Daddy’s Boy

Discoveries

Harry was doing homework with Hermione, as they had been doing since starting school. They were debating the exact wording of a certain sentence.

"Let's see how it's written in the book," Hermione said. She extended her hand, grabbed the book and opened it in front of them both.

"Have you noticed what you've done?" Harry asked her.

"I've taken the book from my bag," she answered factually, not understanding why he was asking such an obvious question.

"Where's your bag?" he asked.

Hermione looked around. She expected her bag to be on the floor besides her chair, only it wasn't there. Looking around she saw it at the far corner of the room. She frowned with concern. "Why have you moved my bag there?"

"I haven't touched it. You put it there when we came. You wanted to make room for that new construction game."

"Then how have I taken the book?" she wondered loudly.

"By magic!" Harry exclaimed.

"There's no such thing as magic. It's all just camera tricks and sleight of hand, you know," she said indignantly.

"That's what we see on TV," Harry said, "but real wizards and witches do real magic, and you are a witch."

Hermione's eyes watered. "I thought you are my friend! Why do you call me names?"

Harry tried to placate her. "I'm not calling you names. A man who does magic is a wizard and a woman, or a girl, who does magic is a witch. You've clearly done magic, so you're a witch, just as I am a wizard."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, eyes still wet.

Harry hugged her shoulders, the way he always used to hug her when she was upset. "You're my friend and I don't call you names. I've seen you do magic several times already. This is not the first time you brought a book from the other side of the room without even noticing, you know..."

"I did?..."

"And there's the time a passing car sprayed us with dirty water. Your clothes were dry and clean a moment later."

"Well..." She didn't really know what to say. She suddenly remembered he said he was a wizard. "What can you do, that you say you're a wizard?"

Harry swiped his hand over the cluttered desk, making all the books close and stack themselves.

"Wow! That's cool!" she said.

"But I can't bring a book from the other side of the room. Dad says it's called 'accidental magic' and kids can't really control it. He says I'll go to a special school to learn this, one where he and my Mum had studied."

Hermione looked sad. "Then where will I learn it?"

"Why, the same school. My Mum was also muggle-born, that is, her parents were not magical, just like yours."

Hermione became very excited now. "Where is this school? Can we visit there already? Do we need to pass some tests to be accepted?"

Harry smiled at his friend. "Hold it! I know very little about that school. We can go to my house and ask Dad, if you want."

"Sure! Can we go now?"

A few minutes later, a very confused Jean Granger helped the kids cross the street, not understanding why they wanted to go to Potter's residence so urgently.

"Daddy, Daddy, guess what? Hermione is a witch! We can go to Hogwarts together!" Harry burst into James's study.

"Are you sure, Harry? This is not something to take lightly, you know." James was quite reluctant to bring the subject of magic up with anybody outside his family and his closest friends.

"Yes, Daddy. I've seen her doing magic more than once. She usually grabs books which are across the room or on a high shelf without even noticing it."

James looked suspiciously at Hermione, who was trying her best to merge with the door-frame. Her barely tameable hair could be a giveaway, he thought.

"Hermione, I'd like to show you something in that book with the gold trimming. It's about learning magic. Can you bring it to me?" he asked.

The girl seemed to forget her shyness. She quickly stepped towards the wall, where the requested book was lying on a shelf, way too high for her to reach. She put her hand forward and the book shot from its place, landing straight into her hand. "Is this the book you wanted, Mr. Potter?" she asked.

"Yes, dear. Just the right book, and you are certainly a witch. Let's sit on the sofa and I'll tell you a bit more about Magic."

James felt quite comfortable, flanked by Harry on one side and Hermione on the other. It somehow felt right. The book he had asked for was just a spell-book of simple household charms, yet it was a whole new world for the girl. Her eyes sparkled whenever he showed them a new spell and she looked aching to try everything as soon as possible. He let the children read a bit by themselves while he cast a spell to measure their magical cores. He expected Harry to be quite powerful, considering his mother, at least. He wasn't surprised to find his nine-years son more powerful than he had been when he started Hogwarts. He was quite surprised to find that Hermione was just as powerful. He felt a pang in his heart, remembering Lily. This girl seemed to have some very similar qualities.

Watching the children he noticed that both were trying to do the charms although none had a wand. He wasn't surprised much when they tried a summoning charm and both succeeded. He had only mastered that charm on his second year, using his wand. Before too long they were able to perform several more charms wandlessly. James and Liz just watched with amazement what the children were able to do.

When Liz accompanied Hermione back home that evening, she invited the Grangers for dinner on the coming weekend.

This wasn't the first time Jean or Dave entered the Potter residence. It looked similar to any other middle-high-class house, with nice, modern furniture and some antiques added in for the atmosphere, a few original paintings positioned tastefully and a general feeling of comfort and disregard for the price. It was very clean, much cleaner than any house they had visited, without looking sterile. The living room had the usual TV corner and a good music system, while the study from which James handled most of his businesses contained a computer and a fax machine. It was lined with shelves holding many books. She couldn't decipher most of their names. Jean found it fascinating.

After a pleasant and nicely served dinner, the children went to play in Harry's room while the adults lounged in the living room with some background music playing softly.

They sat around the coffee table when James started talking. "Do you know anything about Magic?" he asked his guests.

"There's no such thing," Jean said in an authoritative tone. "There's only camera tricks and sleight of hand, nothing more."

"If you're referring to what we can find on TV or at some fairs, then I completely agree with you," James said, "but do you believe that real Magic exists, not that falsehood that had come to be shown as Magic?"

Jean didn't seem so sure now. Dave thought for a moment before answering. "I think I've heard something when I was still a child. I've overheard my father speaking about his great aunt who was able to do some unexplained stuff. Most of the family considered her weird, but he liked her. She lived to more than a hundred years, yet I was just a baby when she died."

"You've never told me about her," Jean said accusingly.

"It wasn't anything significant. It still isn't, I believe."

"It may be significant," James said. "You see, your daughter may have similar talents."

"What do you mean? I've seen no unusual things with her, except for her unquenchable thirst for knowledge," Jean said.

"Have you ever seen her doing something like this?" James waved his hand towards his study, making a book fly into his hand. He still kept his wand hidden. The Grangers looked astounded. "I've seen her doing this a few days ago and Harry is telling me she's been doing it for quite awhile, although she was not fully aware of it," James added.

It took him some time to tell the Grangers about the magical world and how it coexisted with the mundane. Once they started understanding how it would eventually affect them, he let Hermione show how she could summon a book and Harry showed how he stacked some books. Even Liz pulled out her wand and showed them some household magic.

"At least I know why their house is so clean," Jean told Dave when they were back home.

"I hope Hermione would be happy, whatever she may choose to do," Dave said. Although James didn't tell them about how he had lost his first wife, Dave was smart enough to understand that not everything was well in the magical world. The mere fact that a wizard had chosen to live a mostly mundane way of life was evidence enough.

The Potters came for dinner a week later. After the meal, James took a parchment out of his pocket. "Dave, I've asked the goblins at Gringotts for their ancestry test. This parchment, after you put a few drops of blood on the marked spot, will show you your ancestry for as many generation as would fit in. I believe you have some very distinct ancestors to be proud of."

Dave didn't know what goblins and Gringotts really meant, but he trusted James. "What should I do then?"

"Just prick your finger with something and smear a few drops of blood on the marked spot."

Jean gave her husband a sharp pin which she had disinfected first. A few minutes later they all looked with fascination as Dave's family tree drew itself on the parchment.

Most names were meaningless for the Grangers, except for Dave's close family, yet the tree went about a thousand years back. The tree was color coded, with magical people written in red and blue while non-magicals were pink and azure. Most of the names were non-magical. Yet every few generation there was a magical person. One name, appearing near the top of the tree, surprised James the most.

"You have a very respectable ancestry," he remarked. "I believe you may be the only descendants of Rowena Ravenclaw."

"How significant is that?" Jean asked.

"That Lady was one of the four founders of our school for magic, where all magical children are taught from age eleven to eighteen. The four are considered the most important people in the history of magical Britain, except for Merlin," James explained.

"What can it mean for Hermione?" Dave asked.

"I'm not sure. There are only a handful of descendants of the founders, as far as I know, and most of them don't advertise it. Although they may claim partial possession of Hogwarts, this may attract unwanted attention. I wouldn't even tell her until she's old enough to decide for herself."

James thought a bit more. "There may even be a vault in Gringotts awaiting her, but she will only be able to access it after reaching adulthood. I wouldn't bother until then..."

They all visited the zoo during the Easter vacation. Even the Dursleys joined them, assuming that the zoo would not encourage any "freaky" behaviour. Although in good relations with the Potters, they still feared anything they couldn't understand. The weather was dry but quite cold for the season. The reptile house seemed a good place for taking a respite from the cold. Hermione was fascinated by some of the lizards. The boys seemed to favour the snakes. Harry joined the boys quite reluctantly, and only after Hermione encouraged him to do so, waving her hand in what Harry understood as "Go with them. I'll join you in a moment."

Dudley and his adopted brother seemed to find the biggest snakes most interesting. The Boa Constrictor fascinated them, yet the snake didn't seem in the mood. In fact, it was fast asleep. Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils. He tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge. He then turned to Harry. "Can you make him move?"

He didn't say more, but it was understood that he thought Harry could use some magic to force the snake. Harry didn't think he could. He knew no magic that did this and wouldn't use magic there anyway. "I think it would respond better if we ask it politely," he said.

"How would you ask a snake?" Dudley wondered.

"Like this," Harry said. He turned his face to the snake. "Could you please move a bit, as my cousin here is very interested in seeing your full length," he said to the snake, not expecting this to do any good.

They were all surprised to see the snake open its eyes and uncoil. It was clearly done in response to Harry, as it kept looking at the dark haired boy. "Is that enough?" it asked after showing its full length.

Harry looked at his awe struck cousins, noticing that Hermione had also joined them. "Thank you. I think you've made a big impression on them."

The snake recoiled and closed its eyes, going back to sleep, yet Dudley and Henry were still looking at Harry with open mouths. "What did you say to the snake?" Henry asked.

"Didn't you hear it? I just asked it to move a bit and show its full length for you."

Dudley shook his head. "Whatever you said, it didn't sound like English. You only hissed. Where did you learn to speak this way?"

Harry looked confused. "I've never learned this. I was sure I was speaking normally. Are you sure about this?"

Both boys nodded. Hermione just looked pensive.

"Well, I hope Dad will know. I surely can't explain this."

They were soon joined by the adults, as they moved to look at some other snakes there, but the boys seemed distracted.

Later, at home, Harry told his father about the incident. James listened carefully. "Can you talk that way now? It may help if you imagine the snake just in front of you."

Harry closed his eyes, thinking of that big snake and repeated what he had said earlier, before opening his eyes, seeing James smile at him.

"Well, Harry, you seem to have inherited a very rare talent, that only appears in our family once every few generations. Being so rare and concerning snakes, it is considered as evil by many, but it isn't. My grandfather had this talent and demonstrated it when I was just a kid, but neither my father nor I inherited it. Use it wisely and keep it hidden as much as you can, so you won't attract unwelcome attention."

Harry nodded. This was just another thing to keep secret.

"Can I tell this to Hermione, though? She was present when it happened."

James nodded reluctantly. He would have liked it otherwise, but if the girl was present... He only hoped nobody else would know.