The Founding of Happiness
by Healer Teddylonglong
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!
Godiva pulled Harry over to the table, where the teachers and his friends were already waiting for them, motioning him to take the seat next to Minerva, before she sat down at his other side.
As soon as Madam Pomfrey had taken the last empty seat, Minerva rose, gently tapping her spoon against her glass.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm glad that all of you could accept my invitation to come to Hogwarts in the middle of the summer holidays. This party is only partly what you think it is. As you all know, today is Harry's sixteenth birthday. However, there is something else, which makes this party even more special than it was to be."
Seeing that everyone with the exception of Poppy, Godiva and Severus had curiously trained their eyes on her, she continued, smiling, "This summer, Harry took his Potions Mastery exam, which he passed with the highest possible grade that can be received for the exam." With that, she handed a totally perplex Harry an official looking certificate that Harry recognized immediately as one that was awarded during his parents' time period.
"But... why?" he stammered, incredulously.
Minerva threw him a comforting smile and explained, "Madam Pomfrey told me when she handed me the document, Harry fell ill with the dragon pertussis during his exams, and during the last few weeks he was so sick that he even forgot to enquire about the test results. Well, Harry, I'm glad that gives me the chance to be the first to congratulate you. Well done, my boy."
With that the whole Great Hall erupted in applause, while Harry threw menacing glares at Poppy and Godiva.
"Was that what you were going to speak with me about?" he whispered to Minerva, suddenly remembering why he had returned for his birthday.
"No Harry," Minerva laughed. "You know the Weasley twins quite well, don't you?"
"Yes, oh right, do you know if they managed to open the joke shop they wanted?" Harry asked, suddenly getting excited as he noticed the twins' absence.
"Yes, they managed to open a shop in Diagon Alley, and apparently you're their largest investor," Minerva smirked, causing Harry to throw her a horrified glance.
"I'm not. I don't have anything to do with it. I merely gave them some start up money so they'd able to open the shop in the first place, but no one was supposed to know about it," Harry whispered in an upset tone.
"Well, you can speak with them tonight. They promised to come to Hogwarts to arrange for a special fireworks display this evening to go along with your birthday celebration." Minerva sighed, apparently remembering why she had brought up the twins in the first place.
"Well, their father, Arthur Weasley, is the new Minister of Magic. He is also a good friend of Professor Dumbledore, who can't be here today because he has urgent work to do at the Ministry, and I know him and his wife very well too. Anyway, I hope you won't be angry at me, but I took the liberty of showing Mr. Weasley the certificates for your OWLs and NEWTs, which you took in the past, and he issued a confirmation that fully accepts your NEWTs in this time. This means that you don't have to take the NEWTs again in this time."
'I don't have to take my NEWTs? So that means I've already finished my schooling here at Hogwarts? But what am I going to do now that I have finished?' Harry's thoughts were going haywire, and he looked at the Deputy Headmistress in utmost confusion.
"You may of course take the NEWTs again, if you insist on doing so; however, I'd like to suggest something else," Minerva continued, smiling at his puzzled expression. "Together with Professor Dumbledore and Mr. Weasley I arranged for a new subject to be a facultative class for students in third year and up, the subject of 'Ancient Magic.' So far, we haven't yet openly announced this new subject, because we had to know if you were willing to accept becoming the Ancient Magic professor first, since no one except for you is qualified to teach the subject. That's why I needed you to come back by today so that I could offer you the position."
Harry remained pensive for a few minutes, only vaguely registering that the group around him sang the birthday song for him, and that Godiva distributed his birthday cake on his behalf. 'She wants me to change to the teachers' side immediately, but will I be able to teach? The seventh-years are older than I. And what would I teach the students? We do not have just one subject in the past, even though we have just as many classes, some of the classes that we had are not offered anymore. On the other hand, if I accept, then I can remain at Hogwarts forever, and Godiva can stay with me as Poppy's assistant, provided she's willing to move to the future.'
Absentmindedly chasing a small piece of cake around his plate, he considered how to reply to Minerva. "I don't know if I'll be able to teach; on the other hand I'd love to," he finally said, causing the older woman to sigh in obvious relief.
"Harry, you will definitely be able to teach, and we're all here to help you. Of course we can't assist you content-wise, but we might be able to advise you or listen to you if you're uncertain. I know that it must be very difficult to set up a lesson plan, because you have to combine all the different subjects you learned in the past to just one subject, but we, especially Severus and I, will be here to help you."
Harry sighed, slightly relieved by the professor's kind words, although he still felt very uncertain about the matter. "This is so sudden," he whispered thoughtfully.
Minerva calmingly laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Harry. Perhaps I should have chosen a better time to ask you, but you don't have to give me your reply now. You may take as much time as you need to think about it."
"Thank you, Minerva. I'll think about it, although I'm quite sure I'll somehow work this out. Anyway, thank you very much for your kind offer; I really appreciate it," Harry replied, and a small smile played on his lips as he turned to Godiva. "What do you think about me doing this?" he queried in a small voice.
"I think it's a brilliant idea and a formidable offer, Harry. You should accept the position," his girlfriend replied enthusiastically.
Harry spent the whole day discussing the offer with his friends, who all tried to talk him into accepting. However, he still felt uncertain, and while he observed the beautiful fireworks the twins shot up over the lake that evening, he decided to flash home and discuss the matter with his parents.
"I'm going home for a short while, but I'll be back when you wake up in the morning," he told Godiva on the way back to his room, causing the girl to cast him a menacing glare.
"No, Harry, you won't go back right now. You already flashed Poppy and me here today, remember? You can go tomorrow morning and be back before anyone notices, but I want you to sleep for a few hours first."
"Well, you're probably right," Harry sighed in slight disappointment, feeling a little confused how Godiva could speak in that tone to him. 'Ah, all right, that's probably a healer thing. They all speak in such a determined voice, but I'm her boyfriend, not a patient,' he mused as he obediently went to bed, setting his alarm clock for five o'clock in the morning. 'Otherwise you wouldn't have listened, and she knows that,' a small voice in the back of his head spoke up, causing him to drift off to sleep with a small smile on his lips at the thought of his girlfriend.
ハリーと幸せの願い
He flashed to the evening of the same day he had left earlier and was lucky to find his parents sitting all together in Rowena's and Godric's quarters.
"Leofost!" Helga was the first to notice him. "Are you already back?"
Harry sighed. "Yes, I need to speak with you about something, with all of you in fact." He told them about Minerva's offer, causing the four Founders to remain thoughtful for a moment.
Salazar spoke up first. "Thunderbolt, if you're not sure if you'll be able to teach the students, you shouldn't accept the position. If you don't believe in yourself, your students, who might be up to two years older than you, definitely won't."
"That's what I feared, Dad," Harry mumbled in a small voice, causing Godric to angrily slap his fist onto the table.
"Such a bull... Leo, Salazar doesn't want you to give up; he wants you to be more self-confident. Who is the youngest Potions Master of all times? Who took his OWLs as an eleven-year old, hmm?"
Harry sighed as he gratefully took the small phial his mother handed him and downed the headache potion. "Dad Godric, that's not the point. The sixth-years are mostly my age, and the seventh-years are older than me. How do you expect them to respect me and do as I say?"
"There's no need to get upset, Leofost," Helga threw in gently. "They won't respect or disrespect you because of your age but because of your knowledge. You're their professor. You know the things, which they want to learn. I assume the subject will be facultative anyway, won't it?"
"I didn't ask Minerva, but I'd think so," Harry admitted.
"If they don't behave, you can always assign detention. I believe you shouldn't dwell on the fact that your students might be older or still know you as a student. You should use the time until the beginning of the school year to plan the contents of the course. If you have your lesson plan done, you'll feel much more confident, Lufu. I suggest you remain here for a week and let us help you put a lesson plan together. Back in the future, you should still discuss the plan with Minerva and Severus or the headmaster, since they know more about what is being taught in the future than we do," Rowena said firmly.
"We're very proud of you, Thunderbolt, and if anyone gives you a hard time in terms of 'no one can travel into the past,' then fetch me and I'll give them a hard time."
"Thank you, Dad Salazar," Harry chuckled, feeling much more reassured by his parents' kind words. 'They're right; I'll manage to teach. I just have to plan everything carefully. Dad Salazar is right though. I should take him and Mum Rowena into the future at some point, especially Mum Rowena so she can talk to Helena to solve their lingering problems. Maybe I can even take her to a different time for that purpose.'
"Leofost, I think it's time to go to bed," Helga said gently, causing Harry to jerk back to reality.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something. I'm not tired. It was five o'clock in the morning when I came here. I'll go to my room and begin to make some notes for my lesson plans, which we can use as base for our discussion tomorrow."
Harry spent the night setting up a detailed plan. 'I'll suggest three hours of class from the third year onwards,' he mused. 'We'll have one hour of Transfiguration and one hour of Charms and Spells class. In the third period, I can teach the younger kids horseback riding and the older students from sixth year onwards sword fighting.'
"What about Healing and Potions?" Helga queried when Harry presented the plan to his parents in the morning.
"Hmmm," Harry replied pensively. "I'm not sure how much it would help the students to know Ancient Healing if they aren't even able to magically take another person's temperature. They don't learn modern Healing at all, so I think it wouldn't make much sense to teach them Ancient Healing. Concerning Potions, I'll have to speak with Severus, but if he is up for it maybe I could offer a class on Ancient Potions for his NEWT class."
"Well, you could write a book about Ancient Potions containing potions recipes that were lost over the years," Salazar suggested. "Feel free to edit any of my books, translate them into modern English and publish them under your name."
Harry vehemently shook his head. "I might actually translate your recipes in order to help people like Severus and I were able to cure the werewolves, but I will not publish them under my name but under yours, maybe with a subtitle stating, 'Edited or translation by Harry Potter', that's all."
"Now, Lufu, that sounds all very good," Rowena threw in, "and as much as I'd love to keep you here for another week, I suggest you return to the future and begin to teach as soon as possible. You'll feel better once you get started. I can't wait for you to come back and tell us every detail."
"You're right, Mum," Harry sighed. "I'll take a short nap, and then I'll be on my way. Unfortunately, I'll have to flash back to the day after my birthday, because I left Godiva in the future."
"Is that a problem, Lufu?" Rowena laughed. "Speak with her, but I don't think she will object to you flashing yourself or even both of you a few weeks into the future."
"Oh well, I think I'm just too tired to think at the moment. Good night, and I'll see you at Christmas if not even earlier."
Each of his parents and younger siblings pulled him into bear hugs, before Harry was finally allowed to retreat to his room, from where he flashed back into the future.
ハリーと幸せの願い
Over the next few days in the future, Harry discussed his lesson plans with Godiva, Minerva, Severus, Poppy and the headmaster. The teachers were able to give him a few ideas, which Harry happily incorporated into his lesson plans, and Dumbledore agreed to all of his suggestions concerning the number of classes and the subject content for the respective years.
"How much time did you spend in the past since your birthday when Minerva informed you about the new course and job offer?" Severus drawled, raising an eyebrow at his now younger colleague.
"Um... I spent one evening and a night. Oh well, I stayed up the whole night because it was morning here," Harry admitted, causing the older teachers to sigh in exasperation.
"And you were worried about not being able to put a lesson plan together until the beginning of the school year?" Severus queried, rolling his eyes in annoyance.
"No, I was concerned because at least the seventh-years will be older than me," Harry replied in a slightly upset voice. "By the way, I'd like to flash myself, or Godiva and me if she wants, three weeks into the future so I will not have to wait too long before I have to start teaching. Would that be all right for you?" he then asked, hesitantly glancing around.
"You're very welcome to do as you see fit, Harry. I suggest you return a week before the beginning of the new school year in order to prepare for your first classes and also to set up your classroom though," Minerva replied gently.
"I'd like to remain here, because I promised to help Poppy with the preparations for the school year," Godiva said, "but I don't mind you flashing. I understand only too well why you want to flash into the future."
Harry pulled his girlfriend into a bear hug, and only when she once more reassured him that he should flash, he transformed into his phoenix form and flashed three weeks into the future.
When Harry arrived in his room on the twenty-third of August, Löwi was waiting for him.
'Harry, get onto my back; I have to take you to see Minerva right away,' his familiar told him in an urgent voice.
Harry obeyed in surprise, before he thought back, 'Why? What's wrong? Shall I just flash to see Minerva?'
'Oh yes, that's even better. Go on.'
Harry sighed. He had only flashed himself three weeks into the future, but he felt a bit tired and slightly annoyed at the thought to be urgently needed. He quickly transformed back and flashed himself to Minerva's office, where the Deputy Headmistress was preparing timetables.
"Oh Harry, thank Merlin you're here," the old professor greeted him in obvious relief. "You have to flash back two weeks. Something horrible happened, and we need your help."