Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong

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


Harry was already in bed that evening with Lucy cuddled against his stomach, when he heard that Severus readied himself to attend Marvolo's meeting at Nott manor.

"Please take good care of yourself. Harry, Felix and I need you." Regina sounded very agitated, which Harry found strange, as his adoptive mother usually managed to hide her emotions as much as his father.

Hearing Severus leave, Harry hesitantly scrambled out of bed and stepped into the living room. Lucy merely let out a small growl, before she turned around to face the wall and continued to sleep.

"Harry! Is something wrong?"

Harry smiled at the concern expressed in Regina's voice.

"Severus will be all right," he said, reassuringly, as he took his usual seat on the sofa, knowing his surroundings well enough to not have to rely on Lucy. "Marvolo is not evil. I can sense it. Right now, he seems to be scared of what his former followers will say to the truth."

"Thank you, Harry," Regina replied, warmly, and Harry felt how she sat on the sofa next to him. "That's very reassuring." She let out a deep sigh. "I'm afraid that this pregnancy makes me more susceptible to worries and fears."

"How is Felix doing?" Harry asked in anticipation of getting to know his younger brother soon, although he had the impression as if he already knew him well considering that he could sense the baby's magic. "He seems happy."

"Is that so?" Regina sounded delighted. "Here, you can feel him." She gently took his hand and laid it onto her stomach, where he felt a large bump.

"Is that him?" He chuckled, joining in his adoptive mother's happiness, when a sudden thought crossed his mind.

'Granny Anastasia,' he thought to his surrogate grandmother on the Isle of Elves.

'Hello Harry, my dear. How are things?'

'Just brilliant,' Harry thought back. 'I have a question. My little brother is going to be born in two months' time. Do you think one of Teddy's cousins would be willing to become his elf? A free elf of course,' he added, even knowing that Anastasia knew that he would not wish for anything else.'

'I'll ask around,' the elf promised, 'but I am certain that I find someone. Recently, you've become famous here.'

'I heard that from Dolly and Draht,' Harry replied, 'but it's really strange.'

"Harry, are you all right?" Regina's question brought him back to Hogwarts.

"Yes, please give me one moment," he replied, before he quickly said good-bye to Anastasia and then explained to his adoptive mother about his silent conversation with the elf.

"Oh Harry, you're so sweet. I hope you know that your father and I love you very much, and Felix is going to be very happy having such a caring big brother as you."

"I love you, too," Harry mumbled, still feeling extremely uncomfortable at expressing such kind of feelings.

"Thank you, son," Regina replied, gently placing a kiss onto his forehead. "I believe that it's time for you to go to bed now though."

Harry nodded, glad that she did not offer her help, apparently having understood by now that he could well manage on his own letting himself be guided by Hogwarts' magic.

HP

However, sleep did not come by easily, as he suddenly felt himself being pulled into what seemed to be Marvolo's mind. He could even see through the man's eyes and felt his thoughts.

'Beginning of vision'

His Death Eaters were gathered around him, grovelling on the floor in greeting.

"Raise," he commanded them. "I am back; however, I am not the Dark Lord anymore."

"Excuse me, sir?" Strangely, Malfoy was the first to find words.

Marvolo let out a deep sigh. "The late Lord Rosier, and no, I did not kill him, put me under the Imperius curse, when I was fifteen and had a crush on his daughter."

A huge commotion began, and Marvolo waited patiently, until everyone calmed down enough for him to continue his explanation. He told them everything, which he had already explained to Harry earlier the same day.

Once he had finished telling his story, Malfoy once again spoke up. 'As much as I like Draco, his father is not really nice,' Harry thought, as the blonde wizard questioned Marvolo.

"How do we know that this story is true? Do you have any proof? Moreover, who killed Theodore Rosier if it wasn't you?"

"Draht!"

An instant later, the elf appeared right next to Marvolo. "Yes, Marvolo, sir?"

"Please tell them about Theodore Rosier."

Draht nodded in understanding and told the assembled wizards everything that he knew of one evil wizard, to whom he had once been bonded.

"You tricked your master into freeing you?" Lucius' voice was laced with disbelief.

"Yes sir. I stole a sock from his grandson Felix and hid it in an inside pocket of his winter robes, and when he handed me his robes to put them away, I pulled out the sock and was free. It worked, and ever since then, I've been a free elf. As Marvolo is a friend of Harry Prince, the saviour of the elves, I decided to do him the favour and kill the old Lord Rosier."

"Harry Prince?" Lucius asked, incredulously. "The former Harry Potter, the boy who lived is your friend?"

"Yes." Marvolo smiled. "It was only because of him that I managed to get a corporeal body at this time."

"Why should we believe your phantasies?" someone suddenly shouted at Marvolo, pointing a wand at him.

'He needs me!' Harry realised and put a strong bout of magic into the wish to leave Marvolo's mind. An instant later, he found himself back in his own room at Hogwarts.

"Lucy, wake up, we need to go and help Marvolo," he urgently whispered to the canine, who lazily opened her eyes. Apparently noticing that Harry was close to panicking, she was awake quickly. Without further ado, Harry gripped her front paw and popped them to where he could sense Marvolo.

"Harry!" Two voices shouted his name.

Grateful that Lucy showed him his surroundings and knowing that Marvolo was standing on his right side and Severus on his left, Harry raised his voice.

"I am Harry Prince, and I am good friends with Marvolo here. I only came to confirm that he is not evil. I know that he killed my birth parents, but that was because he was kept under the Imperius curse and was forced to do so."

"How old are you, child?" someone asked, and Lucy lightly growled at a grumpy old man. 'He probably is the one who asked. I don't like him either,' Harry thought in annoyance.

"I am ten," Harry replied in a firm voice, smiling, when Lucy showed him that Draht and Dolly protectively stood in front of him.

"Harry is a very special child," Marvolo stated, smiling at him.

"Well, you heard my son confirm that he is Marvolo's friend; however, I believe that it is time for him to return home. Marvolo, will you please excuse us?"

"Of course, Severus. Please take your son home. Thanks for coming, Harry. Good night."

"Good night, Marvolo," Harry replied, smiling, before he reached out for Severus' hand and Lucy's paw and popped them right into his bedroom to not give Regina a fright.

HP

Originally, Marvolo had intended to take the Dark Mark off of his followers' arms; however, now that Severus had left, whom he trusted most apart from Artemis Nott, he dismissed the idea for the time being. 'I won't need to have them all here to take the mark off,' he thought. He also decided to forego the idea of obliviating everyone who did not believe him. 'Artemis and Severus are both lords on the Wizengamot, and with their help, I should manage to get an audience with the Minister of Magic, who will be able to question me under Veritaserum if necessary.'

Without further ado, he dismissed his followers with the invitation to come to Nott manor again at seven o'clock in the evening of the first Saturday in December.

To his surprise, not only Artemis but also Lucius remained.

"Lucius." Marvolo cast the man of his former inner cycle a questioning look.

"My Lord, may I ask what your plans are now?"

Marvolo nodded. "Due to all the questioning, I didn't have the chance to explain my goals and plans for the future. "I believe that the magical world must look better after itself, which means that we should help all kinds of magical beings, independent of their species, blood or whatever. This includes, for example, elves, giants, Squibs or muggle-borns. We cannot have any kind of witch burnings in the muggle world, like it was common in the Middle Ages, just because someone became known as a wizard or witch by chance. Nor can I tolerate abuse of magical children by their muggle guardians just because they have magic. I wish to establish the magical world as a fixed and known part within the muggle world. We are a part of Great Britain just as the muggles are."

Artemis and Lucius nodded in apparent understanding.

The blonde wizard seemed to hesitate, but finally asked, "My Lord, would you be willing to take Veritaserum?"

"Provided that Severus will attend and, if necessary, provide the antidote."

"In that case, I can introduce you to Millicent Bagnold, the current Minister of Magic. Considering that you don't have any other proof of the Imperius curse, she might want to question you."

Marvolo nodded. "Please make an appointment with her if she is willing to see me."

"I shall accompany you as well. I can, to a certain extent, vouch for you, Marvolo."

Marvolo cast his old friend Artemis a grateful smile, before he profusely thanked him for allowing him to hold the meeting at Nott manor. Finally, he excused himself and swiftly returned home.

"You are late, and I hate meetingssss. They are full of emotionsss," Nagini hissed, as she sleepily curled up next to him in his bed.

"Ssssorry Nagini, my dear," Marvolo replied, when a sudden thought crossed his mind. 'It's not surprising that she can sense my emotions, considering that she harbours a part of my soul, but why can Harry feel everything as well? He even knew to come to my help earlier. How strange.'

Deciding to find out more about the connection between him and the boy, he quickly drifted off to sleep, dreaming of Dark Marks that took off from his former followers' arms, changed their colours to bright orange and the snakes on them to grimaces that were laughing and shouting at him.

HP

After tucking Harry and Lucy into bed, Severus stepped out into the living room, where to his surprise Minerva and Regina were having tea together.

Apparently noticing his questioning look, Minerva explained that Harry had telepathically asked her to keep Regina company.

"He's such a sweet boy. He came and kept me company for a while, before I sent him back to bed." Regina smiled, seeming very happy.

Severus let out a deep sigh. "Thank you, Minerva, for keeping Regina company. Harry is much too nice for his own good though. You did not realise that he popped himself and Lucy right to our Death Eater meeting, when he noticed that Marvolo was in distress with some dubious individuals, did you?"

"He what?" Regina jumped from her chair in clear agitation. "I'm sorry. I didn't notice that he left his room at all."

"Nor did I," Minerva added in apparent shock.

Severus nodded. "Please calm down," he said in a soft voice, gently pulling his wife down to sit on the sofa with him. "Everything went well, and after a few minutes, he popped us back, which gave me an excuse to leave the meeting early."

Minerva shook her head in disbelief. "Are you going to punish him?"

Severus stared at his colleague. "Oh, believe me, I'm going to have one or the other word with him in the morning. I am not sure about punishing him considering his upbringing; however, he'll have to learn to not endanger himself, when he feels that he needs to help someone with something."

Regina cast him a concerned look. "Be careful to not hurt him dear."

"Otherwise, he'll simply run off to the elves' quarters again." Severus let out a deep sigh. "Regina, would you be willing to speak with him? I believe that you're much more competent to lead conversations with abused children than me. In spite of my own experiences," he added as an afterthought.

Regina nodded, smiling. "If you believe that he'll listen to me, I will."

"Did he get around to call you Mum and Dad by now, by the way?"

Regina smiled, sadly. "No, he still calls us by our given names, but we hope that this will change once his little brother will properly address us."

"In two years' time or such," Severus added, rolling his eyes.

Minerva cast him a look of pure bewilderment. "If he's going to be born in two months, he'll be ready to say his first words in about a year. He's magical after all, and magical children talk much sooner than muggles."

"Oh no, that's going to be the end of my peace and quiet at home, too," Severus quipped, causing Regina to lightly kick his side.

"Oh well, I am not going to intrude any longer." Minerva rose from her chair. "Good night, Regina and Severus."

"Good night, Minerva, and thank you so much for keeping me company." Regina bet him to a response, and Severus could only echo his own thanks.

"Did Marvolo say anything about freeing his followers from Azkaban?" Regina cast him a frightened look, once Minerva had left.

"No. He mainly had to justify himself in front of his former followers. Just like this morning, the topic did not even come up. I don't think he's going to do such a thing though. If he claims that he only did what he did because of the Imperius curse, he must absolutely abide by the rules this time. Otherwise, he's going to end up in Azkaban very quickly. I shall address the matter the next time I meet him though."

"Thank you, dear. That's all I can ask for," Regina replied, smiling.

'I'm a horrible husband,' Severus berated himself, as he stretched out in bed and pulled his wife into strong arms. 'It was the first thing I should have asked about, but it completely slipped my mind, as I was too concerned about Harry in the first place.'

HP

Before breakfast on Sunday morning, Harry received a scolding from Regina. While his adoptive mother was very gentle and emphasized how much they loved him and that they wanted nothing more than to keep him safe and happy, he still felt thoroughly chastised.

To his surprise, the twins noticed soon that he was not his usual happy self, when they sat together at the Slytherin table for breakfast.

"Harry…"

"… what do you think of spending our free morning…"

"… in the Potions classroom brewing a prank potion?"

"Sure," Harry immediately agreed, his spirits lifting up quickly. "What are we going to brew?"

"Ahh but Harry…"

"… leave that to us…"

"… as we've got just the right recipe…"

"… to prank the teachers."

"All right, I'm in," Harry agreed, grinning.

HP

"Harry's mood seems to improve," Severus whispered to his wife.

"Thank Merlin," Regina replied, who had been observing their son in concern.

It was a cold Sunday morning in mid-November, and Harry was sitting at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall for breakfast. 'Severus, may I brew a joke potion together with the twins and Teddy?' he thought to his father.

'Only if you show me the recipe in advance.'

Harry inwardly groaned. 'May we show it to Cicero, please? I think they intend to prank the teachers, and I wanted to ask him and Misty if it is harmless for Regina and Felix anyway.'

'All right. Please have Misty confirm that it's not dangerous for pregnant witches. This does not only concern your mother but also Miranda.'

'Miranda and Remus are going to have a baby?' Harry thought back in delight, causing Regina to lean over to his father and whisper something to him.

'Yes son, but please keep this bit of information to yourself, until they decide to tell you. Their baby is only due a few months after ours.'

'I won't speak with them about it,' Harry replied, indignantly. 'Thanks for telling me though.'

HP

Harry and Teddy prepared the ingredients according to George's instructions, before George guided Fred through the brewing process, and thirty minutes later, an almost colourless liquid was bubbling in the cauldron in front of them.

"That's it," George stated, seemingly contented, as he sniffed the potion and instructed his twin brother to bottle it in two large phials.

"Two?" Harry enquired.

"Well, we will give one to Charlie…"

"… to have some fun at home over Christmas."

"Are you not going to return home for Christmas?"

"We will…"

"… but only for two days…"

"… over Christmas…"

"… as our Mum…"

"… is a little overbearing…"

"… and we prefer to study for our Potions NEWT…"

"… together with you, little bro…"

"… over having to de-gnome the garden."

Harry smiled. "All right. I am always happy to have you here and brew together. Now, I'm going to call Cicero and Misty to confirm that the potion is harmless and not dangerous for unborn babies."

Lucy showed him two red heads bob up and down in confirmation, while Teddy swiftly called his parents, whom Harry had already telepathically informed in advance.

While Cicero approved the potion as correctly brewed and harmless, Misty disagreed. "It could harm the babies. Harry, you must tell your mother and godmother about it and tell them not to drink anything during lunch. I will prepare a beverage for them and ask Poppy to deliver it to them under the guise of a health drink."

Harry nodded in understanding and profusely thanked Misty, while Lucy showed him an image of the twins bowing in front of the elf.

"Don't bow to me," Misty mumbled, shaking her head in apparent annoyance.

"Where did you get this recipe?" Cicero suddenly asked. "If it is your own invention, I shall have to commend you greatly. It is well thought out in spite of being very complicated."

The twins grinned broadly and profusely thanked the elf, who had been Severus' house-elf for a long time and was proficient at brewing himself.

"Mummy, may I attend lunch together with Harry and the twins?" Teddy jumped up and down on both feet like he often did, when he was excited.

"You can't have lunch at one of the house-tables."

"Why not?" Harry spoke up. "The students will have to get used to it, as I'm going to put up a fight so Teddy can attend Hogwarts classes together with me in any case."

"He won't be allowed to attend, and we can't pay the fees anyway." Cicero's voice was firm; however, Harry did not like it at all.

"As I am the owner of Hogwarts, if necessary, I can force the headmaster to allow elves to attend, and I have enough money from the Order of Merlin and the wolvescure potion to pay the school fees for him."

"Thank you, Harry. We will see," Cicero replied, and Harry was glad that the elf did not outright refuse the option for his son.

"I can remain invisible at the house-table," Teddy offered.

"There is no need…"

"… to remain invisible…"

"… Just simply sit between us…"

"… and Harry…"

"… and enjoy the spectacle."

"May I? Please?" Teddy asked, pleadingly, and his parents reluctantly agreed.

"Will the two of you join us…"

"… in the common room for a while?" the twins asked, once Misty and Cicero had popped away taking one of the phials with them.

"No, I need to return home and inform Regina. Perhaps, she can tell Miranda, as I am not supposed to know about her pregnancy," Harry replied, sheepishly. "I'll see you at lunchtime. Thanks so much for allowing Teddy and me to brew together with you."

"Always," the twins replied, grinning broadly.

HP

"Thank you for being so thoughtful," Regina replied, carefully pulling him into a gentle hug. "I will floo call Miranda and inform her."

"Thank you," Harry breathed in relief, as he had worried how to warn his godmother in spite of feigning being unaware of her pregnancy. "Would you mind me playing on the Suikan for a while? I think Felix might love it."

"Yes please. He really enjoys it when you play."

HP

A few hours later, Harry and Teddy took their seats between the twins at the Slytherin table with Lucy nestled on Harry's feet, occasionally banging her head against one of Teddy's legs, which were dangling in the air due to the elf's small size.

'Let the fun begin,' Teddy thought to Harry in apparent excitement, completely ignoring Lucy's doing for the time being.

"Lulu, please see to it that I won't miss any single moment of it," Harry whispered to the canine, who returned a comforting =Woof.=

After what seemed to be a long time to him, food popped up on the tables, and he purposefully turned his head away from the high table facing Teddy. Soon, a commotion began at the teachers' table. To Harry's disbelief, all the teachers except for Regina and Miranda, who both had some pinkish drink next to their plate, began to behave as if they were drunk – at least that was how Harry expected a drunk person to behave.

All students watched in apparent amazement how the professors were shouting, bawling, dancing around the table and finally settled down singing what the twins told him were Irish drinking songs together, followed by Christmas carols, although it was only the middle of November.

"It's going to wear off…"

"… after about thirty minutes," the twins informed those sitting nearby, who then relayed the information that soon spread around the Great Hall.

HP

Regina observed her husband and his colleagues behave like what she knew as muggle hooligans. Knowing that it was a prank potion, she was not concerned but rather enjoyed watching together with Miranda and the whole student body.

After what seemed to be ages but in fact was only about half an hour, the teachers seemed to slowly return to their usual selves.

"What happened?" Severus asked her, narrowing his eyes upon realising that all students were staring at the high table with open mouths.

"You may watch my memory later on," she promised, grinning broadly. "Just telepathically tell Harry and the twins that they did extremely well with their prank potion."