Harry stood with Hermione on the threshold, as the organ of the Friary Church rang out in a tune that Harry felt he should know, given how the gathered parishioners reacted. They seemed to know it well, few of them needing to look down at the books, most not even bothering to open their hymnals. The choir seemed to only have them open as a matter of habit.
"A mighty Fortress is our God,
A Bulwark never failing;
Our Helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
After a single verse, they went silent, and the priest stood in front of the young couple. Harry looked down at baby Jimmy in Hermione's arms, who appeared to be just waking. He could not stop himself from smiling at his son's yawn.
"Good Morning!" Father Ed said joyously, his hands outstretched.
"Good Morning, Father," the parishioners responded with a lot less enthusiasm. It was, after all, the first Mass of the day, and some of them had barely managed to wake up to get to church on time. Indeed, there was a score of them standing behind Harry and Hermione waiting to be allowed to enter with the procession.
"We gather today in this church to welcome not only those dedicated souls who managed to get up this early, and any visitors among us, but welcome a new child to the Lord. It is with great joy that this gift of God, a child, born to this young couple, Harry and Hermione, is brought before us to be welcomed into God's Church, to be brought into eternal salvation. For the Lord, the source of everlasting life, will bestow his own life to this baby boy."
Father Ed then turned to look at Harry and his family as they stood just behind the threshold of the sanctuary. "Harry, Hermione, what name have you given your child?"
"Jimmy Anthony," Hermione said in a soft voice, that still echoed in the sanctuary.
"And what do you ask of God's Church for Jimmy Anthony?"
There were many possible responses for this. The simplest was the plain statement of the name of the sacrament. Hermione had favored the simple entrance into the Church. Harry, however, had his own answer, one that he'd discussed with Father Ed before. It had been a long discussion, and several times he'd thought about something different, but in the end, it came down to something that Harry had little of in his life, until Hogwarts. "The love of God."
"You have asked to have your child have the love of God, through the sacrament of baptism. In doing so, you are accepting the responsibility of training him in the practice of the faith. It will be your duty to bring him up to keep God's commandments as Christ taught us, by loving God and our neighbor. Do you clearly understand what you are undertaking?
"We do," Harry and Hermione replied in perfect unison. They looked briefly at each other. They'd never managed that before. Father Ed had them step forward, into the sanctuary.
"And you, Percy Weasley and Minerva McGonagall, as godparents, are you ready to help the parents of this child in their duty as Christian parents?"
Harry and Hermione had spent hours deciding who would be their son's godparents. Choosing their head of house for godmother had been easy. Choosing a godfather, however; that had been hard. Hermione had suggested the Headmaster, but Harry wasn't comfortable with that choice. Harry didn't have a lot of older males that he trusted. Hermione thought it had to do with his Uncle Vernon, but Harry wasn't so sure. In the end, Percy had floated to the top of the list, and Harry wasn't quite sure why, but it felt right.
"We do," Percy and McGonagall replied.
"Jimmy Anthony, the Christian community welcomes you with great joy. In its name I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of his cross. I now trace the cross on your forehead, and invite your parents and godparents to do the same."
As soon as Father Ed finished tracing the sign of the cross, Harry bent over his son and traced a cross over his son's forehead, in much the same place as the scar rested on his. Hermione shifted Jimmy just a bit, so she could do the same, before allowing McGonagall and Percy to do the same. He knew that Percy was looking forward to his own babies being born. Penny rested in the first pew, waiting for them, a concession granted to her due to the fact that she was due to have twins sometime in the next two weeks. Harry was surprised that Madam Pomfrey allowed it, and could tell that the school healer was watching Penny closely from the second pew.
The organ once again picked up the tune, and the choir the verses of "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," as the cross began the procession, Harry and Hermione falling into position behind Seamus who as an altar server had been assigned the job of thurifer. The priest was behind them and the godparents. They ended up in the front row, Percy by his seated wife, as Father Ed bowed before the altar.
Harry soon found himself seated beside Hermione, as the lector opened the Lectionary, and began to read. "A reading from the book of Genesis. The Lord appeared to Abraham ..."
Seamus had two to one odds that Father Edwin would end up peed on by Jimmy Potter. He wasn't actually sure that Potter was the proper last name, but that didn't really change the odds. Father Edwin wasn't doing it as full immersion, but even pouring, the water wasn't that warm. Of course, it wouldn't even be a bet if he'd been doing full immersion. Seamus had never seen a baby boy baptized by full immersion who hadn't peed on the priest.
Seamus hadn't intended on being one of the altar servers at the Mass of Baptism for Harry and Hermione's baby boy. He'd been right there when Father Edwin had received word that one of them wasn't going to be coming, and apparently Harry had let the parish priest know that Seamus was an altar server at his school.
The Friary Parish preferred to have its altar servers in choir dress on Sunday Mass. At Saint Columcille's Seamus didn't have to wear it for Lauds, and he wasn't in the Sunday rotation. The Friar at Hogwarts insisted on it. Fortunately the black cassock and white surplice was something that the parish supplied and there was one in his size. It was the first time his surplice hadn't been one with the square neck, which Seamus thought looked better than the round one.
"Is it your will that Jimmy Anthony should be baptized in the faith of the Church, which we have all professed with you?" Father Edwin asked one last time.
"It is," Harry, Hermione, Percy, and Professor McGonagall said.
Then Professor McGonagall took Jimmy from Hermione and carefully held him over the font. Seamus knew that usually it would be the mother holding the baby, but Hermione was way too nervous so they'd reverted to an older tradition, still done in some parishes, where the godmother held the baby. Seamus didn't blame Hermione for being nervous, the font was big and deep.
"I baptize you in the name of the Father," Father Edwin began, pouring the first cup of water from the crystal cup over Jimmy's forehead. As the priest filled the cup again, Seamus could see that Jimmy was getting ready to cry.
"And of the Son," Father Edwin said, as Jimmy opened his mouth, letting some of the baptismal water into his mouth. The cry was forestalled as Jimmy swallowed the water, and Father Edwin filled the cup from the font one last time.
"And of the Holy Spirit," Father Edwin said. Moments later, Jimmy peed, right onto Professor McGonagall's dress, in a rather impressive stream for the baby's age.
Seamus picked up the chrismaria, offering it for Father Edwin's use.
"God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has freed you from sin, given you a new birth by water and the Holy Spirit, and welcomed you into his holy people. He now anoints you with the chrism of salvation. As Christ was anointed Priest, Prophet, and King, so may you live always as a member of his body, sharing everlasting life."
"Amen"
Father Edwin then applied the chrism on the crown of Jimmy's head, leaving the boy's sparse hair oilier than Professor Snape's in Seamus's judgement. Seamus returned the chrismaria to the ambry, as his fellow altar server, Erin, handed Father Edwin the white garment. By tradition the garment was provided by the family. In some families, it was handed down.
Seamus had been there when Professor McGonagall had delivered the simple white garment that had once clothed both Harry and his father. It still looked as good as new. Harry had been in tears after receiving the garment.
"Jimmy Anthony, you have become a new creation, and have clothed yourself in Christ. See in this white garment the outward sign of your Christian dignity. With your family and friends to help you by word and example, bring that dignity unstained into the everlasting life of heaven."
Father Edwin placed the garment on Jimmy, now resting in his mother's arms. It appeared to Seamus that Jimmy didn't want the garment on, at first, as it took some attempts to get the garment over his head without an arm going through the neck. Eventually, it was on, and Father Edwin turned towards the Easter candle.
Father Edwin lowered the candle, and Harry lit his child's candle from it. Then after the Easter candle was back in place, Father Edwin said, "Parents and godparents, this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly. This child of yours has been enlightened by Christ. He is to walk always as a child of the light. May he keep the flame of faith alive in his heart. When the Lord comes, may he go out to meet him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom."