Avian Anarchy
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling or Disney, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, magically powerful Harry. Dumbledore/Weasley bashing.
'Oh God, he will kick me out of his lab now. I shouldn't have asked that,' Annika thought, as he anxiously observed the professor for a reaction.
However, Severus seemed frozen on the spot. He remained quiet for a moment, before he seemed to get a grip on himself and quirked an eyebrow. "In contrary to muggles, witches and wizards have a much longer lifespan and are well known to live for about two hundred years. Therefore, I believe that an age difference of, let's say twenty years, is close to nothing." He gave her a sharp look. "Here at Hogwarts, however, relationships between teachers and students are strictly forbidden if that's what you're asking."
Annika nodded in understanding, somehow feeling glad about the professor's reaction. While he did not show any emotion, at least, he did not kick her out. 'It could have been much worse,' she reassured herself, as she continued to carefully prepare the ingredients.
She inwardly sighed in absolute relief, when Madam Pomfrey struck her head through the door, providing a welcome distraction. "Oh, you have company. Anyway, it's lunchtime, and I expect to see you in the Great Hall shortly. Both of you. Ms. Evans, you should know better than to miss lunch."
Severus gave her a sharp nod. "We will be there. Please give us five minutes to finish up here." Turning to Annika, he added, "Ten snakes for your assistance this morning, Ms. Evans."
"Thank you, sir." Annika somehow felt extremely happy at the kind gesture that told her that he at least was not upset by her question.
'I'll go and join the others at Hogsmeade,' she decided and, instead of entering the Great Hall behind the professor, headed out onto the grounds – only to collide with Luna, who came rushing towards the entrance doors.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was in thoughts," Annika apologized.
To her surprise, Luna cast her a broad smile. "That's all right. I hope he'll get around eventually."
Annika's eyes narrowed. "Sorry?"
"Professor Snape. From the way he looks at you, I know that he returns your feelings."
Annika stared at the younger girl in shock, causing Luna to smile. "Don't worry. I just know such things." She shrugged. "But I won't tell anyone else. You're luckier than me. Oh well, I need to hurry, before lunch is over. Have fun at Hogsmeade." With that, Luna dashed around her, before she vanished behind the entrance doors.
'What was that?' Annika thought in bewilderment. 'I know that she's a friend of Harry, but she's still strange.' Returning her thoughts to the question in the front of her mind, she walked to the village. 'Somehow, I like his reaction to my question,' she thought, wondering how Severus' feelings towards her were. 'Oh well, even if he had any feelings, he wouldn't be able to admit them, as long as I'm a student,' she mused, resolving to remain patient and quietly watch him during the next four years.
HP
It was shortly before the end of the school year that Dudley and Neville cornered Harry.
"If our friends are going to visit again on your birthday, do you think that Neville could invite his girlfriend along?"
Harry cast Neville a surprised look. "Of course, you're very welcome to bring Susan, and I don't think any of the others would mind. In fact, I am thinking of inviting Luna, too, even if she's not my girlfriend."
"Is Daphne?" Dudley asked, looking at him, wide-eyed.
Harry shook his head.
'I can't wait to bring Lucy and Regi home,' he thought, feeling exited at the thought of introducing his young siblings to the North Pole. They were still only a little more than three months old, and Hedwig and Paws were busy teaching them this and that; however, at least they were mostly house clean by now.
"You better teach Susan to become an Animagus," Dudley said, grinning broadly. "Otherwise, she'll be the only one who is not able to transform, and believe me, I know that it's not a nice feeling. This summer, we're going to have a lot of Animagi days or even nights, which we completely spend in our canine forms."
"Oh yeah, I'm looking forward to that," Harry agreed, grinning in expectation.
HP
At their traditional Quidditch party on the sleigh, which Remus and Sirius brought to Hogwarts once again, Sirius grinned broadly. "I have good news. This morning, the Wizengamot held a vote of no confidence against Cornelius Fudge. Due to Umbridge's disappearance upon admitting that she used bloodquills on students, his reputation was more than questionable. She was his undersecretary after all. Anyway, he is not the minister anymore, and Meli has been chosen as the interim minister. The election of the new minister will take place on the first of September."
"Who are the candidates?" Draco asked, looking at the older wizard with apparent interest.
"So far, Lord Malfoy and Albus Dumbledore have applied for the position." Sirius let out a deep sigh. "People are trying to convince Meli, but so far, she told them all off, as she's happy with her position, and frankly speaking, I don't want her to become the minister."
"Why not?" Annika asked, wide-eyed.
"Because the position is even more dangerous than the one she has now. There are still Death Eaters around, and according to Dumbledore, Voldemort isn't even gone yet."
Harry let out a snort. "Do you believe anything that Dumbledore says?"
Sirius grinned at his godson. "Oh well, not really, but now to happier news. Meli and I are going to be married in two weeks' time."
"Happy for you, yes, but not for us, considering that you're going to move in with her and leave us," Remus replied, sighing.
"I thought you were busy enough with the academy?" Luna quipped, giving Remus a dreamy look.
"How is working at the academy?" Harry enquired.
"It's brilliant. The students are extremely motivated and interested, and I really love teaching them. It's already interesting to speak with them, considering that not all of them are humans and that they come from different backgrounds and regions."
They spent the rest of the day talking about this and that, before the Slytherins returned to their house in a good mood. 'The third time in a row that we won both the Quidditch cup and probably also the house cup,' Harry thought, feeling very happy.
HP
Sirius' and Amelia's wedding took place on the North Pole and in secret to most of Britain's magical world.
Everyone living on the North Pole accompanied Sirius out onto the grounds to greet Amelia and Susan, who arrived in a beautifully decorated sleigh. While Holly took the sleigh back to its parking slot, Santa led the wedding party to a normally unused area on the left side of his workshop, causing everyone to let out a collective gasp.
The area was obviously charmed, as there was no snow. Instead, the ground was covered by green grass, and it was agreeably warm and above all beautifully decorated for a wedding ceremony. There were just enough chairs for everyone to sit down.
When everyone except for Amelia and Sirius had taken their seats and the "Ahh"s and "Ohh"s about the heart-shaped flowers and tropical birds had ceased, Santa began to hold the ceremony.
The ceremony was as beautiful as the decorations, and Harry felt extremely happy for his godfather. 'It's sad that Sirius is not going to live on the North Pole anymore,' he thought, even though he knew that it would be better for his godfather to live in Britain together with his wife and her niece.
However, he could not mull over the matter too long, as Sirius managed to efficiently distract him in the evening of the wedding by distributing tickets for the Quidditch World Cup for everyone on the North Pole as well as Harry's friends.
Later the same evening, when Harry and Draco went to bed, they talked for a while about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup, before Draco suddenly said, "Did you notice that McGonagall and Merlin seemed awfully close during the ceremony?"
"What?"
"Yes." Draco chuckled. "They were sitting on the very left in the row in front of us, and at one stage, Merlin put his arm around her shoulders, only to get one of the typical McGonagall looks and quickly removed it."
"Really?" Harry asked in disbelief. "Oh, I didn't notice that. I know that they get along quite well though."
=Merlin had a crush on Minnie ever since he received his human form,= Paws stated, letting out a deep yawn.
=Minerva seems to not mind though. The funny thing is that she very much tries to hide things, when other people are around; however, she's not so careful in the presence of animals, even though she knows who we are. I look forward to seeing how their relationship develops.=
"Oh well, it would be nice for her to be in a relationship, and I really like Merlin."
"Yes," Draco agreed. "Good night, Harry, Hedwig, Paws."
"Night," Harry replied, already drifting off to a sleep filled with dreams about butterflies and tropical birds flying around the North Pole. At one stage, the perspective of the wedding scene changed, and he found himself in the position of the groom. He was getting married to what seemed to be an angel. He tried to get a glimpse at her face, however, other than her blonde hair that was pulled up and beautifully decorated with flowers, he could see nothing but her white dress with lace in the shape of phoenixes and puppies.
=Hey. Stop kicking me,= Paws suddenly growled, causing Harry to jerk awake.
'Was that my own wedding?' Harry wondered in a daze. 'But who was the bride? I couldn't see her face.' "Sorry," he whispered to his parents and siblings, who were curled up together under his covers. 'First thing in the morning, I'm going to enlarge my bed,' he resolved. 'Now that Lucy and Regi have grown so big, it's really getting crowded.'
HP
As the Quidditch World Cup cast its shadow ahead, the question about what tents to take with them came up. When Merlin suggested to take one tent for the students and one for the adults, Minerva protested, vehemently.
"You're not going to leave a bunch of teenagers together in one tent without adult supervision," she said, strictly.
=I can supervise them,= Paws offered, causing Minerva to let out an uncharacteristic snort.
"You? One of the Marauders, whose first priority is any nonsense you can think of?"
=Ah, now, Minnie, that's not nice.= Paws mock growled at his former head of house.
"Paws, behave yourself," Harry lightly scolded the puppy, who then went to lick Minerva's hand in silent apology.
"We could all spend the night in our Animagus forms, so that we only need to take one tent for everyone." Luna smiled, wearing a dreamy expression.
Harry immediately liked the idea, and to his relief, everyone agreed. He was slightly disappointed, when Hedwig informed him that she was going to remain on the North Pole with Lucy and Regi. They were still too small to accompany them to an event of such a size, and Harry could understand that his mother did not want to leave her babies, who needed her more than he did.
HP
At the world cup, their large group sat together with Draco's parents as well as Ginny's and the twins' father and older brothers, and Harry liked everyone. 'I hope Mr. Malfoy is going to be the new Minister of Magic and not Dumbledore,' he thought, as he eagerly observed Viktor Krum search for the Snitch.
'Why did he catch the Snitch now?' he wondered in bewilderment, when the match ended in favour for Ireland. 'He could have distracted the Irish Seeker and caught the Snitch, when Bulgaria was ahead in points. Oh well, it's not my problem,' he told himself, shaking his head in confusion.
All together, they had much fun and only returned to the North Pole late in the evening on the following day.
HP
On the day, before Minerva and Severus but also Harry's friends had to return home, Merlin in the portrait in front of the screen informed everyone that Dumbledore had arranged for the so-called Triwizard Tournament to take place at Hogwarts during the following school year.
"Is he completely losing it? If I remember correctly, it was abandoned a long time ago, because too many people died during the tournament."
"Remus, you're right as usual," Merlin said, sighing. "I wonder if Dumbledore really has the best interest of his students in mind."
"I've told him not to do such a thing from the beginning." Minerva let out a deep sigh. "Of course, he did not listen to me. He barely ever does."
"If he listens to anyone, it would be you. You're his most trustworthy colleague." Severus quirked an eyebrow at his older colleague in apparent amusement.
"I wonder why he even accepted to hold such an event at Hogwarts." Merlin gave Minerva a questioning look.
Minerva returned a grimace of pure exasperation. "It was his idea in the first place. My only relief is that he promised that students below the age of seventeen would not be able to apply for becoming a champion."
"Who would even want to become a champion, knowing that people have died in that thing?" Dudley spoke up in apparent bewilderment.
"We would love to…"
"… as it would be a nice change to the normal."
"Messrs. Weasley, I am glad that you're not of age yet. I wouldn't want you to endanger your lives in such a way." Minerva's lips were stretched to a thin line, as she addressed her soon-to-be sixth-year lions.
The twins, however, exchanged a look that promised mischief.
'Thank Merlin I'm not of age,' Harry thought in relief. 'I really wouldn't want to participate in such a dangerous event.'
"The Quidditch tournament will be cancelled for the year, by the way." Severus let out a deep sigh. "Now that Slytherin finally has a good team, we can't play."
"That's true. You've won the Quidditch Cup three times in a row. That's extremely annoying to say the least." Minerva cast her colleague a look of obvious amusement.
"Is there nothing that can be done about the Quidditch tournament?" Harry frowned. "We want to play. Why can't we play if only one of all our students is going to participate in the tournament? We even had our try-outs at the end of the last school year, and the team already stands."
Minerva and Severus smirked in apparent amusement.
=Organise a student protest,= Paws spoke up. =Tell all the teams and make them all protest, as soon as Dumbledore announces that Quidditch is cancelled for the year.=
"That's a good idea." Harry nodded in determination. "I will write to the four captains later on."
"Remember that you have heard nothing from Minerva or me." Severus cast him a warning look.
"Of course not," Harry reassured the older wizard, smiling.
HP
During the following ten days, Hedwig busied herself taking letters back and forth, and at the end of the holidays, Harry was in the possession of a signed letter to the headmaster.
'Dear Professor Dumbledore,
the news has reached us that our Quidditch Cup tournament between our houses will be cancelled during the upcoming school year. We sincerely ask you to not cancel it but allow us to play Quidditch as usual.
The Quidditch matches are valuable events for us, and the tournament between the houses is an important part of our life at Hogwarts.
Quidditch helps us to strengthen the relationships within our house and to the other houses.
Please do not take this great fun away from us, as we need it to be able to concentrate on our studies at all other times.
We do not care about the Triwizard tournament, in which only one student can participate. We do not even want it to take place at Hogwarts.
Please let us have our Quidditch Cup tournament as usual.
Yours sincerely,
the students of Hogwarts'
256 students from all four houses had signed the letter, and Harry felt very proud to have received so much support. Since the head boy, a seventh year Ravenclaw, was among the students who had signed the letter, Harry pondered sending it to him for personal delivery to the headmaster.
"The sooner the headmaster receives your letter the better," Remus advised him. "Send it not with Hedwig but by an owl. The head boy will only meet Dumbledore in person on the first of September."
Needless to say that Merlin in the portrait eagerly watched Dumbledore's office on the screen and called everyone to the screen room, as soon as the headmaster had read the letter and summoned the four heads of the houses as well as Madam Hooch in apparent exasperation.
HP
"Thank you for coming so quickly," Dumbledore greeted them. "I just received a letter from our students." He read the letter to his colleagues, causing everyone in front of the screen to grin.
"Albus, may I please sign this, too?" Filius Flitwick was the first to react with apparent eagerness, causing the other teachers in the office to stare at the half goblin in surprise and everyone on the North Pole to laugh.
"Me too." Hearing Minerva utter her consent, Severus, Professor Sprout and Madam Hooch each voiced their support for the students' petition.
"You all want to pull through with our usual Quidditch tournament?" the headmaster finally asked in apparent disbelief.
"Of course. The students are completely right," Minerva replied in a firm voice. "They all want to play Quidditch, and they gave good reasons, so let them have their fun. It is important, especially as only one of them is going to participate in the tournament, which no one but you wants to take place at all."
Little could they know that not only one, but two of their students would be going to participate in the tournament.
tbc...
Thanks to the kind readers for the feedback for the previous chapter. Everyone else - are you still interested in this story?