The Potions Master's Bane
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.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, time travel, sick!Harry. I am only writing for fun and how I want it.
IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T COMPLAIN BUT STAY AWAY FROM MY STORIES!
Unbeknownst to Hagrid, the small shopping trip to Diagon Alley was like a marathon for Harry.
Years of malnourishment and maltreatment by his relatives had made the boy fall ill with a very rare and so-far incurable magical muscle disease. Whenever he overexerted himself, which happened easily, as everything beyond a ten-minute walk or ten minutes of garden work was too much for his fragile system, he became very sore if not worse.
When it happened first, his primary school teacher had made a huge fuss over him, noticing that he was out of breath and running a temperature every morning when he arrived at school. Harry had been extremely annoyed by the fuss, but a few days later, it had stopped and never occurred again.
HP
When Hagrid left Harry at King's Cross, Harry felt outright sore and ill from walking through the town all day. 'I'm not going to return to the Dursleys',' he decided. He slowly dragged himself back to Diagon Alley, taking many breaks on the way. When he finally reached the Leaky Cauldron, he rented a small room, inwardly thanking his parents for leaving him enough money to do such a stunt.
Harry spent the next four weeks recovering and resting, feeling very grateful that a house-elf brought meals up to his room three times a day. Only after two weeks, when he had finished reading all of his first year books, he occasionally went out for a small walk into Diagon Alley, mostly in the early morning, when the magical shopping street was still empty and quiet.
Fortunately, Flourish and Blotts was in walking distance for Harry, and he always ended up in the bookshop reading books from the various subjects that were taught at Hogwarts. From his first year books, he already knew that he found Potions and Herbology the most interesting subjects and bought the second year Herbology book along with the complete series of Potions books.
'This should be enough to occupy me for the remaining two weeks of holidays,' he thought, happily, when he went to pay for the pile of books, collecting a copy of 'Hogwarts: A History' that caught his eye on the way.
HP
On the first of September, he left the Leaky Cauldron very early in the morning, knowing that he had to take several longer breaks on the way to the station - after reserving the room again for the following summer.
Nevertheless, he felt groggy, when he finally boarded the train and happily let himself sink into an empty compartment.
After a few minutes, a girl with bushy brown hair joined him. She introduced herself as Hermione Granger and immediately began to question him with apparent interest. She was amazed upon hearing that he was Harry Potter, delighted when he told her that he had also finished all of their first year books as well as 'Hogwarts: A History' and stunned when he admitted having read through all seven Potions books.
"You're surely going to be sorted into Ravenclaw," she said, seemingly contented. "Me too, although I'd prefer Gryffindor." With that she turned to the other boy, who so far had only be sitting there, staring at them, wide-eyed.
"I'm probably going to be sorted into Hufflepuff," the boy replied, shyly. "I'm Neville by the way, Neville Longbottom."
The three first years spent the train ride talking animatedly, and by the time they reached Hogsmeade, Harry had the impression as if he had already gained two friends.
Together with a blonde boy, who introduced himself as Draco Malfoy, they boarded a boat and thoroughly enjoyed their first sight of Hogwarts.
'It looks amazing,' Harry thought, 'but it's so big. How will I be able to get around the school?' he wondered, slightly frightened at the thought of having to hurry from one end to the other between classes. In spite of his worries, he felt very happy to finally arrive at the school, about which he had read so much during the last two weeks.
With excitement, he followed the other first years, when Professor McGonagall lead them into the Great Hall. 'Oh, this is even more brilliant than I imagined it,' he thought, admiring the charmed ceiling in amazement.
HP
However, his excitement soon changed into a combination of disappointment and outright horror, when the Sorting Hat - after a small dispute with Harry - shouted into the hall.
'Hmm, this is difficult,' Harry heard a small voice speak right into his mind. 'What am I going to do with you?'
'Together with Hermione and Neville please,' Harry thought, feverishly.
'Hmm, no I think you'd do better in Slytherin or Ravenclaw, but considering what you're hiding, it'll better be...' With that, the small voice in Harry's mind stopped, and he heard the Hat shout into the hall, "Hospital wing."
Terrified, Harry almost tore the Hat off his head and handed it back to Professor McGonagall, giving the teacher a shocked look.
"Don't worry, Mr. Potter," the Gryffindor head said in a soothing voice. "Just sit down at one of the house tables, and come to see me right after the feast."
HP
Before Harry could do as much as wonder where to sit, Hermione called him over to the Gryffindor table. "Here, Harry."
Harry gratefully slipped into the seat next to the girl, opposite of two identical looking boys with red hair and contagious smiles on their faces.
"What was that..."
"... for a Sorting?" they queried, staring at him in apparent expectation.
"Why did the Hat..."
"... sort you into the hospital wing?"
"I've no idea," Harry replied, horrified. 'I wished I could just stay here, but maybe Uncle Vernon was right. I'm just a freak,' he thought, as he absentmindedly followed the other students' conversations.
HP
After the feast, Harry hesitantly stepped over to the high table. When he came to stand next to Professor McGonagall, the headmaster, a very old wizard with a long, white beard, addressed the boy in a gentle voice.
"Hello my boy, how nice of you to join us on this fine evening. Please follow me to my office for a moment." Turning to his colleagues, he added, "Poppy and the four heads of the houses, if you could please join us."
"I have a house meeting to hold," a teacher, who was completely dressed in black, spoke up, looking at Harry in clear disdain, before he left the Great Hall upon seeing the headmaster nod.
Harry slowly trailed behind the other teachers to the headmaster's office, hoping that it wouldn't be too far for him to walk.
HP
Dumbledore introduced his phoenix Fawkes to Harry, before he lowered himself into the chair behind his table and invited everyone to take a seat.
"Harry," the headmaster began to speak in a gentle, grandfatherly voice, thoughtfully stroking his beard. "These are Professors McGonagall, Sprout and Flitwick and Madam Pomfrey, our healer. If I understood correctly, Sopho, our Sorting Hat, has sorted you into the hospital wing. Is that so?"
"Yes sir," Harry replied in a barely audible voice, squirming in his seat.
"Do you have any explanation as to why this might have happened?" Dumbledore queried. "Hmm?"
"No sir," Harry replied, unsurely. 'Maybe it's because I can't walk far, but is that a reason to put me into the hospital wing?' he wondered, incredulously.
"Well, then let me ask Sopho what he was thinking," Dumbledore said, pleasantly, as he rose from his chair and stepped over to the shelf, where the Hat was resting.
"Harry, don't worry. Everything will be all right," the teacher, whom the headmaster had introduced as Professor Sprout, said in a soothing voice.
Finally, Dumbledore returned to his seat. "Sopho told me that he would have sorted Harry into Slytherin or Ravenclaw, however, he believes that it would be better for him to stay in Poppy's domain." Glancing from one of his colleagues to the next, he added, "I suggest that Severus should become his head of house and he should attend classes together with the Slytherins even if staying with Poppy."
'Oh no, Severus must be the professor who glared at me earlier,' Harry thought, uncomfortably. He looked up, horrified, when the headmaster asked the healer to check on him in order to find out the reason for the Hat's decision.
He gave the deputy headmistress a grateful look, when she contradicted in a firm voice. "Albus, don't you think it would be better if Poppy took Harry with him and spoke with him in private? It must be uncomfortable for Harry to discuss the matter here in front of all of us."
"Yes, I believe that would be the best," Pomfrey agreed and rose from her chair, motioning Harry to follow her. "Albus, please inform Severus that he's Harry's head of house, and that Harry is staying with me for the time being," she told the headmaster, before she left the office with Harry in tow.
tbc...(if there is interest, otherwise only on FB)
Thanks a lot to my Facebook friends for their feedback and their help finding a title...
