Santa Paws
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to the disclaimer and warnings in chapter 1.
Quickly placing the phial back onto the table, Regina gave Poppy a questioning look. "And?" she asked in obvious excitement.
Smiling, Poppy waved her wand over her colleague five times, before she nodded and said, "Congratulations, Regina. You're a witch now. Your magic is only at approximately six percent now, but I suppose that it'll go up over time and active use of it."
"Oh Merlin, I can't believe it," Regina blurted out, teary-eyed, before she pulled Poppy into a bear's hug, followed by Severus, Harry and Luna. "Thank you all so much for giving me magic," she sobbed. "I'm so happy."
"How?" Poppy enquired, turning to Harry and Severus. "Merlin invented that potion?"
"Exactly," Severus confirmed, smirking. "Fortunately, we, oh well, Harry, is in the possession of his notes and recipes. I hope to be able to find more lost recipes in the near future."
Harry nodded, knowing that they would continue checking Merlin's notes during the summer holidays.
HP
It was late the same evening that Minerva activated her Portkey that took her to the North Pole.
Knowing that Sirius had much time, while she had to get used to being the headmistress of Hogwarts, she asked Sirius in his capacity as the head of the Wizengamot to speak with Bagman and Crouch concerning the Triwizard Tournament.
"If it can't be cancelled anymore, we'll just have to pull through with it; however, if it's still possible, we should cancel it. We don't want to participate in such a dangerous tournament let alone hold it at Hogwarts," she told him in exasperation. "I've no idea what Albus was thinking agreeing to such a thing."
"If it wasn't even his own idea in the first place," Santa said, grimly.
"Perhaps he wanted some more fame," Merlin spoke up, smirking.
"I'll speak with them first thing tomorrow morning and come to your office to notify you right afterwards," Sirius promised.
"Thank you so much," Minerva replied, feeling extremely relieved at the former Gryffindor's assistance. "Albus has left quite some chaos, which I have to clear up, before I'll be able to deal with events such as this tournament."
HP
In the morning, the headline of the Daily Prophet screamed in red letters 'Minerva McGonagall replaces Albus Dumbledore as headmistress of Hogwarts after his dismissal by Harry Potter, the owner of the school and third-year student'.
'While our children were sitting on the Hogwarts Express travelling to their beloved school, a staff meeting took place, in which Albus Dumbledore explained his newest idea for the school. The content is unknown; however, according to the former headmaster it was an event with a purpose solely for the Greater Good – apparently reason enough for Harry Potter to fire Albus Dumbledore…'
"Dumbledore," Harry growled, not even bothering to read the rest of the article.
"They shouldn't print such a thing without even asking the other side," Luna spoke up, frowning.
"Ah, the Daily Prophet is biased anyway," Daphne said, letting out a deep sigh. "Harry, somehow, we should reply to this in any case."
"Don't do anything now," Remus advised them, who was just walking by the Hufflepuff table and had heard their conversation. "I shall write to the Daily Prophet, since I was present at the meeting and witnessed everything."
"Thanks, Professor Lupin," Harry said in relief, casting the former werewolf a grateful smile.
HP
As promised, Sirius stepped into the headmistress' office shortly before lunchtime the following day.
"I spoke with Bagman and Crouch," he informed her, letting out a deep sigh. "Apparently, Minister Fudge is very intrigued about the whole thing and wants it to take place at Hogwarts in any case. On top of it – or perhaps even because of it – they have already charmed the Goblet of Fire, so that it's not possible to cancel the tournament anymore. The three schools are in a magical contract with the Goblet of Fire, so unless someone destroys the Goblet, which is probably difficult, as it's a powerful magical device, the three schools have to compete."
Minerva shook her head in annoyance at the former headmaster. "Thanks for speaking with them, Sirius," she replied, letting out a deep sigh.
"Apparently, the goblet is also charmed to not accept any students under the age of seventeen to put their name in," Sirius added. "That's at least something, but nevertheless, I'm sorry, Minerva."
"Well, we'll deal with it," Minerva replied in determination.
"If there's anything that I can do to assist, you know where to find me," Sirius replied, grinning.
"Are you not going back to the Aurors?" Minerva enquired, giving her former student a sharp look.
Sirius shook his head. "No, I won't. It won't be the same without James at my side, and I will just remain on the North Pole and assist with one or the other task in favour of Hogwarts, the Wizengamot and Santa's workshop. Santa also suggested for me to train the puppies, so that the elves, who have done it so far, could help with other things."
He chuckled before admitting, "I believe that my first job at hand will be making a plan how to instigate a vote of no confidence against Fudge on the Wizengamot."
"A brilliant idea," Minerva agreed, smiling.
With that, Sirius took his leave, and Minerva proceeded to call her colleagues for a much-needed staff meeting.
HP
At breakfast the following morning, Harry once again received a Howler from Molly Weasley.
"Harry Potter, how dare you dismiss the headmaster? You're nothing but an attention-seeking brat who doesn't know what's good for everyone. I don't know how you manipulated people to believe that you were a descendant of the founders and the owner of Hogwarts, but we are paying school fees – and a lot of them – and want the school being led by a proper professor like Albus Dumbledore and not by an attention seeking muggle-raised child like you. If you ever do such a stunt again, I will pull all my children from the school."
Everyone listened until Molly Weasley was finished, before students and teachers alike began to laugh.
"Harry…" the twins leaned over from the Gryffindor table,
"… Please allow us to remain at Hogwarts…"
"… even if we have to sell prank potions…"
"… to pay the school fees," they told him, causing everyone sitting nearby to burst into laughter again.
"Of course," Harry replied, grinning, as he really liked the twins. "I'll assist with the brewing of said prank potions."
HP
During the following months, Harry and Luna spent every evening in the Potions professor's private lab. They first busied themselves brewing the potion that Severus assigned them in preparation for their Potions OWL. Afterwards, Luna returned to the Hufflepuff common room, while Harry assisted Severus with the brewing of potions for the hospital wing.
'Thank Merlin Quidditch practice is now taking place in the mornings; otherwise, I wouldn't be able to play on the team anymore,' Harry thought, when another victory party was taking place in the Hufflepuff common room. Just the same morning, the team had won the Quidditch cup for the third time in a row, and everyone was overjoyed.
On Sunday mornings, Harry spent some time with the twins brewing prank potions after recipes, which he had either received from Severus or found in Merlin's notes. Even if the twins did not have to sell prank potions to remain at Hogwarts – as their father had seen to it – Harry enjoyed being together with them, especially since both of them were very much adept at brewing.
On Sunday evenings, Harry usually met with Draco in the founders' quarters, where they both practised the transformation into their bird forms. Other than these times, he tried to change his limbs every now and then like he had done when trying to become a canine. To his surprise, it took equally long to become a phoenix as it had taken the first time.
"I thought it might get easier for each new form," he admitted to Luna, who cast him a dreamy look and admitted that she was secretly trying to become a phoenix, too.
"I only practise when I'm in bed at night," she informed him, "but I can only change my hands into white feathers by now."
"I'm not much ahead then," Harry consoled her, feeling very happy at the idea of flying over the North Pole together with his girlfriend. 'Maybe I should invite Draco to the North Pole some time,' he resolved.
HP
It was on a Saturday evening in May, when Harry assisted Severus in the potions lab, after everyone had spent the day in Hogsmeade, that Severus suddenly gave Harry a pensive look.
"As you might have seen," he began to speak in a soft voice, "Regina and I had to chaperone the Hogsmeade visit earlier. Do you think it would be possible to bring her with us to the North Pole sometime during the summer holidays?"
"Of course," Harry replied in a firm voice. "I think she'll like it on the North Pole."
Severus nodded, smiling.
"Go on and invite her. I'll inform Dad before the summer holidays," Harry added, feeling very happy for the older wizard to have found someone he wished to spend time with. "She's really nice and will fit into our extended family. It's just too bad that Professor McGonagall and you won't be able to join us the same time anymore."
"Yes, I'm sorry," Severus apologized. "I'll have to take turns with her."
"There's nothing to be sorry about," Harry replied, soothingly. "I still prefer you to be the deputy headmaster over anyone else, even if you have to take turns coming home."
"Thank you, Harry," Severus replied, smiling.
"Oh well," Harry continued, pensively, "perhaps we could ask Professor Flitwick to become the second deputy headmaster and be there at times, when the two of you are away together?"
"Harry," Severus replied in a much stricter voice, "what I tell you now needs to be kept between the two of us please. Minerva knows about it but no one else."
Harry nodded, looking at the older wizard in expectation.
"You know that I have the Dark Mark," Severus continued, giving Harry a questioning look.
"Yes sir. Santa Paws told me," Harry confirmed.
"Ever since you defeated him, the Dark Mark has been light grey, however, recently, it's getting much darker," the professor told him. "Maybe he's going to come back in the near future. So far, I haven't heard anything, but the change in the Dark Mark alone is worrisome. Therefore, I'd prefer Minerva or I to be at Hogwarts at any time. If that threat will be removed sooner or later, which I very much hope will be sooner, I'll gladly agree to have Professor Flitwick assist us."
"I understand," Harry said in comprehension, "and of course I fully agree."
HP
During the second half of his third year, Harry had been so busy that he was surprised, when the test week came and went – and with it his and Luna's Potions OWL exam – and the summer holidays began.
Knowing how large their extended family had become by now, Santa sent Holly with a sleigh to Hogwarts to pick up Harry, Luna, Severus and Regina, Frank, Alice and Neville as well as Professor Sprout, Cicero, Dobby, Santa Star and Santa Paws. Every two weeks, Severus would take turns with Professor McGonagall.
"Are you sure that your father doesn't mind you staying at my place during the summer?" Harry whispered to his girlfriend, giving her a concerned look.
"No dear, he's happy that he could travel to South America to look for some kind of amphibian, of which I forgot the name, without having to worry about me," Luna replied, pleasantly, gently cuddling Santa Paws close. "Are you sure that you don't mind me being with you the whole time?"
"Absolutely certain," Harry whispered and leaned over, gently kissing her lips, before Santa Paws confirmed his consent by licking her face.
Just a moment later, the canine ran to the front of the sleigh impatiently waiting for the reindeer to land.
'It has been much too long since we visited my siblings,' he informed Harry, telepathically.
'Oh well, now we're going to be home for two months,' Harry thought back, feeling very happy at the prospect of spending the whole summer on the North Pole with his extended family.
HP
If Harry had expected his summer holidays to be peaceful and quiet, he was completely mistaken, as his godfather provided more than enough entertainment.
"Harry," he addressed his godson over dinner the first evening. "You know that next to your father, Remus was my best friend, don't you?"
"I might have heard of it," Harry replied, feigning innocence, as he could well imagine the reason for the question.
"You might have heard of the Marauders, haven't you?" Sirius asked, smirking. "Would you please consider letting Remus in on your secret and inviting him here? Please?" he added, giving Harry a puppy-eyed look.
"Feel free to go and bring him here," Harry replied, simply, causing Sirius to stare at him in obvious surprise.
"Why no objections?" he asked, wide-eyed.
"No," Harry replied, shrugging in amusement that intensified, when Sirius jumped up from his seat, dashed to the screen and told it to display the living quarters of the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.
"Moony, can you hear me?" he heard him say a moment later.
"Padfoot?" came the instant reply.
"Yeah, you can't see me, only hear me. Now listen, Moony, I'm going to send a sleigh to pick you up in front of the entrance doors in fifteen minutes. Bring winter clothes. I can't wait to have you here," Sirius shouted, causing everyone to laugh at Remus surprised expression.
"Holly," Harry called his favourite elf, "I'm sorry, but would you mind travelling to Hogwarts once again?"
"Of course not," the friendly elf replied, smiling, and set to leave.
=I'll accompany you,= Santa Paws woofed and dashed behind the elf. 'I like the wolfie. We must teach him to become a dog Animagus,' he thought to Harry in apparent eagerness.
'All right,' Harry agreed, resolving to ask Remus, when the opportunity arose.
HP
Thirty minutes later, Santa Paws dashed into the room again with Holly and Remus in tow, and Harry quickly rose from his chair to introduce Santa, Claire and Merlin to the newcomer, who was staring around in utmost surprise.
"Where are we?" he asked, incredulously, causing everyone to laugh.
"Why on the North Pole of course," Santa replied and swiftly introduced himself and Claire to their newest guest.
"Hey Moony," Sirius spoke up, once Remus had sat down and taken a first sip of his tea, "guess who's going to the Quidditch World Cup this summer?"
"You?" Remus enquired, looking up with apparent interest.
"Me, yes, and everyone here who wants to come. I got twenty tickets," Sirius beamed in obvious happiness.
Harry and Luna immediately decided to accompany the two Marauders just like everyone else in attendance – except for Santa and Claire, who promised Merlin to watch the event on the screen with him.
"Harry, you can still invite some friends," Sirius offered, and Harry resolved to invite some of his friends first thing in the morning.
'Perhaps Daphne, Hermione, Susan, Hannah, Tracey, Draco and the twins. Neville is with us anyway,' he mused.
HP
In the end, it was indeed a group of twenty people plus Santa Paws, Santa Star and Dobby, who left from the North Pole to the area, where the Quidditch World Cup was going to take place. While they used one large Portkey provided by Santa, each of them was wearing their return Portkey around their neck.
"Just in case you feel uncomfortable with so many people there, come back here. Just inform at least one of the others, so that no one will be looking for you," Santa instructed them all, before Sirius activated the Portkey.
The atmosphere in the stadium was amazing to Harry, who had never attended such an event before, and he observed, eagerly, how Victor Krum managed to catch the Snitch – even if it led to the victory of the opposing team.
"Ireland wins…"
"… so, Seamus will be so happy," the twins quipped, causing Harry to cast them a questioning look.
"Ah, one of our third-years…"
"… who's Irish…"
"… and just a bit annoying…"
"… and is often together with that thick headed brother of ours…" the twins informed him, smirking.
It was a few hours after the match, when everyone had just gone to bed in their enormous tent that Santa had provided for them, when Holly suddenly appeared with two other elves and woke everyone up.
"You must activate your Portkeys immediately. Bad people are making fire in the woods," they informed the group, and everyone hurriedly obeyed, knowing not to question Santa's elves.
Safely back on the North Pole, everyone gathered in front of the screen and observed the happenings on the area of the Quidditch World Cup field, where they had been asleep just a few minutes ago, in growing horror that reached its peak, when the Dark Mark was cast brightly into the sky.
"Death Eaters," Severus spoke up in apparent shock. "They're coming back."
Just on time for the Triwizard Tournament to take place," Remus added, seemingly horrified. "A wonderful timing."
"I thought most of them were in Azkaban like my brothers?" Regina enquired, giving Severus a questioning look.
"There are still enough of them out there," Severus replied, letting out a deep sigh.
Severus, I have a question," Santa spoke up, thoughtfully. "Is the Dark Mark you're wearing of any use to you?"
Severus stared at his friend in shock.
tbc...
Thank you so very much for the many kind reviews for the previous chapter. My muse really needs the encouragement, especially if I want the story to be finished by Christmas. Please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you expect from this story. Any ideas or opinions are welcome.
Next chapter: "The Goblet of Fire".