The Foundation for the Future
by Healer Pomfrey

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC. Dumbledore/Weasley bashing! It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it.
If you don't like it, go and find something else to read or write your own story to your liking!


Minerva McGonagall was confused. In fact, in her more than fifty years of teaching experience at Hogwarts, she had never felt as perplexed before. Ronald was the sixth child of the Weasleys, and, even if the red headed family did not have money to spare, they should know better than to send the boy to Hogwarts without paying his school fees. Then again, Albus had said something like he had seen to it a few minutes ago, making her wonder what the headmaster had to do with the boy's tuition fees.

'Oh well, if Albus has his hand in this, he clearly made a grave mistake,' she thought, feeling thoroughly annoyed with the headmaster, which was not the first time. Only a few weeks ago, she had had a huge fight with her mentor and long-time friend, after receiving a copy of Lily and James Potter's will from their son. However, Albus had merely talked himself out of all accusations, stating that he knew best and that she would realise sooner or later that all his decisions were just for the greater good.

By now they had reached the headmaster's office, and Albus leaned into the fireplace to call Molly and Arthur Weasley.

HP

Two minutes later, Molly and Arthur were sitting next to Ronald and Percy, and the headmaster began to speak in a grave voice.

"Only at the Sorting ceremony, I received the information that there was a problem with Ronald's school fees," he said, causing Arthur to cast his wife a questioning look.

"But Albus, you said you were going to pay Ron's fees under the condition that he friends Harry Potter," Molly spoke up, sounding extremely upset. "We waited on the Muggle platform until five minutes before the Hogwarts Express left, but the Potter boy never showed up."

"You did what?" Mr. Weasley blurted out, seemingly horrified. "You told me you had seen to it that Ron's fees were paid, but you never told me of such a deal."

"Disgusting," Percy added, glaring at his mother.

"Yes, that was the deal, but something must have gone wrong," Albus admitted. "I need to head to Gringotts first thing tomorrow morning and enquire about the matter. I advised the goblins to pay the fees right from Harry Potter's vault," he admitted and suggested, "For the time being, I can only advise you to take Ronald home with you and make him floo back here on time for classes in the morning."

Minerva had to really make an effort to keep quiet and not verbally attack the headmaster in anger. 'Making Harry pay the school fees for Ronald to friend him? How dare Albus make such a deal?' she thought, feeling extremely upset.

"Yes Molly, do so," Arthur spoke up. "I will return to my office for the night, before I decide what to do tomorrow after cooling down. How dare you make such a deal with the headmaster. Percy is right; it's disgusting." Turning to Minerva, he added, "I am truly sorry for my wife's bad decision, Minerva. I hope you won't hold a grudge against any of our children because of this."

"Of course not, Arthur," Minerva reassured him in the softest voice she could muster, before she continued, much stricter, "I know exactly whose idea this must have been."

HP

"How dare you?" she hissed at the headmaster, once the Weasleys had left.

Albus thoughtfully let his hands wander over his much too long beard. "You know yourself that the Weasleys can't afford having so many children at Hogwarts at the same time, and Harry Potter is in dire need of a friend, considering that he was raised in the Muggle world, so I thought..."

"You thought," Minerva repeated in disbelief, letting out a snort. "You thoroughly messed up, old man. Not something that the headmaster of Hogwarts should do. Let me tell you what happened. Harry was at Gringotts, where he received his parents' will that I showed you the other day, and the goblins most likely told him about your deal, suggesting for him to cancel the payment."

"Oh no," Albus groaned as realisation set in. "That's too bad."

"Yes, it is, and I believe that you don't have any other choice than to pay Ronald's fees yourself," Minerva added, strictly, noticing the headmaster's troubled expression at her suggestion.

"I'll have to see what I can do," Albus replied, seemingly horrified at the idea.

Shaking her head in annoyance, Minerva bade the headmaster good night and returned to her rooms, wondering if it was the old age that caused Albus to make such ridiculous decisions. Only when she was getting ready for bed, she recalled that Harry had asked her for a private conversation. 'Oh no, I didn't even reply to him due to the hassle about Ronald's Sorting,' she realised.

"Malcolm," she called her private house-elf. "Please find Harry Potter first thing in the morning and accompany him to my office before breakfast."

"Yes Mistress Minerva," Malcolm promised, causing Minerva to sigh in relief. 'At least I can still rely on Malcolm and Poppy,' she thought. 'Albus, however, seems to be going completely nuts.'

HP

Harry and Hermione spent the night together in Harry's old room. The chamber looked similar to how it had been in the past, merely the furniture seemed more modern. They enlarged the bed and slept next to each other with Hermione wrapped into Harry's embrace.

"This is even better than I could have hoped for," she mumbled, contentedly.

"Yeah," Harry agreed, before he drifted off to sleep with a huge smile playing on his lips.

HP

In the morning, Helena arrived to wake them up, before their alarm clock went off.

"Professor McGonagall's house-elf Malcolm just approached me," she told them. "He couldn't access our quarters. In fact, none of the house-elves can enter our rooms if you don't specifically invite them. Anyway, Professor McGonagall wishes to speak to Harry before breakfast."

"All right, thank you Helena. Let's get dressed and go to see the professor," Harry spoke up, suddenly feeling very much awake and alert. "Do you know where her office is?"

Helena smirked. "How could I not, considering that I've lived here as a ghost for more than nine hundred years?" she asked back before promising to escort the two first-years.

HP

Feeling strangely excited and wondering if it was the right thing to confide into the deputy headmistress, Harry and Hermione followed Helena, who stopped in front of a door that was guarded by Godric's portrait.

"Hello Godric," Harry greeted the founder, smiling broadly.

"Harry and Hermione, how good to see you again," Godric replied, returning the smile. "Did you come to see me, or do you wish to speak with Professor McGonagall?" he then asked.

"As much as I'd love to talk to you, we have an appointment with the professor," Harry replied, inwardly sighing. 'It would be nice to just talk with Godric right now,' he thought, noticing that Hermione unobtrusively nodded her head in agreement.

HP

"Good morning Mr. Potter and Miss Potter or is it Mrs. Potter?" McGonagall greeted them with a small smile on her face.

"Mrs. Potter," Hermione replied, honestly, "although it was our intention to keep the matter a secret at least for a few years."

"I believe that your Sorting leaves multiple questions including this one," McGonagall then continued, smirking. "Would you be willing to explain some things to me?"

Harry looked at the professor, before he replied in a stern voice. "Helena has advised us to fully trust you, therefore, we have decided to tell you the whole story. However, we need you to reassure us that you won't inform anyone about what we're going to tell you, especially not the headmaster, since we don't trust him at all."

"I promise," McGonagall replied, smiling, before she rose from her seat and headed towards the portrait of an older wizard. "I'm sorry, Gregory, but I need to do this," she apologized before turning the portrait to face the wall. "Godric," she called out to the portrait at the entrance, causing Hermione to interrupt.

"Godric is all right, Professor. He knows everything anyway," she explained, making the professor stare at her in disbelief.

'I hope McGonagall will take everything well,' Harry thought, as he began to tell their story with Hermione's and Godric's assitance. 'She might be able and hopefully willing to help us against the almighty headmaster.'

HP

"You finished your complete Hogwarts education in the time of the founders, were then de-aged and came back to attend Hogwarts in this time?" McGonagall repeated, incredulously.

"Rowena knew that we're going to have to fight Voldemort in this time," Harry replied, nodding.

"Exactly Minerva," Godric spoke up from his portrait, "and I believe they did a good job to confide in you. If you help them with their fight and assist them against the headmaster, maybe we'll be able to meet in person one day, since both of them are able to make time-travel Portkeys."

"This sounds extremely appealing, and I promise to support the two of you as much as I can," McGonagall replied, smiling, before she glanced at her wrist watch. "I think we urgently need to leave for the Great Hall though, as breakfast is going to commence soon. Would it be all right for you if I placed you into the class together with the Gryffindors and Slytherins?"

Harry and Hermione agreed and swiftly followed the professor downstairs to the Great Hall, deciding to switch house tables at every meal, which caused the professor to give them an encouraging nod. After a short, telepathic discussion, they headed straight to the Slytherin table, intending to grace the Ravenclaws with their presence at lunchtime.

HP

Severus Snape inwardly groaned as he let himself sink into his chair between Minerva and Poppy at the high table. 'My worst seven years after my childhood are going to commence today,' he thought, grumpily. Of course he had known for a long time that Harry Potter was going to come to Hogwarts and he had dreaded the moment the boy would enter the castle. However, seeing the boy being sorted into the founders' quarters instead of a proper house, even if it would have most likely been Gryffindor, caused him to be even more annoyed than he could have imagined.

Severus observed with bewilderment how Potter and his friend or whatever the girl was took seats at the Slytherin table. 'Oh well, since they haven't been sorted into a house and the Grey Lady said they were the owners of Hogwarts, they can probably do as they want,' he thought, as he observed how Potter shook hands with Draco Malfoy, who was sitting on his left side.

Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind. 'If he gets on with Draco, maybe it'll help brush up Slytherin's reputation.' In fact, he had already prepared three well thought questions in order to ridicule the new celebrity, however, he suddenly decided to not use them in his first class but wait and see if the boy's character was the spitting image of his father like his outer appearance. 'Maybe he's more than Lily,' he mused, although he told himself to not get his hopes up. 'Considering that he told Albus he didn't trust him, I'll have to be careful in any case. I wouldn't want to get on his bad side if he can overwrite Albus' decisions.'

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" Minerva's voice brought him back to reality. "Don't you have to give out your time tables?"

"Yes, I was just going to do that," Severus replied, coolly, before he rose from his seat.

"Please give the Potters the same time tables, as they'll have classes together with Gryffindor and Slytherin," Minerva instructed him, making Severus nod, almost automatically.

HP

Harry and Hermione realised that the Slytherin first-years were as nice as their classmates in Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, and even the professor was not as grumpy as he had appeared to them during the welcoming feast. He even handed them their time tables.

When breakfast was finished, Harry and Hermione gathered the first-years and motioned the group to walk by the Gryffindor table to collect the other half of their class, before they led their classmates to the Transfiguration classroom for their first morning class. None of them noticed the amazed looks that followed them from the high table, where McGonagall addressed her Slytherin colleague with apparent amusement. "Maybe the Potters will help improve the relationship between our houses."

Snape contented himself quirking an eyebrow at his colleague, feigning disbelief, before he rose from his seat and strode through the Great Hall to be in the dungeons on time.

HP

Sitting on her desk in her feline form, Minerva observed the students enter the classroom with amazement that only intensified, when the first-years took their seats, not sorted according to their houses but in a completely mixed up order. She stared in disbelief at the front row, where Hermione and Harry were sitting with Blaise Zabini on their left and Neville Longbottom on their right side.

'I've never thought I'd ever see such a thing,' she thought, feeling strangely proud of the new first-years, who stared at her in clear amazement when she transformed back into her human form.

Only Ronald Weasley, who arrived at the classroom fifteen minutes late, pulled a face upon realising that the only free seat was next to Draco Malfoy, who was sitting together with Gregory Goyle and Dean Thomas.

"Mr. Weasley, please take a seat," Minerva instructed the boy, slightly impatient. "Or should I transfigure you into a pocket watch to make you come to your classes punctually?"

"Yes sorry, Professor, but I didn't know where the Transfiguration classroom was," Ronald replied, lamely, only to add, "Why do I have to sit next to Slytherins though?"

"Why not? Have you been sorted anywhere else?" Draco blurted out, causing the whole class to snicker.

Feeling completely annoyed at the redhead, although she knew that the situation was not his fault but that of the headmaster, Minerva called the class back to order and made them practise the transformation of a toothpick into a needle. She was not overly surprised when only the four students sitting in the first row and Draco Malfoy managed the task before the end of the class.

HP

Harry and Hermione thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Of course they had to hold back to not show their classmates how easy the transfiguration was for them, however, they unobtrusively managed to help Blaise and Neville practise and felt accomplished when their neighbours and new friends managed to gain house points for the task even if they could not.

Somehow, the class automatically seemed to accept Harry and Hermione as their leaders and immediately followed them out of the classroom towards the dungeons. Upon entering the Potions classroom, the first-years naturally took their seats in a completely mixed up way, unaware of the professor's surprised look.

HP

Harry observed how the professor entered, no, swept into the classroom with expectation. At the welcoming feast, when he had been sitting at the Gryffindor table, the older students had not spoken too friendly about the Slytherin head, however, at breakfast, the professor had been as friendly as Professor McGonagall.

'Maybe he's a bit like Salazar, grumpy but nice,' Harry thought. During his seven years at Hogwarts in the past, Potions had clearly become his favourite subject, in which he excelled, even according to Salazar, who was very strict and not easily commended students.

'Should we take notes?' he thought to Hermione, when the professor dove in a monologue about the fine art of brewing potions.

However, his wife immediately dismissed the idea. 'No Harry, I believe that we already know enough about the brewing of potions, so we can just relax and listen,' she reassured him.

tbc...

Thank you very much for your kind comments!