Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry Potter-McGonagall - Chapter 2 - Harry Potter Has Come to Hogwarts
Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters was abuzz with activity on the first of September at 10:30 a.m. Many of the students had already arrived and were renewing acquaintances outside the train. It was hard to clearly understand any individual conversation if one were walking through the area because of all the chatter, but all that changed when a certain black-haired, green-eyed teenager with a lightning bolt scar on his forehead entered the platform, followed by his little sister. Everyone stopped talking and began staring at him.
Harry immediately felt uncomfortable. He'd never minded when people watched him playing Quidditch or participating in the tournament, but this was different. "Er, hi, everyone," he said, not sure if that was the right thing to do or not. "What's wrong?" he asked, although he was fairly certain what the problem was. That seemed to be enough to start everyone talking again.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" "Why did you lie to us all?" "Can I see your scar?" "Can I have your autograph?" These were the few questions Harry was able to understand through all the noise. He even noticed a few camera flashes as he got more and more annoyed. He'd hoped that the entire summer would've been long enough for them to calm down about his true identity. When he heard the question, "Are you really a dark lord?" asked by a seventh-year, he did lose his cool.
He shouted, "What's the matter with you all? Don't any of you do your own thinking, or do you all let the Daily Prophet do it for you? Since when does the public trust their government? The two main reasons I kept my identity secret were security - who knows how many nut-jobs want to kill the Boy-Who-Lived - and because I don't really like being stared at like I am right now. I am still the same person I was before! I'm not giving out autographs or becoming a dark lord!" Without waiting for a response, he marched through the crowd onto the train, pulling his trunk behind him.
Of course, the Hogwarts Express wasn't much better. As he walked past the compartments, making his way to them, many students halted their conversations, choosing to stare at the Boy-Who-Lived instead. "I should've snuck here under my cloak," he muttered to Brianna, who was right behind him.
"And make me face them again?" she replied. "You weren't there, but Hermione and I were hounded with questions about you for that last week of school."
They finally found a compartment that had only one occupant - Luna Lovegood. For some reason, she was holding her copy of the Quibbler upside-down and staring at it. "Hello, Luna," said Harry as he put his trunk up. "It's good to see you."
"I told you that you wouldn't be you at our next encounter, Harry," she said calmly without looking away from the magazine.
Harry wasn't sure what to make of that. He'd remembered her saying that and now realized that it could easily apply to his current situation. He had a different name and hair color, in addition to his famous scar having reemerged. "Are you a seer?" he asked.
Before Luna could answer that, the door opened, revealing the person he'd most looked forward to seeing again. "Hermione!" he said as he got up and embraced his girlfriend, before she kissed him soundly.
"It's good to see you, too, love," she said after they broke apart. "Now, would you be a dear and help me put my trunk up and then we can go to the prefect meeting?"
Before too long, he found himself being dragged by the hand down the train to the meeting by the most excited new prefect since Hogwarts was founded. His girlfriend was chattering about all her new ideas she planned on introducing this year. He sagely advised her, "Don't talk about all your wonderful ideas this meeting. It might overwhelm them. I'd suggest limiting yourself to one suggestion per meeting." He knew that if she didn't follow that advice, the meeting would last until they reached Hogwarts, and most of the prefects wouldn't like Hermione.
"I'm not sure I should. You know that there are so many things they should change, like…"
"I'm positive," he interrupted softly. "You know I absolutely adore you, but sometimes if you make too many suggestions at once, it can be a bit…irritating to people who don't know you. Some of them may think you believe you're better than them. I know they'd be wrong, but you want to make a good first impression, don't you?" He did his best to be charming while advising his girlfriend, but wasn't sure if he'd succeeded. He truly didn't want her to feel disliked by her fellow prefects, especially since she'd looked forward to this for years.
She looked mildly embarrassed, with a bit of pink showing on her cheeks. "I'd sound like a bossy know-it-all, wouldn't I?"
"Er…" He wasn't sure if he should agree or disagree.
"You can go ahead and say it," she reassured him. "I used to be called that all the time."
"But not by me," he affirmed.
With a slight grin, she agreed, "No, not by you." She sighed. "Very well, I'll keep my bossy know-it-all-ness to a minimum."
"I didn't say…"
"You were protecting me from myself, being a good boyfriend," she said while they stopped at the door. "For that, I thank you." She then kissed him briefly. "Let's go in, then, shall we?" she suggested while opening the door to the Prefect's compartment.
They entered to find only a few people had arrived. The Head Boy and Girl, Jason Kelleher and Denise Pogner, were sitting at a large round table, along with a few prefects. "Come in," the Head Girl said. "You can call me Denise. "If I'm not mistaken, you're Harry Potter-McGonagall and Hermione Granger, the new Ravenclaw prefects."
"That's right," the Boy-Who-Lived confirmed. "I'm glad you're using my full last name."
"That's what it said on my list," she replied. "Far be it from me to offend the Headmistress' adopted grand-nephew on my first day as Head Girl."
"I'm Jason," said the Head Boy, who'd gotten up to shake their hands. While they were greeting the present prefects, the door opened, admitting another fifth-year named Parvati Patil.
"Hi, Parvati," greeted Harry when he spotted the Gryffindor girl. "How are you and Padma?"
"Alright. The last month hasn't been as exciting as the first, but it was good."
She was then introduced to everyone in the room, and anyone that entered, including fifth-year Slytherin prefects Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass, not to mention Neville Longbottom from Gryffindor. Once everyone had arrived and settled down at the table, the meeting began.
"Hello, everyone. For those of you that don't know, I'm Jason Kelleher - the Head Boy, and this is Denise Pogner - the Head Girl. Has everyone here read the Prefect Manual?" After everyone nodded, he asked, "Does anyone have a question about anything in it?"
Hermione's hand shot up immediately while Harry stifled his chuckle. Sometimes his girlfriend could be so predictable.
"Yes, Hermione?" asked Denise.
"The rules state that we should escort first-years from the Great Hall to their dorms, but why is it that no one is required to show them the way to their classes? Hogwarts is a very big castle and it's rather easy to get lost during the first week or two. I've made several copies of the maps in Hogwarts, a History and thought it would be a good idea if we passed them out to the first-years."
"That actually sounds like a good idea," replied Denise.
Harry's girlfriend then proceeded to pull out a large stack of maps. "I've made sixty copies - fifteen for each house. I thought that should be sufficient." She divided them up and made sure a fifth-year prefect, some of which commented how useful they'd have been her or his first year, from each house had a stack.
"Any other questions or comments?" asked Jason.
Hermione managed to keep her suggestions to herself for the rest of the meeting, happy that she'd made a good first impression and that her suggestion was accepted. Harry was telling his girlfriend how proud he was of her while they did the first prefect round on the train, mainly to get it over with. They were half-way through the Slytherin section of the train when they heard an all-too-familiar voice. Draco Malfoy was sneering at them with Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle in one of the compartments.
"Nice, ugly scar, Potter." The other three Slytherins laughed as though that were the funniest joke ever told in the history of the world.
"Nobody asked you, Malfoy, and it's Potter-McGonagall."
"Whatever. I'll bet you think that scar and black hair make you all special, now, but they don't. Neither does your ridiculous prefect badge. The Dark Lord will make sure you meet the same sticky end as your parents."
"He hasn't done it, yet, though I do wonder if he knows you're now his official spokesman," Harry replied.
"Imagine how upset Voldemort would be if he knew little Draco Malfoy was speaking for him," added Hermione before turning to Harry while the others flinched at the name. "Do make sure to tell Voldemort about that the next time you see him."
"I will, love. Let's go. See you around, Malfoy. I do hope you give me cause to issue you a detention."
After they were finished checking the train for troublemakers, the couple made their way back to Luna's compartment on the train, to find that Ginny, Padma and Parvati had joined her.
"I guess it's my turn to patrol, now," commented the Gryffindor prefect as she got up. "I'll find Neville and see you guys in a little while."
Harry observed that the only place he and Hermione could sit together was next to Ginny. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but the way the young redhead was looking at him made him very uncomfortable. He took Hermione's hand and sat at the end of the booth, allowing his girlfriend to sit between him and the youngest Weasley. He did notice her frown out of the corner of his eye and sighed. He knew at some point he'd have to address his rival Seeker's crush on Harry Potter, which he was positive she didn't have for Harry McGonagall.
Harry decided to put that problem out of his mind by asking, "What did you all do this summer?" This topic kept them occupied for several hours, especially when Padma (later joined by Parvati) told the others of her time in America at the workshop. Although Harry and Hermione had described it the year before, she had different observations to keep the story interesting to the others. Before he knew it, the train had arrived at Hogsmeade Station.
--HPM--
After a ride on the carriages, where Harry commented on his friends about the difference between knowing thestrals were pulling them and actually seeing the creatures, Harry and his group found themselves sitting in the Great Hall. After the sorting, during which the hat sang a very lengthy song about all the houses uniting (before dividing the students up) and feast, Aunt Minnie got up to make some announcements.
"Everybody, welcome to Hogwarts. As a few reminders to those of you returning, as well as the new students, the forest on the grounds are forbidden to all students. I truly wonder why so many of you seem determined to get yourself killed by the many dangerous creatures residing there. Please believe me; it is dangerous." She took a deep breath. "As we've had trouble getting professors to fill the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, the Ministry has assigned Dolores Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to Cornelius Fudge, to fill the role. Since she never acquired a Defense N.E.W.T, perhaps she could explain her qualifications to us all."
If glares could kill, the woman who looked more like a toad than a human would've just murdered the Headmistress. Delores Umbridge was squat, with short, curly, mouse-brown hair in which she had placed a horrible pink Alice band that matched the fluffy pink cardigan she wore over her robes, and had the most insincere smile Harry had ever seen. "Hem, hem. While I admire the headmistress' concern that her teachers are qualified, I can assure you that the Ministry would not have sent someone unqualified to perform my very important job here. Unfortunately, my training is top secret, but I assure you, I will complete my assignment.
"Well, it's lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!" Harry glanced around to see none of the faces he could see looked happy. "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction…" The speech seemed to go on for hours before she got to the point where she stated, "Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"
By this time, Harry had realized that the basic message the toad-woman was conveying, couched in extremely boring words, was that the Ministry wanted to interfere at Hogwarts. When she was finished, Minerva said, "Thank you, Professor Umbridge. That certainly was illuminating. Now, my last announcement is that Quidditch tryouts will be held next week…"
"It certainly was enlightening to anyone who could stay awake," agreed Harry.
"Yes, indeed," said Hermione.
"I think that your aunt telling all of us that Umbridge isn't qualified to teach was brilliant, though," said Padma. "It will make her task of interfering much more difficult."
Harry chuckled, "Yes, it will." While they were talking, Headmistress McGonagall finished her speech and dismissed them. Harry sighed and stood up. "First years, if you'll come here, Hermione Granger and I will lead you to the Ravenclaw dormitory."
--HPM--
After leading the new students to Ravenclaw Tower with his girlfriend, Harry whispered in her ear, "Hermione, what do you say we slip out and…"
"It's about time you got here," interrupted Roger Davies.
"Hi, Roger," said Harry, trying to hide his annoyance with his Quidditch captain. "Was there something you wanted?"
"Yes. You see, as you know, I'm a seventh-year."
"That explains why you didn't follow us with the Firsties." Harry may have been trying to hide his annoyance, but he wasn't trying very hard. He wanted some alone-time with Hermione.
"Very funny. Anyway, I'll be graduating at the end of the year, so I thought you, the most likely captain next year, might want to assist me this year to learn what a captain has to do. But if you're more interested in time with your girlfriend…"
"What do you mean? Sean Bradley has been on the team longer. He's…"
"currently a sixth-year, which means he has N.E.W.T.'s next year. Now, while Gryffindor puts seventh-years like Angelina Johnson as captain for the first and last time in their seventh year, in Ravenclaw, we don't. Learning how to properly captain a team takes time, and in seventh-year, you need all the time you can get to study. Besides, it's a waste to spend an entire year learning to be a decent captain only to graduate. We like captains to last at least two years. Therefore, you're the best choice, and I'll tell Flitwick that."
"So basically, you want more time to study for your tests, so you want me to do half your work?"
"Basically," he agreed with a grin.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "If I am going to get stuck as captain next year, I might as well learn what I can about it."
"Good man. Tomorrow, be ready to see Madam Hooch with me at 6:45 so we can reserve the pitch for tryouts."
Harry groaned at the thought of getting up that early, but nodded. He turned to his girlfriend, "Well, love, I guess we'll have to say goodnight now."
"Poor Assistant Quidditch Captain," she giggled. "Good night." She then gave him a very thorough kiss before breaking it off. "See you in the morning, love."
--HPM--
Harry did manage to get up on time, so he and Roger managed to book the pitch for that Saturday morning eight a.m. until noon.
"How'd it go?" asked Hermione when he sat next to her at breakfast.
"Alright. We were the first team to reserve the pitch, so we got Saturday morning."
"Good."
"I suppose. I got the `honor' of making the flier advertising it to put on the bulletin board of Ravenclaw Tower. I guess I'll do that tonight after dinner."
"Don't let him take advantage of you," warned Hermione.
"I'll try not to. You're the only one who can take advantage of me."
Hermione blushed, but before she could respond, Professor Flitwick interrupted them. "Harry Potter-McGonagall and Hermione Granger, here are your schedules."
"Thank you," the couple said together before the petite man walked away. They looked down at their new sheets of parchment to see bad news.
"Oh, no," said Harry. "First subject today is Defense."
"Then we'll get it over with first," replied Hermione.
The rest of breakfast went by swiftly, and before they knew it, the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had gathered into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
"Hello, children," said the hideously toad-like teacher.
When only a few students replied, she made the whole class say, "Good morning, Professor Umbridge," as though they were in kindergarten. Then she took attendance. "Class, when I call your name, I'd like you to say, `present.' Do not pretend you have a different name. Always respond to your own name and not another. I realize that some students hear might enjoy pretending to be someone they are not, but in this classroom, honesty is always practiced." During that whole speech, she was staring directly at the Boy-Who-Lived.
Harry managed to keep himself from replying, "Then why don't you honestly tell us your qualifications for this post, and honestly tell us why you're really here?"
The toad then wrote a few things, including her course aims, on the chalkboard before having everyone put away their wands and pull out their books - Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard. The lesson consisted of doing nothing but reading the first chapter, which, Harry mused, proved conclusively to everyone that Umbridge knew nothing about Defense Against the Dark Arts. He found her to be irritating, but by now he could control his temper more than previously.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his girlfriend raise her arm and barely stopped himself from groaning. He, like her, had read several chapters of the ridiculous book before school, but he was trying to keep his head down and not give the Ministry employee an excuse to punish him. It took several minutes for Umbridge to finally give in and asked in her sickeningly sweet voice, "Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?"
"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.
"Well, we're reading just now," said Umbridge. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class." Harry believed that meant Umbridge didn't want to be stumped with a Defense question in front of the whole class.
"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione.
The `professor' raised her eyebrows. "And your name is - ?"
"Hermione Granger."
A smile formed on the toad-woman's face. "The same Hermione Granger who has known the whereabouts of Harry Potter for four years but told none of the concerned citizens, nor the Ministry? The muggle-born who enjoyed keeping that secret so she could feel important?"
Harry was now getting upset. Insulting him was one thing. Insulting Hermione was a different matter entirely.
"No, I'm the Hermione Granger who kept her best friend and later boyfriend's confidence, agreeing with him that his secrets were nobody's business."
"How dare you! Detention tonight at eight o'clock!"
"For what?" she asked. "I merely clarified my identity."
"For being an insufferable know-it-all who dares to think she has the right to keep secrets from her government!" Umbridge yelled, clearly losing her temper. Harry was getting more upset while Hermione glared back defiantly at Delores. "As far as I'm concerned, you should be sent to Azkaban for treason, you uppity-mudblood whore!"
The whole class was shocked at that outburst. It was easy to see that Umbridge hadn't planned on losing her temper like that, but equally obvious she meant what she said. Harry lost his temper and stood up, while his face was getting redder. "HOW DARE YOU! MY ONLY QUESTION IS IF YOU'VE GOTTEN YOUR DARK MARK YET YOU UGLY, BIGGOTTED B…"
"DETENTION TONIGHT, POTTER! For insubordination! You and your little girlfriend can enjoy the experience together!"
"You're not the first teacher I've run out of Hogwarts," Harry mumbled to himself as he sat down, planning on contacting his lawyers after his detention.
--HPM--
The rest of the day went normally, giving Harry and Hermione a chance to cool down. "I suppose it was foolish of me to try to ask that foul woman anything," Hermione commented at dinner, "but you shouldn't have let her get under your skin."
"I'm not afraid of her," said Harry. "And I plan to humiliate her in court even worse than we did to Snape."
"Just don't warn her," replied Hermione, smiling as she imagined the woman's reputation torn to shreds.
"Of course not. It'll be swift and painful."
When they finished with their dinner, the couple proceeded to Umbridge's office, where she was already waiting, looking quite cheerful. "Come in, children, and take your punishments." She indicated two desks that were about as far apart as possible in that office, and on each of them was a scroll of parchment. "You will each write lines. Miss Granger, you will write, `I will remember my place,' in hopes that you'll stop putting yourself above your betters, and Mr. Potter, you will…"
"Potter-McGonagall!" he interrupted.
"I suppose your pretend relationship with the headmistress gives you comfort and makes you forget that you have no family," Umbridge replied sweetly. "You will write, `I will not tell lies,' in hopes that you will stop claiming to be a McGonagall. Your name is Harry James Potter, no matter what you wish to claim."
Both students began to reach into their bags to retrieve quills and ink. "You won't need quills. You will use mine."
Harry's eyes went wide for a moment when he recognized the type of quills the Ministry employee was handing them. `She can't really be that stupid? Does she think we won't tell?'
"You've given us no ink," said Hermione, who'd never seen a blood quill before.
"You won't need any, dear," replied the professor.
This confirmed it to Harry, but he had to be positive. He put a dot on his parchment and felt the small cut appear on his hand. In a swift movement, he dropped the quill and released his wand from its holster. "Stupefy!" he shouted, surprising the teacher so she couldn't protect herself.
"Harry!" shouted Hermione. "Why did you…"
"These quills are illegal! I'm getting Aunt Minnie to call the aurors! Watch that piece of Ministry trash! Don't let her wake up!"
"Do you mean they're the blood quills you told me about?"
"Exactly!"
"That foul, loathsome, evil…"
"I'll be right back, love. Keep your wand on her."
Harry exited the room and had to fight the urge to skip. He was ecstatic. That imbecile actually committed a crime right in front of two witnesses. Did she really believe that some of the students would've been so stubborn and stupid they'd endure that torture and not report it?
He walked up to the gargoyle at the entrance to his aunt's office and said the password, causing the staircase to be revealed. He took the stairs two at a time and knocked on the door.
"Come in," called the Headmistress' voice from the other side.
He opened the door and skipped over any preamble. "I have great news, Aunt Minnie! We can get rid of the toad!"
"Are you certain?" she asked, hope in her eyes.
"Absolutely. If you don't call the aurors, it would be my civic duty to perform a citizen's arrest. You see, she actually brought blood quills into the school."
"What?! How dare she?"
"Not only that, but she gave one to both me and Hermione and told us to write lines with them!"
The Scottish woman got up from her chair and reached for her wand. "Where is she?"
"I stunned her and left Hermione there."
Minerva walked over to the fireplace, tossed a handful of floo powder into it, and called out, "Amelia Bones - Department of Magical Law Enforcement!"
It wasn't ten minutes later that the head of the DMLE stepped through the floo with two aurors. "Hello, Mr. Potter-McGonagall," she greeted the Boy-Who-Lived.
"Just call me Harry. It's a pleasure to meet you, Madam Bones."
"These are aurors Dawlish and Tonks."
Since Harry wasn't sure if he should admit to knowing the Metamorphmagus, he simply said, "Hello."
"Your aunt told me that Madam Umbridge gave you a blood quill to write lines with?"
"Both me and my girlfriend. She, along with the quills, is with her in the DADA office."
"Then let's go there," said Amelia.
--HPM--
It didn't take the group consisting of Harry, Minerva, Amelia, Tonks and Dawlish long to arrive in the correct room where Hermione was still pointing her wand at Umbridge. After everyone was introduced to each other, Amelia confirmed that the quills were indeed what Harry claimed, and searched the office. Tonks stunned Umbridge and claimed, "She twitched," causing everyone to laugh. They ended up finding enough blood quills to use on an entire class.
"I believe we have enough evidence to put Umbridge away for at least ten years," said Amelia happily. It was obvious that she didn't like Umbridge any more than Harry did.
"Won't Fudge protect her?" asked Hermione.
"And publicly condone child abuse?" She shook her head. "The only chance Fudge has is to deny any knowledge that she was going to torture students and prove it by putting her in Azkaban for a long time."
"But then he'll just assign someone else to the position that's probably just as bad," commented Minerva.
Amelia looked pensive for a few moments before announcing, "I have a thought on that."
After she explained her idea, which everyone in the room approved of, Bones woke Delores up.
She opened her eyes and took a moment to get her bearings. "Oh, Amelia! Thank God you're here! That boy attacked me and should be arrested!" She pointed at Harry.
"That's funny. He said you should be arrested," Madam Bones replied evenly.
"That shows how delusional he is."
"Are these a delusion?" asked Amelia, pointing at the pile of blood quills.
"Cornelius suggested that…" she said quickly, looking panicked.
"Then let's take them to Minister Fudge and see if he wants to join you in Azkaban or not, shall we?" Then, turning to the aurors, she said, "Cuff her."
--HPM--
A/N If you recognize some of Umbridge's dialog, that's because I copied it from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I don't think I could've come up with better words for those situations.
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