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!
Seeing that Harry suddenly fell unconscious, his classmates shouted for the teachers, causing Severus, Amelia and Poppy to run over instantly.
"What exactly happened?" Severus asked in a stern voice.
"He looked as if he was in pain for a moment, before he became unconscious," Hermione replied, while no one else had witnessed anything in particular.
"Enervate," Poppy said, quietly, pointing her wand at the boy.
The whole class observed how Harry slowly regained consciousness and looked around in confusion.
"What happened?" Poppy asked, giving him a sharp look.
"My scar suddenly hurt for a minute or two," Harry recalled.
"There's only one who can make your scar hurt," Severus spoke up in obvious concern, "the Dark Lord."
"It has never hurt before though," Harry said in a small voice, causing his father to sigh.
"Maybe he's coming back to life," he speculated, casting his son a worried look.
However, during the remaining month of the holidays, Harry's scar did not hurt again, and he slowly forgot about the matter.
It was on the first evening of the new school year, shortly after the welcoming feast was over and the sixth years had retired to their common room, that Harry suddenly gripped his head in pain.
One thousand miles in the North...
During the welcoming feast at Hogwarts, just after the students had been sorted, Professor Quirrell stormed into the Great Hall, shouting, "There's a troll in the dungeons."
Headmaster Malfoy rose from where he was sitting at the high table and instructed the students to remain in their seats, before he turned to the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. "Quirinus, as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, it's your job to get rid of the troll," he ordered the frightened wizard, who nodded in understanding and left, slightly slower than he had arrived a minute before.
Only when the welcoming feast was almost over did the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher return to the Great Hall, and his colleagues realised in surprise that the strange professor was not stuttering anymore.
In Nice...
"Harry, what's wrong?" Hermione and Susan asked, simultaneously, looking at the boy in concern.
"I don't know," Harry moaned. "Someone seems to be very happy, because he finally has a corporate body again. I think Voldemort must be back, as Dad said no one else can make my scar hurt."
"Harry," Susan spoke up, worriedly eyeing her brother. "Let's go home and speak with Dad."
HP
Closely followed by Barkymort, the two sixth years walked home, and Harry could not prevent himself from feeling very comforted at his sister's company.
"Thanks for coming with me," he told her, casting her a smile, which, however, did not reach his eyes.
"Any time, Harry," Susan replied, smiling. "This gives me the opportunity to visit Felix as well."
"That's true," Harry replied, before he hesitantly opened the door to the Snapes' quarters.
HP
"Susan, Harry," Amelia was the first to notice them in obvious surprise.
"Did something happen?" Severus added, eyeing the children in concern.
"I think that the Dark Lord is back," Harry spoke up, pointing to his scar that was still prickling even if it didn't hurt as much as before. "I can hear his thoughts, and he's very happy to have a real body again. It has to be him, doesn't it?" he queried, staring at his father in expectation.
"Yes son," Severus confirmed, seemingly horrified.
"Maybe it would be good if you could teach Harry Occlumency," Amelia suggested. "Who knows what Voldemort could do to him through their connection."
"Yes, that's a good idea," Severus admitted and instructed Harry, "From now on, please come home every day between the last afternoon class and dinner. I'll teach you how to occlude your mind, so that you'll be as safe as possible from him."
"May I accompany Harry and play with Felix in the meantime?" Susan enquired, giving their parents a pleading look.
"Of course dear," Amelia replied, smiling.
HP
Unbeknownst to the students, the teachers spent several hours during the weekend strengthening the wards around the school, the grounds and the beach, so that no one, not even the students' parents, would be able to enter any of these places.
"I don't think that the parents of any of our students are Death Eaters," Minerva said, thoughtfully. "However, I'm not going to take a risk."
"If for some reason someone wants to visit us, we can always allow them inside," Amelia added, fully concurring with the headmistress.
HP
During the following months, Severus taught Harry Occlumency, however, even if Harry did his best to protect his mind behind an image of Barkymort running through the shallow sea, he was not able to completely free himself from the visions that penetrated his mind through his scar.
Fortunately, during class time, the connection mostly remained quiet, probably because - at least according to Severus' speculation - the Dark Lord had probably taken over Quirrell's body and was now teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts. However, during the evenings, he often witnessed Voldemort's conversations with his Death Eaters.
To his annoyance, it became especially worse during the Halloween feast. First of all, while the sixth years were enjoying their dinner in the Hall Magnifique, Ronald Weasley, who was sitting at the fourth years' table right next to them, began a huge fight with Hermione and Susan, stating that one of their cats, who for some reason obviously seemed to despise his rat, had eaten his rat, considering that he had been missing now for three days.
"It's neither Hermione's nor Susan's fault, and their cats don't eat rats," Harry told the boy and shook his head in annoyance, glad when the twins interfered and told their younger brother off.
Just a few minutes later, his scar began to prickle, before he was pulled into a vision.
Beginning of vision...
Harry found himself in a small room, where Voldemort was speaking with Draco's father.
"Lucius, it's time to tell the wizarding world that I'm back," Voldemort spoke up. "Gather all that are still on our side. Right after the feast, we'll go and attack Diagon Alley."
"Yes, my Lord," Malfoy replied, eagerly. "It's good to have you back, my Lord."
"At the next occasion, we're going to attack the Nice school," Voldemort continued. "I finally have a spy there."
"Who is it, my Lord?" Malfoy queried in apparent surprise.
"Peter Pettigrew," Voldemort informed him, feeling very contented. "He lives at the school in the form of a rat, pretending to be a boy's pet."
End of vision...
As soon as he found himself back in his usual surroundings, Harry rose from his chair and walked over to the high table. "I just had a vision," he informed his father, not caring that the teachers who were sitting near Severus witnessed their conversation. "Voldemort is going to attack Diagon Alley tonight. Is there anything you can do to warn them, Dad? Granny Minerva? Please?"
"I'll floo-call Albus," the headmistress said in determination and, seeing Severus nod his agreement, rose from her chair.
"He also said something about having a spy here and that he was going to attack our school next," Harry remembered to inform the teachers.
"Harry, please come to my office after the feast and put the memory of your vision into my Pensieve," Minerva instructed him, seemingly horrified, before she turned towards the door and left.
Harry returned to the sixth years' table, unobtrusively eyeing the teachers' table to see when the headmistress would return. However, to his surprise, Minerva only came back after about thirty minutes. 'I wonder why it took her so long to warn Dumbledore,' he thought, looking at the teachers' table in surprise.
HP
Closely followed by Susan and Barkymort, Harry headed to the headmistress' office, as soon as the feast was over.
"I hope they won't succeed attacking our school," he said to Susan, while the teachers observed his memory in the Pensieve.
"Don't worry, Harry," Susan reassured him. "Since the teachers know in advance, they'll do something to prevent him from doing so. They've already charmed the wards to not let anyone in anyway."
"I hope you're right," Harry replied, sighing, just when he was pulled into another vision.
Beginning of vision...
"Lucius," Voldemort roared in anger, "how come that the Aurors knew about our plan to attack Diagon Alley tonight? Whom exactly did you tell about it?"
"I only informed our closest relations as well as our colleagues here. They're all on our side, my Lord," Malfoy replied, sounding very surprised.
"Find out who alerted them," Voldemort demanded, casting a dark spell at his most trustworthy follower. "You have spies in the Ministry, don't you?"
"Not with the Aurors, my Lord," Malfoy admitted, causing Voldemort to once again curse the white-haired wizard, before he dismissed him, still feeling extremely angered."
End of vision...
A small moan escaped from Harry's lips, when the headmistress' office manifested in front of his eyes. His father was hovering right in front of him, looking at him in concern.
"Was it a vision again?" he queried, causing Harry to nod.
He immediately put the memory into the Pensieve for the teachers to watch.
"Harry," his father turned to him upon leaving the Pensieve. "Could you only hear or also feel the curse?"
"I could feel it," Harry admitted in a small voice.
"That's what I feared," Severus replied and called Cicero, instructing him to bring him a phial of the Anti Cruciatus potion for Harry.
"Thanks a lot," Harry said, gratefully, after gulping down the potion in relief, just when the fireplace flared and Dumbledore's head appeared in the flames.
tbc...
Thanks to the kind readers who commented on the previous chapter!