Chapter Twelve
Landing just outside the wards of Hogwarts Severus saw Remus about twenty steps ahead of him with two figures levitating in front of him, he did not falter at the sound of Severus arrival and just kept moving closer and closer to the castle and truth be told both men were terrified.
Within five minutes he had arrived at the entrance hall and Albus was standing waiting for him along with Filius Flitwick and as soon as they took in the expression on Remus's face and the colour on the children's then they soon got faster toward their destination.
"Severus...what happened?" They kept walking to the entrance hall and the headmaster had not a twinkle in sight as he took in Harry and Ginnys unconscious state, their faces were grey and sweating.
"Dementors stopped and searched the train for Lucius Malfoy and Peter Pettigrew. As far as I can tell they went straight for Harry and Draco and with the girls being bound to them it only makes sense that they collapsed as well. We cannot be having these vile creatures around the school Albus unless they can be controlled and contained..." As the infirmary doors swung open Severus saw that Draco and Daphne were already on a hospital bed with Poppy fussing around them both.
He lay the two children in cots beside each other and Poppy immediately began waving her wand over both of them and running a multitude of tests between the beds.
"Severus I could use some help..." The Potions Master nodded and although he was never formally trained as a healer all of the years he was a death eater he was pretty adept at self healing and anything else he needed he either read about or Poppy would have him help her.
Poppy took the girls and Severus took the boys and performed the diagnostic spells on each of them and it was confirmed they collapsed due to not only dementor exposure but also magical core depletion. Remus and Flitwick were in a state of shock at that moment as the Medi-witch tried to explain.
"It's like their magical core stimulated their bodies response to the dementors and shut it down. When the dementors were draining them they were also draining their core and so their soul bonded magic reacted to protect itself and caused them to collapse." The teachers looked between the four children and of course they knew nothing was ever going to be simple when it came to them.
"We have to wait until they wake up..." Poppy spelled some Hot chocolate directly into their stomachs and a little bit of colour returned to all of their cheeks and with that the teachers decided to go and meet up with the rest of the staff in the great hall and Filius Flitwick went to help Hagrid manoeuvre the children from the train to the castle.
Severus decided to stay behind and stood in the aisle between the four beds whilst Poppy jumped between her office and her stores. As the older mediwitch took in the Potion Masters stance of vigilance she could not believe the change in him. She was well aware of his relationship with Aurora whom was kind, compassionate and if she was dating Severus Snape very, very patient and tolerant.
"This May be none of my business Severus but you and I have known each other for a long time, first you as a student and now we have been colleagues for well over a decade." Severus did not know where exactly the woman was going with this but she was one of the very few who knew about his past and his families past.
"What exactly are you getting at Poppy?" She sighed at the surly mans attitude and regardless of anything else she had seen him with Harry and his friends and had witnessed his softer side with Aurora.
"Never in a million years Severus did I ever think I would see that kind of an expression on your face for James Potters little boy...granted he is also Lily's child and more like his mother in not only temperament but also tolerance. You being as close as you are with Harry is a rather remarkable feat." He sighed and came over to her desk and sat on top of a chair off to the side of it.
"I went with Minerva to collect Harry from his relatives did you know that?" She nodded at him as Minerva and herself quite often shared a glass of wine. "Well when we went to the house I was half expecting a jumped up idiotic boy just like James Potter and I am ashamed to say I let my past with his father cloud my judgement before I even met the boy..." Poppy offered him a cup of coffee done to his liking.
"What changed? You obviously don't have the same ideals about the boy I mean for crying out loud I have seen you hug him." He let out a chuckle that was not seen by very many people but Poppy was one of the privileged and in the beginning had seen him at his worst when he arrived back in school following his fathers beatings and then later on with the death eaters.
"When we were at his relatives house I found his bedroom, they kept him sleeping under the stairs in a cupboard not fit for a house elf never mind an eleven year old boy. As if that wasn't bad enough there were two spare bedrooms in the house for Marge Dursley to come and visit and Dudley Dursley to keep all his unwanted toys. You know his medical history you did the assessment...I just when he answered the door and looked up with Lily's eyes I felt protective of him." The Potions Master very rarely spoke about how he felt and he could count on one hand the amount of people he would tell this information to.
"He has overcome so much Severus and is turning into an extraordinary young man in spite of it, all of them have grown so much and there will probably come a time when they will need all of us to bond together behind them and there is a part of me that cannot wait to see what they achieve but there is also another part of me that is terrified of who will try and tear them down...Mr Potter you can open your eyes now..." All four children slowly but surely cracked their eyes open and Severus looked at Poppy in awe.
"How on earth did you know they were awake?" She rapped her nose at him and walked over to them all with a Potion and a small bar of chocolate.
"Drink this..." They all complied and then she handed them all a bar of chocolate. "And this..." They smiled and Harry looked at the older woman with affection.
"Thank you Madam Pomfry...remind me to let you borrow a book that I think you might enjoy..." Ginny tilted her head to the side and in his head he told her about Alice in Wonderland which caused her to laugh along with Draco and Daphne.
"How are you feeling?" Severus took in the looks on the children's faces and appeared to be happy enough with their demeanour to allow them to sit up.
"What is it with those bloody dementors? Can't they tell the difference between us and Lucius Malfoy!" Severus could only shrug his shoulders and in all honesty he did not know why they were so focused on Harry and his friends. Two seconds later the door burst open and the other fifty percent of the Motley Crew appeared with Hermione and Luna running over and hugging them all and the boys slapping them on the back.
"Are you guys ok?" They nodded at Neville who took a seat on the edge of Harry's bed along with the other scattering around the room. "Whoever has the bright idea of dementors at Hogwarts has lost their marbles!" Severus had to agree with Neville Longbottom because he two thought it was the most ridiculous plan he had ever came across.
"Cornelius Fudge...this is the Ministers brain child and unfortunately The Headmaster could not override the Wizangamot and the Board of Governers. I believe Sirius, Narcissa, Lady Longbottom, Lord Diggory and Lord Greengrass all voted no in both board of governors and the Wizangamot but were outvoted." They all sighed and Poppy came back into the room again.
"Alright children I am going to let you go on down to the feast can I trust you four to look after these four?" She indicated to the newcomers who just smiled and nodded before Luna walked over and handed her a small paperback book.
"This is Alice in Wonderland...the book Harry was talking about..." She smiled at the Matron before they all gathered their things and the children slowly but surely made their way down to the Great Hall with Severus.
"Are you Alright Professor you looked awful worried when they passed out..." Petite Luna Lovegood was glancing mischievously at the Potions Master who could see right through her at this point.
"I was not worried All was well in hand..." In that moment Ron Weasley scoffed causing Severus to turn and glare at him.
"Oh please I have never seen anyone look so concerned and you have met my mother...she is the quintessential worrywort..." He looked straight ahead ignoring the children's teasing and Ginny and Daphne took each of his arms.
"Oh Professor you were worried about us..." Ginny smiled at Daphne as she said this which worries the man in question. "That is so sweet!" Each one stopped dead tugged him down and kissed his cheek just as they arrived outside the great hall before running off into the room followed by the others laughing at the flabbergasted expression on their Potions teachers face.
"Trust me Professor fighting it will only make things worse...May as well admit that the tinman has got a heart..." Harry smirked and went to walk away and he ducked and dived to avoid the mans arms that tried to stop him with a smile. These children were going to be the death of him.
Harry and the others had just taken their seats at their respective tables and they had already missed the sorting...dinner had started and Cedric waved at them all before they got stuck into dinner...Harry automatically began to feel better and the Castle and the Founders welcomed them all back there and then in the great hall allowing any feeling of negative energy seep away from them.
Conversation passed as they all indulged a little bit more than they usually do. After dinner the dishes were gone and Professor Dumbledore proceeded to stand up and walk to the front of the children.
"Welcome Old and New Students to a new year at Hogwarts...as you may have noticed Hogwarts will be playing hosts to the Dementors of Azkaban...they are here for your protection but I ask you all not to provoke them. Dementors are foul creatures and it is not in their nature to be forgiving so please stay out of their way..." He looked at the Weasley twins as he said this causing everyone to giggle at their offended faces.
"Now we have two new Professors this year...Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Remus Lupin...our Care of Magical Creatures Studies will be taken over by our own Rubeus Hagrid..." All of the children started hooting and hollering including some Slytherins surprisingly.
"Now off to bed..."The children were all let to their common rooms with the soul bonds heading to theirs and finding their mirrors freaking out in their pockets.
"Harry Potter!" Oh Sirius sounded pissed as he took it out he answered with a smile. "Are you Ok? We were just told what happened on the train..." They nodded and branched off to talk to their own families as they were all trying to placate frantic parents in that moment.
"I'm fine now...Professor Snape and Remus took very good care of us along with Madam Pomfry...we are ok!" He breathed a sigh of relief. They continued to talk for a while before Dudley wanted to say hello.
"Hey Sirius said you were attacked? You alright cuz?" Harry nodded at the boy who surprisingly he had gotten on well with in the past week or so.
"Yeah I am good..." They continued on before signing off and they all met in the common room again aside from Ron and Ginny who had yet to appear. They all knew how high strung Molly Weasley was when it came to her children so they sat down and waited. Half an hour later and the two appeared back into the room and sat beside their significant others.
"Mum has went full on Bat Shit Crazy!" Hermione smacked Ron on the arm at his swearing. "What she has...Hermione she was talking about pulling us out of Hogwarts because of the dementors! Absolutely barmy!" They all laughed and knew Mr Weasley along with Ron and Ginny would not have any of it.
The familiar warm feeling that they were slowly becoming accustomed to let them know they were being summoned by the Founders and as they landed in front of them Harry turned with a present glare.
"You know you could do with switching things up a little and not being so predictable..." Godric glared at the boy whilst the others giggled slightly at him trying to be stern.
"Next time you nearly get your soul sucked out by a wraith we will just leave you be!" Harry hugged him along with the others hugging their magical counterparts.
"What going on?" Usually these little chats were not just catching up and there was usually a nefarious reason for them to happen so when they all sat down the children assumed the worst.
"Nothing is wrong but your magical core...is it still off balance?" They nodded at Helga as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "We cannot understand it...your guardian should be clear to you by now..." Hermione shook her head at the Founders.
"No one has came to us and from what has happened over the past two years I would assume it would be someone we know already. Ron and Ginny are siblings and were practically neighbours with Luna, Harry and I met before school, Neville met us on the train and should have grown up with Harry and then Draco came to us over Christmas on first year. From the statistics we already know them." No one could argue with the logic there but it was starting to freak out about their magical imbalance.
"More than likely someone in our exercise group because we have all came together but I can't for the life of me think who it could be...at first I thought maybe Susan but now I am not too sure..." They continued on with their talk to the Founders and before long conversation came around to the Azkaban escape.
"How are you? Truly?" Salazar asked both Draco and Harry about the situation and both boys could only shrug at him.
"Honestly...I don't know...part of me wants to run into Pettigrew! He is the reason my parents are dead...he is the reason Sirius lost so much of his life and he is the reason I had to grow up with Vernon and Petunia...I sometimes think I am getting over it and then a whole new layer comes around...Occlumency is helping though..." Severus practice from the year before had helped all of the children focus their thoughts better.
"And you Draco?" The blonde Slytherin was more than a little confused about the topic of his father and did not know how to answer that. "Was your relationship with your father a good one before he went to prison?" He knew the answer to that and he shook his head.
"My father was a bully...he bullied me into being the perfect, bigoted son and he broke my mother down till she was a shell of herself. He abused her...verbally and physically and I honestly can't believe how strong she is...considering all of the crap he put her through. My relationship with him was never good it was just...I don't even know..." They all nodded and Daphne held onto him to give him a hug in a similar fashion to Ginny.
"There was another strange thing that happened over the summer...the Ministry has been hiding a person...a young girl in an unbreakable room for hundreds of years and she has escaped...we all keep having these flashes of her looking for something...I don't know what!?" Salazar nodded his head at Luna as she tried her best to explain what was going on.
"Would you permit me to see these visions?" They all nodded and Neville volunteered mostly because his thought processes were the easiest to follow according to Severus.
"Trust me if you went into Lunas head you would have a migraine by the time you came out of it... even though technically you're dead..." He nodded and placed his hands on Neville's shoulders and looked him dead in the eye. "Focus on the vision and bring it to the forefront of your mind...Ligillimens!" It took a few seconds but Salazar began to tear up slightly before pulling out.
"Amara!" The other three shook their head in disbelief at Salazar and the children were confused as Helga and Rowena started to cry slightly.
"Who is Amara?" Godric was gobsmacked and Yelena hugged him tightly with tears streaming hard and fast from her eyes.
"She was our anchor..." All of the children were even more confused at this as the Founders died and apparently their anchor was supposed to aswell. The tension in the room right about now was palpable and all of them were crying or nearly crying.
"How is that possible? She is barely seventeen...she looks the same as she was when she left..." Helga was in near convulsions crying as Hermione and Gerhard held onto her to try and comfort the woman as Godric stepped up to the children.
"We bonded with Amara when we were sixteen years of age, our souls bond did not manifest itself until later on in our lives...when we bonded a year later there was an accident. A magical surge from all of us and a potion that Amara was working on blew up all over her and as such she stopped aging." They were both confused and worried about this girl.
"Well what happened next was ridiculous...she wanted to try and research her affliction and so she left. Last we heard she was in Tunisia trying to find everything out and then she went missing. We searched for so long and she has been alive all of these years?" All of the children tried to be sympathetic...but none of them knew what was going to happen to them now.
"So what about our anchor? According to Amelia she still has her magic and considering we need an anchor I am guessing we are going to have to bond with her?" They nodded their heads at the children before they slowly made their way to sit on the chairs.
"Will she know? That we are your descendants?" Harry was both curious and a little worried at how this was going to affect them all not to mention a girl whom has been in an eternal sleep for the past god knows how many years.
"She will indeed but considering she has been asleep all of this time I wouldn't be surprised if it takes her some time to find you. She will probably be looking for her own things and considering she was in Tunisia god only knows where her weapons and Grimoire is...considering your age also she will have probably seen you al in a vision and thought you had time because you are a lot younger than we were but eventually the call of your magic will reach her and she will know to come to you all." Harry understood the majority of the conversation but this girl is all over the world looking for something and they spent another half an hour or so talking to the Founders and trying to understand before they were sent back with even more questions than before.
The following morning all of the children had woken up early and greeted their workout friends outside on the Quidditch pitch as it was still relatively mild outside, Cedric, Oliver, Angelina and Harry took a group each.
Harry surprisingly noticed right away everyone's stamina and knew the training over the summer did them all some good. He took his fellow soul bonds and the third and fourth years for a change. Cedric took the fifth, Oliver took the sixth and seventh and Angelina took the first and second years.
Over the summer only a small handful of them trained with Harry and the others at Black Manor but that apparently hadn't stopped the rest of them from continuing automatically at their own homes. Colin Creevey now a second year has sprouted up two inches and looked like a gymnast.
Unfortunately it was time to shower and have breakfast, upon arrival in the great hall they had received their schedules and all in all Harry was Happy.
Year Three Class Schedule
Monday
Care of Magical Creatures 9:00-10:55
BREAK 11:00-12:00
History of Magic 12:00-1:00
Ancient Runes 1:00-2:00
Potions 2:00-3:45
Dinner 4:30-5:45
Tuesday
Herbology 9:00-10:55
BREAK 11:00-12:00
Potions 12:00-2:00
Defence Against the Dark Arts 3:00-4:30
Dinner 4:30-5:45
Astronomy 11:00-Midnight
Wednesday
Transfiguration 11:00-1:00
Charms 1:00-3:00
History of Magic 3:00-4:00
Dinner 4:30-5:45
Thursday
Defense Against the Dark Arts 9:30-10:55
Ancient Runes 11:30-1:00
Potions 1:00-3:00
Arithmancy 3:00-4:00
Dinner 4:30-5:45
Friday
Charms 9:00-10:00
Transfiguration 11:00-12:00
BREAK 12:00-1:00
Potions 1:00-2:00
Herbology 2:00-3:00
Defense Against the Dark Arts 3:00-4:00
Dinner 4:30-5:45
All in all it appeared to be a good balance, he took one glance at Ginnys however and it didn't make any sense to him but she shook her head and he did not ask any questions at all. However he could see Ron giving Hermione a similar look before Professor McGonagall came over to the table.
"Miss Granger...Miss Weasley could I see you in my office before your first class please?" The two girls nodded at the Transfiguration teacher and she walked away. The two girls are one last bite of their toast before getting up and telling them they would meet them in Care of Magical Creatures.
The others just looked at them with an odd look and Luna had a knowing expression on her face...the others knew better than to try and talk to her and ask her what she knows so they just went on ahead and finished their breakfast before heading down to the edge of the forest where Hagrids hut was.
They all were crossing their fingers and toes for Hagrid and his first class, the bumbling man was going to be brilliant they all knew that as long as his nerves did not get the best of him. They were standing for a minute before Hermione and Ginny appeared with a huge grin on their face.
"Morn'in everyone...real treat for today's lesso'n follow me..." As they all walked into a clearing at the edge of the forest they did not know what to expect but everyone seemed genuinely hopeful for Hagrid except for the odd few Slytherins and Justin and his posse from Ravenclaw.
"Ok now...we have a really good lesson in store for you now..." Before anyone could say anything else a large horse type creature with wings appeared and Luna was practically bouncing on the spot at it.
"Oh Hagrid He is beautiful!" He smiled at her and she immediately took two steps forward and bowed in front of the creature and he in turned bowed back. Knowing Luna the way they did all of them smiled at her antics and she immediately walked up to the monstrosity and petted him as he nuzzled into her.
"What exactly is it?" Hagrid stepped towards the class who were slightly distracted by Luna and this gigantic eagle horse beast.
"This is a Hippogriff...his name is Buckbeak and as you saw they are very proud Creatures, Luna bowed before approaching him...anyone else want a go?" Without knowing the whole class took a huge step backward leaving Harry in front of everyone else and Luna was clapping up and down.
"Alright Harry well done..." Scowling at his fellow classmates who could not stop laughing and giggling at him slightly he two two large but apprehensive steps and stood in front of the Hippogriff that looked at Harry like a nice juicy steak. "Now nice deep bow..." Harry bent in the middle and kept one eye on Buckbeak and the other on the ground before he graciously bowed back.
"Good job Harry!" Luna walked right on up to Harry with Buckbeak trailing behind her and he too began to pet the beast. "Let's go for a fly...can we Hagrid?" The mammoth man just nodded and set Harry on his back regardless of his protests and Luna in front before sending him off in a gallop and he spread his magnificent wings before taking flight.
Harry could hear Luna whooping and hollering and the deep breaths of Buckbeak along with the muscles rippling with each beat of his wing and before they knew it they were soaring high into the air well above the castle and it was extraordinary.
"You maybe enjoy flying on a broomstick Harry but this is absolutely amazing much more appealing for me!" He could only nod at Luna as they continued to soar into the air with Buckbeak seemingly enjoying himself as much as his two passengers. He flew closer and closer to the tree line before making a beeline back to where Hagrid and the rest of the class were and landed softly before bowing and allowing his two passengers to slide off with Hagrids help.
"Brilliant lesson Professor Hagrid!" Luna skipped off towards the others whilst Harry turned his back and nodded at his friend.
"I agree you are doing well don't be nervous..." Without warning Blaise Zabini in all his glory sauntered up to Buckbeak Without a Care in the world. "Zabini Stop!" Not heading Harry's warning he chuckled and walked right up leaving just enough time for Buckbeak to rear up and come down on the boys arm.
"Ahhhh...what the bloody hell..." Harry stood above the boy with a small smug smile tugging on his lips.
"Told you to stop...serves you right." Blood at this point started appearing and Hagrid lifted the boy up from the ground and made his way to the castle after dismissing class. Harry just continued petting Buckbeak and smiling telling him what a good boy he was, Hermione came over to him and slapped him on the arm breaking his concentration after the Hippogriff ran off.
"Why are you smiling? This is bad Harry...do you really think Blaise and his posse is going to just get over this?" Truth be told he never even really though about it but knowing Zabini he was not going to give up.
In damper spirits than when they first came down they slowly but surely made their way back up towards the castle and their next class. The first day passed relatively quickly and before the last class Ron and Neville met the others on their way to Potions and could not look Harry in the eye.
"Hey...how was Divination?" They both nodded but just kept looking down at their shoes causing Harry and Draco to look at them in confusion. "Ok what's wrong?" Neville didn't really know how to bring it up but knew he would have before anyone else did.
"Professor Trelawney is even more bat shit crazy than my mother remember that!" The two boys rolled their eyes at Rons response but they all wanted to know why the other two boys were acting weird. "She made some sort of prediction in class about you, apparently you are in real danger of dying this year mate..." At this all of them laughed because they didn't put much stock in Divination.
"That's not much of a stretch someone has been trying to kill me every year...this year with Pettigrew getting out of Azkaban was bound to attach those things together...I am not worried..." The last class of the day was Potions and they slowly but surely made their way to the dungeons where Snape was sitting at the front waiting on them.
"Come on in and sit down...quietly..." All of the children plonked themselves onto the chairs with Hermione and Ginny piling in last looking a little bit out of breath. They took a seat next to their significant other and got out their Potions text as the man stood up to address the class.
"Now as this is your third year we will be starting the journey to your O.W.L's and if any of you dunderheads can get through this process without incident than I will be amazed." The eight soul bonds giggled internally at that earning a glare from the stern man. "Open your text to page fifteen and we will begin..." Zabini had his arm bandaged up at this point and was really milking the whole entire thing.
Pansy Parkinson was cutting up his ingredients and basically doing his work for and again Harry could swear he had seen Severus eyes roll to the back of his head in disbelief. Pretty soon the first day was over and the children were back in their common room after dinner and getting ready to start into their homework.
Silence passed with just the scratching of quill against parchment and soon after that they decided to call it an night and go to bed early. Quidditch teams were holding trials for reserves and spare places on the team the following week so Harry had as much time to spend on Homework. All in all they felt content to be home.
Amelia's investigation into the missing woman from the Ministry was not going anywhere, from what she had discovered from the children of she didn't want to be found she wouldn't be. Now at least they had a name...Amara...according to Harry and Ginny she was to be their magical anchor and they would bind their magic with hers when they met to balance it all out.
The hunt for Lucius Malfoy however was proving more lucrative however as a possible eye witness apparently spotted the man in a small village called Dufftown. As both herself and Dora apparated in along with Sirius in his dog form they were going street to street before branching out into the outer streets.
"Ok Guys eyes peeled and keep your wits about you..." Dora nodded and smiled at her boss before taking three large steps from her and taking in all of her surroundings.
"It's like Mad-eye always says...'CONSTANT VIGILANCE'..." She smirked as they all had split up and went down an individual pathway. Sirius has been walking in his form for half and hour and if he was in his human form he wouldn't have heard it but thankful for his canine ears he spun around and bared his teeth.
He came face to face with a Snow White tiger and knew exactly who it was...Lucius was an animagus and no one knew about it...not even Narcissa. Sirius growled at him and they tiger bared his teeth and charged at the small grim. Knowing he had to try and hold him off for as long as possible then he too charged, they nipped and not and tumbled around one another for the longest time knowing the snarls would grab the attention of Amy and Dora he tried to make as much noise as possible.
Lucius however had Pettigrew in the wings and a red light flew at him and although he managed to dodge it a few times unfortunately for Sirius one unlucky stunner clipped him and sent him soaring into the wall into a crumple and the white tiger took off stopping only to let a rat jump onto his back and they made their way into a forest just as Amy cane running around the corner.
"Sirius...oh my Merlin!" The Animagus transformed back into his human self she tried to do as much healing as she possibly could.
"He is an Animagus...a white tiger...he went that way!" He pointed into the forest and Dora apparated back to the Ministry and brought Kingsley, Weaving, and Stirling to the village and they slowly made their way down into the forest to try and pick up the trail.
Amy apparated Sirius to St Mungos and luckily enough Andromeda was working the emergency shift and had spotted them.
"What happened?" She ushered some of her colleagues to get him into a room and Amelia explained the situation to her and took in the large claws and teeth marks and began her healing ritual leaving Amelia to catch her breath in that moment and send her Patronus to Narcissa to let her know what had happened. It was going to be a long night.
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