Harry woke very early, because she was used to doing that. Her back felt amazing! She'd never slept on such a soft mattress. Professor McGonagal's old nightgown was very comfortable - the fabric was soft and light and it had been altered to fit her perfectly.

As she had time, Harry went to take another shower before breakfast. Maybe a little greedy, but last night had felt wonderful as the strong, hot water worked the weariness out of her muscles.

She dried her hair carefully and tied it back in a ponytail before putting on a set of her new robes. They were comfortable too! In fact, everything she had touched, ate, or wore in the wizarding world was so perfect. She'd never been so happy in her life.

Breakfast with the house elves was wonderful. They were all very talkative, so she could stay quiet and eat while they giddily rushed about. She was starting to get a handle on their names now - they all spoke in a strange second-person manner, so it was very easy to do.

Harry found herself feeling a little bit guilty. She'd had so many nice things lavished upon her and maybe she didn't really deserve it. She could think about that later. For now, she hurried to Professor McGonagal's office.

The older woman was hard at work writing something at her desk, but her door was open. Harry knocked quietly on the door frame.

It was good to see that the professor wasn't upset to see Harry. She put her things away and waved the young girl inside.

"After you went to bed last night, I did end up getting a chance to speak to your... relatives. And I was able to look around your old home." Old home... ? "What I found there was quite terrible, Harriet."

The way the professor used her first name surprised Harry. Professor McGonagal continued, "From the way you acted yesterday, I don't think you quite understood. The Dursleys were abusive to you, Harriet. We're having them properly investigated by the aurors - our 'police'. I already know what they're going to find. This means changes for you, Harry. Your relatives will be tried and I am certain found guilty of child abuse. Both you and your cousin will be taken from their custody. Jail time is very likely."

"What?" Harry asked, her stomach sinking. Where would she go?

Professor McGonagal reached out across the desk and took Harry's hand in hers. "Don't panic, Harriet. The school itself is going to take charge of you. It was fairly common in older times for unfortunate students to become wards of the school. In history, some muggles have reacted violently to the idea of witchcraft. Cases like this are why the ward system was put into place. I, and all the other teachers, will take personal care of you."

"What does that really mean?" Harry asked.

McGonagal had such a strange look in her eyes, "It means the school is your family, Harriet."

Harry was shocked. Her expression was blank. Then she smiled. A wide smile. Wider, wider. And then she started to cry, but these were happy tears, and they didn't last very long.

When she had composed herself, McGonagal took out her wand, "I believe I made a promise to teach you some charms, didn't I?"

Harry smiled and nodded, taking out her own wand.

"Now, first..."

They practiced and worked for a good few hours. Time seemed to pass very quickly. McGonagal had started by making sure Harry knew how to use her wand. She cast the Levitation Charm and a new spell, Lumos, a good few times before McGonagal would let her try anything else. In the end, she didn't manage to enlarge the inside of anything or make anything weightless, but she felt she had learned a lot. All she needed was more practice and she'd be able to do the rest.

Once again, McGonagal didn't eat with her, but she enjoyed the company of the house elves during her lunch. She found herself wondering what would happen to her, in the end. Hogwarts was a boarding school - would she stay here all the time? That didn't seem like a very bad thing at all. She was extremely fond of Professor McGonagal, the house elves, and the castle itself.

The professor was very, very busy and had already taken a lot of her time to teach Harry, so after lunch, Harry quickly offered to spend her time in the library. It wasn't all selfless - Harry was eager to learn about the wizarding world through the books it made.

The library was HUGE. Enormous! So many books! More than at her school and the Surrey library combined. Where could she start? There wasn't a librarian about - summer was her time off. Magic? No, magic could wait, she was learning about that already. History? History was a good bet. A book about the history of Hogwarts caught her eye in particular and she delved into Hogwarts, A History with eagerness.

Days passed in this way. The professor was very busy getting ready for the school year and didn't have much time for Harry, but always practiced with her at least a little in the mornings. After that time, Harry would practice on her own, then have lunch with the house elves, then read in the library or explore the grounds. She didn't feel lonely at all - once or twice she bumped into the other teachers, who were happy to meet her.

Very strangely, she did feel a little homesick.

She didn't have much memory of ever being anywhere other than Privet Drive. Even though this place was infinitely better, everything was so different and new. She never dreamed she would long for her tiny cupboard under the stairs, but she found herself doing exactly that. But the homesick feeling passed quickly and nothing kept her from happiness.

Soon, the castle was a home to her. The teachers were friendly and she liked them, even Snape, who seemed very gruff and shy. She loved taking a book or fifteen from the library and sitting outside by the lake to read. It was truly like paradise and she had no idea what she had ever done to deserve it.

The questions from the knocker were one of her favorite things about her new home. Sometimes she would go outside and come in again just to answer one of the riddles.

"A hotel has an infinite number of rooms. It also has an infinite number of guests staying in those rooms. A man comes to the theoretical hotel to stay. There are an infinite number of rooms, but every room is full. The man is still given a room of his own to stay in. No guests are forced to share rooms. How is this possible?"

That was one of her new favorites. She had to think for a while to solve it.

"The guest in Room 1 can be moved to Room 2 and the guest in Room 2 can be moved to Room 3 and so on... because there is an infinite number of rooms. And the man can stay in the newly vacated Room 1. It's still infinity, not infinity plus one."

The door opened for her. On entering, Harry was a little shocked. The common room wasn't empty like it usually was - Professor Flitwick was there.

"Ah, hello, Ms. Potter. I was just looking for you." The professor said to her.

"Good afternoon, Professor. I was just out walking." Harry replied. She liked her head of house, he seemed like a very smart man.

Professor Flitwick smiled at her. "I understand Professor McGonagal has been giving you lessons in the mornings. She's told me that you're progressing at a rapid rate and have quite a preference for charms. As you know, I am the charms teacher here at Hogwarts and while I'd never want to steal you away from Professor McGonagal, I also understand she's been very busy lately - not your fault, or anyone's fault, it simply is. I, on the other hand, have quite a bit more free time. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to give you these 'extra lessons' myself. I've already discussed this with the professor. If you wouldn't mind... ?"

Harry shook her head, "No, sir. I don't want to be a burden on anyone. I would love to learn under you. Professor McGonagal told me you were a professional dueler."

Flitwick smiled a little pridefully, "Yes, that's correct. While I won't be teaching you dueling perse, the charms I'd like to show you will further your education in most areas. I think it's good for you to get a head start. Honestly, I'd like to do this with all the muggle-borns." Flitwick had a slightly frustrated, unhappy look, "They often start so far behind. Well, if you'd like to start now, we may."

Professor McGonagal was stern, but she didn't work Harry nearly so hard as Professor Flitwick did. Harry found herself advancing far faster under his tutelage. After a while, she was even able to expand her bags and make them weightless. That was a real triumph for her. The professor taught her all kinds of spells. Useful ones, like cleaning spells, fixing spells, size-changing spells, healing spells... and he also taught her things she couldn't really imagine herself using. 'Battle' spells. Lots of battle spells. And not just things like shielding or stunning - things that really could hurt people. The idea made her uncomfortable, but she kept quiet.

With Voldemort's old lackeys lurking around, it was probably a very good thing for her to learn some self-defense.

And she adored magic. Every single part of it.