Dreaming through Hogwarts
by Healer Pomfrey
Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1!
"Follow me," Amaterasu hissed and slithered ahead through an open door in the wall, which Harry had not even noticed before.
The door led to another large stone room, but when Harry looked around, curiously, he realised that it was equipped with an old looking green sofa, a heavy wooden table and an enormous fireplace. To the left side of the sofa was another door; however, it was closed.
"You want us to lit the fireplace?" Harry queried, giving the basilisk a questioning look.
"Yessssss pleassssssssssse," she hissed back, contentedly stretching out in front of the fireplace as soon as Severus waved his wand to start a fire. "Thank you sssso much," she added. "You're now my Masssster, you're good like Salazzzzzar wassssssss."
"Thank you Amaterasu," Harry replied, smiling, before he asked, "Where doesss thisss door lead?"
"Ahh, through thisss door you'll get to Salazzzar's library and potionssss lab. Feel free to exxxplore them. They now belong to you," the basilisk replied, readily. "Just tell the door to open."
Severus and Harry curiously entered the Founder's private library. The room was not overly big; however, it was cramped with huge bookshelves, which reached from the floor to the ceiling.
"Wow, this is large," Harry blurted out in amazement.
"Yes," Severus replied, excitedly. "It's about half the size of the Hogwarts library; however, the books are one thousand years old. And," he added after a few minutes of closely inspecting the bookshelves, "at least one third of the books seem to be written in Parseltongue."
He carefully chose a couple of books, before he turned to Harry. "I'm going to borrow a few books. Now it's almost time for lunch, and we should return home, before your mother believes that the basilisk might have eaten us. We'll come back and inspect the Potions lab at the next opportunity."
Trying to not let his disappointment show in his face, Harry grudgingly agreed and followed his father out of the library. He said good-bye to Amaterasu and promised to come back and visit her soon.
"Did you bring your broomssss?" the basilisk asked gently, causing Harry to shake his head in surprise. "Maybe you didn't realissse it, but the entrance is too high for a human to walk. Salazzzar alwayssss brought a broom. I'll show you the other entrance. It'sss on the same level asss thessse roomssss."
With that Amaterasu led them to the far end of her own room, which ended with some small steps that led up into fresh air.
"Where are we?" Harry asked, looking around in confusion, before he noticed that they were standing in a small opening surrounded by tall grass near the far edge of the lake.
HP
A few hours later, the three Snapes got ready for the reception at the Ministry of Magic. 'Thank Merlin Mum will come with us too. If we're all together, the attention will be diverted a bit and it won't be too boring,' Harry thought, when he dressed in the clothes, which his mother had laid out for him. 'I wished we were already back from there. I really don't want to go.'
"Harry, are you coming?" he heard his father call for him and hurriedly threw his robes over and stepped out into the living room.
"Yes Dad, I'm here," he replied, quietly.
"Here, drink this," Severus instructed him, handing him a small phial with a lime green potion.
"What is it?" Harry enquired, surprised.
Severus chuckled, and Harry saw that his mother was observing the two of them in clear amusement.
"See I'm drinking the same potion," Severus explained, showing Harry another phial, which he slowly led to his lips. "It's going to cause us to show the symptoms of the Grindylow pox, although we're completely healthy. So don't worry if you're going to get small, light green pustules all over your body. It won't harm us, but it'll give us a brilliant reason to excuse ourselves very early tonight."
"Dad," Harry blurted out, shocked that his father, one of the strictest professors at Hogwarts, was readily playing such a prank at the Minister of Magic. He quickly gulped down the potion, trying not to linger on the foul taste.
"When is it going to wear off?" he asked, watching the small spots appear on his arms.
"In a few hours' time," Severus replied, soothingly. "Now are you ready to go?"
HP
Together with Lily they walked up to Professor Dumbledore's office, and Harry observed in annoyance that the gargoyle's password was now 'Order of Merlin'. 'He really is a meddling old coot,' he mused, absentmindedly entering the Headmaster's office.
"Harry, Severus, what happened to you?" the Headmaster asked in apparent concern, giving them a sharp look.
"It appears that we have both caught the Grindylow pox," Severus explained. "However, Poppy cast a charm on us, so that we're not contagious."
"Well, that's good, but are you well enough to attend the party? You both look feverish."
Severus feigned a sigh, before he replied, "Well, we have to, don't we, in order for Hagrid to receive his trial. We decided that we're going to attend; however, we'll return home in about an hour or two, depending on Harry's condition."
'How can he lie so well?' Harry thought, wondering if his father had at least spoken with Poppy about the matter. 'Dumbledore will surely ask her about this, as it seems very unusual that she'd let us leave with such an illness.'
An instant later, they travelled through the Floo to the public fireplace in the Ministry and just followed everyone else to a huge hall.
"Why are so many people here?" Harry whispered to Severus, terrified.
"I have no idea, Harry," Severus responded. "Maybe others are going to receive the Order of Merlin as well."
However, the two wizards realised soon that the crowd had only assembled to thank them. As the Minister, who was sharing a table with Professor Dumbledore and the Snapes, explained, around three hundred werewolves were gathered to see the Potions Masters, who had already cured them or had promised to heal them during the following months.
The Minister officially awarded them the Order of Merlin fist class, handing each of them a golden medal, which was decorated with a fire phoenix like Fawkes and the inscription 'Order of Merlin First Class'. The plate felt very heavy, and Harry wondered if it was real gold plates that had been used for the medal. However, before he could quietly ask his parents, dinner began, and Fudge introduced the lady in the green one-piece, who was sitting next to Lily, as Ms. Skeeter from the Daily Prophet.
"Mr. Snape, how does it feel to be the youngest wizard, who has ever received the Order of Merlin?" Skeeter queried, while a light green quill automatically moved over a parchment next to her plate.
Harry merely shrugged, casting his father a helpless glance.
"But you must be very proud of yourself," Skeeter continued, apparently disappointed because of his lack of reaction. "Not many children of your age have received any award at all."
"I didn't want it," Harry replied darkly. "It was forced on me by the Minister. I was just lucky that I received the information necessary for brewing this potion. It's not a big deal."
"Ah, you're so sweet and humble," Skeeter cheered, trying to move closer to Harry, who backed up, leaning against his mother's robes.
"Minister, I am sorry, but my son and husband are not well, and I believe that we should return to Hogwarts now," Lily addressed the Minister, who grudgingly agreed, when Professor Dumbledore promised to speak with Ms. Skeeter on Harry's behalf.
tbc...
Thank you all for your kind support during this week.. have a nice weekend! See you tomororw (I hope).