The Nice School of Magic
by Healer Pomfrey
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
This story is COMPLETELY AU. If you don't likt it, don't read it!
It was at the end of July that Severus told Harry at breakfast, "This afternoon, we won't brew potions. Instead, we're going to make a trip to Marseille. In fact, I plan to leave right after breakfast." Seeing that Harry stared at him with a combination of surprise and disappointment, he explained, "Tomorrow, Neville is going to visit us together with his grandmother, and it's Neville's birthday. He's exactly one day older than you, so I think we should go and buy a nice birthday present for him, don't you agree?"
"All right," Harry replied, lightly.
"Harry," the headmistress spoke up, "what would you like for your birthday?"
Harry glanced at the kind professor, who was like a grandmother to him, before he averted his eyes, mumbling, "I don't get birthday presents."
"You what?" Severus blurted out in shock. "Did the Dursleys tell you such nonsense?"
Harry nodded, following the moves of a cat on his robes with apparent interest.
"Harry," Severus addressed him in a soft voice. "You already know that the Dursleys' rules don't apply anymore. Aunt Minerva asked you what you'd like to have, because she'd love to buy you a present." He carefully brought his forefinger to Harry's chin and lifted it upwards. "Please look at Minerva and answer her question."
Harry obediently turned his eyes to view the headmistress. "I'd like to have a dog like in the story with Bob and the Dalmatian," he voiced his thought in a small voice, only to add, "but if that's too much to ask, I'd like a book."
All the teachers had followed the conversation and began to laugh, secretly deciding that they'd put all together to buy a puppy for the cute boy.
"A book is always a good choice," Severus agreed, nodding at his son. "Now, shall we leave?"
Harry nodded, excitedly, and left the hall after his father, while everyone else remained seated at the breakfast table.
HP
Harry enjoyed the trip to Marseille very much. The wizarding shopping centre was large and had so many shops that Severus and Harry could barely decide where to begin.
"Let's head to the toy shop first," Severus finally suggested, and together, father and son decided to buy a Lego set of the magical shopping centre.
Harry inwardly cheered in anticipation, hoping that the other boy would allow him to play with the set together with him. While Harry was distracted looking at other shelves, Severus unobtrusively bought another Lego set of Noah's Ark for his son.
They also visited the bookshop, the apothecary and several other shops, before they had lunch at the Boulangerie de la Pluie. Finally, Severus took Harry to the clothes' maker to buy proper school robes for the boy and to the wand maker to purchase a children's wand.
Unfortunately, it was not easy to find a suitable wand for the boy. Only when the wand maker finally made Harry try out normal wands for adults, one of them turned out to be perfect for the boy. As soon as he took the almost white wand into his hand, he felt incredibly happy, and when he slightly waved the wand, bright sparkles emerged from its tip.
"That's what I thought," the wand maker said, pensively. "Your son's magic is too strong for a children's wand."
Harry learned that his wand consisted of pine tree and the feather of an ice phoenix, which was a very rare animal. He felt very happy, thinking, 'Now I can really do magic, and I'll be able to attend classes together with the students.'
HP
Harry awaited Neville's arrival with mixed feelings. On the one hand, Minerva had told him that Neville was a quiet and very nice boy and that Harry would surely be able to play with him, however, on the one hand, Harry could not help remembering Dudley, who had also been of his own age and had always been mean to him.
It was shortly after breakfast that Cicero alerted Severus that Mrs. Longbottom and Neville had arrived. "Let's go and greet them," Severus said and strode through the room, motioning Harry to come.
To his relief, Minerva also came to the entrance hall to meet the guests and introduced the Snapes to the Longbottoms.
Neville hesitantly stepped over to Harry and held out his hand. "Hello Harry, I'm Neville," he said, shyly.
"Hello Neville, I'm Harry," Harry replied in a soft voice, hesitantly accepting the other boy's hand, before he handed over the present and added, "Happy Birthday."
"Thank you very much," Neville replied in apparent surprise, eyeing the large box in delight.
"We can play together if you want," Harry suggested, causing his new friend to nod eagerly.
However, the headmistress chose that instant to invite everyone for tea into her office. When they arrived in the office and the adults drank tea and spoke about the school, about Hogwarts, the magical world in general and finally about Neville and Harry, Harry motioned Neville to open his present. The two boys sat on the floor in front of the fireplace and quietly began to play with Neville's Lego.
"This is great," Neville said in admiration, as they tried to build up the city like it was supposed to be.
"Yes, it is," Harry full heartedly agreed, smiling happily at his new friend.
"But the best is that we can play together," Neville added, returning a genuine smile.
Too soon for the boys' liking, it was time to head to the Dining hall, where the teachers had organised a small birthday party for Neville. Together with Bill and Charlie, Rolanda had turned the hall into a jungle playground, where they could safely climb onto trees and slide down, sit in swings or play ball. There was even a small corner equipped with children's brooms and a Snitch that hovered above their heads.
The two children had so much fun that Harry did not even have time to show Neville the school, let alone the beach that he loved so much, before dinner commenced, and Harry already knew that the end of dinner equalled his bed time.
"Daddy," Harry spoke up during dinner, "may Neville sleep in my room?"
All the teachers quitted his question with laughter, knowing how shy the boy usually was and that he had never had a friend before.
"Of course Harry, if that's what Neville wants too and if his grandmother doesn't mind," Severus replied in his soft, baritone voice, which always felt very soothing to Harry.
"I don't mind," Augusta Longbottom replied, smiling. "If it's not too much trouble for you having the two of them."
"Not at all," Severus reassured the old witch.
HP
An hour later, Harry was lying in his bed, listening to Neville's breathing and thinking, 'I'm the happiest boy in the world. Now I don't only have a family and a great home, but I also have a friend. And when I wake up, it's my birthday, my first birthday ever.'
When Severus came to check on the children before going to bed, he noticed, contentedly, that Harry was asleep with a smile on his face.
HP
Harry's birthday turned out as an amazing day beyond Harry's imagination. He spent the morning unwrapping presents and playing with Neville on the playground that still remained in the hall. Too soon for his liking, the teachers called them over for lunch. However, Harry knew better than to complain.
When everyone had finished eating, Minerva rose from her seat and went into a small side chamber, only to return with a small bundle in her arms.
"Harry," she addressed the birthday boy, lightly pressing the bundle into his arms. "This is from all of us," she explained.
Before Harry could carefully remove the blanket to see what was hidden behind it, something black with white spots stretched itself upwards and began to lick Harry's face over and over, causing everyone to laugh.
"Hi there," Harry spoke up, carefully trying to push the moving something out of his face. "A puppy," the then said in delight. "Thank you so much. What's his name?"
"It's a crup," Charlie explained, "the magical version of a Jack Russell terrier. He doesn't have a name yet."
Harry remained thoughtful, however, it was not easy to come up with a name for something so cute like the puppy who was once again licking his face and ears.
"Name him Barkymort," Rolanda suggested, causing some of her colleagues to groan, others to chuckle.
"What about Spot?" Neville's granny threw in.
"Bubbles."
"Chien."
The teachers suggested so many names for the puppy that Harry just could not decide. He stared into the puppy's bright yellow eyes and asked, "What do you think about Barkymort? Do you bark a lot?"
'I like the name,' the dog replied, telepathically. 'I took the liberty of bonding to you.'
"That's fine," Harry replied, smiling, as he gently petted the dog's head.
"Harry, you must be careful," Charlie spoke up. "Although this puppy is going to make a great familiar, it can be dangerous to others, and you have to take good care of him. He's a hunting dog, and most crups absolutely detest Muggles."
Harry listened, wide-eyed, thinking, 'Thank Merlin that I'm not at the Dursleys' anymore. He might kill them all.'
"May I take him with us to the beach when we go to flying?" Harry asked, recalling that Rolanda had promised to take him and Neville flying on his birthday.
"Yes, you can take him with you," Charlie was the first to reply. "However, I'd chain him as long as you're flying, at least until he gets used to you and your home."
"All right," Harry agreed, smiling, before he began to talk to Barkymort in a soft voice, causing the puppy to let out a series of excited barks.
HP
An hour later, Harry and Neville were flying over the beach trying to catch the Snitch together with Rolanda, while Barkymort was exploring the beach underneath the flying trio.
All of a sudden, however, Barkymort began to bark in obvious excitement and tried to get away towards the Muggle beach on the left hand side.
'I better look what he wants,' Harry thought and quickly descended to the beach.
tbc...
Thank you so much for your kind reviews.
Barkymort is my own character from my teddylonglong story "A winter with Barkymort".