Harry woke up with a sinking feeling in his belly. Something was going wrong today. He just knew it. Hoping it wasn’t another scheme of Old Mouldy-face he got up and went to the bathroom. He didn’t see anything wrong in the mirror there, and after checking his bathroom supplies for Weasley pranks, he got ready for the day. Meeting Hermione and Ron in the common-room, the 3 of them walked down to breakfast.
“What’s wrong Harry?” Hermione questioned as they walked down the stairs.
“Nothing.”
“C’mon mate. Something is obviously wrong.”
“Nothing is wrong Ron.” Harry snapped. “Just, leave it.”
Turning to Ron, Hermione whispered, “If he wants us to leave it something is up.”
“I know, the question is what.”
“Nothing is wrong! I promise okay, now stop asking!” Harry retorted.
“And stop whispering to each other behind my back. Especially when I can still hear you both.”
Arriving at the Great Hall, the trio walked in, seeing that the tables were nearly full already despite it being early on a Saturday. That just made Harry’s bad feeling worse. He knew something was coming.
To everyone else, it was a typical day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when an unusually loud explosion echoed through the castle from the Great Hall. Students and teachers alike turned towards the source of the commotion, only to find the Gryffindor table engulfed in smoke.
“Finite” Professor Flitwick called from the top, causing the smoke to disappear. At first everything seemed normal, apart from the Gryffindors all having Green and Silver hair. Thinking it was a prank everyone started to turn away, when Neville asked:
“Where has Harry gone?”
Everyone froze, disappearing people don’t happen from a hair colour prank. Looking around, no one sees him, when he suddenly popped up out the floor behind Professor Snape.
“BOO!” He called, causing the Professor to jump out of his skin.
There was Harry Potter, looking rather transparent and smiling more than anyone. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew it would be fun. Maybe his marauders heritage was finally coming into play.
"Harry, my boy, are you alright?" Professor McGonagall asked, her stern expression quickly turning into one of concern.
Harry blinked, trying to comprehend his current state. "I, uh, I think so. Scaring Snape was hilarious anyway. I need to know what spell allowed me to teleport.”
Everyone stayed quiet. Staring at him they wait for him to realise.
“Wait… Why are you all looking at me like that.” Harry questioned.
“Harry, it appears you have turned into a ghost.” Professor Sprout whispered, shocked.
Harry examined his hands, watching as they passed through each other. "Well, this is new."
“NEW?!” Professor McGonnagal shouted. “This is unprecedented! We need to get you to Poppy.”
Walking towards the young teen, she goes to grab his arm, but goes straight through him. Harry disappeared in dispersion due to being walked through. Everyone froze until he popped out of the Ravenclaw table and grabbed an apple, throwing it between his hands.
“I guess no one should touch me, huh?”
“To the hospital wing, pronto.” McGonagall said in response.
Harry, deciding to take advantage of what he believed was a gift to him, saluted and flew up into the ceiling. Popping through the wall of the hospital wing a second later, he yelled for Poppy.
“What have you done now Potter?” She said as she walked out of her office carrying a teacup. Looking up, she drops that very same cup.
“I am a ghost.”
“You do not say. Right, into bed with you, chop chop.”
Floating to his normal bed, Harry smirked. “Under covers or on top?”
“Do not be stupid Potter, you know ghosts cannot touch things, just lie down the best you can for me.”
Very pointedly, Harry grabs the cover of the bed and slides underneath.
“You were saying?” He jokes.
“You can never do things by half can you?” Poppy grouches. Grabbing her wand, she tries to perform a diagnostic spell, not expecting anything. Surprisingly, the spell works, but it doesn’t say anything out of the ordinary.
Performing all the tests she could think of, Poppy was getting more and more perplexed, and Harry more and more despondent. Eventually, after a good few hours had passed and still not a word had been spoken, Harry decided to call it quits.
“There is nothing wrong, is there?”
“Do not say that when you are a ghost right now Potter.”
“Fine, but you do not know how to change me back, do you?”
Taking a deep breath, Poppy slowly and sadly shook her head.
“I am sorry Potter. Maybe Severus will be able to figure it out by looking at the potion that was used?”
“I will not be holding my breath.”
“I would not expect you to.” Poppy joked back. “What are you going to do?”
“What my dad and his friends would do, cause chaos.”
—-
The next morning, as Professor Binns droned on about the Goblin Wars, the classroom door creaked open, and Harry Potter's transparent figure glided in.
"Mr. Potter, this is a History of Magic class, not a ghost party," Binns grumbled, unfazed.
Harry grinned mischievously. "Sorry, Professor, just wanted to see if ghosts have a better time here."
“Out!” Binns yelled, in the first instance of his voice going above a drone in years.
Harry, floating around the corridors, saw Luna walking around barefoot in the snow. Taking hold of the other girl by her robes, Harry flies Luna around the grounds before taking her to her COMC lesson.
“Thank you Harry.”
“You are welcome, my fair lady.” He says, taking a bow.
“You have less wrackspurts right now, it is good to see.” Luna replies.
“And you have a dingslip on your shoulder.”
“Do I? How exciting.” she murmured before walking towards her class.
Shaking his head, Harry continues on his way. He never realised how boring it was to be a ghost, and he was not even a proper one!
Coming across his classmates heading to Herbology, he thought it would be time for some fun. Making sure he was hidden, he followed them into Greenhouse 1, glad that they were just doing simple work today rather than being in Greenhouse 2 where he would feel unsafe pulling pranks.
“Today class, you will be repotting these singing Sunflowers. Please be careful with your earmuffs, can anyone tell me why?”
Hermione’s hand shot in the air, along with a few others hands which slowly rose a second later, but wanting to cause chaos Harry sung.
“They can burst your eardrums.” In a really high pitched tone.
“Peeves. Leave us in this lesson please.” Professor Sprout said before turning back to the class.
“Despite the interruption, he was correct. So please take care when repotting them. Everyone ready? Let us enter the other room then.”
Following along, Harry tried not to snicker to himself. This will be fun. The sunflowers were not big enough to actually sing so high that eardrums would burst, so he knew he could make a bit of marauder magic.
Grabbing a handful of soil, he goes to throw it at Hermione. Only, she knew what he was doing when she saw the floating soil and turned it back onto him. Humiliated. Harry fled.
Due to his disaster at pranks, Harry decided a bit of fun was in order. It was a moonlit night at Hogwarts, and the castle lay in peaceful slumber. However, the calm was about to be shattered by the mischievous spirit of Harry Potter. Hovering near the entrance hall, he planned a grand prank that would leave the entire school in awe.
With a wave of his ghostly hand, Harry conjured a spectral carnival right in the heart of Hogwarts. Ferris wheels made of translucent mist, ghostly roller coasters, and ethereal cotton candy stands materialised out of thin air. The air was filled with the haunting melody of ghostly calliope music.
As the clock struck 10pm, eerie carnival music started to play from every corner of the castle. Students jumped in surprise, teachers froze in their rounds of the corridors, ghosts floated up from the dungeon. No one could find where it was coming from. Walking out of their common rooms, everyone began to wander the castle in groups. To scare people, Harry slowly had his carnival move around the castle, making sure to never be in anyone’s line of sight but always in the corner of their eyes. People felt they were going insane. Hearing and seeing things that are not actually there. The shadows moved everyone to the Great Hall.
The sight that awaited them left the Hogwarts community in disbelief. Transparent rides moved through the air, and ghostly figures danced to the ethereal music. The smell of magical cotton candy wafted through the corridors, tempting even the most sceptical students. It was as if an actual carnival was in the room with them, but only for the ghosts to interact with.
Professors finally descended upon the scene as they shook off their stupor, some with stern expressions, others with amused curiosity. Deputy Headmistress McGonagall walked slowly forward, her stern features momentarily replaced by a look of bewilderment. Her hand reached out to touch the ferris wheel in front of her. Feeling the hard metal in front of her, she was shocked.
“Can we actually interact with this?” She murmured to herself. One of the dancers broke away from the group in response, and took her hand to swirl her around. Realising what this meant, children rushed forward to go on the rides and eat the smoky treats.
Amidst the swirling mist and ghostly apparitions, Harry floated above the spectacle, invisible yet enjoying the chaos he had unleashed.
"Potter!" Professor Snape's voice cut through the ghostly carnival, breaking the daze and the joy. "Explain this at once!"
But Harry remained invisible. The ghostly carnival continued its magical display. Eventually, as the night waned, and the clock struck midnight, the ghostly carnival began to fade away. Rides dissipated into mist, and the calliope music faded into the air. Harry emerged from his invisible hiding space, and took a bow to the tremendous applause of the other students.
“Thank you all, sleep well and I will see you all tomorrow.” Harry stated before vanishing.
—
The next morning, Harry decides that pranking people is not using his full potential. He goes to the entrance hall, and opens up a shop. It is a shop for mythical creatures, for them to have a sit down with him and drink tea whilst Harry tries to fix all their problems.
Unsurprisingly, Dobby is the first shopper. As soon as the shop opened, Dobby was there holding a teacup and waiting.
Smiling at the small elf, Harry spoke. “Welcome to Harry’s Handy Hypermarket, what can I do for you today?”
“I would like more socks, Mister Harry Potter Sir!” Dobby squeaked.
“Of course Dobby, take a seat, would you like any tea?”
“That would be lovely Harry Potter Sir.”
Whilst Dobby takes a seat, Harry pours them both some tea. Taking a seat, Harry asks Dobby questions; about his life, his day, how work was going. Typical small talk. But it helped. When Harry finally waved his hand and created a pile of mismatched socks for Dobby, he felt so much better, and went skipping out of the store.
Looking over his counter, Harry saw that Bane was actually his next customer.
“Come in, Bane. Welcome to Harry’s Handy Hypermarket. What can I do for you today?”
Trotting forward, Bane ducked before walking into the tea shop. Despite it being in the Great Hall, despite being inside, it was actually a very homely place. Couches were dotted around, there was a lovely fireplace roaring away in the corner, soft music being played from a radio, a table laden with biscuits and chocolates in the centre along with some tea and mugs. It felt like a good place to relax.
“I need some more protection for me and my people. Ever since you came, there has been turbulence everywhere and the creatures in the magical forest turn on each other. We have had to protect our people more than I would like. I need more protection. More tools, studier homes. I need my people to be safe.”
Harry solemnly nodded before passing the teacup with a relaxing herbal concoction to the centaur in front of him.
“I apologise that the stairs have been causing you difficulty. I do not know how much I can help, as I cannot leave the school, however, I will see what I can do.”
“That is all I ask.”
“Now Bane, tell me about Áine. How is your beautiful wife doing?”
The older male was off, his wife and darling family was one thing he could speak about for hours. Whilst he was talking, Harry was using his new shadow magic to cast spells over the forest, to allow for relaxation and to protect its members from each other and from outside sources. Once the tea was finished, Bane nodded at the teen.
“Thank you for your help Mister Potter. I wish you luck in your endeavours.”
Following the centaur out, Harry waved slightly at the back.
When suddenly his head hurt. Turning to his counter, he saw why. A dementor was there.
“Hello, welcome to Harry’s Handy Hypermarket. Please come in. I must ask that you wait to feed until you are far away from the school and it’s surrounding land. Please do turn off the emotional drain like I know you can, otherwise you will have to leave before our conversation is finished.”
Lifting her arm, The dementor flicks the visible switch on the inside of her elbow before turning to Harry and floating towards him.
“Thank you, after you.” He says opening the door.
The students in the Great Hall were frozen. Not sure what was going on, and never seeing a dementor act like that, plus questioning the long queue of mythical beings that were waiting down the entrance stairs. No one knew what to say or do.
“Off to class please students, ignore the tea business happening, it is quite alright. No one ever said it is easy, but I have every faith in you all and in Hogwarts. Go about your learning please.” Dumbledore yelled from his ornate pedestal.
The day wore on, Harry saw creature after creature, drank cup of tea after cup of tea, helping everyone he could with their problems. That evening, he felt a new sense of purpose. He knew what he needed to do with his life, he knew how to help and win the war. Lying down on the bed in the hospital wing, Harry felt whole.
Waking up, Harry realised he was back. Back as a human, back able to interact, back at lessons. But he had a new purpose, to be a therapist for the magical world. Help everyone and save magic. Oh and surprise everyone as he goes.