The Wraith of Hogwarts
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.

Three pairs of eyes glared at Dumbledore. "Headmaster, you must not disturb let alone upset my patients in such a way," Pomfrey was the first to scold the old wizard.

"Albus," Snape threw in, "you cannot send an abused child back to his family. I know that you did the same with myself, but at this time, Minerva, Poppy and I won't tolerate it."

"Exactly," the Scottish Lioness agreed immediately. "Harry has always been like a grandchild to me, and I'd love to take him in and raise him at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore shook his head, turning to the Potions Master. "I'm sorry my boy that I failed you so. Had I known how your father treated you..."

"Albus, you knew," Pomfrey contradicted in an upset voice. "I informed you about the matter."

The Headmaster sighed in defeat, knowing that if his three best friends were sworn together against himself, there was nothing that he could do about it. "Very well then, you may keep Harry here; however, I insist that Severus must become his guardian."

"No way," the Slytherin replied, scowling at the Headmaster. "Even if invisible, he's still a Potter."

McGonagall let out a long sigh. "You're both behaving like toddlers," she scolded her male colleagues. "Albus, may Severus and I both become his guardians? Please?"

"That's a wonderful idea," Pomfrey immediately concurred with her best friend. "Albus, I suggest that you instruct the house-elves to make a room for him and let them connect it with both Minerva's and Severus' quarters. If possible not far from here, so that I can easily look after him if necessary." Seeing that the Headmaster gave her a questioning look, she added, "As I said earlier, I can't assess the possible harm that might have been done to his lungs. I expect that he might be going to have problems."

Dumbledore merely nodded and called his house-elf. "Twinkle."

The elf popped up within instants, bowed and asked, "What can Twinkle to for Master Albus?"

"Twinkle, will the elves be able to find an invisible child within Hogwarts?" the Headmaster queried.

Twinkle bowed again, before he answered, "If the child wishes to remain invisible to the elves, we won't be able to see the child."

"Thank you Twinkle," Dumbledore replied and instructed the elf to make the room for Harry opposite of the hospital wing.

The Healer and the three professors decided to lock the entrance doors for the time being, so that Harry at least would be unable to leave Hogwarts. Other than that, the Headmaster would ask Fawkes if he could find Harry, while McGonagall was going to ask the paintings to report to her if they noticed anything out of the usual order, and Severus decided to try contacting the child through telepathy. With that they all left to their specific directions.

HP

'Much ado about nothing,' Severus thought when he left the hospital wing and checked the new room, which the house-elves had already made for Harry. He deemed the room adequate and used the connecting door into his own quarters, smirking at the agreeable shortcut.

'Harry, child, where are you?' he addressed the boy in a soft voice. 'You don't have to worry, the Headmaster agreed that you may stay here at Hogwarts,' he added. However, the boy did not reply.

Severus sighed, as he lowered himself into his favourite armchair next to the fireplace. 'Maybe Cicero is able to help even if the Headmaster's elf isn't,' he thought and called his personal house-elf.

An instant later, Cicero popped up in front of him, giving him an expectant look. Severus swiftly told the elf everything that he knew about his new ward, before he asked, "Cicero, do you think you'd be able to find the child even if he's invisible?"

The relatively tall elf remained quiet for a moment, before he replied, pensively, "I'm not sure, Master Severus. Probably not. However, I'll get together with Misty and Malcolm and we'll see if there's anything that we can do."

'Of course... Misty and Malcolm are the only other elves who are not bond to the Headmaster,' Severus mused. Since Misty was Poppy's personal elf, he knew her quite well, and Malcolm, Minerva's elf, he had seen a few times but had never spoken to him so far.

HP

Harry hurried away from the hospital wing, not knowing where exactly he was heading. 'I will not return to the Dursleys',' he thought in determination. 'Rather than that I'm going to hide here until I'll be old enough to attend this school. Hiding in a school can't be worse than living in my cupboard with Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon and Dudley nearby.'

Suddenly, he became aware of the fact that the people in the paintings along the wall were moving and talking to each other. 'Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon were wrong,' he thought, stopping dead in his tracks to stare at the paintings in amazement. 'There IS magic, and I love it. No one called me a freak so far, and everyone was very friendly - except for the Headmaster.'

Suddenly, the black man's voice penetrated his mind. 'Harry, child, where are you? You don't have to worry, the Headmaster agreed that you may stay here at Hogwarts,' the man informed him.

However, somehow Harry felt too scared to reply. 'What if it's a trap, and they still send me back there?' he worried, as he quietly continued his stroll through the Hogwarts corridors, which were void of any students due to the fact that it was far beyond curfew.

All of a sudden, he heard a loud, cackling voice. "Ahh if that's not an icky little baby."

He hurriedly glanced around, horrified, only to see some kind of ghost hovering in the corridor in front of him. 'I didn't know that ghosts really exist. I also want to be invisible to ghosts,' he thought, trying in panic to focus on his magic. Uncertain if it worked or the ghost was still able to see him, he quietly strode back in the direction, from which he had come. However, apparently, the ghost still knew about his whereabouts, because he suddenly emptied a bucket of a smelly green liquid over the child.

'Oh no, what was that?' Harry wondered, noticing in horror that his body again began to feel achy. He walked back until he reached a small alcove, where he decided to lie on the floor and rest for a while, suddenly feeling tired and unwell.

He lazily stretched out on the floor, drifting off to sleep in a blink.

By the time he woke up, his surroundings were not as quiet as they had been, when he first came to the little alcove. Many feet could be heard walking through the hall. Harry instinctively cuddled against the wall that felt cool and soothing against his yet again burning skin.

HP

Harry was just about to drift off to sleep again, when a gentle woman's voice penetrated his mind. 'Hello little one,' it said, 'I'm Hogwarts. Did you wish to speak with me, or did you only just accidentally touch my wall?'

'Hogwarts?' Harry wondered in disbelief. 'The school can talk to me?' 'I am so sorry that I disturbed you. I didn't know that I could speak with you by touching your wall,' he apologized, telepathically.

'Ah my sweet boy, you're not disturbing me. What would an old lady like myself do if not watch what's going on within my walls and occasionally speak with the heirs of one of my Founders? Maybe you're not aware of it, but you're the first heir of all four of my Founders. Therefore, I'm very happy to meet you.'

'I'm sorry Hogwarts,' Harry thought back, 'but I only learned about Hogwarts and that I'm a wizard last night, so I don't know anything about you.'

The castle chuckled. 'That's fine my boy,' she replied in a gentle voice. 'I've been built one thousand years ago by four powerful wizards and witches, who were your many times great grandparents.'

'Excuse me, Madame,' Harry asked with interest, 'how come that you're able to communicate with me?'

The old lady's voice sounded like a chuckle, again, before she replied, 'Because I'm full of old magic. And you're able to speak with me because of being the heir of my Founders.'

Harry remained quiet for an instant, pondering what the castle had told him. He did not understand what an heir was, but he knew better than to ask questions. His relatives had thoroughly taught him so.

'Little one,' Hogwarts finally broke the silence, 'I will tell you about myself and your ancestors at another time. I can sense that you're in dire need of help. You needn't worry, because the thickhead of a Headmaster finally agreed that you may stay here, plus as the heir of my Founders you're my rightful owner and I'm going to protect you from anyone including the Headmaster. I suggest that you make yourself visible to the house-elves. They'll be able to see to all your needs. If you're still scared, just make yourself visible to the three house-elves who are not bond to the Headmaster - Misty, Cicero and Malcolm. Misty is the Healer among the elves, she'll be able to help you in the first place. And Cicero and Malcolm are the elves of the guardians the Headmaster assigned you.'

'What?' Harry thought wearily. He felt too confused and miserable to be able to understand everything of the old lady's rambling.

'Harry, please make yourself visible to Misty,' Hogwarts insisted. 'She'll be able to sense that you need her and will be able to find you. She won't give you away to the Headmaster.'

'Kay,' Harry replied, lazily, thinking, 'I want to be visible to Misty.'

HP

Misty was not only Madam Pomfrey's personal house-elf, but she also had the function of the elves' Healer and as such was entitled to having her own office next to the hospital room, where she treated the sick elves. Currently, Cicero and Malcolm were visiting her in her office, discussing the matter of one small boy.

"Master Severus asked me last night to keep an eye on little Master Harry," Cicero informed his best friends, "because he's invisible, and he hopes that we'd be able to sense him, even if the elves who are bond to the Headmaster can't. I don't have a clue where he might be though, and I spent a large part of the night searching for him in vain."

"He must be invisible to us too," Malcolm said, thoughtfully. "Mistress Minerva called me last night and told me that she and Master Severus' have been made his guardian."

"Yes, that's correct," Cicero concurred.

The three elves remained quiet for a few minutes, deep in thoughts.

"I can sense him," Misty suddenly spoke up. "He needs my attention as a Healer. I'll go and fetch him." With that she popped away.

HP

Misty could sense the child in a small alcove and popped straight to the boy, who had drifted back to sleep in the meantime.

"Master Harry," she said in a soft voice, gently shaking the five-year-old's shoulder, only to stare at the boy in shock when he flinched back badly.

"I'm sorry sweetie," she cooed, "I didn't want to hurt you. I am Misty, the elves' Healer, and I came to make you better." She gave him a sharp look, before she informed him, "Someone hit you with an ugly potion, and I'm sure that was Peeves, the poltergeist of Hogwarts. He often does this to our small elves, when they're still not able to be fully invisible." Seeing that the child was looking at her in awe, obviously listening, she told him, "Little Master Harry, I'm going to take you with me to the elves' quarters within Hogwarts, where I can give you a few potions and heal you. Is that all right with you?"

Harry gave the strange creature a shy nod. 'She seems very friendly and she said she wants to make me feel better. I think it was her who came to the cat lady's place yesterday,' he thought, feeling very cared for and happy for the first time that he could remember.

"Give me your hand," Misty instructed him, and Harry hesitantly put a small hand into the elf's that was not much larger than his own. "Now don't be afraid, little one, we're going to pop," Misty warned him, giving him a comforting smile.

HP

Before Harry had even comprehended the elf's words, he found himself in a room like the hospital wing. However, he realised that it was a different room, smaller than the hospital wing and equipped with smaller beds.

"You're in the hospital room in the elves' quarters," Misty informed him in a soft voice, before she proceeded to spell multiple potions into his stomach. Finally, she carefully laid her hand on his cheek and let a huge amount of her healing magic flow into his system.

Harry realised in surprise that he felt better than he could remember having felt ever before. 'Thank you so much for healing me,' he thought to the small elf, who looked at him with a combination of surprise and amazement.

"Little Master Harry is a very powerful wizard," she said, smiling. "If you feel well enough to get up, come with me to the elves' kitchen. I'll introduce you to my friends Cicero and Malcolm, and we're going to have breakfast together. All right, little one?"

'I'm going to get breakfast?' Harry wondered in surprise, absentmindedly nodding his head.

With a wave of her hand, Misty transfigured his much too large hand-me-downs from Dudley into dark blue trousers with a green jumper and dark blue robes, before she motioned him to come with her.

Harry curiously followed Misty through the elves' quarters. On the way, Misty introduced him to Cicero and Malcolm, and the three elves led Harry into the elves' kitchen, where two elves immediately came over to take their requests.

Harry noticed, terrified, that the elves cast them curious looks, when the three elves ordered breakfast for four, and when Misty asked in her soft, gentle voice, if he could perhaps consider making himself visible to all elves or at least to Cicero and Malcolm, he felt inclined to obey.

"Thank you Harry," Cicero and Malcolm spoke up, when Harry slowly drifted into view for the two elves.

'They're really nice,' he thought, as he enjoyed his first real breakfast apart from those on the rare occasions, when he had stayed at the cat lady's home overnight.

When they had finished eating, Misty looked from Harry to her friends. "Now Harry, what are we going to do with you?"

tbc...

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