Chapter 9: Adoption and Protection
"Again," shouted Harry, raising his conjured sword. They were standing in the middle of Harry's classroom, each holding a sword in his hand. Harry was trying to teach Blaise the basics of sword fighting.
It was the middle of November and there were no signs of his blood brother or his girlfriend, and Harry was beginning to worry. They should have been here by now, since the spell casters had to recover in a month or two.
Blaise raised her sword and attacked, slashing diagonally at Harry, who blocked and attacked her. They spared for a few seconds before Harry disarmed her skillfully, while Blaise was panting from trying to touch her teacher, let alone disarm him.
"Good. Take a break and be ready for your next lesson," said Harry. He took a quick shower in his quarters and sat down to read the papers and drink his coffee when a house elf appeared in front of him.
"Master is requested at Headmaster Dumbledore's office," said the house elf formally and disappeared. Harry raised an eyebrow but said nothing and headed for the Headmaster's office. The gargoyle bowed and stepped aside, letting Harry through to the office. Harry opened the office door to find Natasha, the half vampire princess and Dumbledore talking quietly.
"Good morning Simon, please sit down," said Dumbledore cheerfully. Harry nodded to the half vampire and sat down on the opposite chair, waiting for Dumbledore to begin talking. Fawkes flew to Harry and settled on his shoulder, trilling a few notes. Harry rubbed the Fawkes' chest, making the phoenix purr a trill in delight.
"I summoned you here, Simon, for three things. First, I would like to extend you an invitation to join the Order of the Phoenix," said Dumbledore "It is an O…"
"No," Harry interrupted firmly
"What?" Dumbledore asked, confused.
"No, I won't join your Order," repeated Harry firmly.
"Why don't you want to join, Simon?" asked Dumbledore "You always wanted to join and help defeat Voldemort when you were younger." Dumbledore was confused and shocked at Harry's refusal to join the order.
"First, I will follow orders from no one, Headmaster. Second, all you do is sort out the mess after a battle takes place, which is no different from what the ministry does. Third, you do not begin the attacks on the Death Eaters, but rather defend only, which is not a productive thing, and that will not end the war. Finally, you fight with the intent to capture or stun and Voldemort will free the captured or revive the stunned and will be able to continue the fight. So please, prey tell, why would I join?" finished Simon, raising an eyebrow. Dumbledore remained silent, a defeated expression on his face. Natasha was shocked at the words of Simon to his Grandfather but kept her mouth shut.
"What are the other reasons for summoning me here, Headmaster?" said Harry impatiently, waiting for the old wizard to answer. Natasha began shaking a little at this point, making Harry narrow his eyes slightly.
"Voldemort hired some mercenaries, vampire hunters to be exact. I would like you to protect Princess Natasha, using any means necessary," explained Dumbledore gravely.
"And why don't you let your pet birds protect her, Dumbledore?" Harry snapped, narrowing his eyes. "I'm not a bloody babysitter. I have an apprentice and a job to look after."
"I have already tried that, Simon. They were killed on duty and Natasha barely escaped," said Dumbledore, with sadness in his eyes.
"Who did they kill?"
"Mundungus Fletcher and Emmeline Vance," replied Dumbledore.
"Why did you come to me, then?" said Harry raising an eyebrow. It was not as if there was no one capable of protecting the half vampire. Most of the order members were capable duelers and had been fighting against Voldemort for a long time now.
"You are a Master swordsman, and the hunters are swordsmen," replied Dumbledore smiling proudly at Harry.
"And how would you know that, headmaster?" said Harry coldly, narrowing his eyes. "Why the hell are you spying on me?"
"I'm not spying on you, Simon. I was merely passing by when I saw your apprentice sparring with you. I assumed that you were a sword master and you just confirmed my suspicions," explained Dumbledore cheerfully, earning a growl from Harry and a soft giggle from Natasha.
"I will do it, on certain conditions," said Harry. Dumbledore nodded for Harry to continue. "You do not interfere with how I do the job, you keep your pet birds out of my way and leave me to use the forest," stated Harry firmly and Dumbledore nodded.
"Very well, Simon," said Dumbledore smiling. He turned to Natasha and said kindly, "I believe you have 4th year Gryffindors and Slytherins, Natasha. I will be chatting with my grandson for a while since he has no lessons except in the after noon, today."
Natasha nodded and left the office, after thanking Harry profusely, leaving Harry with the Headmaster.
"What else do you need, Albus?" sighed Harry, rubbing his temple to keep his headache from increasing. Dumbledore stood up and walked to a drawer and took some papers out of them, closing it gently afterwards and returning to his seat behind the desk. His expression turned serious and his twinkle dimmed, something which made Harry worry, since Dumbledore rarely had that expression unless something very serious had happened.
"Yesterday, I've received a summoning to the will of Severus Snape. He left me with something that is more than I can handle at the moment and I was willing that you would help me with it," explained the headmaster gravely. Harry nodded for his headmaster to continue, leaning forward to hear what Dumbledore wanted to say.
"What no one knew until yesterday, not even me, that Severus was married and had a daughter. His wife died during birth and left him to raise his daughter. She is a year old child, named Heather Snape, after her mother," said Dumbledore, grimly. "In his will, Severus entrusted young Heather to me, as her guardian, since he had no other living relatives."
"What does this have to do with me, Headmaster?" Harry asked, confused.
"I want you to take care of young Heather, Harry, and be her guardian," Harry started to open his mouth in protest, but Dumbledore raised a hand, motioning for Harry to let him speak.
"I know that I'm dumping on you serious responsibilities, Harry, but please hear me out. I am too old to raise a child, Harry, or I would have raised you myself instead of leaving you at the Dursleys," Dumbledore began softly, clearing his throat.
"I'm nearing my next great adventure and I may not see the end of this war, so I don't have the ability to look after a child. I could have given this responsibility to anyone and they would have gladly accepted. However, there is no one I would trust with my life and Heather's than you. This is why I need you to accept this, holding no grudge that she is Severus' daughter against her as Severus did with you. Despite our differences, your powers had surpassed mine and you will be the next leader of the light after my death."
"Old Snape would be tossing in his grave and screaming bloody murder if he knew that I'll raise his daughter. I've lived with the Dursleys all my life, Albus, so I've never had a parental figure nor did I know love from my relatives. I know nothing about raising a child since I was not one. I don't want her to live a childhood like mine, just because I was a lousy guardian," protested Harry softly.
Dumbledore chuckled and patted Harry on the back, replying. "You will be a wonderful father, Harry, and a great Leader."
"Where is she, Albus?" asked Harry, smiling softly.
"She is with Madam Pomfrey, right now. We can go visit her now, if you want," said Dumbledore smiling.
Harry nodded and stood pointing his wand at the glass case, which encompassed the sword. The case flew open and the sword came to him. A tingle of warmth spread through his arm as the sword landed in his hand, recognizing and welcoming its original master.
"I always knew that you were the Heir of Gryffindor, since only the heir is capable of summoning this sword," explained Dumbledore. Harry shook his head and replied mysteriously, "I'm not the Heir of Gryffindor, Albus, and this is not Godric's sword."
Dumbledore looked mystified but said nothing as Harry sheathed the sword in a scabbard on his back, which became visible as the sword neared it. Harry sighed and sheathed the sword, wishing for the thousand times that Salazar and Rowena would hurry up.
"Your personal wards on the school are not working, Headmaster," said Harry as the two of them walked down towards the hospital wing, chatting about the school.
"What do you mean, Simon? The wards are working fine," replied Dumbledore confused.
"You know that in order for your wards to work with the school wards, you need to weave them, or they would react negatively," explained Harry. Dumbledore nodded and checked his wards again, finding them weak, took weak for him to notice but not gone.
"You are right, but Alas, I do not have the ability to manipulate the main wards without killing myself in the process. The main wards are weaker than they used to be at the time of the founders, making the school vulnerable to attack," said Dumbledore, sighing.
"They are not becoming weaker, Headmaster. They are just inactive, since some of them would require ancient spells to reactivate again," said Harry knowingly. He designed some of these wards and their structures were planted in his mind.
"How do you know so much about wards, Simon? Especially the wards of Hogwarts?" asked Dumbledore, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. Not even the staff members knew anything about the wards surrounding Hogwarts. It was something privy to the headmaster of Hogwarts and him alone.
"I've studied them thoroughly," said Harry, shrugging. "And it's not the time yet for you to know any of my secrets yet." Dumbledore said nothing but looked sad that his relationship with his favorite pupil was that bad.
Harry mentally asked Hogwarts to recharge the main wards and supplied the school with some of his power to do the recharging. Instantly Dumbledore felt the wards around Hogwarts strengthen hundred folds, as if they were new. He looked at Harry but found nothing suspicious, with his wand not in his hand and the sword on his back. However, he suspected that somehow, Harry had something to do with it.
They arrived at the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey led them to a private ward, where a child was sleeping on the bed. The little girl had black hair and an angelic face that immediately took its place in Harry's heart.
"She is fine," said Madam Pomfrey, entering the room. "She is just tired." Harry nodded his head and took the child in his arms, careful not to wake her. They walked back to Harry's quarters, with Heather in Harry's arms, sleeping contently.
The students were surprised to see their usually stern DADA professor, humming to the child in his arms, a soft look on his face. Dumbledore could not help but smile when he saw Harry's happy face, knowing that he made the right choice.
'A great father indeed,' was Dumbledore's single thought as he watched the scene before him.
They reached the headquarters, where they saw Blaise and Bellatrix talking. Both girls saw Harry carrying the child and different expressions flashed through their faces. Harry thought he saw a look of betrayal on Bellatrix's face and decided to explain.
The girls' mouth dropped open when Harry finished his explanation and cooed as the little girl woke up, yawning. Brilliant blue eyes looked back at Harry as if sizing him up, try to determine something. After a few seconds of silence, Heather's little fingers touched Harry's cheek and she giggled, making Harry grin in return. No one in the room had ever seen Harry look that happy, or the soft expression on his face. Dumbledore handed him the papers, passing the guardianship over to Harry, which Harry signed enthusiastically.
"Hello little one, I'm Harry and I'm going to take care of you from now on," said Harry, a soft smile on his face. He turned to Dumbledore and said, "I am going to perform the adoption ritual, professor."
"Are you sure about that, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, the twinkle back in his eyes full force. The adoption ritual binds a child to the caster as a parent, making the child take some of the characteristics of the bloodline and the parent.
"Would you consent to be our bonder, Albus?"
Dumbledore and Harry took out their wands. Harry pointed his at Heather and Dumbledore pointed his wand at Harry. They started to chant and Harry made a small cut on his thumb and applied a drop of blood on the child's forehead, where it was absorbed. A white light was emitted from Harry's wand, encircling Heather like a safety blanket, which was joined after a few moments by a red glow that circled Harry. It was after a minute the light receded into Harry and Heather.
Heather opened her eyes, which was now a bluish green color, and her nose looked more like Harry's nose than it was before. Her hair was black but with strange red strips to it. Harry also noted a significant increase in her magical power, which made him unsure as to whether it was unsafe for her to be that powerful at such a young age.
"Congratulations Harry," said Dumbledore with a kind smile. The girls had tears of happiness in their eyes and hugged Harry. Harry hugged his new daughter to him, finally having a reason to fight through the war.
Blaise, Dumbledore, and Bellatrix left Harry with his new daughter and headed to do their work/school matters. As they exited his quarters, Harry took out his wand and applied a powerful privacy shield around him then closed his eyes in concentration.
A few moments later, a flash of fire coursed threw the room and stopped in front of Harry. It was a red and golden phoenix, with a white zigzag on its head. Harry had met this phoenix during one of his wanderings in the Forbidden forest.
Calidus had a broken wing as it engaged an eagle who was trying to eat her eggs, in a fierce combat resulting in the eagle's death and the phoenix's injury. Harry nursed Calidus back to health and it was then that the phoenix had shed a special tear on his head, though it had refused to bond with Harry for some reason that was a mystery.
"Hello Calidus, my old friend. It is good to see you," said Harry as the phoenix trilled, rubbing its head against Harry's neck.
"I need a favor from you," Harry said to the phoenix. The phoenix seemed to nod, so Harry continued.
"This is my daughter, Heather," said Harry. "I know that you are not my familiar but I need you to protect her." The phoenix, Calidus, lowered her head and a golden tear fell on the child's forehead, leaving a small mark behind.
Harry was shocked and grateful as the phoenix cried the golden tear. Phoenixes had three types of tears: Red, Golden, and Clear. The Clear tear was a common one, which was a healing tear. The red tear was for a telepathic link and a rare tear that phoenixes almost never shed.
The Golden one was a tear of protection and nearly unheard of, with exception of a few cases through history. It's an extremely rare tear for a phoenix to shed. It was the strongest type of protection anyone could have, and Calidus had declared Heather its child by the tear and protection.
"Thank… you, Calidus," said Harry trying not to stutter, as he was touched by the gift that his phoenix friend had bestowed upon the child.
It was a pleasure, my child. Calidus said, before flashing away. Heather was asleep with an angelic face and the blessing and protection of a phoenix on her forehead.
