Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong

Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.


Even if Harry could not see them, he heard and felt that a whole group of young wizards came over to them and placed one of them onto the bed next to the one on which he was sitting. He instinctively sensed that the boy needed help and slowly got to his feet. While he could sense Poppy's magic run over the boy, he instinctively reached out and put his right hand onto the part that needed help.

'Harry, what are you doing?' Severus' telepathic question penetrated his mind; however, Harry ignored it for the time being and concentrated on the task at hand. He let his magic flow through his hand into the other boy's body, just like he had healed parts of his own body many times before. An instant later, he felt that it was enough. He quickly let go and returned to his own bed, wondering if they were going to return to their quarters soon.

"I believe that explains why your scan showed nothing wrong with Harry," he heard Severus' soft voice.

"Harry must be a natural healer," Poppy replied, sounding strangely excited. "Mr. Weasley, you're free to go. Apparently, Harry has healed your leg."

"May I speak with him for a moment?"

"You may try, but please remember Professor Dumbledore's warning of last night," Severus replied in a strict voice.

"I merely want to thank him and maybe ask how he did this. I won't do anything to him."

'He sounds nice,' Harry thought, as he felt that someone sat next to him on the edge of his bed. While he knew from distinctive sounds coming from his familiar that Lucy gently licked the boy's hand, she flashed him an image of a redhead, who gently petted her in return. 'He looks nice, too.'

"Hello Harry, I am Charlie," he introduced himself. "I hope you can hear me or your doggy can translate for you. I'm a fifth-year Gryffindor, and we just had our first Quidditch practice after our OWL exams. Thank you so very much for healing me. I'd love to know how you did that, by the way."

'Go on, think to him, you can do it,' Lucy encouraged him, giving him a gentle nudge.

Harry shrugged. 'I don't know. I could sense that you needed my magic,' he hesitantly thought to the boy.

"Wow, you really must be a natural healer then as Healer Pomfrey said. I've never heard of natural healers. They must be exceptionally rare, aren't they?"

Harry shrugged again, glad when Poppy replied on his behalf. "Yes, there has been about one every two hundred years." Everyone remained quiet for a moment, before Poppy asked, "Harry, how did you know that you could heal Mr. Weasley? Have you healed yourself before, when you were hurting?"

Harry gave her a slight nod of his head in confirmation.

"Now Mr. Weasley, if you have no intention of spending the night in the hospital wing, I suggest that you'll be on your way back to Gryffindor."

'Why?' Harry thought, feeling disappointed at Severus' words. He felt that Charlie rose from the edge of his bed, before the boy asked, "Harry, shall we be friends?"

Harry smiled. 'I'd like that,' he replied through telepathy.

"I'll see you then, and thanks again for healing me."

With that, the group of boys hurried out of the hospital wing.

"Now Harry, shall we leave as well?"

Harry nodded and quickly followed his guardian back to their rooms with Lucy walking closely to him as usual.

HP

Once Harry was in bed later the same evening, Severus called Minerva over.

"Thank you for staying with Harry. He's not ready yet to remain just on his own."

"Of course not." Minerva smiled in understanding. "He has made wonderful progress though, since he came here yesterday. If I didn't know that only a day and a few hours have passed, since he came to live with you, I wouldn't believe it. Now, give the Dursleys what they deserve, but please don't kill them. Harry needs you here and not in Azkaban."

"I know." Severus nodded, grimly. "I'll see you in a little while." With that, he stepped into the fireplace and travelled to Arabella Figg's place.

HP

To his relief, the old Squib was not in sight, as he was not in the mood to discuss the matter with her. Instead, he wanted to concentrate on his more than annoying yet necessary conversation with Petunia.

"You!" his former childhood friend shrieked upon seeing him.

"Hello Petunia. Nice to see you, too. Will you ask me inside, or do you wish your neighbours to witness our conversation?" he drawled, causing her to hurriedly open the door for him to step through.

She led him into the living room, where the whales of her husband and son were watching some supposed-to-be funny film on the television. She motioned him to take a seat.

"How dare you?" He kept his voice dangerously quiet; nevertheless, this tone in combination with his expression of pure loathing usually made all the Gryffindor students shake in fright.

"What are you talking about?" her husband asked. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"I am Severus Snape, Potions professor and Head of Slytherin at Hogwarts."

"He's one of them," Petunia added, helpfully.

"Then why did you let him in in the first place?"

Severus scoffed. "Because neither her nor you, you fat muggle, would be able to keep me out." He pulled the guardianship papers Albus had prepared for him out of the pocket of his black muggle jacket. "Please give me your signature, so that I can take over guardianship of Harry Potter from you."

The fat muggle grinned broadly. "And why exactly would we do such a thing?"

Severus remained calm. "Because otherwise, the Ministry of Magic would become involved, and you'd be accused of a bad case of child abuse, which would result in both of you receiving an at least ten-year long stay at Azkaban, the wizarding prison."

"Now, see here, you cannot…"

"I can." Severus sharply interrupted the muggle and drawled, "Your signature please."

A moment later, Petunia and her husband had signed the parchment, which rolled up on its own accord and vanished from the sight.

"Show me to Harry's room."

"Dudley, will you please?"

While Petunia's son led the way to the cupboard under the stairs, Severus unobtrusively pointed his wand at the boy's back for a moment, before he quickly slid it back into his pocket, nodding contentedly. He then crouched into the cupboard, glad that the whale of a boy did not even make an attempt to accompany him into the cramped space. He waved his wand making use of the residue of magic in the small place to conjure a ghost. When he turned to the entrance door to take his leave, he heard the boy, who had returned into the living room in the meantime.

"Mum, I feel strange. My eyes…"

Smirking, Severus strode away from the house and returned home.

HP

"Severus, you look strangely contented," Minerva observed with apparent interest. "What did you do to them?"

Severus smirked. "Two things in fact. One, I cast a spell on their son that makes him suffer from all the health problems and illnesses that Harry has or will have in the future. Two, I conjured a ghost, which looks like Harry and will follow Petunia around the house. If she decides to move, he'll follow her."

Minerva nodded, seemingly happy with his choices. "Well done, Severus. I still believe that we should take them to court because of child abuse."

"I agree; however, I believe that Poppy should be the one to do this." Severus remained pensive, before he added, "It might be difficult though, as he did not show any signs of physical abuse except for the Epiales disease, because he obviously healed himself of everything."

"What do you mean, he healed himself?" Minerva frowned.

Severus let out a deep sigh. "Have you not heard yet that he healed Charlie Weasley's broken leg earlier this evening?"

Minerva stared at him in apparent disbelief, causing Severus to smirk.

"Apparently, Harry is a natural healer, which also seems to be the reason why not a single problem apart from the Epiales disease showed up on Poppy's spell. I don't know why he's not able to mend his eyes though. Anyway, it will not be easy to prove the abuse without any other sign of it."

"I understand. Oh well, let's discuss the matter with Poppy and Albus in the near future."

HP

When Harry sat down at the high table in the Great Hall for breakfast the following morning, he could sense the magic from the boy, whom he had met in the hospital wing on the previous evening, approach him.

'Is that Charlie from last night?' he thought to Lucy, who immediately replied, affirmatively.

"Hi Harry," the boy addressed him in a soft voice, "why don't you come and sit with us at the Gryffindor table?"

'May I?' Harry thought to Severus, hesitating.

'If you wish,' his guardian thought back, before he spoke up.

"Weasley, I shall personally hold you responsible if something happens to Harry."

'He's really scary, when he speaks to students,' Harry thought, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

'Come, let's go and have some fun with the students.' Lucy rose from where she was sitting on Harry's feet and gave him a demanding nudge, before she stepped aside to give him some space.

Harry slowly followed Charlie and Lucy to what Charlie explained as the Gryffindor table. He sat in the indicated spot with Charlie on his left hand and a girl named Tonks on his right side. He profusely thanked the canine, when she sent him an image of the Gryffindor table and the students sitting around him, before she made herself comfortable on his feet as usual.

"Harry, do you want me to help you?" Tonks asked in a soft voice, causing Harry to nod, shyly.

Apparently realising that Harry was not able to thank the girl, who placed a little of everything onto Harry's plate, Lucy gently licked the girl's hand.

"Hey sweetie, do you want something, too?" Tonks enquired and apparently gave Lucy something to eat, as Harry could hear her much with obvious gusto.

"In a week, we're all going to return home," Charlie informed Harry, "but when we come back, we'll introduce you to Quidditch. Have you ever flown before?"

'Flown?' Harry wondered. 'Quidditch?'

"Quidditch is a game that's played on brooms. There are two teams with seven players each, and the four Hogwarts houses are playing against each other. This year, Gryffindor has won the Quidditch cup."

"Harry won't be able to fly if he can't see," Tonks replied on his behalf.

"Oh, that's right, but maybe he can still fly using his magic," Charlie said, seemingly thoughtful. "At least, he could fly together with me to see if he likes it at all. Harry, do you want to try it out?" His voice was laced with apparent excitement, as he added, "I could take you with me if you don't mind sitting in front of me on my broom."

'I'd like that,' Harry thought to him, although he had to admit to himself that he felt slightly uncertain about the matter. 'Severus, may I fly together with Charlie on his broom?'

'If that's what you wish to do, you may; Mr. Weasley is a good flier, and he should be able to keep you safe; however, I will go outside with you.'

Harry relayed the message to Charlie, who nodded in understanding. "Tonks, will you join us, too? Let's head out to the Quidditch pitch right after dinner tonight."

"Of course, I'm in." The girl sounded very pleasant, and Harry found that he liked her. 'She's as friendly as Charlie,' he thought, feeling extremely happy at the idea to have a friend.

'I'm going to fly with Tonks then.' Lucy's voice was firm, and Harry quickly forwarded the thought to Charlie.

"The doggy is going to fly with me?" Tonks repeated her classmate's words in apparent excitement, and Lucy informed Harry that her hair had just changed from brown to bright pink, whatever these colours meant.

'Please send me pictures every now and then,' Harry thought back, pleadingly.

'Of course, I will always do that.'

HP

"I wonder what they're talking about." Minerva chuckled.

Severus turned to his older colleague, quirking an eyebrow in silent question.

"Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks are eagerly talking to Harry."

"Ah that." Severus smirked. "What might they talk about? They're Gryffindors." Ignoring Minerva's and Albus' scoff, he continued, "Quidditch of course. Mr. Weasley offered Harry to take him with him on his broom tonight."

"Will you allow that?" Poppy cast him a look of obvious concern.

"I told him that Mr. Weasley is a good flyer, but that I'm going to head outside with them, just to make sure that nothing happens."

Poppy chuckled. "Severus, being a father figure to an eight-year-old really suits you well."

"True." Minerva smiled, broadly.

"I agree." Albus voiced his consent, smiling at him around Minerva's back.

"Well, I'm going to head to my classroom," Severus decided, ignoring his colleagues' more than annoying comments. 'Well, it is indeed nice to have Harry with me. He doesn't annoy me, and he's something like a family for myself. He's Lily's son after all,' he thought, feeling happier than he had felt in years, as he strode by the Gryffindor table.

"Harry, classes are going to begin soon. Please follow me."

HP

Harry thoroughly enjoyed himself sitting at the Gryffindor table with Charlie and Tonks. 'I have friends,' he thought, feeling extremely happy. He did not have the courage to think to Tonks yet; however, Charlie relayed what he thought to him, and both fifth-years did their best to answer the other students' questions on his behalf.

"Bye Harry and Lucy."

"We'll see you at lunchtime," Charlie added. "You can always sit with us."

'Thank you,' Harry thought back, sensing that Lucy eagerly waggled her tail. 'She seems to like them, too,' he thought, feeling very much reassured.

Together, they followed Severus into the dungeons, and Harry excitedly told his guardian about his conversation with the two students. 'They asked me to become their friend,' he added, hesitantly, wondering if Severus would approve of it in spite of the fact that he was a freak.

"Well done, Harry. They are both good students, and I'm glad to hear that they've become friends with you and Lucy. Now Harry, as my first morning class is that of the sixth-year students, who are going to brew a possibly dangerous potion, I shall ask Cicero to take you with him to the house-elves' quarters. He will introduce you to other house-elves, and they will teach you, while I am in class."

'All right.' Harry felt very uncertain in spite of having met Cicero a couple of times. The house-elf had always been very nice and had even treated him with more respect than he deserved. 'Lucy is going to be with me, right?'

"Of course, Harry. Lucy will always be with you," Severus reassured him.

Apparently to underline Severus' words, Lucy pressed herself against him, almost causing Harry to stumble.

HP

A few minutes later, Cicero popped Harry and Lucy into the elves' quarters, where he introduced them to Misty and Malcolm.

Misty was very gentle, and Harry noticed that her magic felt soothing, although he did not know why.

"Misty is Mistress Pomfrey's house-elf and at the same time the healer of the elves," Cicero informed him.

"Hello Harry, I am Misty. Mistress Poppy informed me that you are a natural healer, and I am very pleased to meet you. If you are interested, I will teach you some background knowledge about healing for an hour every day."

Harry eagerly nodded his head. 'Whatever they teach me, it'll be interesting,' he thought in excitement.

Cicero promised to teach him about herbs and plants, and Malcolm would teach him muggle primary school knowledge.

"You can also attend the elf children's classes during the mornings if you wish. They learn how to make themselves invisible, how to pop themselves all over Hogwarts and so on."

'Do they want me to be invisible?' Harry wondered and hurriedly made himself invisible to possibly please the elves.

However, the three elves showed unexpected reactions. While Cicero and Malcolm laughed aloud, Misty let out a small sigh.

"No Harry, you do not have to make yourself invisible. You did that very well, but we wish to see you," she informed him in a firm voice, causing Harry to quickly make him visible again.

"Yes, very good, Harry," Misty commended him in a soft voice.

"The children's classes begin at the age of six, so I suggest that you attend classes with the six-year-olds, even if they are younger than you, considering that you have not attended any kind of school yet," Cicero continued.

Harry nodded in excitement. 'Yes please,' he thought; however, was uncertain how to communicate with the elves apart from body language. 'They're going to be unnerved if I think to each of them separately,' he thought, frightened.

He noticed a tingling sensation; however, before he could wonder what it was, Misty spoke up again.

"Harry, I have just checked on you. There is nothing wrong that disables you to speak. I know that everything is difficult for you, because you cannot see and have been abused by your family, but it would be easier for you to learn as much as possible if you talked to the elf children. You will quickly become friends with them if you speak with them. They will be happy to have you in their class," she added, reassuringly, "just like the three of us are happy to be able to teach you."

'Lucy, do you think I should talk to them? Won't they despise me if they realise that I'm a freak?' he frantically thought to his familiar, only to stumble, when she put her front paws against his chest to lick his face.

tbc...?

Thank you so very much for the kind reviews for the previous 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.