Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
After telepathically making sure that he was able to walk for about fifteen minutes, Professor Snape carefully took his hand and led him out of the headmaster's office. Harry inwardly sighed in relief. Somehow, he had not felt overly well in the headmaster's company, even if he could not come up with a reason.
He almost had to hurry to keep up with the professor's fast pace; however, the older wizard stopped a few times to tell him where they were. It was not as if he was completely blind and helpless. He could at least discern if his surroundings were dark or bright, and he could sense the magic of the castle. He knew if they were walking along a corridor or through a larger hall, depending on where he could sense the walls on both sides. Surprised, he noticed that the castle's walls felt somehow soothing.
'This is the entrance hall,' the professor informed him, when they reached a larger hall, which was also much brighter than the corridor they had passed before. 'From now, we're going to head to the dungeons, where our quarters are situated.'
While Harry did not know what the dungeons were, he noticed that the corridor steadily headed downwards and that the air became cooler as they went. 'Must be some place like the cellar at the Dursleys,' he thought, remembering the room, where he had to spend an hour every evening carefully cleaning his relatives' shoes. Over the time, he had become proficient at it. He recognised the colours of the shoe cream by the form of the bottles and knew exactly which shoes needed brown, black or red.
He was brought back to reality, when the professor silently informed him that the next door on the left side led to his classroom. Harry did a careful step in the direction of the door to possibly remember the exact position. From the opposite side of the wall, the magic of people penetrated his mind. To his relief, Severus quickly explained that there were portraits on the wall, from where he could probably sense the magic coming from the witches and wizards inside. 'The professor is really nice to explain all such things to me,' he thought, feeling very grateful towards the older wizard. 'This will help me find my way back to this classroom.'
They continued along the corridor, where the next door led to the professor's office. Harry did his best to remember the magic coming from the opposite wall, where a painting of three magical people seemed to be situated. Finally, they arrived in front of a door, which Harry found was completely different due to the various types of magic coming from what he supposed were people. 'A portrait right on the door this time?' he wondered.
'This door leads to my private quarters, which will be yours now as well,' the professor informed him. 'It is guarded by the portrait of Salazar Slytherin along with a snake. Place your hand against the door, so that I can ask Professor Slytherin to let you in at all times.'
=Oh, a young one. How nice,= Harry heard a voice, which he could not place. He only noticed that it sounded pleased.
"This is Slyther, and she seems happy to have a young one coming to live here," a male voice explained.
"Thanks for translating, Salazar. Did she really say that?" the professor enquired.
'She did,' Harry thought to him.
'Could you understand the snake?' the professor's response came extremely quickly.
'Yes. Was that a snake?'
"This is Harry, my new ward, and apparently he can comprehend Parseltongue."
"Really? Oh, that's extremely welcome. Hello Harry, I am Salazar Slytherin, and I am a Parselmouth as well. Welcome to the Potions master's chambers."
'Potions master? Parselmouth?' Harry wondered, however, knew better than to ask. He thought a quick thanks to the professor, when he shortly explained to the portrait that he was not able to speak at this time. He hesitantly followed the older wizard into what seemed to be a large room, which was full with various sources of magic that penetrated his senses.
He unconsciously flinched back, when he felt someone grab his hand, however, immediately relaxed upon the gentle touch.
"Please sit here on the sofa," the professor instructed him in a soft voice, which felt extremely soothing to Harry's ears.
He gingerly sat on the edge of said sofa, somehow feeling very self-conscious.
"Harry, please relax and make yourself comfortable. This is my home, which from now on will be yours as well. Is it all right if I speak to you aloud?"
'Yes sir,' Harry thought back to the kind man.
"You may, of course, always reply through telepathy if that makes you feel more comfortable."
'Thank you, sir.' Harry inwardly sighed in relief.
"We have an hour, before lunch begins in the Great Hall. If it's somehow possible for you, we should try to attend the meals in the Great Hall." He sounded thoughtful. "First of all, I will introduce you to Cicero and show you our quarters. Cicero!"
An instant later, Harry heard a small pop followed by the feeling of a completely different kind of magic.
"Cicero is my personal house-elf. Cicero, this is Harry Potter, my new ward. Harry was not treated well by his family, and he is suffering from the final stage of the Epiales disease. He is not able to see, and right now, he is not ready to speak either; however, I hope to be able to remedy at least this last point soon. Harry is eight years old and so far has never received any education. Since I have to teach classes for another month before the beginning of the summer holidays, I would like to ask if you and some of the other elves could perhaps teach him some primary school knowledge, perhaps along with some introductory magic, as his magic seems to be extremely powerful."
"Of course, Master Severus, little Master Harry, we, that is I and probably Misty and Malcolm, will be happy to teach little Master Harry, while Master Severus is teaching. Perhaps Misty will be able to help with his illness, too."
"As the elves' healer, she might be able to help in a different way from our human healers," the professor replied, sounding thoughtful.
"Yes," the elf confirmed. "Master Harry, we house-elves do all the housework at Hogwarts, and most of us are bonded to the headmaster, but not all. My friends Misty and Malcolm are not, nor am I. They are Professor McGonagall's and Healer Pomfrey's elves."
"You met them both my colleagues earlier in the headmaster's office," the professor reminded him.
Harry nodded in understanding. 'These women sounded nice,' he thought, 'even if they seemed to be totally angry at the headmaster for some reason.'
"Cicero, please speak with Misty and Malcolm how to proceed and meet us here tomorrow evening after dinner. In the meantime, I shall remain with Harry, and I'll also discuss the matter of his education with Minerva and Poppy."
A moment later, Cicero excused himself and Harry felt more than heard that he disappeared. 'He sounded very nice,' Harry thought, 'and he's going to teach me, although I'm just a freak and unworthy of attending school.' 'Thank you, Professor, for asking him to teach me. I'd love to learn things.'
"Harry, in private you may call me Severus, just not in front of the students. From now on, you will study a lot. From the age of eleven onwards, which for you will be in a little more than two years, students attend Hogwarts, and there is much which you have to learn in order to catch up with the other children."
Harry felt very excited. 'I'm going to attend classes together with other children?' he asked in disbelief. 'Although I'm a freak and can't see or speak?'
"You are not a freak, and yes, I hope you'll be able to attend Hogwarts together with everyone else. You'll have to try really hard, as due to your illness, everything will be much more difficult for you than for the others. Well, you're not alone in this. We will all help you."
'Thank you so much.'
"You're welcome. Now, do you wish to take my hand or would you rather just follow me, when I will show you to your room and the rest of our quarters?"
Harry pondered the matter for a moment. 'I'm fine,' he replied, preferring to avoid being touched, even if the professor seemed to be very kind.
"Very well," Severus relented. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask at any time."
During the next thirty minutes, Harry explored their quarters. Severus led him into one room after the next, and allowed Harry to check it out as he felt comfortable, while he patiently waited for him in the doorframe.
Harry was taken aback, when Severus led him to a room saying that it would be his, Harry's, room. When he stepped inside, expecting a tiny chamber similar to his former cupboard under the stairs, he could tell from the walls' magic that the room was fairly big. He walked along the wall, explored a large wardrobe, a bookshelf, a desk that was equipped with a chair, which felt comfortable to the touch, as well as an enormous bed. 'The bed alone is as big as my cupboard was,' he thought in disbelief.
'Is that really for me?' he asked, incredulously.
"Of course. Why do you ask? Did you not have your own room at your relatives' place?"
'I lived in the cupboard under the stairs,' Harry admitted. 'Thank you, Professor… Severus.' 'I feel as if I was stuck in a good dream,' he added to himself.
In the end, Severus realised that they were late for lunch in the Great Hall and led Harry into a small kitchen. He guided him to a chair and told him, "Sit here. This will be your seat from now on. I am going to sit on the opposite side."
Harry hesitantly hovered behind the indicated chair. Finally, Severus repeated, "Harry, please sit down. Were you not allowed to sit at the table for lunch?"
'No,' Harry thought to his new guardian. 'Freaks are not allowed to sit at the table.' Somehow, his reply came automatically, and only after thinking it to the professor did Harry realise what it meant and that it would probably not apply in the professor's quarters.
"Harry, here, you are allowed and even requested to sit at the table for meals." Severus' voice was gentle but firm, and Harry automatically felt inclined to comply.
An instant later, he felt Cicero's magic, and soon, the scent of food penetrated his senses. It smelled wonderfully, and with Severus' kind encouragement, Harry hesitantly used a spoon to carefully eat just a little bit of the delicious food that he found on his plate. Too soon, he felt completely full.
'Thank you, sir. I've never eaten something so nice before.'
"From now on, you're going to eat three meals a day, and I hope that over the time, you'll be able to stomach more than such a little bit. You are much too skinny for an eight-year-old."
Harry pondered apologizing, however, remembered that no one wanted to hear much from a freak and remained quiet, while the professor finished his meal.
Just when they returned to the living room, where Harry resumed his previous seat on the sofa, two people entered their quarters, and from the magic penetrating his senses, Harry realised that it had to be Professor McGonagall and Healer Pomfrey.
"Severus and Harry, is everything all right here?" McGonagall's voice was gentle, and Harry had the impression as if it was laced with concern.
"We took our time inspecting our quarters and talking to Cicero, so we were late for lunch in the Great Hall. My apologies."
"That's all right then." Pomfrey spoke in an equally soft voice. "Are you settling in well?"
"I believe so," Severus replied on both their behalf. "We're going to need your help though, considering that I still have a month of classes to teach before the holidays. I've already asked Cicero for help, and he told me that he'd involve Misty and Malcolm to teach Harry, when I'm not available."
"That's fine, and Harry can also spend some time with me in my office during class time." Madam Pomfrey's voice was warm and friendly."
"I've sent a Patronus to Miranda, who is chaperoning Hogsmeade today." Harry recognised Professor McGonagall's voice. "I asked her to have a look at Flourish and Blotts and check if they have any book in Braille. Otherwise, we need to ask Filius to develop a charm for us, as it is important that Harry learns to read."
"Why would he be able to read Braille? Being blind doesn't enable him to read, and none of us is able to teach him Braille."
One of the witches let out a deep sigh. "Perhaps it would be better to teach him a charm that will read a page to him."
Harry listened with interest. 'I'd love to read books and study a lot,' he thought, feeling very happy with the new turn that his life had taken all of a sudden. 'They really want to help me,' he thought, gratefully.
'Thank you so much for trying to help me,' he thought to Severus, who repeated his sentence to the ladies.
"Is he able to hear our conversation?" McGonagall's voice was laced with apparent surprise.
"Partly yes," Severus admitted. 'Sorry, Harry. Everything else would be unbelievable, and you can really trust these two. You've heard how they were ready to kill the headmaster on your behalf.'
Harry smiled. 'That's true,' he thought, as he remembered how the two ladies had shouted at the old wizard.
Severus cleared his throat, before he began to speak in his soft voice. "We will need to ask for Filius' assistance concerning books. On a different note though, when I picked Harry up at Arabella Figg's place, he was surrounded by cats and was eagerly petting them. I was wondering if I should buy a guide dog for him or at least a cat familiar."
"That's a wonderful idea, especially the guide dog." Pomfrey immediately agreed, sounding excited. "Please ask him if he likes dogs."
'Harry, have you ever met a dog?'
'No sir.'
'Did you like the cats at Mrs. Figg's place?'
'Yes sir.' 'They were nice,' Harry thought, recalling how they had purred in apparent contentedness, when he petted them.
"I know someone who is raising and training guide dogs. Do you remember Thomas Burnham? He was a Gryffindor about twenty years ago. I've still occasionally been in contact with him."
"I remember him. Even back then, he had a great affinity to animals."
"That must have been before my time at Hogwarts." Severus sounded thoughtful. "Minerva, may I ask you to contact him on Harry's and my behalf?"
"Let me call him. May I borrow your fireplace for a moment?"
"Of course."
'The fireplace?' Harry thought, incredulously and almost jumped in shock at the magic he felt, as the fireplace sprang to life. The magic seemed to come from a warm place not far from where he was sitting.
"That's all right, Harry. This is the fireplace, and we use it to call other wizards and witches like through a muggle telephone."
'Thank you, Severus.' Harry felt extremely grateful that his new guardian was so gentle and explained so many things to him. Never had anyone done such a thing for him. 'Oh well, it wasn't necessary, as I spent all my time alone in my cupboard except for when I had to cook for the Dursleys,' he thought.
He absentmindedly registered how Professor McGonagall spoke to someone, as if she was making a phone call. In contrary to the phone calls, which he had witnessed his Aunt Petunia make from time to time, he could even hear the person on the other side of the connection. In the end, Professor McGonagall agreed with the man that Professor Snape should step through the fireplace together with him, Harry. 'Step through the fireplace?' Harry thought in disbelief, when he recalled that they had already travelled through a fireplace, when Severus had brought him to Hogwarts. 'I can do that.' Somehow, he felt relieved at the thought.
Without hesitating, he allowed Severus to take him by the hand and stepped into the fireplace together with the older wizard.
"Scotland Guide Dog Centre," Severus said in a firm voice, before the travel began.
Harry had to admit to himself that he was not as shocked as earlier; however, he still did not overly like the travel. He thought a grateful 'Thanks' to the older wizard, when he gently guided him out of the fireplace.
HP
He quietly listened, while Severus talked to Mr. Burnham and told him about him being blind, however, in the possession of very strong magic.
All of a sudden, he felt something wet touch his left hand, before the wet thing began to meticulously lick his hand. He leaned down and automatically began to pet the head that was attached to the licking tongue using his right hand. 'The ears are large and fluffy,' he thought, somehow admiring the creature who seemed to be very gentle, as it began to lick his right hand.
"This is Lucy, and she seems to have taken a liking to your boy. She is a magical Borador, a mix of a magical Labrador and an equally magical Border Collie. She is two years old and already fully trained as a guide dog."
'Harry, would you like to have Lucy as your familiar? Shall we take her with us?'
'For me?' Harry thought back, incredulously, as he gently continued to pet the canine, barely noticing that his hands were completely wet.
'Of course, for you. They have other dogs, but I believe that Lucy has already chosen you.'
'She's very friendly,' Harry thought back, only to add for himself, 'I'd love to have her, but she won't be happy with me, a blind freak.'
Just when Severus spoke to the older wizard again to inform him that they were going to take Lucy, Harry sensed that the canine let out a strong bout of magic and suddenly felt very happy.
'I've bonded with you. I am Lucy,' a soft voice penetrated his mind.
'Hello Lucy, I am Harry, and I am very happy,' Harry thought, guiding his thoughts to the canine. 'Thank you so much for bonding with me.' 'Lucy bonded with me,' he informed Severus.
'That's good,' the older wizard replied, before he agreed with the dog breeder that they needed a collar and a leash for her.
A few minutes later, someone pressed one end of the leash into Harry's right hand, before Severus reached for his left hand and said, "Let's return to Hogwarts. Lucy, please come with us."
'Come Lucy, you're going home with us,' Harry thought to his new familiar, smiling happily, before he gently led her into the fireplace together with Severus.
A few minutes later, when he hesitantly sat on the sofa again, feeling that Lucy settled down next to him, the canine managed to shock him to the core.
tbc...?
Thank you so very much for the overwhelming reviews for the first chapter. Please tell me what you liked or disliked in this chapter and what you expect from this story. Any ideas are welcome, and my muse appreciates any constructive feedback.
