Prank Potion with Consequences - Or Maybe Not Just a Prank?
by Healer Pomfrey
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Harry lazily readied himself for the day, not feeling overly well due to the cuts in his left hand from the blood quill that Professor Umbridge was making him use on a regular basis and not exactly thrilled at the idea to be the only student remaining at Hogwarts over the winter holidays, which were going to commence today.
"Harry, are you coming?" Hermione queried, entering his dormitory. "Everyone has left already, and I need to go too if I want to catch some breakfast before boarding the carriages."
"Sorry Mione, I'm coming," Harry gave back, unconsciously rubbing his forehead in a faint attempt to get rid of the headache that had been pestering him ever since he had opened his eyes that morning.
"Are you feeling all right?" Hermione asked in apparent concern, and a cold, slender hand found its way to his forehead. "I think you have a fever, Harry. You should go to see Madam Pomfrey."
"Later on," Harry reassured her in spite of the fact that he had no intention whatsoever to grace the Healer with his presence in the hospital wing.
HP
By the time the two friends reached the Great Hall, breakfast was almost finished. While Hermione hurriedly ate some cereals, Harry contented himself with a few glasses of pumpkin juice, absentmindedly listening to the twins talk about the prank potions, which they intended to invent during the holidays.
All of a sudden, a huge gasp made its way through the Hall, from one House table to the next, as the students' eyes wandered to the Head table. Somehow, all of the teachers present at breakfast had vanished, and toddlers had taken their places.
Before Harry knew what happened, Twinkle, the Headmaster's personal house-elf, stood in front of himself.
"Master Harry," Twinkle spoke up, bowing lightly. "Someone played a prank on the professors giving them a de-aging potion. Unfortunately, you're the only student, who will remain at Hogwarts over the holidays; therefore, you'll be responsible for the group of toddlers until they can be aged back to their usual age. I and Misty, Mistress Poppy's elf, as well as Cicero, Master Severus' elf, will assist."
Harry merely stared at the elf in shock. Only barely noticing that someone shouted "The carriages" and all the students hurried out of the Great Hall, he stared at the group of children, who were occupying the Head table, already engrossed in a big verbal quarrel and a food battle. Like in a trance, he rose from his chair and approached the Head table.
"Be quiet and stop throwing food immediately," he spoke up in a firm voice, realising in surprise that the children stopped what they had been doing and looked up at him right away.
"Master Harry, I suggest that you take them all with you to the Gryffindor common room," Twinkle, who had remained at his side, informed him. "I will send some elves, who will change the room into a nursery for the time being, and I will send Misty to check their age for you and give you instructions about the re-aging. Misty is the Healer elf and will also be able to help you if any of the children takes ill."
"Thank you," Harry replied, wearily, thinking, 'I should have gone to see Madam Pomfrey last night, when she still was her usual self.' Turning back to the toddlers, he instructed them to get up from their chairs and line up in pairs in front of the Head table.
"No, Minnie hewe wif Poppy," one of the girls shouted angrily, pushing a thin boy backwards.
"Poppy my fwiend too," the boy mumbled, before he sadly made the end of the group, a small thumb wandering into his mouth as he began to walk behind the others.
'At least they seem to have their older selves' memories. Let's see who's there,' Harry thought, as he led the group upstairs towards Gryffindor. 'Dumbledore and Umbridge, Trelawney and Flitwick, Hooch and Sprout, McGonagall and Pomfrey, and Snape. I have to look after nine toddlers just by myself with the help of a few house-elves,' he thought, incredulously. 'The teachers were all at breakfast, except for Hagrid. So that means the only adults in the castle are Hagrid and Filch. Oh fun.'
By the time the small group had reached the Gryffindor common room, Harry already felt exhausted. He realised, gratefully, that the house-elves had already changed the room into a huge nursery with nine cots and one four-poster bed. 'As if I'd get time to sleep looking after nine toddlers,' he thought, sighing in relief, when a small pop alerted him to the fact that an elf had come to see them.
"Master Harry," the elf said, slightly bowing. "I'm Misty, Mistress Poppy's elf. I will check on each of the children. Please help me put each of them into a cot."
Harry assisted putting the struggling toddlers into their cots, carefully placing Poppy in the middle between Minerva and Severus in order to prevent the children from fighting again.
"Thank you Master Harry," Misty said, smiling, and began to wave her hands over the toddlers. Faster than Harry could even follow her movements with his eyes, diagnostic cards like one that Madam Pomfrey used in the hospital wing appeared on each of the small night tables next to the cots. Finally, the Healer elf turned back to Harry. "They're all between one and two years old, and they all have their adult selves' memories."
"Thank Merlin," Harry breathed and enquired, hopefully, "Can we age them back to their usual age?"
"Unfortunately, we can only age them up one year in one day, and only if they're completely well. For example, Minerva is running a temperature, thus she must not get the aging potion today. To everyone else you may give the first dose of the aging potion right away."
"Err, excuse me, Misty, but where can I get the aging potion?" Harry asked, hesitantly.
"I'm afraid that you'll have to brew it," the elf replied, giving Harry a compassionate smile. "I suggest that you take Master Severus with you. Since he has his adult's knowledge, he'll be able to instruct you which recipe to use and how much to give to everyone." Seeing that Harry opened his mouth, she held up her hand and said, "The problem is that even if they all have their memories, they'll turn into real toddlers when they're tired or feeling unwell. If you have any problems, feel free to call me at any time."
Harry profusely thanked the Healer elf, before he queried, "What am I supposed to do with the others, while I go to the Potions classroom and brew the potion?"
Misty chuckled and waved her hand over the room, causing the toddlers with the exception of Severus to drift off to sleep instantly. "They shouldn't wake up for at least three hours," she reassured the boy.
"All right, thank you so much, Misty," Harry replied, unconsciously rubbing his forehead.
"Are you feeling all right, Master Harry?" Misty asked, giving him a sharp look.
"I'm fine," Harry lied, smiling.
"All right then. Otherwise please tell me. Call me before you administer the potion. I also want to check on Minerva again later on," she instructed the boy and popped away, before Harry could even thank her again.
Harry stepped over to Severus' cot. "Severus, will you please accompany me to the Potions classroom and help me brew the de-aging potion?" he asked, hesitantly.
To his surprise, the answer came telepathically. 'Yes, I will. Take me out of this more than annoying cot, and we can work on remedying this atrocious situation.'
Harry couldn't help grinning at the sight of the cute baby that had the adult Potion Master's grumpy mind. Two minutes later, he found himself carrying the small boy through the empty halls towards the dungeons.
HP
'The recipe is in the fifth book from the right on the third shelf from the bottom,' Severus informed Harry, when they entered the Potions classroom. 'Page 186. You have to brew the potion just as it is in the recipe, and each of my colleagues as well as myself need ten doses, so you'll have to brew a large batch.' He scrunched his little face in thought, before he decided, 'Take twice the amount of all the ingredients listed in the recipe.'
Under the watchful eyes of the 23 months old Potions Master, Harry brewed the potion, hoping feverishly that he did it correctly. On the one hand, he knew that Severus would interrupt him if everything was not as it was supposed to be, on the other hand, he remembered that Misty had told him the teachers' minds would switch between those of their older selves and those of the babies they currently were. When he finished the brewing process, he cast the toddler an uncertain look.
'What are you waiting for?' the professor queried. 'Bottle the potion equally into ninety small phials.'
"How do I do that?" Harry queried, wondering if he had to manually fetch ninety phials and fill up the potion.
'Give me your wand,' the professor thought to him, impatiently. An instant later, the toddler waved Harry's wand to bottle the potion and afterwards clean up the classroom.
"Thank you sir," Harry said, gratefully pocketing his wand. "Dobby" he then called the elf, whom he knew best, and instructed him to take the phials into the Gryffindor common room.
'Not all you dunderhead, give me one phial first,' Severus told the boy, sounding strangely whiny.
Harry cast the toddler a concerned glance, noticing that the boy seemed extremely tired. 'I just hope he didn't do too much magic for such a small boy,' he thought and informed the boy that Misty had insisted to check again on everyone before the potion could be administered.
"Well, let's return to Gryffindor then," he said, trying to sound more confident than he actually was. He scooped little Severus into his arms and hurried through the empty halls, wondering if everyone else was still asleep.
HP
Upon entering the common room, he realised that not everyone was peacefully sleeping. Minerva was sitting in her bed with a white face and flushed cheeks, throwing up on her bed covers.
"Minnie fick," Poppy informed him, yawning.
"I see that Poppy," Harry replied, gently placing Severus, who had fallen asleep in the meantime, into his cot.
"Caww Mifty," Poppy instructed him, looking at her best friend in concern.
"Misty," Harry called, feeling very relieved when the kind elf popped up in a blink.
"Mistress Minerva caught the stomach flu," Misty informed him and vanished to fetch a potion. An instant later, she returned with a phial, a small glass with water and a spoon and instructed Harry to add two spoonfuls of the light orange liquid to the water and make Minerva drink the mixture. "She'll need another dose in six hours, and you can use the same if any of the others begin to throw up. If you have any problems, just call me," she offered, gently.
With that she checked on everyone else, before she turned back to Harry, sighing. "Master Severus depleted his magic and is running a temperature as well; however, everyone else is well enough to receive the aging potion. Do you know how to spell a potion straight into someone's system?" She gave Harry an assessing look, noticing that the boy looked exhausted and still not completely well.
"No, sorry, I don't know how to do that," Harry replied in a small voice.
"Very well, I'll show you," Misty said, reassuringly. "I know that you is tired, but please believe me that it's much easier to spell the potion into their stomachs than to force them all to drink it."
"Oh I believe that immediately," Harry replied immediately, inwardly rolling his eyes at the thought of making the de-aged professors drink yucky potions.
It took Harry twenty minutes of practising, before Misty nodded contentedly waved her hand at Poppy and advised him to spell the first aging potion into Poppy's system, seeing that the girl was awake. Seeing that the boy was looking at her questioningly, she explained that she had cast a spell to make the girl's clothes grow together with her body. However, when Harry asked if she could teach him that spell as well, the elf refused, stating that he was looking exhausted and that she would teach him the following day.
Together with the Healer elf, Harry observed in concern how the small girl's body stretched and the girl's face was suddenly scrunched in pain. Harry turned to Misty; however, before he could ask if the children needed pain relieving potions along with the aging potion, the elf placed her hand on Poppy's cheek, letting her healing magic flow.
When Misty let go, Poppy sat up and said, "Thank you Hawwy and Misty."
"Mistress Poppy, are you feeling all right?" Misty asked in apparent concern, causing the Healer to give her a reassuring smile.
"Yes Misty, I'm fine. At least I can properly speak now, so I'll be able to at least advise Hawwy," she said, smiling.
"Now Master Harry, please spell the potion into Mistress Dolores' system," Misty advised Harry, who tried to suppress his feelings of disgust as he eyed the small girl. 'I wished I could send her somewhere else,' he mused. 'I really don't want to raise her and care for her.'
HP
When all children except for Minerva and Severus had been aged up one year, Harry made the toddlers sit at the children's table that the house-elves had placed in the middle of the room and called Dobby to ask for lunch for his little wards.
"Hawwy, you must eat too," Poppy informed him in her high, childish voice that made Harry smile, although he was feeling very annoyed at the fussing.
"Later on, not now," he informed the girl and returned to Minerva's side to comfort the sick baby.
When the children had finished their lunch, he ushered them into the first year boys' dormitory, which the elves had turned into a huge playground with slides, seesaws, merry-go-rounds, swings and other attractions, where the children could play together or for themselves for the rest of the afternoon. Harry let himself sink onto a bench and observed the children play, until Rolanda suddenly climbed on his lab.
"My belly hawts," she informed him, right before she began to vomit all over Harry and herself.
"Oh no, you probably caught the stomach flu from Minerva," Harry said, sighing, and put the small girl to bed, spelling a dose of the stomach flu potion into her stomach. He waved his wand casting a spell that would alert him if Minerva or Rolanda woke up or were in distress, before he returned to the playground with Severus in tow, who had woken up in the meantime and wanted to get up.
'This is stupid,' he mind thought to Harry. 'Ask Cicero, my house-elf, to bring me my Potions Monthly.'
For an instant, Harry wondered if he should forbid the child to read, considering that he was not completely well and still felt warm to the touch; however, he decided against it and obediently asked Cicero for the requested item. During the following hour, Severus quietly read his journal, while the other toddlers were eagerly playing. However, all of a sudden, Severus began to whimper.
"Sevvy, what's wrong?" Harry asked, kindly, knowing from the voice and the boy's expression that the toddler now had his one-year-old mind.
"Fange nappy," the boy replied in a barely audible voice, while his face took on a dark red colour.
"Ah Severus, there's no need to be embarrassed," Harry cooed and took the baby to the changing table, where he changed his nappy, trying to distract the toddler by pulling him into a conversation about non magical herbs.
To Harry's enormous annoyance, Dolores was the next who requested to have her nappy changed. At first, he decided to ignore the girl's whining for a moment, especially since Filius and Albus began to whimper at the same time; however, while he took the two boys to change their nappies, the girl in the pink jumpsuit began to cry in such a loud voice that several of the other toddlers began to whine at the loudness.
"Shut up Dowowes," Poppy finally hissed at the girl. "Hawwy's vewy busy and has to wook after ebyone. Be quiet now."
However, the de-aged Healer's words did not help, and Harry grudgingly took his most hated teacher in her two-year-old self and changed her nappy. He tried hard to not let his hatred for the girl show; however, knowing that it was her fault that he was feeling fairly miserable, he decided to anger her and dressed her in a dark green jumpsuit without quaky animals like on Albus' and Filius' jumpsuits.
"Change dat. Don' wike gween," Dolores demanded in a high, pitchy voice, causing Harry to shake his head.
"I don't care," Harry replied in a firm voice. "You shouted so loud that several of the other children's ears began to hurt. So this is your punishment. If you behave better tomorrow, I'll dress you again in a pink jumpsuit."
HP
A few hours later, just after he had made the children eat dinner and thought in relief that he'd only have to put them to bed and have a free evening, he received two shocking news in a short succession.
tbc... (if you are interested)