The Founding of Happiness
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.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC! Time travel!
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse. Thank you very much for the kind reviews for the previous chapter!
Helga, Godric, and Salazar darted for the spot in front of the window that Rowena had just vacated and looked at the view of the Quidditch pitch, frantically searching for Harry. Suddenly, Helga's face turned completely white, and she pointed to a spot outside and whispered, "Look! There! You have to stop him!"
Godric and Salazar followed her arm and saw Harry performing a handstand on the griffin's back, twenty meters above the ground. Salazar put his arm around his wife's shoulder and despite knowing better said calmingly, "It's all right, Harry knows what he's doing, and Löwi wouldn't let him get hurt. In the worst case scenario if he fell off, Löwi would be able to catch him before he hit the ground. So don't worry, everything is all right."
Harry was enjoying himself immensely. In order to catch the Snitch, he had stood up on his griffin's back without even thinking about it. Only when Hildred pointed out to him that it was dangerous to stand on the griffin's back, Harry had begun to think she was right, and Löwi had assured him that it actually wasn't dangerous since he was able to look after his Cub and wouldn't let him get hurt. So Harry started to try standing on his hands, enjoying how a soft breeze caressed his body while Löwi flew around the Quidditch pitch with him. 'Oh, this is even better than riding a broom, it feels absolutely wonderful,' he thought excitedly, ignoring the watching students' gasps and laughter completely.
In the meantime, Rowena had reached the Quidditch pitch and called Harry to come down, and Helga slowly relaxed when she saw Löwi land on the ground. Godric turned to Hildred, who had alerted them of the fact that Harry was doing something dangerous outside, and thanked her profoundly.
At the same time, Harry stood in front of his Mummy Rowena, who was obviously extremely upset. He hesitantly looked up into her green eyes that had taken on a darker shade due to her anger.
"Did you even think about what could have happened if you had fallen?" she asked sternly.
"I was fine. I was only playing on Löwi," Harry mumbled in a small and hardly understandable voice. "He told me it would be all right."
'It's no problem, Cub, even if you fell, I'd be able to catch you since I'm very fast,' the griffin told him calmingly.
" . . .such. . . Do you understand me?" Rowena asked angrily, and Harry gave her a small nod, careful not to promise anything. 'I have to be careful that nobody's watching when I try to do more tricks,' he tried to remember.
"Please go to your room and go to bed. I will ask a house elf to bring dinner to you later. You will not leave your room until tomorrow morning. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Mummy Rowena," Harry replied quietly and hurried back into the castle, while Rowena turned to the students.
'It's all right, Cub, you can climb onto my back again,' Löwi told the child, and Harry quickly mounted the griffin that flew up the huge staircase to Harry's room.
Harry spent the rest of the day sitting on his bed reading books and talking to Löwi. Although he enjoyed himself a great deal while performing tricks with Löwi, he couldn't help feeling he was being punished by Mummy Rowena. Whenever he thought of his Mummy, he was on the verge of breaking in to tears. 'I really didn't want Mummy Rowena to become so angry at me,' Harry thought sadly. 'And she must be really angry since she didn't show up even once to visit me,' he realized. 'Normally, when I'm in my room because I'm sick or something, they hardly leave me alone at all, but today, nobody has come to keep me company. Probably, Mummy Rowena even told the others to leave me alone today. What if…' He suddenly let out a huge gasp.
'What if they don't want me anymore because of what I did? And because they were so angry? What if they send me away?' he thought and started to panic.
Löwi tried to calm him down, 'It's all right, Cub, calm down. Don't get so upset,' unfortunately without even the slightest success.
Harry cried so much that suddenly his sobs turned into coughs, and Harry felt it difficult to breathe. He was so engrossed in his grief that he didn't even notice when Löwi left his side, only to return a few minutes later dragging Salazar by the sleeve with him. Suddenly, his Daddy Salazar's calm voice penetrated his mind. "Harry, calm down, it's all right. Here, drink this, Thunderbolt."
He felt something cool pressed against his lips, and he thankfully gulped down the cool liquid, immediately feeling it easier to breathe. Harry slowly opened his eyes, seeing his Daddy sitting next to him on the edge of his bed. "'m sorry," Harry mumbled in a small, hoarse voice.
"It's all right, Thunderbolt," Daddy Salazar reassured him. "Can you please tell me what caused you to become so upset?"
Harry let out a small cough before he began to explain, "I thought you had abandoned me and were going to send me away because you were so angry at me for playing on Löwi's back while he was flying."
Salazar couldn't believe his ears. "We WHAT?" he blurted out. "Harry, you're our son now. Why would we send you away? We love you, and you will always be our son, as long as you want and need us," he replied, astonished by Harry's worry. "Moreover, we're not angry at you. Well, you gave your mummies a big fright, that's true, but Mummy Rowena has punished you by sending you to your room, and even now she isn't angry anymore. Apart from that, Daddy Godric and I think that what you did was actually quite funny, and we believe that Löwi would be able to help you if something happened." He leaned over to place a kiss on the child's forehead and stood up in determination. "I will ask Mummy Helga to come and kiss you good night, and then you try to go to sleep, and when you wake up in the morning, everything will be forgotten, all right?"
"Yes Daddy Salazar, thank you," Harry mumbled tiredly, already closing his eyes. He didn't even notice Helga and Rowena entering his room together, nor did he feel Helga check on him and kiss him before she carefully tucked him in.
ハリーと幸せの願い
During the next several months, Harry practised a lot of his tricks, doing handstands, back flips and other tricks while on Löwi's back or even on horseback during his horseback riding lessons with Godric. He was very careful though to only let Helga and Rowena see his tricks on Löwi when the griffin remained on the ground.
Rowena tried to keep the child busy, giving him Animagus lessons whenever her schedule allowed it. So far, Harry had already managed to transform his entire body – except for his head. He tried again and again but just wasn't able to transform his head. Seeing how frustrated the child was Rowena made him sit down after just two tries one day.
"Lufu, please listen to me for a moment. The Animagus transformation is one of the most difficult things to learn in the area of Transfiguration. It is so difficult that less than one percent of our sixth and seventh year students are able to manage it. You're only five years old, Lufu."
"Nearly six," Harry interrupted his mother quickly.
"Yes, all right, you're nearly six and already a big boy, that's true." Rowena sighed, giving her son a fond smile at the same time. "Nevertheless, try to think about it. The task is very difficult if not impossible for the students, who are much older than you. So, don't you think the fact that you're already able to transform your whole body except for your head is absolutely brilliant?"
"Hmm, yes, but…" He slowly trailed off.
"No, Lufu, no but," Rowena replied sternly. "Because it is so difficult, you have to be really patient and try again and again. However, you've already come so far that I'm sure you'll be able to transform by the time you turn six."
"Really?" Harry asked in a small voice but couldn't help his eyes starting to twinkle hopefully. 'Oh, I hope so much that Mummy Rowena is right. I'd love to fly in my phoenix form. It must be absolutely terrific.'
At the beginning of the summer holidays, Rowena's prediction came true, and Harry finally managed the Animagus transformation. Rowena, who had already seen older Harry's phoenix form once before, nodded contentedly at the sight of the beautiful sand phoenix that had light brown feathers with rainbow coloured back wings and of course Harry's brilliant green eyes.
"Harry, did older Harry tell you about your Animagus form?" Rowena enquired quietly, giving the child a searching look.
Harry remained pensive for a moment before he shook his head. "I'm not sure. He said something that he can time travel or something." He looked at his mother questioningly.
"Yes, Harry, a sand phoenix is an extremely rare animal. Anyway, a sand phoenix is not only able to flash to other places as all phoenixes do, but also to move through the sands of time. That is how your older self came here to see Mummy Helga the year before last." Rowena smiled at the child, who listened intensely. "So far, wizarding history has only heard of one other sand phoenix Animagus, which was Marlin, grand Merlin's grandfather. He is said to have travelled into Merlin's time and back twice to advise his grandson about something."
"Yes, and he told me that he flashed back home for the Christmas Holidays," Harry threw in excitedly. "So, when I turn eleven, I'll just flash into the future to attend Hogwarts then; and during the holidays I can come back home, right?"
"Yes, Lufu," Rowena replied, smiling at her son's excitement. "Now, Lufu, I want you to transform again and try to walk on your bird's feet before you can attempt to fly or flash."
Harry gave his mother a short nod and transformed into his phoenix form, very glad that it worked immediately. He carefully took a few unsteady steps, groaning, when he fell onto the floor after every other step. After twenty minutes of practice, he finally managed to walk on his little birdie feet and carefully flapped his wings.
"No, Lufu, I think that's enough for today," Rowena ended the lesson, assuming that the child must be exhausted. "You can try to fly tomorrow."
#No, I'm fine# Harry contradicted. #Can I just…#
"No!" Rowena interrupted him sternly, able to understand the phoenix' trilling because she was a magical raven Animagus and as such could understand Harry's phoenix song. "Please transform back now, Lufu, and we'll try again tomorrow."
Harry grudgingly obeyed, glad that it was summer holidays, so that he could have his next lesson directly following breakfast the next day. After a bit of practise, he finally managed to fly, and Rowena transformed into her raven form and took Harry out onto the grounds to fly together, which the child enjoyed greatly.
もうすぐ六才
Soon, Harry's sixth birthday arrived. During the days before the big event, Harry was very excited and even made a calendar on a scrap piece of parchment, where he checked off each day how many more times he still had to sleep until it was his birthday. On the day before his birthday, he even went to bed straight after dinner, believing what Daddy Salazar had told him. "The earlier you go to sleep, the earlier it will be your birthday."
However, when Harry woke up for the first time and hurried through the open door into Mummy Rowena's and Daddy Godric's quarters, it was only shortly after midnight, and the four teachers were still drinking their nightly tea together.
"Oh, Leofost, it's much too early to get up. Let me take you back to bed," Helga told him softly, trying not to let the child see her amusement, when she tucked him in and kissed him good night for the second time that night.
When Harry got up once again, only Salazar was still up. "Daddy, I'm too excited to sleep," Harry told him, yawning.
"All right, Thunderbolt. Do you want to sleep in Mummy Helga's and my bed?" Salazar suggested, giving the child a piercing look.
Harry gave him a tired nod and crawled into his parents' bed to lie down next to Mummy Helga, who unconsciously pulled the child close. In his mother's arms, it was so warm and comfortable that Harry managed to sleep until his parents got up in the morning. Like the years before, the four teachers had transformed the Great Hall into a huge playground for Harry, and while they waited at the breakfast table for the birthday boy to sit down, Harry excitedly ran through the Hall, climbing a tree here and sliding down a slide there, ignoring his stomach's rumbling complaints.
After an hour of waiting, Godric called Fawkes and instructed him to fly up to where Harry was busying himself in a huge tree and tell him that he wouldn't get any presents if he didn't immediately show up for breakfast.
#Hey nestling# Fawkes called out to Harry. #The grumpy one told me to let you know that you won't get any toys if you don't come to eat your grains in a flash.#
"Ah all right," Harry replied and lay down on Löwi's back, playfully slinging his arms around the griffin's head, so that his familiar that had been playing with him on the tree could take him down to the ground where everyone couldn't help laughing at the sight.
Harry received lots of presents for his birthday. From Salazar he received a new Potions kit with new ingredients that were not only intended for the brewing of fruit drops and such, but also for healing potions, which the teacher intended to teach Harry during the coming months. Salazar also gave Harry a book that was written in Parseltongue and contained a lot of confidential information about Hogwarts. From Godric, Harry received a child's practice sword, as the headmaster had made plans to start teaching the child sword fighting in the near future as far as it was possible with a child's practice sword at first. The man also gave Harry a larger broom that Harry eyed eagerly, pictures of himself doing tricks on the broom coming to life in his mind.
From Helga Harry received several children's books and toys as well as a few handmade T-shirts and trousers, which she had made after the samples that older Harry had been wearing on the day he came to visit them at Christmas. Rowena gave Harry a perch for his room, where he could sit when he was in his phoenix form as well as several phoenix treats, like those that Godric always provided for Fawkes.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good on that day, so Harry wasn't able to try out his new broom. However, the playground in the Great Hall was a huge success, and Harry occupied himself for the rest of the day. Late in the afternoon, Harry was just tiredly sitting next to Löwi on a large branch at the top of a tree, when suddenly a raven landed next to him.
"Hi Mummy Rowena," Harry said happily, only to add softly, "May I stroke your head feathers?" knowing that he absolutely loved getting his head feathers stroked when he was in his phoenix form. His mother agreed, and Harry occupied himself stroking the raven's head for a few minutes until the raven moved her head aside and shook her feathers in order to get to the reason she had sought him out to begin with.
#Harry, we want to take you to Diagon Alley today,# Rowena started to explain but was interrupted soon.
"Diagonally? What does that mean?" Harry asked confused.
The raven chuckled and explained, #Diagon Alley is a magical shopping area, the biggest one in Britain. Now, we would like to take you there for your birthday dinner. What do you think?#
Harry gave her an excited glance before he replied, "Oh yes, I'd like that very much. Can we go immediately?"
#Yes, let's get down from this tree and we shall leave# raven Rowena replied and flew down from the huge tree, closely followed by Harry on Löwi's back.
A few minutes later, after everyone was ready to leave, Rowena, Helga, and Salazar apparated with Harry to Diagon Alley for dinner, while Godric chose to remain behind at the castle, since he didn't dare leave the castle empty and unguarded, even though it was still the summer holidays. While Salazar pulled Harry close to apparate together with the child, he told him, "As the students may have told you, normally, people cannot apparate within Hogwarts. However, we as the founders can apparate everywhere, even within the castle, but we do not wish others to know this in order to be able to use it as an emergency method. Do you understand me, Thunderbolt?"
"Yes," Harry whispered back. "So, what do I have to do when I want to apparate?" he then asked shyly.
"You as the heir of all of us will be able to apparate as well," Salazar promised the child. "However, apparition is very tiring, so you'll have to wait a few years before we'll teach you. All right, Thunderbolt?"
Harry gave his father a contented nod and whispered, "Thank you, Daddy."
Harry was very excited, as he had never been to Diagon Alley before. There were lots of different magical shops on both sides of the street, selling anything and everything one could imagine. Helga had put a Charm on all of them, so that they wouldn't get wet in the heavy rain that worsened as the day progressed. Harry enjoyed their excursion very much, but when they returned to Hogwarts later in the evening, he was so exhausted that he crawled into his bed and fell asleep instantly.
飛ぶのが楽しい
In the morning, the weather had cleared up and Salazar took Harry out onto the grounds directly following breakfast, so that Harry could test his new broom. He soon noticed that he could do a lot more with the larger broom than with his old, small broom that had several safety Charms on it, which prevented it from doing quick dives and other interesting things. Harry spent several hours trying out what he could do with his new broom and felt like he was in seventh heaven. That feeling was only disturbed when Salazar suddenly caught up with him, telling him, "It's time to come down, Thunderbolt. We have to appear in the Great Hall for lunch if we don't want to be grounded for the rest of the day by Mummy Helga."
Harry grudgingly flew down to the ground and got off his broom, and began shouting, and jumping up and down the ground with both feet, "I don't want to eat lunch, I'm not hungry. I want to continue flying!"
Salazar gave the child a menacing look. "Stop that immediately, otherwise I won't take you flying for a whole week," he threatened, forcing Harry to stop a temper tantrum before he could continue to rant his displeasure.
During the remaining weeks of the holidays, Salazar took Harry flying every day, except for a few days when it just rained too much, and Harry soon became proficient with his new broom. Harry knew that he was able to fly much faster now with his new broom than on his old broom, and he could barely wait for the students to return, so he could play Quidditch with them, knowing that the student Seekers would hardly have a chance against him on his new, and faster broom.
ほうきでの曲芸
Finally, the students returned, and Harry was allowed to participate in their Quidditch practices. On the day of the first practice, Harry was so excited that he woke up very early in the morning. He quickly scrambled out of bed, got himself dressed, and silently left his room, with his broom in hand. He headed out for the Quidditch pitch and mounted his broom. He quickly flew a few laps, making deep dives where he would nearly touch the ground before he pulled up again in order to catch his toy Snitch, noticing that the morning air was very cold. 'Oh, it's really getting cold. I have to ask Mummy Rowena if that is already autumn; I thought it was still summer,' he mused while he went into his next dive, not noticing the many eyes that were watching him from the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor common rooms.
'Maybe I have to move a bit on my broom to get warmer,' he thought and proceeded to do some of the tricks he had practised on Löwi during the last few weeks. 'It's not a big difference if I do them on Löwi or on my new broom,' he thought, while he had one hand and one foot on his broom, trying to fly into the direction of his Snitch. However, when he accidentally pulled his right hand off the broom in order to catch the Snitch, he lost the grip on his broom, and the students, who had been watching him from the windows of their common rooms, watched in horror as the child fell to the ground, where he showed no signs of moving.