Chapter 7
Harry covered himself in his cloaking magic and snuck out of his dormitories, making his way to the seventh floor. Once he was in Cecilia’s study and put the bag down on top if the table and summoned three Death Shadows.
“If he tries anything funny, beat the ever living fuck out of him, but do not kill him.” He told one of them and opened the bag slightly, letting the Shadow go inside.
Then he handed the bag to another of the shadows and spoke. “If he escapes, Kill him.”
Both Shadows bowed and Harry finally turned to leave. Now exhausted and finally able to relax, he made his way back to the dormitories for sleep.
The next day, Ron did in fact freak out over the fact that Scabbers was nowhere to be found. Harry shrugged it off as him exploring the castle and would eventually make a reappearance.
Classes went by like normal that day and during lunch at the great hall Harry got a letter from Hagrid asking to go visit him on Friday.
When Friday finally came around, He made his way to Hagrid's hut with Ron, Neville, and surprisingly Alice. He doesn’t know when exactly, but Alice became a good friend to converse with.
When they got close, they saw Hagrid outside and what looked like picnic tables set up with even more kids running around. Once they were close enough, Harry waved his arms and yelled out Hagrid's name.
Hagrid wasn’t the only one to turn in his direction, plenty of kids and of course, Hallow who was the first to run towards him with many licks and happy pants.
“Harry! Glad you made it.” Hagrid said as he stomped over and clapped Harrys back.
“What's going on?” Harry asked
“I invited Cecilia as well and she brought all these firsties. We couldn’t all fit in the hut, so we moved out here.” Hagrid answered.
Sure enough Cecilia was running around playing what looked like tag with some of the kids from the group dinner they had. The other half of the kids were sitting at the picnic table and talking amongst themselves while waving their wands around, most likely practicing magic.
Harry and his Gryffindors happily joined them and spent a good few hours just enjoying company and acting like children.
When the sun started to set, they had to go, and Harry said goodbye to Hallow before joining the First-year group on their way into the castle.
“Harry, I saw your gift, good job. We will figure out what to use it for later okay?” Cecilia said to him with a careful smile.
Ah, Peter.
“Okay.” Harry answered instead.
That weekend Harry made his way to Cecilia’s study bright and early and wasn’t surprised when Cecilia was already there, leaving one Vivarium for the next. She waved him over and together they tended to the animals. Making sure each beast was fed and brushed.
Harry also watched as Cecilia made a connection with each creature and was allowed to take small parts of them like feathers, fur, horns, or hair. All items which she carefully put away and thanked them.
Once they were done, both made their way to the open area where Rigel had at some point entered and was scribbling away on the parchment.
The two death Shadows stood still in the middle of the room where Harry left them.
“What do we do with peter?” Harry asked
“Honestly, you have some options. You could send him to the ministry anonymously. If you want Padfoot and Moony to have a say in this, you could send him to them also anonymously. Or my personal favorite, keep him here and do whatever you want with him. But like I said, it is all your choice.” Cecilia said nonchalantly as she watered her plants.
“I want him to pay for everything he took from me in my previous life. He has managed to get away with so much without the consequences. Made Uncle Sirius Suffer so much.”
He wanted more than anything to be the one to teach Peter not to ever mess with his family. Does that make Harry just as bad? For wanting to hurt Peter, the way Peter hurt him? Logically it might be better to send him to the ministry so they can put him on trial and sentence him to Azkaban, but why did that seem like it wasn’t enough?
As Harry thought Cecilia came close and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder. Her face was full of understanding.
“There is no judgement between the three of us Harry, I know exactly how cruel betrayal is, and I am sure Rigel can connect with your thirst for revenge. If anything, we could take care of this problem ourselves as quietly as you want.” She said softly as Rigel looked up from his work and sent Harry a nod of acceptance.
“It doesn’t mean you're a bad person; it makes you human.” Rigel said from across the room.
“We can take care of him today if you want.” Cecilia said, raising her arm halfway up.
“Not now.” Harry said, shaking. This was too much.
Cecilia nodded with a smile. “Do you instead want to help me make some protective charms on clothes?”
“Sure.”
They spent practically all day in Cecilia's study. Harry learned with Cecilia how to weave the animal parts they collected into their robes and add protective charms and spells onto their clothes.
At some point they did another circle around the Vivarium's and Max let Harry ride him for a bit. Cecilia also went over the incantations and other such things that Harry would have to do to become an Animagus.
They asked Deek to bring them food during appropriate times and at some point, Cecilia sat with Rigel to work on his side project while Harry dueled one of his death shadows.
When the sun had long set, and curfew was nearing did they start cleaning up and said goodbye to the ROR. As they walked, they promised every Saturday would be a good idea to do this over again and finally parted ways.
Harry made it to the Gryffindor dormitories and waved at his friends before excusing himself and getting ready for bed. As soon as he was under the covers, he barely had time to occlude when sleep overtook him.
The next morning, he woke up early like normal feeling much more refreshed and relaxed. He did all he needed and got dressed for the day. When he made his way downstairs, he once again saw that the only two first year lions awake were Hermione and Alice.
Alice and Harry exchanged tired smiles and good mornings.
“Harry?” Hermione called while looking at the floor and scuffing her shoes on the floor.
“Yes?”
“Never mind.” She said instead and quickly left the Common room.
Harry sighed and Alice sent him a shrug. Together they followed Hermione and made their way to the Great Hall for some breakfast. As soon as Harry sat down and started filling his plate a voice called out from behind him.
“Mr. Potter, Good morning.” Severus said with a straight face.
Harry put down his utensils and turned to face Severus fully, sending him a bright smile. “Good morning, Professor!”
The corners of Severus’ mouth turned up for a second before he continued. “I am going to request you see me today in my office to discuss any and all assignments you have acquired during this week of classes as soon as you finish with your breakfast.” Once he received an affirmed hum from Harry, he nodded his head slightly and made his way towards the Ravenclaw tables to probably tell Cecilia the same thing.
“You really weren't kidding when you said Professor Snape is your dad huh?” Alice whispered to him.
Harry gave her a broad smile and proceeded to dig into his breakfast. By the time he finished he excused himself from the table and sent a wave of apology to Neville and Ron who had just entered.
Making his way to the Potions class in the Dungeons was a quiet journey this early. Few Slytherins took the route he was heading in because of the number of ghosts. Speaking of ghosts.
Harry noticed the unusually low number of ghosts, and those that were around stuck to the wall and out of his way. One of the ghosts in particular, a woman with a thin frame and a tattered dress, was openly staring at him. She was clutching her hands over her transparent chest where her shadowy heart was beating rapidly.
Harry raised an eyebrow, “Can I help you?”
The ghost looked at him in alarm and looked like she might flee before steeling herself. “How are you today, young Master?”
Young Master?
“Um, I am okay?” Harry watched as she nervously twiddled with her skirt.
The ghosts weren’t normally this weird, were they? It wouldn’t be surprising to find out that they knew he was the master of death while being dead themselves.
The woman tensed and seemed to reconsider whatever was in her head before blurting out. “Can you help me pass on Master?”
Harry blinked. Twice.
“Huh?”
The ghost went back to twirling her tattered skirt in her hands. “I wish to move on. I have been a spirit for hundreds of years. I no longer want to be here in this castle having to see my cheater husband's face every day. Being angry every day. I only want the peace that my death couldn’t grant me. Young master please, put me to rest.”
Just then a man with his head in his hands also stepped forward. “I as well would like to be put to rest young lord.”
Many of the ghosts in the corridor slowly nodded and stepped towards Harry.
Shit.
“I am sorry, but this will have to wait. I must meet someone right now.” Harry said quickly, putting a hand up to stop the ghosts from coming any further. “I will look into your problems and try my best to help.”
Once he said that the ghosts slowly moved out of his way, and he walked past them as quickly but as politely as he could. Once he saw the potions classroom, he all but ran the rest of the way there. He opened the door and made his way to the office, where he found the door already open, and Severus bent over a simmering cauldron.
Severus looked up slightly and gestured to the table in the middle of the room. “Sit down and take out your schoolwork. Let me know if you are in need of help.”
Harry sat down and started pulling out his things from his bag, slowly opening the books and unrolling the parchments.
He could not focus.
Can he truly make ghosts pass on? What are ghosts even here for exactly? In the muggle world it is something like still having something to do like Professor Binns. Other stories tell things like revenge or remorse could keep a soul trapped in the land of the living.
“What is on your mind Harry?” Severus voice interrupted Harry’s thoughts. Severus did not look up from his potion, in fact he had his back to Harry.
“Er, it’s not about my schoolwork.” Harry said cautiously. The last thing he needed was his dad getting mad at him over his lack of interest in homework.
“Sorry I am late!” Cecilia said as she entered the office, face flushed and out of breath. “I ran as fast as I could.”
“Sit, you silly child.” Severus finally lowered the heat of his potion and turned to look at them both. “I am going to make this a weekly thing, every Sunday morning after breakfast I want you both here to review your lessons and homework. Afterwards you will be free for the rest of the day.”
“You are the silly one daddy. If you just want to spend time with us all you need to do is ask.” Cecilia responded as she took out some parchments and slid them to Severus. “I’m finished with my homework; can you look over them for me?”
Severus transfigured a third chair and sat, taking the papers that were offered. As he goes through them Cecilia turns to Harry, “A little birdie told me that the whole school knows that you are my brother.”
“Yea, I might have told my friends in the common room last night.” Harry replied and passed her some parchment. “They couldn’t believe it.”
“Yea well, better to say it now than have it become a bigger scandal in the future I guess.” Cecilia took the paper and started folding odd lines on them. “Besides, I was getting tired of people saying that we are close only because I had a crush on you.”
“Oh god, Ron asked the same thing!” Harry said and laughed a little. “I don’t think I could bring myself to like anyone like that right now anyway.”
“Good, you are too young to be considering a relationship. They mostly bring unwanted drama.” Severus drawled as he started marking Cecilias papers.
“Daddy, you do know that one day me and Harry both are going to grow up one day. Our lives are going to bring so much drama.” Cecilia said as she started ripping the parchment along the lines she made. “Someday we might even find love.”
“I am not saying you should not however I will say no to any relationship either of you bring to my attention until you are both out of Hogwarts.” Severus said with the most serious face that Harry just had to laugh at it.
“What about you dad? Did you not love mum even when you were our age?” Harry teased. Over the years Severus opened more about Lily to Harry and told him all kinds of stories that Harry will hold dear in his heart. Nowadays, they can talk about her easily without Severus shutting down.
Severus turned an unamused stare at him that caused both Harry and Cecilia to break out into giggles.
“Cecilia, I want you to rewrite your charms essay in your own words. I know you copied these lines from the book. However, I am impressed with your understanding of the boil cure potion and your mention of wiggenweld. Good job.”
Cecilia accepted the papers back and started reading the improvement marks on her charms essay.
Harry turned to his own parchment and began writing his own essay about charms and his own opinion on what charms are and how they work.
A few minutes of silence passed when Cecilia spoke up. “Daddy? I have a question.”
Severus looked up from the book he was reading. “Yes?”
Cecilia looked at Harry nervously before speaking. “What would you do if I have been hiding a secret the entire time I have known you? Would you hate me?”
What the fuck?
Harry looked at Cecilia in horror.
What the fuck was she doing?
Severus closed his book and fixed Cecilia with a hard stare. “I don’t think I could hate you even if I tried. But I would be very angry if you deceived me in any way. No one likes to be betrayed.” he paused, hesitating, before continuing. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
She better not.
Cecilia didn't look at him.
“I uh-” she then instead put her hand on the table, palm up. “Let me see your hand.”
Severus placed a hand on top of hers and she moved it, so it was also palm up on hers. She then placed a folded piece of origami into his hand and made him close his fingers over it. She then placed her other hand over his closed fingers and closed her eyes.
Both Harry and Severus were staring at her for a moment, then Severus jolted and looked to their combined hands in surprise. When she let go Severus opened his hand to reveal a small butterfly, completely black. It fluttered a bit before settling again on Severus’ still open palm.
“How...” Severus started but just trailed off.
“I don’t know.” A lie. “I have been able to do these things since the obscurial incident.” A half lie. “I don’t understand it, nor can I fully control it.” The truth.
Harry still stared at her in disbelief. Their deepest guarded secret, and she is sharing half-truths with someone who wouldn’t understand at all. When Cecilia turned to finally face Harry her face was full of worry and her eyes held an apology Harry wasn’t sure he could accept.
And Severus? How is he reacting?
Harry turned slow and risked a glance at Severus, only for his face to be completely unreadable. He stared at the gentle butterfly in silence.
He is angry, he must be.
As Harry felt anxiety pay him an unwelcome visit, Cecilia once again spoke up.
“Daddy?”
Severus looked at her. “Yes?”
“Um, what do I...? Do you think...? Are you mad?”
“No, I am not. This is a form of transfiguration, isn’t it? Or transmutation? Highly advanced magic.”
“It isn't transfiguration, Daddy. I don’t need something first to create things.” Cecilia said as she then cupped her hand and white wisps of magic gathered in her hand briefly before another butterfly, red and gold this time, fluttered out and landed next to the black one on Severus’ hand.
“See? And they are real, they live.” Cecilia said the last part cautiously and watched Severus’ reaction.
Severus was once again speechless, and Harry wanted to choke Cecilia.
What the fuck was she doing!
Severus was mad.
He will find out that they lied to him.
He is going to be mad that Harry lied.
There was no way out of this.
What if he kicks them out?
What if he decides Harry is no longer good enough?
He could lose the only father figure that cared.
He couldn’t breathe.
He was not ready for this.
HE IS NOT READY.
The room was spinning, and it was too loud in his head.
He just wanted it to stop.
There was suddenly darkness surrounding him and a gentle firmness pressed against his face. Someone was rubbing his back, and then tapping it three times, before continuing.
He knew what this was.
He focused on the beating heart of his dad under his ear.
Gulping in air and relaxing in the embrace.
How embarrassing.
“I can attempt to help you learn more of your abilities, however, keep this information secret. Not even your friends can know about what you can do. We shall start with controlling basic magic first.”
“Ok Daddy. Is Harry gonna be alright?”
Three gentle taps on his back and Harry pressed himself further into Severus.
“He will be fine.”
“That is good, what do you plan to do today?”
“I have a teacher meeting this afternoon. After you are finished with that essay you may leave and have fun for the day.”
“Ok, is it alright if I explore the castle more?”
“I don’t see why not.”
Silence except the scratching of quill on paper.
Right as Harry is about to pull away and tell his dad he is okay he hears a chair scrapping back and Cecilia saying that she is done. Harry stays still while she packs her bag and gives Severus a kiss on the cheek while whispering an ‘I love you daddy, bye.’ before leaving and closing the door behind her.
Severus unwraps his cloak from around Harry and Harry fully sits up to look at him.
“How are you feeling?” Severus asked, face unreadable but voice gentle.
Harry shrugged.
“I would like an answer.” Severus said while raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know.” Harry replied.
It was the truth.
Harry doesn’t understand why he felt so uncomfortable. Or why he felt somewhat betrayed by Cecilia.
Severus let out a sigh and moved to set Harry down on the chair next to him.
“You had an anxiety attack. I want you to know that you can tell me anything. I will do my best to help you and I will never treat you the way your uncle and aunt have.” Severus said gently as he held Harry’s gaze.
Tears pricked his eyes.
Why was this so hard?
Harry could only shake his head.
Severus stood and walked across the room and came back with a potion, offering it to Harry. “This is a calming drought.”
Harry took it with shaky hands and drank it in one gulp. Instantly his muscles relax, and he sinks into the chair more.
“Is there something you want to discuss with me as well?” Severus asked, taking the empty veil back and vanishing it.
No.
But the look on Severus face says that he knows and despite his relaxed body he can’t help but worry again.
“Help me with my homework? Please?”
“Of course.”
Half an hour later Harry walked out of the potions classroom with his homework finished and immediately made his way to the seventh-floor corridor.
Once he entered the ROR, he found Cecilia with Rigel bent over the table and whispering amongst themselves.
Anger bubbled in his chest, and he threw his bag at them.
“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT CECI?!”
Both Cecilia and Rigel turned to him, Rigel was surprised but Cecilia looked like she expected it.
“Are you feeling better now?” She asked as she picked up his bag and put it on the table.
“NO.” Harry yelled and stomped his way over there. “Why would you do that?”
Cecilia frowned and peacefully held out her hands. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Lately I have been thinking that we need help, and who better than someone who understands magic like Dad?”
“You told him?” Rigel asked
“YES.” Harry yelled at the same time as Cecilia said “No.”
Harry jabbed a finger at her chest. “You practically told him everything.”
“Please, I only told him about my creation ability. I DO hope he figures out the rest or asks questions himself. I do not want to keep lying to him. I trust dad. I know that he will be on our side and help us.”
“You don’t know that.” Harry growled.
“Why is it so hard for you to trust him? To trust me?” Cecilia shot back.
“My mother knows.” Rigel said nonchalantly.
Both Harry and Cecilia turned to him then, surprised.
“What?”
“After that asshole died, and we were discharged from the hospital. She asked me what was really going on and I told her the whole truth. She knows.” Rigel said again with a shrug.
“How did she react?” Cecilia asked
Rigel shrugged. “I mean she hugged me and cried. I think she was sorry that I had to go through that on my own. She lets me practice magic with her. She is also grateful to you both for putting an end to the nightmare time loop I created.”
“See Harry, there is nothing wrong in telling an adult! I am tired of pretending. Dad is not the same person you once knew.” Cecilia turned to Harry and looked at him desperately.
The thing is...
“I am not ready." Harry whispered.
Cecilia closed the distance between them and hugged him. “I am not trying to force you; I am sorry if you felt that way. I will not mention anything that you are uncomfortable with, but this ancient magic is getting harder to control. It's like electricity running through my body begging to be released. It's getting to the point of painful. I have no outlet.”
Guilt ate at Harry’s stomach, and he hugged her back. “I didn’t know, why didn’t you tell me?”
“You were worried about Peter. I didn’t want to put more on your plate.”
Harry glanced at the death shadows that still stood in the corner with the bag in hand.
Damn it.
His shadow alone held hundreds of other death shadows, and he constantly practices with the sword. Rigel just said that his mother lets him practice and a time stop is barely noticeable if nothing drastic changes. Cecilia doesn’t get the same outlet for her magic.
There must be some way to help her. Something to pass her magic onto.
Pass?
“Holy shit the ghosts.” Harry pulled Cecilia away for a moment and stared at her. “What do you know about ghosts passing on?”
“Huh?”
“I read up on them after what you two said the last time. Ghosts are Wizards that die with a strong attachment to a place or simply have something left to do. If I am not mistaken, a ghost is just an echo of what that person once was.” Rigel answered instead.
“Okay, but how does a ghost pass on?” Harry asked once more.
Rigel shrugged. “As far as I know, they disappear if you exorcise one. Although ghosts in general don't really stay in one place.”
“Why are you asking Harry?” Cecilia questioned.
“Some ghosts asked me to help them move on. Whatever that means. Do you have an idea?”
Cecilia frowned as she thought. “It could be. Ghosts aren't exactly souls. Maybe we can ask one of them to meet up and experiment? Like a trial of sorts?”
Harry shrugged this time. “It was weird. So, what are you working on?” Harry changed the topic and pointed to a parchment that had a sketch of something or another on the desk.
“Oh! Rigel calls it a cellular device. Some kind of muggle communicator that can interact with magic!” Cecilia said, happily switching topics.
“It's a mobile phone.” Rigel said exasperated. “Sometimes I forget you really aren’t from this era.”
“Wait, like a real phone? You are going to build one?” Harry asked, picking up the paper. It looked nothing like the phone that he remembered Aunt Petunia had in the living room, nor did it look like that big block that Uncle Vernon carried to work.
The design of the phone looked, in one word, flat. There were no buttons, and it resembled more a rectangular mirror. In fact, there were mirrors on the table. Maybe Rigel is going to do something with them?
“Yes, I plan to make a portable, wireless communication device. Hopefully it would allow us to make and receive calls, send messages, and hopefully even access the internet. Of course, the biggest hurdle will be allowing this piece of muggle technology to work with magic. I am thinking a mix of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.” Rigel explained.
That sounded like a huge project. “You sound like you have it all planned out.”
“More or less. I gotta create the cell phone and then figure out how to use it without it backfiring when in use. It will take a lot of trial and error to find the right combination of magic and technology to get it to work. Who knows when it will be ready to use.” Rigel took the parchment from Harry. “Besides, you and Ceci have your own projects to worry about.”
“And I know the perfect ghost to ask!” Cecilia said clapping her hands together. “C’mon, we must go to the owlery!”
Rigel waves them off as Harry and Cecilia leave the room and start the long walk towards the Owlery.
“Do you know the room of lost things?” Cecilia asked as they crossed the transfiguration courtyard.
Harry nodded yes, “We burned it.”
Cecilia gasped and clung on to him. “What?” she asked, horror on her face.
Oh, if he burned the room, he might have ruined her study and killed all the creatures living there. “I am sorry, someone cast a fiendfyre in there and it destroyed everything.”
Cecilia swallowed heavily. “I won’t let that happen again.”
Harry only nodded. There were a lot of mistakes that he wouldn't be making again too.
“Anyway, I plan to look through the room of lost things. I bet there are a lot of things that we can sell or even use. We could use a little pocket change ourselves, so we don’t draw attention from Daddy or Uncle Sirius when we need something kind of pricey.” She said and opened the door to the North Hall.
“Thats not a bad idea, but how would we even sell the stuff while we are stuck in school? We would need to open an account at Gringotts and find someone to sell the stuff to.” Harry countered and side stepped a roaming cat.
“That could happen later, I am sure if we ask Deek for help he would. Besides, we need to organize the room first. Think of all the treasure that awaits us there.”
“And the danger. There are some dangerous stuffs that need to be destroyed if we do that.”
“Sure, however I still think even the most dangerous items can be sold nicely to the right people, or who knows, maybe we might even need them.”
“I highly doubt that.” The vanishing cabinet and the horcrux need to go, no questions asked.
Cecilia sighed and rolled her eyes at him.
As they neared the doors leading to the grounds outside, they witnessed Peeves taking the books out of a first year Ravenclaw boy and throwing it up into the air, ripping the book apart and shrieking in delight while the boy desperately tried to get him to stop.
Cecilia aimed a basic spell at Peeves and gained his attention. “Back off Peeves.” she yelled and stepped closer. There were few students around. In fact, most of the upper years were at Hogsmeade, and the only other group nearby were some first year Slytherins.
Peeves turned to Cecilia and smiled at her widely. “Well, if it isn’t another icky firstie coming to save the day, what will you do? Oh, what can you possibly do?”
“You are a poltergeist, a manifestation of the childish energy of the students in this school. And yet somehow you manage to be a bully more than anything. You are a poor excuse of a poltergeist.” Cecilia said.
Peeves face turned an ugly purple color, and he leaned down closer to Cecilia before speaking. “You will regret saying that. I will make sure your days here will no longer be pleasant.” Peeves growled.
Cecilia only smiled. “Idiot.” she said and stuck her arm, with the wand and all, into his stomach.
For a second, nothing happened. And then Peeves let out a screech that shook the walls. Harry watched as the once colorful poltergeist changed shape. At first, he blew up like a balloon and his screech got higher in pitch before eventually exploding in a golden light.
Harry heard multiple things hit the ground in wet thumps after that, and he looked around to see multicolored gooey balls, surrounding the hall of bell tower.
“What the hell...?” Harry let out as Cecilia scooped up the nearest ball. It was pink in color and bulged a little through her fingers. She rubbed a finger along its side and the oddest thing happened.
The goo laughed.