Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong

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


When everyone finished unpacking presents, they returned home to spend the rest of the day with their family.

Holding Lucky in a firm grip, Teddy popped them into the elf quarters, knowing that the other elves would see to it that his presents would find their way home.

While Teddy, Misty and Cicero each were engrossed in their new books, Lucky took a liking to the empty book that Teddy had received. Taking the book with him, he toddled into the elf children's playroom, where he took a crayon and began to draw the huge Christmas tree, which he had seen in the Great Hall.

All of a sudden, writing appeared right underneath the tree.

'Who are you?'

'I IS LAKI.'

'What? Who are you?'

'LAKI ZE ELF.'

"This book replies." He looked around wide-eyed, causing his friends to come over to look at the book.

'I is Dilly.'

'I am 5.'

'I am hungry.'

'Why can you reply? You are a book.'

'…'

Each of his friends wrote a short sentence, before they one after another began to add small drawings, laughing happily, when the book replied after each addition to the pages.

Be it due to their insufficient reading abilities or simply their lack of attention, they did not realise how the book's comments slowly became more and more upset.

All of a sudden, Teddy stormed into the room. "That's mine. Give it to me," he demanded, holding out his hand.

'It's almost full,' Lucky realised and hesitantly handed the diary to his older brother, who cast him a glare that would make his mother proud.

HP

Grabbing the diary out of his brother's hands, Teddy stared at it in shock. 'Harry,' he thought to his best friend, 'my brother and the other elf kids have totally ruined that diary. Do you perhaps know a way to remove their drawings? It even has snot and tooth marks on it.'

'Show me.'

Without further ado, Teddy popped into the Princes' living room, bowing deeply as he arrived. "I am sorry for disturbing you on Christmas Day."

His voice was shaky, causing Regina to step over to him and pull him into a gentle hug. "Teddy, you're not disturbing us at all, but what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Lured by her gentle voice, Teddy hesitantly held out the diary to her. "My brother and the other elf kids totally ruined this. I thought perhaps Harry could somehow repair it."

Severus, who seemed to be just trying to make Felix burp, let out a snort. "If your parents can't clear it from the writings, Harry certainly won't be able to do so. Show it to me."

Teddy had not even shown it to his parents, not wanting them to become upset at Lucky. He obediently held out the book to Severus; however, Baby Felix was faster, turned around and let out a loud burp just over the book.

Teddy stared at the scene in shock. 'At least from the outside, it was still clean,' he thought, horrified – just when the book let out a huge groan and exploded into small pieces.

HP

Harry observed the scenes in front of him with a combination of bewilderment and amusement. Only when he felt through the connection that Marvolo was in huge distress, he wondered if the fact that the diary had destroyed itself had something to do with his mind friend. However, he did not dare ask and quietly observed how his father cleaned the room from the remaining of the diary and Felix' burp.

"I apologize for my son's behaviour." Severus looked at Teddy, who seemed to be torn between crying and laughing. "I shall make you a new diary if any of you could take Felix for a moment."

"Thank you, sir, but it's all right. I don't really need a diary. It's not your fault anyway, but my own. I should have taken care of it and not have allowed Lucky to take it with him."

"Dad, how can a book explode, just because some kids write and draw something into it?" Harry asked in bewilderment.

"That is strange indeed," his father confirmed.

In the meantime, Regina had transfigured a tissue into a dark blue book with the pattern of a majaroo not only on the front cover but also at the top of each page.

"Will this do?" she asked, kindly, handing the book to Teddy.

"This is beautiful. Thank you so much." Teddy stared at the book, wide-eyed in apparent admiration.

"Totally cool," Harry commented in fascination.

"Shall I make you one as well?" Regina smiled.

"Yes please, if it's not too much trouble."

A minute later, his mother handed him a book with the same design as Teddy's, however, with a green cover.

"Thank you so much. These are really beautiful," Harry replied, when a sudden thought crossed his mind. "Could you teach me how to make these? They'd make brilliant birthday presents for my friends next year."

HP

After the excitement of Christmas Day, the rest of the winter holidays passed uneventful. Regina and Harry spent much time with Narcissa Black helping her to set up the lesson plan for her class for the ten-year-old children who had grown up in the muggle world. While Narcissa was an expert in the topic that had to be taught, she was lacking experience in the muggle world, something that Regina and Harry had plenty of.

Five children had signed up for the course, which was going to commence at the beginning of January, and Minerva had sent each of them a Portkey that would bring them right into the entrance hall at Hogwarts.

While Narcissa, Regina and Harry busied themselves with the preparation not only of the curriculum but also of the new classroom, enlisting Hogwarts' help to make it in the corridor near the students' study rooms, the main topic all over the rest of the magical world was the election of a new minister.

Two weeks before the election, which was going to take place during the Wizengamot meeting on January 10, Amelia had informed the members that there were three candidates: Lucius Malfoy, Albus Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge.

"I can't believe it." Severus rolled his eyes in apparent annoyance, when the family spent some quiet time in the evening before the day on which the students were going to return to Hogwarts. "Malfoy is dangerous, Albus is an old coot and Fudge is a dunderhead."

"So, whom are you going to vote for?" Regina asked with apparent interest.

"That is a good question indeed."

HP

The Wizengamot meeting on January 10 was most likely going to be as tedious as most meetings. Severus had agreed with Marvolo and a few of the former Dark Lord's friends as well as his colleagues to neither vote for Lucius Malfoy nor for Albus Dumbledore.

"As wonderful as it might be to not have him as our headmaster anymore, I wouldn't want him as the Minister of Magic, considering how fixed he is on the idea that his number one enemy is Marvolo. Therefore, I believe that many of Marvolo's friends are going to vote for Fudge as the least of all evils."

He inwardly groaned in annoyance at the thought of leaving the first and second-year classes to his third-year student assistants in favour of attending the Wizengamot meeting.

HP

Harry nodded in understanding, knowing that his mother was of the same opinion.

"Do you know Fudge?" He quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.

"No, he is a middle level worker at the ministry. I have only heard Amelia and Sirius talk about him," Severus admitted.

"That's why you called him a dunderhead?" Harry smirked, causing Severus to roll his eyes at his son.

"Your father might have several reasons," Regina spoke up, chuckling. "Harry, are you sure that you don't mind taking Felix to class with you today?"

"Of course not. We're going to have much fun, won't we, Felix?" he cooed, gently tickling the baby's toes, making the ten-month-old laugh in apparent happiness.

HP

Lucius Malfoy carefully dressed himself in the clothes that his house-elf had put out for him, pulling his best robes with the large Malfoy crest on the back over.

'I hope that our allies are going to vote for me,' he thought. Somehow, he was not completely certain about the allegiances of the former Dark Lord and his other followers. During the last couple of days, he had met with one or the other head of the dark families and, while they had promised to not vote for Dumbledore, none of them had outright promised to give him their vote.

'Being elected as the minister of magic will show Narcissa what she lost. Oh well, as soon as this is over, the next point on my agenda has to be to find a new wife and produce a more adequate heir than Draco will ever be able to become.' He let out a deep sigh. For years, he had believed that he had raised Draco appropriately. 'Until he met that Potter-Prince boy,' he thought, grimly. 'Too bad that I can't harm him.' He suddenly recalled the matter with the diary and smirked in anticipation. 'I just hope that the little elf is going to do cause havoc with it at the school.'

Consulting the mirror, which confirmed that he looked like a powerful new minister of magic, he nodded with confidence and left his private rooms to head to the entrance hall. A five-minute-walk through the large manor later, he stepped into the fireplace. "Ministry of Magic."

HP

As Severus had predicted, Cornelius Fudge won the election by far with Albus Dumbledore on the second and Lucius Malfoy on the last place.

'He can't be worse than Lucius or Albus,' Severus thought, as he readied himself to travel home to Hogwarts together with his wife, Minerva, Remus and Frank. Noticing that the headmaster, who had observed the meeting from the visitors' chamber, was engrossed in a discussion with a few of his allies, he quickly headed towards the fireplace, making sure that the others followed him. 'That gives us a few minutes to talk during Albus' absence,' he thought, confirming with a glance at his wrist watch that it was almost lunchtime.

HP

Lucius spent a few minutes talking with several of his allies. In fact, in contrary to previous elections, Lupin as the head of the Wizengamot had decided to make this vote confidential. 'That really was a bad idea,' he thought, grimly. 'Now, I don't even know who voted against me.' He inwardly growled, when a small voice from the back of his mind reminded him that barely anyone had voted for him, wondering if Fudge had somehow managed to bribe the members to vote for him. 'I didn't have the impression as if he might do such a thing,' he thought. 'He always seemed very boring and outright mediocre to me.'

He made small talk for a few more minutes, before he decided to pay the new minister of magic a visit. 'It is only fair to go and congratulate him,' he thought, wondering if he might be able to influence the man to a certain degree.

He walked straight to the minister's office, inwardly grinning upon seeing the minister stand in his doorframe speaking to a witch of about his age. 'Well, at least no one can forbid me to talk to him now,' he thought, contentedly.

"Minister, my sincere congratulations on your election." Lucius lightly lowered his head.

"Ah, Lord Malfoy, thank you so much." Fudge beckoned him into his office. "Have you met Madam Umbridge? She is my new undersecretary."

"Lord Malfoy." The witch sounded pleasant, although the colour of her robes left something to desire.

"Madam Umbridge, what a pleasure," he obediently greeted her, carefully placing a kiss onto the knuckles of her hand, before he took the offered seat in front of the minister's desk.

'I wonder if she's married,' he thought. 'If she's the minister's undersecretary, she must at least be a pureblood.'

HP

Marvolo returned from the Wizengamot meeting, feeling contented. 'Thank Merlin Malfoy didn't become the minister,' he thought in relief. 'I don't trust him. The fact that he was in my inner circle before is already reason for distrust, that he told everyone I had put him under the Imperius curse is the next point, but his behaviour ever since I told my former followers the truth has been atrocious. I wonder if it was him who tried to free the Death Eaters from Azkaban.'

He let out a deep sigh, as he nestled into his favourite armchair gratefully accepting a steaming mug of tea from Dolly.

"Thank you, Dolly."

"Is Marvolo feeling better, sir?"

"Yes Dolly, much better. Thank you." Marvolo smiled, as he relaxed from the Wizengamot meeting that had been extremely boring. However, he was glad that he finally felt a bit more himself. During the last two weeks, he had been feeling horrible, without any reason let alone a clue what might be wrong. He only had a faint suspicion. 'Could it be that one of my Horcruxes has been destroyed?' he wondered. 'But which one and how? Does Dumbledore know about them? Or Lucius? Perhaps, I should begin to collect them all and bring them to safety. The one at Hogwarts should be the easiest now that Harry controls the wards and not the old coot anymore.'

His opportunity to travel to Hogwarts came sooner than expected. Just a few days later, Harry contacted him.

'Marvolo, may I disturb you for a moment?'

'Harry, of course. What's up?' He was always happy to talk to the boy, who was so selfless and usually pleasant to speak with.

The boy seemed hesitant, however, finally continued to speak.

'Is it true that you cast a curse at the Defence Against the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts?'

Marvolo almost choked on his butterbeer. 'And why might that be?' he thought back in amusement.

'Because everyone says so.'

'Ah, and if so?'

'Ah, you know, my godparents, Remus and Miranda, have got around the curse by taking turns teaching. But Miranda is going to have a baby soon, and she'd like Remus to continue teaching during the next school year. So, I'd like to ask you to cancel the curse if you can.'

'Ah, and why should I do that?'

'Because you're Dad's and my friend and I ask you nicely.'

'Oh right. Well, then I'm afraid that I'll have to do that. If I come to Hogwarts during the weekend, will you give me the honour to meet me, Heir Hogwarts?'

'Of course, Lord Gaunt. Please tell me when you're going to arrive,' Harry replied in obvious amusement that matched his own.

'I shall meet you on Saturday evening at ten o'clock in the Chamber of Secrets.'

'Marvolo,' Harry thought back in bewilderment. 'Why would we meet in Salazar's chamber?'

Marvolo sounded reluctant, as he replied, 'I'll have to apologize to the basilisk. While I was under the Imperius curse, I sent her out into the castle to kill the muggleborns. A girl died looking into her eyes. Even if I couldn't do anything to prevent this from happening, I still feel very sorry, and I'd like to tell the basilisk as much.'

'All right, let's meet there then. Amaterasu is very sweet, and I think that she'll be happy if you apologize. She must have been devastated, when it happened.'

'Ever since you told me about her, I decided that I'd go and speak with her some time, and I'd be happy to have you with me.'

'I'll often go to see her anyway, as she seems to be a bit lonely alone in the chamber.'

HP

On Saturday evening, Harry informed his parents about his appointment with Marvolo, before he made his way into Salazar's chamber with Lucy in tow. They arrived fifteen minutes early, as Harry wanted to speak with Amaterasu about Marvolo before the older wizard was going to arrive. While he could have contacted her through the bond, he thought that it would be better to actually talk to her.

He then listened how Marvolo apologized to the basilisk, who accepted his apology, before she bade them good night and returned to the room with the fireplace and curled up, apparently craving the warmth of the fire.

"How are you going to cancel the curse?" Harry gave the older wizard a questioning look.

Marvolo nodded, smirking. He pointed his wand at a nearby wall and muttered a long incantation, of which Harry could only understand bits and pieces. As he pocketed his wand, he let out a deep sigh.

"I hope that it worked, although we'll only know for sure at the end of the school year. Perhaps, Hogwarts knows something. You could ask her."

Harry placed his hand against the wall. "Hogwarts, do you know if the curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is still active, or has it been cancelled?"

It took about a minute, and Harry almost thought that Hogwarts had not heard him and was just about to take his hand off the wall, when she replied, seemingly deep in thoughts. "Harry, I believe that it has been cancelled. That's a huge relief."

"Thank you, Marvolo," Harry said, sincerely. "I appreciate what you've done tonight."

"You're welcome, Harry." Marvolo sighed. "Do you already need to return home, or do you still have time? I have another errand to run, while I'm at Hogwarts."

Harry glanced at his wrist watch. It was almost eleven o'clock. "I'm sorry, but I need to return. Curfew has already begun a long time ago, and my parents were not overly pleased, when I told them I'd go to see Amaterasu this late. Do you need me for your other errand?"

"No, not necessarily. You better go home now. I'll be in the Room of Requirement for a while. Good night, Harry, and thanks for joining me here. I'll see you again soon."

"Night, Marvolo."

Harry patiently waited, when Lucy said good-bye by gently licking the man's hand, before they both left towards the founders' quarters, trusting that Marvolo found find his own way back by whatever means he had used to get to the chamber.

HP

Meanwhile, Lucius Malfoy invited Dolores Umbridge to dinner. He picked her up at the Ministry of Magic, surprised that she was at work during a Saturday afternoon. When he surprised her with an expensive bouquet of flowers, completely in pink, it made her giggle like a school girl in apparent happiness. He then produced an international Portkey that took them to the magical shopping centre in Dublin, where he had reserved a room for two at the Banshee Kitchen, which was known as a first class restaurant all over the magical world in Western Europe.

They talked animatedly while enjoying a full-course dinner, and Lucius realized that the woman's ideas about blood purity of witches and wizards topped his own by far. It was rather surprising that she had not been a Death Eater before. Nevertheless, he decided that she would be a good ally in the future.

By the time he had taken her back to her home and returned to Malfoy Manor, he had the impression as if there even might be a chance for a future with the undersecretary. 'Oh well, I didn't ask her if she'd be ready to give me an heir though. Perhaps, we should address the topic the next time. I will wait, before I disinherit Draco just to be sure.'

HP

Remus and Miranda were, of course, the first people to hear the good news after Harry's parents.

"Harry, thank you so much for getting the curse lifted." Miranda cast him a huge smile. "I really wouldn't want to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts with a new born in the classroom with me, and while Remus would be able to watch the baby during class time, he wouldn't be able to feed it."

"You're welcome," Harry replied, smiling.

"Harry." Remus cast him a huge smile. "You've become a wonderful young man. I know that your parents are very proud of you, but your birth parents would also be enthusiastic seeing how you have developed. By the way, we meant to ask you if you'd be willing to become our child's godfather."

"I'd like that. It would be an honour." Harry felt enthusiastic about it and quickly returned home to tell Regina all about it.

HP

It was on Monday evening that Harry told his friends in the first-year study room about the curse on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position and that Marvolo had come to Hogwarts during the weekend to cancel the curse.

"Who is Marvolo?"

Harry inwardly groaned. 'Leave it to Hermione to ask about him,' he thought in annoyance, when Ronald Weasley bet him to a response.

"That must be You-Know-Who, the evil one who's killed Harry's parents."

"No." Harry shook his head in annoyance. "Sometimes, it helps to read you know. It was all over the Daily Prophet that he wasn't evil but acted as he did, because he was under the Imperius curse."

"What curse?" Hermione stared at him in apparent bewilderment.

To Harry's relief, Draco jumped into the conversation and explained everything about the Unforgivables to Hermione.

"Isn't he Lord Gaunt now?" Daphne spoke up. "He's a member of the Wizengamot. Father told me about him and said that his ideas seem fairly reasonable."

"Are you sure that he's really good? Didn't Dumbledore warn us about Lord Gaunt a few weeks ago?" Hermione stared at him in apparent concern.

"Oh well, Dumbledore is an old coot."

"Harry! That's not true. He even received the Order of Merlin first class for…"

"Harry has also received the Order of Merlin first class. He was even the youngest wizard who has ever received the Order of Merlin first class." Teddy rarely engaged himself in larger discussions; however, his voice was firm and made Hermione stare at him in apparent shock.

"Harry?" she asked in disbelief.

Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Together with my father for curing the werewolves, yes. It's not a big deal," he replied, provoking a huge discussion between his classmates with the result that it was very well a big deal.

That this assessment was correct, Harry realized two months later when he and Severus both received official looking letters from two equal looking owls that had purple ribbons around their necks, causing the attention of everyone sitting nearby at the Slytherin table as well as the high table.