"How are you feeling, Harry?" Professor McGonagall said, setting a silver tray upon the small table before Harry. On it clattered a large porcelain teakettle, several delicate looking teacups, and a tin of ginger newts.
Harry didn't say anything. He continued to stare at the table top, watching as a bit of sunlight slowly moved across the table's surface. "How am I feeling? What kind of question is that?" He suddenly said, looking up at her.
"It's a question of someone who's concerned with your health and well-being." McGonagall said, calmly.
Harry snorted. "I'm doing bloody fine." He said, giving her a smile that held nothing resembling mirth in it "After losing my memories, then getting slammed with all the bad crap that's happened to me throughout my life all in one night. Then getting attacked by that bastard Malfoy and then getting a botched Memory Charm from that bastard Malfoy. I'm doing bloody fine!" By the end his voice was raised and his face flushed with barely held back rage and anger.
McGonagall sighed slightly to herself. She had dealt with students that had suffered major hurts and terrible agonies, from death of parents, family, or friends. She knew all about the pain and hurt and anger they were feeling. If she did not deal with Harry's problems, then things would only get worst.
Things seemed to be spiraling out of control the last couple of weeks. Harry starting fights, students attacking one another. If things continued to get any worst, parents would really begin complaining and the Ministry would be forced to step in and try to resolve things.
After last year, no professor or student wanted the Ministry back in Hogwarts again. It was one thing for the Ministry to use its power to try and change Hogwarts and it was another thing for them to step in with the blessing of the Wizarding Community with the purpose of making sure the students were alright. Already she was hearing some noise from the Ministry about the fight in the Great Hall, with Dumbledore gone was forced to deal with those letters.
"There is no need to yell." McGonagall responded, again calmly. She would not rise to his anger. To do so would only cause him to get angrier and that wouldn't solve anything. McGonagall said added a small teaspoon of sugar to her tea. This time it was Earl Grey, simple and soothing.
"Then there's no need to ask stupid questions." Harry snapped back immediately.
"I didn't ask you here so that we can argue." McGonagall replied, refusing to be baited into an argument. She calmly stirred her tea, setting the small silver teaspoon beside her cup. She could understand what he was going through. The lost of his godfather, the terrible injuries he had received in the last few days, and now with most of his friends in the Hospital Wing. Boys his age tended to be more emotional than they assumed.
"What? You forced me here again so that you can yell at me again, threaten me with expulsion, again? Tell me how I'm a disgrace to my house and to Hogwarts? " Harry said hotly, his hands clenched into to white knuckled fists.
"No." McGonagall said, ignoring the clenched fists. That would be considered threatening a professor, but she would over look it. Threats and confrontation would do nothing to solve the problem on hand; it would only make it worst. Escalating Harry's mood was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Then why am I here?" Harry asked, slouching in his chair and staring back at the tabletop. McGonagall eyed him for a moment. The anger that was burning in him moments ago seemed to have suddenly vanished, now he looked like nothing more than a tired, hurt boy.
"I had thought that we might be able to talk." McGonagall replied, setting down her cup.
"About bloody what?" Harry suddenly snapped.
"Watch you language, Potter. I will not be spoken to uncivilly." McGonagall replied coldly. She immediately chided herself for being baited by his talk, but the cursing and the attitude were grating upon her. She cleared her throat and calmed her nerves. "I asked you to come here so that we talk."
Harry avoided her gaze, continuing to stare at the table, saying nothing.
"I know you've been through a lot. I know you've faced things no sixteen year old ought to face." McGonagall said softly. "I've said this before, but I know how it feels to lose someone close to you. The hurt, the pain, the senselessness of it all."
Harry clenched his eyes close tightly and turning away from McGonagall. "I don't want to talk about it." He whispered hoarsely.
McGonagall nodded to herself. " I understand." She responded. "Though the pain his heavy and the hurt is terrible, we must continue on. To mire yourself in your own misery will make it harder to heal. Sirius wouldn't have wanted you to make yourself sick mourning-"
"How do you know what Sirius would have wanted!" Harry suddenly exploded. "He sure as hell wouldn't have wanted to die!"
McGonagall watched as a terrible fury clouded Harry's face. For a moment she was rendered speechless, but that was pushed away as her own anger began to rise, but before she could say anything, Harry rose to his feet.
"To hell with you and your stupid talks." He snapped and then turned and stalked out to the office, slamming the door as he left.
McGonagall sighed, picking up her cup of tea.
XXX
Harry stalked down the corridor, students who saw him and then his demeanor quickly got out of sight. Rumors were already flying across the school that Harry had gone insane, that he'd finally snapped, after what happened in the Great Hall no one really doubted those rumors anymore.
Harry didn't notice any of this, lost in thought. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Why did they always have to drag things out of him that he'd just as well forget? Why did they have to tear open the wounds again with their false pity and stupid questions when things were beginning to heal?
It just made everything worst. They made their stupid comments and spouted trite words, but none of it would help him get over what had happened. He was beginning to realize that. Only he could heal the hurt in him, not the professors or anyone else. Harry turned a corner and collided with someone.
"Watch out!" Harry snarled.
'Oh, Harry! Sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." Luna Lovegood exclaimed.
Harry sighed, suddenly feeling bad about yelling at her. He looked down and saw that she had dropped several books. "Here, let me help you." He said, crouching down.
"Oh, thanks." Luna replied, slipping off her leather bag and joining Harry in picking up the scattered books.
Harry grunted slightly as he picked up a very large and hefty leather bound book. "A little light reading?" He asked, scanning the title. Fantastical Beasts of the North, Mythical and Magical.
"Oh, it's research." Luna said, flipping through the pages. Harry glanced down at the pages, seeing several large colored pictures of strange creatures.
"Research?" Harry asked, craning his head to try and determine what was what on a strange looking red creature. Even for a possible magical creature, it didn't look possible.
"Yeah. My dad sent me a letter about this new creature that was spotted in the Orkneys." Luna replied, closing the book and shoving it into her bag.
"Where?" Harry asked, watching as she struggled to shove the thick book into the bag already crammed with thick volume books.
"Oh, the Orkneys? It's north of here. They're islands in the North Sea, usually mall, rocky, and secluded. Great places to spot rare animals. It's usually where there aren't much people, wizard or Muggle, that the really rare creatures are. I think we scare them off." Luna explained, pulling out several more books from her bag, along with an assortment of other things. Bracelets made of beads, a roll of yarn, a small wooden box that clattered, and one thing that looked suspiciously like a plastic Muggle thermos.
"Oh." Harry responded, a little more confused than when he first asked. How many things does she have in her bag? He thought, watching as she continued to pull out more objects.
Luna suddenly nodded to herself and began reloading the books, which there was a large quantity, back into her bag. Amazingly everything fit and she closed the clasp on the bag, smiling to herself.
"You want some tea?" Luna suddenly asked, pulling out the thermos Harry had seen earlier.
"What?" Harry asked, caught off guard by the question.
"Its iced tea. If you want hot tea, I can make that too." Luna reached behind her head and pulled out her wand. Her long blonde hair was released from the bun she wore and it fell down her back, making a small golden halo around her head. Luna didn't seem to notice any of that; instead she dug into her back. After a moment she frowned. "Oh. I forgot to bring cups. You don't mind drinking it from the thermos, do you?" She offered him the thermos.
"Uh. I got things to do." Harry replied, rising to his feet.
"Oh, what things?" Luna asked, interested.
Harry thought for a moment and realized he hadn't anything to do. The argument with McGonagall was still simmering in his mind and he didn't know if he had any homework to do or anything. Breakfast was long over now and lunch wouldn't begin for an hour or more.
"Things." Harry replied lamely.
Luna didn't seemed fazed by the answer, She just shrugged her shoulders and got to her feet, not before taking a long sip of her thermos of tea. "Okay. When you're done with doing 'things' do you want to help me hand up some winter alakin charms?" she asked, swinging her bag onto her back.
"Winter alakin charms?" Harry asked.
"The North American Alakin. They usually come out during the winter seasons and usually around places were there's a large concentration of witches and wizards. Where else better to look for them than in a school that teaches magic?" Luna explained beginning to walk down the corridor.
"Uh. What do they look like?" Harry asked. Mythical creatures in the Orkneys, iced tea, now Alakins?
Luna continued walking, her face lost in thought and her index finger tapping her lower lip. Harry noticed that the nails upon her fingers were slowly changing color, green, red, blue, pink with each tap. "I don't know. You see they're invisible. So no one really knows how they look."
"Then how do you know they exist at all?" Harry asked, trying to inject a little logic into the discussion.
"How do you know they don't exist?" Luna responded.
Harry thought for a moment, a little bemused by her logic. He shrugged. "I don't."
Luna smiled. "Come on. I'll show you. It's been a little cold lately, so there should be a few out and about. We can hang the charms near the owlery, since that's probably the coldest place in the castle." Excited by the prospect Luna hastened her pace and Harry followed.
XXX
Until Next Chapter!!!