Harry's Choices

by Acop

AU. Harry Potter is not an orphan. He does not have a prophecy and an old Headmaster looming over his life. Yet, he is still special. Sequel to Severus' choice but can be read as a standalone if you accept to go with the flow of changes brought to canon.

1. Chapter 1

I wish you all a beautiful new year, full of love, joy and beautiful surprises!

AN: Welcome to the fourth epilogue turned sequel of Severus' Choice. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It won't be as long as Severus' Choice, I estimate it should be about ten chapters maximum. The first two chapters will overlap the end of Severus' Choice. Many characters – both canon and OCs – from Severus' Choice will appear in it.
The story is betaed by Miette, who is French like I am. Sadly, dstone12 is not available to beta Harry's Choice right now so if anyone would like to help with the betaing to improve grammar, spellings, structure and more, don't hesitate to PM me :)

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I wailed as the cold air hit me.
It hurt. I needed to breathe.
I was so scared.

A warm presence enveloped me at once. I had known this presence forever, warm and safe. I calmed down.

I allowed foreign hands to manipulate me, focusing on the warm presence.

I was put down onto someone, arms coming around me to hold me protectively. The warm presence's intensity increased, creating a blanket which protected me from the foreignness.

I relaxed, exhausted from my vigilant effort, finally safe.
A voice was speaking to me. It belonged to the warm presence. I allowed it to pull me to sleep.

The next time I awoke, I felt alone. It was scary and I began to cry, wanting the warm presence to come back.
A new voice spoke to me, hand hesitantly but gently patting me. I thought I knew the voice, but I still felt alone so I kept crying.

Hands pulled me up, cradling me against the voice's chest. I strained, searching for the warm presence. Instead, the new voice's presence answered me, crudely surrounding me. I relaxed. I knew this presence too, it would often mix with the warm presence. I let myself calm down and went back to sleep.

As days passed, I met more and more new presences. Mum's and Dad's remained my favourite, the ones I had known forever, but there were others who came close behind.

First was Pearl. Her presence was the best, she knew how to shield me when I felt scared and Mum and Dad were not here, how to calm me down while I waited impatiently for my food, stomach growling. She knew how to cool down her presence when I felt feverish and my stomach hurt and Mum was too slow to make it go away. I also liked when she used her big ears to tickle me.

Bly was very nice too. He distracted me when I was awake and did not manage to call for anyone's presence but did not want to cry. It was fun following his presence as he zoomed around the room and made figures around me and sometimes hid his presence to suddenly come up right in front of me. Plus, when he was there, I knew that Dad would come eventually without me needing to call for him.

Then there were Grandpop and Grandmum. Their presences were solid but cuddly, and I loved when Grandmum sang to me. Also, Grandpop felt very strong, even stronger than Dad. I knew he would protect me if Dad could not.

But the one I loved the most beside Mum and Dad was Padfoot. His presence was the one who answered mine the best. He knew how to push against me to play, to tickle and to cuddle. His presence always acted the same way his body did. But some days, his presence felt sluggish, and then he did not come to see me. I did not like those days.

The days I liked the best were when Moony and Wormtail came to visit. I did not understand why they were not always there, because Padfoot's presence was always his best when Dad and Moony and Wormtail were with him. Maybe it was because Moony's presence felt a bit wild, though I knew he would never hurt me because I was his like Padfoot and Wormtail and Dad and Mum were his.

Moony and Wormtail were not the only ones who were not always there. I liked Grandma and Grandpa, though their presences were very faint, they felt bubbly and made me giggle. I liked Aunt Tuney too, with her nice laugh and her gentle hands, even if her presence was really weird, both strong yet diffuse, and with a kind of echo behind it. I liked Aunt Alice, who felt very protective, and Uncle Franck, who was always steady, and Neville whose presence was small but welcoming each time I reached out to him.

There were other presences I did not like, but happily, I only needed to cry long enough and either Pearl or Mum would take me away from them. Except for one. I did not like this one at all. He was always poking at the Manor's presence, not enough to make it angry but enough to put the Manor on edge. Sadly, Dad and Mum liked him and insisted I stay and did not like when I cried and fussed. I even tried to kick my feet to show my displeasure but nothing got me away. He held me once, and he pushed and pressed against me, poking at my presence until Aunt Tuney's presence slapped his even though she was not here.

I really liked Aunt Tuney.

One day, Mum dressed me up, fussing over me more than usual. She fussed over Dad and Padfoot too. It was an important day.
Aunt Tuney was here and gave me her usual eskimo kiss, making me giggle with delight. Mum laughed and then the three of us were moving deeper into the Manor, Dad and Padfoot following us unusually silently. I had never gone there, where the Manor's presence felt thicker and less tamed. It was colder too, but Mum had dressed me warmly.
She put me down on something flat, keeping one hand on me to prevent me from moving and falling over. Dad moved closer to put his hand on me too. Aunt Tuney and Padfoot followed suit.

"Do you, Petunia Evans, accept to become my son Harry James Potter's Godmother, and thus to act as his caregiver if I shall be dead or unable to take care of him?" asked Mum, her presence suddenly flaring brightly around me.

"I, Petunia June Evans, accept to become Harry James Potter's Godmother, to protect him, cherish him and, in the event of your death or incapacity to take care of him, to be his caregiver," answered Aunt Tuney.

Her presence rose to meet Mum's and cradle me. I had never felt her presence so accurately before and I marvelled as I truly discovered her for the time. I reached toward Aunt Tuney, trying to imprint her presence and was shocked to realise that the sensation of echo I had always felt from her was in fact the echo of another presence. I barely had the time to memorise the feeling of this second presence before Dad's presence surrounded me too.

"I, Sirius Hardwin Potter, accept to become Harry James Potter's Godfather, and thus to love him, protect him, and teach him, and in the event you were unable to take care of him, to act as his family," answered Padfoot.

Padfoot's presence stretched to merge with Dad's, Mum's, and Aunt Tuney's. The Manor's presence rushed around us, circling and circling.

"Thank you Petunia and Sirius for taking on the responsibilities of Godparents to our son Harry. We, Lily May Potter and James Harold Potter, reaffirm that you are part of our family and are always welcome in our home."

I let out a cry of surprise as the Manor's presence sent a powerful pulse toward me. It passed through me and left me with the accurate feel of Padfoot's and Aunt Tuney's presence in my head. I poked at them, intrigued, and let out a delighted gurgle as I realised that I could feel their presence even more clearly than before.

Padfoot's presence immediately poked back, almost sternly.
"No need to pull so hard Pronglet, we can feel you just fine," said Padfoot with a stern voice though he gave me a huge smile, gently picking me up in his arms.

"Does it mean Harry's the reason for my sudden headache?" asked Aunt Tuney.

She sounded wary, like she sometimes did when she came to see me late in the evening and I knew to be quiet and not try to pull on her hair, even when it usually made her laugh.

"He is," answered Padfoot. "It will pass once the novelty has worn off."

"Lucky I have the next two days off then," answered Aunt Tuney, and she already sounded much better so I pulled on her presence again, but trying to be more gentle.

She turned toward me and gently took my hand in hers.
"Yes Harry, I felt you. It was much better, thank you for being more careful this time."

Padfoot was right in a way. After several days, I was used to their presence in my head, and stopped checking if they always felt when I poked them. I realised then that Mum's and Dad's presence were also in my head, I just had not realised it because they had always been there.

I did not truly pay attention to the presences in my head again until one evening, I woke up feeling anxious. I unconsciously reached out to my presences to comfort myself. Mum's, Dad's and Padfoot's were the same as ever, contrary to Aunt Tuney's. Aunt Tuney's presence felt brittle, and I imagined I could feel cracks in her usually strong presence.

I cried out, distressed, and reached for my presences.

"What's wrong cub?" asked Padfoot, sounding out of breath.

I held my arms towards him, sniffling. Immediately, he took me in his arms, cradling me against his warm chest and whispering softly.
"Hey now, everything's fine."

I reached out towards Aunt Tuney again. The cracks were more numerous and growing bigger. What was happening to Aunt Tuney? Was she hurt? Everything was not fine. I began crying.

"Now Harry, what's wrong? You're not smelling, you don't need me to change you. Are you hungry?"

I turned my head away as he showed me my bottle. I did not want to eat. I wanted Aunt Tuney.

"Come on Pronglet, there's no need to cry. I'm here. Shhh, I'm here, everything's fine."

I felt Padfoot move, walking slowly while gently rocking me, whispering reassuring words in my ears, trying to calm me down. He did not understand. I cried harder.

"What's wrong with Harry, Sirius?"

Moony was here. Wormtail too. They should be with Aunt Tuney.

"Remus, I have no idea. He's not hungry, he's not smelly. I don't think he's teething…'

"Maybe he knows Lily and James were called away?"

"He hasn't had a problem with Lily and James being away for several months now, Pete."

"But maybe he knows why they were called away? You know, because of the godmother's bond with Petunia?"

I felt Sirius' arm tighten around me.
"Hey Pronglet. Aunt Tuney is fine, I promise. Mum and Dad went to see her and your grandparents to check out something, but everything's fine."

Mum and Dad were with Aunt Tuney? I felt myself calm down a bit. If they were with Aunt Tuney, it should be okay. I checked their presence. Mum's and Dad's were the same as ever. Aunt Tuney's was almost unrecognisable, as if it could break any moment.

I cried again in earnest.

"I think you're right Peter, he must be feeling something through the bond. Sirius, you'll want to work on that if you don't want to traumatise Harry when you're going after Death Eaters."

"I know Remus. I've already begun looking into it, who do you think I am?"

"I did not realise you had anticipated this, sorry Padfoot."

"It's okay Moony. I'm just on edge right now. Who knows what could happen to… Well."

The night was long. I finally fell asleep, exhausted by all my crying.

I woke up howling, my head hurting fiercely. I reached to my presences, feeling Mum's and Dad's and Padfoot's. I cried out as I reached toward Aunt Tuney's. It was the place where her presence usually was which was hurting. I pushed despite the pain, straining myself until finally I could feel her, barely but still here.

"Harry, what are you doing, what's wrong?!"

I felt Mum pull me up in her arms, frantic. Tears were running down my face and I felt exhausted. My head hurt. I let out a small wail.

"Lily, what's wrong?"

"I have no idea, James! Pearl!"

Immediately, I felt Pearl's presence reach out to me, soothing the hurt in my head. I passed out.

The next few days were a blur. I was very tired, and my head still hurt a bit. I spent most of the day sleeping. Still, I felt better because I could feel Aunt Tuney in my head, faint but very present.

One morning, I woke up feeling good. I opened my eyes, looking around the room. Padfoot was in his fluffy form, snoring softly beneath my bed. I checked the presences in my head and babbled happily. Everyone felt good, even Aunt Tuney. Her presence was not as strong as before, but I could feel her distinctly enough to distinguish her echo too.

Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Tuney remained living in the Manor for some time. I loved it, having all my favourite presences with me all the time. Nobody went out for long, and they took turns holding me against them.

I was really sad when Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Tuney left, but they promised to come visit often. I could feel Aunt Tuney's presence humming in my head, growing stronger everyday, so I did not make too much of a fuss.

As time passed, my ability to feel presences strengthened. I began distinguishing presences beyond those of the people close to me or the Manor's. I realised that there were many presences similar to Bly's beyond the walls of the Manor, at the south of its grounds. Other presences towards the hill behind Grandma's garden of roses felt really fiery. I also began feeling things similar to presences but different which seemed to cross the entire Manor and go beyond it. It was very intriguing but each time I tried to reach out to them, I just ended up very tired.
It did not prevent me from trying, because it was fun. I felt them even more brightly during Yule, a day when all my presences came to spend the day with me and laughed and cuddled together. Everyone clapped when I showed them I now could get on my belly or on my back whenever I wanted to.

The Manor felt empty when they left, especially since Mum and Dad and Padfoot became busier than ever. Tugging at their presence was not always enough to have them come see me anymore, and I had to cry more often to get their attention so they would take me in their arms to go for a walk on the grounds or to sit near the fire in the living room.
Grandmum and Grandpop were busy too, and I spent a lot of time with Pearl. I really liked Pearl, but sometimes, I just wanted Mum.

So I was really happy when one day, Mum dressed me up warmly and told me that we were going out.
First we went to see Neville and Aunt Alice. I played push-the-presence with Neville, giggling when he sometimes was too slow and ended up falling on his back. After a while, Aunt Alice set us up in the playpen under the fairies. Neville and I really liked this game, the aim was to tug at the fairies' presence the right way to get them to change their light the colour we wanted.
We ate lunch together, then Mum put me in my pram and it was time to go. I waved Neville goodbye sleepily, very tired after such an exhausting morning. The rocking of my pram quickly lulled me to sleep.

When I woke up, I immediately noticed that the place's presence was different from the Manor's, though it felt as powerful. I was intrigued but not enough to ignore the hole in my stomach. I reached out to Mum, whose presence seemed to answer me distractedly, like it often had recently.

I waited for a bit before trying again.
I was really hungry.
I decided it was a good reason to use my voice, energetically.

Mum came quickly, taking me in her arms. Within seconds, I was happily munching on a piece of banana. I really appreciated not drinking milk all the time.

Once my hunger abated, I began looking around, examining the presences and not-presences around me with curiosity.
To my surprise, there was a man next to Mum. Our eyes met, and I was awed by how black they were. Nobody I knew had eyes as dark. He also had long braided hair, quite different from Dad's or Padfoot's.
More importantly, his presence was contained and felt muted. Padfoot's and Uncle Franck's sometimes felt like this, but it reminded me a lot more of Grandpop's, though I could not feel if he was as powerful. How intriguing.

Mum laughed, breaking my focus. I frowned at her, but she only cleaned my face and hands in answer, then began speaking with the man again.

I listened to them and learnt he was called Sev. I kept observing Sev and his presence. It was quite frustrating because I could not get a true feel for it.
After several attempts, growing impatient, I reached out to touch him, hoping the contact would help me better focus on his presence.

It made Mum laugh, distracting me again. Before I could scowl at her for interrupting me in my delicate task again, Sev took my hand.
I wasted no time in grasping his forefinger tightly. Immediately, I realised that his presence was muted because it was hidden behind some shield.

I almost yelped in surprise when Mum handed me over to Sev, but did not lose any time continuing my exploration. In my limited experience, presences liked to pour over and go through every little crack. They needed to explore and feel, even if they only used thin tendrils to do so.

There. I put my hand to his chin, the contact helping me focus my presence on his own.

Sev's presence pushed back lightly against mine, then retreated immediately, the link between our presences dissolving in invisible sparks.
I could not help but giggle in delight.

Again, I reached out for his presence, a little more forcefully. He pushed back firmly, letting me feel a little more of his presence.

I tilted my head in wonder. I knew his presence. It was Aunt Tuney's echo!

I pushed again with vigour, excited and eager to verify my deduction. He pushed back, his presence lingering on mine as if to gently admonish me for putting too much force behind it.

He truly was the echo.

To apologise for my enthusiasm, I pushed again but as lightly as I could. He answered in kind, barely a whisper against my presence. Even Padfoot's presence did not answer me so effortlessly.

We kept going for some time while Sev talked with Mum. Then, as I was beginning to feel tired, his presence pushed mine a final time before he handed me back to Mum.

I could not wait to know if Aunt Tuney's presence would feel different now that I had met her echo!

I did not have to wait long to do so as that evening, Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Tuney came back to live with us.
Her presence had grown back as strong as ever, and now that I had met Sev, it was easy to feel their separate presences.

I really loved having all my presences with me. They took turns spending time with me and I was almost never alone with Pearl anymore. I basked in their attention and did my best to do what they wanted me to, even if crawling on all four was still beyond my reach for now.
I began noticing that the not-presences going through the Manor were sometimes used by my presences to do things without their hands. Padfoot especially liked to use them to bring objects into his hands. He was delighted the first time I copied him to get my bottle to me, even though I was really tired afterwards. Everything linked with the not-presences used up a lot of my own presence.

One afternoon, I woke up feeling cranky, my skin itching and with the beginning of a headache. Feeling for my presences, I let out a cry of dismay. Aunt Tuney's presence felt stretched thin, with cracks beginning to appear. My only comfort was that the Manor's presence seemed to be feeding her its energy, preventing the cracks from spreading.
Worried, I reached out to Mum. Her presence was the same as usual. Frowning to myself, I focused back on Aunt Tuney. I realised that she was with Mum, with Sev's echo standing out more than usual right now.
I did not have the time to ponder this novelty because Grandpop's presence felt weak and growing fainter as I examined him.

Alarmed, I pulled on Mum's presence vigorously. I felt her presence move toward me immediately.

No, I was not the one who needed her! I pushed her presence towards Grandpop's as vigorously as I could, feeling frustrated as I tried to translate what I was feeling through our bond. It would have been easier with Padfoot.

I felt her falter, and pushed her again insistently. Slowly, she changed direction and moved towards Grandpop.
As soon as I felt her join Grandpop, I heard her shout. Then, everything happened quickly, presences moving through the Manor too fast for me to follow and distinguish everyone. I was beginning to feel very anxious when Grandpa and Pearl entered my room. He took me into his arms and began rocking me slowly, whispering reassurances, as Pearl used her presence on the room.

Time passed in a haze, Aunt Tuney's and Grandpop's presence fluctuating and pulling on the Manor's presence and not-presences. I felt like my skin was too tight to contain me. Only the fact that Grandpa and Pearl were with me prevented me from crying.

Suddenly, I felt a burning pain in my head as Aunt Tuney's presence broke and Sev's disappeared. I began wailing as I felt for my bond with Aunt Tuney in my head. The lightest touch on our bond made me cry out louder as fire lanced through my head, but I felt better. She was still here, faint but here.
I felt wrung out but I stubbornly reached for Grandpop next. To my relief, his presence was back to its usual strength, even if it did not feel as dense.

I felt Pearl's hand on my head, and the pain abated to a dull ache. Sighing in relief, I closed my eyes and felt Grandpa gently wipe my face to dry my tears.
Pearl gave me something to drink and then I knew no more.

The change in Aunt Tuney's presence was not as scary as the time before, because I knew what to expect now. For several days, her presence was faint, and then it began growing stronger again. The only difference was that this time, it also seemed to mesh with the Manor's presence, which meant that Aunt Tuney's presence now possessed two echoes: one feeling like the Manor, and one feeling like Sev. At the same time, the Manor's presence now also possessed two echoes: Aunt Tuney's and Sev's presence.

As I grew older, I began exploring the Manor and its ground with determination and focus. I wanted to better understand the presences and not-presences I was feeling, and what better way than to get as close as possible to see them, touch them, and study them?

Dad and Padfoot agreed with me, Mum not so much. To be fair, I once gave myself quite the scare when I came face to face with the horde of Hippogriffs that lived in the hill near the Manor.
I was lucky Grandpop came in just in time to calm them. The Hippogriffs' beak and talons were quite impressive, but it was better to observe them from Grandpop's arms. That time, both Mum and Dad scolded me for putting myself in danger.

"Harry, for Merlin's sake, why are you always going where it's the most dangerous for you?" shouted Mum.

"And how did you manage to go there without even Pearl and Fleamont noticing?" asked Padfoot, looking at me with interest and pride.

I wanted to scoff at them. It was easy to use the not-presences to move without being noticed. It was just very tiring, and I had to admit that I had been too spent to go back the same way.

"I checked, and he hasn't gotten hold of the cloak," said Dad.

Grandpop nodded.
"I truly have no idea, aparating requires far more magic than his core is capable of using at his age. I would need to catch him in the act to see how he does it."

As if I would show them how I escaped my jail. Now that I could walk, albeit mostly on hands and knees, I just wanted to explore the world. It was not my fault everyone was too busy to come along in my adventures.

After several months, Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Neele had left the Manor. They came to visit regularly, but it was not the same. I did notice that Aunt Neele's presence was becoming more intense, which intrigued me a lot, but no amount of poking at our bond explained why. It earned me a scolding from Aunt Neele because I had been a bit too forceful in my curiosity and had given her a severe headache.
Wormtail and Moony were often away, only remaining in the Manor one or two days at the time. Mum, Dad and Padfoot were working a lot, on very important projects for our future, and so did Uncle Frank and Aunt Alice. As a result, playdates with Neville seldom happened anymore, and several evenings, I went to bed without my usual bedtime story. Grandmum and Pearl did their best, but they just did not know how to do the voices right. As for Grandpop, if I did not sometimes feel his presence during the day, I would have believed that he had moved away from us.

Pearl and Bly were great, but they had their own jobs to do. Very important jobs for our future. So I was often told to amuse myself with my toys. What fun was it to play with a magical broom if you could not leave your playpen?
It was only logical that I explored on my own, with more or less success depending on the amount of time before my absence was noticed. With practice, I managed to improve my stamina when using the not-presences to move, making it easier to come and go without my absence always being noticed.

As my ability to use not-presences grew, so did my ability to feel presences as well as my frustration with the adults around me. Their presences remained clumsy, and seemed to act mostly on instinct. Padfoot remained the best at feeling through his presence when I was calling for him because I was feeling really down. Those times, he would change into his fluffy form, and run after me as I shrieked in delight until he managed to catch me. Then, he would cuddle me with his paws and his presence, all warm and soft. The rare time they were here, Wormtail would transform too and then join in the cuddle with Moony and Dad and I would be safe and happy and sleepy. When Mum came to cuddle too, nothing could ever be better.

When exploring was not enough to lift my spirits up and Padfoot was not around to cuddle me until I felt better, the best way to finally get some attention from the adults present in the manor was not to use my presence but to cry and cry until I finally got my way. It was truly exhausting and left me in a state of tired satisfaction tinged with a shade of guilt and frustration, but it worked more often than not.

I quickly realised that this tactic worked best before Mum and Dad left for work. It gave me more chances to have one of them remain with me for at least several hours.

I looked at Mum through tear-filled eyes, lips trembling.

"No Harry, please, not today," begged Mum. "I really need to go to work."

"I'm sorry Lils but Sirius and I can't miss another day," said Dad, putting his hand on Mum's shoulder. "We have to keep proving that the probation was a fluke and that we deserve to get the junior-Auror rank. Rosier is almost making us look bad, we can't afford to miss more days than we already have. Sirius stayed with Harry twice this month, I stayed once and your sister came last week."

"I know, but-"

"Or you can leave him crying with Mother and Pearl. He needs to learn that he cannot get everything he wants," stated Dad.

I let out a whimper. I did not want to be left alone today.

"Hush, little devil. You'll stay with me today, I'll find a way," sighed Mum, bending down to take me in her arms.

"Lils-"

"You know why he keeps crying, James. It's our own fault, we're not spending enough time with him!"

"I know, but what do you want us to do? We're both doing what's needed to build back our world, a better world for him! We cannot not do it."

"I know," said Mum, sounding tired.

I tightened my grip around her neck, trying to push my love for her through our bond. I did not like when Mum sounded like this.

"It's alright, Harry, everything's fine."

She turned her face towards Dad.
"Go to work James. We'll talk tonight, we need to find another way."

Dad nodded with a sigh, then put his arms around us to give us a hug and a kiss.

"Be nice to your mother Pronglet."

I nodded earnestly. I would be good for Mum.

Once Dad and Padfoot were gone, Mum went to the small living room and sat me down on the sofa. Then, she crouched down so her eyes would meet mine easily.
"Alright Harry. We are going to spend the day together. But, I have a work meeting I really cannot miss, so you're going to come with me, and you're going to behave like the little angel you usually are, not this morning little devil. And then, we'll have lunch together, and we'll go to Hyde park to watch the swans, and maybe to Diagon Alley to have hot chocolate. Do we have a deal?"

"Yes, Mum!"

I held out my right pinkie solemnly so we could make the pinkie oath. Mum took it with her own, then offered me a smile and a kiss on the forehead.

It was going to be so much fun.

We took the floo, Mum holding me close in her arms so I would not get lost in the not-presences. I loved taking the floo, it was like a huge tunnel where not-presences met before going their separate ways again, except that they did not take the form of rivers but rather felt like spirals. Some people had trouble knowing up from down when they came out from the flow because of the spiralling movement. I loved it, the way my stomach would lift with the sense of acceleration and I'd come out in an exhilarating rush.

We arrived at an unknown manor's entrance. I was immediately captivated by its presence. It did not feel like the Manor, which felt like Grandpop, steady and powerful and ancient, or Longbottom manor, which felt powerful, vibrant and ageless. No, it felt powerful, but also far more energetic and… growing. It also had a feeling of déjà vu.

"Good morning Mrs Lily."

"Good morning Tuei," answered Mum.

I looked with interest as someone like Pearl welcomed us. Her presence felt a lot like hers, except it was even more reactive to mine!

"I see you did not come alone," added Tuei, sounding amused as her presence gently tickled mine, making me giggle.

"Indeed, this little devil wanted to come too," answered Mum, looking at me with a fond yet slightly exasperated smile. "Please meet my son Harry. Harry, say hello to Tuei."

"Hi Tuei!"

I waved my hand with a big smile, trying to make a good impression. I liked her and the unknown manor already.

"Why don't you go into the living room? Master Severus is having his second cup of coffee, I'll bring you one too, and some milk or chocolate for the little one, yes?"

"Thank you so much Tuei, you're a pearl."

"Don't begin mistaking me for my aunt, Mrs Lily!"

"I wouldn't dare," answered Mum with a laugh.

We went into the living room, and I squealed in excitement. Sev was here! No wonder this manor felt familiar.

"Good morning Lily," said Sev, standing up as we entered. "I see you brought a guest."

"Hello Sev. Yes sorry about that, but the little devil here did not want me to leave him today."

"We could have rescheduled Lily, you did not have to-"

"It was the best way Sev, I know how busy you are," said Mum with a smile.

Tired of being ignored, I wriggled a bit so Mum would let me down, then walked toward Sev.

"Hello!"

I greeted him with a smile and a light push of my presence.
He answered in kind, looking at me with interest.

I held my hands up towards him, and after only a slight hesitation and a glance towards Mum, he sighed and took me in his arms.
I settled on his knees happily, and began playing with his presence.

Tuei came in, bringing me hot chocolate and crumbly cookies with chocolate chips. I thanked her with my presence, and then focused on my snacks. I always worked up my appetite after making a crying scene.

When I was done, Mum cleaned me up then Sev took us to a room with many mats and toys. Another kid was already there, sleeping against a very intriguing creature who looked up at our arrival.

I extended my presence to feel them and offer a greeting, and was delighted when the creature answered immediately, even sending feelings through their presence!

Sev laughed softly.
"Harry, meet Dhaal, my Familiar. Dhaal, meet Harry, Lily's son and Neele's nephew."

Dhaal tilted his head, again pushing a feeling of welcome-come-rest-with-us through his presence.
I was tired after this morning's debut.
I looked at Mum and Sev for permission.

"Go on Harry. Take off your shoes first, and your jumper. There are blankets near Dhaal if you're cold," answered Sev.

I did not wait to be told twice, and soon, I was cuddled against Dhaal, on his opposite side to the sleeping kid. I briefly wondered if I should have taken a blanket with me, but a warm weight settled on me protectively, and I drifted to sleep.

I woke up feeling well-rested. I blinked in the dark. Dhaal's presence poked me gently, and I answered in kind. The pleasant weight on my body lifted and I realised that Dhaal possessed the most comfortable wings ever.

"Hi!"

A new presence pushed against mine.
I pushed back lightly and smiled at the small blond kid looking at me with curiosity.

"I'm Harry."

"I'm Luna. Wanna play push?"

Playing push was great. It meant using both your body and your presence to make Dhaal fall, without him making us fall. We ran on the mat – Luna on her knees more than her feet – trying to ram into Dhaal.

Luna was really good at using her presence, better than Neville and Padfoot, but she tired quickly. I felt Dhaal reach out to a new presence, and a few minutes later, a man came into the room.

"Thank you for calling me, Dhaal. I believe it's time to feed my little monster!"

Luna laughed as the man swept her up in his arms, balancing her from right to left several times before hoisting her up on his hips.

"Dad! This Harry. He push!"

The man smiled at me.
"Really nice to meet you Harry. I'm Xenophilius, Luna's dad."

"Hi Xeno!"

I felt Dhaal's presence against mine, saying must-go-be-back-later-have-fun.

"Ah yes, Dhaal is needed elsewhere, but I'm gonna look after you, don't worry Harry. Your Mum and Severus are still working but hopefully, they should be here soon. I'm sure Tuei will bring them by force if necessary."

I smiled at him and watched as he called for Pākiki, someone like but unlike Tuei and Pearl, to bring him food for Luna.
I was not hungry yet after my second breakfast, and I was itching to explore Sev's manor, with its intriguing presences and not-presences. Xeno seemed completely focused on Luna, and I could not feel anyone close by. I seized my chance and used the first not-presence I could grab to leave.

It led me to some kind of library, in front of a wall adorned with many Yule stones. The stones were pretty and pulsed against the not-presences harmoniously, a lot like in the Manor. I felt a bit disappointed. Surely, there was something new and interesting to discover!
I reached out around me and perked up. I thought I felt something… It was muted, like Sev's presence. It had to be behind a shield. How intriguing.
Using another not-presence, I arrived in front of a closed door. Yes, what I sought was behind it, but I could feel a mix of Sev's presence and not-presences shielding it and preventing me from entering the room. I hummed to myself softly, and focused on finding the cracks, just like I had done to find Sev's presence.

I had no idea how long it took me, but finally, I was able to reach a not-presence passing through the door and to move it slightly aside so it would not touch the shield. I grabbed it and pushed. I was in.

I looked around me with curiosity. The room was big, with many shelves full of jars and boxes against the walls. A big desk stood near a window. Several cauldrons were in the centre of the room, each on their own fire, each separated by shields mixing Sev's presence and not-presences.
One cauldron in particular felt very interesting. I knew Mum made her potions in cauldrons, so it had to contain a potion. But that potion felt unlike any I had seen. Potions usually possessed their own presence, with a faint echo of their brewer's lingering. That potion's presence did not feel like a potion's presence.
Squinting my eyes, I felt for the shield blocking my way to the cauldron of interest.

Hmm. It was trickier than the shield at the door. I stood up, feeling my way along the not-presences flowing through the room. If I squeezed here, then went there. Moving this not-presence a bit, and this one here. Yes!

The cauldron was bigger than me. I knew I had to be careful because it was on the fire so it was going to be very hot and it could hurt. I should not touch it, but how could I feel it better without touching it? Would it be enough if I almost touched it? Or should I try to see what the potion looked like first? But I would need something to get on to see.

Looking around, I could not believe my luck. There was a stool near the desk!
Focusing on it, I reached out and brought it to me. Ouch! I blinked tears from my eyes as my behind hit the ground. I had put too much force into my pull and the stool had collided with me a bit too hard.
But that would not prevent me from reaching my goal.
Using the stool to pull myself up, I carefully climbed on it. I was beginning to feel tired, but my curiosity helped me keep my focus. I stood up fully, my eyes reaching just above the brim of the cauldron.
I caught a glimpse of white and silver.

Suddenly, I felt Sev's presence and his manor's around me. I turned my head and saw Mum and Sev at the door. I smiled at them as innocently as I could then turned back toward the cauldron. I really wanted to watch the potion. Except Sev's presence was pushing me away from the cauldron, and then Dhaal was here, covering me with his wings and using the not-presences to move us even when I did not want to.

Dhaal deposited me outside the room. Immediately, I felt Sev's presence and Dhaal's examine me from head to toe, checking out my body and my presence.

"He's fine Lily. I don't know how but he's perfectly fine."

"Thank Merlin!"

I felt Mum take me in her arms. I tried to put my head on her shoulder, suddenly only wanting to sleep, but she would not let me. She put her hand under my chin, making me look her in the eyes.

"Why Harry? I swear to Merlin, what has gotten into you?"

I tried not to say anything but she insisted.
"I'm speaking to you, Mister Harry. Why did you leave the playroom? You promised you would be on your best behaviour!"

"Bored. Potion felt different," I mumbled, trying to avoid her disappointed gaze.

"The potion felt different?! Harry, you cannot keep going wherever you want to just because something feels different and then you come up face to face with Hippogriffs or dangerous potions, it's not safe!"

I shrugged. Closing my eyes, I finally managed to put my head in the crook of her shoulder.

"Sev, I honestly don't know what to do."

"He is hell's spawn, Lily. What did you expect?"

"That's really not funny, Sev! He's my son too! Do you have any idea how many times he could have been badly hurt or even died? No matter the protections I put on him, he always manages to get around them. I have no idea how he's doing it, neither do any of the Marauders or Fleamont!"

I tightened my grip on Mum's arm when I heard her voice break. I had not meant to make her sad. I was just curious.

"Lily, I… Well... I think he's really gifted in Sensing magic, so he's able to manipulate the flows to pass through them. It's only a hypothesis as I haven't seen him do it, but with the way he is already Sensing other people to evaluate them, I think it's highly probable."

"You mean my son's a magical genius and there's nothing I can do, he will always go wherever he wants to!"

Mum was shaking now. I tried to use our bond to reassure her that I would do better.

"I did not say that Lily. Draco and Luna are already quite good at Sensing too, I think it's because they're all growing around very active magical areas. Harry said he was bored, and you told me that he has been throwing tantrums lately-"

"Yes, and with good cause, Sev! There is so much to do, to make our world better for him than it was for us, but it takes time and I'm so tired when I go back home, and sometimes he's already asleep, and I just-"

"I get it Lily. And I understand why you're so motivated to help set up pre-Hogwarts schools, but you know Muggleborns will get priority at first. You need to find another solution for him right now."

"James was raised at home by his Mum, like all the Potters before him. Everyone will think I'm a bad mother if I can't raise my son too. I'm already getting stinky eyes because I'm leaving him with Euphemia and Pearl so much."

Mum sounded so sad.

"Lily, you cannot put as much work into rebuilding our world as you're doing and take care of Harry all day at the same time."

Sev sighed.
I wanted to curl on myself. I had really not meant to cause so much trouble.

Sev spoke again, softly.
"Have you tried finding other wizard families with kids around his age? I know women from old and rich Houses like Potter's mother usually don't have day to day jobs, but that's not the main part of the Wizarding population. From what Jonathan told me, families always manage to find one mother who has decided to remain home to take care of her kid and who is open to watching over a few more in exchange for money or services."

Silence fell between them.

Finally, I felt Mum's body relax all at once.

"You're right, as usual. Thank you Sev."

"Of course Lily. Tuei will give you some of Frekka's cakes for Harry, he needs to eat at least two when he wakes up."

"Thank you. Really."

I did not hear more as exhaustion finally claimed me.

We did not go to the park with Mum that day. However, we did the next day. The day after, we went to the Burrow for the first time.

Aunt Molly's presence was all bubbly and she had a voice that could be heard from miles away. She also had a lot of kids but she did not mind watching over more and she loved cooking for a lot of people. With her two eldest kids at Hogwarts, she had decided to open a daycare in her home. That's how I found myself spending several days a week with Aunt Molly's children, Percy, Fred, Georges, Ron and Ginny, but also with Susan, the niece of Mum's boss, and Neville.

I really liked the Burrow, it felt less powerful than the Manor, but a lot more chaotic, the not-presences were smaller but all over the place. We were always busy playing, helping make cookies and even learning our letters and numbers. I did not have the time to even think about exploring further than the garden full of gnomes.
Sometimes, Aunt Neele and Uncle Arthur, Molly's husband, would organise a day in the muggle world. Grandma and Grandpa, and even Mum sometimes, would come with us too. We went to Hyde park, to the science museum, to the cinema to watch cartoons.
The days I was not at the Burrow, I remained at the Manor with Grandmum and Pearl. I felt a lot better.

One day, I noticed Mum's belly getting bigger and her presence taking on a weird new pulse. At the same time, she began staying at home more often. She and Dad explained that she was bearing a little sister who would come out and join us in several months, once she was big enough. But it tired Mum a lot so she had to work less and remain home more.
I already liked my sister a lot because thanks to her, Mum began spending more time with me again, and so did Dad and Padfoot because they did not want Mum to get too tired. Dad even began taking me flying on his broom, and sometimes when Mum was not looking, we did loops and high-speed falls and it was so fun!
Grandma and Grandpa came to stay in the Manor to help too, and I really liked my little sister and I could not wait to meet her. I was even given a true room, with a big bed and a lot of space to play, instead of the nursery which was only a place for babies.

Sometimes, when the preparation for the coming of the baby became too much, Dad took out his special cloak so we could escape and go on an adventure together. I did not like Dad's special cloak. It was handy because it could make us invisible, but it was not really practical and I would rather learn how to become invisible on my own like Dhaal. Plus, when Dad was under the cloak alone, I had trouble feeling his presence and it felt muted even in my mind. Luckily, once we escaped, we did not need to remain under it to go on our grand adventures.

After Elizabeth was born, she required a lot of attention from Mum and Dad and Pearl because she was very small. She cried a lot because her presence was not very good at calling for Mum and Dad. Beth's presence was really clumsy. I hoped it was because she was only a baby.
I tried to help, because I could feel when her presence tried to reach out when she needed something, but Mum said it was not my job to wake up at two in the morning to feed Beth. Except I woke up anyway when she cried to call for Mum or Dad, and some nights, they took a long time to go and I was really cranky when I had trouble going back to sleep afterwards. Padfoot usually knew when I was tossing and turning in my bed though, and he came into my room in his fluffy form, jumped on the bed, and I fell asleep in the midst of petting him.

I kept going to the Burrow, now spending four days per week there. Percy was a really cool older brother, he knew how to negotiate his help with the twins to improve a prank in exchange of being able to say no to a prank if it went too far. He also was really good at teaching. With his help, I was now reading fluently and doing additions. I wanted to be able to do the same for Beth later.

Twice a month, Aunt Neele took me out for our special bonding time. It worked really well, the bond between our presences was getting denser and denser. Aunt Alice and Wormtail were Beth's Godparents, and I hoped they were going to be as great for her as Padfoot and Aunt Neele were for me.
Aunt Neele was also getting better at finding me using her presence during our hide and seek games, and I had to use tricks Dhaal was teaching me in order to keep winning.

Ever since I met him, Dhaal had begun popping up, either in the Manor or at the Burrow. It was funny because nobody else other than me could see him. Neville and the twins seemed to be able to feel when he was here but were not able to interpret what they were feeling. I noticed Dhaal usually did not remain long when I was not alone. Pearl and Padfoot sometimes could feel him, but then he always disappeared before they could try to cast a spell on him.

I had learnt that using a mix of presence and not-presence to do something meant to cast a spell. It was weird because the adults often used a wand to do so when Pearl or I did not need to.
I noticed that adults' presence only seemed to be truly skilled when casting certain kinds of spells. For example, Dad's presence was very smooth and agile when changing my spoon into a broom, but felt a lot more clumsy when he cast a healing spell on my scraps when we did not want to get into trouble with Mum after playing a little too roughly.

Dhaal was also really good at using the not-presences without a wand, and he showed me how to improve my own techniques. Races and games of push were always epic with him.
I did not always succeed in reproducing what he showed me – I was especially disappointed that I could not manage to change my size at will like he did – but it was always fun. I was exhausted after our sessions at first, but then he took the habit of bringing me his special cakes and I stopped falling asleep in my plate.

I particularly appreciated when Dhaal came during parties.
Only a few weeks after I first went to the Burrow, Grandpop and Grandmum began organising parties regularly. Padfoot said it was a way to show that the civil war truly was behind us as well as a way to help our House politics. Everyone seemed to like them, because they could dance or talk with many people. I thought it was horrible.
More often than not, no children of my age came with their parents. Padfoot had assured me that it would change when I got older but for now, I was either stuck with boring adults or stuck in my room with firm instructions not to go on any adventures. I really was lucky that Dhaal often came to see me those nights.

Saturdays and Sundays were family days, with Moony and Wormtail coming to visit more often than not. Aunt Alice, Uncle Frank and Neville came at least once a month too, as well as other friends of Mum and Dad.
Padfoot's brother came to visit once, but he and Dad did not seem to like each other much. It was the only time I saw Dad and Padfoot angry at each other.
We were lucky Moony and Wormtail were present too that time, to make them talk to each other again. I learnt then that "family could be complicated".

Aunt Molly's brothers, Fabian and Gideon, who also were Padfoot, Dad and Uncle Franck's coworkers, came to the Manor a few times too when Mum invited the Weasleys for lunch.
The latter did not come often. I think it's because the first time they visited, I showed Percy, Ron and the twins where the Hippogriffs lived. I was very careful to remain at a safe distance, but Mum and Aunt Molly still shouted at us.
I overheard Mum tell Grandpop that the twins and me together was too much for her to handle, and that she had no idea how Aunt Molly managed. I felt a bit hurt because I was not nearly as much trouble as the twins. They delighted in playing havoc with their pranks, I just wanted to explore and satisfy my curiosity.

By now, I knew most of the Manor's secrets. So I was really excited when one Sunday, Mum and Dad told me we were going to Hogwarts, my future school, to visit one of their friends.
They decided to let Beth with our grandparents, and with Padfoot exceptionally working, we were going out just the three of us.

We took the floo to Hogsmead, then we walked to Hogwarts. I held Mum's and Dad's hand, and every five steps, they hefted me high into the air so I could make a very big step, as if I were a giant.
Mum had explained that we were going to see Hagrid who was a Half-Giant so he was bigger than anyone I had ever met. Dad also told me that Hagrid took care of many magical creatures. I was very excited to meet him!

When we walked through the wards which delineated Hogwarts territory, I had a brief moment of panic. The castle was completely overwhelming. Presences and not-presences moved everywhere, merging for a brief moment before separating and then meeting again. They were also in different shapes and intensity, some with peculiars feels I had never seen before, but when I tried to focus on them, they disappeared in the seas of other presences.
I felt pressure grow in my head, while the feelings of presences and not-presences threatened to fill my head until I could not separate what was them and what was me.

Suddenly, I felt a new presence. It was bigger than any other I had ever felt, and very ancient. It surrounded me, and I could almost hear it speaking in my head.

Protect. Cherish. Shelter.

At once, I could feel myself again. The other presences were muted and a lot less distracting, as if someone had put a filter between them and me.

Help. Until you grow. Protect the children. Children must grow and thrive.

Oh.
Hogwarts was shielding me because it was more than I could handle on my own. She was as incredible as Dad had told me!

Was it why Severus was always shielded too? To protect himself from feeling too much? Or to protect others from feeling him too much? Could it be both?
I really needed to find a way to study him more. Maybe I could even ask him some of my questions. I had never really talked about presences with my family. Theirs were so crude, I did not think they could help me. Dhaal could, but through our games, I had understood that we did not use our presence and the not-presences exactly the same way. Or to be more precise, we did not have the same strengths and weaknesses in the way we handled them.

"Harry, are you alright?"

I looked up at Mum. Seeing the concern on her face, I realised I had stopped walking and was holding tight on my parents' hands.

I relaxed my hold and smiled at her.
"Yes Mum, it's… a lot."

There were not enough words in the world to describe what I was feeling right now. I just knew I could not wait to explore Hogwarts. I could feel she would not let me fall on a horde of Hippogriffs by mistake.

Dad laughed softly.
"I know, son. Living in the Manor did not prepare me for the first time I set foot in Hogwarts. Come Harry, it only gets better from here."

I nodded with enthusiasm, earning a fond smile from Mum.

We crossed the grounds, Dad explaining everything about the great lake and the Giant Squid, the Merpeoples, the forbidden forest and the creatures who lived within, and many of the treasures inhabiting Hogwarts' grounds. Mum sometimes corrected him when he got a fact wrong about the habits of Merpeoples or unicorns, which was really fun because it made him "pout like a baby".

When we reached the castle, we were greeted by a Witch who had to be about Grandma's age. She wore a strict looking robe, but I liked the green and white patterns on it which I later learnt were specific to the kind of Scottish fabrics called "tartan".

Despite her strict appearance, the Witch smiled kindly when we stopped in front of her.
"Lily, James, and little Harry! It has been far too long since I've seen the three of you together."

Focusing to poke through Hogwarts' shield, I realised that her presence felt familiar. She must have come to the Manor sometimes, even though I did not remember her.

"I'm glad to see you too Minerva," said Mum with a laugh, hugging her warmly. "Harry, you may not remember Minerva but she came to see you when you were still a baby."

"Nice to meet you, Ma'am," I told Minerva with my most charming smile, offering her my hand to shake.

"I'm really pleased to meet you too, Harry. You're quite the proper gentleman already," answered Minerva, looking pleased and shaking my hand gently. "Please call me Minerva, Ma'am is for my students."

"Yes Minerva," I agreed with a smile.

Dad had explained that she was the best professor in Hogwarts and that I would learn a lot of very useful spells from her.

"I see you've already replaced me with a younger version, I'm hurt Minerva," teased Dad.

"Your son looks a lot more civilised than you at the same age, James," answered Minerva, but I noticed her eyes sparkled.

"Yes, well, don't believe everything you see, he can be quite the little hellion," said Dad with a proud smile.

"So I've heard, but I trust Lily and you not to let him go as far as you did."

I was surprised to hear her tone harden a bit. Even her presence felt stiffer for a brief moment.

"We won't," agreed Dad, and I had never seen him look as serious as now. "And I trust Hogwarts' policies are even better now than they were at the end of our seventh year."

His tone felt pointed too. I watched with curiosity as they stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Minerva smiled and broke the growing tension.

"We have all learnt from our mistakes. Please come in, I have tea, hot chocolate and Scottish shortbread waiting for us in my office."

We followed her, Dad holding me by the hand while Mum and Minerva walked in front of us, speaking together.

The castle was even more amazing inside. I saw Ghosts, walking suits of armour and moving staircases! There even were portraits so big it felt like I could fall into them!

Mum and Minerva kept speaking about a project they were working on together while we had our snacks, Dad interjecting from time to time, and once I had finished eating, I began to feel bored.
Luckily, Dad noticed and made our excuses so that we could go explore together.

We went to the Gryffindor tower where the Fat Lady cooed at Dad and me but refused to let us enter the common room because we were neither students nor professors, no matter how much Dad tried to charm her. I did not mind because we got back downstairs using the moving stairs which were almost as cool as brooms.
Dad was hesitating between going to the great hall or going outside to meet with Hagrid when a big man called him.
The man was another of Dad's old professors. He told me hello but quickly ignored me in favour of speaking with Dad. He talked a lot, speaking about people he and Dad knew but I did not. I was bored very quickly but Dad did not seem to notice this time, completely absorbed in his talk.
I tentatively focused past Hogwarts' shield and was delighted to feel that I could use a not-presence to escape. I even got the feeling that Hogwarts was encouraging me, the taste of mischief lingering in my mind. I did not waste time and soon, I was back on the moving stairs. I did not stop on the first floor because I did not want to unwittingly meet with Mum and Professor McGonagall. As a precaution, I also skipped the second floor and went directly to the third.
I walked past the gallery full of parading walking suits of armour, then entered a room covered with trophies like the one Dad had won in his seventh year as the Quidditch Gryffindor team's captain. It was not very interesting so I took the moving stairs to go to the fourth floor. There, I found the library which looked even more impressive than the one at home and I wondered what kind of stories they had, but there looked to be many students inside so I decided it was more prudent not to go in.

I took the moving staircase again, and this time it made two full turns before stopping on the fifth floor. It was so neat!
I heard raised voices and laughter, so I cautiously took a few steps and peered at the right turn of the corridor. A group of seven students were taking turns skating, doing acrobatic figures. It looked impressive and I wondered if they would accept to teach me a trick or two or if they would refuse because I was too short.
Then, I realised that if Mum saw me doing one of these figures, she would be really sad. So I reluctantly moved back on the staircase and went to the sixth floor.

I was really disappointed because the first room I entered was a boys bathroom. I looked around but aside from a mirror that asked me why I was in Hogwarts when I was so short, there was nothing interesting there. The second and third rooms were empty classrooms with no real interest. I did not bother entering the next one, took a turn left and was horrified. Two students were kissing each other on the mouth, and I'm sure I saw drool on their chins. Even Mum and Dad were not as disgusting when they had their "lovey-dovey moments" as Padfoot called it.
I fled immediately and took the moving staircase up to the seventh and last floor.

I walked down the corridor which was empty except for its portraits. Portraits were interesting but they were not novel nor exciting. Those were not even that big.
I walked past an empty classroom then turned left. Another empty corridor. Sighing in disappointment, I still kept walking, poking through Hogwarts' shield to search for something unusual. For a mystery to uncover.

I drew a stop in front of a part of the wall which felt… weird. I had no idea why except I could tell it was different.
Curious, I came closer to examine it. I did not see anything different with it. I hesitated a brief instant before touching it, reasoning that Hogwarts would have warned me if it was dangerous.
It was just a wall.

I felt my excitement grow, finally, the mystery I had been looking for! Now, I really wanted to find out what it was.

I focused to once again push my presence through Hogwarts' shield. The wall felt a bit different now, almost pulsing as if it was waiting for something. Did I need to do something?

I poked it lightly with my presence but it did not react.

Weirdly, I could swear I felt Hogwarts laugh in my head.

What should I try now? Maybe speaking to it? Did it need a secret word?

"I really need to know your secret. Can't you give me a hint?" I asked, figuring that at worst, it would just not answer me.

I blinked. A door had just appeared in the place of the weird patch of wall. The pulsing had disappeared, as if the door was its usual state.
Slowly, I put my hand on the handle of the door. Nothing happened.
I opened the door.

I felt my mouth open in awe.

The room was big. So big I could not see where it ended. It was also full of treasures. The right side of the room looked orderly, with shelves and boxes used to organise objects of various size and shape. I spied jewellery as well as books, clothes, jars of unknown content and a lot of unknown but cool-looking objects I itched to touch. The left side of the room was in complete chaos. It looked like a maze of things put on top of the others. I even spied a dummy with a sword.

I took a few steps inside, hesitating between looking at the shelves or delving right into the mess.

"What are you doing here?"

I almost jumped out of my skin at the unexpected but familiar voice, and looked back toward the room's entrance.

Sev was looking at me, his arms crossed and a severe look on his face. With my presence's ability dulled, I had not realised he was here.

I waved at him happily.
"Hi Severus!"

Dad had said I should not call him "Sev" because it was too familiar for someone who did not belong to the family. I thought it was stupid because Mum called him Sev, but it made Dad happy so I tried to do it.

"Hello Harry," answered Sev dryly, his face still stern.

"Are you here to look at the treasures too?" I asked, hopeful. Maybe we could look together.

"No, I'm looking for a lost Hellspawn."

I frowned.

"I'm not lost, I'm exploring because Dad was talking with a boring man when he was supposed to show me around Hogwarts," I explained earnestly.

I spied a slight upturn of his lips. Was Sev laughing at me?

"How did you find this room?"

His voice was softer and sounded curious now.

"The wall felt weird."

Severus shook his head.
"Of course it did. Well, the room is not safe for you, it-"

"But we're in Hogwarts!" I protested.

"I know, which is why I am sorting out the objects in the room to remove those which could hurt curious little kids."

Sev hesitated.
"Hogwarts was ill for many years, and was not able to realise that some objects did not belong within her walls. I'm helping her get better."

Sev was so cool. To be able to help Hogwarts when she was so powerful meant he was a very very good Wizard. I already knew it because of how he used his presence, but to be able to help Hogwarts was even more awesome. And he had just told me a big secret, I could tell.

"Can I help? I'm sure if you teach me more about presences and not-presences, I can help!"

Sev tilted his head, looking at me with a calculating look.
"Presences and not-presences?"

I nodded earnestly while poking at him with my presence. It should have been difficult between Hogwarts shielding me and his own shield, and yet, I managed without any effort.

"You're the best at using your presence, even better than Padfoot! And I know that to cast spells you need to use your presence to grab the not-presences to make them do what you want. So you must know a lot about using them both. Dhaal is very good at it too, and he has been teaching me already but sometimes it doesn't work because he's a Thestral and I'm a Wizard."

Severus shook his head again, but he had a small smile on his lips now.
"Of course Dhaal is already teaching you. Well, you are far too young for me to teach you anything."

I pouted and looked at him pleadingly, a look that worked with almost everyone except Mum and Padfoot, but he just narrowed his eyes at me.

"You are far too good at redirecting conversations for a five year old."

"Almost six," I protested.

He ignored me and kept speaking.
"Now come Harry, no doubt your parents are looking for you."

I shook my head vigorously.
"They are busy speaking about boring things."

"Hellspawn…"

I had to blink to force back the tears that suddenly welled up in my eyes. It was supposed to be our day together.

"Come on, child," insisted Sev gently but firmly.

A wave of exhaustion seemed to wash over me. I held up my arms pleadingly.

He hesitated, giving me an indecipherable look before taking me into his arms. I put my arms around his neck, reaching out for his presence. He wrapped his presence around mine gently, and I felt my body relax completely, snuggling against him.

"You are too big to carry around like this."

"I'm not."

He did not say anything else as he took us away from the treasures room. I must have dozed off because only moments later, he knocked on a door then entered the room

"Lost something, Lily?"

"Sev, what are you… Harry! Merlin, he was supposed to be with James, is he alright?" asked Mum, rushing to take me from Sev's arms and look me all over.

"He's fine. Well, as fine as a little boy wandering on his own in a big magical castle can be."

Sev sounded reproachful.

Mum opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted by Dad rushing in.

"Lils, I'm so sorry, I think I've…"

Dad trailed off as he spotted me.
"Harry! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"You're lucky Sev found him," said Mum sharply.

Dad frowned, only noticing Sev now.
"Caspian. Well, thanks I guess. How did you find him? I swear I must have asked every portrait in the castle!"

"Hogwarts called me with insistence," answered Sev deadpan.

"Really?"

Mum sounded curious while Dad seemed sceptical.

"Being Hogwarts' Protector has its perks," stated Minerva, amused.

"I'm not sure I would call it perks," answered Sev wryly. "If you'll excuse me, I have a room to sort out."

He paused, meeting my eyes.
"No more wandering today, Hellspawn."

I saw Dad bristle, but he did not say anything and let Sev disappear in a swirl of his black robes. He should teach me how to do this too.

After a bit of scolding from Mum and Dad under Minerva's amused gaze, we finally went to see Hagrid. His beard was fascinating, all big and messy but really soft.
First we ate his stew with black bread he had made himself and cooked on his fire. It did not look like anything I had eaten before, but it was really tasty.
Then we had a lot of fun hunting bowtruckles to bring them back to their main tree, collecting wood violets for the Merpeoples of the lake and feeding the Graphorn recovering from a broken leg in an enclosed plot near Hagrid's wooden hut. I pouted a bit when Mum refused to let me pet the Graphorn while Hagrid had said I could, but I quickly forgot my disappointment when meeting Baskos.
Baskos was Hagrid's friend and a really big snake, bigger than Dad in his Prong's form. He let me climb on him to observe the crest on his head that looked a lot like a crown. The feeling of his scales was a bit weird, really unlike Padfoot's soft fur or Dad's coarse coat, but it was not slimy like I sometimes heard Dad speak of "slimy snakes" when he thought I could not hear him. Aunt Neele had explained that it was because Dad was scared of snakes that he said bad things about them, which was really not nice because snakes could not help what they were.
I noticed Dad remained as far away from Baskos as possible. It was too bad, especially because Baskos' presence was impressive.

All in all, I had a great day and I told Beth and Grandpop and Grandmum and Padfoot and Pearl all about it when we went back home. They were all suitably impressed by Baskos, and I heard Grandmum trying to convince Grandpop to go visit Hogwarts soon.
I wondered if she wanted to climb on Baskos too.