The Magical World Exposed
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.
Warnings: COMPLETELY AU! If you don't like this, just stop reading and write your own story more to your liking.
David turned around only to realise that they seemed to be completely alone.
"Harry, what's wrong?" he hissed, urgently. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," Harry mumbled and slowly walked on, still gripping his head.
To their relief, they finally heard voices and other students showed up from behind them, so that they could simply follow them to the Great Hall.
When they finally entered the Great Hall, realising that it was not far and on the same floor as their parents' quarters, Harry noticed in surprise that his headache vanished as sudden as it had begun. 'Strange,' he thought, as he lowered himself into the empty seat next to Hermione, while David chose the spot on Ginny's other side.
"I missed you," Hermione whispered, barely audibly. "I wonder if there's a way that we can communicate while you're at home and we in Ravenclaw."
"Yes, that's true," Harry agreed, however, admitted that he and David had retired to bed right away last night. "I didn't even notice that the others joined our parents after curfew," he added, pensively. "I was already fast asleep."
"Well, maybe we can search the library or ask Professor Flitwick or Mrs. Weasley for such a spell or charm," Hermione resolved, before she turned her attention to her breakfast.
Harry happily let his eyes wander around the Great Hall, smiling upon noticing that Sirius, Remus, Mrs. Weasley and Madam Pomfrey smiled at him from the high table. 'I'm really happy that they're all at Hogwarts, especially Annette, Sirius and Remus,' he thought. 'Maybe I should go and thank Professor McGonagall at the next opportunity.'
"Harry, eat your breakfast," Hermione suddenly interrupted his string of thoughts.
Harry cast her an irritated look but obediently buttered a piece of toast and absentmindedly began to eat. 'I wonder why my head hurt out in the halls earlier,' he thought. 'I feel absolutely fine.'
Finally, Professor Flitwick distributed the time tables. "We have Potions first," Hermione said, eagerly, just when Professor Snape strode by the Ravenclaw table.
"Mr. O'Brien, a word please," the professor spoke as he walked by, his robes billowing behind him, only to add, "Harry O'Brien."
'What does he want?' Harry thought, horrified, recalling that the deputy headmaster had cast him menacing looks throughout and even before the welcoming feast.
"Go," Hermione urged him, "or you'll be in trouble. He's the Potions professor anyway. He'll surely take you to the classroom afterwards."
Like in a daze, Harry rose from his chair and followed the professor into a small side chamber of the Great Hall. Closing the door behind himself, he gave the teacher an uncertain look.
"Yes sir?" he asked, tentatively.
HP
Severus inwardly sighed, while his mind went haywire, not only recalling the events of the previous evening but also those of his own fifth Hogwarts year.
Flashback: The previous evening
Severus strode into the hospital wing, wondering what Poppy might want on the first evening of the school year. 'Classes haven't even begun yet,' he thought, shaking his head in annoyance.
"Thank you for coming, Severus," Poppy spoke up, smiling at him. "I need to speak with you about one of the first years, Harry O'Brien," she added, causing Severus to groan.
"Potter," he spat, groaning. "Our new celebrity."
Ignoring his outburst, Poppy informed him about the boy's illness. "First of all, he might be late for your class, as he is not able to run or climb stairs in a fast speed."
"Poppy, the Potions classroom is in the dungeons," Severus couldn't help throwing in, causing Poppy, who had always been his best friend apart from Minerva, to glare at him.
"I'm fully aware of the fact," she replied, firmly, "and I know that it is more likely that he'll be late for other classes than yours, nevertheless, I wish to make it clear that you mustn't take house points if he happens to be late and I must emphasize that you can't keep him back after your class for any reason, except for when your Potions class takes place during the last afternoon class."
"Like his father," Severus blurted out, feeling very upset. "He also thought that Hogwarts belonged to him and that he could do what he wanted. I'm not going to tolerate such behaviour, not even from a 'Potter'," he added, spatting the name.
"Severus, please behave yourself," he was immediately scolded, however, it was not Poppy's voice.
He wearily looked around the office, when he suddenly got the impression as if his heart was going to stop beating. He stared at the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff in shock upon realising that no other than Lily Potter was looking down at him from the photo frame.
"Lily," he breathed.
"Yes Severus, I'm at Hogwarts now," Lily replied in a soft voice. "The O'Briens were so kind and brought James and me with them when they moved here, and Poppy called me here to witness your conversation. I hope you'll remember that Harry is my son as well and I expect that you treat him accordingly," she added, firmly, giving her former best friend a sharp look. "Otherwise, I'll make sure to inform Sirius about the matter."
"Of course," Severus promised, thinking, 'If he'd just didn't look so much like Potter.'
Turning back to Poppy, he asked with a slight hint of impatience, "Was that all? If so..."
"No," Poppy quickly interrupted him. "Due to his illness, I believe that he has to be exempt from Potions classes that might be dangerous for his breathing apparatus.
"There are no dangerous gases or fumes in first year potions," Severus replied, thoughtfully, "provided that we don't have one or more complete dunderheads in the class."
"Well, please consider Harry's condition before each class and exempt him if necessary," Poppy said, strictly.
"Harry, is very interested and also adept at Potions, which I know because I've taught him and his sibling and friends myself," Lily spoke up from her portrait. "If he misses a class, he'll be willing to make it up by, for example, assisting you in the lab. He has been mistreated by Petunia for seven years, so please don't take it out at him that he looks like James."
"Exactly," Poppy added. "He's a very nice boy. Please get to know him. He's also exempt from Defence and Flying classes by the way, so it's not only Potions," Poppy continued in a strict voice, before she dismissed him.
End of flashback
"Mr. O'Brien," the Potions Master finally spoke up in a neutral voice.
"Yes sir," Harry replied, looking at the professor in surprise. 'Why do I have to be singled out, especially before the first class has not even begun?' he thought, uncomfortably.
To his surprise, the professor was very friendly, as he told him about his conversation with the healer.
"Usually, there are no dangerous fumes in first year classes," the professor finally said. "However, if there's a real dunderhead in your class, there might be dangers which I'm able to foresee but you aren't. Therefore, I must insist that you always follow my instructions, immediately and without questioning. Otherwise, I can't allow you to participate in my class."
Harry stared at the professor in shock. "Ah no sir, please let me attend Potions. I really like to brew, and I've been looking forward to your class for years. I promise that I'll listen, sir."
"Very well," Snape said, nodding contentedly. "Come on then, the first morning class is going to commence in ten minutes."
Together, they left the small room and crossed the now empty hall.
'Snape is much nicer than my impression was last night,' Harry thought, as he tried in vain to keep up with the professor's fast space. Nevertheless, by the time he reached the dungeons, Snape had only just opened the classroom door and he was well on time to enter the classroom with everyone else. He quickly slipped into the empty seat next to Hermione, relieved when David sat on his other side.
HP
The professor did not explain much but merely held a short monologue about the fine art of brewing potions, before he made the recipe of an easy healing potion appear on the board and instructed the students to brew.
'Thank Merlin Mum taught us so much,' Harry thought, 'otherwise, I wouldn't have a clue what to do with the ingredients.'
He brewed his potion with a smile on his face, really enjoying himself, especially as he knew that David also liked to brew potions. A small glance at his brother told him that the boy's potion had the correct colour.
In all other subjects, David was a bit slower than Harry, Hermione and Ginny, because his magic was not as strong as the others'. However, the brewing of potions usually did not afford much magic if any at all, so that he was well able to cope with the others. Madam Pomfrey had told him that there was a slight chance that his magic would always be behind that of his brother and friends, because he had only inherited the magic from Harry at the age of eight and not from birth onwards, however, that it was possible that his magic would well catch up by the time when he was going to reach his magical majority at the age of sixteen.
HP
"Snape was very tame today, considering what the twins used to tell us about their Potions classes," Ginny spoke up on the way to the Transfiguration classroom for their second morning class.
"Maybe that's because this was the Ravenclaw - Hufflepuff class and not the Gryffindor - Slytherin one?" Hermione queried, causing Ginny to shrug.
"Oh well, he was not overly nice though," Harry threw in, recalling how the professor had shouted at Neville, one of the Hufflepuff first years, after his cauldron exploded in the middle of the class.
HP
Transfiguration with Remus and Charms with Molly were nice but very easy for the four children, who had already absolved two years of intense training at Potter Manor.
"Potions was the best," Harry whispered to the others on their way to the Great Hall at lunch time, smiling, when his brother and the two girls agreed unconditionally.
"The only really good thing is that we earned lots of house points for Ravenclaw," Hermione added, smiling.
HP
History of Magic in the afternoon turned out to be much better than anticipated from the twins' tales. 'Oh well, that's probably because Professor Flitwick is teaching it now instead of the ghost the twins told us about,' Harry thought as he listened with interest to the half goblin's explanations about the founders of Hogwarts.
HP
After the last afternoon class, Harry, David, Hermione and Ginny met in the O'Briens' quarters to study together, and they almost managed to complete their homework before dinner.
"Perhaps we should study in the common room during this hour and only study at home in the evenings," Harry suggested, when they left their room on time for dinner.
"That would be better, before our housemates think we don't want to have anything to do with them," Hermione replied, pensively. "Are you able to go to the common room without problems though?" she asked, giving Harry a sharp look.
"Sure," Harry replied, shrugging, "especially when I've time enough, and downstairs isn't a problem anyway."
"Very well then, let's do so from tomorrow onwards," Ginny said, before she added, "I wonder how Ron's doing in Gryffindor. He must feel very alone without us."
Harry inwardly sighed, thinking, 'I don't think he was very fond of us though,'. However, he knew better than to voice his thoughts.
HP
It was late in the evening, when everyone at the O'Briens' quarters had already retired to bed that Harry woke up from a voice whispering, "Come, follow me. I must show you something."
Harry sat up in confusion. However, the voice continued to whisper. "Who are you? Show yourself!" he demanded, however, there was no reply.
A small movement from David's side of the room alerted him to the fact that his brother was awake as well.
"David, can you hear that voice?" Harry asked, feeling slightly anxious.
"Yes, it tells me to follow it," David replied. "Let's go and see what it wants."
tbc...