Sensing Magic
by Teddylonglong

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


'Harry, are you all right? What happened?' Ginny's voice was laced with apparent concern.

Harry let out a deep sigh, as he let himself fall into a chair. 'The prank made Mento and Mento reveal their true forms for a moment, before they remedied the matter and obliviated each of you. I could sense the spell and defended myself, before I left.

'Are they who we believe they are?'

'Don't tell anyone or you'll risk being obliviated again, and yes. I understand that they wish to keep it a secret, considering that everyone assumes that they're dead, but I think that obliviating your own colleagues is an absolute no go.'

'I agree.'

'You better not tell your brothers, or they might just do something stupid again. The prank with the canaries held their signature.'

'I'm sure it was them, and no, I won't tell them. Thanks for telling me the truth though. I appreciate it.'

Just then, Felina, Whisker and Serpent entered the room.

"Harry! What happened?" Rebecca was the first to enquire, banishing her robes as she spoke.

"Did they obliviate you, too?" Harry asked, grimly. Realising that none of them seemed to have a clue of what had happened in the canteen, he quickly explained the matter to his colleagues. "Is it all right for Unspeakables to obliviate their own colleagues?" He did not care that he sounded upset. He was more than annoyed at what he knew to be the Prewitt twins. "If that's the case, I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an Unspeakable anymore."

"Harry, calm down now!" Salazar's voice was firm and allowed no contradiction. "Your colleagues didn't do anything to warrant your anger."

Harry's anger deflated to a certain extent. "Yes. I'm sorry. It's not your fault, and as long as I don't have to work together with these two, I'm good."

"I fully agree with you though." Rebecca smiled, reassuringly. "Each of us has a reason to hide their real name, even if you recently convinced Whisker and me otherwise, but I believe that within the team, there must be enough trust to share our deepest secrets."

'When she smiles, she really resembles Regina,' Harry thought, feeling very happy to have got to know Felina's real self.

HP

After dinner in the Great Hall later the same day, the twins cornered Harry, as he was just leaving the Great Hall together with his friends.

"Harrykins…"

"… we need to speak with you…"

"… in private…"

"… for a moment."

Inwardly groaning, as he could imagine what this was about, Harry led them into the founders' quarters, motioning Ginny to join them.

"What happened at lunchtime?..."

"… One moment, you were having lunch together with us…"

"… and then the next moment, you shouted something at our colleagues…"

"… and simply popped away."

Harry let out a deep sigh, wondering how to reply, while he absentmindedly caressed Lucy's fur.

"Do you remember pranking everyone?" Ginny spoke up in his stead.

"We?" They both mock glared at their sister, who rolled her eyes in obvious annoyance.

"No, really. Do you remember putting your canary potion into the desert?"

The twins exchanged a look of pure confusion.

"There was something…"

"… wasn't it?"

"… But it didn't work now…"

"…. Or did it?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry replied. "It worked, and the two Unspeakables you were targeting unwillingly revealed their true selves, before they obliviated everyone."

"Everyone but Harry, because he got away on time."

"No, I cast a Protego charm, before I popped away."

The twins' look turned to one of delight.

"So that means…"

"… that you know…"

"No." Harry interrupted their tirade in a strict voice. "I do not condone what they did to the three of you, but I still value their privacy and won't tell you, considering that it only was by your doing that they came into that situation in the first place. Sorry, my friends. Just so you know, I will not eat lunch together with them again, at least not for a while. In my opinion, obliviating your own colleagues is really bad manners, and if they want my respect, they'll have a hard time earning it back."

'Well said, Harry.' Ginny smiled, while her brothers nodded in apparent understanding.

HP

The remaining weeks of the school year passed uneventfully. The conversations in the second-years' study room mostly revolved around the selection of the elective subjects.

Harry had easily decided to take Regina's class "Natural Science" as well as Ancient Runes and Healing, a special class that Poppy was teaching for him. After multiple discussions, his friends finally decided on Ancient Runes as well. Everyone intended to attend Natural Science – apart from Ronald Weasley. The redhead informed his classmates that he was going to take Divination and Care of Magical Creatures that his brother Charlie was teaching.

"I really feel sorry for Charlie, but somehow, Ancient Runes and Natural Science just seem more interesting." Ginny shrugged.

Harry nodded in agreement. 'Perhaps, we'll be able to understand more of Marvolo's rituals if we have certain knowledge about Runes,' he thought to her, making her smile in understanding.

While he was looking forward to spending a few weeks on the Isle of Elves, he was sad knowing that his friends were going to travel home soon. 'Oh well, that gives me time for my research for the Unspeakables,' he thought, wondering if he should finally ask Severus for assistance.

The opportunity arose late in the evening after the leaving feast, when Harry assisted Severus in the lab to brew an urgent potion for Poppy.

"Harry, is something wrong? You seem strangely distracted tonight."

Harry sighed, surprised at just how observing his father was. He then slowly began to explain about the research that he was conducting together with Salazar Slytherin for the Unspeakables.

HP

"Too bad that students aren't allowed to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays." Luna let out a deep sigh.

Harry stared at her, alert. It was on the last Saturday of the school year, and everyone from third-year onwards was spending the day at Hogsmeade. When he took Lucy on a walk around the lake to take some of the squid's favourite herb drops to the large animal, he had met Luna, who was sitting on a bench apparently talking to the Giant Squid.

"Don't you want to return home?" he asked in concern, knowing all too well what it meant to not have a good life at home.

"Apparently, Daddy will be away most of the time." Luna smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes. "He promised that I may travel to Fairy Alley by myself though."

"Fairy Alley?" Harry was sure to have never heard of such a place.

"Fairy Alley is in Ireland, and on the summer solstice, they have a ritual, during which the fairies shed their wings and get new ones. It must be very pretty, and Daddy promised me to take me, but as he won't be at home at the end of June, he can't do that now, can he?" A sudden dreamy smile crossed her face, before she asked, "Harry, would you perhaps like to accompany me? Perhaps, we'll be lucky and manage to catch some fairy wings."

"Sure." Harry shrugged. "What are they good for? Fairy wings I mean. I've never heard of them."

Luna smiled. "They will be useful for you to enhance travel to different times."

"What?" Harry's eyes narrowed in disbelief, his thoughts going haywire. 'Why does she know about the time travel research? I didn't tell anyone but Dad about it.'

Luna chuckled, apparently fully able to sense his shock. "I just know things," she said, simply. "May I take the floo to Hogwarts on June 21, so we can travel together?"

"Of course," Harry agreed, gobsmacked. "Do you know how to get to Fairy Alley?"

Luna nodded. "Of course. We can simply take the floo to the fireplace at Fairy Alley. It's the magical shopping street of Limerick in Ireland. When I was a small girl, my parents once took me there to meet Father Christmas. It was very beautiful."

'Thank Merlin we're only leaving for the Isle of Elves on July 1. These fairy wings sound interesting,' Harry thought, resolving to speak with his father about the matter at the next opportunity.

HP

"Fairy wings?" Doubt was clearly written in Severus' face, when they discussed the matter.

"It's at least worth an experiment."

Harry and Severus looked at the founder's portrait and nodded.

"Why don't we go all together and visit Fairy Alley?" Regina suggested, smiling. While she did not know exactly what her husband and son were researching together with Salazar in his painting, she was interested in exploring all kind of mysteries the magical world held. "Felix might like it as well, especially if Luna said that she enjoyed it as a little girl."

"Let's do that." Severus agreed. "Just tell me one thing. Mr. Lovegood is going to be away and leaves his daughter all by herself?"

Harry shrugged. "Apparently so. She said she wished she could stay at Hogwarts during the summer."

His parents exchanged a glance. "Well, we can't do this for all students, but considering that she's your friend, we could offer to become her guardians during her father's absence, so that she could stay with us. Sev, what do you think?"

"Have you met Miss Lovegood?" Severus smirked. "She is not just a little eccentric."

"But she's nice, although I'm still going to travel to the Isle of Elves for two weeks, and we're also going to spend some time on Inis Rún, won't we?"

"That's no problem. While you're on the Isle of Elves, we're all here, and if she needs teenage company, your friends will surely be willing to entertain her." Regina smirked, causing Harry to nod.

"They also have to entertain her, when I'm at the Unspeakables' Office. I'm probably going to have training with Devil every other morning, when I'm here."

"Regina, will you please be so kind and contact her father?"

"Of course." Regina smiled. "I can imagine that Felix will adore her."

Harry grinned. "Absolutely."

HP

In the morning, Harry, Ginny, Neville, Teddy and Draco accompanied their friends to the train station.

"Where are the twins?" Harry asked, when they stepped away from the train to make space on the platform for those who were going to board the train. Usually, the two soon-to-be fifth-years joined him and his friends during the holidays.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Probably doing some kind of mischief somewhere."

Harry looked up, startled, when Teddy suddenly began to laugh, uncontrollably.

"What's wrong?"

Still laughing aloud, Teddy pointed to the nearest window. "Look over there. Everyone on the train…"

The others exchanged a glance, trying to get a glimpse through the nearest window.

"What?" Harry stepped closer to the window to get a good look inside. There were six people in the compartment, however, each of them was looking like Santa Clause.

Ginny groaned. "Oh no! What have they done now?"

"A potion charmed to become effective the instant someone boards the Hogwarts Express? That's extremely brilliant."

"What is brilliant?" The deputy headmistress stepped over to them accompanied by Severus, who was giving Felix a piggy ride.

"The person who pranked everyone on the train." Neville grinned.

"Those twins!" Severus shook his head in apparent annoyance. "Too bad that I can't take points off my own house during the holidays."

Minerva chuckled. "That's probably why they waited until today to prank the whole school. At least, they didn't target solely my Gryffindors this time."

"Weasley and Weasley!" Severus bellowed, when two distinctive redheads suddenly became visible from behind a pillar. "Detention with me today and tomorrow."

"Ah, Professor, but unfortunately…"

"… we have other duties to see to…"

"… today and tomorrow…"

"… and during the rest of the holidays."

Severus cast them a what Harry believed was a mock glare, muttering something that sounded like "Why did I ever hire student assistants?"

"That's because…"

"… we're brilliant of course."

"Ahh, perhaps I should've taken the name Prewitt," Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes at her brothers.

"Ah, just wait a few years, and you can marry a handsome, rich wizard and change your name anyway."

Everyone stared at Draco in disbelief and began to laugh, especially when the twins suddenly stood in front of Draco wearing threatening expressions.

"Be careful…"

"… what you say…"

"… to our baby sister."

"Lucy?" Ginny cooed to the canine. "Will you walk back to Hogwarts with me?"

"Wait a moment, please." Harry turned to the twins. "When is the potion or whatever it is going to wear off? When they leave the train?"

The twins shook their heads.

"No…"

"… that would be boring…"

"… Provided that our charm works…"

"… it's going to wear off…"

"… as soon as they leave platform nine and three quarters."

HP

As Regina had agreed with Mr. Lovegood, Luna returned to Hogwarts a week after the beginning of the holidays to stay with the Prince family until her father would be back on August 1.

'Luna is away for ten months every year. How can her father be absent during the two months she's back at home?' Harry wondered in annoyance, feeling very sorry for the younger girl.

"Welcome to the true Hogwarts gang," the twins told her, mock bowing in her direction, when she joined Harry on his friends for a picnic on the grounds on the first day of her return.

"Thank you. Oh, and thanks for the prank on the train. I liked it. It was almost as if I was going home for Christmas."

"Us?" The twins stared at her wearing hurt expressions.

"Why do you believe…"

"… two handsome boys such as us…"

"… would play pranks on the whole school?"

"Ah, stop it. Luna is not exactly stupid. Remember, she's a Ravenclaw after all." Harry glared at the twins.

"Exactly." Teddy seemed to grow, as he stood next to Luna, wearing a proud expression.

"Oh, all right…"

"… would you care for a round of Quidditch?"

"Luna could play an additional Chaser." Ginny looked at her friend in anticipation.

Luna agreed, and ten minutes later, the whole group took into the air.

HP

After lunch on June 21, Severus stepped into the fireplace and travelled to Fairy Alley, closely followed by Luna, Regina with Felix, Teddy and Harry with Lucy.

When Harry had expected a magical shopping street similar to Diagon Alley, he had been mistaken, as Fairy Alley was completely different. It was not only that the alley was not straight but seemed to be built around a huge, round garden with small, green clovers, but also that the people walking through the alley were not mostly humans like in Diagon Alley. While in the London shopping centre, there was only the occasional goblin or elf, the shopping crowd in Fairy Alley consisted of humans, goblins, elves, leprechauns, fairies and all kinds of magical beings that he could imagine. They hurried through the alley carrying what seemed to be strange cauldrons.

"They're Clover Cauldrons." Severus pulled a similar cauldron out of his robe pocket. "They're filled with so-called Clovers, which are used here instead of Galleons."

Harry took one into his hand. It had the form of a clover, but otherwise felt like a Galleon.

He also noticed that the clover garden was humming with several kinds of magic; however, it was sending out a good feeling, nothing like the kind of bad magic that emerged from places like Nockturn Alley. He could distinguish the magic of various herbs as well as magic coming from all possible kinds of fairies and animals. 'What an interesting place,' he thought, as they went for a stroll through the alley only to return to the clover garden after dinner in one of the restaurants along the street.

They were just on time for the ritual to commence. Severus ushered them to one of the small arrangements of cushions in the grass that seemed to be prepared for the spectators.

Suddenly, hundreds of fairies swarmed the place, which was open in the centre of the garden. They began to dance, sing and chant something in a language that Harry did not understand. However, it was beautiful.

"So pretty."

Surprised, as he had been completely absorbed by the fairies' doing, Harry looked at Luna, who was sitting next to him with Lucy sleeping on her feet and Felix' head perched on her lap. The two-year-old seemed to be fast asleep as well.

'She looks like a fairy, too,' he could not help thinking, finding that she looked pretty, too.

He was instantly alert, when the fairies suddenly began to shed their wings. 'How am I supposed to catch these?' he wondered, looking longingly at what seemed to be white clouds of wings in the short distance.

"Catch them," Luna whispered, and an instant later, he realised that the cloud of wings spread all over the garden. Before he knew what happened, he held a huge number of wings in his hands.

"Well done, Harry." Luna smiled broadly, holding just one wing for herself in her right hand.

Looking over to his parents, he saw that Severus was clutching a small number of wings, too.

"I didn't even do anything," he whispered back, wondering what had happened.

Luna's smile seemed to intensify. "That was your magic summoning them for you. Well done, Harry's magic."

'What?' Harry thought in confusion. 'One can't win with Luna. What does she mean? How did my magic do such a thing without my intention?'

Like in a trance, he obeyed, when his father handed him a white cotton bag. "Put them in here."

HP

After breakfast the following morning, Harry and Severus retreated to the lab, where Salazar greeted them from the portrait that Severus had recently installed on the wall in apparent excitement.

"I noticed that you managed to get a lot of fairy wings, now the question is how to use them."

"Exactly," Severus said, dryly. "That was what I'm wondering about, too."

Harry shrugged. "I'd like to involve Luna in this. She just knows things. But Felina and Whisker told me that they wouldn't accept anyone else in the team."

"As I am only going to remain an unofficial member, perhaps they might accept her if you explained the matter to them." Severus quirked an eyebrow.

"Same here." Salazar chuckled.

"No, I'll just try to concentrate on my own magic," Harry decided.

Salazar cleared his throat. "Perhaps, you could choose the same approach you made with the wolvescure, decide what's missing in the floo powder to step into the fireplace and visit me in my time."

Harry nodded. "Yes, I think that'll have to be the first step."

HP

To his disappointment, he did not manage to assess what other ingredients were needed, and while Severus engrossed himself in further research with Salazar's assistance, Harry spent a fortnight on the Isle of Elves.

Together with Teddy, he had lessons with Bandhu every morning, and the thought that the Elder Elf would make a fantastic Unspeakable as well crossed Harry's mind. The afternoons were spent on the playground together with the other children.

Once a day, Anastasia took Harry aside to teach him Healing, as she had far more experience and partly different knowledge from Misty. Sometimes, Misty even joined her mother and Harry to broaden her own Healing knowledge.

HP

When they returned to Hogwarts in the middle of July, Harry noticed immediately that the mood in the castle was different from what it had been when he left.

"There have been attacks," Severus informed him, letting out a deep sigh.