Disclainer: I don't own Harry Potter and comppany
Saturday morning Prof. Snape met Harry after breakfast to escort him to the healer. "Potter have you ever done side-along apparition before?" Snape asked as they walked toward the front gate.
"I don't know what that is, Sir."Harry replied.
"I'll take that as no. You will need to be in physical contact with me for this to work. To this end we will walk to the main gate step outside it to the left side to the paved area. There you will place your arms about my waist I will place my hands on your shoulders I will then take you to Little Arran Island and the healer there. Once you are steady on your feet you will let me go. Understand?"
"Can't we use the Knight Bus?" Harry asked.
"Not with the time constrictions we have to deal with today. Nor is there a Floo connection regrettably." Snape replied.
They walked through the gate turning to the left to the paved area that always puzzled Harry. It didn't glow though the gates and the wall did. "Sir, are the walls around Hogwarts enchanted?" Harry asked.
"The walls themselves are not. However they mark the physical extent of the Wards of Hogwarts. You are seeing the wards themselves. Are they one color or many?" Snape asked curious.
"Some patches are red, some green, blue or yellow. Then some patches I can't really tell what color they are because the colors are really faint." Harry replied.
"Very good. When we get back I want you to tell me if you see more color or less. Arms about my waist now please." Snape ordered.
Harry complied. Snape placed his hands on Harry's shoulders. Then the world squeezed down to a tiny tube of blackness streaked with multicolored bands. The tube spat them out in a village square no where he's ever been. It took a moment for him to get his bearings then he let go. There was a pub on one side with a sign of a Gryphon with a keg of spilled drink at it's feet and one wing over the keg. Across from the pub there was an apothecary, a book store and one shop that had a huge pair of glasses hanging out side it. That is where Snape took him.
"This is the hamlet of Arran. About fifty people live here. It serves the mer folk, selkies and other beings who live in and around the sea. Be aware that the healer here is not human." Snape warned him as they entered the shop.
"Professor is this the child?" The healer asked. He was quite human looking with a neat beard of dark reddish brown with two small tusks that extend to the bottom of the chin as the only thing that was odd.
"Master Beckett, this is Harry Potter." Snape introduced them.
"Hello Master Beckett. Is a magical eye exam anything like a muggle one?" Harry asked politely.
"The first part is quite similar I am told. Being a Selkie I never had a muggle one. You'll have to tell me." Beckett lead Harry to a chair then had Harry take off his glasses and read a chart of common magical symbols. Each line smaller then the others. The rest proceeded like a regular exam for Harry except that Beckett placed an helmet like thing on his head with a set glasses frames in front of his eyes in which Beckett placed individual lens in or removed them.
Then came the odd part. Beckett put drops in his eyes and the world changed color. Beckett had him go through the whole exam again though instead of adding or subtracting lens he added or subtracted colored glass. It took several hours to get it right. When the helmet was removed the world was a psychedelic blur of strange colors and shapes bleeding into each other.
Master Beckett blind folded him and the chaos mercifully ended."You'll need to leave that on for about two hours as the drops wear off. Come back at that time and I'll have your new glasses ready. I'll also send a copy of your prescription to the specialist at St. Mungo's as she is the one closest to your home. I'll want you back in six months for a follow up. It takes up to three years for mage sight to fully come in. So I'll be seeing you every six months until its fully in. Professor there's a good mussel pie at the pub today."
"I'll take that under advisement Master Beckett." Snape said. He then lead Harry to the pub across the way. The Barman took them back to a private room. There he ordered fish and chips for Harry and the mussel pie for himself. Once the Barman was gone. "The reason why I ordered for you is that with your temporary blindness fish and chips are one of the easiest foods to eat."
"What about the half pint of porter?" Harry asked. He had been surprised when Snape had ordered him the beer.
"The inn makes an excellent porter and the beer will help you rid yourself of the drops put in your eyes." Snape told him. "The alcohol in the beer neutralizes the affect of the serpents eye in the potion. Give that your mage sight is coming in early there certain classes you should have. Mage sight and the spells and potions used to mimic the ability are taught in 5th year Theory of Magic. As I have no mage sight students this year I will take you as my student."
"Do you have mage sight Sir?" Harry asked.
"Of the staff of Hogwarts all four heads of house do and Madam Pomfrey, though only Madam Pomfrey's position requires it as part of the job. The Headmaster to my knowledge does not. Hagrid has it as well. So if you think you see something and no one else does have one of the heads of house take a look there are a number of beasts and plants that can be only seen with mage sight. Do not ever look at a dementer with mage sight until you are full grown."
"To late sir." Harry replied.
"If the nightmares generated by that vision become to much inform Madam Pomfrey and she will have me make up the correct nightmare reduction potion. Your age restricts your use of Dreamless Sleep." Snape informed him.
Their food is brought and Harry acknowledges Snape's choice of food. The porter is strongly flavored but not unpleasant he tastes a faint hint of chocolate in it and something else. "Describe the flavor of the porter if you would Mr. Potter." Snape asked.
Harry does so. For the next couple of hours Snape had him use his other senses. While he was doing this he learned that magic had a distinct feel to it. Snape's magic felt like a warm blanket. He also heard a faint laughter though he couldn't place where it was coming from.
"Mr. Potter I am going to take off the blindfold now. Tell me immediately if you have trouble seeing." Snape told him.
Once the blindfold was off Harry opened his eyes slowly. Only a streak of silver light floating to his left reminded him of the weirdness of the eye exam. "I'm seeing almost normally again. Just the odd streak of color floating by." Harry told Snape.
"Very good Mr. Potter we will return to Master Beckett's shop to get your glasses then return to Hogwarts." Snape said settling their lunch bill with the Barman.
Beckett was waiting with them. "Mr. Potter your glasses are ready. If you will sit down I'll make the final adjustments." Beckett indicated the chair.
Harry sat down Beckett put the new pair on him. The first thing he noticed was everything was sharper there was no tiny bit of fuzziness around everything. The second thing he noticed was anything magical glowed with a clear light.
"Everything is clearer now?" Beckett asked with a smile.
"Much clearer." Harry said. ¥¥¥¥¥¥ "Excellent then let's adjust the frames so they fit better." Beckett said. He then proceeded to adjust the fit the glasses the muggle way. "The fit is good?"
"Yes," Harry replied. ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ "Good then I expect you back the first day of May." Beckett said dismissing them.
The return to Hogwarts is less disorienting Harry noticing that the streaks of light are fatter in the middle and thinner at the edges. When Snape asked him to describe the wards of Hogwarts while there are fewer colors each color is much clearer and more defined.
Author's Note: In my universe an adult may order beer, cider or wine for a minor with a meal in the wizarding world. Small beer like Butter beer may be ordered by those 13 and older without an adult present. Small beer having an alcohol content of less the 1% by volume. Legal drinking age in the wizarding world is the same as legal age.