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."
-
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.
-
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.
-
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!"
"Alright, 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."
-
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.
-
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," said 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," said Hermione 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 said, "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," said 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," said 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," said 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."
-
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."
-
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 you start," 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."
-
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.
-
"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," said Hermione with a determined expression on her face. "It means we don't have much time. We've got to get to the third-floor corridor without getting caught."
"But how…" said 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?" said 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," said Padma.
"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," said 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. "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."
-
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," said 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.
-
"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," said 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."
-
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.
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Please review. Thank you to those who have. Sorry I took so long posting this chapter.
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.