The Cat's Pyjamas

by Healer Pomfrey

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
The translation of the Pangur Ban poem is from an unknown author (chapter titles).

A huge thanks to JB5391 for her absolute brilliant beta-ing!

#+$

This story is dedicated to my wonderful friend and beta Mushcorn

3 – Hunting mice is his delight

To Harry's amazement, three adults stepped successively out of the fireplace. The first was an older woman with spiky grey hair and hawk-like eyes, who immediately began to joke and seemed to be very funny. A younger, very tall man with black hair, who was wearing a slightly grim expression, and another man of about the same age, though he looked tired and scarred, followed her. Harry took an immediate liking to the latter man, whose hair and eyes were a warm, golden honey. He sensed that the man was just as nice and friendly as he looked. Minerva introduced Harry to the three of them, causing Harry to think, 'The tall man seems to dislike me. He looks at me like Uncle Vernon does.' He hesitantly followed the adults into the dining room, inwardly sighing in relief when Poppy steered him into the seat between her and Minerva.

Realising that everyone's eyes lingered on Harry, Minerva began to explain how he had ended up in her care, about the Headmaster's reaction, and about her plans, finishing her explanation with the question if the three guests would be willing to accompany her to Kentucky and help her to set up the new school.

'I hope the stern looking man won't,' Harry thought, feeling very uncomfortable being the centre of attention. He tuned out the adults' conversation, turning his attention to his dinner plate and attempted to eat as much as possible in order to please Minerva and Poppy. 'I wouldn't want to make them upset,' he mused.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Rolanda Hooch cheered, "Of course I'll join you. I heard that they don't play Quidditch in Kentucky, they play Hoopitch instead, and I can't wait to try it out. When are we going to leave?"

A small smile stole itself on Harry's face as he listened with interest and disbelief to her explanation about Hoopitch being a kind of basketball game that was played on broomsticks. 'Can magical people really fly on brooms?' he wondered. 'I'd like to try that out.'

"Minerva, Poppy," Remus Lupin spoke up in a slightly subdued voice. "You do remember my furry problem, don't you?"

"Of course we do, Remus, but that won't be a problem," Minerva said soothingly. "My brother-in-law is a vet and has a huge clinic for magical animals at the far end of the grounds. He will surely have a room for you to stay whenever you need it."

'What is his problem?' Harry wondered, looking at the man with interest. 'I hope he'll come with us. He seems really nice. Maybe I can do something to help him.'

"If you're sure that your sister and your brother-in-law won't mind, I'll happily accept the offer. What would you like me to do at your school?" Lupin asked gently.

Minerva's lips stretched to a small smile. "Thank you, Remus. I really appreciate your support. Well, in fact I thought that you'd make a wonderful professor for Defence Against the Dark Arts; however, if you have any other suggestions or preferences..."

"No no," her former student replied quickly, his worried look morphing into a broad smile. "Defence would be my first choice." He glanced over at his former classmate. "Severus, will you come and teach Potions?"

The dark haired man looked up, quirking an eyebrow at the other wizard. Harry already expected him to admonish the kind man that there was no such thing like magic, when Poppy threw in, "Please Severus, do me the favour. I'd feel much more confident, having your potions at hand, and our new school would benefit greatly with Britain's best Potions Master teaching Potions."

"You expect me to teach groups of dunderheads?" the man sneered; however, Harry had the impression as if his dark expression had lit a bit. "Are you planning to have Houses like at Hogwarts?" he queried.

"No," Minerva replied firmly. "I have never been a fan of the House system." She pointed her wand at the tea spoon next to her plate and transfigured it into a parchment, to which she added an enormous amount of thin lines with another wave of her wand. "This is the Manor," she explained. "It is built in form of the letter U, consisting of three wings, and each of them has six floors. It should be about the size of Hogwarts. The East wing," she pointed to the map, "is the private wing. Here in the far corner, Patrick has his office, and this corridor here leads to the far end of the grounds, where the animal clinic is situated. The grounds are at least as huge as the Hogwarts grounds. The teachers' quarters would be here in the East wing, the common rooms and dormitories in the West wing and the classrooms in the South wing, which is connected to the East and the West wings on the first floor. There's a nice little walkway underneath that Medusa's honeysuckle has claimed. It's very beautiful in the spring."

"From which age are you planning to take students?" Lupin asked with apparent interest, glancing at Harry.

Minerva let out a long sigh, before she explained, "I was thinking of taking students from the age of eight. Of course, Harry would still be one year too young; however, considering the problems with his magic, I don't believe that it'll hurt to have him commence at an early stage. We'll have to see to what extent he'll be able to attend school at all."

A strange sound escaped from the Potions Master's lips, resembling a snort. "Minerva, if the boy has Magica Incensio, he will barely be able to follow classes like Transfiguration or Charms at the age of eleven, let alone at such a young age." Seeing that everyone looked at him in surprise, he sighed and continued in a softer voice, "Everyone assumed that my father was a Muggle; however, this isn't true. He was a pureblood wizard, but he had Magica Incensio. Therefore, I know a bit about this illness. Mr. Potter might be able to excel in subjects like Herbology or Potions, perhaps even the electives Ancient Runes and Numerology when he's older, provided that he shows any interest in these subjects; however, he will encounter difficulties with everything else."

"Am I to assume that you accept the post?" Minerva asked, smiling at the young man. "With you as the Potions Master and Poppy as the Herbology professor, Harry will be in good hands."

The adults agreed on Minerva's suggestions, and all three guests decided to follow her invitation to Kentucky.

'猫のパジャマ

In the morning, Minerva, Poppy, and Rolanda visited the Headmaster in his office to personally hand over their resignations. Minerva observed contentedly how Dumbledore paled at the prospect of losing three members of his long-time staff at once.

"Minerva," he thoughtfully began to speak as he slowly popped a lemon drop into his mouth, "I won't accept these parchments."

"Oh well, you'll have to," she said dryly, unobtrusively letting her eyes wander over the shelves until she found what she was looking for.

When Poppy noticed that Minerva was looking at her in expectance, she efficiently distracted the Headmaster by explaining about the Magica Incensio disease, causing Dumbledore to pale even more.

In the meantime, Minerva secretly pointed her wand at the huge book of all British magical children, making an invisible copy for herself that she then shrank and slid into her robe pocket. "Well Albus, you better not rely on Harry to fulfil any stupid prophecy resulting from the mutterings of an alcoholic fraud desperate for a job," she said firmly and rose from her seat, before she excused herself and left the office, with her two best friends in tow, leaving a very shocked Headmaster behind.

'猫のパジャマ

At the same time, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape spent some time with Harry at McGonagall Manor, since Minerva and Poppy did not want to leave the small child just on his own, who seemed so unsure and had been left alone too much at the Dursleys. The three wizards sat in the living room, where Malcolm served large helpings of hot cocoa for Remus Lupin and Harry and strong, black coffee for Severus Snape.

Harry curiously eyed the two professors, recalling what they had said the previous evening. "Sir," he hesitantly addressed Professor Snape. "Yesterday, you said something that I might be able to brew potions. I was just wondering if that was similar to cooking. My aunt taught me to cook when I was three." He questioningly looked at the tall wizard, shyly averting his eyes to the floor, when the man's expression turned to a sneer.

Before Snape could say anything though, Lupin spoke up, casting the Potions Master a warning look. "Yes Harry, you can say that it is a bit similar."

"The main difference is," Snape added in an equally neutral tone, looking directly at Harry, "that with Potions everything has to be absolutely correct, the amount of each of the ingredients down to the smallest quantities, the number of stirs, the stirring direction, the sequence of the ingredients added, as well as the correct timing. It is much more complicated than simple Muggle cooking."

"Ah, I understand," Harry said in absolute delight at the detailed reply. "This sounds very interesting. I can't wait to try it out. Thank you so much, sir, for offering to teach me."

The Potions Master nodded, and Harry couldn't help noticing that his expression had softened some.

'猫のパジャマ

As soon as Minerva and her friends returned from Hogwarts, Lupin and Snape eagerly skimmed the book for the students, who would be eight years old by the end of the month, while Minerva and Poppy put a letter together.

The Kentucky Foundation for Children
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall

Dear Mr./Miss. Xxx,

We would like to invite you to our new school, 'The Kentucky Foundation for Children,' which is a school for wizards and witches from the age of eight. Our school has been set up by long-time Hogwarts professors along with the best Potions Master of Britain and is based on our experiences at Hogwarts, which made us decide to begin three years earlier than our Alma Mater in order to provide fundamental background about the magical world from an earlier age.

Please find attached a list with the items that have to be purchased before the beginning of the school year. Since this is the first year, the school will provide all students with the necessary school books for the subjects that will be taught at KFC. You will find a list with all subjects as well as an overview of the school fees attached.

The school is situated in Kentucky, USA, and the departure for the school will take place at King's Cross station platform nine and three quarters at 6 p.m. on August 31. All students will travel together with one of our staff by a group Portkey. The time difference allows for arrival at the school at approximately 11 a.m. local time, as there is 5 hours difference between Kentucky and Great Britain.

We await your owl no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress

Medusa O'Leary, Deputy Headmistress

She handed the parchment to her colleagues, who agreed with the text, before she added the usual list of items, fees, and information that was always sent out at Hogwarts as well as a list with the subjects, which Rolanda had set up in the meantime, while Poppy was playing with Harry. "Poppy, Severus, could you please call your house-elves, so that they can help Malcolm copying and sending out the letters?" she asked, sighing as she leaned back in her seat.

An instant later, Poppy's house-elf Misty, Severus' elf Cicero, and Malcolm were busily preparing the letters to the first years as well as to the older pre Hogwarts children, before they sent out a slightly different letter to those, who were already enrolled at Hogwarts.

"Minerva," Snape spoke up in a soft, baritone voice that made Harry look up from his drawing in surprise. "Don't you think we should personally take the letter to the Muggleborn students?"

"Oh right," Minerva said, slapping her forehead. "Good that you mention it, Severus. I completely forgot about that. So who is Muggle born here?"

"Here is one student, Cian Harold," Lupin spoke up, skimming the book. "And here is another one, although her birthday is only in September. Hermione Granger."

"Well then, let's invite the girl as well," Minerva replied, sighing. "We're probably going to have so few students at the beginning that the exact date of birth doesn't really matter for the first year, especially since Harry is a year younger than everyone else anyway."

'猫のパジャマ

Harry enjoyed himself greatly. For the first time in his life, he felt as if someone cared about him. Although Minerva behaved as if she was his mother or grandmother, the other adults, who were staying at McGonagall Manor together for the time being, took turns playing, reading, and talking with him every day, while the others were engrossed in the preparations for the new school. Harry liked each of them very much, even the grumpy looking Potions professor, who turned out to be much nicer when Harry asked him something than he seemed to be. Harry especially liked it when the professor told him about potions ingredients. He quickly learned that there were Muggle and magical ingredients and how to distinguish them. However, much to his chagrin, there was no potions lab at McGonagall Manor, so that they could not really brew anything. Harry couldn't go flying either, which Rolanda, the always funny teacher, promised to show him, because Poppy didn't allow him to fly. She insisted that he should not do any magic, before they moved to Kentucky, because the travel would be very strenuous for him.

Every evening when Harry went to bed, Minerva came to read a short story to him and to tuck him in, and Harry felt extremely happy and comforted by the small gesture. One evening however, Minerva, Poppy, and Severus entered his bedroom together. They explained that it would be safer for him when Minerva adopted him and officially became his grandmother. "Would that be all right with you, Harry?" Minerva asked in a soft voice.

"Of course," Harry replied, smiling broadly.

"Very well then," Minerva said and wrote her name into a parchment that she had placed on the night table. "There are two more things, which I need you to think about," she continued. "First of all, you need two godparents in case something happens to me. Can you choose the two of my colleagues, whom you like most please?"

Harry chuckled and quickly replied, "Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape please." Seeing that the Potions Master quirked an eyebrow, he thought, 'Good that exactly those two came here with Minerva and not the others, although I like them too.'

Minerva nodded in understanding and wrote the names on the parchment. "Now Harry, we believe that even the change of your surname to McGonagall might not suffice to keep you safe. Therefore, we would like to change your first name and your birthday as well. For your birthday, we can just take today's date... no, tomorrow's," she corrected herself, "the seventeenth of July; however, to decide on your name is much more difficult. Do you have any name, which you particularly like, or would you like us to suggest something?"

"Suggest something please," Harry said, unable to think of a name that he loved. 'I like the name 'Julia', but that's a girl's name,' he thought sadly, remembering the only girl at the primary school, who had always been kind to him.

"Very well then, how about 'Pangur'?" the Potions Master suggested with a small smile. "'Pangur Bàn' is an old Irish poem, written more than one thousand years ago by an Irish monk about his cat." Seeing that Harry was listening with interest, he continued, "and many Irish people name their cat Pangur. Now for the second name I'd suggest 'Dereg', because it means red in Gaelic. 'Pangur Dereg McGonagall sounds good for someone whose Animagus form is a marmalade cat."

"I like that," Harry said animatedly, questioningly glancing at his guardian, who looked at the Potions Master in appreciation.

Finally, McGonagall explained about the blood adoption potion and its effects, and Harry hesitantly agreed to take the potion, eyeing the small phial, which the Potions Master pulled out of his robe pocket, with anxiousness.

"Don't worry, Harry," Severus said in his soft, baritone voice. "This might hurt just a little bit, but if it does, I'll give you another potion that'll make you feel better." With that, he pressed the phial against the boy's lips, nodding contentedly when Harry obediently swallowed. Unbeknownst to Harry, he spelled a light pain relieving potion straight into the boy's stomach as soon as his features began to change.

'It doesn't hurt,' Harry thought in relief, looking up in surprise when Minerva said, "That's not much of a change now, is it? His hair is straighter and a tiny bit lighter than before, but that's about it. You look very handsome, sweetie."

'猫のパジャマ

When Harry came downstairs in the morning, he stopped dead in his tracks. The whole ground floor was decorated with hundreds of colourful balloons, and through the large windows of the living room he could see that the grounds had been turned into a huge playground. 'That's strange; what are they going to do?' he wondered and, as hesitant as always, entered the dining room, only to notice a huge cake in form of a cat sitting in the middle of the table. It was decorated with cream and strawberries. 'Just like a marmalade cat,' he thought in amazement.

Collectively grinning at his puzzled expression, the adults, who were already gathered around the table, began to sing the Happy Birthday song, causing Harry to become even more confused. 'Is it my birthday?' he wondered. 'But Aunt Petunia told me that I didn't have a birthday.'

"Pangur, as you know, we changed your name and your birthday last night," Minerva said in a soft voice, adding, "and we all wish you a very happy birthday."

'Oh right, so I'm Pangur now,' Pangur thought. 'I have to get used to it. I like that it's from a story about a cat. Maybe they'll allow me to change into a cat after breakfast.'

However, the adults had other plans for him. After eating as much of the delicious strawberry cake as he could, he was led into the living room, where he found a huge pile of presents, each of them colourfully wrapped with ribbons and bows. 'Are they for me?' Pangur thought in disbelief, looking up in surprise, when Rolanda pressed a large, very long present into his hands, motioning for him to open it.

"A broom!" Pangur breathed, letting out a happy squeal. "May I try it out?" He cast Poppy a pleading look.

"Later on, sweetie," his godmother replied kindly. "We want to take you to Diagon Alley in order to buy some proper robes and a children's wand for you first."

Pangur's expression turned into a broad smile. During the last two weeks, he had heard many stories about the magical shopping area, and he couldn't wait to see Gringotts or the Magical Menagerie. He hurriedly opened the other presents, receiving a First Potions Kit from his godfather as well as several books and clothes from Minerva and a large tome about magical animals from Remus Lupin. When he was finished unwrapping and had thanked everyone profusely, Minerva pulled a very excited Pangur into the fireplace, and the whole group took the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron, from where they walked into Diagon Alley. Pangur enjoyed himself greatly, even if he was slightly disappointed when they did not visit the Magical Menagerie.

"Pangur, you'll see many magical animals in Kentucky," Minerva said firmly. "If we went to the shop, you'd probably want to have an owl or any other animal, but I wouldn't be able to buy one now, because the journey to the USA would be too hard for a small animal. Apart from that, we don't have much time." Instead, she led him to an optician to buy new glasses for him, since Poppy had alerted her to the fact that his glasses didn't correct his eyesight at all.

In the evening, Pangur was very happy when he scrambled into bed, yawning from the exhaustion of playing in the playground the whole afternoon. "Thank you, Granny," he said, already getting used to calling his guardian by a different name. "This was the best birthday I ever had."

"You're welcome, Pangur," Minerva said softly, fondly ruffling his hair. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself."

Before the boy could even respond, he drifted off to sleep, a small smile playing on his lips.

'猫のパジャマ

During the two weeks until the end of July, many owls brought letters from excited pupils as well as hundreds of questions from concerned parents, which the teachers took turns to answer. On the thirty-first of July, Minerva announced proudly that the new school had fifty students only from Britain as well as ninety-eight students from America, where her sister had sent out the same invitations with the help of the American Ministry of Magic.

"Now Medusa seems to have done a great job preparing the Manor," Minerva said when they were gathered in the dining room for dinner. "Nevertheless, I believe that we should head to Kentucky tonight. I have charmed the fireplace so that only the six of us will be able to use it. Unfortunately, it's not possible to establish a direct Floo connection to a place abroad. Therefore, we'll have to go through the International Floo port at Heathrow airport."

After dinner, Pangur observed how the adults one after another stepped into the fireplace. Minerva and he were the last, and he felt relieved when Minerva gathered him into her arms and held him close, before throwing in the Floo powder, just as she had done on his birthday. They arrived in a huge hall, and Minerva told him that it was the Heathrow Floo port. Pangur let his eyes wander around in amazement. There were several dozen fireplaces with the destinations written on the mantelpieces, and he excitedly allowed Minerva to lead him by the hand to the area with the destination 'American continent.'

However, when his godfather made everyone drink a potion, which was absolutely disgusting, he slowly became concerned about what to expect, especially when by the time they stepped into the fireplace all together, Poppy instructed everyone to sit down on the floor and Snape pulled him onto his lap, instructing him to sit quietly in his arms.

tbc...

Thank you very much for your kind comments!