A/N- Sorry for the very long wait. Life happened. Although I think this chapter is worth the wait. Do not own.
x-
"It's too risky, Eric. You should have asked us first." Remus growled, shaking he head. When Harry had told them that his scar was going to be removed, he had felt a lot of things. Most of which he was sure he was actually feeling, although he thought the brief feeling of relief might have been Severus'. The pure outrage at his father was all his.
He sighed, looking up from the paperwork he had been doing. When would these young people ever learn to knock? He could easily guess what had Remus upset but he wouldn't have told the child he could do something if it had been dangerous. "Actually, it is much more dangerous to leave his scar the way it is. If it continues to break apart the way it is, it will cause an infection and it could break bits of his magic off with it." He answered finally, glancing back down at the paper he had been finishing. He signed it, setting it aside before turning back to his eldest. "You're angry I didn't talk to you first, not that I want to perform a safe magical procedure, that I have done before, on your son."
He grimaced, wanting to deny it but he couldn't. Because deep down, that was what he was actually feeling. Anger and fear. A lot of fear. What if something went wrong? What if-
"I have been doing this for a long time, son. Trust that I know what I am doing. Tim will be assisting me, Lucas will be on standby. You and Severus are welcome to observe. It will be a short and simple procedure since all I will be removing is the scar and not what was originally holding the scar there." Eric interrupted firmly, knowing that look quite well. His son had been projecting, loudly. He never could hide his fear well.
Remus sighed but nodded, knowing he wouldn't win. Plus, Harry had seemed so happy. "It is safe?"
"Yes."
He wished Alexis could help but from what he knew of the ritual, her own cursed scar could interfere. "Harry wants his scar removed before school starts back."
He responded finally, knowing he really didn't have much say in this. If he told the child no, he would just try to figure it out on his own and that would be a disaster.
"At the rate it is deteriorating, I would say it would be best to remove it in the next day or two. I would need to keep Harry overnight for observation, but otherwise, he should be fine to return to his normal routine of climbing trees, jumping walls, running into forests, fighting Chimeras-"
"Dad, please don't go giving him any ideas. It's bad enough he has figured out how to leap from his bed onto his trampoline to "jump higher"." He groaned, shaking his head. It sounded like a good plan and despite his initial hesitation and frustration, he did trust the older man to know what he was doing. Eric wasn't one of the top pediatric healers in the world for nothing, after all.
"You know you could always surround it with a net spell, so the next time he does that he hits a net and bounces back." He responded, raising an eyebrow. To be a new parent again was a joy he both missed and did not want to experience. Having two teenagers and a preteen was trying enough right now and he knew what he was doing. He couldn't imagine being a new parent with two preteens, especially a danger-seeking one like Harry.
A net spell. Of course they should have done that. They had used every other safety spell they could think up but not a net spell. "Do you have a way to keep them in separate beds at night?" As long as he was getting advice, he might as well ask. School was about to start, Karrie and Harry couldn't keep sharing a bed every time they slept in their quarters, even if he knew it was innocent.
School starting would fix that. " Sure. Don't. Your children have created what is called a twin bond. Their magic craves connection and it probably does best when they are inactive, when they are sleeping. Give it time, eventually they will move apart on their own, but right now, their magic needs this even if they don't know it or understand it. Besides, it is completely, purely innocent." Eric responded, shrugging when his son just stared at him. "If you want to sit, we can have some tea and just talk." He added after a moment. He hadn't talked to his eldest, really talked to him, one on one in a while. It had been a busy summer but he liked checking in on his kids and he hated that he hadn't been able to do that lately because of all the work of getting the school up and running.
Remus thought about it for a moment before nodding and settling down into an armchair. "I'd like that."
-x-
"So I spoke to Eric and I think we should start treating Harry for PTSD."
He blinked, raising an eyebrow at the younger woman for a long moment. What on earth did she think they were doing at the camp with all the teenagers, if they weren't treating their PTSD? Because they all had some form of it. The fact that she never looked up from her paperwork didn't even surprise him, he was used to that by now. There was too much paperwork to do for just one person, which was why he was here to help. "What on earth do you think we are doing, Alexis?" Tim questioned finally, watching her for a long moment.
She sighed, finally looking up to meet his eyes. "That's not what I meant. We are treating his PTSD from his abuse. But none of us thought about the fact that there were children dragged into this war and Harry was one of them. While I plan to open up counseling services to the entire school, something it completely lacked, the children at the camp will all continue with their therapy seasons throughout the school year." She answered after a moment. She knew some of the teenagers, like her older two sons, would fight her on the therapy sessions, but they desperately needed them. They were just starting to heal. Stopping now would be a step backwards, not forwards.
He had a feeling she was right. But getting the preteen to talk about it would be a challenge. While they had made progress, there was just some subjects Harry refused to talk about. But all of the children were like that. "You might be right. I will talk to him at our next session but I can't promise he will be responsive."
She snorted, shaking her head. If he was anything like her youngest son, he wouldn't be.
-x-
Chaos. Pure chaos. If flooing nine first-years to Ollivanders hadn't been hard enough, getting them wands was going to be his breaking point. Thank the gods Alexis had insisted he take two counselors, his apprentice, and Filius with him. She had pointed out that they could only floo two children at a time and it would be easier that way. But in reality, she had been preparing him for this. Ollivander did not seem to care that there was nine eleven-year-old's running around his shop like wild animals and Filius was just sitting in a chair, patiently waiting. Gods help him. Severus took a deep breath before finally letting out a piercing whistle that turned eleven sets of eyes on him.
"EYYYY!"
"I'm sorry, Lila. Where are her ear protectors, Jake?" He stated, glancing toward the younger man who had come just for Lila, before turning back to the rest of the lot. The counselors had actually had a loud argument about who was coming with him today which Alexis had quickly settled. She had told them that only a counselor who was willing to duel Filius would be allowed to go. All but one had backed down at that. The dark-skinned young woman with him was crouched beside little Ben and two of the first year girls, trying to calm them. "Let's try this again. We are going to quietly form a line so Mr. Ollivander can help us find our wands so we can go back home. Alright?" He ordered firmly, gesturing toward the counter.
"Yes Severus." Was chorused back to him. It was better than nothing.
Bain bit back a sigh, picking a child and guiding them to the front counter. Thankfully, Ollivander seemed to have cut out all of the theatrics and was just offering each child a few wands to try. He figured it helped that there were nine of them and that they had reserved the store for an hour for this very purpose.
It took a while to get down to the last couple of raising first years. Once she got the twins to let go of her and got them their wands, Rani turned to little Ben. "You want to try a wand? No? Okay. We can let Louis or Damien go first." She offered quietly. They had all agreed to let Lila go last, so she could see what was happening and watch the other children, that way if the first wand didn't work she wouldn't be upset. None of the children's first wands had worked so far, it had taken quite a few tries to get it right and, as Ollivander had told them, this would by no means be the last wand they ever used. They would probably need a new wand when their magic fully developed, when they turned 17 or18. She had and Bain, who had gone first, 'to demonstrate', had.
"I'll go." Damien volunteered quietly. He didn't want to admit it, but he was nervous. What if a wand didn't chose him? What if there wasn't one that worked? He stepped up toward the creepy old man and hesitantly took the first stick he offered him and...nothing. But that was okay, no one elses had done anything either. He tried a couple more, frowning the longer it took.
Ollivander hid a smile, watching the worried child in front of him twist his braids for a moment before setting a dusty box next to him. "Try this one."
Damien huffed, picking up the wand and giving it the required "flick", which he still didn't get, before grinning at the spark of light. "I did it!"
"Of course you did. You are a wizard." He repeated softly for the sixth time in less than an hour. "And this is a Sycamore wand, made for those who are curious and great for going on adventures." Gods help his guardians if that glint in the boy's eyes was anything to go by. He hoped he would hear of those adventures one day and they wouldn't make his heart hurt.
Damien grinned, bouncing away with his wand in hand. It felt so perfect. It felt warm and like a part of him! He turned to Louis, not even bothering to glare at the other boy. "Your turn!"
He wasn't sure he wanted it to be his turn, but he knew Ben and Lila would only try it if he did it first, so he took a deep breath and stepped up to the counter where the older man with soul-piercing eyes stood. "Hello, sir."
The first child to greet him, the others had just stared at him in fear. And while he saw fear in those eyes as well, he saw something else. He knew exactly what wand to give this child. But a glance behind him told him that he also needed the boy to try at least two or three wands, so the last two children understand it really was okay to fail at first. Because their eyes were now transfixed on him. "Hello there. Give this one a swish." It wouldn't work, but that was the point.
Four wands later and he tilted his head, glancing at his friends before looking back at the older man. He knew what he was doing, of course. Which was why he was making large motions so Ben and Lila could see them not working. But he did really want to get a wand and go back home. Home. Since when had Hogwarts become home?
"Try this one."
He took it carefully, grinning suddenly at the warmth in his hand before giving it a swish. It left a trail of brilliant purple sparks. Yes, this was his wand. "What animal core is it?"
My, what an interesting question! "It has a dragon hair as the core. It is also made of Beech wood. You will do well with it."
"Thank you sir. Although they might not ask, my friends will also want to know their animal core as well. We like animals." He explained quietly, before moving over to Ben.
As much as he had wanted to correct the strange, wise little boy, he wouldn't. It didn't matter whether he called them animals or creatures. Not really. But whatever he whispered to the other little boy seemed to work because a frightened child was suddenly standing in front of him. "Hello there. Would you like to give this a swish?"
"No."
"No?"
"It won't work."
Well, he was probably right. This was his test wand to measure power and ability and he used it on all first years. So the child had been watching. "How about this one?" A real wand, then, which was harder to match with without testing but worth a shot.
"No."
Okay... "This one?"
"No."
He merely picked up a wand and the boy shook his head. Either the child was a Seer or he had a gift he couldn't sense.
"Is everything okay?" Severus questioned, coming to stand next to Ben. The child had not yet touched a wand. He was merely standing there shaking his head every time Ollivander offered him one and Ollivander looked baffled. He had never seen the man look like that before and he had been bringing sixth and seventh years to get new wands when they out-grew theirs for years (as well as some third and fourth years who blew theirs up).
"Is he Sighted?"
"I don't think so. Why? Ben?"
"They aren't right." He shrugged, going back to pulling at his shirt. He could feel the tug at his stomach again and Michael had told him that that feeling was his magic.
"Okay. That's okay, Ben. Do you know which one is right?"
"Yes. It's back there." He shrugged, pointing toward the back storage room.
Ollivander blinked, glancing at the room before looking at Severus. That wasn't where he kept first year wands. He always moved them up in May for the school year sell but even during the year, that wasn't where he stored them. That was where his more powerful wands were kept. He exchanged looks with Severus for a long moment before turning back to the child. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay, can you show me? Severus can come with us." He reassured quickly at the sudden fear in the child's eyes. Damn whoever hurt these children. He hoped their wands turned against them, if they had wands.
He turned toward Severus, waiting for the older man's nodded before heading slowly around the counter. He felt safer knowing the Potion's Master was right behind him and that he would protect him from anything bad. Not that he thought anything bad would happen here.
They followed him further and further back, into one of the dustiest corners of the storeroom until he was coughing from the amount of dust. "Are you sure it's back here, Ben?" Why they were following a child to a wand, he didn't know. But if Ollivander thought the boy could find his wand this way, they'd try it.
"Yes sir. It's right there." He shrugged, pointing up toward one of the higher shelves.
He shook his head, stopping the professor from summoning it. If that was truly the child's, and he suspected it was, the boy should be able to call it to him. "Call to it."
"Huh?"
"Feel it with your magic, in the bottom of your stomach, and call to it." He instructed, reminding himself to word it so a first year could understand it.
He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before finding the pulling sensation in his belly and tugging at it. He held out his hand and tugged hard, his eyes flying open when a box smacked into his hand.
That actually worked? An eleven-year-old summoned a box with non-verbal magic just by feeling for it? What the hell were they in for with this lot? Severus wasn't sure he even wanted to find out.
"Now, will you very carefully give it a swish?"
He grinned, giving it a slow swish and watching his wand light up. He already knew it was his though. It felt right in his hands.
"This, my child, is a very old wand. It has been waiting for an owner since long before you were born. It is made of Cedar and it has, curiously enough, a Hippogriff feather. It is one of very few of my wands that do." He explained calmly, glancing at the potions master at the sharp intake of breath. Apparently he, at least, knew his wandlore.
"That's so cool."
"Indeed. Let's go back out front so we can let Lila try out some wands."Severus drawled, eager to end the discussions on wands before the old man told the child too much about wandlore. It wouldn't do to put myths in these children's heads and expect them to live up to the expectations of their wands characteristics. They were more than that.
:Lila. Your turn: Ben signed, bound out front with his new wand snug in his hand.
She whined, leaning in closer to Jake. She didn't want too! What if she didn't have magic?!
:Your turn. I have wands just for you: Ollivander signed, smiling softly at the child. They had explained the situation before they had arranged the wand visit with him, they didn't have a choice if he was going to block off his shop for an hour and a half, giving them enough time to arrive and leave safely without detection. The fact that he signed, because he was one of two wand stores that supplied wands for the Magical Institute for the Deaf, was just a plus in this situation.
:What if not work?:
:The first few might not but one will. Might take time. Just try.:
She hesitated, thinking about it for a long moment. :Ok.:
He had pulled out several wands earlier that he normally reserved for the Institute of the Deaf, as they worked better with signed and nonverbal magic, that he hoped would work for the little girl. He skipped over the test wand, offering her a regular wand instead.
Lila took it, after a nod from Jake, give it a swish, before handing it back to the kind older man. It didn't feel right! :NO:
:Try this: He encouraged, handing her another one. It took several tries before he found one that she did more than just hand back.
She frowned, staring at the piece of wood in her hand. It felt warm. "Uh?"
:Give it a swish:
A swish? The other kids had just waved theirs, maybe that was what he wanted? She flicked in through the air, grinning at the blue sparks "UH!"
:Yes I see. That is an Alder wand with Unicorn hair: He explained smiling down at the small child. He always found that the wand fit the child and that as they grew, sometimes they needed a new wand but sometimes they just needed the core replaced.
Filius stood from where he was sitting, withdrawing the money pouch from his pocket. That was the entire point of him being here, after all. He technically controlled the school's finances, because the Headmistress and her Deputy were not old enough in the eyes of the board to handle the finances. In reality, he just paid for purchases and she handled the books, because his daughter was very tight with money. "I need ten leather wand holsters, nine beginner care kits with the books on wand care and proper use, and one book on wand lore."He stated, nodding to Severus who groaned slightly but started rounding the children back up. By now the stomach soothers Severus had been giving them after each one had gotten their wand should have kicked in so flooing home should be easier.
He bagged the items up, glancing toward where pairs of children and adults were disappearing into his floo. "If the little boy has any questions, he can always owl me. And if Lila ever needs someone to chat with, this shop will always welcome her." He stated after a moment, meeting the smaller man's eyes for a long moment. The little girl was already gone, having been flooed away on her carer's hip the same as she had arrived.
"I will remember that. Thank you for taking time with us today. I know they weren't easy and we appreciate it."
"No one should do that to children, Filius."
The shop was now empty, just the two of them left, as Severus had flooed back to get the remaining child so he could finish checking out. "If you had seen them at the beginning of the summer Garrick...Those are just the first years. I'll be bringing a student by after the start of the school year to see if her wand still works for her. Her magic came in over the summer, but we didn't want to bring her today." He replied, shrinking the bag down and heading toward the floo. The connection would end soon between the school and the shop and he rather be at the school when it did.
Ollivander shrugged, nodding. That was fairly normal, actually. Most teenagers needed a new wand when their magic matured. "I'm sure you will be bringing many sixth and seventh years to see me."
"She's twelve." He responded, stepping into the floo, catching the look on the wand-makers face as he was whisked away.
Twelve!? He should have started with that! Now he was going to have to owl the damn charms professor to find out just what he was talking about. He sank down into a chair, resting his head into his hands for a moment. Twelve. Those poor children. For one's magic to mature at twelve...he wasn't sure he wanted to know what had happened to her. He knew he needed a moment to clear his head before he disconnected the floo, dropped the wards he had raised, and opened the store back up. Just a moment.
-x-
"I still don't see why you are reading it already."
She rolled her eyes, not bothering to look up from her book. "Starting it today or tomorrow doesn't matter, Harry. You saw the letter that the counselors passed out. We have assignments for literature, math, Latin, and magical studies that have to be complete by the first day of class." Karrie answered. Two chapters in the book they were assigned wasn't going to hurt him.
The counselors had already said they would start on their additional summer homework tomorrow. There was still a week of summer left! She could at least wait a day! "You could just tell me what it's about." Harry replied, moving back to bounce on his trampoline. They were down in his room and she always had a book with her, it didn't matter where they were. Karrie and Hermione were going to get along just fine.
She shook her head, turning the page. "I'm not doing your work for you. Besides, you will like this book. It's magical." She had a feeling that whoever their literature professor was had started with a magical book to ease the magic raised children into literature, as they had several mundane books and only two magical books.
"Fine. Have you figured out whose teaching literature yet?"
"No, but Teddy thinks he knows who the maths professor is."
He snorted, bouncing higher. "Teddy cheats." They were playing a guessing game, since there was only a few days left until school started and the new professors had started to arrive.
"Only because he's nosy."
"It's not being nosy if he's in the room when they floo."
"Riiight."
"So is the book about a boy or a girl?"
"Harry, do you even know what the book is called?"
"No?" He shrugged, bouncing higher. It didn't really bother him. His sister would end up getting irritated and telling him about the book if he kept pestering her.
"Colin Binks, Goblin King? She has you reading that piece of...fiction?" Remus commented from the doorway. That book was old when he was a teenager and a little mature and challenging for third years. Granted, third years whose literature education had been neglected up until now so perhaps Tara wanted to see where they were. He knew some of the students would wind up in the program he was starting; several older students had already been earmarked for tutoring and remedial reading and writing classes with him just based off their past grades and essays.
Karrie snickered, glancing over at the older man. She had know he was coming but hadn't bothered to warn her brother this time. They hadn't been doing anything, not really. And besides, they learned something new. The literature professor was a woman, which narrowed it down a little. "It's interesting, although some of the ideas in it seem a bit old fashion. I'm assuming it's meant to cause discussion. That's what the teachers at my primary school used books like this for."
He hoped to the gods that she hadn't been reading books like this in primary school. The violence, creaturism, and sexism in the book was so out of place for the time they were in. "That book was written long before I was born. It is old fashion. I'm not sure why she assigned that book actually."
"Who is our literature professor?"
He bit back a smile, glancing between the two. He knew the game the camp kids were playing with each other but he would give them this one. They would still have to put a name with a face and Tara hadn't floo'd over just yet. She was suppose to arrive this week. She was a colleague of his, she had also worked with tutoring children with learning disabilities, and she had a teaching degree in the mundane world in secondary Literature and Composition. Finding a wizard who did had been a challenge but she had just finished her mastery and has been teaching for a few years. "Her name is Tara." He answered after a moment.
"Lunch will be in fifteen minutes, so let's finish up. Go wash up please Harry, you have dirt all over your hands and face. Karrie, may I braid your hair? " He added, shaking his head. That boy was always getting into something. His boy was always getting into something and his girl's hair was always a disaster. Preteens.
She grinned, marking her place in her book and sliding over so he could do just that while her brother huffed and stomped off to wash his hands. She loved having her hair done.
-x-
"Mom, this book is weird."
Alexis sighed, glancing toward her third-year. "Which book Teddy?" Really, could preteens never be specific?
He hesitated before holding it out to her. He hadn't wanted to bother her but the more he read the weirder the book became. It was about a wizard who wanted to become the goblin king so he could have all the wealth to himself but that wasn't what the Goblin Nation was about and he didn't understand why they were reading this book.
Colin Binks, Goblin King? It sounded innocent but she had never heard of the book and if it was bothering Teddy, there was a reason to it. "This is for which class?" Because this didn't look like a history book and Teddy wouldn't be in Wizard Culture.
"Literature." Didn't she know which books were assigned? Or were there so many teachers and so many books that once she approved them, she forgot?
She approved this for third year literature? Really? She didn't remember it being on the list. Perhaps she needed to find time to read this book today or tomorrow before the students started it to make sure it was alright. "May I borrow this Teddy?"
He nodded, moving back toward her quarters. He could start on his Latin work instead. It wouldn't take him long. Latin was easy.
She waited a moment for the door to close before tapping her wand to the book and casting a quick translator spell on it. It was a third year book and she could see where Teddy marked his place, so it shouldn't take her long to get there.
-x-
The fact that the younger counselors were actually shoving each other didn't surprise him. It was the fact that Kate was doing some of that shoving that was so shocking. "Children please! Someone has to watch your second and third years so that they don't get up to mischief. Only one of you needs to show the first years how to properly care for their new wands and to help Severus explain the rules for using those wands." Henry ordered, eyeing the three counselors. They all had the decency to blush, at least.
"It should be me, then! Rani got to go earlier, so the boys need support as well." Charlie stated, trying not to glare at Kate. He knew she cared about the boys too, but he wanted to be there for such a big day in his youngest boys lives. Their first wand.
"Actually, I think it should be Kate. She's calmer than both of us. And she properly wears her wand. We can keep an eye on the girls until Rani gets back to them." Phil remarked quietly, meeting the woman's eyes for a moment.
While he was right, she was the only one of the three to wear her wand in a holster and to take care of it properly, she also didn't want Charlie mad at her. He was her friend. "I just want what's best for the kids. If you think that you teaching them proper wand care and handling is best, then we will do that." It was the one thing her family had made sure she had known, how to properly and safely handle a wand.
He knew if he kept pushing, Kate would give in completely. She didn't do confrontation. But he wasn't sure he wanted that, as much as he wanted to be there for his boys first wands. Charlie was aware that they would all be working with them on basic spells, spells they would have learned if they had grown up magical, so maybe he could teach them their first spell and let Kate handle proper wand care. She would be better at it than him, anyway. Severus kept getting on them for keeping their wands in their pockets, but holsters were too expensive. "Alright, Kate can do it." He responded finally, not looking at Henry. It was more than a little embarrassing to be caught fighting liking children.
Henry nodded at Kate, who quickly left to meet up with a returning Severus and Rani, before turning back to the younger two men. It was going to be a long couple of days.
-x-
"Why did you want to tackle maths first Lucy?" Emma groaned, looking down at the packet they had received as summer work. This would take forever and it looked complicated.
Lucy shrugged, twirling her ink pen between her fingers. "I like maths and it is easier than Latin. It's just basics. Adding and subtracting decimals and reviewing negative numbers. So I guess that's where we are starting in class." She replied.
Basics?! There was nothing basic about decimals! She hated decimals! "Or our professor wants to see where we are at. Ugh." Emma groaned. They were up in her room in the medical ward. Although she was allowed to visit the camp, and she did visit for several hours a day now at Alexis request, she still wasn't able to sleep there. The one night they tried, her magic lashed out. At least they had prepared for that though.
"Just try, Emma. I'll read one. So Terry played Quidditch every day. His save rate was 2.03 last week. This week his save rate is 1.76. What is the difference in Terry's save rate?"
"Terry is a terrible Keeper."
"Emmmaaaa."
"What, he is! Our professor must be a guy to have Qudditch references in the math questions." She shrugged, glaring down at the problem before using her pencil to work it out. She wasn't going to use a pen like Lucy. She would rather be able to erase her work if it was wrong, than have to cross it out.
"Or he knew the Magic-born were going to complain about having to do math so he made sure to include magic related questions. There's one about music and one about potions too. " Lucy shrugged, having already moved down the page but still making sure she covered her answer.
"Hey Lucas! If a Keeper has a save rate of 2.03 one week and 1.76 the next, what's the difference?" Emma asked, glancing at the healer who has stepped into her open doorway.
"Sounds like a horrible keeper. What is this decimals? I haven't don't decimals since college. Now if you were asking me about fractions, I use fractions every day." Lucas responded, neatly sidestepping the question. He knew the answer of course, it just took a quick minute of subtraction, but he wasn't going to tell the pouting pre-teen the answer. He would tell her a solution though.
"You use fractions every day? For what?" Lucy asked, looking up, genuinely curious.
He has actually been coming in here to check on her and give her another potion if she needed it. "To determine how much medicine to give someone, based on what ails them, how much they weigh, how old they are, and the type of medicine they need." He responded, going over to her side of the small table. "Speaking of, arm check. Let's see those hives."
"It's fine!"
"She's still been itching, but she stopped scratching at her throat." Emma reported. They had agreed to let Lucy hang out with her because they knew she would keep a close eye on her friend. It wasn't the first time that summer Lucy had a minor allergic reaction and hadn't wanted to stay put.
"Lucy, you didn't tell anyone your throat was hurting!" He scolded gently, knowing that sign quite clearly.
"It wasn't hurting a lot. It was just itching. It didn't feel at all like when I have milk. I don't even feel sick. My stomach doesn't hurt. I just itched." Still itch. A lot. She grimaced when he held out his hand, finally placing a small hand in his, letting him see her welt covered arm.
"It looks like you itch a lot. These haven't gone down at all. According to the elves, there was no dairy in anything you ate. They are still checking to make sure there wasn't any accidental contamination, but they are almost certain it wasn't dairy you reacted to." He could see the outburst coming and moved to get on eye level with the young girl. "I know that isn't what you want to hear. But we will figure this out together." It helped that the elves closely monitored everything that the kids with food allergies put in their mouths. Even if they couldn't stop them from eating them, they could only magically move a dish so many times away from a determined kid after all, they could immediately whisk them to the medical wing during the school year or alert the nearest staff person. And it helped the healers to know exactly what caused the reaction. This time, they had no idea what she reacted to. She hadn't eaten anything she was known to being allergic to. And that was the problem. Unknown allergies were terrifying and he could see the fear in her eyes.
"I'm going to have to go through the stick testing again, aren't I?"She didn't want to do that again! She hated it the first time! Although, she barely remembered it, she still hated it.
"We actually have a different way of testing for allergies. We use potions with a drop of blood. It tends to work much better. We will figure it out. The elves are going to narrow down what you ate into a list of food families, which they will give to Severus and he will brew the potion or potions necessary to test for allergens. But for right now, let's get this potion in you and see if we can get those hives calmed down and this reaction under control. Alright?" He explained calmly.
She frowned, staring down at her maths work for a long time before finally nodding and taking the potion. If Lucas said it would be okay, it would be okay. She trusted him to figure it out. "I'll take it, but you have to help us with subtracting negative numbers." She bargained, grinning at him.
There was the Lucy he knew, hives and all. Emma groaned, putting her head in her hands and he had a feeling maybe he should try to guide them through maths, at least until they got back into the swing of it. They had been out of primary education for over a year, so trying to start off on year level was a bold move for the math professor. He had his work cut out for him. "Alright, but I can't promise I'll be much help. It's been years since I've done negatives." The twin giggles was worth it though.
-x-
Alexis frowned, flipping through her set of syllabus'. It took her a moment to find the third year literature syllabus but it didn't take long to verify that that horrendous book was not on the original syllabus. She sighed, standing and heading into her quarters. "Teddy, can I borrow your syllabus for literature for a moment?"
Didn't she have a copy somewhere? He shrugged, setting down his book on dragons and going to his desk to hunt for it. When they had passed out the packets of summer work for the new classes, they had included the syllabus for some of the classes. He figured it was so they would know when to read which books. And what each book was for. It took he a few minutes to find it, buried under a half finished sketch of a dragon. "Here it is Alexis."
"I'm going to take this for a while Teddy, but I'll bring it back. I would suggest, however, that you read the first two chapters in the Lord of the Rings. Don't worry about the other book." She responded scanning the list with a raised eyebrow. She would be informing the counselors of that as well, after she spoke to Tara.
"Is something wrong, Alexis?"
"I'm not quite sure, but I will find out. I do believe that book was added as a mistake." She replied honestly, meeting her son's brown eyes for a moment before he nodded and bounded back to his bed and his dragon book. "Don't forget to do the summer work for your maths class!"She called over her shoulder, heading back toward her office, forcing down a chuckle at the loud groan.
She sat back down at her desk, setting the two syllabus' side by side before shaking her head. The only difference was that the Colin Binks book had been added in. Nothing had been removed from the list, just this book had been added in. The summer instructions had said to read the first two chapters of the book listed as the first book to be read, which for third years was this awful book, and to write a few paragraphs about them. But on her list it was the Lord of the Rings. She had read the entire book, it wasn't a complicated book. But it also wasn't one she would approve for her third years. For any of her students. If they wanted to read it on their own and had the maturity to do so, fine. To read about blatant rape and murder in class, when many of the students had suffered abuse, was not okay. Which meant she needed to floo Tara.
She blinked, frowning at the green of the floo before glancing at the child in her living room. "Stay in the apartment." She ordered, warding it just to make sure, before stepping through to the headmistress' office. "Alexis? What's this about? I thought I told you I couldn't come before the day before school started?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the other woman. If then, to be honest. She wasn't quite sure what she was going to do.
She sighed, eyes resting on the red-headed woman for a long moment. They were the same age, which made things a little bit awkward. Not as awkward as they were with some of the other new professors who were a decade or two older than her, but still a little awkward. "I'm aware of that. I was hoping you could settle some confusion with your third year syllabus."
What was wrong with her syllabus? The headmistress had approved it, had approved all of them. She went to pick it up but stopped, her eyes drawn to the book on the desk. "Why on earth are you reading that god-awful filth?"
"Because my thirteen-year-old son brought it to me out of concern when he started reading it for his literature class and it made him uncomfortable."
She taught literature. She would never set a book like that, not even as an example of terrible writing. She met the headmistress' eyes for a long moment before taking the syllabus she offered. "I did not set that book, Alexis." She answered finally, sinking into a chair when the other woman gestured toward it. At least she didn't feel as if she was in as much trouble. Her original syllabus was on her computer, she could go home and print it. She gasp suddenly, shaking her head. She knew exactly who put that book on the least.
"I have the original syllabus right here, that book isn't on the list. While Hogwarts will send a letter out to both booksellers and parents, correcting the mistaking and offering compensation for the book, it would be great if we could prevent this from happening again. Do you know how the book got on the list?"
She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. She was going to get fired before she even started. She had brought her syllabus' and her nephew with her the last time she saw Remus so Severus had a copy for the book lists. "My nephew. He must have gotten into my computer and changed it. He's a mess. I'm sorry, Headmistress. I can pay to buy the books buy." It wouldn't be the first time she had to pay to fix something he had done.
"You didn't tell me you had a nephew?"
"He goes to Beauxbatons. They accept children with disabilities. Hogwarts hasn't until this year. I honestly figured Remus told you. I've had my nephew since he was five. He is now twelve. His parents...when he didn't 'get better', they decided he was better off somewhere else. I got full custody." She shrugged.
"Which is why you can't move in until the day before school starts. Beauxbatons starts a few days before we do. Why didn't you just tell me Tara?" Honestly, it would have been so much easier if she had told her. They could have even gotten her nephew transferred here to make things easier on Tara.
Because she didn't want to admit that she had only taken this job because she needed the money. She could barely afford Billy's school, the flat in France, his therapy and medicine, plus now he was a boarder. Secondary students at Beauxbatons had to have an exception to live at home and she hadn't been able to get one. Last year he had a least been able to come home on weekends, but this year she would be teaching at a boarding school herself, so she had told him she didn't think that would be possible. And that had led to an almighty tantrum. Which is probably why he messed with her book lists. "I'm sure he didn't realized I hadn't taken them to Severus yet, or he probably would have left the book lists alone. I'll go back through and check all of them just to be sure." She stated, ignoring the question.
"Tara, I can't help you if you don't talk to me. Let me help, please." She could see the stress there but if the other woman wouldn't let anyone in, what could she do?
"Billy is autistic. He doesn't do change well and his understanding of magic is different. Beauxbatons has a program that allows him to integrate with his classmates but still gives him the help he needs with social skills. He has been going there since he was eight, to the primary school. But he started boarding last year and he comes home on weekends. He wasn't happy to learn he couldn't come home on weekends anymore." She answered finally, not looking up at the other woman.
Maybe she needed to owl Beauxbatons and see if they had any suggestions for Lila. But she did have a solution to the problem. "Why can't he? You have quarters here, Tara. He will have a room in them. He is welcome at Hogwarts on weekends or over the holidays. We have an autistic student and while I'm aware that every child is different, Billy is welcome here."
"Thank you. I'll talk to him and see how he feels about that." She wasn't sure if international floos every weekend was feasible but it would make the holidays easier.
-x-
"Alright, settle down. Settle down. Once everyone is seated, Kate will pass out the wand care kits." Severus stated firmly, eyes going over the small classroom near the camp that they were using for the first-years. They had been using it for all of the first-years lessons in quill usage and basic magical theory, just to get them on level with their peers, as well as making sure they were all up to year level in reading and math. Having a classroom the little eleven-year-olds were familiar with helped, which was why they had set it up. Filius had also made sure to add extra wards for when they started practicing basic magic.
It took several minutes for all of the kids to get into their seats, she could see just how excited they still were. Even little Ben was bouncing in his chair. But once they were all more or less at their desks, Kate started setting the care kits and wand holsters in front of them. She had watched Severus stop Bain in the hallway and show him how to put on a wand holster, which she had quickly pretended she hadn't seen, but it made her wonder how many more members of staff and older teens didn't have wand holsters.
"Okay so who writes with their right hand?" Bain asked, glancing around the room. Seven little hands went up. "Alright, awesome. You see my wand holster here? It is on the arm opposite to the hand I write with. So if I write with my right hand, I put it on my left arm. If I write with my left hand, I put it on my right arm." He let his sleeve drop back down, going to help one of the boys who looked extremely confused.
"Bain and I will come around the room and help you put your holsters on if you need help." Kate added, turning her eyes to one of the little girls, who was trying to put hers on upside down.
Louis rolled his eyes, having already slid his wand holster on his arm, helped Ben with his and moved to investigate the wand care kit. Jake had made sure Lila's holster was on right and had done it in such a way that he could see it and copy it. There was a book, a few small jars, a pouch, and a cloth. Why did they need all of this?
"Your books will tell you how to properly handle and care for your new wands but we are going to run through the basics. If everyone will carefully pick up their wands? First, we are never, ever going to point our wand at someone else except when your professors instruct you to or when you have supervision to practice those spells. There is a lot that can go wrong when you point your wand at someone in angry, or even if you are just playing." Kate explained, holding her own wand loosely in her hand.
"But the big kids do it!"
"Yes, they do Damien. And they also always get in trouble for it, don't they?" Severus raised an eyebrow at the preteen. He was lounging in a chair, willing to let Kate and Bain handle the majority of this, but he was here in case anything went wrong. And Alexis wanted memories to watch, of course.
"But-"
"Damien, if you point your wand at someone for any reason outside of class, you will lose it." Kate stated firmly, stopping beside the dark-skinned child's desk.
"When you hold your wand, you don't have to grip it so tightly. Rather, you want to hold it with the same grip you would hold a pen. Firmly, but not tightly. Bailey, hold it between your thumb and first finger, with your thumb resting on top." She instructed, moving on through the desks.
Louis copied the movement, practicing holding his wand until it was comfortable before returning to the book on wand care. It was interesting. There were apparently different techniques to safely clean a wand and the way it was taken care of determined how well it lasted. There were also a few brief notes on wand woods and cores but not enough to satisfied his need for information. He knew he would have to look it up later.
"Okay, so now that we have that down, Bain and I are going to show you how to properly care for you wands." From the look on Bain's face, he had never used one of the kits before. Well, this would be fun.
-x-
"Hey Lucas?"
He looked up from his paperwork to the little girl in his doorway. Whichever one of them was on duty always left their door open for a reason, after all. Not that the wards on the medical wing didn't immediately go off if someone entered injured. Still, sometimes a child just needed someone to talk to. Especially this child. Alexis kept trying to convince her to give staying in the camp another try, they had to get her magic used to being around other people full time, but she was too afraid to try right now. Which didn't explain why she was in his office, after her bedtime in her pajamas with her doll. "What do you need, Emma?"
"Can you help me with something?" She asked quietly, biting her lip. She knew she could have asked Lucy or Luna but she was a little too embarrassed to ask her year mates, even if they might understand. And while she knew Karrie would certainly understand, she also knew the older girl was having trouble coming to the medical wing because of the amount of magic there. Not that she was suppose to know that, of course.
"Of course I can." He gestured toward two armchairs, watching the child for a long moment. He didn't move until she had sat down, moving slowly so not to startle her. She wasn't as skittish as when she first came to them but she still had her moments. "What's up?"
She hesitated for a moment, fidgeting in her chair. Because it was so embarrassing! "Lila wants me to come to her birthday party and well...I don't know what to do. I've never had a birthday. I don't know what you do on birthdays!" She blurted out finally, meeting his eyes for a moment before finding her pajamas interesting. She was just glad there wasn't any pity in his eyes. Not that she thought there would be. None of the counselors, healers, or teachers there with them this summer ever looked at them with pity. Sadness, a bit of rage, but never pity.
Which the more birthdays they had celebrated this summer, the faster that realization became clear to the staff. Many of the children had never had birthdays. Several had, just because their parents had wanted to "appear" normal but many had never celebrated their birthdays, let alone had a party. Two of the children hadn't even known when their birthdays were, they had to pull their birth certificates to have accurate ages for them. "I know that has to be frustrating. Have you ever celebrated a holiday?"
"Christmas! Last year, I had Christmas for the first time. I stayed at Hogwarts, Luna stayed too. And there were some other Ravenclaws...and Fil-Professor Flitwick had Christmas morning with us. He spent most of the day with us." She grinned for a moment, remembering the feeling of being cared for, the joy of being with others and feeling wanted for the first time. It occurred to her for the first time that many of the kids who stayed for Christmas were the same kids currently in the castle.
The counselors had been trying to get the kids back into calling their professors by their titles, although it was a work in progress and he didn't think it was going to work. These kids were going to probably live with them year round, so calling them by their names was going to become a habit. He had to hide how angry it made him the she didn't experience any holidays until she came to Hogwarts. Emma hadn't experienced the feeling of being in a family until she was eleven, when her professor had Christmas morning with his students so they wouldn't be alone. "For most people, on their birthday, it's about being with the people they care about and celebrating that they have grown another year. With children, they also find joy in receiving presents, although I know that can be overwhelming sometimes. There are sweets, just like Christmas, and presents for the person whose birthday it is. Lila's party will be held in the sensory room, so there will be a lot of running around." He explained finally. He knew Alexis had ordered some books for the preteens that explained holidays and emotions, but he also knew most of those were way below Emma's reading level.
She needed to get Lila a present. She hadn't done that at Christmas, she hadn't gotten anyone anything because she hadn't know it was Christmas and she wouldn't had known what to get anyway, but she needed to do that now. It wasn't like she could just leave the school and go to the toy store though. And it wasn't like she had money. Plus the only way she knew of making money... "Oh."
"What are you thinking?"
"I can't get her a present."
He sighed softly, understanding the problem but also knowing it would help her heal if he could get her to talk about it. "And why is that?"
"Lucas."
"Emma."
"Where would I get money? And it's not like I can just leave Hogwarts!" She snapped finally.
"You can order from a catalog and if I remember correctly, Alexis said something about everyone having an allowance of pocket money." He responded calmly, raising an eyebrow at the twelve-year-old. It showed a lot of progress that her magic was completely within her control, however.
An allowance? She never had an allowance before! She wasn't sure she would know what to do with one! "I-that's- it's a lot."
" I know. How about I help, alright? I have some owl-order catalogs here and I can help you order from them with your school account." Not that he would let her spend her allowance but she didn't have to know that. It wasn't like Eric and him didn't take turns ordering birthday presents for the camp kids.
Emma bit her lip, thinking it over for a moment. That would help, actually. She honestly didn't know how to fill out the forms, even if she had watched Rose order hair products from one. Plus it gave her an excuse if Eric asked why she was out of bed. "Okay, Lucas. Thank you. I-I know I should know these things-"
"It's okay that you don't. These are things you learn as you grow up and you were denied the chance to be a child and to have those experiences. That's why we try to make it so you can experience and learn from them here. We will learn together, okay?" He interrupted softly, meeting blue eyes until the little girl finally smiled.
"Okay."
-x-
"Okay, Harry. So here is how this works. We will give you a potion to put you to sleep, not unlike how mundane doctors do surgery, and then I will cast a ritual circle around your bed. After that is done, I will carefully use a set of very old spells to remove the scar from your forehead, while protecting your magical core. Once I have broken the curse scar away from your magic, it should take just a few minutes to fully remove it. The good news is that it has started breaking away on its own. Unfortunately, the way it is doing that can cause harm to your core, so it is just better to remove it. Does that make sense?" Eric explained calmly, watching the thirteen-year-old for a long moment before glancing at his guardians. His son and his partner were both sitting next to the child.
"Is that why this room looks different? The magic?" Harry asked finally, glancing around the hospital room they had been taken to. It was still in the medical wing but it was just a single room and he could see magic everywhere in the walls and floor but nowhere near the bed or him. There was also a small observation window set into one wall.
Of course the child would notice that. "Yes, it is. This room has been set up for rituals and complex medical procedures. While removing your scar will only take about thirty minutes, it is still considered a complex procedure and is only done by the best pediatric and adult healers." He explained. Eric was glad he had decided to set this room up when he had taken over the medical wing, it was one of the first things he did after the camp kids came, when they realized the extent of their injuries. Having a ritual room that was already set up and ready to go would help in emergencies, plus it was stocked with potions and supplies that he wouldn't keep in a normal room. It was intended for complex medical procedures and emergencies.
Oh. Well that made sense then. He did like that Eric never talked down to him and that he was taking time to explain the procedure to him, not just to his guardians. "So once you remove it, I can go home?"
It warmed his heart so much to hear the child call their quarters his home. While he was still a little bit concerned about this, Severus had repeatedly reminded him that his dad was one of the best there was and that Harry would be alright. That it was necessary. Remus knew it was going to be hard to watch his child having magical surgery, although as Eric had pointed out, there wasn't really much to watch, but he would watch. It was his child.
"I'm afraid you have to spend the night here with me, Harry. Just so I can make sure everything went as it was suppose to. But you should be good to go back to your normal activities the next day." He responded, meeting green eyes.
"Okay. I'm ready." Harry stated after several minutes of quiet. He was ready, he was sure. He wanted his scar gone. If it was gone, he could be normal. Well, as normal as any of them were anyway. If it was gone, it meant he couldn't come back. It was over. Really over. He could just be Harry. He wanted to just be Harry. "Let's do it."
-x-