Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong
Please refer to chapter 1 for my disclaimer and warnings. Thank you.
While Harry spent the morning with Neville and his parents to help them adjust to normal life again, the Weasley twins returned home for Christmas, and Regina and Severus headed to Gringotts.
"Will Buckbean see us at all, considering that it is Christmas Eve?" Regina cast Severus a concerned look.
"Why would he not? I don't believe that the goblins celebrate Christmas. If you wish to kick your brothers out of the family, the sooner you do it the better. Even if Marvolo probably won't free his former followers from Azkaban, some of the others might be upset about his new agenda and try some kind of stunt."
Regina stared at him in shock. "Do you suspect someone?"
Severus merely sighed, looking at her in apparent concern.
She nodded in understanding, smiling to cover her anxiousness, when she followed her husband into the white building of the magical bank.
"Regina Prince-Lestrange, and I would like to speak with Buckbean," she informed the nearest teller, who motioned them to wait in a small side office.
'Thank Merlin Buckbean is much friendlier than these goblins,' she thought, inwardly sighing in relief, when Buckbean came to fetch them to his office.
Buckbean invited them to take a seat, before he lowered himself into the chair behind his desk. An instant later, another goblin brought tea and biscuits of the season for the three of them. Finally, Buckbean leaned forward, giving them a questioning look. "Lady Lestrange, Lord Prince, what can I do for you at this time?"
Regina inwardly sighed. "I wish to remove my brothers Rabastan and Rodolphus as well as my sister-in-law Bellatrix from the Lestrange family."
Buckbean nodded in apparent understanding, and five minutes later, Regina was already able to sign the paperwork necessary to make her decision official. 'Thank Merlin, I did it,' she told herself, feeling somehow relieved.
"A wise decision if I may say so. However…" Buckbean paused, apparently to get their undivided attention, before he continued, "I would like to warn you to be very cautious if you enter the family vault. The three former members of House Lestrange are extremely dangerous and might have placed outright foul objects into the family vault. The goblins believe that there is at least one very dark item."
"Thank you so much for the warning," Regina said, gratefully.
"Buckbean, you certainly have specialists for dark artefacts, who would be able to clear out the vault for us." Severus seemed pensive, and Regina listened in surprise. 'I thought that he was an expert in dark magic himself,' she thought; however, remained quiet, as Buckbean made Severus an offer, which her husband accepted in apparent relief. 'Oh well, it doesn't matter that we have to wait a week before going to see the vault. We could have done so for months now and didn't.'
Ten minutes later, they found themselves out in Diagon Alley again.
"Well, time for some last-minute Christmas presents for Alice and Frank." Regina smiled.
"I thought that the cure was their gift."
Regina was not sure if Severus was joking; however, she firmly shook her head. "No love, remember that was Harry's present for Neville."
HP
Christmas presents were one topic in the Longbottom quarters at Hogwarts as well.
"Regina and Severus invited us over for tonight, but we don't have any presents for anyone." Alice seemed troubled by the fact.
"Aunt Alice, everyone will understand, plus it's a Christmas present for everyone that you're back."
"Exactly." Neville grinned, happily, before he cast his father a questioning look. "Could you call Gran's house-elf Puck and ask him to buy presents for you?"
"Puck?" Frank shook his head in apparent annoyance at the name, which Harry could understand all too well."
"Teddy and I could help out, too, as we can simply pop us to places." Harry shrugged, thinking that Alice and Frank knew that he could pop anyway, considering that he had taken them to Hogwarts on the previous day.
"Harry, you're so sweet, but you're not a house-elf." Alice smiled at him, before she turned to her husband. "Perhaps, we should get our own house-elf."
"Do you really want a house-elf, or would you consider employing a free elf?" Harry quickly informed them about Severus' and his agenda to fight for the rights of elves.
The Longbottoms conferred for a moment, before they both nodded in agreement. "What do we have to do?" They both cast him questioning looks.
"Please give me a moment," Harry replied in excitement, before he once again contacted Anastasia on the Isle of Elves. 'Granny, we need someone to work for the Longbottoms, the parents of my friend Neville, here at Hogwarts as a free elf. They're very nice people.'
'Harry dear, I'm sorry for not contacting you concerning an elf friend for your baby brother. Do you remember Ana and Nihil, Teddy's cousins?'
'Of course,' Harry replied, indignantly. 'We played with them every day, when we were on the Isle of Elves.'
'Exactly. Ever since I asked them if they'd be interested to become your baby brother Felix' friend, they've been fighting about it, as they both want to work for you and see you and Teddy on a daily basis. Would your friend Neville perhaps be in need for an elf friend? As they're still small, even if a bit older than Teddy, they'd probably love to work for someone of your age.'
Harry grinned broadly. 'Let me ask him.'
He quickly explained the matter to Neville, who became very excited. "Mum, Dad, may I have an elf?"
"How could we say no?" His father replied in apparent disbelief. "We owe you and especially Harry so much more. If you're both happy having these elves here, we're the last to protest against it."
HP
An hour later, Misty called Harry into the elves' quarters. 'Mum has arrived with cousins Ana and Nihil. Apparently, you arranged for both of them to stay at Hogwarts?'
Harry quickly excused himself for a while and popped away with Lucy to greet his friends from the Isle of Elves together with Teddy, who was equally happy to have his cousins at Hogwarts.
"Perhaps, they can attend classes together with us," Harry whispered to Neville, when they spent the evening in the Prince quarters, where the adults were talking about this and that, while the boys were playing with the three elves. Lucy was asleep on the sofa and lightly snoring.
"Harry," Severus addressed him in a soft voice. "I know that you brought up the topic once, but you should talk to Professor Dumbledore about it again if you wish to have a chance at convincing him."
Harry nodded in understanding. "Can you please try to convince Minerva and your other colleagues? Remus and Miranda know that Teddy can do everything that I can do. He is even more diligent than me," he admitted, sighing, causing the adults to laugh.
"May I also attend your class with you until we'll become students?" Neville asked, pleadingly.
"I'll have to ask Remus, but I don't think he'll mind," Harry replied, already looking forward to having classes together with Neville, Ana and Nihil. 'We'll have so much fun,' he thought in anticipation, just when he sensed that Minerva, Poppy, Remus and Miranda arrived to celebrate Christmas Eve together with them.
"Miranda, Remus, may Neville, Ana and Nihil also attend classes with me, so that we can all attend Hogwarts together next year?" he asked so quickly that the adults let out a collective laugh.
Remus and Miranda exchanged a glance, and while Miranda shrugged, Remus shook his head in apparent surprise.
"Harry, please help me and explain who Ana and Nihil are."
"Ana is my baby brother's elf, and Nihil is Neville's elf, and as Neville is now living at Hogwarts, too, he'd like to attend your morning class together with Teddy, Lucy and me."
Remus nodded in understanding. "I see. Hello Neville, Ana and Nihil. Welcome to Hogwarts."
"As to having three elves becoming first-years at Hogwarts next year," Miranda took over, "I'm afraid that you'll have to ask the headmaster."
"I'll do that." Harry rose from the sofa in determination. "Minerva, would you perhaps accompany me?"
To his chagrin, Minerva shook her head. "Harry, why don't you speak with him tomorrow during Christmas dinner in the Great Hall? That way, we will all be present and able to support you."
"Oh all right, that makes sense," Harry agreed, even if he was disappointed of having to postpone his talk with the headmaster a day.
HP
The following day was Christmas Day, and Harry and his parents spent the day at home. The Longbottoms as well as Severus' favourite colleagues and friends, who had already spent Christmas Eve with them, joined them again, and Harry and Neville played with their presents for hours. Only in the early evening, everyone attended dinner in the Great Hall on the headmaster's request.
Harry pulled Neville into the seat between himself and Remus, while he sat next to Minerva, somehow feeling very much reassured right next to the deputy headmistress for his confrontation with Dumbledore.
As he had previously agreed with Regina and Severus, who had advised him for his conversation with the headmaster, he only addressed the old wizard between the main course and the desert.
"Professor Dumbledore." He quietly thanked Lucy for showing him the headmaster, who looked at him in apparent surprise.
"Harry, my boy. Did you have a nice Christmas?"
"Yes sir; it was quite brilliant. Did you have a good day, too?"
"Yes, I did. In fact, I received a wonderful, warm pair of woollen socks, which made my day very comfortable."
"Ah, I received a Lego model of Quidditch, and Neville, Teddy, Ana, Nihil and I have been playing with that and my Hogwarts Express set the whole day." Harry grinned broadly, as he recalled how they had sent toy animals from London to Hogsmeade and back. Oh, by the way, there is something I'd like to speak with you about."
"And what might that be, my boy?" The headmaster leaned forward in apparent curiosity.
"Sir, do you know Teddy, my elf?"
"I am not sure."
"Well, Teddy has been attending Remus' classes together with me, and from now on, Ana and Nihil will study together with us."
"Is that so? I did not know that Remus was teaching house-elves." Dumbledore sounded surprised and not overly happy.
"They're not house-elves but free elves," Harry contradicted in a firm voice.
"Harry, my boy, they're elves, and not humans."
"Does that matter, sir?"
"Yes, it does."
"Well, I don't understand…"
"You will, when you're older."
"Definitely not. When I'm older, I'm going to fight for the rights of elves and other creatures. Anyway, what I was going to ask is if it is all right for you if Teddy will attend classes together with us from September onwards."
The headmaster's eyes widened in apparent shock.
"No Harry, we can't have house-elves attend classes at Hogwarts."
"An elf, not house-elves."
"That doesn't make a difference.
"It is completely different."
"No Harry. Many parents would pull their children out of Hogwarts if we allowed elves to attend classes here." He let out a deep sigh. "Right now, we really have different problems. Voldemort is back, the man who killed your parents and tried to kill you. We must be very careful, as I am afraid that he will come after you sooner or later. Right now, he is probably still gathering his strength, but at some stage, he will try to continue what you hindered him to do."
"Is that so?" Harry repeated the headmaster's earlier words, completely unimpressed at the old wizard's explanation. However, he did not know if it would be wise to admit that he was friends with Marvolo, and he thought he remembered that Severus had once told him to keep the matter from Dumbledore.
"Yes Harry. You should see to it that you're never alone outside of Hogwarts."
Harry nodded. "I won't."
HP
"That went well," Harry groaned, walking between Neville and Lucy, when they were on their way back home through the empty halls of the castle. "He really is an old coot."
"Harry!" Severus scolded him lightly. "Please don't say such things. He's the headmaster after all, even if we happen to disagree with him in various matters."
"Sorry." 'No, I am not sorry at all. I really dislike Dumbledore,' Harry thought, as he let himself sink onto the floor to continue playing with Neville.
"Well, now that Harry has brought up the topic once, we could discuss the matter during a staff meeting at a later time." Minerva sighed. "Albus has a point though. Many parents won't like it. Perhaps, it really might be better to only allow Teddy into your class for the beginning. If that goes well, we could consider allowing the other two elves to become students the following year."
"Yes please. Thank you, Minerva." Harry cast the old with a broad smile, while Lucy jumped from the sofa and nudged her to caress her ears.
"Poor Lucy," Minerva cooed, "does Harry never cuddle with you?"
"All the time," Harry replied in disbelief, causing everyone to laugh.
'Harry!' Marvolo suddenly caught his attention.
'Marvolo,' he replied in delight. 'Merry Christmas, and thank you so much for the gift.' The older wizard had sent him a book, which was written in Parseltongue.
'You're welcome. It was written by Salazar Slytherin about Hogwarts in the time of her founding. I hoped that you might find it interesting. Take good care of it though, as it is the only copy. Thank you for your gift, too. Your assortment of fruit drops is simply delicious. Did you make all of them yourself?'
'Together with the Weasley twins.'
'Ah, the infamous Weasley twins. Please introduce them to me at the next opportunity. Oh, by the way, do you and your parents have any plans for New Year's Eve? Otherwise, I'd like to invite you to my place.'
'I'll ask Severus and Regina, when the others will be gone later on,' Harry promised, suddenly becoming aware of the fact that Neville was calling out to him.
HP
On the day after Christmas, the Weasley twins returned to Hogwarts and were introduced to Neville and his parents.
While Remus, Misty, Poppy and Cicero insisted that Harry should not have any lessons during the holidays, with the return of the twins, their studying for the Potions NEWT continued. Harry spent at least the whole morning in Severus' lab together with the twins – much to Neville's chagrin.
Apart from their studies for the NEWT, the twins concentrated on their research together with Severus and were all for it, when Severus told them that Marvolo had invited them all for New Year's Eve.
"He wishes to get to know you. As I told you a few weeks ago, he wants to work together with you combining your potion with a ritual. He seems to be very knowledgeable about rituals."
"It'll be our pleasure…"
"… to accompany you on New Year's Eve…"
"… and to brighten the mood…"
"… by a few select prank potions…"
"… or you could say…"
"… our newest inventions."
Severus cast them a bloodcurdling glare. "Please behave yourselves and also remember that my wife is pregnant."
"Ah, all right then…"
"… we'll only use our special firework display…"
"… and no prank potions…"
"… no canaries or such for once."
Severus smirked. "Thank you, Messrs. Weasley."
'If they weren't as good at brewing and reliable student assistants, they'd really grate on my nerves,' he thought in annoyance at their way of taking turns speaking. 'Oh well, they're good friends to Harry, too,' he reminded himself.
"Our mother was freaking out by the way…"
"… saying that Dumbledore had told her…"
"… that You-Know-Who was back…"
"... and that they had to revive some secret organisation…"
"… to fight him and protect Harry."
Four eyes looked at him in silent question.
Severus let out a deep sigh. "I've told you before that Marvolo, who is the Lord Gaunt now, by the way, acted the way he did because of having been cursed. He will not kill people left and right anymore, and he swore me an oath to not attack Harry."
"He did?" Four eyes widened in apparent surprise.
"He did." With that, Severus ended the conversation and changed the topic. "New Year's Eve is also Marvolo's birthday, and I was wondering what we could possibly brew for him." He remained pensive for a moment, before he continued, "As I told you, it was elves who gave him a corporeal body. His ears somehow resemble those of an elf instead of a human, and I was wondering if we could brew something to make change them to look at least a little more human."
"All right…"
"… but we have five days…"
"… to develop said potion?"
"Yes." Severus smirked. "Good luck."
"Will Harry at least work on it together with us?"
"Perhaps, he can sense…"
"… what ingredient Marvolo is missing?"
"That might be a possibility," Severus replied, pensively and telepathically contacted his son. 'Harry, would you mind coming to my lab for a moment? We have something urgent to discuss with you.'
'Of course' came the immediate response.
HP
Harry patiently listened to Severus' and the twins' explanation, before he shook his head in bewilderment.
"Are you sure that we need a potion?" He uncertainly played with Lucy's ears. "Shouldn't I be able to heal his ears using healing magic?"
Severus looked at him in apparent surprise. "If you were able to do so, why haven't you done so a few weeks ago?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know if I can do it, plus I didn't know that his ears were bothering him. Lucy didn't specifically show me his ears," he added as an afterthought.
"Would you be willing to try it out on New Year's Eve, which is also Marvolo's birthday?"
"Of course. I just hope that it'll work," Harry replied, eagerly, knowing that it would be a great birthday present.
"Very well, Messrs. Weasley, back to the project at hand then," Severus stated, nodding his head at Harry in clear dismissal.
HP
New Year's Eve at Marvolo's place was interesting to say the least. The twins had a seemingly infinite number of questions to ask the former Dark Lord, and Harry listened in amazement, as Marvolo patiently answered anything they wanted to know.
While the twins prepared everything for their fireworks outside, Harry and Severus took Marvolo aside, before Severus asked the man if the outer appearance of his ears was bothering him and if he wanted Harry to try changing them to a more human form.
"I don't know if I'll be able to do that, because they don't need healing."
"Feel free to try," Marvolo encouraged him, smiling. "In the worst case, they remain the way they are." He sat next to Harry, so that the boy could easily hold on to his left ear.
Harry concentrated on the ear and how it felt, only to realise that it felt absolutely all right. There was nothing wrong with it that might afford his healing magic. 'How can I make it more human?' he thought, frantically; however, had to admit to himself that he had no clue.
"I am sorry. I don't know how to do this," he finally admitted, feeling utterly disappointed.
"Harry!" Marvolo extended his finger to raise Harry's chin. "Don't be disappointed. My ears don't really bother me. They're fine. They simply look like those of elves, but it doesn't matter. It was the elves who helped me get this body after all. Thank you so very much for trying anyway."
Before Harry had the opportunity to feel sad about the matter, the twins returned from the garden and motioned everyone outside. "The countdown has begun…"
"… Only ten minutes left…"
"… before the New Year is going to begin."
"Neville," Marvolo addressed Harry's friend. "Can you help me take the champagne outside?"
Neville nodded in apparent eagerness.
"I could ask the elves, but in fact, I've given them the day off." Marvolo smirked, as he added, "I have the impression as if Dolly and Draht get along very well."
Glad that Lucy, who had slept through the evening, readily rose from the sofa and accompanied him outside to show him the fireworks, Harry thoroughly enjoyed himself admiring Fred's and George's newest invention.
'That was absolutely amazing,' he thought, when he went to bed very late that night, ready to fall asleep in a blink.
Unfortunately, his sleep was disturbed very early on New Year's Day, as he suddenly woke up realising that Marvolo was in utmost distress.
