Lord of the Wind
by Teddylonglong

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.

COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC! Time travel! Partly Animagus story!

It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse. Thanks a lot to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!


Gaoithe woke up to his father's voice. "Good morning, Gaoithe. Happy Christmas!"

He lazily opened his eyes only to shut them again quickly, seeing the rays of the bright morning sun enter his room through the charmed window. "Morning Dad, happy Christmas to you too," he mumbled, already drifting back to slumber.

Severus chuckled. "I'm sorry my boy; I can understand that you're still tired, but we need to attend breakfast in the Great Hall, and I assume that several of my colleagues are eagerly waiting for you to unpack your presents."

'Presents?' Gaoithe thought, remembering the wonderful jumper he had received from Mrs. Weasley the night before. "May I wear my new jumper?" he asked with excitement.

"You may do as you wish; however, you need to wear proper robes in any case," Severus replied firmly. "Get ready then; I'll wait in the living room."

Gaoithe quickly took a shower, dressed and finally followed his father to the Great Hall, which was beautifully decorated. 'Is that a spell or a charm that makes the snow fall but not land on the ground?' he wondered as he absentmindedly played with his food, until the cat professor brought him back to reality.

"Gaoithe, what's wrong?" Minerva asked in concern.

"Ah, I was just wondering about the snow," Gaoithe blurted out, causing the adults to laugh.

"That's a charm, which shouldn't be a problem for you," Professor Flitwick spoke up eagerly. "I'll teach you after breakfast if you want."

"Oh yes please," Gaoithe happily agreed and turned to his breakfast, somehow still feeling too tired to eat. He gratefully accepted the present, which the headmaster handed him. "A self-refilling box of chocolate frogs," he read in amazement. "Wow, that's too cool. Thank you so much, Professor Dumbledore."

"You're welcome, my boy. Thank you for your help with my research during the last six months and for being such a good friend to Fawkes," the headmaster replied, and his eyes were twinkling merrily.

From Professor McGonagall Gaoithe received a book, 'Useful Transfiguration in Everyday Life' and a small box with cat treats, Professor Sinistra gave him a cushion to lie on when he was in his cat form, and in the package Madam Pomfrey handed him he found a book, 'First Steps in Diagnostics and Healing Spells'. Professor Flitwick grinned broadly as he handed him his present. It was another book, entitled, 'Charms for Fun'.

Severus couldn't help rolling his eyes at the presents Gaoithe received from his colleagues and let out a small groan when the Headmaster said, "There are more presents under the tree. The house-elves apparently placed all the presents there."

From Rolanda Hooch, the flying instructor, whom Gaoithe adored greatly because she was always in a good mood and had taught him many tactic moves on his broom, Gaoithe received a broom polishing kit. Hagrid gave him a book entitled 'Magical Beasts and How to Harvest them for Further Use', and just when Gaoithe thought he was finished unwrapping presents, Fawkes appeared right in front of him and laid something on the table. 'What's that? An egg?' Gaoithe thought in surprise as he transformed into his phoenix form to speak with his friend. 'Thank Merlin I brewed the fruit treats for him yesterday morning. I almost forgot to make something for him,' he thought in relief.

#Gaoithe, this is a nestling. She is going to hatch soon, and I want her to become your familiar,# Fawkes informed him curtly. #You must keep her warm until she hatches and while she's a baby. I won't tell you yet what kind of phoenix she is. Wait and see. I'll come and help you look after her ever so often.#

#A baby phoenix?# Gaoithe trilled in excitement. #Wow, that's cool. Thank you so much, Fawkes.# He carefully stepped over to the white egg, noticing that it was slightly moving. #Dad, I received a phoenix familiar from Fawkes,# he told his father, noticing from the corner of his eyes that Severus was just unpacking his own present, carefully putting the small phials on the table in front of him.

#What are you going to name her, Gaoithe?# Fawkes asked, curiously fluffing his feathers.

#I don't know yet,# Gaoithe replied absentmindedly, eagerly observing his father. 'I hope he'll like the ingredients,' he thought worriedly. 'Dad's expression is unreadable.'

Severus remained silent for a few minutes. "I'm speechless," he said finally. "Gaoithe, and whoever helped my son with this... Thank you so much."

#Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid and the cat professor helped me,# Gaoithe informed him. #I'm sorry Dad; I don't know if you can use these; I just thought...#

"Gaoithe, these are absolutely fantastic," Severus said hoarsely, unobtrusively wiping away a small tear that had the gull to leak from his right eye. "Do you know that these phials all together are worth several millions of Galleons? I can't believe it. Thank you so much."

#You're welcome. I'm glad you like my present,# Gaoithe trilled happily, curiously tapping the white egg in front of him with his beak.

#Be careful, nestling,# Fawkes admonished him lightly.

#I will,# Gaoithe chuckled. #Can you at least tell me what colour she is going to have? It would help deciding on a name.#

#Nope,# Fawkes replied smugly and began to clean his wings.

Gaoithe rolled his eyes at the older phoenix's antics and flew down from the table to transform back into his human form.

風の力を持つハリー

"I suggest that we head outside for a snowman building contest," the headmaster spoke up, and the teachers as well as the students, who had remained in the castle over the holidays, enthusiastically stood up from their seats to fetch their warm robes.

Gaoithe nearly jumped in surprise when he suddenly heard a cat's meowing from behind. It was the cat professor.

=Gaoithe, Professor Sinistra, Madam Pomfrey and I want to make a statue of your father in his potions lab. Would you like to help us?=

Gaoithe changed into his cat form, smiling excitedly at the two cats in front of him. =Of course I'd like to help. I'll try to make a cauldron and a few phials to go along with it.=

#I'm going to take the egg with me and look after it while you're busy,# Fawkes offered kindly, causing Gaoithe to gratefully agree.

Gaoithe and the three witches spent the next two hours building a life size version of Severus in his potions lab, before the headmaster closed the snowman building contest. Finally, everyone walked around the grounds to look at the work of the others behind Professors Dumbledore and Flitwick, who were the jury.

Afterwards, everyone returned to the Great Hall for tea to warm up. After taking a few sips from his cup, Professor Flitwick stood on his chair.

"Thank you, all of you, for the many contributions to our contest. Most of them were so fantastic that it was a very difficult decision. We finally decided to give the third prize, a five Galleons voucher from Honeydukes, to Professor Sprout for her portrait of Professor McGonagall in her cat form."

Everyone laughed at the announcement, and Professor Flitwick continued, "The second prize, a ten Galleons voucher each from Honeydukes, goes to the two Hufflepuff second year students, Peter and Maggie, for their miniature version of Hogwarts, and the first prize received the life size statue of Professor Snape in his potions lab. Professors McGonagall, Sinistra, Madam Pomfrey and Gaoithe Snape each receive a voucher of ten Galleons from The Ink Pot in London."

風の力を持つハリー

After lunch, Severus and Gaoithe returned to their quarters. Gaoithe noticed in surprise that the house-elves had already moved his presents from the Great Hall to their quarters.

"Gaoithe," Severus spoke up, taking a seat in his favourite armchair. "I suggest that you take a short nap. Considering how late it was last night, you must be very tired. However," he added, raising his hand to stop Gaoithe, who was on the verge of objecting, "I'd like to give you my present beforehand."

Gaoithe sat on the seat right next to his father's armchair, giving him a curious look that intensified when Severus pulled a dark purple envelope from the bookshelf and handed it to him, smirking. He hesitantly opened the envelope and frowned as he tried to comprehend what was written on the card inside, before his eyes widened in surprise as understanding set in.

"A magical ski resort?" Gaoithe asked in surprise, causing Severus to smirk.

"Well, I thought it would be good to have a few quiet days just for us," Severus replied. "We're going to leave tonight after dinner and will come back on New Year's Eve. Professor Sinistra recommended the resort to me after spending her Christmas holidays there last year. We will learn to ski with and without magic, and as far as I heard they even play Quidditch on charmed skis."

"Wow, that's so cool. Thank you Dad," Gaoithe replied happily, before he added in a small voice, "I've never been on holidays before."

"I thought as much," Severus mumbled, more to himself than to Gaoithe, before he asked, "Are you going to take a nap, or do you want to help in the lab? I can't wait to use the Brombylow tears you so kindly provided."

Gaoithe chuckled. "Of course I want to help," he said happily, jumping up from his seat in excitement. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. "But what I'm going to do with the phoenix egg?"

"I already arranged that with the Headmaster. Fawkes is going to look after the egg, while we're away."

"Oh, that's good." Gaoithe sighed in relief, before he spoke up again with excitement. "Dad, when are we going to leave? What should I take with me, and where..."

"Gaoithe, calm down please," Severus interrupted him, groaning inwardly. 'How could I let Minerva, Aurora and Poppy talk me into going for a trip?' he thought grimly. 'I could have expected Gaoithe to completely freak out at the news.' "Cicero is going to prepare everything, and we shall leave tonight after Christmas dinner in the Great Hall. If there is anything that you want to take with you, like for example one or two of the books you received for Christmas, just leave them on the table in the living room for Cicero to pack."

"Ah, all right," Gaoithe replied and hurriedly skimmed the books, before he placed them all on the table, unaware of the knowing grin that spread over his father's face.

風の力を持つハリー

Severus and Gaoithe spent the following week in the magical resort. In spite of having taken all his new books with him, Gaoithe didn't manage to even read one of them. Every morning between breakfast and lunch, they had muggle skiing lessons, between lunch and dinner they learned how to ski with the help of magic, which – at least for Gaoithe and Severus – was much easier, because they were capable of wandless magic, and after dinner, they played Ski Quidditch. At first, Gaoithe had to play Chaser, and he didn't overly like Ski Quidditch. However, when the trainer suggested changing the positions on the third day, he became Seeker, which was much more pleasant. Seeing how good Gaoithe was at catching the Snitch, he remained Seeker for the remainder of their stay. When Severus and Gaoithe returned to their room after dinner, they turned to the books they had received for Christmas, but on most days Gaoithe could not manage to keep his eyes open for more than ten minutes.

"Being out in the fresh air all day is really exhausting," Severus mumbled in amusement as he carried a sleeping Gaoithe to his bed and tucked him in just like every other evening since they had arrived at the resort.

"Ski Quidditch was the best," Gaoithe excitedly told Minerva when they were back at Hogwarts on New Year's Eve and had dinner in the Great Hall.

"Oh well, I hope you'll get sorted into Gryffindor next year. I will make sure that Mr. Wood will hire you as Seeker for our House team," Minerva laughed, causing Severus to raise an eyebrow at his older colleague, mouthing, "Gryffindor?"

"Do you have any preferences, Gaoithe? Is there any house you'd like to get in?" Professor Sinistra asked kindly.

Gaoithe let out a thoughtful sigh while he busily cuddled the egg of his baby phoenix that was going to hatch soon. "Hmmm, frankly speaking I have no idea. I haven't even thought about the matter, but I think every house would be fine with me. It would be great if I was together with Hermione and Draco though. Oh well, the twins are in Gryffindor of course, but I will be able to remain friends with them, even if I end up in another house, won't I?" He looked anxiously at his father.

"Of course, sweetie; you can be friends with whomever you want, even if they're not in your house," McGonagall replied reassuringly.

'Gaoithe, did I ever tell you that your mother was my best friend while we were students at Hogwarts? She was in Gryffindor, and I was in Slytherin. Don't worry about things like houses. It doesn't matter into which house you're going to be sorted,' Severus mind thought to Gaoithe, causing the boy to sigh in relief. He unobtrusively threw his father a grateful look and smiled.

Suddenly, Gaoithe heard a small cracking noise. 'What was that? Did I break the egg?' he thought in shock and quickly pulled the egg out from under his left arm.

"Oh, your baby phoenix seems to be hatching," Severus said, pointing to the large crack at one side of the egg.

Everyone observed with interest and amusement how a tiny, naked baby bird made its way out of the eggshell and stood on the table, shivering violently.

Gaoithe carefully picked the tiny being up and cuddled her close. "Hey little one," he said softly, gently laying his hands around the small body.

"Gaoithe, you better transform into your phoenix form and warm her under your wing," the headmaster advised him kindly, and Gaoithe saw that his eyes were twinkling joyfully.

He placed the tiny bird into his father's hands and quickly transformed, before he flew up on Severus' lap, completely covering the small baby with his wings. #What am I going to name her?# he asked, more to himself than to everyone else, provoking a huge discussion about baby names and bird names in general, in Mythology and in the magical world.

"Can you show him to me for a moment?" Poppy asked, smirking, causing Gaoithe to slightly lift his left wing. The Mediwitch waved her wand at the naked form, uttering an incantation, before she nodded at Gaoithe and put her wand away. "She's an ice phoenix," she informed the boy.

Gaoithe sighed gratefully. #Thank you so much for finding out, Madam Pomfrey. So she will be as white as snow.# He threw Severus a grateful look as the Potions Master translated his phoenix trills for the healer.

"Look here then," Professor Flitwick said, waving his wand at the nearby wall, and a huge list with words appeared on the wall. "These words mean 'snow' in different languages. Those on the right side mean 'ice'."

#Yuki,# Gaoithe read. #It's the Japanese word for snow. That sounds good.# He carefully lifted his right wing just a little bit, noticing that the first white feathers were already beginning to spike. #Your name is Yuki, sweetie. Is that all right with you?#

#Lub it,# the baby trilled back.

風の力を持つハリー

During the next two weeks, Yuki grew to a beautiful ice phoenix. Her feathers were completely white apart from a few feathers in her back that held a light pink colour. While she was a baby, Gaoithe spent much time in his phoenix form, except for a few days at the end of the holidays, when Draco Malfoy came to visit Severus and him. The two boys spent much time playing wizard's chess, talking about Hogwarts or explored unused parts of the castle. However, wherever they went, Gaoithe always took Yuki with him and cuddled the small baby bird close. Only when he went flying with Draco, he brought her to Fawkes, knowing that the older phoenix, as mischievous as he was, would take good care of his baby familiar.

風の力を持つハリー

Finally, the students came back and school began again. As much as Gaoithe enjoyed being together with Draco, he was happy about having the students back, because the huge castle felt so lonely without their laughing and running around. To his surprise, the twins handed him a letter, curiously glancing over his shoulder as he opened it. Gaoithe looked at the letter with interest, realising that it was from Ginny, the twins' little sister. 'She must be the same age as Luna,' he mused and began to read.

'Dear Gaoithe,

I'm sorry how my brother behaved on Christmas Eve. I'm glad you could take it so well and just transform into your Animagus form. I'd love to become an Animagus as well.

Anyway, since Ron is going to be in the same year as you from September onwards, I'm going to tell you a bit about him, so that you know what to expect. He is very jealous of everything and everyone. This is also the reason why he played the prank on you. He was jealous that you're already living at Hogwarts in spite of being a few months younger than himself and that you are friends with the twins and not with him, although you are the same age as him and not the twins. Well, don't let him get to you. Reasoning doesn't work with him. I just wanted to tell you that. I can't wait to finally be able to go to Hogwarts too.

Take care, and I hope you'll visit us again soon. I have instructed the twins to hide their prank potions better now.

Ginny'

Gaoithe sighed and pocketed the letter. 'Well, at least I know that it wasn't my fault that he didn't like me. Ginny seems to be very nice though,' he thought and absentmindedly began to eat his dinner.

"It seems..."

"... that you're having a new fan, Gaoithe...," the twins told him, chuckling.

"All these years..."

"... she has been a huge fan of Harry Potter..."

"... although she never met him..."

"... but ever since Christmas Eve..."

"... she doesn't speak about anything else..."

"... but Gaoithe," the twins simultaneously finished their dialogue, causing Gaoithe to blush.

"She is very nice," he replied, feeling very uncomfortable at the attention. 'At least it is easier to be in her company than in Luna's,' he thought.

風の力を持つハリー

The following months passed fairly uneventfully. In spite of not being a student yet, Gaoithe was very busy helping the headmaster with his research that remained unsuccessful so far, keeping Yuki company on her first flights around Hogwarts, brewing potions together with his father, playing small pranks together with Fawkes and the twins, answering infinite letters from Hermione and accompanying Professor McGonagall to another new first year's house.

One Friday morning at the end of May, the twins pulled Gaoithe into the hidden alcove they often used to plan their pranks.

"Gaoithe," the twins began with mischievous expressions on their faces that made Gaoithe inwardly groan in anticipation.

"As you know, the final Quidditch match is going to take place tomorrow..."

"... and of course we hope that Gryffindor will win the Quidditch Cup..."

"Therefore, we want to go to Hogsmeade..."

"... to buy some butterbeer..."

"... after the last afternoon class today."

"Can you come with us and flash us back with the bottles?"

Gaoithe rolled his eyes. "I'm not sure if I'll be able to properly land with the bottles. Maybe they'll break."

"Oh, that's true," Fred agreed thoughtfully.

"But I'll help you carry them," Gaoithe added quickly. "I can flash us to Hogsmeade, and we can walk back through the secret passage."

The twins agreed, and after the last afternoon class, the three mischief makers flashed to Hogsmeade. Gaoithe quickly transformed into his human form and hesitantly followed the twins into the Three Broomsticks, carefully glancing around. He sighed in relief as he realised that the small town was still relatively quiet. From the few times he had accompanied Severus to Hogsmeade, he knew that this would change soon. The twins bought several bottles of butterbeer, for which they had collected the money in the common room earlier, and the three boys unobtrusively entered Honeydukes.

'Thank Merlin,' Gaoithe mused when they made it into the cellar unseen. Unfortunately, the bottles were very heavy, and the corridor was uneven and dark. While he quietly walked behind the twins, he listened to their talk about the Quidditch match that was going to take place in the morning. Unfortunately, half-way through the corridor, he was rudely brought back to reality.

風の力を持つハリー

One moment of absentmindedness was enough for Gaoithe to stumble and fall onto the ground. He felt a sharp pain in his right elbow, before he noticed his right side getting wet as the smell of beer spread through the corridor.

"Gaoithe, are you all right?" George asked in concern, while Fred cast a Lumos charm.

"Yes, I'm sorry. One of the bottles seems to have broken," Gaoithe whispered, pressing his teeth together to not let out a huge moan at the pain in his elbow.

"That doesn't matter," Fred said, giving Gaoithe a sharp look.

"It's only important that you're unharmed," George agreed and quickly cast a repairing charm at Gaoithe's torn robes.

"Thank you," Gaoithe mumbled gratefully and carefully tried to lift the box with the bottles again as soon as Fred had vanished the remaining of the broken bottle. 'Oh that hurts,' he thought. 'Something must be wrong with my elbow.'

"Oh no!" George suddenly exclaimed, slapping his forehead. "We're so stupid. We can just levitate the boxes. Why carry them?"

"Oh right," Gaoithe agreed, gratefully putting the box down.

The twins cast levitating charms on the boxes, and the three friends hurried back to the castle.

"We should leave the bottles at the beginning of the passage and come to collect them tonight," Gaoithe suggested.

"That's a good idea," Fred agreed immediately.

"But you don't have to worry about that. We're going to bring someone to help us carry them. It's easier for us to get away after curfew than for you," George added, giving Gaoithe a sharp look. "Are you in pain, Gaoithe?"

"A bit, but it's all right," Gaoithe hesitantly admitted.

"You better let your father look at your arm," Fred said in concern.

"Will do," Gaoithe mumbled, knowing that he wouldn't tell anyone about the matter in order not to give the twins away. "Good night. I'm going to flash back home." Completely forgetting about dinner and not feeling hungry anyway, Gaoithe transformed into his phoenix form, noticing in relief that he felt much better. He flashed home, startling Yuki, who was just taking a nap on their perch.

#Hi Yuki, did I wake you up? I'm sorry,# he apologized.

#That's all right, Gaoithe. Where have you been? Your father was looking for you.#

#Really?# Gaoithe asked. #Do you know why?#

Yuki calmly began to clean her back feathers. #No. He only said he was going to attend dinner,# she trilled softly.

'Oh well, I better be asleep by the time he returns,' Gaoithe mused. 'He won't be happy that I missed dinner.' He slowly turned his head to his back and listened to Yuki trilling beautiful melodies that slowly lured him into slumber.

風の力を持つハリー

By the time Severus returned from dinner, Gaoithe was already fast asleep, while Yuki was still meticulously cleaning her wings, trilling softly whenever her beak was void of feathers.

"Gaoithe is here," Severus said in surprise. "Is he all right?"

Yuki looked up and after a glance at the wind phoenix nodded her head, knowing that Severus wasn't able to comprehend her trills.

'Oh well, he'll better have a good excuse for missing dinner,' Severus thought. 'He can't have been together with the twins, because they attended the meal. I just hope he didn't play pranks with Fawkes, otherwise I'll have to think of a birds' detention.' He sat in his favourite armchair, pondering what he could make two phoenixes do for detention.

風の力を持つハリー

Gaoithe woke up very early in the morning. Turning to Yuki, he asked, #Did my father say anything? Was he angry because I missed dinner?#

The smaller phoenix remained thoughtful for a few seconds, before she replied, #I don't think that he was upset. He seemed a bit confused though, because he didn't know where you were.#

#Ah, all right. Oh well, I'm going to go and take a shower,# Gaoithe decided. 'I have to get a glance at my elbow. I hope it'll be okay.' He flashed straight into his own room and transformed, noticing that his right arm felt very sore and that he smelled of butterbeer. 'Uh, that's disgusting,' he thought. He quickly grabbed fresh clothes and headed to the bathroom.

By the time Severus left his bedroom, Gaoithe was back on his perch in his phoenix form, greeting his father with a happy trill.

"Good morning, Gaoithe," Severus replied sternly. "Do you have an explanation as to why you missed dinner last night?"

#I'm sorry, Dad,# Gaoithe trilled, bringing his right foot up to scratch his head, #but I was together with the twins, and we separated in the entrance hall, and I completely forgot about dinner, and I was so tired, and I just came here and slept.# 'Oh my, I'm talking like Hermione,' he thought, feeling very uncomfortable to lie to his father. 'I need to tell him about my elbow, but I can't give the twins away,' he mused. 'Hopefully, the pain will go away during the weekend. So far I can just remain in my phoenix form. On the other hand, he might get suspicious if I don't transform at least for the meals.'

"It's time for breakfast," Severus stated, raising an eyebrow at the green phoenix. "Are you going to transform, or do I have the pleasure of having you eat from my plate?"

#Hmmm, that depends on what you're going to eat,# Gaoithe chuckled, trying to hide his uncertainty about transforming. #All right, I will transform. May I watch the Quidditch match from your shoulder then?#

Severus nodded, and Gaoithe flew down to the floor and changed into his human form, wondering why his arm hurt so much. "Are you coming with me?" he asked Yuki, invitingly holding out his left arm.

The white phoenix agreed and sat on Gaoithe's left shoulder, picking this and that from his plate as Gaoithe had breakfast together with a few boys of the Slytherin Quidditch team.

"I hope you're going to get sorted into Slytherin. I'll retire on the spot," the Seeker told him, causing Gaoithe to give him a horrified look.

"Why would you do such a thing? And first years aren't allowed to play anyway. I heard my father say so to Professor McGonagall when she said something about me playing Quidditch for Gryffindor," Gaoithe replied in surprise.

"Oh but I'm sure we'd somehow be able to talk the professors out of that stupid regulation," Marcus Flint, the Quidditch captain, told him. "Everyone has seen you catch the Snitch out of nowhere before. In fact, the other three captains and I have an ongoing bet about where you're going to be sorted, and of course I hope to win the bet as well as the most promising Seeker. All right everyone, are you ready to fight for the Quidditch Cup?"

'A bet about where I'm going to be sorted?' Gaoithe thought in disbelief as he absentmindedly followed the Slytherins out to the Quidditch pitch.

#You're already famous before even becoming a first year,# Yuki chuckled from his left shoulder, causing Gaoithe to sigh in annoyance.

"I think the bet is fun, but I don't want to be famous. In fact, I think it's sad that I have to be sorted into a house. On the one hand, all right, I want to play for a house team, but on the other hand, I'd prefer to go on like I did so far. I love having friends in different houses," he quietly admitted to his familiar.

#I don't like the house system very much,# Yuki said softly, gently nibbling Gaoithe's earlap. #The other day, Fawkes told me some things about the Sorting Hat. His decisions seem to be anything but accurate anyway.#

"Oh no! Don't let Fawkes teach you pranks," Gaoithe warned the smaller phoenix, who chuckled and reassured him that she was not planning on playing any pranks and had already told Fawkes as much. When they arrived on the Quidditch pitch, he pried his familiar off his shoulder and transformed into his phoenix form, in which he remained the whole weekend apart from mealtimes.

When Gaoithe transformed into his human form on Monday morning, he noticed that he wasn't feeling well at all. The pain in his right arm seemed to have worsened overnight, and he had a bad headache. 'Maybe I should attend classes in my phoenix form,' he thought but dismissed the idea, because he was supposed to attend the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first year Potions class in the morning, and he certainly didn't want to miss brewing together with the students, whom he liked very much. His father always paired him with someone, who had problems brewing, and Gaoithe was happy that he could brew together with the students and help them if necessary. On this Monday morning, however, Gaoithe should be the one that required help.

Gaoithe noticed soon that he couldn't properly concentrate. His head was pounding terribly, and even his eyes were sore. 'I have to pay attention. I can't endanger the students by making a mistake,' he told himself and was very careful. Nevertheless, he accidentally began to stir the potion in the wrong direction after inserting the fifth ingredient. Fortunately, Lars, the Hufflepuff boy, who had already been his partner several times and with whom he got along very well, had paid attention and quickly directed his hand into the right direction.

"Gaoithe, are you all right?" he asked in concern.

"I'm fine," Gaoithe whispered back. "Sorry for that. Can we change? Can you do the brewing and I prepare the ingredients?"

"Of course," Lars replied readily, sensing that Gaoithe was not his usual cheerful self. "Be careful though."

Gaoithe tried to be careful; however, all of a sudden, a slight shiver ran through his body, causing him to cut his forefinger. He unconsciously let out a small gasp that turned Severus' attention to him.

"Gaoithe, what happened?" Severus asked, instructing Lars to continue with their brewing.

"I cut myself," Gaoithe replied in a small voice. "It's all right though."

Severus quickly skimmed the table, realising contentedly that Gaoithe had only been cutting harmless ingredients so far. He took the boy's hand to examine the cut, noticing that it felt hot to the touch. He quickly healed the cut with a flick of his wand, before he gave his son a sharp look, taking in his glassy eyes and flushed cheeks.

"Gaoithe, you're burning up," he said, laying a cold hand on his son's forehead. He turned to Lars and asked him to accompany Gaoithe to Madam Pomfrey, promising that he would give him full points for the potion that so far looked correctly brewed.

Feeling too bad to deny or protest, Gaoithe obediently left the classroom and walked through the empty halls together with Lars.

"Gaoithe, you're lucky that you can stay at Hogwarts during the summer and have such a caring father," Lars suddenly spoke up, causing Gaoithe to throw him a surprised look. "I only have my father, and he is a muggle. He doesn't overly like me. I'm glad that I'm at Hogwarts now, but it's too bad that I have to go home for such a long time."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Gaoithe said softly. "I know how happy I can be to have found such a nice home, and I can understand you well. Maybe you can come and visit me for a week, if your father allows it. I'll ask Dad later on."

Gaoithe hesitantly took off his robes and showed Madam Pomfrey his arm, causing the Healer to let out an exasperated sigh. "Gaoithe, since when did you have this injury?" she asked sternly.

"Err... Friday evening," Gaoithe supplied and hesitantly told Poppy what had happened.

"You should know that you have to come to me immediately," she scolded him lightly. "If you had come on Friday, I'd have quickly mended the cuts on your arm and sent you on your way. I wouldn't have told your father about the matter. Now however, your arm became infected and you're running a fever. I will heal your arm, but you'll still have to stay here for the rest of today, so that we have to tell your father what happened."

"I'm sorry," Gaoithe said, terrified, feeling very reassured that Lars stayed with him while Poppy mended the cuts and applied a healing cream that made him so drowsy that he drifted off to sleep.

When Gaoithe's mind turned back to awareness, Severus was sitting on a chair next to his bed, reading a Potions journal.

"Poppy, Gaoithe is awake," he told his colleague, before he turned to his son. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Gaoithe replied, realising that he felt as good as new.

After a quick check-up, he was released and hesitantly walked home next to his father, sensing that Severus was very angry. When they arrived in their quarters, the Potions Master scribbled a small note and handed it to Yuki. "Please flash to Gryffindor and give this to the Weasley twins. Thank you."

#All right,# Yuki trilled and flashed away, while Gaoithe anxiously followed his father into his office, waiting for the punishment that was sure to come. 'If he'd even began to scold me right away,' he mused, fidgeting in his seat behind his father's desk, 'but this silence is much worse.'

After what seemed to be a very long time, the twins knocked and entered the Potions Master's office. Severus motioned them to sit next to Gaoithe, before he began to speak in a stern voice.

"I deem the two of you very responsible. Therefore, I assume that you didn't know that Gaoithe was injured by pieces of glass of a broken butterbeer bottle on Friday evening."

The twins looked at him in shock, before they turned to Gaoithe, who averted his eyes to the floor.

"No sir..."

"... otherwise, we'd have taken him to you or Madam Pomfrey," they replied firmly.

"That's what I thought," Severus said, more to himself than to the twins, and told the boys what had happened, before he informed them, "The three of you will serve three evenings of detention with me, one for clearly breaking the rules, one for being so stupid as not to carry your butterbeer with magical means, and one for not making sure that no one is injured."

"Yes sir," three small voices could be heard.

"You can deem yourselves lucky, gentlemen," Severus continued, "that I am not going to inform your head of house about the matter... this time. Otherwise, your punishment would certainly be more severe and probably even involve your mother."

"Thank you sir," the twins said simultaneously, looking gratefully at the professor.

"You will begin tomorrow night after dinner. Gaoithe is still running a slight temperature, and I had to promise Madam Pomfrey to send him to bed right away," the professor explained and dismissed the twins, before he motioned for his son to follow him into the living room. "We're going to have dinner here tonight, and then you will go to bed," he said firmly.

"I'm not hungry," Gaoithe replied in a small voice, feeling absolutely terrible at the thought of having caused the twins three evenings of detention. 'As much as I love detentions, they need the evenings to do their homework or have fun in the common room,' he thought.

"You have to eat something," Severus insisted and ordered Cicero to bring dinner for the two of them. "Gaoithe," Severus said in a stern but not angry voice, "if the Weasley twins or someone else play a prank or do something that is clearly against the rules, they have to think about all possible consequences in advance. Only if they are sure that they can live with the consequences, they can pull through with their plan. I can understand that you wanted to save the twins from a possible punishment; however, if someone gets injured while doing something forbidden, it has to be the first priority to have someone heal the injury, independently of the question if their actions will be revealed or not. If you had told me on Friday evening, you and the twins probably would have served one detention, nothing more. Now however, you spent a full day in the hospital wing, and the punishment for the three of you is much harsher. I hope you'll behave more reasonably when you're going to become a student in three months' time."

"Yes Dad, I'm sorry," Gaoithe replied miserably.

"Very well then. Eat up and go to bed," Severus said in a softer voice.

風の力を持つハリー

Gaoithe could hardly sleep that night. The thought, 'How could I be so stupid? Now the twins have to do three detentions just because of me,' kept him awake.

Severus noticed in concern that he couldn't hear any sounds from the boy's room. Normally, Gaoithe used to snore slightly, but the lack of the regular sounds made him quietly look in on the boy every now and then. By the time he wanted to go to bed, Gaoithe had yet to fall asleep. Severus entered his son's room and sat on the edge of the bed. "Gaoithe, what's wrong?" he asked softly, gently laying a hand on the boy's shoulder.

Gaoithe slowly turned around to face his father, who noticed in shock that his son's face was tear-stricken. "Dad, is there any way that I can serve twice the amount of detentions and you let the twins off? It's not their fault."

"No Gaoithe," Severus replied sternly. "I assume that it was not your idea to go to Hogsmeade but the twins', and I think they should have made sure that you weren't injured after your accident."

"But they did," Gaoithe protested urgently. "They asked me if I was all right several times. If I hadn't been so stupid, no one would have known about the matter at all. Please don't punish them."

"You went on your trip together, and you will undergo your punishment together. If you don't want to fall asleep during your detention tomorrow, I suggest that you sleep now. It's two o'clock in the morning."

"I'll try," Gaoithe replied, trying in vain to push the thought of the upcoming detention from his mind.

"Good night, Gaoithe," Severus said and pressed a kiss on the boy's forehead, relieved that it didn't feel warm anymore. Unbeknownst to Gaoithe, he spelled a light calming draught into his son's stomach as he left the room, knowing that it would make his son overcome his worries about the detentions and sleep soon.

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"You will clean out the ingredients cupboard, check the dates on all the phials and arrange them in alphabetical order," Severus informed the three boys that were standing in front of him.

"Yes sir," Gaoithe and the twins replied and immediately set to work, realising soon that they would only be able to finish their task within three evenings if they did their best. However, as bad as Gaoithe felt towards the twins, he couldn't help admitting that it was fun to have detentions with them, even if they had to work hard to properly clean the cupboard.