Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong

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


Later the same evening, when Harry was in bed with Lucy cuddled against his stomach, he suddenly heard that Minerva seemed to be visiting his parents. 'I'll ask her,' he resolved, his earlier conversation with Teddy still at the front of his mind. He carefully pushed Lucy aside and crept out of bed. Hovering in the doorframe, he asked in a soft voice.

"Minerva, do you think it will be possible to become an elf Animagus?"

The adults stared at him in apparent disbelief, before Minerva shook her head, seeming amused. "Harry, I have never heard of anyone becoming an elf Animagus, but I am certain that if anyone manages that transformation, it will be you."

"Harry, please do me one favour." Severus cast him a sharp look.

"What might that be?" Harry stared at his father in expectation.

"Please do not become a basilisk Animagus."

"I won't." Harry chuckled at the idea.

"I am looking forward to whatever Animagi forms you come up with." Minerva smiled in apparent amusement.

"Thank you. Good night." Contentedly, Harry returned to his bed, happily noticing that Lucy instantly cuddled close to him.

HP

One day, Narcissa Black kept Harry back after dinner in the Great Hall. "Harry, do you have a moment?"

"Sure." He cast her a questioning look.

Somehow, she seemed to be hesitating. "You know about my sister Bella."

Harry smiled. "Yes, I haven't met her, but Marvolo and my father have told me all about her."

"I'd like to meet her, but I don't know if it would be possible to invite her here to Hogwarts? I mean…" Harry cast her an encouraging look, and she continued, "… what if she meets the Longbottoms, for example, or Regina?"

"If she is as remorseful as Marvolo and Dad described her, she will want to meet the Longbottoms to apologize to them, even if it wasn't her fault at all." He remained pensive for a moment, seeing Narcissa's questioning look. "Do you want me to speak with them about it? Ask if they're ready to talk to her?"

Narcissa nodded in apparent gratefulness.

"If they aren't, your sister could simply use the fireplace."

"No." Narcissa shook her head. "The fireplace in my room is only connected to the internal Floo network."

Harry sighed. "Dumbledore," he groaned, causing Narcissa to smirk in apparent amusement. "I could either change your fireplace to accept calls from external destinations, which perhaps might not advisable considering who your husband is, or your sister could come to our quarters and from there use the internal Floo… Oh no," he interrupted himself. "She won't be able to use the internal Floo network. Why don't you go and meet her at Sirius' place or somewhere at Hogsmeade?"

"Maybe that would be for the best, although I wouldn't want to accidentally meet Lucius at Hogsmeade and I'd like Draco to meet her, too. She's his aunt after all. I know that Lucius is supposed to be at St. Mungo's and from there to go straight to Azkaban, but he is so slippery that you can never be sure with him."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Let me speak with my parents and perhaps even with the Longbottoms about it. You could all meet at our rooms, but before I can let her near my family, I must be one hundred percent sure that she won't harm my adoptive mother and my brother. Please give me some time to arrange something."

HP

Late the same evening, after his Potions studies with the twins and Animagus practice with Regina, Hermione, Teddy and the twins, he spoke with his parents about Bellatrix.

"Harry, I don't have any problems with her. When I met her the other day, she seemed more lucid that I've ever known her since our days at Hogwarts. However, I believe that the decision if we're ready to meet her lies with your mother. Even if she has never met her, in a way, she has the closest family connections to her, and if Bella wanted to harm any of us, it might be your mother."

Regina shook her head. "Perhaps, she can swear us a witch's oath to not harm us and our family. I don't hold any grudges towards her. I had long been kicked out of the family, before she even married into it. If she doesn't hold any towards me, I am fully all right meeting her."

"May I go to Sirius' place and talk with her right away?"

"No." Apparently noticing Harry's frown, Severus explained. "It is long beyond curfew, and you need your sleep. Apart from that, it's not your duty to mend other people's family connections."

"I know, but I think Narcissa asked me as the owner of Hogwarts, so I really want to help her. She's Draco's mother after all, and Draco is my friend…" He slowly trailed off.

"Harry, you're a very kind, young man, and I am really proud of you being my son." Regina smiled. "Still, you should go to bed now. The day after tomorrow is Saturday, and then it'll be soon enough to talk to Bellatrix."

Harry grudgingly agreed and roused a very sleepy Lucy, before they both went to bed.

HP

On Saturday morning right after breakfast, Harry stepped through the fireplace to Sirius' house, hoping that his godfather would be at home. To his relief, he realised that Sirius, Amelia, Bellatrix and little Lily were just having breakfast in the kitchen, when he arrived.

"Hello Amelia, hello Sirius, hello…"

"Bellatrix," the other witch replied on his questioning look.

"Hello Beatrix." Harry smiled. "I am Harry Prince. Nice to meet you. And hello to you, too, my dear Lily."

The little girl cheered, banging a spoon against the table in apparent delight.

"Harry!" Sirius cast him a broad grin. "Have they kicked you out of Hogwarts?"

Rolling his eyes at his godfather, Harry shook his head. "No. In fact, I didn't even ask for permission to leave Hogwarts, as I don't have a head of house. I simply asked my parents, and they said it was all right to visit you."

"Ah, where's the fun with asking permission?" Sirius grinned.

Harry once again rolled his eyes. "In fact, dear Godfather, I didn't even come to speak with you, but with Bellatrix…" He looked at Bellatrix, who seemed to listen to their slight banter in apparent amusement. "… and with Lily of course," he added, as he stepped around the table to give the baby a peck on the forehead.

The little girl immediately reached out for him, and seeing Amelia nod her agreement, he gently took her out of her high chair and sat next to Bellatrix with the little girl on his lap.

"Harry, would you like something to eat or drink?" Amelia offered.

"No, thank you. I attended breakfast in the Great Hall, before I came here." Turning to Bellatrix, he told her about Regina as well as his conversation with her sister and his parents, barely noticing that Amelia and Sirius left the room to give them some space, only leaving Lily with him.

A sad smile crossed Bellatrix' face. "My life is very much ruined, but I don't hold any grudges against your adoptive mother. I am happy for her that she was able to find back into the magical world. In fact, I never knew that Rabastan and Rodolphus even had a sister. I can understand that Regina kicked us all out of the family after what we did. She couldn't know that I was under the Imperius curse. I was lucky anyway, because Sirius as the head of House Black was so kind to dissolve my marriage with Rabastan, who is really evil, and added me back into the Black family."

"Would you be willing to swear a witch's oath to not harm my adoptive family?"

"I will." She pulled her wand, and Harry was not surprised that she already was in possession of a new wand. In fact, he had not expected anything else. "I swear on my magic to not harm Harry Prince and his adoptive family." Putting her wand away, she added, "I am ready. Can we go right away?"

Harry chuckled at her obvious excitement. "Yes. Let me just return this young lady to her parents, and then we can be on our way."

HP

When Bellatrix followed him through the fireplace, Harry felt that his parents immediately tensed. It was subtle, and Harry was sure that Bellatrix did not notice anything.

"Bellatrix, these are my parents, Regina Lestrange-Prince and, well, you know my father, Severus Prince-Snape, and this is my baby brother Felix." Turning to his parents, he added, "Bellatrix Black swore on her magic to not harm our family."

"Thank you, Bella." Severus stepped forward. "This is very much reassuring, especially for my wife. Even if we believe you, old habits die hard."

Bella let out a deep sigh. "I know, and I don't think many people will trust me in the near future." Turning to Regina, she said, "Harry told me what happened to you, and I am so very sorry to hear that. I had not even known about your existence until an hour ago."

"That's fine." Regina smiled. "I was an outcast. You couldn't have known. My brothers certainly wouldn't have wanted anyone to know about me."

"Harry, will you please inform Narcissa and Draco that Bellatrix is here?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, Mum, I will send them here. Afterwards, I'm going to be in the first-year study room."

Bellatrix stared at him in apparent surprise. "You're a first-year?"

"Yes?"

Turning to Regina and Severus, she uttered, "Congratulations on a well-educated son. I'd have believed him to be at least a fifth-year in spite of his size."

Smiling, Harry returned to his room to unobtrusively pop away together with Lucy.

HP

"Are you sure that Aunt Bella told the truth? Everyone always said that she was crazy."

Harry nodded, reassuringly. "Draco, I believe that it's true. I talked to her for a bit this morning, and actually, she was quite nice. Go and see for yourself."

He smiled at the retreating form of his friend, before he changed the topic addressing everyone. "Now, as the parents' weekend is going to take place in two weeks' time, we need to finalise our plans. Together with Neville, Teddy, Lucy and the Weasley twins, I have prepared a rally. We need ten students to wait at five different spots, but we'll have to take turns, so that everyone will have enough time to do the rally themselves, together with their family of course. Daphne and Tracey, could you perhaps make a timetable for everyone, let's say from ten o'clock on Saturday morning until two in the afternoon."

"Won't we get any lunch that day?" Ronald stared at him in apparent disdain.

Harry nodded. "Ah, of course, sorry for that. The parents will arrive around nine o'clock in the morning and will be offered refreshments in the Great Hall. Then we should do the rally until let's say one in the afternoon and then have lunch." He remained pensive for a moment. "If we only have three hours for everyone to do the rally, I'll ask some of the professors or the older students to assist with the five spots, where we need people."

"I think that's better." Daphne was the first to agree.

Harry nodded. "After lunch, everyone will have some private time with their families, and on three o'clock, the Quidditch match first-years versus teachers will begin. We will only have that one match on Saturday, and the matches teachers versus parents and then students versus parents on Sunday morning."

"What about Saturday evening?" Hermione looked extremely excited.

Harry shrugged. "Professor McGonagall promised to plan the evening program. As far as I know, she has invited a band. They are famous in the muggle world but have stopped playing a few years ago. What the muggles don't know is that they're magical and are still continuing to perform within the magical world."

"Who are they?" Hermione's excitement seemed to multiply.

"You will know soon enough." Harry grinned, broadly.

"Do we have to dance?" Neville's voice was laced with concern.

Harry shook his head. "We can just hop around in the rhythm of the music. We don't have to be able to properly dance. Professor McGonagall wanted to have a proper ball at first, but my Mum told her that first-years usually don't know how to dance yet."

"Thank Merlin your mother is so wise." Ginny nodded in apparent appreciation. "I heard from Bill that they had a dance ball in their fifth-year and it was a real hassle."

Harry rolled his eyes at the prospect. "All right, who wants to play on the team? If we're too many, we need to take turns. Draco will play Chaser in any case, and I'd like to play Seeker if you don't mind."

"That'll give us the ninety-five percent chance for a victory." Theo grinned, broadly. "Even the professors acknowledge that he's the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen."

"Ah, rubbish." Harry shook his head. "Anyway, who wants to play Keeper?"

Ronald was the first to rise his hand. "Me."

"All right. Ronald Keeper. Who wants to play Beater?"

Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle raised their hands, and Harry nodded in their direction. "All right, two more Chasers?"

"Ginny, Draco and? One more please?"

"Harry, do you think I could play?" Teddy's voice was barely audible.

"Of course. Teddy will be the third Seeker then. During the next two weeks, we should practise as often as possible, perhaps between the last afternoon class and dinner. Will we get together a reserve team, which we can play against to practise?" Receiving several nods, he quickly set up the team with Theo as his opponent Seeker.

"We might need two or three people who take turns looking after younger siblings. Would anyone be willing to do that?"

Tracey, Ginny and Susan raised their hands. "Will they bring their toys?" Susan enquired.

"I will purchase some stock of toys for every age," Harry promised, making a mental note to ask one or two of his elves. 'Oh well, before I forget, I'll just deal with it right away.'

"Nina, Tony," he called his first elf friends, who were among the free elves working for him. He swiftly told them what they needed, instructing them to take the money from his vault and advised them to discuss what was needed with Ginny, Tracey and Susan. He smiled, when the three girls immediately began to confer with the two elves. 'Amazing,' he thought. 'For my classmates, it's completely natural to speak with the elves like with other humans, probably due to Teddy being our classmate.'

HP

After lunch the same day, Minerva approached Harry. "Harry, would you mind accompanying me to my office for a moment?"

When they were seated in the Transfiguration professor's office, she spoke up while gently playing with Lucy's ears. "As you know, we have several parents of our first-years who are muggles."

Harry nodded. 'Yes, I know that.'

"As you probably also know, muggles cannot see Hogwarts. While we have given out Portkeys to all of our first-years to send to their parents, we need to cast a specific charm on these muggles to enable them to see and thus enter Hogwarts."

Harry nodded in understanding. "All right. What do we have to do?"

Minerva smiled. "Would you be willing to accompany me to these families and cast the spell? While I could cast it, it might be more efficient if you as the owner of Hogwarts cast it."

"What spell is it?"

It was not difficult, and after a few tries, Harry managed to cast the spell flawlessly, much to Minerva's apparent contentedness. He then quickly popped Lucy back home, instructing her to remain with Regina and Felix, before he and Minerva visited the muggle parents of his classmates. To his relief, everyone was at home, and the parents already knew Minerva, as she had visited the families before.

The Grangers were the only ones who perked up at the mentioning of his name. "Harry Prince? Oh, how nice to finally get to meet you. Hermione already told us a lot about you."

Harry smiled. "She's one of my best friends." He swiftly cast the charm at the two muggles before asking if they had any further questions. Only too late did he realise that it had been a mistake.

When they left the Granger residence, three hours later and their bellies full with tea and cheese cake, Minerva smirked. "Now we know where Ms. Granger got her inquisitive character."

Harry grinned. "I suppose that you already knew, which is probably why we went to see the Grangers last."

Minerva smiled, knowingly.

HP

The second Saturday in May began bright and sunny. "Thank Merlin," Harry muttered to Lucy. "Today, all the first-years' parents and perhaps even little siblings are going to come for the weekend." He chuckled, when another thought crossed his mind. "I wonder how Dumbledore is going to react, when he realises that I've asked Marvolo to be the referee for our Quidditch matches."

At breakfast in the Great Hall, the headmaster announced that everyone from third-year onwards was allowed to go to Hogsmeade for the day.

Harry had already expected him to do so; therefore, he rose from his chair at the Gryffindor table. "The first-years are going to have their families at Hogwarts over the weekend, and we will have a rally through Hogwarts this morning. As the second-years are not allowed to go to Hogsmeade, they are welcome to participate in our rally if they wish. Everyone who wants to join us, please meet me here in the Great Hall shortly before ten o'clock."

He grinned upon realising that his announcement had the expected effect, as all the second-years began to chatter in apparent excitement.

'Harry,' his father's voice penetrated his mind. 'Have you decided where you're going to sit today?'

Harry smirked. 'I agreed with Teddy, Hermione, Neville and Draco to join Ginny, the twins and Theo at the Slytherin table.'

'The twins aren't first-years.'

'But Ginny's family.'

'What about Ronald and Percival?'

Harry shrugged. 'Ron has probably invited his mother. No idea what he's going to do. Ginny invited her father, and I suppose that he's going to join us at the Slytherin table.'

'Why Slytherin?'

'Because Marvolo might be the most comfortable with it. I invited him as the referee for all three Quidditch matches, but he can't well sit at the high table next to Dumbledore now, can he?'

Severus let out a small snort that made his colleagues fuss over him in apparent concern, causing Harry to chuckle.

HP

Soon afterwards, breakfast was over and while the older students and the teachers who chaperoned bustled away in the direction of Hogsmeade, the first-years and the remaining professors assembled on the grounds to greet the arriving families.

The first and 'hopefully only' incident occurred, when Marvolo stepped over to where Harry and his group of friends were standing.

"Marvolo…"

"… how nice of you to join us…"

"… on this wonderful summer morning…"

"… at Hogwarts."

"Hi twins." Marvolo grinned broadly.

"Voldemort!" Molly, who was standing a little aside with Ronald and Percy shouted, pointing her finger at Marvolo.

"I am Lord Gaunt." Marvolo's voice was quiet but firm. "And you are?"

"Molly Noname…"

"… our insufferable mother," the twins informed him.

"Lord Gaunt." Dumbledore approached the group in a fast pace that did not give away his age. "Why are you here?"

"Because Harry Prince invited me as his relative to join him and his family during this weekend and to referee the Quidditch matches which are due later today and tomorrow." Marvolo's voice was neutral, and Harry realised that he was not in the slightest afraid of the headmaster. 'Oh well, in contrary to Dumbledore, he knows that we're all on his side,' he thought in amusement.

Shaking his head in apparent annoyance, Dumbledore cast Harry a glare that would have made his blood coil if he did not know better, before he walked away without any further word.

"Molly, behave yourself." Arthur glared at his former wife, before he returned to his conversation with Narcissa and Bellatrix.

HP

When Harry sat at the Slytherin table next to Teddy and Cicero, he noticed in surprise that his parents seemed to decide to attend the event as his family and not as professors. Misty sat on his other side with Lucky and Felix in their high chairs between her and Regina. Severus sat on Regina's other side. Marvolo took the seat opposite of him with Bellatrix, Draco and Narcissa on his one side, Hermione and her parents on his other side.

'What a cool mix,' Harry thought, feeling very happy. He could not help grinning, when Hermione and her mother immediately began to bombard Marvolo with questions about the magical world.

HP

The rally was much fun for everyone. Harry did not participate but popped himself from one group to the next to assist with one or the other question. His parents remained in the Great Hall together with the other professors to entertain the groups who returned first.

"Harry, that was much fun." Hermione greeted him with obvious enthusiasm, when he returned to the Great Hall shortly before the last group. "I learned a lot about Hogwarts, which isn't even stated in 'Hogwarts: A History'. It was amazing."

HP

When the Quidditch teams of the first-years and the professors gathered on the Quidditch pitch ready to take into the air, Harry marvelled at the fact that not only the first-years but almost the whole school was gathered on the grounds to watch the match. Suddenly, he heard Molly Noname's voice. Due to the number of Howlers she had sent to her children, he recognised her immediately.

"Why do they have a house-elf play with the students? Don't the first-years have enough players?"

Harry could not hear Percy's response; but he was certain that Teddy had heard the comment as well. He had not completed the transformation into his elf form yet, however, knew that he would be able to transform if he just summoned enough magic. 'She made me upset enough,' he thought, grimly, and within an instant transformed, before he mounted his broom. 'Come on, Teddy, let's show them,' he thought to his best friend, who returned a small squeal of apparent delight.

"The students even have two elves on their team, Ms. Noname," Marvolo commented, dryly, before he introduced the teachers' team first and the students' team afterwards.

'I thought Dad would play Seeker for them,' Harry thought in surprise, only to realise that his father was probably going to play on the parents' team. Somehow, he felt extremely happy about it. 'Oh well, I need to concentrate on the Snitch,' he realised, knowing that Charlie Weasley, his opponent Seeker, had been the number one Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team for a long time.

He barely noticed what happened below, as he fully concentrated on the Snitch, trying to not distract himself by his unused form. He realised, however, that he could move easier in his elf form and that it only made him faster. Thirty-two minutes into the match, he manged to catch the Snitch, an arm length before Charlie would have been able to reach it.

"Harry Prince-Potter caught the Snitch. The students win 230 – 150. Congratulation, students." Marvolo's voice sounded over the grounds, causing the assembled student body to cheer.

HP

When everyone was assembled back in the Great Hall, where a fifth house table had been prepared for the visitors, Remus announced the winners of the rally.

"The group of Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy was the fastest and is on the first place. Each of you wins a 10 Galleon voucher of Flourish and Blotts in Hogsmeade. Congratulations."

Over the upcoming applause and squeals of excitement coming from Hermione and Ginny, he continued, "The group of Teddy, Neville and Susan is in the second place. Each of you wins a 10 Galleon voucher of Honeydukes."

"Oh, yummy." Teddy cast Harry a cheerful look.

"The group of Daphne, Tracey and Theodore is in the third place. Each of you will receive a 5 Galleon voucher of Honeydukes. All prizes have been donated by Marvolo Gaunt and the Weasley twins."

"Excuse me, Professor." Hermione rose from her chair. "When can we go to Hogsmeade?"

"During the summer holidays." Severus' no-nonsense voice sounded through the Great Hall.

"Dad!" Harry spoke up, indignantly.

"Professor Prince was only joking," Remus informed them. "Tomorrow afternoon, the winning groups may go to Hogsmeade together with the adults in their groups."

"Why are they allowed to go and we not? Ginny is even a year younger than everyone else."

"Ronald…"

"… please behave yourself…"

"… worthy of a member of the Weasley family."

'Where did they come from?' Harry thought in amusement, as the twins came from behind, squeezing themselves onto the bench between him and Teddy.

Remus cleared his throat. "Now, the prize for the winning Quidditch team, which will be determined tomorrow morning, will be arranged by Harry Prince, and I am sure that it is going to be a treat for everyone."