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 said 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.
"Alright," 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 Muggleborn 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.
-
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 said 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.'
-
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."
-
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?" said Harry in mock offence, "How could you insult our integrity like that?"
"We're truly hurt," said Brianna, adding 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 said 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," said 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 Professor 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.
-
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."
-
As dinnertime approached, Harry was beginning to feel very tired and said he wanted to go to bed.
"You're experiencing jet-lag," said 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 alright. 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 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!"
-
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.
-
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 said, 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.
"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," said 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," said 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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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 to 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," said 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 said 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 said 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.
-
At about 5:00, his friends left Harry's room to go to their homes after speaking briefly with Harry's parents.
-
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," said 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?" said 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."
-
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.
-
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 the Quaffle. 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. 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.
-
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 raping 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.
-
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 said, "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."
-
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.
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