CHAPTER 2

Minerva McGonagall was a simple witch. She'd seen plenty of ups and downs in her life and was pretty satisfied with where she was. She'd be busy today. The replies from the children who were registering to Hogwarts would be coming today. It wasn't like she'd have to sort them or anything. The last time any family refused to send their child to Hogwarts was at the peak of you-know-who's terror and before that it was during Grindelwald's time. And she was pretty certain that there was no dark lord to disturb magical Britain's education today.

Thinking of dark lords reminded her of Britain's latest saviour, Harry Potter. She was reminded of leaving a poor child at the doorstep of those miserable humans on a cold night. She wondered if they'd told him about magic or if he had written her a reply.

Finishing her cup of tea with extra sugar she gazed out of the lone window of her room at Hogwarts to see the flock of owls returning from their destinations, many with a letter in the beak and some clutching the letter in their claws. She had another ten minutes before Ritsy would deliver the letters to her room.

Promptly, ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door. She opened the door with a flick of her wand and allowed, Ritsy, the house elf in-charge of the owlery to enter. Ritsy was an excitable creature with her big round eyes full of wonder and excitement. She was one the younger Hogwarts elves and had come into service after her parent was killed in one of the auror raids against a death Eater family.

"Good morning Mrs. Kitty, here are the letters for this year. May I be sending the owls to collect the replies from non-magical houses now?", she asked.

"Thank you Ritsy, and do send the owls"

"Is Harry Potter coming to Hogwarts this year? Ritsy remembers how her older master beat her mother before Harry Potter defeated the dark lord. Ritsy would like to be thanking Harry Potter for defeating the dark lord"

"He will Ritsy. He'll be eleven this year."

"Thank you, ma'am. I will be sending the owls now". Ritsy left with a spring in her step excited to eventually meet Harry Potter.

Pointing to the stack of letters Minerva muttered "Generis Alphabetum". The letters quickly arranged themselves in alphabetical order. Magic really was as wonderful as she'd felt it the first time.

There was an owl in front of him. There wasn't one a few minutes ago. But there was one now. It was staring at him expectantly too. Harry did not know where it had come from but he only recognised the owl when it was right in front of him.

"Are you from Hogwarts? Will you carry my reply back to it?", Harry asked the owl to receive a sharp peck. It seemed to have gotten offended by his question as if he doubted it's capability to fulfill the task it was given.

"It seems even owls are proud these days".

Luck seemed to favour him. It was as if the universe conspired to keep these events away from the ever watchful eyes of the Dursleys. Harry would even go so far as to call it plot armour if he were a hero.

He retrieved the reply he'd written from his back and held it towards the owl. It quickly snapped the letter from his hand and flew off towards Hogwarts he supposed.

"Well I hope the letter reaches Hogwarts. It's not like any other owl would be waiting to carry my letter, would it?", he muttered to himself as he walked back home from school.

Minerva McGonagall had read the letter twice now. Whatever she'd expected from Harry Potter was not this.

The handwriting was as atrocious as a child's could be but the vocabulary and tone seemed to remind her of Harry's grandfather when he'd been alive. James could never pull of the snark very well. He wore his heart on his sleeves and couldn't really do diplomacy. But Charlus was a master of the art. And there were glimpses of Charlus in this letter along with a sense of desperation. It might've been masked under a brave pretense but Minerva had seen, taught and interacted with children far longer than Harry had been alive. She was able to pick up on the subtleties of his request.

She'd have to prepare herself and go meet him in person. She'd have gone even if it wasn't James' son making the request. That it was James' son made it that much more special she surmised.

Transfiguring her robes to look more muggle, she locked up her desk with a flick of her wand. Picking up her pointy hat she left Hogwarts in search of magical Britain's wayward saviour.

Looking at the poor boy being worked more than a house elf was heart-wrenching. No ten year old should have seen the things Harry had seen.

In an ideal world, Harry Potter would have grown up to be a strong wizard with a good family under the love and care of James and Lily. He might've even seen his grandparents. But you-know-who made sure that him and half of magical Britain's children grew up without parents. That was you-know-who's biggest crime in her opinion. Having married pretty late, she didn't have children of her own but if she ever had children, growing up with a loving home would be the greatest gift she'd bestow upon them.

Deciding to try and bring at least some semblance of normality into the boy's life she disillusioned herself and walked towards #4, Privet drive where Harry was currently weeding out the plants.

The surprises didn't seem to end for him today. First there was an owl which had randomly appeared. Now there was a woman dressed exactly like a witch from the show Dudley had been caught watching. She even had a pointy hat! Would she laugh hysterically standing behind a boiling cauldron he wondered. That brought a smile to his face. She seemed to have noticed.

"Mr. Potter?"

"Yes ma'am. Are you from Hogwarts?"

"I am Minerva McGonagall, the deputy headmistress at Hogwarts. Are your uncle and aunt at home?"

"Yes they are. They're never not home on weekday evenings. Do you remember my request?"

"Don't worry about that Mr. Potter. I assure you of my discretion. Shall we go in?"

"Come in ma'am. Be mindful of your ears though. They're about to be subjected to an assault like never before"

Harry led McGonagall into his house of horrors. Once again Harry wondered if Vernon was some kind of magical creature but this time he was joined along in his musings by McGonagall who was of the opinion that Vernon or someone in his family might've been a metamorphmagus. The plain white face of Vernon had first turned pink then red the orange and now purple.

"Uncle, this lady is Professor Minerva McGonagall. She says she's from Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry and has come to meet me"

And then the bombshell exploded

"You're one of those freaks aren't you? Come to do your freakishness here have you? Just wait till I get my rifle and I'll shoot you for trespassing. Petunia! the boy has brought in freaks into the house. I'd told you it wasn't good to take him in. We should have left him to freeze on our doorstep just like those freaks did. Must have been the freakishness in him that he survived"

"Mr. Vernon, I assure you that to us you're the freaks. Even if I didn't have magic, Merlin forbid, you'd still be a freak in my eyes for subjecting a child to abuse. Now before I turn you into a mouse and feed you to some cat, please sit down and listen to me calmly. We can decide on the other things later."

That threat seemed to calm Vernon right up. Vernon was a stereotypical bully. He wasn't even good at it. He was a lion to the weak and a cat to the strong. Seeing that he was at least normal, McGonagall continued.

"Listen carefully Mr. Vernon. Now that Harry Potter is eleven he's eligible to attend Hogwarts which he will. He'll learn to control his magic which you seem to call 'freakishness'. Thank your god and your fate that he didn't have a bout of accidental magic which killed you all. It must be a testament to his patience or it must be cowardice but after seeing Harry I'm convinced that it is the former"

"Now Harry do you have a room or something where we can talk?"

Vernon seemed to have perked up at hearing 'room' which made him forget who he was dealing with. He was about to set off into another tirade about 'trespassing' and 'not allowing freaks into their rooms' before McGonagall swished her wand causing him to be petrified.

Petunia shrieked which seemed to bee her general reaction to everything. Not wanting to be bothered any longer, McGonagall petrified both

Petunia and Dudley before they could do anything else and turned to Harry.

Harry gulped looking at his frozen relatives. He pointed towards his cupboard and spoke

"This is where I sleep. I'm not allowed into their rooms or into Dudley's toy room."

It seemed to enrage Minerva again. She looked at the frozen Dursleys with a pitiful glance and spoke to Harry

"They will face the consequences of their actions Mr. Potter. Why don't you and I sit in the garden itself? You can ask your questions and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge"

I'll end this here. You'll never know the joy of a cliff hanger until you're on this side of the fic. I won't be doing this frequently though. Cliff hangers I mean.

AN: I'm genuinely new to this whole thing which I suppose is evident by the lack of anything on my profile. I've been reading fanfics for a long time though and I love reading them. I hope to keep this up and finish this fic.