The man rose from his seat and came to stand in front of Harry. He noticed the stranger's eyes were a pale blue that twinkled with kindness. "To whom do I own the pleasure of meeting?" Albus said politely, offering his hand.
"Harry," the small boy replied. "Harry James Potter." Albus' eyebrows knitted together and he looked to Minerva for an explanation. She merely shook her head, and mouthed 'later', as she did to Hagrid.
"Pleased to meet you," Albus replied. "Lemon drop?" he offered, which Harry declined politely, and started a discussion about the Ministry and the way it runs. The discussion went on for a good quarter of an hour before Minerva interrupted, as she was much too bored. "Harry, do you want to stay at Dumbledore Manor for the night?" Harry looked as if the day couldn't get any better, squealed with excitement and nod with all his might. "Albus will join us later – he still has some paperwork to finish," Minerva said when Harry looked longingly at the new friend he'd just made.
Making their way to Hogsmeade again, they gripped each other tightly, and vanished into darkness once more.
They landed in front of an enormous house, painted cream and three stories high. The flowerbeds were kept neat and tidy by the house elves, clusters of holly and hazel trees grew round the garden with neatly cut green grass, and Harry could see the shimmer of sunshine on water through the trees. The front door was wooden, with a lion head brass knocker on it (after all, they are Gryffindors, aren't they?). With black and white checked marble tiles, it made the entrance hall look rather like a chessboard. The walls were a pale blue, with Wizarding portraits on the ancestors of Minerva and Albus, not to mention the current members of the Manor. There were quite a number of portraits of children, and Harry assumed they were the nephews and nieces of the couple.
"Do you like it?" Minerva asked anxiously, observing the expression of the boy. Just as he was about to speak, there was the sound of footsteps on the stairs.
"Mother! Mother! You're finally back!" Three girls, about thirteen years old, and all with black hair slide down the well-polished handle of the grand staircase. "Hello, sweethearts," Minerva said lovingly, and kissed every one of them. "And girls," Minerva said, resuming her 'stern' face again, "how many times have I told to walk down the stairs properly?" Two of the girls stared at their feet and said sorry immediately, but Harry detected a hint of a smile on one of the identical faces. The one who didn't look sorry at all beamed and said, "This is, I believed, currently the twenty-seventh time," she said in a marvelous imitation of Albus' way of speaking. "Lemon drop?" She mimed unwrapping the candy and offering one to Minerva. One of the girls burst out laughing while the other smiled brightly, trying not to giggle. "Girls, do behave yourselves," Minerva said, amused. "We have a guest tonight."
The most timid and the youngest of the girls introduced herself first. "Bianca Ella Felicity McGonagall Dumbledore," she said softly, smiling at Harry. "Pleasure to meet you." Then it was the next oldest girl's turn. "Zoe Artemis Faye McGonagall Dumbledore," she said, nodding politely. "Kate Ariana Nancy McGonagall Dumbledore," the eldest said, grinning cheerfully.
Harry noticed their appearance was exactly the same apart from their clothes. They all had ebony hair that waved gently to the middle of their back, with the exception of Kate, who had hers up in a ponytail. They had sparkling blue-green eyes, alive with happiness, and in Kate's case, mischief. They all had a perfect figure that most girls would die for. As for their talents, that will be revealed later.
"Harry will be staying for the night," Minerva declared, and the effect of that one sentence was amazing. Zoe rushed off towards the kitchen to inform the house elves of a visitor and to prepare a big supper; Kate clamored to give him a grand tour and introduce him to everyone in the family, house elves included; Bianca offered to show him the way to the guest room, where he would be staying. He decided to take Bianca's offer first, and slipped his small cold hand into Bianca's warm inviting one. And so Harry's most amazing afternoon of his life began.
He was introduced to various people – Honoria Athena Minerva McGonagall, twins with Lilybelle Poppy Dawn McGonagall Dumbledore, both fifteen years old; Jira Brain Kyle McGonagall Dumbledore, fourteen; Kate, Zoe and Bianca, soon to be in their third year at Hogwarts, distinguished only by their necklaces, emerald for Kate, topaz for Zoe and sapphire for Bianca; Isabella Phoebe Loretta McGonagall Dumbledore and Isabelle Hannah Louisa McGonagall Dumbledore, twelve years old; Julian Leroy Darrell McGonagall Dumbledore, non-identical twins with James Francis Damien McGonagall Dumbledore, starting Hogwarts the coming September; Sagitta Hermione Jean McGonagall Dumbledore, ten; the first set of triplets, Jordan Wulfric Benjamin McGonagall Dumbledore, Adam Dylan Percival McGonagall Dumbledore and Byron Sean Nigel McGonagall Dumbledore, nine; and finally Jezebel Thalia Katherine McGonagall Dumbledore, Sirius Albus Remus McGonagall Dumbledore and the youngest, Jessica Rose Jasmine McGonagall Dumbledore, the same age as Harry himself. There were five house elves, Daisy, Corky, Darla, Wonky and Minty.
Dinner was jolly affair. Everyone was busy piling heaps of the house elves' delicious food for Harry, intending to fatten him up, resulting in an astonishing amount of leftover food on Harry's plate. Kate stabbed her fork in some of the food, shoving it in her mouth. "Kate!" Minerva scolded, while Albus merely chuckled. "Mind your manners! You don't see your siblings don't do that, do they?" She smiled fondly at Zoe and Bianca.
Dinner was soon over, and the grandfather clock in the entrance hall chimed nine times. Harry was yawning already, although he tried his best to suppress it. "Sleepy, Harry?" Bianca asked, concerned. Harry tried his best to look alert and energetic, failing miserably. "It's alright," Bianca said. "You've had an exciting day, it's perfectly normal for you to be sleepy. Come on, up to bed."
When Harry was lying in bed in a comfortable pair of pajamas, amazing soft and pale blue, nearly everyone filed in through the door to tuck him in and bid him good night.
Harry had thought he wouldn't fall asleep with all the excitement, but soon he drifted off into the deepest sleep he'd ever had.
I'm sorry for the few days which I didn't post anything, but schoolwork, schoolwork and yet more schoolwork tend to have that effect on you. I'm actually writing this to get my mind of the big day tomorrow - I'm going to get my report card! (Just thinking about it makes my heart goes faster.) I'm also sorry about the paragraph with all the names of the children if it was too boring. Please just spare one minute to write a review for your poor nervous author! (Pleading look) Only reviews can calm me down. (Breathe in, breathe out, in, out, in, out...) Anyways, WISH ME LUCK!
Shaking with fright,
Bianca tabbycat