Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong

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


When Harry woke up the following morning, he felt Severus' presence nearby. 'Good morning,' he thought to his guardian, wondering if he had overslept.

"Good morning, Harry." Severus seemed slightly hesitating, as he slowly continued, ignoring Lucy, who was lazily stretching her limbs between the two of them. "When my colleagues spoke with you about a possible adoption, they pointed out that I should blood adopt you, so that no one would be able to deduct who you are from your outer appearance."

Harry nodded. 'Remus told me I was the spitting image of my father,' he recalled.

"I have the adoption papers ready, and I also have the potion needed for the blood adoption. However, I want you to consider if you are certain that you want me to adopt you and if you want it to be a blood adoption. As I told you earlier, nothing will change if we don't do this."

'If it's all right with you, I want both of it, please,' Harry thought back, knowing that he had sufficiently pondered the matter during the last two days. He gently ruffled Lucy's fur behind her ears, before he felt her jump out of the bed, probably to head to the garden to relieve herself.

Severus pressed something cold into his right hand. "It's the blood adoption potion. I suggest that you ready yourself to lie down as soon as you've taken it, as you might experience pain depending on how much your body will change. I have a pain-relieving potion ready, which I will spell straight into your system, when you have taken the potion. I can imagine that you might grow a little," he added, before he cast a charm at Harry's pyjamas that would make them automatically adjust to his new size.

"Do not linger on the taste," he heard Severus warn him, before he gulped the potion down as fast as possible.

Soon, he felt the changes begin. He realised that his limbs seemed to stretch some; however, it was more a tingling sensation than that it hurt, and Lucy managed to efficiently distract him by cuddling close to his chest and stomach.

When he noticed that the changes seemed to be complete and slightly relaxed, Lucy jumped out of the bed and sent him an image of himself.

"My colleagues will admire that you look very handsome," Severus commented, dryly. "You seem to have grown a bit, and your hair has taken on the structure of mine."

'Thank you, sir,' Harry thought to the older wizard, feeling strange but happy at the idea that he was his father now.

"Now, I must fill out the adoption parchment and send it to the Ministry of Magic. I suggest that you take Prince-Potter as surname. You can always shorten it to Prince; however, you should have both names, as one day in the future, you will be the head of both houses. Do you agree?"

Harry simply nodded his head, fully relying on his new father to have his best interest in mind.

"Now, I suggest that we change your birthday, as I told you before. Do you agree with August 18?"

'Yes sir.'

Severus let out a small sigh, before he explained, "Now, there is one last thing that we need to decide. In case something happens to me, you will need godparents to care for you. Is there any of the adults, whom you like enough to become your godparents?"

Harry's thoughts went haywire. 'Excuse me, sir, but did my birth parents not decide on godparents for me?'

"They did; however, both of your original godparents are in no way able to care for you, which was why Professor Dumbledore sent you to the Dursleys as your only living relatives. Your godmother was tortured by the Dark Lord's followers, while your godfather was sent to Azkaban for giving out your parents to the Dark Lord."

'The Dark Lord? Is that a different person to Voldemort?'

"No, it is a different name for the same person." Severus sighed again. "Now, back to the original question. Is there anyone whom you would like to become your godparents, or do you wish to hear my suggestion?"

'Yes please.'

Severus nodded, and his features visibly relaxed. Harry gratefully petted Lucy, glad that he could see through her eyes.

"As Poppy and Minerva are too old, I suggest Remus and Miranda." Severus sounded uncertain, causing Harry to nod, eagerly.

'I'd like that,' he assured the man, smiling happily. 'Will they be all right with it though?'

Severus smirked. "I've taken the liberty to ask them both in advance and yes, Harry, both of them would love to become your godmother and godfather."

He scribbled something onto the parchment in front of him, causing it to roll up and vanish into thin air.

"It has been sent to the Ministry of Magic," Severus explained in a soft voice. "Now, are you going to get up, so that we can grace my colleagues with our presence at the breakfast table?"

Harry nodded, smiling. 'Thank you so much, sir, for blood adopting me and arranging everything for me.' 'I've never been so happy,' he thought in absolute delight at his new situation, as he readied himself for breakfast, only to notice that his clothes had become too short due to the changes of his body.

"This afternoon, we're going to go to Hogsmeade to buy new clothes for you," Severus decided, when Harry stepped out into the living room. "For now, I will simply cast a spell at your trousers and your robes to enlarge them."

As soon as Harry gave him his telepathic approval, he felt his clothes adjust to his new size.

HP

"You blood adopted him?" Dumbledore repeated Minerva's explanation to her colleagues, sounding surprised but maybe even angry. Harry was not sure.

"Yes, he is my son, Harry Prince-Potter now."

"Prince?"

Harry did not like the image that Lucy showed him. The headmaster's eyes narrowed in apparent anger that intensified, when Severus explained that he had recently accepted the lordship over the Prince family.

"Don't you think, my boy, that you should have asked me before adopting Harry? This was very unwise."

"And why might that be, Headmaster?"

Harry quietly listened to the conversation, feeling very much upset with the old headmaster.

"You should know better than to act against my strict orders. I believe we should consider your further employment at Hogwarts. Perhaps, it would be wise if you left Hogwarts at the end of the upcoming school year."

"No!" Harry suddenly shouted. 'Minerva, as the owner of Hogwarts, I can overwrite his decisions, right?'

Minerva nodded, unobtrusively, apparently trusting Lucy to relay the message. "Albus, as you might know or not know, Harry is the heir of all four founders of Hogwarts, which makes him the owner of Hogwarts. Therefore, he can overwrite your decisions, and I believe that Harry wants his father to remain on his position."

Harry nodded, sending a telepathic thank you to Minerva.

"I'm getting too old for this," Dumbledore mumbled, before he quietened down, leaving Severus to speak with his female colleagues about a trip to Hogsmeade to buy clothes for Harry after lunch. "Did Harry speak aloud earlier?" he suddenly enquired.

"That must have been your imagination, Albus," Poppy replied, although Harry was certain that everyone had heard his earlier outburst.

HP

When Severus, Harry and Lucy returned to their quarters, Severus suggested that Harry should practise playing the Suikan for a while.

'Won't the sound bother you?' Harry hesitantly asked.

"No Harry, it won't bother me. Just sit in your normal spot on the sofa and practise," Severus instructed him, and Harry obeyed.

Taking the ball into both hands, he concentrated on the emotions he was feeling and tried to direct his magic into the Suikan, thinking that he just wanted to play music.

Severus was sitting in his favourite arm chair reading something, and Harry somehow felt conscious about the sounds he was making. However, knowing that his new father had told him to play in the living room instead of retiring to his own room, he just played along, glad when he managed to produce sounds.

He thoroughly enjoyed himself, and his mood, which had not been good in the first place due to the conversation with the headmaster at breakfast, improved considerably.

"This is fascinating," Severus suddenly spoke up. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

'Yes sir. I like it very much.'

"When you began to play almost an hour ago, the melodies you produced sounding very agitated, but by now, it has become much calmer. Is that intentional?"

Harry shrugged. 'I'm not certain how to influence the melody apart from concentrating on my mood yet, and when I began to play, I was upset because of the headmaster's behaviour.

"I understand. Maybe, you should take some lessons with Mr. Oniche?"

Harry shook his head. 'He told me that I'd be able to practise just by myself. He said that I'd find out how to improve things over time.' 'Why would anyone willingly take the time to teach a freak?' he thought, when a voice spoke up from the back of his mind. 'Several teachers here at Hogwarts as well as the elves have taught me so far, and they always told me that I'm neither a freak nor a bother.'

HP

At breakfast a few days later, the doors of the Great Hall suddenly opened, and an older woman entered the room.

'Lucy, stay here,' Harry thought to the canine, who was standing next to him relaying images of the visitor.

"Harry, this is Millicent Bagnold, the minister of magic and an old school friend of mine," Minerva introduced the witch and invited her to sit between her and Poppy and have some tea.

"Professor Snape – or should I say Lord Prince? – and Harry, I came to inform you that the two of you will be awarded the Order of Merlin first class for your invention of a cure for lycanthropy," the minister spoke up once she was seated in front of a steaming mug of tea.

"Thank you, Minister," Severus replied, slightly bowing his head. "My son and I will gratefully accept the honour, and we promise to brew as many doses as are needed to cure all werewolves. However, we cannot foresee how many doses we will be able to provide each month. It depends on our other obligations here at the school."

Harry nodded to emphasize his new father's words.

"That's fine, and I will tell Head Healer O'Brian from St. Mungo's to directly contact you," the minister replied, sounding very friendly.

'Oh right, Minerva said that she was a friend of her,' Harry recalled. 'She probably saw to it that Severus would receive the award, too. I wonder why Dumbledore didn't want Severus to get it,' he thought, contentedly.

HP

A few days later, Severus shocked Harry, when he asked if he wanted to invite Charlie Weasley, Nymphadora Tonks and perhaps the boy's younger siblings for his birthday.

'I don't have birthdays,' was the automatic response that Harry relayed before even thinking about it.

"And why might that be?" Severus enquired, causing Harry to realise from the tone of his voice that his father deemed the matter to be a complete nonsense.

'I'm sorry. I never had a birthday at the Dursleys, only Dudley had,' he hurriedly explained. 'I know, everything is different at Hogwarts.'

"Exactly," Severus replied, matter-of-factly. "If you wish to invite your friends, I suggest that you write a letter to Tonks and the Weasleys, to Charlie Weasley if you feel the most comfortable with him."

Harry nodded eagerly and made his way into his room, feeling glad that Barney had practised with him, Nina and Tony to write with a quill. A moment later, he thought to Severus, 'I am sorry, sir; what should I write?'

'That you wish to invite them for the afternoon of your birthday, which is on August 18,' Severus advised him. 'Perhaps for two o'clock in the afternoon.'

To Harry's relief, his father sounded patient, although Harry thought that his question was probably stupid.

Harry settled down at his desk, smiling when Lucy climbed up next to him, so she could show him the writing utensils on the desk.

'Dear Charlie, I would like to invite you, the twins and Ginny to Hogwarts for my birthday, which is on August 18. Can you come to Hogwarts at two o'clock in the afternoon? I would be very happy.
Regards
Harry Prince'

He wrote the invitation to Tonks as well, before he took both letters to his father, who promised to see to it that they would reach their destiny.

HP

Unbeknownst to Harry, Severus travelled to the Tonks and the Weasleys later the same day, once Harry was peacefully asleep in his bed. Just in case Harry woke up, Minerva and Poppy were having tea in the living room of his and Harry's quarters. He handed over the invitations and explained to the Weasleys that Harry was very shy and only felt comfortable in the presence of the children, which he had explicitly mentioned in his letter.

"Of course, Severus, we understand that," Arthur Weasley reassured him.

"Although it's sad, because Harry is going to be in the same Hogwarts year as Ron," his wife added, causing Severus to inwardly groan. He had never especially liked Molly Weasley.

"I have something else to discuss with you," he changed the topic and told the Weasleys about the twins' brewing abilities. "I would like to offer them a week of tutoring during the last week of the holidays to determine if they're as promising in the field of brewing as it seems. May I have your permission to offer this to them, when they'll come over for Harry's birthday?"

"Of course. They'll be thrilled at the opportunity." Arthur was the first to reply.

"These two do nothing but nonsense the whole day, but if you believe that you'll be able to teach them, we will not decline the offer," Molly added.

Severus nodded, contentedly, and took his leave as soon as possible. He had another family to visit that evening, even if this visit was not for Harry's sake.

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.

Sorry for the shortness - it is due to being on summer holidays (finally / for two weeks). I will try to update again soon.