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!
As soon as Harry descended to the ground, Barkymort began to waggle his tail and eagerly lick the boy's hand. Harry gently cuddled the puppy, feeling not only amused, but also very happy at his familiar's antics. 'He's so cute,' he thought, excitedly.
As soon as Harry let go off the puppy and took the chain into his hands, Barkymort tried to dash off in the direction of the Muggle beach.
"Harry, be careful," Rolanda warned him. "Remember that Charlie told us that he doesn't like Muggles."
"Yes," Harry replied and held the chain in a firm grip, when all of a sudden, a girl came running towards them from the Muggle beach.
'She can't be a Muggle,' Harry thought, knowing that only magical people were able to see let alone enter their beach. Moreover, Barkymort immediately seemed to like the girl and eagerly waggled his tail.
"Excuse me," the girl blurted out, when she came to stand in front of them, trying to catch her breath. "Have you been flying on broomsticks earlier? I saw you, but my parents wouldn't believe me."
Before Harry could even comprehend what the matter was, Rolanda explained to the girl that only magical people were able to see this part of the beach.
The girl stared at the teacher, wide-eyed. "So that means that I'm magical but my parents aren't," she said, pensively. "That's why I happen to do strange things from time to time." She turned around to view the Muggle beach and let out a deep sigh. "I need to go back. My parents then won't be able to see where I went. That's why they're shouting for me. I'd like to speak some more with you though."
"We'll go all with you," Rolanda said in a soothing voice, and led the girl back.
Harry, Neville and Barkymort followed the two witches to the Muggle beach, where Rolanda introduced themselves to the Muggles, who were very friendly and listened to her and the girl's explanations about being magical with apparent interest.
Barkymort, however, seemed to greatly dislike the Muggles, and Harry and Neville had a hard time keeping the puppy from continuously barking at the couple.
Finally, Rolanda invited the family, who was from Britain but on holidays in Nice, to visit them at the school the following morning, so that they could speak with the headmistress about what she had told them as well as about possibly sending the girl to the Nice School of Magic in two years' time.
"Oh no," the girl blurted out in clear disappointment. "Do I really have to wait for two years? I'm going to be seven in seven weeks' time, and I really want to learn magic. I don't like my primary school at all. These boys here are much nicer than anyone in my school."
"We can speak with the teachers," Harry was the first to react on the girl's outburst, while he held Barkymort in his arms, gently petting the puppy. "Neville and I are only six, too, and maybe you can attend school together with us."
"Very well, Hermione," the girl's father spoke up. "We'll come here to speak with the headmistress in the morning, and then we'll see."
Turning to Rolanda, his wife added, "Thank you very much for bringing the matter to our attention. We were always wondering and worrying about Hermione's happenings."
Rolanda chuckled. "You're very welcome, and there's nothing to worry about. Hermione will be fine."
Harry suddenly remembered something. He hesitantly pulled Rolanda's robes, causing her to lean down to him in surprise. "Aunt Rolanda, do you think I could invite Hermione to come with us to eat my birthday cake?" he whispered, giving the always funny teacher a pleading look.
Rolanda grinned, as she straightened herself, before she replied aloud, "I don't mind, Harry, but you have to ask Hermione and her parents."
Seeing the Grangers look at him with apparent curiosity, Harry couldn't help blushing. "Today is my birthday," he spoke up in a small voice, "and I'd like Hermione to come and eat my birthday cake together with us if possible."
Apparently sensing that the Muggles were uncertain, Rolanda suggested for the Grangers to just accompany them right away. "It doesn't matter if it's today or tomorrow morning," she added, smiling, and everyone agreed. With the Grangers' permission, she cast a spell at them that enabled them to see the magical beach, which was the nearest way back to the school.
"This is a school?" Hermione asked in apparent surprise. "I thought it was a large manor."
"Originally yes. It belonged to my daddy and me," Harry explained, "but my daddy and his colleagues decided to make it a school."
'This is the best birthday ever,' Harry thought as he ran ahead with Barkymort, closely followed by Neville and Hermione, who did not stop asking questions as they went. 'I got two friends and a puppy. I must be the happiest boy in the world.'
HP
To Harry's relief, Minerva and Amelia, who was the deputy headmistress, agreed to allow Hermione into the Nice school together with Harry and Neville. However, the teachers decided that they had to consider putting up a special class for the children under the age of eight.
"I hope they won't," Harry said to Neville and Hermione at dinner time, when the three children were allowed to eat at a special table just for themselves. "I can't wait to be able to attend the first years' classes."
HP
By the end of August, fifteen eight-year-old students from Britain were registered for the first class of the Nice school - apart from Harry, Neville and Hermione.
"Three out of eighteen should be all right," Minerva decided, knowing from Severus, who had extended his son's afternoon Potions classes to Neville and Hermione, as long as they had stayed in Nice during the summer, that all three children were very alert.
"If necessary, I'll tutor them an hour or two during the weekends," Severus promised, and all teachers agreed.
However, in the end, the number of young students turned out to become four out of nineteen, when Amelia suddenly had to return to Britain on one day during the last week of the holidays in order to take in her niece Susan after her parents had died unexpectedly.
Harry, who had been feeling a bit lonely after Neville and Hermione had both returned home until the beginning of school, immediately began to take care of Susan. She was a very nice girl, a fact that even Barkymort admitted, and Harry eagerly showed her every part of the school, the grounds and the beach.
"I'm happy to have you here," he told the girl. "Tomorrow, Hermione and Neville are going to come back, and we'll have much fun together."
As if to prove Harry's words, Barkymort eagerly licked the girl's hand.
HP
In the evening, Harry was much too excited to sleep. Even if Barkymort was curled up right next to his stomach under his covers, a fact that usually made him feel very warm and cosy, he just was not able to close his eyes for more than a minute. 'I wonder how it is to sleep in a dormitory,' he thought. 'Granny Minerva said we'd be staying together students whom she knew to be very nice. Oh well, if they're not, maybe we can sleep in my room. Daddy said I could return here at any time. It will be so much fun to really learn magic. I hope Barkymort will behave in class. Otherwise, I must leave him with Hagrid. At least he gets along well with Fang, so I wouldn't have to worry about him.'
Suddenly, his father entered the room. "Harry, are you still awake?" he asked, incredulously.
"Yes Daddy," Harry replied, yawning. "At what time will they come tomorrow? Will Neville and Hermione arrive together with everyone else? What..."
"Harry, easy," Severus interrupted his son's tirade in a soft voice. "The students will all arrive shortly before lunchtime. Neville will probably just come through the fireplace like he did when he visited you last weekend. The others will all arrive by Portkey. There's nothing to worry about, son. However, you need to sleep if you want to be awake enough to show your classmates the school in the afternoon."
"I can show them around?" Harry asked, excitedly. "That's great."
"You may, yes," Severus reassured the boy. "Usually, the teachers of the year will do that, but Aunt Poppy, who is going to be the first years' teacher of the year, decided that you'd make an even better guide than herself and that she'd rather use the time for some last minute preparations. And now it's time for you to sleep," he added, rolling his eyes.
"Okay Dad, good night," Harry replied, sleepily.
Just when Severus wondered if he needed to spell a light calming draught into the boy's system, he noticed that his breathing became regular and he drifted off to sleep.
HP
Severus stood there for a few more minutes observing his son sleep. 'He has turned out to be a great boy in spite of his poor upbringing with Petunia,' he thought. 'I'm glad that he's still as caring and loveable as Lily was. I just hope that the older students won't ridicule the four six-year-olds, and I hope that Harry won't get ill too often, considering how the treatment by the Dursleys has weakened his immune system. At least Poppy took over the first years in order to monitor him. That's very reassuring.' Brushing a light kiss onto his son's forehead, he finally left the room, leaving the door open as usual.
HP
One thousand miles in the North, Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his living room, absentmindedly petting his phoenix Fawkes' head feathers. "It's a disgrace to be the Transfiguration professor again," he thought aloud. "I really should retire, especially with Malfoy as headmaster. I can't believe that not only my former colleagues, but also the Minister and the Wizengamot let me down in such a way. Still, I need to remain here in order to see what's going on with Voldemort. I don't think that he's really gone yet, especially since the Dark Mark was still visible on Severus' arm, and considering that it's mostly his followers who've taken over the school, he'll surely make an appearance at Hogwarts - if he comes back at all."
Fawkes let out a series of comforting trills. #Don't worry so much old man,# he instructed the wizard, to whom he had already been bonded for more than one hundred years.
"I'm not going to worry," Albus promised his familiar. "But I'm going to make plans in order to vanquish Voldemort if he appears again. "Do you have an idea where Minerva and all the others went?"
#I have an idea, but it's not my secret to share,# Fawkes trilled, pleasantly, before he demonstratively turned his head onto his back and drifted off to sleep.
HP
Together with Neville, who had arrived shortly after breakfast, and Susan, Harry stood next to the teachers waiting for the students to arrive on the grounds at exactly twelve o'clock. Fortunately, it was a warm and sunny day, and Harry, Susan and Neville had already spent two hours running over the beach and in the shallow water of the Mediterranean sea together with Barkymort, so that the puppy was tiredly resting next to his owner. Only when the students began to arrive all over the grounds, the small dog became fully alert and sniffled here and there in obvious excitement.
Minerva stepped forward to greet the students. "Welcome to The Nice School of Magic," she said, before she introduced the teachers and finally ushered everyone into the dining hall, pointing out that all students were supposed to sit together with their classes.
The number of the year was floating over the respective table, and each number held a different colour. Harry noticed happily that his class was the green class. 'My favourite colour,' he thought, as he took a seat between Susan and Hermione, instructing Barkymort to sit quietly under the table. To his surprise, Harry noticed that Aunt Poppy chose to sit at the first years' table, opposite of himself.
Within an instant, food popped up on the table, and while everyone happily began to eat, Poppy introduced herself to the students, before she motioned the twin sitting next to her to continue with the introduction.
The twins were Fred and George Weasley, next to George was Angelina Johnson, then her friend Alicia Spinnet. There was Lee Jorden, Roger Davies and Cedric Diggory. After Terence Higgs, Adrian Pucey and Susan, it was his turn to introduce himself. "I'm Harry," he said, smiling at his classmates. "I've only known that I'm a wizard for about three months. My dad is the Potions professor here, and this..." He interrupted himself for a moment to pull Barkymort onto his lap, "is my familiar Barkymort."
Everyone laughed at the puppy's cuteness, and Hermione continued, "I've only known that I'm a witch for a month. My parents are Muggles. I can't wait for classes to begin and to properly study magic."
"I'm Neville," Neville continued. "I grew up with my granny, and I'm very happy to b here now. I have a toad familiar, but my granny didn't allow me to bring him, because he always runs away and gets lost."
'Poor Neville,' Harry thought and wondered if he could perhaps buy a new familiar for his best friend some time. 'I'll speak to Dad about it,' he resolved, only now realising that he had missed the rest of the introductions. 'I like the twins,' he thought, as the meal continued. 'They seem to be very funny.' He let his eyes wander around the table, thinking that everyone seemed to be nice. No one was eyeing him in the way, in which Dudley and his gang had used to stare at him. 'I wonder with whom we're going to share the dormitory,' he thought, feeling glad to know that at least Neville would always be with him.
tbc...
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