Hiding at 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.

9 – Decisions

~ Helga's living room ~

When Pomfrey and Snape entered Helga's living room, Harry was thrashing around, mumbling incoherently. The Healer calmly laid a hand on his shoulder, causing the boy to flinch. "Mr. Potter, wake up. It's only a nightmare," Poppy said softly, not surprised by his reaction. "You're safe and sound at Hogwarts, and your uncle won't be able to come here."

Harry finally stirred and slowly opened his eyes, which were still glazed over. "Sorry," he mumbled sleepily.

"That's all right, Mr. Potter." The Healer quickly laid a cold hand on Harry's forehead, before she turned to the Potions Master. "He is still running a fever."

"Probably the after effect of the antidote," Snape replied thoughtfully. "Are you feeling nauseous, Mr. Potter?"

"A little," Harry admitted in a small voice and gratefully nodded when the teacher conjured a basket, placing it next to the bed.

Severus pulled a small phial out of his robe pocket. "For once I will give you a dreamless sleep potion. This should make you sleep until the after effects are completely gone. In the meantime, I will return to the Headmaster's office."

"Does he know?" Harry asked, looking at the professor.

"Yes, he knows, and he is also aware of the fact that he can't do anything about it, because Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey and the four Founders are all on our side. As the heir of the four Founders, you are the owner of Hogwarts, and he can't throw you out. Don't worry, Harry. Everything will be all right."

"Thank you, sir," Harry mumbled, before he succumbed to the potion and drifted off to sleep.

~ Headmaster's office ~

In the meantime, Professor McGonagall had called the two other Heads of House and explained the matter to them.

"I think it would be the correct reaction if Albus retired," Professor Sprout said firmly. "He was the one who sent the boy back to his abusive home, completely ignoring the protests of all of us. Each of us was willing to take the child in, but..."

"I'm sorry, Pomona, but I won't be able to fulfil the positions of a Headmistress and that of the Gryffindor Head at once," McGonagall interrupted her colleague, throwing a beseeching look at the Potions Master.

"Is there no one else, who could take over the Head of House position?" Severus asked monotonously.

"Remus Lupin," Dumbledore threw in tiredly. "Maybe the Head of House position could even help keeping him on the Defence Against the Dark Arts post for more than a year."

"A werewolf as Head of House?" Severus asked incredulously. "It's bad enough that you hired him at all, but as a Head of House he would endanger the students even more."

"Poppy, take me out of here," Salazar's voice could be heard, and several of the professors laughed, when Madam Pomfrey once more pulled the mini portrait out of her robe pocket. "Severus, do you remember that I promised you the recipe for the wolfscure potion under the condition that you behaved towards Harry?" he sneered. "Considering that you're willing to become the child's guardian, I'd say you fulfilled the condition. The recipe is written in Parselscript, but Harry has already translated more than one of my books, and he'll continue as soon as he feels better. If you ask him nicely to translate the wolfscure potion first, I'm sure he'll comply."

"The wolfscure potion?" Severus asked incredulously. "There is a potion for lycanthropy?"

"Yes my boy, and since it's my invention, I don't mind if you sell it as your own and earn a lot of money with it," Salazar growled, smirking.

"He might receive the Order of Merlin if he presents a cure for lycanthropy," Poppy threw in.

"Very well then. I'm going to leave," Dumbledore said, rising from his seat. "By the evening, I will have vacated my personal quarters. Good luck, Minerva." With that he stepped onto the moving staircase that led to his private rooms, only looking back once. "Fawkes?" he queried, holding out his arm.

#I'm going to remain at Hogwarts. Harry might need me,# Fawkes trilled, only to add, #Can you please translate for them?#

Dumbledore let out a long sigh. "Fawkes told me that he is going to become Harry's familiar from now on." With that he turned around and left.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Professor McGonagall sighed. "Severus, will you agree to become my Deputy Headmaster?"

The Potions Master bowed slightly. "If you deem me adequate for the position, I will," he replied firmly.

"Thank you, Severus. Please speak with Harry about the potions recipe and brew a dose for Remus. I will contact him and ask him to come to Hogwarts right away and not only in two weeks' time. Pomona, Filius, thank you so much for your support." She looked up to the wall behind the desk, where a portrait of Albus Dumbledore popped into existence next to the portraits of the former Headmasters.

"Severus, contact me if you need help with the guardianship matter. Will you ask the house-elves to make a room for Harry in your quarters?"

Severus thoughtfully pushed an errand strand of hair from his face. "I believe it would suffice to add a connecting door from my living room to that of Professor Hufflepuff and allow the boy to remain in the quarters he has chosen for himself. What do you think, Professor Slytherin?"

"Feel free to call me grandfather, my boy," Salazar replied, smirking. "I believe that would be in Harry's interests."

"If you would excuse me now," Severus said, turning back to McGonagall. "I need to pay the Dursleys a visit and make them sign over the guardianship."

~ Helga's living room ~

When Harry woke up, it was already dark. Only a few torches at one side of the room were lit. 'Oh thank God, I'm feeling so much better,' he realised as he slowly stretched his arms and legs and sat up.

#Hello nestling,# a trill suddenly penetrated his ears, causing Harry to look around in confusion.

'That sounds like Fawkes,' he thought, only now realising that the beautiful phoenix was sitting on a perch at the foot end of the bed turned sofa. "Hello Fawkes. What are you doing here?"

#I chose to become your familiar. The old grumpy one retired, and I figured that you might need my help more than him,# Fawkes trilled happily.

"You... my familiar?" Harry stammered in surprise, just when Professor Snape entered the room through a new door that had appeared just opposite of the door to Harry's bedroom. "Good evening, Professor Snape," he greeted the man.

"Considering that I'm not only your uncle but also your guardian, you may call me by my given name, even if only during the holidays," the professor replied, raising an eyebrow. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Harry replied gratefully. "Thank you so much for saving my life, sir."

"You're welcome, Harry. See to it that you don't need anyone to save your life in the future. Which means," he glared at the boy, "to follow the rules, come to me if you have problems and don't put yourself into danger anymore."

"I'll try," Harry replied sincerely, inwardly smiling broadly. 'It's great that finally everyone seems to have accepted that Hogwarts is my real home, and it's even better to have a guardian who is willing to help me and even save me if I need it,' he thought happily, glancing at Fawkes, who was trilling soft melodies.

tbc...

Thank you so much for your kind support! I appreciate it very much!

Originally, I planned to end this story at this point. However, I received so many threats and flames from my readers that I grudgingly decided to continue it ;-)