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!
"Amelia Bones and Susan are going to accompany us if you don't mind," his father informed him, causing Harry to smile, happily.
"Of course I don't mind," he replied, sleepily. "That's great. Susan is really nice."
"Very well then, good night, son," Severus said, smirking, as he noxed the lights.
HP
Harry and Susan indeed had much fun. After spending some time at the apothecary and the bookshop, Amelia led them to the shop for magical animals, because she had promised Susan to buy her a pet.
"You may accompany Amelia and Susan, I'll take Barkymort and wait outside," Severus offered, kindly, knowing that his son wouldn't want to miss the visit to the pet shop.
"Stay outside with daddy for a few minutes," Harry instructed the puppy, promising, "I'll be back soon."
A few minutes later, he was back. "Daddy, what can I do to earn ten Gaullions?" he asked, urgently. "Susan is going to get a kitten, and I'd like to buy its brother for Neville. You know he can't bring his toad because it always runs away, and his granny is very strict and..."
Listening in surprise at his son's excited rambling, Severus smirked. "You could assist in the lab. I've got many potions to brew for Aunt Poppy," he replied, gently.
"All right Dad," Harry promised, eagerly. "May I please buy the kitten for Neville?"
Severus sighed. "All right son," he said and handed the boy a 10 Gaullion note, rolling his eyes when Harry dashed away, shouting his thank you as he ran. "Now Barkymort, you're going to behave towards the kittens, is that clear?" he turned to the dog in a firm voice that was supposed to be intimidating, however, merely caused the puppy to waggle his tail.
HP
Back at the Nice school, Harry stuck his head into the fireplace and called his best friend. "Excuse me, Madame, but can Neville come over for a few minutes please?" he asked Mrs. Longbottom, sighing in relief when the old lady agreed.
An instant later, Neville stepped out of the fireplace. "Harry, what's wrong?" he asked, sounding surprised.
Harry grinned and motioned his friend to follow him to his room, where his father and Cicero were just observing Barkymort taking care of the kitten. The puppy was gently licking the small cat over and over, and the kitten was purring, contentedly.
Neville was over the moon with joy upon hearing that Harry had bought the kitten for him and sighed in apparent relief, when Harry reassured him that he could leave the kitten with him, while his was at home, in case his granny didn't want to have a cat in her home.
"I'll ask her," Neville said in determination, carefully cuddling the kitten. "It's so cute. Thanks so much for buying her for me."
"You're welcome," Harry replied, grinning. "I'm glad that she gets along with Barkymort. She still needs a name though."
Neville scrunched his face in thought. "How did Susan name hers?" he finally asked.
"Susan's is a boy, and he's completely black. She named him Robin," Harry informed him, looking at his friend in expectation.
"Then I'll name her Bianca," Neville decided, giving the white kitten a questioning look. "Do you like that?" An instant later, a huge smile spread over his face, and he told Harry, "The kitten has just bonded to me and thought to me that she'd like the name."
HP
When Neville returned home, Harry brought Bianca to Susan, so that the two kittens could spend some time together, while the Snapes and the Bones headed for dinner.
However, when Harry took a seat between Susan and his father at the dining table, he looked up in surprise.
"The ceiling is gone," he blurted out, "and it's snowing inside. How can that happen, although we're on the first floor?"
Several of the teachers laughed at his confused expression. However, the headmistress explained in a soft voice, "Professor Flitwick has charmed the ceiling to look like the sky. It even looks as if it was snowing or raining, but of course it's only a charm and not real."
"I believe that from now on, we should call this hall 'Hall Magnifique' instead of just dining hall," the headmistress suggested, and everyone agreed, unanimously. "Very well then, I'll announce it at the welcoming feast," Minerva concluded, smiling.
"Wow, this is really amazing," Harry spoke up, staring at the ceiling in awe. 'Hermione will be impressed, too,' he thought, resolving to write a letter to his friend right after dinner. 'I hope Dad will allow me to quickly write to her,' he thought. 'It's still the middle of the holidays after all.'
"You have exactly fifteen minutes," Severus informed him, and Harry hurried to scribble a few lines to his friend.
'Dear Mione,
Neville has a new kitten. Her name is Bianca. Professor Flitwick has charmed the celing to look like the sky. It's brilliant. It looks as if it snowd in the hall. I can't wait for you to come back.
Yours
Harry'
"Dad, is that all right?" he asked, urgently, and impatiently waited while his father corrected two mistakes, before he called Cicero and asked him to give the letter to one of the school owls for him.
'I hope she'll write back,' he thought, when he crawled into bed, where Barkymort was already waiting for him.
HP
Two days later, Harry received his friend's reply, giving his father a helpless look after reading it.
'Dear Harry,
thank you for your letter. How can it snow in the hall that is on the first floor? What charm did Professor Flitwick use, and why do they want snow in the entrance hall? It's snowing a lot here, but my parents said that snow in Nice would be very rare.
What did you get for Christmas? I received many books. Neville's grandmother took my parents to Diagon Alley, which is like Marseille, and they bought lots of books there. It's great to have a lot of time to read, but I can't wait to go back to school. I miss you and Barkymort too. How is he?
Oh and thanks a lot for the fruit drops. They are delicious.
Waiting for your reply!
Hermione'
Harry handed the letter to his father, mumbling something that sounded like "no clue".
Severus smirked. "Ms. Granger is a very intelligent young lady," he commented. "I'll help you write a reply later on. Now, are you up to assisting me in the lab?"
"Of course, Dad," Harry replied and happily followed his father out of the dining hall.
"Sorry Barky, you'll have to stay at home with Bianca until lunchtime," he informed the puppy, knowing that his familiar and the cat were going to sleep on his bed together until he would wake them up later on.
HP
Harry kept his promise and assisted his father in the lab every morning, and by the end of the holidays, he knew the basic healing potion that was used as the base for many other potions by heart. During the afternoons, Severus forbade him to assist, insisting that he needed some fresh air and should take Barkymort for a long walk around the grounds.
On most days, Susan joined him, and the two six-year-olds explored every single corner of the huge, old park as well as the beach. From time to time, they also visited Hagrid, so that Barkymort could play with Fang. Fortunately, the two dogs got along well and always happily played together. One day, Harry gave Hagrid an innocent look and asked, "Hagrid, do you think we could build a tree house in that tree over there?"
Hagrid walked over to the tree, to which Harry had pointed, and said, pensively, "That's a neat idea. Shall I build you one?"
Harry and Susan exchanged an excited glance, before Harry replied, "If it's not too much hassle, it would be great. But can you make it so that our whole class fits in and not tell any of the other adults? Please?"
Hagrid thoughtfully let his hand wander over his beard. "I think I'll be able to charm it so that you'll all fill in. Let me give it a try."
HP
On one of the last days of the holidays, Hagrid instructed Harry and Susan to visit him in the afternoon, and when the children complied, he showed them the finished tree house. It was small and barely visible from the ground. Right behind the tree was a ladder leading upstairs, and Hagrid reassured them that it was charmed to be invisible to everyone but the students of Harry's class.
'How's our whole class supposed to fit in there?' Harry wondered, as he climbed up the ladder behind Susan and Barkymort. When he reached the top and looked inside, his eyes widened in disbelief. The inside of the tree house was almost as large as his own room, which was huge in his opinion.
"Hagrid, you're amazing. This is absolutely cool," Susan was the first to speak up, and Harry immediately voiced his agreement.
"Thanks a lot, Hagrid. Our classmates will appreciate it very much," he said, looking around in amazement.
"Le'me call Sophia, my house-elf," Hagrid suddenly spoke up and called the elf, whom he introduced as his personal elf. He instructed the elf to not tell anyone about the tree house but to equip it with comfortable sofas and chairs and whatever else nineteen students would need.
"Yes Master Hagrid," Sophia replied and popped away.
During the following ten minutes, the children observed how furniture and other equipment appeared, changing the tree house into a comfortably looking room.
'This is too cool,' Harry thought and let himself sink into one of the sofas, glad to be able to sit down. In fact, he had not been feeling overly well ever since he had woken up in the morning. However, he knew better than to complain about it.
"Harry," Susan suddenly spoke up in a soft voice. "I'd like to go back to my room. I don't feel well."
Harry looked at his friend in surprise, noticing that her cheeks were deep red and her eyes looked glassy. "I'll go with you," he replied. "Shall I take you to Aunt Poppy?"
"Okay," Susan agreed, and the two friends slowly descended the latter.
They had to wait a moment, as Barkymort seemed a little afraid to climb down, and Harry just thought that he had to go and carry him, when the puppy finally came down to the ground.
By the time they arrived in the hospital room, Harry felt completely exhausted. However, he tried to not let Susan notice about it and turned back towards the door, as soon as Poppy began to wave her wand over the girl. He was just about to leave the room, when Poppy called him back.
"I'm sorry Harry, but I'm afraid I can't let you go," the healer addressed him in a no-nonsense voice. "Susan caught a very dangerous illness, and I must put you in quarantine for the time being," she explained, before she waved her wand over the boy and glared at him. "You even got it worse than Susan," she muttered in disbelief, as she made Harry lie down on the bed next to the girl.
tbc...
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