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McGonagall
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Гарри Поттер
Гарри МакГонагалл
Автор:
witowsmp
Профессор МакГонагалл наблюдала за Дурслями весь день и
понимает, что они за люди.
Когда Дамблдор оставляет Гарри на пороге и исчезает, она забирает
его.
ЧЧ
Рейтинг:
Художественная литература K+
- Английский - Юмор - [Гарри П., Гермиона Г.] Минерва М., Падма
П. - Главы: 39 - Слов: 228 437 - Обзоров:
5 734
- Избранное: 9 983 - Подписок: 5 381 - Обновлено:
16.03.2010, 14:48:40
- Опубликовано:
19.09.2006, 09:15:20
- Статус: завершено - id: 3160475
1. Defying Dumbledore
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Author Note: Many people over the years since I first wrote this have
pointed out things in this story that are inconsistent with current known
canon, such as the entrance to Ravenclaw tower. I wish to explain that I
wrote this story before the last book came out (which was also before
Pottermore), and while I've incorporated a few details from that story, as
a policy, I am not changing this story to accommodate the new
information JKR has revealed. (Just the information she revealed about
Professor McGonagall's family would completely change this story.) The
only edits I'll be making in the future will be typographical corrections. If
you can live with that, I hope you enjoy my story.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 1 – Defying Dumbledore
"Good luck, Harry," said Professor Dumbledore as Minerva McGonagall
watched the baby lying outside the door of Number Four Privet Drive.
The aged headmaster turned on his heel, and with a swish of his cloak,
he was gone.
McGonagall knew that she was expected to leave as well. She knew she
was supposed to trust Albus' judgment, but she had watched these
muggles all day, and they were the worst sort of people you could ever
meet. She bent down to touch the baby's hand one last time, and he
started crying. She quickly picked him up and he stopped crying
immediately. She gazed into the infant's eyes that looked so much like his
mother's and sobbed.
"How can that man just dump James' and Lily's child on a doorstep like a
milk bottle when he's never even seen these people?" she muttered to
herself. As images of what she'd observed coupled in her mind with what
Lily had told her about her sister's hatred of magic and refusal to
acknowledge she, James, and Harry as family, Minerva came to a
decision to do something she'd never done before. Defy Albus
Dumbledore. She looked at Harry's little face again and said sternly, "I
will not allow that man to ruin your life!" and disapparated away as
people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their
glasses and saying in hushed voices: 'To Harry Potter – the boy who
lived.'
-HM-HM-HM-
As Minerva walked toward the house pushing a buggy she had conjured,
she knew she had to act quickly if she didn't want the Headmaster to
know she'd taken the child. She'd spent the night in a muggle hotel
considering her options. If she didn't show up at Hogwarts, Albus would
know she'd kidnapped Harry, and she'd be living as a fugitive. If she
brought the baby to Hogwarts, Albus would find out soon enough and
send Harry to the Dursleys, probably firing her in the process. She needed
to find Harry an appropriate home, at least for a few years. She may
eventually disguise and take him in to live with her at Hogwarts,
claiming that he was her nephew or something if necessary, but not for a
few years. She couldn't give him to a wizarding family, because they
would all know who he was. She did agree that the boy didn't need to
grow up famous. There was only one person she could think of. She
hadn't seen him since last Christmas, nearly a year ago, but she'd always
gotten along very well with him, and thought that he and his wife were
wonderful people. She was very glad that the Headmaster had called off
classes in honor of recent events.
She knocked on the door of Number Eight Churchill Drive wearing a
plain muggle dress. The door opened, and a dark-haired woman with
brown eyes, who was in her mid twenties, opened the door and smiled.
She was wearing maternity clothes. She was five months pregnant and
showing it very much.
"Aunt Minnie?" she exclaimed, "and a baby. Come in."
Smiling at her nephew's wife, she said, "Hello Cindy. I must say you look
absolutely radiant. Is Mark here? There's something I want to talk to you
two about."
Cindy grinned at Minerva. "Yeah. I'll go get him. Cute baby. Whose is
he?"
Minerva sighed. "That's part of what I need to talk to you two about."
Cindy gave her Aunt-in-law a strange glance, but walked out of the room.
A few minutes later, a blonde man with blue eyes walked into the room
and hugged the kidnapper. "Aunt Minnie, it's good to see you again! Are
you keeping those Gryffindors out of trouble?" He continued, not really
expecting an answer. "Cindy said you wanted to speak to us."
"Yes Mark. It's a long story. You may wish to sit down." Minerva looked
at her brother's squib son (who'd told his muggle wife all about the
magical world so that they could visit his family) and said, "I've
kidnapped this child, and I want you to raise him."
"What?" exclaimed both Mark and Cindy.
"You see," said Minerva, "This is Harry Potter." She then told the quick
story of how Voldemort had killed the Potters and been vanquished, and
how Harry would be famous, and how Dumbledore had wanted the boy
raised by, "the worst example of humanity I've ever seen. He hadn't even
bothered to meet them. Just dropped him on their doorstep with a note!
He may be a genius, but he hasn't got an ounce of common sense if he
thinks Harry would be happily accepted into that home! Anyway, as soon
as he'd left, I took Harry, and I was, er, hoping you would, well, give him
a home here. I realize it might not be the perfect time with another baby
on the way, but I do hope you'll consider it." She looked at them
nervously with pleading eyes.
The young couple looked at Harry, Minerva, and then each other. Mark
finally spoke. "Er, well, I was going to tell you at Christmas, but in
January, we're moving to America for my job, so you wouldn't really be
able to see him much."
Minerva smiled brightly. "That would be even better! They'd never think
to look for him there!"
"Well, I think Cindy and I will have to talk this over. Why don't you
watch television while we go to another room?"
"Tele-what?" asked the professor.
-HM-HM-HM-
After they'd set her up watching a soap opera, Mark and Cindy
McGonagall walked into their bedroom and closed the door. He put his
hands in his pockets and paced around for a few seconds before saying,
"Well, what do you think?"
"What do you think?" she countered.
He took a deep breath. "Well, the things on the positive side are that we
were planning on having more than one child anyway, and Harry does
need a family. If no one has the slightest idea where he is, then he should
be safe from the Death Eaters if they want revenge."
"Not to mention how cute he is, but we'd have to do something about
that scar. It's too recognizable."
He sighed, "Which brings us to the bad points. We'd not only have to hide
his scar. We'd have to disguise him in other ways. Maybe change his hair
color."
She looked sad. "You mean we'd have to keep dying his hair all the
time?"
"No. I'm sure Aunt Minnie could permanently change it."
She took a deep breath. "But don't change the green eyes. I like them."
"So do I," he said, smiling.
"So, are we doing this?" asked Cindy.
"If we do it, we will be kidnappers," said Mark.
Cindy grinned. "We could just claim we found him on our doorstep the
way Dumb-Old-Dork left him at the Dursleys."
He began to smile as he considered it. "We could have Aunt Minnie
change his fingerprints and stuff so that they won't be able to identify
him. Then we say we've grown attached to him and want to keep him.
That way, we really will be his guardians."
"What should his name be?"
He smiled at his wife. "Well, I think we could stick with the name Harry,
since he probably already responds to it anyway. It is a common name
that shouldn't arouse suspicion. But I do think we should change the
middle name, and of course give him our last name."
Cindy smiled at him. "We'll call him 'Harry Mark McGonagall.'"
Mark then kissed his wife deeply and then excitedly said, "We're gonna
have two babies!"
They went back to find Minerva immersed deeply in a program on the
telly. When they walked in the room, Mark said, "Aunt Minnie," and she
about jumped from being startled. "We've decided to adopt him. We're
going to name him Harry Mark McGonagall."
The professor smiled the biggest smile of her life. "That's wonderful!
Thank you!"
-HM-HM-HM-
After McGonagall had transfigured Harry's fingerprints, toe prints (just to
be sure), and hair (to dirty blonde), and was able to temporarily hide the
scar with a glamour charm (for a few days with a promise to redo the
charm whenever they needed her to until they adopted him) she
accompanied them to the child welfare department, but didn't go into the
office with them. She waited impatiently for over an hour until they
finally walked back with Harry in Cindy's arms.
Without waiting for his aunt to speak, Mark announced, "They were
happy to let us keep the child while they run the fingerprints, and told us
that if they couldn't locate a relative…"
"…which they shouldn't thanks to you," interjected a grinning Cindy.
"…that there probably shouldn't be any problem with us adopting him
before we leave for America."
-HM-HM-HM-
Over the next few months, Minerva was getting owls from her dead
brother's son almost every day. She'd made it a point to only have them
come when she knew she'd be alone instead of at breakfast. As promised,
whenever they were going to bring Harry to any kind of official meeting,
Minerva visited their house the night before and hid the scar. Mark and
Cindy planned on talking to some kind of muggle doctor about hiding
Harry's scar permanently when they got to America.
Albus, in the meantime, hadn't mentioned Harry, so neither did Minerva.
She'd gotten a book on Occlumency the day after she kidnapped Harry
and was working on it in every spare minute she could find so that
Dumbledore wouldn't find out Harry's whereabouts from her.
On the same mid-December day that the horrible news of the attack on
Frank and Alice Longbottom was in the Daily Prophet, Minnie got the
good news that Harry had been officially adopted. He now was officially
'Harry Mark McGonagall,' and the courts decided to claim his date of
birth as August 12th 1980. Minerva was impressed that the muggle
doctors had guessed it within less than two weeks of his actual birth.
-HM-HM-HM-
She spent Christmas break at their house, and brought a ton of toys and
outfits for Harry, along with some baby clothes and toys for the expected
addition to the family. She also gave them a magical two-way mirror that
they could use to communicate with her. She magically hid Harry's scar
for the last time as Mark and his family were about to go to the airport to
fly to America. As they parted, the stern teacher started crying. She knew
she'd miss them all.
-HM-HM-HM-
Within a few months of moving to Lansing, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago,
where Mark worked, Harry's scar was now completely invisible, thanks to
the work of a muggle doctor his adopted parents had taken him to. It was
the day after McGonagall received this news that she was summoned to
the headmaster's office.
She opened the door to find a very worried-looking Dumbledore, pacing
the floors. "Hello Minerva, would you care for a lemon drop?" he said
absently. Fawkes was nowhere to be seen.
After McGonagall shook her head and sat down, the Headmaster sat back
in his chair. "I'm afraid I have terrible news, Minerva."
"Ter…Terrible news? What's happened, Albus?"
"I managed to place a squib on Privet Drive to keep watch over Harry
Potter a few days ago, and she has reported that he's not there. I
personally went there myself, and I discovered that they never found
Harry on their doorstep."
For a moment, she thought she'd been caught, but wasn't about to make
it easy for him. "They didn't find him?" she repeated, sounding and
looking as distressed as she could.
Dumbledore nodded sadly, and then he looked back up at her. "Minerva,
you spent the day there. Did you spot anyone unusual in the area?
Someone who may have been watching us and took young Harry as soon
as we left him there."
Making sure her Occlumency shields were up as strong as possible in case
he probed her mind, she answered, "No Albus. I didn't notice anyone."
She would've added, "except those horrible muggles you left Harry with,"
but didn't want to remind him that she didn't approve of the Dursleys.
He buried his face in his hands. "I fear that Death Eaters kidnapped him.
Either to take revenge upon, in which case he's dead, or to raise him to
follow their ways, perhaps even to be the next dark lord."
Her eyes widened in shock. "Surely you don't believe…"
"What else could have happened, Minerva? It's my fault, as Remus was
gracious enough to point out to me when I informed the Order. I should
have knocked on the Dursleys' door and personally handed Harry to
them. That would have activated the blood wards. We hope that Harry's
alive since no one has bragged about killing him, which the Death Eaters
probably would do, but we just don't know. Even if he's alive, they could
literally be anywhere on this planet, maybe even in a house under a
Fidelius charm, by now." He half grinned at this. "They could be as close
as Hogsmeade if they used that charm, and we'd never even know it." He
sighed, looking older than ever before. "Well, you've listened to me
ramble on long enough. You may go. If you think of anything at all, no
matter how insignificant, let me know."
-HM-HM-HM-
As Minerva left Albus' office, she felt terrible about lying to him and
making him so worried, but she reminded herself that he deserved this
for trying to leave Harry on a doorstep. She also reminded herself that it
had been nearly five months since Harry had been left at the Dursleys,
and he's finally checking on him. She knew that no residual magic would
still be there by now to show she'd apparated with the baby if anyone
bothered to check, so she was in the clear.
-HM-HM-HM-
Time passed by quickly, and before they knew it, on March 8th 1982,
Harry's sister, Brianna Minerva McGonagall was born. She had brown
hair and blue eyes. Aunt Minnie naturally had to spend the Easter
holiday with them to meet the new addition to the family. She, of course,
brought a ton of baby clothes with her, as well as a few presents for
Harry.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Daddy, it's mommy and Brinnie!" said little Harry excitedly as Cindy
McGonagall walked into the room carrying his eight-month-old sister.
Mark was sitting on the couch in the living room. Harry still had blonde
hair and no scar showing.
They'd been living in America for a year, and life was good. Today, Aunt
Minnie was going to floo to O'Hare airport to spend Christmas with them.
The trans-continental floo network only went to international airports so
muggles wouldn't get suspicious of foreigners just showing up
somewhere. People who used that were even given airline tickets. They
simply went into an area of the airport similar to Platform Nine and
Three-Quarters and waited for their turn. Every ten minutes, the huge
fireplace that fit twenty people would take everyone inside to a different
airport. "Good morning, Harry," Cindy said, hugging her little boy.
"Mornin' mommy! Mornin' Brinnie!"
"Today your Aunt Minnie's coming to spend a few weeks with us."
"Yay!" the little boy said, "She brings presents!"
Mark laughed while Cindy tried to look stern. "We don't like Aunt Minnie
because she gives presents. We like her because she's a nice person."
"And gives presents!" said Harry excitedly. This time even Cindy gave in
to the laughter.
"We've got to go to O'Hare airport and get her," Cindy finally said.
-HM-HM-HM-
After a drive through terrible Chicago traffic, they finally arrived at the
airport and looked around until they spotted the older woman wearing a
long brown dress with a matching hat. She was pushing a trolley with
several bags on it. "Aunt Minnie!" shouted Harry excitedly as he ran up to
her, throwing his arms around the dignified woman's legs.
She bent down and returned the hug. "Hello Harry. It's good to see you."
"Didja bring presents?" he asked, grinning up at her with his puppy-dog
eyes.
"Harry!" said Cindy as she and Mark walked up.
"Well, as a matter of fact I did, for both you and your sister," said
Minerva, "but you won't get them until I've gotten a full report on your
behavior from your parents."
"I've been good, haven't I, mommy!"
Cindy smiled for about thirty seconds as her little boy awaited her
assessment. "I suppose so."
Minerva hugged both Cindy and Mark, who embarrassed his aunt by
kissing her on the cheek. "Mark, stop it."
-HM-HM-HM-
True to her word, Aunt Minnie gave both Harry and Brianna one present
each when they got home. Brianna's was a soft stuffed Hippogriff and
Harry's was a working miniature train that was a replica of the Hogwarts
Express. She told Harry's parents that she'd transfigured the train from
rocks. They decided not to tell Harry about magic until he had his first
accidental bout of it. He knew that Aunt Minnie taught at a school called
Hogwarts that he'd go to someday, but had no idea of it being magical.
She was saving the rest of the gifts for Christmas day. Mark and Cindy
found it funny the way the kids had their Great Aunt wrapped around
their fingers. They had her doing things that people from Hogwarts
would have never believed, such as playing hide-and-go-seek and tag.
They even got her to play the 'tickle monster.' They greatly enjoyed
Christmas where they were showered with gifts, and most importantly,
love.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry started kindergarten at five years old, and it wasn't long before he
had his first experience with accidental magic. He'd made friends the first
day with a kid named Matthew Burke, but they quickly made an enemy
out of a bigger kid named Brian Popovich. He'd made fun of Harry
because he needed glasses, so he and Matt decided to prank him. Brian
was sitting down on a chair when Matt 'accidentally' spilled his drink,
orange soda, on the floor in front of Brian. Harry was on the floor tying
Brian's shoes together. While Harry was tying them, Brian noticed and
grabbed Harry's hand and started squeezing it as hard as he could. Harry
was scared that his hand would get broken, and all of the sudden Brian's
hand started to hurt so he let go. Forgetting that his shoes were tied
together, he got up and fell, landing face-down in the puddle of soda.
Unfortunately for Harry, the teacher had seen part of it, so Harry was in
trouble. After school, while Harry was being grounded as his sister
enjoyed the story, there was a knock at the door. Mark answered it.
A short, thin middle-aged man with black hair that was starting to turn
gray was standing at the door wearing a gray suit. "Hello. Mr.
McGonagall, I presume?"
"Yes."
The stranger extended his hand and Mark shook it. "I'm Stephen Kirk.
May I come in for a few minutes? It has to do with your son and what
happened at school today."
He sighed, hoping the other kid's parents weren't suing or something
stupid like that. "Come in."
Once they were settled down in the living room, and Cindy had gotten
them some tea,
Stephen said, "To put it simply, your son performed accidental magic
today, which means he is a wizard." He paused, as though expecting an
argument.
Cindy smiled. "Well that explains it. We were wondering if he were a
wizard or not."
Mr. Kirk seemed surprised. "You…you know about magic."
Mark smiled. "Oh yes. You see, I'm a squib from England. In fact, my aunt
is the Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. I guess Harry will be going there
when he's old enough."
"Really?" said the man happily. "If your aunt teaches there, I suppose
there wouldn't be much point in trying to persuade you to send Harry
anyplace else when he's eleven."
He chuckled. "I'm afraid not. If I sent Harry to any other school, she'd
never speak to me again."
"If you're from England, then I assume you've heard of the restriction for
underage magic they have over there."
"Yes," he said, nodding.
"We in America think that's ridiculous. All we worry about is secrecy. As
long as he doesn't perform the magic around muggles, we don't care.
While we do have boarding schools like Hogwarts that start at age
eleven, we also have schools where wizarding children are taught basic
magic, as well as the foundations of many of the courses taught at
Hogwarts. They meet from five to six p.m. on Monday through Friday,
and on Saturday seven-thirty a.m. to twelve-thirty p.m. Each weekday is
a different subject, and Saturday is all five subjects."
"The first year classes are Latin, which is helpful in learning spells; basic
wand handling, which includes safety and all the different wand
movements; simple charms, simple transfiguration, and simple herbology.
Some of them continue while others, such as wand handling, are replaced
by classes such as potions, and eventually defense, although we wait until
the children are ten to start that. If you started him now, he'd be well
ahead in his classes, and might even be able to skip a grade at Hogwarts.
Instead of going by ages, we start kids when they perform their first
accidental magic. We find that teaching to control magic then helps
prevent more accidents. Our first term starts two weeks after muggle
terms, because starting school tends to cause accidental magic. Therefore
by waiting those two weeks, we almost double our enrollment."
"Well," said Mark, looking at his wife, "What do you think?"
"It sounds good, but maybe we should ask Harry what he thinks."
"We should probably ask Aunt Minnie's opinion too. Mr. Kirk, could we
get back to you?"
"Of course," he said with a smile. "I know that's a big decision. Here are
some forms to look at," he said, pulling out his wand and conjuring a
brochure, along with legal-looking papers. "Just let us know by the end of
the week. I've also left instructions to the nearest wizarding
neighborhood where you can buy wands and books, and anything else
magical you'd like whether you choose to put Harry in Wentworth
Witchcraft Elementary School or not."
-HM-HM-HM-
That night, they talked to Minerva over the two-way mirror, who seemed
very pleased about it. She was unaware of the differences in American
wizarding laws. She'd always assumed underage restrictions were the
same everywhere. She was all for it, so they just needed to talk to Harry.
"Well, Harry," said Mark nervously, "Do you remember how that boy
Brian's hand was hurting for apparently no reason?"
"Uh-huh," said Harry, looking down like he expected to be in more
trouble.
"You did it," said Cindy.
"No I didn't mommy! I don't know how!"
"We know you didn't do it on purpose," said Mark. "You did magic."
"I did?" he asked, amazed. "How? Can you do magic?"
"I can't, but your Aunt Minnie can."
Harry looked excited. "She can?"
"Yes. Hogwarts is a magic school that you'll go to when you're eleven."
His eyes were wide. "Really? Can I see it now?"
Mark chuckled. "Not for a while, but you're learning to read. When you're
ready, you can read a book about it that Aunt Minnie gave us. It's called
'Hogwarts, A History.' Cindy rolled her eyes, knowing it would be years
before Harry could read that tome.
"Can you read it to me tonight?" he asked pleadingly.
"Maybe," Mark said, "But for now, I have a question. Do you want to start
learning magic now?"
"Yeah," said the smiling boy.
"If you do, it means more school," said Cindy.
"But it's magic school!" said Harry.
"Then you'll start in a week," said Mark. "Saturday, we'll get you a wand
and other school supplies."
"Yay!" he said raising his fists in air, victoriously.
"Oh, one important thing. You can't tell anyone about being magical or
learning magic. That's very important. If you do, you'll be in a lot of
trouble."
"Ok, it's secret," said Harry.
"Yes," said Cindy, "It's a secret."
"Is Brianna magic too?" asked Harry.
"We don't know yet," said Mark.
"You got to wait until she accidental magics someone like I did!" he said
grinning.
Cindy giggled. "Yes dear, we've got to wait to see if she does accidental
magic."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry and Brianna (who they told since it wouldn't stay a secret in the
house very long anyway – but she knew it was a secret she couldn't tell
anyone) were fascinated by Little Salem, the local wizarding
neighborhood about the size of Diagon Alley. This one was entered
through an arcade. There was a game called 'Witch's War.' in a corner
that was marked, 'Out of Order.' If you sat in it and leaned into the wall it
was against, you'd fall through it, but land on your feet in an area unlike
anything Harry had ever seen before. He was the first to bravely try,
followed by Mark, Brianna, and Cindy.
They all looked around, intrigued by the names on the shops, such as
'Calumet Cauldrons,' as well as all the different types of creatures walking
around. Mark chuckled when he noticed a restaurant called 'Magical
McDonalds.' They soon saw a goblin walking out of there toward the
local branch of Gringotts, which was going to be their first stop until
Cindy noticed a Gringotts ATM machine by the entrance. You'd use your
debit card from a muggle bank, and it would give you wizarding money
(after charging a dollar fee). They took out enough for Harry's books and
wand, along with plenty for anything else they might want to buy.
After they got the books and supplies, they walked into a 'Wand Locker'
Outlet, which was apparently part of a popular American chain of wand
shops. They were surprised to find a young woman behind the counter.
Harry blushed when he saw the attractive blonde woman who was in her
early twenties. Brianna noticed and giggled until he elbowed her.
The woman was very worried as wand after wand rejected Harry, who
was getting more and more embarrassed, until finally she handed him a
wand made of Beechwood and phoenix feather, nine inches. A few red
and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework when he held it. She
said uncertainly, "This doesn't seem to be a perfect match, but it looks
like it will work. You may want to try another shop, but the nearest one
is in Michigan."
Mark smiled. "I think we'll take this one," he said while wondering if the
perfect wand for Harry might be in England.
"Well," the woman said, "We normally charge nine Galleons, but I'll let
you have it for eight since it's not a perfect match to this young man's
exquisite taste." She winked at Harry, who blushed and hid his face.
"Thank you very much," said Cindy, smiling.
As soon as they left, Brianna started giggling madly and shouted, "Harry's
got a crush on the lady in there!" repeatedly until Mark caught Harry's
fist that was about to punch his sister. Harry's face was completely red.
"Brianna, stop teasing your brother!" said Cindy, "and Harry, don't try to
hit your sister!"
"Fine!" the siblings said together with their arms crossed over their chests
and matching angry expressions on their faces.
Mark then smirked at his son. "Is that true that you liked the lady in
there?" which caused Brianna to laugh so hard she fell as Harry hid his
purple face in his hands while Cindy glared at her husband.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry did pretty well in his new classes. He hated the Latin (which was
currently concentrating on the alphabet) and herbology, but enjoyed
charms, wand handling, and transfiguration. Brianna was easily
impressed when Harry did his homework in front of her, magically
sharpening his pencil. Mark (and Aunt Minnie when he told her) was
surprised to find that Harry's school used regular paper and pencils and
didn't require wizard robes. The pamphlet they'd read pointed out the
fact that these peculiarities often alerted muggles that something was
unusual. Besides, paper and pencils are easier to handle than parchment,
quill, and ink, especially for younger children. When the kids are older
they start using pens as well.
Harry tended to be at the top of his class at Wentworth Wizarding School
while average at his regular classes. When his parents confronted him
about it he said, "Magic's more interesting and I'll be going to Hogwarts
anyway."
"Until then you'll be going to muggle school and you'll get your grades
back up unless you want us to pull you out of magic school," said Mark,
bluffing. He knew he'd never pull Harry out of magic school. After all,
that's the world he belonged in. He did however know that Harry would
need reading, writing, and arithmetic even in the wizarding world.
"No! You can't take me outta magic school! I'll run away if you do!"
Mark grinned at the panic he saw in Harry's eyes. Cindy said, "Then pick
up your other grades to prove we don't need to."
"Fine!" he said.
"Don't take that attitude with me, young man!" she said.
"Sorry, mommy," said Harry, looking at her with his best pathetic puppy
dog face.
She sighed and patted his blonde head while smiling. "Why don't you run
along and work on your reading?" He walked to his room without
another word.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry's muggle grades did improve after that, although he did require
occasional encouragement in the form of threats and/or bribery. During
the spring of Harry's second year, a few weeks after Brianna's fifth
birthday, she did something she shouldn't have done. She wanted to try
doing magic, so she borrowed Harry's wand without telling him when
he'd left his room for a few minutes in the middle of doing homework.
When he returned, he saw that his wand wasn't where he'd left it, so he
immediately got mad and went straight to his sister's bedroom. When he
quietly opened the door without knocking, he found her pointing his
wand at a pencil, trying to sharpen it. She was so absorbed in her task
that she hadn't noticed him yet.
"GIVE IT BACK!" he shouted, scaring her and causing a red light to shoot
out of the wand that she'd instinctively pointed at the source of the noise.
The blast hit Harry square in the chest, causing him to go unconscious
and fall to the floor, just as Cindy and Mark approached the room to see
what the noise was.
As Harry collapsed, tears started falling from Brianna's horrified face. She
dropped the wand and ran toward her brother. "Harry! I'M SORRY!" she
shouted as she took him in her arms in time to see her parents, who did
not look happy at all. She started trembling, afraid she'd hurt Harry badly
or even killed him. "I…sorry….I took his wand….H-Harry surprised me."
At this point she couldn't even speak anymore. She just sobbed for a few
minutes on Harry's unconscious form, leaning her head on his chest. Her
parents watched, not sure what to say. Mark bent down and checked
Harry's pulse, smiling slightly when he felt one. "Harry…Harry's gonna be
ok, right, daddy?" Brianna finally said through her tears.
"I think so," Mark replied, "I'm gonna call the department of accidental
magic though, just to be sure."
"I'll do it," said Cindy.
As she walked toward their bedroom to retrieve the 'other' phonebook,
Brianna sobbed, "I'm sorry daddy. Am I going to jail? I didn't mean it! He,
he scared me…"
He gave his daughter a hug. "I know, honey, and I love you, but I can't
simply overlook the fact that you took your brother's wand. You will be
punished after we find out how Harry is doing."
"Yes, daddy," she said with her head bowed low in penitence. "I love you,
too, and Harry. If anything's wrong I don't know…"
"We'll find that out now," said a friendly-looking man with dark hair and
a graying beard. He was standing with Cindy. "I guess I should introduce
myself. My name is Oliver Brown. I'm from the accidental magic
department. We can apparate directly to the other side of a phone call. I
take it that this pretty little girl here is the one who performed the magic
on the boy."
"Yes," said Mark, moving with Brianna to give the wizard room to
examine Harry.
"I doubt she's hurt her brother seriously," he said as he bent down. He
pulled out his wand and performed a spell on Harry. He then chuckled as
he saw the results written in shining letters in front of him. "How old is
your daughter?"
"Brianna's five years old," said Cindy.
"Amazing. She's performed a perfect stunning spell on your son. I'd hate
to duel her when she gets older. She's going to be a very powerful witch."
He then turned his wand toward Harry. "Enervate."
Harry opened his eyes and saw a stranger smiling at him. He flinched and
then noticed his parents there too, and he remembered what had
happened, all the way to the point of the spell hitting him. "BRIANNA!
I'm gonna kill you!" he shouted as he got up.
"Now, Harry…" said Cindy.
Brianna in the meantime had gotten to a far corner of her room. "I'm
sorry! I didn't mean it!"
"Well," said Mr. Brown with a grin, "Since Harry's already going to magic
school, you should have no trouble enrolling Brianna there as well. It
appears you have a family crisis to deal with. I'll see myself off, and you'll
get a bill in a few days. Bye." He then disappeared with a soft pop.
Harry started to run toward his sister, but found the strong arms of his
father were holding him back. "She stole my wand and hexed me!"
"We know," said Mark, "and she'll be punished. But hexing you was an
accident."
"No it wasn't! I hate her!" he shouted and ran off to his room.
"Harry!" shouted Brianna, "It was an accident! I didn't want to hurt…"
Harry's door slammed shut and Brianna sat down in the corner where
she'd been standing, and cried with her face in her knees.
"I'm sure he didn't mean it, sweetheart," said Cindy, walking up to her
daughter.
"Yes, he did! I was bad and now he hates me!" she said between her tears.
"I'm gonna go talk to him," said Cindy, "while I think about your
punishment."
"I'll do Harry's chores for a year," Brianna declared, causing Mark to
chuckle.
"Well," said Cindy, "I'm not sure about a year, but…"
"Two years!" cried Brianna, "Maybe he'll forgive me then."
"I meant that one year might be too long, Brianna. Your father and I will
discuss it and let you know our decision." Cindy then picked up Harry's
wand from the floor and left the room.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry sat on his bed fuming. He knew his sister could use her sad puppy-
dog eyes, which she did even better than him, to get out of any
punishment. She'd gone into his room, taken his wand, and hexed him.
He admitted to himself that it had to have been an accident since she
didn't know any spells, but she shouldn't have had the wand to begin
with. He was interrupted from his thoughts by a knock at his door. He
ignored it, knowing it would either be Brianna or one of his parents
telling him to forgive Brianna. His door opened.
"Hi, Harry," said his mom. "I brought you your wand back." She closed
the door as she entered.
"Put it on my desk, where I left it," he said coldly.
"Do you know exactly what Brianna did to you?" she said, sitting on the
chair by Harry's desk.
"She hexed me," Harry said, "On purpose no matter what she says!"
"I meant what spell she used."
His expression softened. "No, but it's like I fainted."
"Exactly. It's called the stunning spell. Have they taught it to you yet at
school?"
He put his head down. "No."
Cindy wore a fake worried expression. She looked around as though to
make sure no one was listening in. "I think she's been running off and
learning dark magic so she can hex us all."
Harry's expression changed from angry to surprised. "What?"
"You were right to tell her you hate her. I think I'll tell her that, too."
"Huh?"
"Your father thinks we should get her a wand and enroll her at your
school, but I know better."
"Y-you do?" Harry was getting worried about his mom's sanity.
"Of course. Look at what she did with your wand. We're just lucky she
was still practicing. I'm sure she really wanted to kill you, and then
everybody else."
"Um…mom?"
"I think we should kick her out of the house now before she's too
powerful. What do you think? Do you want to hex her a few times first?"
Harry was now clearly scared, and his mom was having a very hard time
keeping a straight face. "I, I don't think she's doing that. I, it was an
accident. She wasn't trying to hurt me."
"But she took your wand. It must have been her plan all along."
"She was, was just curious. She wanted to know if she had magic. You
can't kick her out for that."
"Why are you trying to defend her? You said you hate her."
As his mom's expression changed from fear to amusement to neutral, his
face fell. "I did say that, didn't I?"
"Yes you did, and she's right now in her room crying. I've never seen
anyone as scared or sorry as she was when you fell down. She thinks she
should do your chores for two years, and then maybe you'll forgive her.
What do you think?"
He smirked. "Well, two years without chores…"
"Harry!"
"All right, all right. I'll talk to her. But she did take my wand!"
"I know, Harry, and your dad and I will punish her for that, but I think
that she needs to know you still love her…"
"Mom!"
"I know you boys don't like this kind of mushy stuff, but you know that
you love your sister, and she needs to know that too! If you can say that
you hate her, you can say that you love her!" She took a deep breath.
"She really looks up to you, and it really hurts her when you say things
like that. You've got to learn not to say things you don't mean when
you're angry. You can ruin a friendship that way."
"I already said I'll talk to her, mom." She then hugged her son.
"I knew you would."
-HM-HM-HM-
Brianna was sitting in her room alone, still crying in a corner. The door
was open because she didn't bother to get up and close it. This should've
been a happy day. She found out she was a witch. Unfortunately her very
first accidental magic had hurt her brother, and now he hated her. She
looked up when she heard her door close.
Harry was standing there looking nervous. "Hi, Brianna."
"I'm sooo sorry, Harry! I'll never do magic again!"
"What kind of rubbish is that? Of course you'll do magic. You'll be going
to my school. You'll probably do better that me, judging by that spell you
accidentally sent at me," he said with a smirk.
She smiled a bit when he admitted it was an accident. He walked up to
her and squatted down. "I'm still not happy that you took my wand…"
"I'm sorry!"
"Let me finish. I know you wouldn't really try to hurt me." He took a deep
breath. "I said some mean things to you. I didn't mean them either."
"You didn't?" she asked, finally daring to hope he didn't hate her.
"No. I don't hate you sis. I…um…love you." He then hugged her and she
returned the embrace, crying on his shoulder.
"I was so scared," she said, "I'm so glad you're ok."
-HM-HM-HM-
Brianna ended up doing Harry's chores for a week. Their parents felt bad
about punishing the girl after she'd been through so much, but they felt
that a lack of punishment would encourage more rule-breaking. Aunt
Minnie was thrilled to find out that Brianna was magical. They went to
Little Salem that weekend and got Brianna her own wand (mahogany and
dragon heartstring, 8 ½ inches) at the same shop from the same woman
Harry "DID NOT" have a crush on. This wand was a perfect match for
Brianna. She borrowed her brother's first magic books and got her mom
to help her read them. Cindy had begun teaching both of her kids to read
when they turned three, but Brianna wasn't quite ready to read books like
that on her own.
The summer came and went, with Brianna practicing her reading and
spellwork in anticipation of attending Wentworth Witchcraft Elementary
School. She began kindergarten that year as well. She turned out to be
somewhat of a bookworm, and was at the top of her classes in both
muggle and magical school. She did gain a few friends and went to some
sleepovers. Harry wasn't happy when his sister invited her friends to
sleepover at their house, and managed to arrange to spend the night at
one of his friend's houses whenever the girls were staying at his house.
The McGonagalls got a Nintendo Entertainment System that included
Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt the summer that Harry turned ten
(Brianna was eight). Both siblings greatly enjoyed that, and were known
to spend hours in the living room fighting Bowser and his allies to save
Princess Toadstool. Harry enjoyed Duck Hunt a lot more than his sister,
and would wait until one of his friends, either magical or muggle, would
come over so he could compete with them.
That was the same year that he learned both defensive spells (he finally
learned how to stun Brianna and told her so, causing her to pale) and
modern magical history, which included a recent war in Europe fought
over ridiculous prejudices. This particular war had been started by a dark
wizard named Voldemort (Americans didn't fear the name because he
hadn't terrorized them) and was ended by a boy named Harry Potter. No
one knows what happened to the boy, who disappeared the day after
Voldemort did. Some said he was killed by the same Death Eaters who
tortured aurors Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity. Others think
he's alive and being trained as a dark wizard to take Voldemort's place.
Still others simply think that someone hid him away in a good home
where nobody knew who he was so that he'd be safe. The point was that
no one knew what had become of him, except that his name was still
down in the registry of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,
which indicated that he wasn't dead.
Harry came home after the lesson on the demise of Voldemort excited to
talk about it with his parents. He didn't know why, but the whole story of
Voldemort seemed very interesting to him. "Hi, mom!" he said after the
'Eagle Bus' took him and Brianna home from school. Once Harry had
turned ten, his parents let him and Brianna take the magical bus to and
from wizarding school on Saturdays. It went incredibly fast like a roller
coaster, but had seatbelts so that you weren't thrown around when it
made sharp turns or stopped. Their house was on the floo network, but
both Harry and Brianna greatly enjoyed riding the bus, so their parents
allowed it, figuring that it meant they didn't have to visit Six Flags Great
America nearly as often, although they did end up going at least twice
every summer – once with Mark's company before the park was open to
the public (before the new rides were open), and once in August.
"Hi, Harry, Brianna!" said Cindy, "How was school?"
"It was great! I learned a spell that will freeze a person until they get
revived in Defense class, and about Voldemort and Harry Potter in
History class!"
Cindy froze for a moment when Harry mentioned his true identity. She
then decided to change the topic. "What about potions, transfiguration,
and herbology?"
"They were fine too, but this kid Harry Potter, who would be my age, he
somehow killed the most powerful dark wizard alive nine years ago, and
ended a war! But then he disappeared."
"Did he?" asked a frightened Cindy who wasn't sure what to do.
"Yeah. Some say he's being taught to be a dark wizard. I hope they're
wrong."
"I'm sure they are," said Cindy.
"I wonder if Aunt Minnie knew the Potters," said Brianna, who'd heard
the whole story while they were riding home. "Harry said her boss,
Professor Dumbledore, did."
"I, er, am sure she did. They, er, probably were her students at one time."
"Oh yeah," said Brianna.
At that moment Mark walked in the house behind them. He'd had to
work that Saturday.
"Maybe I can ask Aunt Minnie about Harry Potter to help with my
report," said Harry.
Mark coughed behind them at the mention of that name. "H-Harry P-
Potter?"
"Yeah. Did Aunt Minnie tell you anything about him? He went missing
just a few months before we left England."
Mark and Cindy looked at each other. Cindy nodded and then so did
Mark. "Kids, sit down and we'll tell you everything we know about Harry
Potter."
Harry smiled broadly. "So she did tell you something about him! I knew
it!"
Cindy said, "Yes. The day after his parents died, she brought him to our
house and asked us to raise him as our son."
Harry frowned. "And you said no? Why? I guess you were already
planning on moving and had me. Did I play with him while he was
visiting?"
Mark continued, "I, I think you're missing the point." He took a deep
breath and looked at his son. "You are Harry Potter. This is a complete
secret and you can't tell anyone. Aunt Minnie transfigured your hair
blonde and we had a doctor remove your scar. Your fingerprints were
changed as well, but we kept your eyes the same color."
Brianna was staring at her brother, who was looking astounded. "I, I'm
not your son?" He looked at Brianna. "I, I'm not your brother?"
"You are as much a part of this family as any of us!" said Cindy sternly,
"And we love you every bit as much as Brianna!"
Harry seemed to relax a bit, but he was still in shock. "I, I, Ok, they
wanted to keep where I am a secret so no one could get revenge. I, I
guess I understand. I suppose as a kid I could've blabbed it. So
Dumbledore lied when he said I disappeared to throw the Death Eaters
off the track."
Mark answered. "No. He dropped you off at your only living relatives'
house like a milk bottle. Aunt Minnie had watched them all day and saw
that they were the worst kind of people you could imagine, and she
remembered terrible things Lily Potter had said about them. That Dumb-
Old-Dork didn't bother trying to meet them. He simply went to the house
and left you on the doorstep with a note. Five months later he checked
on you to find you were missing."
Cindy continued, "She took you as soon as he left. She would've raised
you herself, but she knew that Dumbledore would've found out and put
you with those people. So she had to find someone to take care of you."
"You," said Harry.
"Yes," said Mark. "She brought you to us and we happily welcomed you to
our family. We claimed you'd been dropped on our doorstep and we had
no idea who you were, and adopted you. Dumbledore has no idea. When
you go to Hogwarts, you need to try to keep that secret. First because I
don't think you want everybody staring at you like an exhibit from the
zoo. Secondly, because it could get your Aunt Minnie, maybe even us, in
trouble. Thirdly, Dumbledore will probably want to send you to those
people."
"I understand," said Harry. "I won't tell anyone."
Mark smiled. "I know, but there are magical ways to find out anyway."
"One of my teachers mentioned Leg-legillmonky."
Mark chuckled. "Legilimency. What do you know about it?"
"That it requires eye contact, so I shouldn't look him in the eyes."
Cindy continued, "Or another Professor named Snape. He's also a
Legilimens. But there is a defense against it called Occlumency. Aunt
Minnie learned it right after she, well, kidnapped you so that she
wouldn't be found out. She gave us a book on it. It seems even muggles
can learn to protect their minds. She sent us the book once we came into
contact with the wizarding world."
"When I started magic school," stated Harry.
"Exactly. We'd like you two to read it and start learning. It's more
important for Harry to learn it first since he's going to Hogwarts soon, but
you both should learn it. Your magic school has a strict policy against
reading the minds of students, but if you ever feel that one of your
teachers is looking straight into your soul, break eye contact
immediately."
"All right," both kids replied.
"By the way, we're going to be spending the summer in England with
Aunt Minnie," said Mark.
"Yes…No!" said Brianna. "We won't be able to practice magic there."
Minerva had explained that the ministry didn't detect underage magic in
wizarding homes, but had also sworn them to secrecy about that fact,
giving them a story to tell the kids. Mark said, "Don't tell anyone, but
because you're from America, you're allowed to do magic in Aunt
Minnie's house as long as no one but family is there."
Cindy continued, "She does want you to meet other kids, though. The
muggleborn students are going to have an orientation at her house a few
days after we arrive. She wants both of you there as well since we're
muggles, although technically your dad is a squib."
"Why me?" asked Brianna, "I won't be going to Hogwarts until Harry's
third year."
"She thinks you'd be rather bored otherwise, and that you may enjoy
meeting some children, even if they are Harry's age," answered Cindy.
Harry then got an angry look on his face. "Voldemort murdered my real
parents!"
"Yes," said Mark, "but I doubt it'll help for you to be angry at someone
you somehow already got rid of."
"I guess not." Harry then smiled. "So, does my true identity mean I can
get my presents on July 31st instead of August 12th this year?"
"I'm afraid that would blow your cover," said Brianna with a smirk.
"Besides, Aunt Minnie intended on inviting any of the muggleborn
students you liked to a birthday party on August 12th, but if you don't
want one, that's fine," said Mark.
"No, that's fine. I can keep my birthday as it is."
-HM-HM-HM-
The months passed quickly, and at the end of the school year, Harry bid
goodbye to his friends, telling the muggle friends he'd be attending a
private school in Scotland, while telling his wizarding friends he was
going to Hogwarts.
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva was getting nervous as she waited for her family to arrive. She'd
entered both Harry and Brianna McGonagall's names on the list at
Hogwarts when they'd performed their first accidental magic, and had
casually 'let it slip' that her nephew had magical kids who would be
attending so that it wouldn't come as a surprise that the headmaster
would investigate. She was also glad that Harry already knew who he
was, and he was keeping it secret. She was proud of how quickly they'd
devoured the Occlumency book and how much effort they'd put into
learning it, but she knew she'd have to actually test their shields to find
out how well they were doing. It was imperative that Harry be a master
Occlumens as soon as possible, preferably before his first class with
Snape.
That was another thing Albus did that she didn't understand. Ever since
he'd hired that insufferable git (not that she'd actually call him that) his
absolutely blatant favoritism of the Slytherins made a complete mockery
of the point system. Breathing seemed to be Snape's main reason for
taking points from Gryffindors and adding points to Slytherins. According
to the school records, the man had never taken a point from a Slytherin
or given a point to a Gryffindor in the ten or so years he'd been working
there. She pointed out all these facts, along with accounts from dozens of
witnesses from every house but Slytherin, and Albus completely ignored
it, saying that he trusted Snape. She'd even shown him pensieve
memories from students that proved Snape didn't even teach. He simply
put instructions on the board and started taking points from Gryffindors.
For that reason, no house but Slytherin had won the House Cup since
he'd become the head of Slytherin house.
She honestly wondered what was wrong with the headmaster. Ever since
she'd realized how foolish Albus had been regarding Harry, she'd started
questioning many of the decisions he'd made. For example, he'd hired a
complete fraud who enjoyed predicting student deaths as Divination
teacher at about the same time he'd hired Snape. Now he'd just asked her
to help him set up protections to guard the Philosopher's Stone at
Hogwarts. Why would a school be used to guard anything but children?
What if some dark wizard came to the school looking for the stone? He
might kill every student he sees along the way before he gets to the
obstacles protecting the stone. What if a student, accidentally or
purposely, came across Hagrid's three-headed dog?
She had slowly begun to believe that Albus Dumbledore wasn't actually
that good of a headmaster. He seemed to have his own agenda that
superseded his responsibility to the students – to provide a high quality
education in a safe environment conducive to learning. She knew he
wasn't a dark wizard, and that he probably had the best intentions, with
what he felt was the greater good at heart, but hiring bad teachers and
making Hogwarts more dangerous shouldn't have been an option. He
quite obviously didn't have the students' best interests at heart. She
sighed, figuring that there was nothing she could do about it anyway and
continued waiting for her family at the airport.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Aunt Minnie!" shouted Harry and Brianna happily as they ran toward
Professor McGonagall with outstretched arms.
"Harry! Brianna!" she said as they each in turn embraced her. "Mark and
Cindy, it's good to see you as well!"
"I'm just glad my job let me have this long of a vacation!"
"So am I!" said Minnie. "We'll all have to take the Knight Bus to my house
and discuss a few issues that I'm concerned about."
-HM-HM-HM-
After a ride wherein everyone was tossed around the bus, Cindy
McGonagall walked up to Stan Shunpike and shouted, "WHY THE HELL
DON'T YOU HAVE SEATBELTS!? THE BUS LIKE THIS IN AMERICA
DOES! They realize that passengers probably don't want to be tossed all
over the bus during the ride! My kids probably have brand new bumps
and bruises thanks to you!"
Stan stared at her. "I'm sorry we have offended you ma'am. What's a
seatbelt?"
After she very patiently cured the ignorance of the Knight Bus conductor,
he said, "Wow! That's a great idea. Did you hear that, Ernie?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Once they were settled in McGonagall Manor (thanks to the help of a
house elf named Blinky – much to the annoyance of the Americanized
and anti-slavery McGonagalls), which was located in Scotland, Minerva
sat in the living room with her guests. "Well since I'm the Deputy
Headmistress of Hogwarts who writes the Hogwarts letters, I already
have Harry McGonagall's ready. Professor Dumbledore has asked me to
send one to Harry Potter on his birthday as well. I shall have to dissemble
yet again and claim that it was returned unopened. I just hope he doesn't
ask me to keep trying."
"That would be funny," said Harry, "To send a whole flock of owls after
me." Brianna laughed.
"That reminds me. Do you have an owl?" asked Minerva.
"No. My American friends all had telephones, even the wizarding ones."
"I'd like to get you one so that you can keep in contact with the friends
you make here. Just remember not to try sending it across the ocean to
your family over the school year. To talk to them, I'll get you your own
mirror."
His face lit up from that news. "Thanks, Aunt Minnie!"
Brianna frowned for a few seconds but said nothing.
Minnie said, "I'll also be getting a mirror for you, Brianna. I'd imagine
that you may wish to speak to your brother without your parents
listening in. Would you like an owl now or when you start at Hogwarts?"
The nine year old girl smiled brightly. "Now, please."
"Having a pet is a responsibility, both of you," said Cindy, "You'll have to
take care of them."
"Yes, mom," they both said together.
Minerva looked at Harry. "Now, as I understand it, when you got your
wand, you were told that it wasn't a perfect match."
"Yes, but it's worked so far," he said defensively.
"I'm sure that it's a fine wand, but you'll get the best results with the
wand that suits you best. I have a suspicion I've never voiced that the
wand meant for a witch or wizard always somehow makes its way to the
wand shop closest to where that person was born. In Brianna's case, it
was Little Salem, but in your case, it would be Ollivander's shop in
Diagon Alley. I would like to visit there tomorrow when we pick up
Harry's school supplies."
"We're going there tomorrow?" asked Mark.
"Yes," Minerva said simply, "and while we're there, I'd like to resolve
another issue. I know that James and Lily Potter left an inheritance for
their son at Gringotts, though I'm not entirely sure what it consists of.
The goblins there are very discrete. They don't normally disclose any
information about the activity of accounts or who visits Gringotts. You
can even ask them to be even more discreet than usual. Er, just
remember to be polite."
"Are you asking us to take Harry to Gringotts claiming his real identity?"
asked Mark.
"Yes," said Minerva, earning surprised looks all around. "Not publicly.
Simply ask for a private meeting when you arrive and tell the goblin you
speak to that this is confidential, and that Harry is indeed Harry Potter."
"And they'll believe us?" asked Cindy skeptically.
"Of course not, but they'll take a small sample of his blood."
"They're gonna stick me with a needle? No way!"
"Actually they'll prick your finger with a knife, but heal it once they get
the blood. They'll then be able to create a new key to your vault, and at
the same time the existing key will disappear, right out of Albus' safe."
She smiled briefly. "He will eventually notice that the key disappeared
and will probably ask the goblins if they made a new key for your vault.
You should specifically say you don't want Professor Dumbledore to
know about it. Fortunately, his form of Legilimency doesn't work on
goblins, only humans." She then looked at her niece and nephew. "Have
you been practicing your Occlumency?"
"Yes, Aunt Minnie," said Harry, putting up his shields as his sister did the
same. He soon felt a pressure move against his shields. At first it was
gentle, and then it got gradually stronger as he kept her out. Finally she
dropped the attack for a moment and Harry relaxed, only to be attacked
at this momentary weakness. He soon found himself reliving some of the
most wonderful moments of his life – birthday parties, Christmas
mornings, the first time he saw his sister, and when he learned he was
magical.
"You did very well, Harry, except that you relaxed too soon. Truthfully,
unless you give them reason to suspect you, that's the strongest attack
you'll get. But if they do become suspicious, they'll attack much harder
than that, especially Snape. We'll need to work on this every day this
summer, and into the school year, as necessary."
"Yes, Aunt Minnie."
"Now I'll test Brianna's defenses."
Brianna turned out to be a bit easier to read than Harry, and also agreed
to work on it that summer, and then to continue working on it after they
left so that hopefully the next time they saw each other, Aunt Minnie
wouldn't be able to read her mind.
-HM-HM-HM-
The first stop they made was at Gringotts. Minerva did not accompany
them inside the bank out of fear of being recognized. Mark walked up to
the teller. "Excuse me. My family and I would like to talk with someone
who can handle accounts in private."
"Yes, sir," said the goblin. "Wait in that room." He pointed at an open
door on the other side of the room. They walked into the room that had a
rectangular table with six uncomfortable wooden chairs around it. They
all sat down and waited.
After fifteen minutes, a goblin walked in. "Hello. My name is Griphook.
May I ask your identities?"
"My name is Mark McGonagall."
"Are you of any relation to Minerva McGonagall?"
"Yes. She's my aunt. This is my wife Cindy and my daughter Brianna. The
boy's identity is to be a complete secret from everybody, including Albus
Dumbledore. Will you agree to that?"
"Yes, of course. We here at Gringotts are most discreet. Who is the boy?"
"This is my adopted son, Harry Potter. He would like to find out what
inheritance he has coming."
The goblins eyes flicked up to where the scar should be.
"We had his scar hidden through a muggle operation, for obvious reasons.
His hair and fingerprints have also been altered. The name he goes by is
Harry Mark McGonagall."
"We will have to take some of his blood to prove your claim. May I
assume that you do not possess his vault key?"
"That's correct," Harry said as he held out his hand, closing his eyes
tightly. His sister looked away.
After a slight irritation on his finger, Harry opened his eyes to see that
the wound was healed and his blood was dropping into the top of a
miniature replica of Gringotts that hadn't been on the table a moment
ago. A few seconds after the drop of blood entered the bank's chimney,
the doors opened and a key stuck out of them. Griphook pulled the key
out, and a small piece of paper like a receipt came out the doors behind
the key. The goblin took it out as well and read, "Harry James Potter has
inherited the Potter vault."
-HM-HM-HM-
After a quick ride to the vault, the stacks of gold impressed the whole
family. Harry took some, but not much because his mom wouldn't let him
"…waste your entire inheritance in one day!" They met up with Minerva
at Flourish and Blotts, where they found her immersed in a magical
romance novel. She put it away immediately and complained about the
poor quality of writing. Cindy put it in their basket when Minnie wasn't
watching, intent on giving it to her for Christmas. Harry got his school
books, as well as the updated version of 'Hogwarts, a History.' He then
noticed a book called, 'Quidditch Through the Ages' and asked, "Can I get
a broom?"
"Harry," said Minerva, "I'm afraid first years can't have brooms."
"Sorry," said Mark, "But you can have the book."
-HM-HM-HM-
They got a few other books, one of which because it talked about 'the
Boy-Who-Lived-and-Vanished' that presented all the main theories about
him, including that he'd been vaporized from the curse Voldemort sent,
only a day late.
They visited Ollivander's and showed him Harry's wand. "Oh yes. Not one
of mine. Beechwood and phoenix feather, nine inches. A good match, but
not a perfect one."
"He was born in England, but we moved to America when he was a child.
We got the wand there. The saleslady knew it wasn't a perfect match and
gave us a discount," said Cindy.
"Oh yes, that American rubbish about letting kids run amok with wands
before they can read," he muttered to himself. "We'll try a few wands
with phoenix feather cores."
After trying a few that all seemed close matches like the wand Harry
already had, finally the wandmaker took a wand out saying, "I wonder."
As soon as the wand found itself in Harry's hand, he felt a sudden warmth
in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing
down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot
from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light onto the
walls.
Ollivander cried, "Oh bravo!" He frowned for a second, and looked as
though he were going to say something but changed his mind. "That'll be
seven Galleons, Mr. McGonagall."
After Mark paid, Minerva said, "Let's go to the owl emporium so I can
keep my promise, and then we'll get some ice cream.
-HM-HM-HM-
After Harry picked out a female snowy owl he named Hedwig and
Brianna picked out a mostly brown male eagle owl with striking orange
eyes she named Barnabus, they went for ice cream and finally back to
Aunt Minnie's house.
The house actually belonged to both Minerva and Mark equally as the
McGonagall ancestral home, and upon Minerva's death it would fall to
Mark and his heirs (although whenever they spoke of that, he said that
she may yet fall in love and have kids, which irritated her and made her
blush at the same time). It had several rooms spread out over four floors.
Minerva had it decorated very conservatively in Gryffindor colors.
At precisely four p.m. the day after their trip to Diagon Alley, a large
group of people all holding onto a length of rope landed in a heap on the
floor (which had just been treated with a cushioning charm) of a large
hall in McGonagall Manor. It had red carpet with very light pastel gold
colored walls. The group consisted of Hagrid, the new muggleborn
students, and their families. Harry's family was already waiting for them
with Aunt Minnie.
Professor McGonagall walked to the front of the room. In her most
professional voice and a friendly demeanor, she said, "Welcome,
everybody. I am Professor McGonagall, - Transfiguration teacher, Head of
Gryffindor House, and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Thank you for
coming to the orientation."
The hand of a small brown-bushy-haired girl came up immediately.
"Yes, Miss..."
"Granger, Hermione Granger. I was wondering. You see the rest of us met
Hagrid at the Leaky Cauldron. I was wondering who that family is." She
spoke quickly out of nervousness.
Minerva smiled. "It might be a good idea for us all to introduce ourselves.
That particular family consists of my nephew, Mark McGonagall, his wife
Cindy, and their children, Harry and Brianna. Harry will be starting at
Hogwarts this year and Brianna will be starting in a few years. They are
spending the summer here before all but Harry return to America, where
they've been living for several years.
"In America, they don't have the underage restriction on magic that we
do here, so Harry and Brianna have both been attending a magic school,
as well as a muggle school, since they were five years old. They thought
this would be an excellent opportunity to meet some of the students that
will be Harry's classmates. Miss Granger, why don't you introduce your
family?"
After everyone (including Dean Thomas and Justin Finch-Fletchley's
families) had introduced themselves, Hermione's hand went up again,
causing Harry to smile. "Yes, Miss Granger?" said Minerva.
"Actually, I'd like to ask Harry and Brianna what it's like in the American
wizarding school, and what did they teach." Harry and Brianna both put
their heads down, attempting to hide their blushing faces.
Minnie looked at her nephew and niece. "Harry, why don't you answer
first?"
"Um, well, at the school we go to, I mean I used to go to, we wear regular
clothes and use pencils, pens, and paper instead of quills, ink, and
parchment like at Hogwarts. That'll probably take getting used to. We
had a spell for sharpening pencils though. I learned Latin and wand
handling, along with the basics of almost every class at Hogwarts. I'll find
out how much it helped me this September."
Brianna added, "It was nice to be able to learn magic, although I had to
wait six months for a new term to begin after I learned I was a witch.
They let you in that school once you've done your first accidental magic,
and then you learn how to control it, so accidents became much less
frequent."
Hermione said, "I wish I'd had that opportunity. Of course, I'm ever so
pleased to be able to attend Hogwarts. I've read all of the class books and
a few more besides, but I wish I'd had the opportunity to try out the
spells."
"You all will have that opportunity at Hogwarts. The restriction of
underage magic applies to all the students who have been raised in
Europe, and no one else who was raised in America will be attending
Hogwarts. Most students, even the ones born to magical families, will be
starting at the same point as you. Are there any more questions?" She
waited a few moments, but no hands were raised. "Now I will show you
the way meals are served at Hogwarts." She pointed at a table with her
hands, and instantly a Hogwarts' style feast appeared.
Harry sat down first and began to fill his plate when Hermione sat down
next to him. "Hello, Harry," she said. Her face began to get pink. "I, er,
was wondering if you could be, er, my study partner."
For a reason he couldn't fathom, his face began to turn pink too. "What
exactly do you mean?"
She looked down at the table. "Er, to do class work and homework
together, to study together."
"Oh, you mean like friends."
"Well, yes. Almost like friends."
Harry wondered why she'd say, 'Almost like friends' as though she never
had friends before. He suspected it was her obviously studious nature
that classified her as a bookworm that prevented her from gaining
friends. "Sorry, can't do it," he said with a grin.
"I'm…sorry to have bothered you," she said as she began to get up. She
sounded like she was about to cry.
"If you want, we can be friends, and study together as well. But I'm not
good at being 'almost like friends.'"
She sat back down with a huge grin that showed her buckteeth, but more
importantly it showed real happiness. "Friends? Do you mean it?"
He now knew he was right and she didn't have many, if any, friends. "Of
course I mean it. Look, Aunt Minnie just got me an owl. I'll send you a
letter every week until school starts. We'll sit together on the train."
She looked down. "I, er, don't have an owl."
"Then I'll have my owl wait for your reply. I'll introduce you to her after
dinner."
In her excitement, she hugged Harry for a moment and then pulled her
hands back and blushed furiously. "Er, thanks," she said.
"You're welcome, Hermione."
The hug didn't go unnoticed by the others at the table. The Grangers
were thrilled to see that their little girl seemed to have made a friend.
They suspected she had a crush on him as well. Brianna knew she had
something to harass her brother with for the rest of the summer and
probably well into the school year. The boys figured that Harry was just
as much of a bookworm/teacher's pet as Hermione seemed to be –
probably worse since he was related to a teacher. They knew that they
didn't want to be friends with either of them.
After they were done eating, Harry and Hermione snuck out of the huge
room and went to his bedroom. Hermione was impressed as she looked
around the mansion. "I wish I had time to show you the library," said
Harry.
Her eyes widened. "There's a library here?"
He chuckled. When they got to his room, Blinky was in there dusting.
Hermione let out a small shriek.
"It's all right, Hermione. Blinky is a house elf. Blinky, I told you that you
don't have to clean my room for me."
"Blinky is sorry, Master Harry. But Blinky is knowing you isn't supposed
to be here now."
"It's all right. I'd like you to meet my new friend, Hermione Granger."
Hermione smiled at being introduced as his friend.
Blinky bowed low. "It is an honor meeting your Grangy, sir."
Hermione asked, "Are you their butler or something?"
"I is Blinky the house elf, bound to serve the McGonagall family forever,"
he said proudly as he wore a fancy linen that displayed an ornate 'M' on
it.
"Serve? You mean like a slave? You don't get paid." Her face fell.
"Of course Blinky isn't being paid," he answered patiently, knowing that
she was a muggle-born and didn't understand many wizarding customs.
Hermione turned to Harry. "You own a slave?"
"No, I don't own a slave. Aunt Minnie does. My family lives in America.
Elves aren't slaves there. My dad tried to talk her into freeing Blinky, but
she wouldn't hear of it."
Blinky now looked terrified. "You…your family isn't wanting Blinky if
you is inheriting McGonagall mansion?"
"Not as a slave," said Harry. "I'm sure dad wouldn't kick you out on the
street, though. But you don't have to worry; I'm sure Aunt Minnie will be
around for many years."
"Y-yes sir. Blinky must go now," he said as though in a trance, "back to
the kitchen to get the plates."
"The kitchen?" asked Hermione. "You cooked the food we ate, didn't
you?"
"Yes. Didn't you like it?"
"It was wonderful." She then turned to Harry. "You knew it was made by
slave labor but ate the food anyway?"
"If I refused to eat, all that would accomplish is me starving to death. I'm
staying here all summer."
"Oh, I see your point. But there must be something we can do."
"I hope so. Aunt Minnie is nice to Blinky, but there are some masters who
punish their elves."
"P-punish," she said with a horrified expression.
"I should say torture. They order their elves to do things like bang their
heads on walls and iron their hands."
Hermione's eyes were starting to tear. "Iron their hands?"
"It's disgusting! Even Aunt Minnie is against that. Thank goodness that
doesn't happen to the elves at Hogwarts."
"Wait. Hogwarts has house elves."
"Probably more than any other place in Europe. You heard my aunt. 'Now
I'll show you…"
"…the way meals are served at Hogwarts." She sighed. "Now I'm not sure
if I…"
"Please don't change your mind. At least they're not tortured there.
Maybe we can do something about the house elf enslavement. If you
don't go, there won't be anyone there who agrees with me."
She smiled at her first friend. "Maybe we can make a difference. What if
we form a club and give away information to students. Maybe we can
call it," she paused, "The Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare."
"No, people would call us spew. We need it to be something good." He
paused and smiled. "What about 'Community for Advancing the Rights of
Elves?' C.A.R.E."
"That's perfect!" declared Hermione.
"Maybe I can spend some of my inheritance on this," he said without
thinking.
"What inheritance?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Oh, never mind. I, um, don't want to talk about it."
"Oh. I'm sorry. It's none of my business if you've inherited from someone."
"That's fine. I do have some money I should be able to use to start it."
"Maybe we can get badges and sell them to try to make more money for
our literature so that you don't have to keep funding it. I'll also talk to my
parents and see if they'll donate any money. We'll definitely need to stay
in contact to prepare. You were going to introduce me to your owl."
"Yeah." He walked up to the snowy owl that was perched in his room.
"Hedwig, this is my friend Hermione."
"Hello, Hedwig. You are adorable!" Hedwig hooted in agreement.
"We'll be asking you to carry letters between us this summer. Is that all
right, girl?" She hooted again. Harry patted her on the head and then
said, "We'd better be headed back."
"I never would've expected my brother to sneak a girl to his room less
than an hour after meeting her," said Brianna with a smirk from the
doorway. Hermione's face turned red with embarrassment while Harry's
turned pink with anger.
"What are you following me for, you little snoop? I ought to hex you!"
"For your information, Aunt Minnie sent me to find Hermione before the
portkey left without her."
"Oh yes," said Hermione recovering. "I've got to go. It was great to meet
you! Owl me." She ran off, leaving the siblings alone.
"So, my brother's got a girlfriend."
He blushed. "I do not! She's just my friend!"
"And she's a girl."
"But not girlfriend."
"Do you think she's cute?" His face was totally red now. "Ah ha! You do
think your girlfriend's cute!" She turned around and left, closing the door
behind her, thus insuring that she had the last word."
-HM-HM-HM-
The weeks passed swiftly, with Harry and Hermione owling back and
forth at least twice a week. During the first week, Hermione surprised
him by sending a wallet-sized photo of herself that had been taken during
the last school year. He decided that he would be expected to send her a
picture as well. Unfortunately for him, Brianna walked in the room when
Harry asked his parents for a picture to send Hermione. If his dad hadn't
grabbed the wand out of Harry's pocket, he would've hexed her. That was
when Harry decided to start carrying both of his wands.
He soon got his parents to take him back to Diagon Alley (with Brianna
as well), and after talking about C.A.R.E. with his parents, they agreed to
let him take out money to order fifty badges and some literature. They
met the Grangers at Fortesque's ice cream right after the trip to the bank,
and they went to a shop that made magical badges. The Grangers insisted
that they paid for half of the C.A.R.E. badges once Harry and Hermione
agreed on a simple design that only used the sticking charm.
They also bought books that they believed would help them create the
literature, and after Mark noticed a man with long blond hair, fancy
robes, and a fancy cane kicking a house elf, he ran into a nearby shop
and bought a camera. He found them again and got a few great zoomed
in shots of the elf being hit with the cane and kicked as they made their
way toward Knockturn Alley. One photo focused on the elf's appearance
in a filthy tea towel with bruises all over his body. One photo did include
the wizard's face.
"Must be a respected member of high society," hissed Mark loathfully.
"Anyway, I think one of these photos should be good for the cover of
your literature. Just make sure not to show that jerk's face or he'll
probably sue or something for defamation of his lack-of-character."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry finally got to show the McGonagall library to Hermione on his
birthday, when she spent most of the day at the Manor. She was simply
amazed at the size of the library, and how many out-of-print books were
inside. She found tomes on almost every topic, including a diary written
by hand that actually described the way that some wizards started
harassing a group of elves because they were small and looked funny.
The elves fought back after several had been tortured to death. Only one
of the wizards survived (the one who wrote the diary), and he told a
different story to his fellow wizards, wherein the elves attacked them
unprovoked. At the end of a long and bloody war, European elves were
forced into signing a magical contract with almost every old pureblood
wizarding family that their descendents would serve the wizards'
descendants forever. Fortunately some elves refused to sign it, and soon
became fugitives, outcasts of society who eventually fled to the new
world when it was discovered. Aunt Minnie paled when they showed her
that, asking her to magically copy that for them.
After that, they'd had the party, where Harry hadn't invited anyone else
but the Grangers and his own family. His dad got him two wand holsters
that could attach to a belt or tie onto either an arm or leg. They'd been
charmed to repel summoning spells, and were invisible to everyone but
the wearer once they were properly attached. The wands could not
accidentally fall out or be removed with physical force by anyone but the
wearer. If it was on your wrist, the wearer could set a magic word he or
she could say to have it shot into his hand (like a spring pushed the wand
out of the holster). Harry was thrilled that he had such a great way to
keep both of his wands with him, one on each wrist. He practiced
catching his wands with either hand when shot out of the holster.
Fortunately each holster let the owner set the magic words. Harry chose
'Old Wand' for his left and 'New Wand' for his right. However, when they
started flying out of his holsters during normal conversations about his
wands, he changed it to 'Old Sparks' and 'New Sparks.'
Aunt Minnie gave him a ten pound (weightless got the attention of
muggles) seven compartment trunk so that he could be better organized
at school. She also gave him a weightless double-capacity book bag that
she claimed came free with the trunk. Hermione really wanted one of
them.
The Grangers gave Harry a fancy magical stationery set complete with
special quills, ink, and parchment.
-HM-HM-HM-
Before he knew it, Harry was at Kings Cross Station and pushing a trolley
through Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters. He'd managed to completely
keep Minerva out of his mind for the first time the day before. His family
soon joined him as he gazed in awe at the train. He still had the model of
it that his aunt had given him, but there was something special about
seeing the real thing.
"Hello, Harry," greeted Hermione from behind him. He turned and saw
the Grangers, along with several other families, including a very large
group of redheads.
"Hi, Hermione," he replied with a smile, "We should say goodbye to our
families and get a compartment." She nodded and Harry walked to his
family, hugging them each, even Brianna, in turn. "I'll talk to you tonight
in our mirrors," he whispered to his sister before kissing her on the cheek.
He then looked at all three of them. "I love you."
"We love you, too," said Cindy as she kissed his cheek one last time. "I'm
so proud of you!"
Together Harry McGonagall and Hermione Granger boarded the
Hogwarts Express.
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter end
2. Ready or Not Hogwarts, Here
We Come
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 2 – Ready or Not Hogwarts, Here We
Come
As they walked onto the train, they noticed that most of the
compartments were already filled. Through the windows on the doors,
they saw a set of red-haired twins looking at what appeared to be a
tarantula that their dark-skinned friend was holding in a box. They saw
one compartment that seemed to be filled with first years, including a
brown-haired boy who was holding a toad. They'd have gone inside,
except that it only had room for one person.
"You can go in there, if you want, Harry," said Hermione, sadly. "I'm sure
I'll find somewhere to sit."
Harry kept walking with her. "Hermione, I said we'd sit together, and
that's what we'll do! I don't lie to my friends." He then smiled at her.
"Besides, we need to do some planning for C.A.R.E."
"This compartment seems empty," the bushy-haired girl said with a grin.
"Good thing, too. It looks like the last one."
Without hesitation, Harry opened the door and allowed Hermione to go
in before him. They put their stuff on the shelves above them and sat
down together. "I was thinking," suggested Hermione, "that it would be
better to wait about a week to start talking about house-elf rights. That
way we might get to know people a bit before…"
"Before we convince them we're nutters," he said chuckling. "Sure. The
first Saturday after classes begin we'll set out the fliers in our common
room to start with our house mates."
Hermione got a worried look on her face. "That's assuming that we're in
the same house. I know your aunt is the head of Gryffindor. Do you think
that's where you'll end up?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I'd like to think I'm brave
enough for Gryffindor, smart enough for Ravenclaw, loyal enough for
Hufflepuff, and sneaky enough for Slytherin. But I don't want to be in
that house!"
"But Slytherin is supposed to be for ambitious people, not sneaky."
"It's the people who will step on anybody's toes to climb the ladder of
success. According to Aunt Minnie, not all of them are dark, but it is the
preferred house of dark wizards. Even the ones who aren't dark put their
own ambitions above everything else. They just don't have an ambition
to go dark. Aunt Minnie also warned me that the head of Slytherin
completely favors his house unfairly, so be careful around him. He's the
potions master here. His name is Snape."
"Don't you mean, Professor Snape?"
Harry whispered, "Don't tell anyone else this, but my aunt says he doesn't
teach at all, so he shouldn't be called a professor. She's been trying to get
him sacked for years, bringing the headmaster proof that he's a horrible
teacher, but Dumbledore won't listen."
Hermione looked shocked. "But, but she's deputy headmistress. He's got
to listen to her!"
"Apparently not. Just make sure not to aggravate Snape."
"That's what my brothers say," said a voice from the door. They turned to
see yet another redhead who appeared to be their age. "About Snape, I
mean. To hear Fred and George talk about him, he'll give you a detention
for not wearing Slytherin robes, no matter what house you're in. I'm Ron,
by the way, Ron Weasley."
"Harry McGonagall." He reached out and shook Ron's hand.
"Hermione Granger," she said, also shaking Ron's hand.
"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
"That's fine," said Harry, so Ron sat across from them.
"This is Scabbers, by the way," he said, indicating the rat in a cage he was
carrying.
"This is Hedwig," Harry said, pointing at the snowy owl in a cage that
was on the seat next to Ron.
"So are you two friends, or did you just have no other choice where to
sit?"
"We're friends," said Harry, causing Hermione to smile. "We met at a
muggle-born orientation."
"So you're both muggle-born, then," asked Ron nonchalantly.
Hermione nodded while Harry spoke. "Technically, my dad's a squib and
my mom's a muggle. I'm originally from London, but moved to America
when I was really little. My little sister's a witch, too. She'll be coming
here in a few years."
"I've got a little sister, too. This seems a long way to travel for school,
even if you are from here," commented Ron.
"My aunt is one of the professors here. It would hurt her feelings if we
didn't come here."
Ron's eyes widened. "McGonagall? She's your aunt?"
"Technically my great aunt, but yeah."
"Wow." Ron then turned to Hermione. "Well, muggle-borns don't have
any more problems learning magic than anyone else. No one's allowed to
do magic before Hogwarts anyway."
"Actually," said Harry with a grin, "It's different in America. There is no
age restriction, just secrecy. You can do all the magic you want as long as
it's not in front of muggles that don't know about us."
Ron's eyes went wide. "Wicked!"
Hermione said, "Harry has been going to magic school since he was five
and probably knows all of the first year spells already. We're going to be
studying a lot together this year. Would you care to join us?"
Ron's face turned pink and he looked down. He didn't want to spend all
his time at Hogwarts studying. He was hoping to get Fred and George to
let him join in their pranks. "Er, I'll probably be too…busy."
"No problem," said Harry nicely.
"Harry," said Hermione, "Why don't we practice magic now. I'm sure the
ministry doesn't care if we do it on the train."
Harry grinned as Ron paled. "Sure. I'll go first." Harry muttered, "New
sparks," causing his wand to spring out of his invisible wrist holster into
his right hand.
"Wow!" said Ron with his eyes wide. "You conjured that out of thin air!"
"Of course he didn't, silly," explained Hermione in a condescending tone.
"He received an invisible wand holster for his birthday last month." She
deliberately didn't mention the other one, since she figured her friend
might want that to be a secret.
"That's still wicked!" said Ron.
"Thanks." Harry then pointed his wand at Scabbers' cage and said,
"Wingardium Leviosa," causing the cage to rise as the rat, apparently
afraid of heights, started running around the cage frantically squealing.
"Put him down!" said Ron in a panic. "Can't you see he's scared?"
"Sorry," said Harry as he lowered the cage.
Hermione pulled her wand out, along with a book of matches. "I read
about this spell in 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration.' One of the first
spells is to change a match into a needle." She then took out a match and
set it on the seat. After her first attempt, the match was silvery and
pointed, but clearly it was still a match. She put down her head in shame.
Harry, who'd learned this spell the year before, said, "Hermione, I think
you didn't move your wand exactly right. Let me show you." He then
demonstrated the movement with his wand, and she tried again. This
time it became a needle.
Hermione smiled brightly at him, fighting the impulse to hug him.
"Thanks, Harry!"
"It was nothing. You just hadn't seen a demonstration yet. It's hard to
describe wand movements in a book. They should make a video of it."
"That would be extremely helpful!"
"A what?" asked Ron.
"A muggle device that shows moving pictures," said Harry, "Sort of like a
magical photograph."
"Oh." Ron's face turned purple as he realized that they were looking at
him expectantly. He scanned his brain to come up with some spell to
demonstrate, but could only think of one. "My brother George told me
one that's supposed to turn Scabbers yellow." He then pulled out his old-
looking wand.
"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow,
Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."
He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" asked Hermione. "Well, it's not very
good, is it?"
Ron muttered, "It must have been one of his stupid jokes."
At that moment, the snack trolley came to their compartment. "Would
you like any snacks?"
Harry smiled. "Sure. I'll take three chocolate frogs and some Drooble's
Best Blowing Gum. Would you like anything, Hermione?"
She smiled. "My parents don't really approve, but I would like to try a
few Licorice Wands."
"How about you, Ron?"
"I've got sandwiches," he muttered miserably.
"Are you sure you don't want anything?"
"Well, I wouldn't mind a few Chocolate Frogs and a box of Every Flavor
Beans."
Harry looked at Ron in surprise. "If that's what you want, but honestly! I
hate those beans. You never know what you're getting with those
disgusting things. A brown one may taste like chocolate, or it might taste
like manure! Why Bertie Bott thinks people want vomit-flavored beans I'll
never know!"
"That's disgusting!" said Hermione with a look of revulsion. "At least with
muggle candy you know what you're getting!"
"Alright, I'll get gum instead of the beans," said Ron.
After Harry had paid for it all, he closed the window saying, "I knew a
wizard in one of my American classes who had a chocolate frog jump out
his window. Ever since then I've been paranoid about it."
After they'd eaten their candy, Harry and Ron looked at their Chocolate
Frog cards. Harry got one of Dumbledore, and read the information out
loud. Before he could look at the others, there was a knock at the door. A
round-faced boy was standing there. He looked on the verge of tears.
Harry magically opened the door and the boy stepped in.
"Y-you haven't seen a toad anywhere, have you?"
"Your pet got away?" asked Harry. The boy nodded. "What's its name?"
"Trevor," said the boy.
Harry pointed his wand out the door. "Accio, Trevor!"
The three kids in the compartment with him watched in amazement as
the toad flew right into Harry's hand. "You really should get a cage for
him."
"Yeah. Thanks a lot. I'm Neville, by the way, Neville Longbottom."
Harry shook Neville's hand and remembered part of the history of the
Voldemort war. "Are you related to Frank and Alice Longbottom?"
Neville looked down and shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Er, Yes. They're
my parents."
Harry realized that Neville was uncomfortable with this topic. "They're
famous heroes even in America for defying Voldemort." Everyone winced.
"Sorry. In America we're not afraid of names. Mind you, if he showed up
I'd be scared enough, but the only thing scary about that name is trying
to spell it. A lot of people spelled it with an 'I' instead of an 'E' on the
history test at school."
"Y-you learned about that in a school?"
"Harry's been going to an American wizarding school since he was five,"
explained Hermione proudly.
"Why don't you sit here and I'll tell you about it," said Harry, glad they'd
gotten off the topic of Neville's parents. He certainly didn't want to be the
one to tell everybody about their condition, especially since Neville
obviously didn't want to talk about it.
Neville still seemed a bit nervous that Harry would talk about his
parents, and seemed visibly relieved that he hardly mentioned them at all
as he described important battles that he'd learned about in school.
It was during this conversation that Ron asked, "Did you hear about
Gringotts?"
"Yes," answered Neville nervously, "The D-daily Prophet said that some
dark wizard broke into a vault that had been emptied already. I-it was
the day after my birthday."
Neville and Ron went on to explain all that was in the paper about the
break-in and how the goblins insisted that nothing was stolen as Harry
and Hermione listened intently. Hermione said, "But if the vault hadn't
been emptied earlier, something would have been stolen."
"Exactly," said Harry, "The goblins are trying to pretend that their
security measures prevented the theft, but they didn't. Hopefully they'll
come up with a way to prevent that happening again. I'd hate to think
that someone could rob my safe."
-HM-HM-HM-
Before long, the train pulled into Hogsmeade and the students were told
to leave their luggage and disembark. It wasn't long after they stepped off
the train that Harry and Hermione heard a familiar voice call out, "Firs'
years," and they found Hagrid. They knew from the orientation that
Hagrid brought the first year students to the castle on boats. Harry and
Hermione shared a boat with Ron and Neville. All of the students, Harry
included, stared at the castle in awe as they got their first look at it. After
they reached their destination, they walked up a flight of stone steps and
crowded around the huge, oak front door.
"Everyone here?" asked Hagrid before he raised a gigantic fist and
knocked three times on the castle door.
The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green
robes stood there. She had a very stern face. Harry smiled broadly and
said, "Hi, Aunt Minnie," causing some chuckles from the other students as
the professor's ears went pink.
She looked at the blond-haired boy with an irritated expression, although
Harry could see the faintest hint of a smile on her face. "Harry, what did I
tell you this morning?"
"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall," he said with a serious expression on
his face, despite the fact that he really wanted to laugh.
"It's alright, Mr. McGonagall. Just don't let it happen again." She then
looked at the other students. "If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to the Great
Hall, where the sorting will take place."
As they were walking, he heard some of the students whispering, 'Aunt
Minnie,' while giggling. One boy who had very light-blond hair (Harry's
was a dirty-blond color) walked up to Harry with one goon on each side
of him.
"So, you're McGonagall's nephew. I believe she called you Harry. Being
well-connected in school is very important. The head of Slytherin house
is my godfather. My name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."
"Really," said Harry, trying to imagine what kind of parent would have
that that evil git as their kid's godfather, and what kind of child would be
proud of it. For some reason that kid reminded him of the man his dad
had photographed abusing a house elf. "Snape's your godfather?"
"Yes. You've heard of him?"
"I have," Harry said simply with a neutral expression while Hermione
listened to the conversation.
"Good. Associating with the right sort of people who have more
connections can be beneficial. I can help you there. My family, as one of
the oldest pureblood families in Europe, has all of the right connections.
The most important thing you need to do is to avoid hanging out with
the wrong sort. I can help you there." Draco extended his hand to Harry,
expecting him to shake it.
Harry glared at Draco, wondering how he had the nerve to brag about
the purity of his blood, something he had absolutely no control over. "I
think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thank you." Harry then turned
around and walked to the front of the line, followed closely by Hermione.
Ron and Neville had stayed toward the back of the line to avoid Malfoy
because they'd both heard of him.
Before long they were waiting to be sorted. Most of the kids were
nervous about how that was done, but Aunt Minnie had told him what
would really happen and sworn him to secrecy. When he saw how
nervous Hermione was, he whispered to her, "Aunt Minnie told me not to
tell anyone what will happen, but it's not a test to be nervous about. You
don't have to know anything at all to be sorted, I promise. Although if it
were a test, you'd be sure to get the best grade."
She blushed and whispered, "Thanks, but I'm not all that smart. I just…"
"Being smart isn't something to be ashamed of. You know that there's a
whole house here that's devoted to being smart."
At that moment, they were escorted into the Great Hall for the sorting. As
they walked in, Harry looked at the ceiling, which was showing stars.
Hermione said, "It's not really the sky. It's just enchanted to look like it. I
read about it in…"
"Hogwarts, a History," said Harry, grinning.
Hermione blushed. "It's a great book, isn't it?"
"Absolutely, but I will say that not much changed for the latest edition."
Her eyes went wide. "What edition did you first read?"
"The 1980 edition. Aunt Minnie gave it to my parents before we moved
to America. I had dad read it to me when I learned I was magical."
Minerva placed a hat on a three-legged stool.
After the hat sang its song, "Abbot, Hannah," was the first person Minerva
called forward to put on the sorting hat.
After a moment's pause, the hat yelled, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
Kid after kid was called in alphabetical order until finally, "Granger,
Hermione," was called. The small bushy-haired girl timidly walked up to
the stool and put on the hat.
Harry watched nervously as well, hoping he and his best friend would
end up in the same house. Finally the hat shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" and
she took off the hat and joined the table that was applauding with a
worried look on her face.
Harry was a bit surprised that Neville Longbottom became a Gryffindor;
he seemed more like a Hufflepuff to Harry. He wasn't surprised, however,
when Draco Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin. Harry shook his head as
Draco arrogantly strutted over to Slytherin table as though it was an
honor to be sorted into the house that values ambition above loyalty,
intelligence, and bravery.
"McGonagall, Harry," his aunt called as many whispers at the tables
began.
Harry heard people saying, 'Is he related to her?' 'Bet he's a Gryffindor,'
and 'Doesn't look like her,' as well as similar things as he walked toward
the hat. Some of the firsties that had already been sorted said, 'I heard
him call her Aunt Minnie.' He could see Professor McGonagall looking
frustrated at the whispering as well when he put on the hat.
"Let's see," said the sorting hat, "Who do we have here? Harry…Wait a
minute, I distinctly heard the name McGonagall. Pretty sneaky to change
your name, hmm?"
"Please don't tell anyone. Please don't tell…"
"All right, all right. I never reveal what I find in people's heads. I can see
that this wasn't your doing, anyway. I don't sense any real thirst to prove
yourself; seems like you don't have self-esteem issues. I can see that
you've got plenty of courage, and the loyalty you have to your family is
admirable. Not a bad mind either, but where to put you."
"Ravenclaw, please?" Harry silently asked the hat. "It's where you sorted
my friend Hermione."
"Are you certain? You could do well in Gryffindor, you know."
Harry smiled. "I know, and I'm sure that's where Aunt Minnie wants me,
but I'd really rather be with my best friend."
"Very well," said the hat. Then it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!"
Harry happily took off the hat and saw the slightly disappointed look on
his aunt's face. As he walked toward his table, he saw that most students
that weren't in his house were watching the next kid walking up to the
hat. He sat down next to an ecstatic Hermione, who said, "I was so
worried we wouldn't be in the same house after I was sorted here. I hope
you're not disappointed. I also hope your aunt isn't either." She talked a
bit fast, and Harry found it a bit amusing.
"This is fine. As much as I love my aunt, I think it's better if she's not my
head of house. People would always blame favoritism if I achieve
anything, and if I got in trouble and someone didn't think I was punished
enough, they'd claim the same thing. Besides, just because I'm in
Ravenclaw doesn't mean I can't talk to her."
As they were speaking, the other first years were sorted. They were
surprised to see a set of twins, Padma and Parvati Patil, separated into
Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively.
"You see," said Harry when that happened. "They're not going to stop
being twin sisters just because they're in different houses, are they?"
Hermione motioned Padma to come and sit by them. "Hello, Padma
Patil," she said, "I'm Hermione Granger and this is Harry McGonagall."
"Hello. It's nice to meet you," said the girl.
Harry said, "It's good to meet you, too. I guess you're the smart twin,
hmm."
The girl blushed, and for some reason Hermione looked slightly annoyed.
"I, I guess so. She's more interested in things like fashion than her
education, but she's still bright. She's more popular. Are you really
related to the head of Gryffindor house?"
After Harry nodded, they turned their attention back to the sorting. After
Ron Weasley was made a, "GRYFFINDOR," and Blaise Zabini was made a,
"SLYTHERIN," Albus Dumbledore stood up and said a few words (Nitwit!
Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!), and the feast began.
Harry got to meet some of the other Ravenclaws, including another first
year boy named Terry Boot as they were eating the magnificent dinner
the house elves had prepared. Harry thought about talking to his aunt
when he was done eating, but wasn't sure if that was proper or not. He
didn't want to embarrass her in front of her colleagues. He figured he'd
find her office the next day. While he was lost in thought, he was startled
by the entrance of the Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's resident ghost. She wasn't
very talkative, but seemed very smart and kind to Harry as she welcomed
the new students.
When Harry finished eating, he looked up at the head table to see his
aunt talking animatedly with an extremely short man. He turned to the
nearest older student, who was a pretty girl with long, curly hair who
was wearing a prefect's badge. "Excuse me," he said, gaining her
attention.
"Yes, er, Harry McGonagall, right?"
Harry smiled. "Yes. I was wondering who that short man is that Professor
McGonagall is talking to."
"That's Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher and our head of house. Are
you related to Professor McGonagall then?"
"Yes, she's my great aunt."
Penelope smiled. "She's probably talking to him about you, then. By the
way, I'm Penelope Clearwater, but almost everybody calls me Penny. I'm
the prefect who will lead you all to the dorm after the feast."
"It's good to meet you, Penny."
At that moment, Harry felt a searing pain in his forehead. He
immediately put his right hand on the spot where it hurt. He noticed that
a man who could be no one but Professor Snape (based off of his
appearance) had just noticed him. Next to him was a man wearing a
strange turban who was facing the other way.
A moment later he felt a Legilimens attack and immediately pushed the
greasy git out of his mind with all the force he could muster. The potions
professor, caught completely off guard, fell backwards onto the floor,
gaining Aunt Minnie's attention. She looked from Snape to her nephew
and mouthed, 'Occlumency?' to which he nodded. He saw her expression
change from concern to fury as she turned toward the 'professor' who was
being helped up by the man in the turban.
"What's wrong?" asked Hermione, Penny, and Padma at once with
concerned expressions on their faces.
"Snape!" said Harry with gritted teeth. "He tried to read my mind! Aunt
Min, I mean Professor McGonagall warned me that he would. He
certainly didn't waste any time!"
Hermione nodded in understanding while the others stared blankly at
him. Penny's eyebrows moved closer as she appeared to be in deep
thought. Finally she said, "Legilimency?"
"Exactly," said Harry. They then explained it to the others who had
noticed Harry's momentary headache. Many were amused at how Harry
had caused Snape to fall off his chair. They soon saw Dumbledore
escorting a very angry Minerva and Severus into a small room connected
to the hall. For about half a second, yells were heard from the room until
somebody apparently put up a silencing charm. Harry laughed. "I almost
feel sorry for Snape."
"That should be illegal," said Penelope, "It's an invasion of privacy."
"Aun, Professor McGonagall has complained several times to
Dumbledore, but he won't do anything about it. That's why she insisted
that both me and my little sister learn occlumency before coming here."
A few minutes later, Harry started laughing out loud when Snape left the
room with a red handprint on the side of his face, evidence that he'd been
slapped by Aunt Minnie. They both looked furious and Dumbledore, who
was the last to leave, looked rather worn out. He walked up to the
podium wearily. He quickly made some start of term notices, including
avoiding the third floor corridor, "And now bedtime. Off you trot!"
"Well, all of you first-years, follow me to your home away from home for
the next seven years – Ravenclaw Tower." She obviously felt a great deal
of pride in the tower as she led them toward the west side of the castle,
up several flights of stairs.
"Why do the staircases move?" asked Harry.
"Magic," Penny said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I know it's magic, but what's the point in staircases randomly moving.
That's not very helpful and can make you late for classes, or even get you
lost. I mean it would be one thing if you could stand on the edge of the
staircase and say where you want to go, but this is stupid."
Penelope, along with everyone else, stood there for a few moments
thinking about what he said. Finally, Miss Clearwater said, "You're right,
Harry. It is stupid, but that's the way it is."
Hermione whispered into Harry's ears, "Maybe we'll find a way to change
that while we're here," causing him to grin.
"That'll put us in the newest edition of 'Hogwarts, a History.'" Hermione
laughed with him at that idea, but he could tell that she would love to be
mentioned in that book.
Finally they reached their destination. They were facing a life-size
portrait of a man with very messy white hair and a thick moustache
wearing glasses and blue wizard robes. He smiled at them. "Hi, everyone.
My name's Al. What's the password?"
"Relativity," replied Penelope. After the door opened, she whispered to
the students, "Whatever that means."
Harry looked around to see a large common room decorated in
Ravenclaw colors. The carpet was bronze-colored while the walls were
painted light blue. The padded chairs and couches were blue while the
tables were wooden. There were portraits of various geniuses sitting at
desks reading. The bulletin board had a few announcements on it,
including Quidditch team tryouts open to second-years and above. They
were shown two staircases at the other end of the room leading down,
the one on the right led to the boys' dormitory and the one on the left led
to the girls.'
Before going down to his dormitory, Harry thanked Penny and said
goodnight to Hermione. He found doors on his right labeled with
different year numbers on them. Harry saw that the first door was labeled
for seventh-years and they went down from there. Across from the
fourth-year dormitories was a rather large bathroom. When he finally
reached his dorm, he opened the door to find a room with four large
four-poster beds that had blue bed curtains and blankets.
He quickly identified his trunk (it was the only one with multiple
compartments) next to one of the beds and took out a pair of pajamas.
After he changed, he pulled out an advanced potions book to review. He
had a feeling that Snape was gonna give him a hard time in class. He
wasn't sure when that would be since the schedules would be handed out
the next morning, but he did know that he wanted to be ready. While he
was reading, his dorm-mates Terry Boot, Michael Corner, and Anthony
Goldstein showed up and got ready for bed.
"What are you studying already for?" asked Terry. "I know we're
Ravenclaws but we don't have homework yet."
"I think Snape's gonna try something in Potions class and I want to be
ready. Aun, Professor McGonagall warned me about him, and he's
already mad at me."
"So, she is your aunt?" asked Michael.
"Technically my dad's aunt, but yes."
"Why is Snape already mad at you?" asked Anthony.
"He tried to read my mind during the feast and I knocked him off his
chair."
"Snape is that guy?" asked Michael. "How did that happen?"
After Harry explained mind reading and the defense against it, the others
were in awe. "Wow!" exclaimed Terry.
"My aunt didn't want that git rummaging through my mind, so she
insisted that I learn it before coming here." He sighed. "I better keep
practicing, though. I don't think he's gonna admit defeat that easily."
-HM-HM-HM-
After Harry's roommates went to sleep, he pulled his two-way mirror out
of his trunk and snuck up to the common room. "Brianna."
Thirty seconds later, her smiling face appeared. "Hi, Harry. We traveled
by international floo, so we're home already. My classes start tomorrow.
How was the train ride? What house were you sorted in? Have you kissed
Hermione yet?"
Harry blushed but hissed, "I am not gonna kiss Hermione, and if you say
that again I'll hang up on you!"
"Fine," she said with a smirk, "Denial is the first stage. Did you make
Gryffindor?"
"Actually, I'm in Slytherin."
"What?" His sister looked terrified. "How?"
"All I had to do was lie to my sister."
"You! Come on, what house are you in?"
"Ravenclaw."
"Is Hermione in there, too?"
"Yes. Snape already tried to read my mind at dinner."
She looked concerned. "Really? What happened?"
He told her about Snape falling off his chair, and about Aunt Minnie
slapping him. She was laughing her head off by the time she was called
down to dinner.
"Dinner?" asked Harry, confused for a moment, "Oh yeah, the time
difference. Duh."
"Yeah, big brother. I thought you were supposed to be a smart
Ravenclaw. I've got to go now. See ya!"
"See you later. Tell everyone I said hi."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning he met Hermione in the common room talking to a few
of the girls. Padma was there, along with the other girls in their year:
Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin. A cute second-year Asian girl
named Cho Chang was telling them what to expect for their first year.
Hermione and Harry sat with Padma and Anthony at breakfast. After
Flitwick handed them their schedules, Harry looked at them in horror.
Hermione, seeing his reaction, checked her schedule. "Oh dear. We have
two hours of Potions with the Hufflepuffs right after breakfast."
The meal became a solemn affair after that. Sort of like when an inmate
on Death Row knows it's their last meal. The first year Ravenclaws slowly
made their way downstairs to the dungeons, knowing exactly what to
expect.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry paid attention from the very beginning of class, taking notes as
Snape talked about bottling fame and brewing glory until finally Snape
yelled, "McGonagall!" Harry's head shot up as he reinforced his
occlumency shields. However, instead of reading his mind, Snape started
asking him questions. "What would I get if I added powdered root of
asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry stopped himself from smiling. "Draught of Living Death, sir." Harry
knew this was a N.E.W.T. level potion, so he was glad he'd read up on
them the night before.
Snape appeared irritated. "Where would you look if I told you to find me
a bezoar?"
Harry noticed that Hermione's hand was up as he answered, "The
stomach of a goat, although there are probably a few in your cabinet in
case someone gets poisoned here." There were several chuckles at that
comment as Snape's ears went red.
"Five points from Ravenclaw for your cheek, McGonagall! What is the
difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"Nothing, sir," Harry said coldly, knowing full well that he should have
earned his house at least twenty points by now. "It also goes by the name
of aconite."
Snape's face was red now, and he turned to the other students. "WELL,
why aren't you all copying this down?"
While the others wrote down those questions, Snape tried to catch Harry
off guard and attacked his mind again. Harry felt the stronger assault, but
still pushed him out, causing the bully to stagger where he stood for a
moment, until he said, "Five more points from Ravenclaw, because Mr.
McGonagall doesn't seem to think he needs to take notes."
Hermione, who'd been getting madder and madder while watching the
exchange, blurted out, "Why should he write them down when he
answered the questions?"
"Ten points from Ravenclaw, Miss…Granger I believe." She nodded with
an angry expression. "For speaking out of turn."
-HM-HM-HM-
Every student, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff alike, were fuming when they
left the classroom. Some of the Hufflepuffs came up to Harry and said
Snape should've given him fifty points. They had some free time before
lunch, so Harry said to Hermione, "I'm gonna talk to my aunt! This is
ridiculous!"
"May I come with you?" asked Hermione, "as a witness to how Snape was
behaving."
Harry smiled that she didn't use the term professor to apply to that creep.
"If you'd like."
-HM-HM-HM-
Soon they found themselves outside the Transfiguration classroom as a
class was just leaving. Harry walked inside and said, "Professor
McGonagall, may we speak to you in your office?"
Minnie smiled. "You're always welcome, Harry. Hello, Hermione."
-HM-HM-HM-
When they were in her office, Harry said, "First of all, I want to make
sure that you're okay with my being a Ravenclaw."
She put her hand on Harry's blond head. "Of course I am. I, of course, had
hoped you'd be in Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw is an honorable house as
well."
"Good. Now, do I want to know what happened besides you slapping
Snape last night?"
She chuckled. "Nothing but yelling that fell on deaf ears I'm afraid. I
think Snape would have to actually murder a student in the middle of a
feast before the headmaster," she then paused, "Never mind. I know you
just came from Potions. How did it go?"
"Awful! That so-called teacher started on Harry from the moment class
started! He tried to stump him with questions about N.E.W.T. level
potions, but Harry got them all right," Minerva smiled proudly, "…but he
took points from him anyway! And then…" Hermione went in a rant until
Minerva got up and opened a cabinet to reveal something Harry hadn't
seen before.
"This is my Pensieve. I acquired it nine years ago while collecting
evidence against Snape. The headmaster, of course, completely ignored
the evidence, but I still make use of this marvelous device. Harry, I'm
going to hold my wand to your head and I'll need you to remember
exactly what happened in class today."
Once she'd extracted the memory, she summoned an elf to bring lunch
into the room as they watched the 'lesson' played out. Minerva gave
points appropriately to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for correctly answering
questions. She also gave back every point Snape stole during the class.
"Since the headmaster will do nothing to stop Snape's blatant disregard of
school policies, I will. He shouldn't be allowed to give and take points!
Just don't tell anyone else about it."
"Thanks, Aunt Minnie, I mean, Professor McGonagall."
"You're welcome. I'll add your memory to my evidence. I'd take this to
the board of governors, except that Lucius Malfoy, who controls it, would
be taking Snape's side and threatening anybody who doesn't agree with
him."
"We met his son," said Harry.
-HM-HM-HM-
As the week progressed, Harry and Hermione were at the top of every
class they went to, impressing Flitwick and Sprout. Harry had trouble
staying awake in History of Magic during the lecture, so he tuned it out
and read the chapter Professor Binns was going over instead.
Defense Against the Dark Arts would've been a really great, fun, and
interesting class were it not for one small factor – the teacher. Professor
Quirrel, with his classroom smelling strongly of garlic and his fear
whenever any topic related to defense was brought up, made the class
unbearable. His stuttering didn't help, nor did the awful smell emanating
from his turban.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was excited to have his first Transfiguration lesson with Aunt
Minnie. He hadn't known she was an Animagus, so he was as surprised as
everyone else when the cat turned into her. She immediately went into
her lecture.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you
will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and
not come back. You have been warned."
Harry had never seen her more stern than while she was teaching. He
knew even he wouldn't be able to get away with anything in her class. He
was glad to see the proud look she had when he turned his match into a
needle a few moments before Hermione. She gave them five points each
as she smiled at them both. No one else was able to get any reaction from
their match.
On the way out the door he heard some Slytherins, who they shared the
class with, muttering about 'teacher's pets,' until Draco, Crabbe, and
Goyle actually walked up to them. "I'll bet Aunt Minnie showed you how
to do that right before class started," said Draco.
"Actually," said Hermione, "Harry showed me how to do that spell on the
train. He's already had years of magical education in America."
"It's none of your business anyway, Malfoy," said Harry. "Let's go
Hermione!"
Together they turned their backs on Draco and started walking away
until they heard him say, "Petrificus…" at which point Harry grabbed
Hermione and pulled both of them out of the way, "…Totalus."
The spell hit a nearby statue as Harry summoned his wand out of its
holster, and shouted, "Accio wands," causing all three wands to come into
his left hand. "Harry!" shouted Minerva as she walked out to see him
pointing four wands at three terrified Slytherins, "what's going on?"
"Your nephew stole our wands!"
"After you tried to petrify us from behind," said Hermione. "Draco's spell
hit the statue after we dodged it."
"Which wand is Mr. Malfoy's?" asked Minerva.
After she'd seen that Draco's wand had performed the body-bind spell, he
claimed, "He stole my wand and shot a spell at me."
"Professor McGonagall," said Harry, "Why don't we use your Pensieve?"
Draco's eyes went wide at that suggestion. Minerva looked at him with
her meanest look. "If you admit attacking them now, you lose ten points
and get a detention. If I have to take my Pensieve out and it's proven that
you attacked them, you'll lose fifty points and get five detentions. It's up
to you, Mr. Malfoy."
His face turned red with anger, but he knew he was caught. "Fine! I did
it, Aunt Minnie," and stormed off with his bodyguards.
McGonagall called after him, "Fifteen points from Slytherin and detention
tonight at seven cleaning the bathrooms under Mr. Filch's supervision. I
shall give your wands to Professor Snape tomorrow at breakfast."
"Harry," said Minerva after Malfoy was gone, "That was impressive
summoning. I'm curious why you didn't use a defense spell on him."
"I figured he'd pretend to be hurt and I'd end up in trouble because of his
daddy."
"Very good thinking, Harry. Five points to Ravenclaw."
-HM-HM-HM-
By the time Saturday came around, Harry and Hermione thought they'd
waited long enough to talk about C.A.R.E. With Penny's help, they
arranged for most of Ravenclaw to meet them in the common room at
ten-thirty to discuss the issue.
Harry started out nervously, "Does anybody here not know what a house
elf is?"
A few muggle-borns raised their hands and the meeting went from there.
Hermione explained what they'd found out about the origin of their
enslavement. Many of the kids that owned elves were very surprised to
find this out.
"But if it's a contract," said Cho, "surely there are some loopholes."
"Probably so," answered Hermione, "But we don't know where the
contract is, so we don't know the exact wording. We searched both the
Hogwarts library and Professor McGonagall's. We'll keep trying to find it
when we can, but for now we'd like to focus on two goals."
Harry continued. "One is to inform people, and the other is to work for
better treatment of elves." At this point they passed out brochures with
wizard pictures of an elf being beaten (as well as information). "My dad
took these photos in Diagon Alley while we were shopping. The elf's
owner was shamelessly beating him in the middle of the street."
"They're treated worse than vermin," said Hermione passionately, "and
nobody does anything about it!"
"What we want to do is form a community to advance the rights of elves,"
said Harry.
Hermione pulled out ten C.A.R.E. badges. "Two sickles to join and you
get the badges. The money goes for our literature."
"Professor McGonagall said that if we got ten members, she'd sponsor us
to be an official Hogwarts club," explained Harry, "Then we could have a
small information booth in the Great Hall and notices in every common
room."
Padma was the first to buy a badge, followed by Penny, Cho, Michael,
Terry, Anthony, Lisa Turpin, Marietta Edgecombe, Mandy Brocklehurst,
and Roger Davies. Others joined as well, but that was the list they gave to
Aunt Minnie.
By Sunday morning, half of Ravenclaw and a few members of other
houses were wearing C.A.R.E. badges. Some of them even sent literature
to their parents. Hermione got an idea to start a petition for the Ministry
to make house elf abuse illegal. Harry and Hermione were sitting at an
information booth in the Great Hall when Malfoy walked up to them,
flanked by his bodyguards, holding one of their pamphlets, looking
furious. Harry had some idea what Malfoy was mad about.
He muttered, "New Sparks," to get his wand and then pointed it under the
table. When Malfoy was close enough, Harry muttered, "Accio wands."
The Slytherins didn't even notice the wands flying out of their pockets
and under the table as Draco shouted, "HOW DARE YOU SHOW
PICTURES OF MY ELF!"
Harry and Hermione both acted completely surprised, and Hermione
loudly said, "We had no idea your father was the monster beating a house
elf senseless in the middle of Diagon Alley."
Forgetting where he was, Draco shouted, "How DARE you say anything
about my father, you filthy mudblood!"
"Twenty points from Slytherin for using that word," shouted Flitwick
from nearby.
Malfoy paled for a moment and sneered at Harry. "I challenge you to a
wizard's duel tonight."
Harry smiled, knowing the coward would never really do that. "Sure, but
I want it official and in front of the whole school. I'll see if Professor
McGonagall can sponsor it."
Malfoy paled. "I-I a son-of-a-squib like you isn't worthy of a wizard's duel!
I'll just set your booth on fire!" He sneered as he arrogantly reached for
his wand.
Both Harry and Hermione burst out laughing at the look of horror and
then comprehension on his face. "Professor Flitwick," called Harry, "could
you come here for a moment?"
"Certainly," he replied as he walked over.
Hermione said, "Draco has just threatened to burn down our booth, so we
were wondering if you could hold his and his friends' wands for us until
we're through here or he's leaving."
Flitwick seemed to think about it for a moment. "Considering what I
heard him shout a minute ago, I believe you." He turned to the
Slytherins. "May I have your wands?"
"Actually, we have them, Professor," said Harry. "I managed to summon
them before they did any damage."
Flitwick was astonished. "You summoned them?"
"Yes," he said simply.
"Professor McGonagall informed me that you've had previous education
but this is amazing."
Draco interrupted. "We're leaving now, professor. Can we have our wands
back?"
"Yes. Just make sure you don't use them against other students, especially
Ravenclaws." He handed them the wands and watched them leave.
Harry said to his head of house, "Americans tend to be lazy, and the
summoning charm is a wonderful tool for lazy people. They made it a
high priority. I learned it when I was eight. It was one of the hardest
charms they taught, but it was well worth it in my opinion. I haven't had
to leave the couch to get the T.V. remote since then."
"You are so lucky!" said Hermione with a grin.
"Amazing," commented Flitwick, "I wonder how much more advanced we
could go if the Ministry let us start teaching kids at a younger age. Carry
on. I'll see you later." He then left his students.
Hermione then turned toward Harry with puppy dog eyes. "You have got
to teach me that charm."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next week, Harry and Hermione continued to study together and be
at the top of their classes. Five first-years asked them for help with their
classes in one day. They were Padma and Anthony from Ravenclaw,
Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot from Hufflepuff, and Neville from
Gryffindor (all of them were C.A.R.E. members already). They decided to
set aside an hour in the library each day to meet as a group to help them
with different classes (just the actual topics of the week – not working
weeks ahead like Harry and Hermione were doing when it was just them
studying).
-HM-HM-HM-
When it came time for their first flying lesson, all the first years showed
up. Hermione was very nervous despite the fact that they'd both read a
few books on Quidditch and flying. Harry tried to calm her down to no
avail. When Harry put his hand out and said, "Up!" his broom went
straight into his hand. Hermione's did not. It simply rolled over on the
ground like Padma's. Neville's didn't move at all.
Madam Hooch then showed them the proper way to grip the broom.
Harry was amused when Madam Hooch told Malfoy he'd been doing it
wrong for years. When everyone was about to start flying, Neville lost
control of his broom. After a terrifying flight, he broke his wrist, and
Madam Hooch escorted him to the hospital wing, warning everybody to
stay on the ground. Malfoy took the opportunity to steal Neville's
remembrall, which had fallen on the ground.
"Give it back, Malfoy," Harry shouted.
"Make me, McGonagall!" he said as he flew off on a broom.
Within a second, Harry's wand was in his hand. "Accio, remembrall!"
Draco was holding it so tightly that he was pulled with it and fell off his
broom, which was five feet in the air, before letting go of the orb that
flew straight into Harry's hand. After he moaned in pain, Crabbe and
Goyle walked up to him, but looked completely unsure what to do.
Hermione had wanted to help Draco, but Harry said, "He can't be hurt
badly if he can moan like that. He's faking. Besides, you know what he'd
call you if you tried to help."
At that moment, Madam Hooch walked in alone and immediately noticed
Draco on the ground. Her face turned red. She was furious. She rushed
toward him while shouting, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO USE THE BROOMS!
You are not getting another flying lesson in this school, you have a
detention polishing all of these brooms once Madam Pomfrey says you're
alright, and I'm going to recommend that you are never allowed a broom,
along with a lifetime Quidditch ban, just in case you decide you want to
play!"
The rest of the class started laughing as Draco limped out of there,
apparently with a sprained ankle, next to Madam Hooch.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author Note: I hope you don't mind Harry and Hermione being
Ravenclaws. I felt that with a friend that accepted her studious ways she
would be more comfortable there. I honestly believe she asked the hat for
Gryffindor, because she said that was what she hoped for on the train. I
also think Harry would want to be with his best friend on the continent
instead of Gryffindor if given a choice.
P.S. I know that's not the entrance to Ravenclaw described in the Deathly
Hallows, but that book hadn't come out before I wrote this story and I'm
not changing it.
3. Secrets Revealed
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 3 – Secrets Revealed
When Madam Hooch finally returned, she said, "I know that half our time
is up, but if we can avoid anymore foolishness or accidents, I can still
teach you the basics of flying. Line up again and get your brooms.
Quickly now!"
They all scrambled back to where they'd been and mounted their brooms
under Hooch's instructions. Harry soon found that he was a complete
natural on a broom and was laughing, purely enjoying himself, as he out-
flew everyone there. After five minutes, he noticed that Hermione was
having trouble. She was off the ground, but not moving much at all, and
was clearly terrified of falling. Madam Hooch was helping someone else.
He flew over to his friend.
"Hermione, how are you doing?"
She put her head down in shame. "I-I'm fine. Y-you're doing r-really well."
"Thanks. I want to help. What precisely is the problem you're having?
You're brilliant at everything else."
"I j-just can't control this broom! There's no spell or something I can learn
to help."
Nodding his head, Harry said, "You're right. There's nothing to memorize
to make this easier. I was lucky. Apparently I'm good at this naturally."
He searched his mind to think of a way to help his friend. "Um, I guess
it's like riding a bike. There's no book that can teach you how to do that,
either."
"I had a hard time learning that, too," she admitted, "but I did learn," she
said with determination.
Harry smiled. "And you'll learn this, too. The first thing you need to do
is…"
Harry patiently instructed Hermione in flying, explaining how he was
controlling the broom he was on, and having her watch while he
demonstrated what he somehow knew instinctively. Unbeknownst to
them, Madam Hooch had noticed and was watching them when she
wasn't correcting others who were having minor problems.
After about twenty minutes, Hermione was flying fairly well, and
beginning to enjoy herself. "Wow! I never thought that this could be such
fun!"
Harry chuckled, "I thought so. My parents wouldn't let me get a broom,
but I saw a few Quidditch matches in the States and thought it looked
exciting. I definitely want to try out for the Quidditch team next year!"
"And I'm sure you'll do well," said Madam Hooch, who'd flown up to
them. "Mr. McGonagall, I'd like to compliment how well you instructed
Miss Granger. I couldn't have done it better myself. Five points to
Ravenclaw."
"Thank you," he said blushing slightly.
-HM-HM-HM-
That night, Harry pulled out his mirror to call his family once the
common room was cleared out.
"You are gonna have to get me a broom next year!" he declared excitedly
to his parents. "We just had our first flying lesson and it was awesome!"
Mark chuckled. "Let me guess. You plan to be captain of the Ravenclaw
Quidditch team next year, too?"
Harry's ears turned pink. "I do want to try out for the team. Isn't there a
place in Little Salem where people can practice flying and Quidditch?"
"Yes, I think so," answered Cindy. "Er, 'Frank's Flying Funhouse,' I think is
the name. We can certainly find out about it before you return for the
summer."
"How did your girlfriend fly?" asked Brianna.
Harry's ears turned pink, but he firmly answered, "I don't have a
girlfriend!"
"You know who I mean," his sister replied, grinning.
"Don't tease your brother," said Cindy sternly.
Mark added, "Or we might tell him about Bobby." Brianna's face went
scarlet. "Whoops!" he said in mock regret.
Harry's eyebrows shot up. "Who's Bobby?"
"Just a boy in my class who moved from Michigan this summer. We did
our homework together, ONCE!"
"Magic or Muggle?"
"Muggle, and don't start…"
"Well, then if your new boyfriend gets out of line, you can stun him and
he won't be able to defend himself."
"He is not…"
"We'll see about that. What does he look like?"
"This is not about Bobby! How did Hermione fly?"
"On a broom. How tall is Bobby?"
"Dad, why did you have to bring him up?" Mark simply laughed.
"Does he carry your books?" asked Harry, clearly enjoying his revenge.
"No, he doesn't!"
"Then you should let him know that boyfriends do that kind of thing."
"He is NOT my boyfriend! Do you carry Hermione's books for her?"
"Of course not, but she's not my girlfriend."
"But you did buy her an enchanted book-bag for her birthday," said
Brianna with a smirk. "Same difference!"
Cindy decided to change the subject. "Matt, Emilio, and Chris said 'hi'
when we ran into them at the mall last week."
"They said school's not quite the same without having you there to help
prank the teachers," added Brianna.
Harry smiled. "Yeah. I wish they were here to help me prank…"
"Harry!" said his mother sternly.
"I meant to study with."
"But then one of them would try to steal your girlfriend!" Brianna teased.
Harry replied, "Maybe I can get them to follow you and Bobby around.
They can use their squirt guns on you two when they see you kissing."
"Ewww! I am not gonna kiss Bobby!"
"Not with anyone watching, anyway," answered Harry laughing.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day at breakfast, Draco (with his bodyguards) strutted up to the
Ravenclaw table and said with his sneer, "McGonagall! I thought you'd
like to know that Hooch's punishment was over-ridden. My father…"
"The coward who beats house elves," interjected Hermione with a smirk.
Draco's ears turned pink. "How DARE you say that about my father, you
filthy mudblood!" Crabbe and Goyle both laughed stupidly as though
Draco had said something clever.
"You brought that filthy elf-beater up!" said Harry angrily. "He, just like
you, struts around like he's important because of something he had no
control over; when in reality he's nothing more than a bully and a bigot!"
"How dare you!"
"If you don't want us to insult you and your pathetic family of self-
important nothings, go back to the Slytherin table where you belong!"
said Hermione.
"I was just saying that in fourth year I'll be able to join the Slytherin
Quidditch team."
"Well, big deal," said Harry, "I'll just summon you off your broom again
when you're higher off the ground."
Draco's face went pale. "You will not!" he said, turning around and
stomping off.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and laughed. "He actually
thinks I care that he calls me a mudblood," said Hermione.
"Apparently some purebloods are too stupid to realize that no one of
intelligence believes that nonsense. I mean, look at Crap and Boil, I mean
Crabbe and Goyle." Hermione giggled at Harry's little joke. "They are the
stupidest, least magical kids in our class, and they're purebloods."
"Draco didn't say anything about his detention," commented Hermione
thoughtfully.
Harry grinned. "I'd say that means he still has to polish those old
brooms."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next Potions lesson that they had, Snape wasn't specifically targeting
Harry. He picked a different target this time.
"Miss Granger, why must you insist on being an insufferable know-it-all?
Fifteen points from Ravenclaw!"
"But all she did was answer the question you asked!" yelled Harry.
"Twenty points from Ravenclaw, Mr. McGonagall." He then turned back
to Hermione. "Miss Granger, you have not answered my question. Why
must you be such a know-it-all?"
Looking down at her desk, she muttered, "I simply answer the questions
you ask, Professor."
"Look me in the eye when you speak to me. Five points from Ravenclaw."
"No, sir," Hermione answered coldly.
"What? Twenty points from Ravenclaw! How dare you refuse?"
"I don't want you performing Legilimency on me like you've tried doing
to Harry, sir," she said firmly, earning the attention of the class. The
Ravenclaws already knew what he did, but the Hufflepuffs who didn't
gasped.
"I do not," he said unconvincingly, then with a cold expression on his face
he added, "But if I did, do you have something to hide?"
Hermione was furious, as she refused to look up at the 'teacher.' "I'm not
breaking any school rules, if that's what you mean, but I don't want you
reading my mind like you do everyone else's. That's an invasion of
privacy!" People started murmuring in class at this pronouncement, and
she shouted for the class, "Whenever you look him in the eye he reads
your minds."
"You have just earned yourself a detention, Miss Granger."
"Fine," she said coldly as she got up and left the room, making sure to not
look at Snape. Harry got up angrily and followed her.
"You've also earned a detention, Mr. McGonagall!" As Snape looked
around the room, he noticed that no one in class would look up toward
him as the door slammed shut.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Hermione, wait up!" said Harry.
"You shouldn't have followed me, Harry," she said while stopping.
"He targeted you because he can't get me."
"Your aunt has to teach me Occlumency! I can't stand the thought of that
greasy git in my head. It's disgusting, and I know for a fact that it's
illegal!"
"Then let's see her. We should also talk to Flitwick about this, since he's
our head of house."
-HM-HM-HM-
A few minutes later, they found themselves outside of Professor
McGonagall's classroom while she was teaching. They were surprised to
hear her say loudly, "Mr. McGonagall, Miss Granger, there's no point in
waiting out in the hall. Go into my office and I'll see you in about ten
minutes."
They walked into the room, both blushing slightly as they made their
way to her office door. They heard some slight chuckling from the
students. They hurried into the office and shut the door.
-HM-HM-HM-
Nine minutes later, Minerva came into the room to find the two kids
sitting down silently. "Now, why don't you tell me what Snape has done
this time?"
"You may want to call Professor Flitwick as well," said Harry. "Snape gave
us both detentions."
After Flitwick had been called, and they'd both watched the memory of
the last five minutes they'd spent with Snape, Flitwick was furious.
"Snape uses Legilimency on students and Dumbledore knows about it?
Why hasn't he been fired?"
At that moment, Snape and Dumbledore walked into the office. Severus
sneered, "I suspected that Mr. McGonagall would go running to his auntie
for help. How touching."
"Against a pathetic bully like you," shouted Minerva, whose face was red
with fury, "all the students need help!"
"Now, now," said Dumbledore benevolently, "I'm sure we can find a
peaceful solution to this minor disagreement."
Flitwick shouted, "This…teacher performs Legilimency on the students!"
"Only to insure the safety of the school," Snape said coldly.
"You see," said Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling. "It's not that he wants to
invade the privacy of the students, but he feels that it's his responsibility
to make sure they're not planning anything dangerous."
"Poppycock!" said Minerva angrily. "Professor Dumbledore, I know that
you don't care at all about the students but…"
"Don't you DARE accuse me of not caring about the students! I…"
"Subject them to this monster who makes sure that no one but Slytherins
can learn Potions and constantly invades their privacy! Subject them to a
Divination teacher who not only is a fraud but enjoys terrorizing them by
predicting one of them to die every year! Not to mention…"
"That's enough, Minerva! We can't have students walking out in the
middle of class. The detentions will be served with Mr. Filch, but the
house points will be restored. Professor Snape, please cease attempting
Legilimency on Mr. McGonagall and Miss Granger."
At that moment, Harry felt a subtle mental attack, but Snape wasn't
looking at him. He pushed the attack away with all his might, and
Professor Dumbledore stumbled backwards, clearly surprised.
Harry was furious, but before he could say anything, Professor
McGonagall shouted, "Albus! I'm surprised at you! It's bad enough that
you condone Snape's behavior, but to do it yourself! I'm glad I taught
Harry Occlumency! I wonder how many students' minds the two of you
assault every year!"
"If there's nothing more," said Dumbledore, whose ears were now pink,
"we'll be going. It's almost time for lunch."
Dumbledore and Snape quickly left the room, leaving the others alone.
Flitwick was beside himself. "They both read students' minds and think
that there's nothing wrong with it!"
Minerva sighed sadly. "I wonder if it was a good idea to have Harry come
here at all. There are other schools in America he could have…"
"But I wouldn't have you to talk to Aunt Minnie, or Hermione."
The brown-haired girl blushed but spoke up. "Professor McGonagall, I
was wondering if you would teach me Occlumency. I believe that I'll
need it."
"Of course, Miss Granger," said the head of Gryffindor. "Let me get you a
book to read. Once you've read it, let me know and we'll start lessons."
-HM-HM-HM-
As Harry and Hermione were walking toward the Great Hall, Hermione
stopped and angrily said, "I can't believe that Snape is getting away with
this! And we got detentions!" She clenched her fists in frustration. "I wish
there was something we could do about it!"
"Maybe there is," said Harry mysteriously as a smile appeared on his face.
"We'll talk about it in the common room later, not where we can be
overheard."
-HM-HM-HM-
By dinnertime, Hermione's pronouncement that Snape was reading the
mind of anyone who looked him in the eyes had spread all over the
school. People from different houses came up to Harry and Hermione to
ask about it. They answered the questions truthfully.
When dinner was finally over, Harry and Hermione reported to Filch,
who had them scrubbing floors for three hours. Half an hour after they
were released, they found themselves sitting alone in a corner of
Ravenclaw Tower. Most of the students had gone to bed already. Harry
whispered, "I think we should pull a prank on Snape."
At first she looked shocked, but then a small smile started forming on her
lips. "I hope you don't get us both expelled. What's your idea?"
Harry grinned at his friend. "Well, I was thinking that Snape probably
protects himself from pranks, because I'm sure every non-Slytherin in the
school hates him."
"Someone probably tries to prank him every day," said Hermione
thoughtfully, "So why will we be successful?"
"Because we'll base them on his routine, just like me and my American
friends used to do."
"It can't happen while we're in the classroom though," said Hermione
with a worried expression on her face.
Harry grinned. "Then we'll need to get the memory of someone who is in
the class so we can watch."
"Definitely," she said smugly.
"We'll need to sneak out after curfew to do it, though."
She leaned forward conspiratorially. "What is it exactly that you want to
do?"
-HM-HM-HM-
At about midnight, the portrait of 'Al' was opened and two students
wearing school robes that clearly had their house badges covered with
black cloth snuck out the door to Ravenclaw Tower. Their hoods were up
so that it was difficult to see their faces. One of them closed the door,
carefully avoiding waking the portrait up.
The short figures silently moved through the castle. Their shoes had been
charmed silent. As they approached the staircases, Harry whispered, "I
wish we could have brooms."
"Well, we can't," his partner in crime responded. "I wish we had an
invisibility cloak, but don't have one of those either."
"That would be awesome," he whispered as they waited in the shadows
for the stairs to move to the right position, narrowly avoiding being
noticed by the Bloody Baron. "Maybe we can learn how to disillusion
ourselves." When the stairs were in the right position, they soundlessly
made their way down them quickly.
They slowly and carefully made their way through the castle, with one of
them getting on the floor and peeking around each corner. They ducked
into several classrooms on false alarms, learning about the thrill and fear
of sneaking around Hogwarts after hours.
When they finally reached Snape's classroom, Harry performed the
'alohamora' spell, and nothing happened. "Fine," muttered Harry, who
stuck the end of his wand under the door and summoned the hinges.
After Hermione performed a silencing charm on the door (just in case
they dropped it), they carefully opened it and replaced the hinges,
leaving it slightly ajar to make sure they weren't trapped inside the
classroom if the door locked. They then pulled a few items out of their
pockets and set up their prank.
Less than fifteen minutes after they got to the door, they were leaving.
Harry closed it, and found that it did lock itself. As soon as they got
around the corner, they heard someone approaching the classroom from
the other direction. They didn't stop to see who it was, but they both
heard Snape's voice laughing, saying something about stupid kids
thinking that a simple unlocking spell would break into his classroom.
So they snuck back through the castle much the same way that they had
to get to the dungeons. When they approached a certain stairway though,
it was already in the correct position, so they got on. Unfortunately,
when they were halfway up the staircase, it started moving again. While
it was moving, they noticed Peeves turn a corner toward their general
direction, so they ducked down so he didn't spot them. When the stairs
finally stopped moving, they snuck up to wherever they stopped, not
noticing that it led them toward the forbidden third floor corridor.
"Where are we?" whispered Harry.
"In trouble," Hermione said, pointing to the right, where a certain cat was
looking at them.
"Mrs. Norris," Harry said as the cat ran off.
"Where Mrs. Norris is," said Hermione.
"Filch is not far behind. Come on!"
They ran down the corridor until they slammed into a door. They heard
footsteps coming and the voice of Mr. Filch saying, "What is it, Mrs.
Norris?"
Harry tried the locked door, and Hermione magically unlocked it. They
quickly got inside and closed the door softly behind them.
"What is it, girl?" Filch said on the other side of the door. "There are no
students here. I'll bet you can sense what's on the other side of this door.
Don't worry. It won't get you. Come on."
While Harry and Hermione were listening to that exchange, they were
looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog. Specifically, Harry was
looking at one set of eyes, and Hermione was looking at another set.
There was a third set as well, but neither was staring at that set as the
formerly sleeping three-headed dog stretched out its legs as it glared at
them. When the thunderous growls began, Harry grabbed the door and
pulled it open, preferring detention or even expulsion to becoming a
chew-toy for a three-headed dog.
Luckily, Filch had already left, so they slowly and carefully made their
way back to the staircases.
As they were walking, they whispered back and forth.
"What was that thing, Hermione?"
"I don't know, but it was obviously guarding something."
"You saw the trap door, too."
"Naturally."
"I don't care what it's guarding; they shouldn't have a thing like that
inside a school! It could kill someone."
"It was behind a locked door," defended Hermione.
"That anyone who knows 'alohamora' can get past."
"Good point."
"Thank you."
At about this time, they'd gotten past a staircase and heard two sets of
footsteps behind them. They heard a male voice say, "Stop, you there!"
and ran for it, but no matter where they turned they couldn't seem to
shake off their pursuers.
"Hermione," Harry panted, "Let's split up. I'll try to give you cover."
"You can't! We're in this together!"
"Both of us getting in trouble won't help any. Be careful. I'll meet you at
the tower. Now go!" Reluctantly, she ran off quietly in the direction
Harry indicated, while he went the other way, purposely making noise.
He was happy to hear that both were following him as he tried to find a
way to lose whoever was following him. Finally, he came to a dead end.
As he saw the two figures approaching him, he realized that they were
definitely students, and appeared to be too young to even be prefects. He
wondered what they wanted as one of them put a piece of parchment
into his pocket. As they came closer, he saw that it was a set of twins
with red hair. If he remembered correctly, they had been looking at a
tarantula on the train, and were Gryffindors. Their wands were pointed
at him.
"What do you want?"
"To introduce ourselves, of course."
"I'm Gred Weasley."
"And I'm Forge."
"The question my friend is…"
"…who are you?"
"I, I'm Harry," he said nervously, not knowing what was going on, "Harry
McGonagall."
The twins looked at each other with mock sorrow on their faces. "Isn't it
terrible, Gred, how kids these days…"
"…can lie so easily? Yes, Forge, it is a shame."
"I'm not lying! I am Harry McGonagall! Harry Mark McGonagall if you
must know!"
"We agree that your first name is Harry."
"But your middle name is James."
"And your last name is Potter."
Harry's face fell. He couldn't understand how they knew. If they read his
mind, they were the most gifted Legilimens in the world because he
didn't even feel it. "I am not!" he decided to lie.
"Oh, but you are."
"Now tell us why you're here and what happened to your scar and hair."
Realizing that they weren't going to be fooled, he decided to find out how
they knew and who else knew. "Fine, but not in the middle of a corridor."
Fred and George smiled. "Very well, walk ahead of us."
After they'd directed Harry at wandpoint into a secret passage, one of
them asked, "Okay Harry Potter, how did you become a McGonagall?"
"Are you using Polyjuice Potion?"
Harry first wanted answers. "I'll answer your questions if you'll answer
mine. How do you know who I am, and does anybody else?"
"I don't think that's a good idea for us to answer," said Fred.
"Considering that some people believe you're a dark wizard,"
"And we've found you impersonating our head of house's nephew."
"How long did it take for you to convince the hat to put you in
Ravenclaw…"
"…Instead of Slytherin?"
Harry was getting intimidated by the way they could complete each
other's sentences. "I am not a dark wizard! I was adopted by Professor
McGonagall's nephew right after my birth-parents were killed and I was
raised in America. I only found out that I'm Harry Potter last year. And
the hat wanted to put me in Gryffindor!"
"So you're saying that Dumbledore lied to everyone when he said you'd
gone missing."
Harry's ears turned pink. "Not exactly. He left me on the doorstep of my
only living relatives with a note. Aunt Minnie, I mean Professor
McGonagall, had watched them all day and thought they were the worst
sort of muggles imaginable, while Dumbledore didn't even bother to meet
them. She, my parents, and my sister are the only people who know
about it."
The twins looked at each other as though to mentally confer. Harry saw
his chance. He muttered, "New Sparks…Accio wands!"
Both twins felt their wands pulled away. They tried to hold on, but it was
no use. Within a moment, Harry had their wands.
"That was fast."
"Looks like you've been trained by someone."
"Where'd your wand come from?"
Harry looked at them, exasperated. "All I did is take your wands. It's not
like I crucio'd you. I answered your questions, now answer mine."
For the first time in history, Fred and George Weasley were silent.
Harry took a deep breath. "Okay, I understand. You think I'm a dark
wizard, so you're not answering me, figuring that I might kill you once
you do."
"Basically," they said together.
He knew he had to gain their trust. "How about this? Here are your
wands back, mine too (he still had his second wand hidden if this didn't
work). All I ask is that you march me to Professor McGonagall and no
one else.
As they took the three wands, the twins looked at each other again. One
finally spoke. "Well he did…"
"But what if…"
"Why was he…"
"Harry, why were you and Hermione Granger out in the corridors at
night?"
"You seem a bit young for snogging."
"We were pranking Snape's classroom," he boasted proudly. He'd heard of
their reputation.
"How'd you get in his door?" said Fred, challenging Harry.
"I stuck my wand underneath and summoned the hinges when alohomora
didn't work."
"Summoning the hinges," the twins said together as matching grins
appeared on their faces.
"The prank we set up should happen during your class. You are third
years, right?"
"Yes, and we share Potions class with the Ravenclaws tomorrow."
"Pretty clever to not have it happen on a day you have Potions."
"So, do you believe me?"
"For now," said one of them.
"Will you keep my secret?"
"For now," answered the other one.
"Then I'll need you to talk to my aunt privately tomorrow and tell her
you know who I am. Then ask her to teach you Occlumency. Oh, and
don't look Snape or Dumbledore in the eye until she says you can."
"He's serious."
"He wants us to tell McGonagall."
"It's been long enough for Polyjuice Potion to wear off."
"And he hasn't drunk anything."
"But we don't need Occlumency lessons."
"We taught ourselves in first year once we realized that Snape and
Dumbledore can read minds."
"We'd have never gotten away with anything if we didn't." They handed
Harry his wand back, and he put it in the holster.
"Wicked," they said together.
"An invisible holster."
"I've heard of those."
"They also repel summoning charms, don't they?"
"Yep," said Harry smugly. His face turned serious again. "You really
should talk to my aunt to set your minds at ease if you have any doubts.
I'm here to get an education and pull pranks the same as everybody else.
I just don't want Dumbledore to take me away from my family."
"We understand, mate."
"But we're not telling McGonagall we know about you."
"Because she'd be trying to figure out how."
"You still haven't answered my questions," said Harry.
Harry looked at twin smiles. "We are the only ones who know about you."
"But we're not telling you how."
"But we will show you one thing you might be interested in."
"As one of the founders of C.A.R.E. we thought you might want to see
where the house elves here are."
"You're gonna show me the kitchens?" asked Harry excitedly.
"Exactly, and then we'll help you back to Ravenclaw Tower."
-HM-HM-HM-
About an hour later, Harry happily snuck into Ravenclaw Tower, his
wand in his left hand, to find a lone bushy-haired girl sitting in one of the
chairs looking terribly frightened. She looked up at the noise, put down
her Occlumency book, and rushed to him, embracing him tightly.
"Oh Harry, I was so worried. What with that dog in one corridor, I
wondered what else was in this castle. Are you all right? Were you
caught? Are you in trouble?" She said all this quickly without taking a
breath.
Harry smiled widely. "Thanks for caring. I am fine. The people chasing us
caught me, and they turned out to be Fred and George Weasley. They
found out…" Harry shook his head, frustrated with himself, "I mean, they
offered to show me where the kitchen is so I could meet the house elves.
I would've gotten you if I could, but I didn't have time. Anyway, I learned
the way into the kitchens."
Hermione's face turned pink. "So you've been having a midnight snack
while I've been worried sick? I…"
"Calm down, Hermione. I'm sorry that you were worried. I really am. I
brought you something." He then put his wand back in his right hand and
flicked it, muttering an incantation. A tray of food floated from the floor
near the entrance onto a table. It had a plate with a sandwich and a
pumpkin pasty and two glasses of pumpkin juice. "I already ate, so the
food is yours," he said, taking one of the glasses of pumpkin juice.
She smiled shyly. "Thank you, but you're just gonna watch me eat?"
"Why not?" he said chuckling, "I've seen you do it before. By the way, I
told the twins about our prank, and they volunteered to let us borrow
one of their memories to watch. We'll simply tell Aunt Minnie that we
want to watch it, not that we did it."
Hermione looked worried. "But she'll suspect, won't she?"
Harry snorted. "To turn someone in for pranking that git, she'd have to
have two witnesses, a confession, and irrefutable evidence, not
suspicions. She'll probably watch it with us."
Hermione laughed at that statement. "But what did the Weasley twins
find out?"
Harry's face turned visibly pale. "I…slip of the tongue. Nothing."
She gave him a strange look, and then smiled again. "Thanks for the
snack."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day at lunch, when Harry and Hermione showed up in the Great
Hall, Snape wasn't there. When Hermione pointed that out, both of them
laughed. They sat down next to the other first years. While they were
laughing, the Weasley twins stepped up to their table. Fred was holding a
capped vial. They both appeared to be in a very good mood.
"Hello, Harry, Hermione, and the rest of you young Ravenclaws. You
missed the best Potions lesson we've had in all the time we've been here,"
said Fred.
"But we have a copy of the memory to share with you," said George.
Fred handed Harry the capped vial. "Here you go, Mr. McGonagall." Fred
winked as Harry took it.
"Thanks," said Hermione.
"No problem. We've got to be off to Gryffindor Table."
"What was that all about?" asked Padma.
Harry chuckled. "Someone pulled a prank on Snape during their class."
"They know how much we hate Snape," added Hermione.
"So they thought we'd enjoy watching him humiliated in Professor
McGonagall's pensieve."
"Will your aunt really let you watch that?" asked Michael Corner.
"Let us?" asked Harry, faking offense, "She'll probably join us."
"Can we watch, too?" asked Padma as the rest of the first years nodded
eagerly.
Harry chuckled. "I can ask her after class today, but no promises."
-HM-HM-HM-
After lunch was over, they went straight to Transfiguration class, where
they had a productive lesson. Harry and Hermione were still at the top of
the class. When it was over, Harry walked up to his aunt's desk while the
other Ravenclaw first-years stayed outside by the door.
"Professor McGonagall," Harry said with a grin.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Did you hear about something happening to Professor Snape during a
third year class this morning?"
He could see his aunt desperately holding back laughter. "Yes I did."
"One of the students provided me with the memory," he said, showing her
the vial, "and I was wondering if you'd allow me to watch it. Perhaps join
me."
She looked around as though expecting Dumbledore to be in the
classroom. With her most stern expression, Minerva said, "I suppose that
as Deputy Headmistress I should investigate the matter for the sake of
school safety. You may accompany me during my investigation."
"May the rest of the first year Ravenclaws join us in this investigation as
well?" Harry asked with a straight face.
Still holding her stern face, she said, "I believe that would be appropriate.
Have them accompany you here after dinner."
-HM-HM-HM-
From the time Harry left the classroom giving his friends the 'thumbs-up'
the day passed slowly as anticipation grew. Harry was disappointed to
see that Snape was fully recovered and in attendance at dinner, although
his hair was much shorter than usual. As soon as the meal was over, the
first-year Ravenclaws marched straight to McGonagall's office.
With her teaching face on, Aunt Minnie said, "You realize of course that
this is an investigation to prevent further incidents like this from
happening." At this point, all the kids burst out laughing, followed by the
professor. Finally, the memory was placed in the pensieve. "Now,
everybody hold hands as we enter."
-HM-HM-HM-
The group found themselves in the Potions classroom. About half of the
students, including Fred and George Weasley, were already there. Harry
and Hermione led the group to watch Professor Snape as he picked up his
attendance sheet. While he was holding it, the parchment transfigured
into some sort of green slime that dripped from his hand. Some fell on his
desk, some on the floor, and some up his right sleeve.
He looked venomous as he glared at Fred and George, who were laughing
along with most of the class. He calmly said, "So, you two think it is
funny to ruin an attendance sheet, not to mention befouling the room
with this filth! Twenty points from Gryffindor, and you both have a
detention cleaning this room from top to bottom. Now, for your
assignment."
He pointed his wand at the board, but instead of showing the
instructions, his wand was summoned right out of his hands to the
chalkboard, causing more laughter. Although his ears were pink, Snape
was still speaking calmly as he took forty more points from Fred and
George. He angrily walked toward the board where his wand was stuck
until he fell over face first into a puddle of ketchup. He got up in the
midst of the laughter to see that muggle fishing line had been tied tightly
two inches above the ground. That's what he tripped on. "Eighty points
from Gryffindor," he growled, "and Mr.'s Weasley, you will have
detention for a week."
"But we didn't do it!"
"Although we wish we had!"
"Twenty points for your cheek, and another day's detention for both of
you!" He walked over to his cabinet to retrieve a towel, only to find it
locked. He picked up a Ravenclaw student's wand and pointed it at the
cabinet. "Alohamora." The cabinet opened and a few select potions flew
out at Snape, as though summoned. The towel stayed where it was.
An uncapped beaker with a dark green liquid hit his head, spilling all
over his greasy hair, which started turning gray and falling off. Another
potion hit his robes and turned them all hot pink. Snape was now bald,
wearing all hot pink, and his face was full of ketchup. He angrily walked
over to the cabinet and grabbed the only towel there, wiping the ketchup
off his face. When he removed the towel, the ketchup was gone, but
where it had been, his skin was now pastel green. "One hundred points
from Gryffindor! Class dismissed!" he screamed through the laughter.
Soon the group of Ravenclaws found themselves sucked out of the
memory, laughing hysterically. McGonagall said, "Two hundred twenty
points to Gryffindor, since it hasn't been proven who the culprits are," in
between snorts of laughter. "And I'll see about those detentions he gave
the Weasleys, once I regain my composure." Although Gryffindor points
didn't matter much to the group of Ravenclaws, they could see how
unfair Snape was being, so they understood. Harry and Hermione were
hoping Fred and George wouldn't have to serve the detentions.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry could see Brianna almost started hyperventilating when he
described the prank he and Hermione had pulled on Snape (through their
mirrors). Since it was just them talking, he admitted that they were the
culprits. They'd come to an agreement. She didn't tease Harry about
Hermione and Harry won't tease her about Bobby.
"And the jerk still has no idea it was you?" she asked, still laughing.
"No," said Harry, who was starting to laugh with her, "He's convinced that
it was Fred and George, but couldn't give them detentions because he
couldn't prove it."
"That's good!"
"Yeah, I found out that they're pretty good blokes after they found out my
little secret."
"What secret?" asked Hermione from the girls' staircase. Harry looked at
her in surprise. She was holding a thick book in her hands. "I couldn't
sleep, so I came up to read for a while. I wasn't spying on you."
"Nothing," said Harry while Brianna fell silent. "Just guy stuff. Do you
want to say hello to Brianna?"
Hermione looked either slightly hurt or slightly angry for a moment, but
then said, "Sure," and walked over to the mirror Harry was holding.
"Hello, Brianna. How are your schools going?"
"Great," said Brianna happily, "I'm still at the top of all my classes."
"That's wonderful. What's this I hear about a boy named Bobby?"
-HM-HM-HM-
A few days later was Hermione's birthday. Harry had arranged for their
study group for September nineteenth to throw a surprise birthday party
instead. In the morning, Harry gave no indication that he knew it was
Hermione's birthday. He saw her look of disappointment, but she didn't
say anything.
As they got out of their last class, Harry said, "We have a few minutes
before dinner. I'd like to get out of the castle for a little while. Want to
take a walk around the grounds?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Er, I suppose so."
Together they walked out the entrance hall while Harry indirectly led
them to a spot Padma had picked out. As they walked up to their study
group, Hermione saw a picnic blanket, a basket, and a few pitchers of
pumpkin juice. She also saw that everyone still had their book bags.
"Well," said Harry with a grin, "What do we have here?"
"SURPRISE!" shouted Neville, Padma, Hannah, Susan, and Anthony.
Harry said, "Happy birthday, Hermione."
The girl looked close to tears. She grabbed Harry and pulled him into a
hug. "Thank you!" She then went to each of them, doing the same.
The picnic basket was enchanted for size, so they were able to pull out
dinner, as well as a cake, before it was time for presents. Each of them
removed their gift from their school bag. Hermione looked so happy as
she carefully removed the wrapping paper from her presents. She got a
set of fancy quills from Neville. Anthony gave her a set of inks. Padma
gave her a magical diary with a lock that only the writer could open.
Susan gave her a small purse. She opened Harry's present last to find that
it was a bottomless, weightless book bag like he had with her name
monogrammed on it. She hugged Harry again and kissed him on the
cheek, causing them both to blush.
Before they left, she thanked them all for coming, and of course for their
gifts. A few hours later, while they were studying in their common room,
Hermione admitted to Harry that the only people that had ever
celebrated her birthday were family.
"Speaking of which," said Harry as he pulled out his mirror, "It should be
just about time." At that moment, his mirror received a call, so he
answered it, making sure Hermione could see as his mom, dad, and sister
sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry took Hermione to the kitchens that Saturday to introduce her to
the elves, who they asked about the House Elf Enslavement Contract.
"We is knowing about the contract, Miss Grangy," said Dotty, the elf they
were speaking too, "but we isn't knowing where it is."
Hermione said, "We're part of a group that's interested in the welfare of
elves. I'd like to know if you're happy here."
"OH YES! Hogwarts is being the happiest place for house elves to work!"
"I'm glad to hear it," Hermione said. "How do elves like you feel about the
way some masters hurt their elves?" She then showed them their
brochure with the picture.
"Them is bad masters, but bad master be better than no master."
"We're trying to find a way to make this kind of treatment illegal," said
Harry diplomatically. Based off of the reaction of Blinky, his aunt's elf, to
the idea of freedom, Hermione agreed with Harry not to rush the elves
into accepting the idea of freedom. For now the goal was to provide them
a happy life. "People like that are unworthy of the wonderful help that
house elves provide."
"Elves is happiest with a worthy master," agreed Dotty.
-HM-HM-HM-
The weeks passed by pretty quickly after that. No student besides Harry,
Fred, and George would look Snape in the eye, and every book the
library had that even mentioned Occlumency or Legilimency had been
checked out.
The study group was going well, and the students Harry and Hermione
were helping were improving quite a bit, as Professor Flitwick pointed
out to them after one Charms class, where the only kids who'd made a
feather levitate were the ones in Harry and Hermione's group. He
awarded them thirty points. Neville seemed to be improving the most
under their tutoring, gaining confidence that he didn't have before. It
soon became obvious that he had an aptitude for Herbology, but did
abysmally in Potions. It seemed that Neville was the Gryffindor first-year
Snape had chosen to pick on. Padma did well in Transfiguration, but had
trouble in Charms. The others hadn't found their best subject yet, and
were hoping it would be one of the elective classes they'd take in third
year.
Harry and Hermione were a month ahead in assignments, and already
had read all the way through their books for the entire year. They figured
that at the rate they were going, they wouldn't have any assignments to
do for the last two months of school. They each planned on purchasing
the next year's books during Christmas break. Hermione, who'd worked
extremely hard at it, had mastered Occlumency a week before
Halloween. Harry thought about telling her his true identity, but decided
against it for the time being. It was bad enough that the twins knew, and
he wanted as few people as possible knowing the truth about him.
-HM-HM-HM-
On Halloween afternoon, during Defense Against the Dark Arts class,
Professor Quirrel was teaching and turned around to get a cage that
contained a dark creature they were studying. The moment the back of
Quirrel's turban faced Harry, he involuntarily reached for his forehead as
he winced in pain.
"What's wrong, Harry?" whispered Hermione, who was sitting next to
him.
"I don't know."
Hermione looked at her friend in concern. "This isn't the first time that's
happened. Where exactly does it hurt?"
He ran his finger in the shape of a slash down his forehead and
Hermione's eyes went wide. She stared at Harry for a few moments
before looking straight ahead, ignoring his attempts to get her attention.
Quirrel turned around and continued the lesson.
Once class was over, Harry took her by the arm and pulled her into a
nearby empty classroom. "What's wrong?"
Hermione looked very concerned. She started muttering more to herself
than Harry. "The scar? Harry? You had to learn Occlumency. You have an
inheritance you don't want to talk about. You have green eyes. Fred and
George found out…your little secret." A terrified expression came across
her face as she backed away from her best friend. "You're Harry Potter!"
Harry was shocked that she'd realized this. "Let me explain, Hermione!"
Harry stepped toward her.
"Stay away from me, you, you LIAR!" She then ran off, and Harry could
hear her crying before she'd left the room.
He didn't know what to do. He was afraid that if he followed her, she'd
start shouting at him and someone would overhear. He was also afraid of
losing his friend. He took off after her until she stopped, turned around,
and pointed her wand in his face.
"Don't follow me, Harry!"
'Well,' he thought to himself, 'that answers that.'
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry sat miserably at the Halloween Feast next to Padma, very much
aware that Hermione was nowhere to be found. "Have you seen
Hermione?" he asked.
She looked very uncomfortable. "Er, yes, but she told me not to tell you
where she is." She took a deep breath. "She's, er, mad at you about
something, but she wouldn't say what."
Harry was relieved that she wasn't blabbing it to everyone, but he wanted
to get his friend back. He nodded miserably. "I need to apologize to her
for something, and she won't let me."
"I'm sure she'll forgive you for whatever it is. She probably just needs
some time alone."
He gave Padma a small smile and fixed a plate of food for himself and
tried to enjoy the feast. Just when he was feeling a little better, Professor
Quirrel showed up in the middle of the feast and shouted, "Troll – in the
dungeons – thought you ought to know," before fainting.
Less than thirty seconds later, Penny Clearwater, while hastily making a
headcount, was leading them toward Ravenclaw Tower. Harry stopped
suddenly to talk to Padma, who was right behind him.
"Where's Hermione? She doesn't know about the troll!"
A look of horror came upon her face. "In a girl's washroom! This way!"
She grabbed Harry's arm and together they ran down the hall while
Penny was facing the other way. He heard Padma say, "There's no time to
get a teacher. Hopefully the troll's still down in the dungeons!"
As they approached their destination, they heard Hermione screaming.
Harry pushed the door open and called his wand to his right hand. He
saw the troll swinging its club at Hermione, destroying half the bathroom
in the process as she scooted out of the way just in time.
It took another swing at Hermione, who'd gotten herself trapped in a
corner, and Harry shouted, "Accio club!" causing the club to fly out of the
troll's hand, right at Harry. As he quickly moved out of the way, he said,
"Maybe that wasn't such a brilliant idea."
The troll turned around when it lost its club and focused his attention on
Harry. He pulled back his fist to punch Harry, but before the fist made
contact, Padma had thrown a metal pipe, hitting the troll in the face. It
now growled at her, stepping away from Harry.
In the mean time, Hermione had her wand out and was placing herself so
that the troll was directly between its club and herself. She climbed on
top of one of the few remaining sinks and shouted, "Accio club!" while
pointing her wand.
Harry saw the club he'd summoned minutes earlier start moving at full
speed toward the troll's head. The monster was about to move toward
Padma until Harry sent a stunner that he knew would only annoy a troll
at its foot. The spell startled the troll long enough so that he didn't move
out of the way. The club hit the monster in the face like a knock-out
punch and the troll fell to the floor unconscious with a broken nose and
teeth missing.
At that moment, Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrel entered the
room.
Minerva took one look around and seemed to age ten years. "Explain
yourselves."
At that moment, a panic-stricken Penny Clearwater burst into the room.
"Thank God you're alive! When I saw you weren't with the group, I left
them with the other prefects. Why did you leave us?"
Hermione spoke up. "It was my…"
"It was my fault," said Harry firmly while Hermione stared at him in
surprise. "I thought I could handle the troll and went looking for it.
Hermione and Padma were trying to save me from my own stupidity. If it
weren't for them, I'd probably be dead."
"You?" asked Minerva, clearly looking displeased.
"You are arrogant, aren't you, Mr. McGonagall? I'd say a detention is in
order, along with…" said Snape, who had torn pants revealing blood on
his leg and was limping.
"Five points taken from Ravenclaw for this serious lack of judgment. I'm
disappointed in you, Harry," said Minerva, overriding whatever
ridiculously unfair amount of points Snape planned on taking away. She
turned to the others. "Both of you girls are very fortunate. Not many first-
years could take on a fully-grown mountain troll. Five points each – will
be added, for sheer dumb luck."
-HM-HM-HM-
Soon the three first-years were walking toward the tower with Penelope
behind them (making sure they actually went to Ravenclaw Tower) when
Hermione came up to Harry and whispered. "Why did you say it was your
fault?"
"Because it was," he whispered back. "I should have been honest with
you. I hope you can forgive me."
"Why didn't you tell me last week after I finished Occlumency?"
"I, I didn't want to make you worry about letting the secret slip. I mean, I
mess up enough as it is. I did think about it. I'm sorry that I didn't tell
you. I guess I haven't been much of a best friend to you. If it makes you
feel any better, I haven't actually told anybody. Not my friends in
America, no one. I don't have a clue how Fred and George found out
about it, but I only admitted it at wandpoint. Honestly, Hermione, the
only thing I've lied about is my name. I've never lied to you about
anything that wasn't directly related to that. Now, I don't have to lie to
you about anything."
"I guess I can understand that, but it hurt me to find out that way."
"If you'd like, I'll tell you the details tonight after everyone else is
upstairs."
"I would like that, thanks."
"Maybe you can help me keep my secret better." At this point, Harry
raised his voice so that Padma could also hear him. "Did you notice the
injury that Snape had on his leg?"
"Yes," said Padma, "I guess you're talking to me again?"
"Yes, I'm sorry Padma. It's just…"
"I know you two had some kind of argument that you had to get sorted
out. Anyway, I hope they can't fix his leg."
Hermione smiled. "Maybe that cut will get infected and they'll have to
remove it."
"Then they'll just need to remove the rest of him as well."
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's Note: Wouldn't a responsible prefect actually check to make
sure that the kids (especially first-years) he/she's leading are really
following? Percy's youngest brother was one of the three missing first-
years, but he couldn't see past his shiny new prefect badge to notice they
were missing. There were a total of 8 Gryffindor first-years and 3 were
missing. Someone should've done a head-count.
4. Protesting Against Snape
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 4 – Protesting Against Snape
"…and so my official name actually is Harry Mark McGonagall, and until
last spring I didn't know any different." He added with a smirk, "So
legally, I wasn't lying when I said my last name is McGonagall."
Harry was explaining the details of how he'd been kidnapped and
adopted to Hermione.
"That's truly amazing," said the girl. "It's also a brilliant way to keep you
safe. Only one person in Britain knew where you were, and she's not the
one anybody would guess."
"And no one would've guessed that I was in America," Harry added.
"And they still don't know you're at Hogwarts."
"So now that you know, do you think you can forget?"
"No, but I can help you stop messing up." She took a deep breath. "Most
of the clues I had were from spending so much time with you, but some
things, like the pain in the shape of a lightning bolt on your head, were
easy to spot."
"I don't know why I have that pain, but what can I do about it?"
"For now you can pretend that it's your whole head and not just that
small area, and we can start making note of every time you get the
headaches to try to determine what is causing them. There's got to be
more to it than just being at Hogwarts."
"I know. The first time was at the opening feast just before Snape tried to
read my mind. At first I thought it was part of the attack, but the
headaches don't just come when I'm around him."
"We were in Professor Quirrel's classroom the last time it happened. Have
you gotten the headaches in any other classrooms?"
"No. I mean Snape tries using Legilimency on me in his class, but I don't
get a headache from forcing him out of my mind. It's actually a bit
amusing."
Hermione furrowed her brow in concentration. "So it happens in
Professor Quirrel's classroom and in the Great Hall, where he's eating.
Has it happened any place that he wasn't at?"
"No, now that you mention it. I wonder why that is. Do you think he
could be up to something?"
"I'm not sure what that means, but we should keep an eye on him."
"Maybe I'm just allergic to whatever that smelly thing is that he keeps
inside his turban," suggested Harry, chuckling.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning at breakfast, Harry and Hermione were sitting with
Padma and Penny when a Gryffindor prefect with red hair walked up to
the table. Hermione was asking Penny how she liked being a prefect
when she was interrupted.
"Hello, Penelope," he said pleasantly, completely ignoring the younger
students near the Ravenclaw prefect.
"Hi, Percy isn't it?" He nodded. "Is there something I can do for you?"
"Why, yes there is. There is a Hogsmeade visit this Saturday, and I ask
that you would do me the honor of allowing me to be your escort?"
She blushed slightly. "All…all right. What would…"
"Splendid. I'll see you then." He turned around and walked away without
another word, leaving her speechless.
"That was rude," said Padma.
"He was, er, probably nervous," said Penny, "and then relieved that he'd
gotten an answer so he left in a hurry."
"If you say so, Penny," said Hermione, "but I wouldn't go out with a boy
who just walks away while I'm speaking to him."
"Isn't he one of Fred and George's brothers?" asked Harry.
"Yes, he's Percy Weasley," said Penny. "By his own admission, he's the
best prefect in the school. He completely disapproves of his younger
brothers. He always seems a bit arrogant."
"Then why are you going out with him?" asked Padma.
She shrugged her shoulders. "I thought I'd give him the benefit of the
doubt. Besides, I didn't have a date."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next Potions class Harry had was the same as usual. No one but
Harry and Hermione would look Snape in the eye, and every fifteen
minutes or so, the Greasy Git would try to read one of their minds and
get forced out, stumbling backwards. This caused him to take more
points away as students chuckled at him. During this particular class,
Harry noticed a small beetle flying in one of the corners.
-HM-HM-HM-
The day of Penny's date arrived, and she joined Harry and his friends at
breakfast a little later than usual.
"Good morning, guys," she said.
"Morning, Penny," said Harry. "Is that a new outfit?" She smiled and
nodded. "It looks real nice."
"Thanks, Harry."
"You really do look great," said Padma, "You'll knock Percy's socks off."
Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Penelope, you're late," said Percy from behind them.
"What?" asked Penny, turning around to face him.
"You showed up here later than usual, so you won't be done with
breakfast at your usual time. Which means that we won't have as much
time in Hogsmeade. Do try and hurry up."
As he took off without another word, Hermione suggested, "You should
tell him the date is off if he wants to act like that. He didn't even say
what time he wanted to leave with you."
Penny sighed. "He, he just wants to spend time with me, and he's afraid
we won't have time. I did show up fifteen minutes later than usual. He's
just anxious for our date to start."
"If you say so."
-HM-HM-HM-
Fifteen minutes later, Percy and Penny were walking together toward the
carriages. She'd let him hold her hand when he grabbed it as soon as she
got up after hurrying through her breakfast.
"You really should work on your punctuality, Penelope."
"Just call me Penny."
"For example, I've never been late to any class for my entire Hogwarts
career. I've worked hard and as a result always gotten the best grades,
and now my prefect status." He stuck out his chest in pride. "It's not going
to stop here, you know. I intend to be Head Boy. After that, I'll get a job
in the Ministry of Magic, and rise up quickly through the ranks. I should
be head of an important department before I'm thirty, in the perfect
position to become the next Minister when Mr. Fudge decides to step
down."
About half-way through this speech, Penny started tuning him out. They
were now leaving the carriage as Percy continued bragging about what
he was going to do.
"While wearing a prefect badge, we should be examples to the other
students. I understand that during the troll incident, you left most of the
Ravenclaw students behind when you were supposed to be leading them
to Ravenclaw Tower."
"Three of the first years were missing, so I had to find them." She said,
snapped back into the conversation by mention of the troll.
"But those three troublemakers got you to shirk your responsibilities to
the other students."
"There were five other prefects with them."
"But there should've been six. You shouldn't have bothered with the
students who refused to follow you."
"But it's our job to make sure that they're safe."
"No, it's our job to tell them what they should do to be safe. If they don't
want to listen, it's not our fault. Take that ringleader Harry McGonagall
for instance. You should've known he was a troublemaker the moment he
wasn't sorted into his aunt's house. He's been trying to stir up trouble
since classes started with that stupid C.A.R.E. club, trying to make the
most respected members of our society look bad. I understand he's even
had altercations with the Malfoy boy, a member of one of those respected
families. He's also caused trouble with Professor Snape. You should've
lost points for leaving the group to find him and his friends."
"He's an eleven-year-old boy, and he's right about house elves. Malfoy's
father is one of the worst elf abusers out there; they've got pictures of
him beating an elf in the middle of Diagon Alley! Harry's at the top of all
his classes but Potions, and that's because of the trouble Snape is causing
by trying to read everybody's mind. Harry knows more about Potions
than I do. He's never been anything but nice to me and anybody besides
Snape and Malfoy, and what's wrong with being a Ravenclaw?"
"Nothing, Penelope," said Percy condescendingly, "It's just that Gryffindor
is where his family is, and so he must have been rebellious to end up
elsewhere."
"Maybe he's just different. I can't believe you want to simply show off
your prefect badge without doing anything! No matter what you claim,
that's what you're doing if you wouldn't go after three missing first-years
while there's a troll in the castle. I thought you were supposed to be a
'brave Gryffindor' anyway." She took a deep breath. "Look, I don't think
we're going to get along very well, so let's end this date right now as a
mistake, Okay?"
"Fine. If you'll take a first-year's side rather than a fellow prefect then you
obviously have problems with your priorities!" He took off with a red
face, leaving Penny behind. She wasn't sure if she was happy or sad that
the date was over, but decided that she would never date Percy Weasley
again.
-HM-HM-HM-
When Penny got back a few hours later, walking hand-in-hand with
Oliver Wood, she had bought some snacks from Honeydukes for all the
Ravenclaw first and second years. When asked how the date went, she
simply replied, "We both realized it was a mistake before we got to the
first store and split up. We have absolutely nothing in common. While I
was at Honeydukes, I ran across Gryffindor's Quidditch Captain, and we
decided to have a butterbeer together at the Three Broomsticks."
The next morning when the Daily Prophet arrived, most of the students
received a surprise. The front page was about Hogwarts.
"Hogwarts Students' Privacy Regularly Invaded:
Headmaster Dumbledore Does Nothing About It
By Rita Skeeter
The right to privacy is essential to all our lives, but it is robbed from our
children when we send them to Hogwarts. It has come to this reporter's
attention that Potions Master and head of Slytherin House Severus Snape, a
former Death Eater under Professor Dumbledore's protection for questionable
reasons, regularly practices Legilimency, a type of mind-reading which
requires eye contact, on his students with the blessing of the headmaster. The
reason this has come to light is that certain students have been taught
Occlumency, the defense against Legilimency, and have frustrated his efforts.
However, that's not all that Snape is guilty of. Professor McGonagall, the
Deputy Headmistress, has recently given this reporter access to overwhelming
evidence that Snape has abused his position over and over again for the past
decade. She has presented this evidence to the headmaster countless times
calling for action to be taken, but claims, 'my pleas have fallen on deaf ears.'
For full details of Snape's abuses of his position, see page 3. One has to
wonder what Headmaster Dumbledore is playing at, putting a man like that
into a teaching position. He most certainly does not have the children's best
interests at heart…"
Another article talked about how a troll got into the castle on Halloween.
Rita Skeeter basically tore Dumbledore's reputation to shreds. Harry,
along with every student who received the paper, looked up to the Head
Table where both Dumbledore and Snape appeared furious. Minnie
appeared rather smug until Albus said something to her. She shouted her
reply.
"I will not see you privately so you can sack me without witnesses! I
simply gave that reporter the same evidence I've been showing you for
ten years! This is supposed to be a school, not a torture chamber for
children! That's what Potions class is if you're not a Slytherin! I will not
apologize for telling the truth!"
Harry started clapping for his aunt and was soon joined by almost
everybody who wasn't in Slytherin. She started to blush.
"Silence!" said Dumbledore authoritatively. He then took the podium with
a pleasant look and a twinkle in his eyes. "As most of you are aware
because of this morning's edition of the Daily Prophet, there is a dispute
between a few members of the faculty. I believe that as students, you
should simply ignore it and go about your studies as you normally would,
showing the proper respect to ALL your teachers."
Someone from Gryffindor shouted, "But he's a Death Eater! He should be
in Azkaban!"
Another said, "I always knew Snape was no good!"
More comments about both Snape and Dumbledore were said until the
hall was filled with so much noise you couldn't hear yourself think.
"Silence!" shouted the headmaster again. "I believe it is time for breakfast
to end."
-HM-HM-HM-
It being a Sunday, they didn't have any classes. Harry and Hermione
decided to visit Minerva. The first thing Harry asked was, "Are you
getting fired?"
She smiled, "No. Professor Dumbledore knows that if he fires me right
after that article printed, he will be sacked as well. He can get away with
almost anything, but not that. I had to do something when I learned that
he doesn't even bother reading negative mail sent by parents. He has an
elf deal with that, even the howlers. I had wondered why he wasn't
bombarded with them after you two made sure everyone knows that
Snape's reading their minds."
"So what's going to happen, Professor?" asked Hermione.
"Well, the Board of Governors will meet and look at the evidence.
However, I don't expect to win. Lucius Malfoy owns the board, and he's
one of Snape's few friends."
"Snape is Draco Malfoy's godfather," added Harry, disgustedly.
"But regardless," said Minerva, "This is putting some pressure on Professor
Dumbledore."
"Is that true about Snape being a Death Eater?" asked Harry.
"I actually don't know. All that the headmaster says to anyone who
questions Snape is that he trusts him, as though that alone would put our
minds at ease. If I were to guess, I'd say that he was a Death Eater who
betrayed You-Know-Who, perhaps did some espionage for the light side,
so Dumbledore decided to protect him."
"So he's probably a murderer who betrayed his friends to stay out of
Azkaban," said Harry with a mean look in his eyes.
"Yes," said Aunt Minnie. "Maybe the details will be revealed at his
hearing. I would say that even if it turns out that he deserves protection,
that still doesn't make him a good teacher. I'd think a reformed Death
Eater wouldn't act like he does, anyway. He's certainly not discouraging
Slytherins from becoming dark wizards. He's teaching them to lie and
cheat their way to the top. Wait until you see their first Quidditch match!
When Gryffindor plays, I only hope there won't be any serious injuries. I
know we won't win because of the poor sportsmanship of the Slytherin
team. They win by injuring all the other team's players – not by
Quidditch skills. And then Snape brags that his house won as though it
were an accomplishment!"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next week, if possible, Snape was even worse during Potions than
before. He vanished both Harry's and Hermione's potions five minutes
into the 'lesson' and declared they each earned a zero for the day and
both had a detention with Filch.
A few days after that, Harry found out that parents had put together a
petition to get rid of Snape. That Saturday, there would be a hearing with
the Board of Governors, Dumbledore, Minerva, Snape, and Cornelius
Fudge. Fudge would be there with a few aurors in case they needed to
arrest Snape after the hearing for invading the privacy of minors. Any
other member of Hogwarts faculty, as well as any Ministry department
head, was welcome to attend. No one else, including reporters, students,
and parents, was allowed at the hearing.
-HM-HM-HM-
Friday night, Harry was talking to his family with his mirror. "Aunt
Minnie doesn't think he'll be sacked. She believes he'd have to murder a
student in the Great Hall in front of a hundred witnesses before
Dumbledore would stop protecting him."
"It sounds like you're not getting a good Potions education," said Cindy
with a frown.
"I already know all the first-year potions, so I'm not missing much. Aunt
Minnie says that he doesn't conduct the O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s, so as long
as I study the subject, it actually doesn't matter what grades that slimy
ba…"
"Harry!" said a stern-looking Cindy while Brianna giggled. Mark looked
like he wanted to laugh.
"I was gonna say 'slimy bad teacher.' Honest."
"Of course, dear."
"Sure, Harry," said Brianna. "I'll bet Hermione doesn't like it when you
use that language."
"Does Bobby like it when you do?" asked Harry, reminding his sister of
their truce.
He looked at his parents again. "The point is that Snape doesn't matter.
He takes house points all the time so that Slytherin wins the meaningless
house cup no matter what. The only things that bug me are detentions.
And they're really stupid! This is a magical school, but if you have to
clean or something, they make you do it the muggle way! What do you
learn from that? The truth is that the magical way gets things cleaner,
and it's faster. I'll bet the entire school could be cleaned magically in one
day, but Filch the caretaker does everything by hand so he gets through
the castle in a week unless he's got a dozen kids doing it for him! Then,
while we're cleaning, he talks about the old punishments where they'd
hang kids by their toes. The man is psychotic!"
"Then why don't you prank him?"
"Brianna!" interrupted Cindy, "Your brother gets into enough mischief
without you giving him ideas." Harry smiled but said nothing.
"Try to stay out of trouble, Harry," said Mark.
"I always try, dad," answered Harry, "but I get in trouble with Snape for
breathing. I honestly think I'd be in less trouble for just skipping class. I'd
learn just as much if not more."
"Now Harry, don't make me come over there…"
"That might be a good idea, mom! You can tell Snape and Dumbledore
off!"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning at breakfast, Harry and Hermione were approached by
Fred and George Weasley.
"You may have noticed…"
"That our revered Potions master is gone…"
"And will be gone for most of the day."
"We were wondering…"
"If you'd like to help us…"
"Show him our appreciation and respect…"
"By leaving him a surprise in his living quarters…"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other for a moment before Harry
answered, "Absolutely!"
Hermione said, "If anyone deserves it, it's that creep!"
Padma then surprised them by saying, "Count me in!"
Harry quickly smiled at her. "Great. Where can we meet to discuss the
finer details?"
-HM-HM-HM-
After they met in a hidden passageway, they snuck into Snape's living
quarters (by pointing a wand under the door and summoning the hinges
– he never figured that out) and set up a prank for the first person to
walk in.
-HM-HM-HM-
At dinner, they saw that Dumbledore (who looked tired), Minerva (who
appeared livid), and Snape (who had a smug look on his face) were back
at the head table.
"What do you think happened?" said Padma.
"Obviously, Snape wasn't sacked," said Hermione.
"He hasn't been back to his office yet, either," commented Harry. "After
dinner, let's ask Aun, Professor McGonagall."
They continued eating until they were full, and waited until Minerva had
left the Great Hall to follow her. They arrived at her door while she was
still walking through it.
"Professor McGonagall," Harry called out.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Could you tell us what happened?"
She sighed, "Oh, I suppose. Come on in."
After she got them all some tea, she began speaking.
"The meeting began with Lucius Malfoy stating that he believed the
allegations against Snape were false. I honestly don't know why Professor
Dumbledore didn't stop backing Snape when he realized that he was on
the same side as Malfoy. I knew from the beginning that I was fighting a
losing battle, no matter how much evidence I had against Snape. I, at
least, was able to demand to know why Dumbledore trusts him, and
that's the worst part of it."
"Why does he trust him?" asked Harry.
She gave Harry a pointed look. "I trust you've all heard of Harry Potter."
Harry and Hermione controlled their expressions to remain neutral while
Padma said, "The Boy-Who-Lived-and-Vanished?"
"You mustn't tell anyone what I'm about to reveal." All three of them
nodded. "Yes. You see, Snape gave You-Know-Who the information that
caused him to target the Potters. You see, James Potter and he had been
bitter enemies at school. Anyway, just before they were killed, Snape
came to Professor Dumbledore with a cock-and-bull story about being
sorry that the Potters were being targeted, and he believed him. Snape
was a Death Eater, and had personally killed and tortured countless
people, but Professor Dumbledore protects him because he claimed to be
sorry about one target and became a spy for a short time. It's interesting
that when I asked, Professor Dumbledore had to admit that none of
Snape's information led to the capture of a single Death Eater, nor did it
save any lives."
Without Padma noticing, Hermione took Harry's hand while his aunt was
revealing this information. Padma said, "I wonder if Snape took Harry
Potter and killed him."
"I hope not," said Hermione, playing along.
"He probably wanted to," said McGonagall seriously. "I can just imagine
how he'd treat the son of his worst rival. Oh, and here's the best part of
the story. Snape said he owed James Potter a life debt. Even if that were
true, paying that debt wouldn't mean he shouldn't go to Azkaban. It
would mean that Snape has no remorse at all about what he's done, and
that he only felt obligated to help James."
Harry was staying quiet, but he was very mad. Minnie could see it in his
eyes. "Anyway, Snape has been ordered not to read any more students'
minds. I don't know how they expect him to obey that. He has also been
put on probation for the rest of the school year. Until that is finished, he
cannot give or take house points, nor can he hand out punishments to
anyone who is not in Slytherin. If he feels that a student in another house
needs to be punished, he must inform that student's head of house, who
will investigate the matter. I have told both Professors Sprout and
Flitwick that they are more than welcome to use my pensieve to
determine appropriate action in such an instance. I, for one, won't simply
take Snape's word for anything."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?" asked Hermione nervously.
"It's better than nothing," replied Minnie, "but they wouldn't hear a word
about his incompetence as a teacher. Therefore, the important subject of
Potions still isn't taught at Hogwarts." She sighed. "At least we got some
results. I think the only reason for that is so it looks like the Board of
Governors is doing something. Lucius Malfoy wants to at least appear like
he cares about students in a case like this one where the press is
involved. I'm sure tomorrow's headlines will make him out to be a hero
for slapping Snape on the wrist."
"I guess," said Harry coldly.
"Miss Granger, Miss Patil, I believe you should probably be getting back
to your common room. I'd like to speak to my nephew for a few minutes
if you don't mind."
"Of course not, Professor McGonagall," said Hermione, figuring that she
wanted to talk to Harry about Snape's involvement in his birth-parents'
deaths.
Once the girls had left, Minerva charmed her door for privacy. "I thought
about not telling you about it, but I know that I'd want to know in your
position."
"Thanks for that, Aunt Minnie. I can't believe that Dumbledore lets that
murderer walk free!"
"There's more to the story, I'm afraid. I haven't been told all of it, but
there was a prophecy made regarding you and You-Know-Who. Snape
heard part of it and told his master. Professor Dumbledore isn't sure
about the prophecy anymore because of how you disappeared, but he still
hopes that you'll fulfill it. All he said is that according to the prophecy,
you were the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord. I'm hoping
that it already was fulfilled when James and Lily were killed. There is a
copy of it in the Department of Mysteries, but only you can touch it
where it's kept. To see it, you'd have to reveal your identity to someone
at the Ministry, and I'd strongly advise against that for obvious reasons."
He sighed. "That's all right. It looks like I haven't been following it too
closely anyway. Besides, you always said that Divination is a wooly
discipline. Anyway, if the prophecy is true, it'll happen whether I know
about it or not."
She took a deep breath. "I suppose so. Sometimes I wonder why I even
stay at Hogwarts."
-HM-HM-HM-
At the same time, Severus Snape was strutting into his quarters. He
performed the special unlocking spell that he'd invented on his door and
opened it with something similar to a smile on his face. As he took his
first step inside the room, an orange cloud appeared above his head and
began to rain pumpkin juice on him.
As he was getting drenched by the sticky liquid, he pulled out his wand.
As soon as he cast a spell, a neon-green powder filled the room, sticking
to his body as he choked on it for a few moments. He ran to the toilet to
clean up, but found that he couldn't open the door, and every time he
tried another spell, the room filled up with the powder again, except it
was sky blue. He tried his bedroom to find it was also locked. With
apparently no alternative, he quickly walked out of his quarters toward
the nearest men's room, only to be photographed by a flashing camera
that was floating in front of the door. As soon as the picture was taken,
the camera disappeared and a venomous Snape managed to finally clean
up after walking past a small group of students gaping and laughing at
him.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, copies of that photo could be found all over the school. The
other heads of houses each got one to hang in their offices, although
Dumbledore did not approve.
Snape's behavior in classes actually did change. He simply put
instructions on the board and ignored everyone. Even Neville commented
during a study group how much easier it was to make potions without
Snape's interference. All the Gryffindors had to worry about was making
sure the Slytherins didn't interfere (since they're the ones who shared a
class with them – Ravenclaws were with Hufflepuffs) and that was solved
by dividing the room evenly into two sides, making sure the two houses
stayed separate. Snape didn't say anything about the new seating
arrangement because he knew that he was on probation and the students
knew he couldn't threaten them.
-HM-HM-HM-
One thing that did temporarily raise Snape's spirits was the Quidditch
match on November 9th, wherein Gryffindor's Keeper and captain, Oliver
Wood, was put out of commission by a Slytherin beater very early in the
game. His broom was broken by the destructive ball, and it couldn't stay
in the air for long after that. Fortunately he wasn't hurt too badly when
he hit the ground, but was unable to play for the rest of the game even if
he'd found a replacement broom. Without a decent Seeker to bail them
out, Gryffindor lost terribly, but not before Fred and George Weasley
knocked both Slytherin beaters off their brooms with well-timed Bludger
hits. Unfortunately for Snape, at the end of the game the Weasley twins
also 'accidentally' sent a Bludger that hit Snape in the face, breaking his
nose and effectively removing his gloating smile. They both got
detentions from McGonagall, but felt it was worth it.
A few weeks later, Harry mentioned how he missed the American holiday
known as Thanksgiving, where students got Thursday and Friday off
school and had a turkey feast. Brianna naturally gloated to Harry about
that on Thanksgiving Day.
Soon, November turned into December and with that came the end-of-
term exams. Harry and Hermione both knew they'd aced their tests,
although it remained to be seen what grade Snape would give them. They
decided to worry about that when they got the results. They also knew
their study group would do well. C.A.R.E. was doing well with
membership in the school, but Hermione was still hoping to make more
of a political difference. She planned on finding out if any members had
any political connections that could be helpful. For now, they were
leaving the castle for their Christmas break.
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter End
5. Christmas Break
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 5 – Christmas Break
Harry woke up early on the day they were leaving Hogwarts for
Christmas break. He'd owl-ordered assorted candies from Honeydukes for
most of his friends, to be delivered at Christmas. However, he had
something different for his best friend, and he thought he'd prefer to give
it to her now.
After he had dressed, he went down to the Common Room holding a
small wrapped package and found Hermione relaxing on a couch with
her head buried in a book. Without her noticing, he plopped down on the
couch beside her, causing her to drop her book in surprise.
"Good morning!" said Harry as he chuckled at her.
She lightly slapped Harry on the arm. "Harry! You scared me!"
"Sorry," he chuckled.
"You are not," she accused as she picked up her book.
"Maybe not, but I do have a gift for you."
She smiled at her best friend. "Really? Shouldn't we wait until
Christmas?"
"I want you to have it now." Harry handed her the small wrapped
package.
"All right," she said as she carefully unwrapped the gift. When she
removed the wrapping paper, she found two mirrors like Harry's.
"I thought you'd like a way to talk to your parents while you're at
Hogwarts. One answers to your name; the other to your mom's. You can
also call mine, Brianna's, my parents' or Aunt Minnie's with it. They work
like phones in that you can call anyone who has one. Mine answers to
'Harry McGonagall,' in case you were wondering."
She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you, thank you,
thank you!"
"You're welcome, Hermione!"
"This really does mean a lot to me." She then pointed her wand toward
the girls' staircase and said, "Accio Harry's gift!" About a minute later, a
neatly wrapped package came floating toward them. She lowered her
eyes as she said, "It's not nearly as wonderful as what you gave me, but I
hope you like it."
He grinned as he took the present from her. "I'm sure I'll love it." After
tearing the wrapping paper off of it, he found that she'd given him a set
of the 'Lord of the Rings' books which also included 'The Hobbit.' The
illustrations on the covers were moving.
"Imagine my surprise when I found out Tolkien was a wizard, and his
books were about events that actually happened a long time ago. When I
found that out, naturally I tried to find out what kind of spell could have
been placed on the ring to keep Sauron from dying, as though his soul
were somehow connected to it, but I couldn't find anything in Hogwarts'
library about that. It must be a very dark spell. Anyway, I guess I'm
rambling on and on. You don't already have them do you?"
Harry smiled at his friend. "No, I don't. I have heard of them, but never
actually read the books. Thanks a lot."
"You're welcome. I hope you enjoy them."
"I'm sure I will. I hope you're still planning on picking up our books for
next year during the break."
"Of course, Harry. I got the list of second-year books from Cho last night.
You're so lucky that you can practice magic during the holidays."
Harry chuckled. "I just don't understand why the Ministry of Magic is
against kids doing magic. I mean the parents of Muggle-born students
have to wait seven years before they can see what their kids learned in
school! They may even wonder if their kids are actually learning
anything. It's like the Ministry is hoping that your parents will decide to
withdraw you from Hogwarts because they don't think you're learning
anything useful."
"I know. It's hard to explain what I'm learning in a letter. Maybe I can
convince my parents to make our next vacation in America so we can see
you. Then we could put on a bit of a magic show for them to demonstrate
what we've learned."
"That would be great!" Harry then looked at his watch. "I guess it's about
time we went down to breakfast." He then stood and helped her up, and
together they walked down to the Great Hall for the last time that year.
-HM-HM-HM-
After an excellent breakfast, all the students who weren't staying for the
holidays rode the carriages into Hogsmeade with their luggage. Harry
and Professor McGonagall joined Hermione and Padma on one of them.
"Professor McGonagall," said Padma, "I'm surprised you're joining us."
"I admit this is my first time accompanying students on the carriages," she
replied with a slight smile, "but I thought it would be best to get an early
start. As you should know, one cannot apparate inside Hogwarts
grounds."
"Yes, it's written in 'Hogwarts, A History,'" agreed Hermione.
"Yes. When we get into Hogsmeade, I'll be apparating Harry and myself
to the airport so we can spend the holidays with our family."
Padma looked surprised. "You ride muggle airplanes?"
"No, but most international airports have a hidden section like Platform
Nine and Three-Quarters that leads to an international floo network." She
went on to explain it for the rest of the carriage ride.
When they got off the carriages, Harry wished Padma and Hermione a
"Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year."
Hermione hugged Harry quickly before stepping onto the train. "I'll call
you tonight, Harry. Have a good trip."
"You, too."
"Happy Christmas, Professor McGonagall."
"Happy Christmas to you, too, Miss Granger."
After Hermione boarded the Hogwarts Express, Aunt Minnie took Harry's
hand and they disappeared with a small 'pop.'
-HM-HM-HM-
An hour later, Harry was walking toward the exit of O'Hare airport in
Chicago with his aunt, and they were looking for their family. Harry was
pushing a trolley that had two trunks and an obviously upset Hedwig in
her cage. She'd never traveled by floo before and obviously didn't enjoy
it. It was hard to hear anything above her squawking.
"Harry, Aunt Minnie! Over here!" came the loud voice of an excited nine-
year-old girl with brown hair and blue eyes who ran up to them, hugging
them both fiercely.
"Hi, Brianna!" said Harry as he happily returned his sister's hug. "It's good
to see you."
"It's good to see you, Harry! You too, Aunt Minnie!" She then yawned,
covering her mouth with her hand. Even though it was about noon
Hogwarts time it was very early Chicago time.
"Hello, Brianna! How are you?" Minerva stepped back and looked her
niece over. "You've gotten taller."
She smiled. "So has Harry. I'll bet Hermione likes…"
"How's Bobby doing?" interrupted Harry, silencing his sister while
making her blush.
"Harry, Aunt Minnie!" said a tired-looking Mark, who'd just walked up to
them with his wife. "It's wonderful to see you both, but why don't we get
to the car so we can speak more freely. Besides, parking here is
expensive."
-HM-HM-HM-
After some hugs were exchanged, they left the airport and braved
Chicago traffic. The first thing Harry noticed when they got into the
house was, "You put up the Christmas tree without me!"
Cindy said, "We didn't want to put up the Christmas tree just a few days
before Christmas. That would be too much work to have it up for such a
short time. We wanted it to stay up for a few weeks. However, you can
help put the gifts under it."
"At present no presents are present, under the Christmas tree," said Mark
with a smirk.
Harry shook his head. "That is not very funny, dad."
"That doesn't change the fact that you need to put the presents under
there. All but yours and Brianna's are in the closet. They're somewhere
else. Your mom and I know about how you can use magic to find out
what you're getting."
"What?" replied Harry in mock offence, "How could you insult our
integrity like that?"
"We're truly hurt," added Brianna, bringing fake tears to the show.
"I'm sure," said Cindy with a smile. She then hugged Harry (not for the
first time that day) saying, "I missed you so much!" before kissing him on
the cheek.
"Come on, mom," Harry complained while pulling away from the
affection that embarrassed him, "I talked to you at least once a week
while I was gone."
"It's just not the same."
"So, Aunt Minnie," asked Mark, changing the subject as Harry summoned
the presents from the closet, "How are things going in school
administration since Snape kept his job?"
She sighed. "To be honest, staff meetings are like a cold war. Almost
everyone is against Professors Dumbledore and Snape. I'm glad that
Snape's not harassing the kids this year, but what about next year and the
year after that? I don't know what to do now. I'm seriously considering
leaving Hogwarts next year. Maybe getting a job at an American school.
I'm sure Harry's credits could be transferred if he wants to leave as well.
I'm tired of being a part of a school where Snape's behavior is tolerated."
"You can't just leave, Aunt Minnie," said Harry. "All the magical kids in
Europe have to put up with him. If you leave then nobody will stand up
for them!"
"What if you hired a lawyer?" suggested Cindy.
"There's a wizarding law office in Little Salem," said Mark, "Maybe you
could talk to them. Even if they can't take a European case, they may be
able to recommend someone."
Minnie looked thoughtful. "I, I don't know…"
"Come on, Minnie," said Cindy, "We were planning on going there the day
after Christmas anyway."
"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt."
"Then it's settled," said Mark with a yawn. "For now, I think I'm gonna go
back to bed for a nap. I'm tired. At lunchtime, I think we should go out to
celebrate Harry's return. If any of you are hungry, then just eat a light
snack."
"Okay, I'll let Hedwig loose to fly around and get to know the
neighborhood. She's never been here before. Once she's out, I'll unpack."
Brianna then said, "Hey Aunt Minnie, could you test my Occlumency if I
help you unpack?"
The aged woman smiled. "Of course, dear. Come up to the guest room
with me." She then levitated her trunk up the stairs, and the two of them
followed.
Harry said, "I'm gonna start reading my gift from Hermione." He then
showed his mom the books, explaining what his friend had told him
about them being historic. Cindy was astonished at this news.
-HM-HM-HM-
After having lunch at Pizza Hut, the McGonagalls returned home and
Brianna magically stuck their newest Christmas cards on the wall,
bragging that it was her job. Aunt Minnie complimented her niece's
sticking charm, as well as her mastery of Occlumency. Harry then started
playing Mega Man on his Nintendo, commenting, "I didn't realize how
much I missed this until I didn't have it."
-HM-HM-HM-
As dinnertime approached, Harry was beginning to feel very tired and
said he wanted to go to bed.
"You're experiencing jet-lag," explained Cindy with a slight smile. The
only way to beat it is to stay up until bedtime. If you do that, tomorrow
you should be almost back to normal."
Harry was about to reply when he felt the mirror in his pocket vibrate.
He pulled it out to find out that Hermione was calling him. "Hi,
Hermione! How are you doing? How was the train ride?" As he spoke to
her, he made his way to his bedroom and closed the door.
"It was all right. I sat with our study group. My parents were thrilled with
the mirrors you gave us! They wanted to say something." Her face moved
out of the mirror, soon to be replaced by Mrs. Granger's.
"Thank you so very much, Harry. This was a very thoughtful gift. We're
glad our daughter has a wonderful friend like you!"
Harry blushed slightly at the compliment. "Um, you're welcome. She's a
great friend, too."
"We hope you enjoy the holidays with your family. Be sure to tell them
we said 'Happy Christmas.'"
"I will. You have a Merry Christmas, too."
When Hermione's face was back inside the mirror, she said, "We went to
Diagon Alley after the train ride, so I picked up our sets of second-year
books. Hopefully they'll be the same ones we use next year, but even if
they're not, they should cover the same material anyway, so we'll know
the information."
Harry smiled. "Thanks!"
"No problem. I also found out that Susan Bones is related to the head of
Magical Law Enforcement, Madam Amelia Bones. She's her niece. She has
a lot of pull with the Ministry. I've written Susan to talk to her aunt about
C.A.R.E. I'm still finding out about the others, but if we can get enough
influential people involved, we could really make a difference."
"That's great! You're really doing a great job, Hermione! I just know we'll
be able to make a difference!"
She blushed at the compliment. "Thanks."
"It's the truth. Aunt Minnie is going to talk to a lawyer about Snape."
"A solicitor? Do you think that could help? I hope they'll be able to force
Snape out of Hogwarts and get a proper Potions teacher. He makes
everybody who's not in Slytherin abhor that class, when there's so much
to be gained by properly understanding that subject. A Potions N.E.W.T.
is required for countless occupations, but the vast majority of students
happily drop the class once they've taken their O.W.L.s. Penny said she
plans on dropping it next year, just to get away from Snape. She had
hoped to be a healer, which requires a Potions N.E.W.T., but she just
can't stand that greasy git, and frankly I don't blame her."
Harry chuckled slightly at Hermione's outburst. "Who knows, maybe he'll
be gone next year."
She sighed. "We can always hope."
"By the way, I started reading 'The Hobbit.' It seems quite interesting.
That character Gandalf must look a lot like Dumb-old-dork."
Her image smiled up at him through the mirror. "I hadn't thought of it,
but you're right. Don't worry, though. Gandalf is much more helpful. I'm
glad you're reading the book. You know how much both my parents and I
appreciate your gift."
"That was no problem at all! I'm just glad you called me. I need
something to keep me awake until dinner." He smirked at his friend.
She frowned. "You must be experiencing what they call jet-lag. Tell me,
what is it like?"
"It feels like I didn't get enough sleep last night. My mom says the best
thing to do is try to stay awake until a normal hour so that I'm pretty
much adjusted tomorrow morning. She should know since she's gone
through this a few times."
"Let me know if that works, will you? I asked my parents, and they said
they'd consider taking a vacation to see you next summer. Hopefully, I'll
be able to convince them by that time."
Harry grinned widely. "I hope so!"
-HM-HM-HM-
They continued talking until dinner, and then after the meal, Harry and
Brianna played Super Mario Bros. together until bedtime. The later it got,
the more Harry's skill diminished as he fought off sleep, thus his sister, as
Luigi, did much better than Harry did as Mario. Finally, at nine o'clock,
Harry left the living room and went to bed, falling asleep before his head
even hit the pillow.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry was woken up by his sister pounding on his door.
"It's time for breakfast! Get up, lazy! We've got places to go!"
"I'm up, I'm up!" he shouted without even opening his eyes as he lay in
bed.
"No you're not," she declared, opening the door and pointing her wand at
him. "Aguamenti!" she said, causing her wand to shoot water in his face.
"Aahh," he shouted, moving his hands to protect his face, "I'm gonna get
you!" He grabbed his wand off his nightstand (he always kept one by his
bed ready to grab if he needed it) as she bolted out of the room. He then
grabbed his glasses with the other hand and ran out after her, wearing
nothing a pair of jogging pants.
"Mom! Harry's trying to hex me for waking him up!" he heard her shout
as she ran down the stairs.
"How'd you wake him up?" asked Cindy suspiciously.
"By shooting water at my face! I think she even got some up my nose!" he
shouted before she could answer.
"Brianna!" shouted his dad.
"Ye-aaahhh. Harry!"
At that moment her whole back was soaked from Harry doing the same
spell she had. As she spun around and her parents saw the back of her
hair and pajamas they both laughed at her.
"Don't shoot water at your brother without expecting him to do the same
to you," instructed their mother with a pretty smile on her face.
Harry said, "You always told us to follow the 'golden rule,' so I assumed
that she was doing unto me what she wanted me to do to her."
"Well, I think you two have settled that, so we don't have to punish either
of you," said Mark, earning a surprised look from Minerva, who remained
silent, "but we need to hurry up. We've got a ten o'clock appointment for
Harry, followed by Brianna."
"Where?" Harry asked.
"The eye doctor," answered Cindy.
"My glasses are fine," he said.
"I remember you telling me once that you could see fine without glasses,"
replied his dad with a slight smile. "You already know that your vision
gets worse very gradually and you don't even notice it. That's why
Brianna has an appointment as well." She gave a disgusted face behind
her parents' backs. "She's always had perfect vision, but we like to make
sure every year before it causes a problem."
"I can see just fine," she said, "well enough to aim my wand directly at
Harry's face."
Mark chuckled. "That may be, but I'd like Dr. Hyle to determine that.
"Fine," she said unhappily.
-HM-HM-HM-
After a visit to the eye-doctor, wherein Harry did need new glasses, but
Brianna still had 20/20 vision (which slightly annoyed her brother), they
went out to a mall and got new winter coats, hats, gloves, and boots for
the kids. Both children had outgrown last year's winter gear. They arrived
back home at 11:30, and Harry went to his room to work on the
homework that had been assigned over break.
After he'd been working for a few minutes, he could've sworn he'd heard
someone near his door, but then it was quiet again.
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva pocketed her wand with a slight smile, having just cast a
silencing charm on Harry's door. She then walked back downstairs to
continue the preparations.
-HM-HM-HM-
At exactly 12:30, Harry was startled to hear Aunt Minnie say, "Come
down, Harry, it's time for lunch." He hadn't heard her walk up the stairs.
He shrugged his shoulders, figuring that he'd been too absorbed in his
Charms essay to notice.
"I'll be right down." He put his work down and opened his door.
He walked down the stairs and opened the door to the kitchen.
"SURPRISE!" he jumped back in shock, and then looked around at his
family and the guests as a broad smile formed on his face. A dozen of his
best friends from both muggle and magical school were standing in his
kitchen. There was a sign hanging from the wall that said, 'Welcome Back
Harry!'
"Hey, Harry!" said Matt Burke as he walked up with Emilio Tucker and
Chris Ritter.
"It's not the same at school without you there to help us stick the teacher
to his chair!" said Emilio.
"Yeah, you never told us what kind of glue you used, and we haven't been
able to figure it out," added Chris. All of Harry's magical friends hid their
chuckles as they recognized the description of a sticking charm. Harry
could even detect a hint of a smile on the edge of Aunt Minnie's frown.
The party lasted a few hours, wherein Christmas gifts were given to him,
and he found out that his parents had gotten gifts for his guests as well.
After most of the visitors had left, three of his magical friends, Paul
Grabowski, Melissa Hearne, and Luke Wisniewski, stayed for a while
longer to talk more about Hogwarts. Paul was taller than Harry with dark
hair and brown eyes. Melissa was a pretty blonde girl with green eyes.
Luke had pale blonde hair like Draco's, but didn't act like him at all. He
had blue eyes. They had successfully pranked several professors in their
magical school.
In his bedroom away from adults, Harry entertained them with tales of
the pranks he and Hermione had pulled at Hogwarts, as well as
discussing future pranks.
"Maybe you can charm one of the halls to have a huge dirty spot in the
middle of the floor that can't be cleaned without magic," said Luke. "That
Filch sounds to me like he's a squib…"
"My dad's a squib," said Harry defensively.
"Yeah, but Filch seems to hate anyone who can do magic, from what you
said."
"I also wonder about his relationship with that cat," added Paul.
Melissa giggled but said, "That's disgusting," in mock protest.
"Actually, he calls the cat Mrs. Norris, not Mrs. Filch."
"Makes me wonder what happened to Mr. Norris," commented Luke.
"Anyway," said Melissa, changing the subject, "What's this Brianna says
about Hermione being your girlfriend?"
The two boys stared at him while his cheeks turned slightly pink. "She is
NOT my girlfriend!"
"You spend a lot of time together, if I remember right. Sneaking around
the castle at night…"
"She's my best friend there, not my girlfriend." He actually considered
Hermione his closest friend anywhere but didn't want to offend any of his
other friends.
Melissa grinned at him, deciding to take a different approach. "Is she
ugly, then?"
"No, she's not ugly!"
"But certainly not cute. Am I right?" she asked, smiling brightly. The
other boys were busily holding their laughter in.
"Well, I think she's kind of cute, but that doesn't mean…"
"Of course not," she interrupted with a wink, causing his whole face to
turn red. The boys couldn't stop their laughter at that point.
"I'm gonna hex Brianna," Harry muttered under his breath.
-HM-HM-HM-
At about 5:00, his friends left Harry's room to go to their homes after
speaking briefly with Harry's parents.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was only a few days later that Harry found himself waking up on
Christmas morning. Putting a T-shirt on before leaving his room (he's
slept in pajama bottoms), he hurried down the stairs to find that his and
Brianna's presents had finally been placed under the Christmas tree. He
also noticed that she was there as well, sitting on the floor looking at the
packages, knowing that she'd be in big trouble if she touched them or
used her wand on them before their parents were with them.
"Mom, Dad, Aunt Minnie," Harry called backwards from the hallway
hoping to wake them up, "Merry Christmas!" He hoped they'd take the
hint and hurry up to let him at his presents.
After an eternity that consisted of about five minutes, the adults were
downstairs and the chaos that is opening presents began. Harry got
several gifts, both magical and muggle, but what stuck out the most to
him was a small rectangular gift that he'd saved for last.
As he mercilessly ripped the paper off of it, he saw that it was a black
case that had a yellow lightning bolt in the center of the top. Beneath the
lightning were written the words, "Touch lightning and say 'Lightning
Bolt.'"
Shrugging his shoulders, he did as he was instructed, and felt the case
begin to enlarge. He dropped it on the floor in surprise and watched it
stretch out as the outside became transparent.
When the process was over, he saw that it was a clear case containing a
broomstick, but not just any broomstick. It was the Lightning Bolt, an
American broom that was slightly better than the Nimbus 2000 that was
so popular in Europe. It still had a small lightning bolt in the middle with
instructions to say the phrase 'Storm cloud' while touching the bolt to
shrink it down.
He stared at it, literally speechless until his dad said, "Tomorrow we're
going, along with your wizarding friends from the party, to Frank's Flying
Funhouse in Little Salem to test out your new broom."
Although Minerva was staring at the broom in appreciation, she did say,
"That's a wonderful broom, but I hope you do realize…"
Cindy smiled. "We realize he can't take it to Hogwarts until next year."
"But at least he can get some practice on it beforehand," continued Mark.
"I think that if he really wants to make the team, he should put in all the
practice he can. "What do you think, Harry?"
"Wow. Thanks!" He then got up and hugged both his parents tightly.
"We also got you a broomstick servicing kit that we expect you to use,"
added Cindy.
"Sure," Harry said as he held the broom, which he'd removed from its
case, and inspected it carefully. The handle was all black except for
several small gold lightning bolts along it pointing forward. Half of the
bristles were black, and half were gold.
"Can I see it?" asked Brianna, excitedly.
"In a few minutes," he said as he seemed to be memorizing every square
millimeter of his new treasured possession.
As Minerva began opening her gift, Brianna looked at her parents. "Why
can't I get a broom?"
"Because Harry's been taught how to ride one…" said Mark.
"I can learn," Brianna said.
"The first thing you need to learn, young lady," said Cindy sternly, "is to
not interrupt your father."
"I'm sorry. I just really, really want a broom."
Mark looked at those eyes he still had a hard time resisting. He looked at
his wife, who nodded slightly. "We'll see how it goes tomorrow. If, and I
do mean if, you prove to both your mother and me that you are
responsible enough to own a broom, then we'll consider getting you one
for your birthday."
"Thank you!"
"But if we do," continued Cindy, "we'll only let you have it when we're
going someplace safe to use it."
At that moment, Aunt Minnie recognized her present as the romance
novel she'd looked at in Diagon Alley that past summer. She looked from
the present to Cindy, to see her smile and wink at her.
After the rest of the presents were passed out, Harry called Hermione's
mirror and the McGonagall family sang 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas'
to the Granger family. After the song, Harry walked up to his room while
telling his friend everything that had happened. Hermione was excited
about Harry's new broom, but for some reason she seemed a bit sad for a
moment when Harry talked about his American friends.
"I guess you really missed them, huh?" she asked, trying her best to look
happy.
"Don't get me wrong, Hermione. I was glad to see them, and I'm happy
we'll be playing on brooms tomorrow, but I didn't really think about
them much while I was at Hogwarts. I'm sure they didn't think about me
that much either."
She seemed a bit happier. "Really? Aren't you really close to them?"
"I'm friends with them, but I realized that you're my best friend. Is
something the matter?"
Harry was now worried he'd said something wrong, because it looked like
she was going to cry.
"No, no nothing's wrong," she said, suddenly grinning broadly, "You're my
best friend, too." She sighed. "I guess I just really liked hearing that. It's
an even better present than the mirrors."
"Speaking of presents," said Harry, "I finished 'The Hobbit' and started
'The Fellowship of the Ring.'"
She beamed at him. "I'm really happy you're enjoying the books."
"I'm really happy you're my best friend. Merry Christmas."
"Happy Christmas, Harry. I miss you."
At that moment they both heard Cindy yell, "Harry, get down here.
Breakfast is ready."
"Me too. I think I'd better go. I'll talk to you later. Bye."
"Bye."
-HM-HM-HM-
The McGonagalls spent the day mainly watching Christmas movies,
which Harry didn't mind once a year, but really he was itching to ride his
Lightning Bolt.
-HM-HM-HM-
Not soon enough for Harry or Brianna, they found themselves inside
Frank's Flying Funhouse. Mark was signing everybody in and renting the
necessary brooms. Only a few of Harry's wizarding friends had their own
brooms. Each of the kids had to pay for their own broom rental, as their
parents had been told previously.
Harry excitedly stepped into the practice area, whose floor was charmed
with a very powerful cushioning charm. Brianna and the other kids who
needed to be taught how to fly went to an area with a teacher while
those like Harry who already knew how to fly simply practiced on their
brooms. The plan was to put together a Quidditch game in the pitch in
about an hour, once the others had learned the basics of flying.
Harry excitedly pulled his shrunk broom case out of his pocket and
restored its size long enough to remove his Lightning Bolt, and then
shrank it, handing the case to his mom. Aunt Minnie had separated from
them once she saw where they were at, promising to return before they
left. She was going to talk to a lawyer.
Harry carefully mounted his broom and took off, momentarily surprised
at the new broom's acceleration, but he enjoyed every second of it.
Before long he was doing loops and dives (pulling up before his mom
would become too frightened) and was actually drawing a small
audience. He didn't notice that until he heard clapping after a
particularly amazing stunt.
He looked around to see why everyone was clapping, and blushed when
he realized they were watching him. Even his friends were amazed at his
talent. From behind him he heard Melissa shout, "Think fast, hotshot!"
He turned to see a red Quaffle flying at him and immediately took one
hand off the broom and caught it. He noticed a single hoop behind her
and put the Quaffle under his left arm and grabbed his broom, flying
defensively past her, despite her failed attempt at stealing the Quaffle,
and made a goal less than ten seconds after catching the ball. He heard
more applause and grinned to himself thinking, 'I guess I'm not that bad
at this.'
Soon his friends, as well as others, were throwing the Quaffle around,
trying to steal it, pass it, and score goals. Before long, he sensed
something coming at him from the side and dodged, only to see that
someone had let loose a Bludger. It didn't take long for him to identify
Luke as the one holding the bat, grinning happily. He heard someone call
his name and turned just in time to catch the Quaffle again. He was
flying toward the goal when he noticed the third type of Quidditch ball
near the floor. Instinct took over then. He flew up toward the ceiling, and
then went into a spectacular dive that first took him behind the Keeper
where he tossed the Quaffle through the hoop. Without stopping, he
continued his dive toward the floor, catching the tiny golden Snitch in his
hand three feet above the ground. He then pulled up holding the winged
ball proudly in his hand. The entire move took about twenty seconds, and
won him more applause than anything else he'd done so far. He was
thrilled until he saw the look of terror on his mom's face.
-HM-HM-HM-
While Harry was apologizing to his mom and promising never to dive
like that again (with his fingers crossed behind his back), Minerva was
just finishing her explanation of what was happening at Hogwarts to the
lawyer, Sam Gordon.
The lawyer looked thoughtful for a few minutes. "Normally, I don't work
on overseas cases, but this one seems rather interesting. Is Harry a citizen
of England or America?"
"Actually, he has duel citizenship."
"So we could use the angle that an American citizen has been assaulted
by a Hogwarts teacher, and the perpetrator has merely been slapped in
the wrist, to make it an international matter. I'd naturally want to talk to
Harry about that to get his side of it."
She nodded. "Of course. He'll be in America for a week and a half more."
"I also believe we can take this case much further than that. If this Mr.
Snape is as bad as you say he is, we could put together a class action suit
against both him and Mr. Dumbledore. Mr. Snape for mentally attacking
and verbally abusing students instead of teaching them for the past
eleven years, and Mr. Dumbledore for knowingly allowing it to happen at
his school. I found it very interesting that he actually admitted that Mr.
Snape is not there because of his teaching credentials at all. I wonder if
he had anything to do with Harry Potter's disappearance all those years
ago."
She put on her best horrified face while reinforcing her Occlumency
shields and said, "I hope not."
"After I speak with Harry, I'll take a trip to Hogwarts. That is, after
contacting the American government so I don't get into trouble. After that
I'll view your evidence. I'll then interview as many Hogwarts graduates
that sat under Mr. Snape as I can."
"I'll be able to get you a copy of the rosters. As I said before, Snape treats
the Slytherins much better than anybody else, so they probably won't
have any complaints."
He smiled at his new client. "That would probably work to my advantage.
Then, during Easter break, I'll interview as many students as I can. I hope
to go to trial early in August, but I don't want Mr. Snape aware of it until
after school is out, so that he doesn't take it out on his students. I'll also
find out just how many parents and students have informed Mr.
Dumbledore of Mr. Snape's conduct."
"Thank you very much, Mr. Gordon." She then shook his hand and left.
-HM-HM-HM-
When Minerva arrived back at Frank's Flying Funhouse, she found that
there was a full Quidditch match in progress in the pitch. One team was
Harry's friends, and the other consisted of strangers. She was delighted to
see that her niece was a Chaser, and doing very well for someone who'd
never flown before today. Melissa was another Chaser, and she didn't
know the name of the boy who was the other one. She saw that the boy
she believed was named Luke was one of the Beaters, but she didn't know
the name of the other one. Paul was the Keeper. She briefly wondered
where Harry was until she noticed him flying above everything, looking
around and concentrating very hard. She then realized that he must be
the Seeker.
She looked at the scoreboard to see that the game was 220 to 180, with
Harry's team losing to the other team that had all older players. She
thought that the youngest player on that team was at least 13, probably
14, and most of the other players were at least fifteen.
She watched with excitement as Brianna intercepted the Quaffle while
the other team was passing it. She proudly watched her niece avoid the
other players, as well as a Bludger, as she made her way toward the goal,
flying toward the left hoop until the Keeper moved to guard it. She then
quickly tossed the Quaffle into the right hoop. Minnie was positive she'd
heard the Keeper use an expletive, and briefly wished she could give him
detention.
At that moment, she saw Harry dive straight down toward the ground,
the other Seeker in hot pursuit. She held her breath as she hoped Harry
knew what he was doing as he got closer and closer toward the floor. At
the last second, he turned ninety degrees and flew toward the other side
of the pitch with his shoes less than an inch above the floor. The other
Seeker crashed onto the magically padded floor, but everyone's eyes were
on Harry, who suddenly reached out and grabbed the Golden Snitch,
which had been almost directly beneath the other Seeker's original
position.
As she was clapping more loudly than anybody else, she exclaimed,
"What a Seeker! I wish he'd been sorted into Gryffindor!"
She walked up to Harry, saying, "Well done, Harry! Ravenclaw may win
the Quidditch cup next year if they're smart enough to put you on the
team!" As soon as she finished saying that, she heard Cindy start yelling
about how dangerous that stunt was.
"Honestly mom, I knew the floor was padded. Look, the other Seeker is
fine." When he pointed toward him, both women could see it was true as
he walked in their general direction.
Cindy took a deep breath. "Just remember not to do that when the
ground's not padded." She then smiled. "You were amazing, though." His
mom hugged him fiercely.
"Way to go, champ!" said Mark as he walked up, putting his arm around
his son. "You too, Brianna!" he added as she approached happily.
"Thanks! I didn't do anything nearly as dangerous as what Harry did." She
then looked at her brother. "Not that you weren't awesome out there."
She then looked back at her parents. "So can I please have a broom for
my birthday?"
"We'll think about it," said Cindy after exchanging a look with her
husband. She then turned her attention toward Minerva while the other
players, even the opposing Seeker, complimented Harry and Brianna on
their performance. "How'd it go with the lawyer?"
Minnie smiled. "He wants to interview Harry before he goes back to
school. I was hoping it could be tomorrow to get it over with." Mark
nodded. "Then he's going to interview as many of Snape's past and
present students he can and put together a class action law suit against
both Snape and Dumbledore. He hopes to bring this into court in early
August."
"That's great news, Aunt Minnie!" said Cindy. "Hopefully, no other
student will have to put up with that man next year."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was more than happy to tell the lawyer everything he could recall
about Snape's behavior, even providing some memories in Mr. Gordon's
Pensieve that showed Harry's first three encounters with the greasy git.
Hermione was also very happy about the law suit as well, and told Harry
to tell Mr. Gordon that she would be thrilled to participate in the case,
and also told Harry she would be studying more law books. She also said
she had some good news about C.A.R.E., but would rather tell Harry in
person at Hogwarts. He reluctantly accepted that, figuring that he could
wait one more week.
On New Year's Eve at midnight her time, and then his time, Harry and
Hermione made sure they were talking to each other and toasted the New
Year (with grape juice). Hermione was delighted that he'd finished
reading the 'The Fellowship of the Ring' before the break was over.
Before Harry knew it, and after a heartfelt goodbye, he (along with a
nervous-acting Hedwig) was flooing back to Europe with Aunt Minnie,
who made sure that he left his Lightning Bolt behind.
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
6. Conspiracies
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 6 – Conspiracies
As Harry was sitting at the completely empty Ravenclaw table in the
Great Hall, he looked around. The four Weasleys were at the Gryffindor
table, and there were a couple Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, but apparently
not one Ravenclaw had elected to stay at Hogwarts for the break. The
staff, including Aunt Minnie, was at the Head Table. Harry had arrived
with her about an hour before, and they were waiting for the other
vacationing students to arrive. He knew that they were due back any
minute. Snape and Dumbledore were looking anywhere but at him.
The doors opened, drawing everyone's attention to the crowd of students
that were entering the hall and separating into their houses. After about
fifteen seconds, he heard a female voice call his name. After a few
moments, he spotted the origin of that voice as his bushy-haired friend
broke through the crowd and ran toward him.
"Hi, Hermione!" he said happily as she sat down next to him. "How was
the train ride?"
"Great, except that Draco Malfoy had to visit us." She grinned, "He was
awfully mad." She chuckled, "I guess he's even madder now."
Harry couldn't help smiling as she was laughing, even though he didn't
know what happened. "Why was he mad?"
"You know that news about C.A.R.E. that I have?"
"Yeah."
"Mandy Brocklehurst showed her mum, who works at the Daily Prophet,
all our pictures, including the one that clearly shows that Lucius Malfoy
was the man beating his elf."
"So?"
She huffed impatiently, "So he doesn't want to ruin his reputation as a
benevolent creep. She showed him the photos and got him to give clothes
to that elf, Dobby, in exchange for keeping his name and picture out of
the article she wrote about elves."
"That's great about Dobby! Mrs. Brocklehurst wrote an article in the Daily
Prophet?" Harry asked wide-eyed.
"Yes! It was a really good one! It even mentioned C.A.R.E! She's gotten
several people that want to get involved with it, at least to stop the
physical abuse of elves. Of course, she got some negative responses as
well."
"She didn't get in trouble at work, did she?" he asked, worried.
"No, no. Her editor feels that if there's a major response to something, it's
a good thing. He even wants her to write a follow-up article every few
months."
"That is great!"
"We got a few hundred more members – all adults! I had to order more
badges for them!"
"That's great! Do you need some money to cover that?"
"No, enough sent the money in advance that I was able to take care of it!"
"Terrific!"
"Yeah, and Amelia Bones is drafting a bill to make House Elf abuse
illegal. She's not sure if it will pass or not, but she's going to try. Neville
Longbottom's grandmother has a seat on the Wizengamot, and she's
actually joined C.A.R.E! A lot of the new members will be displaying our
literature out in their places of business – Flourish and Blotts, The Leaky
Cauldron, and even a bar called the Hogg's Head that's located in
Hogsmeade!"
He smiled broadly. "That's wonderful!"
"Yes!" She then looked at him more closely. "You've got new glasses."
His ears turned pink. "Yeah, my dad had me get my eyes checked."
"I really like those gold frames. They match your hair, even your eyes,
better than the black frames."
Whispering, he said, "Actually, the black frames match my original hair
color."
Smiling and still whispering, she said, "I suppose, but I just have a hard
time picturing you with dark hair. It doesn't seem right to me."
"Me, neither. I've seen a few baby pictures taken before that night, but
they just don't seem like me. I've always had dirty-blonde hair, and I
think I always will – unless I get found out." He then spoke in a normal
voice as another friend approached the table. "Hey Padma! How was your
Christmas?"
"Terrific! Thanks for the chocolate frogs, by the way."
"You're welcome. Hermione tells me that Draco visited on the train."
Both girls started chuckling. "Yes, he did."
Feeling left out of the joke, Harry insisted, "What happened?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Hermione and Padma were sitting in a compartment with Anthony
Goldstein, Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbot, and Susan Bones. They
were discussing their recent success with C.A.R.E. when the compartment
door opened, revealing Draco and his body guards. Hermione subtly drew
her wand.
"Well, well, what do we have here?" Malfoy sneered, "The mudblood and
her little study group." He then glared at Hermione. "You and your little
boyfriend, along with Brocklehurst, cost my family one of our servants!"
He looked around. "Looks like McGonagall isn't here to protect you." He
pulled his wand slowly out of a holster.
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione yelled, knocking Draco backward as his wand
flew into the air. "Accio Wands!" All three Slytherins' wands flew into
Hermione's left hand. "Looks like I don't need Harry to defend me against
squibs like you," she said calmly with a smile on her face.
"I AM NOT A SQUIB, YOU MUDBLOOD!" Draco's face was red while his
'bodyguards' looked confused. Hermione's friends were laughing, though
they had their wands out. "Give me our wands!"
"Susan," said Hermione with an evil smile, "Do you have your camera?"
Giggling, Susan pulled a new camera out of her purse.
"Be ready to take a picture. You three goons, one at a time – Draco first –
will kneel before me as Susan takes a picture. You will say, 'I, Draco
Malfoy, am a squib, and Hermione Granger is my hero."
"I WILL NOT BOW TO A MUDBLOOD!"
"Then I will snap all three of your wands, and I don't care how much
detention I get! I'll tell everyone in the school what happened!"
"I'll break one of them," said Padma, "then you'll get less detention."
"I'll break the other!" added Neville, "then it won't just be Ravenclaw
losing points."
Draco was breathing hard, while Crabbe and Goyle were looking at him
for guidance, with fear written on their faces. "Put the camera away," he
said calmly. "Then it'll be just your word against ours, you mudblood!"
"Do it," said Hermione. Susan replaced the camera in her purse with a
frown. Hermione handed the wands to Neville. "You wait by the door. If
Draco does it right, give him his wand as he walks out. Same goes for the
other squibs."
-HM-HM-HM-
"And so each of them did it," said Padma, laughing, "and when they were
all gone Hermione said…"
"I guess they don't know pictures can be taken inside a Pensieve."
By this time Harry was laughing so hard he almost fell off the table. He
glanced over at Draco to see him glaring back. He obviously knew what
they were talking about. "I wish I'd have been there! When we get those
pictures, we need to send a copy to each of their dads. I'll bet they give
the worst howlers this school has ever seen. Just to be certain, we'll send
a note that explains that you're muggleborn. Those bigots will take that
as the worst disgrace their pathetic families ever had!"
"And we'll hang a picture in the Great Hall," suggested Hermione.
"Not to mention our common room," said Padma. "And I'm sure Neville
will want one for Gryffindor and Susan will hang one in Hufflepuff."
At about that time, food started appearing in front of them, so they
tucked in.
-HM-HM-HM-
Later on in the Ravenclaw common room, Hermione gave Harry his
second year books, and they started studying them. After about a half
hour, he smiled at his best friend. "You know, over Christmas Break I
heard a song about a long Quidditch match on muggle radio."
She looked at him like he'd grown a pig's tail out of his forehead.
"Impossible."
"Oh yeah, it went like this.
"When I was a Seeker,
I sought both night and day
I asked the Lord to help me,
And he showed me the way."
"That is NOT a song about Quidditch, and you know it!" Hermione
argued, obviously fighting the urge to laugh.
"What? Don't you like 'Go tell it on a broomstick'?"
She ignored the question and went back to her studies as he whispered,
"Over the hills and everywhere
Go tell it on a broomstick
The Quidditch game is here."
She simply shook her head. "Boys!"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry and Hermione were allowed to use Minerva's
Pensieve, for the stated purpose of sharing holiday memories. To be safe,
they did share a few happy scenes that Hermione took pictures of with
Susan's camera (which she'd borrowed). Harry watched Hermione
meeting her parents at the station, opening presents, and reading the
'House Elf rights' article in the Daily Prophet. Hermione watched Harry
arrive at the airport, have the party and Quidditch game, and open
presents.
Finally it was time for the memory they'd really wanted to watch. They
watched the whole scene unfold until finally the part Harry had wanted
to see arrived.
-HM-HM-HM-
With a red face and a look that could have burned through a wall, Draco
stood in front of Hermione and slowly got on his knees.
"IsqbHrGrhro," he said quickly and got up.
"Where are you going, you filthy squib?" she said, getting into the part.
"Speak slowly and clearly if you don't want your wand broken. Now, get
back on your knees."
"Fine, you filthy…" At that moment Hermione did a hex that covered
Draco with mud.
As he looked at himself in disgust, Hermione said, "Don't call me filthy. It
could have been manure instead of mud. Now, since I don't want your
filth on me…" She scourgefied him and pocketed her wand. "Now, bow!"
He complied and said, "I, Draco Mal…"
"Louder!"
"Fine! I, Draco Malfoy am a squib, and Hermione Granger is my hero," he
said through gritted teeth."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry laughed hysterically as Hermione snapped the pictures of Malfoy,
Crabbe, and Goyle all bowing to her.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry arrived at the owlry extremely early one morning with four
envelopes in his pocket. He knew that Hedwig would get jealous if he
sent a package with a different owl than her, but he didn't want to send
his beloved pet into the home of Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle. She
immediately flew onto his shoulder.
As he petted her, he said, "Hi girl. How are you doing?" He gave her an
owl treat and pulled an envelope addressed to Quality Quidditch
Supplies. He decided to order a pair of Seeker gloves, as well as a Snitch.
He had a plan about how to sneak his broom into Hogwarts that Brianna
had already started. He wanted to practice this term. He tied the order
form to Hedwig's leg and sent her away.
Once she was out of sight, he called down three school owls and sent a
picture of each of their sons bowing to Hermione, who was identified
simply as a muggleborn. Harry loved the way the magical picture showed
them keep kneeling before her over and over. He chuckled at the thought
of the reactions those fathers would have.
The same day, the Weasley twins got a Slytherin in their year who
couldn't stand Draco and his goons to stick the photos to the bulletin
board in their dormitory with a variation of the sticking charm that the
twins had invented. No teacher had yet unstuck anything they'd used that
charm on. The only problem with it was that it only lasted twenty-four-
hours. Harry felt that was plenty of time for every Slytherin to see it.
Ravenclaw would keep the photos up for the rest of the year. Penny
promised that no Ravenclaw prefect would pull the picture down, and
they didn't think the Hufflepuff prefects would either. Gryffindor,
however was different because of one prefect – Percy Weasley. Fred and
George decided to use the same sticking charm that was being done in
the Slytherin dorm.
It was decided that a picture in the Great Hall would be pointless since
every student would see it anyway. The cover story they came up with
was that the three Slytherins were asking Hermione to date them. Since
no wands were shown in the photos, they couldn't prove that anyone was
forcing them to bow. Draco knew that if he insisted on using a Pensieve,
he'd be the one in trouble. He made up a ridiculous story about begging
the mudblood not to touch them.
-HM-HM-HM-
At breakfast that morning, Harry noticed that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle
were sitting alone at one end of the table, and getting glared at by most
of the other Slytherins. He also noticed that Draco was glaring at
Hermione, and he promised himself to be ready to defend his friend.
While he was thinking about this, an owl landed in front of him. After
removing the letter from the bird, he found out that he'd received a letter
from Sam Gordon, the lawyer. He quickly opened the envelope and read
it.
"Dear Mr. McGonagall,
I thought I'd let you know that I'm currently in Europe. I have associated
myself with a local lawyer named Matthew Marcus. I've sent your aunt more
details. I just thought I'd let you know in case he contacts you. I've interviewed
a few of Mr. Snape's former students, and they all agree with you and your
aunt about him. You'll hear from me before Easter break.
Sincerely,
Sam Gordan."
As Harry was pocketing that note, another package arrived for him.
Before he could open it, however, three howlers arrived at the Slytherin
table. Draco received the first.
A calm, yet clearly displeased voice said, "Draco, I have just received a
photograph of you kneeling before the Granger girl. We WILL speak of this
during your next break from school." Draco's already pale face got even
whiter.
The next howler arrived in front of Goyle. It wasn't calm. "HOW COULD
YOU, A PUREBLOOD, KNEEL TO A MUDBLOOD!? DON'T YOU HAVE ANY
PRIDE? I AUGHT TO CRUCIO YOU!"
The third one went to Crabbe. "WHY WERE YOU ON YOUR KNEES IN
FRONT OF THAT FILTHY MUDBLOOD!? I TOLD YOU THAT THEY
SHOULD BOW TO US!"
Smiling to himself, Harry picked up the other package that he'd gotten. It
was from Brianna, and he knew what it was. He was about to open it
when his aunt stood behind him.
"Hello, Harry."
"Hi, Aun, Professor McGonagall. Is there something I can do for you?"
With a half-smile, she said, "Yes. Open that package from Brianna. It
looks like it's the size of your broom's case."
He looked at her with an innocent expression as Hermione kept silently
eating her breakfast. "Why would she send me my Lightning Bolt? She
probably wants to sneak it out and fly herself."
"Because her brother can provide her with a lot of Galleons. Open up the
package."
He shrugged his shoulders and opened it up, revealing a small cardboard
box containing a Superman action figure. He shook his head in anger. "I
told her to send Spider-Man! Can she ever get it right?" He pulled out the
toy and handed it to his aunt.
"I apologize. I was convinced you were sneaking your broomstick here."
"It may not be a broomstick, but I can get him to fly." He then levitated
the action figure and had Superman fly a quick lap around the table.
With a small smile, Minerva said, "From now on, leave your toys in
Ravenclaw Tower. I have to prepare for class. I'll see you later."
After the professor had left, Hermione looked at Harry. "I was convinced
it was your broom, too."
He smiled slyly at her. "Not yet." Her eyes widened at this
pronouncement. He quickly changed the subject. "I finished 'Return of the
King' last night. That scene in the volcano was great! I thought Frodo was
gonna…"
He succeeded in temporarily distracting Hermione. He'd tell her his
plans, but not in the middle of the Great Hall.
-HM-HM-HM-
Later that day, Harry pulled out his mirror to call his sister. Once he saw
her face, he said, "Phase one complete. Thanks a lot."
"Don't thank me, Big Brother. Just send money. It costs to ship things this
way. First I pay for international floo mail and then for owling the
package to Hogwarts."
"Don't worry, Brianna. You'll be paid once I get my Lightning Bolt."
"I'd better," she said with a grin.
"I told Aunt Minnie you were shipping Spider-Man next."
"Okay. Expect him in a few days."
"Once I've gotten a package she doesn't inspect…"
"Then I'll have to send the Lightning Bolt."
Harry smiled broadly. "I can't wait! I'll talk to you later."
"Bye, Harry."
"Bye, Sis."
"Harry?" said the voice of Hermione from behind him. "You are going
to…"
"Shhh. Can we talk quietly?"
"Fine." She looked worried.
"Yes, I am gonna sneak my broom here."
"But what about…"
"No one's gonna catch me. I'll be flying where no one can see me. I need
you to keep this a secret. I was gonna tell you about it. I thought you
might want to have a go on my Lightning Bolt. It's a lot better than the
school brooms."
As a smile formed on her face, she said, "According to Flyfree's Quidditch
Encyclopedia, our school brooms were donated to Hogwarts while your
aunt was a student."
-HM-HM-HM-
The weeks went by quickly after that, and two more packages arrived
from Brianna. Minerva did not inspect the second of those two, so he told
Brianna to send the broomstick. She'd told him that she'd gotten one of
her magical friend's older brothers to transfigure a rock into a good
imitation of the Lightning Bolt case, and had switched it with the real
one. She was ready to mail it.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry did some very minor Transfiguration on his Superman action
figure, changing the colors, and carried it to breakfast in a wrapped
package on the morning of the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch
match. While he was eating his bacon and eggs, another owl from
Brianna arrived.
"She's still sending you more dolls, Harry," asked Professor McGonagall
from behind him.
Harry jumped slightly. "Oh, Aun…Professor. You scared me. Yeah.
Brianna sent me the wrong one last time. And they're Action Figures, not
dolls."
"I stand correc…"
"Sorry, Professor McGonagall!" said Hermione as she 'accidentally' spilled
her drink onto her shoe. "Let me help you."
As Hermione grabbed a napkin and wiped pumpkin juice off of the
Deputy Headmistress' shoes, Harry switched the package that had just
arrived with the package he'd brought with him. His aunt didn't see him
sneak the box into his pocket. He then opened the package and said,
"Good. She sent Camouflage Superman." He showed off his Superman
figure with green and tan instead of blue and red. "It's for when he's
flying in a forest so no one knows he's there."
"Of course," replied Minerva indulgently, knowing that toy manufacturers
do make slight modifications to sell multiple copies of the same thing to
children. "He certainly wouldn't want to be caught."
"Exactly!" he said with mock enthusiasm. He then put it in a different
pocket. "I know I can't play with it here. I don't think I'll need anymore."
"That's good. Carry on. I need to make sure Gryffindor's team shows up."
She sighed. "Harry, I really wish you were a Gryffindor. I just know you'd
catch the Snitch. The Seeker we've got couldn't…Never mind. I'll see you
later, Harry, Hermione."
"Bye. Good luck. We'll be rooting for Gryffindor."
"I'm sorry again, Professor," said Hermione repentantly.
"It's quite alright, Hermione. Everybody spills their drink on occasion."
Once Minerva was gone, Hermione looked at her best friend and
whispered, "I can't believe I let you talk me into doing that! I was sure I
was going to lose house points! And I'd have deserved it!"
"If it had been Snape, he'd have had you executed," said Harry with a
smirk.
"Or worse – expelled!" she said before a smile crossed her lips. Harry
chuckled. "Seriously, this isn't a joking matter. I purposely spilled
pumpkin juice on my favorite professor to provide a distraction so you
could break another school rule. We could both be big trouble."
Harry took a deep breath. "Hermione, I promise that if I'm caught, I won't
bring your name into this. Thank you very much for helping me."
She sighed. "You're welcome, I suppose."
"Are you still gonna help us tonight?"
"Of course. Filch deserves it. Besides, Fred and George will be with us,
and they never get caught, right?"
"Not anytime this term."
"Okay, I hope."
"I guess we should hurry up if we want to get good seats.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry and Hermione sat in the bleachers watching the game, realizing
that, aside from a pathetic Seeker, Gryffindor's team was better than
Hufflepuff's. Five minutes into the game, Harry pointed his finger.
"There's the Snitch, Hermione! Why aren't the Seeker's going after it?"
She squinted in the direction her best friend was pointing. "Oh, you're
right! I guess they don't see it."
"Now it's gone! What's wrong with those idiots? Are they wearing
blindfolds out there? Aunt Minnie was right!" Harry was obviously
frustrated. "That Seeker wouldn't catch the Snitch if it flew up his…"
"Harry, language!" She then tried to calm her friend down. "At least
Gryffindor's Chasers are doing well. The score is…What's going on in the
stands over there?"
Harry looked where Hermione was pointing and saw that a fight had
broken out. He pulled out a pair of binoculars and soon observed, "It
looks like Draco, Crabbe and Goyle are fighting Neville and, I think, Ron
Weasley. Oh look. A few more Gryffindors have gotten involved. Uh oh.
Some of the older Slytherins are joining, too."
For about five more minutes, more and more Gryffindors and Slytherins
were joining the fight until finally Professor Dumbledore approached the
area. His normal eye twinkle was missing. Minerva looked like she
wanted to leave her post next to Lee Jordan, but knew that someone
needed to keep the commentator from showing too much bias. The fight
was over very quickly, and all of the participants marched quietly off the
stands as Hermione watched through Harry's binoculars. He started
watching the game once the fight was over.
After a while, Harry said, "Hermione, the game is over. The Snitch
appeared right next to the Hufflepuff Seeker. She caught it but Gryffindor
won. One-hundred-sixty to one-hundred-fifty points."
"Oh, well I guess we should be going now."
"Off the stands anyway," said Harry mysteriously.
-HM-HM-HM-
Once they were on the ground, Harry looked at Hermione. "You go on
back. I'm gonna try out my Lightning Bolt."
"But you'll get caught, Harry."
He smiled. "Not in the forest."
"But it's forbidden for a reason. There are all kinds of dangerous animals,
not to mention werewolves."
"I'll be fine, I promise. Go to the dorm. I won't be that long."
"If you're determined…"
"I am."
"Then I'm coming with you. It's been a long time since I've been on a
broom."
Harry's jaw dropped. "But you…"
"If you do run into trouble, two wands are better than one, right?"
"If you insist."
-HM-HM-HM-
They carefully made their way into the forest without anyone seeing
them. They quickly found a clearing and Harry opened the package
Brianna had really sent him that day. Hermione picked up the cardboard
box Harry had thrown on the ground and put it in her pocket. Harry
placed the case on the ground. "Watch this."
Hermione was mesmerized as she watched the case expand and become
clear. He opened it, pulled out his broom, and reshrunk it. Then he put
the case in his pocket. He was going to mount the broom, but then
decided to be considerate. "Would you like to try it first?"
"Well, if you don't mind. But it is your…"
"Then fly it. I have already used it."
"Thanks." She put her hand over it. "Up!" she exclaimed, and it went
straight into her hand. She took off immediately, enjoying herself
immensely thanks to the help Harry had given her during their flying
lesson those months ago. She didn't do any stunts like Harry enjoyed, but
she flew between the trees for a good ten minutes before landing next to
Harry, smiling broadly. "That was fun! This broom is easier than the
school brooms."
"I know," he agreed as he took off on his broom, doing loops and dives,
scaring Hermione as he convinced her he'd lost his mind.
When he finally landed, she started on him immediately. "Are you mad?
That was dangerous!"
"It was fun! I haven't even started using my Snitch yet. Do you want to
ride with me?"
"Not if you're doing that, I don't."
"I promise not to flip or dive. Will that make you happy?"
She took a deep breath. "I suppose."
She got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He took
off.
True to his word, he didn't do any dangerous stunts as they enjoyed the
wind blowing through their hair. After they'd been up ten minutes, they
noticed an angry Snape talking to a terrified Quirrel nearby. Harry flew a
bit closer to listen, but made sure no one could see them.
"…Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone, after
all," said the greasy-haired git as Hermione softly gasped behind Harry.
Quirrel seemed to have mumbled something, but Harry and Hermione
couldn't hear.
"Have you found a way to get past that three-headed dog of Hagrid's
yet?"
"B-b-but Severus, I…"
"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape, taking a step
toward him.
"I-I don't know what you…"
"You know perfectly well what I mean."
At that moment, an owl on the opposite side of the professors hooted,
drawing their attention. Hermione whispered, "Let's go now before we're
caught!" Harry complied and they quickly made it to their clearing and
Harry put the broom in its case. Hermione insisted they run back into the
castle. She didn't speak until they were in the library. "Get us a private
table. I'll be right back."
"Okay," Harry agreed, confused. He had no idea why they were there.
A few minutes later, Hermione found him. She was carrying a huge book,
and was flipping through the pages as she walked. When she got to their
table, she put the open book down in front of Harry, smiled, and pointed
at an entry.
He whispered what was written there. "The Philosopher's Stone! That's
what the three-headed dog is guarding!" Harry and Hermione went on to
read the details, including the fact that a man named Nicolas Flamel was
the only known maker of the unique stone. While they were still in the
library, Harry remembered that he'd seen Flamel's name on Dumbledore's
chocolate frog card and was sure they were friends.
"Do you think we should tell your aunt that Snape wants to steal it?"
Harry looked thoughtful for a few seconds. "Probably not. She'd ask us
how we know and take away my broom. Besides, she already doesn't
trust Snape. She's probably onto him already."
-HM-HM-HM-
That night, at exactly one a.m., both Harry and Hermione snuck into
their common room, which thankfully was empty, and out the door. (Al
the portrait was sleeping.) They walked into the nearest classroom, and
were relieved to find a pair of twin redheads waiting for them.
George Weasley was looking down at an old piece of parchment while
Fred whispered. "Are you two ready?"
"Of course," whispered Hermione. "Why would we be here if we weren't?"
"Is it clear, Forge?"
"All clear, Gred."
"What's he looking at?" asked Harry.
"How does he know it's clear?" added Hermione.
"Trade secret," both twins said together.
"Come on," said Harry. "We're all in this together. It's only fair. You know
my secret."
"We could show them."
"It's not like they could get into Gryffindor Tower to take it."
"And we are working together."
"I suppose."
Together the twins said, "This is the Marauder's Map." They then
explained what it did and where they got it from while the others stared
at the map in amazement.
"So that's how you knew my secret," concluded Harry.
"Exactly," they said together.
They soon carefully walked to their destination with George making sure
no one caught them. They got to the closet Filch kept his cleaning
supplies in and Harry magically unlocked it. Fred passed a small vial to
both Hermione and Harry, and handed two types of cleaning fluids to
each. "You know what to do."
While George watched the map, Harry and Hermione emptied their vials
into the bottles they'd been given. Fred performed a spell on the mop
bucket. It took less than sixty seconds.
"He's coming!" George announced.
"We're done. Let's get out of here. We'll see the results of our work
tomorrow."
The twins kindly guided the Ravenclaws back to their portrait and left.
Al didn't appreciate being woken up, but let them in, saying it wasn't his
job to make sure they followed curfew. He then winked at them, which
caused them to blush. They did hear him mutter something about them
being a bit young as they closed the door.
"Goodnight, Hermione."
"Goodnight, Harry."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, everybody saw the results of their prank. The floor in
the halls and classrooms had random stripes of various bright colors
spread out. Many people thought it looked great. The prank was that it
would go away by itself if it was left alone for twelve hours. However,
Filch himself was spreading the colors around with his mop. They simply
didn't show up until a half-hour after it dried. The more he'd clean, the
longer it would stay.
As they approached the Great Hall, they saw Percy Weasley yelling at a
first-year girl for saying that the floors looked better than before. The
Great Hall was no different, although Dumbledore seemed to enjoy
looking at the results of the prank. Snape was unhappily attempting to
remove the colors from the floor in one corner of the hall. He quickly got
frustrated and sat down to breakfast.
Filch was looking at the Headmaster, apparently oblivious to the fact that
Albus found it amusing. "It wasn't like this when I finished mopping
professor, I swear! I can't wait to catch the kids who did it! Probably the
Weasley twins! I wanna see some punishment! I've still got the old chains
oiled in my office." He then went to a corner with his mop and bucket
trying to clean the color off the floor in the hall again.
Harry whispered in Hermione's ear. "I wonder how long Filch will spend
trying to remove it before he leaves it alone."
"He'll wonder what's wrong when it disappears this afternoon at every
place but where he's cleaning." They both laughed as they sat down at
Ravenclaw table and tucked in to breakfast at what was promising to be
an amusing day.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's Note: I wonder why Fred and George never noticed Pettigrew on
the map for the whole time they were at Hogwarts before they gave the
map to Harry. (He was Percy's pet before Ron's – I would think they'd
have occasionally checked on their brothers)
7. Surprises
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 7 – Surprises
That night, Filch decided to concentrate on cleaning only the Great Hall
after he'd tried unsuccessfully cleaning the other halls of the castle. He
figured that he'd have to clean up the floors one room at a time for the
rest of term because of the prank that had been played.
The next morning, on the way to breakfast, all the students noticed that
the floors were back to normal everywhere except the Great Hall. As they
sat down to eat, they noticed Filch mopping the floor, looking completely
exhausted.
"I wonder if he knows that everywhere else is clean," whispered Harry to
Hermione at the Ravenclaw table.
"I doubt it. I don't think anyone likes him enough to let him know."
Grinning, Harry replied, "Probably true. Besides, others probably think he
managed to clean it up last night and this is the only room he has left to
clean."
-HM-HM-HM-
Argus wound up working on that room for over thirty straight hours until
he passed out in exhaustion in the middle of the night. The next morning,
the Hogwarts staff found him unconscious on the finally clean floor next
to his mop and bucket.
Dumbledore woke him up as students began filling the hall. "Mr. Filch, I
must congratulate you on a job well done. The entire castle has been
restored. But you must take better care of yourself. I suggest you take the
day off and see Madam Pomfrey to make sure you're alright, and spend
the day relaxing."
Filch, who knew he hadn't managed to clean up the castle himself but
was unwilling to admit it, said, "I suppose I did work too hard last night.
If I ever find out who did it…"
"Now, now, Mr. Filch. We are investigating the matter. You should simply
relax."
Filch picked up his mop to find that the spot directly beneath it was still
colored from the prank. "I guess I missed a spot," he said, and then
proceeded to wipe that section of the floor with his mop. The result was
that the formerly restored section of the floor began changing colors
again. He glared at the floor and then his mop. He swore loudly, calling
into question the chastity of the mop's mother. Most of the students
started laughing loudly while others, such as Hermione, looked horrified.
"Language, Mr. Filch," said Dumbledore sternly. "You don't want to be a
bad example for the students, do you?"
Harry, who overheard that, whispered to his best friend, "Like having
Snape here attacking everybody's mind is a good example!"
Hermione nodded, though she did say, "It's still not good for faculty
members to use foul language…"
"But it's worse to treat students in a foul manner," countered Padma, who
was sitting next to them.
"True," agreed Hermione. "In any case, we have to get going. Class will be
starting in ten minutes."
-HM-HM-HM-
The weeks passed quickly, with Harry sneaking around to practice with
his broom and Snitch at least once every week. On Valentine's Day, Harry
sent Hermione, Minerva, Penny, and the other girls in their study group
each a card with Hedwig. Hermione blushed when she noticed that hers
was the best. It was nicer material than the others. She decided to give
him the one she'd prepared but wouldn't have given him if he hadn't
given her one first. Both of them were simply friendship Valentines, but
they each were glad the other had thought of them.
Soon it was March 8th – Brianna's tenth birthday. Harry had known in
advance what their parents were buying her, and sent a gift that went
along with it. Hermione had sent her a set of books with Harry's present.
It was a Saturday. When it was late enough, Harry and Hermione called
Brianna on his mirror from a quiet corner of the Common Room.
"Hi, Brianna!" said Harry when her happy face appeared.
"Hi, Harry, Hermione."
"Hello, Brianna," said the bushy-haired girl.
"We just called to say…" said Harry.
He and Hermione began singing, 'Happy Birthday to you,' and Hermione
slapped his arm after Harry sang as the second line, "You belong in the
zoo."
"You know the real words," said Hermione sternly while Brianna enjoyed
watching Harry's reaction to getting hit.
"Oh, come on! She did that at my party…"
"But you're supposed to be the older, more mature sibling."
"But…but…fine. I'll sing it right!" He gave in while looking at his best
friend's determined face. He realized he was fighting a losing battle.
Together, they sang the song correctly as Brianna laughed at her big
brother.
"She really does have you wrapped around her finger, Harry. If you're
already this whipped now, imagine when you start kissing. Unless you've
already…"
"We are NOT kissing!" said both of the blushing Ravenclaws together.
Nonplussed, Brianna responded, "Not yet, anyway."
"Have you kissed Bobby yet?" asked Harry, effectively stopping that line
of questioning. "Mom said he's coming to your party tonight."
"HE'S MY FRIEND!"
Chuckling, Harry said, "It is rare that mentioning a friend's name can
cause your face to turn red. Mentioning Angie doesn't do that."
"Shut up! Remember our deal?"
"You started it, sis, but since it's your birthday, I'll stop if you will."
"Fine."
"Have you opened any presents yet?" asked Hermione.
Brianna's face lit up. "Yeah! Thanks for that set of the 'Chronicles of
Narnia!' Did that happen, too, like 'Lord of the Rings?'"
"No, I'm afraid not. Although that wardrobe reminds me of a vanishing
cabinet," she said thoughtfully.
"Did you open what mom and dad got you?" asked Harry.
"Of course," she said smugly. "You already knew about it."
"Not the exact model. Did they get you a Lightning Bolt?"
"No, they didn't want any confusion. Besides, I like mine better. It's the
Silver Bullet!" she said, no longer hiding her excitement.
"The one named after the Lone Ranger?" he asked, acting disgusted.
"The one that's silver and can fly faster than your broom!"
He smiled, knowing that hers had a slightly higher maximum speed, but
his had faster acceleration. "Cannot."
"Can too!"
"Mine accelerates faster! That's most important!"
"If you're a Seeker, maybe. But I'm a Chaser. I need to grab the Quaffle
and fly too fast for anyone to steal it from me! Thanks for that Quaffle,
by the way."
"Sure. Now all we need are a few Bludgers."
"No thank you! Oh, we almost got in major trouble! We're going to
Frank's Flying Funhouse tomorrow and Dad suggested letting one of my
friends borrow your broom. I told him you'd be mad. I think I convinced
him."
"I hope so!" he said, panic written on his face. "Tell them you mentioned
it to me and I started yelling."
"Will do. I've gotta go. We're going out to lunch. Bye guys!"
"Bye," said both Harry and Hermione as Brianna's image faded.
"That really put me in the mood for flying," said Harry. "You wanna
come?"
"Harry, it's getting late. I don't think it's a good idea. Curfew is in an
hour."
"Come on, Hermione. You know you enjoy sneaking around the castle,"
he said with a smirk.
"That's when the Weasley twins are with us, and we're using the map.
Besides, I for one don't want to wander about the Forbidden Forest when
it's dark."
He sighed in defeat. "Okay. We'll go tomorrow. Have a good night." He
turned to go to his room.
"All right. We'll go, then," said Hermione with a smile, knowing that she
really did have him wrapped around her finger.
"Go where?" asked Padma, who had snuck up behind her.
They glanced nervously at each other. "Nowhere," said Harry.
"Come on. You guys have all the fun. I know you two did that floor prank
on Filch. I want in on whatever you're up to."
"We're not pulling a prank," Hermione whispered.
Padma's eyes widened. "You-you're not sneaking off to a broom closet are
you? My mum said we're way too young…"
"We're not doing that. We're…" Harry looked around and whispered,
"Tomorrow we're sneaking out to the forest to ride the broom I snuck in
here."
Padma's eyes brightened. "You snuck a broom here? Awesome! Please let
me go with you. I'd love to try flying something besides the school
brooms!"
He shrugged his shoulders and looked at Hermione, who nodded. "All
right," he answered.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day after lunch, Harry got his broom in its shrunken case and
walked out the door and outside the castle into their clearing in the forest
with both Hermione and Padma. That time, he let Padma ride the broom
first.
"Thanks a lot, Harry!" she said as she excitedly mounted the broom and
flew away. Harry re-shrunk the case and put it in his pocket.
"You really do follow the 'Ladies first' rule, don't you?" asked Hermione
with a grin.
"With the exception of my sister, yes. My dad taught…"
At that moment they heard some sort of animal nearby crying out in
pain.
"What was that?" asked a scared-looking Hermione.
"It sounded like a horse. Let's go!" Wands in hand, both kids charged
headlong through the trees toward the sound. What they saw was
horrifying.
A beautiful silver-white stallion with a horn protruding out of its snout
was lying on its side, bleeding from a deep cut in its throat. Something or
someone with a black cloak that appeared to be floating toward the
unicorn noticed them and turned.
"Ahhh!" screamed Harry as he fell to his knees, clutching his forehead.
Hermione's eyes widened as she realized the implications of Harry
reacting that way. Slightly trembling, she pointed her wand at the
unicorn's killer that was still approaching slowly.
"Expelliarmus!" she shouted, causing a red beam to shoot from her wand
and hit the attacker's face. He was pushed backwards about a foot, and
continued moving toward them.
"Hermione!" came Padma's voice from above them where she was flying.
She looked terrified, but was pointing her wand at the attacker as well. It
looked up at the flier while Hermione shot it again.
If Voldemort had been in Quirrel's body at the time, and not in this sub-
human form, he would've killed all three children. As it was, he knew he
couldn't defend himself from them. He briefly wondered if the boy
suffered from some form of epilepsy and was having a seizure.
As Hermione continued to hold him back, Padma lowered the broom
behind her and managed to get Harry on it. When Padma called out,
"Now!" Hermione jumped on the broom and they flew away. Even at
their small sizes they barely fit on the broom handle, and were moving
noticeably slower than usual. However, they managed to get out of the
forest as Harry came to himself. Padma landed them in a secluded spot
outside the forest and Harry put the broom back into its case.
"What happened, Harry?" she asked in concern. "Who was that?"
Harry and Hermione exchanged a knowing look. "I don't know," he
claimed.
Padma looked from Harry to Hermione and knew she was being lied to.
"Come on. I know you know!"
Hermione said, "You'll be happier not knowing what we suspect."
"I saved you, admittedly with Harry's broom. Don't I have the right to
know what I saved you from?"
Harry took a deep breath. "Voldemort."
She gasped and flinched at the name. "W-why do you th-think that. He
was killed by Harry Potter. W-Why would he be here?"
"The Philosopher's Stone," explained Hermione, with comprehension
dawning on her face.
"The elixir of life," added Harry, finishing her thought. He turned to their
friend who looked even more confused than ever. "He didn't die. They
never found a body. He was weakened and lost his powers. He's looking
for a way to come back."
Hermione continued. "We overheard Snape and Quirrel talking about the
Philosopher's Stone being here. Actually, Snape was threatening Quirrel,
talking about the three-headed dog on the third floor that's guarding a
trap door. Anyway, we looked up what the Philosopher's Stone was."
"It can turn any metal into gold, and produces the elixir of life, which can
make the drinker immortal. It could let Voldemort come back," finished
Harry.
Padma flinched again. "So why would he be killing a unicorn?"
Hermione answered, "I don't know, but I know where we can find out."
-HM-HM-HM-
An hour later, they were in the library looking up unicorns in various
books when Hermione exclaimed, "I've found it!"
"Shhh," said Harry, "Do you want us thrown out?"
"Sorry. I just got excited. It says here that drinking unicorn blood will
keep someone alive no matter how close to death they are, but it will
give them a cursed half-life. I'd guess that he's just surviving on that until
he can get his hands on the stone."
"So what can we do about it?" asked Padma.
"Tell my Aunt."
"But then you'll have to admit being in the forest."
He swore under his breath as he tried to think of a way around that. "I
could tell her about…Quirrel – not Snape!"
Comprehension dawned on Hermione's face while confusion formed on
Padma's.
"Snape's a mind-invader and an evil git who should be sacked, but
Quirrel's the one working with Voldemort," Hermione finished his
thought. "So he was trying to get past the dog – not Snape."
"What?" said Patil. "Quirrel wouldn't have the guts. Why would you
suspect him anyway?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, knowing that if they explained
how Harry's invisible scar hurt when he was with Quirrel and then when
he was with Voldemort, they'd be revealing his secret. They also knew
she could tell when she was being lied to.
"Padma," said Harry, "I won't lie to you. The answer to that question is a
secret that I can't tell you."
"But you can tell Hermione?" she asked, looking offended.
"No. I figured it out."
"How?" The smart Patil twin started thinking about Quirrel, trying to
figure out why Harry suspected him. "Is this about the headaches Harry
sometimes gets in class?" Judging by how uncomfortable her friends
looked, she knew she was on the right track. "Your head hurt today, too.
So something about Quirrel and You-Know-Who gives you headaches."
She turned to Harry. "Are you a Seer or something?"
"Something," said Harry with a worried look on his face. "Please don't ask
more. It's not that I don't trust you, it's that I can't tell anyone."
"But if I figure it out like Hermione…"
"Please don't try," he looked at her imploringly.
Sighing, she said, "Okay. For now I won't try to figure out your secret, but
this isn't over."
"Fair enough," said Harry with a grin.
-HM-HM-HM-
A few hours later, Harry was alone in Minerva's office talking to her.
"I think there's something wrong with Professor Quirrel, Aunt Minnie."
She looked surprised. "I know he's a bit timid, but he's a fine man."
"That's not what I mean. A lot of times when I'm in class with him, my
head hurts here for a few seconds." Harry traced a lightning bolt shape on
his forehead, surprising his aunt by tracing the exact location of his
erased scar.
"Your scar?"
"That's how Hermione figured out who I am. I was rubbing it. I've been
careful since then to just rub my whole forehead when it happens. I feel
at least a small twinge almost every class. I thought it would go away,
but it hasn't. I was wondering if…if it could have something to do with
Voldemort." She flinched at the name. "But I mean, there's no reason he'd
want to be here, is there?"
Harry enjoyed watching his aunt's face pale at that question. He knew
she wouldn't tell him the answer. "Er, I'm s-sure that you're safe. I'll…I'll
look into it. Be careful."
"Thanks, Aunt Minnie." He got up to leave, and she pulled him into a
tight hug. "Don't be alone with him, Harry. Make sure one of your friends
is with you. Try not to call any attention to yourself in his class, and try
to pretend your head's not hurting."
"I will, Aunt Minnie."
As he left the office, he knew that he'd done the right thing by talking to
her.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry knew that his aunt couldn't tell Dumbledore about Quirrel without
revealing their secret, but he did notice that now Snape wasn't the only
one harassing the stuttering professor. Of course, she was being much
more subtle about it. She'd seem to appear out of thin air whenever
Quirrel's classes were ending. She'd act friendly, but Harry could see that
she was escorting him so he couldn't sneak off anywhere.
He also noticed that she always had her hand on her wand. That made
him decide what to order for her upcoming birthday, which would occur
during Easter break. They were staying at the castle for that, and Harry
was arranging a small surprise for her.
-HM-HM-HM-
As Easter break approached, Hermione seemed to get very obsessed with
reviewing for their end-of-term exams, and had just handed Harry a
study schedule. He certainly didn't want to hurt his best friend's feelings,
but he honestly felt that they didn't need that much time for reviewing it.
"Hermione, thank you for this schedule," he began.
"You're welcome, Harry."
"But I honestly don't think we need to spend that much time reviewing.
We're over half-way through next year's books."
"But it never hurts to be prepared."
"I agree with you there, but I think we both know the material well
enough. How about if instead of going over our notes we quiz each other
right now to see how much we need to study?"
Intrigued by the idea, Hermione agreed. Harry picked up his Potions
book and went to the review questions of one of the last chapters and
asked one of them. She answered it perfectly. She then picked a question
for him out of the Herbology book, which he got right. For over an hour,
they quizzed each other on every subject they were studying, and
demonstrated all the spells that came up (they didn't demonstrate Potions
and plants) in the questions.
Finally, Harry declared, "You see. I think that if we quiz each other like
this every week, we'll be fine. I really think we should give the schedules
to our study group, though. I think we could spend the extra time either
helping them or finishing up the second year books."
Seeing that he was right, she nodded. "I guess so. Maybe I did get a bit
carried away."
He smiled at her. "You sometimes forget how brilliant you are, but I
don't."
She blushed at the compliment. "You're just as brilliant…"
Shaking his head, he admitted, "Not quite, but hanging out with you has
made me smarter." For some reason he felt like telling her how much he
appreciated her. He knew she still had some self-esteem problems from
before they'd met and wanted to make sure that she knew he thought she
was brilliant.
"You are so sweet." She hugged him and did her best not to cry at his
kind words.
"It's just the truth."
-HM-HM-HM-
When Easter break finally arrived, they decided to spend two hours per
day playing games. Harry had decided against flying around the forest,
for obvious reasons, so they decided to play some board games that
Hermione had gotten her parents to send them.
On Monday, Harry, Hermione, and Padma were playing a game of
Monopoly, with Hermione as banker and Harry as property manager,
when Harry voiced a concern he'd had growing for a while.
"I wonder if Quirrel knows how to get past that dog yet."
"I don't think he's had the chance to try. I honestly don't think he's gone
to the loo without your aunt knowing." He chuckled. "I'm more concerned
about what else is guarding it. Any muggle with a gun could get past the
three-headed dog."
"You're right. Just shoot each head. You might want a semi-automatic
weapon at least," commented Harry.
"What about the death curse?" suggested Padma.
"Some magical beasts might be immune. Maybe," said Harry.
"But not to every curse," said Hermione confidently. "I'll bet a few
'reducto' curses would do it." She then looked at Padma and explained.
"That's a fifth-year spell that can break solid walls."
"Oh."
"I hope there are worse things guarding the stone than just that monster,"
said Harry.
"I'll bet Hagrid would know, since he's helping to guard it," said
Hermione.
"I'm sure it's not guarded with anything we could get past," commented
Padma.
"Maybe, but I'd like to make sure," said Harry. "I've read about what it
was like when Voldemort was around, and would not like to experience
that first hand."
"Me, neither. Why don't we go now?" said Hermione.
-HM-HM-HM-
Thirty minutes later, they found themselves standing outside Hagrid's
cabin. The windows all were shuttered closed. Harry nervously knocked
on the door.
They heard something drop on the floor, followed by a loud voice saying,
"Just a minute."
They listened to the sounds of things being moved around until finally
the door opened. Hagrid's dog immediately started licking Harry as
Hagrid said, "Hello, er, Harry McGonagall, right?" He nodded. "Yeah, yer
aunt mentioned you a couple times over de years. I was surprised yer
were sorted inter Ravenclaw, but the hat's always right, isn't he." Looking
at the girls, he asked, "And who might yer be?"
"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Padma Patil. We heard that you know
about every magical creature there is, and we have a question about
one."
They could see the half-giant blush through his beard. "Well, I do know
'bout most o' dem, yes. Please come in. We'll have a spot of tea."
As they walked in, Harry noticed that it was very hot in there, and a
large garbage can had been put in front of the fireplace. They sat down at
his table.
"So, how long have you been working here?" asked Harry, making small
talk while Hagrid fiddled around with the tea kettle.
"Almost fifty years now. Since Dumbledore talked the headmaster at that
time into hiring me. Great man, Dumbledore."
"I'll bet you know everything that goes on here," asked Hermione.
"Pretty much," he answered proudly as he set out the cups of tea. "If I'd
known ye were comin' I'd a made some rock cakes."
"We heard that there's a three-headed dog guarding something in the
castle," said Harry.
"And we wanted to know if it's true," added Padma.
"How'd ye hear about Fluffy? Wait. I don' want ter know."
"Fluffy?"
"Well, he's got ter have a name, don't he?"
"How do you know his name?" asked Harry, already knowing the answer.
"He's mine."
"So, what's he guarding?" asked Hermione innocently.
"Sorry. Can' tell ya he's guarding the Phil…can't say what he's guarding."
Harry had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing at Hagrid's
near slip-up. He found that he liked the rather large man, but he would
never tell him a secret.
"Whatever it is must be really important for Professor Dumbledore to
have trusted you to guard it. I wonder if there's anyone else he's trusted
as much," asked Padma.
Hagrid smiled proudly. "He's only trusted a handful as much as me. Let's
see. He of course trusts your aunt, Harry. He trusts Professors Sprout,
Quirrel, Flitwick, an' Snape. I understand you've 'ad some trouble wit'
him, and I admit he's not the most pleasant bloke I ever met, but
Dumbledore trusts him. You should, too. Great man, Dumbledore. They're
all guarding the…thing they're guarding. Of course, Dumbledore has
somethin' too. Bit excessive, if ya ask me. Ain't nuthin' can get past
Fluffy."
The trio smiled broadly. Hermione decided that it would be rude to leave
as soon as they got the information they wanted. "Thanks, Hagrid. So tell
me, what other interesting creatures are around here?" He then talked to
them for another hour, talking about hippogriffs, thestrals, acromantulas,
and finally his favorite.
"I always wanted ter own a dragon," he said happily as he got up and
removed the large garbage can from in front of his fireplace, "…and now
I got me one."
They looked in surprise to see something they did not expect. "Is that a
dragon egg?" asked Hermione.
"A Norwegian Ridgeback," he declared proudly.
"But your house is wooden," Padma pointed out shakily. She seemed
really frightened as she stared at the egg like it was about to attack her,
"When it hatches, it'll burn the house down. Dragons are dangerous!"
"Them's seriously misunderstood creatures," he said, shrugging the
warning off.
"Thanks for the tea, but I, I'd really like to go now." Padma looked like
she wanted to run away and really Harry didn't blame her. He'd learned a
bit about them in his old school and knew he didn't want to mess with
one.
"It's getting late anyway," said Harry, politely.
"I'm sorry if I scared ya, but really dragons aren't that dangerous."
"We'll, we'll take your word for it," said Padma shakily.
"We promise not to tell anyone about your dragon," said Hermione, "but
you really should try to find some other place for it. I've read that there
are reserves in Romania."
"I'm surprised you never tried to work at a dragon reserve," commented
Harry.
"Charlie Weasley, one of the Weasley brothers who graduated last year,
got 'im a job workin' with dragons right out a Hogwarts. He said the same
thing ter me. But I jus' couldn' leave, not wit' the trust Dumbledore's put
in me."
"You've kept the job for fifty years, Hagrid," said Padma as she got closer
to the door, "and he's never given you a promotion, has he?"
Hagrid's eyes bulged out. "Er, not since me predecessor retired forty-eight
years ago. I ain't gotten a raise either. I live here and get free meals, an'
can afford ta' have a pint at the Hog's Head now and then, but I ain't
never bin able ta save any money. I wonder why?"
"Maybe it was a simple oversight," suggested Hermione. "Anyway, we've
got to go. Thanks for the tea."
"Goodbye," said the half-giant as he sat down wondering for the first time
whether Dumbledore was a 'great man' or not – if he was just being used
as cheap labor.
-HM-HM-HM-
The trio figured that each of the teachers that were protecting the stone
had set up some barrier like Fluffy that a thief would have to get past.
They decided not to ask Professor McGonagall about her protection. They
wondered about what Hagrid would do about his dragon, but definitely
didn't want to get involved in that. Padma pointed out that if it so much
as bit them, they'd be in serious trouble. She had a cousin that had died
at a dragon reserve when one got out of control.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Aunt Minnie," said Harry a few days later, "have you heard anything
from our lawyers? They're supposed to be conducting interviews this
week." He was in her office where she had been working all morning
until he came and knocked on her door, saying he wanted to talk to her.
He was facing the door while she was facing him.
She smiled, something few students ever saw her do, but her nephew was
an exception. "Yes. As a mater of fact, I received an owl this morning that
said they've gotten over fifty current students to join the class-action
lawsuit. All Non-Slytherins. They won't interview Snape's students until
after the semester is over. Neither can believe how cruel that man is!
Most parents they've spoken to have sent letters, and even howlers, to
Dumbledore at one time or another but have never gotten replies."
"That's good news," he said as he noticed the door glow orange. "Isn't it
about lunch time?"
"I believe you're right," she said, looking at her watch. "We can walk
together."
They got up, and Harry opened the door for her.
"SURPRISE!" shouted several students, startling the head of Gryffindor.
"Happy birthday, Aun…Professor McGonagall."
She looked around to see some Gryffindors, like the four Weasley boys
(Percy was even there – always kissing up). Parvati Patil was there, along
with Padma, Penny, and Hermione from Ravenclaw. Hannah Abbot from
Hufflepuff was there as well. There were several others there too. Harry
was surprised at the turnout. It seemed that every non-Slytherin that had
stayed for the break was there, as well as a few older Slytherins who
apparently had grown to like and respect his aunt. She was as happy as
he'd ever seen her, and he suspected that she wanted to cry.
"Happy birthday, Professor," was yelled by several students at once as she
looked around. Her classroom had been rearranged for the party. The
desks were no longer there. Instead there was a long table in the middle
with chairs. It was similar to a house table from the Great Hall. Harry
had gotten the elves to bring lunch to that room. It was already on the
table, along with place settings. A cake with an unlit solitary candle was
in the middle of it, and a smaller table filled with wrapped packages was
in a corner of the room.
"Thank you very much," she said earnestly as she walked up to the table
and sat down, with Harry and Hermione on either side. They all sat down
and ate lunch, and then Harry lit the candle on the cake with his wand. "I
haven't had a birthday party in years."
"How old are you," asked Ron, only to get smacked in the arm by Parvati.
"It's impolite to ask a lady's age," she informed him.
Harry had pulled out his mirror and made a quick call. "Professor
McGonagall," he said, "there are a few other people who want to talk to
you."
He handed her the mirror and she saw Mark, Cindy, and Brianna
McGonagall grinning at her. "Happy Birthday, Aunt Minnie!" they all
exclaimed together.
"Thank you," she said, "It's great to see you all. You knew about this?" She
handed the mirror to Harry, who turned it so they could watch Minerva
easily blow out the candle after everyone sang to her.
After the cake had been served, she went to her presents. Some of the
kids had given her things like sugar quills or other candies. Others
(including Hermione) gave her a book. Percy gave her a fancy quill, ink,
and parchment set. Fred and George gave her an apple. But when she
touched the apple, it turned into a chocolate worm (like the frogs) that
tried to crawl away. Harry gave her a wand holster like his.
"That way you can draw your wand at a moment's notice. I do
recommend you practice catching with it."
"Thank you, Harry," she said with a grin.
"You're welcome."
She'd already gotten her presents from the three people who were
watching her open the presents from Harry's mirror so they weren't on
the table. The party went on for a little while longer with different
students wishing her a happy birthday and thanking her for help she'd
given them in the past. Just before people started to leave, a bunch of lit
sparklers started floating around the room. McGonagall looked straight at
the Weasley twins with her stern teacher look.
"Should I ever find out who was responsible for those fireworks, I shall
have to give the perpetrators detention. However, they are rather lovely."
After everybody but the trio had left, Minerva thanked them, especially
Harry, who received a hug that embarrassed him in front of his friends.
His aunt said, "You should be thankful I waited for most of the students
to leave," and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
8. Elves and Dragons
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 8 – Elves and Dragons
The rest of Easter break went by quickly, and soon it was Monday
morning. Everyone was at breakfast preparing for their classes to resume.
Hermione was sitting next to Harry at the Ravenclaw table when an owl
flew that morning's edition of the Daily Prophet to her.
"Anything interesting in the news?" asked Harry.
"Give me a minute," replied Hermione as she flipped through it, scanning
the article titles. "Oh, Mrs. Brocklehurst wrote one of her C.A.R.E.
articles!" She then started smiling brightly as her eyes scanned the article.
"Here, Harry! You'll want to take a look at this!"
He took the paper from her.
"House Elf Abuse Deterrent Law Passes Wizengamot!
By Wendy Brocklehurst
Following an article in January about the Hogwarts student organization
known as C.A.R.E. (Community Advancing the Rights of Elves), the movement
to prevent the overt abuse of house elves has grown by leaps and bounds. This
brought attention to this often-overlooked issue, and has had several positive
results. One is community awareness. Another is that several Hogwarts
graduates joined the group, making it no longer just a Hogwarts club. Another
direct result has just passed the Wizengamot.
Moved by photos of an elf being beaten by his master in the middle of Diagon
Alley, and knowing that similar situations occur every day all across magical
Britain and Europe, the head of Ministry Law Enforcement, Madam Amelia
Bones, drafted and presented a bill to make house elf abuse illegal. It is called
the House Elf Abuse Deterrent law (H.E.A.D.).
This was a very controversial bill among the members of old wizarding
families, and had to be edited in its recommended punishments before being
passed. Originally, someone found guilty of abusing a house elf would have all
of their elves taken away, lost the right to ever own another, and served six
months in Azkaban. Some members of the Wizengamot thought that too harsh
of a punishment, so a compromise was reached.
On the first offense, the offender is fined 1,000 Galleons. For the second
offense, the victimized elf is confiscated by the Ministry, to be given or sold to
another family. On the third offense, all of the offender's elves are confiscated.
Finally, on the fourth offense, the abuser loses his/her right to own house
elves. This is the most severe penalty that an offender will face.
In the final draft of this bill, house elf abuse is defined as 'Performing any
harm to a house elf that is still evident twelve hours later. It also added that
performing unforgivable curses, such as the cruciatus, or any dark spells, on
an elf will automatically count as the fourth offence.'
Even in its current form, this groundbreaking law barely passed through the
Wizengamot. Madam Longbottom, a member of both the Wizengamot and
C.A.R.E., who voted for the law, stated, 'Although this law isn't as tough as I
would like it to be on the cowardly wizards who beat their elves, it is a step in
the right direction.'
Albus Dumbledore, the head of the Wizengamot (not to mention several other
prestigious titles), also voted for this law, saying that, 'The strong have been
preying on the weak for far too long. It is time that we as a society stood up
and said that we will no longer stand for it.'
Only time will tell what the results of this new law will be. For more
information on C.A.R.E., including how to join, owl Hermione Granger
(Ravenclaw) at Hogwarts."
"That's great news!" said Harry excitedly.
"It's the first law ever passed to protect the rights of elves," agreed
Hermione. "I'm sure that in time it will lead to others with more severe
penalties."
"That is awesome!" said Padma, who was sitting next to them. She'd just
read the article in her own newspaper.
About that time, Draco Malfoy showed up at their table standing behind
Hermione. Naturally, he was flanked by his bodyguards, 'Dumb and
Dumber.' With his usual sneer, Draco said, "I guess you feel really
important with your mudblood name dirtying the paper."
Harry whispered to summon his old wand from its holster while
Hermione and Padma got theirs ready to be drawn in a moment.
Hermione looked at Harry. "Would you please pass the jam?"
Realizing that his best friend was completely ignoring Malfoy, he replied,
"Sure, Hermione." Once he'd given her the jam, he whispered a few
incantations with his wand pointed at Draco. Knowing Malfoy wouldn't
draw his wand in plain sight, not to mention how slowly he drew his
wand anyway, Harry put his wand back in his left holster. Harry then
placed both his hands on the table in plain view.
"Don't pretend you didn't hear me, you filthy mudblood!" Crabbe and
Goyle sniggered.
Hermione simply spread jam on her toast and looked at her other
companion. "Padma, would you please pass the pumpkin juice?"
Grinning, she complied. "Of course, Hermione."
As the bushy-haired Ravenclaw was pouring her juice, Malfoy's face
turned red. "You can ignore me all you want, but it doesn't changed the
fact that you're a filthy, attention-seeking bookworm, you mudblood!" His
stooges were now laughing loudly.
"This pumpkin juice is rather good today, isn't it, Harry?"
While Draco's face was turning purple, Harry said, "I do believe you're
right. We should ask the house elves if they did something special today.
They are rather clever."
"Yes. Especially the new one that recently started here. A rather
delightful one that was freed from a particularly horrid family. I believe
his name is Dobby."
At this point the self-important Slytherin lost his temper. He'd never been
so completely ignored before. He shouted, "NO ONE IGNORES ME, YOU
FILTY MUDBLOOD! THAT GOES FOR YOU, TOO! YOU HALF-BLOOD
SON OF A SQUIB!"
"Mr. Malfoy!" said Professor McGonagall, who'd started approaching the
moment she noticed Malfoy at the Ravenclaw table. "Twenty points from
Slytherin for that outburst! Get back to your table where you belong!"
"Yes, Professor!" he hissed as he took a step away. Before that step was
completed, he fell to the floor. The whole table started laughing at him.
He glared at Harry's laughing face. "You made me fall, McGonagall! I felt
a spell on my right shoe!"
"I've had my hands on the table since before Professor McGonagall
walked up here."
"That is true, Mr. Malfoy. You mustn't blame other students for your own
clumsiness." Minerva looked very upset at Draco.
"Of course you'd take his side! He's your nephew!" shouted Draco just as
Snape walked up.
"Professor McGonagall, I believe if the accused student were a member of
Slytherin house, you would at least check the wand for the last spell cast.
You wouldn't want to behave in a biased manner, would you?" He
sneered at her.
She looked at her nephew. "You can check my wand," he said, and then
whispered the password to get his newer wand from his right holster.
"Here it is." He happily passed it to his aunt, who took it and performed
the proper spell.
"Are you satisfied, Professor Snape," she said coldly, when the results
showed that his last spell performed had been a spell from a
Transfiguration assignment.
"Perhaps one of his friends did it," suggested Snape.
"I suppose next you'll have me check every wand from this table," she
said angrily. "Mr. Malfoy accused Mr. McGonagall, and it was proven that
his wand did not perform any spell that could have caused him to trip.
The truth of the matter is that he didn't have any business at this table
anyway, unless, of course, he was once more begging Miss Granger to
date him."
Everyone who heard that (aside from Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle)
laughed. Harry even thought Snape's expression lightened momentarily.
They all knew Professor McGonagall was referring to Hermione's
explanation of the pictures of the three Slytherins kneeling before her on
the Hogwarts Express.
"I was not!" spat Draco as he took another step and fell on his face.
"Harry McGonagall!" he accused.
"You may notice, Mr. Malfoy," said Professor McGonagall impatiently,
"that I still have his wand in my hands." Without a word, Draco got up
and carefully made his way back to the Slytherin table while the
Ravenclaws laughed hysterically.
Hermione whispered in Harry's ear, "Did you do that with your other
wand?"
He smiled and nodded.
"You did do it!" whispered Padma upon seeing Harry nod. "How?"
"Later!" he whispered.
-HM-HM-HM-
"So, let me get this straight. The wand that you got in America wasn't a
perfect match, but works fine. That's what you used on Draco's shoes
today."
"Right," answered Harry. It was later that day, and the trio was in a quiet
corner of Ravenclaw Tower.
"But you decided to keep the extra wand a secret. That way if someone
disarmed you, you could surprise them."
"Exactly," affirmed Hermione.
"And Professor McGonagall and Hermione are the only ones here at
Hogwarts that know about it."
"And I only know because I was at his birthday party when his dad gave
him the two wand holsters."
"And you quickly caught on that he wasn't telling anybody else about the
second wand."
"Exactly."
Padma turned to Harry. "Do you think your aunt suspects you?"
Harry's cheeks turned pink as a smile crossed his face. "I'm sure she does,
but she won't tell for two reasons. One is that she wants me to have that
extra protection and wouldn't ruin that over a small prank of making that
idiot's shoes slippery. The second is that she knows Malfoy deserves it.
She only wishes he'd give her excuses to have him in detention more
often than she already does."
The girls giggled. "I guess that makes sense," said Padma.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was a few weeks after that when Harry decided he wanted to find out
what Hagrid was doing about the dragon. He'd had a nightmare about a
huge dragon getting loose and going after him, so he wanted reassurance
that the dragon was still under control.
"I will NOT go to Hagrid's hut while there's a dragon there, whether the
egg is hatched or not!" Padma made her feelings on the subject very clear
when Harry brought up the idea. "I don't blame you for having a
nightmare about it, but I think the solution is to get as far away from
dragons as possible!"
"I'll go with you, Harry," volunteered Hermione. "I'd like to make sure he's
getting rid of it."
-HM-HM-HM-
Fifteen minutes later found Harry knocking on Hagrid's door with
Hermione standing beside him. The windows were still covered with
blankets.
"Maybe he's not home. Perhaps we should've owled first," said Hermione.
Before Harry could reply, Hagrid's voice came from inside. "Who is it?"
"It's Harry McGonagall and Hermione Granger," Harry answered.
A moment later the door opened and Fang attacked Harry with his
tongue. Once Hagrid's dog had calmed down, he looked around to see
Hagrid, two redheads, and a big box. "Hi, Ron," he said, recognizing the
smaller redhead. The other one appeared to be about eighteen.
"Hi, Harry, Hermione," said the Gryffindor. "Hagrid mentioned that you
knew about Norbert. This is my brother, Charlie, by the way."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Hermione politely.
"Good to meet you, too."
Suddenly the box started shaking a bit. "Is, is your dragon in there,
Hagrid?" asked Harry.
"Yeah. See, I had Ron write Charlie about Norbert, that's what 'is name is,
an' so we're takin' 'im to Romania. I'm goin' with Charlie, but first we're
sneakin' Norbert up ter the Astronomy Tower where some friends of his
will meet us. Charlie feels that I might bring attention ter them if I
traveled with them, so he came all the way here ter help. We'll be flyin'
there tomorrow an' I'll get ter work with dragons." Hagrid smiled dumbly
as though he had just fallen in love.
Hermione looked at Hagrid with her brow furrowed. "Er, how are you
flying? I know that flying carpets are illegal, and, er, aren't you, er, a bit
too big for brooms?"
Hagrid chuckled. "Yer right on both counts. I bin too big ter ride a broom
since I was twelve. I'll be ridin' a enchanted motorcycle that can fly, and
become invisible."
Harry's eyes went wide. "You have a flying motorcycle! That's incredible!
I once dreamed…er, that I owned one." He was going to say he'd
dreamed of riding one, but then he remembered that, according to Aunt
Minnie, Hagrid had carried him on a flying motorcycle to his relatives'
house, and so this was probably the very bike.
"My dad enchanted a car to fly," commented Ron. "My mum would have
a fit if she knew."
"Really?" said Hermione with a worried expression. "You know, that's
illegal."
"Don't worry. Our dad wrote that law, and made sure he had a way
around it," said Charlie proudly.
"But…" said Hermione until Harry changed the subject.
"So, how long have you had the motorcycle?"
"Oh, almost eleven years. Ever since…since." The half-giant looked like
he wanted to cry. "Ne'er mind. This is a happy day. Can I offer you some
tea and rock cakes?"
After a quick signal from Ron, Harry said, "Just tea. I'm full."
"Me, too," said Hermione.
"Yer don' know what yer missin.'"
Not wanting a conversation about the merits of eating rock cakes, Charlie
asked, "You never told me much about the guy you won Norbert from. If
he's stealing eggs, we have to keep an eye out for him. What did he look
like?"
"Er, well, it's hard ter say. Yeh see, he wouldn' take his cloak off." He saw
the three kids look stunned and raised his eyebrows. "It's not that
unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head. I never saw his
face, he kept his hood up."
"So, what did you talk about?" asked Hermione.
"Mostly me job here at Hogwarts. He wanted ter make sure I could take
care of the dragon…So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy…"
Harry and Hermione's eyebrows raised at that news. They exchanged
frightened looks for a moment, and then Harry cleared his throat. "Did he
– did he seem interested in Fluffy?"
"Well- yeah – how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around
Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm
him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep."
Hagrid suddenly looked horrified. "I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted
out.
"You shouldn't have told a stranger in a pub that either," blurted Harry.
"Er, I suppose so, but what's the harm? He's not tryin' ter get the…thing
Fluffy's guardin' er, yer don't think?" He suddenly looked much more
worried.
"I don't know, Hagrid," said Hermione softly.
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the visit went by in a blur for Harry. Ron and Charlie
questioned Hagrid about Fluffy and what he was guarding, and they said
their goodbyes to Hagrid. He did talk about how much he'd miss
Hogwarts. As soon as they got back to their common room, Padma
questioned them about their visit.
"Norbert's leaving tonight, along with Hagrid," answered Hermione.
"And Voldemort probably knows how to get past Fluffy. That
blabbermouth told him."
"What?"
After they explained, Padma agreed that it probably was Voldemort or
one of his servants. "So, why hasn't he gone after the stone, yet?" she
asked.
"I don't know," said Harry with his head down.
"Dumbledore," answered Hermione.
"What?" asked the other two together.
"Honestly," sighed Hermione. "He may not be a good headmaster – I
mean who would keep Voldemort bait in a school full of children – but
he is a powerful wizard. According to all the books I've read, he's the
only one Voldemort ever feared."
"He's obviously paying a lot more attention to the stone than his job,"
agreed Harry.
"So, you're saying the stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's here,"
concluded Padma.
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
9. Facing the TwoFace
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 9 – Facing the Two-Face
At breakfast the next morning, the trio noticed that both Hagrid and
Charlie Weasley were sitting at the head table, along with a woman
they'd never seen before. Professor Dumbledore stood up and made an
announcement that shocked most of the students.
"Today, I'm afraid that I must inform you all that Rubeus Hagrid, keeper
of keys and grounds here at Hogwarts for nearly fifty years, has decided
to leave us."
Harry noticed that Dumbledore was looking straight at him and so he
made sure his Occlumency shields were up. Despite the twinkle in his
eyes, both Harry and Hermione knew he was displeased, though Harry
was glad the headmaster didn't attempt to read his mind.
"Those of you who know Hagrid will probably recall that he has always
wanted a pet dragon. Now his dream will come true in a way. He has
been offered a position at a dragon reserve in Romania and has accepted.
Mr. Charlie Weasley has been working at the same reserve for nearly a
year and will be escorting him. They'll be leaving an hour after breakfast,
and therefore the first classes of the day have been cancelled to allow you
all a chance to say goodbye to our friend." He turned to Hagrid, who
appeared on the verge of tears. "We wish you the best of luck. Hogwarts
won't quite be the same without you."
The whole school (except for the Slytherins) applauded. When the
applause subsided, Albus motioned to the unidentified woman at the
table. "This is Madam Grubbly. She will be taking over Hagrid's duties.
We were fortunate that she was willing to come on such short notice.
Let's give her a warm welcome."
-HM-HM-HM-
After breakfast, several students, including Harry, Hermione, Padma, and
the Weasleys gathered around Hagrid to wish him well. After he'd
greeted them all by name, Hagrid said, "Goodbye, all a ya! Don' go
wand'rin' 'round the Forbidden Forest alone. Good luck on yer exams."
A few tears started falling down the half-giant's face into his beard. He
turned around and walked out the entrance hall while most of his well-
wishers followed. Harry gasped when he saw that the motorcycle was
parked just outside the door, with a Nimbus 2000 beside it. Charlie
Weasley mounted the broom as Hagrid got on the motorcycle.
Harry was having a bit of a flashback to the day he rode it, but didn't
show any outward sign of it. He smiled as both men began rising in the
air and waved like everyone else until they disappeared before leaving
the grounds so that no muggle would accidentally see them. The kids
then turned around and walked back into the school.
-HM-HM-HM-
Time passed quickly after that, with the trio double-checking the third-
floor corridor for Fluffy every few days, but concentrating mostly on
preparing for the end of year exams. They glanced at Dumbledore with
relief at every meal, knowing that Voldemort probably wouldn't go after
the stone that day. While Harry and Hermione didn't have to spend much
time reviewing that material, they did spend quite a bit of time helping
their study group.
-HM-HM-HM-
On Mother's Day, Harry and Hermione both decided to call their mothers
on their mirrors. Each had arranged for a gift to be sent.
"Happy Mother's Day!"
"Thank you, Harry," Cindy said with a smile. "I love your gift. So does
Brianna."
"Don't tell me you're giving her the chocolates, mom," he said, "I got them
for you!"
"All right, Harry. I won't tell you."
"That's better," he said with a smirk. Then he looked at her with a more
serious expression on his face. "I miss you." It was the first Mother's Day
he could remember that he didn't spend with Cindy McGonagall.
She sniffed. "I miss you, too, honey. The rest of us are going out to dinner
later, and your sister volunteered to eat an extra dessert as a tribute to
you, to show that you belong there, too."
Harry chuckled. "Tell her to eat an extra vegetable instead."
"Actually, I told her that if she eats an extra vegetable, then she can have
the extra dessert."
-HM-HM-HM-
The exams came and went, and both were confident that they'd done
well. Harry was convinced he'd fail Potions anyway and therefore kept a
sample of his final potion that he gave to Professor Flitwick immediately
after class. Hermione did the same thing. They gave it to their head of
house instead of Professor McGonagall so that no one could say that
Harry's aunt was cheating.
-HM-HM-HM-
They went to lunch after their last exam and received a shock. Professor
Dumbledore wasn't there.
"He could simply be busy in his office," said Padma.
"Or checking on the stone," added Hermione.
"He never missed a meal to do that before," said Harry.
"Maybe we should find out where he is," suggested Hermione, "Just to be
certain."
Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "We'll ask Aun-Professor McGonagall
after lunch."
"I can't believe you're still not used to calling her a professor," commented
Padma.
"She's been my Aunt Minnie my whole life. She's only been my teacher
for a year," he said defensively.
They continued eating until they were finished with their sandwiches,
and waited for Minerva to get up from the head table. When she finally
did, the trio accosted her as she was leaving the Great Hall.
"Hello, Harry, Hermione, and Padma. What can I do for you?"
"Hi," said Harry, now suddenly getting nervous. "We, er, wanted to know
where Professor Dumbledore is."
She looked confused. "I was under the impression that you don't like him
very much. Why do you want to know that? Are you three planning some
sort of prank?"
"No," Hermione assured her immediately. "We just wanted to know that
he's still at the castle, so that we know that he's guarding the school. We
may not like him, but he is a powerful wizard."
Minnie's face went a bit pale at the word, 'guarding.' "I'm afraid he was
called upon by the Ministry of Magic, and for some reason he decided to
ride a broomstick all the way to London rather than use the direct floo
connection in his office…or make a portkey. He could have even flown to
Hogsmeade and apparated from there. He seems to be experiencing his
fifth youth. Rumor has it that he used to be a Quidditch player when he
was a student." She sighed. "In any case, we can't expect him back until
tomorrow."
The three students paled. Harry asked, "Can we talk to you alone, now?"
"Certainly. We'll go to my office."
They walked quietly down the halls, into the transfiguration classroom,
and into her office. Once the door was closed and warded against
eavesdroppers, Harry spoke. "We think that Quirrel is going to try to steal
the Philosopher's Stone tonight."
The Professor's eyes bulged out as she stared at the trio. "How do you
know about the stone?"
All three looked uncomfortable. Hermione finally spoke. "We overheard
Snape arguing with Quirrel about it once."
"When? Where were they discussing it?" At the uncomfortable looks they
were giving, Minnie said, "Never mind. I don't want to know."
"Thank you, Aunt Minnie."
"I believe that students should be able to come forward with important
information without fear of reprisal. You'd be surprised how many times
Madam Pomfrey has to waste a week figuring out a student's ailment
when they could have simply told her what bit them, and she'd have
cured them in fifteen minutes. They go through all that suffering simply
to avoid punishment." She smiled slightly. "They don't realize that they're
actually punishing themselves far worse than the staff or even their
parents would."
"But what about the stone?" asked Padma.
Sighing heavily, Minerva got a determined look in her eyes. "As Deputy
Headmistress, it is my duty to defend the school. I shall check on the
protections. If Professor Quirrel is going to try getting past them, it'll be
tonight."
"You can't go alone, Aunt Minnie."
"The rest of the staff members will need to patrol the rest of the castle. I
can't ask the prefects or the…"
"We'll go with you," declared Harry.
"You most certainly will not, young man!" she said sharply, but then gave
a half-smile. "But thanks for the offer."
"We'll sneak after you anyway," countered Harry, "and you know it!"
"This way you can watch us," said Padma. Although she had a fear of
dragons, she wasn't afraid of much else.
"We can stay behind you and run off for help if you need it," suggested
Hermione.
Minerva closed her eyes and stated calmly, "No. I cannot allow you to
come with me. Endangering any student is unacceptable, especially my
own nephew." She was looking at Harry. "I want your word that you
won't leave Ravenclaw Tower tonight. Do I have to hex you to keep you
there?" She smirked. "Perhaps Mr. Filch has some manacles I could
borrow for the evening."
"Aunt Minnie!"
"You know I couldn't do that," she said. "Your father would never forgive
me. Then where would I spend Christmas?"
"Fine, you don't have to hex us," said Harry, looking defeated.
She looked at the two girls. "Does that go for you two as well?"
"Yes, Ma'am," they both said at once.
"Good."
"Oh, by the way," said Harry, "Hagrid told a stranger at the Hogg's Head,
not to mention us, that the way to get past Fluffy is by playing him
music. It'll make him go right to sleep. He may also have put that in the
Daily Prophet. See you later."
"How did you know about…" said Minerva as the kids headed for the
door. "Thanks for the tip. Good day."
-HM-HM-HM-
As soon as they left the office, Harry pulled the girls into an empty
classroom. "I said she didn't have to hex us, but I didn't say I wouldn't
follow her."
"You're going to follow her?" asked Hermione, looking surprised.
"I have to. She's my aunt. What if something happens to her? Someone
has to help."
"Then I'm going, too," declared Padma, folding her arms across her chest.
Taking a deep breath, Hermione said, "Me, too."
-HM-HM-HM-
They spent the rest of the day outside, trying to convince each other that
they weren't nervous. Just before dinner, Harry decided to call his sister.
"Hi, Harry," she said from her mirror. "What's up?"
"I just thought I'd call you and gloat that I finished all my exams before
lunch, so I'll be able to relax next week while you're taking your tests."
"Yeah? Well, you'll have to start earlier than me next year." She then
smiled. "How's the lawsuit going? I want that creep out of there before I
start."
"You have a whole year before then," said Harry, "but hopefully Snape'll
be gone before September. The last I heard is that once that greasy git
turns in his final grades, he and Dumbledore'll find out about the lawsuit
and the current students will be interviewed, including the Slytherins. I
hope I get to see the look on their faces when they realize that their
praise of Snape will actually go against him."
"I hope that DumbOldDork doesn't try to cheat to get out of it. Isn't he the
head of that WiseIdiotGambit or something?"
Chuckling, Harry said, "The Wizengamot. According to our lawyer, he
won't be able to participate in it because as headmaster he'd have a
conflict of interest. Besides, he'll be on trial as well. He's going to be
called upon to testify what a great guy Snape is after we have over fifty
witnesses show memories proving what a jerk Snake, I mean Snape,
really is. It should demonstrate that he's either going senile or doesn't
actually do his job as headmaster – making sure that the school has good
teachers. They'll also question him about a lot of other things he's done
that weren't for the good of the school."
"So, do you think Aunt Minnie will be headmistress?" she asked excitedly.
With a smile he said, "Probably, but unfortunately, that doesn't mean
we'll run the school. It does mean that the school will be much better. We
won't have the Slytherins cheating their way to the house cup anymore. I
heard that they've won it every year since Snape started. Good thing Aunt
Minnie hasn't let him cheat this year. Unless things change next week,
Ravenclaw's winning. Gryffindor would've been ahead if they'd done well
with Quidditch, but their Seeker is terrible."
"And next year Ravenclaw's gonna have a great Seeker."
He smiled. "I hope so."
-HM-HM-HM-
Although Harry's conversation with Brianna was distracting, as soon as
he hung up, his nervousness returned. He didn't even notice that his sister
actually didn't bring up Hermione for once.
Dinner was very subdued, and Harry decided that he'd rather face
Voldemort than wait to face Voldemort. He looked at his two close
friends and could easily see how worried they were. He looked at the
staff table to see that his aunt appeared distracted as well. Without being
obvious, he glanced at Professor Quirrel, who was glancing at his watch
every few seconds. Professor McGonagall was the first teacher to rise
from the head table after dinner. It was almost a relief to see her leave
the table. The fact that Quirrel got up right after her and all but ran out
the other way wasn't lost to Harry. He wished they could run after him
immediately, but didn't want his aunt to see them following.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Did you see Quirrel rush out of the Great Hall?" asked Padma as soon as
the three of them were alone. They'd left the hall right after Quirrel and
Minerva.
"Yes, I did," answered Hermione with a determined expression on her
face. "It means we don't have much time. We've got to make our way to
the third-floor corridor without getting caught."
"But how…" asked Padma, before being interrupted.
"Now what would three young Ravenclaws such as yourselves be doing
wandering the corridors in the opposite direction of your dormitory after
dinner?" asked Severus Snape. "One might think that you're up to
something."
"We have every right to be here," said Harry coldly. "It's not after curfew."
He then walked right past him, with the girls following closely.
"You shouldn't…" said Hermione.
"We have every right to be here and he can't do anything," Harry cut her
off.
"But now he's specifically mad at us," Padma pointed out.
"He's probably just in a snit because he misses his boyfriend Albus."
Both girls snorted. "Come on," said Harry, "We need to hurry up."
"And make sure Snape's not following us," added Hermione.
"Nor anyone else," came a male voice from a nearby classroom.
"What? Who?" said Padma as two twin redheads emerged in front of
them.
"By the way," said Fred Weasley, "Snape isn't following you. He's on his
way to the dungeons."
"Which leads us to the question," said George.
"Where are you three going?"
"We saw you following Professor McGonagall."
"Who is following Professor Quirrel and someone called Tom Riddle into
the forbidden third floor corridor."
"Tom Riddle?" asked Harry.
"Yes. Take a look."
"From the map it appears he's riding piggyback."
Harry looked at the Marauder's Map and saw that the two names were
next to each other so that they had to be incredibly close. Harry
wondered if Tom Riddle was a Death Eater that had somehow snuck into
the castle or a Slytherin like Draco Malfoy that was helping Quirrel.
"I wonder if Tom Riddle could be another name for…never mind," said
Hermione.
"What?" asked Harry and Padma together.
"What if Tom Riddle were Voldemort's real name?" She looked at them
nervously. "I mean, I doubt anybody named their baby 'Voldemort.' It's
probably just a title he made up."
"Hmm," said Harry. "I don't know. It'd make sense if Quirrel's possessed
like we think he is. We'll find out when we get there, I suppose."
"You-Know-Who's involved in this?" asked George.
Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "DumbOldDork's keeping a
Philosopher's Stone at Hogwarts…"
"In the forbidden corridor," guessed Fred.
"Exactly," said Hermione. "One of the things it does is provide the elixir of
life. If Voldemort gets it, he can come back. We have reason to believe
Voldemort is possessing Quirrel."
"Can I see the map," asked Padma, fascinated with the idea of a map that
shows everyone in the castle. She'd heard of it from her friends but never
saw it. She walked up to Harry, who was holding it and looked at their
position. She saw Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Padma Patil, Hermione
Granger, and…
"No," Harry said, closing it a moment too late.
She looked up at him with a shocked expression on her face. "Har…Harry
Potter? I thought…"
"I was adopted. I didn't even know until about a year ago. Don't tell
anyone."
"You're not a seer. You can sense him. Where's your scar?"
"A muggle surgery when I was a baby covered it up. My aunt transfigured
my hair color about the same time. Nobody but my family and the four of
you know."
"Not even Dumbledore?" asked Padma, still a bit shocked.
"No. He left me on the doorstep of some hideous relatives that Aunt
Minnie had watched all day. She already knew that they wanted nothing
to do with my parents from Lily Potter. Aunt Minnie took me from there
because she didn't think they were good people at all, or that I'd be
welcome in their home. Dumbledore didn't even bother to find out. He
left me there despite what Aunt Minnie told him about them."
"She kidnapped you," said Padma with a smirk.
"So did Dumbledore. He wasn't my guardian. He didn't have the right to
say who would raise me."
"That's an interesting way of looking at it," commented Hermione. "I
wonder what the Potters' wishes were."
"It doesn't even matter," said Harry. "The McGonagalls are my family. I
wouldn't give them up no matter what the Potters' wishes were." He
looked back to Padma, "So will you keep my secret?"
"Yes." She then took a deep breath. "I suppose this means I need to learn
occlumency."
"Yes, if you don't mind," said Harry softly. "In the mean time, don't look
Dumbledore or Snape in the eyes."
"Or Quirrel and whoever's with him," added Hermione.
"So are we going?" asked Fred.
"I don't remember inviting you two," said Harry.
"But if you want to get there undetected."
"You need the map."
"And we go with the map."
"Fine," said Harry, "We don't have time to argue. Let's go."
-HM-HM-HM-
When they got to the room with Fluffy, the twins commented that both
Quirrel and Minerva were off the map. After opening that door, they
found that the three-headed dog was asleep with a harp on the floor and
saxophone floating in the air. The sax was playing a song Harry didn't
know, but recognized from an old movie. They walked to the trap door
and easily opened it. Apparently, Aunt Minnie had moved the dog away
from the door.
Harry looked down where the trap door led. He couldn't see anything. "I,
er, guess I'll have to take a leap of faith." He jumped down and landed
with a funny, muffled sort of thump on something soft. It seemed like
some sort of a plant to him. He was still trying to figure out what kind it
was when Hermione landed nearby.
"This plant seems familiar," she commented.
"It's grabbing me!" Harry exclaimed as Padma landed.
"The plant is moving," said Hermione. "This has got to be…"
As Fred landed nearby, the three first-years exclaimed together, "Devil's
Snare!"
"Really?" asked Fred as his twin landed. By this time the first years were
being wrapped up.
"We need to relax," admonished Hermione, and suddenly she fell through.
"Hermione?" called Harry.
"Just relax," came her voice from below. At that moment, all four of the
students on the plant did just that, causing themselves to fall to the
ground.
"Don't you think," said Fred.
"That was a bit too easy," said George.
"To be guarding something from."
"You-Know-Who?"
"Hmm," said Harry. "Probably. I'm sure there are harder challenges than
that up ahead. This way." Harry pointed down a stone passageway, which
was the only way forward.
After walking down the long corridor, they came into a room where they
could hear a soft rustling and clinging sound. It had a very high ceiling,
and contained three broomsticks. Above them were several jewel-bright
birds, and ahead was a large wooden door.
"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" asked Padma.
"We'll fight them," said Fred.
"If they do," said George. Both of the twins took out their wands, and the
others did the same.
Harry ran across the room, and surprisingly, nothing attacked him. He
found the door locked, and "Alohomora," didn't open it.
He tried to stick his wand under the door to summon the hinges, but
there wasn't enough room. "Now what?" he exclaimed,
"Well, we could blast," said George.
"The door in," said Fred.
"What about the birds?" asked Hermione. "They can't just be here for
decoration."
Harry took a closer look at the birds and realized, "They're not birds!
They're keys!"
"Which one's the correct one?" asked Padma.
Harry pointed his wand skyward. "Accio correct key!" Nothing happened.
"It was worth a shot," explained Harry, shrugging his shoulders as Padma
and Hermione forced themselves not to smile.
"I guess we'll have to," said Fred.
"Fly after it," said George, looking at the brooms.
"That's got to be it," said Padma, pointing at one with a bended wing.
"I'll catch it," said Harry as he mounted a broom. The twins mounted the
other two as the winged keys started moving quickly toward the fliers. It
reminded Harry a horror movie where birds were attacking everybody.
Fred and George pointed their wands at the flying keys and some sort of
light gray liquid sprayed out of the wands at the keys. Each one slowed
down when it got hit until it finally fell to the floor with a thud. They
were careful not to hit Harry or the correct key. The result was that there
were a lot fewer of them to avoid. Pushing the remaining keys aside, he
flew directly at the correct one and grabbed it. As he was headed down
toward the door, the twins shot the last of the keys.
"Excellent," said Fred.
"You've done something Gryffindor's Seeker."
"Could never do."
"What?" asked Harry, "Catch something?"
"What did you spray at those keys?" asked Hermione.
"We modified the water spell to spray," said George.
"A type of quick-drying muggle cement," said Fred.
They landed and Harry stuck the key in the door. The twins carried the
brooms with them as they walked into the next room. What they saw was
a shock.
They were in a large square room with stone walls, floor, and ceiling.
There was no door beside the one they were in. When the door behind
them closed, the walls seemed to spin around, but the floor was
unaffected. When the walls stopped spinning, they couldn't see any door
in the room.
In the middle of the room, however, two figures were battling with
wands. A green beam of light shot out of Quirrel's wand, aimed at Harry's
aunt. She dodged and shot a red spell at her opponent, who produced a
shield, laughing, "You'll never have the courage to do what is necessary!"
Not saying a word, she pointed her wand at Quirrel yet again. Only this
time, his purple turban started changing shape.
"What is this?" said Quirrel desperately, as he reached for the turban,
which had just completed its transfiguration into cactus.
"OOoouuuuccchhh!" he shouted as his hand got wounded.
"GET IT OFF!" hissed a voice from the back of the defense teacher's head
as the group of students watched from a corner.
"Yes, master!" he cried and grabbed the cactus-cap with both hands as he
screamed in agony. Blood began running down his face and arms as he
screamed in pain. Just as he got the cactus off his head, his robes caught
fire.
He threw the cactus toward Minerva (who ducked out of the way) and
pulled his robe off, throwing it in the direction of the, "Children." The
voice that spoke came from a bleeding face with red eyes that was on the
back of Quirrel's head.
"What?" said Minerva as she glanced in their direction.
Another green blast of magic shot toward Professor McGonagall, who saw
it just in time to conjure a brick in front of her. The spell hit the brick,
which exploded into her face, knocking her unconscious in the process.
As she fell to the floor, Harry looked into Voldemort's eyes and felt his
invisible scar hurt at the moment he also felt a Legilimens attack.
His shields held as he concentrated with everything he had. He somehow
felt he couldn't turn away. He decided to distract him. "Voldemort, I
presume?"
"You dare to speak my name?" he hissed.
"Would you prefer Tom Riddle?"
"Crucio!" As Harry writhed on the floor, Voldemort shouted, "Don't ever
use that filthy muggle name!" At that moment, his wand was hit with a
blast from Hermione and the curse stopped. He turned his wand on the
ceiling above them all and blasted it. Huge stones were falling toward
Harry's friends, but all he could think about was stopping this monster
before he killed everyone.
He pointed his wand at Voldemort/Quirrel, who fired a cutting hex at his
right hand, cutting his hand and causing him to drop his wand before he
could hex Voldemort. "Ha! Now watch me kill your friends!"
The other kids had managed to move out of the way while Harry was
losing his wand, and were on their feet to Harry's right. Voldemort/
Quirrel pointed his wand at Hermione while Harry whispered, "Old
Sparks." His original wand came into his left hand. He pointed it at the
two-faced monster and whispered, "Accio wand!"
The wand left Quirrel's hand before he could fire a spell at Hermione. "I'll
kill you with my bare hands!" The possessed professor ran toward the
eleven-year-old boy with his hands reaching out.
Harry pointed both wands at the monster, who didn't stop. "This is your
last chance, Quirrdemort! I have your wand. Give up!"
"NEVER!" he shouted as he felt spells hitting him from behind. Quirrel
screamed in pain but Voldemort didn't care. Voldemort's spirit had the
power to keep his victim moving as long as he was alive, so stupefy and
body-bind hexes wouldn't work completely. They'd only slow him down.
By the time Quirrdemort reached Harry, he fell onto him, knocking the
wands out of the boy's hands, and touching his skin in the process.
"Ahhh! What is this magic?" Quirrel screamed as his hands began
burning. "Why can't I touch you, boy?"
At the same time, the pain in Harry's forehead got too great and he
instinctively grabbed his forehead with his left hand as he closed his eyes
for a moment. He let go of his forehead and punched Quirrel's face,
burning half-way through it in the process. He then reached around to
the Voldemort-side and started touching that face, which caused it to
burn as well. Within about a minute, Quirrdemort's body was ashes, and
a spector-like form of Voldemort flew through Harry's body, causing him
to fall unconscious as the others watched in horror.
-HM-HM-HM-
"That bloody stone should never have been here in the first place!"
Harry, who had just heard his aunt's voice, opened his eyes, seeing a very
blurry world. He could feel that he was on a bed and found an end table
where he felt his glasses.
"But, Minerva, Hogwarts is the safest…"
"Poppycock! You-Know-Who has been inside this castle all year!"
He saw his aunt lying on the bed next to his, arguing with the
headmaster. Her face was bruised, and it only made her look scarier as
she glared at the headmaster.
"I believe we can save this conversation for another time, Minerva, as
your nephew has just awakened." He then looked at Harry with his
grandfatherly smile. "Good morning, Mr. McGonagall. I hope you're
felling well."
"A bit tired, but I'll be fine, sir."
"I'm sure you'll want to talk to your aunt," suggested the headmaster as he
walked toward the door. "I'll leave you to it."
"Harry," said Aunt Minnie after casting privacy spells around the room, "I
distinctly remember telling you not to follow me, and you not only
ignored me, but brought the Weasley twins as well." Harry opened his
mouth. "Hermione already said you hadn't promised, but that's just a
technicality. The point is that you could have died because you
disobeyed. Don't do it again."
"Yes, Aunt Minnie."
"That being said, you did an excellent job." Harry smiled at her. "The
others told me what happened." She took a deep breath. "The official
story of how Quirrel died is that I shot a flaming hex at him while he was
attacking you. No one here suspects your true identity, although You-
Know-Who probably does. Fortunately, I don't believe that he's in contact
with anybody else for now. That may change at some point and your
identity will become public. I suggest you enjoy the time until then."
"Yes, Aunt Minnie."
She frowned. "I understand that that monster put you under the cruciatus
curse." He simply frowned and nodded. "How do you feel now?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Just tired and a bit sore."
"Then make sure you rest."
"I've got a question, Aunt Minnie, before I go back to sleep."
"What's that?"
"That room where we found you. What sort of obstacle was that? We
couldn't see any exit."
She smiled. "That was one of my more brilliant ideas, if I do say so
myself. You may have noticed that the other obstacles were relatively
easy."
"Yes. I thought so, too."
"That's because Professor Dumbledore suggested what obstacles they
make, and the others did so without question. I, on the other hand, came
up with my own defense after he suggested that I transfigure a chess
board to guard it. I thought that was ridiculous. Chess is a very common
game that many people, even muggles, know how to play. The pieces
aren't that brilliant either. Anyone who made the effort to learn how to
play chess properly could beat them. Even if they couldn't, the previous
obstacle provided three brooms with which to fly over the chess board.
By the way, that's how we got back up to the third floor – with those
brooms."
"So what was your obstacle?"
"The doors were transfigured into solitary bricks that looked just like the
others. The other bricks were charmed to never transfigure. The only way
to get out of the room was to pick the correct brick and perform a spell
that I invented on it. Quirrel couldn't figure it out, so that's why I caught
up with him there."
He smiled approvingly at his aunt. "Brilliant."
"Thank you, Harry. Oh, by the way, your wands are in their proper
holsters."
"Thanks."
"Oh, and I've started your friend Padma Patil in occlumency lessons."
She soon removed the privacy charms, and Poppy examined Harry and
insisted that he stay for a few more days. About an hour after he woke,
his friends that had accompanied him for the adventure visited him.
He found out that Aunt Minnie had given points to both Ravenclaw and
Gryffindor over the events that had transpired, and that Ravenclaw was
still in the lead for the House Cup.
Harry was still in the hospital wing when he received his grades. He and
Hermione had matching report cards. 'Outstandings' in everything but
Potions, where they received 'Acceptables.'
"I hope he didn't hurt himself giving us passing grades," said Harry, who
knew that they'd both earned O's in that subject as well.
"But this will ruin my record," she said with a panicked expression.
"It'll be that ba…"
"Harry!"
"That jerk's last mistake as a professor! Don't forget that Flitwick has our
final potions as well."
-HM-HM-HM-
The lawyers informed Harry by letter on the day of the end of term feast
that he'd be needed a week after term ended for an interview about
Snape and also on the first week of August for the trial. It was therefore
decided that he'd spend the first week of summer with Minerva, and then
go back home to America.
A week later, the Grangers would visit them for two weeks, and they'd
see all the sights in the Chicago area. Harry's dad was taking two of his
four vacation weeks (he didn't get the whole summer off this year) at that
time so they could enjoy the time together. Harry was really looking
forward to showing (or dragging) Hermione around Six Flags Great
America for two days, among several other things.
His whole family would come to England for the trial and stay for two
weeks (the rest of his dad's vacation) and then his dad would go back
home to work while the rest of the family stayed two more weeks until
Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express to begin his second year.
Harry was released from the hospital wing just in time to go to the
Leaving Feast, where Ravenclaw did win the house cup as predicted.
Everyone except the Slytherins seemed to be thrilled about that. After the
delightful feast was over, he went back to Ravenclaw Tower, looking
forward to a good night's sleep, only to find a party.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author note: Why didn't Dumbledore portkey, floo, or apparate to the
Ministry and then come right back five minutes later? Dumbledore said
that the owl Hermione sent and he, "must have crossed in midair,"
indicating that he rode a broom (or possibly a beast such as a hippogriff
or thestral) to London and back. It seems that he purposely wanted to be
away from the castle as long as possible.
Assuming Grubbly-Plank is a hyphenated married name, I decided she's
not married yet, so I used Grubbly as her maiden name.
10. Going Home
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 10 – Going Home
Harry awoke the next morning, still very tired from the celebration the
night before. It had been decades since Ravenclaw had won the house
cup! He smiled as he got up and showered quickly. He still had to pack.
He decided that he wanted to ride the Hogwarts Express with his friends,
so Aunt Minnie would meet him at Platform Nine and Three Quarters.
-HM-HM-HM-
Hermione was sitting with Padma at the Ravenclaw table, working on a
half-finished omelet when she heard someone running toward her and
turned, seeing her best friend practically jump onto the table.
"Good morning, Hermione, Padma," he said as he grabbed a plate and
started piling food on it.
"Let me guess, Harry," the bushy-haired girl commented, "You waited
until just now to pack your things."
"Well, I was in the hospital wing until last night, you know."
"I know, Harry, but you could've last night."
"Give the guy a break, Hermione," said Padma.
Hermione sighed. "Fine. You do have all your stuff packed now, don't
you?"
"Yes, Mommy. I also sent Hedwig to McGonagall Manor. I don't think
she'd like to be locked up in her cage all day." Harry grinned at her.
"Harry, I'm serious."
She then whispered, "You've got your broom where no one will find it,
right?"
"Naturally."
"Good. I wouldn't want you grounded while my family's visiting you."
He chuckled. "They wouldn't do that. Maybe I'd be grounded for the rest
of the summer once you leave."
"I suppose."
They continued to eat in silence, mainly because Harry was in a hurry to
finish his breakfast before the food disappeared. Before they knew it, it
was time to board the Hogwarts Express.
-HM-HM-HM-
The whole study group, which consisted of Harry, Hermione, Padma,
Anthony, Neville, Hannah, and Susan, decided to sit together on the
train. They found an empty compartment and settled into it.
"Harry," asked Neville, "My Gran wrote that your lawyers want to talk to
me about Professor Snape this week."
Harry grinned. "They should've contacted every non-Slytherin this week
to set up an appointment." The others nodded with matching grins. "The
Slytherins will be contacted next week. Just tell them the truth."
"The truth about what?" asked Penny, who was walking by while doing
her prefect duties.
"Snape," said Harry. "Did my lawyers contact your family?"
"Yes. I've told Professor Flitwick that if Snape is sacked I'll want to take
Potions, provided I did well enough on my O.W.L."
"I'm sure you did, Penny," said Hermione. "I'll bet it was a lot easier to
brew a potion without that creep breathing down your neck."
She gave a pretty smile. "Yeah, it certainly was. I've got to finish my
rounds. Oliver's waiting for me so we can sit together. In case I don't see
you all again, have a good summer."
"You, too," the group answered.
No sooner had the prefect disappeared than the self-appointed prince of
Slytherin made an appearance, flanked by his two idiotic bodyguards.
"Well, if it isn't McGonagall and his crew of mudbloods and squibs."
"Well, if it isn't the Three Stooges," answered Harry with a grin. A few of
his friends, including Hermione, chuckled while the rest didn't react.
"What's a stooge?" asked Draco.
"An idiot, such as yourself," answered Padma cheerfully as Harry
discretely whispered, "New sparks."
"I am NOT an idiot! I'm a Malfoy, from one of the purest…"
"We already know your parents are related, and therefore you have
severe mental disorders," answered Hermione in a professional manner.
"Crabbe and Goyle as well. You don't have to brag about it."
Draco's face went red. He glanced at his companions, and for a moment,
it looked like he might see her point. He glared back at Hermione. "I
don't have to listen to you, you filthy mudblood! My father…"
"You see," said Hermione calmly, turning to Harry. "The subject is
incapable of thinking for itself because of its questionable parentage, and
is therefore repeating the words its father told it."
"Why you!" exclaimed Draco, clumsily grabbing his wand just in time for
Harry to summon it (along with Crabbe's and Goyle's wands) out of his
hands once it was free of its holster.
"You see," said Harry, still looking at Hermione and having an intellectual
conversation about their 'lab rat,' "These inbred animals are incapable of
learning. How many times have they been disarmed easily in the last
year?" While they were talking, the others were pointing their wands at
the three Slytherins.
"At least a dozen," answered Hermione. "Most mice would've learned by
the fourth time."
"Do you think I should just break their little toys?"
"You'd better not! I'll tell my fath…"
"You know, Hermione. I remember back when I was in kindergarten and
first grade. A lot of the muggle kids used to threaten to tell their daddy if
you insulted them. I wonder if Draco is really a muggle toddler in
disguise."
Hermione looked like she was thinking about it for a few moments. "It
would explain his shoddy spellwork if he's really a muggle."
"I AM NOT A FILTHY MUGGLE YOU MUDBLOOD!" Draco's face was now
purple.
Harry finally turned and faced Draco. "I didn't say you were filthy…yet."
He pointed his wand and muttered an incantation. Suddenly the same
quick-drying cement the Weasley twins had used the week before was
coming out of Harry's wand and covering Draco's robes. Hermione and
Padma instantly began doing the same thing to Crabbe and Goyle,
respectively. "Now you're filthy."
"Why you!" shouted Draco angrily, taking a step toward Harry. "I'll…
what?" Draco's eyes widened as he realized he could no longer move his
legs or his arms. His bodyguards soon started yelling as well until a
prefect came to see what the commotion was.
"What is going on, here?" asked Penny with an amused look on her face.
"They attacked us!" shouted Draco.
"Then why are you in their compartment? If they were after you, you'd be
the ones sitting down. You obviously started trouble that you couldn't
finish."
"Here are their wands, Penny." Harry handed them to his friend. "If you
wouldn't mind levitating them out of here, we'd appreciate it. I think
Fred and George Weasley know the counter-spell to that hex. You'll have
to ask them."
Hermione looked at him and he shook his head slowly. Penny levitated
each of them out the door and closed it.
"Why didn't you tell her the counter spell?" asked Hermione.
"Isn't it obvious," asked Padma. "He's making them sweat. They'll be
wondering if there is a counter spell."
-HM-HM-HM-
The ride progressed with no other incidents, and soon they were getting
off of the train. Harry looked around for a few moments while he was
carrying his trunk (it was magically enlarged and had Hedwig's empty
cage inside it). He grinned from ear to ear as he called out, "Aunt
Minnie!" and walked toward her. Padma and Hermione walked with him
to say goodbye to the professor.
"Hello, Harry, Hermione, Padma. How was the train ride?"
"It was good. Draco and his goons tried to start trouble as usual, but
nothing we couldn't handle."
"I hope you didn't do any…permanent damage, Harry," she said with a
slightly amused-slightly worried face.
"No. Don't worry," said Padma. "It was just a lesson in humility."
"I don't understand why he still thinks he's something. This year he's
more than proven himself inferior in intelligence and spellwork to the
people who he thinks he's better than."
"Prejudice is something that can't truly be understood by anyone. Those
who are prejudiced can't make a truthful, logical argument as to the
cause of their prejudice, so non-prejudiced people can never understand.
The only reason people are prejudiced is because they want to be."
"There you are," said Marissa Granger as she walked up to her daughter.
"It's good to see you." She hugged Hermione tightly. "How was the train
ride?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Adam and Marissa Granger greeted the others and walked off with their
daughter, but not before meeting the Patil parents, along with Parvati.
Arrangements were made so that both Hermione and Padma would visit
Harry the next day. Parvati was invited as well, but she had plans to
spend the day with one of her fellow Gryffindors – a girl named
Lavender.
Minerva took Harry by the hand, and they apparated into the
McGonagall ancestral home.
"Mistress Minerva and Master Harry!" squeaked Blinky the house elf upon
their arrival. "I is wondering when you is arriving. Dinner is being ready
in fifteen minutes. I is taking your luggage." With that said, the elf
grabbed Harry's trunk with one hand and Minerva's with another and
disappeared with a small 'pop' before Harry could protest that he could
handle it himself. Blinky had seemed determined to make Harry and his
parents see how valuable he could be ever since he found out that they
weren't planning on keeping a servant when they inherited the mansion.
Minnie sat down on a nearby sofa and Harry joined her. "So, how did you
like your first year at Hogwarts?"
He smiled at his aunt. "I liked getting to see you every day."
"And I, you," responded the Deputy Headmistress fondly.
"I also enjoyed being with Hermione and my other friends. The only
down sides were Snape and Dumbledore. Snape because he's such a jerk;
and Dumbledore because he allows it. Doesn't he want students to get a
good education in Potions?"
Minerva sighed before frowning. "I'm afraid that the Headmaster is more
interested in protecting Snape than educating students. I can't tell you
how many Gryffindors I've had in career counseling who had hoped to
become healers, aurors, or countless other occupations but changed their
minds when I informed them they would need a Potions N.E.W.T. to do
it.
"The result has been that in the past decade, there has been a shortage of
people entering those fields. The majority of people who have were
Slytherins, and I suspect it's because he tutors them in their common
room, although I've never been able to prove it. Only a select few non-
Slytherins have had the courage to try taking Advanced Potions, and half
of them are kicked out for questionable reasons that Professor
Dumbledore refuses to investigate. This year, thanks to you, a lot fewer
students were dropped from his advanced classes."
"Thanks to you, as well."
"You were the catalyst, Harry," she said, shaking her head. "You were the
one who let everybody know what Snape was doing, not me. That's what
got him on probation."
"But you started this lawsuit," he argued.
"The point is that none of this would've happened without you." She then
changed the subject. "Professor Flitwick informed me that the potions
that you and Hermione turned in were checked by a certified potions
master and found to be perfect."
Harry grinned. "Naturally."
"I'm curious. Did you learn anything new from your classes this year?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "A bit. The few spells I didn't know were easy
to learn since I already know Latin. That certainly helps the incantation
to make sense. I'll admit I didn't learn anything in Potions class." He
chuckled. "In Transfiguration, I learned you were an Animagus. Why
didn't you tell me before?"
"It never came up."
"Let me guess. You were waiting for me to say, 'Hey Aunt Minnie, can
you turn into a cat?' or something like that?"
"It was fun to surprise you with the other children. Anyway, I was
wondering how you'd feel about being double-promoted – advanced to
third year."
Harry didn't look that surprised. "I, I thought that might be possible, but I
don't know how I'd feel about it. What about Hermione? She did as well
as me. Will she be offered the opportunity as well?"
"Yes. Professor Flitwick, who makes those decisions as your head of
house, informed me that he was considering both of you."
Harry looked pensive for a few moments before answering, "I think both
of us will have to discuss it. When do we need to have an answer?"
"You should be getting his owl soon, but you don't have to make up your
mind until the end of July – your real birthday. You both will have to
discuss it with your parents as well."
"I'll tell Hermione about it tomorrow. Maybe we can discuss it with our
families while the Grangers are in America."
"Very well. I believe that Blinky should have dinner ready by…"
At that moment the elf in question appeared in front of them. "Dinner is
being ready!"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning around ten o'clock, Padma flooed into McGonagall
Manor while Hermione was dropped off by her parents. The Ravenclaw
Patil practiced Occlumency with Professor McGonagall for an hour while
Harry and Hermione went into the manor's extensive library.
"I wish that we could find the house elf contract in here."
Harry smiled at his predictable friend. "So do I, but it's not here. Would
you mind sitting down for a minute? There's something I need to talk to
you about."
She replaced the book she was just pulling off one of the shelves and had
a seat on one of the cushioned chairs nearby. Harry sat opposite her.
"What did you want to talk about?"
At that moment, Harry and Hermione were interrupted by the tapping of
two owl beaks on a window in the library. Harry walked over to the
window and opened it. Two Hogwarts owls flew into the library, one to
each occupant.
"These must be Professor Flitwick's letters," commented Harry as he
removed the envelope from his owl and opened it. It contained two
pieces of parchment. Harry took the first one and read it and the owl flew
off, followed soon by the one that had carried Hermione's letter.
'Dear Mr. McGonagall,
Congratulations on your outstanding performance last term. Your grades, as
well as Miss Granger's, were the best we've seen at Hogwarts in about fifty
years.
Due to your excellent academic achievement, you are being offered the rare
opportunity to skip a grade. Should you choose to accept this honor, you will
begin next term as a third-year. As such, you will be required to choose
additional classes from the included list.
You and your parents will need to fill out the included form to inform us of
your decision no later than the 31st of July. Please consider this offer
carefully, and have an enjoyable summer.
Sincerely,
Professor Flitwick
Head of Ravenclaw House
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'
"You knew about this?" asked Hermione when she finished reading her
letter.
"Um, well, Aunt Minnie told me last night that Professor Flitwick was
going to owl us both today. I was about to tell you." He took a deep
breath. "I want to know how you feel about that."
"Wow. That's quite an honor. In the thousand years Hogwarts has existed,
only a few dozen students have done that, none within the same decade,
let alone the same class according to…"
"…Hogwarts, a History. Yes, I know. The question is if we want to do it
or not."
She folded her hands together as she furrowed her brow in concentration.
"Well, on the plus side, our names will be in the next edition of that
book. That would be interesting – for them to print your name as 'Harry
McGonagall' and then have to change it whenever your true identity gets
out."
"Harry McGonagall is my legal name…"
"…but you know they'll change it to the famous 'Harry Potter' once they
learn the truth – which will happen sooner or later." She saw him start to
glare at her. "Not because of me. I won't tell anyone."
"I know, and I suppose you're right. I just want to delay that time for as
long as I can. At least I'd be famous for something I earned."
"Absolutely. We worked hard for this."
"We'll be done with Hogwarts a year earlier if we accept it."
"Is that good or bad?" asked Hermione.
"That's a good question. One less year without the pressure of earning a
living. One more year of life to work a job instead of devote to learning."
"If we do accept it, we'll have to work hard to catch up with the rest of
the class. Even working ahead, we're only about half way through second
year's materials. And we will still miss some little things that we would
have learned anyway."
"I do prefer working ahead to trying to catch up. I probably do know
about half of the material of second year, but I don't know it all. Another
question is how our friends will feel about it. Will they be fine with it?
Will they treat us differently? We could pretend it doesn't matter to us,
but we'd only be lying to ourselves."
"How will the other third-years feel about us? Will they accept us, envy
us, or hate us?"
"Other good questions."
"That will also ruin our chances for Head Girl and Boy. You have to be
seventeen to hold that position."
"Really?" asked Harry. He actually hadn't given any thought to being a
prefect or head, and wasn't sure if he'd want that or not.
"Yes. We wouldn't even be able to become prefects until we're fifteen,
which will be our sixth year. So we'll only be able to serve in that
position for two years instead of three."
"That's assuming that we do manage to stay at the head of our classes to
get the positions at all."
A look of horror crossed her face. "We may find ourselves average or
even struggling students if we advance."
"I doubt that'll happen, Hermione. We may have to do some catch-up
work, but I think we'll manage if we decide to skip second year. The
question is, what do we want."
"Hi guys," said a smiling Padma as she opened up the door to the library.
"I'm done with my Occlumency lesson for the day. Don't tell me you've
been studying the whole time."
"No," said Harry, quickly stuffing his letters into his pocket. Hermione
followed suit.
Padma raised an eyebrow. "You're not hiding something else from me,
are you Mr. Potter?"
"It's just school stuff. Professor Flitwick sent us each a letter
congratulating us on our class performance."
"Oh. I'm surprised he didn't offer to have you skip a grade."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other guiltily, while Padma watched
their faces.
"He did, didn't he? Why didn't you say so?"
"We, er, haven't decided what to do yet," answered Hermione.
"Why wouldn't you want to skip a grade?"
Harry and Hermione told their friend the concerns they had, and she told
them, "I'll support you in whatever decision you make."
-HM-HM-HM-
The week went by quickly, with Padma and Hermione coming over for a
few hours every day. Padma planned to continue studying occlumency
while Harry and Minerva were in America, and she would resume her
daily occlumency lessons when they returned. Harry made sure that he
got all his summer homework done since he didn't have much else to do
once the girls left. He'd already read and understood the material, so it
was just a matter of writing a few essays.
The day before Harry's meeting with the lawyers, he spent the afternoon
at the Granger residence, swimming in their pool and playing video
games with Hermione. He found out that Hermione's meeting with the
lawyers was the day after he went back to America.
-HM-HM-HM-
"If you're ready, Mr. McGonagall, I think we'll start the interview." The
two lawyers, Sam Gordon and Matthew Marcus, were at McGonagall
Manor beginning their conversation with Harry. They were sitting at the
dining table in the kitchen, and a dictation quill was taking word-for-
word notes of the conversation. Mr. Marcus was asking the questions.
Minerva was also in the room, but had agreed not to speak unless she felt
they asked an impertinent question.
"Um, sure."
"It is our understanding, that prior to attending Hogwarts, you learned
the skill of occlumency. Is that correct?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"My aunt was concerned that some of the faculty of the school would try
to read my mind using legilimency, and she wanted to protect my
privacy."
"Were her fears justified?"
"Yes."
"Describe the first time that someone at Hogwarts tried to read your
mind."
Taking a deep breath, Harry described how Snape had tried to read his
mind during the first feast, and then the other times both he and
Dumbledore attempted legilimency after that. When that line of
questioning was over, they asked questions on other topics.
"How did you get into the room that hosted a dangerous three-headed
dog?"
They made sure that Harry clarified that it took a simple unlocking
charm normally taught to second-years to get into that room. They also
asked Harry to describe Snape's 'teaching' method in his own words. To
say the least, Harry's words were unflattering. He was also informed that
the potions master who'd checked his and Hermione's final potions would
be testifying at the hearing.
-HM-HM-HM-
Before Harry knew it, he was at O'Hare airport with his great aunt,
looking for his parents and sister. He realized how similar this was to the
situation they'd been in at the beginning of Christmas break. He had his
trunk in one hand, and Hedwig's cage in the other. The snowy owl looked
very upset after the floo travel.
"There they are," said Aunt Minnie, breaking him out of his thoughts. He
looked where she was pointing and saw his sister running up to him. She
was wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, along with a Cubs baseball cap.
"Hi Brianna. Don't tell me you're still cheering for the Cubs."
"Always! They're a lot better than the White Sox you support."
"Only in your mind, my very young sister."
Before that argument could escalate, Harry found himself wrapped in his
mother's arms as she gave him a big hug. "Hi, honey. It's so good to see
you again!"
She kissed his cheek, causing him to make a face. "Mom!"
"It's good to see you, son!" said Mark McGonagall. "You, too, Aunt
Minnie! We should get to the car."
-HM-HM-HM-
On the trip back to Lansing, they talked about the progress that the
lawyers were making and some of their plans for the summer.
"We're gonna spend at least one day at Frank's Flying Funhouse next
week once Hermione gets here," said Mark. "Harry, I'm sure you're itching
to get back on your Lightning Bolt."
Facing straight forward, resisting the urge to exchange a look with his
sister, Harry replied, "I sure am! I can't wait to get back on my broom! It
has been a while." He decided to add, "I hope you didn't let any of
Brianna's friends on it."
His mom turned around to face him. "No, we didn't because we had to
respect your property. But I was disappointed that you wouldn't let them.
That was very selfish."
"But mom, I don't want the thing broke before I can take it to Hogwarts."
For one second, he could swear he heard his sister start giggling, but
when he shot her a glare, she was looking forward with a neutral
expression.
-HM-HM-HM-
When they finally got to the house, Harry got his trunk out of the car.
While he was still carrying it toward the door, his dad mentioned, "I got
us tickets to go to a Cubs game next week with the Grangers."
"Terrific!" squealed Brianna, who was carrying Hedwig's cage.
"Yeah," agreed Harry as he walked through the door. "It'll be fun to watch
the Cubs lose. Who are they playing?"
"They're playing the Cardinals," answered Mark.
"And they're not gonna lose!" added Brianna firmly.
"They couldn't win a game if they used magic!" countered Harry.
"Could too!"
"Could not!"
"Could too!"
"They haven't won a World Series in like a hundred years!" declared
Harry as he stepped on the staircase holding his trunk with his left hand.
He was thankful that his truck was charmed to weigh only ten pounds.
Brianna pulled out her wand with her free hand, pointed it at Harry, and
shot a tickling charm at him.
As soon as Harry heard his sister begin the spell, he summoned his wand
out of its holster. "Protego!"
Brianna's charm bounced back toward her, but she ducked out of the way
just in time. Unfortunately, it hit Minerva, who soon was collapsing on
the floor in a fit of giggling. She was so overcome with laughter that she
couldn't even get her wand to reverse the spell.
Harry couldn't help laughing when he saw his normally dignified aunt in
that position. He could also see that his dad was amused, but fighting his
laughter. His mom, on the other hand, was glaring at Brianna. That glare
was enough to stop his sister from even smiling. Hedwig was squawking
at Brianna for attacking Harry. She pointed her wand at Aunt Minnie.
"Finite."
Harry summoned the cage and hurried up the stairs to his room, but not
before his mom started to yell at Brianna. He smiled to himself as he
realized that this was the perfect opportunity. He quickly got his broom
out of his trunk and snuck into his parents' room, switching it with the
fake his sister had put there. He hid it deep in one of the compartments
of his trunk, intending to dispose of it where he'd be sure that his grown
up relatives wouldn't see it. He then began unpacking his clothes until he
heard a knock at the door.
He grinned. "Come in, Brianna."
The door opened. "How did you know it was me?"
When she stepped in, he pointed his wand at the door, shutting it. "I
figured Mom sent you here to apologize."
She looked at the ground. "Um, yes. I also had to apologize to Aunt
Minnie. I kind of lost my temper a little bit."
He chuckled. "I guess so. Don't worry about it. You've been shooting
spells at me since you were five."
She stuck her tongue out. "You're never gonna let me forget about that,
are you?"
"Never," he said with a grin. "Anyway, you provided the perfect
distraction to put my broom back where it belongs."
"Really?" she said excitedly, "You made the switch?" He nodded. She
squealed, "We got away with it!"
"Shh. Do you want them to hear?"
-HM-HM-HM-
He was over his jetlag the next morning, and watched some cartoons
when he got up. He decided to relax this week since he knew that the
next two weeks they would be busy showing the Grangers everything in
the Chicago area. He was looking forward to getting Hermione to play
Quidditch with his friends.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's Note: I believe that if Hermione had been offered to skip a grade
in the books, she would have declined in favor of staying with her friends
and never mentioned it.
P.S. I'll have more about Hermione's house after the trial.
11. The Grangers Invade America
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 11 – The Grangers Invade America
The week after Harry had arrived back in America found the McGonagall
family at O'Hare yet again. This time they were meeting the Granger
family. At Hermione's insistence, they flooed to America instead of flying
in a muggle airplane.
The twelve-year-old girl with bushy brown hair and buck teeth walked in
front of her parents looking excitedly around the crowded airport until
she finally saw, "Harry!" and ran up to him.
"Hi, Hermione! It's good to see you! Welcome to America!" Smiling ear to
ear, Harry waved his right hand in front of him to show the terminal as
though giving a grand tour of his country. "What do you think?"
Mr. Granger, who was pushing a cart full of luggage, came up behind his
daughter and answered, "It's a beautiful airport, I'm sure, but I think we'd
all like to see a bit more of America before we decide what we think. I
understand that we should be able to see the Sears Tower on the way."
"Absolutely!" said Mark. That's one landmark that's hard to miss."
"Are you sure we're not imposing on you," asked Mrs. Granger. "We could
still check into a motel."
"Nonsense, Marissa," replied Cindy. "We have plenty of room as long as
Brianna doubles up with Hermione. It's no problem at all."
"We could always have Harry sleep in a cupboard," suggested Brianna
with a smirk. "That way Hermione could have his room."
"Shut up!" replied Harry playfully. "Maybe you should stay with one of
your friends for the next two weeks. It would save Hermione from your
snoring."
"I don't snore! Anyway, I'm gonna use these two weeks to tell Hermione
embarrassing stories about Harry every night." Hermione giggled at that
prospect.
"You'd better not," said Harry, "because I have plenty of stories about you
that I could tell Bobby."
"Don't you dare…"
"I think it's time we started back home," interrupted Mark, temporarily
shutting up his kids.
They made their way to the brand new van that the McGonagalls had
rented for the next few weeks. They knew their car couldn't fit eight
people (Minerva, Mark, Cindy, Harry, Brianna, Adam, Marissa, and
Hermione) in it, so it made sense to get a bigger vehicle. Since Mark or
Cindy would be doing all the driving, it was in their names, but the
Grangers insisted on paying for it.
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva had stayed behind in her nephew's five-bedroom house watching
television. She disliked riding in Chicago traffic and figured that she'd be
doing enough of that when they were actually sight-seeing, not going to
and from the same airport she'd been to several times. She was heavily
involved with a soap opera when the door opened and a stampede began.
Brianna was carrying several bags from Burger King while everyone else
was carrying some of the Grangers' luggage.
"Brianna, sort through the bags of food while the rest of us put these
suitcases in the correct rooms," said Mark.
"Yes, Daddy."
-HM-HM-HM-
Hermione had brought two suitcases along with her school trunk. She
was going to carry the two suitcases and asked Harry to carry the trunk
up the stairs. The Boy-Who-Lived looked at her like she was nuts.
"Are you a witch or not? We're in America, now." He pointed his wand at
her trunk. "Wingardium Leviosa."
"Sorry, I'd forgotten," his friend murmured as she pulled her wand out of
her pocket. Five minutes later, they were back in the kitchen.
-HM-HM-HM-
After they'd eaten, Marissa Granger asked something that had been on
her mind ever since they'd agreed to come to America.
"I understand that in America, there's no age restriction on magic."
"That's correct," said Mark with a grin. "And let me tell you it's come in
handy having two magical kids to do chores.
"We, that is, Adam and I, would like to see some of what Hermione's been
taught at Hogwarts."
Harry smiled. "We've been planning on that. Come into the living room
for our magic show."
He then levitated Adam Granger's chair a few inches off the ground and
moved it out of the kitchen while Hermione did the same with her
mother. Both appeared nervous at first, but the ride was smooth and they
were set down near the sofa as the McGonagalls walked into the living
room.
"That was interesting," commented Adam.
"We were taught that spell in charms the week of Halloween," explained
Hermione.
"Now we'll transfigure you into algae."
"Harry!" said Minerva sternly before looking at the victims. "They haven't
been taught to do anything of that nature, I assure you. Human
transfiguration is a N.E.W.T. level subject."
"I was only joking."
Harry and Hermione then proceeded to demonstrate several of the spells
they'd learned at Hogwarts that year, as well as the incredibly useful
summoning charm, and then had Brianna show what she'd been learning
at her magic school that hadn't been part of the demonstration (such as
the pencil-sharpening spell). Harry was amused at how amazed the
Grangers were at even simple spells like shooting sparks. However, what
really astounded Hermione's parents was the 'grand finale,' where
Minerva changed into a cat and jumped into Marissa Granger's lap.
"That was wonderful!" exclaimed the adult Grangers together as they
clapped their hands, "all of you." The three magical kids bowed as the cat
jumped onto the floor and retransformed.
Adam looked happily at his daughter. "No wonder you've gotten such
good grades, honey. We couldn't be prouder."
At that moment, both Harry and Hermione noticed Aunt Minnie
gesturing between them and their parents. Harry suddenly felt nervous
and cleared his throat.
"Hermione, um, and I are at the top of our year, and, um…"
His best friend, seeing Harry's ears turn pink, took over.
"Webenaskdskpgrd."
"What was that?" asked Cindy.
Harry took a deep breath. "We've been asked if we want to skip a grade."
The four parents' eyes bulged out for a moment until they smiled at the
kids. Brianna looked expressionless. Mark spoke first.
"Well, congratulations. Um, that's quite an honer."
"It is indeed," inserted Minerva, "It is a rare privilege. However, there are
downsides to the proposition."
"Like leaving your friends behind," said Marissa, "Although you'd still
have each other at least."
Cindy looked slightly concerned. "Have you two decided whether you
want to skip a grade or not?"
Both Harry and Hermione looked at the carpet as they shifted their feet
nervously. "Er," said Hermione, "we've naturally discussed the situation,
as well as other consequences. For example, if we do this, we'll never be
able to become head students."
"I'm afraid that is correct," said Minerva. "The Head Boy and Head Girl
both have to be seventeen – adults under wizarding law – at the start of
their final year, but they would only be sixteen, and therefore ineligible."
"We'd also be behind in our studies and trying to catch up," added Harry.
"We're currently used to working ahead."
"It sounds like you don't really want to do it," surmised Adam Granger.
"Er, well, um…" said Hermione eloquently.
Harry cleared his throat again. "I believe you're right, sir. Mom, Dad, I
hope you're not disappointed."
Cindy bent down to hug her son. "Of course not, darling. You know we'll
support your decision."
"That goes for us, too, Hermione," declared Marissa.
"I can't believe you don't want to skip a year at school!"
"Brianna!" scolded her mother.
"Sis," said Harry, "would you really want to leave all your friends behind
and go to class with kids that spent the last year learning things you'll
have to learn in just a few weeks?"
She frowned. "I don't know."
"You wouldn't have class with Bobby, anymore," he added.
"Shut up!" she yelled, blushing.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, they all went to New Salem. Hermione was completely in
awe as she looked around. "This isn't anything like Diagon Alley," she
declared as she watched a well dressed elf walk out of the Magical
McDonalds eating an ice cream cone. She followed him with her eyes to a
store called Joggy's Jewelry.
"That was the owner of the magical jewelry store," said Mark before
turning to his aunt. "That's where I got your brooch from a few years ago,
Aunt Minnie. He's a very likable fellow, but drives a hard bargain."
She looked astonished. "That was made by a house elf?"
"Actually, over here they're just called elves." While they were talking, a
goblin walked into the jewelry store.
"What's a goblin doing…"
"I'd imagine he's buying jewelry," answered Cindy. "I'm surprised you
haven't noticed the diversity here before, Aunt Minnie."
"I admit I've seen them walking freely around this town before, but never
realized that some of them owned businesses. I…"
"You thought the elves were running errands for their masters and the
goblins were strictly on Gringotts business?"
"Well, yes," Minerva admitted as her ears turned pink.
"I guess it would be a cultural shock," commented Cindy.
"I just don't understand how European wizarding society is so
prejudiced," said Hermione. "Their muggle society isn't."
"I'm afraid that may be part of the real reason why many influential
families are against allowing muggleborn wizards and witches into our
society," said Minerva. "Without exception, they all realize that some of
our laws are barbaric by muggle standards."
-HM-HM-HM-
They walked around to different shops, showing the Grangers such places
as Wand Locker, which only had a few customers that day, along with
any other interesting shops that were nearby. After having lunch at
Magical McDonalds (where Harry found he was good at catching Flying
Fries that tried leaving the table and said he was warming up for
Quidditch), the group headed for Frank's Flying Funhouse to meet with
some of Harry's friends (and one of Brianna's) for a game of Quidditch.
Both Harry and Brianna's brooms were shrunk and in Cindy's purse. They
excitedly walked into the building.
"Hi, Harry! What's up?" said a voice he would recognize anywhere. Harry
turned to see his buddy Luke standing nearby with Melissa and Paul. He
grinned broadly as he walked up to greet his friends from Wentworth
Witchcraft Elementary School with Hermione walking slightly behind
him. He heard a giggling girl calling out his sister's name while he
greeted his former classmates.
"Hi, guys! It's good to see you!" He motioned for Hermione to walk up to
him. "This is my very good friend from Jolly Old England – Hermione
Granger."
"So," said Melissa with an evil grin, "Brianna says you're Harry's
girlfriend."
She blushed scarlet and looked at the ground while Harry answered. "I
already told you guys we're just great friends. You can't believe
everything that little troublemaker says. You should know that by now."
-HM-HM-HM-
While they were catching up and getting to know Hermione, Adam was
renting a broom for his daughter. Cindy was getting her kids' broom cases
to their proper sizes (just touching the appropriate place on the case and
saying the words – it doesn't require magic from the person doing it).
Brianna was talking to her friend that was there as well.
Once everyone was registered and had a broom, they warmed up for a
few minutes until they were able to put together a game. Harry was
Seeker. Brianna, Hermione, and Melissa were Chasers. The Beaters were
Luke and Brianna's best friend – a girl named Terri. Paul was the Keeper.
They played against another group of friends who happened to be there.
Hermione was the first one to get the Quaffle as the game began and flew
quickly toward the hoops until the ball was stolen by a boy on the other
team. She got mad and turned around to get the Quaffle back when she
saw a Bludger (sent from Terri) ram into the boy's right arm, causing him
to drop the ball. She quickly dove for it, catching it, and turned back
around.
This time, instead of flying straight for the hoops, she glided to the left
and right until the same boy got close to her again. She yelled out,
"Brianna!" as she tossed the ball to Harry's little sister, who caught it and
accelerated her Silver Bullet. Hermione thought it would be a good idea
to get as close to the hoops as possible in case Brianna needed to pass her
the Quaffle.
Hermione ended up floating around near the three hoops, never staying
close to a particular one as she kept one eye on Brianna. She noticed a
Bludger heading straight for Harry's little sister and called out her name.
The younger girl turned her head, saw the projectile coming at her,
tossed the Quaffle, and got hit in the gut.
Hermione caught the red ball that had been thrown at her and looked at
the hoops to see the Keeper was at the left hoop and coming. Without
thinking about it, Hermione shot the Quaffle through the right hoop,
winning the first point. Grinning ear to ear, she turned to see that
Brianna was still on her broom, but appeared a bit winded.
-HM-HM-HM-
The game went on, and the other team managed to score a few goals
before Brianna and then Melissa both scored within five minutes of each
other. It was an action packed game that kept a close score. A half hour
into it, Harry got tired of the other Seeker marking him, so he dove
toward the magically softened ground fast with his Lightning Bolt, the
other Seeker close behind him. As Harry pulled up, he heard a crash that
meant the other Seeker hadn't, and went back to searching for the golden
Snitch.
-HM-HM-HM-
When they'd been playing for about an hour, he finally spotted the glint
of gold. The score was one hundred to ninety in favor of the other team.
The problem was that the Snitch was closer to his opponent. He decided
to scare the other Seeker. He faced the boy and shouted, "I'm tired of you
following me around!" and started flying straight at him. The other boy
panicked and dove down to escape. Harry altered his course straight
toward the Snitch and grabbed it out of the air.
He was raising the Snitch into the air in triumph when he heard a voice
beneath him shout, "That was no fair! You cheated!"
He grinned at the loser. "All I did was yell. You should have been paying
attention to the game instead of me."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, the group visited muggle Chicago. They went to the Sears
Tower, where Brianna was able to get in cheaper than anyone else
because of her age. As they went up the elevator toward the top floor,
both Mark McGonagall and Marissa Granger got a bit queasy. Professor
McGonagall was amazed that muggles had managed to build such a tall
structure.
They walked into the area where you can look down at all of Chicago as
well as Lake Michigan. When looking down from there, cars looked like
tiny little toys as they zoomed along the play streets.
"I thought they were supposed to look like ants, not Hotwheels,"
commented Harry as he gazed downward. "What!"
At that moment, his mom had put her hand on his shoulder and he felt
himself move forward a bit as he stiffened. Even though there was no
way to accidentally fall off the building, he still felt a knot in his stomach
form as he felt himself move.
Hermione's dad chuckled. "I thought, based off of yesterday, that you are
not afraid of heights."
"That's when I'm on a broom, sir. If I fell from here, I wouldn't be able to
stop myself from…becoming one with the sidewalk."
Hermione, who felt a bit uneasy herself, said, "That is indeed a valid
point," as she walked a bit away from the edge. We are over a thousand
feet in the air. This building is one thousand three hundred fifty-three
feet high, and we're almost at the top. Completed in early 1973, Sears
Tower is an attractive and contemporary 110-story trophy office tower
consisting of steel columns and beams in a "mega-module" system. The
building contains…" Harry had a hard time stopping himself from
chuckling as he realized that Hermione must have read every book she
could find on Chicago the previous week.
After they left that landmark (not before Hermione made them explore a
bookstore inside it), they stopped off at a restaurant and got some
Chicago style pizza. After that, they went to the Museum of Science and
Industry, which had a special Star Trek exhibit that Brianna wanted to
see.
She was a big fan of The Next Generation and told them about the latest
season cliffhanger – Some sort of time-travel episode where they'd found
Data's head in a cave or something. It somehow involved Mark Twain.
Her description was a bit confusing to Harry. "I can't believe you made us
come here. Now everyone's gonna think I'm a Star Trek nut like you!"
"It would ruin your reputation as a complete idiot with no taste," agreed
Brianna.
When they were on a replica of the Next Generation Enterprise bridge,
Hermione, who was a bit familiar with the series, commented, "Star Trek
features muggles using technology to do things we do with magic. For
example, where they use a transporter, we apparate. Where they use a
replicator, we can conjure things. Where they use a phaser to stun, we
use our wands to stupefy."
"I wonder if we have anything like the holodecks," said Brianna with a
smirk.
Hermione's brow furrowed. "Possibly, but I've never read about it."
By the time they'd finished there, it was time to head back to the
McGonagall house.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, Brianna excitedly got everybody up early. It was the
day of the much-anticipated baseball game at Wrigley Field. Brianna was
a huge Cubs fan and was confident that they would absolutely demolish
the evil St. Louis Cardinals. She looked forward to seeing the look in
Harry's face as the Cubs took their first step towards what she knew was
an inevitable World Series Championship. Harry, on the other hand, had
a completely different idea of this game.
"Hermione, you must understand, the Cubs are pure evil!" he animatedly
shouted. "One of my friends here in the States told me that they were
Lord Voldemort's favorite sports team. They were finally cursed by the
Wizengamot because Voldemort was using his powers to help them win
games. That's why they are so lousy, because of the curse!" Harry proudly
stated, acting as if his opposition to the Cubs was a righteous calling that
was as important as life itself.
"I don't know if You-Know-Who really had any time to worry about
baseball while he was busy fighting a war in England," Hermione
explained. "But I will take your word that the Cardinals are the better of
the two teams."
Harry quickly cut her off after this stating, "Hermione, the Cubs are evil.
We MUST oppose them just like we opposed Professor Quirrel or like we
must oppose Snape. Evil MUST BE OPPOSED!" Harry proudly shouted.
"Yes, and that's why we must root for anyone but the White Sox!" Brianna
shouted out of nowhere.
"Yes, here comes the supporter of the evil ones," Harry warned. "Don't
worry. Their foul schemes will fail…."
"Come on Harry, Hermione and Brianna! If you don't leave now we won't
make the opening pitch," Mark calmly stated. Harry held in his disgust at
seeing his family all dressed in the colors of the enemy. Only he and
Hermione were not in league with evil today.
"Is Bobby ready?" asked Brianna as they piled into the van.
"Yes, I just called him. We'll pick him up on the way," answered Cindy.
"What?" exclaimed Harry. "We're taking Brianna's boyfriend."
"He is NOT my boyfriend! We're just good friends."
An evil look came on Harry's face. "This should be fun."
"Don't you DARE do anything to Bobby!" shouted Harry's sister angrily.
"Or what?" Harry asked arrogantly. "I can…"
"Or you'll be grounded for the rest of the summer!" interrupted Cindy.
"Do I have to confiscate your wands?"
"No, mom," said Harry softly while Brianna stuck out her tongue.
Soon the van was parked in front of a house that Harry had never been to
and his dad honked the horn. A ten-year-old boy wearing a Cubs baseball
cap ran out the door and into the van, finding that the only available seat
was next to Harry. Hermione was on his other side and Brianna was
sitting behind Harry with the other adults.
Bobby saw the gleam in Harry's eye and nervously sat next to him.
"Hello, Bobby. It's so good to finally meet you. I've heard so much about
you."
"Um, Brianna's talked about you, too. Is that Hermione?"
"Yes, that's my friend, Hermione. I'd like to know why you're wearing
that emblem of evil on your head."
It took the boy a few seconds to realize what Harry meant. He quickly
took the hat off. "Um, it was a gift from Brianna."
"I see," said Harry, fighting the urge to set the hat on fire with his wand.
"So, what do you and Brianna study together?"
"And what do you study with Hermione?" asked Brianna from behind
him. She turned to her friend. "Don't answer any questions he asks you.
It's none of his business. And by the way, everyone in this car besides
Harry and Hermione are supporting the Cubs, so you can wear the hat,
and our mom will kill Harry if he does anything to you."
Bobby looked between the two siblings, trying to decide which one to
fear the most. He came to the only solution he could think of. He put his
hat back on, faced forward, and kept his mouth shut while Harry glared
at his sister.
-HM-HM-HM-
After an hour in the van, the group arrived at Wrigley Field. The two
families, along with Brianna's guest Bobby, sat right behind the Cubs
dugout. As the group reached their seats with all the candy, popcorn and
soda they could carry, Harry spotted a lone Cardinal warming up in the
outfield. The name on his back said Lightfellow, and Harry was
impressed with how he was hitting the ball. It seemed like the ball
automatically went straight towards his bat every time. The game soon
started and the Cardinal lineup went down one, two, three in the first.
In the bottom of the first, Mark Grace, Brianna's favorite Cubbie, came to
the plate. On the first pitch he hit a shot deep to left field. Lightfellow,
the outfielder that Harry had been so impressed with, went back to catch
the ball but there was no way he could catch it. Harry turned his head in
disgust at the fact that the Cubs were about to take the lead.
All of a sudden he heard the umpire shout, "OUT!" Harry jumped to his
feet shocked. He looked as the replay showed the ball suddenly drop like
a boulder straight towards Lightfellow, who made a leaping grab at the
wall. It looked like Lightfellow moved his right hand and spoke a few
words before the ball started dropping. Harry thought to himself, could
that guy be a wizard? It sure looks like he used a summoning charm on the
ball, not that I'm going to say anything about it. The Cubs are getting what
they deserve. Harry sat back with a huge mischievous grin on his face as
the Cardinals came up to bat.
Brianna grabbed Harry's arm and said: "That man is a wizard. He used a
summoning charm to catch the ball. I'm going to tell Aunt Minnie so that
she can do something about it."
"You are just imagining things," Harry replied. Obviously Grace didn't hit
the ball as hard as we thought he did. It's not Lightfellow's fault the
Cubbies stink." Harry smugly stated. Brianna gave him a dirty look and
turned back to the field.
There were two outs and the PA announcer called the crowd's attention
to Jeremy Lightfellow, who was making his Major League debut. On the
first pitch Lightfellow hit a ball that looked like it was going way outside.
Harry noticed that it turned inside after the hitter spoke a few more
words and began to move his bat. He made perfect contact and the ball
cleared the scoreboard in centerfield. The Cardinals were now ahead one
to nothing. Harry jumped up and down. He grabbed an unsuspecting
Hermione and gave her a huge hug.
Hermione tried to act like she was just as excited as Harry, while trying
to keep from having her ribs crushed by her overly excited friend. Was it
just her imagination or did Brianna lose her balance and fall into her.
Hermione turned around as Brianna said, "Sorry, I tripped on Harry's big
foot." She sat back in her seat with a fiendish smirk on her face.
Harry mockingly walked over to Brianna and sarcastically tried to
comfort her. "Don't worry, Brianna. I am sure that the Cardinals will
show mercy and only beat the Cubs by twenty or thirty runs."
Brianna said nothing and then asked her mother if she could go to the
restroom. Harry didn't see her for the next few innings and assumed she
was upset from what was going on in the game. St. Louis now leading 10
– 0 after a few more big hits from Lightfellow and more spectacular
catches. Finally, in the bottom of the ninth the Cubs were down to their
final out. Harry was going to get his wish. One more out and the Cubs
would get skunked by their hated rivals. Only one batter, some skinny
infielder who probably hadn't hit a homerun since little league, was left.
Brianna was around to see the game, but she had other intentions. She
knew that Lightfellow, the St. Louis superhero, MUST be a wizard. He
had to be using summoning charms. She knew that she had to oppose this
evil in the most effective way possible. Unfortunately for her, her mother
made her leave her wand at home. Mother always suspected that Brianna
might be a little irrational during a Cubs game. Luckily, Brianna managed
to procure Hermione Granger's wand when she "accidentally" bumped
into her in the stands.
It took a while for Brianna to find a location where she could use
summoning charms without alerting all of the muggle spectators or
getting pelted by incoming baseballs. She scouted out the bleachers and
found that she could hide behind the seats. Most of the fans were
intoxicated or obsessed with booing the hated Cardinals. None of them
were paying any attention to the back row. She would change her
location every attempt so that she could throw off Lightfellow, and the
bleachers provided her with the room she needed to do just that. With
the Cubbies down ten to zip in the 9th inning, she knew now was the
time. She watched the pitch and waited to hear the sound of the bat
making contact. As soon as she heard that sound she whispered, "Accio
baseball" and the ball landed in the glove of a very surprised Cubs fan.
According to the announcer, the guy just hit his first ever homerun!
Harry laughed off the homerun as a fluke. After all, the guy who just hit
the ball was due to hit a homerun eventually. Next up was a pinch hitter
for the pitcher. This guy isn't very good either. Harry laughed as the first
two pitches resulted in easy strikes. The third and fourth pitches were,
however, very odd. They seemed to leave the pitcher's hand with the
proper trajectory, but took a sharp left turn and hit the backstop at such
a velocity that it knocked some of the ivy off the walls. The next pitch
was way over the heads of the hitter and umpire. Harry quickly started to
complain to Minerva. "Aunt Minnie, someone is using magic to help the
Cubs!"
"Calm down, Harry," said the excited witch, "your team is still up by nine
runs. If someone were here to cheat, wouldn't they have started in the
first inning?" As Minerva finished her sentence the next pitch bounced its
way to home plate resulting in a walk.
The first pitch to the next batter hit him in the back resulting in another
automatic base. Brianna hadn't wanted to do that. She looked and
noticed that Lightfellow was moving his arms and chanting some
incantation. She needed to do something. As she summoned the next ball
after it had been hit, she realized that Lightfellow had done his own
summoning and the ball was now heading straight to his glove.
Brianna cast another summoning charm that took the ball into the stand
at the last second and also caused Lightfellow to drop his glove. Brianna
saw this as her opportunity and whispered "Accio Wand." The wand hit
the wall and dropped to the ground. It was so small that no one would
even notice it unless they knew what to look for. Harry gasped when he
saw the tiny piece of wood hit the dirt.
"Are you okay Harry?" Hermione asked.
"I'm okay; that last gulp of pop went down the wrong tube." Harry hoped
that she was fooled as he couldn't have anyone realize that his favorite
player, the warrior of righteousness, the Cub Slayer Jeremy Lightfellow
was a wizard. He would no longer be able to defeat the evil plans of the
Cubs if he was barred from playing the game. Harry noticed Mark and
Minerva looking curiously at what they thought was a piece of wood near
centerfield. Harry immediately forced himself to start coughing loudly to
distract them. He must keep the truth hidden at all costs.
Brianna summoned the next pitch to left-center field for another homerun
to make it 10 to 5 in favor of the Cardinals. She noticed Lightfellow
stopping to grab his wand while everyone else was admiring the
homerun from Brianna's favorite Cub, Mark Grace. She quickly ran all the
way to left field. The first time contact was made, Brianna summoned the
ball and ducked behind a chair to keep from getting hit by it.
Jeremy Lightfellow ran as fast as he could as soon as he heard contact.
He knew that it would go to left field because he spotted the little girl
running that way. She had been at each location that the summoning
charms had been cast. She was proving to be quite bright, but she was no
match for the Lord of the Lightfellow order of Wizards. Jeremy knew that
he had to tap into one of his many creations in order to stop the Cubs
from winning this game.
He whispered an incantation and the ball slowed down and started to
drop. It would stay in the field. He chanted the summoning charm and
then felt a huge collision. After a moment of darkness he opened his eyes
to see a very angry teammate. "I said I've got it and I meant it, too, you
stupid rookie!" shouted the veteran outfielder who was sporting a nice
shade of red across the whole right side of his face. "After this game rook,
we're going to show you what happens to rookies who don't know their
place."
Lightfellow knew what that meant. He was going to be ostracized within
the clubhouse. Fortunately, he didn't care. The next ball was hit straight
towards the veteran. This would be out three. As the ball dropped into
his glove, Jeremy Lightfellow decided that he could make the veteran
face the wrath of his teammates. Jeremy whispered "Stoneganos." The
ball hit the outfielder's glove with the force of a large stone falling out of
his hand and injuring him in the process.
The veteran was jeered by the Cardinal fans who made the trip and was
replaced by another rookie. In the midst of the sweet revenge, it occurred
to Jeremy that he had lost track of the little witch. As he came to that
realization, a towering blast cleared the center field wall to make the
score 10 to 7. The race was on. Lightfellow was running towards right
field even before the pitch was thrown.
Brianna started moving right, ducked underneath some chairs and then
took off back to the left. The Cub hit a high pop fly to right field.
Lightfellow prepared to make the final catch. Brianna threw all caution to
the wind and used a summoning charm. The ball just stopped and
dropped. The summoning charm interfered with whatever spell
Lightfellow had just used. He attempted to make a diving catch and just
barely missed.
The same player who hit the first home run to start the rally now came to
the plate. The pitcher, unnerved after seeing run after run score, could
not seem to locate the strike zone, throwing balls on four of five pitches.
The Cardinal manager brought in his closer. On the first two pitches,
fastballs whizzed past the hitter for strikes. On the third pitch, a perfect
fastball, the bat made slight contact. Brianna quickly summoned the ball
and it bounced through the infield rolling all the way out to left field.
One more run scored making the score 10 to 8 with the winning run
aboard.
The bizarre actions of the ball clearly sapped the closer's confidence. The
next pitch was a fat one and was rocketed deep to center field. Both
Brianna and Lightfellow ran towards center field. As they reached the
wall both cast summoning charms. Lightfellow had leaped into the air to
make the game-saving catch. The ball missed his glove by a few inches
just clearing the fence.
"CUBS WIN!" "CUBS WIN!" shouted the PA announcer. Harry hung his
head in shame. The impossible had happened. The Cubs had won. Harry
glanced at the scoreboard and realized that his beloved White Sox had
lost today as well. Surely it was a day of great evil. Harry thought to
himself that the soul of Voldemort had to be rejoicing at this very
moment. Looking for a friendly face to cheer him up, he turned towards
Hermione and realized that she was gone.
Hermione had grown bored of seeing the Cardinals batter the Cubs and
decided to skip the bottom of the ninth and check out some of the
attractions in the ball park. She tried her luck at a pitching game and
found herself to have pretty good aim, although her velocity left a lot to
be desired. She heard a lot of cheering going on in the ballpark and she
figured that the fans were being good sports and congratulating the
Cardinals. After all, the Cubs were down 10 to nothing and had shown
absolutely no reason to make anyone think they could even score one
run, let alone eleven.
She then decided to get herself an ice cream cone and walk back to the
group. As she left to meet up with Harry, she spotted Brianna, who
seemed very happy. "It's good to see that you aren't depressed about your
team losing," Hermione said enthusiastically.
Brianna shouted, "Didn't you see the bottom of the ninth Hermione? The
Cubs won, eleven to ten! I have to get back to gloat in Harry's face." With
that she ran off, brushing past Hermione on the way. It felt like she
bumped into Hermione's wand. After a quick check, Hermione noticed
that the wand was still in her pocket and in good condition.
As she continued back towards her seat, she was stopped by an individual
in what appeared to be a cheap blue business suit. "Hermione Granger,"
the man bellowed in a very deep voice. "You have been caught illegally
using magic at a muggle sporting event. You will show me to your
parents."
Hermione Granger was terrified. Who was this man and what did he
want? She led him to her parents and he introduced himself. "I am Waldo
Laughman, an agent of the American Ministry of Magic." When he
noticed their looks of concern, he added, "No, don't worry about the
statute of secrecy, I have charms cast that will cause passersby to think
we are talking about the ball game. The only ones who will hear this
conversation will be those in your party." The Grangers cringed at the
sight of this wizard holding Hermione's arm like she was a prisoner.
Minerva spoke up on their behalf: "Why have you taken Ms. Granger into
custody! She was only enjoying a Football game!"
"It's baseball," Mark whispered.
Mr. Laughman then replied to Minerva in a stern and emotionless voice.
"Young Ms. Granger is not a prisoner, but under American wizarding laws
the parents are responsible for the criminal actions of their children, In
this case using magic to affect the outcome of a muggle sporting event."
Everyone was shocked as the American wizard showed them the last few
spells cast on Hermione's wand. Everyone except for Harry and Brianna.
While the agent explained that the Grangers would have to pay a one
thousand dollar fine, Harry shouted, "It's not fair! Brianna stole
Hermione's wand and cast all the spells!"
The agent turned to Harry, "Son, I know you want to protect your
girlfriend, but your story doesn't have any proof."
Harry shouted at him, "Why not give Brianna some Veritaserum to find
out the truth, you big oaf!"
"HARRY MCGONAGALL!" shouted both his parents and Aunt Minnie in
unison.
"You will apologize to this man and your sister at once and you will be
grounded for the rest of the week, young man!" Mark angrily explained.
Harry replied, "I will apologize to Mr. Laughman, but I WILL NOT
apologize to Brianna because she is lying and Hermione is innocent!"
Mr. Laughman tired of the long argument and departed. Apparently, the
incident was not important enough to do any obliviating.
Bobby asked Brianna, "Why is everyone so upset that the Cubs won? I
thought everyone but Harry was a Cubs fan."
Brianna, realizing that Mr. Laughman's charm must have affected Bobby,
stated that "We are all upset because Harry can't be a good loser."
Hermione angrily protested. "Leave Harry alone you lying…."
"Stop it, both of you!" interrupted Minerva. "We are leaving, and I must
say that I am very disappointed in you, Ms. Granger." The adults, along
with Brianna and Bobby left for the van. A disheveled Hermione Granger
stood still, trying to keep from crying.
Harry put his right arm around her shoulder and told her. "Don't worry,
Hermione. I will get enough revenge for the both of us. She will learn to
never mess with my best friend!" After that, they headed back for what
was to be a long ride home.
-HM-HM-HM-
Over the next week, the group minus Harry managed to visit several
other points of interest, including Navy Pier and Shed Aquarium. Harry
was stuck at home plotting his revenge against Brianna for when they got
back to England. Hermione was giving Brianna the cold shoulder, and
wasn't getting much sleep in the room they shared. Fortunately, Harry
was allowed to go to his favorite place to visit the last few days before
the Grangers' vacation ended.
After spending about five minutes in a traffic jam, Mark drove the van
through the gate and paid the parking fee. "That would've taken a lot
longer if it were a weekend," he commented as he navigated his way
through the huge parking lot and eventually found a space. "Everybody
remember where we parked."
"Leave any valuables in the van," added Cindy as the group piled out of
the vehicle. Harry, Hermione, and Brianna were instantly bombarded
with images of Bugs Bunny and Friends as they followed the adults
toward the line at the entrance to Six Flags Great America.
When they got into the park, Cindy said, "I know that Harry and Brianna
know their way around here better than I do, but I want us all to stick
together."
"Can't some of you go off with Brianna?" complained Harry. "She's too
short to go on half the rides I like."
"Am not!"
"You were last year!"
"But I've grown! I think I'm tall enough!"
"You won't be tall enough to get on that new Batman ride!" countered
Harry.
"Will too!"
"We'll find out when we get there," said Cindy. "Now stop bickering! I
know you're still mad at your sister but this has to stop!" She turned to
Hermione. "Harry tends to only go on the really fast, dangerous…"
"They're not dangerous!" interrupted Harry. "They're designed by really
smart people and are a lot safer than driving a car. They just make you
feel like you're in danger."
"Fine, Harry likes the fast rides, but if you like other, less thrilling rides,
there are still plenty of rides you can go on."
"I think I'd like to do both. Maybe I'll even get Harry to go on a few slow
rides."
"I think I'll go with you on the fast rides," declared Adam Granger.
"I won't," said Marissa.
They immediately started exploring the park, soon deciding that they
should split up into two groups when Brianna was rejected from riding
the Shockwave. Cindy put a stop to Harry's gloating before it began.
Brianna was upset that she was just one inch too short for the best rides,
but walked off with the others, determined to enjoy herself anyway.
Mark, Brianna, and Minerva McGonagall, along with Marissa Granger
consisted of the less adventurous group, riding slower rides (starting with
a carousel) and watching shows that were going on that day.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry's group (Hermione and Adam Granger, and Cindy McGonagall)
entered the main line for Batman the Ride after they'd ridden the
Shockwave. They looked at the totaled police car that was displayed near
the entrance as they waited.
"Why does there have to be such a long line?" complained Harry.
"Because a lot of people want to try out Great America's latest attraction,"
answered Hermione.
"And it would be a lot longer if this were a Saturday," added Cindy.
"I know, mom. I just hate waiting."
"I'm sorry we couldn't rent the whole park for you," she answered
sarcastically.
"I wonder if I changed the money in my vault to…"
"Don't even think about it, young man! That money is NOT to be
squandered away for one day of fun!"
Harry grinned at his mom. "Who said anything about one day? I might
get the place to myself for a week."
"Harry, you can't!" said Hermione, causing her best friend to start
laughing.
"Do you really think I'd do that, Hermione? I'd be better off to buy one of
these rides, or better yet, hire someone to make a magical equivalent." He
said the last part in a whisper.
Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe one day we could
make one. Perhaps as a N.E.W.T. level Charms project."
Harry chuckled. "I'll bet Flitwick would like that. You should've seen
those commercials from when Shockwave first came out. This guy was
sitting on a regular chair that suddenly started acting like a roller coaster.
When the ride was over it looked like he'd aged sixty years. If we did
something like that – except for the aging part – that would be
awesome!"
They promptly stopped that discussion as the line moved again. They
didn't want to risk muggles overhearing them. At Harry's insistence, they
waited the extra time to be in the front row, "Because we've waited this
long anyway – we might as well get the best seats!"
They finally sat in the front row. From left to right Cindy, Harry,
Hermione, and Adam took their seats and the ride began. Harry kept his
eyes wide open and loudly exclaimed his enjoyment while Hermione
screamed her head off. When it was finally over, he chuckled at his
friend. "Are you all right?"
"I…just need to catch my breath. That was an…exciting ride."
-HM-HM-HM-
From there they went to the Iron Wolf, where, after another long line,
they rode the stand-up roller coaster, banging the sides of their heads
against the cushions that were in place to keep their heads secure. By the
time they were done with those three rides, it was eleven o'clock – about
time for them to meet with the others for lunch.
They arrived at one of the restaurants and ordered a few pizzas while
waiting for the others to show up. They had just sat down when Brianna
came up behind Harry.
"Did you get Hermione to hug you during those rides?"
"Shut up, Brianna! Did you enjoy the kiddy rides? Perhaps you rode a
swingset? Ouch!" His little sister just punched him in the arm.
"Brianna!" snapped their mom.
"Sorry, mom."
"That you didn't break it, maybe," mumbled Harry as he rubbed his
wounded arm.
The adults from her group arrived and they discussed what they'd done
so far. They'd watched the Batman stunt show, ridden a train around the
park, ridden a few mild rides, and played a few games. Mark had won a
fairly large stuffed Tweety Bird and given it to Brianna.
After lunch, the group went to a few rides together, the first one being
the American Eagle. Harry and Brianna (in a temporary truce just for the
ride) sat together with Hermione and her father behind them. Mark and
Cindy were behind the two Grangers. Minerva and Marissa decided to
abstain from the ride and held onto Brianna's new toy. The McGonagalls
on the ride started singing in unison as the car started slowly making its
way up to the first drop.
"Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light…"
Hermione looked at her father. "I think we're on the wrong ride."
"What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming…"
The McGonagall quartet finished the national anthem just before the car
started speeding downwards, causing several passengers to scream in
terror.
-HM-HM-HM-
They rode several other things, such as the Demon, the Rolling Thunder,
and the Whizzer, until it started getting dark. They left the park for the
day and stopped at Gurney Mills for a few hours before going home. The
next day they returned to Great America to enjoy the rest of what that
amusement park had to offer, and ride their favorite rides once more for
the last time this year.
All too soon, the Grangers' vacation was over and it was time for them,
along with the McGonagalls, to return to England. Snape's hearing was
about to happen, and they all wanted to be there for that.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author Note: Special thanks go to L.D. Evans, who contributed greatly to
this chapter.
I got a bit of information from 'thesearstower. com'
The Museum of Science and Industry had a Star Trek thing around that
time that I went to. I'm not sure about the exact year, but I thought it
would be interesting for them to see.
The Star Trek: The Next Generation episode I'm referring to is 'Time's
Arrow.' Part one aired on June 15th, 1992 and part two aired September
21st, 1992 according to Star Trek's website.
12. Justice Part One
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 12 – Justice – Part One
"All right. Now that we're here, I want you to take your things up to your
room and stay there until dinner. You're grounded for the rest of the
summer."
"What?" exclaimed Hermione Granger as she dropped the suitcase she
was carrying and turned to face her mother.
"Do you really think that we'd forget to punish you for what happened at
that baseball game?"
"But…"
"Honey," said Adam to his daughter, "Only an idiot would take his
daughter all the way to a foreign country just to ground her before she
gets to see all the sights. We wanted you to enjoy our holiday."
"Besides, we didn't know what kind of mischief you and Harry would get
up to," added Marissa. "I hope he's not a bad influence on you."
"What?" Hermione looked shocked.
"Don't worry. We're not going to try to separate you two or anything,"
said her father, "although you won't be seeing him until that Professor's
trial." He sighed. "You broke the law and we're going to have to pay that
fine. You have to be punished."
"But can't you just fight it in the court?" asked Hermione. "I read the
ticket he gave you. It said we'll have a trial date in the middle of August."
"If we don't pay the fine," finished Adam.
"So let's fight it!"
"Spend the money for another floo trip to America?" Marissa asked. "I
know it's a lot cheaper than flying, but what would be the point?"
"The point is that I DIDN'T DO IT! Brianna did!"
"Not that again," said Adam.
"Daddy! Why won't you listen to me?" Hermione's eyes were filling with
unshed tears.
"They proved it was your wand."
"She stole it!"
"Will you stop accusing that girl?" asked Marissa, looking angry.
"Why on earth would I want to influence that American game? And if I
did, I would've helped Harry's team, not Brianna's! And furthermore, I
would not have broken the law over a stupid game! Why won't you
believe me? Have I ever done something like this before?"
"Well, no, but we did find out about that troll incident," said Marissa.
"Can I at least try to convince Brianna to confess? Maybe we can visit the
McGonagalls tomorrow?"
"You know we're not going to let you do that," said Adam.
"Ppppplllllleeeeaaaasssseeee, Daddy?" she asked with her most innocent,
pathetic little girl face. "At least let me try and prove my innocence."
The two adults looked at their daughter and then at themselves. They
both took deep breaths and shrugged their shoulders.
"Fine. We'll let you call Harry on your mirror to ask him when we can
visit and then we'll hold onto it until school starts."
"But…"
"We'll still allow you to use his owl to exchange letters. Think of it as not
being able to use the phone."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was lying on his bed wearing jeans and a T-shirt, thinking about
the last details of his revenge on Brianna when he felt the mirror in his
pocket vibrate. He pulled it out to answer it. A smile crossed his lips
when he saw the bushy-haired witch's face appear on it.
"Hi, Hermione! It's good to see you. I'm just about done planning that
prank on Brianna for right after Snape's trial. Wanna hear about it?"
The girl couldn't help but grin for a moment, but then her expression
turned serious. "Harry, my parents have grounded me for the summer
over that baseball game. I won't be able to call you anymore for awhile."
"What? They can't do that! I…"
"Listen. They're giving me one more chance to get Brianna to confess.
We'd like to come over tomorrow."
Harry took a moment to think. "I think that should be fine. We don't have
any plans for tomorrow. We were going to the zoo in a few days and
planned to take you along."
"Well, if Brianna confesses, I'm sure my parents will allow me to go.
Otherwise…"
"I know." He sighed. "Maybe I should try talking to that brat again. I can't
believe she didn't confess when your parents were fined."
"I'm just glad your American wizarding law doesn't take muggle baseball
as seriously as muggle law would. Otherwise the fee could've been much
higher."
"A thousand dollars is no small amount anyway. I can't believe your
parents simply accepted the ticket without an argument."
"I think they were in shock," Hermione said with a smirk. "They're not
sure what to believe right now. Anyway, they're not going to fight it in
court unless Brianna confesses."
"Tell your folks to come here at about ten o'clock tomorrow morning. I'll
make sure my parents know, and have them mirror call your parents if
it's not a good time."
"I guess I'll see you then. I'll be able to wish you a happy birthday on the
actual day."
He smiled at his best friend. "Not out loud you won't."
"Of course not. That'll be at your party in a few weeks. If I can come."
After taking a deep breath, Harry answered, "Hopefully we'll get the little
b…"
"Harry!"
"…witch to confess so you can."
"I hope so," she said with a sigh. "I'd better go before my parents decide
I've talked to you too long."
"Bye."
"Goodbye, Harry."
-HM-HM-HM-
Brianna sat at her desk playing a game of solitaire. She was bored, but
Harry had refused to play anything with her. She wasn't sure whether she
would prefer the silent treatment to being yelled at and insulted all the
time like Harry was doing. She suspected he was planning a major prank
on her. He was truly angry with her, the angriest he'd been since her first
bout of accidental magic when she'd stunned him with his own wand. A
small smile flashed on her face for a second as she realized that this too
involved her 'borrowing' a wand. She frowned again, wondering if her
brother or Hermione would ever forgive her.
Not that she blamed them. She'd be ready to kill if someone had done it
to her. When she started using magic at that game, it was just to even the
odds and help out the Cubs. Suddenly it became a crime. When that
Ministry wizard showed up and she saw how scared Hermione was, she
almost confessed. Almost. She blinked a few tears away when she
realized that the reason she hadn't confessed was fear. Fear that she'd be
the one in trouble. She'd put on a brave face and claimed innocence, and
had been sticking with her story ever since no matter how bad it made
her feel.
She was brought out of her thoughts by someone knocking at her door.
She shook her head for a moment and put a smile on her face. "Come in."
The door opened to reveal the last person she expected to see. "Um, hi
Harry. Did you change your mind about playing poker?"
His face was expressionless. She knew that's the way Harry looked when
he was trying to keep his temper under control. "No. I wanted to talk to
you." He walked in the room and closed the door.
"What's this about? If it's about that game, the Cubs…"
"This is not about baseball, Brianna!" he said coldly. "It's about Hermione.
She…"
"Your girlfriend? She…"
"Shut up and listen! Her parents have grounded her for the rest of the
summer. They're coming here tomorrow to talk to you. You're getting one
last chance to tell the truth. If you don't, they're going to have to pay a
thousand dollar fine and Hermione will have it on her record that she has
broken the statute of secrecy! People can be expelled for that!"
"She won't be expelled," argued the girl.
"No, but it'll be on her permanent record even if Aunt Minnie doesn't tell
them. Once they pay the fee it will be a confession. I want you to tell
them the truth and then confess it in court."
Brianna exercised control of her expression, fighting her instinct to cry.
She couldn't stand the way Harry was talking to her like she was a
stranger. She wished he'd start yelling at her instead of being cold like
this. "Why should I? This'll all blow over by your birthday party and…"
Harry's face turned red as he lost his temper. "Then I don't want you at
my party! I don't want any gift you might buy! You've gone too far this
time. This isn't just a simple prank; you really hurt Hermione! You're a
liar and a cheat! I don't even want you as my sister anymore! In fact,
YOU'RE NOT MY REAL SISTER ANYWAY, AND I'M THROUGH
PRETENDING YOU ARE!" He stormed out of her room, slamming the
door behind him. He didn't see her start crying once the door was shut.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry slammed the door to his own room, fuming. He couldn't believe
Brianna was that stubborn. He tried to ignore the hurt he was feeling and
focus on his anger. He swallowed as he blinked back tears that were
threatening to fall from his eyes.
"I am not crying!" he hissed at no one. "It's her fault. She cheated and
lied! I don't need her! She's annoying anyway." He also ignored the fact
that he was breathing heavily and was blissfully unaware of how pink his
face was as he convinced himself that he never liked his sister – NOT HIS
SISTER – anyway. He decided he wanted to go flying in the backyard, so
he got his Lightning Bolt and opened his door, only to find his mother
standing in front of him.
"Harry, I heard you yelling and slamming doors on the other side of the
house and now your sister won't open her door!"
"She's not my sister, but I understand you taking your daughter's side
against me!" he retorted, earning a slap in the face. Cindy looked
horrified at herself a moment later.
"Harry, I'm sorry I hit you. I lost my temper. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," he said softly while rubbing the handprint on his cheek.
"Good. I'm sorry I hit you, but I want you to know that Brianna is your
sister – biological or not – and I am your mother and love you just as
much as Brianna! I've put up with you constantly belittling her long
enough! She loves you and I know you love her no matter how mad you
are! I will NOT tolerate you saying otherwise!"
"Fine. She's my sister. Are you happy?"
"Don't take that tone with me, young man. Go apologize to your sister."
"No! I'm not gonna do it!"
"Yes you will!"
Harry sneered at her. "My mother taught me never to lie. If I say I'm
sorry, I'll be lying."
Cindy almost slapped Harry again before stopping herself. "Fine. Go back
in your room then. You'll go without dinner tonight. And give me that
broom so you don't get any ideas about sneaking out your window." She
took the broom from his hands and started to walk back downstairs.
As she was on the staircase, Harry yelled, "The Grangers are coming over
tomorrow at 10 to give that brat one more chance to tell the truth!"
before closing his door.
-HM-HM-HM-
Dinner that evening was a quiet affair at McGonagall manor. Harry
wasn't allowed to leave his room while Brianna refused to leave hers.
Cindy could hear that her daughter was crying and wanted to help, but
she'd locked the door. Obviously she could ask Minerva to open it
magically, but she knew invading her daughter's privacy wouldn't
comfort her. The three adults silently ate after Cindy had informed them
of the situation.
Both children did show up on time for breakfast, but it was still a silent
meal. Harry completely ignored his sister, while Brianna was constantly
looking at the floor, not speaking to anyone. Cindy did notice that her
daughter would occasionally glance at Harry. Both of the children had
obviously gotten very little sleep, based off of the dark circles around
their eyes. She also noted that Brianna's eyes were red and swollen from
apparently crying all night.
She and her husband hadn't slept much either as they discussed their
children. They'd reached the conclusion that forcing the children to
pretend they forgave each other was pointless, so they had to just wait
for them to resolve their differences and hope for the best. Immediately
after breakfast, both kids went up to their respective rooms.
-HM-HM-HM-
At 9:55, the fireplace came to life as large green flames appeared. Blinky
appeared in the room immediately to see who the visitors were. A man,
woman, and girl with bushy brown hair emerged.
"Oh, Mr., Mrs., and Miss Grangy! The masters is expecting you. Sit down
while Blinky gets them!" With a small pop, the elf disappeared.
While wiping the soot off his suit, Adam said, "I don't think I'll ever get
used to that method of travel."
"It does make one rather queasy," admitted Minerva as she entered the
room, soon followed by the rest of her family. "Good morning."
After they all said hello, during which time Hermione looked into Harry's
eyes expectantly, only for him to slightly shake his head. She also
whispered 'Happy Birthday' to him, causing a small grin. Adam Granger
decided to get down to business. "I suppose we should get to the reason
we're here. Hermione is still insisting that Brianna borrowed her wand
and interfered with that game. I won't pretend my daughter's perfect, but
she's not in the habit of lying."
"Neither is mine," said Mark defensively, obviously tensing up as he
looked Adam in the eye.
"I'm sure she isn't," said Marissa diplomatically. "We'd like to just talk
with Brianna about it here in front of everybody to make sure before we
pay the fine. After this we'll never bring it up again. We're only doing this
because Hermione is being very insistent about this."
Taking a deep breath, Cindy admitted, "Harry is, too."
As gently as he could, Hermione's dad said, "Brianna, would you look me
in the eyes and tell me that you're not the one who made the Cubs win?"
"I, I," said the young girl, blinking to fight back tears as she stared at her
feet.
"Please look me in the eye. I promise I won't get mad."
The girl swallowed and her father said, "I think she's scared. Maybe it
would be better if…"
"No!" said Brianna, finally looking at them as she began crying. "I did it.
That player Lightfellow was using magic against the Cubs, so I decided to
help them. I took Hermione's wand and…and I waited until the ninth
inning and I…I cheated. I made them win. I'm a cheater!"
Minerva, Mark, and Cindy looked surprised and horrified. Adam and
Marissa looked surprised and relieved. Harry and Hermione looked
happy and smug. "Why didn't you tell us?" asked Mark. "Why did you let
Hermione take the blame?"
Swallowing, the frightened girl admitted between sobs, "I was scared! I
was scared so I…I didn't say anything." She turned to face Hermione. "I
know you hate me now, but I'm sorry! You've always been nice to me,
and I did this to you." She then turned to Harry. "Please forgive me! I'm
so sorry! I wanna be your sister again!"
Adam and Marissa looked puzzled at this until Cindy whispered, "He said
he didn't want her for his sister anymore." It wasn't precisely the truth,
but there was no reason to reveal Harry's true identity over that slip up.
The Grangers accepted that and nodded.
Mark was the first to speak to his daughter. "Brianna, you did wrong by
taking Hermione's wand. You were also wrong to interfere with that
game. You were wrong to let Hermione take the blame for it. You also
were wrong to let us punish Harry for standing up for her. I am
disappointed in you for waiting this long to come clean, but I'm proud of
you for finally admitting the truth, and we both love you very much."
He sighed. "You're going to have to testify what you did in the American
court, which means you'll be going back to America with me when I have
to leave for work two weeks before Harry starts school. Your mother and
I will discuss the rest of your punishment and let you know."
"Y-yes daddy."
He turned to the adult Grangers. "I sincerely apologize for this. I insist
that we pay for your extra trip to America and that you stay at our house
again."
"We understand exactly what it's like to not want to believe your
daughter did wrong," said Adam. He turned to his daughter. "We're sorry
for not believing you, honey. Obviously your punishment is over and we
want to try to make it up to you. How would you like your own owl?"
"Really?" asked Hermione, beaming at her mother, who nodded in
agreement.
Mark looked at Harry and Hermione. "I guess I owe you both a big
apology. Hermione, I'm sorry that I took Brianna's word over yours.
Harry, I'm sorry for punishing you for standing up for Hermione. I guess I
haven't been a very good dad this summer."
"We both haven't been good parents," added Cindy while blinking back
tears. "Harry, I can't tell you how sorry I am that I took Brianna's side. I
know you felt I was playing favorites, but you've got to understand. It
wasn't your word against Brianna's. It was Hermione's word against her.
You didn't see who cheated and neither did I. You simply believed
Hermione over your sister." She looked at Hermione. "I took my
daughter's word over yours and was wrong, and I punished Harry for not
siding with Brianna like I thought he should." She looked down and softly
said, "I thought he was betraying the family."
"Mrs. McGonagall, you've only known me a year, but you've known
Brianna for ten years. She's your daughter and I'm just a friend of Harry's.
I understand why you'd believe her over me. I forgive you." She looked
over to Brianna. "I can't tell you how betrayed I felt when you didn't tell
Mr. Laughman the truth. I don't know that I'll be able to forget about this
for a long time, but I…I forgive you and want to be your friend."
"Th-thank you, Hermione," she said, looking at her feet as she continued
sobbing. "It's more than I deserve." Brianna then looked up at her brother,
who'd remained silent since her confession. "H-Harry?"
Sighing, he looked his sister in the eyes. "I probably will have trouble
trusting you for awhile, Brianna." She nodded as he took a deep breath.
"I'm glad you finally admitted the truth and apologized." He saw his mom
give him a small signal and he got up and walked toward her. "I love you,
sis." He hugged Brianna tightly as she sobbed on his shoulder. They
stayed that way for about fifteen seconds. While they were separating,
Harry whispered, "This doesn't mean you aren't getting pranked," which
caused her to giggle.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day found Cindy, Minnie, Harry, and Hermione at the zoo, all
eating ice cream cones as they walked around, looking at the different
types of animals. Mark was staying at the manor with Brianna, who was
grounded. He didn't really like zoos much anyway.
"Mom, do you think that one looks like dad?" Harry was pointing at a
large monkey with light-colored fur. He didn't look at the name of that
species, but noticed that Hermione was studying them and taking notes
on a legal pad she'd brought. He'd asked her if she expected a quiz at the
end of the day when he'd first noticed it, earning a light slap on the arm.
Cindy looked at the monkey as closely as she could through its cage and
seemed to be considering it. With a very serious face, she replied, "Your
father has less hair," causing the others to start laughing loudly as a
group of three people walked by them.
The largest member of that group was a very bulky man with a
moustache that made him look like a walrus. An extremely thin woman
was beside him, looking disgusted with everything she saw. They were
followed closely by a very overweight boy who looked like a pig in a wig.
He had a mean face.
The man looked at his wife, speaking loud enough so he knew he'd be
overheard. "Do you see that family, Petunia? Laughing in public like
that."
"It's disgraceful. Some people have no dignity. And that boy and girl with
them. So homely-looking. Not like our handsome Dudders." She went to
pinch the cheek of her twelve-year-old son, but he moved out of the way.
"Can we go to the reptile house, Dad? I'd like to look at snakes."
"Certainly, Dudley my boy. It's right this way." They walked off in that
direction as Minerva stared at them with a pale expression on her face.
"What's wrong, Aunt Minnie?" asked Cindy. "Don't pay any attention to
what those people said. There's nothing wrong with laughing."
"It's not that, Cindy. I recognize those people."
"You do?" asked Harry. "Are they wizards?"
"No. They're muggles. Muggles whose house I spent an entire day
watching. Harry, those are the Dursleys."
"His biological family?" asked Hermione.
"Yes."
"Can we follow them to the reptile house?" asked Harry. "I'm curious
about them." He then saw the concerned look on his mother's face. "They
do seem as awful as Aunt Minnie said. I wonder how many truckloads of
food they have delivered to their house every day for the guys. It looks
like they don't leave any for Mrs. Dursley."
"If you'd like," said Cindy, not commenting on his remark.
By the time they'd caught up with the Dursleys, they found them in a
room with several snakes in it. Dudley was staring at a rather large one
looking bored and had asked his dad to, "Make it move." After the large
man had tapped the glass, getting no response, the boy declared, "This is
boring," and they shuffled away to look at a different snake.
Harry walked up to the one Dudley had been looking at. The sign said it
was a Boa Constrictor that had been bred in the zoo. It also mentioned
that they come from Brazil. He stared at the snake, which suddenly
opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes
were on a level with Harry's.
It winked.
Harry stared for a moment and then winked back. The snake gestured
toward Dudley and Vernon Dursley and said, "I get that all the time."
"I'll bet," Harry replied. "It must be really annoying."
As Harry realized how unusual it was to talk to a snake, remembering
from 'Hogwarts, A History' that Parseltongue is a very rare gift that Salazar
Slytherin was famous for, he felt himself pushed to the side. He barely
managed to stay on his feet.
He looked back to see the boy he knew was his cousin yelling, "Dad,
Mum, look at what this snake is doing!" Harry wanted so much to pull
out his wand and curse that bully, but figured he'd get in trouble with the
Ministry of Magic.
"Move out of the way, boy," came the voice of the walrus behind him. "I
want to see this and you shouldn't dawdle. Go rejoin your family."
When the man said the word 'family' he sounded like he thought they
were disgraces to the human species. Harry looked at them closely for the
first time in his life. His biological mother's sister was standing next to
her husband and son. The two adults were glaring at him while their son
was watching the snake go back to sleep. Harry's party was on the other
side of the room watching.
"Actually, you are my family," he said calmly.
The man's complexion turned purple. "What do you mean, boy? We've
never seen you before today! If you're trying to get charity…"
"Oh, no. You are Vernon and Petunia Dursley, aren't you?" They nodded
while staring at him suspiciously. "My name is Harry Potter. You're my
aunt and uncle."
At the mention of the word 'Potter' he saw their eyes bulge out and then
a look of fear flash across their faces.
"Then I suppose you're one of those," Petunia looked around for
eavesdroppers. "Freaks like them."
"If you mean I'm a wi…mph." At that moment Vernon's hand went over
Harry's mouth.
Not two seconds later a woman shouted, "Get your filthy hands off my
son, Dursley!" while Harry was kneeing the bulky man in the crotch.
Minerva began doing magical crowd control, putting a compulsion on all
the muggles to leave that room while Vernon bent forward, holding
himself in pain. His face was now tomato red as Harry moved away from
him toward his real family.
"Your son?" asked Petunia while Vernon was muttering curse words.
"You're not Lily. He said…"
"James and Lily Potter died eleven years ago," said Harry calmly. "She's
my adopted mum."
"Good riddance to bad rubbish," said Vernon coldly, finally standing up
straight again just in time for Minerva to slap him across the face. She
looked angrier than Harry had ever seen her before.
"Lily and James were the kindest, bravest, and most selfless people I ever
knew! You're the bad rubbish! I'm so glad Harry wasn't cursed with you
as his guardians!"
"Lily's dead?" asked Petunia softly.
"Yes," answered Cindy. "Someone wanted to leave Harry with you, but
Aunt Minnie…" She pointed at Minerva. "…didn't think it was a good
idea and persuaded my husband and me to adopt him instead – the best
decision we ever made!" She smiled at her boy.
"He'd have been straight to the orphanage if they'd tried to saddle us with
that freak!" declared Vernon while Petunia stared at her nephew. "He's
obviously an ill-mannered hooligan who hasn't been taught any
discipline."
"We've taught him self defense!" hissed Cindy at the disgrace of a man.
"You have Lily's eyes," Petunia declared softly while continuing to stare at
her nephew.
"Come on, Petunia, Dudley! Let's get away from these freaks! Boy, don't
you try coming around our house! You're not welcome there!"
While they were leaving the reptile house, Harry looked at Aunt Minnie.
"You were right. They are the worst sort of muggles imaginable. Although
Aunt Petunia seemed more civil after she found out her sister was dead."
He shrugged his shoulders. "She must've been in shock."
"I'm sorry that those poor excuses for human beings treated you like that,
Harry," said Hermione. "It's hard to believe that they could be related to
someone as kind and compassionate as you."
"They're not really my family," declared Harry, leaving the implied
ending unsaid.
"Harry," said Hermione, "Er, were you actually talking to that snake
before…"
"Yes. I never knew I was a Parselmouth before, but it just seemed natural.
Er, could you keep that a secret? I don't want the other kids freaking out
or anything."
"They might even decide you're the Heir of Slytherin or something if they
find out," added his best friend. "I promise I won't tell."
"Neither shall I," said Minerva.
-HM-HM-HM-
Finally, the day that eleven years' worth of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and
Hufflepuffs had been waiting for arrived. Severus Snape was being forced
to answer for his conduct at Hogwarts.
Harry had gone with his whole family. His parents thought watching a
hearing would be educational for Brianna and she was happy just to get
out of the house. Not to mention that as a future Hogwarts student, she
also had a vested interest in the outcome.
Harry, Hermione, and about two hundred other people ranging in ages
from twenty-nine to twelve were sitting on bleachers in a room that was
separate from the courtroom. There were five court officials at the front
of the room watching them. Looking around, Harry noticed that he
recognized several students with them. Penelope Clearwater was sitting
next to Oliver Wood. All the members of Harry's study group were there,
sitting near their housemates. He counted six Weasleys present, sitting
together. He recognized Charlie, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy. The other
one was obviously the oldest. He had a fanged earring and a ponytail,
and seemed 'cool' to Harry.
He also noticed several Slytherins, including Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle,
sitting as far away from everyone else as possible. They all had smug
looks on their faces, and Harry had a hard time keeping a straight face as
he realized that they planned to testify what a great guy Snape was –
which was exactly what his lawyers were counting on.
One of the officials, a tall, thin woman with wire-rimmed glasses and
dark brown hair, who appeared to be about twenty-eight, began to speak.
"Good morning, everyone. I'm Justice Doright. As you know, we're all
here today because a complaint has been lodged against Professor
Severus Snape. He has been accused of harassment, favoritism, and abuse
of power. These are not criminal but civil charges, and if he's found
guilty, his punishment will be in the form of losing his job and possibly
paying a fine, so you don't have to worry about putting him in Azkaban."
Harry figured that she'd said that so the younger students wouldn't feel
guilty about telling the truth. He knew some of the horror stories about
Azkaban and would probably have a problem sending anyone there for
any charge less than murder.
"My associates will be passing out vials to each of you, and then we will
instruct you on how to copy a memory to place inside of it if you're not
familiar with the spell. We will then ask you to deposit any memories
that you feel exemplify Professor Snape's character. Any incidents where
you feel he was particularly unprofessional, cruel, unfair, just, friendly,
generous, or merciful would be appropriate for you to deposit. They will
be shown to the court and you'll be placed on the stand and questioned
about them. While these memories aren't considered absolute proof, they
hold as much weight as any testimony and help tremendously to avoid
misunderstanding of testimony."
After the vials were passed around, Harry immediately began pulling
memories out of his head, ignoring the instructors who were educating
the others in a procedure he was very familiar with. He started with a
few moments of the opening feast. Then his first day of Potions. Before
long, he'd raised his hand just after the instructions were completed.
"Yes, Mr?"
"McGonagall, ma'am. Harry McGonagall. I was wondering if I could have
a few more vials." He heard chuckles around him, and saw that the
woman herself seemed to have a hard time keeping a straight face. It was
then that he realized that based off of her age, it was very likely that she
had been one of Snape's students.
"Certainly, Mr. McGonagall," she said, glancing at one of the officials. "If
anyone else needs more vials, please raise your hand now." Judging by
how many people raised their hands, Harry realized that it would be a
long trial.
-HM-HM-HM-
Before the trial began, it had been explained that the student witnesses
were kept in the same room and would go first, followed by other
witnesses who were kept isolated until after giving their testimony so
that they wouldn't be influenced by what others have previously testified.
Brianna watched silently while sitting with her parents as the courtroom
was called to order.
Since it wasn't a full criminal trial, there were only ten members of the
Wizengamot present, most of which were friendly with Harry's C.A.R.E.
group. Since Dumbledore was a witness in this case, he couldn't act as
Chief Warlock. Instead, Augusta Longbottom did. A few people objected
because her grandson was one of the witnesses, but she pointed out the
fact that nearly every family in the wizarding world has a member that is
a witness in this case.
That was certainly true, as was reflected by all the members of the press
that were present. Five were allowed in the room itself, with strict orders
to keep their mouths shut and to not use a Quick Quotes Quill. Several
other reporters were waiting outside. A few days before, news of this trial
had leaked out and the Daily Prophet, along with a few other
publications, had put the story on the front page. The spectator area was
quite crowded. Hogwarts' entire board of governors was there as well.
When it was time to make opening statements, Matthew Marcus, their
British lawyer, spoke first.
"Witches and Wizards, we are gathered here today because of a great
injustice that has been thrust upon our children to interfere with their
education. A man so vile he has only one friend in the world has been in
a position of authority at Hogwarts for eleven years. He has verbally
abused scores of students rather than teach the important subject that is
Potions. He has shown blatant favoritism to the house of Slytherin, which
he is the head of, and has taught by example that cheating is the way to
succeed. The only reason for that is because his friend happens to be
Headmaster Dumbledore, who has ignored hundreds of complaints
against him. We are here to do Headmaster Dumbledore's job – to make
Severus Snape accountable for his actions."
There was a mixed response from the audience, but most of them
supported Marcus. When he was seated, his opponent, Kevin Killjoy, got
up from his seat next to a sneering Snape, and made his speech.
"Upstanding witches and fine wizards of the gloried Wizengamot, a
travesty of justice is being attempted in this room. The students are
trying to control Hogwarts. The honorable Severus Snape exercises
proper discipline in his classroom, as many of his colleagues fail to do,
and is now being put on trial for it."
"Very well. The prosecution may call its first witness," said Justice
Doright, who had entered the courtroom a few minutes before the
hearing began. She was conducting this civil hearing. Her job was to
make sure proper procedure was followed, while the Wizengamot would
determine whether Snape would be fired.
Sam Gordon, the American lawyer who was working with Matthew
Marcus, replied. "Our first witness is Harry McGonagall."
Brianna watched her brother enter the room confidently carrying five
vials with some type of silvery substance inside them. She believed they
were Pensieve memories, but had never actually seen them. Harry took
the stand.
After he was sworn in, Mr. Gordon began questioning him. "Please state
your full name."
"Harry Mark McGonagall."
"How old are you?"
"I'll be twelve on the twelfth of this month."
"What type of citizenship do you hold?"
"Duel citizenship – America and Great Britain."
"I see. Where do you attend school?"
"Hogwarts."
"Doesn't one of your relatives teach at that school?"
"Yes. My aunt-actually great aunt Professor Minerva McGonagall is the
Deputy Headmistress, Head of Gryffindor, and Transfiguration teacher."
"What house were you sorted into when you began attending?"
"Ravenclaw."
"I see. What are those vials in your hands?"
"They're memories of some of my encounters with Professor Snape. I was
told they'd be shown as evidence."
Sam smiled. He was looking forward to this. "You are correct. Would you
please give me the first vial?"
Harry handed it over, and the lawyer walked over to the large projection
Pensieve in the center of the room and emptied the vial into it. He pulled
out his wand and started the memory, which showed Harry sitting with
his friends in the Great Hall. He performed a spell and the projection
froze. "Would you please tell us when this incident occurred, Mr.
McGonagall?"
"That was my first dinner at Hogwarts, right after I'd been sorted, on
September 1st last year."
The scene was played out before everyone, showing how Snape had tried
to read his mind. Harry then explained that he'd learned Occlumency
because his aunt had warned him about Snape's mind attacks. Next he
showed his first Potions class where he was quizzed by Snape. On and on
the memories went, taking up about an hour (most were about five
minutes long) while Mr. Killjoy looked more and more upset. When it
was finally time to cross-examine Harry, the short, stout, balding man
looked ready to kill.
"Mr. McGonagall, that is quite a collection of memories you've provided."
"I'm glad you enjoyed them."
"The only question is if they're authentic or exaggerated."
"Objection!" said Matthew Marcus.
Justice Doright replied, "Sustained. Please restrict yourself to asking
questions instead of making vague accusations."
Killjoy replied, "Certainly, your honor. I apologize." He then turned to
Harry, who was controlling his temper like the lawyers had told him.
"Mr. McGonagall, are you claiming that everything we saw happened
between yourself and Professor Snape during the past year?"
"Yes."
"Isn't it true that you'd constantly provoked him to the point that he
regrettably lost his temper a few times?"
"No. He always started on me from day one. As you saw, he tried to read
my mind at the welcoming feast, and then in our first class he started
quizzing me on advanced potions. Then, when I answered him correctly,
he docked house points and tried to rape my mind again!"
"When you say, 'rape my mind,' you are dramatizing the mere use of
Legilimency on yourself, a likely suspect for rule-breaking."
"I don't know how else to describe rummaging through someone's
thoughts and memories without their permission!" A signal from Marcus
told Harry he was beginning to lose his temper, so he took a few calming
breaths. "My thoughts belong to me and no one has the right to look
through them without my express permission. That's why my aunt taught
me Occlumency. She knew what Snape has been doing and didn't want
me to be yet another victim. Snape is suspicious of anyone not wearing
green and silver."
Killjoy now seemed sorry he'd commented on Harry's metaphor but
continued his questions. "Oh yes, the accusations of 'blatant favoritism.'
Just because you were barely capable of producing an adequate potion
for the class you've come up with this whole scheme."
Harry asked a question now. "Are you referring to my Potions final that
Snape gave an 'acceptable' grade to?"
"Yes," the lawyer said with a sneer. "Obviously you don't have enough
skills necessary to excel in his class."
"Actually, my lawyers have proof that I made that potion perfectly but
Snape decided to give me a bad grade anyway." He looked at his lawyers
expectantly.
At this point Gordon spoke up. "Your honor, since Mr. Killjoy has brought
up this matter, I'd like your permission to introduce evidence we'd
planned on presenting later. It directly relates to this line of questioning.
Afterwards, he may resume his cross examination."
"Very well," answered Doright while Killjoy nodded stiffly.
Gordon stood up holding two vials half-full of a potion and two rolls of
parchment. "Knowing how unprofessional Professor Snape behaves, both
Harry McGonagall and Hermione Granger (also of Ravenclaw) decided to
turn in a sample of their final potion to their head of house, Professor
Flitwick, who will be testifying later, immediately after their Potions final
exam. He had them both checked by a certified Potions master and they
were perfect. This is what's left of the samples and these are the results of
the test. Either Professor Snape faked their grades or he is incapable of
properly evaluating potions." He placed the potions on the evidence table
and handed the reports to the judge. He sat back down.
Killjoy, with a sour look on his face, turned back toward Harry, who was
grinning. "You stole someone else's potion to turn in to Professor Flitwick,
didn't you?" he hissed.
"No, sir," replied Harry calmly. "I'll be glad to provide you with that
memory." Without being asked, he took out his wand and pulled out the
memory while Mr. Marcus walked up to him with a vial for him to place
it in. Marcus then placed it in the Pensieve from the moment Harry and
Hermione bottled their samples for both Flitwick and Snape until they'd
turned in both samples.
Killjoy looked very upset with Harry, but seemed to have realized that he
wouldn't win this round. "No further questions." Harry then was allowed
to join his family.
The next witness was Draco Malfoy, who strutted into the courtroom like
the pureblood idiot he was.
Matthew Marcus handled this witness. "For the record, please state your
full name."
"Draco Lucius Malfoy," he replied cockily.
"When were you born?"
"The fifth of June in 1980." Judging by Draco's tone of voice, that was the
greatest day in the history of the world.
"That makes you twelve years old. Where do you attend school?"
"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
"What house are you in?"
With an arrogant sneer, he answered, "Slytherin House."
"What do you think of Professor Snape?"
"He's my godfather, as well as my favorite teacher. He is very
understanding if a student is having problems. He's personally helped me
in his class when I asked. He's very fair."
"Did you bring a vial of memories for us to view?"
Pulling it out of his pocket, he grinned. "Of course."
To Harry's amusement, the handful of memories Draco chose all included
him being blatantly favored over non-Slytherins. He saw Draco accusing
Neville Longbottom of sabotaging his potion when the Gryffindor was
nowhere near him. Snape took his word for it without even asking the
terrified Neville and gave him detention, taking twenty points from
Gryffindor. Harry noticed the angry expression on Mrs. Longbottom's face
while she was watching the memory.
In another, a Hufflepuff girl walked up to Snape during a meal and asked
for help, only to be rejected and insulted. Draco was right behind her and
asked the same question, receiving help. The next scene showed Snape
giving private detailed Potions lessons in what was clearly the Slytherin
common room. Harry noticed Lucius Malfoy bury his face in his hands
while that scene played out for all to see. It was all he could do not to
laugh.
"So, Mr. Malfoy, you are testifying that all these situations are true and
really happened?"
"Absolutely," he answered with another arrogant sneer.
"Does Professor Snape regularly give Potions lessons in the Slytherin
Common Room?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He wants to make sure we'll be able to pass our O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s
when the time comes. He says he can't teach most of the subject in class
because the imbeciles from the other houses wouldn't understand it."
"I see. I have no further questions." He turned to Mr. Killjoy. "Your
witness."
"Surely these tutoring sessions are just a review of material Professor
Snape has previously covered," asked the lawyer, winking at Draco.
"No. He never talks about most of…" He paused, looking straight at Mr.
Killjoy for about five seconds until a switch seemed to go off in his head.
"Of course. Professor Snape teaches everyone from all the houses
equally." Harry looked around the Wizengamot panel, happy to note that
every one of them realized Draco was lying, including a red-faced
Augusta Longbottom.
Killjoy's face was just as red as Augusta's, but for a different reason. "I
have no further questions," he stated quickly before Draco could provide
more rope to hang Snape with. Draco proudly strutted over to his
parents, oblivious to the fact that Lucius looked ready to crucio him.
"You see," said Mr. Gordon while he was supposed to be calling the next
witness, "Professor Snape clearly favors his own house." After Justice
Doright shot him a quick look, he continued, "I now call Miss Hermione
Granger to the stand."
She was led in answered questions, providing several memories. When
any of them were determined to be the same one Harry had provided,
they were skipped. Mr. Killjoy seemed to have lost some of his zeal after
the first two witnesses, and wasn't very hard on Hermione.
The lawyers rotated between Slytherins and non-Slytherins (until they
ran out of Slytherin students), getting consistent results. Even the prefect,
Percy Weasley admitted that Snape wasn't fair to Gryffindors. Penelope
admitted that if Snape stayed at the school she would have to give up her
dream of being a healer because she simply 'can't take that git's abuse!'
When they were finished with the students, they broke off for a half-hour
lunch before they heard the same story from all the alumni. The
Slytherins liked Snape and no one else did. Some of them testified (and
showed memories) of being kicked out of advanced Potions class for such
ridiculous reasons as breathing too loudly or sabotaging a Slytherin
whose cauldron blew up on the other side of the room. They then
brought in several parents who testified to having sent complaints to
Dumbledore that never had any results.
A representative of the Wizarding Examinations Authority then testified
(and brought proof) how O.W.L. Potions scores for anyone besides
Slytherins have plummeted since Snape started teaching. He also testified
that the number of non-Slytherins who take the Potions N.E.W.T. has
dropped eighty percent, but those select few students who take it do well.
After that, teachers were called to the stand, all testifying at a minimum
that Snape was an unpleasant man, while many had seen him be rude or
unfair to students. Madam Sprout testified that several of her students
over the past decade had changed their career goals just to avoid Snape
and that she'd informed the headmaster, achieving no results. Flitwick
said the same thing, adding specific situations involving Harry and
Hermione, including their Potions final.
Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall then took the stand. After
answering the initial questions about her name and position, she began
talking about all the complaints she'd received about the greasy git.
"Professor Snape is the reason I purchased a Pensieve nearly ten years
ago. I'd received so many complaints about that man I knew they had to
be true. When I tried telling Headmaster Dumbledore about it, he'd just
tell me that he trusts Snape, and nothing would be done. I'd foolishly
thought that if Professor Dumbledore could see for himself how Snape
acts, he'd change his mind. I was mistaken."
"How many times would you guess you've shown the headmaster a
memory of Mr. Snape acting in an unprofessional manner?" asked Mr.
Marcus.
"I don't remember off the top of my head, but my logbook and case of
memories are on the evidence table. I know that there are well over a
thousand separate instances there, and Albus has seen them all."
"Why do you believe Headmaster Dumbledore has ignored all these
complaints?"
"Because Professor Snape was helpful in the war against You-Know-Who."
"But what has that got to do with the teaching profession?"
"Professor Dumbledore feels Snape needs protection, and allowing him to
stay at Hogwarts is his solution to that problem."
"So it's not about Professor Snape's teaching skills. It's about protecting
him."
Minerva sighed before frowning. "I'm afraid that the Headmaster is more
interested in protecting Snape than educating students. I can't tell you
how many Gryffindors I've had in career counseling who had hoped to
become healers, aurors, or countless other occupations but changed their
minds when I informed them they would need a Potions N.E.W.T. to do
it.
"The result has been that in the past decade, there has been a shortage of
people entering those fields. The majority of people who have were
Slytherins, and I suspect it's because he tutors them in their common
room, although I've never been able to prove it. Only a select few non-
Slytherins have had the courage to try taking Advanced Potions, and half
of them are kicked out for questionable reasons that Professor
Dumbledore refuses to investigate."
"It may interest you to learn that Mr. Draco Malfoy and other Slytherin
students testified that Professor Snape does indeed conduct Potions
lessons in the Slytherin Common Room. Malfoy admitted that it's
material that isn't covered in the classroom." Minerva's face went from
pale to pink to red in a matter of seconds. She was obviously furious.
The lawyer continued, "We have also seen memories of some of those
incidents where students were ejected from Advanced Potions with no
evidence of wrongdoing aside from Professor Snape's say-so. I know
you've been fighting to purge the school of this unprofessional man for a
long time. Hopefully your goal will be fulfilled today." Turning to Snape's
defense attorney, Mr. Marcus concluded, "Your witness."
Upon seeing Minerva's glare, Mr. Killjoy gulped and loosened his collar.
He wished he'd never taken this case. He got up to ask his questions.
"Isn't it considered unprofessional to interfere with and judge another
professor's teaching methods?"
"Teaching methods? TEACHING METHODS!" Minerva's Scottish blood
was beginning to boil. "That miserable excuse for a man only teaches
Slytherins, leaving three-fourths of the students to teach themselves!"
"Well, self-reliance is…"
"Self-reliance? Hogwarts is a school that employs teachers to actually
teach their subject to the students! My job description did not say that I
should make my students figure out Transfiguration on their own while I
laugh at their failures, and I don't think it's supposed to be different in
Potions! It wasn't that way when I was a student, anyway!"
"No further questions," said Killjoy, clearly afraid of Aunt Minnie's
temper.
Sam Gordon got up from his chair. "At this point, we'd like to call in two
witnesses who have been indirectly affected by this situation. Madam
Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will
now take the stand."
A broad, square-jawed witch with very short gray hair, thick eyebrows
and a monocle confidently walked to the stand.
"Please state your full name and position for the record, Madam."
"Amelia Susan Bones, head of the DMLE."
"When you heard about this case recently, you came to us, asking to
testify. Why?"
"Because Severus Snape has done our country grievous harm."
"What do you mean?"
"As you know, a Potions N.E.W.T. is required in order to enter my
department to become an auror or almost any other position. I've brought
charts that show a steady decline of applicants since that man took over
the position of teaching Potions. We've only had four applicants over the
last three years who weren't members of Slytherin house. The bottom line
is that we now receive only thirty percent of the number of applicants
that we used to receive. Many of our master aurors are nearing
retirement age but we don't have enough young aurors to replace them. I
estimate that if things keep going the way they are that by 1996 our
auror force will be half the size it was ten years ago." That statement
brought ten seconds of silence over the whole courtroom.
"Madam Bones, do you have anything else to add?"
"Only that I implore each member of the jury to do what is best for your
country and not let the apparent blindness of Albus Dumbledore cripple
our auror force." She'd wanted to add that most of the Slytherin
applicants came from families with members that had served Voldemort
(under the laughable excuse of the Imperius curse), but knew that it
wouldn't help the case.
"Your witness."
Having listened to three heads of houses complain that their students
were denied their dreams of becoming an auror, Killjoy knew Bones was
right. He further knew that she could intimidate him a lot more than he
could intimidate her. By this time, even he wanted Snape fired. When
he'd taken the case, he hadn't realized how bad things were. Dumbledore
had told him it was just a misunderstanding between a student who was
related to McGonagall and Professor Snape. He wanted to drop the case
now, but knew he couldn't. He simply muttered, "I have no questions for
this witness."
Next they brought in the head of St. Mungo's, who said basically the
same thing Amelia had said, only about Healers.
At this point, Mr. Killjoy called the first of his two witnesses (if you count
Snape, who'd insisted against Killjoy's advice that he be allowed to
testify), "Albus Dumbledore," for all the good it would do.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, would you please tell the court why you hired
Professor Snape to the position of Potions teacher and Head of Slytherin
House eleven years ago."
"Because he is a certified Potions master and had been a Slytherin. I stand
by my decision."
"Have the complaints against him made you ever wonder if hiring him
was a good decision?"
"No. I trust Severus Snape."
Killjoy knew that even with these questions, Dumbledore was burying
himself and Snape. He further knew that Gordon and Marcus were going
to roast him alive and eat him for dinner. Unfortunately, he didn't know
any question he could ask Dumbledore and get a good answer, but he
still had to try. "What have you done when you've received complaints
about Professor Snape?"
"I've spoken to him about them, and he assured me that they were merely
complaining that they'd either earned a bad mark on an assignment or
had been caught misbehaving."
At this point Killjoy wanted to strangle DumbOldDork. He really didn't
care about the students involved! Killjoy wasn't exactly a nice person, but
he expected Hogwarts to be run properly. Yet this idiot didn't seem to
take thousands of complaints against the same teacher seriously. He was
done protecting Albus from the wolves. He turned to the other side of the
courtroom. "Your witness."
The two lawyers had previously flipped a coin over who would handle
Dumbledore, and Matthew Marcus had won.
"Professor Dumbledore, you answered the question of why you put
Professor Snape in his current position, but you didn't say why you
decided to hire him in the first place."
"He became a spy for our side during the war against Voldemort at great
personal risk."
"I see. So you hired him as a teacher for help in a war that ended two
months after he started teaching."
"Yes. It was a perfect position to spy from."
"Why didn't you let him go after the war ended?"
"He needed protection from the Death Eaters who are still loose, and
Hogwarts seemed the safest place for him."
"So what you're saying is that his position has nothing to do with his
qualifications or the students' best interests. You are simply helping a
man who acts like a Death Eater when he's in the classroom! You don't
hold him accountable for his actions and ignore thousands of complaints
against him. You further ignore the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results that
speak for themselves and say what a poor teacher Professor Snape is!"
"I trust Severus Snape," Dumbledore calmly replied with a twinkle in his
eye, as though that alone should put everyone at ease.
"To do what?"
Taken aback by that question, Albus had to think for a second. "He's not a
Death Eater."
"Although that's hard to believe based off his behavior toward everyone
in Hogwarts except you, let's say you're right. What has that got to do
with anything? There are tons of people who aren't Death Eaters. That
doesn't mean they can or should all teach. Half the prisoners in Azkaban
had nothing to do with You-Know-Who, yet they committed crimes. Do
you think they should teach at your school?"
"Of course not. Severus Snape is a good teacher."
"According to whom? The only students that like him are from his own
house, which he blatantly favors. Your own Deputy Headmistress has
been complaining about him for years." He walked over to the table and
picked up a scroll. After showing it to Dumbledore, he asked, "Do you
recognize what this is?"
With downcast eyes, the old man answered, "It's a chart of all the house
points Severus has given and taken every year since he started at
Hogwarts."
"Have you noticed any pattern?"
Sighing Albus admitted, "Over the past eleven years, Severus has never
taken a single point from Slytherin." There were gasps all over the room.
"Anything else?"
"He's never given a point to Gryffindor or Hufflepuff at all, but has given
one point to Ravenclaw each year except this one."
"Anything else?"
"He's taken approximately a thousand points from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw,
and Hufflepuff and given three thousand points to Slytherin every year."
"According to Professor McGonagall, you have been shown these lists
every year. Is that true?"
"Yes. But that doesn't prove he's a Death Eater."
"That's not what this trial is about, sir. Your job as headmaster is to
provide an atmosphere conducive to learning. Part of that is making sure
your teachers do that. Instead, you hired someone who you owe a
personal favor to and not only made him a teacher but head of house,
and then you don't hold him accountable for his blatant favoritism and
abuse of authority despite over a decade of complaints.
"It makes me wonder what other ways you have ignored the students'
best interests. Professor Dumbledore, you are not on trial here, but I
would recommend that the Hogwarts board of governors reevaluate the
wisdom of keeping you as headmaster. If I'm not mistaken, there were
other matters that occurred at Hogwarts this year due to your decision to
use the school full of children to store an artifact that you knew had
attracted the attention of a powerful dark wizard. The end result was a
teacher's death and students being injured."
"Objection," said Killjoy softly, still trying to do his job. "Harassing the
witness."
"Sustained," said Justice Doright half-heartedly. "Stick to asking
questions."
"How long have you known that Professor Snape uses Legilimency on
unsuspecting students?"
"Since he started at Hogwarts. It's a security precaution."
"You're saying that trying to read the mind of an eleven-year-old who just
got sorted is a security precaution?"
"Well…"
"How could you possibly have ignored the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. results
over the past decade?"
"I asked Professor Snape about it, and he explained that many of the
students of this generation are simply not good at Potions and won't ask
him for help."
"And you trust Severus Snape."
"Yes."
"Have you ever thought of spying on him?"
"That would be unethical," said Dumbledore, showing offence at such an
idea.
"Not as unethical as subjecting students to Severus Snape!"
"Objection," said Killjoy, despite the fact he agreed with that statement.
"Sustained."
"My apologies. I have no further questions."
Finally the person on trial took the stand. He was wearing the same type
of black robes that he wore at Hogwarts. He had a sneer on his face as he
strutted to the stand. After answering the basic questions of his name and
position, Mr. Killjoy began asking the pertinent questions they'd
rehearsed. Snape's answers were as close to friendly as the git was
capable of.
"Do you favor students from Slytherin over others?"
"Of course not. What McGonagall and Granger have told you is utter
rubbish. I treat all the students fairly."
"Do you conduct Potions tutoring sessions in the Slytherin common
room?"
"I have helped my students when they've asked for it."
"Have you ever tutored a non-Slytherin?"
"I don't recall which houses the various students I've helped in my time at
Hogwarts have been affiliated with."
"Do you perform Legilimency on students without their knowledge or
consent?"
"Yes, as a security measure. If I feel a student is up to something, it's my
duty to find out what."
"What makes you suspect a student?"
"It could be anything. The point is that I suspect them. The Headmaster
approves."
"Are you aware of the falling scores on Potions O.W.L.s?"
"Yes. It is quite tragic that so many students are doing poorly at that
subject but are too stubborn to come to me for help. Fortunately, most of
those in my own house do come to me so I can help them. As a result,
very few students make it to my N.E.W.T. classes."
Although Snape was doing good at giving his answers, the crowd,
including the Wizengamot jury, had heard far too many witnesses for this
to do a bit of good. They knew that this man had been a spy either for
Voldemort or Dumbledore (one of them was fooled), so he was an
extremely gifted liar.
"I have no further questions."
Sam Gordon then began asking questions. "Why did you find it necessary
to invade Harry McGonagall's mind five minutes after he was sorted?"
Although Snape's ears turned pink, he remained outwardly calm. "I'd
heard he'd had an altercation with my godson Draco Malfoy, and wanted
to make sure he wasn't planning on attacking Young Malfoy."
"Why did you give Mr. McGonagall a pop quiz during your first class with
him, and take house points away because he answered your questions
right?"
"I wanted to know the level of Potions knowledge that he'd learned in the
American school he'd attended, which was excellent. Unfortunately, I've
found that his skill in brewing Potions leaves much to be desired. The
points were taken for his cheek, not for answering my questions."
Gordon picked up the scroll he'd previously used to show Harry's Potion
final results. "Both Mr. McGonagall and Miss Granger kept an extra vial
of their final potion and handed it in to their head of house. He had it
tested. This is the result of Mr. McGonagall's and Miss Granger's is
similar. They are very different from the results you gave them. How do
you explain it?"
Snape's face was getting pink, and his irritation was starting to show as
he read the report. "They cheated! They're both arrogant know-it-alls who
think they can get away with anything. They obviously stole a sample
from another student's cauldron."
"We've seen their memories of taking the samples out of their own
cauldrons and handing one to you and one to Professor Flitwick."
"Then they faked it! Pensieve memories can be falsified!"
"By twelve-year-olds? Most fifty-year-old wizards and witches aren't
capable of doing a convincing job of that and you're saying they can?
They must be true prodigies indeed." There was mild chuckling in the
courtroom as Snape got angrier. Albus was getting nervous. He knew
they'd lose all hope if Snape lost his temper. "I'm surprised that geniuses
like them can't handle first year potions, especially since Mr. McGonagall
got straight O's in that class in America, which by the way does grade
potion brewing skills."
"He thinks he knows everything because of that stupid school he went to,
not to mention he's related to the Deputy Headmistress, so he struts
around the school like he owns it! He thinks he's better than everybody
else! He's even decided that he can get me sacked, but he can't!"
Seeing that Snape was losing his temper, Sam decided to bait him some
more. "But he is getting you fired. He's planning a victory party tonight."
Snape completely lost control as he stood up with his face red.
"Dumbledore won't fire me no matter what I do! I could crucio a student
in the Great Hall during a meal and he wouldn't care! He promised me…"
Suddenly Severus came to himself and realized what he was saying and
closed his mouth as he sat down. Dumbledore, who was now sitting in
the audience, was looking horrified.
"What did he promise you?"
"Nothing," said Snape, obviously lying.
"You will answer the question," said Justice Doright with a stern look.
"He promised me I would always be able to work at Hogwarts as long as
he was headmaster," said Snape with his head down. There were several
murmurs across the courtroom as Dumbledore put his face in his hands.
Harry noticed that Lucius Malfoy was now smiling and wanted to know
why. It only took him a moment to realize that even though Lucius
wanted Snape to stay at Hogwarts, he would use this opportunity to
demand Dumbledore's resignation, and he'd be successful. Dumbledore
had proven himself completely incapable of treating Hogwarts like a
school. Instead, it was a place where he could give secure jobs to his
friends, regardless of how they perform those jobs. Logically speaking,
Aunt Minnie should be appointed headmistress when that happens, but
he was worried that Malfoy may try to pull something off and put one of
his friends in the position. He'd have to make sure his aunt openly sought
the position.
Mr. Killjoy was the first to give his closing remarks after Snape was
seated next to Albus. "I've tried to show that Professor Snape's actions
have been justifiable," he said, but it was obvious his heart wasn't in it.
He knew what the verdict would be.
Mr. Marcus gave the final closing remarks. "Witches and Wizards,
Professor Snape has consistently abused his position at Hogwarts for the
past eleven years, and must not be allowed to continue. He has failed in
performing his duty of teaching Potions to the point that this country is
in jeopardy due to the small number of people receiving N.E.W.T.s in that
subject. He invades the minds of students, and mistreats everyone who's
not in his house. He is a disgrace to Hogwarts, and a stain upon its
reputation that must be removed. We must demand a higher quality of
education for our children, and proper instructors are necessary for that.
He is teaching the Slytherins that the way to achieve success is by
favoritism and cruelty, and this must stop. Members of the Wizengamot
jury, I implore you to demand his removal from Hogwarts, for our
children's sake."
"The jury will convene to determine a verdict," said Justice Doright. The
ten members of the Wizengamot were led out of the main courtroom to
discuss the case while the McGonagalls plus Hermione walked up to Sam
Gordon and Matthew Marcus, who were preparing to leave once the
verdict was reached. Harry didn't notice Lucius Malfoy slightly shake his
head 'no' when a member of the jury looked at him questioningly.
"You guys did a good job," commented Harry once they were in earshot.
"This was an easy case. Nobody believes in Snape except Dumbledore. I
just hope no one's going to cause a hung jury by refusing to admit the
obvious," said Gordon.
"Would they do that?" asked Hermione.
"If they were bribed enough," said Marcus. "However, I think it would be
too obvious in this case that the troublemaker had been bribed. It would
ruin that person's reputation."
At that moment, after less than ten minutes, the jury reentered the room
and declared a verdict. Augusta Longbottom was their spokeswoman.
"We the jury in this case have concluded that Severus Snape will be
banned from Hogwarts with an injunction against working as a professor
for the rest of his life. We also fine both him and Albus Dumbledore the
sum of ten thousand Galleons each. Snape for his conduct and
Dumbledore for his extreme negligence. We also recommend that
Hogwarts' board of governors reevaluate their faith in the headmaster.
The twenty thousand Galleons will be redistributed among every non-
Slytherin student that sat under Mr. Snape based off of how many years
they endured it. This won't end up being very much money per person,
but it is the Ministry's way of apologizing for not putting a stop to Snape's
abuses years ago. We also demand that Hogwarts hold extra Potions
N.E.W.T. night classes open to the public for the next four years, in hope
that some of the former students who have been forced to give up their
dreams because of Mr. Snape will pick those dreams back up. Those
classes will be free of charge."
There was much clapping in the courtroom until Justice Doright called
the room to order long enough to say, "Case closed."
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: There was more I'd planned on doing in this chapter, but
it's already very long.
I know that this justice system is slightly different than any muggle
justice system I'm familiar with.
As to the Dursleys not knowing James and Lily were dead – Dumbledore
obliviated them after questioning whether Harry was left with them or
not.
By the way, I now have a C2 in my profile that has several good Harry/
Hermione stories that you may want to read.
13. Justice Part Two
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 13 – Justice – Part Two
As Harry and Hermione's families were making their way to the Ministry
of Magic's atrium, doing their best to ignore the cameras and questions
that the press had for them, an unfamiliar voice shouted happily at them.
"Minerva! Or should I say Deputy Headmistress McGonagall, it's sooo
good to see you again!" Harry looked around for the source to see a blond
man flamboyantly dressed in light purple dress robes.
"Do I know you?" she asked, as the man grabbed her into a brief one-
armed hug. She was too shocked to do anything before he let go of her
immediately after a photo was taken. Harry noticed that the stranger had
made sure to show his perfect teeth to the camera.
"I suppose I have changed a lot since we last saw each other. My smile
has gotten better and my muscles have expanded, but surely you
remember your favorite former pupil, Gilderoy Lockhart."
Aunt Minnie's brow furrowed as she tried to recall. "Yes," she said tersely
after a few seconds. "I do remember you. Based off your O.W.L.'s you
weren't…"
"Yes; I wasn't proud enough for beating even your record," interrupted
Lockhart jovially. "When I was informed that the press that was supposed
to be at my recent book-signing for my autobiography, Magical Me, which
incidentally is celebrating its twenty-eighth week atop the Daily Prophet
best-seller list, was occupied with this story of my former head of house's
struggle against the politics of…"
Minerva looked at him like he was insane. "Weren't you in Slyth…"
"I certainly was incensed to learn that one of our peers was abusing his
authority…"
"Our peers?" she asked with an annoyed expression.
"Yes, as I'll explain in a minute. I knew I had to show you my support and
make my grand announcement here instead of at Flourish and Blotts. I
have been contracted to be Hogwarts' new Defense Against the Dark Arts
professor, and will thus insure that my subject shall not fall victim to the
poor quality of teaching that Potions has. Not to mention that I'll be on
the alert for the slightest hint that any other professor is not up to snuff.
Together, Professor McGonagall and I shall protect Hogwarts from
corrupt authority figures, so that students shall feel safe to confide in
their professors once more."
Harry's group escaped during the applause that followed Gilderoy's
'impromptu' speech. Briefly, the boy wondered how Lockhart would've
reacted if he'd known that the 'Boy-Who-Lived' had been less than five
feet from him. As it was, he didn't want to see the next morning's Daily
Prophet – no doubt with Aunt Minnie hugging Lockhart on the front
page. He glanced back in time to see Dumbledore and Snape disapparate
away without answering any questions. However, Snape had managed to
send a venomous look at Harry and Hermione before leaving, which
Harry happily noted was photographed. Nothing could ruin Harry
McGonagall's mood today! With a genuine smile still plastered on his
face, he joined the Grangers in the line at the Visitor's Exit to Muggle
London. The rest of his family followed.
-HM-HM-HM-
The Grangers and McGonagalls (even Brianna – just for the night) went
out to a muggle restaurant that had games for the kids to play, along
with an arcade designed to empty parents' wallets, one game at a time, as
kids asked for more and more money. When they were on their way
home, Minerva noticed something in the sky.
"Idiot!" she hissed quickly. "It looks like Dedalus Diggle is sending
shooting stars again – just like he did when You-Know-Who was
vanquished eleven years ago."
"Does that person have family at Hogwarts?" asked Marissa Granger as
she admired the magical fireworks.
Minerva nodded. "Yes, a niece in Hufflepuff."
"Then he does have cause to celebrate."
A smile briefly appeared on Minerva's lips. "That he does."
-HM-HM-HM-
Later that night, when the McGonagalls had returned to the manor, Harry
asked if he could have a private word with his aunt.
"Certainly, Harry," Minerva said as she got up to walk into a different
room. "First of all, I would like to thank you for helping me to rid
Hogwarts of that menace."
Harry grinned at Aunt Minnie. "That was my pleasure."
She grinned back. "I'd imagine so. What's on your mind, Harry?"
At this point, her nephew looked down at the floor, as though nervous.
"Um, I was wondering, um, if you think Professor Dumbledore is going to
get sacked."
She frowned for a moment before answering. "Truthfully, yes I do. As
much as it pains me to say it, he has not been acting in the best interests
of the students for over a decade, and therefore hasn't been a good
headmaster since you were a baby." With a nostalgic look in her eyes, she
continued. "Before then, he was the greatest leader our world has ever
known, but somehow he changed when Snape came crawling to him. The
complaints about Severus started less than a week after he was hired. A
few months later the headmaster tried to place you with the Dursleys."
Harry nodded grimly. "The reason I'm asking is because I think you'd
make a great Headmistress."
She blushed at the compliment. "You flatter me. I was always best at
being the second in charge, not the decision-maker."
"You try to treat everyone fairly, even me. You never favor Gryffindors
over anyone, and you honestly want what's best for the students. You
have a lot of experience, the respect of all the students, and your position
as Deputy Headmistress makes you the obvious choice! Tell me I'm
wrong."
Still blushing at Harry's praise, knowing that he actually was right, she
responded, "Possibly, but I'm happy with my role as a teacher."
Harry frowned for a moment. "Everything I said is true, but there is
another reason I really want you to try to get that position."
Now Minerva was curious. "Why is that?"
"Did you notice Lucius Malfoy at the hearing?"
Her brows furrowed, and Harry could tell she was thinking. "I noticed he
was there. Why?"
"He was smiling when Snape said what Dumbledore had promised him,
even though he knew it meant he'd be sacked. I think he's up to
something."
"You think he's going to try to place one of his…associates…in the
position of headmaster, don't you?" Harry nodded. "I suppose it would be
worth sacrificing Snape to do that," she said pensively.
"I thought that if you were pushing that you had earned the position and
wanted it, then that might stop him from succeeding." He then grinned at
his aunt again. "It would be for the good of the students."
Taking a deep breath, she said, "I shall consider it. I think it's about time
you went to bed, young man. You've uncovered enough conspiracies for
the evening."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry spent the next day at Hermione's house. It wasn't the first time he'd
been there, but he always enjoyed it. She lived in a two-story house not
dissimilar to his own, but the Grangers had a swimming pool. Hermione's
mom, Marissa, had the morning off from their surgery, so she joined
Harry and Hermione in the pool – mainly playing a game of keep-away
(also known as 'monkey in the middle'). It seemed like no matter what
Harry did, he couldn't stay out of the 'middle' for more than five minutes.
Hermione and her mum enjoyed laughing at his predicament.
After about an hour of that, Harry put his hands up. "I give up. I don't
know if it's because it's your pool or what, but I just can't win."
"I think it's because we're faster swimmers," bragged Hermione with a
smug smile.
"Hmm," said Harry, refusing to admit it. "I think I'm ready to get out of
the pool."
-HM-HM-HM-
After drying off and changing, the two kids ended up sitting on a couch
playing Dr. Mario against each other on an original Nintendo
Entertainment System.
"Harry, that wasn't nice," said Hermione. "You just ruined what I was
doing."
"It's part of the game," he responded with a chuckle.
"I didn't do that to you," she calmly stated.
"Not my fault." At this point he was laughing as he just messed her up
again.
"Fine," she said in frustration as she lost that round, "You win. Let's play a
different game where you don't attack me."
She turned off her system, pulled out the game, and walked over to the
shelf that held her small collection of Nintendo games. Harry noticed the
boxes for Mega Man 3, Super Mario Bros. 3, Final Fantasy, Tetris, and Dr.
Mario.
"What's Final Fantasy?" he asked.
Her face lit up. "Oh, that's a really good role-playing game. A sequel came
out for Nintendo's new system last year while we were at Hogwarts." She
looked down. "It takes way too long to play, and it's only one player
anyway. We'd be better off with Super Mario Bro. 3."
"Sure. I should've asked my parents to get that game for me before I
started spending most of the year far away from home. Maybe Brianna
will get my parents to buy a Super Nintendo. It comes with Super Mario
World, which is supposed to be even better than this game. Besides, I
heard that next month they're coming out with a Super Mario racing
game."
Hermione started the game, playing the role of Mario when Harry
decided it was a good time to talk about something else. "Do you have
the spells ready? I'd like to do it tomorrow."
It took Hermione a moment to remember, but when she did, her face it
up. "Of course. The paper's in my room." She paused her game and ran
upstairs, leaving Harry alone for about two minutes. When she returned,
she had a spiral notebook in her hands and a large eagle owl on her
shoulder. It had a large beak and enormous talons, but its most
noticeable feature was its striking orange eyes. Its brownish plumage was
mostly mottled but with bolder streaks on the breast. It looked at Harry
and hooted.
Hermione turned to the bird. "Rowena, this is my friend, Harry." She
turned to the boy sitting on the couch. "Harry, this is Rowena, the owl
my parents bought me."
"Isn't she a bit…heavy for your shoulder? She's bigger than Hedwig."
"A bit, but she won't stay there long." As though she was listening, the
owl flew off of Hermione's shoulder and out an open window. "After we
got her at the owl emporium, we stopped by the Magical Menagerie to
get some owl treats. They're cheaper there. Anyway, I saw this adorable
large, fluffy ginger cat named Crookshanks that the owner said people
didn't seem to want. I just fell in love with it and asked my parents to buy
him as an early birthday present."
"Really?" asked Harry, more interested in the notebook she was holding
than some cat, but not wanting to be rude.
"Yes, but my parents said that I need to prove I can take care of Rowena
for awhile before they'll let me have another pet. They said they'd
consider it at Christmas if Crookshanks is still there."
Sighing, Harry said, "That's too bad. Can I see the notebook?"
Huffing a bit as she realized he really wasn't interested in the cat, she
handed him the spiral.
"Aren't they just a few spells, Hermione?" he asked after browsing
through it to find it was half-filled with notes.
"Yes, but I thought you'd want to know the background of the spells. It's
so lucky that you can do magic at your Aunt's house." Then her brow
furrowed. "Are you sure we should still do this to Brianna? She did
confess, after all."
"Of course," he declared with a grin. "She'd do the same to me. This prank
is harmless – it'll only irritate her." He chuckled a bit before continuing.
"Besides, it'll show her that she's still my sister. She'd probably be hurt if I
didn't do this." He got a faraway look in his eyes. "It's all for her."
"Yeah, right," said Hermione, giggling. She then picked up her controller
and unpaused the game.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, Brianna was sleeping soundly when suddenly she felt
something touch her face. She slapped it away and awoke immediately as
the sound of buzzing filled her ears. She slowly looked around the room
as her eyes got wider and wider. The buzzing sound was still filling her
ears. "Harry!" she hissed. Her bedroom walls were covered with posters
from the baseball team she hated more than any other – the White Sox.
Upon closer inspection, she saw that the posters weren't tacked or nailed
to the walls, which meant they were held by a sticking charm. She
walked over to her dresser to see that, "He's taken my wand! And where's
that buzzing coming from?"
She opened the door and marched over to Harry's room, pushing it open
without bothering to knock. She found him sitting at his desk talking to
Hermione on his mirror.
"Good morning, Brianna," he said with a grin.
"Where is it?" she demanded.
"The morning is everywhere in this hemisphere," responded Hermione
from the mirror. "It's night everywhere else."
"You know what I'm talking about, Harry! Give me it!"
Ignoring that statement, Harry smirked at the front of her nightgown.
"I'm glad to see you changed teams, Brianna. It was the right decision."
"What are you…GIVE ME MY WAND!" she screamed as she noticed that
her nightgown had the words 'White Sox Rule!' in bold letters. Before he
could answer, she spotted its tip sticking out from under Harry's dresser
and dove to the floor, grabbing it before Harry could summon it away.
She glanced back at her brother to see he was talking to Hermione again.
"What is that buzzing sound?" she demanded.
He looked up from his mirror. "I don't hear a buzzing sound. I only hear a
little sister who's being pranked for the day in retaliation for…"
"Fine, but it's not very creative." She then performed a, "Finite
incantatum," on her clothes, getting rid of the offending phrase. "It'll be
over in a few minutes."
She marched back to her room and took the posters down. She was
surprised at how easily they came off. "He had to have done something
else," she muttered to herself. She grabbed some clothes for the day,
including her favorite Cubs jersey, and went into the bathroom to take a
shower.
After ten minutes under the hot water, she stepped out and dried herself,
only to find that the only available towel was advertising the White Sox.
"Ha ha," she whispered as she dressed, proudly showing her support for
the Cubs.
Suddenly, the buzzing stopped. She looked around and saw a Snitch
floating near her forehead, its wings fluttering slightly. Upon closer
inspection, she saw that it looked like a miniature winged baseball
instead of a golden sphere. She reached out to grab it, only to have it
disappear the moment she touched its wings. The buzzing sound
resumed, and she realized that it was still near her, but moving too fast
for her to see. She glanced at the mirror on the way to the door only to
see that her jersey was no longer advertising the Cubs. It was now a
White Sox jersey.
"It must have changed when I touched that stupid Snitch," she muttered
as she grabbed her wand.
-HM-HM-HM-
Once more wearing a Cubs jersey, the girl exited the bathroom. The
buzzing stopped and she could once again see the baseball/Snitch.
Shaking her head, she ignored it and walked downstairs to breakfast. The
buzzing resumed.
The prank lasted all day, with Brianna getting more and more irritable,
but not saying what was wrong. Harry would chuckle every time he saw
her getting upset. She only forgot herself twice and touched the winged
baseball, and none of the adults were in the room when she did. At seven
p.m., the buzzing stopped and she noticed the baseball moving away
from her. She followed it to Harry's room, even opening the door for it.
She watched the Snitch land inside a small case before Harry put down
the book he was reading and performed a 'Finite Incantatum' on the
winged ball, turning it into a normal Snitch a moment before closing the
case over it.
Brianna smacked her forehead in aggravation as her brother laughed. "All
I had to do was perform that spell on the Snitch?" she questioned.
He nodded, unable to talk through his laughter. Her face turned pink.
"That was mean! I ought to…"
"You ought to let it go, sis," said Harry firmly. "I told you that you were
still getting pranked, and so you have been. Now we're even."
She looked down for a moment in shame over what she'd done to
Hermione. "Fine, but if you even think of doing something like that again,
I'll…"
"…get even. I know. It's nice to be pranking you again, Brianna."
She smiled at him for a moment, turned around, and left the room.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry's birthday party was on Wednesday, August 12th. His whole study
group (Hermione, Padma, Anthony, Neville, Hannah, and Susan) came to
McGonagall Manor for it (Padma and Hermione came early and stayed
late). Hermione (and her parents) gave him a Nintendo Game Boy, along
with extra batteries and a few games for it (Mega Man 3, Super Mario
Land, and Final Fantasy Legend). She was relieved when it worked at
McGonagall Manor.
"I wanted you to have some games you could play for the rest of the
summer, and I was hoping that maybe it'll work on the Hogwarts grounds
if you get far enough from the castle. Hogwarts, a History only says
specifically that electricity doesn't work…"
"…inside the castle itself," completed Harry. "I never thought about that.
If it works outside then we might be able to play muggle music there too
– maybe at a picnic or something!"
Minerva looked stunned at the prospect. "In all my years teaching there,
I've never heard of a student trying electric gadgets outside. It was always
inside the castle."
"It certainly won't hurt to try," said Harry.
He received books, magical candy, and similar presents from his other
friends. He got the Game Boy game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back
from the Sewers from Brianna, leading him to believe that she knew what
the Grangers were getting him.
After all the guests besides Hermione and Padma left, Minerva gave
Harry her gift – a very thick book called, A Guide to the Animagus
Transformation. She said, "Harry, as you know, you've done extremely
well in all your classes, including Transfiguration. I believe that you
would be an excellent candidate for becoming an Animagus. If you can
keep your grades up, read this book and write a report for me on every
chapter before your next birthday, then I'll start giving you private
Animagus lessons during your third year. You're not to attempt any of the
exercises mentioned in this book without my specific permission."
She looked around to Padma and Hermione, who were staring at her in
awe. "This offer goes for both of you as well. I'll leave it up to Harry if
and when he loans you his book. I will say that if he doesn't earn the
lessons none of you will." She grinned for a moment. "It is my first case of
favoritism, but it doesn't count because this is not part of Hogwarts'
curriculum. She then looked at her niece. "You'll get the same offer for
your third year if you do as well as they have – that is an 'O' in
Transfiguration and at least an 'E' in everything else." Padma hadn't
broken any records, but had done very well. "This offer and those lessons
are to be a complete secret until you're ready to register with the
Ministry."
After they all agreed, Harry's parents gave him their gifts. They gave him
a traveling case for his Game Boy and a few more games, along with a
small cd/cassette boombox with extra batteries. "We figured you could
try this out at Hogwarts as well. We brought some of your 'Weird Al'
music with so you could try it out. If it works, then tell us what else you
want us to send you."
Harry spent Friday, August 14th, swimming, playing video games, and
reading his Animagus book with Hermione at her house. The next
morning, her family, along with Harry's dad and sister, left for America.
The Grangers were just spending a three-day weekend revisiting some of
their favorite places (Mark had to stay with Brianna, who was still
grounded), but they were actually going there to attend Hermione's
hearing that Monday. However, Harry wouldn't see Brianna or their
father until Christmas.
-HM-HM-HM-
Hugging Brianna in the magical part of the airport, Harry said, "Good
luck at the trial, Brianna. You're doing the right thing. I love you."
"I love you, too, Harry."
"Take care of yourself, sis."
"I will."
"And stay out of my stuff," he added with a smirk.
"I will," she replied with an innocent expression on her face. "...you won't
notice a thing out of place when you come back for Christmas."
Harry then hugged his dad goodbye, and then wished Hermione good
luck at the hearing, promising to see her on Tuesday.
-HM-HM-HM-
On Monday, August 17, 1992, a group of two men, one woman, and two
girls walked into the large courthouse in Little Salem. Each of the girls
was holding her father's hand as they made their way along the dark gray
tiled floor toward a group of small burgundy carpets in the middle of the
half-circular foyer. A nearby sign said, 'Stand on a carpet and state your
destination.'
"I guess we ought to, huh?" suggested Mark McGonagall, while stepping
onto the nearest carpet.
"I wonder if they're flying carpets," said Marissa Granger excitedly as she
joined Mark.
"I hope so," declared Brianna with a smile that temporarily replaced her
downcast expression. She hopped onto the carpet.
"They're banned in Britain," commented Hermione nervously as she
stepped on it, "so this will be a unique experience."
"Are you sure we can't just walk?" asked Adam Granger as he took a deep
breath and joined the others.
Mark cleared his throat. "Er, please take us to courtroom seven."
"Whoa!" they all screamed as the carpet started moving straight up.
Hermione barely managed to avoid falling as she looked up toward the
ceiling, only just noticing that the only ceiling above them was the actual
roof. The carpet took them past the first and second floor in what seemed
like five seconds, stopping at the third floor. It was at this moment that
they realized their feet were stuck to the carpet. Otherwise they'd have
kept going up. The carpet then started moving to the left, crossing the
threshold to the third floor and continuing down a hallway. It stopped
and landed in front of a set of double-doors labeled, 'Courtroom Seven.'
The whole trip took twelve seconds.
Once the carpet had landed, they found that they could walk freely once
more. Adam opened one of the wooden doors, and taking Hermione's
hand, he led the way inside. A wizard wearing something that resembled
a Marine dress uniform, complete with the white hat, whispered, "This
way," to them. They noticed he was wearing a visible wand wrist holster.
He led them to a group of about fifty chairs with different people who
apparently had been accused of breaking a magical law and were having
their day in court. Since there were only about thirty people present,
almost half of which were children, they had no trouble finding a place
to sit together.
The judge was a stern-looking man with grey hair and a well-trimmed
beard. He was wearing black judge's robes that would've fit in if they
were in a muggle court. There was no gavel to get people's attention, nor
a microphone. There was a projection Pensieve in the middle of the
room, as well as a large muggle television with a built-in vcr on a cart
with wheels. It was currently in an empty corner of the room, but
obviously it could be rolled wherever needed. There was also a pen that
seemed to be writing everything that was said down as the fanfold paper
kept moving.
As they waited for Hermione's case, they watched as a blond girl about
sixteen years old claimed that she thought no one was looking when she
apparated directly out of her muggle high-school classroom. She had
elected to complete her magical education the way that Harry had started
his – going to a muggle school full-time and a magic school part-time.
The judge replied with an irritated look, "Twenty-three people had to be
obliviated. You have risked the exposure of our world, and exercised very
poor judgment. Your fine stands, and your apparition license is
suspended for the next six months. Case closed."
"SIX MONTHS?!" she yelled, "That's NOT fair!"
The judge glared at her for a moment. "You're right. Make that a year,
and don't yell at me unless you want to be held in contempt of court.
Next case."
"I…" shouted the red-faced airhead before falling over petrified. Several
of the spectators chuckled softly.
Hermione pointed to the man pointing his wand. "That's the officer who
showed us to these seats," she whispered. "I'm glad we didn't resist." They
continued watching as the girl was levitated out the door with her
parents following and the paper work for the next case was given to the
judge.
As they watched each case, they realized that this was the courtroom
where all statute of secrecy violations by muggle-born minors were
handled (In America you could get an apparition license at sixteen-years
old). The adults were all parents, and the fines were given in dollars. One
boy had hit a muggle bully with the bat-bogey hex. A girl had accio'd her
glasses after some muggle girls had stolen them. For cases of self-defense
like them, the perpetrators were fined a hundred dollars and given a
written warning about exposing the magical world. Others, who did it for
any other reason, were fined a lot more. Brianna got more and more
nervous as she imagined what the judge would do to her, but she was
determined to tell the truth.
Finally, the judge was given paperwork and a videotape. After glancing
at the top paper, the man called out, "The case of the Little Salem
magical community versus Hermione Granger is now in session. Is
Hermione Granger present?"
Nervously, the bushy-haired girl stood up and began walking toward the
center of the room. "I am, your honor."
"Were the people you were sitting between your parents?"
"Yes, sir," she nodded while her parents did the same.
Adam said, "We're Adam and Marissa Granger, sir, and feel that our
daughter can speak on her own behalf."
The judge nodded, and turned back to the buck-toothed girl in front of
him. "It says here that you are not an American citizen. Is that correct?"
"Yes, sir. I'm from England. I was visiting some American friends."
"I see. Did they take you to a muggle baseball game on July 22nd?"
"Yes, sir."
"You are accused of using magic to interfere with the game, causing the
baseball team known as…" he looked back at the papers in front of him,
"…the Cubs to win. Your wand was identified as the instrument used for
this cheating violation of the American Statute of Secrecy. How do you
plead?"
Hermione took a breath and rehearsed her reply once more in her mind
before speaking. "Not guilty, sir." He looked surprised but she continued
before he could say anything. "It was my wand that was used, but I
wasn't the one using it. The person who did this is here and wants to
confess. She was with me at the game."
"Very well, call her up here."
Hermione looked toward her best friend's little sister and kindly said,
"Brianna, would you come down here?"
The obviously frightened girl stood up and started walking toward
Hermione. She was slightly trembling. Hermione gave her a small smile
and stepped back, allowing the ten-year-old to take her place. She was
the youngest child they'd seen take the stand.
"You don't have to tremble so much, child. I haven't had a little girl
executed in hours," the judge said with a slight smirk on his face, earning
a few chuckles.
"S-s-sorry, sir," she said softly, looking at the ground.
"Please look at me and state your full name for the record."
She looked up and swallowed. "Brianna Minerva McGonagall."
"And when were you born, Miss McGonagall?" he asked kindly.
"March 8th 1982."
"Are your parents here, Miss McGonagall?"
"My daddy is, sir." She pointed out her father.
"Is your daughter an American citizen, Mr. McGonagall?"
"Yes, sir," Mark answered from his seat.
"Very well." The judge turned back to the frightened girl.
"Would you mind telling me what happened at the baseball game?"
Clearing her throat, the brown-haired girl began to tell the story. "You
see, sir, we were watching the game. That is my parents, Aunt Minnie,
my friend Bobby, my brother Harry, his friend Hermione, and her family
were there. In the first inning, I saw that a member of the Cardinals – the
team the Cubs were playing against, was cheating magically by
summoning the ball."
"Wait a minute," interrupted the judge, "You're claiming that a member of
a professional baseball team is magical and cheated?"
"Yes, sir. The name on his uniform is Lightfellow."
The judge made a note on his paper. "Please continue."
She looked down nervously. "Um, I…" She then started blinking her eyes
rapidly, as though to stop tears and swallowed. "I, um, took Hermione's
wand and waited until just before the game ended and, um, started
cheating by summoning the baseball to make sure the Cubs won. I even
made Lightfellow's small wand fall out of his baseball glove for a few
minutes before he got it again. Anyway, I snuck Hermione's wand back
into her pocket just before the policeman caught her." She looked down
again as a few tears did start falling down her cheeks. "I, I was too scared
to tell him I was the cheater, but I'm admitting it now."
The judge scratched his chin for a few moments. "Thank you for
confessing, Miss McGonagall. You may have a seat back with your father
while we watch the muggle video of the game." He then turned to the
court while one of the officers took the tape from him while another
rolled the TV cart to a position where everybody could see it. Brianna
noticed that there was an extension cord that reached across the room to
an outlet.
The judge addressed the seated people. "Muggles record many things in
their own way using electricity so that they can be watched on their
televisions. Baseball is one such thing. Since we had a case pertaining to
the game, we acquired a copy of the recording as evidence. We're now
going to watch relevant parts of it. I ask that no one use magic during
this presentation, as it can interfere with muggle electricity."
The tape was played, skipping the irrelevant parts, and it was quite
obvious that Lightfellow was cheating. They didn't focus on what Brianna
did (since she'd already confessed it), but instead on the baseball player.
When the video was finished, the judge declared, "We will definitely be
speaking to Mr. Lightfellow." Then he turned to Brianna, who had
returned from her seat. "While I can understand how you felt watching
that man cheat, I can't condone your actions. Two wrongs don't make a
right."
Looking at the ground, she said, "Yes, sir. I'll never do it again."
Glancing at Hermione, the judge continued, "Miss Granger, all charges
against you have been dropped."
"Thank you, sir," the bushy-haired girl responded with a smile.
"Miss McGonagall, you are hereby fined $50 that must be paid within a
week. Case closed." He pulled out his wand and caused it to make a
sound like a mallet hitting a piece of wood.
A different officer led the McGonagalls and Grangers out of the
courtroom, giving them both appropriate papers regarding the results of
the hearing. The officer led them to a flying carpet that quickly took
them first (upon Mark's request) to the appropriate desk to pay the fine,
and then to the exit. On the way out, Mark told Brianna how proud he
was of the way she handled herself, and for telling the truth, and that he
would be deducting the fine from her allowance for the next five weeks.
She accepted it without complaint.
"As soon as we get home," said Mark, "We're gonna call your mom, Aunt
Minnie, and Harry on my mirror."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was sitting in the den at McGonagall Manor, playing (and losing) a
game of chess against Aunt Minnie, when Blinky popped into the room
with something small in his hand. "Blinky is sorry to interrupt Mistress
Minnie and Master Harry, but Mistress Breenie, Master Mark and your
Grangeys is on Master Harry's mirror. It is being in Master Harry's room,
so Blinky is bringing it." The elf held out his hand, revealing Harry's
mirror.
"Thanks, Blinky," he said as he took the mirror. "Could you please tell my
mom that they're on the mirror? She'll want to hear how things went,
too." He spoke to the person displayed on it. "Hey, Brianna. How'd it go?"
"I, um, told the judge what happened, and he showed a video tape of the
game in the court. He said they were going to investigate Lightfellow,
and that the charges against Hermione were dropped."
"That's good. I'm proud of you, sis. What did he decide your punishment
would be?"
"A fifty dollar fine. Dad already paid it and said he'd take it out of my
allowance."
"That's not too bad. It could've been a lot worse."
"I know."
"Are you going to hog the mirror all day?" came Hermione's happy voice
from behind Brianna. "I want to talk to him, too."
"It's my mirror. I'd like to talk, too," said Harry's dad.
Together, all three of them told Harry, Minerva, and Cindy (who joined
them a minute after Harry sent Blinky to get her) all about the building,
flying carpets, and everything they could think of. Hermione told them
that her family was returning at eight in the morning so that her parents'
surgery could open at ten. Cindy and Harry would be there to pick them
up (in a muggle taxi – not the Knight Bus), but Minerva would have to be
at a meeting at Hogwarts with the Board of Governors.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Let the Hogwarts Board of Governors Meeting on the 18th of August,
1992 begin." The chairman of the board, Augustus Stepover, tapped his
wand on a bell, causing it to emit a chime which got everybody's
attention and caused a nearby quill to start writing on a parchment. "Let
it be noted that all twelve members of the Board of Governors are
present, along with Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and Deputy
Headmistress Minerva McGonagall."
The short, thin, balding man was speaking in his raspy voice, his long,
gray hair flowing behind him. They were seated in a large classroom on
the first floor of Hogwarts, at a table that looked like it was normally in
the Great Hall. The room had been charmed imperturbable once
everyone arrived.
Minerva was very nervous as she sat near the far end of the table. She
noticed that the twinkle was gone from Albus' eyes. He looked older than
he ever had before. She'd been to several of these meetings before, but
never had she considered nominating herself to be headmistress. She still
hadn't decided whether she would do it or not, but she had a scroll with
her qualifications in her purse, just in case. Every so often, she would
glance at Lucius Malfoy suspiciously.
"The reason for this meeting is that it has been called to the attention of
this board that Headmaster Dumbledore has not been acting in the best
interests of this school or its pupils for quite some time. It is quite
embarrassing that it was brought to our attention in such a public
fashion," he continued, glancing at Minerva.
She spoke up, politely but firmly. "I tried letting you know over six
months ago at a meeting, but you refused to believe that things had
gotten as bad as they had. Therefore you gave me no alternative but to
bring this issue to the courts if I wanted to return Hogwarts to the
institution of learning that it was meant to be." Looking straight at Albus,
she continued, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry that it had to happen the
way it did, but I stand by my decision. My primary concern is the welfare
of this school and its students."
"Very admirable," said Lucius cordially. "I applaud your efforts, Professor
McGonagall, in exposing the incompetence of Severus Snape. I'm afraid
that I allowed my personal friendship with the man to temporarily cloud
my judgment during the meeting you mentioned. For that, I apologize."
She nodded politely, knowing that she couldn't publicly insult Malfoy if
she wanted a chance of becoming Headmistress.
"However," Lucius continued eloquently, "Headmaster Dumbledore has
been letting his personal friendship with Mr. Snape cloud his judgment
for eleven years and ignored all the complaints about him, refusing to
personally investigate the matter. I hereby make a motion that he be
dismissed from his position…" Minerva noticed Albus, who'd been silent
thus far, put his head down in resignation. "…and that I be appointed
headmaster in his place." Both Albus and Minerva's heads snapped
toward Malfoy.
Minerva spoke first, doing her best to control her Scottish temper. "With
all due respect, Mr. Malfoy, I do not believe you are qualified for that
position. For one thing, you have no teaching experience. The head of a
school should be someone the students are familiar with. It should be
someone that has taught for thirty-five years. Someone who has been
head of a Hogwarts house, and deputy to the Headmaster."
"In other words," said Mr. Stepover in his raspy voice, "you are suggesting
yourself as Headmistress."
She nodded curtly and said in a steady voice. "Yes. I believe I am the
most qualified person for this position." She glanced over to Malfoy, and
to her surprise he didn't seem upset or annoyed at all. He remained silent
while several board members started whispering to each other, glancing
at McGonagall every few seconds. She felt like every eye was on her.
After about a minute, Stepover hit the bell again. "We must have order.
First of all, it hasn't yet been decided whether or not Professor
Dumbledore will be dismissed. It is usually customary to let him defend
himself before talking about who will replace him. Headmaster, do you
have anything to say?"
Looking between Lucius and Minerva, the twinkle returned to his eyes.
"While I am forced to admit that I have been wrong in my handling of the
situation with Professor Snape, I believe that the rest of my actions have
been in Hogwarts' best interests." He raised up a hand when someone
wanted to protest. "I know that some of you disagree, and that the debate
could go on all night long with no resolution."
He took a deep breath. "I therefore offer a compromise. You may vote on
my replacement now. I will retire willingly if and only if Minerva is
appointed as my successor. As she has stated, she is the most qualified
person for the position and cares so much about the students that she
stood up to me. However, if she is not my replacement, then I will fight
this, and you will need seventy-five percent of the votes to sack me,
which I don't believe you will obtain. I believe that at least four of you
still respect the good I have done in my years at Hogwarts enough to
overlook one or two mistakes. I am, after all, only human."
"Very well," said Stepover. "We will accept your compromise. However,
before the vote I must mention that Minister Fudge, who may I remind
you has no power over this Board, spoke to me yesterday and suggested
that a his senior undersecretary, a woman named Delores Umbridge,
would be an excellent replacement for Professor Dumbledore in the event
of his resignation. He gave me her resume." He pulled out a scroll and
opened it. Based off of the way that he read the scroll, Minerva could tell
he was completely against hiring anyone Fudge suggested but felt
obligated to mention her.
"We will now have our vote. Mr. Malfoy, Professor McGonagall, since you
two are candidates we ask that you leave the room while we vote. We
will, of course, count Mr. Malfoy as having voted for himself. We will
allow Headmaster Dumbledore to stay. Although he has no vote, he will
be allowed to speak more on behalf of his candidate of choice during the
debates that no doubt will begin the moment the door is closed. We'll call
a house elf to get you when we're done." The spell was taken off the door
and the two exited. The door was immediately closed.
"Professor McGonagall," said Lucius cordially, "It seems that we are
competitors. May the best one for the job win."
"Yes. If you'll excuse me, I have lessons to prepare." She added as an
afterthought. "If I'm appointed headmistress, I'll still continue teaching
until I find a suitable replacement. When one is hired, I'll offer my lesson
plans to that person until they come up with their own." She quickly
walked off, proud of herself for being courteous, and went to her office.
She thought about mirror calling her family, but decided not to. She'd
rather wait until this was over.
-HM-HM-HM-
She had just completed updates to her sixth-year curriculum when an elf
she wasn't familiar with popped into the room. "Professor Mc-Goney-gal.
Plankey is being asked to be summoning you back to your meeting."
She smiled at the elf's mispronunciation of her name. By now she was
used to the fact that house elves couldn't say 'McGonagall.' "Thank you,
Plankey," she said as she got up.
-HM-HM-HM-
She found the classroom door open, and walked in and sat in her chair.
Albus' eyes were twinkling madly. She took this as a good sign but kept a
neutral expression. Moments later, Malfoy entered and the room was
resealed.
After sounding the bell once more, Mr. Stepover began speaking.
"Professor McGonagall, it is the decision of this board to appoint you to
the position of Headmistress. Congratulations."
A small smile crossed Minerva's lips. "Thank you." She glanced over at
Lucius to see that he had an unreadable expression.
"I would imagine that your first order of business will be to find a
suitable Potions professor, and I suppose a Transfiguration one as well."
"The Potions teacher is my priority. I can handle teaching my subject for
awhile until I find someone." She thought about mentioning how poorly
Potions had been taught in the past, but saw no point.
"I see. Does anybody here have a suggestion for a replacement?" he
asked, looking around.
One of the members, a tall, fat man with a vacant expression on his face
named Robert Eatalot, spoke up in a very neutral voice. "I know someone
who might be qualified. A Potions Mistress from France named Sharon
LaVelle. I can give you her address."
"Thank you," Minerva answered.
The rest of the meeting went by in a blur, although it was quite boring.
She wrote her letter to Ms. LaVelle while the others were talking about
various unimportant issues like changing the shade of black of the
students' robes. When the meeting was over, she was given the address to
send her letter. She slowly approached her former boss.
"Albus, how are you?"
"Splendid. Congratulations on your promotion, Minerva."
"W-would you like to accompany me to the owlry? I have a letter to
mail."
"Certainly," he said happily.
Once they were out of earshot from the others, Minnie said, "Albus, I…"
"Don't say it, Minerva. I've thought a lot about what was said at the trial."
He took a deep breath. "You were right. I was putting Severus' needs
above the students. I could have protected him another way without
compromising the quality of education here. I'm doing that now. I found
a way to allow him to use his talents and yet be protected."
"Have you?" she asked, slightly interested.
"Yes. He's brewing potions at a house under the Fidelius charm. I've
gotten him a contract to supply potions for some stores in Diagon Alley
and Hogsmeade. He can stay in the solitude that he prefers most of the
time."
"That's good. What are you going to do now?"
He sighed. "Well, when the Wizengamot isn't meeting, I believe I'll start
searching for Harry Potter."
Reinforcing her occlumency shields, she replied, "Harry Potter? Why
now?"
"Why not? According to the school's records, he's still alive somewhere.
I'm the one who placed him in danger, and now that I have the time I
have to try to locate him."
Not trusting herself to say anything about his search, she simply said,
"Good luck," as she tied her letter onto a school owl and sent it off.
"Thank you. If there's any way that I can be of assistance, let me know."
-HM-HM-HM-
There was a celebration that night when Minerva gave the news of her
promotion. She didn't really feel like celebrating, but knew that it was for
the best that she got that position. Harry, especially, was very happy
about it.
Over the course of the next two weeks, Headmistress McGonagall spent
most of her time away from home. She met and hired Sharon LaVelle as
Potions mistress, telling Harry that she was one of the nicest people she'd
ever met. She also found out that Lockhart was indeed contracted to
teach for a year and it would be very difficult to break the contract
without proof that he was a bad teacher. She decided to at least give him
a chance. Besides, it would be very difficult to replace him now. She
decided to hire a seventh-year Ravenclaw named Matthew Shapon as
assistant professor to grade Transfiguration papers (and possibly lecture)
for the lower years to free up some of her time. She hadn't found any
suitable replacement for herself yet, although she thought that Matthew
might be a possibility after he graduates if she can't find anybody for a
whole year.
She was surprised, though pleased, to receive a report on chapter one of
the Animagus book from each member of the Golden Trio before school
started. She'd thought that all Harry was doing was playing his Game
Boy.
The first time she walked into her new office was August thirty-first.
She'd been avoiding it as long as possible, working from her old office.
She'd ordered an elf to bring her stuff there earlier that day. She was
startled by a new portrait on the wall. Albus Dumbledore's image was
sleeping inside a frame. "What?" she whispered to herself. "How? I
thought…"
The portrait of Headmaster Dippet answered her question. "When a
headmaster or headmistress dies, a portrait appears and wakes up within
a few weeks. However, when one retires, his or her portrait appears, but
stays asleep until that person passes away. If you need advice from Albus
Dumbledore, I'm afraid you'll have to speak to the real one. I suppose this
happens mainly so that the portraits stay in the right order. Otherwise
they could die in the wrong order."
"I see. Well, I suppose I'd better get used to the new office." She sat down
on her new chair and took a deep breath. This was going to be an
interesting year.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: I looked up the release dates of all the games I mentioned
on Nintendo's website.
Special thanks to zeropolis79 (of Fanfiction. Net) and his wife for
consultation and betaing this chapter.
14. Introductions
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 14 – Introductions
"Goodbye, Harry. Have a good term."
"I will, Mom," Harry promised as he returned Cindy McGonagall's hug. It
was ten minutes before the Hogwarts Express would be leaving. Next to
him, Hermione was hugging her mother. It was a Tuesday, so one of the
Grangers had to keep their surgery open. Therefore her dad wasn't able to
see her off. The four of them (Cindy, Harry, Marissa, and Hermione) had
driven to the station together, and had crossed the barrier to Platform
Nine and Three Quarters moments before.
"I guess we'd better hurry if we're going to get a compartment," suggested
Hermione when she separated from her mum.
Together, they walked onto the train. Harry graciously let Hermione stick
her trunk into his magically charmed seven compartment trunk that
always weighed ten-pounds, so he was the only one carrying luggage.
Once they had a compartment, they'd remove her trunk so it would be
placed in her dorm with the rest of the students' trunks.
"I'm sorry I delayed us so much," said Hermione after they'd walked past
ten full compartments. They'd seen their study group sitting with others.
Padma and Neville seemed apologetic, saying that they'd tried to save
them a seat, but they were just too late and others had filled up the
compartment.
Harry smirked at her. "I know. Once you found out that you could use my
trunk, we had to go back to your house to get the books you'd left behind
– especially Hogwarts, A History."
"They're very helpful," she said defensively, "and I couldn't fit them in my
trunk because of all the Lockhart books." She glanced at the floor as her
ears turned pink. "Can you imagine writing all those books, not to
mention doing all those things in them? Professor Lockhart is very brave,
and…"
"Lies very well," interrupted Harry. "My aunt says he was a Slytherin –
not a Gryffindor like he claimed – and that he was at the bottom of his
class! He dropped out of Hogwarts after failing too many O.W.L.s."
She looked shocked. "B-but then he must have studied independently.
He's probably terribly embarrassed about his past, so he…er, embellished
it a bit."
Harry stopped in his tracks and stared at his best friend. "Embellished?
Embellished? Hermione, he lied to the Daily Prophet, and who knows
what else he's lied about?"
"Fine," she sighed. "I won't try to convince you. I'm sure you'll change
your mind after we've had a few lessons. I'm sure we'll learn a great deal
from him."
At this moment, they looked into a compartment that was mostly empty,
aside from two girls sitting about four feet apart who appeared to be
first-years. One was rather short and had long, auburn hair. She was
busily writing in a small book she was holding in her lap. The other had
long, straggly, blonde hair, and was holding an issue of the Quibbler in
front of her face at a forty-five degree angle.
"Hello," came a voice from behind the magazine, causing the red-head to
look up and quickly close her book to stare at the two second-years.
"Oh, um, hello," said Harry. "This is Hermione Granger, and I'm Harry
McGonagall."
"My brother, Ron Weasley, told me a bit about you two," commented the
other girl. "I'm Ginny."
"He mentioned having a younger sister last year," said Hermione. "It's
good to meet you. I'm surprised you're not sitting with him."
"He's too grown up to sit with his baby sister."
Harry felt a bit of frustration with Ron at that moment. He fully intended
to look out for Brianna when she started coming, beginning with their
train ride. Without commenting on that, he turned to the magazine-girl.
"And you are?"
The Quibbler was placed on the other girl's lap, revealing a face with
protuberant silvery grey eyes with very faint eyebrows. She was wearing
a necklace with butterbeer corks on it and radish-shaped earrings. Her
wand was behind her ear. "I'm Luna Lovegood. You both were mentioned
in the Quibbler. I admire you both for testifying that both Professors
Dumbledore and Snape had been possessed by Squargles and were eating
House Elves in that trial, and couldn't believe that the Daily Prophet
didn't mention it."
Both Harry and Hermione stared at the blonde girl in silent disbelief for a
few moments until Ginny made a motion with her eyes that her
companion wasn't quite normal. Harry cleared his throat. "Anyway, um,
we were wondering if we could share your compartment. Everywhere
else is full."
"Sure," replied Ginny, whose ears were getting a bit pink. "You can sit
here."
As they were walking toward the seat opposite from Ginny, Luna said to
Harry, "You don't look like a natural blonde. I think you'd look better
with darker hair."
Ginny started looking at him with a concentrated expression,
undoubtedly picturing what he'd look like with black hair. Hermione
wore a neutral expression. Harry nearly had a panic attack. He felt like
he was wearing a 'Boy-Who-Lived' t-shirt. "Um, well this is the only color
hair I can remember having."
"I see," said Luna with no expression as she picked up her paper again.
Ginny was twirling a strand of hair on her finger nervously as Harry sat
down opposite of her. "I, er, heard about that House Elf group that you
two started."
Hermione grinned. "The Community for Advancing the Rights of Elves.
C.A.R.E. for short. You see…"
The brunette went off with her explanation of the group while Harry
pulled two packets of literature and badges out of his trunk. Ten minutes
later, both Ginny and Luna had bought them, although Luna had made a
rather strange comment about House Elves originating from cursed
Hobbits rather than actual Elves.
Eventually, the conversation moved on to Quidditch, where Harry
declared, "I'm going to try out for Seeker on my house team."
"I'm sure you know that my brothers, Fred and George, are the Gryffindor
Beaters."
"Yes," replied Harry, nodding, "and they're really good. It's too bad that
Ravenclaw's gonna…"
"Gonna be shut out by Gryffindor!" proclaimed Ginny proudly.
"Wanna bet?" asked Harry.
"Five knuts says Gryffindor beats Ravenclaw when they play."
Harry would've preferred to bet a Galleon, but he knew that the Weasleys
weren't very wealthy, so he didn't want to embarrass Ginny by
commenting on how small of an amount that was. "You're on."
While they were shaking hands, Hermione commented, "Wouldn't it be
funny if you ended up in Ravenclaw after betting against us?"
"No way! I'm going to be in Gryffindor."
"I'd like to be in Ravenclaw," commented Luna dreamily. She then turned
toward Hermione. "Are you going to try out for the Quidditch team as
well?"
With her face turning a bit pink, she said, "Well, I'm not as good a flier as
Harry, but I thought I might try out for the Chaser position. I'll be
borrowing Harry's broom for the tryouts, and if I make the team, my
parents promised to get me a broom."
"I almost hope you do make the team, Granger!" Draco Malfoy's sneer
came from just outside the compartment. As usual, he was flanked by his
bodyguards. Harry immediately summoned his original wand into his
hand. "A lot of people get injured during Quidditch, especially filthy,
ignorant mudbloods who think they understand flying."
While Draco was talking, Harry whispered a spell with his wand pointed
at Draco's feet. He then turned to Hermione with a mock-pitying tone of
voice. "Didn't that just hurt your feelings soooo much? Being called that
by a filthy inbred."
"Oh, yes," she agreed melodramatically. "I shall have to cry for days."
Malfoy hissed as he pointed his wand at her, "You should be crying, you
filthy…ahhh!"
At that moment, he fell forward. Harry had done a minor sticking spell to
the soles of Draco's shoes. When he tried stepping forward, he couldn't
pick up the shoes, so consequently, he'd lost his balance. While he was
falling forward, the charm was overpowered by his bodyweight and let
go of the floor.
"Bowing to Hermione again," said Harry with a smirk as he summoned
Draco's wand yet again. He looked over at the two goons. "Maybe you
should join Malfoy on the ground."
They looked at each other in confusion until Draco shouted, "Help me up,
you idiots!" Both bent down to help him at the same moment, and with a
bit of unnoticed help from Hermione's wand, the two banged their heads
together. With one hand holding their head, and the other helping their
alpha off the floor, they managed to get Draco up.
"I really ought to toss your wand out the window," Harry commented
casually.
"I'll bet you really think you're something, now that your aunt is
Headmistress! You just wait! My father'll…" He shut his mouth with a
look of fear momentarily crossing his face, replaced immediately by a
sneer. "Give me my wand, McGonagall!" He held out his hand.
"Your father will what?" Harry growled as he grabbed Draco and pressed
him against the wall.
"What's going on here?" demanded a voice none of them expected. They
all turned to see Percy Weasley.
"Harry McGonagall stole my wand," said Draco with a smirk. "He said
that he can do anything he wants now that his aunt's in charge of the
school."
"That's a lie!" shouted Hermione. "Malfoy came here threatening us with
his goons."
"It is not!" retorted Draco. "Crabbe and Goyle heard it, too." The goons
nodded their heads.
"They're lying!" said Ginny to her brother. "They came into our
compartment and interrupted our conversation to start calling Hermione
a mudblood!"
Ignoring Ginny, the self-important prefect declared, "I'm taking five
points from Ravenclaw. Mr. McGonagall, let go of Mr. Malfoy and give
him his wand back. I will be reporting this to your head of house. I
suggest you all change into your school robes. We should be at Hogwarts
soon."
"But Percy," shouted Ginny as the pompous git turned around and left the
compartment, followed by the Slytherins. Once the door was closed, she
proclaimed, "That stupid git! My brothers were right! That prefect badge
is cutting off the circulation to his brain!"
Hermione added, "I'd think that he'd be careful about how he deals with
the headmistress' nephew."
"Malfoy's father is on the board," commented Harry, "so he probably
thinks that we're equals, and he dislikes me."
"But he won't even listen to me," said Ginny, pouting.
"The Malfoy family has much more clout at the Ministry," explained
Luna, gazing into space. "They're involved with Minister Fudge in the
Goblin-pie conspiracy."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry left the compartment to change in the toilet, while the three girls
changed where they were, and soon the train arrived in Hogsmeade.
Before long, Harry and Hermione were sharing a carriage after Madam
Grubbly had called their new friends to the boats.
Just before it took off toward the castle, Padma Patil and Neville
Longbottom climbed aboard. "Hi guys," Padma said to her fellow
Ravenclaw second-years. "I'm sorry we couldn't save you a seat earlier,
but…"
"That's all right," replied Harry. "We barely made it on time. We don't
blame you for making sure that you had a seat." Harry pulled a small
object out of his pocket and turned it on.
"What's that?" asked Padma, before a look of understanding crossed her
face. "Is that the…what was it called…game…that Hermione's family
gave you at the party?"
Harry smiled at her. "Yes. It's the Game Boy. I just wish it was lighter out.
I wish I could use my wand without interfering with it. Anyway, I'm
trying to see how long until the magic interferes with it." He was getting
more and more engrossed with Super Mario Land as his thumbs kept
rapidly moving while the others talked. They were already well inside
the grounds when the screen finally filled up with all kinds of weird
symbols, signaling that it was no longer functioning properly. "Shoot! I
had just about beaten the castle, too!" As he turned off the game system,
he looked around, seemingly pleased with how close to the castle they
were. He turned to Hermione. "It looks like you were right about
electricity working near the castle. I'll bet it'll work in Hagrid's old hut."
A look of excitement crossed Hermione's face. "Oh, that would be perfect!
Professor Grubbly doesn't use it. She stays in the castle. If your aunt
would give us permission…we could clean it up to use! Maybe we could
even make it a C.A.R.E. office!" Her eyes then lit up. "Maybe the Muggle
Studies professor would like to use it to demonstrate electricity
occasionally."
"Okay," said Harry. "We'll talk to her after the feast. If we can get the
keys, I'll even keep my electric stuff there."
-HM-HM-HM-
Before long, they found themselves sitting at the Ravenclaw table. They'd
watched the sorting with interest. After Benjamin Cadwallader was sorted
into Hufflepuff, a rather short boy with mousy brown hair named Colin
Creevey was called. Harry couldn't believe that the boy had taken a
picture of the sorting hat before putting it on, and tried to persuade
Professor Flitwick, who was now Deputy Headmaster, to take his picture
while he was being sorted. In the end, another first year took the photo
as Colin happily put on the old hat and was sorted into "Gryffindor!" As
the excited boy made his way toward the appropriate table, which was
politely clapping, though not enthusiastically, he noticed that the camera
was very similar to the one that Mr. Granger had bought the previous
year in Diagon Alley.
They watched the others with mild interest as they were sorted, clapping
when one made their house. A brunette girl with green eyes named Sally
Fawcett became a Ravenclaw just before a blonde boy named Mark
Harper became a Slytherin.
When Luna Lovegood's name was called, she walked up to the stool with
the same blank expression on her face that she always had and put the
hat on. After about thirty seconds, it declared that the unusual girl
belonged in, "Ravenclaw." She took off the hat and walked over to their
table. Harry signaled for her to join them.
When she sat down next to Hermione, she announced, "That hat was
infested with nargles." Harry grinned as he agreed that the old hat was
probably infested with something. They introduced her to their other
friends as the sorting continued.
The last person sorted this year was Ginny Weasley. With a determined
expression on her face, she walked up to the hat and put it on. It almost
immediately shouted, "Gryffindor," as though it knew she would accept
nothing else. Harry smiled as he realized that the hat did know that. He
then turned his attention to the podium, where his aunt was about to
make her first speech as Headmistress.
"Welcome newcomers and returning students alike. As you can see, there
has been a change in Hogwarts' administration during the summer.
Professor Dumbledore has decided to retire, and now I am Headmistress.
The rest of the announcements can wait until after the feast. Tuck in."
With a small smirk, she waved her hand in a grand gesture, and food
appeared at all the tables.
Harry happily grabbed a chicken leg, and began his meal. When they
were finished eating, Minerva once again took the podium.
With her normal, stern look, she began. "Probably the most important
announcement to the Gryffindors is that Professor Aurora Sinistra of
Astronomy is now their head of House." This announcement was followed
by mild applause from Gryffindor table. The elderly witch nodded toward
them as her ears turned pink. "As Professor Snape is no longer here," At
this moment, tremendous applause came from the three non-Slytherin
tables. After it died down, she continued.
"As I was saying, his responsibilities have been given to others. Most
important for the Slytherins, is that Professor Hezekiah Kettleburn of
Care of Magical Creatures is your new head of House. We are also
pleased to welcome Professor Sharon LaVelle from France as Potions
Mistress." She motioned to an attractive, middle-aged woman with black
hair, brown eyes, and a bright smile.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts is being taught this year by Gilderoy
Lockhart." She frowned at the applause that came from most of the girls.
She then motioned to a young man wearing Ravenclaw robes who was
sitting at the head table. "Also, Matthew Shapon, in addition to his
N.E.W.T. studies, has been given the position as Assistant Professor, and
will be assisting me in Transfiguration classes. He has the same authority
as Head Boy, and can take points and give detentions, so I expect you to
treat him with the same respect you would me."
"The dark forest remains forbidden, as some of you would be wise to
remember." Her eyes darted toward the Weasley twins, and Harry
wondered what she'd say if she found out he'd ridden his illegal broom in
there the previous year. "Magic is still forbidden in the corridors, and
there is a rather extensive list of forbidden items in Mr. Filch's office.
That is all. Good evening."
Harry and Hermione got up and walked over to the head table.
"Headmistress," said Harry with a grin, "Can we talk to you for a minute?"
"Certainly, Mr. McGonagall," she replied. "What's this I hear about you
getting in trouble on the train?"
"What?" he asked. "Oh. That. Malfoy came to our compartment causing
trouble, and that idiot, Percy Weasley, came by and took his side. He
wouldn't even listen to his own little sister. She was with us. I'd be glad
to give you that memory."
"I'd appreciate that." She then conjured a vial and Harry gave her the
memory. "I want to see how Mr. Weasley handles his responsibilities. He's
on the short list for Head Boy next year. However, I'm afraid that if I
return those points directly to you, it may cause trouble." Harry looked
confused. "Malfoy will say I'm favoring you. Therefore, I'll simply add a
few extra points to any Ravenclaws this week who earn them in my class.
I'll speak to Professor Flitwick about it. He knows how young Malfoy
loves to cause trouble."
Harry smiled. "Thanks, but that's not what we wanted to talk about."
"Oh. Then what is it?"
Hermione answered, "Is anybody using Hagrid's old hut?"
"No. Why?"
"Well," explained Harry, "My Game Boy worked almost all the way to the
school, so I wanted to find a safe place to use electronic things…"
"And we thought it could double as headquarters for C.A.R.E."
"You'd like to take it over?" the Headmistress asked. They nodded. "I don't
see why not. I'll send someone there to make sure it's safe, and then you'll
be responsible for cleaning it." The kids had matching smiles. "I'd imagine
you'll want to replace the furniture with something of a more…
appropriate size. And you won't need the bed."
"Thank you," said Harry.
"I suppose you'll occasionally want to hold social gatherings there to use
your music."
"Yes, Professor," replied Hermione. "We also thought that the cabin could
occasionally be used for a Muggle Studies demonstration."
Minerva looked thoughtful. "That would be a good idea. I shall bring it
up at the next staff meeting. Let me know in advance if you're going to
have more than ten people there. I'll let you know when the place has
been checked for dangerous creatures." Harry didn't understand the
sneaky expression on his aunt's face.
"Thanks a lot, Aunt Minnie."
"You're welcome, Harry. Oh, and it may interest you to know that the
password for Ravenclaw tower is Omniscience."
"Oh, yeah, thanks," Hermione said, blushing. "We forgot to ask."
"I thought as much. Good night, you two."
"Good night."
As the two of them turned to leave, Harry caught a glimpse of an elf
behaving rather strangely. Instead of working – for example, cleaning up
a mess – it was against a wall looking at him. Harry blinked and it was
gone, so he shook his head, supposing he'd imagined it, and began
walking toward Ravenclaw Tower.
They were about half-way to the tower when there was a loud bang in a
nearby classroom. Harry's wand was in his right hand almost
immediately. "Stay here, Hermione. I'm gonna see what's wrong."
"Oh, no you don't," she replied, with her wand out as well, "I'm going,
too."
With his companion right behind him, Harry stepped into the dark
classroom. He heard a finger snap, and the door slammed behind them.
From behind him, Hermione asked, "What is goin…." CRASH!
He turned around to see that where she should be was a structure the
size of a wardrobe. She was obviously trapped inside it.
The room lit up, and a house elf wearing what appeared to be an old,
filthy pillowcase, stepped out of the shadows. She had several bruises all
over her body.
"Let Hermione go!" Harry demanded as he angrily pointed his wand at
the elf.
"Your Hermy is safe. I is Tribly," she said, "and you is being Harry Potter."
He stopped in his tracks. "What?"
"I is having terrible news. There is a plot. Hogwarts is not safe! Harry
Potter must be leaving!"
"Who's plotting what?" he demanded.
"Tribly is hearing master plotting terrible things to happen at Hogwarts,
but is being happy that Harry Potter isn't at Hogwarts. Today, Tribly is
using elf magic to locate Harry Potter, just to be sure, and finds that
Harry Potter is at Hogwarts. Tribly is distressed! Harry Potter must go
home!"
Harry lowered his wand. "Who is your master, Tribly?"
"Tribly must not be telling."
He squatted down next to her and kindly asked, "Is your master the one
who hurt you," while indicating her bruises. "That's now illegal."
"Tribly is knowing the law, but mustn't speak ill of her master. If he is
losing another elf from care…"
"Another elf!" repeated Harry as the elf put her hands over her mouth.
"The only one who's lost an elf because of C.A.R.E. is Malfoy." The elf's
eyes bulged out. She quickly snapped her fingers and disappeared. At the
same moment, the walls around Hermione disappeared and the door to
the classroom opened.
"What's going on?" asked Hermione, looking scared.
"The Malfoys are up to something."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry told Hermione what happened, and she insisted on telling his aunt
the next day. Harry decided not to tell the rest of his family when he
spoke to them that night.
At breakfast, they found out that they had Potions first period.
"This should be good. Aunt Minnie says that Professor LaVelle is really
nice."
"That should be a nice change," commented Padma.
"We might actually learn something in class," said Hermione, "What a
concept."
"I hope Professor LaVelle isn't suffering from psaterics. That would cause
her to grow horns when she inhales fumes from certain potions,"
explained Luna, who was sitting with them. Padma and Michael Corner
stared at her.
"Um, me, too," said Harry. "I think it's time to go. Good luck with your
first day, Luna."
"Thank you," she said politely as they left.
As soon as they'd exited the Great Hall, Michael whispered, "That girl is
loony."
"Maybe a bit," said Harry, shrugging his shoulders, "but she means well.
She's not hurting anybody. I'd much rather deal with ten of her than one
Malfoy, so save your insults for him."
"All right, all right," he said, putting his hands up. "Sorry. I didn't know
you fancied her." Hermione paled at that statement.
"I don't fancy her," said Harry, without so much as the slightest blush. "I
just don't see any reason to be unfriendly. She hasn't done anything to
you." Hermione smiled.
-HM-HM-HM-
They arrived early for their first Potions lesson with their new professor.
When it was time, she said, "Good morning, class. My name, as you all
know, is Professor LaVelle." She spoke with a very slight accent that was
hard to detect. Harry thought she sounded a bit nervous, which was
understandable since it was her very first class, and included the
headmistress' nephew. "I'm going to take attendance before we get
started." She then named off the students, beginning with Hannah Abbot
of Hufflepuff, the house that the Ravenclaws were sharing Potions with.
"Now, as I understand it, Potions hasn't been properly taught here for
years. The records my predecessor left indicate that you did complete
several potions last year, but I'm willing to bet that you never went over
the reasons why certain ingredients work together. Am I right?" They all
nodded. "Very well. Everyone, get out a new parchment and a quill.
We're going to make a chart."
After everyone was ready, she said, "The first potion you made last year
was to cure boils. Can anyone name an ingredient in it?"
Both Hermione and Harry stuck their hands in the air, along with several
other Ravenclaws.
"Mr. McGonagall?"
"Porcupine quills."
"Correct. One point to Ravenclaw. Everyone put that on your chart. Now
the properties of porcupine quills are…" She explained exactly what its
properties were and what it did in that potion. For the rest of the lesson,
they went over different ingredients for the potions they'd made the
previous year. It was very informative. Near the end of class, she
announced, "For the next lesson, we'll be making the Deflating Draught. I
want each of you to hand in a report with an introduction that explains
what the potion does, at least a paragraph about the properties of each
ingredient, followed by an explanation of how they work together to
form that potion. No less than two feet of parchment." Everyone but
Hermione groaned. "Class dismissed."
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter end
15. Practice and Preparation
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 15 – Practice and Preparation
The next class they had was Herbology with the Slytherins, where they
learned how to repot Mandrakes. Harry found it rather amusing when he
noticed one of the baby Mandrakes try to bite Draco's finger off. 'Too bad
Malfoy's wearing gloves,' he thought. He further wondered what Draco
would say if he knew his own elf was betraying his family. 'How on earth
can they be so stupid as to expect an elf they beat to be loyal?' He wisely
didn't say anything about it in that room, for fear of the pompous idiot
overhearing.
Before long, Harry, Hermione, and Padma were sitting together at the
Ravenclaw table for lunch.
"Are you gonna tell your Aunt about the Malfoys' elf in Transfiguration
class?" whispered Padma.
"I'll ask to talk with her and show her the memory."
"May I come," asked Hermione. "All I saw were walls."
Harry smiled slightly. "Yeah. I think she was trying to protect my
identity," he whispered. "She didn't know if you knew, and didn't want to
give it away. I think she does understand that I am safer if no one knows
who I am."
"Probably," whispered Padma. "Can I come, too?"
-HM-HM-HM-
After lunch, they headed to the Transfiguration classroom, where they
were surprised to see Matthew Shapon sitting at Aunt Minnie's desk.
Harry glanced around the room, looking for either his aunt or a cat, with
no success. He frowned. He supposed he'd have to wait until dinner to
talk to his aunt. The Assistant Professor stood up, smiling nervously.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Professor Shapon. As you know, Professor
McGonagall is now Headmistress, and has many important, time-
consuming duties to perform. Sometimes, like today, she'll ask me to
teach the class for her. She asked me to remind you that the same rules
that apply when she's here also apply when she's not, which means no
messing around." He then took a roll of parchment off the desk. "I'm now
going to take attendance."
After roll call, he began teaching them how to turn a beetle into a button,
which Harry and Hermione did on their first try, earning Ravenclaw two
points each. It took until Padma's second attempt, because the button
from her first attempt moved just as Matthew got to her desk to inspect
her work. Harry noticed that Padma seemed to slightly blush whenever
she had the Assistant Professor's attention.
-HM-HM-HM-
As the trio was headed down the stairs on the way to dinner, Harry
stopped suddenly. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at a tiny electric blue
creature flying in front of them holding a portrait.
"I don't know," said Padma with a smirk, "but it's got a picture of
Lockhart."
"That looks like a pixie," said Hermione, but how…"
At that moment, Neville Longbottom came running up the staircase with
his wand out. "Immobulus!" he shouted, sending a clever freezing charm
Hermione had taught them in their study group the previous year at the
tricky little blighter, causing it to stay where it was. "Got it!" he declared
happily as he took a step toward it, only for his foot to fall through the
trick stair.
"What happened?" asked Harry as he walked toward his friend.
"Lockhart, that's what. First, he gave us a pop quiz about his favorite
color and other rubbish like that. Then, he let loose a bunch of Cornish
Pixies on us. Once they got his wand, he ran for it! They picked poor Ron
up and hung him from the chandelier."
Harry couldn't help but laugh at that picture as he helped Longbottom
out of his predicament. Hermione, who was now holding the painting of
Lockhart and gazing at it dreamily said, "That's not funny, Harry. Not
funny at all. I'm sure that Professor Lockhart simply wanted to give you
all a hands-on lesson, and his quiz was just to see how closely you read
his books. In Year with the Yeti, he clearly stated that his favorite color is
lilac, just like the attractive suit he's wearing in this picture."
Harry blinked. He couldn't believe that his best friend was so smitten
with that fraud that she'd make excuses for losing his wand to a pixie and
running away. He turned back to Neville. "Are the rest still flying around
the school?"
"No. That was the last of them," he said, taking the now portrait-less
pixie. He turned to Hermione with a mischievous smirk. "Shall I leave
you with the portrait and tell Lockhart that it's gone?"
"Ye…No. No, or course not. Don't be ridiculous. Here you go." She said
all that without taking a breath as she hastily returned it. Harry, Padma
and Neville all got a good laugh at Hermione's expense. Her face was
completely pink.
"Er, I can't wait until dinner. Do you think they'll have roast beef?" She
walked ahead of them, barely managing to avoid the trick stair.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," said Minerva as she, Harry,
Hermione and Padma exited her Pensieve. They'd spoken to her during
dinner and she invited them to her office.
"So, you see why we think Lucius Malfoy is up to something," asked
Harry.
"Especially in light of what Draco started to say on the train," added
Hermione.
"I certainly agree that it looks that way," agreed Minnie, "but for now, I
believe that all we can do is keep our eyes open and wait for something
to happen."
"Isn't there something you can do?" asked Padma. "Can't you drag the
little ferret in here and make him drink veritaserum?" By the expression
on Harry's face, she knew that he agreed with that plan.
"I'm afraid not," said Minerva. "There are limits to what a Headmistress
can get away with, and the use of that potion on a student is strictly
forbidden. Lucius Malfoy would have me sacked and in Azkaban faster
than you can say, illegal."
"I suppose so," agreed Harry, reluctantly. "Did you hear about Lockhart's
first lesson with the Second-Year Gryffindors?" he added, changing the
subject.
Minerva's lips thinned. "Yes. I even saw some of his students running
around chasing pixies. I can't understand what that idiot was thinking!"
Hermione looked scandalized. "Headmistress! Even though his teaching
methods may be a bit…unusual, I'm sure that they learned a lot. I don't
think it's polite to refer to him as an idiot just because you…"
"You're quite right, Hermione. It was improper. I apologize. It's not good
policy to speak ill of my colleagues, no matter what I think of them, and I
shouldn't encourage you to disrespect them."
"Don't worry, Aunt Minnie. I don't need any encouragement to disrespect
Professor Lockhart."
"Harry!" hissed Hermione.
"Young man," said Minerva sternly, with only the slightest hint of a smile
that only those closest to the headmistress could detect, "Listen, and
listen good. Don't let me catch you pulling any pranks on Professor
Lockhart. The consequences would be severe."
"Yes, Aunt Minnie," he said submissively. He didn't add, "I won't let you
catch me at it," even though that's what he was thinking and knew that's
exactly what his aunt meant.
"Although it would be interesting to see how he deals in person with the
situations he's described in his books," she added.
"Yes," agreed Hermione dreamily, "It would be amazing to see first-hand
how heroic he is."
It was all Harry could do to stop himself from losing his dinner right
there. He rolled his eyes at his aunt, and she winked at him. He almost
burst out laughing.
"Indeed," agreed Minerva. "Now, if that's all you'd like to discuss…" They
nodded. "I've got a bit of parchmentwork to fill out before turning in."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, Harry was waiting in the common room for Hermione
and Padma when Luna Lovegood came walking up the stairs.
He politely said, "Good morning, Luna."
She was wearing her school robes, but had one white shoe and one black
one. She answered, "Good morning, Harry," with her normal vacant
expression and started looking around the common room, causing some
of the girls who were downstairs to snigger.
He watched her look behind a plant in the corner and under a couch
before he decided to interrupt her. "Looking for nargles?" he asked.
She stopped, got up, and looked at him. "Not precisely, but I do suspect
that they're behind it. Some of my clothes, half of my shoes, some
parchment, and two of my books are gone."
"What?" he asked, shocked.
"Yes. Nargles sometimes steal things. It's in their nature."
Harry was mad. He couldn't believe there were thieves in Ravenclaw.
"Was everything in your dorm room when your things vanished?" he
asked.
"Yes. I think the nargles struck last night."
He pulled out his wand. "Accio, Luna's stolen things."
While several items, including the mates to both shoes Luna was wearing,
came up the staircase, a few things came out of the pockets and bags of
the older girls that were already in the room. A roll of parchment came
out of the bag of a female fifth-year prefect who was talking to Penny
Clearwater. Harry saw them both follow it to him as the other girls
gathered around him as well.
"Harry," asked Penny, "what are you doing, taking these girls' things?"
He glared at her, not knowing whether she was part of this or not. "I'm
not stealing anything! I simply summoned the things that were stolen last
night from Luna!"
As he put the parchment in Ms. Lovegood's already full arms, Penelope
looked at her fellow prefect, who looked guiltily to the ground.
Clearwater looked around at the other female Ravenclaws who'd lost
contraband to Harry's summoning charm. All it took was one look to
confirm the truth to Penny as the rest of the girls started making their
way up into the common room. "I, I can't believe you all! Robbing a first
year! Especially you, Roberta! You just made prefect! You ought to be
ashamed of yourself!"
"Lighten up, Penny. It's just Loony…"
"What terrible thing has she done to you to deserve this?!" Harry yelled.
He then added, "You SLYTHERIN thief!"
"Now listen here, boy!" Roberta said, "Just because your aunt is…"
"This has nothing to do with my aunt, you thief! Didn't your mom ever
tell you that stealing is wrong?"
"It was just a joke!"
"No! I love pranks, but this wasn't one. It was theft! Besides, pranks are
for the deserving, like Filch, who goes around talking about how he
wants to hang us all by our thumbs! Luna hasn't done anything to you!"
"Harry," said Luna evenly, "It's all right. You don't have to…"
"What's going on?" asked Hermione, who just arrived. Harry saw that
Padma was with her.
"Half the girls, including this prefect, robbed Luna last night." He acted
disgusted when he indicated Roberta.
Hermione's eyes widened as she looked at the fifth-year. "Even you?
You're supposed to set an example!"
Harry noticed that Hermione was close to losing her temper, and he
didn't want any hexing to start, mainly because he wasn't sure he could
take on a fifth-year. He did still have his wand out – just in case. "I think
we've got things under control now, don't we, Penny?"
"Yes, I think so." She looked each of the thieves that had been caught in
the eyes. "I've never been ashamed to be in this house before today. "Fifty
points from Ravenclaw!"
"Fifty?" questioned Roberta. "You can't take that many away! I'll…"
"You'll what, Roberta? Complain to Flitwick that I didn't allow you to rob
a first-year! He'll take away your badge if he finds out, and I've half-a-
mind to tell him! I can't believe you were a part of this! I trusted you!"
"You can't!"
"I won't tell him about this incident…this time," said Penny calmly. "But
if any one of you does something like this again, I'll make sure you spend
the rest of the year mopping the floors with your tongue while Filch
supervises." She then turned to Luna. "I'm sorry that this happened, Luna.
I want you to let me know if anything else of yours turns up missing."
"You don't have to…"
"It's my job. You want me to do my job properly, don't you?"
"Yes, Penelope."
-HM-HM-HM-
They went down to an uneventful breakfast, and then on to Double
Defense Against the Dark Arts for their first lesson with Lockhart. Harry
didn't understand why Hermione's infatuation with the old fraud bugged
him so much. He knew nothing would ever come of it, but he felt a small
twinge of…something he couldn't define…whenever she complimented
the creep. Trying to avoid thinking about that, he wondered whether
they'd have the same pixie lesson that Neville had had the day before.
"Good morning, class," Gilderoy announced cheerily, managing to show
all of his perfect teeth. "Allow me to introduce you to your new Defense
Against the Dark Arts teacher – me, the Great Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of
Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League,
and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award –
but I don't talk about that. I didn't conquer the Yeti by smiling at it!"
He waited for them to laugh; only a few people, Hermione included, did.
He then began handing out test papers and said, "You have thirty minutes
– start – now!"
Harry looked down at his paper, and realized that it was indeed the same
test that Neville had taken when he read the first question.
1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?
He did remember what Hermione had said the day before, but he wasn't
going to answer these stupid questions the way Lockhart wanted. Dipping
his quill in a bottle of ink, he wrote, 'Gold – like a Galleon.'
2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?
Harry answered, 'To make tons of Galleons by forcing hundreds of students
to buy all his worthless books by being their teacher.'
3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?
'Achieving the lowest O.W.L. scores for the last 500 years – the lowest ever for
a Slytherin.'
On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:
54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?
'Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday was one of the saddest days in our history, and
his ideal gift would be yet another picture of himself to add to his collection,
but he wouldn't say no to a bag of gold.'
While Lockhart was flipping through the papers, Harry noticed his eyes
bulge out as he looked at what Harry thought was his own test paper. He
quickly moved it to the bottom of the stack and started complimenting
Hermione's answers, causing her to blush, much to Harry's irritation.
-HM-HM-HM-
"So," asked Harry after they left the class, which did not include the
pixies, "what did Professor Lockhart teach us in class today, Hermione?
Besides how red you can get when a teacher you fancy compliments you."
She stopped dead in her tracks as all her blood rushed to her cheeks. "I
do NOT fancy him," she declared. "And as for our lesson," her brow
furrowed, showing Harry that she was deep in thought. "Er, he…he was
just trying to, to break the ice. He wanted us to get to know each other
better. I'm sure that our next lesson will be much more…informative."
Harry was truly getting sick of the way Hermione was defending that
bloke, and he currently wasn't sure she wouldn't turn him in for pranking
Lockhart. He decided that, for the first time in his Hogwarts career, he
was going to have to do something behind Hermione's back.
-HM-HM-HM-
"So, what did you want,"
"to talk about?" asked the Weasley twins. Harry had sent them a note
with Hedwig to meet him.
"I think Lockhart's a fraud, and I want to prove it. I figure that we should
prank him in such a way that a wizard of his supposed skill should be
able to easily avoid, but instead he'll have to ask for help undoing the
jinxes."
"Sounds like a…" said George.
"Worthy cause," completed Fred.
Together, they sacredly said, "To insure the competence of the staff –
every student's responsibility."
"We are surprised…"
"That Hermione's not here."
"Nor Padma."
Harry's ears turned slightly pink. "Well, Hermione fancies the ponce, er,
like most of the girls, I guess, and I don't know how Padma feels about
him. I don't want to risk either of them interfering."
Both Fred and George smiled at each other. "We understand, now."
"He's a rival for Hermione's affections."
Harry's face turned red. "He is not! I'm not after Hermione's…er,
affections. I'm just concerned about her. That's all!"
"Of course." Fred winked at him.
"We believe you." Now George winked.
"Look, are you in or out?"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, while the Gryffindor Quidditch team was having an
early practice, and allowing a first-year to try out to become the youngest
Seeker in a century (due to how poorly their previous Seeker had
performed), Lockhart was nervously opening the door to Hagrid's old hut.
He'd been ordered by the Headmistress to inspect it for any hazards, and
warned that she didn't know what kinds of dark creatures the half-giant
who'd previously inhabited it kept as pets. She'd also said that her
nephew would be among those who used it, and if anything dangerous
was still in there after Lockhart said it was safe, he'd be in serious
trouble. He didn't know that the Headmistress was following him,
disillusioned.
"He wouldn't have had anything dangerous," Lockhart said to himself
shakily. "I'll just go in there and nothing will attack me, and then I'll
certify it as safe."
Minerva had a hard time not chuckling when she thought of the creatures
she'd put in there while Matthew was handling her classes the last few
days. She didn't consider it wrong to give the Assistant Professor extra
experience. In fact, from what she'd heard, he'd done an excellent job.
The DADA Professor opened the door to find the room full of people. Not
just any people, he realized with horror. They were people he'd
interviewed and obliviated for his books, and they looked angry.
"LOCKHART, YOU FRAUD!" one of them shouted. "You said you'd make
me famous! Instead, once I told you my story, you erased my memory!"
While others made similar claims, Minerva stood there, shocked. She'd
suspected he'd made up the stories in his books – not that he'd stolen the
stories in such a cruel way. She unfortunately knew that a person's
boggart can't be considered evidence. Gilderoy could claim that it's his
fear that others will falsely claim he'd done that, but she knew the truth.
Just as she was beginning to wonder if he'd ever catch on, Lockhart
began to stutter.
"Wh,wh,wh, wait a minute. You're dead." He was pointing at an old man.
"Y-you'd be older now." He was looking at a girl. This has got to be…
what were they called?" he said as he absently moved his wand. "This is
so ridiculous!" Suddenly, all of the faces had blank expressions like they'd
just lost their memories. Lockhart then began to laugh cruelly at them,
and the boggart was banished. He then looked around to make sure no
one had seen, not noticing the slight distortion. Minerva smiled as she
noticed a wet spot in the front of his robes. She saw him notice that and
mutter, "I wish I knew a drying spell. Is this stupid job worth this? Maybe
I should…"
Minerva quickly made herself visible and shouted happily from behind
Lockhart. "Oh, Gilderoy. I see you're about to inspect the house. Would
you care for some help?"
He stiffened for a moment before saying (without turning around), "N-No
that's perfectly all right. I have everything under control here." She
stayed until he actually stepped inside and started walking away, making
the door close without him seeing her do it. She then disillusioned herself
again to watch more.
-HM-HM-HM-
Gilderoy had looked over his shoulder to see Minerva walk away, having
planned to immediately leave when suddenly the door slammed. He tried
opening it unsuccessfully, and realized he was trapped. That's when all
hell broke loose. He heard a fluttering of wings above him, and looked up
to see about fifty winged keys that suddenly turned on him. He dropped
to the floor in fright and tried to crawl under the bed for cover while his
clothes, hands, and head were cut up by his attackers. He was doing his
best to keep his hands over his face as he shimmied along.
When he got under the bed, he placed his left hand in a yellowish liquid
that smelled of petrol. He suddenly found himself in tremendous pain and
jumped back out while screaming in agony. He didn't know it, but he'd
put his hand in a puddle of bubotuber puss. The keys continued their
attack as he ran to the curtains, intent on wiping the puss from his hand
on them. When he did, a swarm of fairy-like creatures covered in black
hair flew out of the curtains at him. He didn't know what they were, but
he soon found out that they had sharp, venomous teeth when one got his
neck.
By this time, his clothes were torn up; his face, hands, and neck were
bleeding; his hair was disheveled; and he was crying. Soon, the doxies
from the curtains began biting his hair off. He screamed even more as he
fell to the ground and assumed the fetal position.
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva felt he'd had enough (she didn't want to kill him, after all – that
would be too much parchmentwork), so she sent a Patronus (which was
quite easy to produce under the circumstances) to a few of her colleagues
to summon them there. Since they'd been waiting for the sign, they were
there within five minutes when Minerva gently opened the door to reveal
Lockhart still in that position crying as keys and doxies continually
attacked him. Flitwick, Sprout, Sinistra, and Kettleburn (the four heads of
house), along with Madam Pomfrey, all looked on in amusement. He
hadn't noticed them. Flitwick pulled out his wand and performed a few
charms. Within seconds, the attackers were on the ground, frozen stiff.
Minerva walked up to the weeping Defense teacher and cleared her
throat. He looked up at her and muttered, "Is it over?" before his eyes
widened to see the others there as well. With what little dignity he had,
he got up and tried adjusting the rags he was wearing. "You shouldn't
have interfered," he said confidently, "I had them right where I wanted
them."
"Really?" asked Minerva with a smirk.
"Oh, yes. You see, I wanted to pretend, er, for the sake of my classes. You
see, I wanted to try and learn what it's like to be a victim. You see, a man
of my talent has never really had anything to fear. Therefore, I refrained
from defending myself. Unfortunately, since I knew the whole time that I
was in no real danger, I didn't experience what I was hoping for – fear."
Minerva could almost smell the manure Lockhart's story was filling the
cabin with as Madam Pomfrey began healing his wounds without a word.
Sprout suggested, "Then perhaps you would care to assist me in
eliminating the infestation of garden gnomes that have made their way
into one of the classrooms. We'll just throw them out the window. They
shouldn't be able to return. The room is on the fifth floor."
He smiled charmingly at her, glad he hadn't lost any teeth, and said, "I'd
love to assist you, Pomona, but unfortunately, I'll be busily grading
homework for the next few weeks."
"I see," she responded.
-HM-HM-HM-
After Flitwick left, Minerva quickly took care of any threats in that room
and asked Harry, Hermione and Padma to come to her office, where she
showed them the memory of what had happened at Hagrid's old hut.
Hermione looked more distressed than Harry had ever seen her.
"B-but he…he wrote…how could he? He lied. Not only that, but it looks
like he erased their memories. How could he? And he laughed, laughed
at them." Her face turned hard and unforgiving. "He got what he
deserved! You shouldn't have helped him!"
"Miss Granger, Hermione," said Minerva. "I agree that his behavior is
abominable, but I couldn't just let him die." She took a deep breath.
"Unfortunately, there is no evidence of what he's done." She then looked
at the three kids with a smirk. "However, if for some reason he didn't like
it here and decided to quit, that would be another story."
Harry looked around at the two girls, and could tell by their expressions
that he could now count them in on the plans he and the Weasley twins
were making. "That would be so…unfortunate," he said, not bothering to
hide the sarcasm.
"Anyway," said Minerva, "the hut has been cleared of anything
dangerous. You may now take possession of it. I suggest you ask the
house elves for assistance. I've already authorized them to give you any
spare furniture in the castle and any other assistance you may need."
-HM-HM-HM-
Later that afternoon, Hermione was reluctant at first to take Professor
McGonagall's suggestion about using the elves until Harry asked her this
question:
"Are you going to pick up Hagrid's bed and get it out of here?"
Her ears turned pink as Padma giggled.
"Er, no, I suppose not. It's not like it's hard for them to do something like
this. It shouldn't do any harm."
"And remember," added Padma, "We're not trying to put them out of
work right now – just stop the abuse. They should actually be happy to
help make this into our office."
-HM-HM-HM-
With the help of a few elves, who were only too honored to help, all of
the giant-sized furniture was eliminated within five minutes of that
conversation. Some bookshelves, two normal-sized tables, fifteen chairs
and a trunk with a very sturdy lock were brought in. Harry set his boom
box on one of the bookshelves, and they listened to music while they
worked. When the place was set up properly, with ten C.A.R.E.-related
books in it, Harry started playing on his Game Boy while Padma was
reading one of the books and Hermione was composing a list of other
books to get. While they were still doing that, there was a knock at the
door. Hermione opened it.
"Hello, Professor McGonagall," she said.
Harry paused his game and looked up, grinning at his favorite aunt. "Hi.
What do you think?"
"The place certainly seems roomier without Hagrid-sized furniture in it. I
am curious why you have two tables here."
"That's so that we'll have room for more people to work if we have a
project or study groups," answered Hermione.
"Or if we have lunch here," added Padma with a grin. Each table had six
chairs with it, with the three remaining chairs in different corners.
"Well, you've certainly done a good job with it." She then got her wand
from its holster and performed a spell on the door handle. "I've
transfigured this lock to be much more secure," she explained before
pulling three keys out of her pocket. "I've already made these for you. I've
done something special with these keys so that a simple duplicating
charm won't make a key that works on the door. Come to me if you need
any more copies." She then handed one to each of them.
"What did you do to them?" asked Hermione curiously.
Minerva smiled inwardly at how eagerly the girl sought knowledge. She
was the quintessential Ravenclaw. However, she'd already made her
decision regarding the key. "That's for me to know and you to find out. I
don't want a thousand copies of that key floating around, and I think that
this is a good way to keep track of it. Perhaps one day I will show you,
but not for a couple years."
"Yes, Professor," Hermione said quickly.
"Very well. Enjoy your day, all three of you."
-HM-HM-HM-
The trio soon left Hagrid's old hut after Harry locked his boom box and
Game Boy in the trunk (that he also had a key to). They then revised for
a few hours, and then Harry decided to call his family. Hermione
mentioned that she was going to do the same thing.
"Hi, Brianna."
"Hey, Harry," she replied, smiling at her brother.
"How are things at home?"
"Great. They're making Lightfellow retire from baseball. They made him
fake an injury to stop him from playing until his trial. He's going to have
the hearing next month, and I've been asked to testify at it. I got the
letter yesterday. If somehow he gets off, then he'll say that he recovered.
If, as is expected, he gets convicted, his 'injury' will be so great he can't
play again. He might even get jail time."
"I'm surprised they need you to testify."
"I think they just want as many witnesses as they can get. Did you get
you and Hermione's love-shack ready yet?"
Harry's ears turned bright red, but he managed to keep a straight face.
"Perhaps you have a love-shack you share with Bobby, but the C.A.R.E.
headquarters is ready, if that's what you mean. Aunt Minnie liked it. She
had us watch her memory of that idiot Lockhart trying to inspect the
place. The doxies would've killed him. Of course, Hermione was
devastated watching it. Especially his boggart."
"What's a boggart?" asked Brianna.
Harry explained what they are, and what Lockhart's said to him, and then
the rest of what happened. Finally, he said, "Can you get me mom and
dad, or do I need to hang up on you and call them?"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry and Hermione got up early to go to the Quidditch
tryouts. Harry brought his broom along. They'd planned on sharing it
that day. The captain of the team, a seventh-year girl named Michelle
Hamilton, had posted it a few days before.
They arrived at the pitch to see a small crowd of about thirty people
sitting on the stands. Facing them was a very attractive girl with long,
curly red hair and a very nice figure. She was wearing a light blue t-shirt
and jeans under her open school robe that showed a Quidditch Captain
badge. She was floating on a broom held onto by just her legs, and
holding a muggle clipboard and a pen. He figured that she was a muggle-
born that had realized how inconvenient quills and ink were. Her brows
were furrowed with thought in a way that Harry thought was very cute.
He was staring open-mouthed at her.
"If you'll put your eyes back in your head," hissed Hermione irritably, "we
should take a seat."
He was brought out of his stupor by this. "I wasn't…" he said defensively
as his ears turned pink. Hermione never got to hear what Harry wasn't
doing, because at that moment, Michelle began to speak. They quickly sat
next to Cho Chang.
"Hello, everyone. Thanks for coming. For those of you who don't know,
Ravenclaw has both a regular and reserve Quidditch team. So far, we're
the only Hogwarts team that does, but doing the smart thing is part of
being a Ravenclaw. Am I right?" She asked the last question
enthusiastically, and earned a few yells of ascent and clapping. Smiling in
a way that, for some unexplained reason, made Harry's stomach feel
funny, she continued her speech.
"Although some of you were on the team last year and performed
admirably, I'm still requiring everyone to try out. I want to make sure we
have the best possible team, so every position, except mine as one of the
starting Chasers, is open right now. I'll apologize in advance if I hurt
anybody's feelings by rejecting them, but I want to win the Quidditch
Cup this year. I'm not trying to be mean and it's not personal." She took a
deep breath. "First of all, I'd like to make sure that everyone here can at
least fly properly."
She had half of the hopefuls, Harry included, fly around the pitch while
the other half watched. She eliminated five of them who seemed to
wobbling along on their broomsticks, acting as though this was their first
time flying. Harry landed beside Hermione. "Here you go," he said
smiling, handing her his broom so she could fly with the second group of
fifteen. "I know you don't need luck to get past this part." Hermione
would never admit it, but she was glad that Cho Chang was part of her
group, and wasn't sitting next to Harry.
After four others were eliminated, Hermione returned to Harry's side to
find him gazing at the Captain. "Harry," she said with a smirk, "Isn't
Michelle pretty?"
"Yeah…I mean, I suppose she's all right. Bit too old for my taste, of
course." Hermione was giggling as Harry's face turned red. She'd thought
about Harry's apparent crush on Ms. Hamilton while she was flying, and
realized that Harry would no more go after her than she would've gone
after Lockhart before watching the Pensieve. She also knew that Michelle
would be gone the next year, and probably had a boyfriend – if not a
fiancé. So, therefore, she decided that the best solution to the problem
was to tease Harry mercilessly about it.
"All right," said Michelle. "Now we're going to have tryouts for positions.
We'll start with Chasers, because we'll need them to test Beaters and
Keepers. The last position will be Seeker." She looked around at the
crowd. "I hope there's a good one out there, because I've heard that
Gryffindor's got a new Seeker, who they consider their secret-weapon. I
don't know anything else about this person."
The tryouts went all morning, with Hermione using the broom more than
Harry. She was kept in the mix with six others when the Beaters started
hitting Bludgers at them. One of the Beater-wanna-be's was so bad that
he almost hit Harry, who was patiently sitting in the stands. Finally, the
people trying out for Keeper were brought in, and six of the Chasers were
separated into two teams, and had to try to score goals while the Beaters
were going at them. It was a regular game minus the Seeker – the only
difference being that timeouts and replacements happened a lot more
often as Michelle was narrowing down her choices. Hermione scored a
few goals, but a few others scored more. Once, she was hit with a
Bludger, but managed to pass the Quaffle just before the impact, and did
stay on the broom. When the mock-game was declared over by the
Captain, who'd been taking notes the whole time, Hermione flew down
next to Harry.
"Thanks for letting me borrow your broom. Good luck." She seemed to
Harry as though she'd decided that she didn't make the team and was
trying to accept it.
"You did a good job out there, Hermione," he declared, earnestly.
"There were better Chasers out there, not to mention Michelle…"
"Who hasn't announced who's made the team yet. Maybe you have and
maybe you haven't. We'll deal with that, later. Either way, you still did
good out there. I was proud of you." Her ears turned pink as Harry
mounted his broom. "I've got to get out there."
As it turned out, only one other person was trying out for the Seeker
position, which pretty much guaranteed that he'd at least be a reserve.
The Captain was going to release the Snitch, and whoever caught it
would be the starting Seeker. That would change if the other showed
more skill during practices. Everyone else was allowed to leave if they
wanted. Hermione stayed. Harry looked at his competitor, Cho Chang,
and grinned. They were friends, and she was a member of C.A.R.E., so
this wasn't a grudge match. He said, "May the best man win."
She stuck her tongue out. "I'm sure she will."
After fifteen minutes, Harry was getting bored as he scanned the pitch,
with Cho marking him. He knew they'd missed lunch, and planned to
visit the kitchen once this was over. He hadn't caught sight of the Snitch,
and obviously Chang hadn't either. He decided to add some excitement.
He looked straight at the ground, gave an expression of enthusiasm, and
flew straight down. Cho followed.
He got closer and closer to the earth, gaining speed the whole way. When
he was four feet away from crashing, he pulled on his Lightning Bolt,
going level with his feet touching the blades of grass. He heard a small
thud behind him, and then Cho's angry voice shouting, "I'll get you for
that, McGonagall!" so he knew she was all right. He rose up in the air and
scanned the pitch again. He saw that his competitor was in the air again
by the time he was back where he'd started. He kept looking around, and
just as Chang got about level with him, he saw that the Snitch had
actually gone where he'd dived to before. He started diving back down
immediately, not even hearing Cho shout, "Do you honestly think you
can fool me again?"
He was half-way to the Snitch when he saw it starting to move away. He
adjusted his course to follow it, and heard a swear word coming from his
competitor just before his fist wrapped around the tiny winged ball. She
was still fifteen feet from him.
Michelle flew up to him, beaming. "Congratulations, McGonagall! That
was some great flying. You'll be our starting Seeker."
"Er, thanks," he said, blushing. He then turned his broom to fly over to
Cho, who appeared unhappy. "I'm sorry about that feint, Cho. I hope you
didn't get hurt."
Not looking very happy, but not angry either, she said, "Don't worry
about it, Harry. You out-flew me. You really are good."
"Thanks," he said, before flying down toward Hermione.
"Harry, I thought I was going to die when you did that dive! What were
you thinking? Don't ever do that again!"
He chuckled at her response. With a completely insincere expression on
his face, he answered, "Yes, mom."
-HM-HM-HM-
After sneaking to the kitchens for a late lunch, they went to library to do
some revision. They had the first meeting for the year of their study
group in about a half-hour.
"Oh look," said Hermione, "There's Ginny Weasley." He looked and saw
her sitting alone at a table. She did look very excited as she wrote into
what appeared to be the same book she'd had on the train. Harry
imagined that it was probably her diary.
"She looks happy," he commented.
"Why don't we go talk to her?" asked Hermione.
Shrugging his shoulders, he agreed and they went up to her.
"Hello, Ginny," said Hermione.
The girl stopped writing immediately and closed her book. "Hi,
Hermione, Harry."
"Er," said Harry, "We just wanted to ask how your first week has gone."
"Oh, really well. I'm…" She frowned for a moment and then her
expression became neutral. "Well, I'm doing good. Don't forget our bet."
He smiled. "I won't when it's time for me to collect. I just made the team."
Her eyes widened. "Y-you made it. Weren't you trying out for Seeker?"
He nodded. "Yes, so now I'll personally make sure we win."
The redhead turned to Hermione. "Did you make the team, too?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. The rest of the positions
haven't been listed yet."
"But she did a great job during the tryout."
"Well, good luck."
"Thanks," said Hermione. "Listen, we're going to have our study group in
about fifteen minutes. You're welcome to join us."
"Thanks, but I wouldn't want to be the only first-year."
"You won't be," said Harry, "Luna's gonna be here."
"You'll be able to ask for help with anything you're having a problem
with," said Hermione. "Just try it one time."
Ginny appeared deep in thought for a moment. "I suppose it won't hurt.
Ron's not in the group, is he?"
"No," answered Harry with a grin. He then turned to Hermione. "Why
don't we move the group to headquarters once everyone's here?"
"I don't see any reason not to," agreed Hermione with a grin.
"Where's that?" asked Ginny.
"You'll see," replied Harry. "We set it up yesterday."
-HM-HM-HM-
Half an hour later; Harry, Hermione, Padma, Anthony, Luna, Hannah,
Susan, Neville and Ginny were sitting at the tables in headquarters, with
soft music playing in the background. Harry had stopped by the kitchens
to get a pitcher of pumpkin juice and some cups while the others made
their way to the cabin. "Isn't this much better than the library?" Harry
asked after drinking deeply from his glass.
"There aren't any garflets here," said Luna in agreement, "so we should be
able to concentrate."
"Er, right," said Harry. The others had already been warned not to
comment on Luna's remarks. "To start out, do you or Ginny have any
specific problems with what you've been taught this week?"
The girls each had a few difficulties, although Luna explained hers in a
much more colorful way than Ginny. After moving on from there,
Hermione summarized what the younger girls needed to understand
before going on to second year material, doing her best to make sure the
girls weren't lost. The most extra time that was spent helping the first-
years was ten minutes, and Hermione felt that it would greatly benefit
them to see where they were headed. Both Ginny and Luna said they'd
meet with the group only once per week, since neither wanted to hold
the second-years back. The study session ended at dinner time.
-HM-HM-HM-
When the Ravenclaws got back to their common room after dinner, they
noticed that the Quidditch team was posted. Harry practically had to
carry his best friend to the message board so she could find out the
results of her tryout. She frowned when she saw that the starting Chasers
were Michelle Hamilton (Captain, 7th Year), Roger Davies (4th Year) and
Sean Bradley (3rd Year).
"I didn't make it," she said, sounding defeated.
"But you did make the reserves," announced Harry, pointing at her name
on that list.
Her frown turned into a smile for a moment, and then wavered. "Do, do
you think that my parents will still buy me a broom?"
"There's only one way to find out," he replied, grinning. He was certain
that her parents would still do it. She was a member of the team, after
all.
"I suppose so," she agreed, and went down to her dorm, presumably to
mirror call her folks.
Even though Harry already knew his name would be on the list, it still
felt good to read 'Harry McGonagall' as the starting Seeker. He was still
looking at the names when Hermione reappeared beside him. She was
beaming ear to ear.
"They said YES!" she declared, hugging him.
He hugged her back, saying, "I knew they would. I told you that you did
a good job. You wouldn't believe me."
She let go and smiled at him for a moment before looking back at the list.
"It says here that practices begin next Saturday. I should have it by then."
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the month went by swiftly after that, with the Weasley twins
planning the prank on Lockhart with the Golden Trio. They had to make
certain potions that required time to brew, so unfortunately, it wouldn't
be ready until October. A few minor pranks had been pulled on Gilderoy,
but nothing of consequence. By Wednesday, Hermione had gotten a
Nimbus 2001 from her parents, and was looking forward to trying it out
at practice. On Friday, Harry could have sworn that Ginny Weasley
received a wrapped broomstick with her mail, but didn't say anything
about it, although he did think that he'd done a better job of smuggling
one in the year before. He was honestly surprised that no one caught her.
Ravenclaw practices went very well, and it soon became obvious that
Hermione was the best reserve they had. Cho didn't seem to be holding a
grudge when she saw Harry at practices. The format of the practice
sessions was for the Captain to speak for about five minutes about any
problems or opportunities for improvement that she'd noticed, and then
they'd have a full game of the starters versus the reserves, with Michelle
interrupting any time she saw a problem. She wouldn't waste practice
time (where they had to reserve the pitch) talking strategy, especially
because most strategies only involved one of the positions. She'd hand
out scrolls to each player at the end of practice describing the strategies,
and tell them to talk to her before the next practice if anything wasn't
clear. If she did feel that the team needed a speech, she'd do it in a corner
of their common room.
Malfoy was mad that his punishment for the previous year still held, and
he wasn't allowed to play Quidditch for Slytherin until his fourth year.
Despite how the jerk bragged about his Quidditch abilities, Harry thought
it was probably good for Slytherin that he wasn't allowed to play. He had
no doubt that the idiot would find a way to buy his way onto the team,
and be the worst player out there.
Harry threw a small birthday party for Hermione with their study group,
only this time it was at Headquarters. He gave her a wrist wand holster
like his own. His family, using the mirrors, wished her a happy birthday
during the party as well. Before they knew it, October had arrived.
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter end
16. October Attacks
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 16 – October Attacks
"Come…come to me….Let me rip you….Let me tear you….Let me kill you…."
"What?" exclaimed Harry as he gave a huge jump, looking at his
companions with his pale face. The voice he'd just heard chilled him to
the bone. It was a voice of breath-taking, ice-cold venom. Fred, George,
Hermione, and Padma looked at him strangely. They were currently
inside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom preparing a prank on
Lockhart. It was after curfew, and Padma was keeping an eye on the
Marauder's Map while the others performed spells and set up potions
where they needed to be.
"What is it, Harry?" asked Hermione, looking concerned.
"Didn't you hear it?" he asked.
"Hear what?" asked Fred.
"Is there a teacher coming?" asked George.
"No. It wasn't a teacher. It said it wanted to kill."
"Maybe it was Filch," suggested George.
"Is he near here?" asked Fred, looking at Padma.
"No," she answered, after double-checking. "No one's near here. Your
little sister's wondering the corridors, though."
Fred and George looked proud and solemn. "Little Ginny's first time
violating Hogwarts' curfew."
"She's growing up."
"Where's she at?" asked Harry, curious.
"On the second floor," answered Padma. "Almost directly above us."
"I wonder if she pranked Lockhart's office," commented Fred.
"That would be funny," said Padma. "To be pranked twice in the same
day."
They all chuckled at that, continued working and made their way to
Ravenclaw Tower, where Padma gave the twins their map back so they
could make it to Gryffindor Tower.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning began normally, with the 'golden trio' eating breakfast
together at the Ravenclaw table with Luna.
"I wonder if Aunt Minnie'll be in class today," said Harry.
"I hope it's Professor Shapon," commented Padma dreamily, reminding
Harry of the crush his friend had on his aunt's assistant.
"I hope it's McGonagall," countered Hermione. "I have an extra credit
paper to hand in, and I wanted to speak to her about it." Harry and
Padma looked at Hermione like she'd grown a third eye while Luna was
staring blankly in front of her as she filled her mouth with scrambled
eggs. "What?"
"Hermione," said Harry gently, "You are at the top of the class, and we're
both over a month ahead in our assignments. You honestly don't need
extra credit."
"I wanted to write that essay," she said defensively. "I took my notes
about primates from the zoo and cross-referenced it with information
from a Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that I borrowed from the
library…"
"That's the N.E.W.T. Transfiguration book," interrupted Padma.
"Exactly," replied Hermione, sounding slightly irritated at being
interrupted. "The point is that I wrote a comparative analysis about the
difficulties of transfiguring various different primates into water goblets."
"I wonder if I should write a paper on transfiguring Crumple-Horned
Snorkacks into Nargles," commented Luna dreamily as she put down her
fork. "I understand that it is quite difficult," she added.
Harry controlled his expression to stop himself from smiling, and made
sure he didn't meet anyone else's eyes, knowing he'd burst out laughing at
the thought of the look on his aunt's face when she reads the title of
Luna's essay. His ears had become pink from his efforts. He cleared his
throat. "If I were you, Luna, I'd wait on doing any extra credit until I need
it. I believe you told us you were getting E's and O's on all your
transfiguration papers."
"Yes, I have," the blonde girl said, "although certain comments I'd made
comparing turning a mouse into a stone to turning a triple-legged vratch
into one were crossed out on my last parchment. I don't think Professor
McGonagall has heard of them."
"Really," asked Padma, sounding sarcastic, earning a quick glare from
Harry.
"Then maybe you shouldn't mention the creatures the Professor hasn't
heard of on your assignments," suggested Hermione.
For the first time in Harry's memory, Luna looked sad for a moment. "I
suppose I'll have to. I wouldn't want Professor McGonagall to believe that
I think I'm smarter than her just because I know about vratches. It might
make her feel bad." Her eyes brightened for a moment. "I should also get
her a subscription to the Quibbler so that she'll learn about them."
"Now that that's settled," said Harry with a grin, "I think we should be off
to our first class."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry's first class was Transfiguration with the Gryffindors, and his aunt
was present, so Hermione stayed after class to hand in her extra credit.
Harry handed in the summary of one of the Animagus book chapters as
well. After that, they had Herbology with the Slytherins, who had been
much more subdued without Snape to favor them, although nothing
could stop Malfoy from starting trouble.
Immediately after class, Draco, flanked by his bodyguards, approached
Harry, sneering. "Hey, McGonagall, I heard your aunt is taking a personal
interest in Lockhart. They were together near your precious care shack a
few weeks ago. Maybe he'll be your uncle soon." Crabbe and Goyle
sniggered as though he'd said something very funny.
Harry's hands closed into fists automatically. His face was turning red.
"She can't stand that ponce," he said as calmly as he could while glaring
at Draco. If he'd looked to his left or right, he'd have seen the concerned
expressions that his friends were shooting his way.
Draco continued, "Of course, I don't know how Lockhart can stand
someone as old and…"
"New sparks," muttered Harry, calling his wand to his right hand.
"Harry, no!" said Hermione, causing Draco to stop in mid-sentence. He
stuck his nose in the air, sniffing around, with an expression on his face
like he'd smelled something awful.
"I knew I smelled a disgusting mudblood, Granger," he declared, causing
Dumb and Dumber to laugh once again. "Maybe you should go back in
there and beg Sprout to give you some dragon dung to use as perfume. It
would make you smell much better."
At the same time, Padma was whispering the incantation for a spell the
Weasley twins had taught them, while taking advantage of the fact that
the three stooges were all looking at Hermione. "Nidor sicut fimus," she
said while aiming her wand at Draco's midsection. She quickly put it
away.
"Isn't it strange," commented Harry, who'd noticed Padma's actions, in a
scientific tone of voice, "how inbreeding causes problems with the
subject's senses, such as smell."
"Indeed," agreed Hermione in a haughty voice.
"They smell themselves," continued Harry, "and believe it was someone
five feet from them. Let's go."
As the Ravenclaw trio was leaving, the Slytherins were just noticing a
horrid smell coming from Draco. "Ewww, Draco," muttered Crabbe (the
first words Harry had ever heard him speak) I think you went in your
pants."
"I did n…" yelled Draco as an expression of comprehension dawned on
his face. "It was them!" He pulled out his wand, aiming for Harry's back.
"Accio, Malfoy's left shoe," Harry muttered. He'd just been waiting for
Draco to catch on. His left foot kicked up of its own accord, knocking him
off balance. Harry stopped his spell so the arrogant fool could
spectacularly fall on his backside, dropping his wand in the process. It
rolled about ten feet away.
Harry and his friends kept walking while Draco shouted, "Help me up,
you idiots!"
Goyle started to bend toward him, but stopped, saying, "Sorry, Draco. I
just can't stand the smell." By this time, a small crowd had gathered to
watch the show. They were all commenting on how repulsive Malfoy
smelled.
-HM-HM-HM-
During lunch, one of the Weasley twins winked at Harry from the
Gryffindor table, thus assuring him that the house elves had agreed to
add something special to Lockhart's and another student's meal. Harry
had a feeling that his aunt had instructed the elves to obey any
instructions from them to prank Lockhart. It was the only reason they'd
go along with it that made sense to the Boy-Who-Lived. He couldn't wait
for lunch to be over so they could get to class. This was the first time he'd
looked forward to one of Lockhart's lectures. The second year Ravenclaws
and Hufflepuffs were going to get a good show.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Good afternoon, class," Lockhart said with a toothy grin. He was wearing
his lilac outfit that he loved so much, and Harry was glad that the clown
was wearing his favorite clothes. Using his old wand, Harry
inconspicuously began the prank. "It's show time," he whispered while
Lockhart was doing a demonstration with that day's victim. This
password began the sequence of events.
"Now class, when I, the brave Gilderoy Lockhart, was facing those twenty
ghouls, did I show fear? No," he declared as he made Justin Finch-
Fletchley come to the front of the class and raise his hands threateningly
while pretending to be a ghoul. "I simply…ahhh Fire!" He'd noticed that a
copy of Magical Me that had been on his desk was now in flames. What
he didn't know was that this fire was releasing a chemical into the air
that worked with the potion the fraud had ingested, and would produce a
result in less than five minutes.
Lockhart, in a panicked state, ran close to the precious tome, and pointed
his wand at it. "Aqua-mint!" he said confidently, causing nothing. He
tried again, and a small white object that was shaped like a tear appeared
in front of his wand and fell to the floor without a sound. By this time,
the desk had caught fire.
Hermione pointed her wand at the desk and said, "Aguamenti," causing a
stream of water to shoot from her wand, directly to the burning book,
putting out the fire. It was at that moment that Lockhart had breathed in
enough of the chemical.
Lockhart nervously said to his class, "Just a little, er, pop quiz, to see if…"
He stopped speaking, because he no longer could. He'd transformed into
a peacock.
Justin, who was still at the front of the class, touched Gilderoy's head,
saying, "Profess…" He stopped speaking, because he noticed that another
Hufflepuff – Ernie Macmillan – had changed form as well, only his form
was not a peacock.
The arrogant Hufflepuff was now fourteen feet tall, full of white fur, with
long claws and fangs. Anyone who'd looked at the covers of Lockhart's
books instantly recognized that their classmate had been turned into a
Yeti.
The peacock disappeared, replaced once again by Professor Lockhart. He
smiled for a moment, until he noticed the Abominable Snowman standing
in his classroom. His face paled as he shouted, "It's a Yeti! Run for your
lives!" as he bolted for the door. Ernie, however hadn't even moved yet.
The moment Lockhart's hand touched the doorknob, a huge, foot-wide,
yellow streak of paint appeared down the middle of his whole body – on
his hair, face, and clothes. However, the Order of Merlin recipient was so
scared he didn't notice as he wrenched the door open and ran. The whole
class erupted in laughter. Ernie returned to normal before the mirth had
died down.
"So you see," said Harry when he'd stopped chuckling, "the actual way
that Gilderoy Lockhart the Brave handles a Yeti is by running for it,
leaving a room full of kids behind to save themselves."
"Maybe he's getting specialized equipment," suggested one of the
Hufflepuff girls.
At that moment, an elderly wizard with short gray hair and a well-
trimmed beard that looked rather strong that Harry recognized as one of
the teachers, but did not know his name, ran into the room, wand
brandished. "Where is the Yeti?" he demanded in his scratchy voice.
"It's gone," said Padma with a straight face. "Apparently someone thought
it was funny to turn Ernie into one for a few seconds." The smart Patil
twin acted like she had been annoyed with whoever the culprit was.
Harry was impressed with her acting skills.
The tough-looking old man showed a hint of a smile. "Hm. Professor
Lockhart came running down the hallway screaming about a Yeti being
loose in the castle. By the looks of things, he's been branded a coward
with the largest yellow streak that I've ever seen. I last saw him going
down the stairs, probably headed outside. I'd say that your class is
dismissed."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was disappointed to see that Lockhart had shown up for dinner (in
a different outfit). Apparently Madam Grubbly had caught him running
away and stopped him, lecturing him on cowardice until someone from
the castle informed them that it was a false alarm.
Over the rest of the week, Harry got more and more nervous as Michelle
called for practice every other day in preparation for the upcoming
Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Harry was sure that
he could play, but he'd never played in front of a huge crowd before. A
lot of things could happen during the game.
He found himself staring at his empty plate at breakfast time, feeling
butterflies fighting a war in his stomach, sitting with his friends.
"Harry," said Hermione, "you've got to eat something."
"Yeah," agreed Padma. "or you'll be too busy looking for food to notice
the Snitch."
"I'm not hungry," insisted Harry for the third time that morning. Looking
for a way to steer the conversation away from his appetite, he looked at
the head table. "Who's that guy sitting with Madam Grubbly?"
"I don't know," answered Hermione with a grin after looking where Harry
indicated, "but he does seem awfully friendly with her. He's probably
here to watch the match."
"You have to eat, Harry," came a female voice from behind him. Harry
turned around to see his captain, Michelle Hamilton, looking just as
pretty as ever, smiling at him. Harry swallowed as he felt himself blush.
"All right," he agreed, and grabbed a slice of toast and obediently took a
bite, accidentally knocking over his glass of pumpkin juice with his elbow
in the process. He quietly swore before grabbing a napkin to clean up
after himself while Padma giggled and Hermione covered her mouth.
Harry briefly contemplated the benefits of hiding under the table.
"Good," Michelle said, trying to hide her mirth. "Try not to be too nervous
out there." She turned to Harry's best friend. "Hermione, don't forget that
you'll have to change into uniform as well. I want all my reserves ready
to fly into the game at a moment's notice."
"Of course, Michelle," she replied, still doing her best not to laugh at her
friend.
As the Ravenclaw captain was walking away, Harry said, "Go ahead,
laugh. I know you want to anyway." They enthusiastically obeyed.
-HM-HM-HM-
Less than an hour later, Harry was walking out of the changing rooms
wearing his blue and silver Quidditch robes and carrying his Lightning
Bolt. He saw that Hermione was already waiting for him, holding her
Nimbus 2001.
"There you are," said Hermione.
"Here I am," agreed Harry with a smirk.
"I just wanted to wish you good luck. You're playing against a fourth-year
named Cedric Diggory. He's supposed to be a really good Seeker."
"Thanks for the words of encouragement," replied Harry sarcastically. She
opened her mouth to speak, but he put his hand up. "Don't worry. I was
only kidding."
"I'm sure you'll get the Snitch," said Hermione looking into his eyes.
"Thanks."
At that moment, Michelle walked up to them. "Good. You're dressed. It's
about time for the game to start. Remember, Harry, pay attention to the
Snitch and any Bludgers that come your way. That's your job. Don't
worry about the Quaffle or the hoops…"
"Or the hundreds of people watching," added Harry with a smirk.
"Just catch the Snitch before Diggory does. He's bigger than you, so you
have the size advantage, but don't underestimate him."
"I won't," promised Harry.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome to the first game of the Quidditch season this year!" boomed
the voice of Gryffindor fourth-year Lee Jordan. "For this game, it's
Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw!" First he introduced the Hufflepuff team,
who flew in wearing their gold uniforms, followed by the Ravenclaws,
starting with, "The lovely Michelle Hamilton. Sorry, Professor." As Harry
flew in, he heard Lee say, "And finally, Ravenclaw's new Seeker, making
his debut this game, is Harry McGonagall!" Half the crowd cheered,
causing Harry to smile. "I hope he does better than the last Seeker
Ravenclaw had. Sorry, Professor McGonagall."
The captains shook hands and Madam Hooch released the enchanted
balls. Harry watched the Snitch for about five seconds before it
disappeared. Finally, she threw the Quaffle into the air, and it was
immediately grabbed by Michelle, who made her way toward the hoops.
Harry, obeying his captain, flew up above the action, systematically
scanning the pitch for a glint of gold. He noticed that the opposing
Seeker was doing the same thing. He flew close to Harry and called out,
"Hi. I'm Cedric Diggory."
Taking a quick glance at Cedric before turning his attention back to the
pitch, he responded, "Harry McGonagall."
At that moment, they both heard Jordan shout, "Hamilton scores! That's
ten points for Ravenclaw!"
Harry cheered while Cedric frowned. "I'd better go to the other side of the
pitch," he said, before leaving Harry.
The game went on for about fifteen minutes with no sign of the Snitch.
The score was forty-thirty, in favor of Hufflepuff. Harry was getting
bored, and he noticed that Cedric was watching him. He decided to make
the game a bit more interesting at the same time that Lee announced that
the two teams were now tied. He picked a spot near the ground and
aimed his Lightning Bolt at it, and pushed his broom to the limit.
"It looks like McGonagall has seen the Snitch, and is taking a dive for it.
Diggory has also noticed, and is in hot pursuit. Both are getting closer
and closer to the ground. It looks like they might crash. McGonagall pulls
up about a foot from the ground. It was a feint! Diggory just avoids
crashing. In fact, it looks like his broom tapped the ground as he pulled
up. It's a bit wobbly. McGonagall has returned to the same place he
started, and Diggory looks mad."
Harry smirked at the older Seeker, who was glaring at him. Cedric had by
now gotten control of his broom. Suddenly, Harry saw a glint of gold
directly between them. He didn't wait to see if his opponent had noticed
it. He took off at top speed, knowing he was risking a collision.
Harry grinned as he noticed the winged ball move toward him, but then,
it increased its speed, which seemed rather strange. Cedric was about ten
feet behind it, but closing fast. Harry reached out his hand to catch the
Snitch, but it moved away from his hand and did something he'd never
heard of happening. Moving faster than Harry's broom, the tiny ball hit
him in the mouth. It felt like he'd been punched by someone twice his
size. He felt a tooth fall from its place as he lost his balance and began to
fall. With his right hand, he grabbed the Snitch, holding it tightly.
"McGonagall's got the Snitch! Ravenclaw wins! One hundred ninety to
forty!"
With his left, he grabbed for his broom, brushing the ends of his fingers
against it, but not getting it. He began to plummet toward the ground.
"Oh no. He's fallen from his broom."
'I'm gonna die,' Harry thought as he fell, until someone grabbed his left
hand with two hands. He felt himself slow down and then stop as he
heard a small grunt. He looked up to see that Michelle was upside down,
hanging onto her broom with just her legs because both of her hands
were holding his left tightly. He could also see that she was struggling.
"Hamilton has caught McGonagall!" The crowd cheered, but Harry knew
that both he and Michelle were in danger.
"May I offer my assistance?" asked Cedric, as he put Harry's broom under
him.
When he'd gotten on it properly, Harry said, "Thanks, Cedric," and then
turned to face his captain, who was now right-side-up. "Thanks a lot,
Michelle. You could've been killed."
She smiled at him. "I didn't want to lose my star Seeker." She then kissed
his cheek, causing his face to turn as red as the blood coming from his
mouth. "Come on. Let's get you down so Madam Pomfrey can help you."
"Oh, Harry! Are you all right? You're bleeding!" asked Hermione without
a breath as they landed. She engulfed him in a hug.
"Not to worry. Not to panic," said Lockhart as he walked up. "I can get
you a new tooth in a moment." He pulled out his wand, only to have it fly
out of his hand into the hand of a fierce-looking Professor McGonagall,
who was pointing her wand at Gilderoy as she approached.
"Professor Lockhart," she said sternly, and Harry realized what a scare his
aunt had been through. She was actually slightly panting as though she'd
run a mile. He then realized that he was panting as well. "You are not a
certified healer. Madam Pomfrey will take care of my nephew. Thank you
very much. You may go."
"Very well, Headmistress," he agreed, recovering himself. "I can see that
this has been quite a shock for you. May I have my wand back?"
She held it out toward him as she declared sternly, "You are not to
practice healing in this school. That's Madam Pomfrey's job." As soon as
Lockhart was walking away, she turned to her nephew, hugging him
tightly. "Are you all right, Harry? I almost died watching that."
"I'm fine, except I'm missing a tooth," he replied.
"I'll take him to see Poppy," said Minerva to Hermione and the rest of the
team. "You get back to your Common Room where I'm sure a party is
about to start. You can save him some butterbeer." When they seemed
hesitant, she added. "You know that she'll kick you out immediately. I'm
sure he'll be healed in a heartbeat." She pointed her wand toward the
pitch and summoned Harry's tooth.
-HM-HM-HM-
After he'd gotten to the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey determined that
in addition to his broken tooth, his left arm was slightly strained. She
healed him quickly, repairing and refastening the tooth, and giving him
instructions to not do any heavy lifting with his left arm. She also healed
his swollen lip. He left the hospital wing alone and began happily making
his way up the stairs.
"Let me rip you! Let me taste you! Let me eat you!" he heard, seemingly
coming out of the walls, after climbing one set of stairs. With no one else
around, he decided to follow that voice, so he ran down the hallway,
determined to figure out what was causing that voice.
It wasn't long until he ran across a strange sight. The first thing he
noticed was Mr. Filch lying face-up and completely still on the floor with
the back of his head in a puddle of water. A mop was held tightly in his
hands. From around the corner, he heard a growl and turned to see a
dust colored cat with lamp-like yellow eyes and a skeletal build that he
quickly identified as Mrs. Norris running toward him. He summoned his
wand into his right hand for protection.
"Mizter McGonagall!" shouted a female voice with a slightly French
accent. "What are you doing? What have you done wiz Mizter Filch?" She
was pointing her wand at Harry. Mrs. Norris seemed to calm down.
"I didn't…" said Harry, suddenly realizing what it looked like.
"And what iz zat writing about?"
He turned to see where Professor LaVelle was pointing. In a red liquid
that looked like blood, he saw the words, 'THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS
HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.'
"What is going on here?" asked Headmistress McGonagall as she arrived
on the scene.
"I didn't…" Harry started to explain, but he was quickly cut off by the
Potions mistress.
"All I know iz that I found him here pointing hiz wand at ze cat while
Mizter Filch waz lying on ze ground like he iz now."
Aunt Minnie looked shocked. "Harry, what happened?"
"I was walking and found Mr. Filch like this, and then Mrs. Norris came
along and growled at me. I pulled out my wand because I thought she
was going to attack."
By this time, a small crowd was beginning to form, although most of the
Ravenclaws were in their Common Room celebrating their victory. Harry
noticed that Professor Flitwick was at the front of the crowd, observing in
silence. Professor McGonagall read the writing on the wall and paled.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware!" sneered the voice of Draco Malfoy above
the crowd. "The Mudbloods will be next!"
"Twenty points from Slytherin for the use of that foul word, Malfoy," said
Minerva. "All of you students, clear the area. All but you, Harry."
"What have I missed?" asked Lockhart, suddenly showing up. Upon
noticing Filch's body, he commented, "I remember something similar
happening in Ouagadogou, a series of attacks, the full story's in my
autobiography. It's a pity I wasn't here. I know exactly the counter-curse
that could've saved him."
"We'll get him to Madam Pomfrey to determine what exactly has
happened to him," Minerva said as she silently levitated the Squib.
-HM-HM-HM-
They quietly walked back to the hospital wing, where Poppy was able to
determine that Filch hadn't been killed, but petrified, though how she
couldn't say. However, she did say that the school's Mandrakes could be
used to unpetrify Filch once they were fully mature. After Flitwick
checked Harry's wand's last spell, Minerva told her nephew that he could
go, and told everyone else that he was innocent until proven guilty. He
was grateful that she hadn't revealed his second wand to anyone there.
It was a slightly subdued Harry that arrived at the Common Room. He'd
been accused of attacking Filch, but knew he was innocent. However,
someone did attack the caretaker, and Harry wanted to know who. After
telling 'Al' the password, he opened the door. He felt obligated to tell his
housemates that Filch had been petrified, but not about the voice he
heard. However, he did tell that to Hermione and Padma the next day
while they were at headquarters, away from prying ears. It was about
fifteen minutes before the rest of their study group were supposed to
arrive.
"Why didn't you tell your aunt?" asked Hermione. "I know that hearing
voices isn't good, but she…"
"Do you think I want my aunt to think I've gone nuts?" he asked.
"You're telling us, aren't you?" asked Padma.
"But she might have to tell the board of governors or the Ministry if I tell
her."
"I can't believe that Professor LaVelle thought you did it," said Hermione.
Sighing, Harry said, "It did look bad."
"I suppose."
The door swung open, and Ginny, looking a bit pale, walked inside.
"Hi, Ginny," said Harry.
"Hi, guys," she replied unenthusiastically.
"Are you all right," asked Hermione. "You seem a bit pale."
"I'm fine," she said quickly. "How are you doing?"
They chatted for a few minutes until the others arrived. Harry and
Hermione thought something was a bit off with Ginny, but would never
have guessed what in a million years. After they were done discussing
schoolwork, Hermione told them what her copy of Hogwarts, a History
said about the legend of the Chamber of Secrets, which wasn't much.
When they left, Harry said he wanted to spend a little while alone
playing on his Game Boy. He was in the middle of a world when the
screen went crazy. There was a pop behind him and he summoned his
wand, and turned to face Tribly.
"Harry Potter is still being at Hogwarts! Harry Potter should've gone
home! Tribly thought her Snitch would've convinced him…"
"Your Snitch?" he asked, now moving toward the elf angrily.
"And now terrible things is beginning, but it's still not too late if Harry
Potter is leaving now!"
"So you know about the Chamber of Secrets?"
She now had a solemn look. "It is opened again. Oops!" She then grabbed
the boom box and was about to bust it on her head when Harry
summoned it away from her.
"You don't have to punish yourself! We can bring the Malfoys up on…"
His voice trailed off as she disappeared yet again.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry told Hermione and Padma, as well as Aunt Minnie, about his latest
visit, and they didn't have any advice for him. He spent the week doing
his best to ignore the stares he was getting from people who believed he
was Slytherin's Heir. Harry thought it was funny, considering that
Slytherin was the only house the hat didn't consider putting him in.
The Ravenclaws were on his side. They were too happy he'd won the
Quidditch match to care about anything else. The Slytherins hated him,
but knew he wasn't the Heir. Many of the Hufflepuffs seemed content to
believe anything bad of the Seeker who beat Diggory. The Gryffindors
seemed divided on what they believed. The ones that he knew personally,
like Neville and Ginny, knew he wasn't guilty, but others like a third-year
called McLaggen, believed him guilty and let everybody know it.
Professor LaVelle never specifically said he was guilty, and actually was
very nice to him. However, if someone asked her what she saw, she
would tell them that he'd had his wand out and pointed at the cat with
Filch's petrified body on the floor.
His aunt had explained that showing a memory of finding the body
doesn't prove he hadn't done it earlier and came back. If he had a
memory of someone else attacking Filch, that would've been different.
She, of course, believed him, but told him that she couldn't treat him
differently than any other student. However, in this case, the evidence
was entirely circumstantial, and therefore no student would've gotten
punished.
-HM-HM-HM-
On Saturday night, Brianna called Harry's mirror.
"Hi, Brianna. How'd the trial go?"
"Oh, Jeremy Lightfellow was banned from baseball and was sentenced to
three months in jail after I and about ten other people testified against
him and the videos of his games were shown."
"That's good. The Cardinals didn't need magic to beat the Cubs," declared
Harry.
"Yes they did, but that's not the point. I met Lightfellow right after the
trial."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "He didn't threaten you, did he?"
"No, not at all. He said he understood. He actually seems like a nice
enough person, when he's not cheating against the Cubs, that is."
"So, how are mom and dad?"
"They're fine," she answered. "How are things at school? Do some people
still think you attacked the caretaker?"
"Yeah," he replied with a small smile, "but only the people who don't
know me."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next few weeks went by without incident, and Harry (along with
Hermione and Padma) managed to finish another chapter of the
Animagus book to turn in to Aunt Minnie. Mrs. Norris was spending most
of her time in the hospital wing with Filch. Minerva had to hire someone
else to do Filch's job. This particular wizard, a man with long blonde hair
and a long, bushy moustache named Lucus Cleanaway, seemed strict
about students obeying the rules, but didn't talk about hanging students
by their thumbs. He actually managed to get the castle cleaned much
more quickly using magic. Minerva told them that she had something
special planned for Lockhart on Halloween.
-HM-HM-HM-
The Halloween Feast was always a marvel to behold. Harry looked
around the Great Hall at the decorations. Jack-O-Lanterns suspended
above them by magic, a thousand live bats flying between the carved
pumpkins and many flaming orange streamers swimming across the
ceiling were a few of the decorations filling the largest room in the castle.
The desserts were also properly decorated. Pumpkin pies with faces on
them that changed expressions, bat-shaped cookies and doughnuts that
looked like vampire heads were on the table. Their drinks were charmed
to look like blood.
Harry was waiting with anticipation for the entertainment that evening.
His aunt wouldn't give any clues as to what she was planning to do to the
great braggart, who was happily consuming a cookie. He was wearing
pumpkin-colored robes in honor of the holiday. Minerva took out her
wand, and began casting silent spells with it under the table.
Suddenly, a loud scream filled the Great Hall, and everyone stopped
eating in order to investigate. It seemed to have emanated from the
center of the room. While everyone's eyes were on the empty air at that
location, ten vampires appeared – apparently they were some of the bats
– and began walking toward Lockhart, whose face paled.
One of them spoke in an eerie tone of voice. "You are Gilderoy Lockhart.
Are you not?"
The fraud was visibly shaking. "Er, no, actually, I'm, er, his brother
Barney. Yeah."
"Liar!" the vampire shouted as his clan surrounded their prey. "You have
killed several of our brothers."
"NO!" Lockhart screamed, and at this point it sounded like he was close to
tears.
"I'll have no more of your lies, Lockhart!" growled the vampire, now
showing his fangs. "You wrote about their deaths in your book, Voyages
With Vampires, bragging about how you slaughtered fifty of my brothers
with one curse!"
"W-w-w-well, books can be m-m-misleading," he stuttered, sounding on
the brink of hyperventilating as he fell from his chair and tried to climb
under the table, only to be stopped by one of the vampires, who got
between him and the table.
"You wrote them, and now you shall pay for your crime!"
"I LIED!" shouted Lockhart, now crying. "I NEVER KILLED ONE
VAMPIRE!"
"But they are dead, you filthy human! You're just lying to get out of your
just punishment."
Now trembling and crying on the floor, he declared, "No! It was Bertha
Waterberry! She did it and I obliviated her and took credit!"
The vampire actually smiled for a moment. "I wondered how a sniveling
coward like you could've faced one of my kind. Is that what you've done
for all your pathetic books?"
"Y-y-y-yes," he declared, too frightened to notice the shocked expressions
on the students.
"Let this coward go. We don't want to poison ourselves with him. Instead,
we'll feed on the children. Is that all right with you, Mr. Lockhart?"
"Y-y-y-yes!" he said. At this moment, he was fully visible to the students,
on his knees with a wet spot clearly showing in the front of his orange
trousers. His face was pale, and he was trembling and crying as he
clumsily stood up.
As soon as he was let go, Gilderoy ran straight for the entrance hall and
out the door, shouting, "Goodbye!" leaving now terrified children pulling
out their wands and pointing them toward the vampires, who instantly
dissolved.
Headmistress McGonagall stood up. "May I have your attention, please?
Those vampires were an illusion that I created, so you were never in
danger. I suspected that Professor Lockhart was a fraud, and thought that
a crisis would be the best way to find out, one way or the other. I
apologize for frightening you, but do not regret my actions. You will have
a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher next week." The whole hall
erupted in cheers.
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter end
17. Revelations
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 17 – Revelations
The next morning, Harry woke up a bit later than usual for a Saturday.
Ravenclaw (and probably the other three houses as well) had a party the
previous night to celebrate the Lockhart's humiliation. Harry believed
that even the Slytherins hated the great idiot and were glad to see him
go. According to his watch, he still had time to get to breakfast if he
hurried, so he hurriedly changed, planning on showering after Quidditch
practice, which had been scheduled for right after breakfast. He walked
up the stairs to find Hermione and Padma waiting for him. Hermione was
talking to the painting of Rowena Ravenclaw that was among the other
paintings in the Common Room.
"Good morning, girls," he said.
"What took you so long?" asked Hermione as she turned from the picture.
Remembering her manners, she turned back to the painting. "Excuse me.
I've got to go."
"That's quite all right, dear. I understand," replied the portrait.
Harry explained, "I overslept."
"We've missed half of breakfast," complained Padma.
"You could have gone on without me," he said. However, seeing their
slightly hurt faces, he added, "but I appreciate you waiting for me. Shall
we go?" His mom had always taught him to be considerate of other
people's feelings. Not that he always did that, but he tried to at least be
considerate of his closest friends.
They hurried to the Great Hall and sat down at their table near Luna.
After exchanging morning greetings with her, Harry put a stack of
pancakes on his plate. He was reaching for some sausage when he heard
a voice behind him as a hand landed on his left shoulder.
"There you two are," said Michelle. Harry's face turned red as his crush
kicked in. He felt his elbow land in something squishy.
"Yes, we're here, Michelle," replied Hermione, stifling her laughter and
distracting their captain as Harry pulled his elbow out of the butter dish.
Padma was hiding her face, but her ears were tomato red.
"I was wondering if you overslept or something. Remember that practice
starts in twenty minutes, so you'd better hurry. Bye."
As soon as Michelle was out of earshot, Hermione 'innocently' suggested,
"Why don't you wipe your elbow off on your pancakes?" This had the
immediate effect of both she and Padma bursting out laughing while
Harry buried his face in his hands.
"I'm never gonna live this down, am I?" he murmured through his fingers
as the girls continued laughing.
"I don't see what's so funny," commented Luna dreamily. "Harry was
merely trying to make the plothglotes go away. It's a very good idea,
Harry, although you probably should've rolled up your sleeve first." She
then rolled up the right sleeve of her jumper and purposely dipped her
own elbow into the butter dish to the shock of everyone watching.
At that moment, the door from the entrance hall burst open, revealing
thirty aurors, wands brandished and ready to fight. They looked around
the hall in total confusion. One from the back, who was apparently the
leader, walked forward and spoke while looking at the head table.
"Headmistress McGonagall?"
She stood up and began walking toward them, holding her own wand.
"That's me. Is there something I can help you with, auror? And why have
you interrupted our breakfast?" she asked sternly.
Putting his wand back in its holster and signaling the others to do the
same, he replied. "We just received a report from Gilderoy Lockhart that
1,000 vampires killed all the staff and students while he fought bravely,
barely surviving himself." The whole Great Hall burst out laughing.
It was obvious to Harry that Minerva was having a hard time stopping
herself from joining in the mirth of that moment. "Is that what he
claimed happened?" she asked. "Why don't you come to my office, and I
and the heads of houses will explain what actually occurred last night?"
At that moment, a flock of owls flew in, carrying the mail, along with the
newspapers. One flew directly in front of the headmistress, so after
saying, "Excuse me for a moment," to the auror, she untied the parcel and
gave the bird the appropriate payment. She unrolled her copy of the
Daily Prophet and her mouth fell open. It had a picture of Gilderoy
Lockhart, his expressions moving from tearful to angry every few
seconds. She glanced at the cover story.
"Vampires Massacre Hogwarts – Lockhart vows Vengeance
by Rita Skeeter
This reporter was saddened terribly to hear of the slaughter that occurred last
night at Hogwarts during the Halloween celebration. One thousand vampires
attacked, intent on killing everyone present. The lone survivor, the famous
Gilderoy Lockhart, put up a tremendous fight, taking out at least a hundred,
staying and fighting well into the night until the last student was bitten.
Realizing that it was a hopeless cause, he fled the grounds, outflying hundreds
of vampire bats on his Comet 260 broom in an effort to warn the authorities,
and let everyone know the tragedy that occurred last night.
'I believe that it is my solemn duty to let the public know exactly what
happened, so I will spend the next few months putting it down in my next
book, and then I shall hunt down these creatures capable of attacking our
children…" The article went on to describe Lockhart's life-and-death
struggle against overwhelming odds.
"Doesn't that so-called reporter even verify facts before publishing them?"
Minerva nearly screamed. She then faced the students. "I believe that all
of you should write your families immediately to let them know you are
safe."
Harry whispered to Hermione, "I called Brianna last night to tell her
about Lockhart, so she already knows."
"I'm glad my parents don't get the Prophet," said Hermione.
The headmistress then turned her attention back to the aurors. "I believe
that we'll also need a reporter here as well – not this Rita Skeeter person.
I want someone reliable. You may also wish to arrest Mr. Lockhart after
hearing what we have to say. Actually," she added thoughtfully, "It may
be best if you watch the memory of the event."
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva's group disappeared to her office, where she later told Harry that
she showed the aurors and the reporter who showed up a bit later the
memory of the 'vampire attack.' She also gave the aurors a copy of her
memory of Lockhart's Boggarts to assist them in finding the actual heroes
that he had obliviated.
Harry and Hermione went to Quidditch practice, which went very well.
Harry was fortunately able to fly practically by complete instinct, and it
would take a lot more than an embarrassment to keep him away from the
Snitch. However, Hermione did seem to take on the important
responsibility of making sure that Harry did not forget the 'elbow in the
butter dish' incident for the rest of the day, although she did have
assistance from Padma as well.
Harry thought that the worst part of his humiliation was when their
study group met and Luna still had butter on her elbow. She said, "Harry,
the butter must have come off your elbow. You need to get more." After
Hermione happily filled everyone in on what had happened, they all
laughed at Harry (who was hiding his face behind a book) except for
Luna and Ginny, who seemed to have something bothering her again.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning at breakfast, Minerva made an announcement. "I'd like
your attention, everyone. This is Professor Tutamun. She will be your
new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher."
Harry looked at the woman that was no taller than Professor Flitwick.
She had long, curly red hair and a tan complexion. She looked like a little
girl playing dress-up in her amber dress, but her face had a grown-up, but
friendly, expression. Harry thought she was in her early thirties. The
students began clapping politely.
The Headmistress continued once the applause died down. "She was an
auror in Ireland until she was injured by a dark curse about a year ago
and had to retire. She has requested different textbooks than the ones that
you are currently using." Aunt Minnie spat out the words 'the ones' with
obvious disgust. We have taken the liberty of ordering your new books,
which Professor Tutamun will distribute to you in your classes. We will
buy the old books back in trade, returning the difference in price to your
parents, unless of course you wish to keep Mr. Lockhart's books, in which
case you'll have to pay for the new books. I believe that they were about
three Galleons each. Your heads of house will handle those transactions.
That is all." She then sat down next to the new professor.
"That's nice of them to buy the books back," whispered Hermione.
Harry smiled at her. "Aunt Minnie told me yesterday that they got the
gold from Lockhart's trunk. They're keeping everything he left here. Of
course, I don't know who would want his outfits."
"Maybe they can be sent to Snape," suggested Padma, causing everyone
who heard her to chuckle.
At that point, the mail, including the Daily Prophet, arrived. Although he
didn't subscribe, Harry had requested that particular issue. He wanted to
keep it. He grinned as he examined the front page after paying the owl.
"Hogwarts Wasn't Attacked! Gilderoy Lockhart – a Fraud! Rita Skeeter – a
Fool!
By Anna Jesse
Today, the Daily Prophet has the sad duty to retract the story about the
alleged attack upon Hogwarts that Gilderoy Lockhart reported to Rita Skeeter
– former reporter – who failed to verify this story before printing it, causing a
widespread panic among the wizarding population, especially parents who
read that their children had been killed or changed into vampires.
Headmistress McGonagall has allowed this reporter to view her memory of
what really happened Halloween night in her Pensieve. This is the truth of
what happened."
The article continued by telling the truth of what had happened that
night, including the revelation that Lockhart was a fraud and that Rita
Skeeter had simply taken his word for what happened without checking
it out for herself. As a result, she was sacked and her reputation ruined.
Another article told of Lockhart's arrest, along with the investigation of
charges of illegal use of the Obliviation charm, as well as fraud.
When breakfast was over, Harry noticed that Professor Tutamun was
walking with a cane, and that it appeared that her left foot was a fake.
Without commenting on it, Harry, Hermione and Padma made their way
to C.A.R.E. headquarters to revise for a few hours before enjoying the rest
of Sunday, especially when they turned their Lockhart books over to
Professor Flitwick.
-HM-HM-HM-
It wasn't until Tuesday afternoon that the Ravenclaws had class with
their new Defense teacher. Right after lunch, they went straight into the
classroom with the Hufflepuffs. There was a new book on each desk.
"Good afternoon, class," greeted Professor Tutamun in what sounded like
a friendly voice. She was wearing silver robes, and her long, red hair was
in a pony tail.
"Morning," about half the students mumbled.
"As you should know if you pay attention to announcements, my name is
Professor Tutamun. The first thing we'll do is take attendance, so raise
your hand when I call your name."
When she finished taking roll call, she continued, "You have undoubtedly
noticed your new textbooks on your desks. I expect you to read a chapter
every week and to do the review questions at the end of each chapter to
turn in every Tuesday, along with a one-foot summary of each chapter."
All of the class except Hermione groaned. Harry knew they'd have to
work hard over the next week or two in order to get ahead in this class.
"My question for you is this: Did you learn anything in this class for the
past few months besides Lockhart's favorite color, or was it a complete
waste of time?"
"Yes, Mr. Finch-Fletchley?" she asked when Justin raised his hand.
"We learned what a Yeti looks like about a month ago."
"But that was from whoever pulled that prank," said Susan Bones. "Not
from Lockhart."
"How about if I assume that you didn't learn anything," said Tutamun
over the laughter that began when the class was reminded of that prank.
"If I cover something you've already gone over, then it'll be a review."
-HM-HM-HM-
The class went much better than any other D.A.D.A. class Harry had been
through at Hogwarts before. Although some of what she covered had
been a review from his American school, most of it was new material.
Aside from the amount of homework she assigned, he liked this new
teacher.
The rest of the week passed by quickly, with him and Hermione using
their extra time to get a few weeks ahead of the schedule. Padma was
happy that on Thursday afternoon, Matthew Shapon taught
Transfiguration. When Harry commented on her crush, she countered, "At
least I didn't put my elbow in a butter dish," effectively shutting him up.
-HM-HM-HM-
Saturday morning's newspaper revealed that Lockhart had been arrested,
and ten of the people he'd Obliviated had been located and their
memories restored. They were waiting until they could find as many
victims as possible before holding his trial. Harry was reading a copy he'd
borrowed at breakfast when Hermione tapped his shoulder.
"Isn't that the same bloke that was with Madam Grubbly last game?"
He looked at the staff table to see that his best friend was indeed correct.
"You're right. I guess he's here to see the Gryffindor versus Slytherin
game."
"I guess so," stated Hermione. "I wish I knew who he was.
Padma added, "We'll finally get to find out who Gryffindor's new Seeker
is."
After breakfast, they watched the gamekeeper walk out toward the
grounds hand-in-hand with her visitor. They stopped when the
headmistress called out, "Mr. Plank."
"Yes," replied the man when he'd turned around.
"You forgot your cloak. It's getting chilly outside."
Harry noticed that his aunt was carrying a long, brown cloak to the
couple.
"Did you see that ring?" asked Padma, excitedly, as soon as they were out
of earshot.
Hermione squealed, "Of course!"
At the same moment, Harry said, "Huh?"
Both girls looked at him with pity. "Honestly, how can you find a tiny
glint of gold flying around the Quidditch pitch when you can't see a ring
on someone's finger?" asked Hermione.
"I'm looking for the Snitch," said Harry defensively as his ears turned
pink, "not for other people's jewelry." He then sighed. "So, she was
wearing a ring."
"Not just any ring," explained Padma enthusiastically. "An engagement
ring with a large diamond…"
Not really interested in the description, Harry tuned out the rest of it as
they made their way toward the Ravenclaw stands. One thing that Harry
was interested in is scouting out the new Gryffindor Seeker. The only
thing he knew for sure about this bloke was that he'd have been scouting
him a month ago when he played. They were soon seated high up with
the other second-years, as well as Luna. Penny Clearwater was sitting
nearby, wearing a Gryffindor scarf. Harry figured that her boyfriend,
Captain Oliver Wood, had given it to her. He was interrupted from his
thoughts by Lee Jordan's announcing.
"Welcome to the second Quidditch game of the year – Gryffindor versus
Slytherin!" Harry joined in the cheers that the game would begin.
"I give you, the Gryffindor Team!" Harry continued cheering while the
Slytherins booed. He was definitely on Gryffindor's side for this match.
"Captain and Keeper – Oliver Wood!" Penelope cheered louder than all
the Gryffindors put together, in Harry's opinion.
"Those unbeatable Beaters – Fred and George Weasley!" Harry cheered
for his partners in crime.
"The lovely Chasers. Sorry, professor. Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, and the
beautiful, Angelina Johnson, who still won't go out with me. Sorry,
professor." Harry laughed.
"And now, making her debut, the youngest Seeker in a century – Ginny
Weasley!" Harry's jaw dropped when he saw the first-year zooming out
onto the pitch wearing robes that matched her hair. "Her older brother
Charlie was the best Seeker Gryffindor ever had. We'll find out if she's
going to continue that tradition!" Harry managed to clap for his friend as
he stared in surprise. He didn't even pay attention while the Slytherins
were introduced. He wondered if her Quidditch practices were the reason
she'd seemed down lately. However, looking at her happy, yet
determined, face, he didn't think that she was worried about the game.
He watched Flint try to break Oliver's hand under the guise of
sportsmanship, and wondered yet again what the point of that gesture
was. Soon enough, the Quaffle was tossed in the air, and the game began.
Angelina Johnson grabbed the Quaffle first, and proceeded to lead the
Gryffindors to getting the first goal of the game in less than two minutes.
Harry always enjoyed watching the genius of Fred and George sending
Bludgers at the opposite team, although he supposed it wouldn't be as
enjoyable to watch when he became the target during their February
game. However, he turned his attention to the players he'd have to beat –
the Gryffindor and Slytherin Seekers – Ginny Weasley and Terrence
Higgs, respectively.
He'd seen Higgs play before, during the previous year, but had never seen
Ginny play. He watched as both Seekers circled the pitch, but noticed
how they would both glance at each other every minute or so to make
sure the other hadn't spotted the elusive tiny winged ball. Three times,
Ginny had to avoid a Bludger sent after her for no good reason during
that time. During one of those 'mutual glances' between the two Seekers,
Harry noticed the Snitch appear directly below Higgs, but it was gone
before either player spotted it.
For a few minutes, he turned his attention to the Chasers, and wasn't
surprised to see that the Slytherin Chasers were using their bulk to bully
Gryffindor Chasers, since they actually had no Quidditch skills at all. He
honestly wondered sometimes if Madam Hooch was blind the way that
the Slytherins got away with their 'strategy' in front of hundreds of
witnesses every game. Nevertheless, the Gryffindor Lions were winning at
160 to 90 points. The only thing that could save Slytherin was their
Seeker.
He was still contemplating this when Lee Jordan announced, "It looks like
Ginny Weasley has seen the Snitch!" He turned his attention to the streak
of red making a dive toward the ground at the center of the pitch. Harry
noticed Higgs coming from the opposite direction. He followed Ginny's
line of sight and saw that this was no feint. The glint of gold was about 5
feet from the redhead, but 8 feet from Higgs. She easily grabbed it out of
the air a moment later.
As she raised her hand triumphantly, he saw one of Slytherin's Beaters hit
a Bludger toward her back. Harry pulled his wand out to try and
interfere, but then saw that there was no need. One of Gryffindor's twin
Beaters had flown in, protecting his little sister, and rammed the Bludger
right into the offending Beater's face, breaking his nose. Madam Hooch
blew her whistle and started yelling at the Weasley twin as they landed.
However, Aunt Minnie made her way toward them.
Harry turned to Hermione, Padma and Luna. "Let's see what happens."
Without waiting for a response, he climbed down the bleachers and got
within earshot in time to hear his Scottish aunt yell, "Are you blind,
Rolanda? Bole hit the Bludger at Miss Weasley after the game was over in
front of hundreds of witnesses! Mr. Weasley merely defended his sister.
He will not have any punishment. However, Mr. Bole will be suspended
from Slytherin's next game, and will serve a detention. And he certainly
deserved the minor injury that he caused himself."
Madam Hooch seemed very offended that the Headmistress overrode her
judgment. Coldly, she stated, "It has always been tradition to allow the
Quidditch referee to decide what penalties to give to players over
incidents that occur during a game."
Minerva's face was pink with rage. "It's also traditional for the referee to
open her eyes at least once during the matches! I know that Dumbledore
let you get away with turning a blind eye toward your former house's
murder attempts as long as you give your clean game speech before each
match, but that is no longer the case!"
Hooch seemed nervous. "I, I haven't…"
"Not as blatantly as Snape did, but you have allowed Slytherin to get
away with far too much cheating for it to be accidental and I will not
allow that to continue." Minerva's expression lightened a bit. "Besides,
this incident occurred after the game was over, making it very clearly my
jurisdiction."
At that moment, Ginny nervously walked toward the quartet of
Ravenclaws, taking their attention away from school administration. "Er,
hi guys."
"Hey, Ginny," said Harry happily, "How come you didn't tell us you were
the new Seeker?"
Her ears turned pink, "Well, Oliver wanted to keep it a secret, especially
from Non-Gryffindor's. I would've told you, but was sworn to secrecy."
"You did really good out there," complimented Hermione.
"Especially considering the Nargle infestation on the pitch," added Luna.
"They were blocking Madam Hooch's view of the game."
"You might be right about the Nargles blocking Madam Hooch's view,"
commented Harry as he chuckled. "Ginny, you did good."
Padma added, "Really good."
Ginny looked directly at Harry. "I know I wasn't as good as you, but I
have a few months to practice before we face off, and I will get the Snitch
that game."
He grinned at her. "We'll see about that, but right now, the important
thing is that you didn't let the Slytherin Seeker get the Snitch."
"Never!" agreed Ginny happily. "Anyway, I've got to get to the changing
room."
"You'd better hurry up," suggested Harry. "I'm sure they're getting ready
for a party in Gryffindor Tower."
She took off toward the changing rooms, and Hermione suggested that
they go to headquarters to study. Luna declined, saying, "I want to see if I
can catch one of the Nargles before they're all gone."
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the weekend went by quickly, and before he knew it, Monday
morning had arrived, and Harry was in Double-Potions class partnered up
with Hermione. They were making a magical cleaning solution that
Professor LaVelle had assigned them.
"All that's left is for us to stir it twice clockwise and once
counterclockwise," stated Hermione after double-checking their book.
"All right," replied Harry as he began to follow the directions. Suddenly,
the liquid in the cauldron began to act strangely. "Er, Hermione, is it
supposed to bubble?"
Her eyes widened. "No! That can only happen if you add…"
BOOM!
Padma, who was sitting nearby, screamed as she watched her closest
friends knocked to the ground by their exploding cauldron. They were
both unconscious and had burns on their hands and faces. Pieces of the
cauldron and the book they were working out of were on top of them,
along with pieces of the table.
The teacher appeared scared, but quickly took control. "Calm down,
everybody. Mr. Corner, could you go quickly to the hospital wing and
bring Madam Pomfrey here?" He nodded and took off. "Class is dismissed.
Miss Patil, I know you're a close friend of theirs. You may stay if you
wish."
Together, the teacher and student summoned the junk off of Harry and
Hermione. Professor LaVelle was very impressed that Padma knew the
summoning charm already. They had just unburied the victims when
Madam Pomfrey arrived.
-HM-HM-HM-
"So, they'll both be all right?" asked a worried voice in the distance.
Harry thought it sounded familiar as he groggily opened his eyes. He felt
some sort of lotion on his face and the back of his hands as he looked
around the blurry room, realizing that he didn't have his glasses on.
"Yes, Headmistress. They won't even have a scar."
"Very well. I shall inform both of their parents."
Harry turned to see the blurred image of his aunt rummaging through her
purse, obviously looking for her mirror. "Aunt Minnie," he said with a
scratchy voice, suddenly realizing that he was quite thirsty.
"Harry," she turned and looked at him, but he was unable to determine
her expression. "You're awake."
"H-how long?"
"Have you been unconscious?" she asked. He nodded. "About a half-hour.
Miss Patil just left for lunch."
"Pr-Professor McGonagall?" said Hermione's voice, unsteadily from
Harry's left. He turned and saw a blurry figure lying on a bed near his
and realized that he was in the hospital wing. "What happened?"
"You were in Potions class and your cauldron exploded," she explained
grimly. "Professor LaVelle found that it had been tampered with,
although she has no idea who did it or why."
Harry stated, "If we were with the Slytherins, I'd think that Malfoy did it.
But we weren't."
"Right now, you just worry about getting some rest. Madam Pomfrey has
told me that you'll both have to spend the night."
"But we'll miss Charms class!" said Hermione frantically.
"Professor Flitwick has already been informed," Minerva answered. "By
the way, your special schoolbags were undamaged, as were the contents.
It is fortunate that you kept them under the desk instead of on it.
Otherwise, the explosion would have destroyed them. As it was, a bit of
wood landed on top of them without causing any harm."
"That's good," replied Harry.
"I guess my potions book was destroyed," stated Hermione sadly.
"I'm afraid so," agreed Minerva.
"Would you like to have a funeral for it, Hermione," asked Harry with a
smirk.
"Hermione, stop," commanded the Headmistress firmly. "Deserving as my
nephew may be, if you toss that pillow at him, it may touch the salve on
his face and interrupt the healing process. If he retaliates, he may do the
same to you. You'll have to get him back later, after you're fully
recovered."
"Yes, ma'am."
As he looked at his aunt's blurry face, he decided to ask, "Where are my
glasses?"
"They were broken in the explosion…"
"What?" he interrupted, panicking. "I can hardly see without them. I can't
go back to classes tomorrow. I…"
"Harry," interrupted Minerva gently. "You interrupted me. Madam
Pomfrey performed a repairo spell on them once she was done treating
you two. However, she kept them with her because she's afraid that if
you wear them, they'll get the salve all over them and she'll have to
reapply it to your face. I'm afraid you'll have to rough it until tomorrow
morning."
"Then I guess I can't study even if I wanted to now," he replied.
"I suppose," agreed Hermione, "although I could read the next chapter of
our defense book to you."
-HM-HM-HM-
When Padma returned for a quick visit before Charms, she found
Hermione reading a textbook out loud to Harry. Minerva had left to call
both sets of parents with her mirror.
"I'm glad to see you're both awake," she said, smiling.
"Thanks for coming," replied Harry.
"I'm glad to see you, of course," stated Hermione, glancing at the clock on
the wall, "but you've only got ten minutes to get to Charms."
"I just wanted to make sure you two were all right."
"We are," Harry assured her, "but Madam Pomfrey says we have to spend
the night."
"Please come back after class to let us know what Professor Flitwick went
over," asked Hermione.
"Sure," Padma agreed. "Do you know what went wrong with your
potion?"
Harry nodded. "It was sabotaged."
-HM-HM-HM-
They speculated for a few minutes about who the culprit might be until
Padma had to leave, but they had no idea who in that classroom would
want to sabotage their cauldron. Madam Pomfrey then gave them both
potions to drink before lunch was brought for them. She also reminded
them not to touch their faces when they got itchy later. Once she was
done eating, Hermione resumed reading the textbook to Harry.
Later that day, the entire study group visited the two in the hospital
wing. When they were told about the sabotage, Luna stated that she
suspected Wracknoles. They left after an hour, and Hermione resumed
reading to Harry, who drifted off to sleep while she was reading a
chapter out of their Charms book.
He awoke in the middle of the night (he couldn't read the clock to see
exactly what time it was) with his face extremely itchy like he'd been
warned it would be, but knew that hadn't been why he'd woken up.
There was someone else in the room that didn't belong there. He heard
footsteps, but couldn't see anybody, even squinting. Suddenly, a blurry
house-elf was standing on a chair next to his bed.
"Harry Potter, sir, must realize that Hogwarts is far too dangerous. Tribly
hopes that Harry Potter will leave now."
"I must," Harry began, "Hold on. You caused the explosion. Didn't you?"
he demanded.
The elf's ears drooped downward as she nervously fidgeted. "It was all for
Harry Potter's own good…"
"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME AND HERMIONE FOR MY OWN GOOD!?"
"Not kill you!" the elf exclaimed, "Never kill you."
Harry reached out a hand and grabbed Tribly angrily. "You could have
KILLED us! If Hermione…"
"Wh-what's going on?" asked a groggy Hermione, who had obviously just
gotten up. The elf snapped her fingers and disappeared out of Harry's
grasp.
"Go back to sleep, Hermione," suggested Harry gently. "I'll tell you about
it in the morning. I'm sorry I woke you."
She turned on her bed while yawning. "Night, Harry," she said tiredly
before going right back to sleep.
-HM-HM-HM-
"That elf is insane!" declared Hermione the next morning in an
uncharacteristically angry manner for talking about house-elves. She
tried to kill us to get you to leave Hogwarts!"
"I don't think she's right in the head," agreed Harry, who was happy to be
wearing his glasses again. "I think Lucius hit her one too many times.
Maybe we should turn him in for elf abuse."
"Perhaps you should wait on that for a more opportune moment,"
suggested Minerva, who was visiting them that morning before they left
the hospital wing. "After all, you don't want her to think that freedom is a
reward for trying to blow you two up." It was obvious that Aunt Minnie
had no pity for Tribly after the stunt she'd just pulled, and probably
wanted to beat that elf herself. He quite understood her feelings. If the elf
hadn't disappeared when she did, he'd have probably strangled her for
hurting Hermione.
"I suppose we can wait," agreed Harry. He cleared his throat when
Hermione glared at him. "Er, to get more evidence of the abuse." The fact
that Hermione didn't object proved to Harry that Tribly hadn't exactly
endeared herself to his best friend, either.
-HM-HM-HM-
For the next month, nothing was seen or heard of Tribly or the Chamber
of Secrets. They were happy to read in the Daily Prophet that Lockhart
had been sentenced to five years in Azkaban, along with a hefty fine
distributed to his victims. The most interesting thing that happened at
Hogwarts was in late November, when Professor Burbage, the Muggle
Studies teacher, took her third-year class (which included Cho Chang) to
C.A.R.E. headquarters, where Harry and Hermione were excused from
their classes to demonstrate their boom box and Game Boy for the class.
"But what's spinning the sedie?" asked one boy.
"The cd," correct Hermione patiently, "which stands for compact disc, is
being spun around inside the boom box by electricity."
"I don't see a plug," he answered, attempting to sound intelligent.
"That's because there isn't one," said Harry. "Muggles have two different
basic ways of getting electricity to something. Plugs are one of them, and
batteries are the other."
The whole class' eyes widened before a girl asked, "There are bat-trees in
that?"
Harry could almost feel Hermione roll her eyes behind him. "Yes. There
are bat-ter-ies inside it. Let me show you." He then opened the battery
chamber to show them the four D batteries inside it while most of the
students gasped in surprise.
"You see," explained Professor Charity Burbage, "Muggles have found
many fascinating ways to live without magic. How many of you have
even heard of a magical device that holds music that you can listen to
anytime you want? Not the Wireless that lets you listen to whatever they
happen to be playing at the time. Something that actually stores music."
Only one person raised his hand. After being called on, the tall boy with
blue eyes and brown hair said, "A Pensieve."
The teacher smiled. "Correct. Five points to Hufflepuff." She turned to the
rest of her class. "A Pensieve is a very rare and expensive device that
allows you to relive memories of your own, or anyone else who donates
them. Those of you who went to Professor Snape's hearing saw many
Pensieve memories played for us. If one donated the memory of a
concert, for example, that would be the equivalent of a cd. The difference
is that in the muggle world, they are relatively inexpensive and common.
The Ministry uses small globes known as thought spheres to permanently
record certain information for playback. If those were used to record
music, they would be cheaper than getting a Pensieve, but still not as
inexpensive as a cd. This is a way that the muggle world is superior to
our own."
That declaration caused a lot of murmuring. The professor continued.
"I know that many of you have been taught that we are superior to
muggles in every way, but the fact is that this is a lie. We simply have the
ability to use magic. We are not superior to them in any other way. In
fact, having to live without magic has made many muggles much smarter
than us. They've actually had to figure out how to do things without
waving a wand and reciting magic words. Next year, we'll be taking a
trip to a house equipped with what's known as a television and I'll show
you a type of wand that muggles invented, called a remote control."
Harry and Hermione were greatly amused by that comparison, and the
rest of the class went very well. It was hard to believe how fascinated
they were with the cd player, and the concept that each cd had
something different on it. However, nothing compared to their reaction
to Harry turning on a flashlight at the end of the lesson.
"What kind of a wand is that?" shouted one person.
"That's a powerful lumos spell you've got there, Harry," commented
another.
"That's not a spell," explained Harry with a grin. "This is another muggle
device that uses batteries called a flashlight. The muggles have their own
equivalent to almost every spell we have."
"Even the dark spells?" asked Cho nervously.
"I'm afraid so," stated Professor Burbage soberly. "They have many
weapons to hurt each other with. They have what's called a gun, which,
similar to the flashlight, is like a wand that performs only one spell. It
sends a small piece of lead called a bullet through you, putting a hole in
your body. No shield spell can stop it. It can be as lethal, even to wizards,
as the Killing Curse if it hits the correct parts of your body." The class
gasped. "However, that's nothing compared to the weapons that muggle
militaries have." She took a deep breath. "But, enough about that. Suffice
it to say that both wizards and muggles have plenty of ways to kill each
other. Any other questions?"
-HM-HM-HM-
The year was proceeding normally after that, and most of the students
were looking forward to visiting their families at Christmas. Brianna had
mentioned that she'd been drafted to be in a kids' play at their church
and had to go to practices. Ginny had been in good spirits ever since her
Quidditch victory, and the others thought that she was back to her old
self. On Friday, December 18th, Harry was walking with Hermione and
Padma toward the Ravenclaw Common Room after dinner.
"I'm so glad that our last test is over!" declared Padma.
"Me, too," agreed Harry. "Although I must admit that I much preferred
Professor Tutamun's Defense final to what Lockhart would've given us."
Hermione said, "I thought…"
Harry did not hear whatever it was that his best friend thought, because
at that moment, he heard something else.
"Let me rip you. Let me eat you. Let me kill…"
"What!" interrupted Harry.
The two girls looked astonished. Hermione asked, "Harry, what's wrong?"
"I heard it again. The same voice before Filch got petrified. This way."
Without looking back, he ran in the direction the voice had been coming
from, until he stopped at one of the strangest sights of his life.
The Ravenclaw ghost was lying down in mid-air, petrified. On the other
side of her, Justin Finch-Fletchley of Hufflepuff was on the floor, stiff as a
board. Harry bent down to check Justin when a familiar voice called out.
"You! I had hoped zat eet waz a coincedenze when you were wiz Mizter
Filch. But now you are wiz ze next victim az well!" Professor LaVelle had
her wand pointed at Harry.
"What is the meaning of this?" demanded Flitwick, as he came upon the
situation. "Madam, why do you have a wand pointed at one of my
students?"
"I have found zis boy at ze seen of yet anozer crime."
"Then let's call the headmistress," suggested Flitwick before summoning a
Patronus to fetch Minerva.
"She iz hiz aunt. She will not punish him."
About a minute later, the Headmistress showed up and asked what had
happened. After she'd been told what LaVelle saw and then what
Hermione (who did not mention Harry hearing the voice) saw, she turned
to her nephew. "Harry, I do believe you, but I will have to restrict your
movements a bit to satisfy those that don't. I can't give you special
treatment. You will not be allowed anywhere alone except for Ravenclaw
Tower and the lavatories." She turned to the Potions teacher. "Will that
satisfy you, or do you believe that Hermione Granger, a Muggle-born
herself, is also attacking the Muggle-born students?"
"Zat will satisfy me, for now."
"Very well. Harry, I would like to speak with you alone, about our travel
arrangements for the holiday."
"All right."
They walked in silence until they reached an empty classroom. Once they
were inside, Minerva silenced the door and rounded on her nephew. "I
know that you haven't been attacking people, Harry. But I also know that
you're not telling me everything you know. There has got to be a reason
that you've been at the scenes of both attacks. Don't try to tell me that it's
just bad luck."
Harry looked at the floor and shifted nervously.
"Harry," she said as she squatted down to look him in the face. "Harry, I
love you, and I want to help, but you've got to be honest with me."
"I, I've been hearing a voice."
"What?" asked Minerva, looking a bit nervous.
"It was talking about killing. I followed it to Mr. Filch the day he was
attacked, and to Justin today." He didn't notice, but a few tears had
started to flow down his face. "Hermione and Padma couldn't hear the
voice, but I didn't attack anyone. I didn't want to tell you cause you
probably think I'm crazy now. I…"
Aunt Minnie engulfed him in a hug. "I don't think you're crazy, Harry. I
don't understand what's going on, but I know it's not your fault." She
backed up to look him in the eyes again. "I also know that the voice
you're hearing is real. Otherwise it wouldn't lead you to the victims.
However, if you hear that voice again, don't follow it. Instead, call me on
your mirror. Bring it with you all the time when you're at Hogwarts."
"Okay, Aunt Minnie. But how can I hear a voice that no one else can?"
She hugged him tightly again. "I don't know. It may have something to do
with your true identity. I just don't know. I will try to find out why."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day at their study group, Ginny seemed very withdrawn and
quiet again, and Harry wondered if it had something to do with the
attack. However, he pushed that thought to the back of his mind as he
prepared for Christmas break.
Like last year, both Harry and Minerva rode the carriage to Hogsmeade
with his friends and then apparated (Minnie side-alonged him) from
there to the magical section of the airport, and flooed to America from
there.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Harry!" shouted Cindy McGonagall as she ran to her son and engulfed
him in a big hug. Harry had to put down Hedwig's cage. She was still
squawking in protest of floo travel. "You've gotten taller," his mom
commented when she let him breathe.
"Aunt Minnie!" greeted Brianna while hugging her great aunt. "I've missed
you. I can't wait until next year when I get to see you every day."
"But then you won't see us every day, Brianna," countered Mark, before
he hugged his aunt.
They made their way home from O'Hare, and everyone but the travelers
went to bed, because it was still very early for them. As had happened
the previous year, the Christmas tree was already up, but the presents
weren't under it. They had saved that job for Harry, which he did quite
quickly with his perfect summoning charm. When he was dividing them
up, he noticed one labeled 'To Harry and Brianna, From Mom and Dad.' It
was a rectangular box wrapped in green paper, and had gotten his
attention.
"Don't look too closely at the presents," instructed Minerva, who was
sitting on the couch, with a smirk.
"Don't worry, Aunt Minnie. I'd never peek at my presents in front of you."
She chuckled slightly. "I do believe that."
A few hours later, the rest of the family went into the living room. Mark
said, "Good. You've put the presents under the tree. I see you put the one
to you and your sister at the front."
"Um, well, it looked interesting, but I didn't peek."
"Sure you didn't," stated Brianna sarcastically.
"Aunt Minnie was here the whole time," he answered defensively.
"Anyway," said Cindy. "We thought we'd let the two of you open it now,
since Harry won't be able to use it while he's at Hogwarts."
"Sounds good to me," replied Harry as he grabbed the gift. His sister
joined in ripping the paper off of the box to find…a Super Nintendo
Entertainment System. Both kids were thrilled to death to have the latest
video game system, and Harry had it hooked up to their TV in fifteen
minutes, and they were playing Super Mario World.
-HM-HM-HM-
Most of that day was spent 'testing' the new gift, and over the next few
days, Harry was taken to his eye doctor and dentist. His mom also made
sure to measure him so she could buy him new clothes. She didn't bother
buying that kind of thing until he was back home because she wanted
them to actually fit him. Harry talked with Hermione on his mirror a few
times, and also arranged to see most of his local friends after Christmas.
His family went to a Christmas play on Thursday, Christmas Eve, at their
church, where Brianna played the starring role of Mary. Harry thought
she did a good job, but would never admit it. He said she did okay.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry woke up early the next morning to the sound of his mirror being
called. Groggily, he grabbed his glasses with one hand and his mirror
with the other.
After yawning, he said, "Hello," sleepily.
"Happy Christmas, Harry!" replied his best friend excitedly.
Harry blinked as what she said registered. "Oh, Merry Christmas,
Hermione."
Her expression faltered for a moment. "I didn't wake you, did I? I thought
I'd waited long enough."
He couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry about it. You seem happy today.
Did you get a good haul?"
"Yes! I got a lot of good presents. The best one is this!" He saw that she
laid her mirror on the floor and then held a familiar ginger cat in front of
it. "I got Crookshanks!" she declared. "Remember, he's that cat I saw last
summer at…"
"Now I remember," Harry responded with a grin. Not that he liked the cat
so much, but that he liked seeing his friend happy. "So nobody bought
him, then. That's lucky."
"Yes! I'm so glad mum and dad remembered, and I couldn't wait to tell
you! I guess I should let you get out of bed and open your presents. Bye."
His very excited friend hung up before he could say anything else. He
chuckled as he got out of bed.
Harry made his way downstairs to find Brianna already there waiting.
"You didn't happen to wake mom and dad up, did you?" she asked.
"No, but they should be up soon. Hermione just woke me up."
"She called you, huh. Couldn't wait to wish her boyfriend a…"
"I'm NOT her boyfriend. We're just good friends." Harry then grinned.
"How's Bobby doing?"
"Fine," she said as her ears turned pink.
"Merry Christmas!" came the voice of their dad behind them. They turned
to see him, their mom and their aunt all joining them.
"Merry Christmas, dad," the siblings said together. After they'd all greeted
each other, they started opening their presents. Harry got mostly clothes,
cd's and Game Boy games from his family, although his aunt had gotten
him an illustrated book on Seeker tactics. Hermione had given him two
new games. Other Hogwarts friends had gotten him various magical
sweets. The last gift he opened was by far the most interesting.
When he picked it up, he found that it was very light. He unwrapped it
and something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it
lay in gleaming folds. Harry gasped. The boy had read about something
that fit this description, but surely no one would give him an invisibility
cloak.
"What is it," asked Brianna. He glanced up to see everyone staring at it.
He picked up the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the
touch, like water woven into material. A note fell out of it as he did so.
Aunt Minnie picked up the note. Her face paled as she glanced at it. She
absently passed to note to Harry, who looked at the narrow, loopy
writing he had never seen before.
"Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned
to you. Use it well.
A Very Happy Christmas to you, Harry Potter."
-HM-HM-HM-
Author note: This story is DH compliant, aside from the description of
Ravenclaw Tower (including the entrance), which I have no intention of
changing. However, I felt it would be prudent to mention that one of the
portraits in the Common Room is that of Rowena Ravenclaw. I would
have had to change chapter two to include the statue mentioned in DH
otherwise, should it come into play…
By the way, Snape wasn't in class to mention Polyjuice Potion in this
story, which is why they're not brewing it. Besides, I don't want to repeat
exactly what happened in the books. They'll investigate in their own
way…
18. Who Knows What?
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 18 – Who Knows What?
He picked up the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the
touch, like water woven into material. A note fell out of it as he did so.
Aunt Minnie picked up the note. Her face paled as she glanced at it. She
absently passed to note to Harry, who looked at the narrow, loopy
writing he had never seen before.
"Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned
to you. Use it well.
A Very Happy Christmas to you, Harry Potter."
"Someone found me!" Harry declared, not sure if he should be scared or
not.
"Maybe they just sent an owl and got lucky," suggested Brianna.
"No, Harry," said Minerva. "Long ago, I performed a spell to make owls
recognize you as Harry McGonagall and not Harry Potter. Otherwise
you'd have been found almost immediately by someone simply following
an owl. No one can find you that way. Even if that weren't true, it
wouldn't matter in this case. I recognize that writing, and know who sent
this to you."
"Who?" asked Cindy.
"Albus Dumbledore."
"WHAT!?" shouted everyone at once.
Minnie sighed. "He told me that he was going to dedicate himself to
finding the Boy-Who-Lived, and it looks like he has."
"But why did he send me a present and not just show up here?" asked
Harry.
"That's a good question," agreed Mark. "What do you think, Aunt
Minnie?"
"I don't know, Mark. I'm surprised he didn't send aurors here to arrest me
for kidnapping."
Cindy asked, "How could he? He kidnapped Harry, too. If I'm not
mistaken, the legal procedure would've been taking him to the Ministry
and letting them decide who his guardians would be."
"I can imagine who he'd have ended up with then," said Minerva. She
shook her head. "Dumbledore is up to something. He must have known
I'd recognize his writing." She sighed in resolution. "I'm afraid that I'll
have to leave so I can have a talk with him to see what he wants."
"No, don't go, Aunt Minnie," pleaded Brianna as everyone expressed
similar sentiments.
"I'm afraid my mind is made up. This matter has to be settled. I, for one,
do not wish to spend the rest of the holiday worried about this. I'll mirror
you when I have news, and I'll return as soon as I can."
"I know how they like to maintain appearances, so I'll drive you to the
airport," said Mark, shrugging his shoulders.
She turned to her brother's son. "No, that won't be necessary just this
once. I don't want you to spend Christmas driving in Chicago. I shall
apparate there. It's not illegal to do so. Your government just doesn't
want to attract the attention of muggles, so they prefer people traveling
to and from the airport by muggle means. However, you only get in
trouble if you do it more than twice per year. Happy Christmas,
everyone."
She then left the room with everyone staring after her. Obviously trying
to change the subject, Cindy asked, "What did Mr. Dumbledore give you,
anyway?"
Harry looked at the shining, silvery cloth in his hands for a moment
before saying, "It's some sort of cloak."
"Then, put it on," commanded Brianna eagerly. "I've never seen you
wearing silver before."
"All right," he agreed, and wrapped it around his shoulders so that it
covered everything but his head. Everyone gasped and just stared,
causing him to look down at himself. What he saw horrified him. "My
body's gone!" he declared.
"It is not," said Brianna as a huge grin formed on her face. "Didn't you pay
attention during the first Charms class at Wentworth where Mr. Connelly
talks about how some advanced spells can be put on clothes to protect
the wearer from most spells or to make her…"
"Invisible," Harry stated excitedly. "I've got an invisibility cloak!"
Brianna suggested, "You'd better not tell Aunt Minnie," while looking first
at Harry and then her parents. "She'd never let you keep it."
"I don't know if that's such a good idea, either," said Cindy, with a
concerned expression on her face. "What do you do at Hogwarts that an
invisibility cloak would help you with?"
Harry's ears turned pink as he looked in his mom's eyes. "Um, well,
nothing."
"Then why…" she started before her son interrupted her.
"But it would be nice to have – not use – something that belonged to my
biological father with me." He put on his most pathetic face.
"Yeah, right," Cindy replied with a smirk. "Those puppy dog eyes stopped
working years ago. I know exactly what you'll want to use it for, so I'm
afraid we won't let you take it with you to school." She then turned to her
husband, who had thus far remained silent. He was staring in awe at
where Harry's body should be. "Isn't that right, Mark?"
"Hmm. What was that, dear?" He used to just automatically agree with
his wife when he wasn't paying attention, but he'd learned his lesson
when she'd tricked him into agreeing that he'd take her to the opera. She
made him keep that promise and he endured two agonizing hours as
punishment for pretending to pay attention.
"I was saying that we won't let him take that cloak to school, Mark."
He cleared his throat, and looked nervous as he said, "I don't know, dear.
I've got a feeling that he'd somehow sneak it there, anyway. I don't think
he'd get involved in too much…"
Cindy couldn't believe her ears. She rounded on her husband. "Mark, how
can you say that?" she yelled. "What would you have done at his age with
that cloak?"
"Um, well..." Seeing that their parents were not paying attention, Harry
covered up his face and Brianna snuck under the cloak, too, and they
walked to the kitchen, grabbed a platter full of Christmas cookies, and
sneaked up the stairs.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Happy Christmas, Minerva," greeted Dumbledore with a twinkle in his
eyes. He was wearing an outfit that made him look like a tall, thin Santa
Claus. She had knocked on his door moments before. "How are you?"
"Happy Christmas, Albus. I'm doing well. How are you?"
"Just wonderful. Please, come in. May I take your coat?"
After that, Dumbledore offered, "Would you care for a Christmas biscuit?
My elf, Blankey, just finished baking them. With the exception of kitchen
duty, I've given her the day off, which is why I answered the door. It was
quite considerate of you to pay an old man a visit on this fine holiday."
"I'm afraid that this isn't just a social call, as you well know, Albus,"
stated Minerva as she was seated on his couch.
"Very well," he commented nonchalantly. "It is fortunate that you came
this late. You see, Severus was here and left a little while ago. I couldn't
imagine his reaction to learning that the very boy responsible for his
dismissal from Hogwarts' staff was the son of James Potter."
With a hint of a smile on her face, she agreed, "I'd imagine he wouldn't be
too pleased. The way those two used to go at each other…" She stopped
her reminiscing to return to the present. "I'm surprised Aberforth isn't
here today."
"He did stop by this morning with his gift, a bottle of wine that's almost
as old as I am. He said that he had to keep the Hog's Head open today."
She sighed. "Very well. How did you find out about Harry?"
"It was actually quite simple," he answered with a twinkle in his eyes. "In
my search for the Boy-Who-Lived, I decided to revisit the Dursleys, who
were quite happy to inform me of their encounter with young Harry last
summer, at a zoo if I'm not mistaken." Under her breath, Minerva
whispered an expletive she would've docked a student twenty points for
uttering in her presence. The former headmaster seemed to have not
heard, although his eyes twinkled a bit more than they had been. "I was
able to look into their minds and immediately recognized both Harry and
yourself. I also saw their reaction to him. You should have obliviated
them, Minerva. By the way, I did just that before I left. They now have no
idea whether Harry Potter is dead or alive, but they do no that James and
Lily are dead."
"I see."
"I must say, Minerva, that you had me completely fooled all those years. I
never even suspected you had anything to do with Harry's
disappearance."
"I saw what kind of people the Dursleys were, and refused to subject him
to them. I do not regret that decision, and will not allow him to be
returned," she firmly stated.
"I quite understand," he replied happily. "Taking him away from the
family he grew up with would devastate the lad, and wouldn't
accomplish much anyway. As safe as he would be with the blood wards I
put at that house, I believe that he is even safer where no one knows
where to find him, should they wish him harm. I believe that it is in the
lad's best interests to keep him where he is."
"That's good," said Professor McGonagall, although she was confused.
"I must confess," Albus continued, "that I am a bit hurt that you didn't
trust my judgment." She opened her mouth to speak, but he waved her
off with his hand. "I know that you have demonstrated that sometimes
my judgment is not the best, and in this case, I think it has worked out
well. Judging by my encounters with the Dursleys, I do believe that
Harry was happier with your family than he would've been with his
blood relatives. He certainly seems well-adjusted, and a prodigy, if a bit
stubborn."
"If that means that he demands that his teachers behave in a professional
manner, then it is a trait that we share."
"I know," he agreed with his familiar eye-twinkle. "I do have one question
for you, Minerva."
"Oh," she asked.
"What really happened last term with Professor Quirrel?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Not long after, Albus Dumbledore relaxed in his favorite easy chair,
having just bid a good evening to Headmistress McGonagall. He had been
very intrigued by the method Harry had used to prevail against Quirrel
and gave her his theory as to why the possessed professor couldn't bear to
touch the Boy-Who-Lived.
As he reflected about his discussion with Minerva, his mind drifted back
to his last meeting with the Dursleys.
Having apparated into a nearby alley, Dumbledore, dressed in a navy blue
muggle suit, with his white hair and beard as long as ever, walked up to the
door of Number Four Privet Drive and knocked. It was early November, and
the former professor had not had any success yet in his search for Harry
Potter. He'd decided that it couldn't hurt to interview the Dursleys again. They
didn't remember the last time he'd been there, over a decade before, when he'd
learned that they hadn't found Harry on their doorstep.
The door opened, revealing a scrawny woman with a long neck that Albus
immediately recognized as Petunia Dursley. She was staring at his beard like it
was something vile. "May I help you," she said curtly.
With a twinkle in his eye, he jovially replied, "I certainly hope so, Mrs.
Dursley. I'm Albus Dumbledore. You may rem…"
"The head of that freak school," she hissed.
"Actually," he corrected her, "I've retired from that position."
"If this is about my freak nephew, we meant what we said! He is not to come
near us!"
The aged wizard's eyes bulged out at this news for about a second, which was
the only physical reaction he'd had to this astonishing news. Before he could
respond, a voice called out, "Petunia, who is that at the door?"
She replied, "A freak like the Potters!"
"Then slam the door in his face."
Dumbledore asked, "Did I understand you correctly, Mrs. Dursley, that you
have met your nephew?"
"Yes, but I don't want to see him again!" She pulled on the door to close it, but
Dumbledore stopped her as he performed Legilimency on the woman, making
her relive her encounter with Harry Potter. He was astonished by what he'd
discovered, and would have to think carefully about how to proceed, but he
did know that it would be unwise to leave the Dursleys with that information.
With lightning-quick speed, he pulled out his wand and silently stunned her.
He caught her, walked into the house, and gently placed her on the floor.
"What are you doing to my wife, you freak?!" shouted Vernon, who was
moving toward him in what could only be described as very slow running. It
was quite easy for Dumbledore to stun him as well, making sure to levitate him
to the chair he'd just left. He then levitated Petunia to the couch. At this
moment, Dudley came down the stairs, having apparently been alerted by the
noise that something was amiss. Before he could speak, the wizard stunned
and levitated him as well. While they were still unconscious, he obliviated each
of them of their encounter with Harry, as well as the encounter with him. He
enervated them just before popping away.
Dumbledore sighed as he considered what kind of life Harry would've
had if he'd been left with that family. He'd never admit it, but he was
actually grateful that Minerva had saved him from that grave mistake.
-HM-HM-HM-
"He gave you an invisibility cloak?" repeated the bushy-haired girl from
the mirror in Harry's hand. "I've never heard of anything so
irresponsible…but then again, it is Dumbledore."
Harry chuckled at that statement, knowing that she, like him, didn't think
very highly of the former headmaster's judgment. However, he did like
his cloak and wanted to keep it. As soon as he and Brianna finished
'testing' the Christmas cookies to make sure they were up to their mum's
normal high standards, she went to her room and he called his best
friend. He was sitting at his desk. "It used to belong to my biological
father."
Hermione's expression softened as she said, "I understand that it's
important to you. I'm just saying that I can't believe Dumbledore would
give it to you."
"He's probably trying to get on my good side now, since he apparently
knows who I am. Remember, he said there was some sort of prophecy
about me." When he saw his best friend frown, he decided to change the
subject slightly. "Can you imagine how useful that cloak will be with our
pranking?"
He saw a hint of a smile return to her face. "But I doubt you'll be able to
bring it with you. I'm sure your aunt…"
"I don't think my aunt even glanced at the cloak. She was more concerned
with the note," he interrupted happily.
"But your parents…"
"Are fighting about it now," he declared with a grin. "I know I'll be able to
keep it."
"How do you know that?" asked Hermione, looking rather skeptical.
"Because it's the only thing I have from my biological family. No matter
how much my mom's against the cloak, she won't stop me from keeping
it. She may want an unbreakable vow that I won't use the cloak for
breaking school rules, but I'm…"
"She won't ask for an unbreakable vow. That would kill you!"
With a slight chuckle, Harry replied, "I know. I was just exaggerating.
I…"
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. A female voice called,
"Harry, honey, may I come in?"
"It's my mom," said Harry to the mirror. "I've gotta go."
"Let me know how it turns out."
"Okay. Bye. Mirror, deactivate." He then turned toward the door. "Come
in."
The door opened, and Cindy McGonagall was indeed standing behind it.
She walked inside and sat on his bed, picking up the light cloak that was
lying on it. She examined it with interest for about thirty seconds before
speaking. "So, this used to belong to James Potter."
"That's what the note said," responded Harry noncommittally.
Sighing, she commented, "That explains how he got away with the pranks
Aunt Minnie said she could never prove he pulled."
"You're not going to tell her about the cloak, are you?" he asked,
concerned.
"Your father asked me not to. He wants you to have the cloak. I'm not so
sure about it."
"Mom, I," he pleaded.
"I know. If she knows about the cloak, she'll make sure you don't bring it
back to Hogwarts. She'll probably personally search your trunk to make
sure you didn't smuggle it."
"So I can bring it to school?" he asked excitedly.
She looked deep into his mischievous green eyes. "If we say no, will you
try to sneak it to Hogwarts anyway?"
As much as he tried, he still couldn't stop his ears from turning pink
under his mother's gaze. Before he spoke, she continued, "Don't bother
answering, because I'd rather not be lied to."
"Um…"
"I told your father that you'd get into trouble with the cloak, and he said
you already do. The cloak would only be an extra tool for you to use."
He lowered his gaze, not being able to stand the fact that he couldn't lie
to his mother properly. He wondered if he should practice more. "Well,
you see…"
"While I don't want you playing pranks with it, there's also the danger
that seems to find you, not to mention the trouble at the school right
now." She sighed. "I have to admit that I'm a bit uneasy sending you to
Hogwarts with all that Chamber of Secrets business going on. Having the
cloak might make you a bit safer." She paused.
"It might also inspire you to break the restrictions that have been put on
you. I could try to make you promise not to use it for pranks, but by
doing that, I know I'd turn you into a liar. I need you to at least promise
me that you won't use it to place yourself in extra danger, going places
where students aren't allowed."
He sighed, and looked into the woman's eyes and stated, "I promise,"
without blinking.
"All right. I'll take your word for it, and I'll be very disappointed in you if
you break that promise." He nodded in understanding. "Now, what will
we tell Aunt Minnie when she asks what Dumbledore gave you?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Why not just say it was an old cloak?"
"She'd want to see it," declared Cindy. "I think it would be better to
actually have something else to show her. I have just the thing. I'll be
right back." She then left the room, leaving Harry wondering just what it
was that she was bringing. She was back within five minutes holding
something silver in her hands.
"What's that?" he asked, curious.
She held it so that he would see that it was an old, but obviously taken
care of, wristwatch. It was obviously expensive.
"It's a watch my father used to wear before…before he died. I was
planning on giving it to you on your next birthday, but I'll give it to you
now instead. We can say it belonged to your father instead of your
grandfather when Aunt Minnie's around. I don't want you wearing it
every day – only on occasions where you'd dress up."
"What if I put an unbreakable charm on it?" he asked.
She smiled at her magical son. "All right. Do that."
He got his wand and performed that charm, and then decided to try a,
"Repairo," to take care of the few scratches. He was pleased to see that it
now looked brand new. "Thanks, mom," he said before getting up from
his desk and hugging her. He knew that this gift meant a lot to her. When
they separated, she got up from Harry's bed.
"Aunt Minnie called us a few minutes ago and said that Mr. Dumbledore
doesn't intend on spilling the beans about you. He found out by talking to
the Dursleys." Harry had to stop himself from swearing in front of his
mother. "She'll be back before dinner. Why don't you come down and
collect the rest of your presents so the living room isn't a mess anymore?"
She turned to walk out of the room. It was then that Cindy noticed the
empty platter on his desk. "Did you eat all the Christmas cookies?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva arrived back at the house just before Christmas dinner, and was
impressed with Harry's new watch, and apparently didn't suspect a thing.
The next week went by quickly, with Harry and Brianna 'testing' the
Super Nintendo out as much as possible. Naturally, Harry had his now
traditional Quidditch match with his American friends at Frank's Flying
Funhouse. His team won, as usual.
Hermione was shocked that Harry's mom let him keep the Invisibility
cloak, but he knew that she had a mischievous side. "She adopted me
under Dumbledore's nose, didn't she?" Soon enough, Harry was back at
Hogwarts, wondering if Malfoy had tried to cause trouble for his friends
again, and wondering what they'd do to him this time. Thinking about
that almost made Harry wish he'd ridden the train – almost. He did prefer
to spend the extra time with his family, although he was anxious to see
Hermione, 'and the others,' he reminded himself, again.
-HM-HM-HM-
The door to the Great Hall opened, alerting Harry that the other students
had returned. He marked his place in the book he'd been reading and
stuffed it in his book bag as he looked up. He saw a throng of kids aged
eleven to eighteen all wearing black robes as they made their way toward
the tables. His eyes searched from face to face until he finally spotted his
best friend. He didn't notice the wide smile that automatically came on
his face as his eyes met Hermione's.
She spotted him immediately (which wasn't hard since he was the only
student sitting down) and his face brightened as she began quickly
making her way toward him. Their eyes were locked until she was sitting
next to him. "Hello, Harry!" she happily greeted him.
"Hi, Hermione. How was the train ride?"
"Entertaining," aswered Padma, who'd sat across from them.
"Oh?" asked Harry. "What did Malfoy do?"
"Nothing to us," replied Hermione with a grin. "He didn't have time."
Now Harry's interest was peeked. "What happened?"
"The git, along with Crabbe and Goyle, was picking on that first-year
Gryffindor, Colin Creevey, telling him that he'd be the next 'mudblood'
attacked. Colin punched him, and Ron Weasley and Neville walked by at
the right moment and started fighting Crabbe and Goyle so they couldn't
protect Malfoy," explained Padma.
Luna, who'd just joined them, added, "I think the Plumcorts were
affecting them."
Hermione stared at her for a moment, before saying, "Colin had Draco in
a headlock when Penny found them fighting and broke it up.
Unfortunately, Crabbe and Goyle were winning their fights."
Harry glanced at the Slytherin table to see that Draco was sporting a
huge black eye on the left side of his face. Ron and Neville at the
Gryffindor table had assorted bruises, but were otherwise fine. Colin
didn't seem to have a scratch on him. Harry said, "I guess Draco didn't
realize that kids learn how to fight a lot better in a muggle school than a
mansion."
Hermione looked annoyed while the other girls giggled. Hermione stated,
"After that, all six boys were forced to sit in the same compartment with
a few prefects for the rest of the trip. I think they all got detention and
lost their houses some points."
"So," explained Padma with a smirk, "Malfoy was unable to grace us with
his presence. We were so disappointed."
Harry looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, "Draco actually told
Colin he'd be the next victim?"
"Idle boasting," asserted Hermione with a scoff.
"What if it's not?" replied Harry.
"That pathetic little boy is not the Heir of Slytherin. He just wishes he
were."
"How do we know?" asked Padma. "His family has been in Slytherin for
ages."
"They're also part of the black thumb conspiracy," added Luna.
"I just wish I could hear what they talk about in their common room,"
commented Padma. "I'll bet he brags about it to his mates in there."
Harry's eyes seemed to brighten as a wide smile appeared on his face.
Hermione looked at his expression first in confusion and then horror. "We
can go in there," Harry declared.
-HM-HM-HM-
A half-hour later, Harry, Hermione and Padma were under the invisibility
cloak with their shoes charmed to be silent. They'd wanted to bring Luna
with them, but couldn't fit a fourth person, so she volunteered to watch
out for nargles as she brought Harry's book bag to the Ravenclaw dorm.
The cloak had been in the bag, so all they'd had to do was leave the hall
before Draco and slip into an unused classroom to pull it out. They had
been following Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle for a few minutes, and were
glad when the Slytherins paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.
"Pure-blood!" said Malfoy proudly, and a stone door concealed in the wall
slid open. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle marched through it and the
Ravenclaw trio hurried behind them before it could close. The arrogant
blond paused, sniffed the air, and announced happily, "Much better. No
mudblood's ever been in here." His two stooges laughed while Hermione
grinned at her companions from under the cloak. It was hard not to laugh
at how stupid bigots were. Apparently, his black eye hadn't taught him a
lesson.
Harry couldn't help but look around at the long, low underground room
with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps
were hanging on chains. He noticed a fire was crackling under an
elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them. He also saw the door that
led to the special potions room he'd seen memories of at Snape's trial.
There were several older couples kissing on different pieces of furniture,
and Harry was happy to note that, contrary to the image Malfoy
presented, nobody older than him even noticed the braggart arrive,
strutting as though something was shoved up his…
The Boy-who-lived was pulled out of his observations when he heard
Goyle ask softly, "Did ya mean what ya said 'bout that Cravy mudblood
bein' next?"
"How should I know, Goyle?" he hissed back. "I already told you that I
don't know who the heir is."
"We jus' thought ya might, seein' that ya said who'd be next," explained
Crabbe.
"Well, I don't. Father just told me he was here, and that I should keep my
head down so he can get on with it. I just said that because I still can't
believe that mudbloods are allowed here." He sat down on an easy chair
as he looked at his companions. "If I really had my choice, the next
mudblood attacked would be Granger, and she wouldn't be petrified.
She'd be killed."
Harry's face turned red and he looked ready to murder. Padma put a
hand over his mouth while Hermione held his wrists to prevent him from
doing anything rash – like throw off the cloak and pound Malfoy's face
into the floor. He took a deep, silent breath and nodded, signaling the
girls that he'd calmed down. One of the kissing couples got up and
walked toward the door, hand in hand. Harry had an idea of where they
were going and what they'd be doing. He used to think that was
completely gross, but now he wasn't so sure. He felt Hermione's hand
push him slightly, and realized that the girls wanted to follow that couple
out the door. Seeing no reason to stay there now that they knew Draco
wasn't the Heir of Slytherin, he complied and they made it to the
Ravenclaw common room with no problems.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: Many things are different in this story, including that
Draco and his buddies went home for Christmas, unlike in CoS. I think
they stayed at Hogwarts in the book just so they'd be there to see
Hermione's corpse when she got attacked. However, in this story,
Hermione wasn't staying behind, so the Slytherins didn't have a reason to,
either.
Sorry it's such a short chapter, but I felt that this was a natural breaking
point.
19. Suspicions
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 19 – Suspicions
Although Harry hadn't attacked Malfoy in the Slytherin common room,
that didn't stop him from being angry and glaring at the Death Nibbler
every time he saw him. When Draco noticed this, he glared back, but
didn't do anything to him.
"That coward doesn't have the guts to say what he thinks to our faces,"
Harry muttered after Draco and his goons walked off to class after they'd
traded glares.
"Of course not," said Hermione. "He knows you'd kill him."
"Creevey taught him how easy it is for anyone to beat him up," added
Padma. "Too bad his black eye healed," she commented. "He looked much
better with it."
"In any case, Harry," stated Hermione, "You've got to drop it. Stop glaring
at him."
"But he said…"
"He said he's not the Heir of Slytherin. He's just a pathetic little boy who
can't keep his mouth shut," interrupted Hermione, "and is not worth our
interest."
"Fine," Harry agreed, and resolved not to glare at Draco anymore while
Hermione was watching.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next month went by quickly, and January turned into February. On
the first of the month, right after one of their study group meetings,
Ginny, who had seemed back to normal after the holidays, said, "Don't
forget about our bet this Saturday, Harry."
He grinned at her. "Don't worry. I'll be ready to take those five knuts from
you after I catch the Snitch."
She defiantly looked him in the eyes. "In your dreams, McGonagall. I'll
expect full payment before I go to the party in Gryffindor tower after I
catch the Snitch."
"I agree," replied Harry with a slight grin. "If you catch the Snitch, it will
be in your dreams."
"We'll see about that," she said smugly before turning around and leaving
Harry with Hermione and Padma, who were working on homework, in
C.A.R.E. headquarters. Harry chuckled to himself and pulled out his
Game Boy.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry worked exceptionally hard during the Quidditch practices that
week because he really wanted to prove he was the better Seeker. It
wasn't a grudge match – he was friends with Ginny and that would stay
the same no matter who got the Snitch – but he just wanted to win and
knew that she did, too. Neither one of them was going to be easy on the
other during the game, and he was actually looking forward to the
match.
On the day before the game, Michelle, the Ravenclaw captain, asked him
to stay for a minute after practice, so Harry had Hermione leave without
him.
"Harry," the seventh-year girl said. "You've been really working hard this
week."
He blushed at her praise. "I just really want to win tomorrow's game."
"I heard a rumor that you've got a bet going with the other Seeker," she
commented with a smirk.
He swallowed as his ears turned pink. "Um, well…"
"…and that you made the bet before either of you were on the teams.
Harry," she added, sounding amused, "I'd hate for you to lose the bet, so
make sure you don't."
"I will," he promised.
"Good. Now, get changed so I can escort you to the common room to
make sure you don't attack all the muggle-borns on the way. Then you
can get a good night's sleep tonight because I want you ready to catch the
Snitch tomorrow." Harry obeyed, but had to admit that he was getting
sick of the restrictions placed on him.
"Aye, aye, captain," he agreed with a mock salute as he turned toward the
changing room. He heard Michelle chuckle as he entered.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry reentered the castle, with Michelle about ten feet behind him
because she liked to give him his privacy as well and figured that she
wasn't disobeying the rules as long as she could see him. He soon noticed
Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle in the hallway.
"McGonagall," Draco sneered, "I'm surprised to see you walking anywhere
without your filthy mudblood."
Gritting his teeth was Harry's only physical reaction to the bigot, even
though he was already mad at him. He continued walking.
"I'm talking to you, you son-of-a-squib!" Anyone looking in Harry's eyes at
that moment could tell that he was not in a mood to be trifled with.
However, Draco ran up behind him and grabbed his left shoulder from
behind to turn him around while his bodyguards were trying to catch up.
"You'd better learn to respect your sup…"
BAM! At that moment, Harry lost his temper completely, for the first time
in years. He clenched his fists and turned around, ramming his right fist
into Draco's nose. There was a cracking noise as his head snapped back.
Harry couldn't help but feel satisfaction as blood began flowing freely
down as Draco's eyes filled with tears. "You hit me," he mumbled.
"Harry, stop!" yelled Michelle, who was now running toward them.
"And I'll hit you again," growled Harry, ignoring Michelle as his left fist
made contact with the arrogant brat's stomach. Draco gasped for breath
as Harry rammed into him, wrestling his helpless, crying opponent to the
ground. He began punching Draco's already bloody face in. He was sick
of that idiot's constant belittling of people simply because his parents
were evil wizards, and wanted to teach him a lesson he wouldn't soon
forget.
Crabbe and Goyle had finally caught up, but were stopped from grabbing
Harry from behind by Michelle while she was screaming for Harry to
stop.
Suddenly, a small but authoritative voice shouted, "Stop! All of you!"
Everyone stopped at Professor Flitwick's command. Goyle immediately
declared, "McGonagall here attacked Draco for no reason." Crabbe
nodded in agreement.
"Is this true, Miss Hamilton?" he asked Michelle.
"Malfoy was trying to provoke him, and grabbed his shoulder, but, er,
well…Harry did actually attack first," she admitted with her head down.
Harry could tell she didn't like saying it, but she was telling the truth.
"Mr. McGonagall, what do you have to say for yourself?"
Harry got up, his rage forgotten as he straightened himself out. He
cringed as he noticed Draco's blood on his clothes and hands. He glanced
down as his crying opponent. Malfoy's nose was obviously broken and
bent at a strange angle and he had two black eyes. His cheeks were cut
and bruised. "Um, you know how he is, professor. He was…"
"Did you throw the first punch?" demanded Flitwick, looking him straight
in the eyes.
Harry didn't feel a legilimency probe, but still knew that his head of
house could easily guess what had happened. He'd truly lost his temper.
That didn't happen often, but it had now. Harry realized that he'd wanted
an excuse to beat Draco to a pulp ever since he'd wished Hermione dead.
He hung his head down. "I did, sir," he admitted.
The petite professor seemed to sigh in relief. Harry supposed that he was
relieved that he didn't have to call his pupil a liar. "Very well. Fifty points
from Ravenclaw, and five detentions. You will also not be allowed to
participate in tomorrow's Quidditch game." Harry heard the gasp behind
him and finally noticed his captain looking at him in disappointment.
"Fighting, be it magical or muggle dueling, is not tolerated in this school.
I'm very disappointed in you, and I'm sure the headmistress will be as
well. Return to the common room. I'll let you know when you will be
serving your detentions later today." Harry noticed the grins on Crabbe
and Goyle's faces while Flitwick levitated Malfoy toward the hospital
wing.
Harry had taken two steps when he heard Michelle yell at him. "Harry,
how could you get into a fight the day before a game!? I CAN'T BELIEVE
YOU! I thought you cared about our team!" Keeping his head down, he
listened to his captain berating him, knowing that he deserved it. Even
so, he had to admit that he'd enjoyed bashing Malfoy's head into the
floor. "Are you even listening to me?"
Harry looked up at his red-faced captain. She looked scary. "Of course I
am, Michelle." He took a deep breath. "You're right; I messed up, big
time. I'm sorry."
"Good," she said, her expression grim, "Because if you ever do something
like this again, I'll have to kick you off the team."
-HM-HM-HM-
It was a subdued Harry that entered the Ravenclaw common room after
giving 'Al' the password. Michelle was right behind him, and called out,
"All members of the Quidditch team, I need to talk to you, now."
Most of them were in the room, and the few that weren't were quickly
located. "Harry," said Hermione before Michelle started talking. She was
looking at her best friend's appearance with a concerned expression.
"What happened?"
He sighed. "I…"
"That's what this meeting is about," interrupted Michelle. "Mr.
McGonagall decided that he enjoyed muggle dueling more than
Quidditch. He got in a fight and now he's not allowed to play in
tomorrow's game. Chang, you'll be Seeker."
Cho blinked in surprise. "Er, sure. That's fine."
"Who'd you fight?" asked one member, while another asked, "Did you
win?" Hermione was just staring at her best friend in shock.
The captain sighed. "Fine, if you must know, he beat the crap out of the
Malfoy boy, but that's not the point."
"That stinking Slytherin. Good one, Harry!" said Sean Bradley, one of the
Chasers.
"That was not a good one!" corrected Hermione, glaring at Harry.
"It most certainly was not!" agreed Michelle. "I've already told him that if
anything like this happens again, he'll be off the team." She looked at the
others. "That goes for all of you." She turned to the reserve Seeker.
"Chang, I'm sure you'll do a fine job. Now, everyone make sure to get a
good night sleep." She got up and walked away without sparing a glance
at Harry. The others left Harry and Hermione alone after either scolding
or congratulating Harry for his fight.
"So, that's Draco's blood on you?" she asked after a moment. He nodded
grimly. "What happened?"
"I ran across him on the way back from practice. He started going on
about mudbloods and squibs."
"You shouldn't pay attention to that rubbish!" she declared in her most
bossy voice. "You know better than that."
"I know, and I did ignore him. I walked right past them, but then he
chased after me and grabbed my shoulder. I spun around and punched
him. I think I broke his nose."
"I see," she stated neutrally. "That's when you were caught?"
He put his head down. "Um, not quite. You see, I was really mad and I
sort of punched him again and tackled him to the ground and started,
well, beating on him…"
"How could you?" she asked, appalled at her friend's use of violence.
"I lost my temper," he snapped, causing Hermione to flinch. "I'm sorry,
Hermione. I didn't mean to snap at you. I just lost control. I don't know
why. I just couldn't stop. I…"
"This isn't about whatever he said today, Harry, and we both know it."
Hermione sighed. "It's about what he said last month. Don't deny it. Both
Padma and I have noticed how you've been glaring at each other since
then. You've wanted to do this for awhile."
"Hermione, I…"
"I understand. It's part of the male philosophy. I just hope you've gotten it
out of your system, now."
"I have," he declared with a small grin.
"Good. Did you get any other punishments than being banned from the
game?"
"Of course. It was Flitwick that caught me. He wasn't happy. He took fifty
points and said I'm gonna get five detentions."
"Wow. That does seem a bit harsh."
"He did have to levitate Malfoy to the hospital wing. He was crying the
whole way," Harry said as a grin began to form on his lips.
"You're impossible," said Hermione, as she was quite obviously trying to
avoid laughing at the Slytherin's expense. "At least one good thing came
of this."
"What's that?" he asked, confused.
Hermione said, "I noticed that you're not blushing around our captain
now," with a smirk.
At that point, Padma approached them and asked what had happened.
She was more amused at the idea of Malfoy crying the whole way to the
hospital wing than anything else. It didn't escape her notice that Harry
had no injuries from the 'fight.'
He'd just changed out of his robes when the door opened, revealing a
very upset headmistress. Her lips were thinner than he'd ever seen them.
Harry gulped.
"Mr. McGonagall," she said, her voice deceptively calm, "come with me."
With one last helpless glance at his friends, Harry got up and walked
toward his aunt. They went on in silence until they reached an unused
classroom. She put silencing charms around them before rounding on her
great-nephew. "Harry, how could you!?"
"Aunt Minnie, I…"
"Are you trying to make people think you're the Heir of Slytherin? There
are already people who suspect you, and now you violently assault that
pampered prat! Perhaps you've forgotten, but his father is on the board of
governors."
"Wouldn't fighting him prove the opposite; that I can't stand purebloods
who…"
"Silence. Draco Malfoy suffered a broken nose, a cracked rib, and
numerous bruises while you weren't hurt at all. This is just what certain
people need to prove that you are a danger to the school. I don't care
what that idiot said to you. This is inexcusable!"
Harry put his head down. "Yes, ma'am."
"Now, I am going to tell your parents and I can promise you that your
mother won't be very pleased with you, either."
Harry looked alarmed. "No, you don't have to tell mom. I…"
"It's standard procedure to keep parents informed of major rule
infractions, such as this, Harry. I'd have to tell them even if I didn't want
to." She then took a deep breath. "Harry, I know what Draco is, and
unofficially agree that he does deserve to be beaten up, but you've got to
learn to control your temper." She grinned. "Violence doesn't solve
anything. I thought you were taught to prank people who deserve it in
such a way that you don't get caught. Brawling doesn't discourage bad
behavior nearly as much as public humiliation."
Grinning, Harry declared, "But he was humiliated. He was crying like a
baby while being rescued by a half-blood." He snorted softly. "I proved
that a muggle could easily get the best of him."
"Be that as it may," Aunt Minnie said, once more looking stern, "your
punishment stands. I shall do my best to defend this fight as boys-being-
boys, and try to make Lucius look like an idiot for getting involved."
Harry chuckled. "I suggest you return to your dormitory and think about
how to better manage your anger during your detentions. I would expect
your parents will call you later tonight."
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva was right; Harry's mom did call him on the mirror, and was very
displeased with him. When he later talked to his sister, Brianna, she was
glad Harry had beaten up Draco but disappointed he wouldn't be playing
in the next day's game. She also mentioned that Jeremy Lightfellow had
finished his jail sentence for cheating at the American baseball games and
had started working at a shop in Little Salem where his family had seen
him. He said he was now staying far away from muggle sports.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, while Harry was diligently cleaning the Charms classroom
for Professor Flitwick, Hermione and most of the school were watching
the Quidditch match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. The Ravenclaw
head of house had decided that Harry would serve his detentions
cleaning that classroom every Saturday until the five detentions were up.
"And Roger Davies has just gotten another lucky shot past Wood, making
the score 100 to 40, in favor of Ravenclaw!" announced Lee Jordan, who
was sitting next to Headmistress McGonagall.
Hermione, who was in uniform on the sidelines while watching the
starting team play, muttered to another reserve player, "Why does that
Gryffindor get to announce all the games? He's clearly biased for his own
house, and that was not a lucky shot. Davies is simply a better Chaser
than Wood is a Keeper."
Before any response could be made, Lee announced, "It looks like Ginny
Weasley has seen the Snitch, or else it's another feint. She's darting
toward the other side of the pitch with a determined expression. I think
she's really seen it. Chang must agree with me, because she's hot on
Weasley's trail. Weasley is reaching out her hand; so is Chang. What?
Weasley dives straight down about ten feet and grabs something while
Chang is looking around. Does she? Yes! Ginny Weasley has caught the
Snitch! Gryffindor wins 190 to 100!"
Hermione muttered, "Harry would've gotten it," while the Gryffindor
team began celebrating.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry arrived back at his common room to a depressed crowd of people,
some of whom began glaring at him. He'd been escorted by Professor
Flitwick, who simply left him at the door.
He swallowed lightly and walked up to Hermione and Padma. "So, um, I
take it the game didn't go so well."
"Oh, our Chasers, Beaters and Keeper were at the top of their game,"
Hermione stated blandly.
"I take it Ginny got the Snitch, then?"
Padma answered, "That stupid Cho followed Ginny around instead of
looking for the Snitch. If you hadn't…"
"I'm sorry I'm not a good enough Seeker!" interrupted Cho, who had been
nearby and obviously overheard their conversation. She burst into tears
and ran downstairs to her dorm. Padma paled.
"Good going," commented Harry.
"Sorry," she replied.
"Tell Cho that," commanded Hermione, "not us."
"I will," she replied. Her face suddenly got mischievous. "But first, I found
out the full name of Madam Grubbly's fiancé."
"Was he at the game?" asked Harry.
"Yes, Casper Plank was there, sitting next to her and holding her hand."
"Casper?" repeated Harry. "You mean like the ghost?"
"What ghost?" asked Padma. "Is that one of the Hogwarts ghost's names?"
"No," explained Hermione with a small smile. "He's a character from a
muggle cartoon on the tele."
"Oh," she replied. Harry knew that they'd previously told their pureblood
friend about television, although he didn't think he'd ever get used to the
TV being referred to as the tele.
"I wonder when they're going to get married," Hermione commented.
"I hope it's soon," Padma replied dreamily. "I wonder what they'll wear."
Feeling a bit uncomfortable with the 'girl talk' that was beginning, Harry
got up and announced, "I'm gonna go to headquarters." He figured that a
few hours with his Game Boy would cheer him up.
"I'll escort you," said Hermione, reminding him of his restriction. "I'll do
some reading."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry soon found himself deeply immersed in a game – Hermione was
immersed in a book – when the door to Hagrid's old hut opened. He
paused his small entertainment system and looked up to see Ginny
Weasley looking at him. In her hand was the same book that she'd had
with her so frequently. Harry believed that it was a diary. She looked
cheerful, but a bit surprised to see him.
"Hi, Ginny," said Hermione. "Could you watch Harry and make sure he
doesn't attack all the students?" she asked sarcastically. "I have got to get
to the library."
"Sure," replied Ginny with a grin, and Hermione marked her place in the
book she was reading and headed toward the door.
When the door closed, Harry stated, "Hi, Ginny. I guess I owe you five
knuts."
"That's right," she replied with a smile.
"Too bad I got in that fight yesterday. Things would've turned out
differently, but that's the way it is."
Her expression hardened a bit. "So, you think that if you'd been Seeker
that Gryffindor would've lost."
He grinned while he reached into his pocket. "Of course, but our bet
wasn't about who was playing, so you won fair and square." Seeing her
anger at being told that he would've beaten her gave Harry an idea of
how he could keep his money. "I know that I'll beat you in the final
game, assuming Gryffindor makes it there."
"You mean, assuming Ravenclaw gets there," she corrected him.
"Gryffindor is now ahead of all the houses, including yours. Now, if it
were a contest of who spends the most time in the library, I'm sure
Ravenclaw would win. But this is Quidditch…"
"Where we're gonna kick Slytherin's butt in April and then slaughter
Gryffindor in the June."
"Care to put your money where your mouth is?" she asked confidently.
"Another wager," he commented with a smile. "Sure."
"Then double or nothing. Gryffindor will get the cup."
"You're on. That cup will look good in Flitwick's office."
"Too bad it won't get there," she replied, reaching out her hand to shake
Harry's.
He took her hand and they shook. Harry asked, "If somehow it's neither
team, then what?"
"Then, you owe me the original five knuts," she said before walking over
to the boom box and turning it on. "You don't mind a little background
music, do you?"
"No," he answered, while unpausing his game. Ginny sat down at the
other table and started happily writing in her diary. He found it a bit
strange that at times she'd react to what she was writing as though she
were surprised, amused, or even upset, but didn't comment on it.
-HM-HM-HM-
About a week later, Harry woke up a half-hour before he normally
would. The reason for this was that his name was being called out by a
female voice that was very familiar to him. He picked up his glasses and
then grabbed the mirror he had been keeping on his nightstand every
evening since his aunt had told him to call her if he heard the strange,
murderous voice that had led him to the Chamber of Secrets victims.
"What is it, Brianna?" he asked groggily.
"My, my, aren't you a grouch this morning?" she commented with a
smirk.
"Why are you calling, now, anyway? Isn't it like twelve thirty a.m. at
home?"
"Incredible. You can actually do math in the morning. You truly are
talented."
"Ha, ha. What is it?"
"I just wanted to be the first to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day, and
find out what you're giving Hermione."
Harry tried his best to keep his cheeks from turning pink, but to no avail.
"For your information, I am giving Hermione, as well as my other female
friends like Padma, a friendship Valentine like I did last year," he hissed
angrily as he left the room, hoping that his dorm mates hadn't already
been woken up. "And I'm sure she'll probably do the same for me. Of
course, I'm sure Bobby will send you a dozen roses…"
"Shut up, Harry."
"…and serenade you. He'll probably show up anytime now and throw a
rock at your window…"
"Be quiet!"
"…but it'll break mom and dad's window by mistake, and then he'll sing
Weird Al's song, 'One More Minute' for all the neighbors to hear." Harry
was, of course, referring to a song that expressed deep loathing instead of
love.
"He will not!" she screamed.
"Oh? What song does he sing to you?"
"Goodbye!" Brianna exclaimed. "I'll bet Hermione sends you a romantic
valentine."
Before Harry could respond, his little sister had deactivated her mirror,
having successfully woken him up early. He stood up from the chair he'd
occupied, deciding to shower early since he wouldn't be able to go back
to sleep.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was reading one of his textbooks in the common room when
Hermione came up from her dorm. She smiled and walked straight to
him. For some reason, Harry felt a bit nervous about what Brianna had
suggested, although he'd never admit it to his annoying sister.
"Um, Happy Valentine's Day," he decided to say when she approached
him. He was surprised that her ears turned pink. He didn't notice that his
did the same.
"Oh, er, same to you, Harry," she replied while examining her shoes.
"Should we, er, go to breakfast?"
"Okay."
Together, they made their way to the Great Hall and sat down across
from each other. Wordlessly, Harry began scooping scrambled eggs and
bacon onto his plate. He was halfway through his meal when Hermione's
owl, Rowena, landed in front of him with a muggle-style envelope. She
held out her leg and Harry took the letter. As he did so, he noticed
Hermione looking at him while failing to notice a small box that had
fallen when he untied the letter. When she noticed him looking at her,
her cheeks turned pink and she looked straight down at her plate. He
suddenly felt nervous about opening the envelope. However, he knew
that he couldn't put it off forever, so he gave the owl a piece of bacon so
she would fly away, and pulled a muggle card out of the envelope.
The front of the card had a picture of a cat and dog that each had part of
a glove in their mouths like they were playing tug-of-war with it, except
that they'd gotten it to the point where their mouths were touching.
Harry felt himself blush as he opened the card. Printed inside was the
message:
'The best friendships can't be explained.
Happy Valentine's Day!'
Written in Hermione's familiar neat script was:
'I can't tell you how much your friendship means to me, Harry. You are truly
the most important person in the world to me, and I don't know what I'd do
without you.
Love from, Hermione'
He looked up at his best friend, who was once again staring at him, and
smiled. "Thanks, Hermione. You mean a lot to me, too." At that moment,
Hedwig flew in with a scroll tied to her leg. "It's about time, girl." Hedwig
glared at him before hooting indignantly, turning her back toward him
and lifting her leg toward Hermione. Harry had sent his other valentines
with a school owl, but somehow felt that the one for his best friend
should be brought by Hedwig. He'd informed his owl that she was
delivering the most important one. He'd never be able to explain why he
didn't like the idea of Hedwig flying to Hermione with half-a-dozen
scrolls and treating her as the first of many deliveries.
"Thank you, Hedwig," Harry's best friend said before untying the scroll
and giving her a piece of bacon. She unrolled Harry's magical Valentine.
It had a wizarding photo of an owl and a kitten. The feline had a ball of
string while the bird had the end of that string in its claw. They would
move around the parchment playing their little game. It said:
'We've talked a lot, laughed a lot, and shared a lot. I'm so glad I have a friend
like you in my life.
Happy Valentine's Day!'
Harry's message was:
'The above message says it all a lot better than I could. You are a great friend
– my best friend, Hermione.
Harry'
"Thanks," said Hermione, smiling at him.
However, Harry wasn't smiling. While she was reading her valentine from
him, he'd found a small wrapped package on the table that had his name
on it written in Hermione's handwriting. He opened it to find a small box
of chocolate mints. He was touched that she'd given him something, but
more than that, he was upset with himself for not getting her anything.
He racked his brain to try to think of something to give her.
"Oh," said Harry with a forced smile. "Thanks for this present. Um, I…
forgot to bring your present to the owlry when I gave the scroll to
Hedwig. I'll get it to you later."
She looked concerned. "Harry, it's all right if you didn't get me a
present…"
"Of course I did," he interrupted. "You're my best friend. I wouldn't be
like that." He looked around, trying to change the subject. "Madam
Grubbly isn't here."
Hermione glanced at the staff table. "You're right." She grinned. "I'll bet
she's spending Valentine's Day with Mr. Plank."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Either that or she's sick."
"Harry," she scolded a bit sharply, "that's not very nice."
"I wasn't wishing she was ill. I just said it's a possible explanation."
"Sorry," replied Hermione. "Anyway, like I said, it's all right if you don't
have a gift for me."
"But I do," he lied, "and you'll have it at the end of the day."
"All right. I think right now, though, we've got to get to Quidditch
practice," she replied, reminding him that Michelle had started having
Sunday morning practices in addition to the Saturday practices because
he was in detention for the next three Saturdays.
"Yeah," Harry agreed, hoping he could think of something soon.
-HM-HM-HM-
Despite Padma's apology for what she'd said, Cho Chang had seemed a bit
depressed since Ginny had beaten her in their last game. Michelle had
managed to talk her out of quitting the reserve team, but her behavior
was a bit strange. She'd act depressed and uninterested until their
practice game began, and then she'd concentrate more than she ever had
before. Harry noticed that she was marking him a lot less than she used
to in practices, and had actually improved. He was still better, and beat
her to the Snitch more often than not, but she was making it more of a
challenge.
Because of this, not to mention that she was able to go to the Saturday
practices while he was in detention, he had to concentrate too much on
Quidditch to think of a gift for Hermione. All the girls on the team had
thanked him for the 'friend' valentines he'd sent them with a school owl,
and Hermione noted happily that hers was of higher value than the ones
he'd given the others.
When they'd gotten back to the common room, Penelope, Padma and
Luna also thanked him for their valentines. Luna commented, "My daddy
also sent me a valentine, but his also had a gift – a bouquet of
dandelions. They keep the Jervonians away."
To Harry's astonishment, he saw that she was indeed holding a jar with
at least two dozen yellow dandelions. He wasn't sure where her father
had found them in February, but he supposed that it had been a mild
winter and a few wildflowers were already growing in the forest near
headquarters. That gave him an idea. "That's great, Luna," he said. "I've
got to go. Um, since I can't be alone, Luna, could you come with me?"
"Of course, Harry. I'll protect you from the nargles."
They hurried out of Ravenclaw tower and to Professor Sprout's office,
where he got her to give him a vase. They then went outside the school,
quickly making their way toward C.A.R.E. headquarters. When they were
near Hagrid's old hut, Harry explained, "Hermione gave me a small gift
for Valentine's Day, and, um, I didn't get her anything. I thought I'd pick
some flowers out of the forest for her."
"Oh," she replied nonchalantly, "The grufpents must have stopped you
from realizing that you feel differently about Hermione than the rest of
your friends."
"I don't," he began. "Okay, she's my best friend, but that doesn't mean…I
just think it would be rude not to give her a present in return for hers."
"I guess the grufpents are still hard at work. I'm sure they'll leave you
within the next year."
He blinked and shook his head in disbelief. He decided that arguing with
her was pointless. He walked toward a group of yellow flowers that he
thought looked nice and carefully transplanted them into the vase,
saying, "Don't tell Hermione that I hadn't gotten her these before today."
"If you want, Harry."
-HM-HM-HM-
Half an hour later, Harry was in a private corner of Ravenclaw Tower
presenting Hermione with a vase of flowers. "Happy Valentine's Day."
"These are beautiful, Harry. Thank you."
"You're welcome," he replied, grinning at his success.
"However," she said slyly, "I know that you just picked them today."
"I didn't…"
"Please, don't lie to me, Harry." She took a deep breath. "I surprised you
with a gift, and being the wonderful guy you are, you decided to give me
one in return. Thank you."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, I admit it." He sighed. "Next year, I'll
get you a gift for Valentine's Day; I promise."
She smiled at him. "I'll hold you to that. Happy Valentine's Day," she said
before kissing him on the cheek and walking straight to the girls' dorm
without looking back.
Harry stood there for about five minutes with his hand over the spot on
his cheek that Hermione had kissed. "It's just a friendly kiss like mom
gives me," he muttered to himself before walking to his own dorm.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, things were back to normal between Harry and Hermione,
convincing him that he was right about Hermione's kiss meaning nothing.
At breakfast, Aunt Minnie stood up to make an interesting
announcement.
"Good morning, everyone," she said with a grin. "It is my pleasure to
inform you that something wonderful happened yesterday. Madam
Grubbly got married to a man named Mr. Plank. Some of you may have
noticed him accompanying her to Quidditch games lately. She is no
longer living at the castle, but will be here every weekday from seven
a.m. until three p.m. That will give her plenty of time to attend to her
grounds-keeping responsibilities. By the way, she should now be referred
to as Madam Grubbly-Plank." During the speech, Harry noticed that
Madam Grubbly-Plank wasn't there. He was slightly amused at how
almost every girl in the Great Hall began talking while almost all the
boys went back to their pancakes and sausage. As an afterthought,
Minerva added, "She will be back from her honeymoon next week."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next few weeks went by quickly, and it was now Saturday, March
sixth, the day of Harry's last detention, which also happened to be the
day of the Hufflepuff versus Slytherin game. He was truly getting tired of
spending his Saturday mornings cleaning the Charms classroom. He
really wanted to be out their jeering the Slytherins – 'cheering the
Hufflepuffs,' he corrected himself as he used a broom for the unnatural
purpose of removing dirt from the floor.
Professor Flitwick was sitting at his desk grading parchments, glancing
up at Harry every few minutes to make sure he was working. During his
first week, he'd asked why he couldn't just scourgify the floor. Professor
Flitwick had informed him that this was supposed to be punishment to
discourage 'brawling like a muggle' not Charms practice. Harry would
never admit to anyone that he was pleased to find out that he had indeed
broken Malfoy's nose, and was further pleased that Draco had not said
one word to him since the 'fight.' He had to admit that he at least
respected the fact that his head of house wasn't claiming that magic
didn't clean as good as elbow grease, which Filch had always asserted.
Harry had switched to the mop and was half-way done with the floor
when he heard a voice he'd hoped never to hear again.
"Let me rip you! Let me kill this time!"
Harry dropped the mop in surprise.
"Mr. McGonagall, is there something wrong?" asked Flitwick, who'd
obviously heard the mop hit the floor.
"Yes. I need to call my aunt," he answered, pulling the little mirror out of
his pocket. "Minerva McGonagall."
A few seconds later, his aunt's image appeared on his mirror as the
background noise of clapping and booing came through the mirror. "Yes,
Harry. You're supposed to be in detention."
"I am," he said, "but that thing we discussed before just happened."
Her image paled slightly. "You mean you heard…"
"Exactly," he interrupted. He didn't want Flitwick to know about the
voice he was hearing.
"I'll be right there."
"What about the game?" Harry asked.
"It's over. Higgs from Slytherin just caught the Snitch as you called. They
just managed to win – 180 to 170. Madam Hooch was actually giving
penalties to Slytherins. I'm glad we had our little talk." She then shook
her head. "Anyway, that's enough chit chat. I'll be at the Charms
classroom in a minute, so stay there with Professor Flitwick."
-HM-HM-HM-
True to her word, the door was hoisted open by the headmistress exactly
sixty seconds after their call ended. "Harry, come with me." She looked to
Flitwick. "He'll continue his detention in a few minutes, Filius, if that's all
right."
"Actually, Minerva," the teacher replied, "He's done enough today. His
detentions are officially over."
Harry replied, "Thanks," and walked out of the room toward his aunt.
"Can you still hear it?" she asked, once no one could overhear.
"Not right now, but I did just before you came. It was coming from this
direction." He walked quickly, but his aunt managed to keep up.
"Die!"
"I hear it again. This way!" He went down a flight of stairs and they
continued following until they came across the prone form of Alicia
Spinnet, a muggle-born girl on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. She was
holding a compact and had obviously been in the process of checking her
make-up when for some unknown reason she fell backwards, petrified
like the others. She was near the library entrance.
"Anozzer victim – and Mizter McGonagall is at zee scene yet again," came
a voice from behind them.
Aunt Minnie turned toward her Potions teacher with a furious expression.
"For your information, Professor LaVelle, Harry has been in detention
with Professor Flitwick since breakfast, and I have just picked him up
from there. He has not been alone all morning so it would have not been
possible for him to have done this."
Harry noticed that the Potions mistress looked frightened. "Professor,
may I ask what you're doing here?"
"Harry!" scolded Minerva. She then looked back at the teacher. "I do
wonder why you're so determined to pin this on my nephew, Sharon."
Harry could swear he saw a flicker of fear in her eyes as she answered, "I,
I'm not. It's juzt that I zaw him pointing hiz wand at zat cat…"
"Which has already been explained," stated Minerva pointedly.
Professor LaVelle seemed to whither for a moment before saying, "I've got
to go. I have a potion that needz tending." She then turned around and
left quickly.
Without a word, Aunt Minnie pointed her wand at Alicia and began to
levitate her to the hospital wing, with Harry walking behind her.
"Harry," she said as they were walking, "the staff and I have discussed
what would happen if there were another attack. The other students will
be informed soon, but there's no reason not to tell you now."
"Okay," he replied, not knowing how to respond.
"Quidditch will be cancelled and a new curfew will be placed. After
dinner, students will be escorted to either their common rooms or the
library. Two hours later, the students in the library will be escorted to
their common rooms."
"What about headquarters?" he asked.
"On Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons I will be willing to escort
members of C.A.R.E. to your cabin and return to escort you to dinner,
provided that you agree to stay there until I return. Similarly, members
of other clubs will have that same privilege on those days."
"At least we can keep our study group."
"Also, all students will be escorted to and from their classes by a
professor."
"It sounds like everybody's being watched like me, now," commented
Harry grimly.
"I'm afraid so," she responded. "If there is another attack, I'll have no
choice but to close the school."
"Really?" asked Harry. "That would be awful."
"Yes. Lucius Malfoy has been trying to convince the board that these
attacks are my fault. One of my friends on the board of governors has
told me that he wants me removed as headmistress."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "I know that he has something to do with this.
Remember what his house elf was…" Harry grinned. "How about if we
keep him otherwise occupied?"
"What do you mean?" asked Minerva, stopping to look at her nephew's
evil grin.
"Anyone who saw poor Tribly can see that Mr. Malfoy is disobeying the
law. He beats her badly. If he were busy dealing with Ministry charges of
house-elf abuse, he wouldn't have time to get you sacked."
"A stain like that on his reputation might even get him taken off the
board of governors," Aunt Minnie added with a grin.
"If you'll escort me to the owlry once we drop off Alicia, we can send an
anonymous tip."
"That sounds like an excellent suggestion," she agreed.
"Also, if you'll escort me to Ravenclaw Tower, Hermione, Padma and I all
have a new Animagus paper to give you."
"Excellent." She smiled at him. "I'm really proud of how seriously you're
taking my offer. You're more than three-quarters through that book
already."
He grinned. "We're highly motivated in this matter."
-HM-HM-HM-
A few hours later, the tip to the Ministry had been sent and the students
had been informed that new restrictions had been placed upon them.
Hogwarts began to almost seem like a prison with everyone being
escorted everywhere. Two days later, Brianna turned eleven, and when
Harry called her to wish her a happy birthday, he had good news to share
with her. He read an article from the Daily Prophet to her.
'C.A.R.E. Law Gets its First Test Case
By Anna Jesse
After receiving an anonymous tip, Ministry officials conducted a raid of
Malfoy Manor, the home of the influential family of the same name. They
found a half-dozen house-elves with various injuries, including bruises, broken
bones and burns – none of which had been treated. When asked why they
hadn't healed themselves, one of the elves named Tribly said, "Master is telling
us to never be healing ourselves," before beginning to bash her head against a
table, as she had obviously been ordered to do as punishment whenever she
spoke ill of her family. All the elves were taken to St. Mungo's to have their
injuries evaluated and treated.
According to the House-Elf Abuse Deterrent law (H.E.A.D.), on the first
offense, the offender is fined 1,000 Galleons. For the second offense, the
victimized elf is confiscated by the Ministry, to be given or sold to another
family. On the third offense, all of the offender's elves are confiscated. Finally,
on the fourth offense, the abuser loses his/her right to own house elves. This is
the most severe penalty that an offender will face.
In the case of the Malfoy family, because several elves were found to be
abused, Madam Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law
Enforcement, is pushing that this be treated as both a first and second offense,
so the penalty they'll be facing if found guilty will be 1,000 Galleon fine and
the loss of all the victimized elves. In this case, that is every Malfoy house-elf,
because all six have severe injuries.
The only question is whether the Ministry will actually enforce this law that
was passed as a result of the group known as C.A.R.E. (Community
Advancing the Rights of Elves) that formed about a year-and-a-half ago at
Hogwarts. For more on C.A.R.E., see page five.'
"That's great!" exclaimed Brianna. "He should be quite busily bribing
bigoted buffoons as we speak."
Harry smiled at his sister's tongue twister before saying, "Yeah, I guess so.
Hopefully, he will have to pay some penalty for what he's done to elves.
The main thing is that while he's busy dealing with that, he hopefully
won't have time to try getting Aunt Minnie sacked."
"I hope so," she replied. "What did they say about C.A.R.E. on page five?"
"Oh, just a reprint of the article Mrs. Brocklehurst wrote last year. We
have gotten some more members already since the paper came out this
morning."
"That's good," said Brianna.
"Did you like my present?"
She made a face. "I do like the self-inking quills, but not the note you put
in it."
With an innocent expression, Harry asked, "Why ever not?"
"I'm NOT going to use them to write love-letters to Bobby!"
"I guess," replied Harry, "you only use muggle pens for that."
"What do you use for love-letters to Hermione?" she asked, causing him
to blush.
"I don't write love-letters," Harry about shouted.
"Where is Hermione, anyway?" Brianna asked.
"Oh, she's at the library, but should be back any minute. She told me to
wish you a happy birthday."
"Indeed I did," the brunette in question said over Harry's shoulder,
surprising him. "Happy birthday, Brianna."
"Thanks, Hermione," Brianna replied. "I guess you'll want to talk to Harry
now, huh." The girl winked, causing both Hermione and Harry to blush.
"Actually, I do need to talk to Harry, but it's not about…"
"I understand. Bye," she said, grinning. The mirror deactivated.
"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" asked Harry as he put the
mirror in his pocket.
"Two things, actually," she said. "First of all, have you noticed how Ginny
Weasley gets after every attack?"
His eyes narrowed. "Well, she gets really withdrawn for a few days. I
guess she's scared."
"I'm not sure if that's it entirely."
His eyes widened. "You think that she's involved in this?"
"I'm not sure, but I didn't see her at the game. When I asked her about it,
she seemed to get scared for a moment before she insisted that she was
there. She was practically yelling at me. I told her that I supposed I was
mistaken, but I actually did look for her. She didn't sit with us or with
her fellow Gryffindors, which is where she claimed she was. I think we
should watch her more closely when we can. She is hiding something."
He took a deep breath. "I guess we can do that. I don't think it could hurt
anything, but make sure not to look like we're spying."
She smiled. "Thanks."
"What was the other thing?"
"Oh, that." She pulled a page that looked like she'd torn it out of a book,
something he'd never seen her do before. "I think that Slytherin's monster
is a basilisk."
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's Note: The messages on the valentines were copied from
Hallmark cards.
20. The Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 20 – The Chamber of Secrets
"A basilisk?" repeated the concerned voice of the headmistress. Harry and
Hermione had immediately come to her with the information the
brightest witch of her age had gathered. Aunt Minnie looked over the
ripped-out page that described the monster. "That's why you've been
hearing the voice. You're a Parselmouth and it's a snake." Harry and
Hermione both nodded. "That certainly explains the roosters as well."
"Roosters?" asked Harry.
"Their crow will kill a basilisk," explained Hermione haughtily. "Didn't
you read that page?"
"Of course I read it," said Harry while rolling his eyes. "I meant what
Aunt Minnie said about it explaining something."
"Oh," replied Hermione.
"A few months ago, Madam Grubbly-Plank told me that all the roosters
on the grounds had been killed. We ordered more, but they were killed as
well. Therefore, I decided to wait until whatever beast was slaughtering
them was caught before subjecting more of them to that fate." She sighed.
"I shall have to discretely order another. Hopefully, it'll get here in time
to help us."
"Hopefully?" questioned Hermione.
"It takes awhile to acquire livestock, especially from the muggle world.
All kinds of Ministry parchmentwork. You'd think I was ordering a
basilisk. It took a month for the roosters to arrive last time."
"A month?" questioned Harry.
His aunt nodded before turning her attention toward Hermione. Her
features conformed to what Harry had learned to be her 'teaching face.'
"Miss Granger, I must say that I'm disappointed that you would rip a page
out of a library book."
Harry suppressed a grin as he watched his best friend shrink under the
headmistress' glare. She put her head down and mumbled, "I, er, was
excited that I'd found the answer."
"I'm quite pleased that you found the answer as well, and understand that
students aren't allowed to check out that book, but you could have copied
the information down or asked me to accompany you to the library to
examine the text. I would've given Ravenclaw thirty points, but because
of that, I'm only awarding twenty points."
"Yes, ma'am," agreed Hermione, still examining the carpet of the
headmistress' office.
"Together, we shall go to the library and tell Madam Pince of your
transgression. You will then repair the book and accept whatever
punishment our librarian deems appropriate."
"Yes, ma'am," seemed to be the only thing Harry's best friend was capable
of saying.
"Oh, and Miss Granger," said Minnie before pausing for a moment. "If
your suspicion turns out to be correct, you will receive a special award
for services to the school."
Hermione finally looked up with a hint of a smile on her face.
-HM-HM-HM-
"I thought better of you, Miss Granger!" hissed Madam Pince at the
second-year Ravenclaw girl. Harry, Hermione and Professor McGonagall
had all gone to the library and explained what had happened to the
librarian. "I thought you respected books! But ripping them to shreds like
some illiterate barbarian! What's next? Will you be burning them?"
"No, ma'am," said Hermione contritely. Harry could tell that his friend
was on the verge of tears. "I'm very sorry. It won't happen again.
Please…"
"Tomorrow, you shall spend your library time dusting books the muggle
way."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And then we'll pretend that this whole ugly incident never happened."
Hermione looked up to see a slight smile on Madam Pince's face. If Harry
didn't know any better, he'd have guessed that the librarian actually liked
Hermione. "Thank you, Madam Pince."
"But if you ever do something like that again…"
"I won't; I promise."
"But if you do, you'll be banned from the library. Now, let's get that
book."
-HM-HM-HM-
Hermione easily performed a "Repairo," on the tome, and when they were
back in Ravenclaw Tower, Harry commented that her detention was
unfair because of how easily the book was fixed, but Hermione argued, "I
deserved it. I wasn't thinking properly," so he let the issue drop.
The next month went by slowly. Aunt Minnie had ordered a rooster, but
commented that it wouldn't help unless she found the entrance to the
Chamber of Secrets. Every teacher that escorted students began looking
around every corner with a small mirror, but didn't explain why to the
students. The trio was getting closer to the end of the Animagus book,
and Harry was tempted to begin the process outlined in the tome, but
Hermione reminded him that, "Your Aunt's under enough pressure as it
is. She doesn't need her underage nephew caught trying something like
that, especially if they find out she gave you the book."
Malfoy seemed to have realized that while Harry was punished for
beating him up, he wasn't punished for provoking the headmistress'
nephew. Therefore, he made it a point to start insulting Harry and his
friends (especially Hermione) whenever possible, calling them by the
appropriate racial slur of mudblood, blood-traitor or son-of-a-squib
whenever he saw them. Hermione had a very hard time stopping Harry
from reviewing Draco's earlier lesson on manners. Instead, they began
planning a major prank on him.
Harry, Hermione and Padma (after they shared their suspicions with her)
kept an eye on Ginny whenever they could, which wasn't often because
of the new restrictions on students. They were glad they weren't the only
ones who noticed something wrong with Ginny. Apparently her brother
Percy thought she looked sick because he made her take a pepper-up
potion that caused smoke to come out of her ears.
Harry commented, "If he'd have done more than look at her – maybe
actually talk to her – he'd have realized that her problem isn't that she's
got a cold."
"At least he's trying to help," defended Hermione. "Her other brothers
aren't even doing that."
"Yeah," grumbled Harry. "I suppose the twins spend more time with her –
at least at Quidditch practices – but that kid Ron does his best to sit as far
away from her as possible at meals, and I can't imagine him acting any
better in the Gryffindor common room. How could he treat his own sister
like that?"
"I heard from Parvati that he was really bad after he found out she was
Gryffindor's Seeker," commented Padma. "He started yelling at her at
their victory party about how she always gets what she wants."
"He's jealous? That's all?" asked Harry, clearly appalled. "I'd never treat
Brianna like that over jealousy! I know last summer when I was mad at
her I was a bit like that, but that wasn't jealousy. She'd actually done
something wrong!"
Hermione agreed. "Even then, that very justified anger didn't last as long
as Ron's unjustified anger."
-HM-HM-HM-
"Thanks for walking us back, Headmistress," said Harry with a grin. It was
Saturday, April 3rd, and some members of C.A.R.E., including him,
Hermione, Padma, Neville, Luna and a few others were on their way back
to the castle after spending a few hours at headquarters. The trio had
noticed that Ginny hadn't shown up. It was just one week before the
Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match had been scheduled, but as the
Chamber of Secrets hadn't been discovered, it looked like they were not
going to play that game.
"It's no trouble, whatsoever, Mr. McGonagall," she replied with a hint of a
smile as she walked through the door after checking the Entrance Hall
with her mirror. "I'm glad we get to spend some time together."
"Me, too, Aunt Minnie," he whispered.
"I noticed that Miss Weasley didn't join you this week," she remarked,
casually. Harry had confided his suspicions to her, but she agreed that
without proof, they'd be nothing but vague accusations.
"Yeah, so did I," replied Harry. "She didn't say anything. I wonder…"
"Let me rip you. Let me tear your flesh. Let me kill this time!"
Harry paled. "It's happening again, Aunt Minnie!" he whispered so that
only she could hear.
"Oh, no!" she replied, now going pale herself. "We have to get the
students to safety first before I can investigate." She quickened her pace
and the students followed, wondering what was going on.
Harry turned to look Hermione in the eyes and nodded, answering her
nonverbal question. As he turned back, he saw Hermione whisper
something to Padma. They were nearly to their destination before what
appeared to be a herd of Ravenclaw students ran toward them, looking
terrified.
"Miss Clearwater!" asked Minerva, looking at the prefect at the front of
the group, "What has happened?"
The 6th-year girl looked terrified. "We were on our way back from the
library when Professor Trelawney and Sean Bradley looked around the
corner through a mirror and collapsed, petrified. We all turned back in a
hurry and came here another way."
"Very well," replied Minerva. Let's get you all into the tower." She took a
deep breath. "I'll have to speak with the rest of the staff, but it is likely
that the school will be closing. It wouldn't hurt to be ready to leave
tomorrow."
"Headmistress," suggested Harry, "Do you think we should talk to that
person we discussed?"
"I will," she stated, "but you need to go into your dorm."
"But I have to be there," argued Harry.
"You mean, we," added Hermione with Padma standing next to her.
"We're the ones who noticed things."
Aunt Minnie looked at the determined expressions on each of their faces
and sighed, "I believe that Cindy and Mark will murder me for this, and if
they don't, Mr. and Mrs. Granger shall see to it, but let's go. I hope I don't
regret this."
"I just need to get something out of the tower," said Harry. "I'll be right
back."
Minerva put her wand to her throat and made an announcement for all
students to return to their dorms, and Harry was back before she was
done. The four of them made their way to her office to pick up the
rooster she'd ordered and then to Gryffindor Tower, with Aunt Minnie
looking around each corner with her mirror. The petrified victims could
wait a few minutes, since getting moved to the hospital wing didn't help
them anyway.
-HM-HM-HM-
The door opened, and for the first time, Harry looked around Gryffindor
Tower, taking in the scarlet carpet and chairs, and was once again
thankful that he was a Ravenclaw. He much preferred the color blue.
Sitting in one of those red chairs near the fireplace, was the girl they
wished to speak to. She looked distraught, and was staring at her diary,
as though contemplating throwing it in the fire.
"Ginny," called Harry, startling her.
She looked up. "Harry, Hermione, Padma, what are you doing here?" She
then noticed the person behind them and began trembling slightly. "P-
Professor McGonagall, er, what are you doing here?"
"Miss Weasley, it has come to my attention that you have been behaving
in an…unusual manner. May I ask…"
"I'm sorry, Headmistress!" she shouted as tears filled her eyes. "I think it
was me, but I think this diary's been making me! Tom…"
"Who's Tom?" asked Harry.
She held up the diary and showed the first page that had the name "T. M.
Riddle" on it.
Harry gasped. "T. Tom. Tom Riddle? That's Voldemort's real name!"
Suddenly, Ginny's eyes glazed over and she quickly drew and pointed her
wand. "Avada Kedavra!" she hissed in an unearthly voice. A green beam
of light shot straight from the tip and hit the target – the rooster in the
cage Minerva was holding. It fell down dead as Ginny got up.
She pointed her wand again when a voice came from behind her. "What
are you doing, Ginny? That's the Death Curse!" It was her brother, Ron.
She turned toward him with a look of contempt on her face. "Now you
suddenly care about your sister?" She moved her wand in an unusual way
and suddenly an incredible force pushed everybody away from her. Harry
managed to dive at the last second and avoided the majority of the blast,
but it still knocked the wind out of him. She marched determinedly out
the door. Harry glanced at the others and saw they were unconscious. He
knew that he'd lose Ginny if he waited to revive them. He bolted out the
door just in time to see her turn a corner. He pulled his invisibility cloak
out of his pocket and followed as he silenced his shoes.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry couldn't believe what he'd just seen. He'd followed the obviously
possessed Ginny into a girl's bathroom, wondering if she just really was
taking a necessary detour. He'd actually considered waiting outside for
her, but thought he'd regret it. Instead of walking to a stall, she walked
up to the sink and said, "Open," in Parseltongue.
The sinks moved to reveal a passage and she'd jumped down in it. Harry
was going to follow when the sinks moved back to their original position.
He walked up to them and found a snake carved on one of the faucets
and hissed, "Open."
Deciding that being invisible was pointless during the jump down,
because he was sure to make noise anyway, Harry stuffed his cloak back
in his pocket and took a leap of faith. He found himself riding down a
slimy slide, and was glad he wasn't getting his invisibility cloak all filthy.
When he landed, he was ready to summon his wands out of their
holsters, but found it was unnecessary as the room he'd landed in was
free of all life. All that was in it was a huge collection of dry rat bones.
He found himself wishing he'd brought his broom so he could fly over
them. Not only would that be faster and less disgusting, but it was also
quieter. There was no way he could silence all the crunching bones as he
walked forward in the only direction he could go. He knew that with all
that noise, there was no point in trying to hide. He slowly made his way
forward, passing over a very old snakeskin, until finally commanding a
door to, "Open," in Parseltongue, revealing the Chamber of Secrets.
-HM-HM-HM-
As Harry stepped into the chamber, he noticed several things at once.
The walls were lined with statues of snakes, and in front of him was a
huge statue of the ugliest face Harry had ever seen, which he assumed
was Salazar Slytherin. Lying on the ground before him, as though a
sacrifice on an altar, was Ginny Weasley. She still had the Diary held
loosely in her hands, though she appeared unconscious. Bending over her
was the ghostly form of an older teenage boy grabbing her wand.
Having a hunch about the identity of the ghost-like form, but not
knowing what he was planning on doing to Ginny, Harry felt he had to
act now. Summoning his main wand into his hand, he took a step
forward.
"Tom Riddle, I presume?" The specter turned and looked at him in shock,
immediately pointing his wand at the intruder. "Or should I say,
Voldemort?"
"How did you get in here?" Riddle hissed.
"I followed Ginny," Harry answered simply.
"But the door was closed."
Harry grinned. "You're not the only Parselmouth around here."
Tom looked at Harry with a new interest, almost bordering on respect. "Is
the McGonagall family related to Slytherin?"
"I have no idea," he replied, knowing that it wouldn't make any difference
in this case anyway.
"No matter, no matter," said Riddle. "You're obviously talented. There's no
reason for us to fight. You could join…"
"Expelliarmus!" whispered Harry, hoping to catch Tom off guard.
Unfortunately, Riddle was a very skilled duelist and repelled the hex with
one stroke of his wand and had disarmed Harry a moment later with
another silent spell.
"Fool!" hissed Riddle as he caught Harry's wand with his left hand. "Did
you really think you could beat me? Crucio!" As Harry writhed on the
floor in tremendous pain, Voldemort continued to talk. "Had you not
tried to attack me, your death would've been swift, but now I want to
make you suffer a bit." While Harry was still in agony, Riddle hissed to
the statue and the mouth opened. Harry closed his eyes when he realized
that the basilisk would be coming.
The pain stopped as Riddle explained, "I'll let the basilisk finish you off
slowly," and then hissed, "Keep your eyes closed. I want you to slowly rip
him into pieces while he suffers."
"Yessss, masssster," replied the snake, and Harry decided to risk squinting
at the basilisk, to see that the sixty-foot snake was obeying as it
approached him as he was still lying on the ground.
Harry realized that he had only one chance, and he was going to take it.
Keeping his left hand hidden from Tom's view, he summoned his extra
wand and prepared to cast his most powerful spell. He'd learned that the
snake's skin was protected from almost every hex, so he needed to shoot
in its mouth. The beast was now close enough and poised above him,
ready to strike with its mouth open.
Harry aimed his wand and shot his most powerful cutting spell, which
managed to cut through the top of the snake's head, splashing blood
everywhere. Harry closed his eyes and rolled out of the way as the beast
shrieked until falling with a loud THUD.
"You may have killed the basilisk," yelled Tom, causing Harry to open his
eyes, "but I will kill you! Avada…" Harry jumped behind the corpse for
protection. "You can't hide forever!" shouted Tom angrily.
With sudden inspiration, Harry crawled toward the basilisk's open mouth
and whispered, "Accio Diary!" while pointing his wand toward Ginny.
It took about two seconds for Riddle to see what was happening. "What!"
he shouted as Harry caught the diary. Once more, he shouted, "Avada…"
as Harry jammed the diary into the snake's largest fang while still on his
knees. Tom dropped the wands he was holding as he screamed in pain
while a river of black ink started pouring from the diary all over the
snake's mouth and down Harry's arms. A hole was forming in Riddle's
chest. Harry pulled the book down and opened it, forcing it once again
into the monster's now black teeth, releasing yet more ink. With a final
scream, the specter disappeared.
Harry released the breath he didn't realize he was holding as he sat
down, finally relaxing. After about five seconds, a girl's voice brought
him back into the present. "Harry, you were right. It was me. I'm so
sorry! I didn't mean to. Riddle made me do it."
He turned to face the trembling girl to see that tears were streaming from
her eyes. Although they didn't look alike, in a way she reminded him of
his kid sister. "I know," he said as he got up to walk toward her.
"I'm going to be expelled!" Ginny wept as Harry helped her awkwardly to
her feet. "I've looked forward to coming to Hogwarts ever since B-Bill
came and n-now I'll have to leave and – w-what'll Mum and Dad say?"
As Harry looked down at this weeping girl and saw how scared she was,
he couldn't help but want to comfort her. He wiped his right hand on his
school robe, figuring it was already ruined, and put it on her shoulder.
"What they'll say, Ginny, is that they love you."
"What if they don't believe me?" she asked, clearly terrified.
"Then I'll make sure they know it wasn't your fault," he declared
confidently.
"Thanks," she managed to say.
"That's what friends are for. Come on. I'll bet a lot of people are worried
about us."
After collecting the fallen wands and the diary, they walked side by side
out of the chamber and down the corridor until they reached the
entrance. Harry looked at Ginny. "You, er, don't remember how to get out
of here, do you?"
She shook her head and started sobbing softly. "No. I don't even
remember coming down here. I'd just black out and wake up somewhere
else. The last thing I remember today is you saying that Tom was really
You-Know-Who."
"That's fine," he said quickly, not wanting to get her crying in earnest,
and began looking around. "There's got to be a way out." His eyes finally
rested on a carving of a snake. Concentrating on that, Harry hissed, "Exit."
He then heard a soft, familiar sound that he couldn't identify until he
looked in the place he'd come out of. The bottom of the slide he'd come
out of seemed to be moving up like a conveyer belt. He didn't know how
long that would last, so he ordered, "Come on, Ginny," before getting on
and riding up the mucky slide.
When he reached the top and was back in the bathroom, he found the
ghost of a girl with glasses watching him. "What are you doing in my
bathroom? You're a boy and this is the girls' lavatory!"
"I'm, um, sorry to have disturbed you. I'll be, um, leaving in a minute." He
was relieved to see Ginny arrive.
"You're here, too!" shrieked the ghost. "I know! Let's all have a party in
Moaning Myrtle's toilet! She won't care!" She then dove into a toilet,
causing it to flush as she disappeared.
"That was a…unique ghost," commented Harry.
"I g-guess so," Ginny agreed.
Taking a deep breath, Harry said, "We'd best get going. I'd imagine my
aunt, along with most of the teachers, is in the hospital wing."
"Wh-what happened?" Ginny asked fearfully.
As gently as he could, Harry explained what had occurred from the time
she was possessed as they made their way to the hospital wing. She was
devastated to hear she'd used the killing curse, even if it was on a rooster.
As they approached their destination, the headmistress' voice carried.
"I don't care what you say, Poppy, I'm going to join the search for my
nephew!"
"But you've got a concussion! You won't be any help if you…"
"I think I can resolve this argument," declared Harry from the doorway,
grinning broadly. "I'll find myself."
"Harry!" shouted Minerva, as well as Hermione and Padma, who were
also in hospital beds, along with a few Gryffindors who'd been nearby.
The heads of house were in there as well, surrounding the headmistress'
bed.
Hermione's face turned frightened as she noticed Harry's companion.
"Harry, is G-Ginny…"
"Ginny's not possessed anymore," stated Harry firmly, "but could probably
use Madam Pomfrey's help."
At that moment, a distraught-looking middle-aged couple with red hair
came bursting into the room. The woman looked around until her eyes
rested on the girl who was obviously her daughter. "Ginny?! Professor
Sinistra said you were…missing. That you…" At that moment the little
girl ran into her mum's arms crying.
"I'm sorry! Tom made me! I…"
As Molly Weasley hugged her daughter tightly, she asked, "What
happened?" Ginny started crying again.
"I was just about to examine Miss Weasley for injuries," interrupted
Madam Pomfrey, "and I believe that Mr. McGonagall was about to
explain what happened. You may wish to listen to what he has to say."
She was gesturing toward Harry in her effort to get them to leave Ginny
alone.
"McGonagall?" Arthur asked, looking between Harry and Minerva.
"Yes," the headmistress answered. "Harry is my nephew's son and has just
brought Ginny back." Looking at him, she said, "These are Arthur and
Molly Weasley – Ginny's parents."
"It's good to meet you," said Arthur, looking at the filthy 12-year-old with
curiosity and gratitude. He shook his hand. "It appears that we owe you
our thanks." Molly also shook Harry's hand and thanked him for bringing
Ginny back.
As Poppy examined the youngest Weasley, Harry told his story of what
happened beginning with Ginny's unusual behavior leading them to
confront Ginny in the Gryffindor common room until they left the
Chamber of Secrets, leaving out the part about wearing an invisibility
cloak to follow her. At different times, Molly looked like she wanted to
interrupt, but Arthur stopped her with a pat on her hand.
When Harry was finished, Minerva said, "Well, I believe that I promised
Miss Granger a reward for special services to the school since her theory
about Slytherin's monster being a basilisk turned out to be true."
Hermione blushed. "I also believe that Harry is entitled to one for ridding
us of that beast."
"Thanks," he managed.
"I also think that fifty points to Ravenclaw is in order." Flitwick nodded
approvingly at Minerva's statement.
"Regarding Miss Weasley, no punishment will be given. Older and more
experienced wizards than her have been hoodwinked by He-Who-Must-
Not-Be-Named." She sighed. "However, there are many witnesses to the
incident in her common room, and we can't obliviate them all. Therefore,
I believe that the only way to stop the rumors that are probably already
spreading is to tell everyone the truth at dinner tonight."
Arthur nodded sadly. "I suppose so. We'll tell Ginny."
"Very well," said Minerva. "I will also announce that the restrictions will
now be lifted since Slytherin's monster has been defeated. I believe that
Professor LaVelle may wish to harvest the basilisk for potion ingredients."
Harry looked a bit shocked before saying, "She'll claim I simply got tired
of sending the basilisk to petrify muggle-borns, and that's why I killed it."
"It's either her or I call Mr. Snape," she threatened, causing Harry to pale.
"I just don't want the parts wasted." With a genuine smile, she added, "I'll
bet you can make a great deal of money from selling it."
"All right, I'll take you and Professor LaVelle down there, but I don't want
to watch you cut that thing open."
"I would like to assist," came Hermione's voice from the bed she was lying
in, causing both Harry and Minnie to turn to face her. "Especially if I can
get extra credit."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next week passed happily as the students were once again free to
roam the halls without supervision. Minerva had told all the students that
Ginny Weasley had been bewitched and requested that no one press her
to talk about it. Most students seemed to accept that explanation of
Ginny's actions, but a few didn't. Draco Malfoy had been caught harassing
her by Professor Sinistra and lost ten points from Slytherin and got a
detention.
Quidditch was resumed, so the Ravenclaw and Slytherin teams got as
much practice in as possible in anticipation of the game that would be
held that Saturday. After one night, the only people left in the hospital
wing were the petrified victims, who wouldn't be cured for nearly two
months because the Mandrakes weren't mature yet.
Plans were made for an excursion into the Chamber of Secrets for the day
after the upcoming match, so that it wouldn't interfere with the much
needed practice. As Bradley was now petrified, he would not be able to
play Chaser for the Ravenclaw team, so Michelle replaced him with
Hermione for that game. She was both nervous and excited as Harry tried
to encourage her.
"I know you'll be great!" he asserted. "You've really gotten good, and your
Nimbus 2001 is better than anything the snakes have."
"But what if I get nervous and freeze up?"
Harry smiled at his best friend. "I doubt that'll happen."
"But I'll be in front of so many people…"
"Does that make you forget answers in class when you're called on?"
She blushed. "Well, no, but it's more…"
"It wouldn't matter if it was a million people in class. You'd still get the
right answer. Now, the right answer is catching, passing and scoring with
the Quaffle."
"I suppose," she said, noncommittally.
"Whatever happens, I'll be proud of you."
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome to the Ravenclaw versus Slytherin match!" announced Lee
Jordan, "Our first game since Quidditch has resumed!" The crowd
cheered loudly. "And here come the Ravenclaws! At the front of the line
is the lovely Michelle Hamilton – sorry Headmistress – Captain and
Chaser, followed by Roger Davies – Chaser – and Hermione Granger –
reserve Chaser replacing Sean Bradley in her debut game. The list went
on until he finally said, "and Harry McGonagall – Seeker!" to tremendous
applause.
"And now, the Slytherin team!" There were more boo's than cheers as all
the players from Captain/Chaser Marcus Flint to Seeker Terrence Higgs
were announced. Harry grinned when he saw Michelle holding her own
in the ridiculous pre-game handshake. He even chuckled afterwards
when Flint flexed his fingers as though they were slightly hurt. Madam
Hooch gave her usual 'clean game' speech, and the balls were released.
Harry flew his Lightning Bolt high in the air and began his quest for the
Snitch, glancing at the action whenever he could.
"And Michelle Hamilton has just stolen the Quaffle right out of Flint's
slimy hands! Sorry, Headmistress," said Lee as he sat next to Aunt
Minnie, who refused to give up her position of keeping the commentary
as unbiased as possible. "What! That filthy Slytherin cheat! Flint's just
punched Hamilton in the face, making her drop the Quaffle. Her
boyfriend's gonna be paying Flint a visit after the game. Madam Hooch…
has actually called a penalty on Slytherin. Sorry, Professor. I'm just not
used to it yet."
Harry laughed at Jordan's comment as he looked at Michelle in concern,
noticing that she was already forming a black eye. He gripped his broom
tightly as he felt himself get angry. Even if he was mostly over his crush,
he was fond of his captain, even if she didn't understand why he had to
beat Draco up. He watched her make the penalty shot she was given,
easily winning more points. He then resumed his search for the evasive
Snitch, which had yet to show itself.
A half-hour into the game, Jordan announced, "And Granger now has the
Quaffle! She avoids one Bludger. The other barely grazes her shoulder as
she continues toward the Slytherin hoops."
Harry glanced at his friend and saw her determined face as she faked out
the Keeper until Lee shouted, "She scores! The game is sixty to thirty with
Ravenclaw in the lead." With Madam Hooch actually giving Slytherin
penalties, their complete lack of Quidditch skills was showing up more
and more. It was at that moment Harry noticed Padma holding a banner
that depicted an eagle with a snake in its beak. He grinned and moved
his gaze to finally see the Snitch on the other side of the pitch – about ten
feet behind Higgins. He did the only thing he could and dove toward the
ground in the middle of the pitch.
"It looks like McGonagall has seen the Snitch! Higgs is trying to catch up.
McGonagall avoids a Bludger, slowing down a bit. Higgs is near him."
Harry noticed the other Bludger was headed toward him, and that he was
directly between Higgs and that Bludger, and took his chance. At the last
second he pulled up out of the way and toward the actual location of the
winged ball. He heard the THUD of the Bludger ramming Higgs. "The
Slytherins hit their own Seeker with a Bludger! He barely stayed on his
broom! It looks like McGonagall's heading another direction. Was that a
feint? Higgs is finally following Harry as he reaches out his hand.
McGonagall got the Snitch! Ravenclaw wins two-hundred ten to thirty!
The Slytherins are out of the running for the House cup!"
All the Ravenclaw players flew together to congratulate themselves.
Harry found an ecstatic Hermione and shouted, "I knew you'd do great!"
-HM-HM-HM-
Even though in truth, Hermione had only scored one of the six goals the
team had made, she still felt great about it. She knew that Bradley
would've done better if he hadn't been petrified, but she really felt that
she was part of the team – more than she had before. When they'd exited
the changing rooms, she hugged Harry in her excitement.
"I actually scored!"
With a huge smile, he stated, "I never had a doubt in my mind!"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, the school, and specifically the Ravenclaw team, was
still talking about the game when Harry, Hermione, Headmistress
McGonagall and Professor LaVelle left breakfast to head toward the
Chamber of Secrets. The Potions teacher had agreed to help in exchange
for being able to keep some of the rare items they were removing from
the basilisk. Harry was uncomfortable revealing his Parseltongue ability
to the teacher who had accused him of being the Heir of Slytherin and
had talked it over with his aunt, who came up with a solution. After they
went into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, Minerva took out her wand.
"I'm sorry, Sharon, Hermione, but I really don't want anyone else to learn
the password, so I'd appreciate it if you'll allow me to cast a spell on you
to prevent you from hearing it. Harry already knows it since he followed
Ginny, but has promised not to reveal it to anyone. Also, once the spell is
cast, would you please turn around so you can't read lips?"
Hermione had been warned about this and cooperated immediately,
while Professor LaVelle seemed irritated, but allowed the spell to be cast
on her. Harry hissed the word, "Open," in snake language, and watched as
the sinks moved apart. Minerva cancelled the spell on the others and they
watched, fascinated by what they were seeing.
Before anyone could comment, Harry jumped down the hole and
disappeared from view. They'd all been warned about the slimy entrance
and had appropriately dressed in old rags they didn't mind getting dirty.
Grinning, Harry commented, "If we slide down that a few more times, it'll
probably be clean," after the rest landed.
"I do not believe zat I would like to make a habit of zis," commented
LaVelle.
"Nor I," agreed Aunt Minnie.
Harry took the lead and began walking. "Since there was no choice," he
explained, "I decided that this must have been the way she went."
"Makes sense," commented Hermione.
"Oh, by the way," said the Headmistress, "I told Albus Dumbledore about
what we were doing, and he requested certain items."
"Oh?" asked Harry, not sure what to think.
"I told him that it was up to you, Harry, since you located and killed the
basilisk, but that I'd recommend that you sell him what he wants at a
discount."
Harry grinned at the idea of making a profit from selling this to the
former headmaster, but he did realize that Dumbledore could make a lot
of trouble for him if he wanted. "What does he want?"
"I've got a small list here, but the main thing he requested is five liters of
basilisk venom."
"Fine," agreed Harry just as they walked over the old snake skin. "Do you
think this is worth anything?"
"Possibly," answered Sharon. "Ve might as well take it along." She then
took off her backpack and they stuffed it inside. Harry happily noted that
it was bottomless, so it would be able to carry everything.
When they reached the door, Aunt Minnie used the same silencing spell
to prevent LaVelle from finding out Harry spoke Parseltongue and they
entered the chamber. It already stank in there from the rotting corpse.
The Potions teacher muttered what Harry believed to be a French
expletive and turned to him. "You faced zis beast by yourzelf and zlew it?
You are very brave and did not deserve ze treatment I 'ave given you. I
apologize for accusing you."
Harry wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to forgive her or not, but at the
same time, she was one of his teachers and did teach Potions very well.
He sighed. "I guess I can forgive you, but why wouldn't you believe me?"
"I zaw you pointing your wand at ze cat," she began, before lowering her
head. "Zat iz not true. Zat iz not why I inzizted. I…"
"What is it, Sharon?" asked McGonagall, now looking somewhere
between concerned and angry.
"Mizter Malfoy threatened my family if I did not cooperate. He zaid zat
there would be occuranzes at 'ogwartz, and zat I waz to bring suspicion on
'arry McGonagall."
"He what!?" shouted Harry. "I knew he was behind it!"
"He zaid it would disgrace ze Headmiztress." She began sobbing as she
looked at Harry. "You made it easy when I caught you the first time."
"I suppose so," agreed Harry, "but how did you know…"
"When zere waz an attack? After each attack, a note would appear in my
quarterz, zo I would hurry zer. You always zeemed to arrive before me.
How?"
Harry exchanged a look between his aunt and his best friend. "I'm sorry.
I…somehow…sensed…when an attack occurred." It wasn't a lie. Hearing
was one of the five senses.
LaVelle looked at him in awe. "Are you a seer?"
Harry did his best to stop the smile from appearing on his face, but
Hermione didn't try to hide hers. "I don't think so," answered Harry. "I'm
not planning on taking Divination, either."
"Perhaps you should," the teacher insisted. "You may have ze gift."
LaVelle really looked excited. "True seers are very rare."
Harry tried to think of a way to convince the woman he wasn't a seer
without revealing that he was a Parselmouth, but couldn't think of any.
Instead, he changed the subject. "I believe that we're here because that
snake needs to be dissected."
Sharon shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we'll get to it, but thiz isn't over."
As she reached into her bag for tools, Harry walked back outside the
room and took one of his textbooks out to read. He'd have brought the
Animagus book he was nearly done with, but he was afraid LaVelle
would see it. He lit up his wand and started reading, doing his best not to
think of the bloody business going on in the next room.
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
21. The Quidditch Cup
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 21 – The Quidditch Cup
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID THAT!" shouted Cindy McGonagall through
her mirror at Harry. Both he and Aunt Minnie had put off telling his
parents about the Chamber of Secrets business, but the truth had finally
come out in a conversation between his mom and his aunt a few minutes
before. Harry hadn't even gotten any warning before his mom called him.
She had just finished allowing him to explain his side of the story. He
was currently alone in C.A.R.E. headquarters. "You could've been killed!
You promised not to use that cloak to get in dangerous situation!"
"No, I didn't," answered Harry. "I promised not to use it to go somewhere
students weren't allowed. I did not wear it in the Chamber of Secrets."
"That's just a technicality," she countered. Harry noticed that her face was
getting pink.
Standing his ground, Harry responded calmly, "If I hadn't done it, then
Ginny Weasley, an eleven-year-old girl, would be dead right now, and a
younger version of Voldemort would be back. He'd have probably
attacked the school from the inside and killed every muggle-born here.
He'd probably have included me in that number. I'm not going to
apologize for saving lives."
His mom took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. "I
understand that you didn't have time to call anyone else, and I suppose it
was the right thing to do, but you could have easily been killed. Promise
me you won't do that again."
With a cheeky grin, Harry said, "I promise I won't follow a possessed
Ginny Weasley into the Chamber of Secrets ever again."
Making a face at her son, Cindy rebutted, "Promise me you won't
purposely go into dangerous situations again."
Harry sighed. He knew he couldn't lie to his mother properly. "I can't
promise that." His mom opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. "I
do promise that if I can, I'll get proper help. However, in that situation, I
didn't have time. It was our one chance and I took it, and I don't regret
it."
She sighed. "I wonder if that's just part of being Harry Potter. Aunt
Minnie said there was a prophecy about you and Voldemort."
"I doubt that. Unless it says something like, 'The Dark Lord won't leave
Harry Potter alone until one of them kills the other,' then I think it's just
coincidence."
His mom giggled for a moment. "I suppose not."
"Then we're all right," asked Harry. "I'm not in trouble?"
"I guess not, but please, please be careful for the rest of the year."
"Okay," agreed Harry. "Bye."
"I love you," she said.
"Loveyoutoo," he muttered before deactivating the mirror.
He had just put it back in his pocket when the door opened. The last
person he ever expected was standing there with large glasses that made
her eyes look huge and shawls. Harry faintly detected the aroma of
cooking sherry in the air. He knew who she was, but before he could say
anything, she focused on him with an obviously fake vacant expression
on her face. "My dear boy, the inner-eye has told me that that you are
about to make a grave mistake. It has shown me that you possess the
sight, but are considering letting this precious gift go to waste." She
sighed in a melodramatic way, putting her hand on her forehead before
continuing. "I see that someone in your family has turned you away from
the noble art, but you must see beyond her prejudices and realize that she
only doubts because she envies your gift granted by fate and wishes your
soul to be as dry and shriveled up as hers."
Harry didn't know whether to burst out laughing or to take offense at the
jab Trelawney had taken at his aunt. Instead, he decided to go with the
truth. "In other words, Professor LaVelle has informed you that she thinks
I have that gift and you're trying to persuade me to sign up for
Divination." Deciding to be friendly, he added, "It's good to meet you, by
the way, Professor Trelawney." He stood up and offered her his hand.
She nervously shook his hand with both of hers as she claimed, "Dear
boy, I have foreseen that you and your loved ones will be in grave danger
and won't be warned of it unless you learn to channel your inner eye and
have merely come to offer my services to begin your instruction in the
noble art next year." She looked at him closely, as though examining him.
"Your aura is pulsing. You need to learn to use your great gift. With
proper instruction, you could almost be as great a seer as I."
Controlling his expression so that he wasn't smirking at her, he responded
in a most serious tone of voice, "But you've also foreseen that I won't be
taking the class either, haven't you?"
"Your future is clouded," she rebuffed. "You yet have time to turn away
from your grave error. I shall leave you to contemplate your future, dear
boy." With that said, she turned around and walked away. Harry got up
and looked out the window, and once the Divination Professor was well
out of earshot, he started laughing. He couldn't wait to tell his friends
about this.
-HM-HM-HM-
All Harry's friends and family were amused at Trelawney's attempt to get
him to sign up for her course, although Hermione seemed a bit
disillusioned about the subject, or at least that professor, after hearing
the story.
"She actually pretended that she'd perceived that you had the gift?"
Hermione clarified.
"Exactly. She wouldn't just admit that LaVelle told her so. She told about
how not taking the course would be a dreadful mistake."
"Maybe I won't sign up for Divination," Hermione muttered.
"I know I'm not. Even if I'd planned on it before – which I didn't – I
wouldn't now because she'd put a lot more pressure on me since I'm
supposed to have the gift." He then paused. "Hold on. You were actually
planning to sign up for that course?"
"Yes," she replied. "I was going to sign up for all the courses."
He stared at his best friend for about ten seconds. "You do know that
there's a limit to how many classes we can take, don't you? I'll be taking
Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, and that's the
most elective courses you're allowed."
"But I'll still want to take Muggle Studies," she argued.
"We've helped teach Muggle Studies," he replied in exasperation.
"But…"
"You can buy their book and take the O.W.L. in fifth-year without taking
the class, Hermione. That's what I'm planning to do. It should be quite
easy for anyone who's lived as a muggle."
She sighed, looking defeated. "I suppose you're right."
He grinned. "Of course I am. Besides," he added, "in order to attend all
those classes you'd have to find a way to be in two places at once."
-HM-HM-HM-
It was a few days later that the preparations were completed for the
prank on Draco Malfoy. It involved finding out the scheduled lessons in
Herbology and brewing a particularly difficult potion, not to mention
Harry's wonderful cloak.
Normally, Draco Malfoy would show up in the Great Hall for breakfast at
about the same time as Harry, Hermione and Padma. However, this
particular Tuesday morning, Padma arrived alone – or so it appeared.
With his shoes silenced and under his cloak, Harry walked in the room
right behind her. Hermione was preparing her portion of the prank.
Harry sneaked over to the Slytherin table, right behind where Draco was
sitting. He was holding a vial with a liquid the same color and texture of
pumpkin juice and was waiting for the right moment.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise at the main entrance. Everybody except
Harry turned to watch the magical fireworks Hermione had charmed
flying around. Harry's hand became visible for about 5 seconds as he
poured the contents of his vial into Draco's drink. He then sneaked out of
the hall and up one flight of stairs. He ducked into a bathroom and pulled
off his cloak, stuffing it into his schoolbag inside a special hidden pocket
he'd made for that purpose with Hermione's help. That way, if he ever
got searched, they wouldn't find his prized family heirloom. He then
went to the sink and wet his hair so as to create the right appearance –
like he'd just gotten out of the shower. He ran out of that room, down the
stairs and into the Great Hall, arriving about ten minutes before breakfast
was over.
While panting a bit, he sat down between Padma and Hermione (who'd
arrived right after he left). "Overslept," he declared loudly enough so that
most of the people around him could hear. "Did I miss anything?" he
asked with an innocent expression as he piled food onto his plate.
While he was eating as fast as he could, Padma answered, "I was just
telling Hermione that someone set off a few fireworks just before she got
here."
"I was in the library," Hermione stated, "and lost track of time."
"Probably Fred and George," he suggested between bites. "I'm sorry I
missed that."
"Me, too," agreed Hermione.
Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table to see that Draco had just
finished his glass of pumpkin juice. Phase one was complete.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was actually very difficult for Harry to concentrate on Transfiguration
right after breakfast, even while observing Padma staring admiringly at
Assistant Professor Matthew Shapon as he went through the lesson on
turning small animals into footrests. Most of the Ravenclaw and
Gryffindor class had been loaned a gerbil for the lesson, but Harry
noticed that a few, like Ron Weasley, had brought their own pets. Harry
and Padma were able to change their gerbils on the second try, while
Hermione took only one try. Neville got it the third or fourth try, but by
the end of class, all that it seemed Weasley had accomplished was
stretching out his rat to the shape of a Frisbee, obviously terrifying it.
The poor thing had even peed on Ron in the process, causing him to yell
in shock, losing a point from Gryffindor.
Finally, class got over and they marched to the greenhouses for
Herbology with Slytherin. Harry was looking forward to this class, and
his reason had nothing to do with academics. The trio went to a table
with Michael Corner for the practical lesson.
"Why are you three looking at the door?" he asked a minute after they sat
down.
Harry looked at him with an innocent expression. "No reason. We're just
being observant."
Padma added, "You should be observant, too, especially of Malfoy when
he starts pruning his Abyssinian shrivelfigs."
With a mischievous grin, Michael replied, "I'll do that."
No sooner had he said that when the object of their discussion strutted
into the classroom flanked, as usual, by Crabbe and Goyle. Harry had to
stop himself from laughing too soon. As predicted, Sprout told them to
start pruning the new plant. Being very visible, Harry, Hermione and
Padma got up and walked toward the Professor.
"May I help you?" she asked.
"Yes," answered Hermione. "We had a question about…"
While the trio was standing next to Professor Sprout, Draco Malfoy was
grabbing an armful of withered stalks before suddenly dropping them
and yelling, "Wha…." While everybody in the room watched, his skin
turned green and his hair turned into leaves. Small apricots budded from
his fingernails and his nose morphed into a banana.
The whole class burst out laughing, although Crabbe and Goyle stopped
with one glare from their leader. It was obvious that even Professor
Sprout was having a hard time not laughing as she instructed, "You will
all continue working while I escort Mr. Malfoy to the hospital wing. Miss
Granger, you're in charge."
Malfoy stayed that way for two days. Although no one ever accused the
trio, Aunt Minnie winked at Harry the next time she saw him.
-HM-HM-HM-
Time continued to press forward, and before he knew it, Harry was
sitting in the Quidditch stands with the Ravenclaws in their study group.
It was the eighth of May, and Gryffindor would be playing Hufflepuff.
"Welcome to the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff!"
announced Lee Jordan happily. "Of course, no matter what happens,
Gryffindor will be in the final match next month. Sorry, Professor. Here
comes the Gryffindor team." Harry joined in the cheering as Lee
continued. "Captain and Keeper – Oliver Wood! Those unbeatable Beaters
– Fred and George Weasley!" Harry cheered loudly for his friends. "The
Chasers – the lovely Angelina Johnson, who still won't go out with me.
Sorry, Professor. Katie Bell, and replacing Alicia Spinnet in his debut
game – Dean Thomas. Finally, Gryffindor's undefeated Seeker – Ginny
Weasley!" Harry and his friends cheered once more. He had been
concerned about her since the Chamber incident, but she seemed to have
bounced back, and was smiling brightly as she flew to her position.
The Hufflepuff team was announced, including the Seeker – Cedric
Diggory. Harry watched the two captains shake hands. The Hufflepuff
captain was a seventh-year, and the rumor was that Cedric would most
likely be the new captain next year. The balls were released, and the
game began.
"Angelina Johnson has got the Quaffle. She flies under Cadwallader and
passes to Katie Bell. She approaches the goals. She shoots. It's good!
Gryffindor leads ten-nothing!"
Harry cheered before turning his attention to the two Seekers when
Hermione observed, "Ginny looks very small next to Cedric."
"But she looks a lot more determined," commented Padma.
"Actually," explained Harry, "her smaller size gives her an advantage over
Diggory."
"That explains why you get the Snitch then," teased Hermione. Harry
stuck his tongue out at her and turned his attention back to the Seekers.
They were both hovering around the field in search of the evasive tiny
golden Snitch.
Harry's attention was drawn away from them when he heard Jordan say,
"Katie passes the Quaffle to Thomas – who drops the ball! Hufflepuff
Chaser Wayne Hopkins caught it and is heading toward the Gryffindor
goals. I hope Wood is ready for him. Sorry, Professor." Harry was one of
the few people at Hogwarts who knew that secretly, his aunt enjoyed the
way that Lee would show bias toward Gryffindor, and that she wasn't
really mad at him. She just had to maintain her image of being strict.
"Parvati says that Dean was just recruited for the game a few days ago,"
commented Padma. "Wood doesn't have a reserve team that practices, so
I can't blame Thomas for not being very good."
Harry nodded and watched as Hopkins was about to shoot the Quaffle
toward the goal. Oliver was ready for him. Instead, Wayne threw the ball
over his shoulder to Cadwallader, performing a perfect reverse pass just
before a Bludger sent by Fred or George hit him. Cadwallader then threw
the Quaffle through a hoop before Wood realized he had the ball.
"That was another lucky shot!" declared Lee Jordan while the Hufflepuff
supporters were celebrating loudly. "The score is now sixty-twenty, in
favor of Hufflepuff." Harry wondered how even Lee could believe that
move was accidental. The Puff's had obviously been practicing, and at the
same time, the Gryffindor Chasers were no longer a well-oiled scoring
machine without Alicia Spinnet.
The game went on for another hour, with Dean Thomas' fumbles,
combined with the Hufflepuff's hard work causing the point spread to
keep widening. The score was 210 to 50 in Hufflepuff's favor when Lee
announced, "It looks like Ginny Weasley has seen the Snitch!"
Harry knew it was true. He could see it now, and had seen it about a
half-hour before, but he was the only one. Ginny had seen it before
Cedric and was therefore ahead of him. She reached out her hand and
Jordan announced, "Weasley has caught the Snitch, but Hufflepuff wins."
"He sounded sad when he said that," commented Luna. "There must be
Wincrupts hovering above his head."
"That must be it," replied Harry. "Either that, or he's not happy Gryffindor
lost the game."
Luna looked introspective. "I suppose that's a possibility."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Neville were walking in the
halls of Hogwarts toward the library. They'd just left the rest of the study
group in C.A.R.E. Headquarters listening to music.
"You did a good job in the game yesterday, Ginny," complimented Harry.
"Thanks, but we still lost."
"That wasn't your fault," stated Neville. "It was Dean's."
"The point is that you got the Snitch," declared Hermione.
She shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose. Either way, we'll be facing each
other for the final game, Harry."
He grinned at her. "And then you'll prove that you're the second-best
Seeker in the school."
She frowned, but before she could say anything, a slightly nasal voice
came from behind them. "Well, if it isn't the mudblood, son-of-a-squib,
squib, and psycho," said Draco, indicating Hermione, Harry, Neville and
Ginny respectively. He was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, as usual.
Harry touched his mirror and whispered, "Minerva McGonagall," before
turning around. "I thought I already taught you a lesson in manners,
Malfoy. Do you need a refresher?"
Draco snorted as though that were a joke. Dumb and Dumber laughed.
"You're the one who gets in trouble. Your stupid aunt wants to make sure
no one thinks she's showing favoritism. She should realize that a filthy
son-of-a-squib needs all the help they can get."
Harry glared at his nemesis, while whispering the command to release a
wand into his left hand – just in case. He kept it out of sight as Draco
turned to Hermione. "Well, filthy mudblood, do you think you can do
anything to me? Father says he should use his influence to have
mudbloods, squibs and their children kicked out of Hogwarts."
Hermione commented, "That is the only way you'd be a top student,"
causing Harry, Ginny and Neville to laugh.
Ginny stated, "If squibs are kicked out, then you'll be the first three to
go."
Draco glared, but before he could answer, Harry asked, "Isn't your father
busy with his elf-abuse problem?"
"No, you filthy Squib-spawn! We've got new elves now, but it cost a lot of
money, and we're going to take it out of your hide." Malfoy, Crabbe and
Goyle drew their wands, although the latter two were holding the wrong
ends and pointing the handles at Harry's friends.
"You'll do no such thing!" shouted Headmistress McGonagall from behind
the Slytherins. "One hundred points from Slytherin! I will NOT tolerate
prejudiced behavior at this school!" Harry grinned when he saw her
standing next to Lucus Cleanaway, the man who'd been doing Filch's job
ever since he'd been petrified. His long, blonde hair was in a ponytail and
his moustache was as bushy as ever. He looked very angry and was
glaring at Draco. Harry knew the man was strict and was very prejudiced
against bigots.
"Your nephew's been threatening us," countered Malfoy.
"We've been observing your entire conversation, Mr. Malfoy. I'll take
another ten points for lying." She turned to Crabbe and Goyle. "All three
of you will serve a week of detentions with Mr. Cleanaway, cleaning
toilets the muggle way!"
"But…" argued Draco, looking angry. "When my father hears…"
"Perhaps I should give the whole board of governors, not just your father,
a copy of our memories of this event," she interrupted. "Then they can
decide what to do with you. I will NOT tolerate you starting trouble
anymore, and would be more than happy to expel you if I catch you
behaving like this again. Is that clear?"
Draco's ears were pink. "Yes, ma'am," he hissed. "May I go?"
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Cleanaway will pick you up from the Slytherin
dormitory later tonight.
Once the Slytherins were gone, Minnie said, "Alerting me through your
mirror was an excellent idea. Five points to Ravenclaw."
-HM-HM-HM-
When the 30th of May arrived, the mandrakes were finally mature, so
Professor LaVelle made the potion needed to revive all of the basilisk
victims. While most were happily reuniting with their friends, Mr. Filch
was packing, while telling Mrs. Norris how unfair the Headmistress was
in firing him so that some wizard can wave his wand around the castle –
never getting it truly clean. He was even overheard mentioning how he'd
like to hang the whole McGonagall family by its thumbs before walking
out the door. Although they wondered what Filch would do now, most of
the students – including Harry – couldn't help but cheer when they
realized they'd never have to put up with Filch and Mrs. Norris again.
Brianna told him that she was happy she'd never have to meet the man if
he was half as foul as her brother had described. "It sounds like you and
Aunt Minnie have really cleaned up the school for me," she commented.
"Now I'm looking forward to going this year."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next week passed quickly, with all the Quidditch practice that
Michelle put the team through. From what Harry heard, the Gryffindor
team was on the pitch whenever the Ravenclaw team wasn't. Both were
preparing for the match that Saturday. The next week would be final
exams.
Another thing of note that happened that week was that they signed up
for their third-year electives. The whole trio signed up for Care of
Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. They also finished the
Animagi book, and after looking at their final chapter summaries,
Professor McGonagall agreed to give them lessons starting in September,
warning them not to try anything until then.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everyone, to the Quidditch Final – Gryffindor versus
Ravenclaw!" announced Lee, causing the crowd to cheer. "This match will
determine who wins the Quidditch Cup. Here's…Gryffindor! Captain and
Keeper – Oliver Wood! Chasers – The lovely Angelina Johnson, Alicia
Spinnet and Katie Bell – together again! Sorry, Professor. Those
Unbeatable Beaters – Fred and George Weasley, and their sister – Seeker
Ginny Weasley!"
The crowd cheered loudly, and when the applause had settled, Jordan
announced the Ravenclaw team and mentioned that both Seekers were
undefeated, but that would change this match. This time there were no
reserves playing, so Hermione was on the bench in her uniform, sitting
next to Cho and cheering the team on.
It was a brutal match – not from cheating like Slytherins, but from how
everyone was playing. Every person out there wanted the Quidditch Cup
– that much was obvious. Harry knew this was Michelle's last year at
Hogwarts, so she wanted it more than most. She, along with Roger
Davies and Sean Bradley, were working together as a well-oiled scoring
machine against Gryffindor's equally well-oiled scoring machine of Katie,
Alicia and Angelina. Both sets of Beaters were giving their all, but Harry
hated to admit that the Weasley twins were just a bit better than the ones
on his team. He figured it had something to do with them being twins.
He hovered above the pitch in search of the Snitch, knowing that the
game may very well come down to the Seekers. He found himself near
his rival – Ginny.
"It's about time we got to play against each other," she commented.
"Yeah," he agreed while still looking around the pitch. "It'll be fun
grabbing the Snitch right when you think you have it."
"In your dreams," she said. "We may be friends, but I am not letting you
win."
"Who said anything about letting me win?" he asked, looking offended.
"I'm going to beat you fair and square, and then everyone will know that
you're the second-best Seeker at Hogwarts."
"Keep telling yourself that," she replied, sounding like she was talking
down to him. Instead of responding, Harry's face took on a look of
concentration and he dove toward the ground. Ginny followed him,
amazed that she could keep up with his newer broom.
"It looks like McGonagall has seen the Snitch!"
Harry had a grin on his face as he performed the Wronski Feint, making
sure not to go so fast that he'd pull up before Ginny reached the ground.
However, about half-way down, she stopped and started speeding toward
Gryffindor's hoops.
"Was McGonagall trying to fool Weasley? If he was, it's backfired. I think
she's found the Snitch!"
Harry heard that and immediately pulled up and pushed his broom to the
limit, heading in the direction she was going until he passed her. He was
almost to the hoops when he realized that he couldn't see the golden ball
anywhere. He turned around to see Ginny hovering above the pitch,
laughing at him.
While he flew back into his searching position, Lee said, "It looks like
Weasley was pulling a feint of her own. Good one, Ginny! Sorry,
Professor." Harry muttered a few words his aunt wouldn't approve of as
he tried ignoring the smirk Ginny was giving him.
At this point, the score was 60 to 80, in favor of Gryffindor. Fred and
George had stopped a few of Ravenclaw's Chasers with well-timed
Bludgers. Both Keepers were good, but so were all the Chasers. Harry
watched as Alicia stole the Quaffle from Roger, only to have it stolen
back by Michelle.
Finally, Harry spotted the Snitch on the other side of the pitch. He
glanced at Ginny, who was closer, and saw that she'd noticed it as well.
He decided that it was time to see just how good his broom was as he
accelerated toward the winged-ball, starting at the same moment as
Ginny.
"I don't think this is a feint," announced Lee. "Whoever catches the Snitch
will win the Quidditch Cup for their team. McGonagall is gaining on
Weasley. Will she reach it in time?"
Harry heard Oliver yell for Ginny to elbow him when her fingertips were
a few feet from the Snitch. She did, causing what would probably become
a bruise in his right arm, but slowed down in the process. Harry managed
to get past her and grabbed the Snitch, pulling it out of the air just before
the Weasley girl reached it. The crowd went wild as he threw his hand in
the air.
Lee didn't seem very enthusiastic when he announced, "Harry
McGonagall has caught the Snitch. Ravenclaw wins the cup."
While he was flying toward his team to celebrate, he noticed Ginny fly to
her captain and start telling him off for suggesting she elbow Harry. She
was obviously sure that was the only reason she hadn't caught the elusive
ball. He had to admit that it looked funny to see a tall 6th-year cowering
away from a short 1st-year.
He found himself suddenly engulfed in a hug that lasted a second. He
finally realized it was Michelle when she left to hug someone else. He
then noticed a member of the reserve team flying toward him and
prepared for the hug this time. Hermione held the hug for about five
seconds, and when she let go, they both were blushing and looking down.
"G-Great catch," she muttered before flying off toward the others. He did
the same. Before long, the whole team – reserves included – was in a
huge group hug. When they separated, the captain flew toward Aunt
Minnie. There were tears in Michelle's eyes when she took the cup from
the Headmistress. He noticed Professor Flitwick nearby jumping up and
down like a maniac, all dignity forgotten.
Before he landed, Ginny approached him on her broom, looking calmer.
She held out her hand to him. "You beat me fair and square. I guess no
one won our bet."
He shook her hand while responding, "I think you would've gotten it if
you hadn't listened to that Keeper, too."
"I'll know better next year," she declared before flying away toward her
changing room. There was a party in Ravenclaw Tower that night.
-HM-HM-HM-
Exam week went well, without any surprises for the study group. Without
Snape cheating, Slytherin got the lowest house points and Ravenclaw
won the House Cup in addition to the Quidditch Cup. On the last day of
term, Aunt Minnie told Harry, "I have managed to acquire a dozen tickets
for the August 9th match in Le Mans between the Quiberon
Quafflepunchers from France and the Sweetwater All-Stars from Texas.
I've spoken to your parents as well as your closest friends' parents. Our
family, the Grangers and the Patils, including Parvati from Gryffindor,
are going."
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter end
22. American Summer
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 22 – American Summer
"I just realized," commented Harry sadly as he stepped out of the main
gate of Hogwarts, "that this is the last time that this castle will be my
shelter from Brianna." He had his school trunk in one hand and Hedwig's
cage in another. The snowy owl did not look happy to be caged up like
that, but Harry had to keep her with him so she'd get to America. All the
other students were similarly loaded down with luggage.
Hermione, who was walking next to him holding her trunk that had
Rowena and Crookshanks' empty cages shrunk inside it (Rowena was
flying home while Crookshanks was walking beside his master), laughed
with Padma while the Headmistress, who was also walking with them,
said, "Harry, you shouldn't say such things. You know you miss your
sister."
"Maybe," he replied with a smirk, "but I did enjoy not having to worry
about her waking me up with an Aguamenti spell."
Hermione promised, "I'll make sure to let her know you miss that," with a
laugh. Harry shot his best friend a quick glare before boarding a carriage.
"I'll see you at the Platform," called Aunt Minnie before turning around. "I
have some duties to attend to inside the castle, but they'll be completed
by the time the Hogwarts Express arrives in London. Enjoy the ride, and
please, don't get into too much trouble on the train."
-HM-HM-HM-
Half an hour later, Harry, Hermione, Padma, Susan, Ginny, Neville, Luna
and Anthony were sitting together on the Express, waiting for the snack
trolley to come by. However, the snack trolley was not what approached
their carriage.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" came the nasal voice that was far
too familiar to Harry.
He looked carefully at his watch as the three most annoying Slytherins
came into view. "Is it already time for your daily beating, Draco?" he
asked, sounding bored. "Can we make it easier this time so I don't have to
get up? I'll make a fist and you run into it. All right?"
Harry's companions laughed while Malfoy sneered, "You think you're
funny, but my fath…"
Something snapped in Harry at the mention of that murderer. He jumped
up and grabbed Draco by the collar, pushing him against the wall before
he could react. "Your vile father didn't stop me from kicking your…"
"Harry!" admonished Hermione as she (along with their other
companions) pointed her wand at Crabbe and Goyle, who looked
frightened. "Language!"
"I'll call this maggot anything I feel like!" retorted Harry as he pulled back
his right fist, getting ready to punch him. Draco closed his eyes with a
terrified expression and didn't notice the spell Padma performed on the
front of his tan pants, causing a wet spot. "I am SICK of this IDIOT!" He
glared at Draco. "Why are you so stupid?! What is wrong with you? If you
would just stay away, you'd have nothing to fear from me, but you
won't!" Harry rammed his fist straight into Malfoy's nose, which
immediately started bleeding.
"Hermione," said Harry in a mocking tone. "Look at that wonderful, pure
blood! Isn't it amazing? Aren't you envious of it? Maybe we should collect
some." He then pulled the crying Malfoy away from the wall and pushed
him into Crabbe, who was standing in the doorway, still looking at the
wands pointed at him. They both fell to the other side of the doorway,
and Goyle followed them. "Now, stay away from us!" Harry slammed the
door shut so hard that the glass broke, and sat down.
"Repairo!" casted Hermione, sounding upset as the door fixed itself. She
then rounded on her best friend. "Harry, you should not have done that!
You'll get in trouble!"
He turned to her while still breathing hard. "You don't understand. That
imbecile only understands one thing – pain. If he gets hurt every time he
messes with us, eventually he'll stop."
"You're only letting him win by getting mad," she countered as the others
remained quiet.
"No," Harry replied firmly, shaking his head. "He wins if he can say and
do whatever he wants with no consequences. When we ignore him, he
wins. That crying, bleeding loser did not win today."
"But he'll tell on you," countered Hermione.
"He'd have made up lies about me anyway, so it doesn't matter." He took
a deep breath as he calmed down. "I just want him to leave me alone."
At that moment, the door opened, revealing Percy Weasley, his prefect
badge looking newly polished on his robes. He was looking very upset.
"McGonagall," he said. "Mr. Malfoy said you attacked him."
"I've been here the whole trip," responded Harry. "I didn't go anywhere
near his compartment."
Looking impatient, Percy responded, "He said it happened in here, so quit
denying it."
"Why do you suppose the person who everyone knows to be my enemy
would come to my compartment?"
"That doesn't matter, McGonagall. I've had enough of your
insubordination. Do you deny hitting him like a muggle?"
"I think it does matter, Percy!" shouted Ginny, who was looking very
angry at her brother, who'd completely ignored her. "That prat came in
here to insult us, and got what he deserved! I only wish I'd had the
chance to hex him!"
"Stay out of this, Genevra. It's none of your concern. Mr. McGonagall
threw the first punch."
"And the only one," Harry bragged. "That wimp couldn't defend himself
against a toddler. One punch had him crying like a baby."
"I will be informing the Headmistress of your behavior," he huffed
importantly before turning around and leaving.
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the trip was uneventful, aside from a few people stepping into
the compartment and congratulating Harry for beating up Draco again.
He was amazed at how much the rumors grew as the trip progressed. The
last person they saw was a Gryffindor named Colin Creevey who'd heard
that Draco, Crabbe and Goyle would be spending the summer at St.
Mungo's recovering from injuries sustained during the big fight, wherein
Harry used muggle karate to incapacitate all three of them with one kick.
The group had just finished explaining what really happened when the
train came to a halt. They set about the task of getting their luggage and
dismounted the train.
"Hello, Harry," greeted Adam Granger as he and Hermione approached
her parents. "I've missed you, Hermione!" he added while enveloping his
daughter in a hug.
"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," replied Harry, happily. "Aunt Minnie said
you'll be joining us at that Quidditch game this August."
"Yes," Adam replied while his wife hugged their daughter. "We're looking
forward to it."
"I'd better find my aunt," declared Harry. "It's good seeing you." He shook
Mr. Granger's hand before Marissa gave him a quick hug. "Bye."
Harry then looked around the platform to see his aunt speaking to Percy
Weasley. He rolled his eyes and approached in time to see Minerva
looking at the prefect incredulously for a few seconds before speaking.
"Why are you so anxious to get the boy who saved your sister's life in
trouble? I realize that you're not a Hufflepuff, but you should still have
some loyalty to your family. We can't prove it, especially with all the
money he's spent purchasing half the Wizengamot, but we know that
Draco's father was responsible for the peril young Genevra was in earlier
this year. Draco Malfoy is a bigot and a troublemaker, as well as an
enemy of your family, and I've already told him that I will expel him the
moment I have enough cause. He's being raised to be a Death Eater.
While I agree that I need to talk to Harry about his temper, your siding
with Malfoy yet again proves how poor your judgment is. I regret ever
making you a prefect."
"Now, see here, Headmistress," stated Percy, still being just barely civil.
"Just because the boy is your nephew…"
"That has nothing to do with it, Mr. Weasley. By your own admission,
Draco Malfoy went to Harry's compartment. He was obviously looking for
trouble, and he found some. If Harry had gone to Draco's compartment,
then it would be his fault. You get good grades, Percy. Why can't you use
your brain?"
Harry let out a small snort that gained the attention of both Minerva and
Percy. The arrogant prefect marched off without a word while Harry's
aunt's eyes narrowed as her lips thinned. "Harry, what did I tell you
about losing your temper?"
"That I should pull pranks and not fight."
"Exactly," she said. "You're going to have to learn to stay calm or you'll
end up in trouble."
"But this was different, Aunt Minnie. Draco had no business in our
compartment, and needed to be kicked out. That's our private space! If
Draco ever gets in my house or Ravenclaw tower, I'll give him more of
the same. He needs to learn to leave me alone! I have never gone looking
for him!"
"I know," Minnie replied calmly, "but I still have to inform your parents."
"Come on, Aunt Minnie. There's no reason to tell them. What I can't
figure out is what the point was in Percy telling on me. The year is over,
so house points don't count and I can't get detention."
"For some reason, that arrogant boy hates you," replied Minerva. "He's
almost as biased against you as Snape was. He definitely won't be Head
Boy."
Harry laughed, "I'll bet he won't be happy." He then looked sad for a
moment. "Too bad. The Weasley twins were planning on changing his
Head Boy badge to say Big-Head Boy."
His aunt smiled for a moment. "That would be appropriate. I believe we
should be going now." She then put her arm around Harry, and they both
disappeared, along with his luggage, and appeared in the magical section
of the airport. They then got in line for the international floo.
-HM-HM-HM-
After being lovingly and cheerfully greeted at the airport in Chicago, the
McGonagall family rode their car home, stopping at a McDonalds drive-
through along the way. While Harry was levitating his luggage into his
room, Minerva informed his parents of the altercation he had with
Malfoy on the train.
"Harry Mark McGonagall!" Harry heard his mother's voice while he was
still in his room. He knew immediately what that meant. "Come down
here."
"Yes, mother," he replied neutrally as he approached the staircase.
"Your aunt told me what happened on the train."
"Oh," he said.
"That you got in a fight."
"That's not true," he replied, earning a glare from both women that made
him decide to clarify his statement. "I punched that bigot once and
pushed him out of my compartment while he cried. I don't define that as
a fight."
"Good job," declared Brianna with a grin.
"The point is that you are supposed to be controlling your temper,"
explained Cindy. Harry noticed that his father was staying silent and
wondered if he actually was in favor of Harry's actions and didn't want to
earn the wrath of the women.
Harry looked at his mother. "How would you respond if you were on a
train with Mrs. Fleming and some bigot walked into your compartment
proudly spouting off the 'N' word at her, basically saying she doesn't have
the right to exist?"
Cindy paled before stuttering, "I-I…"
"Because that's exactly what was going on!" continued Harry, increasing
his volume as he paced around the room. "Draco's father was in
Voldemort's inner circle and is teaching his son to be a Death Eater. They
are exactly the magical equivalent of the KKK, except that they're against
muggle-borns instead of Africans, and I refuse to put up with them! My
birth parents died fighting that kind of prejudice, and I thought you raised
me not to put up with it!" He took a deep, calming breath. "I don't go
looking for fights with him, but if Malfoy comes after me, I will do the
same or worse to him every time no matter how many detentions I get."
Mark finally spoke. "The funny thing is, most of them don't realize that
they're imitating the very muggles they hate." He looked at his wife and
aunt. "Whether or not Harry took the right action, the point is that he
took action. Someone has to take action because that prejudice can't be
tolerated anymore. How many lives has it already cost the British
Wizarding World because it was allowed to flourish at Hogwarts while
Dumbledore was headmaster before Voldemort's first rise? He may not be
prejudiced, but he created an atmosphere at Hogwarts where prejudice
thrived and spread, especially in Slytherin house under Snape.
"How many more people have to die before the bigots aren't tolerated? I
put up with them in magical society as a squib. Those people are too
stupid to listen to reason and won't look at test scores to plainly see that
they aren't superior in any way to muggle-borns, so they have to at least
be taught to keep their mouths shut if they want to spew that garbage. I
know that anyone stupid enough to use the 'N' word at Brianna's school
would get a well-deserved beating, so why shouldn't the same be true
about using the 'M' word at Hogwarts?"
"Mark," said Cindy, "You can't be condoning…"
"I hope Aunt Minnie, as headmistress, comes up with a better way to
discourage prejudice, like forcing kids who use the 'M' word to take
counseling, but something has to be done before another war starts. If
Voldemort or any other Dark Lord shows up spouting that bigoted
nonsense, the people who believe that will rally to his cause just like last
time. Every kid allowed to act like Draco Malfoy is one more person who
will join that army. Maybe if he keeps on being proven inferior while he's
still a boy, he might eventually realize that his father has fed him nothing
a pack of lies and he's superior to no one. He might even begin to use his
head for something besides a target."
Harry grinned and looked at his aunt. "I doubt they'd accept counseling,
but what if they had to write a report on O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. scores
between purebloods, half-bloods and muggle-borns if they're caught using
that word?"
Minnie smiled at Harry. "I think that's an excellent suggestion."
They continued the discussion, and neither Harry nor (thankfully)
Brianna reminded the adults that they forgot all about punishing him.
-HM-HM-HM-
A few days later, the adults were gone, so Brianna and Harry were
playing a game of Super Mario World on their Super Nintendo. Harry was
fighting the final battle with Bowser when the door opened.
"Hi, kids," greeted Cindy while she, Mark and Minerva returned from
some boring seminar. Harry could smell Burger King Hamburgers as the
door closed.
"Hi, mom, dad, Aunt Minnie," he responded as he kept playing. The
Headmistress took out her wand and banished her hat to the guest room,
causing the TV screen to flicker for a moment. When the picture
returned, Harry saw that Mario had been killed. Brianna laughed while
he complained, "Aunt Minnie, you just messed up the game! I was gonna
win."
"I doubt it," commented Brianna as she began her turn in Bowser's Castle.
"Sorry," muttered Minerva.
At that moment, the phone rang. "I'll get it," said Cindy, who picked it up.
"Hello." After she'd been silent for about thirty seconds, she put her hand
over the phone and said, "I suppose your game is much too important to
interrupt to inform you that Luke Wisniewski is on the phone. He said a
bunch of your old friends are going Frank's Flying Funhouse after lunch
and you and Brianna are invited."
"Tell him we'll be there," answered Harry happily as he relieved his dad
of one of his fast-food bags and began looking through it. "This game'll be
over soon, anyway. Brianna will be killed in a minute and I'll have
another turn where I beat the end boss and win."
"Hey!" his sister protested.
"Maybe I should summon my broom," suggested Harry.
"Don't you dare!" yelled Brianna.
"New sparks," he retorted.
"Too late! I won," she replied with a grin. "Now, someone pass me my
fries."
-HM-HM-HM-
When they arrived at Frank's Flying Funhouse, Harry immediately
spotted Paul Grabowski, Melissa Hearne, and Luke Wisniewski standing
together. He further observed that Melissa was holding Paul's hand and
realized what that meant.
"Hi, guys!" he said to announce his presence.
Their dad signed Harry and Brianna in while they were chatting with the
group. Harry was introduced to a few kids he didn't know. One of them, a
brown-haired boy who'd moved there from Ohio named Craig, asked,
"Have you ever played Quadpot?"
"No," Harry answered. "I've never heard of it."
"I have," replied Brianna. "But I've never seen a game."
"Quadpot is a lot more popular than Quidditch where I come from. You
play with eleven players to a side with a modified Quaffle called a Quad
that explodes…"
"What?" asked Harry. "That's nuts."
"It's kind of like hot potato with an actual hot potato," explained Melissa.
"We played a game about a month ago. You keep passing the Quad to
your teammates, trying to get it into the 'pot' at the other end of the
pitch. The 'pot' is actually a cauldron containing a solution that stops the
Quad from exploding."
"Hm," said Harry, not convinced that he was interested in that sport.
"It's not any worse of an explosion than you get with exploding snap,"
stated Craig. "You wanna play?"
He looked at his sister and then at his friends before shrugging his
shoulders. "I'll try one game, but I'm not convinced I'll like it."
"Fair enough."
Harry and Brianna got their brooms and followed the group to a room at
FFF that they'd never been in before. It looked like any other Quidditch
Pitch, except that it had floating cauldrons instead of goals. Harry
mounted his Lightning Bolt and flew into the position he was told. They
were all on one team and played another group that was there.
The Quad, which looked like any other Quaffle except that it was colored
a different shade of red, was thrown in the middle, and Craig caught it.
He tossed it to Melissa, who tossed it toward Brianna, who tossed it to
Harry.
BANG! The Quad exploded in his face, and he had to fly back down. He
decided at that moment that he didn't like Quadpot as he settled down in
a corner watching the game. He soon realized that even if he hadn't been
the first one out he still actually would've found it boring after a few
minutes, because the players weren't actually flying around much like he
preferred. They were just playing catch. He did cheer when his team got
points, but he wasn't very impressed by the game. The other team
members went to the other side when they lost. He laughed when Craig
became the next person from his team out.
"What do you think of the game?" the teenage boy asked.
"It's all right, I suppose, but to be honest, I prefer Quidditch."
"I heard you were on a team at your school," commented Craig, nodding
his head. "It's actually a bit rare for someone to enjoy both games. Most
usually like one or the other."
"It's just that I really enjoy flying around a lot," he explained.
"No problem. It looks like your sister will be joining us," he commented
when another Quad exploded.
The other team eventually won by just a few points, and the referee
performed a spell to clean off all the Quadpot victims so they didn't look
like they'd been blown up before they left the room. Then they played a
game of Quidditch, wherein Harry's team completely shut out the other
team – a bunch of kids from a private magical school who thought they
were the best team around. His catching the Snitch was actually ending
the humiliation that the other team endured.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry quickly got into a routine where he'd spend a few hours every day
doing summer homework before playing video games or hanging out
with his American friends, both muggle and magical. They weren't as
close to him as before he started Hogwarts, but he still enjoyed their
company. Melissa had gotten him to blush when she asked if he was
dating Hermione yet. While he was denying it, she laughed and claimed
he was in denial, and his red face was proof that he liked her. He did not
mention that in his nightly mirror calls with the girl in question.
Three weeks after he arrived home, Harry had completed his homework
and was looking forward to his unofficial birthday the next week.
Legally, Harry McGonagall's birthday was August twelfth, and that's
when he got his presents, but his parents had decided they'd spend Harry
Potter's birthday at Six Flags Great America. He woke up, content that he
didn't have any responsibilities for the day, and took a shower.
When Harry went down the stairs for breakfast, he found his aunt sitting
at the table reading the Daily Prophet. She'd made special arrangements
for it to be sent to her in America so she could keep up with the news
during her vacation.
"Anything interesting happen across the pond?" he asked.
"Actually," she answered cheerfully, "yes." She then showed him the front
page, which displayed a picture of the Weasley family, even Ron's rat,
and said they'd won the Grand Prize Galleon Draw and were going to
spend a month-long vacation in Egypt.
He grinned at this news. "That's great! It should be good for Ginny to
spend time with her older brother, Bill, after what happened last year.
She once said he was her favorite brother."
"Yes, it is good," his aunt agreed.
"What is?" asked Cindy as she walked into the room. After Harry
explained about the Weasleys, she commented, "It's nice that they won
some money, but isn't that rather foolish of them to spend it all on a
vacation? As I understand it, the Weasleys don't have that much money
and usually have to settle for second-hand books and uniforms for their
children. Wouldn't it have been more prudent for them to get new
supplies for their kids, or else to save the money for an emergency?"
Harry's eyebrows came closer together as he considered this. "I suppose
you are right. When the summer's over, they won't have anything to
show for all the money they won."
"Arthur is even taking a month off work," added Minerva.
"I'm certainly not against vacations – even month-long ones – but if you
can't afford them…"
"…you shouldn't take them," completed Harry. His mom had always tried
to teach him and Brianna to be frugal, especially after he got access to his
vault, and the idea of taking an expensive trip before buying used clothes
and books for your kids did seem rather foolish now that he thought it
through. He wondered if that frivolity in spending was why the Weasleys
were poor, and then shrugged it off, deciding it was none of his business
anyway. "Oh well; I hope they have a good time."
-HM-HM-HM-
On July 31st, when Harry came down for breakfast, instead of getting the
expected, "Happy Birthday," greeting, or even having the day ignored in
favor of his official birthday, he found his parents and aunt all sitting in
the living room with solemn expressions on their faces.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Without a word, Minnie put a copy of the latest Daily Prophet in his
hands. He sat down as he unrolled the newspaper. It had a picture of a
deranged-looking man underneath a large headline that announced a
Death Eater called Sirius Black had escaped Azkaban Prison. He looked
up at the three adults, barely noticing the sounds behind him that
indicated Brianna was now in the room. "Isn't that prison supposed to be
escape-proof?"
"Yes," replied Aunt Minnie. "No one's ever escaped before. However,
there's something else about Sirius Black which isn't common knowledge
that I believe you should be aware of."
His eyebrows shot up at that news. "Oh. What's that?"
After taking a deep breath, Minerva stated, "He's your godfather."
Harry's eyes bulged out. "What?" said both he and his sister.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Sirius and James Potter were inseparable at school –
more like brothers than friends. Black was even Best Man at your birth-
parents' wedding, Harry. Naturally, when you came along, he was asked
to be your godfather." She then lowered her head and started blinking
her eyes, obviously fighting back tears.
Harry didn't like where this story was going, but he agreed that he
needed to know. "What happened? Why was he in Azkaban?"
Minerva shook her head, indicating that she wasn't ready to continue
speaking. Harry's dad took over the story. "He betrayed them. He told
Voldemort where you three were hiding." He took a deep breath. "He's
the reason they're dead."
Harry found himself panting as though he'd just run a mile as he took this
in. Before he could comment, Minnie added, "They trusted him. With
their very lives." She took a deep breath and looked into her great-
nephew's eyes. "In your extra studies, have you ever read about the
Fidelius Charm?"
He nodded, remembering an advanced book he and Hermione had read a
few months before. A light-bulb went on inside his head. "He was their
Secret-Keeper, wasn't he?" he demanded. She nodded. He stood up and
clenched his fists. "That son of a…"
"Harry!" interrupted his mom. "We know what he is, but you also know
how I feel about swearing!"
"Would someone please explain what that charm is?" asked Brianna, "so
I'll know how much I should hate him."
That comment actually caused Harry to calm down a bit, and he sat back
down and explained the Fidelius Charm to his little sister.
"How could anyone betray their best friends like that?" she asked, now
shedding a few tears of her own at the thought that this man had actually
betrayed her brother – his own godson – to be murdered, and only a
miracle saved Harry.
"That's not all that he did," added Minerva, now prepared to continue the
tale. "Another friend of theirs named Peter Pettigrew confronted Black
the next day, so he murdered – no, destroyed – him, too, along with
twelve muggles that had the bad luck of being there. All they found of
Peter was…a finger."
Minnie started to lose her composure again, so Cindy finished the story.
"The aurors found him at the scene of the crime, laughing, and he's been
in Azkaban ever since."
"He's as bad, no, worse than Voldemort," growled Harry after a few
moments. "At least Voldemort didn't pretend to be their friend and betray
them." No one commented on this analysis.
Finally, Aunt Minnie spoke again. "Mr. Dumbledore contacted me a few
minutes before you came down here. With his position in the
Wizengamot, he's privy to certain information, and he thought we should
know that for the last couple days, the guards of Azkaban had been
hearing Black repeat the words He's at Hogwarts over and over in his
sleep. The Ministry believes that he's going after Harry Potter, and isn't
aware that his godson is missing."
After about ten seconds of silence, Brianna asked, "There's no way he
could know who Harry really is, is there?"
"No," insisted the boy in question. "Aside from you guys, only Hermione,
Fred, George, Padma and Dumbledore know. None of them would've
gone to Azkaban and visited a Death Eater to tell him where to find me."
"I would tend to agree," said Minerva. "So you should be safe to go to
Hogwarts as well as Hogsmeade." She turned toward Mark and Cindy.
"Which reminds me, I have his permission form to visit the village in my
room." They nodded and she looked back at her nephew. "By the way,
although it might not be the best time to say it, happy birthday."
He grinned a bit while everyone repeated the phrase to him. His father
finally said, "If we're going to get to Six Flags early, we'd better leave. I'll
bet anything Black wouldn't think to look for you there." This seemed to
lighten the mood, and soon they were on their way to a fun-filled day.
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
23. European Summer
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 23 – European Summer
The trip to Great America was very similar to the one from the previous
year, with two exceptions. One is that the Grangers weren't there, and the
second is that Brianna was now tall enough to ride the exciting
rollercoasters, which she made sure to do. Just as last year, neither
Harry's dad nor Aunt Minnie went on the thrilling rides.
Aside from the lines at the best rollercoasters, it was a very fun-filled day,
and the topic of Sirius Black didn't come up for the rest of Harry Potter's
birthday.
-HM-HM-HM-
A few days later, the McGonagall kids were taken to the dentist and eye
doctor, although this time, they decided to use the magical eye doctor
when Harry mentioned, "I've been thinking about getting contact lenses,
and I heard the magical ones are better. Last week, Paul Grabowski told
me that a few years ago, a muggle-born became an eye healer and
developed magical contact lenses. They aren't too popular among the
purebloods and older wizards, but a lot of muggle-borns get them and
haven't had any complaints. Paul hardly knows he's wearing them."
They made an appointment for both kids with the eye healer in Little
Salem, and so the McGonagall family found itself standing outside of a
building with a sign that showed a pair of brown eyes moving around,
apparently looking at everybody. Underneath them it said Healer Eugene's
Eye Examinations. "Well, this is the place," stated Mark as he opened the
door.
Although there was no bell on the door, they heard a distinct ring as they
walked inside. The walls were lined with shelves full of glasses of all
shapes and sizes. There was even a shelf with magical eyes spinning
around. Harry looked around in fascination, noticing a sign that
advertised special features available for all glasses and contact lenses.
These included night vision, the ability to see through any object, the
ability to see through invisibility cloaks, and a zooming in feature.
A voice asking, "May I help you?" pulled Harry from his browsing. He
turned to see a young dark-skinned witch in a yellow robe looking at his
parents.
Cindy answered, "Yes. We have an appointment for both our children –
Harry and Brianna McGonagall – to have their eyes checked. So far,
Brianna hasn't needed glasses, and Harry is interested in getting contact
lenses."
The receptionist turned her attention to Harry and seemed to be staring
at his eyes. "Yes," she commented. "I can see why you don't want to hide
those lovely green eyes of yours, young man. I'll bet all the girls will
enjoy staring into them." Harry blushed at this statement, but didn't
respond. They were then given roles of parchment to fill out.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry's appointment was first, so he walked into the office where the eye
healer was waiting for him. The friendly wizard said, "I understand that
this is your first magical eye exam," after glancing at a role of parchment.
"Yes," he responded, suddenly a bit nervous.
"Well, this exam is much easier than the muggle ones where you have to
keep choosing what looks better or worse. I just perform a few spells on
your eyes. You won't feel a thing."
"All right."
"Now, just take off your glasses."
-HM-HM-HM-
About twenty minutes later, Harry left the office with a big smile on his
face and his old glasses in his pocket.
"Harry," asked Cindy, "Did you already get your contact lenses?"
"Yes," he replied happily. "He told me that I don't have to take them off at
all, and a sticking charm is making sure they'll never accidentally come
off. There's just a spell I need to perform on my eyes every day for about
a month to moisturize them, until they're used to the contacts. He said
that muggle contact lens eye drops could be used two or three times a
day instead of the spell, if for some reason I couldn't perform it."
Cindy looked her son in the eyes. "I agree with the receptionist," she
whispered. "The girls will like gazing into your eyes."
"Mom!" he hissed.
"Especially Hermione." He blushed and turned away from his mother, just
in time to see Brianna walk into the office.
-HM-HM-HM-
When Brianna returned, she heard her brother arguing with their mother.
"But mom, I think that feature would be great."
"Maybe so, dear, but I don't think the girls at Hogwarts will appreciate
you having x-ray vision."
"They don't need to know…"
"That's final, Harry."
"Fine," he responded in a huff that Brianna could tell was fake. She
realized that Harry was just having fun – trying to get a reaction from
their mother. She knew he never expected to get contact lenses that see
through everything. "Can I get the other features?" he asked.
"Maybe next year we'll get you one," she answered, "but not this year."
She then turned to face her daughter. "How'd it go? Are your eyes still
perfect?"
"Always," Brianna admitted with a grin.
"Lucky," commented Harry, causing his sister to stick out her tongue.
-HM-HM-HM-
'This is Privet Drive,' the traveler thought to himself as he looked up at the
street sign. He had looked up his destination in the local Felytone book,
and was now searching for Number 4. Aside from the addresses, it was
nearly impossible to tell one house from the other in this boring
neighborhood. He peered through the window and saw an overly large
man with a bushy mustache sitting down at the dinner table with his
horse-faced (yet familiar-looking) wife, a boy who appeared to be the size
of a small whale, and a dog-faced woman.
The stranger watched and waited, hiding behind a bush to avoid being
noticed by the neighbors. His black fur helped him to remain unnoticed.
The bulky man and dog-faced woman both consumed an exorbitant
amount of alcohol while the stranger kept quietly waiting for his
opportunity to find out if his godson were there. Finally, the intoxicated
adults, as well as the fat kid, left the room and went up the stairs, leaving
the horse-faced woman who he'd seen with Lily at Kings Cross Station
years before alone to wash the dishes. The escaped prisoner of Azkaban
morphed into a man and walked up to the door.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Hermione! It's great to see you!" Harry exclaimed as he was suddenly
embraced by his best friend. Much to his surprise, the Grangers were
waiting at the airport when his family floo'd to England. It was a few
days before the August 9th Quidditch match in France.
"It's good to see you, too!" she exclaimed. "You look good without those
glasses," she blurted out before both of them blushed and released each
other.
"Aren't you gonna kiss?" asked Brianna, earning a glare from her brother,
who then turned to greet Hermione's parents, who welcomed them all
back to England.
"We should be going," said Minerva. "Adam, Marissa, will you join us for
dinner?"
-HM-HM-HM-
After spending a few hours at a fancy restaurant with the Grangers, the
McGonagalls made their way to their family manor. They'd only been
there for a few minutes when the floo activated and the face of a wizened
old wizard with white hair and beard, which, from that perspective,
seemed to be on fire, appeared. Harry, who was closest to the fireplace,
found the sight amusing, but managed to avoid laughing.
"Greetings, Mr. Potter," he politely greeted the teenager.
"Hello, Mr. Dumbledore," he said noncommittally, not sure how he
should respond to his former headmaster. "If you don't mind, sir, I prefer
McGonagall."
"Very well, Mr. McGonagall," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Thank you." He decided to add, "Thanks for keeping my secret."
"It's no bother."
"Albus," asked Minerva, who just approached. "Is something wrong?"
"I'm afraid so," he nodded grimly. "Sirius Black paid the Dursleys a visit
today."
"WHAT?" exclaimed all the McGonagalls at once.
Harry sadly asked, "Are they…dead?"
"Fortunately, no," answered the former headmaster. "I placed wards on
their house to alert me if a wizard were to approach their property. When
I got there, he had just left Petunia Dursley, who was very upset. He'd
questioned her about Harry Potter's whereabouts, and determined that
she'd been obliviated, but not that I had done it. He screamed at Mrs.
Dursley and left."
"But he wasn't able to learn anything to lead him to Harry?" asked Cindy.
"No," answered Dumbledore. "And I obliviated Mrs. Dursley of the entire
incident."
"Why didn't he kill her?" asked Harry's sister.
"Brianna!" yelled Mark. "You should never wish someone dead!"
"I wasn't wishing her dead," she argued. "I simply was curious why he
didn't kill her, since he didn't have any problem with killing before."
Albus commented, "Young Miss McGonagall does raise a good question
that I can't readily answer. Perhaps he sensed that he had tripped a ward
and knew he didn't have time."
The conversation went on for a little while after that, and finally
Dumbledore's head returned to the other end of the floo call.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, the family met up with the Grangers in Diagon Alley for
school shopping. Brianna still had her brown eagle owl, Barnabus, so she
didn't get a new pet. Hermione already had both an owl and a cat, so she
wasn't getting any new pets either. Therefore, they only picked up pet
supplies without taking long to look at the animals.
Officially, Brianna had left her Silver Bullet broom in America, since she
couldn't bring it to Hogwarts anyway. Unofficially, Harry had it hidden
with his stuff, since he still owed her for helping him smuggle in his
Lightning Bolt during his first year. In any case, they did look at the
Quidditch supplies, noticing the Firebolts, and Harry got a new pair of
Seeker gloves, as well as a new broom service kit.
They went into Flourish and Blotts next, and after Brianna had gotten her
books, Hermione still wanted to stay there browsing. The Grangers stayed
with their daughter, as well as Harry, while the rest of the McGonagalls
went off to other stores after Brianna wished Harry and Hermione to,
"Enjoy your date," causing them both to blush.
Once they were out of that store, Brianna surprised her parents and aunt
by asking, "Can I get a new wand at Ollivanders?"
"Are you having trouble with your old one?" asked Cindy.
"No, but Harry…"
"Harry's first wand didn't entirely suit him," explained Minerva.
"But it still worked for him," argued Brianna. "I thought I could get one as
a spare just like him."
Mark looked at his wife, who shrugged her shoulders. "All right, but
that'll be the only extra thing we're getting you."
She pulled two galleons out of her pocket and asked, "Is this enough to
get a holster like Harry's?"
-HM-HM-HM-
In the meantime, both third-years had picked out extra books and
purchased them. They left the book store and walked around the alley,
with Hermione's parents staying back a bit to give them privacy.
"I wish Brianna would stop saying stuff like that."
Hermione looked slightly hurt, but Harry didn't see her face since they
were both walking. "Is the idea of dating me that horrible?"
Harry's eyes widened as his face paled. "I, No, I didn't mean…um. I didn't
mean anything against you. It's just that if I, um, we wanted to date, we
could handle it ourselves and not need her pushing us to do it." He then
quickly added, "I'm, er, not entirely opposed to the idea. I'd just prefer it
to be my idea."
"Really?" she asked, sounding neutral.
He cleared his throat. "Maybe if I decided I, er, wanted to date, y'know…
theoretically."
"Theoretically?" she repeated.
He swallowed before saying, "Yeah. What store do we need to visit next?"
he asked, quite obviously changing the subject before walking a bit
faster.
Sighing, she answered, "We should pick up more C.A.R.E. badges."
"Good idea."
Harry acted a bit awkward for the rest of the day until they met up with
the rest of the McGonagalls, where they found that Brianna had managed
to talk Ollivander into selling her a wand and holster. Soon after that,
they went to their respective houses. That night, when Harry and
Hermione had their usual mirror-call, they both acted normally again,
completely ignoring the conversation they'd had earlier in the day.
-HM-HM-HM-
"It's time to get up."
Blinking as his groggy head began to clear, Harry focused his eyes on the
person who had just shaken him awake – his dad. He blinked again and
slightly smiled at the fact that his father's face was not blurry. He'd only
had his magical contacts for less than two weeks, and still wasn't used to
being able to see properly. He summoned his wand from its holster (he
always slept with one of his holsters on) and performed the moisturizing
spell on his eyes as he said, "All right. I'm up."
Fifteen minutes later, Harry, with his hair still wet from the shower,
arrived in the common room of his family's manor. The three adult
occupants were sitting on the sofa.
"Good morning, Harry."
"Morning, Aunt Minnie."
"Mornin' everyone," said Brianna, as she walked into the room stifling a
yawn.
"How long until the Portkey activates?" asked Harry.
His mom answered, "Five minutes."
He frowned at that statement. "Aren't we having breakfast?"
"Don't you remember?" asked his dad. "We're going to be eating at the
campsite with the Grangers and Patils."
"But I'm hungry now," he argued.
"I'm sorry, son. But we don't have time to get you anything. Unless you
don't want to go to the game."
"Fine," Harry replied as his stomach growled.
"We'd better all start holding the portkey now," commanded Aunt Minnie
as she picked up a length of rope and tossed one end toward the kids. "It's
going to activate in about thirty seconds."
They waited in silence until the familiar sensation of being tugged by
one's navel overtook them. Harry's feet touched the ground for about a
second before he fell backwards, landing on his posterior. He glared at
his sister, who'd held onto their mom to avoid falling, and was now
laughing at him.
"Harry!" a familiar voice called from behind him. He quickly got to his
feet while Hermione asked, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," he replied.
"Hi, guys!" greeted Padma Patil as she, along with her sister and parents,
approached the group.
"Hi, Padma," responded Hermione. "Hi, Parvati."
At that point, an official-looking wizard approached the group, and
began speaking in what Harry assumed was French, since they were in Le
Mans, France. The Grangers conversed with him for a few minutes before
telling them the direction they needed to walk.
-HM-HM-HM-
The group had no trouble finding their tents amongst the others, once
they'd been pointed in the right direction. The only problem Harry had
was the way that many of the tents were decorated. France's team, the
Quiberon Quafflepunchers' colors were pink and dark red, and
consequently, many of the tents were decked out in those colors.
However, adding to the problem was the fact that the opposing team –
the Sweetwater All-Stars from Texas, U.S.A. – had for their team colors
bright red and white. Harry thought they should have a bit of blue as
well to complete the colors of the American flag, but it wasn't to be. As a
result of this, over eighty percent of the tents were either covered in pink
or red decorations, and Harry put on a pair of sunglasses in an effort to
protect his eyes.
"Gabrielle, zis 'as got to be ze most beautiful campsite I have ever zeen,"
declared a tall, silver-blonde, beautiful girl who appeared to be about
sixteen years old. Her family was camped next to the three tents for
Harry's group. There was something special about her that seemed to
draw Harry toward her.
A little girl who looked similar to the older one said, "Yez, Fleur, eet iz
magnific!"
"Harry!" A hand on his right arm pulled him out of his trance. He blinked
his eyes for a moment before turning to face his best friend. She asked,
"What's wrong? Why are you walking toward that tent? Do you know
that girl?"
"No," he replied, shaking his head. "I don't know what came over me."
Hermione tentatively asked, "Do you think she's…pretty?"
"I suppose," he replied as he watched his friend frown for a moment, "but
I honestly didn't know I was even walking. It's like I was in a daze or
something. Let's get back to the others," he suggested, turning around and
walking away, eager to escape from whatever caused his temporary
trance.
Hermione stood there for a few moments looking downcast before the
older French girl walked up to her and held out her hand to shake hers.
"Hello. My name iz Fleur Delacour. Waz zat your boyfriend?"
Politely, Hermione shook Fleur's hand as she blushed slightly, saying, "I'm
Hermione Granger. Harry's not my boyfriend. We're just good friends."
"But you wish he waz. I can tell."
Hermione looked at the ground. "I…"
"I believe I zhould explain what 'appened to him a moment ago." The
French girl looked a bit uncomfortable at this point, but continued
speaking. "You zee, I am part Veela. Do you know what zat means?"
Hermione nodded. She had read about them. "I ztill 'aven't gotten ze
effects under control. Frequently, when I am near any male, zay
temporarily fall under ze trance." She took a deep breath. "Do not blame
him. Eet wasn't his fault. I am zorry for any distress eet caused you. Eet
waz an accident."
Hermione slightly smiled at this news, understanding the powers that
Veelas had. "I understand."
"I also think I should point out zat 'e waz taken out of his trance ze
moment you touched him. Do you know what zat means?"
Hermione blushed once more as she nodded, keeping silent.
Fleur smiled at the British girl. "He may be in denial, but only one thing
can break ze trance like zat. Ze boy iz zmitten with you."
"Th-thanks," Hermione stammered.
"Ez ze truth. You zhould go to him."
"Yeah," Hermione agreed and turned.
"By ze way, welcome to France."
-HM-HM-HM-
Shortly after that conversation, Hermione informed Harry that he'd fallen
under an accidental Veela spell, but didn't mention the rest of her
conversation with Fleur. Shortly after that, the group wound up going
souvenir shopping. The American McGonagalls decided to support the
Sweetwater All-Stars, so Mark, Cindy, Harry and Brianna (along with
Parvati) all got huge red cowboy-style hats with 'Sweetwater' written in
white letters across the front. The Grangers, on the other hand, who had
vacationed in France more than once, bought three pink berets
advertising the Quiberon Quafflepunchers (or Quafflepoofters as Harry
called them, earning both laughs and glares from his mixed group),
although Adam wouldn't put his on and gave it to Padma. The others
didn't buy any hats. However, everyone got a pair of Omnioculars so they
could see the match.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everyone, to ze match between ze home team – ze Quiberon
Quafflepunchers!" Loud cheers came from the majority of the stadium,
including Hermione, as Harry watched the team, clad in shocking pink
uniforms with red capes, fly in formation while the three Chasers juggled
six Quaffles between them.
He muttered his made-up word, "Quafflepoofters," while the names were
announced, earning yet another glare from his best friend.
"Even you've got to admit they're obviously very skilled with Quaffles,"
she hissed.
"I know," he admitted, "but they're wearing pink uniforms."
The team finally arrived in the center of the pitch, so the announcer
called out. "And now ze challengers! Coming all ze way from America –
Ze Zweetwater All-Ztarz!"
Harry rolled his eyes at the mispronunciation of the Texas team's name,
but joined in the applause as they flew into the pitch, every one of them
doing magical rope tricks, shooting them out of their wands and making
lassos of all shapes and sizes while their names were announced.
Hermione commented, "Their uniforms look almost exactly like the
Gryffindor ones, aside from the cowboy boots."
He nodded. "I noticed. Too bad they didn't choose blue instead."
"Look at their brooms," exclaimed Brianna, who was on Harry's other
side, excitedly. "They're all on Silver Bullets!"
After using his Omnioculars to get a closer look, Harry nodded. "You're
right." With a smirk, he added, "They must not have heard of Lightning
Bolts in Texas."
After the extra Quaffles (as well as the wands) were put away, the balls
were brought out. The Snitch disappeared almost immediately and the
Bludgers started moving away; the Quaffle was tossed into the air as the
announcer said, "Let ze match begin!"
Harry had never seen a truly professional Quidditch match before, and he
was amazed at how quickly the French Chasers grabbed the Quaffle and
took off toward their goal, passing it seamlessly between them.
"It lookz like zey're going to…" SMACK! "Zat Bludger muzt 'ave hurt! Ze
All-Ztarz have pozzezzion."
For hours and hours they watched as the highly skilled players moved the
Quaffle and Bludgers around the pitch, demonstrating several amazing
Quidditch moves in the process, but one thing was missing.
"Where is the Snitch?" commented Harry. "It hasn't shown up once."
"That is a good point," agreed Hermione. "The game started at noon, and
now it's six o'clock."
Already, this was the longest Quidditch match Harry had ever seen, but it
was an exciting one. The score was now 380 to 410, in favor of the
Quafflepunchers, who were frequent winners of their league. Harry still
couldn't understand how the male members of that team could wear
those pink uniforms. He decided that they must have been paid extra for
that.
Apparently, the announcer and referee agreed that the game had been
going on too long, because when the next goal was reached, there was a
time-out, during which it was announced, "Az ze Znitch haz not yet
zhown itzelf, at ziz time, ze players will be zubstituted zo that they can
rezt. If ze game iz ztill going on in zix hourz, ze original playerz will
return. At thiz time, mealz will be made available through our vendorz."
"I didn't realize that this game would take so long," commented Adam
Granger.
"Neither did I," replied Minerva, "Although I have heard of a match
taking as long as ten hours."
They found themselves more comfortable after the Patil parents
performed cushioning spells on the seats. As soon as the venders
apparated onto the stands with sandwiches, they were swamped with
orders. Harry's dad was the one stuck waiting in that line while the game
resumed.
It was a half-hour later when Harry proclaimed, "There's the Snitch!" as
he pointed toward France's goals.
Hermione turned her Omnioculars in that direction and said, "You're
right. Maybe the game will end."
"Not likely," said Brianna, as she pointed at the Seekers, one of whom
(the Sweetwater All-Star) was successfully pulling off a Wronski Feint as
the other followed.
Just as the French Seeker slammed into the ground, Harry exclaimed,
"The Snitch is gone again!"
After the teams changed again with the score at 780 to 760 (in favor of
Texas), Harry announced, "I'm tired. Wake me up if someone sees the
Snitch."
The group started sleeping in shifts with the players as the game dragged
on and on. Scourgify spells were applied to everyone on a daily basis, but
they weren't nearly as good as showers. They couldn't go to their
campsite because of a rule that stated that if you left the stadium in the
middle of a game, you couldn't return. On the fourth day, right after it
was announced that this game had become the second-longest in history,
Blinky, the McGonagall house elf, popped right in front of the tired group
holding a chocolate frosted cake with thirteen lit candles.
"It is being Master Harry's birthday today, and Blinky is thinking that if
he's not home, he should still be celebrating!" The house elf did know
that Harry McGonagall was really Harry Potter, but also understood that
his secret must be preserved, and part of that was maintaining his fake
birthday. Besides, Harry was still in America on his real birthday, so the
elf couldn't have done anything for him then.
"Thank you, Blinky," the 'birthday boy' responded with a grin. He was
unable to say anything else as his group began singing the birthday song
to him, causing his face to turn red, especially when people sitting nearby
noticed and joined in the singing. Finally, he said, "I wish someone would
catch that Snitch," and successfully blew out all the candles, earning a
round of applause. By this time, the scores were in the thousands, yet still
close enough that whoever caught the Snitch would win the game.
"You weren't supposed to say your wish out loud," scolded Hermione.
"Yeah," agreed Brianna. "Now it won't come true."
Blinky snapped her fingers and the candles disappeared. She snapped
them again, and the cake disappeared at the same moment that small
plates, each with a piece of the cake, appeared in each party-member's
hand, along with a fork. Once anyone finished their cake, a chocolate
Sundae with whipped cream and nuts would replace it. While they were
eating, the Snitch appeared again, but the blind Seekers (at least they
were blind according to Harry) didn't notice it. This was more frustrating
to him than the Hogwarts games he'd watched in first year before
Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had decent Seekers.
It wasn't until the next day – the fifth day of the match – that the Snitch
appeared right in front of the Sweetwater All-Star Seeker. He grabbed it,
finally ending the match.
"And Texaz finally wins ze game – 2080 to 1990! Thank Merlin! The
game iz over!"
At that announcement, about half of the spectators apparated on the spot,
causing a very loud 'CRACK.' When they returned to the campsite, all
three families decided that they didn't want to spend another night there,
so they made their way back home. Hermione, however, made it a point
to say goodbye to Fleur Delacour while they were packing up the
campsite.
-HM-HM-HM-
A few days after the match, an angry-looking Aunt Minnie walked into
the kitchen, where the rest of the family was eating lunch. They all
stopped and looked at her expectantly.
"I've just been speaking to that dolt we have for a Minister! He has just
informed me that Dementors will be guarding Hogwarts!"
"Dementors!" repeated Mark. "He can't be serious!"
"He is convinced that Sirius Black will be visiting Hogwarts, and hasn't
given me any choice but to allow those foul creatures to surround the
school. He has assured me that they won't cross the boundaries, but I
don't trust those…things." She turned to her niece and nephew. "I'd like
to begin teaching you two how to repel a Dementor if they come near
you, and the new defense teacher will continue the lessons once school
starts." Harry looked like he was about to speak when she interrupted.
"Yes, Harry; you can invite Hermione and Padma here for the lessons."
"Good. Um, you said we're having a new teacher?"
"Yes. Professor Tutamun was offered a consulting job in the Ministry, so I
had to replace her. Professor Kettleburn also retired, so I offered his class
to Madam Grubbly-Plank. She accepted. The new head of Slytherin will
be Professor Vector. Oh, and Mr. Shapon has agreed to stay on as
Transfiguration teacher permanently."
"Padma'll like that," commented Harry.
"What is it you'll be teaching us?" asked Brianna.
"The Patronus Charm."
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: the game they watched was talked about in 'Quidditch
Through the Ages.'
24. Dementors, Boggarts and
Seers Oh My!
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 24 –Dementors, Boggarts and Seers –
Oh My!
"Expecto patronum!" exclaimed Harry for the sixth time in the last hour. It
was the second day of Patronus lessons, and he was in the common room
at McGonagall Manor with Hermione, Padma, Brianna and Aunt Minnie.
So far, none of the students had gotten any results, no matter what
memory they used. Harry had tried concentrating on birthday parties,
Quidditch matches, trips to Six Flags, finding out he was magical and
seeing his parents after a semester at Hogwarts, but none of them
worked. This time, he focused on the Sorting Hat announcing he'd be in
Ravenclaw, the same house that Hermione had been sorted into moments
before. For a split second, there was a white flash from his wand.
"That's very good, Harry!" exclaimed Minnie. "Very good, indeed."
"Yeah," commented Brianna sarcastically. "Now you have an alternate
spell to Lumos." The girl's wand lit up from the light spell, which she'd
learned previously at the American magic school.
"Ha Ha!" grumbled Harry, before trying again. Although he wouldn't
admit it out loud, he had realized that thoughts of Hermione seemed to
be more powerful than others, so he remembered her hugging him when
his family arrived in England just over a week before. Subconsciously, he
glanced at the object of his recollection, but was only noticed by
Hermione, who said nothing while her eyebrows furrowed for a moment
as Harry said, "Expecto Patronum!"
This time, a white, misty shield seemed to come out of his wand and
lasted for about five seconds before fading. Harry noticed that holding it
was draining. He was starting to sweat, as well as pant, with the effort.
"Excellent!" proclaimed his aunt just before Harry dropped his wand,
clearly exhausted.
He was bending over to pick it up when he heard his best friend repeat
the same incantation he had, with identical results. "Well, done,
Hermione!" he complimented between breaths.
"You, too," she replied just before her shield faded.
Harry could see that she was just as drained as he, so he suggested,
"Maybe we could take a break."
"Yes," agreed Minerva. "You two have probably done all you can for the
day. Good job, both of you. Take the rest of the lesson off, while the
other two keep trying."
The two friends walked into the library that Hermione always insisted on
visiting whenever she was in this house and were looking at the books,
trying to decide what to read, when a pecking noise got their attention.
"It looks like someone's sent a letter," commented Harry needlessly as he
walked toward the closed window and welcomed a rather unusual owl
with huge blood-shot eyes that looked slightly out of focus. It was a
rather petite brown owl, but along with a rolled up scroll, it carried the
scent of cooking sherry as it flew in a slow, erratic, zig-zag pattern,
finally hovering in front of Harry's face and slowly sticking its right leg
out.
Harry untied the scroll as he called, "Blinky."
"Yes, Master Harry," the elf said after popping into the room.
"Could you bring an owl treat for this bird?"
"Yes."
Before the elf disappeared, Hermione added, "And maybe something to
sober the poor thing up."
Blinky popped away and returned about ten seconds later. "This owl treat
is being dipped in sobering potion." Harry could see that it was in fact
dripping with something as he took the owl treat. He was actually
surprised that the owl ate it, but it did. He grinned when its eyes got a bit
more focused before it flew off.
After both the owl and house elf were gone, Hermione asked, "Who
would get an owl drunk?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I'd guess it was Professor Trelawney."
She looked offended. "I know you don't think much of…"
"I was right," Harry interrupted. "The note's from her."
"Maybe the owl accidentally got into her stock," Hermione mumbled as
Harry read his note.
Dear Mr. McGonagall,
The fates have informed me that you are still in grave danger of making a
horrible mistake, despite my earlier warning. I sense that someone close to
you, that you admire, has turned you away from the noble art of Divination
with blasphemous lies. This person has not been blessed with the great gift as
you and I have been, and therefore denies that the gift exists out of jealousy.
You have been gifted with the Sight and should not allow others to force you
to turn your back on this privilege and responsibility. I fear that if you do not
sign up for Divination, that you will regret it. Without this important
instruction, the crystal ball has shown me a Grim in your future.
With love,
Professor Sybil Trelawney,
Great-Great-Granddaughter of the great Seer – Cassandra Trelawney
Harry couldn't help bursting out laughing. "She is soooooooo full of crap!"
He handed his companion the letter as he continued his uncontrolled
mirth.
"She really is laying it on a bit thick, isn't she?" Hermione commented
with no emotion.
"A bit thick?"
"She even insulted her boss – your aunt – in this letter."
"I know," he agreed, still smiling. "Do you suppose I should reply?"
"I guess it's only polite," said Hermione thoughtfully.
"New Sparks," Harry muttered, summoning his wand from its holster.
"Accio, parchment." Once a fresh role of parchment flew to his hand from
his room, Harry summoned a pen and began his response.
Dear Professor Trelawney,
I appreciate your advice, but have decided not to pursue mastery of the subject
of Divination, as I'm sure you already know. Although my aunt lacks
appreciation for your subject, she has never spoken rudely of you, and I would
appreciate it if you wouldn't make not-so-hidden rude comments about my
aunt. I haven't shown her the letter, but I doubt she would appreciate what you
said.
This is the second time you've contacted me on the subject, and I'd appreciate
it if you would respect my decision and make no further attempts to change
my mind.
Sincerely,
Harry McGonagall
"What do you think?" asked Harry after showing the letter to his best
friend.
"I think it's polite enough, yet firm."
"Good." He took a deep breath. "I'm almost afraid to send Hedwig to
Trelawney."
Hermione was smiling again, remembering the drunken owl. "I know
what you mean, but she's a smart owl. Just tell her not to accept anything
from the professor and fly right back, promising an extra treat."
They walked slowly toward Harry's bedroom in the manor talking when
Brianna came up quickly behind them smiling, with a tablet in her hands.
"Hi guys, I hope I didn't interrupt anything," she said with a wink.
"No Brianna. There was nothing to interrupt," replied Harry irritably, not
really annoyed with his sister. He was more annoyed with Trelawney and
worried about his owl. He wanted to get this over with. "We were just
going to send a letter with Hedwig."
"Oh," she replied. "To whom?" she inquired.
"None of your business. Go pester mom."
"That was rude, Harry," scolded Hermione crossly.
"I just left her, and wasn't pestering her," Brianna said defensively,
ignoring Hermione's statement. She added, "I was just showing her my
new poem. She really liked it."
"Then go write another poem," instructed Harry as he stepped into his
room.
"It was about the Quidditch game we watched last week," continued
Brianna, ignoring Harry's rudeness. "I called it, 'That Poor Snitch.'"
"That sounds interesting, Brianna," commented Hermione while Harry
was ignoring them both, tying his letter to Hedwig's leg and instructing
her.
"…and remember, girl, don't take anything that old bat gives you. The
poor owl that delivered her letter to me had obviously been poisoned."
The owl seemed to nod sagely in response.
As soon as the snowy owl flew out the window, Hermione approached
Harry with his sister's tablet in her hands. "Brianna's poem really is cute,"
she said cautiously. "You should read it."
"Fine," sighed Harry. "Let me take a look at it." *
-HM-HM-HM-
The week-and-a-half went by quickly, and before Harry knew it, he was
at Kings Cross Station in Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. By now, he,
Hermione and Padma could consistently put up a partial Patronus shield
(not corporeal) and Brianna could get a small flash of light that would
last about a second. Aunt Minnie had warned that it would be much
more difficult to do that if an actual Dementor were nearby. "Watch out
for your sister," instructed his mom, getting his attention. Their dad had
been called into work the day before.
"I will," vowed Harry, turning toward Brianna. "No one can pick on her
but me," he added with a smirk.
"I don't need you to watch out for me," declared Brianna defiantly.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Maybe not. I'll say one thing,
though. If Draco tries to mess with you, I will once more kick his…"
"Harry!" interrupted Cindy McGonagall. "I don't want to hear about you
fighting anymore."
"Then tell Aunt Minnie to stop calling you," he answered with a grin.
"I mean it," she said sternly. Her expression softened after a moment. She
hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Be careful, Harry. I know
Hogwarts is supposed to be safe from that…man who betrayed your
birth-parents, and he shouldn't know who you are anyway, but please try
to stay safe."
"I will, mom," he replied as he hugged her back.
"I love you," she stated when they separated.
Looking uncomfortably at the ground, he muttered, "luvutoo."
Cindy smiled, knowing that her son in all but blood did love her, but, like
most boys his age, was uncomfortable expressing that, especially in a
public place like this where his friends were likely to see him. She turned
to her daughter. "I love you, too, Brianna."
"I love you, too," she replied.
"Don't get into too much trouble."
"No more than Harry gets into," she promised with a mischievous grin. "I
have to get the American invasion of Hogwarts back on track."
Cindy couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head. "I want you to call
me as soon as you get to your dorm tonight and tell me all about the
train ride and where you get sorted."
Harry coughed at that moment, but it sounded suspiciously like,
"Slytherin."
Brianna glared at her brother, but didn't comment.
"I guess we should get on the train," commented Harry, causing Cindy to
hug Brianna and wish them a good trip.
"Come on, sis," Harry commanded, determined to watch out for his sister,
at least until she had a group of friends to watch out for her. "Let's find a
compartment."
They boarded the mostly-empty train with their trunks and owls, and
quickly found an empty compartment. After getting the luggage put up
properly, Harry noticed his sister looking around the train, as though
trying to memorize it. She'd seen the outside a few times, but never the
inside of the locomotive.
"So, what do you think of the train?"
"It's all right," she replied before settling down. The faint blush on her
cheeks indicated that she realized he'd caught her gazing at the Hogwarts
Express. Her voice lowered to a whisper. "Are you sure you've got my
broom with you?"
"Of course not," he said with a smirk. "You do know that according to the
rules…"
"I'll take that as a yes," she replied.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied while grinning. At
that time, the door swung open, revealing, "Hermione!"
"Hi, Harry, Brianna!" she greeted enthusiastically while doing her best to
get her trunk, owl cage and cat cage into the compartment. Harry quickly
got up and helped her. It started raining heavily outside just before
Padma joined them, followed soon after by Neville and Luna so that there
was no room by the time Ginny showed up. Her family always arrived at
the last minute, so she had to find another compartment just before the
train started moving.
About ten minutes into the journey, the compartment door swung open
yet again, revealing Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. "Well, what do we have
here?" drawled the ringleader.
Brianna turned to her brother, "Are those the three squibs you
mentioned, Harry?"
"Yes," he replied, "but you forget to mention their considerably low I.Q.
levels."
"What are you talking about?" yelled Draco, "and who is that first-year
girl?"
"See what we mean?" commented Hermione to Brianna. "Complete lack
of reasoning abilities."
Harry's sister seemed to be pondering that for a few moments while
scratching her chin. "They would make excellent additions to the Lincoln
Park Zoo."
"SHUT UP!" yelled Draco as his face turned red. His two companions
were just staring stupidly at them.
"That is a good point, Brianna. I didn't think they were good for anything,
but they would fit in well at the monkey house."
"Brianna?" repeated Malfoy. "You're Harry's sister, aren't you?"
The girl glared at the boy she'd heard a lot about. "And you're Malfoy, the
boy Harry has been beating up regularly."
He glared at her with contempt before saying, "You're brave now,
surrounded by others, but you won't always be. You'll need to learn to
respect your betters."
Harry felt that his promise to watch out for Brianna was more important
than his promise to stay out of trouble. Consequently, after careful
consideration, he made the only reasonable decision that he could. While
his face was still turning red, he leapt up and ran right into Malfoy,
grabbing each of his arms by the miniature bicep, and slammed him into
a wall. Hermione and the others quickly had their wands pointed at
Crabbe and Goyle. Harry was squeezing Draco's arms while glaring in his
nemesis' face with more venom than ever before. He visibly paled.
In a calm, but deadly tone of voice, Harry promised, "If you put one
finger on her, if you cast one spell at her, no school rules will stop me
from making you regret it. You will beg me to kill you before it's over."
He then pushed the panicked-looking Malfoy out the door and released
him, causing Draco to start rubbing his arms. He then looked at Draco's
bodyguards. "And that goes for you, too! Now, get out before you get
hexed!"
Looking at the enraged expression on Harry's face, as well as the wands
that were still pointed at them, Dumb and Dumber left and Harry closed
the door.
"You didn't have to do that, Harry. I can take care of myself," said
Brianna.
Harry took a deep breath, calming down a bit as he sat down. "I'm sure
you can handle your problems, but those goons are mine." He looked at
her seriously. "If they start any trouble at all with you, I want you to tell
me."
"So you can get in trouble for…"
"Exactly," interrupted Harry. "They are my trouble, not yours." He added
with a smirk, "I'm sure you'll come up with your own trouble soon
enough."
"At least this time you didn't hit him," commented Hermione, "so I don't
think you can get in trouble."
The trip went without incident from the time Malfoy and his goons left
until about a half-hour before they should've arrived at the school. The
train lurched to a halt, and the air suddenly became colder. Harry
noticed the window was frosting over as he heard a door nearby open.
He shivered as he felt a sudden chill and noticed he wasn't the only one.
"Something's come aboard," stated Hermione.
"I wonder if," said Harry before his attention was taken by their door
being opened. He began to feel all his happiness drain from his body, and
saw the black-cloaked figure as it seemed to look at them, although he
knew this creature couldn't see. He realized that for the first time in his
life, he was facing a Dementor. "New Sparks," he whispered, summoning
his favorite wand, just before he began to hear a woman screaming in the
background.
Despite the cold, Harry was sweating profusely as he felt more and more
joy leave his body.
"Not Harry! Kill me instead!" the woman pleaded. The only response he
heard was hideous laughter.
Shaking his head and trying to maintain his consciousness despite the
dark creature that was towering over him, he pointed his wand. "Expecto
Patronum," he managed to enunciate, and he heard three female voices
pronounce the same incantation he had. The shield of dim light he'd
formed was joined by two others, and the Dementor moved back a few
feet so he could focus more. He distinctly heard his sister cursing faintly
in the background and realized that she hadn't even produced a spark
with her attempt. Harry's Patronus faded, so he quickly conjured another
one before the monster could get to them.
The Boy-Who-Lived-In-Secret felt his magic drain and was panting
heavily. He knew he wouldn't be able to fight the Dementor much longer.
Glancing at Hermione and Padma, he could tell they were all
experiencing the same problem. The Dementor moved forward again and
held out its hand, swiping Harry's shield away.
"Expecto Patronum!" called a man's voice from outside the compartment,
and suddenly a silver-white creature shaped like some sort of dog came
charging at the Dementor from behind. Harry jumped to the side, afraid
the monster would be pushed onto him, but needn't have bothered
because the corporeal Patronus circled around the creature and corralled
it out of the compartment.
Still very shaken up, Harry unsteadily got back to his seat. He was still
panting when a wizard with shabby-looking robes and a kind face,
obviously their protector, walked into their compartment. "Are you all
right?" he asked with a concerned expression.
"Y-yeah," answered Harry, looking around at everyone. "We are now.
Thanks, um…"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Professor Lupin, your new
Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And you are?" At that moment,
the teacher looked into Harry's eyes with interest.
"I'm Harry." The professor's eyes widened for some reason. "Harry
McGonagall." The professor's complexion paled slightly, but he turned to
the others, putting a smile back on his face.
"Hermione Granger."
"Neville Longbottom, sir."
"Padma Patil."
"Brianna McGonagall – Harry's sister."
They turned their attention to Luna, who was staring at the professor
with a blank expression. "Something about Harry surprised you," she
stated nonchalantly.
"What? No, I mean, Harry just reminds me someone I knew a long time
ago. That's all. I didn't catch your name, Miss…"
"Luna Lovegood. But most people call me Loony."
"Only pompous gits!" added Neville.
Remus Lupin replied, "He's right, Miss Lovegood. Don't pay any attention
to them." He then reached into his pocket and pulled out an enormous
chocolate bar and started breaking it in pieces as they watched in silence.
When he was finished, he started handing it out. "Here, eat this. It helps
people recover from meeting a Dementor."
-HM-HM-HM-
It was about a half-hour later that the train pulled into Hogsmeade
Station. It was still raining hard, so Harry, yet again, was glad he wasn't
wearing glasses anymore. He still had to apply the moisturizing spell to
his eyes every morning, but that was a lot better than having to walk
with glasses in the rain. He wouldn't have been able to see at all. His robe
was just getting soaked when something unusual caught his eyes.
Although it was a bit dark, he thought he saw some kind of huge black
dog looking at the students from between two buildings. As its eyes
seemed to do a survey of the students, Harry remembered what that
looked like. While he was at Flourish and Blotts last, he'd noticed a Grim
on the cover of a Divination book, and that's what the dog looked like.
Just when he recalled that detail, the dog began looking him in the eye.
"What's wrong?" Harry jumped slightly from his best friend's words.
"Sorry I scared you," said Hermione. "You just seemed to be out of it."
"I-I wasn't scared," defended Harry, "just a bit startled. I just saw a…" He
then noticed that the dog wasn't there anymore. "Never mind."
"What?" she asked, now curious.
"Nothing," he answered, "just a dog. It's not there now."
"All right," she replied. "Brianna's already joined Professor Grubbly-Plank
with most of the other first-years. We need to get going."
They hurried up to catch up with the group, and got there just in time to
see a seventh-year with a Head Boy badge glaring at Draco. "Just how
stupid do you think I am, Malfoy?!" he yelled. "I heard every word you
said to those first-years, and you are in deep trouble. The Headmistress
has decided to come down hard on you bigoted idiots! Everyone who
uses that foul word, including yourself and these two goons, is going to
have detention with her. She'll let you know when."
It was then that he noticed a few first-year girls nearby that looked
scared and hurt, and his opinion of Malfoy dropped even lower. They
were obviously muggle-borns just entering a new world, and on their
very first day had to run across that bigot. He hoped his aunt punished
them good. He was pleased to see the new Head Boy start talking kindly
to the young students, and knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that
Percy Weasley would never have tried to comfort those victims of
prejudice, that is if he'd even bothered putting a stop to it. Harry knew
that Percy simply enjoyed wearing a badge, not actually doing the job he
was supposed to do. He remembered that Aunt Minnie had told him that
the Head Boy was from Hufflepuff, and that his name was Patrick
Furlong. She'd also told him that Penelope Clearwater was Head Girl and
Roger Davies was Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain.
He grinned as the little girls ran toward Professor Grubbly-Plank, looking
a bit happier. He caught a glimpse of his sister in the group boarding the
canoes before getting on a carriage with Hermione, Padma and Ginny,
who told them about how Professor Lupin had been sleeping in the
compartment she'd ended up in until the Dementors arrived. Eventually,
they made it inside the castle.
Harry didn't pay too much attention during most of the sorting, although
he did clap politely whenever someone was sorted into Ravenclaw. He
was anxious to see where his sister would end up. Finally, Professor
Flitwick called out the name, "McGonagall, Brianna."
His sister, still looking wet from the rain, which was still going on if the
ceiling of the Great Hall was accurate, walked up to the stool and put on
the old hat.
"Where do you think she'll end up?" whispered Hermione as they waited.
"I don't know," answered Harry. "She doesn't like learning enough to be a
Ravenclaw, and I can't picture her in Hufflepuff. So, either Slytherin or…"
"GRYFFINDOR!" announced the hat, bringing a smile to Brianna's face as
she joined the appropriate table. Harry noticed that she sat down near
Ginny.
The rest of the sorting passed quickly, although Harry was noticing an
unfortunate pattern. It seemed that every other first-year was named
either Harry, James or Lily. Hermione whispered with a smirk, "It seems
that a lot of wizarding families named their children after you and your
birth-parents." Harry realized that it was true. These kids were the ones
born within ten months of Voldemort's fall, and many celebrating
families undoubtedly wanted to honor the Boy-Who-Lived and his family.
One of the boys was named Harry Planter and had dark hair. How much
closer could they get than that? Harry noticed his sister smirking at him
when that boy's name was called, and hoped no one else noticed.
However, one person at the staff table did. He had been watching the boy
since he'd been introduced. He knew it was possible that his imagination
was running wild, but those eyes looked just like Lily Potter's, and the
face looked similar to James' although this boy didn't have glasses and
his hair was the wrong color, but just as perpetually messy. He'd have to
think more about this and see if he could learn more about the boy
before jumping to conclusions. The brother and sister could've simply had
a bet that a lot of kids would be named after the Potter family. He was
brought out of his musing by the Headmistress' speech.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, everyone. I shall make some important
announcements immediately after the feast. For now, tuck in." She waved
her hands and the food appeared on all the tables.
The only thing that Aunt Minnie announced after the feast that Harry
didn't know about was that the Potions teacher, Professor LaVelle, would
be giving a French class on Saturday afternoons to anyone who was
interested in learning the language, regardless of house or year. If enough
students joined, she'd split the class up into two sections. He immediately
decided to take the class. Hermione commented that she could already
speak a bit of French, but would take the class to improve.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, Harry, Hermione and Padma were sitting together at
breakfast, when Professor Flitwick interrupted them to hand out their
schedules. They began looking them over quickly, and Hermione was the
first to speak.
"We've got Arithmancy right after breakfast," she declared excitedly. "I
was hoping to start one of the new classes today."
"I've got Muggle Studies instead of Arithmancy," stated Padma. "I decided
that I should learn what I can about muggles, since I wasn't raised in
their world."
Hermione looked surprised while Harry grinned. "I think that was a good
idea, Padma."
"I suppose so," commented Hermione, "although it's a pity you won't be
able to learn Arithmancy."
At that moment, Hedwig flew up to Harry with a small note tied to her
leg. "Thanks, girl," Harry said as he loosened the scroll from her and
offered his owl a piece of bacon.
"Who's it from?" asked Hermione while Harry quickly read his message.
"Aunt Minnie," he answered quietly to both her and Padma. He leaned in
closer to whisper, "Our special Transfiguration tutoring will be Sunday
after lunch." He grinned as both girls' eyes lit up.
"Oooh! I can't wait!" whispered Hermione, obviously thrilled with the
prospect of Animagus lessons.
"It is BETTER that I don't warn you," interrupted the last person Harry
expected. He thought he'd handled Trelawney with his letter. She had her
hand to her forehead to show her sorrow over the fake vision she'd just
had. "But it is the burden of every great Seer."
"Professor," Harry stated through gritted teeth. As funny as she was, he
was starting to get annoyed. "If it's better not to warn me, then don't."
"But I must do my duty to fate, as you must as well, my poor child."
Harry put down his fork and got up, intending to leave the hall before he
lost his temper with the old bat.
"I understand the appeal of running away from fate. Seeing is a great
burden to bear."
"Good day," Harry said firmly and started walking toward the exit.
"But if you don't obey the fates, then you will be punished." He continued
walking. "The Grim will soon cross your path."
Harry faltered in his steps for a moment at the mention of the Grim,
because it reminded him of the dog he saw yesterday. He shook his head
and continued walking, not even noticing the Headmistress intervening,
nor his friends hurrying after him.
"Sybil, that is quite enough! Even if he weren't my nephew, I'd still say
that student has made it clear he does not wish to take your class, and
since Divination isn't a required subject, I'll thank you to stop harassing
him."
A few seconds after Harry left the hall, Hermione and Padma caught up
with him. "I can't believe that woman!" stated Padma. "Why can't she just
give up?"
"I think she'll stop now," declared Hermione. "Did you see Professor
McGonagall telling her off?"
Harry stopped and looked at the girls. "What did Aunt Minnie say?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Arithmancy was very interesting, and talked about the mathematical
principles behind magic. Professor Vector even mentioned that in the
N.E.W.T. classes, they start learning how to create basic spells.
Fortunately, the professor didn't assign homework.
Immediately following that, Harry and Hermione met back up with
Padma for Defense Against the Dark Arts with Hufflepuff. Padma
mentioned that she saw Brianna leaving the room in a hurry to get to
Charms class. Both Harry and Hermione had been worried by Professor
Lupin's reaction to Harry on the train and wondered if he knew the
Potters. Their worries only increased when Lupin was taking attendance
and said, "Harry…McGonagall," with a pause between the names like
that.
At that moment, Harry wondered if his parents should've changed his
first name. He responded, "Here," and the teacher looked in his eyes once
again. He wasn't using Legilimency – Harry would've known if he'd tried
– but that professor stared at his eyes far too many times for comfort.
Harry knew that his eyes looked like his birth-mother's, and for the first
time, he regretted getting contact lenses. He should've gotten prescription
sunglasses that hid his eyes instead.
The teacher went on with the attendance and then announced, "Put away
your books. We'll be having a practical lesson today, and all you'll need
are your wands." He then led them to the staff room, where he
introduced them to a dark creature.
"Does anybody here know what a Boggart is?" he asked. Every
Ravenclaw, along with half the Hufflepuffs, raised their hands. "Miss
Granger?"
"It's a shape-shifter," she answered. "It can take the shape of whatever it
thinks will frighten us most."
"Couldn't have put it better myself," complimented Professor Lupin. After
a few more minutes of lecturing, he surprised Harry by saying, "Mr.
McGonagall, Come up here and help me with the demonstration."
Having no choice, Harry walked up to face the dark creature he'd
previously read about and hoped he wouldn't have to face this soon. "Yes,
sir."
"What's your greatest fear?"
Not really having any idea what it would be, he replied, "Facing a
Boggart, sir," much to the amusement of the class. Even Lupin grinned at
that.
"Are you saying you don't know what your greatest fear is?" he asked
softly.
"Yes, sir."
He looked thoughtful. "Hmm. That does complicate things. What you all
will have to do is to think of a way for your greatest fear to be turned
into something funny. For example, making a mummy unravel or a
banshee getting laryngitis. When you have that picture in your head, you
point your wand at the Boggart and say the incantation, 'Riddikulus!'
Good luck, Mr. McGonagall."
Harry stepped up toward the wardrobe where the Boggart had been
trapped, and at the same time, Remus used his wand to open it. Harry
was not at all prepared for what he saw.
In front of him, lying in the exact position Ginny Weasley had been in
months before when Harry entered the Chamber of Secrets, was the dead
form of Hermione Granger. She was wearing the same school uniform
that the real Hermione was wearing. In fact, the only difference between
the two was that the real Hermione was breathing, but this one wasn't.
Harry paled as the rest of the class gasped. He heard something hit the
floor, and a moment later realized he'd dropped his wand.
Suddenly, someone jumped in front of Harry, and Hermione's body
morphed into a sphere of some kind with a loud CRACK. However, before
Harry could figure out what kind of sphere, Professor Lupin, who Harry
realized was the person who'd jumped in front of him, said the
incantation, and the orb turned into a balloon with another loud CRACK
and blew around the room as it lost air.
It stopped in front of Padma and morphed into a huge snake. The girl
paled for a moment before saying, "Riddikulus!" and changing it into a
large jack-in-the-box. The Boggart ended up in front of almost everybody
in the whole class before time ran out. Hermione was the only person
from Ravenclaw who didn't face it.
After class, Lupin asked Harry, Hermione and Padma to stay for a minute
and informed them that he'd continue the Patronus lessons Professor
McGonagall had begun on Saturday morning and dismissed them after
they promised to be there.
"I wish I'd gotten the chance to face the Boggart," Hermione complained
on the way out of class.
"I wish I hadn't," Harry muttered, but both his companions heard him.
Hermione blushed and remained silent, looking at the floor, just like
Harry.
Padma interjected, "You just weren't ready for it, Harry. That's all. You've
actually seen life or death situations, so your Boggart reflected that you'd
be afraid of one of your friends dying."
"I guess so," replied Harry, looking up to face her.
"The Boggart just picked the girl you care about most," she stated
deadpan, causing Harry's face to turn bright red.
"I, I've got to go. I'll…see you at lunch," Harry said before bolting.
"Padma!" yelled Hermione.
"What?" she asked with a smirk. "I'm just telling the truth and you know
it."
"Maybe," Hermione replied, smiling, "but all you accomplished was to
drive him away."
"He'll be back once his face can't light up the whole castle anymore," she
declared defensively.
-HM-HM-HM-
Padma was correct that Harry did show up a few minutes after lunch
started, and decided to pretend that the whole 'Boggart' situation had
never happened. He was rather successful until a certain first-year
Gryffindor girl with brown hair and blue eyes walked up to them.
"Hi, Harry."
"Hey, Brianna," he said with a grin. "Congratulations on not making
Slytherin. I can't say how surprised I am."
"Ha-ha," she replied.
"I'm sure you like all those red decorations in that common room."
"Yes, I do," she replied. "Did Padma mention I had Defense first class?"
Harry and Hermione nodded. "I would've waited for you guys but didn't
want to be late for Charms. Professor Lupin said he was going to tell you
that we're having the Patronus lesson Saturday. Did he?"
"Yes," replied Hermione.
"He also said he was going to show you guys a Boggart."
"Um, yeah," commented Harry, looking at the floor, causing Brianna to
ask Padma,
"What happened?"
Following the embarrassing account of Harry's Boggart, along with a lot
of teasing from his little sister, Harry announced he was done eating and
going to Care of Magical Creatures class early. Hermione and Padma
followed.
Professor Grubbly-Plank's lesson was on an Augurey she'd brought for
class. It basically looked like small, underfed, greenish-black vulture and
sings what sounds like a frightening wail when it's going to rain. They
were rated by the Ministry as harmless, thus Grubbly-Plank felt
comfortable showing one to her class of third-years. Malfoy was in this
class, but didn't start any trouble.
Padma was taking this course, as well as Ancient Runes, which they had
next. She informed them that according to Parvati, Professor Trelawney
had told her class that Harry had 'the gift' but hadn't signed up for
Divination. Thus, due to this grave error, he had trouble in his future,
perhaps even the Grim.
Ancient Runes was a difficult subject for Harry, even though he had read
the book. He understood the concepts, but had trouble memorizing all
the different symbols. Hermione promised to help him learn them.
After dinner, Harry found that Roger Davies had posted a notice in the
common room that everyone that wanted to play Quidditch was required
to tryout, even if they'd been on the team the previous year, and that
tryouts would be Sunday Morning. After spending a few hours doing
homework, he bid Hermione and Padma a good night and went to bed.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: *If you wish to read the poem, That Poor Snitch, which I
credited to Brianna, it is located within the fanfiction. net reviews of the
previous chapter, and was actually written by the author JustWriter2 (
www. fanfiction u/ 892327/ JustWriter2), who also posted it at www.
fanfiction s/ 4223835/ 1/ That_Poor_Snitch. I find it quite amusing, and
I'm sure she would appreciate a review of that poem if you enjoy it as
well.
By the way, in PoA, Professor Lupin claimed nobody knows what a
Boggart looks like when it's alone, yet in OotP, Mad-Eye Moody used his
magical eye to determine that a Boggart was at Grimmauld Place from a
different room. Apparently, he knows what they look like.
25. Friends of the Family
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 25 – Friends of the Family
"Excellent. I see you're all on time," greeted Remus Lupin as he opened
the door to his classroom. Harry, Hermione, Padma and Brianna walked
in. It was Saturday morning, the day of their first Patronus lesson with
Professor Lupin.
"To begin with, let's see how well you're doing so far. Harry, you first."
While he stepped forward and summoned his wand out of his holster,
Remus was once again struck by how much this blond boy with an
American accent otherwise reminded him of his old friends. His face was
almost identical to James' at that age, except for his eyes, which looked
exactly like Lily's. He was brought back to the present by the spell being
cast.
"Expecto Patronum!" shouted Harry, causing a round shield of light to
come from his wand.
"Good job, Harry. I'm sure that helped hold back the Dementor on the
train."
"For a few seconds," he replied, slightly blushing, "but then it was able to
push it to the side like my Patronus was nothing."
After the other three had demonstrated the spell, Brianna complained, "I
couldn't even get that small shield up at all when that monster was in our
compartment," sounding ashamed.
Remus nodded. "It is much more difficult to cast the spell when a
Dementor is near, and you're all going to have to work very hard to
master this spell. It's actually a N.E.W.T. level charm, so it's amazing that
you've already had any success with it, especially you, Brianna. You
should be proud of what you've accomplished. Now, let's see if we can't
improve all your Patronuses before this lesson is over…"
-HM-HM-HM-
After lunch, the four students went to Professor LaVelle's French class,
which had twenty-nine students of all grades and houses. Since it was
that small, she decided to keep them all in one class – every Saturday
afternoon. Hermione knew everything covered in the first lesson, but still
wanted to continue in the class. Harry found he was having much
difficulty learning a second language.
The next morning was the Ravenclaw Quidditch tryouts, with Roger
Davies, the new captain, having everybody earn their positions, even if
they'd had them the previous year. Harry found that they went very
much the way they had under Michelle the previous year, starting off
with everyone flying around the pitch to eliminate a few hopefuls who
couldn't fly a broom to save their lives.
Roger obviously kept his starting position, and Sean Bradley, a 4th year
who'd been on the team since his 2nd year, was clearly the best Chaser
candidate and would naturally keep his starting position. That left one
open spot on the starting team, and the competition was fierce.
Hermione, on her Nimbus 2001, gave her best, and from the stands Harry
could easily see she'd improved a lot over the past year, even if she
wasn't as good as Davies and Bradley. When Chaser tryouts were over, he
honestly couldn't predict who would win the coveted position on the
starting team, but told Hermione she'd done a great job.
When it finally was time for the Seekers to try out, Cho Chang was, yet
again, Harry's only competition. She had improved over the previous
year, but Harry managed to beat her to the Snitch, yet again. Since it was
only the two of them, it was obvious that Harry would be a starter while
Cho would be a reserve.
-HM-HM-HM-
As soon as the tryout was over, Harry and Hermione went to lunch,
sitting with Padma, who had spent the morning doing 'Muggle Studies'
homework.
"How'd it go?"
"Harry was fantastic!" said Hermione enthusiastically, causing Harry's
ears to turn pink.
"I was okay," he answered. "I managed to beat Cho, anyway, and she was
my only competition. Hermione flew the best I've ever seen her. I think
she has a good chance of making the starting team this year."
"There were others better than me," replied Hermione with a slight
frown.
"I think you underestimate yourself," he replied before shrugging his
shoulders. "Anyway, we should know tonight what Roger decides."
"You're right," sighed Hermione. "There's no point in worrying about it."
"Besides," interjected Padma, who'd enjoyed listening to them discuss the
tryouts, "we've got something else to look forward to today – our special
lesson."
Both Harry and Hermione grinned. He said, "At 1:30…"
"In Professor McGonagall's office," completed Hermione.
-HM-HM-HM-
After lunch, the C.A.R.E. group met together at headquarters to study
until the trio left to meet with Headmistress McGonagall for extra help in
Transfiguration. It's not that they didn't trust anyone in their group, but
the Animagus lessons were supposed to be a complete secret. They
walked up to the gargoyle guarding the entrance.
Harry looked distinctly uncomfortable as he faced the statue. "I can't
believe Aunt Minnie went and…" he grumbled before Hermione
interrupted him with a smirk.
"Green-Eyed Seeker," she proclaimed, convincing the gargoyle to move,
allowing them access to the stairs. Harry's ears turned pink.
"It could be worse," Padma commented. "She could have made it, 'I luv my
'ittle nephy-poo.'" Harry glared at her without comment as they walked.
Hermione was laughing as she knocked on the door.
"Come in."
"Hello, Professor," greeted Hermione as she opened the door. "I must say I
like your new password."
A small smile crossed the older woman's lips. "It's easy for me to
remember and I doubt many people would guess it."
"Plus, it has the extra benefit of irritating me," added Harry dryly.
"There is that," she replied nonchalantly before chuckling for a moment.
The girls giggled madly as Harry's face turned red. "Before we embarrass
my nephew any further, I thought I'd let you know the punishment that
I'm assigning to everyone who uses the vile m-word or shows blood-
prejudice in another way."
"You mean what Malfoy and his goons are going to be doing?" asked
Harry.
"Yes, they are the first recipients of this punishment."
"So, what is it?" asked Padma.
"I've given them each a copy of the school O.W.L. records for the past
hundred years. They are public records. Their jobs are for each of them
to tally up the number of O.W.L.s that went to pureblood, half-blood and
muggle-born students and mathematically determine their distribution –
which group got more per person – and then write up a report about
their findings."
Hermione's eyebrows came together as she thought about this for a few
moments before asking, "What will their findings be?"
"That the purebloods have been doing more poorly with each
generation," Minerva sadly replied. "Oh, certain individual purebloods,
including James Potter, have done well, but on the whole their magical
ability and intelligence have been declining."
"Due to inbreeding?" suggested Hermione cautiously.
"Most likely," nodded Minerva. "Many families are so concerned about
making sure their blood remains pure that they'll marry their own
cousins. Misters Crabbe and Goyle are products of that." She took a deep
breath, shaking her head. "So far, the Malfoy family hasn't gone beyond
fourth cousins, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does in the next
generation or two."
"I can just imagine Malfoy's conclusion," said Harry.
"The muggle-borns are cheating," finished Hermione.
"If he remembers to use the right term," commented Padma.
"Now that I've told you about that," stated Minerva, "I believe we should
get started. We all know why we're here."
"To become party animals," replied Padma with a grin.
"To become Animagi," corrected Minerva, now entering what they knew
as lecture mode. Padma's expression returned to normal. "This is a long
and difficult process, which takes nearly two years on average. You've all
read and understood the book I gave you, so one of you should be able to
tell me the first step in the process, which you will begin now."
Hermione's hand immediately shot up in the air. "Hermione," said the
Headmistress. "Since this is not a formal class, I don't believe that it is
necessary to observe that particular protocol of raising your hand to
speak."
Her ears turned pink, but she spoke anyway. "Sorry, Professor. The first
step is to clear your mind in order to get tuned-in to your instincts."
"Correct. I would reward points for that answer, but we want this training
to be off the record."
"Isn't that first part similar to preparing to learn occlumency?" asked
Harry.
"Yes, to a point. However, that is where the similarities end. In order to
become an Animagus, you must delve deep within yourself to learn your
very primal nature. It will probably take several weeks before you're able
to tap into that form, and even then, you won't know what it is until you
successfully transform, but I have high hopes that you'll all be able to
begin attempting to transform a finger by Christmas."
"A finger?" repeated Harry with a dismayed expression on his face.
"Yes, Harry," she answered a bit harshly. "I told you this will take about
two years of hard work. If you haven't the patience for it, now's the time
to say so."
"I'm sorry," he apologized, properly humbled.
"Very well. To begin…"
-HM-HM-HM-
Two hours later, a very mentally exhausted trio made their way into
Ravenclaw Tower. Harry had honestly believed that the Animagus
exercises would be easy, but he was proven wrong. It did give him an
even higher respect for his Aunt Minnie for going through all of that
work to become a tabby cat. However, he had made up his mind to
become a 'party animal' and was determined to see it through. Besides, he
knew there was a prophecy involving him and Voldemort, even though
he didn't know the exact contents. If it did turn out to mean he had to
fight Voldemort, he wanted to have every possible weapon he could,
including the ability to turn into an animal, during that fight.
"Oh, look," commented Padma. "They've already got the Quidditch roster
posted."
Hermione tensed up immediately. "R-really?" she asked.
Deciding not to comment on his best friend's nervousness, he put a hand
on her shoulder and gently pushed her forward. "Come on. Let's see who
Roger picked." As soon as they were close enough, Harry scanned the list
with his eyes.
Ravenclaw Quidditch Line-Up
Chaser/Cpt. Roger Davies – 5th year
Chaser Sean Bradley – 4th year
Chaser Hermione Granger – 3rd year
"Yes!" shouted Hermione before Harry got past her name, calling a lot of
attention to them. When she noticed, her face turned red and she looked
down, but the smile never faded.
'She looks so cute when she's embarrassed,' he thought for a moment before
stopping that train of thought. 'She's not cute! She's your best friend!' he
forcefully reminded himself. He grinned at her and said,
"Congratulations, Hermione. I knew you'd make it." He glanced back at
the list just to make sure he was the starting Seeker, remembering what
happens to people who assume. He smiled when he read his name.
Seeker Harry McGonagall – 3rd year
Hermione suddenly frowned. "Now, people are going to expect me to be
as good as Roger and Sean. I'm going to have to put in more time to
practice, but I've got to keep up my studying and…"
"Hermione, relax. All people will expect is for you to do your best." Harry
smirked when he added, "If anyone criticizes you, I'll…"
"Do nothing," interrupted Hermione, crossing her arms. "Remember to
control your temper."
"Good job, Hermione," interrupted Padma with a grin.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next two weeks went by quickly, with Patronus lessons every
Saturday and Quidditch and Animagus practices every Sunday. Harry was
getting a bit nervous about Lupin recognizing him for who he really was,
especially after he got his aunt to admit that he had known the Potters
well. The DADA teacher had subtly asked different questions about his
family, and learned that Harry's family had moved to America about two
months after Voldemort was vanquished. Not knowing what else to do,
Harry just did his best not to call more attention to himself, hoping that
Lupin wouldn't put the clues together.
Harry, Hermione and Padma were sitting at the Ravenclaw table on
Thursday, September 16th, eating dinner when a first-year Gryffindor girl
interrupted them.
"Hey, guess what?"
"What, Brianna?" replied Harry with a grin. He had a feeling that he
already knew what had happened.
"We had our first flying lesson."
"I know," Harry replied with a smile. "I'll bet you did a lot better than the
other kids since you've been flying for years."
"Exactly! Madam Hooch said I was one of the best first-years she's seen!"
"That's good, Brianna," complimented Hermione.
"Just remember," Harry instructed, with his voice lowered, "Don't get
caught with your Silver Bullet, but if you do, I had nothing to do with
you getting it here."
"There you are, Brianna," said another little girl in a Gryffindor uniform.
She had red hair and brown eyes.
"I was just telling my brother about our flying lesson, Lily."
"That's your brother Harry?" the girl asked.
"Yes. Harry, this is one of my dorm mates – Lily Spindler."
"It's good to meet you," greeted Harry with a grin. "I'm sorry about your
misfortune of sharing a room with my sister," he said sympathetically. "I
know she can be a real…OUCH…pain." Brianna had kicked his shin while
he was talking. "See what I mean?" The girl giggled and Harry continued.
"These are Hermione Granger and Padma Patil." The two girls waved at
Lily.
"Did you tell him how you flew that Slytherin boy into the ground?"
"What happened?" asked Harry, now slightly concerned as his eyes
scanned Brianna for any injuries.
"Nothing, just some pureblood brat who doesn't think the children of
squibs should be allowed at Hogwarts, or to fly brooms. I challenged him
to a little competition toward the end, when Hooch let us do a bit of free-
flying and ran him into the ground."
"Did you get in trouble?" asked Hermione.
"No, I didn't make him follow me. He simply crashed because he couldn't
keep up, so we all got to see a bit of his pure blood flowing gracefully
from his nose into the mud, becoming mudblood."
"What's his name?" asked Harry intently.
"It doesn't matter," answered Brianna, looking intently into her brother's
eyes as if to say, "Stay out of it." "If he starts any trouble, I'll handle it."
"Fine," agreed Harry, giving in for the moment.
Lily looked between the two of them and faced Harry. "You'd beat the tar
out of that boy right now if Brianna said the word, wouldn't you?"
Despite the disapproving looks he was getting from both Brianna and
Hermione, he answered honestly. "Yes, I would."
Lily beamed at him. "That is so sweet! A boy ready to stick up for his
little sister. Brianna doesn't know how lucky she is to have you. I wish I
my brother was like you. He's a second-year Hufflepuff named George, by
the way, but he won't even publicly talk to me here – afraid it'll ruin his
reputation. But he…"
"We'd better get to our table, Lily," interrupted Brianna, exchanging a
look with her brother as they left.
"That girl Lily sure can talk," stated Harry.
"I think she fancies you," commented Padma, earning a glare from both
her companions. "That's why she was just chattering away."
"Did you notice her name and hair color?" asked Hermione.
"Naturally," replied Harry, rolling his eyes.
"I wonder if she'd have been named Harriet if she'd been born with black
hair instead of red," commented Padma.
Harry completely ignored his friend, picking up his fork and jabbing it
into a piece of roast beef.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was only three days later, on a Sunday evening, that, for the third year
in a row, Harry threw a small birthday party for Hermione. Like the
previous year, it was at C.A.R.E. headquarters, and all their friends
attended. Harry gave Hermione a broomstick servicing kit for her Nimbus
2001, as well as a new pair of Chaser gloves. She and Harry were the last
to leave Hagrid's old cabin, and just before Hermione walked out, she
said, "Thank you, Harry," and kissed him on the cheek.
He stood there in shock for a few minutes, watching her walk away,
absent-mindedly touching the spot on his cheek where she'd placed her
lips. "You're welcome," he finally whispered when she was completely out
of earshot.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next time they saw each other, both Harry and Hermione pretended
nothing had happened and acted the same as always. The next week, the
trio was on their way to Charms class, when they saw Brianna hurriedly
walking the opposite direction.
"She must be running late," he guessed.
"Look at that," commented Padma, who pointed her finger at a first-year
boy in Slytherin robes pointing his wand behind Brianna.
"New Sparks!" whispered Harry, summoning his wand.
Unfortunately, the first-year cast a tripping hex at Brianna before Harry
could interfere. It hit her in the leg and she fell forward. She was slowly
getting her wand in her hand as Harry's face turned red. He took a
deliberate step before a hand reached around him from behind, grabbing
his chest.
"Let her handle this," whispered Hermione, who was holding Harry back.
The boy was laughing as he yelled, "You're just as bad as a mudblood,
you…"
Faster than lightning, Brianna turned around and aimed her wand. "Bates
Mocus!"
The greenish-yellow spell shot from Brianna's wand straight to the
Slytherin's nose. He suddenly had an expression of terror on his face as
he began to claw at his nose, which disgusting little yellow bats were
now exiting while flapping their wings.
"Eww!" said Hermione.
"Gross," agreed Padma. "I wonder where she learned that."
"If I'm not mistaken," replied Hermione, "that's the bat-bogey hex that
Ginny Weasley enjoys casting."
"I've seen them together a few times," stated Harry, enjoying watching
the Slytherin trying to fight off the bats that were now attacking his face.
"She must have taught it to Brianna."
"What's going on here?" came the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick.
"That Slytherin attacked my sister from behind," answered Harry, "so she
hexed him back. Do you have time to watch it in a Pensieve?"
-HM-HM-HM-
After watching the memory, the Slytherin, whose name was Malachi
Macnair, was sent to the headmistress for punishment. Brianna was very
proud of herself for the way she'd handled the situation, and Harry was
glad he hadn't interfered. Otherwise, he would've been the recipient of
the bat-bogey hex.
The rest of the week passed quickly, and before long, it was Saturday
morning, and the Patronus lesson was just about over. Harry had kept his
shield up for nearly a minute.
"Good job, Harry," praised Lupin.
"Thanks."
Remus looked around the room at the others. "You all did well. The
lesson's over, but I would like to speak with Harry privately."
"Er, fine," said Harry, not seeing much of a choice. He exchanged a look
of concern with Hermione, Padma and Brianna, but none of them said
anything. "Um, bye guys."
"Bye, Harry," responded Hermione while touching his hand briefly.
"See you," said Padma.
"See ya, later," added Brianna. "I've got to catch up with Lily."
Once the three girls were outside the room, Professor Lupin closed the
door and turned around. Seeing Harry still standing, he said, "Have a
seat, Mr. Potter."
Harry's eyes bulged out. "P-P-Potter? My name's McGonagall. You know
that."
"I know that," he replied calmly, "but I also know that you have James
Potter's face and untamable hair, even if it's not the same color. You also
have Lily Evans' eyes. Your name is Harry and you're the right age.
Dumbledore said you had a scar, but those things can be hidden." He
looked Harry straight in the eyes from a foot away for about thirty
seconds. "You are Harry Potter. Admit it."
The Boy-Who-Lived swallowed as he backed into a chair and sat without
saying anything.
"So what happened? Did Dumbledore ask Professor McGonagall to find
you a home? It would be a clever ruse to claim you'd disappeared. None
of the Death Eaters can harm you if they don't know where you are."
"No," replied Harry, finally speaking. "Aunt Minnie didn't tell
Dumbledore."
"Really?" Remus asked, looking genuinely surprised.
"He knows now." Harry paused before adding, "Are you going to expose
me?"
Remus sat down facing his student. "Your parents were the best friends I
ever had. I'd never betray their son…or them." Remus' expression
hardened at the end of that sentence, and Harry believed he knew why.
"My aunt told me all about Sirius Black and…what he did."
Taking a deep breath, Lupin said, "Yes, well, I won't be like him. I would
like to know the whole story, though. Why did Minerva take you from
your relatives? Who else knows? How did Dumbledore find out?"
"Professor," asked Harry with one hand up, as thought to say slow down,
"let's take this one question at a time. Did Lily Potter ever tell you about
her sister?"
"Well, yes. She said they didn't get along very well, that she was terribly
jealous of her magic. If memory serves, she married a thoroughly
despicable fellow – Vernon Doosley."
"It's Dursley, but the rest is right. Aunt Minnie watched that family for
the whole day, and came to the conclusion that they were the worst sort
of muggles imaginable. I met them a few years ago and agree. Anyway,
when Dumbledore tried to leave me with them, Aunt Minnie warned him
not to, but he wouldn't listen. So, once he'd apparated away, leaving me
on the doorstep with a note, she took me and got my parents – her
nephew Mark and his wife Cindy – to adopt me. They claimed they found
me on their doorstep."
For the next few hours, Harry explained the rest of his story to Professor
Lupin, who then started telling him about James and Lily, going so far as
to show Harry a picture of them with him in the middle. It was taken the
day Harry was born. It was really the first time he'd really talked about
his birth parents. Aunt Minnie had told him a bit about them, but she
found the topic rather painful, so she didn't bring them up often. Besides,
as Remus pointed out, she didn't know half of what James got up to
while he was in school. When Remus mentioned the Invisibility cloak,
Harry decided not to mention that he had it, since the man talking to him
was a teacher. Remus was under the impression that the cloak was lost or
destroyed when Voldemort attacked the Potters, and Harry decided to
keep it that way.
The conversation finally ended when there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," answered Lupin, and in stepped Hermione. She looked a bit
nervous.
"I'm sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to make sure that…that Harry was
still here. He missed lunch and…"
"I'm sorry," said Lupin. "I completely lost track of the time. Why don't I
show you to the kitchens?"
"We know the way," stated Harry without thinking.
Remus looked at him for a moment before laughing. "Just like your
father."
Hermione interjected nervously, "Y-You know Mr. McGonagall?"
Harry grinned at his best friend, who was still trying to keep his secret.
"No, Hermione. He knew my other father." She gasped. "He's promised to
keep the secret."
"All right then," she replied. "Why don't we get you some food from the
kitchens and we'll go study at Headquarters?"
"Sounds like a plan to me."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next month went by quickly, with Professor Lupin and Harry taking
an hour out of each week to talk about James and Lily. For the first time,
Harry was really beginning to think of himself as their son as well as the
McGonagalls.' They were becoming more real to him, especially after
Lupin gave him a photo album with copies of all his pictures of them,
including the one he'd shown Harry. Harry was also getting more and
more fond of Remus (as he was told to call him when they were alone) as
well, and missed him when he was too sick to teach DADA during the
first week of October, even though Professor Flitwick did a fantastic job
substituting.
The headmistress was a bit worried that Lupin knew Harry's true identity,
but was a bit more relaxed about it after she'd talked to him and he'd
assured her that he wouldn't tell anyone about Harry's true identity.
Before long it was Halloween, the day of Harry's first Hogsmeade trip.
He, Hermione and Padma were planning on exploring the whole town
together. The three Ravenclaws were sitting together at breakfast when a
voice from behind Harry said, "Hi, Harry. Since you're going to
Hogsmeade, I thought I'd allow you the privilege of picking this stuff up
for me."
Harry turned around to see his sister holding a piece of parchment. "What
if I say no, Brianna?"
"Then I'll ask Aunt Minnie to get it for me because you're too busy to do
it," she replied with a smirk. Harry knew that she had him. He'd get in
trouble for refusing.
"Fine. Give me the list and your money."
After she'd complied, Brianna asked, "So, are you and Hermione gonna go
to Hogsmeade together?"
"With Padma," Harry grumbled.
"Harry," his sister replied condescendingly, "That's not the way dates
work. Two's company but three's a crowd. You'll have to find a way to
ditch Padma so you and Hermione can…"
"We are not dating!" he said softly but angrily. "In fact, I won't even be
going to Hogsmeade with her. I'll hang out with Neville."
"But you'll miss…"
"I will NOT miss Hermione!" hissed Harry, not noticing the hurt
expression on his best friend's face. He got up. "I'm done eating," he
declared before heading toward Neville at the Gryffindor table.
"Good going, Brianna," commented Padma.
The girl seemed surprised. "But I was just…"
"Getting him to admit he won't miss me," said Hermione miserably.
"He didn't mean it," insisted Padma. "He's just mad at Brianna. Let's just
go to Hogsmeade without Harry. He'll be calmed down by the time we
get back."
Hermione got up and left the table. Padma stayed back a moment before
saying, "Brianna, if you actually want them to get together, stop pushing
them. All you'll do is drive them apart." Then she walked away from the
younger girl and joined Hermione.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry spent his whole day in Hogsmeade with Neville, checking out the
different shops and pretending to be happy. Every time he saw Padma
and Hermione, he turned around, telling himself that he can spend one
day without Hermione. They even ate lunch at opposite sides of the
Three Broomsticks. The only trouble was that he'd keep imagining how
she would react to the different places they visited. He knew she wouldn't
be too excited about Honeydukes, because she doesn't eat many sweets.
She'd love the book shop. He knew she'd recite the legend of the
Shrieking Shack, with whatever facts there were about the place, naming
each witness who'd admitted to hearing screams coming from the small
cabin. While he was picking up Brianna's order, Harry did buy a special
quill for Hermione that he thought she'd like, but told Neville that it was
for himself.
Hermione kept a smile plastered on her face the whole day as she walked
with Padma, but it was really difficult when she'd see Harry turn his back
on her. "Don't worry, Hermione," Padma would say. "He's just being
stubborn. He misses you even more than you miss him. He just won't
admit it."
"I'm not so sure," Hermione replied the first time Padma said that. "Why
should he enjoy hanging out with me? I've kept him busy reading most of
the time…"
"When you're not at Quidditch practice with him," the Hindu girl replied.
"I'd have never guessed you'd join a team when I first met you." She
sighed. "My point is that you're not boring, and Harry knows you're not
boring." She grinned. "He's crazy about you and just doesn't want to
admit it."
Hermione blushed for a moment before a worried expression crossed her
face. "But if he is…then why shouldn't he admit it? Is he ashamed to
fancy me?"
"He just doesn't want to prove Brianna right. That's all. Eventually, he'll
realize that he's making himself a lot more miserable than he's making
Brianna."
With a sigh, Hermione replied, "I hope so."
-HM-HM-HM-
After dropping off Brianna's purchases, Harry did join Hermione and
Padma at the Halloween feast, sitting next to Hermione as usual. "Hi,
girls," he said. "How'd you enjoy your day?"
"It was fun," answered Hermione with a fake grin.
"Listen, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings earlier today, Hermione," he said
softly. He glanced around to see his sister at the Gryffindor table with her
back to him. "I did miss you, and I got you a little something." He pulled
out the Ravenclaw blue quill he'd purchased for her. "It's not much,
but…"
"I love it," she replied with a grin. "Thank you."
The rest of the feast went by pleasantly after that, and when it was over,
they were dismissed to the Ravenclaw common room. They were
studying together at a table when Professor Flitwick entered the room
with an uncharacteristically grim expression.
"I'm afraid everyone has to spend the night in the Great Hall. Sirius Black
has been sighted inside the castle."
Shouts of, "What?" and, "Where?" came from all over the room.
"For reasons not yet determined, he was trying to make his way into
Gryffindor Tower and slashed the portrait that guards the entrance with a
knife."
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
26. Beginnings
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 26 – Beginnings
After Professor Flitwick had finished telling the Ravenclaw students
about Sirius Black's attempted break-in to Gryffindor Tower, Harry, along
with all his housemates, hurriedly prepared for bed in silence so that five
minutes later the large group of children in bedclothes were following
their head of house to the Great Hall. The whole time, Harry was
thinking only one thing – 'Black knows I'm here, but like last time, he doesn't
want to just kill me. He wants to kill Brianna first.'
"I know what you're thinking…" a familiar whisper pulled him out of his
musings. He turned to see his best friend, Hermione Granger, looking
pointedly at him. She continued quietly, "…but you're wrong. Black
wasn't after Brianna. It's just a coincidence."
"But," he began to protest before being cut off.
Hermione whispered firmly, with Padma between them and any potential
eavesdroppers, "The Potters were all in Gryffindor and so was Sirius
Black. If he is after Harry Potter, that's where he'd look for him." She
paused. "It does seem strange that he doesn't know the Boy-Who-Lived
never showed up here, though." She shrugged. "But that's the only
possible explanation of why he came here. She's the wrong gender and
wrong year."
"So you're saying Brianna's probably safe. He'll just kill Neville instead,
thinking he's the Boy-Who-Lived."
Hermione nodded with a concerned expression. "Or possibly Seamus
Finnegan. I don't think he'd mistake Ron Weasley for Harry Potter, and
certainly not Dean Thomas."
"What about the twelve innocent people he killed beside Pettigrew?"
countered Harry, starting to raise his voice until Hermione alerted him to
that fact. He quietly continued, "He doesn't have any problem killing
bystanders, so Brianna is still in danger."
"No more danger than any other Gryffindor," she replied. She then added,
"We're here."
She was correct; they had arrived in the Great Hall, which was currently
filled with sleeping bags. The Gryffindors were already settled in for the
night while the other houses were arriving. Harry scanned the group of
'lions' with his eyes until he found the one he was looking for amongst
the first-year girls. He made a beeline straight for his sister, with
Hermione and Padma staying behind with the other Ravenclaws, figuring
they should be alone.
When Harry approached Brianna, he saw that she was unusually pale as
she lay in her pink sleeping bag, with just her head sticking out. She was
in between two other girls – one of whom was her friend, Lily. They were
all wide-awake, and Lily blushed slightly when he walked up to them.
"Hi, Brianna," he said and nodded to the other girls. "I wanted to make
sure you're all right."
"I'm fine," she replied quickly. "You didn't need to bother."
"There's no reason to be rude," chided Lily. "I wish my brother cared
enough to check on me."
"Fine," she sighed and turned to Harry. "I'm sorry. Thank you for your
concern."
Harry knew his sister too well to be convinced by her brave face. She was
scared and upset. The worst part was probably that she didn't have
anybody who knew why she'd take this visit by Sirius Black personally,
so she had to act like she didn't. However, he didn't think that telling her
so would help this conversation any. So, he decided to be polite and say,
"That's all right. I'm glad you're fine. You know where to find me if you
need anything." He squeezed her shoulder reassuringly for a moment
before saying, "Goodnight," and walking away.
After he found his Ravenclaw friends and briefly told them what
happened, he claimed a blue sleeping bag and tried to sleep.
-HM-HM-HM-
Over the next few days, the assault on Gryffindor's portrait by the
notorious Sirius Black seemed to be the only thing anybody could talk
about. Lupin seemed especially distressed to Harry. In fact, he seemed
quite ill when they had him in class on Thursday and was too sick to
teach the next day, according to Cho Chang, who had DADA on Fridays.
He was still too ill for their Patronus lesson the next day. Harry wondered
if he'd gotten himself sick worrying about Sirius or if he just was
chronically ill, since he'd also been sick the previous month.
Harry was surprised the next day to see that Lupin hadn't been well
enough to watch the first Quidditch match of the year, considering the
stories he'd been told about James Potter – Harry's other dad – being on
the Gryffindor team. Of course, the weather – storming terribly – might
have contributed to that decision. Harry, Hermione and Padma were in
the stands with their fellow Ravenclaws, waiting for Lee Jordan to start
his justifiably biased commentary on this match.
"Welcome, everyone, to the first Quidditch match of the year!" his voice,
aided by magic, boomed out to the crowd. Harry joined in the cheering.
"Today's match is GRYFFINDOR!" He paused to allow applause. "Versus
Slytherin. Here come the Gryffindor lions. Captain and Keeper – Oliver
Wood!"
He kept introducing the teammates, all the way to Ginny Weasley, who
had kept her position as Seeker. Harry grinned as he glanced over to the
Gryffindor section and saw Brianna loudly applauding her. It seemed to
him that Ginny had taken his sister under her wing, and for that he was
grateful. It was good to know someone in Gryffindor tower was looking
out for her.
Harry looked back up at the players and saw that he'd missed jeering the
snakes. The two captains who clearly hated each other performed the
stupid tradition of trying to break each other's hands, more commonly
known as shaking hands, and Madam Hooch released the balls. Harry
was once more glad he'd gotten contact lenses. He wouldn't have been
able to see anything through his glasses in this heavy rain.
What Harry did see was not Quidditch at its best. To go along with the
freezing rain was powerful wind. Together, those factors affected
everyone's ability to fly. Harry could see that the chasers were having
difficulty flying straight, as well as passing the Quaffle, but both teams
were bravely pressing on and occasionally making goals, causing the fans
to cheer. When he'd glance at the Seekers, he noticed that they were
mostly staying in the same spot desperately looking for the Snitch. He
also observed that Ginny in particular was shivering from the cold.
About forty-five minutes into the game, Harry was watching Angelina
Johnson put the Quaffle through the right Gryffindor goal when Lee
announced, "It looks like Ginny Weasley has spotted the Snitch! She is
flying upwards, followed closely by Terrence Higgs. I think I can see it!
She's getting closer, closer. Come on, Ginny! She's reaching out her…oh
no! What are they doing here?!"
Harry didn't have to ask what Jordan was talking about as he felt a chill
much worse than anything the weather could produce run through his
body. As he began to hear a faint cry of a desperate woman pleading for
her baby's life in his mind, he glanced up to see a swarm of Dementors.
"New Sparks!" he commanded, summoning his wand out of his holster
while he used his Occlumency to force his memories back. He knew it
wouldn't help if the attackers got closer to him, but for now, it was
sufficient enough so that he could concentrate.
"OH NO! She's falling!" shouted Lee Jordan the moment Harry noticed the
streak of red slip off her broom and plummet toward the ground. He got
up from his seat, pointing his wand and wondering what to do. He tried
to move forward to get close enough to help his friend, but the crowd
was now in a state of panic as everyone was trying to run away from the
Dementors. He desperately looked around for a way through the crowd
and noticed Hermione next to him, doing the same.
Harry sighed with relief when he spotted his aunt, Headmistress
McGonagall, perform the familiar swish and flick necessary to catch
Ginny with a levitation charm just in time. His friend was floating
unconscious a few feet above the ground when Madam Pomfrey ran
toward her. In the meantime, Professor Flitwick cast his Patronus, which
appeared to be a large mouse, toward the invading Dementors.
Once Ginny was safely on a stretcher, Minerva was able to add her silver
tabby cat to the fight. For one ridiculous moment, Harry wondered if the
two Patronuses would fight each other instead of the Dementors, but
both of them attacked the monsters that the Ministry claimed they could
control, and were soon joined by others, presumably from other staff
members, and the invaders finally began to flee. Harry wished he were
far enough along in his training to have a corporeal animal to send at the
evil beasts, but he knew the best he could do is shield himself and those
close to him, and he was staying alert, prepared to do just that. A quick
glance at his companions told him they were ready as well, although for
some reason Hermione, who was still next to him, was holding her wand
in her left hand.
He was relieved when the effects of the Dementors left him as they fled
the group of Patronuses, and finally noticed that Ginny was now awake,
but still on the pitch, with Madam Pomfrey looking her over. He saw her
open her right hand, which had been closed in a tight fist, to see a tiny
golden ball with wings begin to flutter. Ginny, although looking pale,
grinned as she re-caught the tiny object.
Lee Jordan, who'd stayed at his post, announced to the small crowd that
hadn't left the pitch, "I don't believe it. Ginny Weasley managed to grab
the Snitch before she fell. Gryffindor wins: 230 – 60!" It was only when
he'd started to clap his hands that Harry realized that at some point he
had grabbed Hermione's right hand with his left.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next few weeks went by quickly. Ginny Weasley, who had fully
recovered, having merely fainted from the Dementors right after
grabbing the Snitch, was enjoying being the heroine of Gryffindor
Quidditch. Unfortunately, her broom had been destroyed by the
Whomping Willow after she'd fallen, but at Brianna's suggestion, C.A.R.E.
raised enough money from the members to surprise her at the next
meeting.
"Attention, everyone," announced Harry once the group had discussed
how many new memberships they'd gotten and any new ideas they had
for recruiting or promoting house elf rights. Besides getting new people,
not much had happened with C.A.R.E. since they had that law passed and
the Malfoys were convicted of abusing their elves, therefore having them
confiscated. A few other rich families had also lost elves due to the law,
but C.A.R.E. wasn't directly involved with those cases. They also were no
closer to finding the book that explained the house elf enslavement
contract than they were two years before. They knew many places it
wasn't located, but not where it was.
Harry continued with a small grin, "As most of you are aware, one of our
members suffered the loss of her broom, due entirely to the extreme
stupidity of the Ministry in assigning Dementors to terrorize, I mean
guard, Hogwarts." He saw Ginny's face turning red before she began
closely examining her shoes. He knew the Weasleys would never be able
to afford a new broomstick for her, since they'd squandered all their
winnings from the previous summer on a vacation, but made it a point
not to mention that. "We'd like to honor Ginevra Weasley for her extreme
Gryffindor courage and determination, in catching the Snitch despite
those foul creatures. You are a credit to your house." If possible, what he
could see of Ginny's face got even redder. Harry turned to his sister.
"Brianna, if you will?" Harry sat down.
The girl, with a large smile on her face, pulled a long package from under
the table she had been sitting at as she got up and carried it to the spot
where her brother had been seated. "Ginny, come up here." The redhead
slowly rose from her table and walked across Hagrid's old hut as Brianna
continued. "Ginny, you've been like a big sister to me these past few
months and we were all very sorry about your broom, so, um, I thought it
would be good if we…" she indicated everyone in the room, "pooled our
resources and replaced it."
Harry could see that Ginny was near tears when his sister presented her
with the package, which she proceeded to tear open with abandon,
revealing a brand new Nimbus 2001, and he knew they'd done the right
thing. Hermione had quickly squeezed his hand and let go while they
were watching the presentation.
Brianna continued, "For Gryffindors like me, you've been a great
inspiration, displaying the courage that our house is known for." She then
added with a smirk, "Not only are you displaying our colors in your hair,
but your face is Gryffindor red as well." This brought chuckles all around
the room before Brianna continued. "You're an inspiration to all of us,
regardless of house, and we hope you'll fly this broom in good health…
and grab the Snitch right from under my brother's nose when you play
him this February." This brought more laughter as Harry got up.
"I think your speech is done, Brianna," he said with a smirk, and then
turned to the crowd. "Let's hear it for Ginny Weasley, the second-best
Seeker at Hogwarts."
"Hey!" protested Ginny as the crowd cheered.
-HM-HM-HM-
Aunt Minnie had argued and argued with Fudge, but the Dementors were
still nearby. The Minister's assurance that the monsters wouldn't cross
Hogwarts' boundaries again didn't make her feel any better about it.
The attack did, however, inspire her to announce the next day that the
school would be giving weekly Patronus lessons to all interested students.
Harry was told that his group would simply continue practicing at those
sessions in the Great Hall at the same times they were already doing so.
Professor Lupin would give the lessons unless he was too sick to teach,
and in that case, either Flitwick or Minerva would handle the lesson.
Aunt Minnie admitted to Harry that Lupin had a chronic illness that,
although not life threatening, did sometimes interfere with his ability to
teach.
The next Quidditch match, which was Ravenclaw versus Hufflepuff, came
up very quickly. Both teams had new captains – Roger Davies and Cedric
Diggory respectively – and this would be both their debuts. It would be
the last match before winter break and Harry was grateful that this game
had much better weather than the previous one. It was cold, but it wasn't
raining (or snowing). Aunt Minnie had assured her nephew that she had
taken precautions against the Dementors.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everyone, to the second Quidditch match of the year!"
announced Lee Jordan. "Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw!" As the teams flew
onto the pitch, he announced each player. Davies and Diggory shook
hands (in a much friendlier manner than Wood and Flint had for the
previous match) and Madam Hooch released the balls.
Harry zoomed straight up and looked around for the ever-evasive golden
Snitch. As he was scanning the area, he noticed a wizard who was
destined to stand out in any crowd, be it magical or mundane, with his
colorful robes and long, white hair and beard. Although Harry didn't
think Dumbledore was a good headmaster, and didn't always have the
best judgment, he was glad to see the old wizard. He had kept Harry's
identity secret, and was a powerful warlock. The Boy-Who-Lived-In-
Secret was certain that the retired professor would be able to cast a
powerful Patronus, should the need arise. He wondered if his aunt had
invited him for that purpose as one of her precautions.
He continued to scan the pitch and noticed Cedric doing the same. The
Ravenclaw Seeker flew around in a seemingly random pattern, which he
felt actually allowed him to scan the pitch more efficiently. He had just
glanced at his best friend when she caught the Quaffle.
"Davies passes the Quaffle to Granger," announced Lee, "and she flies
toward the other end of the pitch."
Harry grinned until he noticed both Hufflepuff Beaters moving into a
position that would give them a clear shot at Hermione, who was
seemingly oblivious to them as she avoided the opposing Chasers.
Whether she was or wasn't aware of them, Harry felt he should do
something to help. Without a moment's hesitation, he leaned into his
broom and shot toward the ground, making sure to get between the
Beaters and Hermione, thus delaying their ability to take aim.
"McGonagall shoots toward the ground! Has he seen the Snitch? Diggory
flies right behind him, trying to catch up! They're both closing in on the
ground. McGonagall pulls up; it was a feint! Diggory follows! Both
without touching the ground." He paused for a moment before adding,
"Granger gets the first goal of the game – 10 to 0 – Ravenclaw!"
The crowd cheered. Harry grinned as he saw her do a quick loop in
celebration. 'She looks so cute like that,' he thought for a moment before
shaking his head. 'I do NOT think she's cute,' he tried to reassure himself,
though even his thoughts didn't sound convinced.
The game progressed with both teams scoring about equally. Roger
Davies and Sean Bradley both made more goals than Hermione, but she
did get one more. About an hour into the game, Harry finally saw what
he was looking for – a glint of gold right near the Ravenclaw goal hoops.
Realizing that he couldn't fool Cedric twice in the same game, he simply
shot at the Snitch as fast as he could make his broom go. Diggory was a
bit closer than he was, but had hesitated just long enough to give Harry
the advantage. He barely registered that he'd flown right past Hermione
as he stuck his fist through a hoop.
"Granger gets another goal as McGonagall grabs the Snitch! The match is
over! Ravenclaw wins – 250 to 110."
"Yes!" Harry shouted, pumping his fist in the air. He turned around, and
seeing Hermione, he put his arms around her. She returned the hug for a
moment, and when they started to separate, they found themselves face
to face, with their mouths less than two inches apart. They stared into
each other's eyes for an eternity that lasted about five seconds.
"I guess the best man won," came a voice, pulling the two back into
reality. Harry blinked before turning to see Cedric Diggory with his hand
outstretched. "You beat me fair and square, again. Congratulations."
Harry shook the opposing Captain/Seeker's hand and muttered, "Thanks,"
before flying toward the ground, not sparing a glance back to his best
friend.
Cedric looked between the two of them for a moment. "I didn't interrupt
anything, did I?" he asked with a concerned expression.
"No," Hermione answered emotionlessly. "Nothing at all." She then flew
down as well.
-HM-HM-HM-
Unlike all the previous awkward moments between them, this time Harry
and Hermione weren't able to just pretend it never happened. At the
party in Ravenclaw Tower, when they saw each other, they both blushed
and looked at the floor, and then went to opposite sides of the room. The
next day, they continued to hang out together with Padma, but hardly
spoke directly to one another. It was obvious to anyone observing them
that they weren't angry with each other, but that something was wrong
between them.
"What's up with you and Harry?" asked Padma. She had approached
Hermione after a few days of this.
"Nothing," answered Hermione quickly.
"You're not speaking to each other," she countered.
"We sit together."
"Without saying a word to each other," replied Padma. "You won't even
look at each other, and I want to know why."
Hermione sighed. "We haven't had a fight, if that's what you want to
know."
"You haven't been acting right since that Quidditch game. If you didn't
fight, then what happened?"
"We…nothing."
"Come on!"
Hermione's ears turned pink as she took a deep breath. "Fine. Right after
Harry caught the Snitch, he hugged me."
"So?"
"So, when we started to separate, he looked in my eyes." Her face flushed.
"I think he could tell I wanted him to kiss me."
Padma grinned. "What happened next?"
"Cedric Diggory interrupted us to congratulate Harry, and then he flew
off. I think Harry is worried I think he wants to kiss me." She sighed sadly
and examined her shoes. "I know better." Hermione looked up when she
heard her best female friend begin laughing. "It's not funny!" she said
defensively.
"Yes, it is," replied Padma. "Don't you see? You're one of the smartest
students at Hogwarts, but you can't understand your best friend at all."
"What do you…"
"What has Brianna been saying about you and Harry since the day you
met?"
Hermione blushed. "That we'd end up dating."
"And what has always been Harry's reaction to that accusation?"
Hermione looked down once more. "He'd get upset and vehemently deny
it."
"Exactly. So, how do you think he'd react if he found himself having
those kinds of feelings for you?"
She looked up. "He'd deny it, try to fight his feelings."
"Add to that the fact that he doesn't know how you feel about him and is
probably worried about ruining your friendship."
"He's driving himself crazy. What can I do about it?"
"You have two choices. One is that you can go after him and ask him
out…"
"I can't do that!" she declared indignantly. After a few moments, she
added, "Not unless the situation gets a lot more desperate."
"Then you have to wait for him to come to terms with his feelings. Make
him come to you." Padma smirked at Hermione. "Of course, you can
encourage him along."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry was waiting as usual in the common room to walk to
breakfast with Hermione and Padma when they came up the staircase
from the girls' dorm. "Morning, Padma," he greeted cheerfully. He
glanced at Hermione for a moment and said, "Hi," before looking down as
his ears turned pink.
"Good morning, Harry," Hermione said enthusiastically, putting her hand
on his shoulder for a moment. The blush reached his cheeks.
"Let's go to breakfast," he suggested quickly as he turned around and
walked toward the door, not noticing the amused glance the two girls
exchanged behind his back.
And so it continued that throughout the ensuing days that Hermione
would occasionally put her hands on him in a manner that could be
interpreted as either flirtatious or platonic, causing Harry to blush and
get nervous. Fortunately, Padma had talked to Brianna, giving her a stern
warning not to interfere with this in any way, shape or form, so the girl
made no insinuations about them when they talked, which was usually
once every day, during one of the meals. Harry felt it was important to
make sure his little sister was doing all right, especially since they
weren't in the same house.
-HM-HM-HM-
One night, Harry was alone in the common room sitting near the
fireplace when someone sat down next to him.
"Hello, Harry," said a feminine voice that was familiar to him. It seemed
distracted and far away, but that was just the way that girl usually
sounded.
"Hello, Luna," he answered with a grin. "How are you doing?"
"The nargles have been staying away from me so far, but they often
return around Christmas, when mistletoe gets hung," she replied.
"Um, I'm glad you're all right."
She looked at Harry for a few seconds before smiling as her eyes got back
out of focus. "I see the grufpents are beginning to leave you."
He looked confused. "What?"
"Grufpents. Remember I told you about them last Valentine's Day.
They've been stopping you from realizing how you feel about Hermione
Granger."
"I, I don't," he stuttered as he looked flabbergasted.
"I see there are still a few more grufpents affecting you, but you should
fight them off, otherwise you'll end up missing what you want most.
Good night." She then got up and walked away, leaving Harry alone to
sort out what she'd said.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was Saturday night, precisely one week before the next Hogsmeade
trip, which took place the day before they'd go home for the Christmas
holidays, and the trio was walking out of Professor LaVelle's French class.
They were half way to Ravenclaw Tower when Harry cleared his throat,
"Um, Hermione," he said nervously.
"Yes, Harry."
"Could we talk, um, alone?" He then glanced at their other companion. "If
you don't mind, Padma."
"Oh, I don't mind," she replied with a small grin. "Bye." She then walked
off.
Hermione could feel a swarm of butterflies gathering in her stomach. "Er,
well, what do you want to talk about?"
"Could we…step into that classroom, er, instead of standing in the middle
of the hall?" he asked nervously.
"All right," she agreed, walking into the empty room he'd indicated. He
joined her and closed the door.
He cleared his throat again, and was nervously moving from foot to foot
while examining the floor. "Well, you see, the thing is," he began.
"What is it?" she asked, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, you know that next Saturday is Hogsmeade?"
"Yes," she answered, excitement building up inside her.
He looked up and gazed into her expectant eyes. "Wudugowthme?"
She blinked and forced down her laughter. She knew what he was trying
to say, but was determined to make him say it. "What was that?"
He took a deep breath and carefully articulated each word as his whole
face turned pink. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"
"Oh," she replied, deciding to get a slight bit of revenge for him making
her wait so long. She purposely misunderstood. "This time you want to go
with Padma and me? Shouldn't you ask her, too?"
"I mean," he stated, now examining his shoes closely, "that I want it just
to be the two of us, you know, like a…" He trailed off.
"A date?" she enquired.
He once more lifted his head and gazed into her eyes before swallowing.
"Yes," he managed.
Rather than do a happy dance like she wanted to, she gave him a slight
grin. "Yes, I believe I would like to go to Hogsmeade with you."
He grinned broadly. "Good. Great." He asked her, "Are there any specific
places you want to visit so that we can, y'know, plan it out?"
She grinned again, happy that he wanted to make sure she had a good
time. "Well, last time, I didn't get to see…"
After a few minutes of discussing that, they'd planned out most of their
day. Harry looked nervous again. "Um, I hope you don't mind, but, I'd
kind of like to make sure that Brianna doesn't find out about it…until
after." She narrowed her eyes a bit. "I just don't want her teasing us."
After a moment of contemplation, she replied, "Well, I suppose I could do
without that as well. So, I guess we'll have to tell Padma, but that's it.
The less people who know, the less likely it is that she'll find out, until
after our date."
Both of them were grinning broadly when they got to their common
room.
-HM-HM-HM-
Both Harry and Hermione were still in high spirits the next day when
they were in Animagus practice with Padma. They had told their best
friend and sworn her to secrecy until Christmas break, which began the
day after their first date. Harry and Hermione weren't specifically doing
anything that showed they were dating, such as holding hands, but both
were smiling uncontrollably. Padma, too, was grinning.
"Well," Aunt Minnie commented, "you three do look happy today. Any
particular reason?"
Harry blushed while Hermione looked down. Padma simply held her
smile. Harry answered, "Um, we're just excited about Christmas break
coming up."
"After the exams you're having this week," added Minerva, although she
seemed to be looking between Harry and Hermione with a small smirk
that most of the students would not have recognized. "I do hope you are
studying for them."
"Of course," responded Hermione, almost sounding offended. "At least
two hours every weekday and six hours on weekends."
"Very well," she replied, "Now let's get to our lesson."
They began by clearing their minds of all distractions, which took a bit
longer than normal, and concentrating on their right index fingers. After
about an hour, they began having their first measurable progress since
they began this process.
"I've done it!" exclaimed Hermione. Everyone looked and saw that her
finger had a dark brown fur on it, and her fingernail had grown into a
claw. Within just a few seconds, it returned to normal. Hermione
frowned.
"Excellent," encouraged Minerva. "You're making good progress."
Over the next hour, Hermione had been able to get those results once
more, while Harry and Padma were able to change their fingers once –
both to a claw with black fur. Everyone in the room realized that Harry's
black fur matched his true hair color instead of the dirty blond it had
been changed to, but no one commented on it.
"You've all made remarkable progress," Minerva praised at the end of the
lesson, "and should be very proud. Now, I've got a lot of parchmentwork
to do, and I'm sure you don't want to spend all day with an old woman…"
"Aunt Minnie," protested Harry.
"Now, run along and enjoy the day."
"Bye, Aunt Minnie," he said before quickly hugging her.
"I'll see you later," she replied with a grin. Just as they were leaving, she
added, "Harry and Hermione, do enjoy yourselves in Hogsmeade."
-HM-HM-HM-
At long last, the long-awaited Hogsmeade weekend arrived. The trio was
sitting at breakfast, with both Harry and Hermione barely touching their
plates as they nervously stared at the table. Harry was wearing his
bottomless backpack so that he could easily carry anything they
purchased.
"So, Padma," asked Harry, "You'll be all right once we separate?"
"Yeah," she replied. "I'll catch up with Parv and Lav."
"Good," replied Hermione. "I'd hate for you to…"
"Good morning!" came a voice from behind them that Harry would
recognize anywhere.
"Hi, Brianna," he responded, unenthusiastically. He truly hoped she didn't
know he was going to Hogsmeade alone with Hermione.
"I've got another shopping list," his sister said as she held out a piece of
parchment with a list that consisted mostly of Honeydukes products,
along with a few items from Zonko's.
"Do you have the money?" he asked.
"I was hoping you'd forget that," she replied with a grin as she reached
into her pocket and pulled out a sack of coins and handed them over.
"Fine, I'll see you tonight. Don't get caught breaking rules."
She feigned being offended. "How could you even suggest such a thing? I
never get caught breaking the rules."
"See that it stays that way, sis. Bye."
Once Brianna was out of earshot, Harry asked, "Padma, could you do me
a big favor and pick up this stuff? I really don't want to think about
Brianna today."
Giggling, Padma answered, "Sure, Harry. I hope you and Hermione have
a wonderful time."
It was less than half an hour later that Harry and Hermione parted ways
with Padma, to begin their first date.
They began walking side-by-side without touching or saying a word.
Harry finally broke the silence after a few minutes. "Well, I suppose we
should visit Honeydukes first. Um, pick out whatever you want and I'll…"
"Harry," she interrupted, "I think we're both too nervous and need to calm
down before doing anything else."
He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "You're right. It's just; I want this
to go right and…"
"Me, too. Why don't we find someplace private to sit down and talk?"
"Good idea. Let's go near the Shrieking Shack and find a spot to sit
down."
A few minutes later, Harry pulled a picnic blanket out and laid it on the
ground for them to sit.
"You really came prepared," Hermione commented with a smirk.
Harry's ears turned pink. "Well, I sort of wanted everything to be perfect,
y'know."
"I know," she said, putting her hand on his. "I want this to be perfect,
too." She sighed. "I really fancy you, Harry."
He couldn't help the huge grin that formed on his face. "You do?" She
nodded. "That's good because…" He closed his eyes and took a few deep
breaths. "I really, really like you, too." He sighed again, not noticing the
smile on his date's face. "It's just, I've always told Brianna that I didn't,
and now she'll be proven right and…" He trailed off when he finally
looked at her face. "You have such a pretty smile," he commented before
he could stop himself. She blushed.
"I don't," she argued. "My teeth…"
"When you smile," he interrupted, looking her straight in the eyes, "your
whole face lights up, even your eyes, and anyone who sees that has no
choice but to smile, too." He now blushed. "Um, and you look really cute
that way."
"Thanks, Harry," she managed to say while her face was still red.
"For several months I've been thinking about you more and more…like
that…and been trying to act like I haven't." He took a deep breath.
"Anyway, I realized that I'm making myself a lot more miserable than
Brianna by pretending I don't have feelings for you, so I plucked up the
courage and asked you to be my date so I could find out how you feel."
She managed to look him in the eyes. "I'm glad you did, Harry, because I
feel the same way."
He paused for a moment before asking, "Do you want to move a bit
closer?"
"Um hm," she mumbled as they both crawled closer together on the
blanket until they were face-to-face.
He swallowed nervously. "The last time we were this close…"
"This isn't last time, Harry," she interrupted softly.
He tilted his face and moved it toward hers while she did the same thing
while closing her eyes. Luckily, he hadn't closed his because they
would've bumped noses. He gently put his hand under her chin ,as he'd
seen his dad do a few times with his mom, and their lips met.
That first kiss lasted only a few seconds, but it seemed like a lot longer as
Harry experienced sensations he'd never imagined before. He knew he'd
wanted to kiss Hermione, but didn't know he'd feel this way. He knew
he'd never be able to describe his first kiss, but he'd always remember it.
When they broke apart, both teenagers had a dazed expression on their
faces. "Wow," he said at the same time she muttered the same word. They
looked into each other's eyes for a moment, each seeking permission from
the other, and their lips met once more.
About a minute later, a drawling voice caused them to break apart and
draw their wands as they stood up.
"Two little mudbloods sitting in a tree…"
"Shut up, Malfoy," yelled Harry. Draco was, as always, flanked by Crabbe
and Goyle, who were snickering at his joke.
"I suppose you're not technically a mudblood, just the son of a squib, but
if you're kissing a mudblood it's no different."
Harry's expression darkened and he spoke very calmly. "It's none of your
business, anyway, so get out of here before you get hurt."
Malfoy looked afraid for a moment, but glanced at his bodyguards and
sneered, "Unless your stupid care organization is hiding here, you're
outnumbered."
"Maybe you three should form an organization of your own, Malfoy. You
could call yourselves the Community of Revolting, Annoying Prats, CRAP
for short, or better yet, the Society of Helpless, Irritating Troublemakers."
"Harry!" interrupted Hermione, "Let's get our stuff and go."
"Oh, no you don't!" said Malfoy. "I like that blanket." He then stepped on
it to prevent them from taking it.
"Accio, shoe," Harry quickly muttered, causing Draco's foot to come up.
Harry quickly released the spell, causing him to fall on his rear.
"Petrificus Totalus!" yelled Hermione putting Crabbe in the full body-bind.
While Hermione did the same thing to Goyle, who was still reaching for
his wand, Harry performed a hex on Draco that made everything between
his waist and his knees extremely itchy. While Malfoy was scratching,
Harry grabbed the blanket and held out his hand for Hermione to take.
"Just remember, Malfoy, if you try to get us in trouble, I'll show the
headmistress my memory of this. I'm sure you remember her punishment
for using that stupid M-word you love so much." Hand-in-hand, the new
couple walked off, laughing at the plight of the Slytherins.
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the day went very well as the new couple went from shop to
shop holding hands. They stopped at a few other places to practice their
newly acquired kissing skills, and both were positively beaming with
happiness by the time they arrived in the Great Hall. Padma was the first
to notice their intertwined hands as they entered the room, and she
looked ecstatic. The second person was Harry's sister, who took one look
at their joined hands, smiled and declared, "I knew it!"
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: You may recall that in PoA, the first match was supposed
to be Gryffindor versus Slytherin, but due to Draco's terribly painful fake
injury, the Slytherins were able to switch games with the Hufflepuffs. In
this story, Hagrid's not the CoMC teacher and didn't introduce the class to
hippogriffs, which left the snakes with no excuse not to play in the foul
weather.
27. An Unremarkable Christmas
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 27 – An Unremarkable Christmas
Harry and Hermione managed to eat dinner in peace after they got
Brianna to go to her table. Padma was sitting there beaming but didn't
say a word about their new relationship. There were a few people who
pointed at Harry and Hermione and whispered, but not that many. It
would've been a lot more if one of them were famous. Once the new
couple was finished, they got up and walked hand-in-hand to the
Ravenclaw common room, where Brianna wasn't allowed. They were
sitting together in front of the fireplace when Padma caught up with
them.
"I take it things went well," she commented, "judging by how close you
two are sitting."
"You could say that," replied Harry, trying to sound nonchalant, although
the big goofy grin on his face was ruining his act.
"We are officially dating," added Hermione happily.
"I'm so happy for you," said Padma. She leaned in a bit closer to the
couple. "So, have you two kissed?" The tomato-red faces on her two best
friends were all the answer she needed. "You have!" she declared while
they tried to hide their faces. "So, how was it?"
"Brilliant," muttered Harry without looking up. Hermione nodded in
agreement.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry and Hermione managed to get through breakfast at
the Ravenclaw table without any teasing, but Harry could tell by looking
at his sister's face (she was facing them from the Gryffindor table) that
she was saving it for later. As usual, the McGonagalls wouldn't be riding
the Express, instead apparating to the airport to floo to America. Also as
usual, they rode the thestral-drawn carriages with other students. This
time, however, Aunt Minnie rode with Brianna and her friends in the
carriage ahead of Harry, who rode with Padma and Hermione.
"Well, guys, I hope you like my gifts."
"I'm sure we will, Harry," said Hermione.
"I'll bet Hermione gets a better gift than me," Padma fake-pouted. "I'm
just your friend, not your kissing partner."
Both of her companions were now blushing madly, but Harry managed to
say, "This doesn't bother you, does it Padma? I don't want you to feel…"
He trailed off, unsure how to phrase what he was thinking.
"I was just kidding," Padma replied. "Honest. I'm very happy for both of
you."
"Good," said Hermione, looking like she was thinking hard. "Now, we've
just got to find you a boyfriend next term. What do you think of
Michael?"
-HM-HM-HM-
The trio was still discussing possible boyfriends for Padma when they
arrived at Hogsmeade. As Harry was helping Hermione off the carriage, a
familiar voice called out, "It's about time. I thought your carriage would
never get here. You are being a good boyfriend, though."
"I'm glad you approve, Brianna," Harry replied.
"So, Hermione. How bad a kisser is my brother?"
The girl in question was blushing when Minerva spoke up. "Brianna! One
doesn't ask that sort of question." She turned to Hermione and Padma.
"Would you keep an eye on Brianna until I get back? I'm going to
apparate Harry to the airport first and come back. I'm not comfortable
apparating two passengers."
"Don't forget to let the new couple kiss each other goodbye," suggested
Brianna, yet again embarrassing the new couple.
Sighing, Harry did go up to Hermione and hug her tightly. "You don't
really want to kiss for that audience, do you?" he whispered in her ear.
"No," she agreed, "but I would if we were alone."
"I know. I'll miss you, despite our mirror calls."
"So will I."
When they separated, Harry gave his girlfriend a peck on the cheek,
which she happily returned.
"That's not how you do it, Harry," complained Brianna. "Your lips have to
meet."
"Not in front of annoying baby sisters."
Deciding to end the argument, Minerva put an arm around her nephew
and they disappeared with a crack as Harry said, "Bye, Padma." After
instructing Harry to not go anywhere, she left and returned about a
minute later with his sister. They went to the magical part of the airport,
paid for tickets, got in line and flooed to Chicago.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Harry!" exclaimed Cindy McGonagall as she wrapped her arms around
her son. "I missed you!" At the same time, Mark was hugging his
daughter.
"I missed you, too, mum," he replied.
"I see you've been developing your British accent," she commented with a
grin.
"Huh?" he asked, puzzled.
"You called me mum instead of mom," she explained.
"Oh." With a grin, he added, "Happy Christmas," with a strong British
accent.
"Merry Christmas, son."
"Merry Christmas, dad. It's great to see you." Harry hugged his father.
"What's this Brianna told me about you dating Hermione now?"
-HM-HM-HM-
During the car ride home, Harry had to work hard to keep shifting the
conversation away from his new relationship with Hermione by talking
about lessons, Quidditch and anything else he could think of. However,
his annoying little brat of a sister kept bringing the conversation back to
that topic.
"I saw you two after that Hufflepuff game," she explained while he was
describing Ravenclaw's recent victory. "I could tell you would've kissed
right there in front of everybody if that 'Puff captain hadn't interrupted
you."
"He was congratulating me," grumbled Harry. "You know, Cedric Diggory
really is a good Seeker, as well as captain. Do you remember when he…"
Harry mentioned everything he could think of about the Hufflepuff
captain to keep the focus off of him and Hermione. As was their custom,
they stopped at a restaurant before going home.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Hey, Harry, do you mind if we talk?" Harry looked up from his bed,
where he'd been lying while playing his Game Boy. He paused it as his
father closed the door.
"What about, dad?"
Mark McGonagall appeared nervous as he sat down on the chair at
Harry's desk. "Well, I certainly understand you not wanting Brianna
teasing you about Hermione, but, um, I thought maybe I should, well,
talk with you about…that sort of stuff. Y'know, girls."
Sighing, Harry said, "I knew this would happen sooner or later." With
amazing speed, Harry got his wand from its holster, pointed it at the door
and cast, "Silencio!" while his dad watched in amazement.
"You do that pretty well," Mark commented. "I assume that's to make sure
Brianna isn't eavesdropping." Harry nodded with a grin. After clearing his
throat, Mark continued. "Well, you're at the age now where…"
Although Harry was embarrassed during most of 'the talk,' he did learn a
lot from his father, but would never talk about it until he had a son of his
own. Although he'd never admit it on pain of death, he was glad they'd
had that conversation.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry got to see his American friends and play at Frank's
Flying Funhouse with them. Before Harry had finished greeting his old
friends, Brianna told them that he was now dating Hermione. He took a
bit of teasing from them, but on the whole they were happy for him, and
most of them were dating as well. His friend Melissa reminded him that
Brianna had told them he and Hermione were dating over one and a half
years before.
He played two games of Quidditch with them (winning both by catching
the Snitch), but decided against playing Quadpot when it was brought
up. He hadn't really enjoyed it the previous summer and doubted he'd
like it any better now.
-HM-HM-HM-
Christmas day was, as usual, a happy affair in the McGonagall household.
The day started for Harry with a pleasant dream about Hermione that
involved mistletoe. In his dream, they were standing under the festive
plant and Hermione was dressed in a sexy version of a Mrs. Claus
costume. They were about to kiss when she stopped and looked at him.
She looked concerned when she called out, "Harry. Harry!"
He opened his eyes and saw he was alone in his room, but Hermione's
voice continued to yell, "Harry!" He blinked twice and then realized what
was going on. His girlfriend was doing the same thing she'd done last
year.
He picked up his mirror from his desk and said, "Merry Christmas,
Hermione."
She grinned at him. "There you are. Happy Christmas! I wanted to be the
first to wish you that today."
Stifling a yawn, Harry nodded. "You were. Did you like my gift?"
"Absolutely!" she declared, fingering a small golden heart hanging from
her neck. "I love the necklace. I just don't know when you got it."
Grinning, he replied, "A magician never reveals his secrets. Did you like
the pictures I chose?"
"Mm hmm," she replied, smiling. She opened the heart to show that a
picture of each of them that had been taken during the summer.
Although the image in the mirror was too small for Harry to see, their
photographic doubles were blowing kisses at each other.
"Good."
"I just hope you like my present as much as I like yours."
"I'm sure I will."
At that point, they were interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
Brianna's voice came through the door. "Harry, stop talking to your
girlfriend and get out here. There are presents to open up!"
Harry turned back to his mirror. "I suppose I'd better go. She'll never stop
knocking."
"That's right, lover-boy," Brianna yelled, "so kiss the mirror and come
downstairs."
"I'll talk to you later, Hermione."
"Happy Christmas, again."
"Happy Christmas. Mirror off."
Harry went down to the living room and found the rest of his family
waiting for him. "Merry Christmas, everybody."
"Happy Christmas, Harry," said Aunt Minnie, while the others wished him
a merry Christmas.
They soon began opening presents. Both Harry and Brianna got new
winter coats, along with other clothes. They also got some new cds.
Harry got a few video games, while Brianna got her own Game Boy
(along with a few games of her own). From Hermione, Harry got a bottle
of cologne that had a note saying it was her favorite. He took off the cap
and did like it, but decided to only wear it on special occasions.
"You mean you'll only wear it when you're with Hermione," explained
Brianna with a wink.
"That is getting rather old, Brianna," replied Harry, who by this time had
been teased so much that he wasn't blushing anymore. She frowned for a
moment and then opened another one of her presents.
This year, Harry didn't get any mysterious present like he'd gotten last
year, but he thought he did all right. They ate breakfast and then Harry
went back to his room, where he called Hermione on his mirror and
thanked her for the cologne and discussed how to get revenge on Brianna
for her constant teasing.
-HM-HM-HM-
The plan that Harry and Hermione came up with would, unfortunately,
have to wait until they were back at school, but Hermione was able to
get started on the potion part of it right away. Not having anything else
to do, Harry went downstairs and played on his Super Nintendo.
While Brianna continued teasing Harry unsuccessfully, he continued
imagining what was in store for her once they returned to school. Harry
was able to hang out with his American friends one more time and go to
a muggle movie with them. On New Year's Eve, the family stayed up
until midnight. Harry had called Hermione when it was about midnight
her time so they were communicating and she called him just before it
turned midnight his time. Brianna once again suggested them kissing the
mirrors, much to the young couple's irritation.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, the Hogwarts Express returned to Hogwarts, as did Harry,
Brianna and Minerva. They arrived a few hours before the other students
and occupied themselves while waiting for the others to come into the
Great Hall. Harry went to the library while Brianna went off somewhere
else – he guessed it was Gryffindor Tower.
The siblings were both in the Great Hall (sitting at their house tables)
when the others arrived. A huge grin came on Harry's face when
Hermione walked into the room. He stood up as she approached the
table, all the while looking in her eyes. At that moment, nothing else
existed in the world besides his girlfriend. When she was close enough,
he put his arms around her, said, "I've missed you," and kissed her.
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter end
28. Fun and Danger
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 28 – Fun and Danger
It was to loud catcalls and whistling that the young couple ended their
kiss, and they both immediately hid their red faces.
"Ignore them," muttered Hermione as she took Harry's hand. However, he
noticed that she was looking at the floor and not facing the crowd.
Silently, they walked to the Ravenclaw table under the stares of their
peers. They received words of encouragement from most of their friends,
although a few of the girls seemed slightly disappointed that they'd
gotten together. They sat across from Padma and Luna. The latter
commented, "I'm glad the grufpents are finally gone, Harry."
He smiled at his blonde friend. "Me, too, Luna."
Hermione looked at her boyfriend and mouthed, "Grufpents?"
"They were stopping Harry from realizing how he felt about you,"
clarified Luna, as though Hermione had asked her for an explanation.
With a small smile, Hermione replied, "I'm glad they're gone, then."
-HM-HM-HM-
"Have you noticed that Professor Lupin always misses classes near the
beginning of the month," asked Harry as he left D.A.D.A. class with
Hermione and Padma.
"Yes," responded Hermione. "In fact, it's always right around the…"
Hermione paled and so did Harry.
"What?" asked Padma.
"Never mind," answered Harry intently. "Professor Lupin just has an
illness."
"I hope it's not contagious," commented Padma.
"Only through blood contact," replied Harry.
"It is controllable," added Hermione, sounding unsure.
"Of course it is," said Harry, looking into Hermione's eyes. "Aunt Minnie
wouldn't have hired him if she believed there was any danger."
"Then that's settled," responded Harry's girlfriend. "We need to get to
Arithmancy while Padma needs to get to Muggle Studies."
"See you later, guys," said Padma as she parted. "I'm sure Professor
LaVelle's making him Wolfsbane," she whispered as she increased her
speed.
Harry frowned. "I guess we forgot that Padma's a Ravenclaw, too."
"We'll have to apologize for acting like we didn't think she'd catch on,"
added Hermione.
"I suppose," stated Harry, "but I don't think she's upset…more amused."
"I think you're right," she replied and kissed him quickly. "Come on. We
don't want Professor Vector to count us late."
-HM-HM-HM-
That Saturday, Harry found himself dressed in his Quidditch uniform,
mounted on his Lightning Bolt. He had been right and Padma wasn't
upset with them when they apologized. She simply commented with a
smirk that they seemed to be in their own little world lately.
That week, only Ravenclaw and Slytherin were allowed to practice so
they'd be ready for this game.
"Welcome, everyone, to the third Quidditch game of the year –
Ravenclaw versus Slytherin!" announced Lee Jordan. The stands erupted
in cheers.
Lee announced the teams before Marcus Flint tried to break Roger Davies'
hand during the ridiculous pre-game handshake. Madam Hooch released
the balls and the game began.
Harry ascended above the pitch and began to look around for the Snitch,
while Terrence Higgs, his Slytherin counterpart, did the same. Harry was
glad he'd performed a warming charm on himself before the game as he
noticed the Slytherin Seeker shivering. Knowing that a pair of glasses
would've been fogging up on him, he appreciated his contact lenses as he
looked everywhere for the evasive flying ball that was worth 150 points.
He didn't see the Snitch, but he did see his girlfriend flying along with
the other Chasers. At the moment, Roger had the Quaffle.
"Davies flies toward the Slytherin hoops, and it looks like the Keeper is
ready. He shoots. No, he passed it to Granger, who's approaching the left
hoop. She shoots…and scores!" Three-fourths of the stands cheered along
with Harry. Suddenly, Harry stopped cheering as he saw what Lee
reported. "A Bludger has just hit Granger's shoulder! The dirty cheat! She
didn't have the Quaffle! She's losing her balance."
Harry didn't notice that his aunt hadn't chastised Jordan for calling the
Slytherin Beater a cheater. He was busy showing everyone why his
broom was called a Lightning Bolt as he zoomed to Hermione.
"Harry McGonagall grabs Granger before she falls. Did you see them kiss
when she got back last Sunday?"
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, Headmistress."
Harry asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Thanks, Harry. That just caught me by surprise."
"Are you…"
"I'm sure. Go find the Snitch."
The game resumed, with Ravenclaw clobbering Slytherin, who gave out
more penalty shots than normal goals, until an hour later, when the score
was 150 to 50, Harry spotted the golden Snitch hovering over the
Ravenclaw hoops. He immediately shot off like a jet. Higgs, who'd
already fallen for one Wronski Feint this game, hesitated while Jordan
announced, "It looks like Harry McGonagall has seen the Snitch! He's
headed toward the Ravenclaw hoops. Marcus Flint is also headed there.
No, he's stopped and…taken a bat from one of the Slytherin Beaters. He's
hit a Bludger straight toward Harry, who just caught the Snitch. He's hit!"
Harry cursed as the Bludger hit his left bicep. He heard a distinct crack.
He concentrated on keeping his right hand gripping the Snitch as he
lowered himself toward the ground.
"Something's wrong," commented Lee with concern in his voice.
"McGonagall usually holds the Snitch up in celebration, but instead he's
landing. Madam Pomfrey, he may have been hurt by that Bludger."
Professor McGonagall got up and hurried down while Lee announced,
"Ravenclaw wins – 300 to 50." The applause would've been greater if as
many people hadn't been watching Harry intently.
The headmistress' nephew was still on his broom with his left hand
hanging limply at his side when Madam Pomfrey ran up with her wand
out. Harry simply stated, "My arm. It's…"
"Broken," she completed. "Oh well." She then tapped her wand to the
injury and Harry heard another CRACK sound. After a moment, the pain
went away and he could move his arm.
"Thanks," he said with a smile.
"That's what I'm here for," she replied softly. "No heavy lifting for the
next couple days, and do try to avoid Bludgers in the future. I should get
back to the Hospital Wing." She walked off, not waiting for a reply.
Both Hermione and Aunt Minnie arrived at the same time and asked the
same question. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah," he replied. "Madam Pomfrey fixed me up already." When he saw
they were still staring at him, he added, "My left arm was broken…but
it's all better now." He turned to his girlfriend. "How's your arm?"
"I told you, I'm OW!" Harry had reached out and touched her shoulder.
He immediately pulled his hand back.
Switching to 'Headmistress mode,' Professor McGonagall commanded,
"You'd better see Madam Pomfrey about that shoulder, Miss Granger."
"I'll walk you to the Hospital Wing," added Harry.
Sighing, Hermione nodded her head. "I suppose so."
-HM-HM-HM-
Hermione's shoulder had some bad bruising, which Madam Pomfrey was
able to rub something on to help tremendously. There was obviously a
party in Ravenclaw Tower to celebrate. Someone had made a poster that
showed an eagle swoop down from the sky and catch a snake in its beak.
Harry loved that poster.
The next morning at breakfast, Harry and Hermione brought a few extra
items with them to breakfast for their prank on Brianna for all the
harassment she'd given them. The Weasley twins, whom the young
couple recruited, thinking they could use extra help with what they had
in mind, brought a few things as well.
Harry poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice and then discretely
emptied a small vial into it and stirred while Hermione was watching
Brianna. Once the potion had dissolved, Harry got his spare wand out of
its holster and waited for his girlfriend to whisper, "Now." Harry
performed a switching spell between his glass and his sister's and put
away his wand.
While Brianna was drinking her morning pumpkin juice, Fred Weasley,
who (with his twin) had sat a lot closer to the younger Gryffindors than
usual, managed to switch the salt-shaker that the youngest McGonagall
was about to use on her eggs while George provided a distraction by
levitating a plate of sausage away from in front of Brianna to him and
taking a few.
It only took a few minutes for all the potions inside Brianna to mix, and
everybody could see when they had. Brianna had a puzzled expression on
her face until she tried to open her mouth but couldn't. She put her hands
where her mouth belonged, and her eyes revealed a look of sheer panic.
When her hands came down, everyone could see that her mouth was
gone, but in its place was what appeared to be a magical tattoo of over-
sized bright red lips that were smiling. A few people around her started
to notice and chuckled as her face turned red from anger.
Suddenly, she began to float upward as music seemed to fill the Great
Hall. Very few people recognized the American song from 1960 as her
tattoo lips began singing it loudly, but everybody laughed at the words.
The song was, 'You Talk Too Much,' by Joe Jones, but her lips were
singing, "I talk too much, I worry me to death…I talk about people I don't
know, I talk about people wherever I go…I just taaaaaaalllllllk, I talk too
much," until the song was completed and she floated down to her seat. By
now, her face was red with humiliation and rage.
Headmistress McGonagall had just made her way to Brianna as she
landed and asked, "Are you all right?" When the girl glared at her aunt as
she pointed at her nonexistent mouth, Aunt Minnie said, "I'm sorry," and
pointed her wand at Brianna's mouth, undoing the hex as the Great Hall
room filled with laughter.
The girl managed to mutter, "Thanks," before she picked up a slice of
toast, got up and walked out.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was three hours later, when a C.A.R.E. meeting ended, that Brianna
stayed behind with Harry and Hermione. She'd been glaring at them
throughout the entire meeting.
"Is there something I can do for you, sis?" Harry asked with an innocent
expression.
She glared at her brother. "I know it was you," she declared.
"What was me?" he asked nonchalantly.
"What happened at breakfast, you moron!" she yelled. Hermione was
watching the confrontation quietly.
With a straight face, Harry replied to his sister, "I must say that I am most
gratified, yet disturbed, by your lofty opinion of my abilities. You believe
I am capable of performing that excellent transfiguration work on your
lips, which by the way was a vast improvement, as well as make those
wonderful animated lips, while filling the hall with music and making
you sing for everyone's entertainment." He shook his head. "My, my, you
do have a lot of faith in me."
"You had help," Brianna hissed through clenched teeth as she shot a glare
at his girlfriend.
With a smug grin, Harry replied, "If we did do that, and I did say if, it
would've been because you've been harassing us regarding our
relationship. If we did that to you, that means you should stop provoking
us, because you're severely outclassed if we managed that most excellent
prank on you."
Hermione added, "Of course, if it's someone else who's got it in for you,
then you're wasting your time threatening us, wouldn't you say?"
"This isn't over," Brianna declared before marching out of headquarters
and slamming the door.
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the month went quickly, and at the next full moon, Professor
Lupin, once again, was ill, confirming the trio's theory. All three agreed
not to bring it up to anyone, and Harry continued meeting with him to
learn more about his birth parents whenever he got the chance. Neville
mentioned that Ron Weasley had been loudly complaining that his rat
was missing. Brianna, in the meantime, had acted completely friendly to
her brother and his girlfriend, which let them know she was planning her
revenge carefully.
-HM-HM-HM-
The day before the next Quidditch match, Ravenclaw versus Gryffindor,
was a Friday, and Brianna had the entire afternoon off. She thought this
was the perfect opportunity for a quick flight in the Dark Forest with her
contraband broom. She snuck it out of the castle and got into the woods,
like many times before, with no problems. Her friend Lily knew about the
Silver Bullet and sometimes went flying with Brianna, but this time
Harry's little sister was alone.
She was zooming in and out among the trees as fast as she could handle
while she pretended each tree was a Bludger. She'd filled her pockets
with rocks, and would occasionally throw one at trees to work on her
aim. She actually was a very good shot, hitting her target more often
than not. She was about to throw another when she suddenly got a lot
colder.
As Harry collapsed, tears started falling from Brianna's horrified face. She
dropped the wand and ran toward her brother. "Harry! I'M SORRY!" she
shouted as she took him in her arms in time to see her parents, who did not
look happy at all. She started trembling, afraid she'd hurt Harry badly or even
killed him.
Brianna blinked back that memory, and suddenly she was watching
Ginny fall from her broom as Dementors attacked a Quidditch game. She
blinked again and finally caught sight of a black-robed monster the
Ministry claimed to control. It was floating toward her.
Without a second thought, the girl screamed and turned around in her
broom, avoiding the trees as she left the woods and continued toward the
castle entrance flying as quickly as the Silver Bullet could go.
"STOP!" shouted a man in a voice that allowed no argument. Brianna
complied, realizing that she was far enough away from the forest and the
Dementor probably was not behind her anymore. She wanted to kick
herself when she realized that she was very obviously riding a broom.
"Um, hi, Mr. Cleanaway," she nervously replied to the tall man with long,
blonde hair in a ponytail and a moustache as she dismounted.
"Hello, Miss McGonagall," he responded. She was quite disappointed that
he knew who she was. She had been hoping to convince him she was a
second-year. "That's a nice broom you've got there." Brianna hung her
head down. "I don't recognize the model. Is that one of those American
ones like your brother's Lightning Bolt?"
Seeing no other option available, Brianna told the truth. "Yes, sir. It's a
Silver Bullet."
"Why don't we take a walk to your aunt's office, Miss McGonagall?"
-HM-HM-HM-
"Brianna, I am SHOCKED!" yelled the obviously upset Headmistress. She
was pacing back and forth as she continued, "I expected…"
"I'm sorry, Aunt Minnie!" she interrupted, blinking back tears that were
threatening. She'd never seen her aunt that furious before.
"Of all the stupid, irresponsible…With those Ministry monsters floating
all over the grounds, I'd think you'd realize…"
"I know. That's how I got caught. I was flying away from one."
Minerva's face paled. "One attacked you?"
"It was coming toward me. I was already reliving bad memories when I
turned around and flew as fast as I could."
Minerva walked to her desk and opened a drawer. She pulled something
small out of it and handed it to her niece. "Eat this."
Brianna looked down to see a chocolate bar. As she unwrapped it, her
aunt continued.
"You could've been Kissed and it would've been days before anyone even
found you! Not to mention Sirius Black being somewhere out there, as
well!" She then looked at her niece, who managed to put up her
Occlumency shield while taking a bite of her candy bar. "How did you
manage to get the broom into Hogwarts?"
Deciding not to turn Harry in for smuggling it in for her, she replied, "I
snuck it in."
"I searched your trunk."
"Not well enough," bragged Brianna defiantly.
Minerva took a deep breath. "I will be confiscating your broom for the
remainder of the school year. You will serve four detentions with
Professor Sinistra and I am removing fifty points from Gryffindor."
"Fifty points?" Brianna replied. "The rest of Gryffindor will kill me."
Minerva sighed. "I hope you realize the seriousness of what almost
happened, Brianna. You could've been killed."
A solitary tear ran down the eleven-year-old girl's cheek. "I'm sorry, Aunt
Minnie." The stern professor walked up to her niece and embraced her.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everybody, to the Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw Quidditch
match!" exclaimed Lee Jordan, eliciting cheers from the crowd. Harry
looked over at his opponent, Ginny Weasley, and waved. They had a five
Knut bet on who would catch the Snitch. The redhead waved back and
then flew into position.
Harry smiled at his favorite Chaser and took her hand. "Be careful out
there, Hermione."
"You, too," she replied before letting go of his hand. They both flew into
position.
The balls were released, and Harry saw his girlfriend grab the Quaffle. He
was happy this wasn't a hate-match like the ones against Slytherin, so
there shouldn't be any deliberate injuries. That didn't mean Fred and
George Weasley wouldn't hit Bludgers at him and Hermione, but they
would only do it when it was appropriate and not after the goal was
scored or the Snitch caught.
"Angelina Johnson looking lovely as she steals the Quaffle from Granger."
"Mr. Jordan!"
"Sorry, Professor. Granger turns around, chasing Johnson. Angelina is hit
by a Bludger – hope she's all right – and Granger rudely steals it from her
while she's recovering. Sorry, professor."
Harry continued his search for the Snitch after glancing at his girlfriend
heading toward the goals.
"Granger approaches the hoops and…Has Ginny Weasley seen the
Snitch?"
Harry turned toward his opponent and saw her pushing her Nimbus to
the limits and immediately shot after her toward the ground. When they
were about ten feet away from crashing, Harry realized it was a feint, but
decided to go along with it anyway. It was fun.
"Weasley pulls up! It must have been a feint. McGonagall pulls up, too…I
think he was closer to the ground than her!"
The two Seekers zoomed straight up, one after the other as Lee
announced, "Granger gets the Quaffle past Oliver. Maybe he should wake
up now."
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, Professor. The score is now 10 to 0 in favor of Ravenclaw."
The game went on for about an hour and a half, and it seemed that
Oliver Wood took Lee Jordan's advice and woke up. He began blocking
almost every shot, including several from Hermione, while the Gryffindor
Chasers started playing with a fury. Harry winced as they scored goal
after goal, hoping desperately that the Golden Snitch would appear so he
could end this slaughter. The score was 200 to 50 when he spotted it on
the other side of the pitch, closer to Ginny than himself. He knew what
he had to do.
"McGonagall is shooting straight toward the Gryffindor goals. Has he seen
the Snitch or is it another feint? It looks like Ginny Weasley is following
him…Angelina Johnson steals the Quaffle from Corner and heads toward
the Ravenclaw hoops. McGonagall turns his broom and is flying the other
way…past Ginny, toward the Ravenclaw hoops where Johnson tosses the
Quaffle…She scores, making it 210 to 50…McGonagall grabs the Snitch,
ending the game. Too late, sucker!"
"JORDAN!"
"Sorry, Professor. An excellent catch by the Headmistress' nephew.
Ravenclaw caught the Snitch, but Gryffindor won – 210 to 200!"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, when Harry, Hermione and Padma arrived in the Great
Hall, they immediately noticed something was wrong. Neville was sitting
at one corner of the Gryffindor table by himself looking miserable with
his head in his hands. Almost his whole table was glaring at him. "I'm
gonna see what's wrong with Neville," announced Harry. The girls
followed.
"Hi, Neville. You seem a little down. What's wrong?" asked Harry.
The distraught boy looked up at the trio. "Er, well I…"
At that moment, the Headmistress stood up from the Head Table.
"Attention, everybody. I have an announcement." She took a breath. "Last
night, Sirius Black somehow broke into the castle." There were gasps all
around the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin tables, but no one at
Neville's table seemed shocked. Harry could tell his aunt was furious as
she continued. "He also managed to get into Gryffindor Tower because
someone…" She, along with all of Gryffindor, glared at Longbottom, "…
had written a list of passwords for that dormitory and managed to lose it.
Black nearly killed a student as he slept. Fortunately, Mr. Ronald Weasley
awoke in time and sounded the alarm" She took a calming breath as
Harry noticed the youngest Weasley male grinning brightly at the
mention of his name. "Because of this, we will be taking extra security
precautions, including hiring security trolls. Please cooperate with us in
this matter." She sat down.
"I didn't mean to do it, but Sir Cadogan, the portrait that replaced the Fat
Lady after she was attacked, kept changing the passwords and I couldn't
remember them. So, I had him tell me the whole week's worth and wrote
them down."
"But how did Sirius Black get them?" asked Hermione, who appeared in
deep thought.
Neville swallowed and nervously replied, "I don't know. I tripped a few
days ago while I was walking to C.A.R.E. headquarters and it fell out of
my pocket and blew toward the forest. I never dreamed it would blow
straight to Sirius Black."
He then told the story of how Black had slashed Ron Weasley's bed
curtains with a knife, waking him up. Ron then screamed and Sirius ran
for it.
"Why would he run?" asked Padma. "It seems to me that if Sirius Black
had no problems killing people before he wouldn't start having problems
with it now."
Harry thought about how Sirius hadn't killed Petunia Dursley either when
he'd shown up at the Boy-Who-Lived's blood relatives' house. Brianna had
asked the same question when they'd heard the news from Dumbledore.
That reminded him that his sister had been in the same tower as that
murderer. "I'm gonna see how my sister is doing," he commented and
walked off.
Harry walked over to Brianna, who seemed visibly shaken and said,
"Don't worry, sis. I'm sure he was just after Harry Potter, and now he's
finally realized that bloke never came to Hogwarts," as he put an arm
around her.
"I know. He also couldn't walk up the girls' staircase, anyway. I just…just
don't like the idea of that madman in Gryffindor Tower."
He looked in her eyes. "Neither do I, Brianna. Neither do I."
She smiled at him for a moment before saying, "Thanks."
"Anytime, sis."
"But this doesn't mean I won't get revenge for that prank."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Neville received a terrible howler from his grandmother,
talking about how he'd disgraced the whole family with that one single
act.
"Times like these make me glad I'm muggle-born," commented Hermione.
"I know what you mean," agreed Harry. "I'd hate to have one of those
screaming in my face. That can hurt your ears."
"Not only that," Padma added, "but it's humiliating."
"In the muggle world, it's not considered proper for families to yell at one
another like that in public," stated Hermione. "Family problems and
discipline aren't considered anybody else's business."
"You're right," replied Harry. "When I'd get in trouble outside of home,
like at school, my mom would tell me that I'm gonna get it when we get
home. She'd never yell at me like that in front of my friends."
"My point, exactly," Hermione said with a grin.
"I never thought of that," commented Padma, "but I believe you are right.
Howlers are terrible." Padma's expression changed to glee as she looked
over at her two best friends. "So, do you have anything special planned
for the next Hogsmeade weekend? It's two days before Valentine's Day."
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: If you're looking for other Harry/Hermione stories, check
out my C2 in my profile.
Here's a link to the song "You Talk to Much" by Joe Jones. www. youtube
watch? v= E_FvVkcwqIs
29. Meeting Padfoot
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 29 – Meeting Padfoot
"Good morning, Hermione," greeted Harry as he met his girlfriend in the
Ravenclaw Common Room. He was bouncing from foot to foot in a
nervous almost-dance. It was the day of the Hogsmeade visit – two days
before Valentine's Day. Although they'd gone to Hogsmeade together
before, they never celebrated a Valentine's Day as a couple. Harry
McGonagall hoped his plans would turn out all right. As usual, he was
wearing his bottomless backpack so that he could carry anything they
purchased easily.
"Morning, Harry," she replied before giving him a quick kiss.
"Hi, guys," said Padma from behind them.
"Morning, Padma," the couple replied together.
"I guess we should get down to breakfast," their friend commented. "I'm
starving."
-HM-HM-HM-
They quickly made their way to the Great Hall and were immediately
accosted by Harry's little sister.
Sighing, Harry asked, "I guess you've got another shopping list for me,
Brianna?"
With a grin, she nodded and produced a piece of parchment out of her
pocket with a flourish. "Yep."
"Are you gonna pull your money bag out of your other pocket?" he asked
as he took the list from her.
"Darn," she replied in mock disappointment. "I keep hoping you'll forget."
She then gave Harry a moneybag and the Ravenclaws proceeded to their
table. They didn't notice the triumphant smirk on the first-year
Gryffindor as Harry stuffed Brianna's list and money into his backpack.
Harry filled up his plate as his sister watched from the Gryffindor table
and took the pitcher of pumpkin juice, with the intention of pouring
himself a glass. He did not see Brianna flick her wand in his direction
while whispering, "Activate," but immediately noticed that his backpack
shot up nearly ten feet in the air, carrying him with it and causing him to
drop the full pitcher back onto the table, resulting in a huge splash that
drenched Hermione and Padma in the orange liquid. He saw that mainly
because his backpack pulled him into a position where he was facing his
girlfriend.
Harry didn't have time to observe their reactions because loud music
began coming from his backpack. After a few seconds, he recognized it as
an old Elvis Presley song that his sister was quite fond of – "Baby Let's
Play House." The backpack was swaying around, forcing his hips to sway
in a manner reminiscent of the 'King of Rock and Roll' as the words and
music echoed in the Great Hall.
By now, he'd realized that Brianna's bag of money was causing the
movement with something similar to the levitation charm, and that her
list was acting as a Howler that she'd obviously recorded using the boom
box at C.A.R.E. headquarters, and he was fairly certain that he could stop
it. However, there was a small problem. When he opened his mouth to
activate his wand holster by saying, "New Sparks," he found that he'd
been silenced, so he couldn't call his weapon to his hand. He kept
uselessly mouthing the words over and over as his face got redder and
redder. That shade of red only increased when he noticed everyone
watching him as his body was jerked around by his backpack as the song
continued. Hermione appeared like she didn't want to watch but couldn't
look away during his performance. He did notice that she'd already
scourgified herself so she wasn't dripping with pumpkin juice.
When the song was finally over, he gently floated back to his seat and
found out he was no longer silenced when his girlfriend admonished,
"Harry, language!" at the colorful metaphors he'd used to describe his
sister while the rest of the school was laughing or applauding. He looked
around to see Brianna laughing along with everyone else and summoned
his wand out of its holster and started to point it at her when Hermione
grabbed his hand. "You can't just hex her here!" she hissed. "You'll get in
trouble."
"Fine," whispered Harry. "We'll get her later."
"Are you all right, Harry?" came Aunt Minnie's voice from behind him.
"Yeah," he responded, turning to the headmistress. "I'm fine."
"Do you know what happened?" she asked.
"Brianna pranked me," he answered venomously.
"I must admit I am flattered, yet disturbed, by your faith in my abilities,"
commented Brianna, who had now approached. Harry turned to see her
familiar innocent face.
Turning back to his aunt, Harry insisted, "She gave me her shopping list
and a bag of coins and I put them in my bag. They must've been charmed
to put on that…performance. You can check them!" He took off his
backpack and opened it, rummaging through it for a minute before he
declared, "They're not here!"
"Of course not," explained Brianna with a smirk. "I've got my list and
money right here. That's why I came to your table – not to be accused."
Glaring at her, Harry declared, "Well, I'm NOT going to pick up whatever
you want today, so you can burn that list, you…"
"Harry!" interrupted Minerva. "I'm getting tired of this. When Brianna was
pranked, she accused you. Now you're accusing her." She looked at both
of them with her lips the thinnest they'd ever been. "If it really is the two
of you, then I'd say you're even, and it's time for this little war of yours to
stop." She took a breath. "Without evidence, nothing short of Veritaserum
will prove your innocence or guilt, and I'm not willing to use that over a
prank, even if both disrupted a school meal, so there will be no school
punishments for this silly game of yours." Harry and Brianna both looked
relieved until the headmistress added, "However, I am going to express
my suspicions to your parents, so they can deal with this." The kids paled.
Glancing at Hermione, Harry asked with a timid voice, "Could you wait
until tomorrow, please? I'd, er, rather not have mum call me during the
Hogsmeade visit, and I think I've already suffered enough today."
Minerva got a picture in her mind of Cindy yelling at Harry through the
mirror he carried with him while he was taking a swig of butterbeer and
causing it to spill all over the table, making a complete mess. She smiled
slightly and said, "Very well. I shall wait until tomorrow morning to
contact your parents, but that's the longest I'll wait. I am tired of your
bickering and it is going to stop." She faced Harry. "And you will buy
whatever Brianna gives you money to buy." With that done, she turned
around and walked to the Head Table. Brianna silently handed Harry her
real list and coins and walked back to the Gryffindor table.
"Well," commented Padma, trying to change the atmosphere. "That was
an interesting song. American?"
"What?" asked Harry, "Oh, yeah. An oldie that both my dad and sister
like."
Hermione piped in, "That one line was horrible. 'I'd rather see you dead
than to be with another man.' What kind of selfish person could say that
about someone he supposedly loves? Wouldn't he want her happy above
all, even if that costs him his own happiness?"
Harry chuckled at that. "I agree with you, there. That line makes him
sound like a stalker."
Padma added, "I am surprised you were listening to the words at all with
the show Harry was putting on." Harry's ears turned pink, not for the first
time today, so she pressed on, looking at him. "Harry, I never knew you
could move like that. Hermione, you're a lucky girl."
When Harry's face went completely crimson, Padma and Hermione both
burst out laughing. "Shut up!" he said, although it was obvious that he
was fighting his own laughter. "Fine, go ahead and laugh!"
"We are," managed Hermione through her tears of mirth. "Padma's right,
you did look sexy." Harry wasn't sure if she was joking or not.
"Um-hm," added the Ravenclaw Patil sexily. "Hermione, you'll have to
fight all the other Hogwarts girls off with your wand today. They'll all
want a piece of him."
"Ha-ha," hissed Harry. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'm going to try and
eat some breakfast."
"You do that, Harry," instructed Hermione sweetly. "You worked off a lot
of energy."
Harry acted like he didn't hear her as he violently speared a sausage. In
fact, he didn't say a word until he was done eating some fifteen minutes
later.
"Hermione," he said, turning toward her.
"Are you done sulking?" she asked.
Figuring that it was pointless to deny that accusation, he replied, "Yes."
She grinned at his admission. "Was there any place special you wanted to
visit today?"
"Yes. I need to pick up more quills and ink at Scrivenshaft's," she replied.
"I suppose we should look at Brianna's list, as well."
Harry turned to Padma while handing his girlfriend the list. "You're going
with Parv and Lav again?"
She grinned at her friend's concern. "Yeah. It's actually fun looking at
robes and such with them."
"Good," stated Harry before returning his attention to his girlfriend, who
was in the midst of writing out a schedule of shops they'd visit. He
grinned before commenting, "Leave lunch open."
Hermione looked up from her role of parchment. "Are we going to have
another picnic?"
He grinned at her. "Maybe, maybe not."
"Fair enough, I suppose," she replied. "Was there any place you need to
visit before I complete this list?"
-HM-HM-HM-
It was less than half an hour later that Harry and Hermione separated
from Padma to take a private carriage to Hogsmeade village.
"This is nice," Harry commented as he gazed into his girlfriend's eyes.
"What is?" she asked.
Blushing slightly, he answered, "Being alone in a carriage with you," as
he gently took her hand.
"Oh," she replied, also blushing. "Yes, it is."
"I hope your list has us taking care of the essential stops first."
"Yes. I figured that way we wouldn't have to worry about running errands
all day."
"Exactly."
Soon, the carriage stopped and they dismounted. They were both glad
the Dementors had been persuaded to stay a distance from the carriages
so they wouldn't affect the students. Harry, trying to be a perfect
gentlemen, went to help her off when he felt something hit the back of
his ankle, making him lose his balance. He fell backwards, taking
Hermione with him and landing in a very compromising position.
"I heard Mudbloods behaved like animals, but I'd have thought you
would at least wait until you were alone," sneered a familiar voice.
"Old sparks now," Harry muttered, catching his original wand in his left
hand. He then faced his school nemesis, who was, as usual, flanked by
Crabbe and Goyle. "Malfoy!" he shouted while gently untangling himself
from Hermione, "I know you hexed my ankle!"
Ignoring that statement, Draco continued, "Then again, watching the way
you were…dancing…at breakfast, I should've known you and your filthy
Mudblood whore were…"
POW! Although Harry's wand was in his left hand, he rushed up and
punched Draco's mouth with his right, knocking him five feet backwards
onto the ground. Suddenly, Harry felt something very strong hit his
shoulder from behind and fell under the force of a badly aimed punch
from Crabbe (he was aiming for Harry's head).
"Stupefy!" shouted Hermione while Harry rolled himself around,
preparing to fight. His attacker fell, so he aimed his wand at Goyle,
putting him in the full body-bind. He heard Draco getting up, so he
shouted, "Don't even think of it, you filthy inbred!" as he turned and
aimed his wand. It was at this point he noticed that Draco's mouth was
bleeding and he was missing a tooth. He walked up to the Death Eater
spawn, still pointing his wand, and asked, "When will you learn to just
LEAVE ME ALONE?" Draco flinched as Harry shouted out the last three
words. "Or are you too stupid from your parents' inbreeding that you
can't realize that you always end up hurt when you try to bug me? Or do
you like showing me your pure blood?"
At that point, they heard laughter coming from around them and realized
their fight had gotten attention.
"You're in trouble now, McGonagall!" he sneered, trying to sound brave,
but he was obviously in a lot of pain. "When my father…"
"Accio, Malfoy's bloody tooth," Harry said, causing it to fly in the air. He
caught it and tossed it at Draco. "Better catch it; otherwise you'll have to
take skel-o-grow." The bumbling, bleeding bully barely caught the small
tooth before it hit the ground again. He then ran off.
"Harry, you shouldn't have done that! Now, you'll be in trouble."
Harry grinned at his girlfriend. "It was worth it."
"No, it wasn't," she argued. "I don't care what he called me."
"Sorry," he said.
"No, you're not," she argued before smirking at him, "but I can think of
ways for you to make it up to me."
-HM-HM-HM-
They first got everything on Hermione's list, to get that over with, and
stuffed all the purchases into Harry's back pack, and did a bit of
wandering around until it was time for lunch. He took his date's hand
and led her down a side road to the place he planned to order their
lunch, based off of recommendations from some older Ravenclaw girls.
"What's the place called?" Hermione asked.
"Madam Puddifoot's," he replied.
"I've never heard of it."
"It's a tea shop…but it serves sandwiches, too." He paused as a slight
blush reached his cheeks. "It's supposed to be romantic." He looked
around while adding, "It should be right about…there," he replied,
pointing out the sign. "Ouch," he said, immediately pulling his hand
down.
"It's your shoulder where you got hit, isn't it?" asked Hermione. Without
waiting for an answer, she asked, "Does it hurt very much?"
He shook his head carefully, in hopes it wouldn't fall of and give him
away. His shoulder had been filling with more and more pain ever since
his fight. He knew he'd have to get it looked at, but not until after their
date. "Not much. It just caught me by surprise is all."
"If you say so," she replied dubiously. "You should have Madam Pomfrey
look at it when we get back."
"All right," he replied, since he'd planned on that anyway. "Shall we?" he
asked, changing the subject. He held out his other hand, which she took.
"Let's."
Together, they entered the tea shop to find it was a cramped, steamy
little place where everything seemed to have been decorated with frills or
bows. Harry sighed, wondering if he'd made the right choice, hoping that
Hermione at least liked the decorations.
"Hmm," she said, unenthusiastically. "It's…cute, isn't it," she commented.
"Er…yeah," replied Harry untruthfully. He glanced around again. "It looks
like it's decorated for Valentine's Day," he commented when he noticed a
number of golden cherubs that were hovering over each of the small,
circular tables, occasionally throwing pink confetti over the occupants,
whom Harry noticed seemed to all be attached at the mouth. 'This might
not be that bad of a place,' he thought as he imagined doing that with
Hermione.
They sat down quietly at a table until Hermione asked, "Isn't that Cho?"
indicating an Asian girl who was snogging an older boy he didn't
recognize.
"I think so; but I don't think it would be a good idea to tap her on the
shoulder and say hi."
Hermione giggled at that comment.
"What can I get you, m'dears?" asked a very stout woman with a shiny
black bun, squeezing between their table and Cho's with great difficulty.
Harry decided that this must be Madam Puddifoot. There was a notepad
and quill floating next to her.
"Well, I'd like a coffee and a turkey sandwich," ordered Harry, noticing
the quill moving along the pad.
"And you, miss?"
"Er, I'll take the same."
"Very good. Be back in a jiff."
It didn't take long for their orders to arrive, and Harry started to consume
his rather thin sandwich. No sooner had he taken his first bite when he
felt a bunch of confetti fall all over his hair, no doubt thrown by one of
the cherubs that were tormenting the customers. He immediately reached
up with his good arm and wiped the stuff out of his dirty-blond hair.
"Um, what do you think of the place?" he asked Hermione.
"It's fine."
"My sandwich is kind of dry," he commented before picking up his cup.
"Harry, you might not want to…" she began, but it was too late. Harry
started coughing as a bunch of confetti made contact with his throat.
Obviously, his cup had gathered a rather large supply of the cursed stuff.
"Oh, dear!" said a voice behind him that he recognized as the proprietor.
"How many times have I told them not to toss the confetti in the drinks?"
She patted him on the back to help him cough, hitting very close to his
injured shoulder.
"Ow," he shouted, and immediately felt humiliated as everyone there
could see he'd been hurt by something as simple as a pat on the back.
"Are you all right?" both Hermione and Puddifoot asked at the same time.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I was hit in the shoulder earlier today, that's why I was
hurt. I just choked on some confetti one of your cherubs tossed." He said
the last part with a slight bit of venom.
"I'm sorry about that, sir. Your order is on the house."
After glancing at Hermione to see if she agreed with him, he replied. "I
think we'd like to leave. I really don't fancy choking on confetti again."
He started to get up.
"At least take your sandwiches and fresh coffees with you," she replied.
"Do you have disposable cups here?" Hermione asked while rolling up the
sandwiches in napkins.
With a grin, she replied, "All of them are, dears. You see, I conjure the
dishes here. They last over an hour and it saves me time washing the
dishes."
"That's very clever," replied Hermione with a genuine smile. "You also
don't have to worry about them breaking, or storage. Also, they're
completely sanitary."
"Yes they are," Madam Puddifoot replied. "I'll be right back with fresh
drinks. Feel free to take your plates."
Hermione did so before they walked toward the door. The proprietor had
their new drinks almost immediately after they got there. "I do hope
you'll give us another chance," she pleaded. "I only have the cherubs here
around Valentine's Day."
"We'll keep that in mind," replied Harry as they walked out the door.
Once it was closed, Harry said, "I'm sorry for ruining lunch in there. I just
know I'd end up attacking one of those floating devils."
"That's fine." She started to giggle as they approached a nearby bench.
"Has anything really gone right, today?"
"You're my date," he replied while sitting down. "That's the most
important thing to me."
"That is such a cheesy line," she replied with a smirk. "Don't tell me you
picked it out of one of those books on how to charm witches. I honestly
don't know how any girls fall for those stupid tricks. It's an insult to the
girl's intelligence to even use a book like that."
"Um, no, not exactly." He swallowed. She looked at him expectantly, so
he continued. "Mike Corner said girls like to hear things like that. I think
he read that out of a book."
He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "I know I'm not good at
saying things like that, but I really have been a lot happier since we've
been dating, and that's the truth." He sighed. "I wanted this to be a
perfect Valentine's Day for you since we'll be in classes on the real one,
but I've messed up everything. I'm sorry."
She could see the sincerity in his eyes as they pleaded with her for
forgiveness, and realized that he was terribly afraid he'd offended and
angered her. She didn't want to let him suffer with that fear…today, so
she slowly approached him seductively, setting her lunch on the bench as
she slid closer. "I'm not at all upset with you," she stated before gently
putting hers hands on his shoulders and kissing him thoroughly.
After a few blissful seconds, they were interrupted by loud barking. They
separated to see a large black dog. "Go away," Harry commanded,
sounding a bit aggravated. "We're busy."
The dog seemed to smirk at Harry for a moment, before moving his head
to indicate the still wrapped sandwiches on the bench. "Oh, I see. You
won't leave us alone until we give you our lunches." The dog nodded.
Hermione observed, "He does seem intelligent, doesn't he?" The dog
barked while nodding his head. Harry chuckled while his girlfriend said,
"We might as well feed him. It's not as though he could actually follow us
back to Hogwarts."
"Fine," Harry agreed as he grabbed his partially eaten sandwich and
unwrapped it. "It wasn't very good, anyway."
"Give him mine, too."
After the dog finished happily eating the first sandwich out of Harry's
hand, it paused and stared at his green eyes. After a few seconds, it
seemed to look more closely at Harry's face, until it started sniffing him.
"What's wrong, boy?" he asked while Hermione handed him the other
sandwich. Suddenly, the dog looked as close as possible to smiling as a
dog could and began wagging its tail like windshield wiper. Then it
started licking Harry's hand and then his face.
"Down, boy," he said while chuckling. "Or I won't be able to give you the
other sandwich." The dog calmed down and took the other sandwich,
gave Harry one last lick, and ran off, its tail still wagging. "That was
weird," observed Harry before asking, "You wanna head over to the Three
Broomsticks?"
"Yeah," she agreed, so they got up, taking their untouched coffees with
them.
"You know, I think I saw that dog last September when we arrived at the
station," he commented as he took her hand.
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the date went smoothly and the young couple did find some
alone time, although they did briefly separate to pick up gifts for the
other. They had decided to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day itself,
though, so they only talked and did a bit of kissing. When they arrived
back at the castle, however, the Headmistress was waiting for them with
a stern look in her face.
"Well?" she asked, glaring daggers at Harry. "What do you have to say for
yourself?"
Harry swallowed. "About what?"
"You know perfectly well what! That Malfoy brat is telling anyone that
will listen how you knocked out his tooth for no reason."
"But he called…"
"I know perfectly well what he called Miss Granger," she interrupted
while nodding toward Hermione. "Do you think I'm so foolish to take his
word for it when there were over two dozen witnesses to the fight?"
"No, but I…"
"I have punished him for using that foul word, and a few memories I've
watched can prove your accusation of him hexing you to begin with, so
he'll be punished for that as well." Harry sighed with relief before she
said, "However, you punched him, beginning the fight simply because he
insulted Miss Granger. It wasn't retaliation for that minor tripping hex,
and he was not threatening either of you at the time – just spouting
bigoted ignorance. If you hadn't hit him I could've punished him much
worse. You are therefore in detention for the next week and have lost
Ravenclaw twenty points. And this incident will be included when I talk
to your parents tomorrow." She took a deep breath. "Harry, you've got to
learn to control your temper. I don't enjoy punishing you anymore than
you like being punished, but I have to do my job. Do you care so much
about what Malfoy says that you'll ignore the school rules to the point
where you would risk your Hogsmeade privileges?"
Hermione finally spoke up as her eyes bugged out. "What?"
"Harry, the only reason you haven't been suspended from Hogsmeade is
because Draco hexed you."
"Is he…" began Harry.
"No, but he would've lost his Hogsmeade privileges if you hadn't hit him.
By stopping this from being one-sided, you've forced me to be somewhat
lenient with Mr. Malfoy's punishment so that you're being punished about
equally to avoid the appearance of favoritism."
Harry put his head down, feeling genuinely sorry that Malfoy couldn't be
punished worse. "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry."
"Now, I suggest the two of you get on to dinner."
-HM-HM-HM-
"I am TIRED of hearing about you fighting in school!" shouted Cindy
McGonagall across the Atlantic ocean via magical mirrors as Harry
flinched back from his mother's rant. "And don't prank your sister again!"
It was the next morning and, as promised, Aunt Minnie had informed his
parents of his activities. He was glad he'd seen Madam Pomfrey and
gotten his shoulder taken care of at least. Otherwise, he'd still be sore.
"But…"
"I've told Brianna the same thing." She sighed. "Since your aunt already
punished you for fighting with that Malfoy brat I won't punish you for
that, but I've asked Minnie to confiscate both yours and Brianna's Game
Boy and CD collections for a month…"
"But!"
"That's my final word, Harry. Unless you'd like me to have her confiscate
your Lightning Bolt as well."
"No, that's…fine."
"Good. I hope you'll actually learn your lessons this time."
"Yes, mother."
"Now, tell me about your date with Hermione yesterday," she asked with
a smirk. "And your plans for tomorrow."
"Mum!"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning was Valentine's Day, and Harry woke up nervous. This
time, he arranged for 'friendship' cards to be owled to just Padma and
Luna (as opposed to all his female friends like last year) because he was
closest to them. The rest of his efforts were spent on trying to make his
girlfriend enjoy the day. He arranged for Hermione and him to have a
private dinner at C.A.R.E. headquarters before his detention for the night
with Professor Flitwick, who was handling his punishment for fighting
Malfoy. Harry and Hermione would exchange gifts during that dinner,
but that wouldn't stop him from giving her a few extra things throughout
the day.
When he got to the common room, he found Hermione and Padma
waiting for him. "Happy Valentine's Day," he greeted, "especially to you,
Hermione."
"Happy Valentine's Day," repeated Hermione as she slightly blushed.
"Morning, Harry," said Padma.
"Well, I guess we should head down to breakfast," he suggested.
The girls agreed, so they headed down to the Great Hall. When the mail
arrived, two school owls carried Harry's cards to Padma and Luna, while,
like last year, Hedwig brought Hermione's. However, unlike last year, the
snowy owl was carrying a gift as well – a box of sugar-free chocolates.
While she was opening her card, Rowena (Hermione's owl) arrived with
Harry's card, along with a small package.
"I thought we'd agreed to only give one gift to each other, and it would
be at dinner," commented Hermione as she opened her present.
"So did I," he replied with a smirk as he opened his package to find
chocolate mints like Hermione had gotten him the year before.
"I couldn't resist," Hermione admitted with a shrug.
"Me, too."
"Besides, I knew you'd violate the agreement."
He chuckled for a moment, deciding that he didn't need to argue with his
girlfriend. "Happy Valentine's Day, again."
"Thanks," she replied before kissing him on the cheek.
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the day went smoothly, with Padma and Luna both thanking
him for their cards. No gifts were exchanged at lunchtime, so they
walked hand-in-hand toward C.A.R.E. headquarters when it was time for
dinner.
After unlocking it, Harry opened the door and held it for Hermione.
"After you."
She walked in to find that a candle had been added to the center of one
of the tables, and that two plates of food (steak, mashed potatoes and
green beans), along with drinks were already in place. The other table
had a vase full of red roses and a wrapped gift. While Hermione placed
her gift on that table, Harry hurried ahead of her to hold a chair out,
acting the perfect gentlemen, if only for that evening. Hermione grinned
as she thought about how many girls were offended by a boy doing what
he's been taught is polite, like holding out a chair for his date.
After he was seated, Harry picked up his butterbeer that had been kept
cold through a cooling charm and held it toward his girlfriend. "Happy
Valentine's Day."
Still smiling, she picked up her glass and touched his with hers. "Happy
Valentine's Day."
"I wish I had some music to play in the background," commented Harry
apologetically, "but, as you know, all my CDs are currently confiscated."
"That's all right, Harry," she reassured her boyfriend. "I'm sure dinner will
be just fine without music."
They ate their meal, and when their plates were empty, they were
replaced with dessert – strawberry shortcake cut in the shape of a heart.
After that was finished, they finally exchanged gifts. Harry had given her
a bottle of perfume, in addition to the roses, while Hermione had given
him a bottle of cologne.
They kissed for a little while before heading back to the castle, so Harry
could serve his detention.
-HM-HM-HM-
The school year passed quickly from there, with birthday parties for both
Ron Weasley and Brianna happening in March (Harry got the Gryffindor
boy he barely knew a chocolate frog while buying a Game Boy game for
his sister), the same month Hufflepuff was barely beaten in their
Quidditch match against Slytherin. Just a few years previous, before
Headmistress McGonagall told off Madam Hooch for favoring Slytherin,
the snakes would've destroyed the badgers by cheating. However,
Terrence Higgs, the Slytherin Seeker, managed to catch the Snitch before
Cedric Diggory, winning the game. The Puff's certainly weren't having a
good year.
April began with a bang when the Weasley twins celebrated their
birthday by pulling a school-wide prank that made everybody's face look
like their house's mascot. The Slytherin's really looked creepy with snake
heads. Ravenclaws like Harry and Hermione had eagle faces complete
with beaks; Hufflepuffs had badger faces; while Gryffindors had lion
faces. Harry thought Brianna liked looking like a lioness. It reminded
Harry of their Animagus practice. He was now able to grow black hair on
his whole right arm, while his hand could become a claw. He still didn't
know what kind of animal he would be, but knew it would be powerful.
Hermione could do that and had begun with her left claw as well,
although her fur was brown.
In the middle of April, Gryffindor played Hufflepuff and truly trounced
them. However, Cedric did manage to grab the Snitch before Ginny to
end the suffering, but Gryffindor still won, ensuring its place in the final
match against Ravenclaw, which was to be played the next month. The
Hufflepuffs didn't get one win that whole year. Spring Break came and
went, consisting of mostly extra studying as the end-of year exams
approached.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everyone, to the final Quidditch match of the year –
Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw!" announced Lee Jordan, to tremendous
applause as the teams flew out to play for the cup. Harry smiled at Ginny
as their captains shook hands. Once again, they bet a few Knuts on the
game. He wondered when the redhead would realize that she'll never
beat him.
After the teams were announced and the balls released, Harry flew up to
his usual position to search for the Snitch while listening to Lee's
commentary.
"Davies steals the Quaffle from Johnson and passes it to Bradley as Bell
approached him. Fred or George Weasley – can't tell which – hits a
Bludger toward Bradley as he throws the Quaffle at the hoop. He's hit in
the shoulder, messing up his aim. Granger catches it – didn't know she
was there – and puts it in the hoop, surprising Wood. Lucky shot!"
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, professor." Harry laughed. "Spinnet now has the Quaffle and is
headed toward the Gryffindor goals. Passes it to the lovely Angelina
Johnson just before Granger gets close enough to steal it. Wish Angelina
would date me."
"Jordan!"
"Sorry, Headmistress. Johnson passes it to Bell, who passes it to Spinnet,
who passes it to Johnson, who shoots it…and scores! She's not only
beautiful, but a terrific Chaser!"
Harry continued his search of the pitch as the game went on, with the
Gryffindor Chasers doing a bit better than their Ravenclaw counterparts.
He was surprised when he noticed the black dog he'd fed a few months
before sitting on the ground near the stands, apparently watching the
game, which didn't make much sense to him, but he had more important
things to worry about, like Jordan's next announcement, which distracted
him from noticing the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher noticing the
black dog.
"Ginny Weasley starts flying toward the ground. Has she seen the Snitch?"
Harry glanced in her direction and saw his opponent was in motion, so
he shot after her. He was approaching her position when he noticed
something odd. He saw the Snitch above himself while Ginny was below
him and quickly approaching the ground. He grinned as he realized she
hadn't seen the Snitch and was trying to pull off a Wronski Feint. He
changed direction and grabbed the Golden Snitch before she knew what
had happened.
"What?" announced Jordan. "Harry McGonagall looks like he's…he's
holding the Snitch. Weasley must've picked the wrong moment to pull off
a feint." He sighed. "The game is over. Ravenclaw wins the game – 250 to
210 – and the Quidditch House Cup."
Harry was almost sorry when he saw the disappointed look on Ginny's
face – almost. However, he enjoyed winning far too much to truly regret
doing so. While he was celebrating Ravenclaw's victory, Harry didn't
notice the black dog walking off nor Professor Lupin following the dog.
-HM-HM-HM-
After the party in Ravenclaw Tower, Quidditch season ended as the very
last stretch to the final exams approached. Naturally, Harry and
Hermione's study group was doing better than most people, but they
were nervous because they had more exams this year than the previous
two.
Harry was pleasantly surprised by Professor Lupin's style of exam – an
obstacle course. He was still meeting with the man weekly to learn more
about his parents and felt he was getting to really know him. He'd
noticed that Remus had been acting a bit odd for the past few weeks. He
couldn't concentrate on that while making his way through the test,
though, so he shoved those thoughts aside as he waded across a deep
paddling pool containing a grindylow and crossed a series of potholes full
of Red Caps. He had to squish his way across a patch of marsh while
ignoring misleading directions from a hinkypunk and then climb into an
old trunk and battle with a Boggart.
"Excellent, Harry," Lupin muttered as he climbed out of the trunk,
grinning. "Full marks."
Happy with his success, Harry waited around for Hermione and Padma,
both of whom approached soon enough. Hermione looked shaken up by
the course, but refused to talk about what had happened, beyond
mentioning that the Boggart slowed her down. Padma arrived soon after
that, so they left the room and headed toward their next exams – Padma
to Muggle Studies, which was actually taking place inside C.A.R.E.
headquarters so they could utilize electronic muggle devices, while Harry
and Hermione were headed to Arithmancy.
The young couple was nearly to Professor Vector's classroom when they
saw an all-too-familiar person dressed in shawls and wearing glasses that
were almost an inch thick, who smelled of cooking sherry.
"Hello, Mr. McGonagall," she greeted in her usual 'prophetic' voice.
"Hi, Professor Trelawney," Harry replied evenly. "What brings you here?"
"I was gazing into the crystal ball – a skill you should learn to use your
gift whether you take formal lessons or not – when I saw myself
wandering in this corridor, and felt I should obey my fate."
Hermione looked puzzled. "Your fate wanted you to…"
"It will happen tonight!" declared Trelawney in a voice completely unlike
her own. By looking into her eyes, it was easy to see she was in a genuine
trance, unlike her fake ones where she declared the doom that would
befall Harry if he didn't take her class.
"The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His
servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight…the
servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise
again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was.
Tonight…before midnight…the servant…will set out…to rejoin…his master…"
Professor Trelawney's head fell forward onto her chest. She made a
grunting sort of noise. "What was I saying, dear?" she asked.
"Er, that you saw yourself in this corridor, Professor," replied Harry,
feeling genuinely convinced he'd seen a real prophecy, and terrified of
the contents.
"Oh, yes. I believe I shall linger in this area in case something interesting
happens."
"Bye," said Harry before walking off quickly, hand-in-hand with his
girlfriend.
"Do you think that was genuine?" Hermione whispered once they were
out of earshot.
"Yes," he hissed back, "I wonder if it has something to do with Sirius
Black,"
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe you're right, but right now
we can't think about that. We've got an exam."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry had a difficult time forcing himself to concentrate on his
Arithmancy test, but he managed and felt he had aced it. He was
genuinely glad that he had studied as hard as he did because it was a
difficult test. When he and Hermione were done, they decided to visit
C.A.R.E. headquarters to make sure that the Muggle Studies class hadn't
left the place a mess. They got there to find Padma lying on the ground in
front of the entrance, with the door to headquarters closing with a loud
SLAM.
"Padma, what happened?" Hermione asked as they approached their
friend.
She appeared to be winded as she tried to catch her breath. "Big black
dog…didn't know they ate rats…"
"What?" asked Harry, now thoroughly confused.
Padma had by now recovered enough to get up and say, "I found Ron
Weasley's missing rat in headquarters right after the exam, when the rest
of the class was leaving."
"Are you sure?" asked Hermione.
"Yes. I've seen it a few times when Parvati let me in Gryffindor Tower.
Anyway, I was going to return it when this big black dog ran out of the
forest toward me. I was terrified."
Harry and Hermione shared a quick look. "I think I know what dog you
mean, but he seemed friendly to us."
"It jumped toward me, knocking me down, getting the rat out of my hand
and running into the cabin."
"How did the dog close the door properly?" asked Hermione.
"I don't…"
"Hi, guys," came Brianna's voice from behind them. "I just finished my…
what's wrong?"
They quickly explained what had happened and they all drew their
wands. Something didn't seem right. Harry walked up to the door and
found it locked. "How'd a dog lock the door?" he muttered as he took out
his key and opened the door, to find one of the strangest sights he'd ever
seen. Dressed in rags and smelling awful, notorious murderer Sirius Black
was standing inside C.A.R.E. headquarters with a terrified rat in one
hand, a small mirror in the other, and a crazed look in his eyes.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: If you're looking for other Harry/Hermione stories, check
out my C2 in my profile.
Elvis Presley - Baby let's play house (live '56) is located at:
www. youtube watch? V = QI97stLQLdw (minus the spaces).
30. The Rat Revealed
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 30 – The Rat Revealed
"Hurry up, Moony!" screamed the crazy-looking man at the mirror in his
hand before pocketing it. Harry and the others were drawing their
wands. Sirius took a step toward Harry and said, "Well, well, well. Hello,
Harry Potter."
"Stop right there, murderer!" shouted the Boy-Who-Lived. "How do you
know who I am?" A small part of him was relieved that everyone present
already knew his true identity, so Sirius hadn't revealed any secrets.
Another part of him was scared to death that this killer knew who he
was.
"Your scent," he answered simply. "I used to spend a lot of time at your
house with you and your parents."
"Before you betrayed them!" shouted Brianna. All the kids were now
pointing their wands at the fugitive, who seemed unconcerned.
"I didn't betray Lily and James. It was this rat!"
"Ronald Weasley's pet?" asked Hermione. "That's preposterous!"
"It may seem that way at first, but it can be explained," came a calm
voice from behind the kids.
"It's about time you got here, Remus," declared Black.
The kids turned around to see Professor Lupin pointing his wand at them
– not Sirius. He said, "Everyone calm down and lower your wands and
nobody will get hurt."
"I trusted you!" shouted Harry as his face turned red. "And you've been
helping him all this time!"
"What's going on here?" shouted the Muggle Studies teacher, who'd
returned because she'd forgotten something in the cabin. "Professor
Lupin, why are you pointing…" She then noticed who was on the other
side of the kids. "You're helping Sirius Black!" She reached into her
pocket for her wand, but was too late.
"I'm sorry, Professor Burbage," stated Lupin calmly. "Stupefy." She was hit
by the red beam of light and fell to the ground unconscious. He then
glanced at the kids who were glaring at him and pointed his wand back
at them. "I didn't hurt her. She might've gotten in the way. Now, I told
you to lower your wands."
"Why should we, werewolf?" growled Padma. "Are you waiting for the
moon to come out so you can bite us?" Hermione and Brianna had their
wands on Black while Harry and Padma had theirs on Lupin.
The professor seemed shocked, and then noticed that only Brianna
seemed surprised at this information. "How long have you known?"
"Months," answered Harry. "You were always sick on the full moon."
"And you didn't tell me?" asked Brianna, looking upset.
"At the time," growled Harry. "We didn't think he was dangerous." He
glared at his professor. "I trusted you! I talked to you for hours about my
birth parents! Were the aurors wrong? Was it both you and Black who
betrayed the Potters and Pettigrew?"
"We didn't betray them, Harry," stated Lupin sadly. "Pettigrew did."
"And he's in my hand!" added Sirius with an excited grin. "I've waited
thirteen years for this!"
"He's mad!" declared Hermione.
Lupin suddenly pointed his wand toward Hermione's general direction
and released a spell. Harry jumped Lupin, pushing him to the ground.
Hermione ducked before seeing the spell wasn't aimed at her, but at the
rat in Black's hand. It hit the rodent, who was forced to change shape
into a pathetic-looking short, balding, overweight man who Sirius was
now holding by his throat.
Harry punched Remus in the face before hearing an unfamiliar voice.
"Padfoot? It's so good to see you again." Harry turned, and for the first
time in his memory, saw Peter Pettigrew. He absentmindedly got up,
ignoring Moony, who had a black-eye forming on his face.
"What, how?"
Peter started to speak before Sirius gripped his throat tighter. "Tell them
the truth, rat!"
While sniffling and stuttering, Pettigrew told them, "It was me. I t-t-told
the Dark Lord where Lily and James were hiding. You have no idea the
curses that he knows. No idea how much pain he can cause. W-w-what
would you do?"
"I would've died!" snarled Sirius. "I would've died rather than betray my
friends! To think I convinced them to trust you to be their secret-keeper
instead of me. Making myself a decoy." He sighed. "Biggest mistake of our
lives!"
"That's why you didn't kill the Dursleys or Ron Weasley," mumbled
Brianna, mainly to herself.
By now, all the wands were on Peter as Remus stated, "There's only one
just punishment for that kind of betrayal, Wormtail. You should've
known that if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Hold him, Sirius."
"Don't you want to turn him in?" asked Padma, gesturing toward the
trembling coward. "He could get Mr. Black free."
Taking a calming breath, Remus reluctantly admitted, "You're right, of
course," while Harry watched.
"Death is too good for him. The Dementors can have him once we've
cleared Sirius' name." He pulled out his own mirror and called, "Minerva
McGonagall."
After about fifteen seconds, she answered, "Harry?"
"Have I got a story for you," he replied. "But you'll need to come to
C.A.R.E. headquarters immediately."
While his aunt made her way to their location, Harry filled her in on the
recent developments, even pointing his mirror at Pettigrew to confirm
the story. After he was done explaining things to her, Harry talked to
Sirius for a few minutes, who said, "Your parents made me your
godfather, Harry. I'm sure you're happy with your adoptive family, but if
you ever wanted another home, you could…"
"…come and live with you?" Harry asked. Padfoot nodded. Harry wasn't
sure how to respond to this without hurting Sirius' feelings. In one sense,
he was a complete stranger, but he was also Harry's godfather and a close
friend of his birth parents. He took a deep breath. "I do appreciate the
offer, Sirius. I really do. But like you said, I am very happy with my
adoptive parents. But you can visit, you know. Once you're free, you
could even…"
At that moment, Minerva arrived. "Hello, gentlemen. I do hope we can
clear up this misunderstanding," she said calmly, but appeared shocked
as she stared at Peter, whose throat was still being held by Sirius Black.
"Mr. Pettigrew, I cannot express how disappointed in you I am," she
added in her worst 'teacher giving detention' mode. The rat Animagus
cringed. She then turned to Lupin. "I must say that is an impressive black
eye, and I do hope you've taken your medication, Remus."
With a grin, he replied, "I have taken my wolfsbane."
"Good." She looked to the ground. "I see none of you have seen fit to
revive Professor Burbage yet."
Suddenly, the air got very chilly as a cold feeling overtook them all.
Harry began hearing his birth mother's voice pleading with Voldemort as
a swarm of over fifty Dementors came into view. He was forcing his
Occlumency shields up as he watched Professor Lupin point his wand
toward the monsters.
Suddenly, the Defense teacher started trembling in pain and dropped his
wand. Harry glanced up and saw the full moon in between two of the
Dementors and back down to see Lupin changing. A Dementor was
charging at him. Sirius, in the meantime, didn't have his own wand and
was scrambling to pick up the werewolf's. Even though Moony would
keep his mind, he'd be unable to perform magic until the next morning.
Upon hearing a scream, Harry turned to see his aunt's wand hand had
been grabbed so she wouldn't be able to defend them. The girls were in a
similar predicament, and they all seemed on the verge of collapsing as
several Dementors lowered their hoods. While fighting his own mind's
reaction, Harry took a deep breath as he glanced at Hermione's trembling
form as one of the monsters got closer to her. He forced himself to
concentrate on their first kiss as he pointed his wand and shouted,
"Expecto Patronum!"
A silvery Patronus shot out of his wand, shaped like a tabby cat. It ran at
the Dementor closest to Hermione, forcing it to flee, and began chasing
after each one, saving all of them from a fate worse than death.
Sirius got up, holding Lupin's wand. "That was amazing, Harry. I'd have
never expected you to cast a Patronus at your age, let alone one powerful
enough to drive them all away!"
Harry smiled. "Aunt Minnie and Professor Lupin taught me." He indicated
Minerva and the tame werewolf sitting on the ground. "I guess we should
get Pettig…where is he?"
Everyone looked around in panic and didn't see the traitor or his rat form
anywhere. "DAMN!" shouted Padfoot. "The bloody traitor got away
during the Dementor attack!"
A shaky Minerva sadly said, "I'm afraid that it will take absolute proof to
get the Ministry to admit they made a mistake. It will take more than
Pensieve memories for that."
"But…" pleaded Harry.
"Fudge wouldn't remove the Dementors from the grounds after they
nearly killed a student. That obstinate…politician has been shouting all
year about how Sirius Black was a murderer."
"I'm afraid your aunt's right, Harry," agreed Sirius with his head down.
"But surely with all of us testifying," began Hermione.
"I'm afraid it won't be enough for that imbecile," said Minerva. "Besides,
he's ordered the Dementors to Kiss Sirius on sight. Even if he tried to turn
himself in, he wouldn't survive."
With a sigh, Padfoot admitted, "I guess I'd better move on, then." Lupin
barked loudly, and when they turned toward him, they saw he was
gesturing one of his paws toward himself. Sirius closed his eyes in regret.
"You mean you have to run, too, don't you. That teacher saw us together
and you stunned her."
"Perhaps I could…" started Minerva.
"Talk her out of it? Modify her memory?" suggested Black while shaking
his head. "That won't work. You'll become a fugitive, too. No. Remus and
I had the kids cornered and you rescued them. That's what you'll tell
everyone. We've got to be going."
"At least let me help you gentlemen," suggested Minerva before calling
out, "Twinky!" An elf appeared with a small pop.
"Yes, Headmistress. What can Twinky be doing for you?"
"On the sixth floor, there is a large storage room. Do you know where I'm
talking about?"
"Yes, Headmistress."
"In one corner, there is a rather large, folded up carpet. Could you bring
it here?"
"Yes, Headmistress," the elf replied, bowing before popping away.
"What is he getting?" asked Harry, "a flying carpet?"
Before she could answer, Twinky reappeared with a huge red carpet that
looked brand new on the ground in front of him. "Here it is being.
Twinky is sorry he is taking so long. Twinky is dusting it off."
"You did a good job, Twinky. Now, could you pack up provisions for two
men to last at least a month and bring it here? And all of Professor
Lupin's possessions. And a box of chocolates?"
"Yes, Headmistress." He popped away again.
"Before the Hogwarts Express was built," Minerva explained. "Students
would ride this flying carpet to school." While the others watched, she
pointed her wand at the carpet and muttered a Latin phrase. "That will
activate its defenses against detection. Once it's ten feet in the air, no one
can see it. The bottom of the carpet looks like the sky above it so that no
magical person will see it from the ground. It also disillusions anything
on it."
"Thank you," said Sirius, clearly in awe. The werewolf was silently
admiring it as well.
"I suggest you make your way to America. I will contact Harry's parents
and see if I can persuade them to help you two. Harry said you had a
communication mirror?"
"Yes," answered Padfoot, pulling it out of the pocket of his raggedy pants.
"Surely I taught you enough Transfiguration to make those clothes look
decent?"
Padfoot laughed. "It hasn't come up yet, but I'll take care of that on our
way."
"My mirror address is 'Minerva McGonagall.' Harry's is 'Harry
McGonagall.'
"So," said Sirius with a grin. "Remus told me how you took Harry from
the Dursleys right under Dumbledore's nose."
With pink ears, Minerva began, "I…"
"I want to thank you for that. From what Lily told me about them, and
what I saw in my visit, they would've treated Harry terribly."
"You're welcome. It was my pleasure."
"Moony and I decided that what you did is a prank worthy of the
Marauders, so we decided to make you an honorary member, Miss
Whiskers." Harry and Brianna laughed at that until their aunt glared at
them. They were saved from her response by Twinky reappearing with a
ton of food and drink, along with an extra dose of wolfsbane for Lupin, as
well as the professor's possessions. Once all that was on the carpet,
everyone got a piece of chocolate. Padfoot and Moony boarded and sat
on chairs Minerva conjured for them.
After short goodbyes, the remaining Marauders flew away, becoming
invisible once they were ten feet in the air. At that moment, Professor
Burbage woke up and looked around. "They're gone! Sirius Black was
working with Professor Lupin! I saw them holding the kids at wand point.
Are you okay? You must have been terrified!" The kids nodded sadly.
"What happened?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Minerva relayed the official story they'd come up with, and they all sadly
marched back to Hogwarts, where the Headmistress reluctantly did her
duty to floo the Ministry and tell them the same story that had been told
to the Muggle Studies professor, how Minerva had surprised the two
Marauders and rescued the children. She hated telling that lie, but knew
that Fudge would accept nothing less. Not to mention that if Fudge even
suspected they sympathized with Black, he'd have the McGonagall family
under observation, even in America. Then, she decided to have a talk
with her old friend from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement,
Amelia Bones, to see if the case of Sirius Black could be reopened and the
evidence reexamined.
The next day's Daily Prophet had a huge story about Professor Remus
Lupin helping his old friend, Sirius Black, escape. Fortunately for
Minerva, it didn't mention that Remus was a werewolf. Otherwise, it
would've made her look very bad. As it was, the article made her out to
be some sort of heroine for rescuing the kids from Sirius and Remus. A
few days later, the term ended and the students left Hogwarts for the
summer.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: Sorry for such a short chapter, but I felt that this incident
deserved its own chapter rather than being stuffed in the middle of
several other events.
31. Summer of Learning
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 31 – Summer of Learning
"It's good to be home," Harry exclaimed as he crossed the threshold of the
house he was raised in, carrying his trunk. He, Aunt Minnie and Brianna
had just flooed to O'Hare airport to be met by Mark and Cindy
McGonagall, who drove them home. Once the rest of his family was
inside and the door shut, Harry put down his trunk and got his wand out
of its holster. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said while performing the
appropriate swish and flick, causing his luggage to float up the stairs as
he followed.
"You don't need to use magic for everything," commented his mom before
Brianna followed her brother's example. "It wouldn't hurt you to get some
exercise."
"What for?" asked Harry, indicating his slim build. As he walked back
down the stairs, it was clear he was not gaining weight to justify a
comment like that.
"I'm not saying you're getting fat, Harry, because you're not. I just don't
think it's healthy that the only exercise you get at Hogwarts is walking to
class, especially since both of you have those special back-packs to make
sure your books don't weigh you down."
Turning to his father, Harry asked, "When did mum get obsessed with
exercise?"
"I'm not obsessed," she replied.
"She started watching a health program on TV a few weeks ago,"
explained Mark. "She also bought a treadmill."
"And I think you kids should spend time on it every day this summer."
"WHAT!?" exclaimed both kids together.
Sighing at seeing their reactions, Cindy walked toward her children. "It's
only because I care about your health. I love you both and want you to
live long, healthy lives."
Harry turned his face toward his aunt. "Do you think we could go back to
England?"
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, Harry was rudely awakened to find out his mother
wasn't kidding. "Get up, Harry."
"Er, what?" he asked wearily. "I thought it was summer."
"Good morning," his mom said happily.
"It was until a minute ago."
"It's time for you to exercise."
"No."
"Yes, you will, Harry. Now get up."
"Fine, but then I'm going right back to bed."
"That's all right." She then handed him a pair of shorts and a sleeveless t-
shirt. "Now, put these on while I get your sister."
It wasn't long afterward that Harry found himself stepping onto the
treadmill after doing a few warm-up exercises. "Now, kids, I want you to
realize that I am doing this because I love you." Brianna was on an
exercise mat and had been told to follow the instructions on a video their
mom had purchased. Once the video was done, they'd switch places.
"This should be the right speed for you."
The machine started working, causing Harry to start jogging. What Cindy
hadn't told the kids was that she was worried about all the trouble that
seemed to find Harry, not to mention the new prophecy that said
Voldemort would return. It sounded like Harry, and probably Brianna by
association, would end up fighting for their lives at some point, and she
wanted to help them prepare as much as she could. As she understood it,
most of the Death Eaters never did any exercise at all, instead relying on
house elves. She thought that being in good shape would give her
children a definite advantage in dangerous situations. Besides, it was
healthy to exercise like that anyway.
Harry was actually surprised to find that it only took ten minutes for him
to start panting for air, and his ribcage was hurting after fifteen when his
mom finally let him stop, telling him that he'd soon be able to handle a
half-hour of that easily. While his sister got on the treadmill, he started
watching the exercise video. While he'd never admit it to his mother, he
did like watching the women in the video exercise. However, he didn't
like joining in the torturous exercises.
It was less than an hour after he'd been woken up that he emerged from a
shower, knowing he was far too awake to go back to sleep. So, naturally,
he went back downstairs to play video games.
-HM-HM-HM-
The rest of the week went by with that routine. On his nightly calls to his
girlfriend, Hermione told him that she was happy he was exercising, and
that she looked forward to seeing the results of that up close. To make
him feel better about it, she even started exercising at her house. She also
told him the good news that brought him and his mum back to Chicago
on Saturday, exactly one week after Hogwarts let out. The Grangers were
visiting America again. However, Hermione informed him that they
would not be watching any baseball games. He wholeheartedly agreed,
and so it was with great enthusiasm that Harry greeted his girlfriend with
his arms wide open.
"Hello, Herm…" he started before she crushed her lips against his at the
airport. He quickly responded until the clearing of a throat brought him
back to reality. They separated so they could see Hermione's father
standing next to them, frowning.
"You two look really good together," declared Hermione's mum before
her husband could say anything. "I always knew you'd end up dating."
Although they'd been dating several months, this was their first time
seeing each other's parents since then.
"Yeah," said Harry nervously. "Hermione's really special."
"Why don't we get to the car?" suggested Cindy.
While they were exiting the airport, Harry could hear Marissa Granger
whispering a bit louder than she'd intended to her husband because he
was very close behind them and concentrating as he held Hermione's
hand. "You know that Harry's a nice boy, and I'm glad they were friends
for a few years before they started dating. That means he cares about her.
He's not just some random boy that thought she was pretty. You like him,
too. Admit it."
"It's part of my job description as a father to hate any boy my daughter
dates," he countered. After a glare from his wife, Adam admitted, "but I'd
rather she date Harry than some of the other boys from Hogwarts I've
heard about."
"Remember that. Also, remember that you can't threaten him because he
could do a lot more damage with his magic than you can do with your
fists."
"But if I get him in a dental chair…" he countered with a gleam in his
eye. Harry gulped and made a mental note to never set foot in the
Grangers' dental surgery.
"Daddy!" yelled Hermione. Apparently Harry wasn't the only
eavesdropper in that relationship.
The older couple stopped dead in their tracks and turned. "Oh, er, you
heard that?" asked her father. "We thought you were a bit further back."
"Don't make excuses, Daddy. You know what you just said!"
"Oh, that. Well, honey, I was just kidding. I'd never…"
"I think you should apologize to Harry," insisted Marissa. "He's the one
you threatened to torture."
"That's okay," replied Harry. "I know he was joking."
"But still," countered Hermione. "It was a terrible thing to say. It would
be like you talking about putting a Cruciatus Curse on Daddy. He
wouldn't like that."
"A what?" Adam asked. After that unforgivable torture curse was
explained, the group got into the car and made their way back to
Lansing, Illinois.
-HM-HM-HM-
After Hermione had levitated her luggage into Brianna's room (like the
last visit, she was sharing with Harry's sister while her parents had the
guest room), she walked downstairs to find Harry sitting down on the
couch after having just put her parents' luggage in the room they were
using. Harry indicated the spot next to him on the sofa and turned on the
TV while she sat down.
"Have I said how great it is to have you back here?" he asked.
"Once or twice," she replied with a grin as her ears turned pink.
"Well, it…" At that moment, a tapping noise started coming from the
window. Harry got up to see a small brown owl hitting its beak lightly on
the glass. It had a rolled up piece of paper tied to its foot. Harry opened
the window and relieved the bird of its parcel. "Stay here and I'll get you
one of Hedwig's treats."
He walked over to the kitchen, where they were stored. As he pulled the
box out of the cabinet, Hermione called out, "Better make it two. Another
owl just arrived, and from the look of it, I'd say it just flew across the
ocean."
"That's impossible," Harry replied as he put the box of treats back. "Owls
can't make that flight."
"It could've stopped on a boat or something on the way," she countered as
he reentered the living room.
"I will admit it looks exhausted." The poor thing was panting as it lay flat
on an end table. "When will those idiots learn to use something other
than owls to deliver messages?" He took the rolled up parchment from
that owl, and it promptly fell asleep. "I guess I'll give the other one its
treat." Once he did that, the first owl flew out the window.
"I guess that one didn't need a reply."
Harry opened up his first letter. "No wonder. It's an advertisement for
some kind of combination carnival/workshop type thing in Little Salem
next week."
Hermione's eyes widened at the thought. "Let me see!" He handed her the
ad, which described rides and games, but also lessons on several things
such as the basics of Enchanting where, as a final project, the student has
to enchant something muggle to act in a magical way. One example given
was a broom to fly or a pen to take dictation. It had dueling and other
activities advertised as well. Hermione also noticed, "It starts in a few
days, but it's going to last for a month. It costs…a bit expensive."
"What are you two talking about, and why aren't you kissing?" came a
voice all-to-familiar to Harry.
"Brianna, kissing isn't all we do. Sometimes we talk."
"I'm glad to hear that," stated Adam Granger, who'd just entered the room
with the other adults. "But what are you two looking at anyway?"
"This advertisement for a really great opportunity to learn," answered
Hermione.
"And have fun," added Harry, who was now unrolling his other
parchment. Hermione began describing what would be happening at the
workshop while Harry read,
Dear Mr. McGonagall,
We understand that you had some exposure to American magical education
for a few years before you began attending Hogwarts, and now that you have
been a student there for three years, we would like to know how you would
compare the two approaches. Also, we'd like your opinion on the underage
wizardry laws of England, which we know are not part of American laws,
along with a list of any incidents you are aware of where representatives of
your magical government had to interfere as a result of underage magic and
how the situation was resolved.
Included is a list of questions that we request you fill out before signing and
mailing it back to us. If you opt to not take this survey, please sign at the
appropriate place on this form and mail it so that we'll know you received our
letter.
Hoping you are well,
Mafalda Hopkirk
Harry looked further down to see that she was an employee of the British
Ministry of Magic involved with underaged magic and thought they were
possibly considering modifying those laws. He shrugged his shoulders
and decided to fill out the survey, but first would participate in the
discussion going on around him, since his mom was calling his name.
"Harry!"
"What?"
"Brianna sounds like she wants to go to this workshop/carnival thing
instead of the Quidditch World Cup. What do you think?"
He took a deep breath while he considered it. "Remember that game last
year that took so long? That was boring most of the time."
"Exactly," declared Brianna. "At least with this, we won't be sitting there
doing nothing. We could actually be doing something!"
"It is an excellent opportunity that I'm afraid the age restriction for magic
in Britain prevents," interjected Minerva.
A thought occurred to Harry. "What about Hermione? She's only
supposed to be here for two weeks."
"That's something we're discussing," replied Marissa. "The plan was that
we'd take Hermione with us to a dental conference in Spain, but…"
"But she'll probably be bored most of the time," finished Adam.
"I will have my books," argued Hermione, but Harry could tell her heart
wasn't in it.
Knowing where this was leading, Harry figured he might as well be the
one to suggest it. "Why doesn't she stay here for the whole workshop?"
"Could I?" she pleaded with her parents and his.
"It's fine with us," replied Cindy. "Hermione's no trouble to have here."
Harry noticed Adam Granger's eyes going between him and his girlfriend
before his mom added, "We'll make sure Harry and Hermione stay out of
trouble."
"Are you sure you can?" Adam asked.
"Daddy!" interjected Hermione, clearly offended. "You know I wouldn't…"
Before Mr. Granger could reply, Mrs. Granger said, "We have to trust
them at Hogwarts most of the year."
"How about you go to the first few weeks and see if you like it?" Adam
suggested.
"Thanks, Daddy," she replied, getting up and hugging him. It was obvious
to everyone in the room that, despite his protests, Adam Granger was
really wrapped around his daughter's finger.
-HM-HM-HM-
After early morning exercise (which Hermione graciously joined to spend
more time with Harry) and the necessary showers, a group consisting of
all the Grangers and McGonagalls except Mark, who was working, took
the Eagle Bus to Little Salem. The plan was to have only one adult with
the kids after this, but they all wanted to see what kind of set up they
had.
They'd only taken a few steps into Little Salem when Harry saw a huge
banner floating overhead advertising the workshop/carnival. The
background color was switching between all the colors of the rainbow
while a large message scrolled across it.
Wizarding World Gone Wild!
Learn Enchanting, Wizard Dueling, Magical Tailoring and more in our
Workshops!
Compete for incredible prizes in our games!
Ride our thrilling magical roller coasters that defy muggle physics!
Harry grinned as he followed the floating banner that soon began to
move, showing them the way. He noticed another one appearing behind
them as they left. He soon spotted a very tall, odd-shaped building in the
distance. It was painted in stripes of neon green, hot pink and purple.
The top seemed to be shaped like a huge version of constantly rotating
tied shoelaces that kept floating up and down without completely
separating from the main building, and Harry had a feeling that without
magic, the building would be impossible to build. He was completely
amazed that it was somehow portable. As they got closer, he began
hearing sounds of horrible shrieks and laughter coming from the place.
He finally saw the doorway, easily recognizable by the line of people
waiting to enter, with someone selling tickets to them before allowing
them entrance. They quickly got into the line, which was moving very
quickly.
"Hello. How many tickets do you need?" asked the sales rep when their
turn came. The blonde woman was wearing a tie-dye t-shirt advertising
the company.
"We'd like four summer passes and three day passes," replied Minerva.
They had discussed it previously and decided that for the most part, only
one adult would ever be needed to watch the kids, if that. Therefore, only
one extra summer pass was needed to get inside, so the others just
needed entrance that day. "Do we get workshop enrollments here as
well?"
"No, ma'am. That's inside. It's counted separate from everything else." She
proceeded to tell them how much for the tickets and they soon entered
the unusual structure.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry gazed in amazement as they proceeded. He saw a few people
screaming in either excitement or fear as they rode flying chairs that
were moving around at high speeds as they spun and looped the loop.
"It's a magical roller coaster!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly. "They didn't
have to build a track – they just put spells on the chairs."
"It looks like there's a sticking spell on the people, too," added Brianna.
Harry couldn't stop himself from announcing, "I wanna ride one of those!"
"Me, too!" declared Brianna.
"I'm…not so sure," stated Hermione. "Anyway, first we want to enroll in
the classes."
They soon found the sign for the workshops and the kids were signed up,
with the first one – enchanting – starting in an hour. "Can we go on some
rides while we wait?" asked Harry.
"Sure," answered Cindy.
It was just about fifteen minutes later that Harry and most members of
his group (except Minerva and Adam – Harry talked Hermione into it)
were sitting down on a standard chair. They'd found out the ride was
called Accelero Lapsus. One of the employees performed a sticking charm
on Harry. He found that he couldn't even turn his head to glance at his
girlfriend. "Hermione," he called out.
"Y-yes." He could easily tell she was nervous.
"Thanks for riding with me."
"Tell me that when it's over."
"GO!" shouted the employee, and the chairs started moving.
Harry's chair was moving slowly at first as each chair got further apart as
they floated ten feet into the air. Suddenly, his chair started spinning in
circles as it shot straight up about fifty feet. He briefly realized that the
ceiling must have been magically expanded as his stomach got a bit
queasy. He found himself making a loop while his chair was spinning at a
forty-five degree angle. In the distance, he heard the sound of Hermione
screaming and closed his mouth, determined not to do the same.
The chair moved up and down in a zigzag pattern and angles Harry was
convinced was physically impossible as the chair continued spinning in
random directions. Suddenly, it started darting forward at over a hundred
miles per hour. It approached a wall, nearly colliding until the chair
moved away at the last second. Harry was breathing hard through his
nose, but keeping his mouth closed. It approached another wall and
Harry waited for the chair to change direction, but it didn't. He finally
screamed in terror as he crashed into the wall, only to find it had been an
illusion – like the entrance to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. He
muttered a string of expletives he was grateful his mother couldn't hear.
On and on, the ride went, looping, darting forward, going backward, up,
down, all around. Avoiding some obstacles while going through others
that turned out not to be real. He had no way to tell where he was, as he
was stuck facing forward. Suddenly, the chair stopped accelerating and
began freefalling. "AHHHHHHH!" Harry screamed as he realized the
magic controlling his chair had gone. He found himself facing the fast-
approaching ground as he shouted in terror. When he was five feet from
the floor, the chair stopped, straightened out, and slowly floated to the
floor.
Harry was breathing hard as his heart was trying to beat its way out of
his chest. He barely noticed the employee who released his sticking
charm, until the man took his hand and helped him up.
"How'd you like it?"
Harry took another gasp before grinning. "That was AWESOME!"
"I've never been more frightened in my life!" declared Hermione between
breaths as she approached from the side.
"Exactly!" declared Brianna as she approached with a big smile on her
face. "Can we go again?"
"NO!" shouted everyone but Harry.
"What if just me and Brianna go again?" he asked.
"Maybe after your first workshop," answered his mom. "There's too long
of a line now."
-HM-HM-HM-
"This workshop covers one of the most important skills in magic – a skill
that most schools don't even cover. Enchanting. Almost everything you
buy in the Wizarding world besides books – brooms, carpets, mirrors,
some quills, garbage cans – is enchanted. Even some books have been
enchanted. I even heard of a book that tries to bite people. Can you
imagine that?"
Everyone laughed at that statement. The instructor, a short wizard with
brown hair named Matt Singer, continued describing how essential that
skill was to Wizarding life. When combined with runes, the possibilities
of what it could do were unimaginable. All of the rides and games there
included some enchanting. He then began instructing them on how to
enchant objects, which basically was performing a spell on something
that made it store the next spell or combination of spells performed on it,
and then performing another spell to tell the object that you were done
enchanting it. Sounds easy, but it wasn't. One had to be very careful
about the spells because more often than not, the first attempt would
have unintended results. At the end of the month, every student would
enchant something moderately complicated for a final grade. Harry
decided immediately what his final project would be.
-HM-HM-HM-
"I thought that class was very informative," commented Hermione as they
were leaving. Every student had failed spectacularly at enchanting a
feather to float on its own a foot above the desk. Harry's had gone
straight into the ceiling as soon as he finished. Hermione's had gone ten
feet above her desk and stopped. Brianna's had floated into Harry's face,
although he doubted that was accidental. He knew she'd either done or
had someone else do some enchanting for the last prank she'd pulled on
him. Though he believed she'd had it done, he figured she'd paid
attention to how it was done.
"Yes it was. I know what I'm gonna make for my grade - my own racing
broom."
"Harry! That could be dangerous!" Hermione looked scared. "If it's not
done right, you could fall…"
"It'll be graded before I ride it," he interrupted.
"Promise you won't try it until then?" she countered.
"I promise," he replied, looking into her puppy-dog eyes. "What are you
gonna make?"
"A book cover that causes the book it's on to float above me in my bed,
holding the pages in place so I can read them, that turns the pages on
command."
Harry grinned. "That'll be very useful for you."
"I thought so." She smiled at him before turning to his sister. "What about
you, Brianna?"
"I haven't decided yet."
"Let's find our families," suggested Hermione.
-HM-HM-HM-
They soon met up with the others and gave glowing reports on the class.
Harry and Brianna rode the Accelero Lapsus again before exploring the
rest of the carnival. They soon came upon another interesting activity –
broom racing. To be fair, all the contestants used the same kind of
brooms.
"Want to race?" he asked Hermione, indicating the line for that activity.
"Sounds like fun," she agreed.
"Me, too," said Brianna from behind them.
"Can't you stick with mom and leave us alone?" he asked.
"Nope. Can't do it," she replied with a smirk.
Soon, they found themselves on Silver Bullets (much to Brianna's delight)
floating above a track with seven other people, waiting for a signal.
"GO!" shouted the judge, signaling them to start moving.
Harry pushed the Silver Bullet he was on as fast as it could go, cursing
the slower acceleration that this model had as compared to his Lightning
Bolt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his sister catching up to him. A
few smaller kids were ahead of both of them. For the first time, Harry
was unhappy he'd gotten taller because that made him weigh a bit more.
However, he was determined not to let his sister beat him. He flattened
himself against the broom and concentrated as hard as he could, finding
himself getting slightly ahead of Brianna, but still behind the two others.
As he approached obstacles, he refused to slow down, barely moving out
of the way in time. He passed one as he made his first lap of the two
required to win.
He continued flying as fast as he could for the next lap, but then he heard
his sister's voice shout, "Let go, you jerk!"
He turned his head to see the boy he'd just passed was holding Brianna's
broom to stop her from passing him. He was tempted to use his wand to
straighten that situation out, but knew he'd be caught. He decelerated
slightly, getting right next to the boy, and elbowed him hard in the ribs,
making him let go of Brianna's broom as he slowed down. Without a
word, Harry flattened himself back on his broom and accelerated.
He did regain some ground, but couldn't get past the one ahead of him no
matter what. That flier was just as insane as Harry, not slowing down for
anything. When he finally approached the finish line, he was a foot
behind his competitor – clearly second place – and found out that his
sister was right behind him. One other stranger crossed the finish line,
followed by Hermione.
"At least we get prizes," said Brianna, indicating herself and Harry.
"Thanks, Harry."
"Don't mention it," he replied as he glared at the cheater, who was glaring
back. After a few seconds, the boy turned around and walked off.
Brianna was correct about the prizes. The first place winner, a Mexican
boy named Miguel Rodriguez, who Harry now remembered was in the
Enchanting class, got the grand prize – a brand new Silver Bullet. As he
took the broom, he looked at Harry's sister and winked at her, causing
Brianna to blush while Harry felt himself go into protective brother
mode. Harry was given a pair of really good broom racing gloves while
Brianna got a broom servicing kit. The crowd seemed to like that the 2nd
and 3rd place winners were a brother and sister.
Shortly after that, they had the workshop in Magical Tailoring, where
they began to learn how to adjust clothes. The first rule was, "Conjured
clothes will disappear at the worst possible time." Therefore, they had to
work with real material. The first lesson was about enlarging clothes to
account for growth. Over the course of the month, they'd learn how to
shrink clothes down, to repair any holes worn into them, to make precise
cutting charms, to apply appropriate permanent sticking charms instead
of sewing, and even to change the color of clothes. Most importantly,
they'd learn how to secure their clothes magically so that a simple finite
wouldn't make them fall apart. When that class was over, they went
home for the day.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, they had Wizard Dueling and Magical Home Improvement.
Every workshop lasted two hours (the first hour was instruction and the
second hour was practical) with an hour break in between them on
Monday through Thursday, and on Fridays they had one hour with each
of the four workshops – just practical. Harry would never forget his first
dueling lesson there as long as he lived.
"Welcome to this class on Wizard Dueling. My name's Wanda. I don't like
being called Miss Dremara. It makes me feel old." She was an attractive
African woman in her late twenties or early thirties. "You may notice that
I don't wear Wizarding robes. That's because those things get in the way
during a duel." She was actually wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt
advertising the workshop. "The first misconception I want to dispel is that
in a duel, each opponent casts one spell and waits for the other one to
cast something back. That will lose you every fight you get into. You
keep firing until your opponent is out of the fight, but make sure you
don't overexert yourself.
"Another common problem is that people rely on shields that can be
easily broken through. First of all, dark wizards use spells that shields
don't even block, so reliance on shielding spells could get you killed if
you're ever attacked. Secondly, while you're performing a shield spell,
you're not blasting your opponent with an offensive spell." She took a
breath. "I will teach you the shield charm, but it is only to be used in
emergencies. You are to dodge offensive spells or summon objects to use
as shields. So, this will be a very physical workshop. One suggestion that
goes beyond the scope of this class is to learn to conjure physical shields.
However, conjuring is a bit more advanced than this class. Anyway, I'll
need a volunteer for my first demonstration."
Harry and Brianna wisely kept their hands down, while Hermione and a
few others eagerly raised their hands. Wanda looked from Hermione to
her boyfriend, who was sitting next to the enthusiastic bushy-haired girl.
Harry softly groaned as he noticed the instructor focusing her eyes on his
nametag.
"Harry McGonagall, you just volunteered. Stand up." He noticed a slight
look of envy from Hermione as he rose to his feet. It wasn't anything
major – he just knew she'd wanted to be picked. He ran his hand through
his blond hair as he stood waiting for instructions. "Good, now let's go to
dueling platform."
"Okay." He swallowed as he approached the area at the side of the
classroom, noting the raised platform and clear shielding to prevent
spells from hitting the spectators.
"First, I'm going to teach you what I call a paintball spell – yes, it acts like
that muggle game – that will be used in most duels." At the disappointed
looks, she added, "Remember, getting hit with any spell could end the
duel, so for the most part, we don't have to demonstrate jinxes on each
other. However, during the last week, we'll have a dueling competition
where real spells are used."
The paintball spell was quite easy to learn, so Harry was then instructed,
"Keep trying to hit me with that spell while I do nothing but dodge." She
then put her wand in its holster. "The duel will end when I'm hit. You,
keep time." She pointed to a nearby boy who had a watch.
When the boy shouted, "Go!" Harry began rapidly firing the spell while
Wanda was dodging even quicker. She was fluid in her motions as she
evaded the spells that would've clearly marked her. Harry realized he'd
have to be innovative to hit her. He watched her movement for patterns
and finally caught one after what seemed like hours. Her eyes would flick
to the opposite side she was moving to next one second before she'd go
there. Since he was starting to tire from firing too rapidly, he paused,
waiting for his opportunity and fired once more, getting bright pink paint
all over the front of her shirt.
She calmly took out her wand and silently scourgified herself while
asking how much time she'd been dodging. "One minute and thirty-six
seconds."
"Not bad, Harry. Usually, it takes over two minutes before I'm hit."
He blushed slightly at her praise before returning to his seat. Wanda went
on to explain how simple dodging could win a duel, or even save your
life. She lectured for about forty-five minutes more and then had the
students pair up for dueling. Harry paired with Hermione and frowned
when he saw Brianna pair up with that boy Miguel. He turned his
attention back to his girlfriend.
"Since you've already practiced firing, I think you should dodge first."
"Hit me with your best shot," he taunted with a smirk. Thirty seconds
later, he was cleaning pink paint off his face while his girlfriend was
smirking. He was glad he had contact lenses now, or else the paint
would've been all over his glasses.
They continued to switch places several turns each (and Harry had his
revenge by getting Hermione's face) before finally being informed that
class was over. Harry was not happy that Brianna gave Miguel their
phone number and decided to play the big brother, walking up and
saying, "Come on, Brianna. Let's go," while glaring at the younger boy,
trying to send a silent message to stay away from his sister.
"I can talk to Miguel as long as I want to, Harry!" she declared as her face
turned red. "Why don't you go kiss Hermione? You're always trying to get
rid of me, but now suddenly you want me tagging along!"
"Fine," he conceded, knowing he'd never win that argument and soon
they'd create a scene. "Don't forget the next workshop."
"We won't," Brianna replied before taking Miguel's hand and walking off.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, Harry," said Hermione from behind him. "Besides,
she was hitting him a lot faster than he was hitting her with that spell."
Harry and Hermione walked hand-in-hand around the carnival,
informing Aunt Minnie that Brianna was with a boy her age when asked
why she wasn't with them. Minerva decided to find the younger sister,
leaving the Boy-Who-Lived and his girlfriend to their devices. They rode
a few mild rides and Harry won her a magically animated stuffed unicorn
by shooting enough toy dragons with his wand at one of the games.
Brianna was sitting next to Miguel when Harry and Hermione arrived at
the Magical Home Improvement class. The instructor looked like a
muggle repair man, but his tool box consisted of small white tiles. "These
tiles," he explained, "are to inscribe simple runes on and stick onto
different places. For example, there are plumbing runes for hot water or
cold water that you can stick to normal pipes connected to your sink or
shower that will conjure water in a variant of the Aguamenti spell. There
are even runes for the drain as well. You can buy them at Magical
Menards home improvement store here in Little Salem. There's also a
charm to change the color of a wall – much easier than painting. There's
transfiguring walls to modify your house. Unfortunately, the space
multiplier spell is beyond the scope of these lessons. Otherwise, we could
only have older students in the class. Permanent sticking charms work
better than any glue, nail or screw for anything you can think of. About
the only thing we can't do yet is make outlets that use magic for energy
instead of electricity.
He handed out small booklets that had everything he planned to teach
them, and began with the plumbing runes, telling them they'd all be able
to create sinks for their bedrooms before the month was over.
-HM-HM-HM-
And so it continued that the kids would go to the workshop every day
with one of the adults. Harry got annoyed when Miguel would call to talk
to Brianna, but was forbidden to interfere by his mom. His dad, however,
seemed to be on his side, especially when Brianna was asked to spend
Saturday at the mall with that boy. Mark McGonagall immediately
volunteered to chaperone when he realized his wife wouldn't let him
forbid the date.
When they returned, Harry's dad reported that nothing untoward had
happened, but he'd still keep an eye on them. The next week went by
uneventfully, although the kids were learning a lot in their workshops.
Harry in particular was getting very good at dodging spells, much to his
girlfriend's irritation. At the same time the Grangers were scheduled to
leave for their convention, Aunt Minnie was called back to England to
help plan some sort of big scholastic event the next year. With
appropriate hugs and kisses, they left the magical part of O'Hare airport
for England. After her first day away, Minerva informed Harry via their
mirrors that she was forbidden to tell any students about the event she
was now required to help plan until school started and it was officially
announced. She did, however, seem unhappy about it.
It was a few days later that Harry's mom called the three kids to the
living room and broached a subject that hadn't been brought up since he
returned from Hogwarts. "Sirius Black and Remus Lupin will be arriving
here tomorrow."
Harry couldn't help the grin that formed on his face. "Cool! I was
wondering about that."
"We thought it best not to involve the Grangers. No offense, Hermione,
but we thought that the fewer people who knew about it, the better."
"I understand. Besides, they live in England and are far more likely to be
asked about it than you."
"Anyway, they'll be in disguise and will be posing as a pair of brothers –
my cousins to be exact. Their names will be Seth and Ralph Wilder."
"Okay," replied Harry.
"Will they be arriving at O'Hare?" asked Brianna.
"No. By bus. Oh, and they did manage to return that flying carpet to your
aunt. One of the Hogwarts house elves picked it up."
Harry was surprised to learn that Minerva had taught his mom how to
make Wolfsbane, and that she was actually pretty good at it. "Making
potions is similar to cooking," she commented. Harry knew his mom was
a master of that. He wasn't surprised to find that his mom had decided to
try learning other potions as well. She did wonder out loud, "I can't
imagine why Mr. Lupin hasn't learned to brew Wolfsbane. Even if he's not
that good at Potions and hates the subject, he should've put forth extra
effort to learn that one. I'll try to teach him while he's here."
The next day, Harry used a lot of self control to stop himself from
laughing at the pair of fugitives with red hair. Their facial features had
been slightly altered, but it was easy enough to recognize them if you
knew their identities.
"Hi, Cousins Seth and Ralph," Harry greeted while grinning at them. "It's
good to see you again."
"You too, Harry," replied Seth/Sirius before giving him a hug.
"We'd better get back home."
The Marauders took the room that the Granger adults had been using,
after an extra bed had been put in it. Harry was quite amused watching
his mom forcing Remus to learn how to brew his required potion with
the same firm hand she used to make Harry exercise every day.
Cousin Seth and Cousin Ralph accompanied the kids to some of their
workshops, and both of them loved the Accelero Lapsus ride. The classes
went well and the kids continued learning. Brianna absolutely refused to
let Sirius chaperon her and Miguel, knowing that her, "friend who
happens to be a boy," would end up turned into a canary or something
before the date was over. Of course, Brianna's argument that they weren't
dating fell through when they were seen kissing by Cousin Seth. Harry
and Hermione both enjoyed endlessly teasing his sister, although Harry
was still glaring threateningly at Miguel at every opportunity.
-HM-HM-HM-
When the last week of workshop arrived, Harry was anxious to begin
enchanting his own broom, and brought one with him that he'd
purchased from a muggle store for just this purpose. When class began,
he started the slow process of applying the different spells to every part
of his broom. He thought he'd made good progress before the class was
over.
In his next class, he was tasked with making a pair of pants with just
cloth and his wand. That was very difficult to begin working on. The next
morning, he got to begin what he was most looking forward to – the
dueling championship.
"Our first duel will be between…" A cauldron full of names that had been
enchanted to pick random ones spit a name out right into Wanda's hand.
"…Harry McGonagall and…" another name came out. "…Miguel
Rodriguez."
Harry was thrilled to death that his very first duel was with Miguel. The
Mexican boy almost turned white when his name was called. He hadn't
paid too much mind to Harry's glares, convinced that his girlfriend's
brother wouldn't touch him unless truly provoked. But now, Harry was
being told to fire spells at him. He swallowed hard as Brianna's big
brother smiled evilly at him.
"Don't you dare hurt him!" shouted Brianna. No one was sure who she
was yelling at – her boyfriend or brother.
"Begin on three, two, one."
Harry began with a simple, "Accio, wand! Petrificus Totalus!" The fight
was over before it began, and the kid who was dating his sister was on
the floor while Harry held his wand. Miguel had been so distracted with
his wand being summoned that he hadn't tried to dodge.
"The winner is Harry McGonagall," announced Wanda.
Harry bent over the fallen boy and dropped Miguel's wand next to him
before freeing him from the body-bind. He turned around and walked
back to his girlfriend.
"Congratulations on not hurting him."
"Thanks, Hermione," he replied, quickly stealing a kiss. He snuck a glance
at Brianna, who was consoling her boyfriend, but saw him and didn't
appear angry. Harry hoped that Hermione wouldn't be paired against
Brianna. He was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of his sister
yelling.
"All he did was disarm you! He could've done much worse!"
"Oh, you think I couldn't take him! He just cheated and caught me off
guard!"
"Harry did NOT cheat! He's just really good!"
"I guess you worship your big brother like a good baby sister."
CRACK! Harry couldn't help but smile as he watched his sister slap
Miguel.
"Do you two mind if we continue the championship?" asked Wanda
sternly, although Harry could tell she approved of Brianna slapping the
jerk.
The next duelists were called up and the duel lasted about three minutes.
After that, Hermione was called to face a boy about their age. She
dodged his first spell before trying to, "Stupefy!" him. He raised a shield
just in time. However, Hermione's spell cracked the shield so she sent
another, "Stupefy!" at him that knocked him out.
"And that's yet another reason not to rely on shields," announced Wanda
to tremendous applause, particularly from the girls.
One of the last duels of the day was Brianna's. She was picked to go
against a girl. She started out by aiming a leg-locker curse slightly to the
right of her opponent's feet. The girl only got hit because she tried to
dodge, and fell to the floor. She shot a spell in Brianna's general
direction, but didn't get anywhere near her. Harry's sister hit the girl with
a, "Stupefy!" ending the duel.
The next class would have all the winners face off and then those winners
face off.
-HM-HM-HM-
"You were all amazing!" declared Cousin Ralph, who'd been watching the
duels.
"Thanks," said Harry.
"Yeah, thank you," added Brianna. "I wouldn't…"
"Um, Brianna, could we talk?" came the voice of Miguel from behind
them. Harry glared at the kid who had one hand behind his back while
Brianna answered with her arms crossed in front of her. She looked
furious.
"Let me guess? You're suddenly sorry for what you said because you'd like
to kiss again?"
"Um, yeah. I've got something for you." He then pulled the hand out from
behind his back to reveal a box of chocolates.
"Oh, so you think I'm for sale?"
"I…"
"My mom told me all about guys like that. They spend money on the girl
and she'll do anything for them, like a prostitute. I just didn't think you
were one of those guys! Don't ever speak to me again, you jerk!"
"But I…"
She turned to her brother. "Harry, this person is annoying me. Would you
kick his…"
"I'm going!" he declared. "Your loss! That girl there is much prettier than
you, anyway!" They watched in surprise as he walked up to another girl
from their class and offered her the chocolates. She was blushing when
Harry turned away.
He heard his sister sniff a bit and knew she wanted to cry but was
refusing to. He knew she would not break down while there was any
chance that Miguel would see. He had been a bit surprised she hadn't
cursed him herself, but then again, she wanted to further rub in the fact
he'd lost a duel without even firing a spell.
The next class, Magical Home Improvement, was mostly uneventful as
each of them was given a faucet and three tiles to inscribe runes on.
Harry had the cold water working before the class was over, while
Hermione had both hot and cold working and would be getting the sink
to connect it to during the next class. As they left, they found out Brianna
had the hot water working.
When they got home, Brianna went straight to her room, and after being
briefly told what had happened, Cindy followed her daughter. A few
hours later, they both emerged and Brianna seemed less sad and angry,
but still not happy. Harry figured time would take care of that.
-HM-HM-HM-
The kids diligently worked to complete their workshops for the rest of the
week, with Brianna sitting as far away from her ex-boyfriend as possible.
When Harry felt his broom was ready, he turned it in for inspection. The
Enchanting instructor ran a few spells on it and declared, "It appears safe
enough."
Smiling brightly, Harry mounted his broom while Hermione and Brianna
watched. It did hold his weight, and his basic cushioning charms did
work, he noted proudly. He then leaned forward to make the broom
accelerate. Nothing happened for about five long seconds as Harry
sweated. Finally, it started to move forward at a speed he estimated to be
six inches per day. Harry's ears turned pink as he watched his girlfriend
trying not to laugh while he sister made no such attempt.
"You still did successfully enchant a broom to fly," said the instructor,
"even if it's not as fast as you'd like, so you've earned full credit for the
class."
A few minutes after that, he saw that Hermione had successfully
enchanted a book cover to do exactly what she'd wanted – to cause a
book to float above her and turn pages on command so that she could
easily read while lying in bed.
Brianna surprised them all by making a hoverboard like in the Back to
the Future movies. She'd removed the wheels from a skateboard and
performed spells on it. Much to Harry's irritation, it moved a bit faster
than his broom. However, he did grin when she lost her balance on it and
fell. Fortunately, it was only a foot in the air so she didn't get hurt.
Although he'd never admit it, Harry wished he'd thought of it and
intended to make himself one. He knew the hoverboard was simpler to
enchant than a broom, so he shouldn't have any problems. But first, he
had to figure out what went wrong with his broom.
Brianna lost her second round in the dueling championship and
Hermione lost third round. Harry, on the other hand, was still in the
game on the last day. Fortunately for him, the few kids that were older
than him were also bad duelers who lost in the first round, so he wasn't
at a disadvantage against any of them. He didn't beat all his competition
in the first five seconds, but he did beat them quickly.
"And now for the final round – Harry McGonagall versus Steven Grint."
Steven was Harry's age and was about a foot taller and heavier, which
made him an easier target than most. He had dark brown hair that
matched his eyes, and Harry had watched his previous duels with
interest, figuring they'd face each other. His wand was out and in a
dueling position as Wanda said, "Begin on three, two, one!"
Harry surprised Steven by dodging instead of firing a spell, and it was a
good thing, too. He'd just avoided an Expelliarmus. However, Mr. Grint
was not one to give up, as was evidenced by his rapid spell fire that kept
Harry moving – dodging, ducking, jumping out of the way as his
opponent kept up the pace. After thirty seconds of that, Harry knew he'd
be gasping for air if it weren't for his mom's insistence that he exercise
daily.
"Fight back!" commanded Steven, who, Harry noticed, was sweating
profusely. He had heard rumors about the consequences of firing spell
after spell without a break, but had never seen confirmation that it
exhausts someone that badly until now. Knowing that talking in a duel
would distract him, the Boy-Who-Lived said nothing, opting to continue
dodging the spells that appeared weaker and weaker. They were even
moving slower as Steven's complexion went to pink, red and then purple.
"Are you too afraid to shoot spells at me?" he asked, although it didn't
sound as threatening as it should've with him gasping for air every few
words.
Finally, after about two minutes, Steven was forced to pause in his firing
for a second as he wiped sweat from his brow. "Expelliarmus!" shouted
Harry, causing the wand to fly from his opponent's hand as he watched
dumbly. "Stupefy!" Harry walked up and revived his downed opponent,
who appeared upset but did nothing.
Wanda was grinning ear to ear as she announced, "The winner of the
Dueling Championship is Harry McGonagall!" to tremendous applause.
"This was a fine demonstration of why you shouldn't exhaust yourself in a
fight if it's at all possible. It also once again demonstrated the value of
dodging. It's my pleasure to reward you this trophy and the prize." She
performed a spell on the plastic trophy to put Harry's name on it. It was
gold-colored with a figure holding a wand, changing dueling stances
every few seconds. Harry was amused as he watched this and was barely
aware of being handed the prize – a lifetime pass to all aspects of that
carnival/workshop. From now on, he could follow them wherever they
set up and participate in every activity for free. He could even get all the
drinks he wanted for free. Unfortunately, he still had to pay for any food
he ordered.
Cindy, who'd watched the tournament, rushed up to her son hugging him
tightly, much to his embarrassment. "I'm so proud of you!" she declared
as his face colored, "or should I be afraid of you?" she added as a little
joke. She knew he'd never attack her.
"Mom!"
-HM-HM-HM-
His mom insisted on a party at home to celebrate his victory, and the rest
of the family agreed, Sirius especially. "James was also an excellent
dueler," he commented.
Remus added, "Yes. It seems that you did inherit more than your looks
from him."
Even though Harry had enjoyed hearing stories about his birth parents
from Remus, he was still uncomfortable being compared to them, so he
said nothing. He did, however, enjoy the attention that he was given that
night. After the party, he and Hermione had their own private
celebration, which left their lips very swollen. Unfortunately, it was also
a goodbye because the next day she had to go home to her parents.
"I'll call you everyday," he promised as she got into the line for
international floo.
"I'll miss you anyway," she replied.
"Parting is such sweet sorrow," added Brianna in a mock-romantic tone of
voice.
"Be quiet," shot Harry before turning back toward his girlfriend. "I'll miss
you, too."
He stayed and watched until she disappeared into the large floo. He'd
never admit to anyone the sense of loss he'd felt, even though he knew
they'd be separated for less than a month.
-HM-HM-HM-
A few days later, it was Harry Potter's birthday. Aside from his
girlfriend's wake-up call, Harry McGonagall didn't expect any fuss to be
made. However, when he came down the stairs, he found the two
Marauders waiting with eager looks on their faces.
"Morning, er, Seth and Ralph."
"Happy birthday!" they both shouted together.
"Thanks," he replied, "although I celebrate my birthday on August 12th.
Didn't they tell you?"
"Yes, they did," replied Remus/Ralph, "and your family will still celebrate
your official birthday, but we wanted to do something today – just the
three of us."
"Your dad told us about a place you enjoy…" said Sirius.
"…called Six Flags Great America," added Remus.
Harry blinked. He thought only twins could talk like that. Maybe it was
only pranksters. He grinned at the mention of the amusement park. "That
sounds great, but I think Brianna will throw a fit…"
"It's taken care of," interrupted Remus. "Your whole family will go
together, but we'll separate once we get inside."
"So I'll actually get to enjoy Great America without Brianna pestering
me?" he asked with a grin.
"Pestering?" she questioned from behind him. Obviously, she'd been
listening in.
He turned to face his sister with a grin to see she was smirking. "Exactly."
True to their word, the two groups of three (Mark, Cindy, Brianna &
Seth/Sirius, Ralph/Remus, Harry) separated at the entrance. Once they
were far enough away, Sirius whispered, "Now it's time to learn the true
value of Notice-Me-Not charms."
Harry was positive that his girlfriend wouldn't approve of how they cut
all the lines using that charm, along with Confundus, so in a way, he was
glad she wasn't there. He made a note to himself to never mention this
particular aspect of his Marauder Birthday Celebration. He knew he
should feel guilty, but he got to enjoy so many more rides that it was
difficult to regret doing it, especially when they pointed out other
magicals that were doing the same thing.
"You see that," said Sirius with disappointment as he pointed at the
young couple performing a Confundus charm on some muggles.
"Complete amateurs."
"Holding wands where anyone can see them. It's embarrassing," added
Remus indignantly. The Marauders kept their wands hidden up their
sleeves, knowing they only had to touch them to get good enough results.
"They're not even using Notice-Me-Not charms," Harry added.
"You're learning, kid," stated Sirius with a grin.
-HM-HM-HM-
The weeks after that flew by quickly. Harry did purchase a skateboard
and remove the wheels so he could make a hoverboard while he was at
Hogwarts, but for the time being, he was still working on his broom. His
official birthday came with a party that included his old friends from
primary school. He enjoyed their company, but the distance between
them was really beginning to show. Once his muggle friends were gone,
he found out that Hermione had left her enchanted book cover behind as
his birthday present. When he thanked her via their mirrors, she confided
that she'd already made another for herself.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Master," said Wormtail, "Why do you insist on using that particular boy? He
is nothing. Anyone else will do."
"Crucio! Do not question Lord Voldemort! There is something about that boy –
the way Quirrel burned when he touched him. I suspect…"
Harry awoke from his nap with a start. It was about 11 a.m. and Harry
had been feeling a bit under the weather and thought that a nap would
make him feel better. How wrong he was.
His head was hurting in the same pattern that it hurt when he was near
Voldemort. He forced his Occlumency shields forward and the pain was
gone. He took a few deep breaths and considered what he'd dreamed,
suspecting it had really happened. He wondered what he'd have seen if
he weren't an expert at Occlumency for even that small vision to be
powerful enough to get through. Naturally, he realized who Wormtail
and Voldemort were talking about, and didn't particularly like it. He had
to talk to someone about it.
-HM-HM-HM-
"It sounds like that cowardly traitor went straight to Voldemort!"
proclaimed Sirius. "I knew we should've killed him!"
Harry stammered, "I-I'm sorry. I…"
"It's not your fault, Harry," he replied quickly. "You were trying to get my
name cleared – not trying to let him go."
"It seems that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named hasn't forgotten how
Professor Quirrel died," commented Minerva, who was participating by
means of their mirrors.
"But what could they be planning?" asked Remus.
"I don't know," answered Harry, shaking his head.
"Is it safe for him to return to Hogwarts," asked Cindy, "or Brianna, for
that matter?"
"I don't think we'll get any answers," said Mark. "We don't even know if
they're planning to do anything at Hogwarts. It could be Diagon Alley,
Hogsmeade, Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters, here, anywhere."
Harry got a determined look in his eyes. "So, the question is whether
we'll just live in fear and lock me in a vault somewhere so that no can get
to me, or to live my life as I want to." He looked at them all. "Voldemort
can find this address if he wants to, so there's no way to guarantee that
this will be a safe place if he comes looking for me."
"I suggest speaking to the goblins at the local Gringotts Branch about
warding this house," said Remus.
"We probably should," agreed Mark. "Once the kids are at Hogwarts."
"But…" stated Cindy eloquently.
"But what, honey?" he replied. "We have no idea at all what is going on.
If we knew he'd attack at Hogwarts, I wouldn't let the kids go there, but
we don't. We can always pull them out of that school if it does look like
that's what's going to happen."
"I believe that I shall look into improving the wards at Hogwarts, when I
have time."
"You're still busy, Aunt Minnie?" asked Brianna. She'd been invited to this
conversation mainly because she'd have spied on it anyway. Besides, it
could involve her.
"Yes. The Ministry is insisting…I'm not allowed to discuss this stupid…
thing that they're doing, but I made my position clear. Fudge wasn't
happy about it, but he's not forcing me to host…anyway, I hate to say it,
but it looks like, for now, we have to wait and see."
With sighs all around, Mark said, "I'm afraid so."
"Would you like me to tell Mr. Dumbledore about your dream, Harry?"
she asked. "He might know something that could be helpful."
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry nodded. "I suppose. If you think it would
be worthwhile."
"Now, make sure you reinforce your Occlumency every night before bed,"
she admonished.
"Yes, Aunt Minnie."
"Good."
The next few weeks went by uneventfully, although his whole family was
glad they hadn't attended the event when they read the headline, SCENES
OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP. As that event had nothing
to do with Hogwarts, it did not change their plans, and so, on September
1st, Harry and Brianna boarded the Hogwarts Express.
-HM-HM-HM-
Chapter end
32. Brooms and Hoverboards
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 32 – Brooms and Hoverboards
"There you are!" exclaimed Hermione happily when she found the
compartment Harry and his sister were sitting in on the Hogwarts
Express. She rushed forward and kissed him.
"It's good to see you, too, Hermione," greeted Brianna sarcastically while
her brother was still kissing the new occupant of their compartment. "I'm
doing just fine. Thanks for asking. How are you?"
Shortly after that, the young couple did separate, and Hermione did greet
Brianna. However, it seemed quite obvious that neither she nor Harry
even heard his sister's comments. They spoke for a few minutes until
someone else entered the compartment.
"Hi, Padma," said Hermione, the first to notice she'd entered. "How was
your summer?"
"All right," she replied. "I got to see the Quidditch World Cup, which was
great, until…"
"We read about it in the paper," stated Harry, "but sometimes the Daily
Prophet is a bit…inaccurate. What really happened?"
"Well, I didn't see much because once the trouble started my parents took
me, Parv and Lav to a Portkey, but I did see about a dozen Death Eaters
floating some muggles upside down."
"A dozen?!" questioned Brianna. "Then why weren't they caught? I read
there were hundreds of aurors there!"
"There were," Padma admitted. "That just shows how efficient they are.
Head Auror Rufus Scrimgeour must really train them well," she replied
sarcastically.
"He probably teaches them to shove their wands up their…"
"Harry, language!" Hermione admonished her boyfriend while the others
laughed.
"Anyway," continued Padma, "I know the Daily Prophet talked about
deaths, but there weren't any. The Death Eaters were far too frightened to
fight anyone but muggle children while the aurors were afraid of them.
Somebody set off the Dark Mark and they left."
"Not one of them was caught?" questioned Harry.
"Nope."
"What was the point of that attack, though, I wonder?" asked Hermione.
"Just some old Death Eaters having fun, I guess," replied Padma.
"The Death Eaters' idea of fun is ruining everyone else's," said Brianna.
Everyone agreed before changing the subject to more pleasant topics,
mostly telling Padma all about the workshop the other three had
attended. While they'd written her a bit about it, they hadn't gone into
details yet. It seemed that Draco was beginning to learn, because he
didn't show up for the whole train ride.
-HM-HM-HM-
When they entered the Great Hall that night, drenched from the storm
outside that was shown in the ceiling of that ancient room, Harry
immediately looked to the head table, where he saw his aunt chatting
with a new professor. He was very scarred up and had a wooden leg, but
what stood out most to Harry was one of the man's eyes. He had one
normal eye, but the other was bigger and obviously fake. It was electric
blue and spun around in every direction. As he focused on the crazy eye,
he realized who it was.
"That must be Mad-Eye Moody," he commented before performing a
drying spell on himself.
"The Auror?" asked Hermione, who was also drying herself. He nodded.
"Didn't your aunt tell you she'd hired him?" asked Padma, who saw what
they were doing and pulled out her wand.
"I didn't ask her. She's been busy helping plan some secret event she
wouldn't tell me about, so I didn't get the chance." They quickly reached
the Ravenclaw table and sat down.
At that time, the sorting hat was brought in, along with the first years. As
usual, the hat sang a song and then the kids put on the hat so they could
be divided into houses. The first student was called Stewart Ackerley and
was sorted into Ravenclaw (Harry and the others clapped) while the last
one was named Kevin Whitby and was sorted into Hufflepuff.
"Professor McGonagall's standing up," said Hermione once the sorting was
complete. "It looks like she's about to make an announcement."
Harry's girlfriend was proven right when Aunt Minnie walked up to the
podium. "Welcome, everyone, to Hogwarts. Before the feast begins, I
have a few quick announcements. The first is to welcome Professor
Moody, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He's a retired
Auror who has much experience fighting the Dark Arts that I'm sure he'll
share with you." He absently waved at the students like he wasn't paying
attention, but Harry saw his special eye roving across the crowd,
searching for any threat.
Looking unhappy, the headmistress continued. "My other announcement
is that this year, the Ministries of Magic for three different countries have
decided that the Triwizard Tournament will be held…"
"You're joking!" came from the Weasley twins sitting at the Gryffindor
table.
"…at Beauxbatons," continued Minerva, looking annoyed. "And I am not
joking, Mr's Weasley. That will be five points from Gryffindor for
interrupting me." Harry noticed the disappointed looks on Fred and
George's (although they seemed pleased to have lost points so early and
were clearly hoping they'd gotten the record for earliest punishment)
faces as his aunt explained the tournament, emphasizing the dangers
involved that led to many deaths, which was the reason for a new age
limitation to the tournament.
"And so, at the end of October, I will be escorting any interested
seventeen-years-or-older students to Beauxbatons." Minerva stared right
at the Fred and George, daring them to interrupt her again, which they
wisely didn't. "Professor Flitwick will be acting as Headmaster in my
absence." She then took a breath and held out her hands. "Let the feast
begin."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning, classes started, so all the students began to get used to
their new schedule, which wasn't very pleasant, at least in Herbology,
where they had to collect bubotuber puss, and their first Defense Against
the Dark Arts lesson.
Professor Moody, magical eye spinning in all directions, began his class
by quickly drawing his wand and shooting a spell at the middle of the
class, hitting Michael Corner in the forehead. Harry immediately
recognized the spell as the paintball charm he'd learned over the summer
and barely avoided laughing when his dorm-mate put his hand on the
paint, spreading it worse.
"What did you do that for?" demanded Corner.
"To show you that you're not safe anywhere. It could just as easily have
been a death curse. You thought that because you're in a classroom that
you're safe and can't be attacked, but I say different! You're got to have
CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Everyone jumped when Moody yelled the last
part. "You wouldn't imagine the things I've seen wizards do to each other,
even in your worst nightmares. I'm not here to teach you how to cast the
dark curses I've seen. I'm here to teach you how to survive, and the only
way you'll do it is through CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Everyone flinched
again.
"Today, we'll begin by talking about the three spells that the Ministry
claims will give you a life sentence in Azkaban. I say 'claims,' because
there are dozens of wizards and witches still out there who cast these
very curses at people during the last war. Some of them turned in their
accomplices to get out of prison, while others claimed they'd been under
the influence of one of the Unforgivables themselves." He looked around
the classroom. "Can anyone name the curse they claim they were under?"
Hermione's hand shot into the air immediately, as did Harry's.
"Miss…Granger, is it?"
"Yes, sir."
"What curse am I talking about?"
"The Imperius Curse, sir."
"Correct. Two points to Ravenclaw." His gnarled face took on a very
somber expression. "When the Imperius Curse is successfully placed on a
person, they are a virtual slave. Victims have been raped, forced to
torture their family members and to kill total strangers." He took a deep
breath. "It is true that You-Know-Who used the Imperius Curse, but not
on everybody. What the Ministry doesn't seem to know is how to sort out
the liars." There were a few moments of silence where Harry ran a list
through his mind of people he knew to be liars. Lucius Malfoy was at the
top.
"Can someone name another Unforgivable curse?" the professor asked.
Harry raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. McGonagall."
"The Avada Kedavra, sir."
"Yes, the Death Curse. Only one person is known to have survived it, but
he went missing long ago." Harry noticed a sad expression form on his
teacher's face, as well as most of his classmates. It was one of the few
times when he actually saw the affect that the Boy-Who-Lived's
disappearance had on Wizarding Britain. "Wherever Harry Potter is, I
hope he's safe and vigilant." Others silently nodded at that statement.
Harry didn't dare glance at his friends. Moody sighed and asked, "Anyone
know the last Unforgivable?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Hermione's birthday came and went with a small party at C.A.R.E.
headquarters and some private time with Harry. He had given her some
perfume enchanted to protect her from minor spells and she had been
very grateful. It was a few days later that the trio overheard an
interesting conversation.
"Tryouts are for peasants," declared Draco Malfoy. Harry, Hermione and
Padma had been walking toward the Potions classroom when they started
turning a corner and saw Draco talking with Blaise Zabini, Crabbe and
Goyle. The Boy-Who-Lived-In-Secret stopped and backed up, signaling
the others to join him. He quickly got his Invisibility Cloak out of his bag
and put it over them so they could sneak closer to see what Draco was up
to.
"Now that I'm finally allowed on a Quidditch team, I don't have to waste
time trying out. My father bought all new Nimbus 2001's for the
Slytherin Quidditch team, so they kicked Higgs off, making me the new
Seeker."
Blaise asked, "Only 2001's? I heard Nimbus made a new one."
Harry grinned as he saw Draco's ears turn pink. "Because of that stupid
accident in first year, my father isn't convinced that I'm a good flier, so he
said that after I win all our matches this year, he'll buy me a Firebolt. As
for the others, he didn't want to pay more than was necessary. Because of
the new Nimbus 2002's that came out, he was able to get seven 2001's
cheap. I'm sure even the Nimbus 2000's better than that piece of trash the
American mudbloods made that McGonagall flies around on." Malfoy
sighed. "I do wish Father had given me a Firebolt now, though. Imagine
that son-of-a-squib's face if I had one in our first match next month. He'd
be surprised. Either way, I'm gonna fly circles around him." Crabbe and
Goyle laughed stupidly while Blaise didn't seem so sure.
"I hope so."
"Hope?" yelled Draco. "Don't tell me you think that filthy mudblood can
out fly a pureblood!"
Harry signaled his companions to go, knowing he wouldn't be able to
hold in his laughter much longer. Once they were far enough away, they
took off the cloak. Harry asked, "How can those bigots be so blind to not
see that Quidditch skills have nothing to do with parentage?"
"That is very willfully ignorant?" agreed Hermione.
"Shouldn't someone have stopped the Malfoys from bribing Draco's way
onto the team?" asked Padma.
"No, I don't think so," replied Harry with a grin. "If they'll accept a bribe
like that, then they deserve to have a substandard Seeker who's more
likely to catch a cold than the Snitch."
"He sure did go on about the Firebolt, though," commented Padma. "It'll
be funny to see him pout when he doesn't get one next year."
"True," agreed Harry before a happily evil expression came on his face.
"I've got a scathingly brilliant idea. I'll bet Malfoy's dumb enough to fall
for it."
"What?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry spent the next few weeks working on his homemade broom he'd
enchanted during the summer. For his plan to work, he had to make
some modifications. He would work on that for awhile and then take out
his wheel-less skateboard and work on making it a hoverboard. He
absolutely refused to ask Brianna the exact spells she'd used to enchant it,
since he had a pretty good idea what she'd done anyway. He laughed as
he thought back to an incident that had happened a few days before. He
hadn't seen it, but had heard his sister complain about it.
Brianna had checked the Hogwarts rulebook very carefully before she
implemented her plan. She, like most students, was tired of waiting on
stairs that moved around, plus she wanted to move through Hogwarts
faster. Therefore, she decided to start riding her hoverboard in the
hallways. Most of the muggle-born students who saw that absolutely
loved the device and Brianna had agreed to enchant skateboards for some
of them, for a fee, once they convinced their parents to send them.
However, some other students, particularly prefects, didn't seem to like
her hoverboard, so she replied to their complaints, "There is no rule
against riding hoverboards in the hallway. Only brooms."
The first teacher to see her on the board was Professor Flitwick, and
when he heard her response, he took one point from Gryffindor for her
cheek and immediately went to see the Headmistress. From what Harry
had found out, Aunt Minnie yelled at Brianna for causing trouble like
this, when she should've known better. She was assigned a detention with
Professor Sinistra, her head of house. The next day, a new school rule
was posted that said, "No student shall ride any enchanted device inside
Hogwarts castle, with the only exception being medical reasons."
Harry was glad that hoverboards were still allowed outside and would've
been really ticked off at his sister if Aunt Minnie had made them
forbidden altogether. His aunt had explained that she would feel like a
hypocrite to not allow hoverboards flown outside when she allowed
brooms, and therefore applied the same rules to all similar devices.
-HM-HM-HM-
Ravenclaw had tryouts for the team, but the results were that they had
exactly the same lineup as the previous year. Roger Davies, the team
captain, was a few months too young for the Triwizard Tournament, so
he hadn't had to decide whether he wanted to captain the Quidditch
team or try to enter the tournament. Cho Chang was still the reserve
Seeker. She had improved, but still couldn't beat Harry. Hermione was
still one of the Chasers, but had confided in both Harry and their captain
that she planned on quitting the team the next year so she'd have more
time to work on her O.W.L.s. The practices were grueling, but (along
with classes) helped the weeks to pass quickly.
It was the Friday before the Headmistress, along with the Triwizard
hopefuls, would leave Hogwarts for the year, and all the students were in
the Great Hall eating breakfast. As the mail was flown in, Harry grinned
at two owls that together were carrying a long package. He'd specifically
instructed the owls to make sure that Draco saw them, so he chuckled
when they swooped right in front of Malfoy and kept flying toward the
Ravenclaw table, finally stopping in front of Harry. He patted both the
snowy owl and eagle owl as he untied the package they'd brought.
"What is that?" Hermione asked, appearing curious. "It looks like a…"
"Not here," he inturrupted in a half-whisper, hoping that Draco, whom he
noticed was looking at them intently, could hear him. He turned to the
owls. "Good job, Hedwig, Barnabus." He gave them each a piece of bacon
before suggesting, "Barnabus, you may want to go see Brianna." As his
sister's eagle owl started flapping his wings, Harry jokingly added, "Tell
her I said thanks."
They finished eating quickly and Harry said in his half-whisper,
"Hermione, Padma, let's go somewhere we can talk." He grinned as, out
of the corner of his eye, he saw Draco put down his fork and nudge his
bodyguards. He loved how much more peripheral vision he had with
contact lenses than he'd had with glasses, even a year after he'd started
wearing them.
In their carefully rehearsed manner, the Ravenclaw trio made its way out
of the Great Hall and toward a nearby empty room. They waited outside
the doorway until Padma whispered (much more softly), "They're
coming." They hurried into the room and closed the door mostly, making
sure to leave it open a crack so that the silencing charm wouldn't work
completely and began their planned conversation. Harry started.
"Now, you two have got to keep this quiet. Not even Aunt Minnie knows I
ordered this, but I'm gonna surprise everyone at the game tomorrow." He
loudly began ripping open the package.
Hermione asked, "What is…"
"That's a Firebolt!" declared Padma in mock surprise as he pulled out his
personally enchanted broom whose appearance he'd modified.
"Harry! That's far too expensive. Your parents will kill you if they find
out you spent that much of your trust fund on a broom!" she yelled,
doing her best not to laugh.
"It's not just any broom! It's the best there is! Do you know it can
accelerate to one hundred fifty miles per hour?"
"But that's still not worth it…"
"It'll be worth it to see the look on Malfoy's face when I fly circles around
him tomorrow."
"They'll make you take it back," stated Padma, "even though it is
amazing. May I hold it?" she asked, sounding reverent.
"Can we have a go on it today before that happens?" Hermione asked
sheepishly.
"No, and don't tell anyone about this. I'm not even going to take it to the
dorm. I'm leaving it here."
"What?" asked both girls in faked horror.
"Don't worry. I'll hide it. No one will find it unless they already know it's
here. Right under this couch. I'll put a notice-me-not charm on it so no
one will look under it." After he'd done so, he asked, "There. Can you two
see it?"
"No," answered Hermione.
"I can't see it either," agreed Padma.
"Good," stated Harry. "This should be perfect."
"But what if someone does find it?" asked Hermione. "You won't even be
able to report it stolen."
"That won't happen," said Harry dismissively. "Now we've got to hurry to
class."
-HM-HM-HM-
The moment Draco heard Harry say they were leaving the room, he
signaled Crabbe and Goyle to quickly follow him around a corner. He
couldn't believe his luck, along with Harry McGonagall's stupidity. He'd
heard the sound level drop when the privacy charm was cast, but could
still understand every word spoken in the room. They quietly watched
the trio of Ravenclaws pass them by, seemingly without noticing them.
"I'll show McGonagall," he grumbled to his bodyguards once his enemies
were out of earshot. "Thinks he can fly circles around me, does he? He'll
be so shocked tomorrow!" Crabbe and Goyle laughed loudly as the three
of them rushed into the room Harry and the girls had just vacated.
"There's only one couch in the room," declared Draco, who did
momentarily feel the affects of the weak charm his rival had placed.
"That son-of-a-squib obviously doesn't have enough magic to stop a
pureblood," he declared when he found the broom.
"Are ya gonna fly it, Draco?" asked Goyle.
"Are you kidding, you idiot? And risk being seen with it before the game?
I'm gonna hide this in my trunk until tomorrow…"
-HM-HM-HM-
"What!?" declared Harry out loud, just in case someone was listening. It
was the next morning and they were making sure Draco had taken the
bait. He'd just looked under the couch. "It's gone!"
"Oh no!" declared Padma.
"What are you going to do?" asked Hermione, sounding desperate.
"I'm gonna find whatever ba…"
"Harry, language!"
"…whoever stole this and bash his head against the floor! That's what I'm
gonna do!" he declared angrily.
"Violence isn't always…"
"It's the answer in this case," Harry yelled, while winking at his girlfriend.
"What are you going to do about this match, though? You don't have time
to find the thief."
"I'll just have to get my Lighting Bolt, won't I?" he snapped while grinning
at her. "Let's go."
Each of them had a hard time keeping the angry expressions on their
faces as they stomped up to Ravenclaw Tower and back to the Great Hall,
especially when they saw Malfoy stupidly smirk at them.
"You'd think he'd try not to be so obvious," whispered Harry to his
girlfriend. "He's supposed to be a clever Slytherin."
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everyone, to the first Quidditch match of the year –
Ravenclaw versus Slytherin!" announced Lee Jordan from his usual post
next to Headmistress McGonagall. She still refused to give up that spot to
Deputy Headmaster Flitwick, although he'd obviously have that position
for the rest of the year.
He first announced the Ravenclaw team, mentioning that, "The Seeker
looks upset about something." When he got done announcing the other
team, he mentioned, "And Seeker-Draco Malfoy, whose father happened
to contribute all new brooms to the team just before he was added to the
roster. What a coincidence."
"Jordan!"
"It's just the truth, Headmistress. And…is that a Firebolt?" he asked in
awe. Draco was doing the broom-riding equivalent of a strut, with his
chest out and a huge grin on his face as the others looked at him. Harry
had managed to get the broom to move fast enough for this – about ten
miles per hour. He'd been counting on Malfoy to act like this. He glared
at Draco, pretending he'd just realized who robbed him.
"Lose something, McGonagall?" he asked casually.
"I'm gonna…"
Whatever Harry was gonna do to Draco was lost when the Quaffle was
released. Draco slowly and arrogantly flew upwards while Harry
followed, looking ready to kill. It was quite an exercise in Occlumency to
pretend to be mad enough to spit fire when in reality he was ready to
burst out laughing. Controlling those emotions isn't easy.
"Davies gets the Quaffle!" Jordan announced. "He passes it to Granger,
who passes it to…Flint steals the Quaffle. Those Nimbus 2001s are fast.
The dirty cheats!"
"Jordan!" Harry was always amused at the way his aunt pretended to
disagree with statements like that. He knew if she really disagreed she'd
have replaced Lee years ago. "Flint is hit with a Bludger – Take that! And
Bradley gets the Quaffle. He passes it to Granger, who approaches the
Slytherin hoops. She shoots…and scores! Ravenclaw – 10; Slytherin
nothing!"
However, that was the only goal that Hermione managed during the next
forty minutes. Roger Davies managed two goals and Sean Bradley got
one, but the Slytherins, on their faster brooms, got 100 points before
Harry finally saw the Snitch. He purposely stopped himself from doing
any feints, because he didn't want Draco to find out his broom was fake
until they were chasing the Snitch. He aimed his broom and took off as
fast as the Lightning Bolt would go.
"Has McGonagall seen the Snitch?" Jordan asked. "Looks like Malfoy's
seen it, too. We'll find out how fast his…something's wrong with his
broom."
Harry fought his temptation to look back at the broom that was
indubitably going its top speed of 10.5 miles per hour until after he had
the Snitch in his hand. He looked back at the confused, red-faced
Slytherin son-of-a-Death-Eater and started laughing his head off. He
didn't stop even when Jordan announced, "Ravenclaw wins 190 – 100!"
"You did this!" shouted Malfoy at him.
"Did what?" he asked innocently as he looked down to see Lucius Malfoy
walking toward the pitch with his very cool cane. He appeared furious as
they lowered.
"Where did you get that broom!?" he demanded of his son. "I bought you
a perfectly good Nimbus 2001!" He performed a silent spell on the
'Firebolt' and declared, "This is a fake! Finite!" It now appeared to be
what it was – a muggle broom with a few enchantments. Lucius dropped
it and sent a fire spell at it, burning it to ashes within seconds. Draco
appeared genuinely frightened. "Who gave this to you?"
"M-McGonagall!" he stuttered, indicating Harry.
"I did no such thing," he proclaimed. "Why would I give him a broom? He
stole it."
Lucius looked between the two boys for a moment before his eyes rested
on his son. "You stole this muggle broom instead of using…"
"I didn't know…he tricked me!"
Laughing, Harry admitted, "Sure did. You clever Slytherins are so much
fun to play with," and took off before Lucius could react, leaving them to
deal with the family trouble on their own, putting his arm around his
favorite Chaser before they broke down laughing again.
"I can't believe he really fell for it," laughed Hermione. "He didn't even
test it."
Before he got to the locker room, he found his aunt waiting for him
looking displeased. "Well?" she demanded.
Without one bit of remorse, Harry looked her in the eyes. "All I did is
make sure he overheard I had a Firebolt hidden. I did NOT tell him to
steal it. What happened was his own stupid fault and I will NOT
apologize."
They stared at each other for about five seconds until Minerva started
laughing. "That is exactly what I'll tell Mr. Malfoy when he complains. I
believe I shall demand that he pay back the cost of the broom he
destroyed in his anger, and give young Malfoy detention." Harry and
Hermione began laughing hard once more. "We can't, after all, have theft
going unpunished at Hogwarts."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was genuinely surprised when Aunt Minnie brought him a Galleon
that she'd witnessed Lucius force his son to take out of his own pocket to
replace the stolen broom. Lucius was furious with his son – first for being
tricked by a mudblood, then for stealing a fake broom, not testing the
broom before the game, and getting caught. Harry immediately got
Hermione to have her parents get him a replacement he could enchant.
He'd heard rumors that even the Slytherins were against Draco for this.
He'd humiliated their whole house publicly, proving that wearing a
Slytherin insignia on your robes does not make you clever. Every time he
saw Draco after that he was glaring. Even though he wasn't afraid of the
half-squib, Harry did warn his friends and sister to be careful in case he
tried a sneak attack as revenge.
It was less than a week after the game that he and his sister were in the
Headmistress' office, saying goodbye. For her image's sake, Minerva
didn't want this conversation to occur in front of the other students.
"I'll miss you, Aunt Minnie," said Brianna as she hugged the older woman.
"I'll miss you, too. Both of you." She hugged Harry before adding, "Now,
stay out of trouble, and remember, I'm still only a mirror call away. I love
you both. Now, let's get down to the Great Hall."
They soon reached the room, where breakfast was already in session, and
sat at their respective tables. Before Harry had completely finished, the
Headmistress announced, "All Triwizard hopefuls who have signed up to
go to France with me," she glanced at the Weasley Twins before adding,
"…and have been accepted…" They frowned. "…will meet me right
outside the main doors of Hogwarts in fifteen minutes with your trunks."
As there were no classes for the first half of that day, Harry and his
friends stayed behind to watch the group enter what appeared to be a
rather large version of the carriages they rode between Hogsmeade and
Hogwarts. Harry had mentioned the flying carpet to his aunt, but been
told, "First, that stupid Fudge would have us arrested for using a muggle
artifact. I still don't know why Arthur Weasley, who wrote that
regulation, thinks carpets are a muggle artifact but brooms aren't.
Secondly, we'll be sleeping inside the carriage. It'll be charmed to hold
two dorms for boys and girls, in addition to quarters for myself."
Just as it was taking off into the air, being pulled by Thestrals, which
were unseen by most of the students, Fred and George Weasley both flew
toward the carriage on brooms. However, the moment their hands
touched it, something pushed them down to the ground, at the same time
turning their hair white and making them grow beards to match
Dumbledore's. Everyone started laughing at the two as they stared at
each other in shock. Only Harry and Brianna knew what had happened,
but he quickly whispered to his girlfriend, "Aunt Minnie put an age line
on the carriage just in case someone tried that."
They spent the next few minutes watching the carriage move farther and
farther away until it was out of sight, wondering what Hogwarts would
be like without Minerva McGonagall. Once it was gone, he decided to try
out his hoverboard for a few minutes. He'd finally had the chance to
enchant it after he finished his prank on Malfoy. It was a bit difficult to
keep balance on it, but it could safely take him up to fifty miles per hour,
which was the same as the dozen that Brianna had enchanted for her
customers. He planned to improve it, but was glad his board was now
usable. He couldn't persuade his girlfriend to try it, but Padma did and
enjoyed it, despite a few minor falls.
-HM-HM-HM-
A few days later, Harry had just returned to Ravenclaw Tower after the
Halloween Feast. Even though he'd had a good time, he still missed his
aunt's presence and was considering calling her when he felt his mirror,
which he kept with him always, vibrate. He pulled it out to see the very
person he was thinking about.
"Happy Halloween, Aunt Minnie," he said with a large grin. "I was just
thinking about you."
"Happy Halloween, Harry," she replied, not sounding very enthusiastic.
He then noticed she looked pale, frightened, and angry.
"What's wrong?" he asked, his expression showing his concern.
She took a deep breath and steeled herself for what she had to do. "I don't
know how else to say this, Harry. You're going to have to come here and
compete as a fourth champion of the Triwizard Tournament."
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
33. Welcome to France
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 33 – Welcome to France
A/N: I have absolutely no knowledge of the French language, and as such, I
am not going to attempt to use it in this story, because I would butcher it
terribly. I will be making an attempt at incorporating some French culture into
the story, though. I have done some research and will hopefully be able to
acceptably accomplish that. If I get something terribly wrong, I apologize in
advance and meant no disrespect.
"What do you mean I've got to compete?" Harry replied as his eyes bulged
out. He was staring at the small mirror he was holding in disbelief as he
quickly made his way to a private corner of Ravenclaw tower. "How can
you have a fourth champion in a Triwizard tournament? How could I
have even entered?"
Aunt Minnie's face only looked paler as she explained. "I'm afraid we
don't know how it happened, Harry. The first three champions were
selected normally. Cedric Diggory is Hogwarts' champion, by the way.
The Goblet of Fire, which I told you and Brianna about, produced a
fourth name before the flame died down – yours."
Harry's heart started to beat a bit faster as he contemplated the meaning
of that. "Which name?" he whispered.
"Harry McGonagall."
The Boy-Who-Lived sighed in relief. "At least whoever did that doesn't
know…" He didn't need to finish that statement. "But how am I bound to
compete? Isn't there some sort of…"
"It is your handwriting, Harry. I'd recognize it anywhere, and that is your
legal signature."
"Where did they get my signature!?" he yelled.
"We don't know, but it is genuine. I'm sorry, Harry."
"What if I tell them to stuff it?!" he lashed out. "Tell them I don't want to
be part of that bloody tournament! What are they gonna do, arrest me?"
Minerva solemnly shook her head. "No, they can't arrest you, b…"
"Then that's what I'll do!" Harry declared.
"Don't interrupt, Harry," his aunt admonished. "You are bound by magic
itself."
"What are you saying, Aunt Minnie?"
"If you do not participate, the magic of the Goblet of Fire will exact a
penalty from you."
"What sort of penalty?"
"We don't know exactly. It could turn you into a muggle. It might even
kill you. The point is that it will be severe."
"Is there anything you do know exactly?"
Aunt Minnie took a deep breath. She was getting annoyed at her
nephew's rudeness, but she did understand the situation and was cutting
him some slack. "We know that you have to compete, and that a
representative of the Ministry of Magic will be at Hogwarts tomorrow
afternoon to give you a portkey. You're excused from Hogwarts classes, of
course, so you can pack. You'll be spending the rest of your fourth year
here at Beauxbatons. I also have to tell you that the first task will be on
November 24th and you're supposed to face it without having a clue
what you're facing."
Harry's breathing was getting heavy. "Terrific." He then looked thoughtful
for a moment. "What about Hermione?"
"I'm afraid that she won't be able to join you for the most part, although
she might be able to attend actual Tournament events."
Running his hands through his dirty-blond hair, he replied, "I guess I'd
better go talk to her."
"Yes. You should tell your sister as well. I'll be explaining the situation to
Professor Flitwick."
"You're the one telling mom and dad about this."
A look of dread came over Minerva's face, even worse than before. She
took a deep breath. "I suppose I shall. I'd imagine your mum will be quite
displeased."
At this, Harry actually chuckled. "Now that's an understatement if I ever
heard one. She'll be p…"
"Harry, language!"
"Ticked off." He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I'll let you go. Bye. I
suppose I'll see you tomorrow."
"Goodbye."
After turning off his mirror, Harry went in search of his girlfriend, whom
he found lying on a couch with a book floating above her, reading. "Hey,
Hermione," he said nervously, "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure," she replied, grabbing the book out of the air and placing a book
mark in it while sitting up. As she turned to look at him, she began
asking, "Okay, Harry, what do you…what's wrong?"
"I just got a call from Aunt Minnie."
Her eyes went wide and her face took on an expression of concern. "Is she
all right? Did something happen to her?"
"She's fine…it's just…" He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "I
have to compete as a fourth champion in the Triwizard Tournament."
"WHAT?!" After Harry explained to her what his aunt had told him, she
yelled, "That is so unfair! It's ridiculous! There's got to be a way out of it!"
Without another word, she got up and headed toward the door.
Harry knew his girlfriend well enough to know exactly where she was
headed, so he called out, "The library's closed," causing her to freeze in
her tracks.
"Oh, yes. Of course it is," she replied, turning around. He noticed that her
ears were quite pink as she continued, "I forgot what time it is.
Tomorrow, we'll look…"
"Tomorrow they're taking me to Beauxbatons, no matter what we find in
the library."
"But…"
He put his hand on Hermione's shoulder and faced her. "The person
coming with a portkey is a Ministry official whose job is to get me to
France. He or she isn't coming to look at evidence – that's for the judges
to look at. I'm going to have to cooperate." He shrugged his shoulders.
"Maybe you'll find something in a few days to give those judges and I'll
be able to return. Maybe not. The point is that I'll be leaving and we don't
know when we'll see each other again." A sly smile made its way onto his
face. "I think we should enjoy the little time we have left."
"What do you…oh," she replied as he moved his face closer to hers and
kissed her.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next morning at breakfast, Harry walked into the Great Hall between
Hermione and Padma (who'd been informed of the situation) and
immediately focused his attention on the Gryffindor table, where he saw
his little sister sitting in between her two redheaded best friends – Lily
Spindler and Ginny Weasley. He walked straight up to her.
"Hi, Harry," greeted Lily with a small blush. She'd always seemed to have
a crush on him.
"Hi Lily, Ginny." He turned to his sister. "Brianna, can we talk for a
minute? It's kind of important."
"I suppose," she replied and got up, "but only for a minute. I want to
finish breakfast."
After they left the Great Hall and went into an empty room, Harry began,
"Aunt Minnie called last night and said my name came out of the Goblet
of Fire."
His sister's eyes went wide for a moment before she replied, "Is that your
idea of a joke?"
"No, Brianna. Someone put my signature into the goblet and got it to
come out as a fourth champion. Somebody from the Ministry will be
arriving this afternoon to give me a portkey."
She looked concerned. "You…you're leaving?"
He nodded. "Yes. It looks like I won't set foot in Hogwarts until next
September. I'm excused from classes today so I can get packed."
Uncharacteristically, Brianna threw her arms around her brother. "Be
careful. I know the tournament's supposed to be dangerous."
He patted her back for a few moments before pulling away from his
sister, putting on the best poker-face he could manage. "I'll be fine. You
take care of yourself. I won't be around to stop idiots like Malfoy from
attacking you."
"I'll be careful," promised Brianna, "but I'm not scared of that arrogant
little boy."
He sighed. "We'd better get back to the Great Hall."
The siblings rejoined their respective friends, and the meal went by in
relative peace, until at the very end, Professor Flitwick made the
announcement that Cedric was one Hogwarts champion and Harry had
somehow been entered into the tournament and would have to compete,
which brought about a lot of chattering.
"At least no one thinks I entered my name," Harry commented to his
friends. "Imagine if the Triwizard had been held here."
"Everyone would think you snuck in during the night and put your name
in," stated Hermione.
"It's a good thing you have such an unbreakable alibi," added Padma.
"Yep," replied Harry in his full American accent. He had been slowly
developing a British accent that he tended to use at Hogwarts, but when
he was worried, his speech reverted to its origins. "I'd better go pack. I'll
see you later."
Before he stood up, Hermione asked, "I know you had trouble with those
French lessons. Do you think you speak enough French to get by?"
Harry's eyes went wide. "No. I hadn't thought of that. That's just perfect! I
won't even be able to understand their healers when they're treating me
after each task. They'll say, 'There's nothing I can do,' and I'll think they're
telling me I'll be fine."
"Don't talk like that!" Hermione practically yelled. "You will be fine! I'm
just concerned about how you'll communicate with all the new friends
you'll meet." For a moment, her face developed a frown, but then went
back to a neutral expression. Harry figured he knew what she was
worried about.
"I'll call you every day, just like during the summer."
The meal ended shortly and Harry separated from his friends; they went
to classes while he returned to Ravenclaw Tower, where he spent the
morning packing. When he finished with his room, he also went to
C.A.R.E. Headquarters to collect his Game Boy and CD's. He figured he'd
leave the boom box for the club and buy his own if he could use it. By
the time he was finished, his watch told him that lunch was about to
begin. In silence, he made his way into the Great Hall.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry entered the Great Hall to see his girlfriend standing at the Head
Table talking to Professor Flitwick. Figuring she had a question about the
latest Charms assignment or something, he shrugged his shoulders and
headed for the Ravenclaw table, sitting across from Padma.
"So," she began, "are you all packed?"
"Yeah. I even packed my music. I left the cd player there for you,
though."
"Thanks. I would really miss the music at Headquarters."
"I figure that if electricity works there, I can guilt-trip Aunt Minnie into
buying me a new one."
Padma started laughing just as Hermione arrived. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," replied Harry instantly, knowing that Hermione wouldn't
approve of his using this situation to get his aunt to buy him new stuff.
"I asked Professor Flitwick, and he allowed me to miss classes the rest of
the day," she announced to them.
"Really?" asked Harry, actually touched that she'd miss class to spend
time with him. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. There's actually something I want to talk to you alone
about at Headquarters. You are all packed, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good. We should have time before you go. Professor Flitwick said the
Ministry official shouldn't arrive until three."
"Time for what?" asked Padma. Then, a concerned expression came over
her face. "Hermione, you're not gonna…"
"No," she replied, with her ears turning pink. "But this is a personal
matter between Harry and me. Sorry."
Sighing, Padma replied, "All right, you two can have your goodbye." She
turned to face Harry. "It won't be the same here without you."
"I'll miss you, too, Padma." With that, the trio began to fill up their plates
and ate their lunch. When they were finished eating, Harry and
Hermione stood up to leave.
Before he'd left the table, a blonde girl a year younger than him got up
from where she'd been sitting at the same table and said, "Goodbye,
Harry McGonagall." while reaching out to shake his hand.
"Bye, Luna," he replied, taking her hand and shaking it.
"I think that the next time I see you, you won't be you." The unusual girl
immediately turned and walked away.
"What?" he asked, confused, but she was already leaving the Great Hall.
"Never mind that, Harry. We've got to get going," suggested Hermione.
Although she did respect Luna, knowing that the girl had helped Harry
recognize his feelings for Hermione, Harry's girlfriend was in a hurry.
"All right. It usually takes several months to understand what Luna is
saying, anyway."
The two of them started walking toward the doors when a familiar
annoying drawl came from behind them. "McGonagall, I'll bet you think
you're really special getting your aunt to enter you in the tournament."
They turned to see the three stooges – Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle – facing
them.
Harry knew there was no point in trying to tell him that he didn't want to
be in the tournament, so he didn't try. Instead, he replied, "I will admit
that it will be nice not to see you for nearly a year. In fact, I'd like to start
that now. Come on, Hermione."
They began to walk away as Draco called out, "I'm not done talking to
you, McGonagall! You and your mudblood…"
"Twenty points from Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy!" said Flitwick, who'd come up
behind him. "I believe that you're familiar with the rest of the
punishment for using that foul, stupid expression." He was, of course,
referring to the fact that the headmistress had been forcing people who
used that term to write a report on the average class performance of
muggle-borns versus purebloods. Contrary to bigoted pureblood
philosophy, the results were that the muggle-borns out-performed the
purebloods ninety-nine times out of a hundred.
"Yes, Professor Flitwick," he grumbled.
-HM-HM-HM-
"So," asked Harry with a smirk as he sat down on a couch in C.A.R.E.
headquarters, "what do you want to talk about?" He was clearly expecting
the best snog he'd ever gotten.
"I want to talk about the French language. You said you don't know it."
Harry frowned. "That's right; I don't. But…"
"I'm going to try and teach it to you."
He stared at her in disbelief. "In two or three hours? That's crazy. I'll
just…"
"I have an idea." Suddenly, she became nervous. "I, well, thought I could
teach you through Legilimency."
"You learned that?" asked Harry.
"Yes. After I mastered Occlumency, I thought it would be helpful to learn
the reverse."
Harry scratched his forehead for a few seconds before saying, "I don't
recall the book I read mentioning teaching through the mind arts."
"It didn't. You see, well, sharing information to that extent is sort of
personal and not used very often. You'd be allowing me to plant
information in your mind, which requires completely dropping your
mental shields and allowing me access. You'll have to trust me not to
invade your privacy."
"Hm. You could even accidentally learn things I'd prefer to keep secret,
couldn't you?"
"Well, yes. I was hoping you'd trust me to keep whatever I learn private. I
promise I'd never…"
"I know, Hermione. I know." He took a deep breath. "There are some
thoughts I have that…"
Hermione slightly frowned. "If you don't want me to do that, it's all right.
It was just a suggestion. I thought it would help."
He scratched his chin. "This could bring us even closer together."
"It could," agreed Hermione. "I was hoping it would."
"I really do want to speak the language of the country I'll be spending
several months in. I really don't want to rely on a translator." Hermione
smiled again before he said, "Do it."
She sat next to him on the couch and gave him a quick kiss before staring
into his eyes. "You'll have to drop your shields for me."
He complied and suddenly felt her presence in his mind. It was soothing,
and in some ways disturbing, to feel this extra presence in his mind. He
noticed his invisible scar was twinging slightly, but ignored that, focusing
on his girlfriend. He felt her apprehension about his participation in the
Tournament along with sadness that they'd be separated. He felt fear that
he'd fall for another girl in France and pride that he was her boyfriend.
Above all, he felt love from Hermione. Though they weren't comfortable
saying they felt that way, he now knew it was true.
As he thought about his love for his girlfriend, certain images came to the
surface of his mind, unbidden. Seeing her in a bathing suit, kissing her,
hugging her, noticing (and appreciating) different parts of Hermione's
body. Mixed in with actual memories were imagined pictures as well –
dreams he'd had but never told anyone about. As he tried to force those
images down, he felt both embarrassment and amusement coming from
his girlfriend. Realizing she was in fact seeing those images inspired him
to show her how he saw her – the most beautiful, brilliant woman in the
world. He knew she wasn't absolutely perfect, but she was perfect for
him, and no girl, woman or pack of Veela would ever stand a chance of
pulling him away from his love.
He soon began noticing images of the French alphabet, along with words
from an entire French dictionary popping into his mind. He saw pages of
grammar books and heard conversations in that language. He started
developing a slight headache to go along with his scar's pain as his mind
was absorbing all this new information, making it a permanent part of
Harry's knowledge. He saw and heard flashes of conversations Hermione
had participated in while on holiday in Paris, and understood them.
Before he knew it, he felt Hermione's presence withdraw from his mind.
They were both gasping for breath as though they'd just run a mile.
"Wow," they both said together.
"That was more intense than I'd expected," Hermione stated before
blushing. "I never realized you felt that strongly…"
"I do," he interrupted her as he gazed intently into her eyes, though not
using mind arts. "I love you, Hermione, and this bloody tournament is
NOT going to change that."
"I love you, too," she responded, and Harry knew it was true. He leaned
forward and kissed her.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was about two o'clock when the happy, slightly disheveled, couple
emerged from C.A.R.E. headquarters, having decided to walk around the
grounds, since Harry wouldn't see them for several months, unless his
girlfriend found some loophole in the Tournament rules.
"I'm certainly gonna miss these walks with you," Harry commented.
"Me, too." She gave his hand a small squeeze while sighing. "I've heard
some people say that temporary separation is good for relationships, but I
just don't see how."
"I suppose I'll appreciate you more after months of misery. I'll see…"
"Don't talk that way. I'm sure you won't be miserable."
"I don't know…"
"Harry! Harry!" The sound of Cindy McGonagall's voice was coming out
of his pocket.
"I guess Aunt Minnie told my mum," he commented while pulling out his
mirror.
"Hi," he said to the worried face of his mother in all but blood. He took a
deep breath. "I guess Aunt Minnie called you."
"Yes. I can't believe how unreasonable and ridiculous this is! How can
they expect a fourteen-year-old, no matter how talented, to compete
against three seventeen-year-olds? This contest is dangerous even for
them! I…"
"Mom!" Harry interrupted, not wanting her to have a panic attack. "I do
have some advantages, thanks to you and dad. I've actually had more
magical schooling than the others have, plus that workshop should give
me an edge as well."
"I know, honey, and I know you're at the top of your defense class, but
still I'm worried, and you should be, too."
"I am, mother, believe me. I'm just trying to think positively."
"I'm sorry. You must be terrified and here I am making it worse."
"I'm fine," he declared stiffly. "I'm not happy I've got to go, but since I
don't have a choice, I'll do my best." He paused. "Maybe I shouldn't do my
best. What if I just…"
"Don't you dare!" yelled both his girlfriend and mother at the same time.
"Hello, Hermione. I didn't know you were here," greeted Cindy. "Harry, if
you go all the way to France and then purposely fail each task, you'll
make yourself, Aunt Minnie, Hogwarts, England and America look very
bad. They already know you didn't enter your name, and Aunt Minnie
has, at her insistence, been questioned under Veritaserum to prove she
didn't enter you, either. So, you don't have to prove to them you don't
want to be in the Tournament by protesting like that."
"I guess not."
The three chatted for awhile before Hermione suggested, "I believe we'd
better get back into the castle. The Ministry representative will be here
any time."
"She's right. Bye, mum."
"Goodbye, Harry."
"I didn't want to make your mother even more scared, Harry, but I
wondered if this had something to do with that Voldemort dream you
had before the school year started."
Sighing, he replied, "I wonder. Once I'm settled in, I'll call up Remus and
Sirius and see what they think."
"Good." She took his hand, and together they walked into the castle and
to the Great Hall, where they found Professor Flitwick, along with Harry's
trunk, which they assumed the house elves had brought. They chatted for
about five minutes. The door opened, calling the young couple's attention
to the person walking into the largest room in the castle.
In walked someone he never thought he'd see again. He had red hair and
glasses and seemed to look irritated. It was the oldest Weasley Harry had
met that he recalled. "Hi, Percy," he called out.
"Mr. McGonagall," he replied, sounding arrogant as he reached into his
pocket. On orders from Mr. Crouch of the Department of International
Magical Cooperation, I have made you a portkey that will take you to
Beauxbatons Academy in France. Obviously, it won't work inside
Hogwarts, so you'll have to accompany me to the gates before using it."
"You made the portkey?" asked Hermione. "I thought you had to work for
the Department of Magical Transportation to…"
"I am fully qualified to make a portkey, Miss…Granger, I believe."
"Yes. I'm sorry to question your professionalism."
Suddenly, Harry was nervous about the portkey, but knew he couldn't do
anything about it. He eyed the old-looking quill Percy was holding with
apprehension.
Professor Flitwick stated, "I believe that Harry is ready to leave now." The
boy nodded. "Excellent. I wish you good luck, Harry."
"Thanks." He turned to Hermione. "I'll call you tonight." He then kissed
her passionately, only separating when Percy cleared his throat behind
them.
"Bye," Harry said one last time before grabbing his trunk and following
the Ministry official out the door.
Percy didn't make a sound as he walked briskly ahead until they arrived
at the gates. "Remember, you are representing England and Hogwarts, so
be on your best behavior."
"Of course," Harry replied.
Percy glanced at his watch. "Now, this portkey will leave in about ten
seconds, so make sure you are holding it and your trunk."
"Got it."
"Here's your portkey." He held out the very-used quill and held onto it, as
well as his luggage, tightly. After a few seconds, he felt a tug from behind
his navel as he was pulled into France. When the pulling stopped, he
began to get his bearings, looking eye-to-eye with a rather tall woman,
when he realized that his feet weren't touching anything.
BAMM! He landed roughly on the ground, dropping his trunk, which
fortunately didn't break, as he fell. He knew he had a few bruises and
scrapes as he slowly got up.
"It would zeem zat your portkey brought you a few feet off ze ground,
Mr. McGonagall," commented the tall woman.
"It was that idiot Percy Weasley. He thought he could make a portkey
himself instead of having it made by someone qualified. I can't believe he
was hired at the Ministry."
"I'd have never taken a portkey he made," declared Cedric, who Harry
now saw was there, as well as four other people. One was his aunt; two
were about Cedric's age, and the last was a middle-aged man. Minerva
spoke.
"Harry McGonagall, may I present Madam Maxime, the headmistress of
this school, Professor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, and your
fellow champions, Viktor Krum of Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour of
Beauxbatons, and Cedric Diggory, who is, of course, from Hogwarts."
It was Madam Maxime, the woman who Harry realized was as tall as
Hagrid, who spoke first. "Welcome to France," she greeted before bending
down to kiss him on both cheeks, with Fleur following her headmistress'
lead.
Fortunately, when Harry had gleaned the information on the language
from Hermione, he'd also learned a few customs so wasn't overly
surprised, although his ears turned pink. Using the information he'd just
downloaded from his girlfriend's mind, he said hello in French.
With a smile on their faces, both Fleur and Maxime began speaking in
their native tongue for a few seconds before he asked them to speak a bit
slower, but did manage to converse with them while his aunt watched in
shock.
"I was under the impression that you hadn't learned much French from
Professor LaVelle's class, Harry, but you seem to be fluent. When did that
happen?" his aunt asked in English.
"Recently. I'll tell you about it later, Professor McGonagall." He turned to
another champion. "Viktor Krum, I do believe I've heard of you before,
though I've never seen you play. I didn't know you were still a student."
He held out his hand and Krum shook it.
"I'm surprised you veren't at the World Cup last summer."
"I spent the summer in America. That's where I actually live."
"Pardon," asked Fleur (in English), "but you look familiar, like I know you
from somewhere."
"Hm. Well, the only time I've been in this country before was a few years
ago at that Quidditch match between the Sweetwater All-Stars and the
Quiberon Quafflepo…punchers." He's nearly called them Quaffle-poofters
like he'd done at the game, but didn't want to offend anyone.
"I waz zer, too," replied Fleur before smiling for a moment. "You were
camped right next to me."
Harry's eyebrows came together as he tried to remember, then his ears
turned pink yet again as he recalled staring at her for a few moments. "I
think I remember you," he replied.
"Well," suggested Madam Maxime, "I believe eet eez time to go back into
ze zkool."
For the first time since landing, Harry looked at his surroundings. He was
standing in a grassy clearing that was about half a kilometer from the
building that had (unbeknownst to muggle history) inspired King Louis
XIV in his design of the Palace of Versailles. It was easily as big as
Hogwarts, but this wasn't a grim-looking medieval castle. This was a
beautiful palace fit for a king. It appeared to be made of gold, although
Harry guessed that was a magical affect. The building he was staring at
was the greatest tribute to French classical architecture in existence, and
unfortunately, the muggles would never see it. Harry didn't know the
terminology to describe the building properly, so he said the only thing
he could. "Wow."
"We are zo far from ze zkool because of ze wards," explained Maxime
conversationally before calling a house elf to take Harry's trunk.
"Where am I going to sleep?" he asked.
"Inside the expanded carriage with the other Hogwarts students," replied
Professor McGonagall.
As they began to walk, Professor Maxime informed Harry, "Eet iz good
zat you zpeak French, because we 'ave concluded zat you will be taking
clazzes with zee Beauxbatons ztudentz."
Harry was surprised at that. "What?"
Aunt Minnie explained, "The other Hogwarts students here, as well as the
Durmstrang ones, are in N.E.W.T. level classes and we are letting them
study independently. Otherwise, we'd have to bring all our teachers with
us."
"That makes sense," agreed Harry.
"However, in your case, I don't think you're quite ready for completely
independent study. Therefore, we decided that it would be best for you to
attend classes with the other fourth years, and had been trying to find a
solution for the language barrier. Apparently, you've already solved that
problem."
"Yes."
They took him on a brief tour of the palace that had been converted into
a school, and Harry was truly impressed. Instead of being dark and
foreboding, it was bright and cheerful. Their Great Hall was roughly the
same size as the one at Hogwarts, but it contained several smaller tables
that sat up to ten people, rather than just the house tables. Each corner of
the room contained an exquisite sculpture of a famous French wizard.
Soon, Harry was shown another room. The walls contained several
paintings and Harry was surprised when he realized that they were the
former headmistresses and headmasters of the school.
In French, Maxime informed Harry that they believe that all the students,
and not just the Heads, should benefit from the wisdom of past heads of
the school, so the portraits were hung in this public room rather than her
office. Harry replied that's probably a good idea and that he'd make it a
point to talk to a few of those paintings while he's staying here.
His aunt seemed to know they were badmouthing Hogwarts, and so
suggested in English that they continue the tour. While they were
finishing his tour of the castle, he was given the list of classes available to
him and told to look it over that night so that the next day he'd be able to
make a schedule. They didn't run into any other students because classes
were in session, but Harry was told he would meet them at dinner.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's notes: I'll give more details on Beauxbatons as I decide them.
I don't know how to describe architectural style, and believe that a
picture is worth 1,000 words. A picture of the Palace of Versailles is
located at commons . wikimedia wiki / File: Versailles_Cour_Royale_Sud .
jpg (minus the spaces). You could also look up 'Palace of Versailles' on
Google for more information. The idea is that Beauxbatons is even more
spectacular than this palace.
34. Acclimating to France
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 34 – Acclimating to France
A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the
French language to express the message I've written in English. As
previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that
language.
-HM-HM-HM-
"So, Harry, are you going to tell me how you suddenly went from barely
knowing the French alphabet to being a fluent speaker?" asked Aunt
Minnie. She and Harry were sitting alone at a table in the Great Hall
(although they called it the Dining Chamber) of Beauxbatons waiting for
dinner to begin in about fifteen minutes. "I know you can't master a
language from one lesson per week during a year."
She was referring to Professor LaVelle's lessons of the previous year,
which Harry had attended and learned a bit in. He'd also attended some
lessons this year before the tournament. Although he certainly hadn't
learned much of the language from those classes (hence the desperate
need for his magical mind meld with Hermione), he had learned enough
that he could apply his newly acquired knowledge immediately.
Otherwise, he'd have taken weeks processing the information his
girlfriend had given him. Therefore, he did not consider those lessons to
be a waste. Looking at his aunt, he realized that he'd better answer her.
"Um, well," he began, switching back to his American accent, "Hermione
had this idea, you see."
"Go on."
Although he didn't know why, he felt very uncomfortable talking about
what they'd done. However, he knew Aunt Minnie would not accept
anything less than the truth. "She, kind of, taught me through
Legilimency." He said the last part as fast as he could. Minerva's eyes
bulged out at that proclamation as her lips thinned.
"What? Do you realize how…dangerous that could be?"
"Dangerous?" he repeated, showing confusion on his face. "How? Our
books didn't say it was dangerous."
"They said NOTHING about teaching through that manner at all. That
means it hasn't been properly tested before, so anything could happen."
"I think most people just don't want to completely open their minds to
another person like that," Harry countered, knowing that his girlfriend's
idea had worked flawlessly. "It was rather…personal." He involuntarily
blushed at that statement. "But the point is that it worked perfectly, and
since I'd had a few French lessons before, I came out of it ready to speak
the language fluently. For example, I now know that 'Beauxbatons'
translated roughly means 'beautiful wands.' It was a bit overwhelming to
learn the language, but I'm glad I did."
"I wasn't aware she spoke French so well."
"Oh, yeah. You know her parents have taken her to Paris several times.
She learned the language as a little girl so she wouldn't be helpless if she
ever got lost. Probably also so she could read French books. I know
Hermione said she spoke a bit of French before joining the class, but
that's just her modesty. I honestly don't know why she took the class at
all, except maybe to review." He grinned. "I remember that she did want
to sign up for Muggle Studies that year, too."
"Yes," replied Minerva with a small smile. "She never feels she knows
anything well enough. Always trying to learn more."
With a far away look in his eyes and a grin on his face, Harry softly
whispered, "Yeah."
Putting a hand on her nephew's shoulder, Headmistress McGonagall
replied, "You'll see Hermione soon. Don't worry."
"I suppose." At about that time, the doors burst open, revealing a herd of
French students, all wearing robes of fine silk. The girls' outfits were pale
blue while the boys' were a slightly darker shade. One thing he noticed is
that those school uniforms looked like they weren't as thick as the
Hogwarts robes he was wearing. He'd slowly been realizing that it was
much warmer at Beauxbatons than Hogwarts and he really needed to
either start wearing different clothes or begin using cooling charms on
himself.
"I'd better get over to the faculty table. I don't want any of your potential
new friends to avoid this table because they don't want to sit with an old
teacher."
As his aunt got up, Harry started to protest, "You're not old…" but trailed
off because she was leaving. And so, for the first time since his arrival, he
was alone, if only at a table. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at the
incoming students and smiled at them, to show he was friendly. It was
after five or six of those students gave him a strange look and walked to a
table on the other side of the Dining Chamber, and Harry's expression
fell, that one of the boys that appeared to be his age approached him.
Harry noticed that the boy had dark hair and brown eyes as he sat down
across from him.
Slowly, the boy spoke in English. "Hello. My…name…is Jean-Luc
LaSalle." He sounded like every English word he spoke was a challenge.
"You…must…be…"
"Harry McGonagall," the Boy-Who-Lived-In-Secret replied. Then he
continued in the language of the land he was in. "I speak French."
"Good. That makes communicating much easier. If you don't mind, I'd like to
point out a…cultural mistake you've been making."
Harry frowned. "Already?"
"Yes. I'm afraid so. I know that in some other countries, smiling at strangers
puts them at ease, but that's not the case here."
Nodding, Harry replied, "I've noticed that's not the affect it's had so far."
"In France, if a stranger smiles at you, you think he's a mad man escaped from
the mental hospital. You wonder what he wants with you."
Harry's ears turned pink as he realized that's the first impression he gave
several people. "Thanks for the tip, Jean Luc."
"No problem. I'm happy to help. Do you mind if I have my friends sit here with
you?"
"Of course not. The more the merrier."
Within a few minutes, the two teenage boys were joined by three others –
a boy and two girls.
"Harry McGonagall, this is my girlfriend, Brigit, and our friends Pierre and
Henrietta." As Harry looked at his new companions, he saw that Brigit had
long, dark brown hair that was in a ponytail. Her eyes were blue and her
face somewhat pale. Pierre had hair as blond as Malfoy's with brown
eyes, and was holding Henrietta's hand. She had short dirty-blonde hair
that matched Harry's own, but her eyes were blue. They were all in
school robes and had obviously just gotten out of class. The three
newcomers all seemed surprised and Harry immediately realized why.
"Yes, I speak French," he explained in their native language, "and it's good
to meet you."
Before they could respond there was a flash in the middle of the room
and a buffet table appeared, complete with plates and silverware.
"Well," announced Jean Luc, "That's our cue to get dinner. Are you familiar
with French cuisine?"
"No," Harry admitted.
With a large grin, Brigit said, "Then you are in for a treat."
They got up and joined the line that was already forming. Harry patiently
moved with the line as his four companions gave him a crash course in
French food, talking about all the possible combinations for the three
course dinner that awaited him. He was grateful that all the types of food
were labeled, most likely for the benefit of visitors like himself. He read
the names Duo de Saumon Fumé, Escargots Bourguignonne, Soupe á
l'Oignon, Consommé des pecheurs, Vichyssoise, Salade Melange, Ravioli
aux legumes Grillés, Queue de Langouste, Coq au Vin, Chateaubriand,
and Crêpes Florentine, among other things. While he knew what the
words meant, he didn't know much about the vast majority of it.
Hermione hadn't shown him too much knowledge of French Cuisine
during their 'mind meld.' He decided to take a bit of everything that
looked good to him, earning a few weird looks from some of the French
students. To go with that, he got a glass of pumpkin juice. He was both
relieved and disappointed at the same time that Beauxbatons didn't serve
anything alcoholic to their students, despite muggle customs regarding
alcohol being different than in England or America.
When he got to the table, Pierre asked, "You do realize that most of that
food doesn't go together, don't you?"
Harry looked at the French teenager like he'd grown a second head. "Why
not?" Without waiting for an answer, he stuck his fork into a piece of
chicken from the bit of Coq au Vin he'd taken a sample of. As an
American, he felt it was his right to eat whatever he wanted with
whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted (within reason), and felt it was
nobody's business what he ate. That doesn't mean he took offense at his
new acquaintance's comment. It just meant that coming to France did not
make him French. Besides which, he figured that he had no need of
friends who couldn't tolerate the slightest hint that he wasn't raised in
French culture. He wasn't trying to snub them by any means, but he was
going to be himself.
Fortunately, the four French students at Harry's table didn't take offense
at Harry's meal. Instead they were a bit amused. They had been told that
Harry McGonagall had both a British and American background that day
when it was announced he'd be coming, so they didn't expect him to act
French. They were all glad that he at least spoke the language.
"I can't believe someone forced you into that tournament," commented
Henrietta sympathetically.
"Me neither," agreed Harry. "Hermione – my girlfriend – was really upset. My
sister – Brianna – thought it was a joke at first."
"It was also announced that you'd be attending fourth year classes with us."
"Are you all in my year?"
"Yes," they all answered.
"What's it like to attend a school where your aunt is Headmistress?" asked
Brigit.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Sometimes it's great. Other times it's not. My
aunt will always listen to my side of the story if I'm in trouble, but she doesn't
always side with me. She sometimes holds me to a slightly higher standard
than the other students. Also, some of the students are of the opinion that my
sister and I get favored, but that's nonsense." He sighed. "In any case, my
friends don't treat me differently because of it, and that's what matters."
"What's your girlfriend like?" asked Pierre. "You mentioned her name –
Hermione?"
The girls at the table noticed how Harry's whole face lit up when he
thought about her. "Well, she's brilliant – top of our class. Um, beautiful, too.
She's also one of the most compassionate people I've ever met. A great friend,
too. We met just before starting Hogwarts and were best friends. We've been
dating…for nearly a year now." He frowned for a moment. "I guess I'll have
to miss our anniversary. Anyway, I already miss her. She'd love to get to see
other schools like this."
They continued talking throughout the meal, and Harry learned a bit
about the classes he'd be starting the next morning. Before he went to the
Hogwarts carriage, he found a private spot to call his girlfriend on his
mirror.
"Hi, Hermione," he exclaimed with a smile as soon as she answered. "It's
good to see your face."
"Yours, too. I've been so worried. So, you had no problem with Percy's
portkey I take it?"
With a scowl, he replied, "Actually, that idiot put me a few feet above the
ground and I fell."
"Are you all right?" she asked in concern.
"I'm fine. Thanks for teaching me French. It's really helped."
Beaming at her boyfriend, she replied, "It was my pleasure."
They chatted for a few more minutes, with Harry talking about both his
tour and meal, along with the people he'd sat with.
"It sounds like you're already making friends."
"Yeah, but it doesn't make me miss you any less."
With a giggle, she asked, "Which cheesy romance novel did you steal that
line from?"
"Hey. I'll have you know I came up with that cheesy line all by myself!"
He fake-pouted as his girlfriend laughed. "I suppose I'd better get to bed,"
he decided after a minute. "Tell Padma and Brianna I said hi."
"I will." After a second, she got an evil grin on her face. "Make sure you
copy the entire Beauxbatons library for me this year."
He grinned back. "I will. Bye." He took a deep breath before adding, "I
love you."
"I love you, too," she replied with a big grin. She then blew him a kiss.
"Bye."
When Harry got to the Hogwarts carriage, he found that there were only
two dorms – one for boys and the other for girls, so he had to sleep in a
room with over twenty guys. When he opened the door, he found that the
lights were on and he was in a dorm full of seventeen-year-old boys/men
in various states of undress. Some of them were studying textbooks while
a few others had magazines he knew his aunt couldn't be aware of, based
off the glimpses he got of the centerfolds that were being meticulously
studied. He could swear one of the models winked at him, causing his
ears to turn pink. A Wizarding Wireless was playing a song called, 'Can
You Dance Like a Hippogriff?' in the background. He noticed a cot near the
door that had his trunk on it, so decided that this must be his bed.
As he moved to sit down, he heard one of the boys he didn't know
announce, "Look everyone, it's McGonagall the Champion!" with a tone of
voice that left no room for doubt that he was being insulted. Harry
glanced up to see it was a Gryffindor he'd never met. There were a few
chuckles at this, but fortunately not that many.
"Hey, guys, lay off!" exclaimed a Ravenclaw prefect named Eric. "You're
only jealous that somehow he got picked by the goblet and we didn't."
"But he cheated!" exclaimed a Slytherin.
"While he was at Hogwarts?" countered Cedric Diggory. "Don't be stupid!"
"His aunt…"
Harry interrupted this argument himself by shouting, "Has been opposed
to this bloody tournament since the summer! She thinks it's too
dangerous for any of you, to say nothing of me! You have no idea how
upset she is about this!" He took a deep breath. "I don't want to be here
and you don't want me here, but we're stuck. You leave me alone and I'll
leave you alone."
"Or what?" asked the stupid Gryffindor while the others rolled their eyes.
Cedric replied, "Or his aunt will have you sent back to Hogwarts in
detention cleaning the bathrooms with your tongues for the rest of the
year."
"Pretty much," Harry agreed with a grin. This normally was not his style,
but he'd never had to deal with this many upperclassmen before, and had
no idea how good any of them were in dueling and didn't want to find
out. "I don't care what you do among yourselves, or what you read," he
gestured toward the nearest Playwitch magazine, "as long as you leave
me alone. I'm not a tattle-tale, but if I have to ask for a different room,
my aunt will want to know why and when I tell her, she'll be really,
really upset."
Harry didn't like the way he felt throwing his status around like that, but
really didn't know what else to do to avoid trouble with this group. It
seemed like there were only a few troublemakers there, but if he didn't
nip this in the bud they could make his life miserable. He also made a
vow to cast the best wards he knew how around all his stuff, including
his bed, so that nothing would happen to it while he was either asleep or
absent.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was in the Dining Chamber early the next morning, and was soon
joined by his new friends. He'd been pretty much ignored by the older
boys in his sleeping room, aside from a few friendly ones. He really did
miss his small dorm at Hogwarts. After they'd eaten their breakfast, Harry
walked with Jean Luc, Brigit, Pierre and Henrietta to their first class of
the day – Transfiguration.
Over the years, Harry had three teachers of this subject. First, he'd begun
learning the basics at his American school. Then at Hogwarts, he had his
Aunt Minnie before she was replaced by Professor Shapon. Now, he was
meeting his fourth Transfiguration teacher.
As Harry found a seat near his companions, he looked at the friendly-
looking elderly man seated behind the desk. He had short white hair with
a well-trimmed moustache to go with it. He was wearing a maroon beret
with navy blue robes. "Good morning, everyone," he announced in French.
He looked over the class, silently taking attendance, until his eyes rested
on the new face. "You are Harry McGonagall, I presume?"
"Yes, sir," the foreigner replied.
"I'm Professor Ladue. Your Hogwarts grades were forwarded to me and I have
a copy of the book I use for this class that you may borrow until you have the
chance to purchase a new one."
"Thank you, sir."
"According to your Professor Shapon, your class just finished learning to turn
vases into cats, which is what we will be covering today. Am I correct?"
"Yes, sir," Harry agreed, guessing what was coming next.
Indicating a cheap plastic gray vase on his desk, the instructor asked,
"Please demonstrate the spell, Mr. McGonagall."
Quietly sighing at being singled out already, he got up and walked to the
teacher's desk, after releasing his English wand from its holster. His
pointed it at the vase, did the appropriate wand movements and said (in
Latin), "Inflecto Felonis!" The vase in question unerringly morphed into a
gray kitten about the same size as the vase. It meowed, earning a few
chuckles.
"Well done, Mr. McGonagall. Were we at Hogwarts, I would've awarded you
ten points for Ravenclaw, but we don't have a system like that here. You may
sit down." The professor turned to the rest of the class. "Did all of you catch
the wand movement and incantation?" he then changed the kitten back into
a vase and repeated the process for the class before setting them off to
practice the spell. Harry, naturally, was asked to help by a few of the
students. Some of the girls seemed to be flirting with him, but he
pretended not to notice.
As Harry continued the day, as well as the week, he found that he had no
trouble keeping up with his classes, with the exception of History of
Magic. He was slightly ahead or slightly behind in all of them but the
class that was still being taught by a ghost at Hogwarts. Two separate
factors put Harry way behind in this class. One was that it was covering
modern history that had happened since Binns had died, and the other
was that, oddly enough, it concentrated more on French history than
British. Charms and Herbology seemed to be the specialty of
Beauxbatons, and Harry was very glad he'd studied ahead. Otherwise, he
would've been struggling to keep up.
Hermione had spent all her free time during that first week trying to find
a way for Harry to get out of the Tournament, but to no avail. She
informed him of her lack of progress every night in their mirror calls
until finally he told her to stop.
"We can't give up, Harry. We…"
"You tried, Hermione and I'm thankful. We just have to accept it." He'd
been rehearsing that speech all day after he decided that he couldn't let
Hermione obsess over the Triwizard forever. "We'll get through this. I
know we will."
She sighed and Harry could actually detect a bit of relief on her features,
but knew she'd never admit it. "I suppose you're right, but it still isn't
fair."
"I agree with you there, but then life isn't always fair." Deciding to change
the topic, Harry commented, "Today they had the Wand-Weighing."
"Oh. I've read about that. They test every competitor's wand to make sure
it's in working order."
"Yeah," agreed Harry. "Rather than test it right before each task, they
tested it once – a few weeks before the first task."
Hermione smiled. "I can see your point, but it might be too much
trouble."
"Hermione, all the Wandmaker did was to perform one spell with each
wand. To test all four of the wands took five minutes."
"Really? Then maybe they should check them before each event."
"Exactly." He sighed. "They also had a reporter there."
"Did you get interviewed?" she asked in concern.
"No, he wasn't that interested in me. He, like everyone else, knows I
didn't even want to be in the Triwizard, so he probably knows my story
won't be upbeat." He then grinned. "It's just a good thing no one famous
like Harry Potter was entered in the Tournament."
She grinned back. "Yes, no reporter in the world would be able to resist
interviewing him."
"Yeah." He paused for a moment, trying to think of something to say. "I'll
be visiting Beauxville, their equivalent of Hogsmeade, tomorrow."
"That should be nice. I've read that they have this wonderful bookstore
called Plein de Livres…" Harry smiled as his girlfriend's eyes lit up once
again while he picked up a quill to write out her shopping list.
After much searching, Harry had found a place where his Game Boy
worked – a small room that was part of the stables that housed the
Abraxan that lived at Beauxbatons. After finding it, he made sure there
were no rules against going there (which there weren't as long as he left
the horses, along with their single malt whiskey, alone) and talked his
aunt into buying him a new cd player. She made sure to charm one wall
with a silencing spell so he wouldn't disturb the animals while he listened
to music, transfigured a shovel into a chair and transfigured a rusty
bucket into a desk. This is where he mostly stayed when he wasn't
hanging out with his new friends. He pretty much only went to the
Hogwarts carriage to sleep and shower.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome to Beauxville!" exclaimed Jean Luc as they exited the Abraxan-
pulled carriage that had brought them to the magical French village.
Harry looked around the area to see a small town that was more modern-
looking than Hogsmeade, and seemed (to Harry) much more feminine,
sort of like a larger version of Madam Puddifoot's. It seemed that flowers
were growing on every spot of dirt as his eyes roamed around. He saw an
enchanted flower shop, as well as a romantic-looking restaurant, but
what surprised him most was a small wedding chapel that was obviously
put there to handle elopements.
"Wow," exclaimed Harry. "It looks like they want students to elope."
"Love is encouraged in France," replied Brigit with a grin.
"I can see that. What else is here?" He began walking down the street and
noticed a few more restaurants before finding the book shop Hermione
had mentioned to him – Plein de Livres (Many Books) – so he walked
inside and pulled his girlfriend's shopping list from his pocket. He was
thankful he'd remembered his bottomless bookbag. Otherwise, he'd have
never been able to carry the two dozen tomes he'd been asked to
purchase, in addition to his new French textbooks.
After leaving the bookstore, he noticed a magical art store, with several
moving portraits of both people and animals spread throughout the
studio. It even allowed customers to commission a portrait to be painted,
either of themselves or anything else they fancy. Appointments had to be
made for those services.
When it was lunchtime, the group went to a restaurant, where Harry
simply ordered the same thing Pierre did. He still wasn't an expert on
French food, although he hadn't found much that he genuinely disliked.
The restaurant, unlike Beauxbatons, did serve wine, which Harry did
sample, but didn't really like that much.
He bought some souvenirs for his friends in England after that and
eventually the group returned to Beauxbatons Palace.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next few weeks passed far too quickly for Harry, as he had yet to get
one clue about what he'd face during the first task of the tournament. He
complained about this to his aunt during Animagus practice, who looked
regretful as she replied, "I'm sorry, Harry, but I can't tell you what you'll
face. However, I know that you can succeed. You have been taught what
you need to do."
Harry could tell she was giving him a clue about the next task and
decided to try to find out more. "So, I've learned the spell I'll need."
"Yes."
His eyebrows came closer together as he concentrated. "But I'd assume it's
not a spell taught in one of my classes. It would probably be N.E.W.T.
level." His aunt didn't say anything but he could tell he was correct. "That
should narrow it down. It's something I have done – not just attempted?"
He was trying to eliminate his attempts at transforming into an animal.
She remained almost motionless, but he detected her nearly
imperceptible nod. Suddenly, he knew what he'd need to do. "Thanks,
Aunt Minnie!" he said and quickly left to practice the spell.
"For what?" she asked softly, with a small smile on her lips as the door to
her temporary office was closed. "I hope Professor Ladue was right that
this was fair," she whispered to herself, hoping she hadn't really cheated.
-HM-HM-HM-
The day of the first task came quickly – far too quickly in Harry's opinion.
He had just sat down for breakfast at the table he and his French friends
used when he noticed the door to the Dining Chamber open to reveal the
last person he'd expect to see here. Harry's jaw dropped as he
automatically stood up and began walking.
"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione Granger with a large grin once he was close
enough to hear her. Not needing an invitation, he rushed forward and
hugged her tightly for about ten seconds before pulling back just enough
to kiss her. Neither of them noticed that nearly everybody in the room
was watching them as his picked her up off the ground and spun her
around while their faces were still molded together. They also didn't
notice the flash of a camera. They probably wouldn't have noticed an
explosion, either.
When the need for air finally forced them to separate, a female voice
behind Hermione exclaimed, "Get a room!" Harry glanced to see his little
sister. Surprisingly, he was actually happy enough to see her that he gave
her a quick hug.
"Hi, Brianna. What are you two doing here?"
"You didn't think we'd miss the start of the Tournament, did you?" asked
Hermione. "Besides, your aunt said she wanted you in good spirits for the
first task."
"Why didn't you say anything last night when we talked on our mirrors?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise."
"It was a good one." He gave his girlfriend a quick kiss. "I've missed you
so much!"
"I assume this is the Hermione that we've heard so much about." Harry turned
to see his small group of French friends. Jean Luc had been the one
speaking. "You weren't exaggerating when you said she was beautiful."
Hermione blushed and said, "Thank you. Harry's told me about you as well."
She then proceeded to guess all four of their names correctly.
Harry then indicated his sister and said (in English), "This is Brianna. I
think I mentioned her."
"Yes," replied Jean Luc. "Would you like to…join us for breakfast?" He
was actually improving his English with Harry there to help him.
They returned to Harry's table and got to know each other better until
the champions were called away to prepare for the task. As he was just
leaving the table, he distinctly heard Brigit whisper in French to
Hermione, "So tell me, is Harry a good kisser?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry was led into a tent with the other three champions, all of whom
appeared to be nervous. Harry was nervous himself. He had narrowed the
choices of what they would be facing down to two creatures – neither of
which was really something he'd want to fight. He had practiced as much
as he could and was currently confident in his ability to cast the
necessary spell. Unfortunately, he also knew that many things could go
wrong.
The tent itself had the entrance on one side of it and the exit on the other
side. All of the competitor's eyes were drawn to the exit as they waited
for the tournament to begin.
"Welcome, everyone, to the first task of the Triwizard Tournament!"
announced the head of the French Department of Games and Sports, his
voice amplified by a Sonorus spell. All four champions heard that
announcement, followed by, "Our first champion will be Viktor Krum from
Durmstrang!"
Without a word, the Durmstrang champion left the tent through the exit.
The others heard gasps, screams and applause as they waited for the next
champion to be called. About ten minutes after Krum had left, the
announcer declared, "Our second champion will be Harry McGonagall of
Hogwarts."
Taking his wand out, Harry walked through the tent flap into complete
darkness.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: I just thought I'd clarify that only the movie has
Beauxbatons a girls' school and Durmstrang a boys' school. In the book,
both schools have both sexes, just like Hogwarts. Besides, it's really
difficult to believe that in France, only the girls have magic.
35. Navigating the Darkness
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 35 – Navigating the Darkness
A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the
French language to express the message I've written in English. As
previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that
language.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Lumos!" was the first spell that came into Harry's mind as he tried to look
around the complete darkness he'd stepped into. He looked around to see
he was in a cave-like tunnel. Whether he was in a real or artificial cave
didn't really matter at this moment. All that mattered was that he had to
walk forward, keeping an eye out for the Lethifold or Dementor Harry
was sure would make an appearance. Because he wasn't feeling the
effects of a Dementor, he was fairly certain it would be the other creature
attacking him…but from where?
If he used his Patronus charm now, it would give away that he knew
what to expect, which would cause all kinds of trouble. Not to mention
how difficult it was to sustain. He'd completely wear himself out
magically. Then, just as he couldn't sustain it any longer, the monster
would make its entrance. In other words, keeping a Patronus with him
wasn't an option at this time. Perhaps when he was older he'd be able to
handle that, but not today. He took another step forward, not noticing
the black cape-like figure silently gliding along the floor about ten feet
away from him.
-HM-HM-HM-
"I hate this…watching and not being able to do anything!" exclaimed
Hermione from the stands. She was sitting between Brianna and Brigit
watching a huge projection of the event. The audience was watching the
pitch black tunnel, only able to see what Harry's light spell revealed,
which didn't include his nemesis.
They had previously watched a Lethifold nearly suffocate Krum before
he'd managed a Patronus that took the shape of an arctic ice wolf that
chased the monster away long enough for Krum to make it through the
tunnel, where he was given a silver cube about the size of an apple. With
her Omnioculars, Hermione had determined that the object was like a
Rubix cube, except that each square had a rune inscribed on it, rather
than a different color. She imagined that something would happen if the
runes were properly aligned and was looking forward to examining one
with Harry after the task was completed, which brought her back to the
present.
Harry had just turned a corner in the cave when something jumped out
in front of him.
-HM-HM-HM-
With every step Harry took in the dark tunnel, his heart was beating
faster and faster. Although it wasn't hot, sweat was beginning to form on
his brow. He could hear a noise in the distance, but couldn't identify it.
He was pointing his still-lit wand in front of him when he turned the
corner and saw it.
In front of Harry, something was moving on the floor. In the darkness, he
couldn't make out its shape except for the golden eyes that almost
seemed to glow in the dark. He pointed his wand toward it and was
about to fire a curse when the monster in front of him meowed. He
moved his wand closer and could see it was a simple black cat, and
released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
He walked around the cat and couldn't help but notice the distant sound
he'd heard earlier wasn't so distant. It sounded like flapping wings that
were getting closer and closer until he could see a bat flying toward him.
He dived to the ground instinctively and watched about a dozen bats fly
above him and continue down the cave. He was about to get up when
something started sliding onto his body.
-HM-HM-HM-
"No! Harry; use your Patronus!" shouted Hermione from her seat.
"You do realize he can't hear you, don't you?" asked Brianna without
moving her own eyes from the display. She wouldn't admit it, but she
was scared, too.
-HM-HM-HM-
As Harry felt the Lethifold's clammy touch on his ear, he panicked for a
moment before the word Patronus seemed to echo in his mind. As he felt
the living black cloak move toward his face, he pictured kissing
Hermione that very morning and, while tightening the grip on his wand,
shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" His silver tabby cat shot out of his wand and
immediately turned, running through Harry, filling him with joy, until it
was facing the Lethifold. It seemed to bite the dark creature, causing it to
let go of Harry before sliding off as fast as it could, with a silvery white
cat in hot pursuit.
He slowly stood up as his heart rate went down to normal. He was
panting like he'd just run a marathon. After a moment of catching his
breath, he realized that he was still in a timed competition and began to
run the rest of the way down the passage. While there were still bats, cats
and probably rats in the tunnel, he knew he'd faced the real challenge, so
he didn't slow for them, figuring he needed to make up time for how
slowly he'd started off.
Before long, he turned a corner to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
He continued running until he was nearly blinded by the light that
surrounded him as he exited. While he was still blinking as his eyes
adjusted, he heard it announced in French, "Harry McGonagall has
completed the task in nine minutes and thirty seconds – ten seconds quicker
than Krum!" While the crowd was cheering, he accepted his silver cube
from the judge, being told that it contained a clue for the next task.
"The judges will now show their scores," the announcer continued.
Professor McGonagall used her wand to write a nine in the air. Harry
figured she didn't want to appear biased, but still wished she'd have given
him a ten. Madam Maxime and the head of the French Department of
Games and Sports also gave him nines. Karkaroff gave him a four and
was rewarded with much 'boo'ing from the audience. The head of the
French Department of International Relations gave Harry a ten, making
his total score a forty-one.
Just as Harry had computed his total, Hermione's voice from behind him
announced, "You're tied with Viktor Krum." He turned and smiled at her,
waiting until she was close enough and kissed her, much to the crowd's
satisfaction, if the new round of applause was any indication. They
separated quickly and walked, hand-in-hand, to the bleachers and joined
Brianna.
"Good job, Harry," she complimented before adding with a smirk, "I
could've done it faster."
"Ha-ha."
"The task did seem a bit easy," she added.
"What did you expect," replied Harry with a smirk. "Them to make the
champions steal a dragon's egg."
That statement earned a laugh from all of Harry's group. When she'd
finished giggling, Brianna commented, "Still, Aunt Minnie should've given
you a ten! Karkaroff did that for Krum! Then you'd be in the lead."
"I can't believe they'd judge this competition with something as subjective
and arbitrary as this system," complained Hermione. "There should be
specific points…"
"…like a test or homework problem, right?" interrupted Harry. "It is, after
all, a school competition."
At that time, it was announced that Fleur was entering the tunnel, and
while they watched the part-Veela, they continued their conversation.
"Exactly. For example, there should be a set time limit. If you go beyond
that, you lose a certain amount of points per minute. Then, if you
performed the Patronus correctly…"
They continued discussing how they thought the tournament should be
judged while Fleur, and later Cedric, went through the event. Fleur got
forty points while Cedric, who ended up fastest through the maze, got
forty-two. When the event was over, Harry and Hermione walked hand-
in-hand to the Great Hall for lunch with the rest of the group.
"Harry," his girlfriend asked enthusiastically once she had filled her plate,
"can I see that clue you were given?"
"After lunch," he replied before jabbing a piece of meat on his plate. "It's
not really considered good manners to be messing with something like
that during a meal here."
"All right, Harry. I guess I am a bit eager. I just want to solve the puzzle."
"I understand," he replied with a grin. "It's part of your nature. In fact, it's
a very cute part of your nature." She blushed as the others, especially
Brianna, smirked at her.
Trying to change the subject, she asked, "I know Harry told you all about
C.A.R.E." The French students nodded. He'd mentioned it in one of their
many mirror conversations. They had all joined. "Do you think one of you
might be able to start a branch here?"
Four pairs of eyes bulged out and stared at her. Harry and Brianna were
used to Hermione, but his new friends weren't, and therefore were
surprised she'd suggest that. Finally, after about five seconds, Jean Luc
replied in English, "We will consider it."
She then turned to Harry. "While I'm here today, I'd like to meet some of
those headmaster portraits you told me about."
"Sure," he agreed. "I wonder if they can help with the clue."
"Wouldn't that be cheating?" asked Brigit.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "They are available to everyone."
"Good point."
They continued the meal in quiet conversation until they were finished.
Harry was grateful that his aunt had walked up and volunteered to take
Brianna on a tour of the school so that Harry could have a walk with his
girlfriend.
"I really have missed this," he commented as he looked at their joined
hands.
"Me, too." She gave him a quick kiss before they resumed their journey.
"I wish they'd let me stay at Hogwarts and just show up for the events."
"My mum said that sometimes it's good for a couple to be separated for a
little while, to help them realize how much they need each other."
"I didn't need this tournament to tell me I needed you," he admitted as
they continued walking until they reached their desired destination.
"There's one particular portrait I'd like you to meet." He brought her in
front of the painting of a man with light blond hair and a goatee that
appeared to be in his fifties. If one looked closely, a few white hairs could
be spotted amongst the blond, but they weren't easy to see. The name
beneath the portrait made Hermione gasp - Dominique Malfoy.
"Hello, young lady," greeted the portrait in French.
"Hello, sir."
Turning to Harry, he asked, "Is this the beautiful woman you have told me so
much about?" causing both of them to blush.
"Yes. She and my sister came here for the first task. She's Hermione Granger,
the most brilliant witch in the world."
"Harry!" she scolded. "I am no…"
The portrait interrupted her rant. "Every young man should feel that way
about his lady, don't you agree, Miss Granger?" She nodded, surprised.
"Surely it is not your goal to convince Mr. McGonagall that you are not worth
his time. If each partner in a romance considers him or herself the fortunate
one, both will treat each other very well, and their love will blossom. For
instance, as Mr. McGonagall has a much higher opinion of you than himself,
I'm sure that you have a much loftier opinion of him than Mr. McGonagall has
of himself."
She blushed slightly. "Y-yes I do, Mr…Malfoy." She honestly tried to keep
all bitterness out of her voice when vocalizing the former headmaster's
last name, but apparently there was still a detectable trace in her
inflections because he chuckled for a moment.
"I can see you've noticed my last name. Let me assure you that I am ashamed
of what my great-great-great grandson Lucius has done. He has made a
disgrace of our family! The Malfoys who left France for England were neither
stuck-up nor prejudiced, and I have no idea what occurred to change my
descendants so much. On behalf of the Malfoy family, I apologize for every
word he or young Draco has said to you."
She grinned slightly. "Thank you, sir, but you are not responsible for their
behavior. They are the ones who should apologize, not you. If I held every
Malfoy responsible for the actions of a few, I'd be as guilty of prejudice as they
are."
"You are very wise, Miss Granger."
"Thank you, sir."
Turning to the Triwizard Champion, Dominique Malfoy asked, "How did
the first task go? You appear uninjured."
"He did wonderfully," proclaimed Hermione.
"I got through," claimed Harry.
"What sort of creature was it that you faced? You suspected it would be either
a Dementor or a Lethifold."
"A Lethifold, sir."
"They made him go through a dark tunnel that was projected so the spectators
like me could see."
"No doubt they made it as frightening and disorienting as possible," the
painting agreed.
"After I got through, they gave me this cube that's supposed to contain a clue
for the next task." He produced it out of his pocket. Hermione snatched it
immediately out of Harry's hand and examined it, making sure that
Dominique could also see it.
"Some sort of ancient rune puzzle," the portrait commented after a few
moments. "Alas, that was my worst subject. I was much more gifted in
Charms and Arithmancy."
Harry was enjoying watching his girlfriend bite her bottom lip in a very
kissable cute way so that he couldn't really concentrate on the markings.
After about five minutes of her soundlessly examining every side, she
muttered, "It can't be this easy, can it?"
This brought Harry's attention back to the magical Rubix cube. "Let me see
it, Hermione." While he was looking at it, Hermione explained what she
suspected. "That does seem a bit too easy, doesn't it?" he asked, agreeing
that her hypothesis did seem likely, but it would put the runes in an
order they'd seen in one of their first Ancient Runes classes. He shrugged
his shoulders and turned the cube appropriately. Suddenly, a loud, ear-
piercing scream emanated from the magical object, causing Harry to drop
it as the noise persisted. Finally, he bent down and moved the runes out
of alignment before picking it up.
"I would imagine," commented the portrait with a slight smirk, "that you
guessed incorrectly." However, neither human was paying attention as
their ears were still ringing.
"I'll see you later, sir," promised Harry, "when I can hear properly again."
"It was nice meeting you, sir," managed Hermione. "This is going to take
some research," she commented in English to Harry before pulling a
camera out of her purse. "I'm going to take pictures of all six sides of that
cube so I can study them at Hogwarts. Also, I'd like to stop by the library
here."
By coincidence, they ran across Brianna and Minerva when they were
approaching the library, so the five of them walked into the library
together. However, Hermione seemed to disappear into a world of her
own as she saw all the books she'd never read stacked around her. Harry
chuckled and muttered that his girlfriend looked like a toddler in a candy
store, earning a giggle from his two female companions that weren't in a
world of their own.
Hermione was soon pulling out a pen and notebook (parchment, quill
and ink was far too impractical to use outside of class work) and was
writing down titles of the books that interested her while muttering that
she wished she could spend more time here instead of going back to
Hogwarts that night.
"Surely zat ez not ze only reason you would wish to ztay here, eez eet,
'ermione?"
The English witch looked up in surprise to see Fleur Delacour beaming at
her. She had naturally recognized her from their meeting nearly one and
a half years before at the really, really long Quidditch game. "Hi, Fleur,"
she responded in French.
"I was happy to see you kissing Harry this morning. I was right about him
being smitten with you, wasn't I?"
Blushing, Hermione agreed.
"I can tell you that many girls have attempted to flirt with Harry, but have had
no success at all. His heart belongs to you."
Hermione grinned. "I know I can trust him. He'd never be unfaithful to
anyone he was dating."
"That may be true, but he's not even tempted. You're the only girl he wants,"
the part-Veela insisted. "He loves you."
Blushing, Hermione nodded, "I know."
"Good. I'll leave you to your exploration of our library."
-HM-HM-HM-
After dinner, followed by a passionate kiss between Harry and his
girlfriend, Hermione and Brianna portkeyed back to Hogwarts. After that,
time seemed to pass quite quickly. Neither Harry nor Hermione had
figured out the clue to the second task two weeks later when a special
announcement was made to the school at dinner by Madam Maxime
while Harry was eating with his French friends.
"As usual, we will be having a Yule Ball. However, this year, as part of the
Triwizard Tournament tradition, it will occur on Christmas Day itself, and the
dancing will be opened up by the four Champions and their partners."
'Just great!' thought Harry. 'I have to dance in front of people. At least
mom taught me how so I don't make a fool of myself. I hope Hermione
can come.' At the thought of his girlfriend, he glanced in Aunt Minnie's
direction. She seemed to know what he wanted to ask and nodded with a
small grin on her face.
"I assume that means Hermione will be able to attend," asked Pierre, who'd
been watching Harry exchange the look with his aunt.
"Yeah," he replied. "Now I just have to ask her."
"If she was willing to come to watch you fight a Lethifold, of course she'll come
for a dance," said Brigit.
"You're right. I'm not even sure why I feel nervous asking my girlfriend out."
"If you are nervous, then it's best to get it over with. Call her," suggested Jean
Luc.
"I will, tonight," he decided.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Of course I'll come, Harry," Hermione replied happily that night. "How
could you think I wouldn't?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe I thought you wouldn't
want the attention."
"I kissed you twice in front of that whole school, passionately," she
pointed out.
With a smirk, he replied, "Believe me, I remember."
"Good. You'll get more of the same this Christmas," she promised
seductively. After a few moments, she added, "Maybe I can talk my
parents into spending Christmas break in France."
"You'd still need to portkey here, probably," said Harry.
"I know, but I happen to like France."
"I'll like France better when you're here."
"You should write those corny lines on cards and sell them," laughed
Hermione, causing her boyfriend's ears to turn pink.
"I know it sounds corny, but I really do miss you," replied Harry.
"I know, Harry, and I miss you, too."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
-HM-HM-HM-
The next two weeks went by quickly and enjoyably for Harry, despite the
fact that neither he nor Hermione had solved his clue for the second task.
The only real annoyance he had were the few dozen different French girls
that asked him to the Yule Ball. He politely declined each invitation the
same way. "Thank you for the invitation, but I'm already going with my
girlfriend." Some of them took that rejection well; others glared at him. He
really couldn't understand their problem. As his girlfriend had pointed
out before, they'd kissed very publicly, so it should be common
knowledge that he was taken.
"It's not that they don't know about your girlfriend. It's just that they think
they can distract you from her. Most boys your age aren't very faithful to their
girlfriends," Henrietta explained. "You are a very desirable boyfriend right
now. You're from two different countries. You're a Triwizard Champion who
performed just as well as his older competitors, exceeding almost everyone's
expectations."
"In other words," explained Pierre. "They want a piece of you."
"Well, I'm afraid they're too late," proclaimed Harry.
"I know that and you know that, but they won't believe that until they try."
And try they did, all the way up until Hermione arrived at Beauxbatons
on Christmas morning.
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
36. I’m Dreaming of a French
Christmas
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 36 – I'm Dreaming of a French
Christmas
A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the
French language to express the message I've written in English. As
previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that
language.
-HM—
"Harry," a voice called to the teenager as he walked into the living room of his
house in America. He looked around to see the house was decorated for
Christmas, including a large pine tree covered in lights and ornaments.
However, no wrapped packages were under the tree. Instead was a beautiful
English girl with bushy brown hair. She was wearing a green robe fastened
around her by a large red bow. She smiled at him and said, "Happy
Christmas." His mouth went dry as he started walking toward her for about
five seconds until he heard a male voice calling his name.
"Wake up, Harry," the voice called again, causing the Boy-Who-Lived-In-
Secret to open his eyes. Now, instead of looking at Hermione, he was
looking at Cedric Diggory. He glared at the evil monster who'd just pulled
him away from his wonderful dream.
"Just five more minutes," he muttered before grabbing his pillow and
putting it over his eyes.
"All right. I just thought you'd want to know your girlfriend is outside,
but I'll just tell her you thought sleep was more important." Cedric
laughed as a now fully-awake Harry jumped out of bed.
"Tell her I'll be there in ten minutes." Even though he was anxious to see
Hermione, he figured she'd prefer he shower first. 'And brush my teeth,' he
added silently, remembering her greeting the month before, when they'd
snogged in front of everybody.
"I will," replied Cedric. "And Happy Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," Harry managed to say before closing the bathroom
door.
-HM-HM-HM-
Nine minutes and fifty-eight seconds later, Harry, with messy wet hair,
pushed the door to the temporary Hogwarts boys' dormitory open to see,
"Hermione!" sitting on a stool reading. She was wearing jeans and a
winter coat with her hair in a simple ponytail, but as far as he was
concerned, she was wearing the most exquisite outfit in the world. She
looked up and smiled radiantly at him. Before she could even say
anything, he'd put his hands on her cheeks, bent down and kissed her. He
hadn't even noticed the plant Hermione had sat under, but followed the
tradition anyway.
How he missed that simple, yet amazing sensation of touching his lips to
hers. He forgot all about the pressures on him to open the Yule Ball, to
figure out the clue for the second task of the tournament, even the
tournament itself, as he let himself get lost in this glorious moment, until
a bright flash caused them to pull apart.
He looked around to see a woman, who he guessed was a reporter,
putting down a camera. She had long straight black hair that was just
showing hints of going gray. If he had to guess, Harry would've said the
woman was in her early fifties. "How stirring," she commented in French.
"The youngest champion has a brief moment under the mistletoe with his
girlfriend. I'd imagine you miss him, Miss Granger. Especially knowing how
many French girls much prettier than you have been propositioning him."
Before Hermione answered, Harry angrily remarked, "I'm sorry, but I
haven't seen one French girl who's half as beautiful as Hermione. We
were just leaving."
He didn't even notice the bright smile on his girlfriend's face, but he did
hear her whisper into his ear, "Happy Christmas, my love."
-HM-HM-HM-
After a delightful breakfast, during which Harry realized that in his rush
to see Hermione, he hadn't even noticed the stack of presents by his bed,
the couple returned to his dorm and he began opening presents. The way
he'd realized his oversight was when Hermione thanked him for the
present he'd gotten her – a book on the history of Magical France, written
in French, along with a bottle of genuine French perfume, charmed to
protect the wearer from minor hexes.
Upon opening his presents, Harry found he'd gotten a few new Game Boy
games from Brianna and a few of his Hogwarts friends. His parents had
given him some books on magical and muggle defense while his Aunt
Minnie had given him a book on advanced Transfiguration. He had been
making significant progress in his attempt at becoming an Animagi, but
still was nowhere near completing a transformation. He figured he'd put
off studying his new book until after he'd mastered that. Finally, he
opened his present from Hermione as she watched him nervously.
It was a relatively small package wrapped in gold paper which Harry
carefully removed to find a black velvet box. He opened it to find a gold
chain with a small, flat ball with tiny wings. Fortunately, in his opinion,
it wasn't moving.
"It opens," explained Hermione while her boyfriend was inspecting his
golden Snitch necklace. He looked more closely and found that moving
the wings in a certain way unlocked it to reveal that it held two magical
photographs – one of him and the other of Hermione – that appeared to
have been taken on the day of the first task. However, at the moment
they were in the same frame, in the middle of a passionate snog. He
chuckled at that, causing his girlfriend to inspect what was amusing him.
She giggled as the couple broke up and looked at them, clearly annoyed.
"At the rate they're going," commented Harry with a smirk, "there'll be a
baby in the picture soon."
Her face completely red, Hermione replied, "Of course there won't be.
Magical photos can't reproduce." As Harry laughed at her reply, she
changed the subject. "Can I see your cube? I think I've figured it out."
Harry looked surprised. "You didn't say anything about that."
"I only got the idea yesterday and thought it could wait until I actually
could test it out myself."
He opened his trunk and took out the cube he'd been given at the end of
the first task and handed it to his girlfriend.
While she was adjusting the order on the Rubix Cube type puzzle, she
explained, "I think we were going about it all wrong using the simplest
solution. It's like a trick question where they wanted you to guess that.
I've found another set of runes, much rarer, that uses the same symbols in
a slightly different pattern – this one." She held up the cube to show a
different pattern when it began glowing with a white light and floating
out of her hands to about a foot below the ceiling. The two watched in
awe as a voice began singing out of it.
Searching high above the clouds
Where flying creatures do abound
To find what's taken is your goal
You'll sorely miss what we have stole
An hour long you'll have to search
To find the correct natural perch
And if your treasure isn't found
Whatever goes up must come down
The song repeated four times before it slowly descended back to
Hermione's hand and stopped glowing. She stated, "Obviously, this task
takes place in the sky, so you've already got an advantage."
"That I'm pretty good with a broom," added Harry.
"Exactly. The question is what they're going to steal from you."
"Something I'll sorely miss," quoted Harry. "They'd better not take my
broom!"
With her eyebrows furrowed, Hermione replied, "Somehow I doubt it
would be something like that. Your treasure would have to be…
irreplaceable."
"Irreplaceable? But nothing I own is…Oh no! They'd better not!" Harry's
expression was getting angrier by the moment as he turned and walked
toward the door. "Come on. Let's see about this!"
Despite the exercises she was continuing at Hogwarts, Harry's girlfriend
still had a difficult time keeping up with him as he marched straight to
Professor McGonagall's temporary office. He opened the door to find her
standing right in front of him, smiling. "Ah, Harry, Hermione. Happy
Christmas. I was just going to find you. I think that family…what's
wrong?" She'd finally noticed his expression.
"Is Hermione going to be the treasure that gets stolen from me for the
second task?" he asked without preamble.
Minerva's lips thinned as she took on an irritated expression. However,
her nephew could tell she wasn't irritated with him. She sighed. "Yes. I
fought those idiots tooth and nail, but they would not be turned. They
insisted that human beings be used as hostages! I explained that the prize
awaiting the champion would have nothing to do with the difficulty of
the task, but they wouldn't listen. They think it'll be more entertaining for
the crowd and more stressful for the champion if someone they love has
been kidnapped."
"But couldn't you keep Hermione safe. If they couldn't find her…"
"They'll just use another person. Brianna, perhaps, or one of your
parents…even me. If they can't find any of us, they'll use your friends.
Perhaps Padma or Michael or…"
"I get it," Harry snarled at her.
"Don't worry," assured Hermione. "I'm certain I'll be perfectly safe."
"But the poem said…"
"That was just for dramatic affect," interrupted Aunt Minnie. "The
hostages will be perfectly safe where they will be kept, and they most
certainly won't be dropped down sixty-one minutes into the competition."
She paused for a moment before adding, "However, the hostages will be
at risk during the actual rescue. Anything that attacks the champions
while they're holding the hostages is just as likely to injure them,
especially as the hostages will be…defenseless."
"So Hermione will be safe until I free her, but then if I drop her…" There
was no need to finish that statement.
"I'm afraid so," Minerva replied, her Scottish temper beginning to show
again. "I told them it's complete madness, but those fools wouldn't listen.
I'd suggest you work on finding a way to secure and protect Hermione."
"I will be able to bring my broom, right?"
"Naturally."
"If it weren't for the hostage part," Harry commented, "This would've been
a great opportunity to use my hoverboard."
"Don't even think about using it during that task, Harry Mark
McGonagall! Hoverboards are for one passenger only!"
"Could I bring the hoverboard as well? That way I could let Hermione use
the broom…"
"The hostages will be unconscious," she interrupted, "until they are
returned. So she wouldn't be able to fly."
"That sucks."
"Perhaps we could set that problem aside for the rest of the day," suggest
Aunt Minnie. "It's Christmas."
The rest of Harry's day was spent with Hermione. After a few hours with
Minerva, the young couple joined his French friends. Hermione
mentioned that she and Brianna would be starting an enchanting club at
Hogwarts in January, where they'd teach the skills they'd learned at the
workshop they'd been to during the summer. Finally, at about five
o'clock, Hermione left to get ready for the Yule Ball.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was at precisely seven p.m. that Harry McGonagall, wearing dress
robes that matched his emerald eyes, emerged from the boys' dormitory
and walked to the nearby school. Hermione was dressing in the
Beauxbatons girls' dorm with Harry's new female friends. He wasn't alone
in his trek as nearly half the Hogwarts boys were attending the Ball with
a French girl. Although he wasn't really friends with any of the older
Hogwarts students that had come for the tournament, he was getting
along with them based on the 'live and let live' principle. He didn't cause
them trouble and they didn't cause him trouble.
The only one of them he talked to at all was Cedric Diggory, the 'real'
Hogwarts champion, and they weren't really friends. However, he did
know that his rival for the Seeker position on the Ravenclaw team – Cho
Chang – had come to the school to be Cedric's date for the Ball.
As Harry stood amidst a crowd of boys waiting for their dates, time
passed very slowly. He watched girl after girl appear and leave with her
date as he continued to impatiently wait. In actuality, only about ten
minutes passed, but it felt like ten hours. Finally, the door opened again,
this time revealing a brunette beauty with a light green dress that
matched his robes. Her hair was fixed in a French braid and she looked
flawless. When she smiled at him, he swallowed nervously. He'd been
dating this girl/woman for more than a year, and had known her longer
than that, but she had never looked as lovely as she did at that moment.
He forced himself to speak as she approached. "H-Hermione, y-you
look…wow! B-Beautiful!"
"Thank you, Harry. You look quite handsome." She held out her hand,
and it took him about three seconds to realize he should take it. When he
did, he gently pulled it to his lips and kissed it before they walked toward
the Ball, hand-in-hand.
-HM-HM-HM-
After the doors to the Dining Chamber were opened, allowing everybody
entrance, all the students and guests of Beauxbatons stared in wonder at
the decorations, including Harry and Hermione. Every table had been
moved closer to the walls in order to allow a large, empty center of the
room for dancing. Each table appeared to be made of snow, and it
appeared to be snowing heavily underneath each table, although when
Harry touched the surface of the Champions' table, it felt perfectly
smooth and warm, and his legs and feet felt no snow under the table. He
therefore concluded that the snowy look was an illusion.
There was a large Christmas tree in each corner of the hall, with colorful
fairies flying all around it. They could hear Christmas songs in the
background as they sat down in the round table designated for the
Tournament participants. It seated eight people, which included the four
Champions and their dates. Harry was with Hermione; Cedric was with
Cho Chang; Fleur was with an older boy that was obviously French;
Viktor was with a French girl who was obviously a fan-girl and in
complete awe of him. Harry could tell by looking at Krum that he was
annoyed with his date, but trying to be polite. They had some small talk
for a few minutes, during which Harry noticed Viktor looking admiringly
at Hermione, who seemed to be impressing the French occupants of the
table with her knowledge of their culture. When they were told to speak
their order to the menus that were at the table, he ordered the same
thing Hermione did – not because she'd ordered it but because it had
become one of his favorites during the past few months.
When the band started playing ballroom music, Harry was the first to ask
his date, "May I have this dance?" to which Hermione happily complied.
Before they'd even stepped from the table, the other Champions had
joined them, and together, as was the custom, they opened up the
dancing for the Yule Ball.
Harry was smiling brightly as he held his girlfriend close to him as they
swayed to the music. "You really do look incredible," he commented.
"You've always been beautiful, but tonight…"
She blushed. "Thanks. I tried to look all right. It wouldn't do for a
Champion's date to be Hermione 'Plain Jane' Granger. I had to…"
"You are NOT plain, Hermione. How many times do I have to tell you
you're beautiful? You've even read it in my mind." He was referring to
when she taught him French through Legilimency, where she'd seen how
he sees her.
She beamed at him. "I know how you see me, be-because of your love,
but…"
"I am not the only one who thinks you're gorgeous. Viktor Krum was
looking at you."
"He was just politely paying attention while I was speaking."
"He was wishing you were his date. Trust me. I know how a guy thinks.
He wishes he was the one holding you right now."
"He does no…" She stopped talking when she glanced at the Quidditch
star in question to see that he was staring at her rather than his date,
who appeared to be chattering away, oblivious to the fact that her
dancing partner was ignoring her.
"I told you," said Harry. "I'm just glad we started dating before he even
saw you. Otherwise he'd have been trying to…"
"Viktor Krum would've never asked me to the Yule Ball."
"I'll bet he would've, and I certainly wouldn't blame him. You are,
without a doubt, the most wonderful girl here and I'm the luckiest bloke."
She blushed even redder than before. "You're delusional, but I love you
anyway."
"And I love you, too, but you're the one who's delusional if you don't
think that other guys would love to dance with you." At that moment the
song ended and he gave her a quick kiss before the next song, a faster
one, began playing. They continued dancing through five songs before
stopping for a bit while Harry went to get them drinks.
"Pardon me," greeted an attractive blonde French girl wearing a pink
dress while Harry was asking his menu to provide him with two drinks.
"You are Harry McGonagall, aren't you?"
"Yes," he replied emotionlessly. He had a feeling he knew where this was
going.
"I'm Emma Watson and was wondering if you'd like to dance."
He sighed. "I'm sorry, but I'm here with my girlfriend that I love very much, as
you and every student here knows very well. For the past few months I haven't
gotten to spend nearly enough time with her, so I intend to spend as much time
with her as possible. Happy Christmas." He then walked off with the two
drinks that had appeared on the table during his conversation.
At the same time Harry was talking to Emma, Hermione was approached
by a boy from Durmstrang with dark brown hair and blue eyes. "Hello,"
he said with a thick accent. "My name is Daniel Radcliff."
"Er, hi," she replied, not wanting to be rude as she watched a girl who
was much prettier than herself approach Harry. "I'm Hermione."
"Hermy-own is a very beautiful name. Also, I could not help but notice
that you are very attractive."
"Um, thanks," she responded, getting more uncomfortable and annoyed as
she could tell the blonde girl was flirting with her boyfriend.
"Would you care to dance with me?"
"Er…" she grinned as she saw Harry walk away from the tart, leaving her
looking very disappointed. "No. I'm with my boyfriend. Here he comes
now. Harry, over here." Daniel glared at Harry for a moment before
walking away.
"Who was that?" he asked while giving his girlfriend her drink.
"Don something."
"I'll bet he was trying to get you to dance with him, wasn't he?" He
sounded amused, not jealous. She blushed and nodded. "See. I told you
that any bloke with eyes would ask you out."
"If you believe that, then why aren't you jealous?" she countered smugly.
"Three reasons," he replied without skipping a beat. "First, I believe you
would never go behind anyone's back like that. Second, I believe you love
me like I love you. Third, if I had to worry about you cheating on me,
then you wouldn't really be my girlfriend even if you claimed to be. And I
wouldn't want to date a girl like that anyway. I picked a girl that I could
trust even if I'm hundreds of miles away, but I'm really glad you're here
tonight."
"So am I," she replied before getting on her tip toes and kissing him.
They danced a few more songs before Harry gave Hermione a tour of the
broom closets of Beauxbatons. At midnight, Harry and Hermione shared
one last passionate kiss before she had to leave. Overall, it was a perfect
Christmas.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author's note: As I post this chapter, it is still Harry Potter's 29th
birthday, so I wish him and J. K. Rowling (who coincidentally shares his
birthday) a Happy Birthday.
By the way, it's hard to get in the Christmas spirit to write the Yule Ball
at this time of year.
Sorry about the chapter length, but I think the Yule Ball deserves its own
chapter. The next one will cover the second task.
.
37. Harmless Flying Creatures
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 37 – Harmless Flying Creatures
A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the
French language to express the message I've written in English. As
previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that
language.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next few months passed quickly for Harry as he made sure to
practice his flying, just to stop himself from getting rusty. One day,
Professor Ladue, the French Transfiguration teacher, saw him on his
broom and praised his flying skills, mentioning that, in his opinion, if he
kept hard at it every day his flying skills would rival Krum's. He also
mentioned that he should study up on flying creatures if he wanted to
absolutely master the art. Harry suspected the man was trying to give
him a clue about the second task, but since he already knew about it, the
hint didn't really affect his training plans.
He was told, via his mirror, that the enchanting club that Hermione and
Brianna started at Hogwarts was doing well, with over twenty members.
Enough of them chose to enchant hoverboards that they actually had a
pickup game of Quidditch where one of the teams used hoverboards
instead of brooms.
"You should've seen it, Harry!" exclaimed Brianna excitedly through the
mirror Harry was holding. Even Hermione (who was on the 'broomstick'
team) couldn't keep up with us. We were winning by a hundred points…
until the Snitch was spotted."
"I suppose it is harder to follow the Snitch on one of those things," agreed
Harry.
"That stupid little ball just had to fly straight down, and Ginny couldn't
keep up with Cho during that dive. I can't blame her, either. Only
someone completely out of their mind would do a dive like that on a
hoverboard."
"I suppose it would prove difficult," Harry agreed nonchalantly.
She eyed her brother suspiciously. "I hope you're not planning on trying
that. You'll kill yourself."
"No, I'm not," he agreed. "But I do plan on making a few improvements to
my board.
Later that night, after Harry had completed his planned fiddling with his
hoverboard, he received his nightly call from his girlfriend, who'd
suggested that a team where only the Seeker had a broom, while the
others had hoverboards, would have a huge advantage in any game of
Quidditch – two free hands with which to handle the Quaffle or Beater
bats.
-HM-HM-HM-
Before Harry knew it, the day of the second task had arrived. Harry was
nervously picking at his breakfast when his sister entered the Dining
Chamber. As expected, Hermione wasn't with her. Despite the fact that
he'd been warned of this, he still felt a knot form in his stomach. He
knew that he would have to put his girlfriend at risk by trying to rescue
her. The thought of just not participating had occurred to him, but he
knew he couldn't do that – not after he'd already been told he had to do
his best when he'd suggested doing the same thing during the first task.
He was truly upset with the arrangers of this contest, but really couldn't
do anything about it. He decided he should greet his sister, so he got up
and walked toward her.
"Brianna," he said with a grin as he hugged her. "Thanks for coming. How
are you doing?"
"I'm doing great," she replied happily. "I'm ready to watch you humiliate
all those other champions today once you get on your broom. Then I'll
humbly admit I taught you everything you know."
Harry laughed at that comment. "I doubt I'll be humiliating Krum, but I
do think I'm a better flier than Cedric, and I've never seen Fleur on a
broom. I've asked around and found out she's never even tried out for
Quidditch." He took a deep breath. "That doesn't mean she can't fly,
but…"
"It does make that very likely. It is funny that the other three champions
are all Quidditch Seekers."
"Yeah, it is. I never thought of that."
Brianna frowned just before commenting, "I'm sure you noticed
Hermione's not here."
Sighing, he admitted, "I have. I suppose she's currently hanging from a
tree. I told her she could've hid…"
"And put someone else in danger?" interrupted Brianna. "You know she'd
never do that."
"I know," he nodded. "Too much like me in that respect, I guess."
"Yep," his sister replied with a smirk. "Besides, I think she wants to be the
girl in your arms at the end of the task."
The rest of the morning passed with Harry, Brianna and Minerva catching
up until it was time to prepare for his adventure.
-HM-HM-HM-
At 11:30, the four champions were called into a tent to have their current
task described to them by the head of the French Department of Games
and Sports. "About twenty miles east of here is a range of mountains
where someone important to you is being held. Your job is to retrieve
that person in less than an hour. You will, of course, be allowed flying
transportation such as brooms or beasts."
"Sounds simple," replied Cedric sarcastically. "What's the catch?"
"Oh, nothing too serious," he replied innocently. "Just a few harmless
flying creatures that will try to stop you."
"Like what?" asked Krum.
"You'll find out. The contest starts in about ten minutes. That should give
you plenty of time to retrieve your brooms. Good luck." He then hurried
out of the tent before he could be asked anymore questions.
"Well," suggested Harry. "I guess we'd better do what he said." He then
hurried to his dorm to retrieve his Lightning Bolt.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everyone, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament. Just like
last time, each champion's adventure will be projected for your viewing
enjoyment. For today's event, each of the champions will have to retrieve a
treasure of sorts from a nearby mountain, facing several fierce monsters along
the way. The first one to return, assuming any of them do, wins."
"I'm glad he has so much faith in us, aren't you?" Harry asked his fellow
champions before scanning the crowd with his eyes. He first saw his aunt
sitting with his sister, along with his friends. He then noticed the last
person he expected to see, yet the most difficult person not to spot,
sitting in the stands. He grinned for a moment before frowning. "They
wouldn't? Would they?"
"Would they what?" asked Fleur.
He didn't get a chance to reply, because at that moment, the canon went
off, signifying that it was time to start flying. He mounted his Lightning
Bolt while Krum mounted his Firebolt. The other two champions had
Nimbus 2001's. Harry pushed his broom as fast as he could, which was
faster than Cedric and Fleur could go, but Viktor's Firebolt, with its
acceleration of one hundred fifty miles per hour in ten seconds, left him
at a distant second place.
Harry kept pushing his broom to the maximum while watching Krum
heading east. Suddenly, Viktor appeared to have been rammed into by
something, but Harry couldn't see anything. The Durmstrang champion
barely managed to stay on his broom, but wasn't moving very fast now as
he was being rocked from side to side while Harry was catching up,
wondering if this beast had been disillusioned. He, naturally, couldn't
hear the announcer say, with humor in his voice, "It would appear that
Viktor Krum has just met one of the Thestrals."
When Harry got within thirty feet of Viktor, he felt something hit him in
the side that nearly knocked him off his broom. 'I guess I found one of
whatever Krum's facing,' he thought while trying to figure out what to do.
Taking another look at Viktor, he got an idea. "I'll bet these demons can't
keep up with this," he muttered before pulling his broom down into a full
Wronski Feint, pulling up only a few feet from the ground and gliding
along the surface for about a mile before pulling up. He didn't even
notice Krum was following until he was passed on the way up by the
Bulgarian Seeker. The other two champions were still fighting their
invisible assailants, unable to pull off the professional move to avoid
them, although Cedric was making slow progress getting around the
beasts.
Thankfully, Harry didn't feel any invisible beasts attacking him when he
got back up to a hundred feet above the ground. He sighed as he saw a
mountain in the distance until he noticed a large group of hippogriffs
approaching Krum. The small army of ten split up so that five began
attacking Viktor while the other five headed toward him.
'Okay,' he thought. "How do I bow from on top of a broom?"
He never answered himself, because at that time one of them reached
him and sliced him across the chest with its claw. "Ow!" he screamed as
his shirt started soaking up his blood. "New Sparks!" he muttered,
releasing his wand into his right hand after releasing its grip on his
broom. He wasn't happy about what he was about to do, but didn't see
any other choice. Now he had something else to be mad at the contest's
organizers for. No matter what spell he used against the noble beasts,
they would probably die.
"Reducto!" he shouted, aiming his wand at the nearest hippogriff's wing. It
shrieked in pain as a large wound opened. The beast began slowly falling
while frantically flapping its other wing. Harry hoped it would land softly
enough to survive, but couldn't wait around to find out as his back was
attacked by another. He swore before violently turning his broom around
and blasting the beast with another "Reducto!" This spell hit the half-
eagle/half-horse in the chest, sending it careening toward the ground.
He turned toward the others, pointing his wand with an angry expression
on his face. They seemed to pause for a moment, before flying beyond
him toward another approaching champion, who Harry recognized as
Cedric before speeding up past Krum, who was still fighting his last two
hippogriffs. He was now above the mountain.
"A natural perch," he muttered to himself, remembering the poem about
this task. His Seeker eyes began searching for the highest tree, which he
saw was nearby. Coming closer, he noticed that four people, two of
which he recognized as Hermione and Cho, were tied to different
branches of the tree. The other two were a little girl who looked a lot like
Fleur, along with the girl Krum had taken to the Yule Ball.
Knowing the other hostages would be perfectly safe in the tree, he
quickly freed Hermione and pulled her onto his broom in front of him,
keeping one arm around her waist as he began flying away. He saw Krum
approaching his position as he flew and almost ignored him until he
noticed the expression of terror on Viktor's face. Krum pointed and
shouted, "Behind you!" before flying toward his hostage.
Harry turned quickly to see a huge fireball headed toward him, and
behind the fireball was what he'd feared the moment he saw Hagrid in
the stands – a Hungarian Horntail. He swore as he swooped down, barely
avoiding the blast, although he had a bad feeling that the bristles on his
broom had caught fire. However, he never got the chance to find out.
Harry started to pull back up when he felt like he'd been hit by a tree. He
heard a loud CRACK as his broom broke right in the middle. His hostage
fell with one piece while he was falling with the other. He realized that
the dragon's tail had hit them, but was thankful the horns on it hadn't.
With a calm he didn't think he was capable of, he pulled a small piece of
wood out of his pocket and performed an enlarging charm, restoring his
hoverboard to its original size. As both he and his girlfriend continued
falling, he performed a sticking charm on his right foot so that it would
stay glued to the board. He then performed the first-ever Wronski Feint
on a hoverboard, gaining as much speed as possible as he dived below his
girlfriend, catching her about thirty feet above the ground.
As soon as his arms caught her, he lost his balance and found himself
upside down and falling. Pulling his right foot back with as much power
as he could, in a move similar to a summersault, he managed to right
himself about five feet above the ground. He heard a loud roar that
reminded him that the dragon was still nearby, so, seeing no alternative,
he threw Hermione over his shoulder, holding her by the legs with only
his left arm, while getting his wand back in his hand.
He turned as he gained altitude to see the dragon approaching them. He
quickly shot off several reducto's at the monster that had nearly killed
Hermione, managing to destroy one of its eyes. He was going to fire
again, but saw someone else beat him to the other eye. He turned to see
Cedric approaching his position, still headed toward the hostages. As the
Horntail roared in anger and pain, Harry hurried up, hoping the blind
dragon wouldn't be able to find him. He was bleeding, bruised and
winded, and didn't know how much more he could take.
He had about a minute's reprieve, during which time he noticed Fleur
was limping on the ground holding a broken broom, before he heard a
roar that he'd recognized from a visit to the zoo. It sounded like a lion,
which confused him until he saw four Griffins – lions with eagle wings –
surrounding him from above. He swore, not for the first time during this
task. Knowing he wouldn't last through a fight with those monsters, he
decided to find out just how fast his hoverboard could go. He could see
the palace approaching as he tried to out-fly the magical creatures. He
could hear their wings flapping as they got closer, so he realized his plan
of avoidance wouldn't work. He turned and pointed his wand at the first
beast he saw. "Reducto!" he shouted before turning to the next and doing
the same. After the second was killed, Krum approached. Harry was
horrified to see one of the remaining griffins manage to claw Viktor's
hostage before the Bulgarian blasted its head off. Harry quickly reducto'd
the last monster before both he and Krum raced toward the palace,
hoping nothing else was coming.
Although Harry's hoverboard was fast, it wasn't in the same class as a
Firebolt, so Viktor got back to Beauxbatons first and flew straight to the
make-shift hospital where his hostage was immediately treated by one of
the Healers while his time was announced. Harry went to that same
destination, where both he and Hermione, who gratefully was uninjured
beyond a few bruises, were examined. He was immediately confined to a
bed as his several injuries, including many cuts and bruised ribs, were
treated. He passed out just as the Healer performed a finite to detach the
hoverboard from his foot.
Hermione was awakened in time to hear the announcer saying in French,
"Here comes Cedric Diggory with his hostage. After McGonagall and Krum cut
their way through all the obstacles, he must've had an easy flight. At least he
was considerate enough to pick up Fleur Delacour, whose broom was
destroyed by the thestrals." Within a minute, a broom carrying Cedric, Cho
and Fleur landed in the hospital area. The Beauxbatons champion looked
devastated as she kept saying, "Gabrielle," over and over as she
dismounted the broom. Harry's girlfriend immediately noticed the French
girl's limp, as did the healer, who ushered her to a bed.
At this point, Minerva and Brianna rushed into the tent. "Are you all
right, Hermione?" the headmistress of Hogwarts asked while Harry's
sister rushed up to him.
"I'm fine."
"That's a relief," Minnie replied. "Now to see just how badly Harry was
injured."
Suddenly it dawned on Hermione that she didn't know her boyfriend's
condition. She was suddenly worried. "What happened?" she asked while
turning her eyes to the battered and bloody figure on the bed across from
hers. She got more and more upset as Minerva and Brianna explained
what Harry had faced. "What were they thinking?!" she half-asked/half-
screamed at her headmistress.
"That some people complained that the first task wasn't difficult enough,"
she replied angrily. "I'm sure they thought it was quite entertaining to see
all of you nearly killed this time."
"So, what was my score?" asked Harry, who'd just woken up after being
healed to the point of only having a few bruises.
Hermione, who realized her boyfriend was trying to lighten the mood,
replied, "Your aunt actually hasn't told me yet."
"Well?" he asked. "I suppose I got second place."
"Actually, we, that is all of us judges with the exception of Karkaroff, felt
that you should get first place because your hostage was uninjured.
Therefore, the scores were that you got 43; Krum got 42; Diggory got 30;
Delacour got 15."
Hermione added, "That makes the overall scores thus: Harry – 84; Viktor
– 83; Cedric – 72; Fleur – 55." With an excited smile, she turned to her
boyfriend and shouted, "You're in first place!"
-HM-HM-HM-
End chapter
38. Harry Potter, I Presume
Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall – Chapter 38 – Harry Potter, I Presume?
A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the
French language to express the message I've written in English. As
previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that
language.
-HM-HM-HM-
It was into the tent with semi-light-hearted group celebrating that,
despite all the hardships, Harry McGonagall was in first place, that a
huge man entered. Everyone gathered around the Boy-Who-Lived-In-
Secret recognized him immediately as the former groundskeeper who had
left Hogwarts a few years before to work at a dragon reservation.
"Ello, Harry!" he exclaimed happily. "My, ya' have grown. You, too,
'Ermione!"
"Hi, Hagrid," replied the fourth champion of the Triwizard. He had
noticed the half-giant before the contest began, which had made him
suspect the presence of a dragon. While he thought that fighting a dragon
was crazy and the organizers of the event should all be locked up, he
wasn't angry at Hagrid because it wasn't his fault. "It's good to see you.
How have you been?"
After the others greeted the world's largest dragon handler, he replied,
"I've been doin' real good. My boss says I have a natural talent with
dragons. Of course," he added shyly, "that doesn't include identifying
gender. I should've named Norbert Norberta."
Harry grinned at that admission. Hermione asked, "How is she doing?"
"Just fine. Harry, you did really good in the task. It's too bad about the
creatures that died…" He looked ready to cry. "…but that wasn't yer
fault."
"I plan on writing a letter of protest over this whole event," declared
Minerva. "That was too dangerous for fully-qualified wizards to attempt –
much less children. It's a wonder all of the contestants weren't killed! If
Harry hadn't thought to bring that hoverboard, then both he and
Hermione would've died."
"Yeah," agreed Hagrid. "Beth, the horntail, must not 'ave realized ya
couldn't fly without that broom when she was tryin' ta slow ya down. I
told her not ta hurt anyone. I hope she can be healed up right." He didn't
notice that every eye in the tent was glaring at him. He was saved from a
retort by someone else being brought into the temporary medical
structure by one of the Tournament officials.
"Gabrielle!" exclaimed Fleur, who got up to watch her uninjured sister get
revived. Harry tuned out the French conversation that was taking place
while focusing on the main thing – he'd survived the second task and
only had one more to go. Then his life would get back to normal.
-HM-HM-HM-
Later that night, after a celebration with his friends, a young English
couple walked the halls of the French magical school hand-in-hand. They
knew it would be months before they saw each other again.
"I wish I could come here for Easter break," commented Hermione, "But
my parents want to take a trip to Spain instead."
"I know," he replied, "and I've got to stay here to keep practicing my
spells. Considering how hard the second task was, I don't even want to
think about the third one."
She paled slightly, but tried to keep a smile on her face. "Yes, you need to
keep training as hard as you can, and I know you'll do great. I think you'll
win this tournament."
He shrugged his shoulders. "I just want this to get over with so I can see
you everyday again.
She studied his face closely. "You really mean that?"
"Yes, I do. I've already told you that I love you. I hate the separation that
this stupid game is causing. I know we talk on the mirrors every day, but
it's not the same. I miss you so much."
"I'm here now," she replied seductively as she leaned closer and kissed
him.
Some time later, the happy couple showed up at the entrance to the
school, so that Hermione could leave with Brianna, who Harry did hug
goodbye after enduring a few comments speculating on where he and his
girlfriend had been and what they had done.
-HM-HM-HM-
In the weeks following the second task, Harry was even more popular
than before. He'd impressed a lot of people with the way he used his
hoverboard, although some of them thought he was insane the way he
performed a Wronski Feint with it. Many were trying to convince him to
start a club on enchanting so that they'd be able to make hoverboards
and other things.
"You should get a Wizarding patent on hoverboards," suggested Sirius
through Harry's mirror.
"Actually, Brianna should since she made the first," added Remus, who
was sitting next to Sirius in America. "I think I'll suggest that the next
time we talk. She's the one who figured out how to do it."
Harry grinned at the thought of his little sister making a hoverboard
presentation to a racing broom manufacturer. "It's just a guess, mind you,
but I think she'd need an adult representative. Probably Aunt Minnie,
since she's our closest magical relative."
"And one tough lady," added Padfoot. "I still can't get used to you calling
her Aunt Minnie. By the way, I got you a replacement for your Lightning
Bolt. It was a shame what happened to it."
Harry sighed. "Yeah, it was. I loved that broom." He then grinned at his
godfather. "What kind of broom did you get me?"
"Oh, no. That's a surprise," he replied with a grin. "It's on its way. I'm sure
you'll like it."
"Moony," Harry turned to the other Marauder, "Tell me what Padfoot
bought."
"Oh, no, you don't, cub. Remember, Sirius is the one who's here to hex
me. You're not."
"But…"
"You'll find out when it arrives, and no sooner."
-HM-HM-HM-
Sitting on the floor of his little room in the stables at Beauxbatons where
he did most of his homework, Harry had his eyes closed. He was
breathing in through his nose and out of his mouth while his hands and
feet began growing black fur before changing shape. Soon, fur began to
sprout almost everywhere on his body, with the exception of his head.
His arms and legs were reshaping, too. He could even feel a tail forming.
The night before in their normal mirror call, Hermione had excitedly
reported that she'd managed her Animagus form – a domestic long-haired
cat with brown fur – and he was trying to do the same. He'd grinned and
congratulated her for that achievement, and he was genuinely happy and
proud of her, but a small part of him was jealous. He'd wanted to manage
it first. Without him saying anything about that, she'd pointed out that
he'd been under a lot more stress than her this year, and had spent a
great deal of time training for the tournament, so it was natural that he'd
take a bit longer than her. He agreed she was right about that, at least
mentally, but still wanted to prove himself capable of that complex bit of
magic. Consequently, he was working on it now.
He could feel his body begin to reshape itself into a feline form, but no
matter how hard he tried, his head wouldn't change at all. His aunt told
him that his body wouldn't resize to the animal's proper size – whether
bigger or smaller – until after it had completely changed. He wasn't sure
what type of cat he was, but was hoping for a large panther. Giving it up
as a bad job, he finished for the night and allowed himself to revert to his
normal human form. This wasn't the first time he'd been stopped by this
same problem, so he'd already asked his aunt about it. She simply
replied, "You've got to trust your inner animal enough to even give it
control of your head."
-HM-HM-HM-
"So, have they told you anything about the third task yet?" asked Jean-Luc
LaSalle, one of Harry's first French friends. Even though he'd made a lot
of friends at this school, he still tended to eat breakfast with the small
group he'd met his first day there. They'd finished eating and were simply
waiting for it to be time for their first class of the day.
He replied in perfect French, "Not a word. I figure, based off the last event,
that we'll be dodging killing curses, and the winner will be the one who takes
the longest to hit."
Jean-Luc's girlfriend, Brigit, replied with a frown, "That's not funny! How
can you even joke about that?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "It's either laugh about it or worry myself into
a heart-attack before the task starts. Anyway, it should be a bit safer this time.
There were a lot of complaints that the task was too dangerous." He grinned.
"I'm sure my aunt sent the loudest howler of them all."
"That was ridiculous," agreed Pierre. "It's as though they wanted at least one
of you to die."
"Who knows?" replied Harry. "That could really be the plan. They still haven't
found out who entered me in this game, nor why."
"Now there's a happy thought," commented Henrietta.
"I guess we could change the subject," replied Pierre, realizing his girlfriend
didn't want to talk about possible murders. "How do I make one of those
hoverboards?"
Before Harry could answer that question, two owls entered the room,
carrying one long thin package together toward him. Harry McGonagall's
face lit up as he realized what it must be.
"That's my new broom!" he exclaimed as he reached for the package, not
noticing his aunt approaching with a camera as he ripped the parcel
open.
"What kind is it?" asked Jean-Luc, who was watching with the others.
As Harry examined it, his face moved from confusion to disbelief and
finally to pure joy. "It's a Firebolt!" he proclaimed while Aunt Minnie
photographed his face. He blinked a few times from the flash before
looking at her in confusion.
"He wanted to see the look on your face," she explained simply before
returning to the staff table.
Harry then voiced the one problem he saw with receiving this wonderful
gift. "How in the world am I going to make it through all our classes today
before trying this out?"
-HM-HM-HM-
That was indeed a difficult challenge for the Boy-Who-Lived-In-Secret as
he sat through his classes, barely paying attention as he daydreamed
about his new broom.
"You're lucky you didn't get detention with how you messed up in Charms
class," commented Pierre with a grin as they approached the Quidditch
pitch after dinner.
"I know. I'll admit it," he replied, "but who wouldn't be distracted by receiving
a Firebolt?"
"Me," answered Brigit, but Harry wasn't listening. He hardly knew that his
best French friends were with him as he marched toward his destination,
broom in hand.
"It's the only broom I know that's truly superior to the Lightning Bolt." He
went on describing the world class racing broom's stats until they
reached the pitch. He stopped and mounted it.
He whooped in joy as he flew faster than ever before on a broom that
seemed to respond to his thoughts rather than movement. He missed this.
It had been over a month since his first broom had been broken. While he
loved his hoverboard, it wasn't quite the same. He could move much
faster and had more control than he'd ever be able to achieve with his
board. Not that there weren't situations where a board would be better –
most Quidditch positions, for example – but this would always be what a
Seeker needed to follow a Snitch wherever it went. He made a mental
note to thank Sirius profusely that night.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry spent most of his spare time either 'testing' his Firebolt, training for
the Tournament, or working on his Animagus transformation, even
through Spring Break. As far as changing into an animal, it seemed Harry
was at a standstill. He was, as the saying goes, 'so close but so far away'
from achieving his goal. His aunt suggested that he take a break from it
and try it again after the Tournament. She figured he was too nervous
about that, especially since he didn't even know what task awaited him.
She was still upset that he'd been forced to participate.
Finally, on May 22nd at 9 p.m., the four champions were asked to meet
with the head of the French games and sports department. Harry walked
out onto the grounds near the Quidditch pitch where he saw a structure
that reminded him of a magical amusement park. It was a seven-sided
polygon shape and was covered in bright colors that appeared to have
been spray-painted all over the place by several different graffiti artists
working independently.
"This, lady and gentlemen, is the final task," the man proudly proclaimed.
"While this structure is already large, it has been expanded inside to be even
larger, though I won't say how much larger. Inside, you will find a maze full of
magical creatures. The one who makes it to the center first will find the
Triwizard Cup and win the tournament. I should mention that neither brooms,
nor hoverboards, are allowed inside. All you'll bring are your wand and your
wits. Mr. McGonagall is in the lead, so he will enter first, followed by the rest
of you in the order of your scores. Have a good evening." He then walked off
before they could ask any questions.
-HM-HM-HM-
The next day, Harry was inside an empty classroom that Beauxbatons had
provided for him to train in. (They'd provided similar rooms for each
champion so they could train in privacy whenever they had time). He
was currently working on his speed and accuracy in spell-casting and had
twenty small targets placed all over the room, shooting them each with
stinging hexes and seeing how fast he could shoot each one in the bull's-
eye using only one wand. So far, the best scores he'd gotten were either
ten seconds while hitting the area just outside the bull's-eye or twenty
seconds hitting the exact target. He had no idea how good he would have
to be to win the contest, so he kept practicing, hoping to improve.
He stopped firing spells when there was a knock on his door. He grabbed
a hand towel and wiped the sweat off his forehead before saying, "Come
in."
The door opened, revealing the Transfiguration teacher, Professor Ladue,
dressed in his standard teaching robes. He smiled. "Practicing your
Spellwork, I see. Very good."
"Yes, sir."
"I thought I'd come by to see your progress and give you a bit of advise. While
this method of training is very good, it could be improved. For example, you
could animate the targets so that they're moving, as no doubt whatever you'll
be facing during the third task will be."
Harry considered that for a moment before saying, "Good idea. Thanks."
"You're quite welcome. Also, if you had something attacking you, it would be
more realistic. I'd suggest having one or more of your friends firing simple
hexes at you while you're trying to hit all your targets."
"That's not a bad idea," he agreed. "I hope you're sharing these tips with all
the champions."
"But of course," Professor Ladue replied easily. "Anyway, I must leave now.
Good luck."
"Thanks, Professor."
"You're welcome. Good day."
As the teacher closed the door behind him, Harry began casting spells on
his targets.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry McGonagall was in the best shape he'd ever been in on the day of
the third task. He'd been exercising since the previous summer, but he'd
managed to bring it to a new level as he prepared for this challenge. He'd
gotten his four best friends to help him train in exactly the way Professor
Ladue had suggested, and had gotten to the point where he could hit all
twenty moving targets in the bull's-eye, while dodging spells, in fifteen
seconds. Of course, he'd only done it that fast once, and usually it took
closer to eighteen, but that was his top score and he was sticking with it.
At long last, the final day of the Triwizard Tournament dawned and the
Boy-Who-Lived-In-Secret woke up nervous and excited. He wasn't as
excited about the task as he was about the fact that his girlfriend would
be visiting again. He climbed out of bed early and showered, putting on
his best cologne in anticipation of that meeting.
Despite his getting up early, his love had arrived in the Dining Hall
before him and was waiting at the entrance. She was dressed in a lovely
sundress that was a light shade of blue, with her hair arranged in a
simple, yet attractive, style. "Hermione!" he exclaimed as he ran toward
her.
"Harry," she managed before he captured her mouth with his as they put
their arms around each other, neither wanting to let go.
After about a minute of snogging, they heard someone clearing her
throat, so they broke apart to turn their attention to Brianna McGonagall.
"If you two are through giving each other mouth-to-mouth resuscitation,
I'd like a hug from my brother. It's been a long time since I've seen him,
too."
Harry complied, confirming that he did miss her. "Every time I shoot at a
target during practice, I picture your face," he joked.
"That means so much to me," she replied melodramatically.
"Well," suggested Harry with a grin, "shall we sit down to breakfast?"
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry and his family (including Hermione) had enjoyed the day as they
sat and walked together, talking about anything but the challenge
awaiting him a few hours after lunch. When the second meal of the day
had been enjoyed, he and his girlfriend walked off for some alone time
before the task at hand.
"How are you feeling?" asked Hermione.
He sighed, "A bit nervous." He grinned. "Why don't you show me your cat
form?"
Smiling, she replied, "All right," and with that, she began to change
quickly, turning into the brown long-haired cat.
"You're beautiful as an animal as well as a human," he told her as he
squatted down to pet her. She purred as he gently stroked her back. "I'm
really proud of you." He then asked, "How does Crookshanks like your
form?"
She backed away and reverted back to human form. "He ran to the other
side of the room the first time I changed in front of him, but then slowly
approached me. I'd hoped I could communicate with him, but he hasn't
said a word I recognized."
"Too bad. It would've been nice." His face then developed an evil grin.
"He doesn't fancy you, does he? Because if he does, I'll have to…"
Hermione interrupted him by laughing, "Don't worry. He's not your rival."
"Good," he laughed. "I'd hate to lose you to a kneazle."
"You're in no danger of that," she replied before kissing him soundly.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Welcome, everyone to the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament!"
The huge crowd began cheering and clapping as the four champions
gathered just outside the door to the maze. As band music played, Harry
surveyed the crowd, first finding Hermione sitting with Brianna and his
Beauxbatons friends. He loved seeing his girlfriend cheer for him. His
eyes then found his Aunt Minnie sitting with the judges. Then he spotted
someone he hadn't expected to find, wearing colorful Wizarding robes
and sporting a long white beard – Albus Dumbledore. Harry then thought
he was stupid not to think the retired headmaster might wish to see this
event. He noticed that the elderly man was clapping rather slowly before
realizing that his right hand appeared to be black – as though cursed.
Harry had no time to think about this because at that moment, the
announcements resumed.
"The points stand thus. In fourth place, with fifty-five points, is the
Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour!" The largest section of the crowd
cheered loudly, which made sense to Harry because he was in France at
the very school she was representing. "In third place, from Hogwarts, with
seventy-two points, is Cedric Diggory!" He received a decent amount of
applause. Harry grinned as Amos Diggory lifted his son's arm in the air.
"In second place, with eighty-three points, is Viktor Krum of Durmstrang!" The
internationally famous Quidditch star received the loudest applause yet.
When that had quieted down, the announcer continued. "And in the lead,
with eighty-four points, is Harry McGonagall of Hogwarts!" Harry waved to
the crowd as they cheered, doing his best not to let it go to his head.
"These brave champions will enter the maze in order of their points. Four will
begin, but will four finish?" The door to the maze structure was opened,
and for the first time, Harry could look inside. Not that it helped, since
all he saw was a wall. "As with the other two tasks, you will be able to
monitor each champion's progress on the screens. Mr. McGonagall, please step
in front of the door with your wand at the ready." He complied. "Let the task
begin!"
Mustering all the courage he could, Harry stepped into the maze. He was
surprised at how quickly the sound of the cheering crowd disappeared as
he made his decision to turn left. The walls seemed to be glowing an
eerie yellow, which was the only light in this maze. He soon came upon
an opportunity to either go straight or turn left, which would bring him
closer to the center. He turned left and took a step, only to attacked by a
huge swarm of Cornish pixies.
He started pushing them away from his face while running before
stupefying the electric-blue creatures that were blocking his view. Once
he'd hit all fifteen of them, he looked around to see he was in a dead end
so he had to backtrack. Running, he made his way back to where he'd
made a wrong turn and continued his journey.
He soon found another opportunity to turn left, which he did. After
taking about ten steps, he started feeling unnaturally cold. He performed
a warming charm on himself, which didn't help him a bit, as he
continued following the corridor as it turned a corner. He began hearing
his birth-mother's screams, begging Voldemort not to kill her baby, and
knew what he was facing. Gritting his teeth and bringing his Occlumency
shields up to full strength, Harry looked up and saw a black-robed figure
floating toward him. Forcing the memory of kissing Hermione that
morning to the front of his thoughts, Harry shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"
releasing a silver tabby cat to run toward the Dementor, chasing it out of
his path.
He ran, yet again, hoping to be long gone before the evil beast returned.
Soon, he had a choice to go either right or left. He could not go forward.
He performed the point me spell to make his decision to go left. He knew
he'd made the correct decision when he saw the next dangerous beast.
This one had a lion's head, a goat's body, and a dragon's tail.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Bloody hell!" shouted Hermione from the stands. "First a Dementor and
now a chimera! What the hell do they think they're doing?" Hermione
kept alternating between covering her eyes and watching Harry's screen
while swearing, which showed how worried she was about her boyfriend.
"Language, Hermione!" replied Brianna with a slight smirk from next to
her. She, too, was worried about her brother, who was sending the
strongest Reducto he could at the beast.
-HM-HM-HM-
ROAR!
"I guess I made it mad," mumbled Harry as he watched the monster growl
at him. That was the bad news. The good news was that he was now
facing a one-eyed chimera. He pointed his wand at the creature and
shouted, "Reducto!" this time hitting the monster's mouth. It rolled
backwards into the wall and fell over. Harry did not wait around to see if
it was dead, unconscious or simply knocked over. He ran as fast as his
legs could go, around the nearest corner until he fell…
…into a pond. It took him a moment to regain his bearings and decide
he'd better swim back up to the surface before he drowned. When he got
to the water's surface, he saw the top of a horse that seemed to be
looking at him, expecting him to climb aboard. However, he trusted
nothing in this maze, and immediately realized that it was a…
-HM-HM-HM-
"Kelpie!" explained Hermione. "That's what it's got to be. If Harry mounts
it, he's as good as dead. I hope he remembers to…"
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry concentrated on what he needed to transfigure a piece of cloth he'd
ripped off his shirt into and performed his spell. At this moment, he
didn't regret one second he'd spent studying magical creatures. He
formed the cloth into the shape of a bridle and levitated it onto the water
beast, rendering it docile and unthreatening. He then swam about the
length of an Olympic sized pool until he got to the surface he could climb
out of before performing a drying spell on himself. However, his socks
still felt wet inside his shoes, but he had no time to waste. A point-me
spell helped him get his bearings and he continued, eventually making a
turn that put him face-to-face with a creature that had the head of a man,
body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion.
-HM-HM-HM-
"A bloody manticore! A bloody manticore! One sting from that tail will
kill him! What is wrong with those idiots who designed this tournament?
Are they really trying to kill all the champions?" This was said by
Brianna, who was now terrified that she was about to watch her brother's
death. Hermione wholeheartedly agreed.
-HM-HM-HM-
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Harry shouted, while pointing his wand at the
manticore. He wanted to make sure there was no way that tail could get
anywhere near him. He breathed a sigh of relief when it rose up out of
his way. He ran, while keeping his wand pointed at the beast, hoping to
get as much distance between them as possible while he planned his
lawsuit against the tournament. 'What's next,' he wondered, 'a nundu?'
Right after he released the manticore to fall, he turned the corner to find
a troll. 'I should've recognized the stench,' he thought. Remembering, with a
grin, how he and his friends had subdued one during first year, he
thought up a strategy. The last time, they'd summoned its club between
them, causing it to hit the troll's head. This time, since he was alone, he
decided to modify that method. He pointed his wand at the monster's
club and cast, "Wingardium Leviosa." The club pulled out of the troll's
hand and floated several feet above it. The rather stupid beast looked up
at its recently-stolen toy until it fell back down, straight into its head.
The troll fell to the floor, unconscious.
After regaining his bearings, Harry advanced more, until he saw
something he'd never have believed happening. Cedric Diggory shot a
stupefy at Fleur Delacour. The Boy-Who-Lived-In-Secret pointed his wand
at his fellow Hogwarts student, noting that his eyes looked glazed over,
indicating the Imperius curse, and fired a stunning spell, the red beam
connecting with Cedric's torso. He figured that the whole audience had
seen what had happened and would send help, but didn't have time to
stick around. He wondered who it was that had done that to Diggory,
pondering whether it was Viktor Krum or not.
He had no time to think about that when he encountered a fifteen-feet-
high monster covered in purest white hair. "I guess you're a Yeti," he
mumbled at the monster long thought to be related to the troll. "I'm glad
I know what scares you." He then performed a fire spell that sent the
creature backing up away from him, clearing the path to the next and
final creature Harry would encounter, a sphinx.
"I offer a riddle, human," the creature with a human-head and lion-body
said in perfect English, as though it knew which contestant was which,
while Harry wondered about the part-lion theme of this task. "If you
answer it correctly, you may pass. If you do not answer it, you may leave
unmolested. However, if you answer incorrectly, I'll kill you."
"What's the riddle?" he replied, seeing no harm in hearing the question.
"The answer is one word made of three answers. The first part is to make
an attempt. The next is to not be foolish. The last is not easy."
Harry thought about it for a few minutes, going over the clues in his
mind; finally grinning when he realized the answer. "Try-wise-hard is
Triwizard."
"Correct," the sphinx replied, moving out of the way. "You have earned
the cup."
"Harry!" shouted a voice behind him. He turned to see Viktor Krum
running.
Not knowing whether or not the Bulgarian champion had cursed Cedric,
nor whether Krum himself was bewitched, Harry ran forward, finally
seeing the cup. As a result of his exercises, he was able to run much faster
than the man who spent more time sitting on a broom rather than
running. As he reached the prize, a grin formed on his face. Not only had
he survived this tournament he'd been forced to participate in, but he'd
won. He grabbed the cup in victory – before feeling a familiar pull
behind his navel. He'd picked up a portkey.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry landed in the middle of what appeared to be an old cemetery, but
before he could look around much, he took a stunner to the face,
knocking him unconscious, causing him to drop the trophy.
He awoke to find himself tied to a large gravestone. The location where
his lighting scar had once been was aching and he felt a semi-large cut on
his left palm that was still bleeding. He would not be able to catch his
spare wand with that hand. He opened his eyes to see Peter Pettigrew
staring in anticipation at a large cauldron. Before he could even hazard a
guess at what was happening, black smoke began rising out of the
cauldron, soon taking the shape of a man, or what once was a man. Harry
shivered in fear as he realized that he had just witnessed the rebirth of
Voldemort.
"Robe me, Wormtail," the naked, undead dark lord commanded. It was at
this moment that Harry realized Peter was missing his right hand and
was still bleeding from the injury. He gasped in horror at the thought
that the rat had done it to himself as part of this dark ritual. After Peter
had helped him into a black robe, Riddle told him to, "Give me my
wand."
"Ah," said Voldemort as he walked toward him. "I see you're awake now,
Harry. I've been interested in you ever since our encounter in Hogwarts
four years ago. I couldn't understand why your touch destroyed Quirrel,
until I developed a theory that you are not who you claim to be. I've
found out everything about you that I could, including your dueling skill,
which is why Wormtail was ordered to stun you on sight. A pathetic
wizard such as he couldn't hope to win against you, had you begun
fighting. I couldn't risk anything ruining this ritual.
"Your name and age, along with the apparent absence of the legendary
Boy-Who-Lived got me wondering about whether or not that could be
you – no doubt hidden as part of one of Dumbledore's schemes." As Tom
Riddle came closer and closer, his captive's headache became worse.
Finally, Voldemort placed his finger on Harry's forehead, causing the pain
to double as the scar fought its way through the plastic surgery that had
hidden it for so many years. It appeared fresh, raw and bleeding down
the boy's face while his nemesis calmly asked, "Harry Potter, I presume?"
"What of it?" Harry barked, unwilling to cringe in fear of this demon
anymore.
"This ritual required that I obtain the blood of an enemy. Anyone foolish
enough to oppose me would do, which means this would've worked even
if I were wrong about your identity, but I had wanted the blood of Harry
Potter, and I accomplished my goal. It was I who arranged for your name
to come out of the goblet, Harry. I knew you'd win, although I arranged a
bit of help to make sure, but anyone who could possibly be any threat to
me must be more talented than the average wizard." He sighed happily.
"Let's see what you're made of, shall we? Crucio!" Harry felt that his
whole body was on fire as he writhed against his ropes and the granite
tombstone. Riddle laughed.
"But, enough of this. I must invite other guests to see the entertainment."
He walked back to the still-bleeding Pettigrew. "Wormtail, hold out your
arm."
"Thank you, master," replied the pale-looking traitor as he held out his
right.
"The other arm." Peter frowned but complied, revealing the dark mark,
which Voldemort pressed his wand to, summoning the Death Eaters, who
appeared moments later.
They all looked surprised as they surveyed the setting, but Harry didn't
pay much attention to what was said. Voldemort was talking about being
disappointed in them for not coming after him while Harry tried
something desperate. He'd easily realized that he was the planned
entertainment for the Death Eater party and decided he didn't want to be,
so he attempted his Animagus transformation, with visions of becoming a
panther and killing all the gathered criminals with his teeth and claws.
His body changed as Harry concentrated, finally desperate enough to
even let his head transform. Then he started shrinking. He was quite
disappointed when he realized he wasn't a big cat, but a small one. In
fact, he was a black tabby cat. However, Harry quite easily got out of his
ropes and transformed back into a boy, not noticing that his hair was
now its natural black. He grabbed his wand off the ground.
"I returned," claimed Wormtail, who was barely standing up.
Voldemort walked toward him until Lucius Malfoy proclaimed, "That boy
is escaping!" Riddle Apparated immediately in front of Harry, leaving
Pettigrew to pass out from his loss of blood.
"Going somewhere, Potter?" he asked with a grin.
Harry pointed his wand at the Triwizard Cup and said, "Accio Portkey!"
just as Voldemort violently grabbed him. The cup hit the both of them at
the same time, and both of them disappeared.
-HM-HM-HM-
In the meantime, Hermione, Brianna and Minerva were in a complete
state of panic. They, along with everyone in the crowd, had seen Harry
grab the cup in victory. However, while they were cheering, the winner
disappeared. It had been over fifteen minutes and now Harry's family and
girlfriend were standing on the ground waiting for some clue to follow.
The other champions had left the maze as well, and were being spoken to
by aurors. Dumbledore, with his withered right hand, was also standing
with them. He'd been evasive as usual when asked about his injury, but
did seem very concerned about Harry.
Suddenly, a flash of light interrupted them as, in front of the entire
crowd, the Triwizard Cup, the now raven-haired champion with a
bleeding lightning-shaped scar, and the newly-revived dark lord
appeared. Riddle managed to stay on his feet, but the Boy-Who-Lived fell
to the ground.
The crowd gasped as several of the older spectators recognized the
description of the evil wizard who'd nearly taken over England, using a
French phrase as his name. Paying no mind to the crowd, Voldemort
pointed his wand at Harry, shouting, "Crucio! No one defies me!"
Harry writhed in pain for about five seconds until a flash of gold light
nearly hit Tom in the face. As he dodged, his spell on Harry ended.
Voldemort frowned when he saw who'd just attacked him. "Dumbledore.
I must admit I'm a bit surprised to see you."
Albus, who'd pulled out his wand and stepped forward once he'd gotten
over the shock of seeing Riddle in a new body, replied, "I, too, am a bit
taken aback by your sudden appearance, Tom." He sent a silent spell that
surrounded the dark lord in a small tornado.
After two seconds, the air funnel pushed out in all directions, knocking
most people nearby, including Harry who'd just gotten up, off their feet.
Dumbledore stood firm while Voldemort spoke. "It was clever to disguise
Harry Potter as an American, even changing his appearance, but not
clever enough to fool me." At that moment, several members of the
crowd turned their eyes on the fourth Triwizard champion, who'd just
gotten back on his feet and was aiming his wand toward his foe. "Give it
up, Potter!" Riddle shouted as with a small gesture Harry's wand was on
the ground. Tom then sent a spell toward Dumbledore's direction, causing
the grass around him to grow, rapidly surrounding the aged wizard
before moving toward him as though trying to choke him.
With a flick of his legendary wand, Albus trimmed all the grass around
him, making the small radius he was standing in look like a golf course.
Another flick sent the newly-trimmed grass straight toward Voldemort as
Dumbledore calmly stated, "I must admit that protecting the Boy-Who-
Lived in that fashion was a wonderful idea. He has grown into an
exceptional youth."
"But that stops tonight!" Riddle proclaimed as he turned his wand toward
the boy in question (once again holding his wand), who appeared to be
trying to decide if he should interrupt the duel between masters or not.
"Avada Kedavra!" he shouted.
In surprise at being targeted at that moment, with no time to duck, Harry
shouted, "Reducto!" hoping the two spells would hit each other. They did.
Suddenly, Harry found himself in a battle of wills with Voldemort as an
affect he hadn't planned on occurred. The beams from their wands were
fighting each other. Concentrating so hard he didn't even notice that the
two of them were now inside a cocoon of light by themselves, he pushed
his spell all the way into Voldemort's wand, which suddenly released
echoes of its previous spells.
First were echoes of the spells the dark lord had used in combat, followed
by ghost-like representatives of the last people he'd killed. When Lily and
then James Potter showed up, they told Harry in unison, "We love you so
much, and are so proud of you. Tell the family that took you in how
grateful we are to them."
"I will," promised Harry.
James commanded, "Release the spell, now!"
Harry pulled his wand away, causing the cocoon of light to fade,
revealing that Dumbledore and Hermione had approached it, but on
opposite sides. Harry's girlfriend had ignored the protests that Minerva
had made when she ran up to try helping Harry in any way she could.
The echo of Lily Potter, which only had a few moments to linger, looked
at the young woman she knew her son loved dearly. "Nothing would
make me prouder than for you to become my daughter-in-law."
Hermione blushed for a moment before Voldemort shouted, "Accio
Granger slut!"
Harry's expression moved from horror to anger as he watched his
girlfriend pulled into the waiting arms of his worst enemy, his wand
pointed at her throat. "Throw down your wand, Potter, or she dies!"
Dumbledore started to say, "Harry…" but was interrupted by Voldemort
shouting, "NOW!"
Harry looked from his girlfriend's shaking head, who was trying to tell
him not to do it, to Voldemort's determined red eyes that were looking
for an excuse to kill yet another innocent muggle-born. While hoping for
a chance to get his other wand, Harry tossed his own to the ground.
"Fool!" shouted Voldemort, as he pointed his wand toward Harry without
letting Hermione go. "Avada Kedavra!" Hermione struggled against her
captor, trying to put herself in front of the green beam of light, but
couldn't. It hit Harry. He fell at the same time the spell bounced back at
Voldemort, causing him to fall backwards, releasing his hostage, who
immediately ran toward her fallen boyfriend, tears already filling her
eyes as the crowd watched silently.
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry opened his eyes to find himself somewhere between life and death,
surrounded by white light. When he realized he was naked, he noticed a
white robe on the 'ground.' He picked it up and put it on just before he
noticed a woman with long red hair approaching. Recognizing her as
someone he'd just seen, he asked, "Mum?"
"Yes, darling. It's me."
"So I'm dead?"
"Not quite. You can and should go back to your life. There is a lovely
young woman crying over you right now."
"Hermione?"
"Yes. She needs you, Harry, just as you need her."
"Then I'll go…"
"Time here doesn't matter. You will return to the moment you fell no
matter how long we speak. I thought I should first explain to you the
reason you can live despite that vile curse hitting you. A piece of that
monster's soul had been attached to you when you first received that
scar. Plastic surgery couldn't change that." Harry grinned at that
statement while his birth mother continued. "Now, that abomination is
dying." She turned toward something he hadn't noticed before –
something ugly that was crying nearby. "Now you'll no longer be immune
to that curse, so don't allow it to hit you again. There are more of those
monstrous creations in the world, but Mr. Dumbledore has been
destroying them. If he asks you for help with this task, I suggest you give
it to him."
"But Dumbledore…"
"I didn't say that you should always obey him and trust his judgment, as
though he is infallible. His heart is in the right place, but he's always
convinced he's right, and never seeks the counsel of those that disagree
with him. Even Severus himself protested being made a teacher, but
Dumbledore was convinced it was the right thing to do and ignored
everyone who disagreed, which happened to be nearly everyone in
England."
"Severus. Snape? You knew him?"
"Yes, I knew him. We lived in the same neighborhood as children and
were friends for a long time." She sighed. "I won't reveal his secrets to
you, nor excuse his petty, unprofessional behavior, but I will say that he
does want Voldemort defeated. In this matter, you are on the same side."
"So Dumbledore was right?" asked Harry.
"Only regarding Severus' side in the war. Not that he should be a teacher.
He did far more harm than good in that capacity."
"I guess I'd better be going," stated Harry.
"Could you permit me one thing before you go?" she asked. "I'd like to
hug my son one more time." She then embraced him as he hugged her
back for several seconds.
"Bye, Mum," he said.
"Your father and I love you. Hug your other family for us, too, especially
Minerva. You'll never know how cruel the life she saved you from when
she defied Dumbledore would've been."
"I will."
-HM-HM-HM-
Harry awoke, finding himself lying on the ground with tears falling on
his face like rain. He opened his eyes to see Hermione's face sadder than
ever before. He asked, "What's wrong? You're acting like somebody died."
Her eyes widened. She grinned. Then she scowled.
"Don't you EVER scare me like that again!"
"Look!" shouted Brianna from afar. She was standing next to Minerva
while pointing in the direction of the fallen dark lord.
He looked to see Voldemort get up with a furious expression and
disappear with a small pop. At the same moment, a dozen French aurors
arrived, ready to do battle.
Professor Ladue, who'd been watching the whole battle in fascination,
now looked nervous. He was standing with the other professors, near
Harry's family. He'd completely lost track of the time when his watch
beeped, indicating another hour had passed. He casually reached into his
back pocket to retrieve a flask he'd been drinking from for the entire
year. He pulled it out before his hands started trembling, causing him to
drop it.
"What's wrong?" asked one of the professors. "I guess it was stressful to
watch…What's going on?"
Barty Crouch Jr. knew the gig was up. He was beginning to transform
back to himself. He shakily pulled out his wand, but was quickly
disarmed by a nearby auror who'd noticed the exchange. He changed
completely and was arrested and taken to a French holding cell, where he
would be thoroughly interrogated, revealing that he'd been the one to
enter Harry's name in the goblet, using the signature he'd put on the
English Ministry form Harry had filled out during the summer, evaluating
his Hogwarts experience.
It was he who'd turned the Triwizard cup into a portkey and placed the
Imperius on Cedric (who would've gone after Krum next had Harry not
stunned him) to make sure Harry won. He would also reveal that his
father had broken him out of Azkaban with his mother's help, and had
been keeping him under house arrest (with the help of the Imperius
Curse) ever since.
Harry was taken to the hospital wing to be treated for exposure to the
Cruciatus curse, after which he'd been interviewed by the aurors, who
asked him for his memory of Voldemort's resurrection, which he willingly
provided accidentally leaving out his escape, wherein he turned into a cat.
Dumbledore left soon after that, saying that he needed to get in touch
with the old crowd, leaving Harry alone with his family and girlfriend.
"So, why did you change your hair color?" asked Hermione.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry, who hadn't seen a mirror since before
the task began.
"Your hair is black," she replied as Minerva conjured a mirror and handed
it to him.
"That's your original hair color," she pointed out.
"I know that," said Harry, "but I don't know when it changed. Maybe
Voldemort did it while I was unconscious."
"Harry, did you change into your Animagus form while you were in the
graveyard?" she whispered so no one beyond their group would hear.
"Yes," he whispered back. "I became a small cat. Why?"
"Until someone is quite experienced at the transformation, when they
return to their human form, they become their natural form without any
changes they've made, such as make-up, hair dye, and apparently
transfigured hair color."
"I like the change," commented Brianna.
"What about you?" he asked Hermione.
"Well," she replied, blushing, "both looks are good for you, but I do think
this is a bit…better."
"Then I might as well keep it," he sighed. "I wonder if I can get my scar
covered again." The wound had been closed by the healer and now was
only a faint line in the shape of a lightning bolt. However, the healer said
it would never completely go away. Of course, he knew muggle plastic
surgery could do that.
"You probably shouldn't bother," replied Hermione, "since now everyone
will want to see your famous scar."
"Great. Just great."
"Are you going to change your name now?" asked Brianna, looking a bit
concerned. "Everyone will want to call you Harry Potter now."
"I've been Harry McGonagall for as long as I can remember, and I don't
want to change that," he protested.
"Good. I don't want you to," replied his sister.
"If someone insists on using my birth name, they can call me Harry
Potter-McGonagall."
-HM-HM-HM-
At the same time in England, a reporter at the Daily Prophet was working
on their story to cover the events that had happened in France. There was
no denying that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had returned – far too
many witnesses. However, this paper would not be treating the newly
revealed Boy-Who-Lived as a hero the way other publications would. This
person read the last few lines about Harry with a smirk.
He's been deceiving us for years. He's quite unstable. Isn't it quite a
coincidence that he revealed himself at the same time as You-Know-Who? He
may have been working with him. They did arrive together. He gave You-
Know-Who some of his blood.
-HM-HM-HM-
Author notes: This concludes 'Harry McGonagall.' I hope you've enjoyed
it.
Be sure to read the sequel, 'Harry Potter-McGonagall.'
39. Announcement
I just thought I'd let you all know that I've finally posted chapter 1 of the
sequel to this story – Harry Potter-McGonagall.
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