, please join us in front of the Entrance doors.”

Severus came over to Harry and asked worriedly, “Are you all right, Harry?”

“Yes, Dad, I’m all right. He only told me that a nice surprise was waiting for me outside the Entrance doors. I don’t know if there are really Dementors out there though.” He shrugged.

“Harry, please stay behind a bit. And be careful, son. I’m very proud of you.”

At that moment, Minerva entered the Hall and led everyone through the Entrance doors onto the grounds. Harry was shivering from the cold, even before he saw the black cloud of Dementors approaching from the lake. Together with the teachers and many students, he cast his Patronus, noticing that his was one of the most powerful as it remained for a very long time, chasing the Dementors. However, it obviously wasn’t enough as there were still Dementors hovering around. Noticing that one of them was trying to attack one of the older boys, Harry quickly summoned all his magic and cast another Patronus, which together with a few other animals finally managed to chase the Dementors away. Completely knackered, Harry didn’t bother listening to the teachers’ instructions but returned into the castle and went straight up to the Common room, where his friends were waiting anxiously.

“It’s all right, they’re gone,” Harry informed them quickly before he curled up in front of the fireplace and closed his eyes. He slept for a while until Poppy came to check on him and woke him up to give him a huge piece of chocolate before she returned to the Hospital wing, muttering to herself about godsons, who couldn’t even follow simple instructions. Harry threw her a confused glance before he shrugged and started to eat the chocolate.

During the following weeks, Dumbledore made a game of speaking to Harry or just attacking his mind, so that Harry could hardly do any school work or research. In the meantime, the Hogwarts teachers had sent a petition to the Ministry to kill Dumbledore with a Spell since Harry was affected so much by Dumbledore’s attacks and the Dementors’ kiss seemed not to be an option. However, the Minister had declined, explaining that not even the Aurors were permitted to use the unforgivable curses and that they didn’t have another possible way to kill, or incapacitate Dumbledore from being able to attack Harry.

Harry was trying to strengthen his Occlumency shield although his father and Tom thought that he was already very good. Actually, they often wondered how Dumbledore was able to penetrate Harry’s mind. However, one day, Harry had an idea. Late, after curfew and Luna’s visit to their dormitory, Harry transformed into his phoenix form and flashed over into his parents’ living room.

“Hello, Mum, Dad, I have an idea. Dad, what about, you know, when he attacks me, and at the same time you enter my mind and try to enter his mind you could do something to him, right?”

Severus sighed. “Hmm. That sounds good; the only problem is for me to be there with you just as he decides to attack you. Does he have any system? I mean, does he attack at similar times, or when you are in similar classes, at similar places, talking about similar things, or do his attacks just seem to be at random?”

“Hmm… Um… At first, I thought it was always when I said his name, but that’s obviously not true. I really don’t know. It’s mostly when it disturbs me most. And I’m so fed up with it. I’m almost getting used to the headaches but I still feel really bad afterwards, so it’s very unnerving.”

“I know, Harry, believe me, I’m always thinking about what to do to the old fool. Tom has even arranged for a Death Eater meeting on Halloween. It’s the first Death Eater meeting since Dumbledore has been sentenced to Azkaban. He told me that he had an idea. I assume that he’s going to ask some of his Death Eaters to kill Dumbledore, but I don’t know exactly what he has planned.”

Harry gave him a frightened glance. “I won’t do anything dangerous, Harry,” Severus assured his son. “However, it’s a good idea to try your idea out, although I suppose it will be difficult because of the timing.”

“So maybe it would be easier if you could teach me Legilimency?” Harry asked quietly.

“Maybe we should do that. However, we can only do that when you’re completely healthy, and you have to practise a lot in order to have a chance of winning against the old fool. But if you practise enough, you’ll definitely be better than him.”

“All right Daddy, can you please think about when you can teach me? Can I just come here whenever you tell me, or do I have to make a potion explode in order to get detention?” he asked with a small, mischievous smile playing on his lips.

“Oh, let me think. Making a cauldron explode will warrant, let’s say ten spider points…”

“Ah, no, no, no! Only joking,” Harry quickly interrupted his father. “I’d better flash back. Night Mummy, Daddy.” Harry gave his parents each a kiss on the cheek before he transformed back and flashed back into his dormitory, where everyone else was already fast asleep.

Although Harry always had to live in fear of Dumbledore’s attacks, he enjoyed being a student at Hogwarts a lot. The ten Ravenclaw first years had become a very close group of friends, who always stayed together. The only times Harry was separated from the others was when he had different classes like Ancient Runes, or his research times, which were mostly supervised by Neville, or when he attended Quidditch practise. To his great chagrin, his father had forbidden him to even practise with his team. He was only allowed to fly during the matches as it was too dangerous if he were to be attacked while he was flying. Harry had spent hours discussing this with his father and his overprotective godmother but they insisted that he just couldn’t fly.

Finally, Halloween arrived. They had a huge party in the Great Hall, which ended with curfew. Tom, Remus and Severus had to Floo over to Riddle manor for the Death Eater meeting immediately following the party. Harry was very much looking forward to what plan Tom was going to explain to his Death Eaters.

Harry returned to his dormitory with his usual group of the first years. He quickly washed up and changed into his pyjamas, before he returned to his bed and joined the others’ conversation.

“Did you see Professors Lovegood and Longbottom dance together?” Noah asked, obviously impressed.

Harry laughed. “Professor Longbottom is our Head of House’s fiancé; you know that, don’t you?”

“What!” the others shouted surprised.

“Yes, of course, and I think they fit together perfectly,” Harry insisted, laughing at his friends’ amazed expressions.

Suddenly, Harry heard a voice, which he had really learned to hate during the last couple of months. ‘I owe you an explanation, my dear boy. It was at Halloween when I wanted to kill your parents and you. However, Tom prevented me from killing you. But today, he’s not here, so here you are: Avada Kedavra.’

The only thing Harry knew was pain. His roommates heard him let out a short cry, and then saw him glow a bright green, just before he went unconscious. Harry’s four friends rushed over to Harry, taking in his unconscious form. “Is he still alive?” Aidan asked worriedly.

“I don’t know,” Brian answered shortly, already pushing buttons 1 and 3 on the mobile phone at the same time. “It’s not working!” he cried out in panic. “Someone, go and get Professor Lovegood anyone!”

“Try again but only push the 3 this time,” Noah ordered Brian. “It won’t work if you push several buttons at once.”

Brian tried again and quickly told Poppy to come over; at the same time Luna burst into the room, kneeling next to Harry. Her face had turned white as soon as she’d seen Harry’s unconscious form. “He’s alive. He’s only unconscious,” she finally said, relieved, when Poppy entered the room and waved her wand at Harry.

“Yes, he’s alive, but just barely, and he seems to have been hit by a very powerful dark curse. I’m not sure what it is at the moment. What did you see exactly?” the Mediwitch finally asked.

Brian quickly described how Harry’s body had glowed green for a short amount of time before he fell unconscious, and Poppy’s face paled as well. “The only, and I do mean the only spell, I know that glows green is the killing curse. But Harry is not dead, at least not yet. I don’t know what kind of effects it might have had on him. We can only wait and see. I’m going to take him with me.”

“No, please, Madam, leave him here,” Brian protested immediately.

“Yes, please. It’s the weekend, and we’ll be here with him the whole time,” Noah added.

Cian and Aidan agreed as well and begged the Mediwitch, so that she finally relented, very hesitantly though. “For the time being, I’m going to leave him here, but when the situation affords it, I’m going to take him with me at that time.” Poppy quickly waved her wand at Harry, putting a spell on him that would alert her if his condition changed even the slightest bit. Then she retreated to the Hospital Wing, promising Luna that she would alert Minerva, as well as Harry’s parents.

The four boys decided to stay around Harry at least until Severus, who would definitely come to look after his son, arrived. Seeing that they were much too upset to sleep anyway, Luna agreed and called a House elf, ordering hot chocolate for the children and coffee for herself.z88;When Severus arrived from the Death Eater meeting two hours later, he waved his wand at Harry and frowned before he turned to the children. “Who saw exactly what happened?”

Brian hesitantly spoke up. “I did, sir. We were talking, so, yes, I saw everything.”

“All right,” Severus said, sighing. “Do you know what a Pensieve is?”

Brian nodded his head. “Yes sir, I do.”

“Very well, do you know how to put a memory into a Pensieve?”

The boy shook his head. “No sir, I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Severus took Harry’s Pensieve from the shelf behind his bed and pulled out his wand, bringing the point to Brian’s temple. “Now, Mr. O’Neill, please think about the memory and tell me when you’re finished.”

Two minutes later, Brian gave Severus a short nod, and Severus extracted the memory from his mind, before he headed into the Pensieve, inviting Luna to join him. When he returned, Severus’ face had a shocked expression. “Yes, that was the killing curse but it seems as if it partly re-bounded to the caster,” he said pensively. “Thank you, Mr. O’Neill, twenty points to Ravenclaw.”

“Wow, thank you, Professor,” Brian said, pleased. “Will Harry be all right?”

Severus cleared his mind. “We will let him sleep through the night. Tomorrow morning, I will try to enervate him and see if I can do anything for him.”

At that moment, the Headmistress entered the dormitory, rushing over to Harry’s bed, and Severus quickly filled her in. “All right, I’ll contact the Minister, so that he can find out what condition Dumbledore is in.” She pulled her mobile phone out of her robes and talked to Scrimgeour for two minutes before finishing, “I’m waiting for your call, don’t hesitate to call me in the middle of the night, if needed.” She addressed the other first year students.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

Harry suddenly felt so free. ‘What’s wrong? I feel so… different,’ he thought. ‘Nothing hurts, not even my head – it feels strange.’ He threw a confused glance around, noticing that he was on a beach. But it was different from where they always went during their summer holidays. Several people were walking along the beach, and others were playing in the water, but Harry didn’t know anyone. Suddenly, he saw two men he thought he had seen before but couldn’t place them. He hesitantly took a step in their direction.

One of the men noticed Harry coming over straight towards them and addressed him, “Hello. Just arrived here? You somehow look familiar.”

The other man raised his head from the drawing he had been making in the sand. “Snape? You look like Snivellus, although he should be much older than you.”

“Sirius? James?” Harry asked hesitantly. He knew the faces from his first childhood although there were no memories attached to them as they had been buried very deep in his mind.

“Who are you?” Sirius enquired.

“I’m Harry Snape, the son of Lily Evans and Severus Snape,” Harry answered truthfully.

“You’re what!” Sirius shouted flabbergasted.

“Harry my son. Yes, I know that you’re Severus’, but officially you were still my son when I died,” James said delighted, looking at Harry in awe. “But you should be much older now, and why are you here in the first place?”

Harry sat down on the sand next to James and told the two Marauders the whole story. “So, am I dead now?” he finally asked.

“Obviously yes,” James answered pensively. “However, it depends on if you are able to find the way back to the living world. If you can still access your magic, it can help you to find your way back, but it’s very difficult. Are you an Animagus?”

“Yes, I’m a phoenix Animagus,” Harry answered, a hint of pride swinging in his voice.

“Oh, then you should be able to get back. As a phoenix, you should be able to flash, right?” James asked, throwing Harry a comforting glance.

“Um… yes, normally I can flash, but where can I flash to from here?” Harry asked confused.

“Sorry, Harry, but we have no idea. We didn’t find the way back in time. I think you only have a few days to get back,” Sirius told him.

“But the earlier you get back the better. Your parents will be so worried about you. Maybe you should just try it out. If you can’t manage, just come back here; we’ll wait for you for a while,” James suggested. “Ah, by the way, give my regards to Lily and Severus.”

“And I assume Remus too?” Harry asked, smirking.

“Of course, Moony too,” Sirius shouted happily.

“Oh, did I tell you… Dad and I have found a cure for Lycanthropy, and Remus is cured. He isn’t a werewolf anymore.”

“Wow, Harry, you and your Dad? That’s absolutely terrific. Wow! Give Moony our congratulations, will you please, Harry?!” James instructed the child.

“Yes, I’ll do that, provided that I’m able to get back. I’ll see you again sometime; thanks for your help.”

“Hopefully not too soon, Harry,” Sirius mumbled, obviously biting back tears.

Harry tried to transform into his phoenix form, and it worked. He trilled a supposed to be happy melody for Sirius and James, which however sounded very unsure and frightened. Harry was afraid he may not know what he had to do in order to get back, and he wanted to get back. He wanted to be with his Mummy and Daddy, and of course Isabella. He already missed Luna and her kind words, as well as his friends. ‘All right,’ he thought. ‘I don’t have time for these nerve wracking thoughts, I have to hurry up and try to get home.’

He concentrated on finding the way home to where everyone was alive at Hogwarts, but suddenly a different thought penetrated his thoughts of the way home. Harry quickly changed back and addressed Sirius and James once more. “Um… you know, when I flash I can take people with me. Would it work if I tried to take you with me?”

The two Marauders gave him an exasperated look. “You… oh, wow… Hmm,” James made pensively before he mused, “Do you think we’d be able to live on as ghosts, Padfoot?”

Sirius laughed. “I’ve no idea, Prongs, but… why not? We don’t have anything to lose. So let’s just try it out, if you don’t mind taking us, Harry.”

“All right,” Harry promised anxiously. “I can’t promise anything but I’ll try. Grab my tail feathers when I give you a sign.” Harry concentrated once again on finding the way back into Hogwarts where everyone was still alive before he gave the two Marauders a nod so that they grabbed his tail feathers, and then he flashed away immediately.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

In the Ravenclaw first years’ dormitory, Severus was sitting on the edge of his son’s bed. The students had sat with Harry until curfew, then Lily had taken over until midnight, and now, Severus was watching Harry until Luna would come to sit with him from four o’clock in the morning until the first student in the dorm room was awake.

It was now Sunday evening and Harry had already been in a coma for fifty hours. From time to time, Severus looked up from his book and watched his son’s unconscious form worriedly. Sometimes, he talked to him privately, having thrown a silencing Charm around the bed.

Suddenly, Severus noticed two ghosts appearing out of nowhere. The two ghosts, he noticed shuddering, seemed to be those of Black and Potter. ‘Where did they come from?’ Severus thought, slightly horrified, when the two ghosts took straight course at him.

“Hello, Severus,” James was the first to address the professor. “Harry will wake up soon,” he told him comfortingly.

“How do you know that? And where did you come from?” Severus asked astonished, the concern about his son causing him to forget his traditional sneer towards the Marauders.

“Harry came to where we were and when he returned here, he was kind enough to bring us with him. So, we’re back in the castle,” James explained joyfully.

Severus quickly waved his wand at Harry and noticed that his son had indeed come out of the coma and was in a deep sleep. He let out a relieved sigh. ‘Leave it to Harry to do something that was so far unheard of,’ he thought. “Has Harry told you the good news, if he has maybe you should go visit your friend Lupin.”

“You mean that he’s not a werewolf anymore? Yes, he told us. Congratulations, Severus. Harry seems to have turned out to be a great lad,” James said admiringly.

“Yes, he is a son a father can be proud of,” Severus said proudly.

The two ghosts left the room together in order to give one of the professors the greatest shock he’d had since Harry was de-aged into a baby. From then on, laughing loudly, they decided Remus’ room would be theirs too.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

Shortly after lunchtime Harry groaned, his mind slowly returning to consciousness. His whole body was sore. Confused, he rubbed his forehead, trying to get his thoughts straight. ‘What happened?’ he thought, bewildered. ‘I remember feeling so well, not even my head hurt, but now the pain is back and worse than ever before.’ Then he suddenly remembered being on the beach together with Sirius and James. ‘Oh, right, I was dead and they flashed back with me.’

Harry slowly opened his eyes, noticing that he was alone in his bed in his dormitory. However, before he was even alert enough to wonder what time it was, his godmother stormed into the room.

“Harry, oh it’s good to see you awake,” Poppy told him, relieved. “You gave us quite a fright, young man.” She quickly waved her wand over the child and handed him several potions, noticing that Harry was obviously in so much pain that he didn’t even look at the potions before he downed them.

“Your father has told me that you had quite an adventure, is that right, Harry?”

Harry frowned. “Daddy? Why? What does he know? Did he enter my mind? I didn’t notice at all.”

“No, but you brought two ghosts back with you. James told your father everything when he and Sirius arrived here.”

“Ah, right, James and Sirius! Did they really come back with me?” Harry questioned excitedly. “Where are they?”

Poppy snorted. “Yes, you brought them back, thank you very much. After pranking Remus all night, and they have started cooperating with Peeves with playing pranks on the whole school starting at breakfast. I’ve already had to cure a whole class of Potions students. They were suffering from purple boils all over their arms and faces due to Sirius blowing a strong breeze over their cauldrons, making them all explode.”

Harry groaned. “Oh no! I brought them back, and now they’re pranking my Daddy! Oh, he’ll be so angry with me. I have to go and look for them and have talk with them.”

Poppy carefully took of the bandage off Harry’s head, replacing it with a cold cloth across his forehead, and answered, “Ah, but I believe the whole school is grateful having the two pranksters here. Your Granny already told me she wants to see you as soon as you’re awake. However, you are not to go anywhere but stay in bed.”

“But, I’m fine, I…”

“I don’t want to hear it. You will stay here until I tell you otherwise and not complain, otherwise I’ll take you straight to the Hospital wing. Maybe tomorrow morning you will be able to leave your dorm but we’ll have to see. Please eat your lunch and rest; I’ll be back in time for dinner, but you can call me anytime with the mobile phone if you need me.” She called Dobby and instructed him to bring lunch for Harry and watch over him, so that he’d really eat some of it. Then she left the dormitory, throwing Harry a stern glance.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

Very upset with his godmother, Harry pulled his notebook out of the drawer and tried to connect it to the Internet to no avail. ‘Maybe I have to study more about how the Internet exactly works,’ Harry thought, annoyed at his lack of progress. A glance at his alarm clock showed him that he had time before his classmates were going to return from lessons to run a quick errand. He quickly transformed into his phoenix form and flashed to his own room in his parents’ quarters, and grabbed all the books about the Internet he owned and flashed back to the dormitory, where he obediently lay back in bed and started skimming the books.

Suddenly, he heard a strange noise coming from the other end of the dormitory. It was like the sound of a very young bird. Harry frowned. Maybe he had just imagined it; there couldn’t be a bird in the dormitory. A few minutes later, he heard the same noise again, but he just couldn’t summon the energy to get up and look for the sound. After hearing it a few more times, he finally had an idea what it could be.

“Now, Sirius, stop it, please. I’ve enough of a headache without you disturbing me all the time,” Harry said tentatively.

Silently, a ghost floated over to Harry’s bed. “Oh, dear, yes, Harry, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again until you’re back to health. But then I promise I won’t stop pranking you.”

Harry groaned. “Don’t you think you owe me a debt for bringing you back here? I should think you’d leave my family and me in peace, otherwise, I may feel inclined to do a few tests on the results of the Avada Kedavra curse on a ghost.”

Sirius chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure we’ll work something out, Harry.”

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

Harry had just turned back to his book, when the door to the dormitory flung open and his classmates stormed in. “Harry, you’re awake!” Brian shouted happily, while the children squeezed themselves around Harry’s bed.

“We’re glad that you’re back. We were so worried,” Evelyn told him, and the others nodded their agreement.

“I’m sorry for making you worry, but I’m fine now. Shall we go down to the Common room? You have to tell me what you did in the classes, and we can do homework together. Have I missed much?”

His friends made space for him, and Harry crawled out of bed. “Um… Has someone seen my robe? I can’t go in my pyjamas, now, can I,” Harry mumbled, searching around his classmates until Lucy handed him the robe. Harry quickly put on a warm sweater and his robes over his pyjamas, and the first years descended into the Common room.

They did their homework for Herbology first, which was one of the few classes Harry had to do the homework. Then his classmates proceeded to do their Transfiguration essay, while Harry took a short nap in his seat in front of the fireplace, until Lucy woke him up. “Sorry, Harry, can you help us quickly?”

The friends were still engrossed in their transfiguration homework, and Harry was just showing them how to transfigure a brown plush cat into a red one, when the Headmistress entered the Common room. Only when the Common room had turned uncharacteristically quiet, did the first years notice that Minerva had entered the room and gave her an expectant look.

“Mr. Snape,” Minerva said sternly. “I heard that you had strict orders from Madam Pomfrey to stay in bed. Please follow me into your dormitory; I’d like to have a word with you.”

Harry groaned inwardly and anxiously followed the teacher up the stairs to his dormitory, accompanied by worried and sympathetic looks from his friends. Minerva made him take off his robe and lie down before she sat on the edge of his bed.

“Harry,” she said and pulled him into a bear’s hug. When she let Harry go, he noticed that tears were welling in his Granny’s eyes. “We were so worried, Harry. It’s good to have you back. Now, listen. Some of us had hoped that the curse had backfired on Dumbledore, but the Minister went to Azkaban to see him, and told me that Dumbledore is in perfect condition, unfortunately. However, Uncle Tom made plans with his Death Eaters, and are they are going to go to Azkaban tonight in order to do something about the coot.”

Harry gasped. “Are they going to try to kill him? But how will they be able to get around the Dementors?”

“The Dementors let people in and out of Azkaban, and Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt will accompany the Death Eaters to speak to the Aurors. In fact, the Minister knows about the plot – unofficially of course,” Minerva explained patiently.

“By the way, Harry, on one hand it was nice of you to bring James and Sirius back. On the other hand, I don’t appreciate them playing pranks the whole day, and that is all Sirius has done today. Do you think you have any influence on them?”

Harry sighed. “Sirius has tried to prank me as well, but I told him to stop because my head hurt, and he promised to stop until I was feeling better. I then told him that he owes me because I brought him here and that he has to behave, otherwise I’d try the killing curse on him.”

Minerva snorted. “You really told him that?”

Harry gave her a short nod.

“All right, let’s see then,” Minerva said, obviously slightly relieved. “Now, Harry, how are you feeling? And don’t tell me ‘fine’,” she added sternly.

“My whole body is still sore, and I feel a bit exhausted,” Harry admitted and explained, “Maybe flashing back with two guests, from wherever I was, may have been especially tiring.”

“That could be the reason, Harry,” Minerva said pensively. “I will send Poppy over immediately following dinner. Please do what she says. Now, I have to attend dinner in the Great Hall, but someone will come and join you for dinner here.”

“All right, thank you, Granny,” Harry answered and went back to reading his book, until his parents and Isabella joined him a few minutes later.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

Late in the evening, Luna was sitting at the edge of Harry’s bed, quietly speaking with the boy, when Severus entered the dormitory and told them, “As far as I know, Tom and his people should arrive in Azkaban soon, and I’m going to stay here for awhile just in case the Death Eaters fail and Dumbledore opens the connection again to torture you.

Harry threw his father an anxious glance, and Luna asked, “Do you think the curse can hit Harry through the connection?”

“Possibly,” Severus replied and sat down on a chair. “Harry, as soon as you notice even the slightest pain in your scar, will you please tell me so that I can enter your mind and try to protect you.”

“All right Dad, thanks,” Harry replied, slightly consoled. He closed his eyes to rest for a moment, while Luna and Severus talked quietly.

アズカバンでは

Tom, Remus, Draco, Tonks, and Shacklebolt met at the Ministry of Magic to take a Portkey provided by the Minister, which took them directly to the island where Azkaban was. When they arrived at the prison, the Aurors motioned the Dementors to leave the visitors alone, and fortunately, the Dementors backed off immediately.

The Aurors in charge had already been informed by the Minister about the visitors and the purpose of their visit. Therefore, they didn’t take away the visitors’ wands, and one of the guards led the group to a highly warded cell located a long distance from the entrance. Tonks and Shacklebolt remained behind to speak to their colleagues so that they were not witnesses to what they knew was to happen, while Tom, Remus, and Draco entered Dumbledore’s cell, with their wands raised and pointed at Dumbledore.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Dumbledore greeted them astonished.

“Oh, I don’t think we have time for small talk, old man,” Tom replied. “You’ve done a bit too much, torturing Harry all the time.”

“I’m not doing anything to Harry except for speaking with him from time to time; he has always been like a grandson to me,” Dumbledore challenged.

“And what about casting the killing curse on an innocent child, such as him?” Tom shouted himself into a rage. After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the old wizard he cleared his throat and quickly incanted, “Avada Ke…”

Dumbledore quickly transformed into his phoenix form and started to flash away while Tom finished the incantation, “…dava.”

“Oh no!” Remus groaned as Dumbledore had still managed to flash away.

“Hmm. Yes, I mean, he flashed away but if you ask me his wings were burning,” Draco mused. “It’s a pity that we don’t know where he’s gone to.”

どこへ行ったのでしょう

While the men were talking at Azkaban, Harry suddenly started to moan in agony. Luna quickly threw a Silencing Spell around them, while Severus told Harry to look at him and feverishly tried to look into the green eyes that only opened slightly. The pain in Harry’s head took Severus aback. He waited a few minutes, but as the connection to Dumbledore remained quiet, he left his son’s mind.

Severus quickly waved his wand at Harry and said to Luna, “Please call Poppy,” before he asked Harry flabbergasted, “That pain is unbearable; is it always so bad when he attacks you?”

Harry groaned. “No, it’s bad but nothing like this. It’s like it was after the killing curse, except everything hurts and not just my head.”

Poppy arrived and Severus explained, “He seems to have been in the whoosh of the killing curse Tom and his people cast on Albus.”

At that moment, Tom entered the dormitory with an angry look on his face. Poppy quickly forced a few potions down Harry’s throat, and Tom started to explain what had happened. “We got in without any problems, and then I cast the killing curse at him. However, while I was still saying the incantation, Dumbledore transformed into his phoenix form and managed to flash away. I don’t know how he was able do that. Azkaban was supposed now be warded against the Animagus transformation and against Apparating as well.”

“How can we keep Harry safe if he is now free again?” a horrified Luna asked.

“We’re not exactly sure if he just got away or if he perhaps was hit with the Spell and is now hurt,” Tom said pensively. “Draco said he thought he saw his wings burning as he flashed away. And of course, we have no idea where he is.”

“Can’t we send Fawkes to find out where and how he is?” Harry threw in.

“Yes, that’s a good idea,” Severus agreed.

“Fawkes, could you flash to Dumbledore and check out the situation, please?” Harry asked his familiar.

#Yes, of course, my nestling, I can do that. I’ll be back shortly. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you if he comes here# Fawkes answered and flashed away immediately.

When Fawkes returned, he let out a happy trill and explained, #Dumbledore has obviously been hit by the dark curse while he was in his bird form. 

Therefore, he has gone through a burning and is a small nestling now. So, he won’t be able to do anything to you for at least three weeks.#

Harry lazily translated what Fawkes had said, and the teachers listened interestedly. “Fawkes, do you know where Dumbledore is? Or could you take us to him?” Luna asked.

Fawkes shook his head. #I know where he is and no I cannot take you there. He is now at Dumbledore Manor, but I’m unable to take anyone with me because of the wards that surround it.#

“We won’t be able to kill a phoenix easily anyway, right, Fawkes?” Severus spoke up, raising an eyebrow.

#No, you can’t kill him. The only possibility is to prevent him from staying in a warm place or to starve him. He was in the Master bedroom, huddled in front of a fireplace, so I suppose his house elves are caring for the nestling. And I wouldn’t be able to take him out of the Manor because of the wards and because of the house elves he has protecting him. I’m sorry, but I do not think there’s anything we can do at the moment.#

Finished with the translation, Harry’s eyes shut and he fell into a disturbed sleep.

“At least, he shouldn’t be able to do anything to Harry for a few weeks, right, Fawkes?” Luna enquired.

Fawkes gave her a short nod and trilled a comforting melody.

“We should question Fawkes a bit more tomorrow, when Harry’s awake,” Severus suggested. “So he should be all right on his own during the night I suppose.”

The others agreed, and Severus tucked Harry in, before the adults left the dormitory.

ハリーが可哀そう

Although Harry had only been in the whoosh of the killing curse through his scar it affected him greatly, probably because it had only been a few days after being directly hit with the killing curse. He didn’t only suffer from the pain and a fever as usual after Dumbledore’s attacks, but several of his internal organs seemed to be affected and not working as well as they should have been. Therefore, Poppy insisted on keeping him in bed for the rest of the week and threatened to take him with her if he dared fight her. Harry was not too upset because he had to admit that he was feeling awful. He was grateful to be allowed to stay with his friends, even if Poppy, his parents, and his Head of House showed up every now and then to look in on him.

While his friends were gone during the day, Harry occupied himself trying to connect his computer to the Internet. However, he had already read all his books on the topic and still didn’t have a clue what to try next. One evening when Luna came to speak to him, as she always did after curfew, while his friends were still in the Common room finishing their homework, Harry seized the chance to speak to his Head of House privately.

“Luna, I know that I’m supposed to stay here for some stupid reasons, but can you perhaps take me to the library in London one evening? I really need to get a few books for my research,” Harry pleaded, giving the teacher a hopeful glance.

“I’m sorry, Harry, I can’t do that. Even if I thought you were well enough for the trip, which I don’t think you are, I couldn’t take you there against Poppy’s order, since I’m a teacher here. I’m sorry, Harry. Your parents or your godparents could override Poppy’s authority but I’m in no position to do that even as your Head of House. However, I’ve a free period late Friday afternoon. If you can tell me exactly what you need, I will go and get the books for you then.”

“Thank you, Luna, but I have to search through the books, since I don’t know what they have,” Harry replied solemnly, thinking about how to get to the library on his own.

Harry knew exactly when Lily, Severus, and Luna had their free periods as they often joined him during these times when he was sick after the attacks, apart from the fact that he normally had his research lessons with the three teachers during their free periods. Therefore, Harry knew that on Wednesday morning, nobody except for Poppy or perhaps Minerva was likely to visit him. So he decided to quickly flash over to the library, borrow a few books, and flash right back.

As usual, Poppy came to check on him as soon as the first classes of the day started. Normally, she stayed for a while to talk with Harry. On this day, however, Harry was afraid that she could notice how excited he was and pretended to be tired. Therefore, his godmother told him to rest and quickly returned to her office. Harry once again thought about his plan and only waited until he was sure the library would be open before he left. He then transfigured his pyjamas into jeans and sweatshirt, transformed into his phoenix form, and told Fawkes what he intended to do.

#You are crazy, Nestling, but at least you know that the old fool can’t do anything to you. Shall I come with you?#

#No, thanks.# Phoenix Harry replied and flashed straight into the computer section of the library, carefully looking around when he arrived. He was fully prepared to cast a Memory Charm on someone, but fortunately, nobody had seen him. Harry quickly skimmed the Internet relevant shelves and chose five books that might help him solve his problem. Standing in front of the book shelves searching for an hour made him feel absolutely awful, and he didn’t bother checking the books out but just shrunk them, put them into his jeans pocket, and flashed back into his dormitory. When Fawkes told him that nobody had been there to notice Harry’s absence, Harry was very relieved, transformed back, took the books out of his jeans pocket, and transfigured his outfit back to pyjamas. He fell asleep almost immediately after he lie down.

However, the teachers were not as stupid as he thought. During lunchtime, Poppy, Luna, Lily, and Isa came to see Harry, and when Poppy checked on him, she noticed how much worse his condition was compared to a few hours earlier. Luna quickly guessed what Harry had been doing that morning, especially when she saw the still shrunken books on his night table. Knowing that Poppy would take Harry with her and that he would be in a lot of trouble, Luna decided to keep quiet for the moment and talk to Harry later.

During the second afternoon lesson, Neville took over Luna’s first years’ class and taught them the Lumos Charm as Luna had asked him after lunch to do. Luna went to her first years’ dormitory, woke Harry up and had a very stern conversation with the boy. “Harry, wake up, please, I have to speak with you.”

“Hmm?” Harry asked, lazily opening one eye. Seeing his Head of House glaring at him, he was instantly fully awake. “Sorry, Luna, what’s wrong?” he asked, confused.

“Harry, how stupid do you think we are?” Luna asked upset. “You went to the library on your own, didn’t you?”

A small sign of shock flickered in Harry’s eyes before he quickly averted them to his bed cover. “’m sorry,” he mumbled, anxiously trying to hide his shaking hands under the bed cover.

“Harry, you know how much everyone here cares about you. How can you so easily put your life into danger? I think Poppy made it absolutely clear that you have to stay here. So, if we can’t rely on you to follow her orders, how can we let you stay here on your own? I haven’t told Poppy yet but I promise you if you ever do such a stunt again, then I will and you will have no choice but to go with her to the Hospital wing.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything like that again,” Harry sobbed.

Luna sighed. “I hope you’ve learned something from this. Since you have made yourself so much worse, you may not get up and spend the evening in the Common room today. You must stay here, and in the bed. Also, once you are feeling better I want you to write lines for me. Please write one hundred times, ‘I have to obey my teachers, and I mustn’t put myself in danger’.”

Harry gave her a wary nod, not even trying to keep his tears at bay anymore. He loved Luna so much; she was such a good friend, and he just couldn’t bear seeing her so disappointed in him. Luna sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled him in a gentle hug, holding him until his breathing evened and he fell into an exhausted sleep.

反省します

During the next two weeks, Harry enjoyed everything very much. For the first time since he had officially started Hogwarts, he didn’t have to be afraid of Dumbledore’s attacks. James and Sirius even managed to talk Harry into playing pranks with them. During the evening before Harry was allowed to return to classes, the two ghosts showed up in his dormitory and told him, “Harry, you have to help us. You’re good at Potions, right?”

Harry gave them a wary look and replied, “Not good, but if it’s an easy potion, I probably can do it.”

“Great,” James whispered. “We want to play a prank on Moony.”

“A prank?!” Harry squeaked, horrified. “I don’t play pranks, I’m a good boy,” he insisted.

Sirius snorted. “You don’t have to play the prank, we only want you to brew a potion for us, and then we’ll put it into his pumpkin juice.”

Harry sighed annoyed but couldn’t help it when his eyes started to twinkle mischievously. “And what are the effect of said potion?” he asked, raising an eyebrow, so that he resembled his father a lot.

“Oh, we can’t tell you that in advance but it’s harmless,” Sirius chuckled, and James handed Harry a parchment that had a potions recipe.

“I have to ask my dad when and if I can brew it, and I hope he’ll let me,” Harry told them. ‘Dad will surely know what it is and would tell me if it was dangerous,’ he thought, slightly relieved. “I’m sorry, but I really have to behave; I still have to write a hundred lines for my Head of House because of flashing to the library in London when I wasn’t supposed to.”

“Wow,” James said in awe.

“And you’re telling us that you’re a good boy who doesn’t play pranks?” Sirius asked, rolling his eyes.

“That was different, I wasn’t hurting or playing a prank on anyone,” Harry defended himself.

“You were hurting yourself, Harry,” Luna reminded him and Harry jumped in fright. He had been so engrossed in his conversation with the ghosts that he hadn’t heard his Head of House entering his dormitory.

“All right, I’ll ask my Dad tomorrow after my Potions lesson. Come again tomorrow evening and you will find out if dad let me brew it.” Harry quickly finished his talk with Sirius and James so he could go to bed.

どういったものを作るのでしょう

Harry and his classmates had Potions following breakfast. Harry sat down in his usual seat between Evelyn and Noah, since they were they were the ones who had the most problems with Potions. However, he really had to concentrate because he was very excited about the potion Sirius and James had asked him to brew. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he managed to brew his own potion perfectly, which he probably would have been able to brew in his sleep; however, Evelyn had to ask him three times, “What’s next?” until Harry noticed he was being spoken to.

Harry nearly jumped, startled and quickly told his friend, “the dittany powder. But you have to be careful, stir twelve times clockwise and then seven and a half times counter-clockwise,” he whispered.

“Mr. Snape, please be quiet, or do you wish to help the whole class through the brewing process?” his father reprimanded him sternly.

Harry shook his head. “Sorry, Professor.”

Fortunately, Severus hadn’t taken points but nevertheless, Harry was shaken to have been reprimanded in front of the whole class. Luckily his Potion was already finished; otherwise Harry was sure he’d have made it explode. When the lesson was finished, he told his classmates that he had to speak with his father for a moment and that they should go ahead to their next class without him. “Do you have a moment, Professor?” he addressed his father politely, seeing that there were still students in the classroom.

“Hello Harry, are you all right?” his father asked, giving his son a piercing look.

“Yes, Daddy, I’m fine. Um… Do you think I could brew a Potion today? I have my research lesson with you this afternoon, right?”

“Yes, I think so. But what Potion do you want to brew and why?”

Harry showed his father the recipe James had given him, and Severus frowned after skimming through the parchment.

“Who gave this to you and what do you want to do with the potion?” he asked his son sternly.

Harry raised an eyebrow. He had no clue what kind of potion it was. “Um… Sirius and James gave it to me and asked me to brew it because they want to prank Remus,” he explained hesitantly.

Severus groaned. “And you just agreed to brew something which you don’t even know what it is, hmm?” he questioned Harry, glaring at him.

Harry shook his head. “No, Daddy, I told them I had to ask you, but I thought you’d tell me if it was dangerous.”

“Let me tell you something. If they use it on Lily or me, you will be held responsible. And you will really suffer that day because you will be teaching all my classes. Don’t forget that when you give the potion to them. All right, I’ll see you in the afternoon.”

“Thank you, Dad,” Harry said in a small voice and anxiously headed to his next class. What could that potion be? He really had to make sure that James and Sirius only used it on Remus and not on his parents or Luna. She would know immediately that it had been him who brewed the potion.

That afternoon, Harry anxiously brewed the potion, which was a bit complicated but not overly so. Unfortunately, it took him longer than he had expected, and dinner was half over when he finished it. “Well done,” his father commented before he added, “not that I appreciate my son brewing prank potions but nevertheless.”

Harry managed to convince James and Sirius to use the potion on Remus on Wednesday morning since he would have the Ravenclaw first years directly after breakfast. Throughout the next day Harry was very excited and just couldn’t wait for Wednesday to come. On Tuesday evening, he had assembled his classmates in his dormitory and explained to them that the two ghosts were planning to prank Remus, which would happen the next morning during their class.

His classmates were delighted since they had been so busy adapting to their lessons and looking after Harry after the many attacks that they hadn’t even played one single prank on anyone so far.

Finally, Wednesday morning arrived, and the Ravenclaw first years were the first to leave the Great Hall after breakfast. Excitedly, they filed into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and waited for Remus to arrive.

When the teacher finally entered the classroom, he looked absolutely normal. Remus waved his wand at the blackboard and a few instructions appeared that they had to follow first. Nobody noticed that the teacher hadn’t even said ‘Good morning’, and Harry already worried that the two ghosts had – be it by chance or willingly – given the potion to the wrong teacher. Obviously sensing his worries, Lucy raised her hand, and when the teacher gave her a short nod, asked, “Professor, can you please explain the difference between a Grindylow and a Brombylow?”

As soon as Remus opened his mouth and let out the first few words, the whole class erupted with laughter. Remus wasn’t talking but singing the explanation. “They are the same, but you find Grindylows in lakes like our lake here at Hogwarts, while Brombylows live in the sea.”

“Let’s send Moony into the Eurovision contest next year,” one of the two ghosts that were hovering in the back of the classroom chuckled, while the Hufflepuffs stared at them curiously, not used to ghosts who played pranks on teachers.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

During the next few weeks, Harry was even allowed to actively participate on Quidditch practise. On the last Saturday in November, just a week after the opening Quidditch match of the school year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, which Slytherin won, Ravenclaw had to play against Hufflepuff. If there were Ravenclaw first years who hadn’t yet heard the story how Harry had helped the Ravenclaws win the match over the teachers before, they would have stopped doubting why Harry didn’t have to try out for his Seeker position after that match.

It was a cold day and heavy snow clouds were hovering over the Quidditch pitch making it was difficult to find the Snitch. About an hour into the game, Harry finally spotted the small, golden ball in the midst of the clouds. He hurried to catch it and had already reached out a hand, when he was suddenly hit by a Bludger that seemed to have come out of nowhere. His leg hurt terribly, so that Harry closed his eyes for an instant, but as he had become used to pain during the last months he didn’t give it another thought, but continued the search for the Snitch that had vanished in the meantime. Only forty minutes later, Harry saw the golden ball again. ‘No, this time, I won’t approach it directly,’ he decided and, glancing to the Hufflepuff Seeker to be sure that he hadn’t seen the Snitch, Harry went into a deep dive, making the spectators gasp. Finally, he pulled up a few meters above the ground and caught the struggling Snitch within a minute.

“Harry Snape catches the Snitch, Ravenclaw wins 320 – 190,” Harry could hear Rolanda’s announcement and quickly dove down to the ground, where he was surrounded by his cheering House mates within seconds.

Noticing that he could hardly stand on his leg, he excused himself for a moment and hobbled over to where the teachers were still sitting. “Aunt Poppy, I was hit by a Bludger and my foot hurts.” he said quietly.

“Come here, Harry, and let Aunt Poppy have a look,” Minerva, who was sitting next to the Medi-witch, told him and pulled him onto her lap.

“Your ankle is sprained, sweetie. Try to keep off your foot for the evening.” Poppy pulled a healing cream out of her bag, which she always had with her for Quidditch games, and smeared a bit on Harry’s ankle, before she gave him the rest of it and told him to apply it again before going to bed.

Nobody noticed light blue eyes watching Harry’s every move.

When Harry arrived in the Common room together with his Housemates, who were as excited as he was, he called Dobby and told him that they’d like to have a victory party. “Could you please bring us something to eat and to drink, Dobby?” he asked politely.

“Of course, Master Harry, of course; Dobby wills see to it immediately,” the little elf replied happily.

An instant later, a large amount of delicacies appeared on the tables in the Common room, and a huge victory party began, which was still underway when Luna entered the Common room around curfew. One of the prefects quickly handed her a Butterbeer, and the professor sat down for a while. An hour later, Luna shooed everyone to bed before she came over to Harry and reminded him to apply his cream. Harry blushed terribly at the attention but said obediently, “Yes Professor, thank you.”

That evening, Harry went to bed feeling very happy. It had been his first Quidditch match as a student, and he had managed to catch the Snitch in time to win the game. On her walk through the dormitories around midnight, Luna gave the small boy a fond smile, glad that he was peacefully asleep with a smile playing on his lips.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

A few hours later, however, Harry was having a strange dream. He was playing in the same match again but this time the Bludger hit him in the head full force, and he couldn’t keep himself on his broom. The instant he crashed into the ground, he was hit by a green curse and remained unconscious forever. The dream ended with a sharp pain in his head, and Harry woke up.

Luna, who had cast a spell on Harry to be alerted if Harry was in distress, arrived just in time to see Harry getting sick all over himself. She quickly waved her wand, cleaning him up, and sat down on the edge of his bed, sighing. “Has it started again?” she asked unnecessarily, receiving a short nod.

Harry quickly gulped down his potion and put the memory into the Pensieve for his Head of House to watch before he closed his eyes again, feeling very drowsy. “I’m all right, Luna; go back to bed. Sorry for waking you up during the night.”

Luna could hardly understand his mumbling. “Now, Harry, I believe it’s time to think how to harm him. Your father has taught you Legilimency, hasn’t he?”

“Yes,” Harry replied tiredly. “But I’ve no idea how to get into his mind or even send curses at him.

“Hmm… You know, it’s difficult for me because I haven’t been in that situation, but maybe when he opens the connection and hurts you, you try to fight back. I don’t know how though. Maybe your father could enter your mind and search for the connection to either close it or to use it in this manner.”

“Yeah, I think I’m going to ask Dad. What time is it?”

“It’s nearly five in the morning, Harry.”

“Can I flash home then to speak with my dad, please?”

“I don’t think you’re in a condition to flash but you may ask Fawkes to take you. Afterwards I want you to return here and rest. I’ll send Poppy here after breakfast to check up on you.”

“All right, and thanks Professor.” Harry asked Fawkes to flash him home, and a minute later, he silently entered his parents’ bedroom.

Severus woke up immediately when Harry touched his arm. “What’s wrong, Harry?” he asked concerned.

“Sorry Daddy, nothing really,” Harry replied hesitantly. “Can we go sit on the sofa? I mean, I don’t want to wake Mum up too.”

A minute later in the living room, Harry continued, “He attacked me again tonight. Luna came and talked with me for a while, and she suggested you should enter my mind and try to find the connection for me.”

Severus remained pensive for a moment before he replied, “Yes Harry, we can try that. I had hoped we could find another method but since he has obviously recovered enough to torture you again, we should really try it. The problem is son, that I’m afraid to hurt you.”

“I’m used to pain, Dad. Please,” Harry said pleadingly, “Can you try it now?”

Severus waved his wand at Harry and frowned. “Harry, I don’t think it’s reasonable to try something like that in your current condition. Have you taken your potion?” When Harry confirmed, he continued, “Nevertheless you are feverish and in pain. Maybe we should wait until tomorrow.”

“No!” Harry contradicted immediately. “Yes, I know that I’m unwell today. He obviously used a different spell than before because I’m very dizzy this time. But you know, trying this could a life or death situation, so I don’t care if it hurts. Let’s just try it out. Please Daddy, help me.”

Severus sighed. “All right, Harry, are you ready?”

Harry gave him a sad smile. “As ready as I’ll ever be, Dad.”

The professor lifted his wand and cast the Legilimens Spell on his son, very careful not to overtly hurt him. When he came to the image with the dolphins, he noticed that his son was just letting down his Occlumency wards. ‘He’s really good,’ Severus thought proudly and proceeded to search the edges of Harry’s mind for an external connection. His son’s mind was well organized. Of course that had been Severus’ work as he had organized it in several blocks when he helped Harry to put his old memories in a well warded block in the very back of his mind.

Severus only glanced at the blocks on both sides and finally found something, hidden behind just everything else. ‘That must be the connection that leads from his scar to the old fool,’ he thought and prepared himself to enter the foreign mind. However, he then remembered that Harry hadn’t been in a good shape and that it might be better to retreat from his mind and return as soon as Harry felt better. He now knew where he had to look for the connection, so it would be much faster to get there the next time. Slightly regretting this decision, he ended the Legilimency spell and turned to his son, who was looking worse for wear.

“Did you find anything?” Harry asked immediately.

“Yes, Harry, I believe I found the link. However, I was in your mind long enough, considering the poor condition you are in today. I will try to enter his mind as soon as you feel better. We might be able to try tonight.”

Harry groaned. “We have to do it as soon as possible since it seems to be getting worse each time. Dad, do you think you can show me how to enter his mind, so that, if necessary, I’ll be able to try it by myself?”

“Yes, I’ll probably be able to guide you, Harry. Oh, don’t forget to put up your wards again.”

“Because they help me so much?” Harry asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, I’ll do it,” he added, when Severus repeated his gesture.

While Harry tried to put his dolphin image in front of everything else again, Lily entered the living room. “What are the two of you doing up so early?” she asked curiously but soon added, “What happened?” after taking in Harry’s pale form.

Severus quickly filled her in before he told Harry to stay where he was for the day. “But Luna told me to go back to my dorm when I was done here,” Harry answered hesitantly.

“Your mother will go to the Great Hall for breakfast and speak with Luna,” Severus promised. “We will both leave the doors to our offices and classrooms open, so that we can hear you if you have problems. You can call us anytime.”

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

In the afternoon, Severus once more entered Harry’s mind. He had told Harry to watch closely, and Harry had already pulled down his wards, so that Severus could go directly to the link connection he had discovered that morning. Careful not to be discovered immediately, he tried to cross the link and indeed managed to access someone else’s mind. ‘It must be Dumbledore’s,’ he thought and sent a few words in a menacing voice. “I suggest you stop torturing me. Otherwise I’ll do much worse to you.”

He felt it as the old man tried to push him out, but Severus was by far the more experienced Legilimens, so that Dumbledore didn’t have a chance against him. As tempting as it was to play around in the old man’s mind, Severus decided to retreat now for Harry’s sake. But he would return and assist Harry in entering his enemy’s mind.

Dumbledore, of course, was not very pleased. He had obviously decided to torture the child with the Cruciatus curse. Fortunately, Severus was still at Harry’s side and helped him quickly to bring up his wards again and close the connection in just a moment. As soon as the attack was over, Severus retreated to his lab to brew the Anti-Cruciatus-potion, while Lily and Isabella took care of Harry.

“Hawwy tay hewe?” Isabella asked hopefully.

“Yes, Isabella, Harry is staying here tonight,” Lily answered firmly and went to the fireplace to speak with Luna and tell her that Severus wanted to keep Harry overnight to be able to help him if necessary.

Isabella was over the moon to have Harry home, even if he was only lying on the sofa the whole time. In the evening, Severus motioned Harry to sleep in his parents’ bed for the night, so that he only had to kick him if he needed help. However, Dumbledore had obviously decided to leave Harry in peace, and Harry slept peacefully until Lily woke him up in the morning when it was time to get ready for classes.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

During the next few days, Dumbledore kept quiet, and Harry slowly relaxed again. He even forgot that he had only been allowed to fly during the time in which Dumbledore was a baby phoenix and normally wasn’t supposed to attend Quidditch practise. One day, Harry had just attended Quidditch practise in order to practise for the match against the teachers that would take place on the last day of school before the Christmas holidays began.

After practise, Harry entered the Changing rooms together with his teammates and took a shower. While he was still dressing, Dumbledore attacked his mind, sending the curse at Harry that made him so dizzy. Fortunately, Harry always had a phial of his potion with him. He quickly took a sip and sat down to wait for a while until he felt a little better. However, when he finally left the changing rooms, his teammates had obviously thought that he had already returned to the castle and nobody had waited for him. ‘Ah, if I only knew how to make the old man leave me alone,’ Harry groaned inwardly, fighting back the tears. He sighed and slowly made his way through the dark in the direction of the castle’s huge Entrance doors.

Suddenly, Dumbledore appeared a few meters in front of Harry. Harry recognized the old man immediately even if he hadn’t seen him for quite a while. Dumbledore didn’t waste time and raised his wand speaking the most unforgivable curse. Harry was much too dizzy to react and jump out of the way. He just stood there watching until Fawkes suddenly jumped in the way and took the curse for Harry. While Dumbledore watched his former familiar burst into flames, Harry quickly waved his wand, casting the strongest stunning spell that he was capable of at the man.

Seeing that the old man fell to the ground, Harry pulled out his mobile phone and called his father as well as Minerva in order to get help in time. He carefully picked up his baby phoenix and cradled him close to his chest to keep him warm while waiting for the others to arrive. Fortunately, help arrived after a few minutes, and Severus assisted Harry back to his dormitory as soon as the Aurors arrived to take Dumbledore back to Azkaban.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

Even back in Azkaban, Dumbledore continued to attack Harry through their connection every now and then. Whenever Severus had some free time, he called Harry over in order to teach him to attack the old man. However, Harry was still not adept enough to answer an attack with one of his own. After practising every other day for three weeks he became much better and even tried to enter Dumbledore’s mind on his own, while Severus was sitting next to him, worriedly watching his son. “Yes, it worked,” Harry cheered after retreating from his enemy’s mind. “I just said ‘Good evening’ to him.”

“Well done, son, very well done indeed,” Severus commended Harry. “Now you only have to practise throwing curses at him. But as you’re capable of wandless magic, it shouldn’t be that much of a problem.”

“Dad, do you have an idea if it will be possible for me to speak to the Dementors though the connection to Dumbledore?”

“I don’t have a clue, Harry. However, I can try to enter his mind again and have a look if you want me to,” he offered hesitantly. “However, as there are only ten days left until the holidays, let’s wait until then before we try it so we are well rested and don’t have to fear that you’ll have to miss classes because of him fighting back.”

“All right,” Harry agreed readily.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

The beginning of the Christmas holidays was the main topic in the Common room. Especially the first year students were very excited because it would be the first time for them to return home since starting Hogwarts. Harry was a bit sad. On one hand he was looking forward to spending some time with his parents and his sister, on the other he knew that he would miss his friends terribly. He had already decided to give all his friends mobile phones for Christmas. That way they would be able to communicate while they were home, but nevertheless it would be very different than spending the whole day together like they did at Hogwarts.

Thinking about his birthday was a bit depressing. His friends would all be gone as it was the day before Christmas and they would be home for the first time in four months, so he couldn’t easily invite them to come over for the day. But he would just have a belated party after his classmates returned, and at least he could share his birthday cake with his family and the other teachers, who remained in the castle.

ハリーと年(802;の不思議

One morning, Brian received an owl during breakfast. He only threw a glance at the parchment that was attached and quickly put it into his robe pocket. “Ah, just an answer I’ve had been waiting for, nothing important,” he assured his friends that were looking at him curiously.

“All right, it’s time to go. We have Potions first,” Harry reminded his friends, and the group quickly left the Great Hall, heading for the dungeons. Harry was in a very good mood. For once, his head didn’t hurt because Dumbledore hadn’t attacked him for a few days, and he loved Potions very much, especially as he valued the time he could spend with his father even in just a student – teacher relationship. Harry absentmindedly sat down next to Brian in the first row, smiling at Evelyn, when she slid in the seat on his other side.

Harry calmly brewed his Potion. It was a Potion similar to one mostly used as the base of different Healing Potions, such as the Calming Draught, and he had often helped his father brew it when he made Potions for the Hospital wing. Harry had just added the last ingredient and was busy counting as he stirred the potion counter-clockwise. Suddenly, Brian bumped Harry slightly in his side, making Harry jump in surprise. Unfortunately, he stumbled into his cauldron, which made the Potion explode and spill all over him. Harry slid to the floor unconscious when the potion touched him right in front of his father’s and his friends’ horrified eyes.