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.