Cooling the Magic
Chapter 1
A few days after his trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid, Harry absentmindedly worked in the Dursleys' garden, while he tried to remember what he had read in his new school books the night before. 'They're all interesting,' he mused. 'I think the Potions book is the most intriguing, because brewing must be a bit like cooking. Maybe it'll be the easiest for me. On the other hand, Transfiguration and Charms seem to be more amazing, because I can use a Spell or a Charm to change an object into something else. How nice would it be to just spell the weeds away and have a nice garden without having to spend the whole day in the heat weeding.'
All of a sudden, he noticed that his body... 'No, the insides of my body,' he realised, felt incredibly tickly. 'Strange,' he thought as he waited for the sensation to go away. However, the feeling did not leave his body but instead intensified. A week later he felt all over itchy, and by the end of the holidays, his body hurt from his head to his feet, and he was feeling hot and cold at the same time. 'I wonder what's wrong with me,' he thought, terrified. 'I just hope it'll go away before I have to go to Hogwarts.'
Unfortunately, his wish didn't come true, and by the time he boarded the Hogwarts Express, he felt outright ill. Luckily, he had much experience in hiding his ailments from his relatives, so that none of his new classmates noticed that Harry seemed not to be in top form. Only Hermione saw that he had dark rings under his eyes and asked gently if he was feeling all right, causing Harry to reassure the girl that he was fine.
Harry sighed in relief as he waited to meet the Sorting Hat, knowing that he would only have to make it through dinner and then would probably soon be able to enter his dormitory and go to bed. 'It feels good to be able to sit down,' he thought as a slight shiver ran through his body when Professor McGonagall placed the Sorting Hat on his head.
'Hmmm; that's not good. What am I going to do with you?' a small voice suddenly penetrated Harry's mind.
'Not Slytherin,' Harry thought feverishly. 'Other than that I don't mind.'
'Hmmm, well, you're in no condition to go to Slytherin anyway,' the Hat informed him curtly and shouted into the Hall, "Hospital wing."
Like in a daze, Harry stood up when Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat off of his head. "Mr. Potter, are you feeling sick?" she queried crisply, while the Great Hall became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.
"I'm fine," Harry replied softly, throwing the professor an anxious look.
"Very well then; just take a seat at the Gryffindor table and come to the Head table after dinner. We'll discuss with my colleagues what to do with you after the Welcoming Feast," McGonagall instructed him gently, pointing over to her House table.
"Here Harry," a voice called him from the Gryffindor table, and Harry automatically followed the invitation, realising that it was Hermione, who had shouted his name.
He gratefully sat on the seat between her and one of Ron's twin brothers, mulling over the Sorting Hat's strange decision as the Sorting continued.
"Harry, this has never happened before in the history of Hogwarts," Hermione informed him eagerly. "I told you on the train that you look sick. Did the Hat tell you a reason why he couldn't properly sort you?"
Harry groaned inwardly. 'So much about not being a freak here,' he thought in annoyance. "No, he didn't say anything."
"Well, then tell us, Harry..."
"... what's wrong with you?"
"There must be a reason..."
"... for the Sorting Hat..."
"... to act so strangely," the twins asked, completing each other's sentences, before they finished together.
"I don't know," Harry admitted in a barely audible voice, before he took a sip of his pumpkin juice, noticing that it felt cool and soothing to his hot body.
"Are you going to remain in Gryffindor?" the boy on Hermione's other side, who had introduced himself as Percy Weasley, asked interestedly.
"I have no idea. Professor McGonagall told me to come to her after the feast and they were going to decide what to do with me," Harry replied, sighing. 'Why me? Why do such things always happen to me? Why can't I have just a normal life like everyone else? No one in the history of Hogwarts seems to have been sorted into the hospital wing, so why me?' he thought in absolute desperation, noticing that he felt worse by the minute.
"Harry, are you not going to eat anything?" Hermione suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts, eyeing him in concern.
"Oh, I didn't even realise that the food appeared on the table," Harry replied in surprise, "but I don't want to eat right now. I'm too upset about the matter with the Hat."
"Don't let such a foolish old piece of cloth anger you, Harry..." one of the twins instructed him.
"... as long as you pretend to belong to Gryffindor..."
"... everything will be all right," the twins finished together.
Harry liked the twins immediately. "I'd love to be in Gryffindor," he said thoughtfully, before he became distracted by the other first years, who were just beginning to introduce themselves.
Finally, dinner was finished, and Harry anxiously walked up to the Head table.
"Mr. Potter, how nice of you to join us," Dumbledore greeted him gently. "That was a rather strange Sorting tonight. Minerva, Severus, Pomona, Filius and Poppy, please be so kind as to accompany us to my office."
The four Heads of House and the Mediwitch rose from their seats, and Harry anxiously followed the professors out of the Great Hall through a back door and up a small flight of stairs that ended in front of a gargoyle.
"Don't worry, Harry; I'm sure everything will clear up soon," the plump female professor, who was walking next to him, said in a soothing voice, causing Harry to throw her a grateful look.
A few minutes later, Harry found himself in the most interesting room he had ever seen. Before he could intensely look around though, he was ushered to a chair and the Headmaster offered him a lemon drop, which Harry politely declined. Dumbledore quickly introduced the four Heads of House and Madam Pomfrey to Harry and explained that the Sorting Hat had never before sent a student to the hospital wing, before he addressed the Hat, which was residing on one of the shelves. "Could you please explain why you sorted Harry into the hospital wing?"
"Because that's where I feel he belongs. Otherwise, I'd have sorted him into Slytherin," the Hat said in a huff, while Harry heard McGonagall mumble something like "Stupid old rag gone nuts."
"Slytherin?" Dumbledore queried in obvious surprise, causing Harry to groan inwardly. "Very well, in that case Severus is Harry's Head of House. That's at least a reasonable decision, even if unexpected. Now, Poppy, I'd like you to check on Harry and see if you can find the reason for the Hat's choice."
Madam Pomfrey stepped in front of Harry, seeing that he seemed to become smaller on his seat, and said softly, "Don't worry, sweetie, I'm merely going to cast a diagnostic spell on you. I won't hurt you." With that, the Mediwitch waved her wand over Harry, until a small parchment emerged from the tip of her wand.
The tall professor, who Harry remembered as to be the Head of Slytherin, stepped over to glance at the parchment over the Healer's shoulder, quirking an eyebrow in surprise at the result.
tbc...
A little story I wrote back in summer. I hope you'll like it!
I'm not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes or help me to correct them.
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.