Sensing Magic
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.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, mentioning of abuse, sick!Harry, maybe Dumbledore bashing, not sure yet.

'What is it now?' Severus thought in exasperation, as he grudgingly abandoned his half-finished concoction and headed towards the headmaster's office. 'I don't have time to keep the lemon drop sucking old coot company, just because everyone else has gone to Hogsmeade for the day.'

"Headmaster." He cast the old wizard the friendliest look that he could muster, declining the offered lemon drop with an impatient wave of his hand.

"Severus, I am sorry to disturb you on this fine morning, but I need you to run an errand for me." At least, the old wizard came straight to the point. "Arabella Figg just called me with concerning news."

Severus merely quirked an eyebrow in silent question.

"As you know, she is secretly watching over Harry Potter for me."

Severus inwardly groaned at the mentioning of his childhood archenemy's offspring.

"According to Arabella, his family is not treating him well." Ignoring the fact that Severus rolled his eyes in annoyance, he continued, "which goes so far that the boy seems to be mute and blind. I don't really believe it, considering that he was completely normal, when he was a baby; however, I need you to go and check on the boy. Will you do that for me, my boy? According to Arabella, he is spending the weekend with her, so that today would be a good opportunity."

"Albus." Severus' voice was laced with aggravation and plead at the same time. "I am not a healer. Poppy would be much more competent to assess his condition."

"Alas, I wish you to go and check on him. Considering that you have completed your first healer's degree and have experience with abused children, you are more than qualified for the task."

Severus nodded grimly at the implication of the boy's possible treatment by his relatives. 'Of course, if he sent Poppy, Minerva would hear about it and make a huge ruckus about the child,' he realised.

"Moreover, Poppy would easily bring the boy to Hogwarts, which would not be wise," the headmaster continued. "Only if it is absolutely necessary, you may bring him here. It is important that he continues to live with Petunia."

"Very well." He strode back to his quarters to pocket some potions, which might become necessary, before he stepped through the fireplace right into Arabella Figg's house.

HP

"Severus." The old lady seemed strangely happy to see him. "Thank you so much for coming."

"Mrs. Figg." Severus lightly inclined his head, before he cast the Squib a questioning look.

"Harry is here." She led the way into what seemed to be an old-fashioned living room. A small boy was gingerly sitting on the edge of the sofa surrounded by at least half a dozen cats that were purring under the child's gentle touch.

The boy looked up, when he entered the room behind the old lady, causing Severus to inwardly shiver upon realising that his eyes had completely lost the wonderful colour of Lily's. 'He had her eyes, when he was a baby,' he thought, incredulously. "Mr. Potter." He used the soft voice, which he usually reserved for his homesick first-years.

"He probably doesn't even know his surname." Mrs. Figg shook her head in apparent desperation. "I don't think they called him anything else but freak, which I only overheard by accident. Harry, this is Professor Snape, and he has come to see if he can help you with your eyes and ears."

The small boy did not show any reaction, causing Severus to inwardly sigh. 'This is going to afford all my patience,' he thought, before he addressed the child through telepathy.

'Harry, I am Professor Snape. I was good friends with your mother, and I came to help you. Can you understand me?'

To Severus' surprise, the boy lightly shook his head, and a small voice penetrated his mind. 'I am sorry, Professor, but I am not worth your time. I'm only a freak and an ungrateful brat.'

'Pardon me?' Severus looked from the boy to the old lady in disbelief. 'Who told you that?'

'My aunt and uncle.'

'They are wrong. You are not a freak, but a wizard, just like myself. I have known your aunt, when we were children, and she always detested magic, ever since I told your mother that she was a witch.'

Harry lightly shook his head. 'There is no such thing as magic, and my parents were good-for-nothing drunks.'

For once glad that Harry could not see his expression of pure anger, he thought back in a firm voice. 'No Harry, that's not true. Your parents were wonderful people, and your mother was my best friend." 'He doesn't have to know that his father was just the opposite,' he thought, before he continued. 'Now, will you allow me to check on you and see what we can do to improve your physical condition? I believe that you're a very powerful wizard; otherwise, you would not able to reply to me using telepathy.'

Harry merely shrugged, as he averted his gaze to the floor, banishing the last slight resemblance to James Potter from Severus' mind. 'The poor boy,' the voice at the back of his mind screamed. 'Albus, what have you done?' He was just about to warn the child that he was going to point his wand at him, when he realised that the boy would not be able to see it and fret about it anyway. He swiftly cast a series of diagnostic spells, before his eyes widened in shock – just when a faint voice penetrated his mind.

'Is that magic, sir?'

'That was magic. Could you sense it?'

'It felt tingly.'

Severus nodded. 'As I said, you must be magically powerful. That's good, because you need strong magic to possibly overcome your illness at some stage.'

The boy did not ask the expected question, however, slowly turned his face towards him in silent query.

Instead of explaining his findings, Severus enquired, 'Have you been attending the normal primary school in spite of your condition?'

An expression of sadness crossed the child's face, before he replied. 'No, only Dudley goes to school. Freaks cannot go to school.'

Severus cast the old Squib a horrified look and relayed their conversation to her, before he replied to the child. 'No, Harry, you are not a freak, and you need the same education as any other child.' He remained pensive for a moment, before he made his decision. 'Harry, I would like to take you with me to Hogwarts for the time being. Would that be all right for you?' Seeing the boy's frightened expression, he silently explained about the school, where he had studied magic together with Harry's parents and was a professor now. 'If there is any way to find a cure, it's at Hogwarts. Poppy and I can work on it together, even if I don't have a clue if there's anything we can do to do as much as improve his condition.'

'Thank you, sir. I'd like that very much.'

"Very well," he said as pleasantly as possible, considering the boy's situation as well as his own with the thought 'Albus will surely make me responsible for him' crossing his mind. "Mrs. Figg, when are the Dursleys due to come back?"

"Tomorrow evening."

Severus nodded in understanding. "That will give us some time to assess how to proceed. Please tell them that I have taken Harry with me to Hogwarts for the time being. I shall be back to talk to them tomorrow evening with or without Harry. Now, may we use your fireplace?"

"Of course, Professor. Thank you so much for helping little Harry."

Severus lightly inclined his head, before he stepped over to Harry and carefully reached out for his hand. 'Harry, I'm going to take you with me through the fireplace. Please hold on to my hand tightly.'

The child rose from the edge of the sofa and hesitantly allowed him to take his small hand so he could walk next to him, guided by Severus' slender hand, thinking a word of gratitude to him, when Severus warned him about a step at the edge of the fireplace.

Severus uttered his good-bye to the old lady, who gently patted the boy's shoulder. "Take good care of yourself, Harry. You can fully trust Professor Snape."

Severus noticed sadly that the boy flinched back from the Squib's careful touch, and his anger towards Petunia multiplied. Throwing a bit of floo powder, he said in a firm voice, "Hogwarts, headmaster's office."

He sent soothing thoughts to the child, who seemed clearly shocked, when the sudden movement finally stopped. Holding Harry's hand in a firm grip, he gently guided him out of the fireplace.

HP

"Harry." Albus addressed the boy in apparent surprise, before he turned to him. "You brought him here?"

'Harry, this is Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.'

Albus seemed slightly taken aback, when the boy did not reply at all, and Severus was just about to explain about their telepathic conversations, when Harry's questioning thought penetrated his mind. 'Excuse me, sir, I can sense that there is someone else in this room? I can sense very strong but friendly magic.'

Before Severus could reply, Fawkes began to trill a soothing melody.

#I know that you can sense me. I am Fawkes, the headmaster's familiar. I am a fire phoenix.#

Seeing that a small smile appeared on Harry's face, Severus realised that Harry seemed to be able to hear at least to a certain extent.

HP

'Hello Fawkes,' Harry thought to the phoenix, unsure why he felt safe enough to not only communicate with the kind professor who had been his mother's friend and had come to take him away from his horrible relatives but also to the phoenix. A small smile played on his lips. 'He sounds nice. I wonder what he is though. He must be some kind of animal,' he thought, unbeknownst of the shocked expressions on the professors' faces, when the bird spoke up again.

#I am happy that you can hear me and communicate with me through telepathy.#

"Is Harry able to understand your babbling?" The headmaster sounded surprised.

Harry knew better than to respond, Uncle Vernon's words that a freak should never be heard or seen firmly anchored in his mind.

#He'll probably be a phoenix Animagus, and I can sense that I'm going to be his familiar in the future.# The phoenix, whatever that was, sounded happy, causing Harry to wonder why.

"Is that so?" the headmaster enquired and translated for Professor Snape what Fawkes had told him.

#Yes.#

"Albus, will you please call Poppy and Minerva here if she's already back from Hogsmeade? I want Poppy to check on Harry to confirm my findings, and we need Minerva to discuss how we can best help him."

The professor's voice was firm, however, gentle, and it sounded soothing to Harry's ears. Never before had someone spoken so friendly in his presence, except for Mrs. Figg. In fact, Harry had felt bad for not replying to her, however, he knew that he was not allowed to speak.

'I didn't know that it was possible to simply think to people,' he thought, still surprised at the matter that Professor Snape had brought to his attention earlier.

He sensed more than he heard that two persons entered the office.

"Harry!" It was a female voice that shouted his name in apparent happiness, before it continued in apparent shock. "What happened to the poor child? Look at his eyes."

"Severus, will you please relay to Harry that these are Professors McGonagall and Pomfrey."

Harry recognised the headmaster's voice. 'He sounds like a kind old man,' he thought, however, did not feel comfortable to think to him yet.

'Harry,' Professor Snape's thought penetrated his mind, 'I believe that you're probably well able to hear what the headmaster said; however, I will keep this knowledge to myself if you feel more comfortable making them believe that you don't.'

'Thank you, sir,' Harry thought back, feeling very much reassured by the professor's understanding.

"According to my spells, Harry is suffering from the so-called Epiales disease." The professor spoke to his colleagues, however, in the same soothing voice that he had used before.

While someone let out a gasp, the headmaster enquired, "And what exactly is the Epiales disease?"

This time, it was a female voice that let out a deep sigh and finally responded, "This illness is caused by continuous abuse over a long time, and it affects a person's senses. In the first stages, it is a mere psychological problem, however, as it continues, it can lead to effects as, for example, blindness and muteness in the final stage."

"Albus!" the voice that had spoken to him earlier shouted. "You assured me that Harry was fine! You told me they'd love him and raise him as their own! How dare you leave him in an abusive household. I told you they were the worst muggles I've ever seen!"

Suddenly feeling frightened at the person's anger, even if it was not directed at him, Harry made himself invisible. 'No one wants to see a freak.'

'Harry, are you all right?' Professor Snape's thought was laced with what seemed to be concern, something that Harry had never experienced before.

'Yes sir, sorry sir.'

'There is no need to be sorry, Harry, but don't be afraid. They're angry at the headmaster because of what happened to you, and he fully deserves their anger, because he was the one who placed you with your relatives. These two ladies have always been very fond of you. They often babysat you, when you were a baby, and they love you very much. They'd have loved to raise you themselves.'

"Minerva, stop shouting. You're frightening Harry," the other female voice stated, before she asked, "Considering that one cannot apparate out of Hogwarts, I suppose that he somehow turned invisible?"

"Exactly," Professor Snape confirmed. "He seems to be extremely powerful." 'Harry, will you please make yourself visible again?' When Harry hesitantly complied, instinctively driven by his soft voice, he continued aloud. "Poppy, could you please confirm my diagnosis?"

"Of course." Harry heard the voice mumble something, which he could not understand. However, he felt the same tingling sensation that he had sensed earlier, when Professor Snape had checked on him.

"I'm afraid Severus' assessment was correct. It is the Epiales disease."

"Is there a known remedy?" The headmaster's voice was laced with what seemed to be concern.

'That's impossible. I'm just only a freak whom no one wants,' Harry thought in disbelief.

"No." Harry recognised Professor Snape's voice.

"We must find a way for him to return to the Dursleys'." The headmaster's voice sounded grave, however, caused his colleagues to shout again.

'They're standing up for me,' Harry thought, incredulously, however, instinctively turned invisible again.

'Harry, everything is all right. You will not have to go back to your relatives if you don't want to.'

'Thank you, sir,' Harry replied, however, knew that no one else would want him, considering that he was a freak.

"Albus, if you send him back there, I'm going to head to the Ministry of Magic and accuse you of tolerating child abuse."

'The Ministry of Magic?' Harry wondered. 'Is magic real?'

It was the witch, whom they called Poppy; however, the other woman and Professor Snape immediately voiced their consent.

"Very well. You won." The headmaster finally relented. "However, Severus must become Harry's guardian, and I ask all three of you to find a way for him to properly attend Hogwarts. He must be trained."

"How should we teach him if he can neither hear nor see?" one of the witches asked in clear anger. "Everything is your fault, old man."

"Yes, I am sorry, Minerva." The old wizard replied. "I shall go to the Dursleys and get their signature on the guardianship parchments."

"According to Mrs. Figg, they will only return to their home tomorrow evening," Professor Snape informed the headmaster. "With your permission, I would love to speak with Petunia myself."

"Very well. Thank you, Severus. I will prepare the guardianship parchments for you."

'I'll never have to go back there?' Harry thought in disbelief, for the first time ever since he could remember feeling cautiously happy.

tbc...?

I will only continue posting this story if there is interest. Please tell me what you think of this chapter and what you would like to see in this story. I have not decided if Harry is 8 or 10 at this stage. Any opinions?
A special thanks to my facebook friends for their kind feedback and encouragement!