A/N:- I don't own Harry Potter.
Sorry for the short chapter; on 27th Feb, i.e., tomorrow is my birthday, so I would have not been able to post tomorrow, and I didn't want to miss the chapter.
Reviews:-
MMax:- Harry is going to help only one Weasley. You can guess, though it is not much of a guess. Yes, I am planning to include Luna earlier than canon. For Hermione and Ron, I will make it an exciting conversation for the future; I have neglected them for a while, but with Harry being a top student, it will affect Hermione, and Harry's friendship with Neville will affect Ron.
Chapter 21 Planning Of P.A.L
Harry took several deep, calming breaths to make his way to McGonagall's office. He asked for this meeting right after his talk with Susan, and now three weeks after Halloween, he was ready to make his presentation.
When he arrived at her door, he knocked twice and heard McGonagall's voice call out for him to enter. As soon as he walked into the Transfiguration Professor's office, Harry saw the stern teacher sitting behind her desk, with Professor Flitwick resting comfortably in a chair across from her.
"Good evening, Lord Peverell-Gryffindor-Emrys," McGonagall greeted him. "Please have a seat and tell us why you requested this meeting."
Harry took the empty chair next to the diminutive Charms Professor and smiled nervously at the two teachers. "Good evening, Professors. Please call me Harry or Mr. Potter, the complete title is for people I don't like very much. Thank you again for allowing me to take up some of your valuable time. I'm here today to ask your permission to start a tutoring group."
McGonagall and Flitwick nodded at request while the former also arched her eyebrow at the request and asked, "And what exactly will you be tutoring, Mr. Potter?"
"The P.A.L. group will be offering our services to tutor students in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defense and Herbology,"
Harry replied confidently. "As of now, I have 5 students along with myself ready to tutor those who need it. Su is at the top of our year in Charms, Neville is great at Transfiguration, Daphne is second in our year at Potions, Alex is excellent at Defense, and Hannah is somewhat of a Herbology prodigy. I apologize if this sounds arrogant, Professor, but I believe I'm the top student in our year, and I feel more than comfortable with tutoring students in all of these subjects."
"The Pal group?" Flitwick asked curiously. "What is that, Mr. Potter?"
"Peer Assistance Learning," Harry answered. "Muggles have run several studies that show students are uncomfortable with asking teachers for help with a given problem. Often they're afraid of upsetting the teachers with needless questions, or as is most often the case, looking stupid in front of them. More often than not, students ask other students for help. I just want to take that to a larger scale."
"And what exactly will you need if I agree to grant this request? Can I know the reason for asking for permission as you are Lord Hogwarts?" McGonagall asked him.
"I would like to requisition five adjoining empty classrooms on the sixth floor for the new P.A.L. study center. As for me asking for a request, while I am Lord Hogwarts, I don't control the wards and don't have permission to change the infrastructure of the school; for changing the infrastructure, I need the permission of the Headmaster or Deputy Headmistress and head of one house."
"My word, Mr. Potter," McGonagall exclaimed loudly. "What in Merlin's name do you need that much space for?"
Harry grabbed the mokeskin bag at his hip and pulled out a dozen pictures he drew over the past few days. These were the sketches he made to show the Professors precisely what he wanted to do.
After handing half the pictures to McGonagall and the other half to Flitwick, Harry explained what he wanted to do.
"I would like the Study Center to become an informal common room for the entire school. All houses will be welcome, and students will help each other with their problems. The space provided by the five classrooms will be reconfigured to allow for a sitting area with a few couches, a dozen tables and chairs for studying, a properly vented Potions room for students to practice in, a room for students to practice their spellcasting, and a room that will be converted into a small gym."
When he saw both his Professors with their jaws hanging, Harry wasn't sure if he should be amused or afraid of their reaction.
Filius was the first of the pair to recover, and while he thought the entire request was quite excessive, one part, in particular, jumped out at him. "Why a gym, Mr. Potter? Most magical don't really believe in Muggle exercise."
Harry nodded his head in agreement and said, "That's true, sir, but it doesn't mean that exercise isn't good for you. Just because some Purebloods don't believe in Muggle methods doesn't mean that the Muggles are wrong. Muggles believe a healthy mind requires a healthy body, and I think the same can hold true for magic. The healthier and stronger your body is, the longer you can cast different spells. Frankly, sir, all you would have to do is provide the room for the machines; I'm more
than willing to purchase all the equipment myself."
When he saw that both Professors were still hesitant about the idea, Harry could easily guess the reason why.
"The Quidditch teams already have access to a gym the school provides for their training, ma'am," Harry explained to the pair.
"Since it's been a part of the school for several decades now, it's not like the Purebloods can claim I'm ruining tradition by bringing in Muggle ideas into the school. The idea was already here long before my parents were even born. The gym I'm proposing would be almost exactly like the one the school provides for the House teams, except now it would be available for all students and not just Quidditch players."
As she stared into the green eyes of her brilliant Lion cub, her godson, Minerva McGonagall, didn't know what to think. The request he made was certainly more grand than anything she expected this evening. If it were anyone else, she would have already kicked them out of her office for wasting her time. But this was one of her cubs that was different. His work in her class was above and beyond what was necessary to receive an Outstanding, and she knew Filius felt the same way. This alone made her really consider if he could pull off such an ambitious endeavor. Besides, the past few weeks, something had been bothering her about the young Gryffindor, and if her suspicions were correct, it was time to see how advanced her cub really was.
"What makes you think you can do this, Mr. Potter? I doubt a first year could teach upper-level students, and the space you've requested is significantly larger than what a few first years would need."
Harry knew this was his make-or-break moment. If he said nothing, his request would be denied. But if he gave them even a hint of his true abilities, the old man would hear about it, and he'd be caught right in the middle of the headbastard's crosshairs. That was something he wanted to avoid for as long as possible, but in the end, he decided hiding wasn't worth it. If he could start this world's version of the DA sooner, he could help these kids have a better chance at surviving Voldemort's return, and that alone was worth any discomfort he would feel under Dumbledore's scrutiny.
"What if I told you I could do every spell in the Standard Book of Spells from 1st year to 5th year? That if I took my O.W.L.s today, I would be confident that I passed with high marks?"
McGonagall had to force herself not to smile at the response. She knew her cub was hiding his true abilities. "I would call you a liar," she replied, hoping to goad him into sharing more information with her.
Harry was expecting such a response from the Deputy Headmistress, and before either Professor could react, he flipped out his wand from his wrist holster and silently cast the Patronus Charm.
Flitwick gasped at the sudden appearance of the corporeal Stag Patronus in the office and reached his hand out to gently pat the magical creature on the back. He could feel the love and happiness rolling off of the Golden Stag, and he once more marveled at his young student's power and ability. As a Master in the subject, he knew that the Charm was one that most adults failed to manage in their entire lifetime, and yet here was a first-year doing it with ease. It almost boggles the mind to imagine what the boy would be capable of in a few years. McGonagall wasn't expecting Harry to summon a Patronus, but it was the proof she needed to know that he would be able to handle the Center he wanted to create. Verifying his advanced skill was enough for her to believe her suspicions about him were correct.
"Tell me, Mr. Potter, how long have you been an Animagus?"
Harry felt his heart skip a beat at the question, and he silently cursed himself for whatever mistake he made to make McGonagall aware of it. He wracked his brain trying to figure out how she knew, but he kept coming up with a blank. Over the past few weeks, he ran through the Forbidden Forest as Altor and soared through the air with Hedwig as Thor. But he always waited until late night to enjoy his animal forms, and it baffled him as to how the stern Professor could have figured it out.
"W-w-what makes you think I'm an Animagus, Professor?" Harry asked hesitantly.
McGonagall's eyes narrowed dangerously at the foolish question she heard from her cub, and in her most commanding voice, she replied, "Do not lie to me, Mr. Potter. At first, I wasn't sure if you were an Animagus, but your display right now with the Patronus makes me believe that you have the skill and magical power necessary to make the change. And since I've been able to smell the cat on you these past few weeks, I'm confident you have already shifted completely at least once. As I'm sure you know, your merger gives you some heightened senses from your animal form. The same holds true for me and my form. Besides, I would expect nothing less from the son of James Potter. At least your father had the good sense to wait until his 4th year to attempt such a dangerous form of magic."
Harry grimaced at the mixture of her tone and the answer he received. With his eidetic memory and all the power at his disposal, he couldn't believe he was stupid enough to be found out by his smell. He wanted to kick himself for not thinking of using a simple spell to hide Altor and Midnight's odor from his body. In his arrogance, he didn't think anyone would learn the truth, and now he was paying for it.
Once he decided he had no choice but to tell the truth, Harry nodded his head and said, "Yes, ma'am. I am an Animagus, and I made my first change during the first week of school."
When she finally heard the confirmation she had been waiting to hear, Minerva wasn't sure whether to be thrilled by the prodigy in front of her or furious that he'd done such a dangerous transformation by himself.
"How did you do it?" she asked calmly.
Harry didn't want to tell her about the Shaman method he learned from one of his teachers in the Chamber, and so he lied, "I drank an Animagus revealing potion a few months ago. I found out about it in my dad's notebook documenting his own change during school. I just followed his directions. I swear I wasn't trying to make the change, Professor. I just wanted to see what my form was. Then a few weeks ago, I was meditating in my room and accidentally shifted. It took me a while to
turn back to normal, but once I did it, shifting back and forth became easier."
"Do you know how dangerous what you did is?" she asked her cub with a touch of anger in her voice. "You could have died if something went wrong and someone wasn't around to help you."
"I understand, ma'am," Harry replied in his best innocent voice. "The first time really was an accident. I had no intention of attempting the change for at least a few years."
Once she was sure her cub had correctly been reprimanded and was aware of how dangerous his actions were, she said,
"Tomorrow morning, you will accompany me to the Ministry and register your form with the DMLE. Do I make myself clear, Mr. Potter?"
For the first time in a long while, Harry was happy that he'd been on point about covering his tracks for the future. As soon as he completed his first change, he decided it would be prudent to register one of his forms. He picked Altor since it was hard to be inconspicuous as a 700lb black tiger. Midnight was the perfect form to do something like that and would be the ace up his sleeve if someone learned about his registered form.
The day after his first change, he'd contacted Ripclaw and had him register Altor with the I.C.W. The Ministry law stated that all Animagus forms had to be registered, and since being registered with the I.C.W. counted, he didn't bother sending anything to the Ministry. It wasn't his fault they didn't properly look at the paperwork that came from outside of Britain.
"That won't be necessary, Professor."
"And why exactly would that be, Mr. Potter?" she asked him crisply. "Do you know that it is illegal to be a non-registered Animagus? You could be fined and sent to Azkaban if this was discovered."
"I know it's illegal to be an unregistered Animagus, ma'am," Harry replied with a smug smile. "But I already registered through the I.C.W."
Minerva was certainly surprised to hear that. "Why didn't you want to register with the Ministry?" she asked, curious to listen to his reason.
Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "Rita Skeeter already had me in the papers three times since school started. While many of her stories were fabricated, she did have valid information in each of them. She shouldn't have had access to information because it was supposed to be confidential. I didn't want anyone to know I was an Animagus, so I decided to register with the I.C.W. It's not my fault the Ministry doesn't properly check paperwork they receive from outside the country. What I did is technically legal, and now I don't have to worry about the Ministry's stellar ability to safeguard secrets."
Minerva didn't necessarily like it, but she couldn't fault her cub's reasoning. Since he wasn't breaking any laws, she would trust in his judgment.
"Very well, Mr. Potter. I will respect your decision this time, and thank you for being honest with me today. Professor Flitwick and I will discuss your proposal and let you know our decision in a few days. Would it be possible to hold on to these pictures in the meantime?"
Harry nodded his head happily and said, "Sure, Professor. You can hold on to the pictures for as long as you want, and I look forward to hearing what your decision will be."
As he got up to leave the office, Harry heard McGonagall ask, "Was I right, Mr. Potter? Is your form a cat?"
Harry grinned at the question. Technically a tiger was a cat. "Yes, you were, Professor."
McGonagall was quite pleased to hear she guessed correctly. "What color is it?"
"It's a white cat, Professor," Harry replied, trying to keep the smile off his face.
"Would you mind showing us, Mr. Potter? It's so rare to meet an Animagus these days, and I would love to see another cat."
At that very moment, Harry was grateful that he'd spent so much time training his new body to shift into his animal forms.
Once he took almost two minutes to complete the change, he was almost at the point of the difference being instantaneous.
When he saw both Professors eagerly waiting for his reply, Harry felt his inner Marauder laughing at the opportunity. Without giving them an answer, Harry leaped forward and shifted into Altor. The sudden presence of a near 700lb white tiger was enough to scare them senseless and cause both of them to fall out of their chairs.
Harry knew this act would most likely cost him detention with both teachers at some point, but he didn't care. Their reactions were nothing short of priceless. As Harry watched his teachers pick themselves up off the floor, if at that moment anyone was watching him, they would never again say they hadn't seen a tiger laughing its ass off. The next few weeks passed, and it was time for Yule break, and Harry was excited for all the surprises he had for everyone in the holidays and knew it was going to be an exciting break and was looking forward to everyone's reaction. While he was thinking about the vacation, an owl had come with a letter attached for him. He unfolded it from the owl's legs and gave the owl some treats. When he saw the letter's heading, he was excited about the letter's content. He opened the letter and was delighted with the contents of the letter. It was from W.E.A., specially sent by Madam Marchbanks and had results of his exams.
A/N:- I will keep his results for the future and reveal them with all other surprises, and please give reviews as it keeps me excited to write further chapters and provides the motivation.