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, are you able to read Parselscript?" Severus queried in obvious excitement that was very uncharacteristic for the Slytherin head.
"I've no idea if I can read parselscript," Gaoithe replied in surprise. "Why?"
"Oh Severus, let the child get some rest," Minerva spoke up in clear displeasure.
Severus quietly walked around the table and took a seat in his favourite armchair, before he explained, "When I was talking to Salazar, Merlin appeared and had a small discussion with Salazar, who was the one that locked him in several hundred years ago. At that opportunity, he told him that you rescued him and that you spoke with his basilisk, which gave Salazar the idea to tell me about his secret chambers. Apparently, he owns a huge library as well as a well equipped potions lab in his rooms, and he promised that he'd leave all of his works in the library. According to Salazar, there are many books with potions recipes that he invented, and he was just working on a potion which he called the wolfscure potion. I don't know if he managed to finish it, but if he did, it would be extremely interesting for us."
"The wolfscure potion?" Minerva threw in with interest. "Is that a cure for lycanthropy?"
"That's what he intended to invent," Severus replied with excitement. "There's only one problem. All of his books and recipes are written in parselscript, because he didn't want anyone of his own time to be able to steal his inventions. That's why I'd like to know if Goaithe is able to read his writing."
"Let's go and try it out," Gaoithe said readily and jumped from his seat.
"No," Minerva threw in firmly. "It's already bed time, and you really need your sleep. The books will still be there tomorrow."
"That's right," Severus agreed immediately, although it was obvious that he couldn't wait to explore the library as well as the potions lab. "We'll go tomorrow when you're finished with your homework."
Gaoithe groaned. 'Can you help me with my Transfiguration homework, Dad?' he asked telepathically. 'I'm too stupid for that.'
Severus smirked. "Gaoithe, I can help you with Potions or Defence, but I've never been good at Transfiguration and Charms. However, I'm sure that Minerva wouldn't mind giving you an extra lesson in Transfiguration if you needed it."
Gaoithe groaned inwardly, especially as he felt himself blushing. "I'm sorry, but I have problems with the spell we learnt yesterday," he said in a low voice, averting his eyes to his perch, where Yuki and Fawkes were quietly cleaning each other's feathers.
"Gaoithe," Minerva spoke up in a soft voice. "Do you want me to help you with the spell tomorrow after the last afternoon class?"
"Yes please," Gaoithe whispered, unaware of the glance that Minerva and Severus exchanged.
'He is still afraid to fail,' Severus thought to Minerva. 'We need to teach him that no one can excel in every subject.'
Minerva unobtrusively nodded, before she motioned for the boy to get ready for bed.
風の力を持つハリー
With Minerva's help, Gaoithe managed to properly cast the spell by dinnertime, and since he had already done his other homework in between his classes, he urged his father to go to Salazar's rooms right after dinner.
"How do we get into Salazar's chamber?" Severus queried when they left the Great Hall together.
"I can flash us. Professor Pomfrey finally allowed me to transform," Gaoithe replied eagerly. "We can flash to Amaterasu, the basilisk."
"To the basilisk?" Severus stopped dead in his tracks. "Gaoithe, people die if they look into the eyes of a basilisk."
"Oh, I didn't know that," Gaoithe replied in shock. "But she was Salazar's familiar. Is he a snake Animagus? But Amaterasu told me that he used a different exit when he was in his human form."
Finally, the two Snapes flashed to Merlin and spoke with Salazar about the matter. The Founder told them that he used to cast a spell over the whole school and the grounds that made everyone within immune against the basilisk's deadly look. He taught Severus the spell and advised him to cast it from a certain spot behind the lake, from where it was possible to oversee the whole area.
"That's near the entrance to your quarters, isn't it, sir?" Gaoithe queried.
"Exactly," Salazar confirmed and explained how they could get to the library, once they entered his rooms. "If you have any questions, just ask Amaterasu. She knows her way around my chambers well."
Severus and Gaoithe profusely thanked the Founder, before they closed the book and flashed to the lake, where Severus cast the spell on Hogwarts that he had just learned from Salazar. 'I just hope this works,' Gaoithe mused, before he hesitantly flashed them into the chamber. He hurriedly transformed into his basilisk form, unsure how Amaterasu would react upon seeing two human beings intruding her home. However, the basilisk was nowhere to be seen.
"Maybe she went into the forest to hunt," Severus said when Gaoithe transformed into his human form and shrugged. The two Snapes slowly walked through the chamber, looking for a spot in the wall that held a slightly different colour from the rest of the stone wall. Finally, Severus pointed to the wall. "These stones are lighter than the others and they have the form of a door," he said eagerly. "Can you try to open it?"
"Open Salazzar'ss lair," Gaoithe hissed and held his breath in excitement, looking at his father in disbelief when the stones moved and rearranged themselves to a door sized opening in the wall. They hesitantly walked through and ended up in a living room. Like in their own quarters, the room was built around a huge fireplace. One side of the room was furnished with very old but comfortable looking chairs in different shades of green as well as a heavy oak table; the other side was equipped with a desk, a single chair and a bookshelf.
"Is that your friend?" Severus suddenly asked, pointing to the fireplace, where Amaterasu was curled up, hissing at the professor in a low voice.
Gaoithe could only understand "Cold."
He hurriedly transformed into his basilisk form and said, "Hello Amaterassu. I wasss wondering where you were. Are you cold?"
"Yesss. Thisss heater hasss not been working for a long time, and it'sss alwaysss cold," Amaterasu hissed back. "It'sss nice of you to visit me though. Whom did you bring?"
"That'ss my father, Severuss," Gaoithe introduced Severus and explained that they wanted to get a look at the library.
"You musst move the bookshelf to the ssside. Just tell it to move," Amaterasu informed him gently.
Gaoithe thanked her profusely, before he translated for his father and asked Severus if it was possible to light the fire in the fireplace.
"We can try," Severus replied and motioned for the basilisk to come out of the fireplace for a moment, before he waved his wand, causing a fire to lit.
"Thank you sssso much," Amaterasu hissed in delight and slithered back into the fireplace.
Only now Gaoithe realised that the fire only covered half of the huge fireplace, while the other half seemed to have been built for the basilisk to relax. 'That's why it's so huge,' he mused and hissed at the bookshelf that obediently moved to the side, revealing a huge library that was filled with bookshelves from the floor to the ceiling. Gaoithe and Severus spent the following two hours skimming the bookshelves that were filled with old books, which were partly written in medieval English, partly in Parselscript. 'This seems to be the potions shelf,' Gaoithe realised, pulling several thin books in Parselscript from the shelf. 'I just hope I'll be able to translate these,' he thought, handing the small pile of books to his father.
"Ah, I believe that's what we're looking for. Let's take them with us. There are many more of them," Severus said in excitement as he pocketed the books. "Now, where's the potions lab?"
Gaoithe glanced around. There were only bookshelves that were merely interrupted by a few windows, apparently charmed windows, providing a view into the lake. "I'll ask Amaterasu," he offered and hurried back to the living room. The basilisk explained chuckling that they had to move the third shelf on the left of the door into the room, so that they could move the next three shelves on the right side to the left until the last shelf lead to the potions lab.
"He certainly protected his private lab well," Severus smirked as he waved his wand at the shelves. "But it was worth the effort," he added in absolute amazement as they entered the large room that had about the size of the Potions classroom.
The room held an enormous table with six work stations, six sinks on one wall, shelves with empty phials and dozens of cauldrons in different sizes on the opposite wall and huge shelves with ingredients and potions on the farther part of the room.
Severus strode to the ingredients shelf, and Gaoithe noticed that his father seemed very impressed by Salazar's lab. He interestedly followed him to the ingredients shelf and half-way though the room suddenly realised that it was much colder than before. Salazar's rooms were about as cool as the dungeons; however, this part of the potions lab was at least ten degrees cooler. "It's cold here," he voiced, slightly shivering.
"Yes, it's like a fridge," Severus replied absentmindedly as he closely examined a few ingredients. "Gaoithe, these ingredients are worth several millions of Galleons," he finally said. "There are several kinds of herbs and plants, which we don't have here in our time. They are as fresh as they were one thousand years ago because Salazar charmed the room to be so cold."
"Dad, do you think we could try to plant a few of them and grow them? For example, in the herb garden on the roof?" Gaoithe suggested, noticing that his father's excitement seemed to be contagious. "You could make much money selling these ingredients or even potions using them."
"We'll try," Severus agreed and carefully chose twenty different herbs. He charmed them to remain fresh for twenty-four hours, before he pocketed them and gave Gaoithe a contented nod. "We'll plant them out tomorrow, and we can come back here at another time. I think it's nearly curfew, and Minerva will have a fit if I don't bring you back in time."
Gaoithe chuckled, and father and son quickly left the Founder's chamber, each of them deep engrossed in his thoughts about potions, recipes, ingredients and what other possibilities the Founder's lair held. "I have an idea," Gaoithe suddenly blurted out, just when they stepped out onto the grounds again.
"And what might that be?" Severus queried as they walked over the grounds towards the entrance door.
"I could make the door from Merlin House lead straight into the potions lab," Gaoithe blurted out, before he became thoughtful and corrected himself. "No, that wouldn't help you, right? You wouldn't want to walk into the common room in order to access Salazar's rooms. I'm sorry; that wasn't a good idea. Um... Dad?" Seeing that Severus looked at him questioningly, he asked hesitantly, "May I care for the herbs? And could I perhaps do it together with Neville? He's very interested in Herbology and he knows a lot about plants. And I feel somehow bad that I didn't have time to tutor him in Potions during the last few weeks."
Severus raised an eyebrow, while he held the entrance door open for Gaoithe to step through. "I believe that you're helping him quite a lot in class. I don't mind the two of you looking after the herbs, if that's what you want. Let's go to Professor Pomfrey and ask her if we may borrow him for an hour now, even if it's already after curfew."
Gaoithe groaned in annoyance. "She'll never allow that," he sighed. "Can't we plant them tomorrow?"
"No Gaoithe, I don't know if they'd survive the night. You don't have to come if you're too tired though," Severus gave back, smirking.
"Of course not," Gaoithe replied and eagerly followed his father upstairs to the hospital wing. To his surprise, his head of house agreed immediately.
"Of course, Severus," she replied when Severus hurriedly gave her a short version of their evening's adventure, "and Gaoithe, I think that it's a wonderful idea to involve Neville in this. He can well need a bit of encouragement. Severus, I trust that you will send the boys to bed early enough."
"Of course," Severus promised and motioned for Gaoithe to fetch Neville, who was very excited at the unexpected invitation.
A short while later, the three wizards climbed up the narrow staircase that led to the herb garden on the roof. Severus had brought an old tome, in which he showed the boys the ingredients that he had taken with him from the chamber. "There are more ingredients, but I only brought those, of which I am sure how to use them and how to grow them. Maybe if Gaoithe manages to translate some of the potions recipes, we'll need some of the others as well," he said thoughtfully and showed the boys how and where to plant the herbs, before he explained in detail how they had to care for the respective plants.
"Gaoithe is going to translate recipes from Salazar Slytherin?" Neville asked in surprise, suddenly becoming very excited. "Professor, did the people in the time of the Founders already know the Cruciatus curse?" he asked hesitantly.
Severus remained thoughtful for a moment, before he admitted, "I am not sure. Mr. Longbottom, I suggest that we go and speak with Professor Slytherin tomorrow evening. We can ask him, and in case a potion exists that would be able to help your parents, be assured that I will brew it."
'Neville's parents?' Gaoithe mind thought to his father, who thought back, 'Later.' When they were finished with their task, the three wizards remained in the garden on the roof for a short while to observe the Giant Squid play in the lake that was beautifully lit by the nearly full moon. "Dad, this is gorgeous," Gaoithe said, yawning, causing Severus to smirk.
Unbeknownst to Gaoithe, Minerva and he had spent at least an hour on the roof last night to enjoy the moonlight, while the boy had been peacefully asleep. When they finally turned back to the narrow staircase, Neville and Gaoithe agreed to study Severus' book about the herbs that they had just planted as soon as they were finished with their homework the following day.
"That's a good idea, and on your way back to Merlin House I shall accompany you and we'll see Professor Slytherin," Severus threw in appreciatively.
"Professor," Neville asked in a barely audible voice, "would it perhaps be possible to speak with Professor Slytherin now?"
Severus glanced at his wrist watch. It was quite late. However, a look into the boy's face that held an expression full of hope, he softened and grudgingly agreed. "Gaoithe, please go to bed. I'll be back shortly," he said and quickly informed Minerva as they crossed the living room.
"Good luck," Minerva replied, smiling, and Gaoithe noticed in surprise that she seemed to become slightly excited too; however, he did not ask and quietly got ready for bed, smiling when Minerva came into his room to wish him good night. Minerva sat on the edge of his bed and enquired, "How was your day, Gaoithe? I assume that it was very exciting."
"Yeah, but I loved it, especially the potions lab in Salazar's rooms. On one side, there are several sinks, and above the sinks are charmed windows... No, the whole width of the room is one large window," he thoughtfully corrected himself, "that shows the lake, and the Giant Squid was playing there; it was great fun. And we saw her again tonight from the roof. The lake looked gorgeous in the moon light."
"It really does," Minerva agreed, smiling as she recalled the previous night. "But I think it's time for you to sleep. Good night, Gaoithe." She placed a kiss on his forehead and carefully tucked him in, before she quietly left the room.
'She really is like a mother,' Gaoithe thought happily as he drifted off to sleep, still wondering what Neville and his father wanted from Salazar and if the Founder would be able to help them. 'I hope he can help him. I really like Neville.' By the time his father came back, he was fast asleep, dreaming of taking a moonlight bath in the lake together with the twins.
風の力を持つハリー
When Gaoithe woke up in the morning, the thought of going swimming during the night was still in front of his mind. At breakfast, he quietly told his housemates about his idea, causing everyone to enthusiastically nod their agreement.
"It's really time to do something like that," the twins spoke up. "We've been so boringly good recently."
"And what if they catch us?" Hermione queried. "How do you think we'll be able to get around that tortoise?"
"Well, they're welcome to assign a collective detention," the twins chuckled. "Gaoithe's father has to gather quite an amount of dirty cauldrons to make twenty people serve detention."
"I know how we can get around the tortoise," Gaoithe whispered. "Fawkes, Yuki and I can flash everyone, and Fred and George can fly anyway. Shall I ask Nina to prepare a picnic for us?"
Everyone agreed and headed to their respective classes, eagerly awaiting the evening. After their last afternoon class, Neville kept Gaoithe back. "Gaoithe, can we do our homework together, before we begin studying the plants' book? I'd love to speak with you in private about something."
Only now Gaoithe remembered the previous evening's conversation between Neville and his father. "Of course. Let's go to my room."
"Are you sure that your father and Professor McGonagall won't mind?" Neville asked shyly, causing Gaoithe to smile.
"Of course not. They always tell me that it's my home and that I can invite whom I want," Gaoithe replied, curious to hear what Neville had to tell. After listening to Neville's story he felt very sorry though. "And Salazar said that he had a potion to help your parents?" he asked eagerly.
"Yes, probably. Your father said we should go and speak with him again tonight and bring the books, which you borrowed from his library. Salazar promised to try to help you find that specific recipe, so that you can translate it if you don't mind and your father can brew the potion," Neville said with a hopeful expression on his face.
"Oh cool. Shall we go right away?" Gaoithe suggested.
"No, we must finish our homework first," Neville said hesitantly, "and we promised your father to study his book about the herbs."
"Oh well, let's hurry up then," Gaoithe grudgingly agreed, and the two boys worked so hard on their homework that they had everything that was due on the following day done by dinnertime.
'Dad, shouldn't we go and speak with Salazar, before we work on the herbs?' he mind thought to Severus at dinner.
'We can do that. Let's meet at home straight after dinner,' Severus agreed, and Gaoithe informed Neville telepathically, smiling when his friend cast him an excited look.
However, their visit with the Founder was not very efficient. Salazar meticulously skimmed the books that Gaoithe had brought with him, before he shook his head. "No, it's not in one of these. There are at least a dozen other books, and the potion is quite at the end of the book. I'm sorry that I'm not able to accompany into my library. If you fetch the other recipe books, I'll help you search again."
"I'll flash there and get the books," Gaoithe offered and flashed into Salazar's library with Neville in tow, while Severus remained with the Founder. However, as much as Gaoithe and Neville searched, they couldn't find any other books with potions recipes. It was nearly curfew, when they returned to Salazar and Severus in frustration.
"Excuse me, sir, but there aren't any other books with potions recipes," Gaoithe said, his voice laced with disappointment and accusation.
"Well, my library is not a place for children to play," Salazar sneered. "Severus, I'd like to continue our conversation at another time."
"Very well," Severus said and obediently closed the book. "I'm sorry, Mr. Longbottom. We'll see if Professor Slytherin will be in a better mood tomorrow. Let's go to the chamber again after the last afternoon class."
"Slytherin was very rude," Gaoithe said quietly, feeling extremely sorry for Neville, who returned to his dormitory in disappointment. 'I must cast a silencing spell around my room, so that Dad and Minerva won't hear my alarm clock at midnight,' he remembered when he scrambled into bed a few minutes later.
風の力を持つハリー
Gaoithe quickly turned off his alarm clock and listened if he could hear Severus and Minerva talking in the living room. However, no sound came through the half-open door. 'Maybe they're already in bed, or Dad is brewing in his lab,' he thought in relief and transformed into his phoenix form. He flashed into his dormitory in Merlin, where he woke up his roommates, before he called Fawkes and Yuki.
The two phoenixes arrived on the perch next to his bed, giving him curious looks. #What's wrong, Gaoithe?# Fawkes queried, quickly exchanging a happy kiss with Yuki.
#We need you to flash all Merlin students out to the lake for a midnight swim,# Gaoithe explained. #I'll help you of course.#
#Oh Gaoithe, didn't you write enough lines and clean enough cauldrons recently?# Yuki asked in exasperation, while Fawkes let out a few excited trills.
Ten minutes later, the twenty-four students were assembled near the lake, where Nina and Tony, who was her best friend and bonded with Fawkes, had prepared a picnic for the group. The friends thanked the kind elves profusely and took a few bites here and there from the buffet, before they decided to go swimming first.
"That was a great idea, Gaoithe," Oliver commended him. "Let's play Aquaquid!"
Everyone agreed, and they quickly formed three teams, deciding to try playing the game with three teams, so that everyone except for Hermione, Susan and Neville could play, who weren't keen on playing and decided to rather referee the game. Oliver and Marcus, two of the four oldest students in Merlin House, conjured the balls, which they needed for the match, and Susan motioned for everyone to get ready.
Gaoithe and his friends had so much fun with their game that they weren't only completely oblivious of the time, but they also forgot to keep their voices at bay. Even if the moonlight lit the lake, it was difficult to see the Snitch. It was nearly two o'clock in the morning, when Gaoithe, who played Seeker against Cedric and Marcus, finally caught the Snitch, and his friends began to splash and shout in excitement. Unfortunately, this commotion didn't remain unheard.
Minerva and Severus once again spent a while in the herb garden on the roof to enjoy the quiet night and the soft light of the nearly full moon. Sitting on a bench with the back to the lake, they had registered that the Giant Squid seemed to be making a whole ruckus that night. However, all of a sudden, the words, "Gaoithe has caught the Snitch!" travelled through the night, and shouting and laughter began to accompany the wild splashing of water.
The two teachers exchanged a surprised look, before they slowly released each other from their embrace and stood up to get a look at the grounds.
"Oh no, don't tell me the whole Merlin house is assembled outside," Severus groaned in annoyance. "Gaoithe should know better than to play Aquaquid during the night."
"What do you want to do?" Minerva queried. "Shall we head out onto the grounds?"
"No," Severus replied thoughtfully and smirked. "Let's not punish them now. Let them believe that they remained unseen. However, we're going to have a pop quiz day tomorrow. Can you imagine how the Merlins must regret their nightly adventure if they come to class and find out that they have to do tests in all of their classes?"
"You're evil," Minerva replied, chuckling. "Let's do that. We can discuss the matter with our colleagues during breakfast. Shall we go to bed, or do you want to wait for Gaoithe to come home?"
The teachers decided to go to bed, nearly two hours before Gaoithe came home and collapsed on his bed in exhaustion after flashing everyone back to their dormitories together with Yuki and Fawkes.
風の力を持つハリー
In the morning, all Merlin students appeared at breakfast, although many of them were missing one sock or were wearing their robes inside out. However, knowing from the experience of their last nightly party that they didn't want to attract the attention of their Head of House, everyone somehow managed to eat a little breakfast, and no one said a word to the uncharacteristically silent Merlins.
Gaoithe's first morning class was Transfiguration, and just like his housemates, he looked at Minerva in shock, when she announced that they were going to have a pop quiz. 'Oh no! Couldn't she choose any other morning?' he thought in annoyance. 'Thank Merlin, it seems to be somehow manageable though,' he realised in relief. However, when Professor Flitwick made them take a pop quiz in their second morning class, they began to wonder if it was by chance, and when Severus strangely had the same idea for their first afternoon class, the Merlins began to believe that the teachers had somehow found out about their party. However, the worst punishment was yet to come during their last afternoon class.
風の力を持つハリー
In the last afternoon class, the whole Merlin House together had their Healing class. As usual, Professor Pomfrey gathered the whole class around the dummy and made everyone cast a diagnostic spell. This time, however, she instructed everyone to write their diagnostics as well as a possible method of treatment on a parchment. Normally, as soon as they had found out what was ailing the dummy, she divided the students into four or six groups and taught them the necessary Healing spells. On this day, however, she told them that she wanted to know if they remembered what they had learned in her class so far. In fact, it was fairly easy to make a diagnosis, because the dummy was continuously throwing up every other minute. Nevertheless, the students busied themselves casting diagnostic spells, while others casted cleaning spells at the dummy and its surroundings. However, to the sleep deprived students, who had stuffed their bellies with all kind of delicacies during the night, the sight and the smell were so disgusting that half of the group was feeling outright sick half-way through the class.
"Excuse me, Professor..."
"... is this disease contagious?" the twins approached Pomfrey.
"I don't think so," the professor replied, smirking, "but that's for you to find out. Why, are you feeling unwell, Messrs. Weasley?"
"Oh no, we're fine," the twins hurried to assure their head of house.
"Uh, that was disgusting," Gaoithe said to Neville when they walked down to the dungeons, glad that their classes were over for the weekend. 'I wished we could go straight to bed, but we have to speak with Salazar,' he thought, knowing that the matter was very important for his friend.
風の力を持つハリー
Yuki flashed the three wizards to the dormitory, where they could speak with Salazar, and this time, the Founder admitted that books with dangerous potions or those to cure dangerous curses were charmed to remain invisible to children under the age of sixteen. "I'm afraid that you have to collect the books," he told Severus.
'Couldn't he have said so right away?' Gaoithe mused in annoyance as he flashed Severus to Salazar's library. While his father was skimming the shelves for potions books written in parselscript, Gaoithe headed into the living room and transformed into a basilisk to spend the time with Amaterasu. "Did Salazzzar tell you in the passt that we managed to read him out of a book in our time?" he asked curiously, wondering if Salazar was a real human, who could react to what they said to him in the past or if he was more or less an image than those on the portraits that were decorating the walls all over Hogwarts.
"No, it'sss a long time ago, but I don't remember such a thing," Amaterasu replied thoughtfully. "Tell him that I love him and missss him terribly. Maybe he can come and visssit me here."
"Gaoithe, I believe that's all. Shall we flash back?" Severus' voice pulled him out of his conversation, and Gaoithe quickly excused himself and flashed back with Severus, knowing that Neville was waiting for them to return.
It took a while until Salazar had skimmed the books, and by the time he had found the recipe, Gaoithe and Neville were already fast asleep in their chairs. Severus sighed and instructed Yuki to flash Neville into his dormitory, before he asked the Founder if he could just tell him the ingredients, which were needed, so that he could make sure that he had everything necessary in stock. "Gaoithe can translate the recipe in the morning."
"Very well," Salazar agreed and listed up the ingredients, which Severus wrote on the parchment.
"Sheep fern?" he suddenly asked, interrupting his writing. "And moon berry leaves? I have never heard of these two. We probably don't have them in our time."
"Both are quite common plants," Salazar explained. "Maybe you'll find some in my lab; otherwise I can't tell you where you can get them. In our time, the moon berry leaves grow in the forest, and the sheep fern I buy from someone in Hogsmeade."
Severus thanked the Founder profusely and closed the book, before he pocketed his notes and Salazar's books and asked Yuki to flash Gaoithe and him straight into Gaoithe's bedroom. 'Such a flop,' he thought in disappointment. 'I had hoped to be able to help Alice and Frank. She was Lily's best friend.' He let out a long sigh, shaking his head in annoyance, knowing fairly certainly that he had not seen these ingredients in Salazar's lab.
An instant later, Gaoithe was lying in his bed, and Severus quickly transfigured his clothes into pyjamas and tucked him in, before he headed out into the living room, where Minerva was already impatiently waiting for Severus and Gaoithe to come home. Severus quickly told her what happened, and the Transfiguration professor glared at him.
"You sent both children to bed without dinner?" she asked in disbelief.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but we completely forgot about dinner. I don't think the boys remembered it either. Now I'm going to visit Pomona and Hagrid. Maybe one of them has heard of any of these plants."
Unfortunately, neither of his colleagues could help him, since they had never seen or heard of the plants. Nevertheless, Gaoithe used his free time on Saturday morning to translate the potions recipe. Although he could perfectly understand and also speak Parseltongue, it was a very different matter to translate a recipe.
"Very well done, Gaoithe," Severus commended him, eyeing the recipe with interest. "You should do something about your hand writing though. It's atrocious."
"I'm sorry," Gaoithe apologized, sighing inwardly.
"Gaoithe, I'd love to check Salazar's lab, just in case the missing ingredients are there, although I didn't see them the other day. Will you accompany me?"
Gaoithe agreed; however, Severus had been correct, and they found neither of the two ingredients.
"We could ask Merlin," Gaoithe suggested.
"What would that help?" Severus enquired, quirking an eyebrow. "Remember that he has been locked into that dungeon like room for nearly one thousand years, although we still don't know a reason. And even a ghost is not able to travel back in time."
"Travel back in time," Gaoithe suddenly blurted out. "That's it!" He quickly explained what the tortoise in the Merlin common room had told him about visiting Helga Hufflepuff from time to time. "We could ask her, although she is very strict and a bit strange."
Severus let out a thoughtful "Hmmm. Do you have to be in your tortoise form to speak with her, or would I be able to communicate with her as well? Maybe she will be a little more forthcoming if I speak with her."
"I'm not sure, but as I said she's a bit strange. We can go together, or you can speak with her in Professor Pomfrey's office, where the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff can translate for you. Apparently, she is a tortoise Animagus."
Right after lunch, Severus accompanied Poppy into her office and spoke with the tortoise, accepting the help of the portrait that overlooked the hospital wing.
=Of course I know how I can visit my best friend; however, only a real Merlin will be able to walk the same way,= the tortoise informed him curtly.
'Arrogant git,' Severus thought but asked in the softest voice he could muster, "Would you be willing to teach my son or one of his friends the way then?"
=Your son or his friends? The greatest rule breakers Merlin House has ever seen?= the tortoise asked in clear displeasure.
"Severus, why do you need to travel into the past?" Helga asked kindly, having known Severus from when he was eleven years old. Hearing the Potions Master's explanation, she turned to the tortoise, "Alexa, please visit me in the past as fast as you can and receive these two potions ingredients from Salazar. Do you think you can carry them, or do you prefer to take one of the students with you?"
=I'll take Merlin with me; better him than one of those rule-breaking lazybones,= the tortoise replied in a huff. =I'll go, but it's only for you, Helga.=
"Thank you, Alexa. You're a good friend," Helga replied gently. "Severus, I'll contact you through Poppy as soon as they come back with the ingredients."
Severus profusely thanked the Founder and returned home, knowing that Minerva and Gaoithe were waiting for him in order to make a short family trip.
風の力を持つハリー
"Where are we going to go?" Gaoithe asked in surprise when Severus called him out into the living room and held out an inflatable starfish. While Severus was away, Minerva had already told him that they were going to make a weekend trip and had asked him to pack what he wanted to take with him. Unbeknownst to Gaoithe, she had added his swimming trunks and his Snitch and taken out the book with Salazar's recipes from the small bag that he had packed. Not really expecting a reply, he held on to the starfish together with Minerva and Severus, and Severus mumbled the activating password for the Portkey. Gaoithe felt a strange pull behind his navel, before the world turned around and he suddenly found himself on a beach.
"Wow, this is too cool," he blurted out, eyeing the blue sea in awe.
"I'm glad it is to your liking," Severus smirked and explained, "Last night, while you went to bed before dinner like a toddler, Minerva and I became engaged, and when we informed our colleagues at dinnertime, they had nothing better to do than to arrange a spontaneous family weekend for the three of us. Apparently we're in Ibiza Island in Spain."
"You became engaged?" Gaoithe asked in amazement. "Wow, that's really cool. Congratulations!"
"Thank you, Gaoithe," Minerva said warmly. "I'm glad that you don't mind."
"Why would I?" Gaoithe asked in surprise. "I'm so happy to have a real family now."
Minerva pulled Gaoithe into a light hug, before she leaned over and kissed Severus, causing Gaoithe to chuckle.
"How about we go into our rooms and change and come back to play Aquaquid?" Severus suggested, pointing to a huge area further up the beach that was separated by a high blue net.
"The choice of this resort must have been Rolanda Hooch's doing," Minerva said, shaking her head. "She has been bothering the five heads of the houses for months to allow the students to have an Aquaquid tournament for all houses, but so far we never agreed because we can't play ourselves and none of the houses except for Merlin has ever practised."
However, a few hours later, the two professors were as enthusiastic about Aquaquid as Gaoithe and his housemates and decided to once again discuss the topic with the other heads of house and if possible arrange for an Aquaquid tournament besides Quidditch during the next school year.
Apart from the meals, which they took in the dining room of the hotel, the small family spent the whole day and evening on the beach or in the lukewarm water. In the evening, Gaoithe decided to give Minerva and his father some time alone. He entered the shallow water and transformed into a dolphin, having much fun swimming and splashing in the sea, while the two professors took a long walk along the shore. 'I wonder if they'd mind if I stayed here the whole night,' Gaoithe mused as he relaxed in the water, far enough from the beach to be out of the way of the people who were swimming and playing but still in sight of the beach. 'They'd be very worried about you,' a small voice at the back of his head told him, and Gaoithe returned to the beach as soon as it became dark, feeling very happy to have parents who were willing to worry about him.
風の力を持つハリー
They only returned to Hogwarts late on Sunday evening. While Severus and Minerva headed to their respective Houses to check on their students, Gaoithe readied himself for bed and read a bit in one of Salazar's recipe books, while he was waiting for the professors to return.
"Minerva, Dad, thank you so much for taking me with you this weekend. It was absolutely great," he said when they came into his room.
"You're welcome, Gaoithe. Now sleep well," Minerva replied warmly, while Severus gently tucked him in.
However, Gaoithe was not able to sleep quickly. As soon as his parents had left his room, leaving the door slightly ajar, Merlin swept into the room. "Ah, Gaoithe, it's good that you're back. I need you to help me with that old, stubborn tortoise. She's driving me crazy, because she doesn't want to understand me. Can you translate for me?"
Gaoithe sighed. "Yes, but only tomorrow. Not now, because she would give me away to my head of house, and it's already after curfew."
Merlin agreed and asked Gaoithe to come to the common room before breakfast. 'I wonder if that's about the ingredients the two of them were supposed to fetch from the Founders,' Gaoithe mused as he drifted off to sleep.