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," said 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 muggleborn orientation."
"So you're both muggleborn, 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," said 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 you're aunt?"
"Technically my great aunt, but yeah."
"Wow." Ron then turned to Hermione. "Well, muggleborns 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," said 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," said 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 said, "Did you hear about Gringotts?"
"Yes," said 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 hate to think that someone could rob my safe."
-
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. He could see Aunt Minnie 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…"
"Alright, alright. 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," said 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!" said 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."
-
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."
-
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.
-
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."
-
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."
-
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."
-
When they were in her office, Harry said, "First of all, I want to make sure that you're ok 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.
-
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. His stuttering didn't help, nor did the awful smell emanating from his turban.
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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."
-
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 muggleborns 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, "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," said 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 Edgecomb, 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."
They 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 said 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," said 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."
-
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).
-
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.
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Please review. Thank you so much to the many people who reviewed the first chapter! I'm truly overwhelmed and hope I didn't disappoint you too much with this chapter. Actually I hope you love the chapter.
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.