Disclaimer - The themes and most characters belong to my queen, JK Rowling, author of the true Harry Potter books.

August 24th

Almost whole month had passed in the care of Mungo's and Harry felt sad that it was all coming to an end. Although the idea of making the hospital his permanent residence was simply ridiculous, George had improved enough to the point he'd been released with fortnightly check ups, and when Harry had arrived he'd been in a better place than George.

Rhys was the hardest to say goodbye to, they skipped the chimeriation and had lunch in the cafeteria.

"I'm going to miss you Wallowin."

Rhys kept the habit of calling Harry by his fake name, even in private.

"At least you'll still be catching up with Dante, I'll be able to bribe some information out of him."

"No need I'll owl you Rhys, I don't think I can go back to such a humorless existence after my stay here."

"Good to hear love, so will that make us friends?"

"Of course, aren't we friends already?"

"It's hard to tell when you work here, some people just like to leave and treat their whole experience like it never happened."

"Well I consider you a friend, we talk like friends."

"Brilliant! I'm rubbish at making friends I am, plus I was meaning to talk to you about something."

"What?"

"Well it's a bit of an obvious one but how long have you known?"

"Known what?"

"I don't have to spell it out do I love? Surely you've talked about it with Dante..."

Harry thought for a bit, was he talking about being a wizard? It was the only thing that came to mind.

"Since I was eleven I suppose, on my birthday actually."

"Really? That specific, what made you find out?"

Harry gave Rhys a confused look.

"Hagrid told me."

Rhys choked on his cider, grabbing a napkin to hold to his face.

"Blimey Harry, I don't think we're talking about the same thing."

"What were you talking about?"

"Never mind it's obvious I was wrong, you're oblivious!"

Harry pestered his friend to confess what he meant but Rhys was relentless, after a while he was called via a flying memo addressed to 'Mr. Thorn' for a staff meeting, cutting their goodbye short.

All Harry had left to do was go outside to wait. Healer Everglade had given him instructions from McGonagall, Harry was to take the shop-front exit into the muggle London street and make his way to the nearest corner where he was to stand with his wand out discretely with is right hand, pointed at the ground.

There transportation will meet you, I am sending Kreature back to Grimmauld and he should be able to pack most your things for you, a job he seems quite eager to do since you freed the last Blacks. I am aware you will be short on things and will wish to bring more into your new living quarters but I am sure you will find you have adequate spare time which you can spend visiting Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley.

Sincerely Headmistress McGonagall

PS. Your fair has been paid.

The note had read.

It wasn't to hard to follow, he expected the Knight bus would come by any minute, he was starting to feel foolish standing there in the formal dress-robes he'd worn to the trials. He wondered if he should move as a bright purple buggy came to a screeching halt in front of him, just as he began to edge away the driver's door flew open and a blonde witch leant out. She had to be in her thirties and in the latest fashion of Malkin's robes. She wore a fedora on her head and in her mouth was a silvery, glittery sort of gum that fizzed and popped as she chewed it.

"Come on Harry, Witch Way Cabs at your service!"

And at that she used a polished, white cane to tap the buggy's door and small lights lit up reading Witch Way as well as a little sign on top of the vehicle.

"Get in would ya, Min said you'd be nervous, nothing to worry about."

"I'm not nervous!" Harry protested as he went around the other side and slid in the passenger seat.

In one hand the witch held her cane, the other hand she held out to Harry to shake, this wouldn't have been an alarming move usually but as she did so the car turned its self on and tore down the street at full pelt.

"Um Miss…?"

" McGonagall." The witch offered

"What about her? Lookout!"

The witch nudged the wheel with her cane and they swerved away from a school children's crossing and down a side lane, over an empty park and back onto the highway.

"That's me!" She said smiling. "Miss McGonagall, Isobel McGonagall actually."

"What? Are you related to Professor McGonagall?"

"Of course silly." Isobel pulled out a map that she proceeded to unfold until it completely obstructed her view and Harry had to shut his eyes as they went through a round about.

"She's my aunt, my dad is her brother Malcolm. She has two brothers you know?"

"Oh."

"Oops wrong way!" Isobel did a full U-turn then took the first left. Harry sat back and closed his eyes.

"So you been in Mungo's then?"

"Sure have." Harry replied trying to breath.

"Brilliant, I thought so, you met Rhys right? He's a good mate of mine, he said he met you."

"Actually yeah, we became friends."

"Oh that's good Rhys is rubbish at making friends, we should all meet up some time."

"I'll hold you to that." Harry said, trying to smile and keep from vomiting simultaneously.

"Well he and I always get together whenever I'm in London and he can get time off from Dante. But I'm staying in Hogsmeade in two weeks for business."

Harry gave her a funny look, the witch wasted no time. He saw very little resemblance to the headmistress in her, she had a dizzy-ethereal look that McGonagall would never wear, then again he liked to think he was nothing like the Dursley's and understood that family didn't exactly guarantee resemblance. He also wondered how many other McGonagall's there were.

"Look I know, if you get any time off any tome soon, we'll catch up. I'll get Rhys to Floo in, Dante will have to let him, goodness knows the boy puts up with enough."

"It's a good idea and all…"

"Come on Harry, I bet you've never gone out before in your life, and don't think you can count student weekends to Hogsmeade I know how my aunt runs things, oh just wait for me and Rhys to take you to London, I bet all you've seen is Diagon Alley!"

"Actually I've been to Nocturne Alley."

"Ew even worse! Magical London does have a night life you know?"

"How come you're being so nice to me? We just met."

"Yes but my three favorite people in the world are my aunt, Dante and Rhys who just happen to be your guardian, healer and friend come on that has to be fate!"

"Did McGonagall tell you to look out for me?"

They seemed to be driving in a wide circle but Harry couldn't exactly see.

"She told me that under no circumstances was I to expose you to my rowdy friends and corrupt social life." Isobel said in a light voice, twirling her cane in her hands and no longer even feigning to pay attention to the road.

"Ah so it was fate then." Harry observed.

"You already know me so well." Isobel replied slamming still her breaks to reveal they were outside the Hogwarts grounds.

Harry realized he had a lot to ask her about McGonagall's background, having had the shock of discovering so much about Dumbledore after his death he couldn't help but wonder if the new headmistress' history was as painful and mysterious.

"You can ask me all about it when we catch up. You can owl right?"

Harry nodded, wondering if Isobel McGonagall was using some form of legilimency on him.

"Right, well you better hop to it, we've been driving in a circle for a while now and I can't have aunty cross at me."

The door Harry was sitting by opened automatically and a little silver carpet rolled out and onto the cobbled ground, tentatively he stepped out onto it. Isobel had gotten out too and gone round to the boot.

Petting the car she began muttering to it in tones that sounded an awful lot like an argument, inching closer he definitely heard snippets along the lines of…

"We've been through this before, you know I would have chosen you if you'd been up for it but we're here now I just need the luggage."

"Um…Isobel?"

"Just a minute Harry, I'm just working with the car."

Harry decided to keep away, Isobel leant in closer and whispered so quietly he could no longer hear, almost instantly the boot opened with a burst, letting out Harry's snitch which flung into the air then raced towards his head, circling about, he'd have to remember to thank Kreature.

"You've got quite a bit here." Isobel exclaimed as the boot spewed out case after case.

"Doesn't your house elf want you back home?"

"Actually I think this is his way of thanking me."

"What for?"

Harry watched yet another large case fall out.

"Long story." He sighed.

Isobel smiled, "Alright, they're still charmed with featherweight but goodness knows how long it will last so I'll just put them on this."

Isobel pulled a long thin chain out of her pocket and wrapped it around the substantial pile of bags, deeper inside the same pocket she extracted a blank tag with a hole punched into it, she fastened it to the chain and pulled out a quill.

"Do you know what room you'll be in?" She asked and Harry shook his head.

"Ah well, I'll just put professor's lounge, someone will figure it out from there."

Quickly she scribbled down the two words in barely legible writing, stepping back the bags disappeared in a puff. Isobel smiled at him.

"Neat huh?"

Harry nodded, he really knew nothing about magic when it came down to it.

Isobel gave him a salute and headed back toward the buggy.

"I expect that owl from you Mr. Potter."

"No problem Miss. McGonagall." He replied as the young driver sped off with a toot of the horn. He sucked a deep breath in, so he was on his own again, he didn't really handle that very well, maybe he needed to talk to healer Everglade about it, maybe it was a side affect from being Voldemort's accidental Horcrux.

Or maybe he should just stop thinking, get inside Hogwarts and find out what he'd be doing. Off he headed through the gates, maybe he'd be grounds keeper?

Harry felt shock at how the reconstruction had changed the school. Already he could see the grounds around the walls were flatter, that the materials of the entrance hall although married to the rest of the building were different. The front door was new, a carved oak polished and adorned with a silver plaque, the size of a regular door, which Harry couldn't quite read. In any case he'd become distracted by the huge monument settled in the grass in front of the steps.

It was stone and shaped like a pillar, on top was a carved face, between a wand on one side and on the other a cauldron, underneath was the phrase Semper Tueri. Harry recognised the face and approached the memorial with a growing frenzy, he circled the memorial. There was one more face on the side facing the school with a wand on one side and a phoenix on the other the phrase Semper Dirige these weren't the only decorations. The sides bore patterns of the sigils of the four houses and the faces of the pillar had etched into them names, hundreds of names in alphabetical order, underneath the faces of the last two headmasters of Hogwarts, Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore. With a beating heart Harry searched through the names after a while he found Weasley, Fred, he whirled around the monument yet again. The names of the Bone's family were listed one after another and there was Creevey, Colin and a little above him Burbage, Charity.

"Potter?" He jumped back and peered around to see McGonagall walking over to him.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"It's a memorial. It came as a donation and has been built around Albus' Pensieve, it's a unique magic, would you like to see how it works?"

Harry nodded shortly.

"Find a name and reach your hand out to it."

He pressed his fingers against the name Colin Creevey, after a mere second, thoughts surged into his mind. Image after image of Colin's life at Hogwarts, before the war. Harry's mind came back to reality and he looked at McGonagall teetering between pain from the memories and happiness.

She smiled warmly.

"There are a lot of names here." Harry choked out. "I thought there were 54…"

"There are not only those killed in the battle of Hogwarts, this memorial names everyone we lost."

Harry scanned and saw Dumbledore, Albus, even Dobby, he pressed his hand to the House Elf's name with a smile, that smile vanished however when no memories came forth.

"There's nothing connected to Dobby's name." He told McGonagall.

"Well of course, people need to add the memories themselves, why don't you add one?"

"How?"

"Place your wand to your temple focusing on the particular memory and say memoris extracta you should feel it pulling out like a thread and it will seem like a silver wisp, then quickly hold it up to the name you're dedicating the memory to."

Harry knew just the memory he wanted to dedicate and quickly began to focus on the Christmas morning he and Ron spent with Dobby and the exchange of gifts. He felt the new socks and saw himself put them on, holding the wand up to his temple he said

"Memoris extracta."

Pulling out the memory, he opened his eyes to see the shiny silver wisp floating out the end of his wand, finding the name he held it up to it and it soaked in like water into soil.

"Excellent work." The headmistress commended.

She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you mind if I look at it?"

Harry shook his head and McGonagall pressed a finger on Dobby's name and closed her eyes after a few seconds she came out with a smile on her face.

"Beautiful choice Potter. Shall we go inside?"

Go inside they did and Harry was becoming increasingly aware of a growing feeling of relief and happiness. Thankfully the memories of the battle had not been enough to scar the other memories he held of Hogwarts, it was his home.

It was still a week before term and so no students were around, everything was clean and eerily empty, almost like the castle was sleeping, Harry liked it though, it was how he imagined it would be during summer.

"So headmistress..."

"Harry if you are not comfortable calling me Minerva by now then when will you be?"

"Sorry."

"First of all I see you got here in one piece, did you meet my niece or did she send an employee?"

"No, she came herself."

"Good. I never understood Isobel, so unlike Malcolm. Though I don't know what he expected naming her after our mother, we warned him against it."

Harry was grinning.

"Oh no! She's got to you hasn't she?"

McGonagall began walking past the great hall and up the main staircase and Harry followed her.

"I thought this time having a talk to her would work but it seems she hasn't matured as I'd hoped."

Harry went to ask again what he'd meant to.

"Oh you're wondering what you'll be doing?"

Harry nodded, he was certain they weren't using legilimency, maybe it was a McGonagall trait, predicting people's thoughts and intentions.

"I assumed since you hadn't applied to re-do your seventh year you weren't planning on studying?"

On reaching the first floor they began walking down the central-most corridor.

"I suppose not."

"If you've changed your mind I can still enroll you in NEWTs, I can even organize private tutelage if that's what you want?"

"No, I don't think it's what I want to do."

"Yes I suppose you figured they're unnecessary with all the free passes the ministry's handing out."

Harry felt a surge of guilt.

"Nonetheless I predicted this and as it so happens I have an opening on my staff you'll be perfect for."

"Really?"

Harry knew it was impossible to become a professor without at least E's in many NEWT subjects, perhaps this did mean he'd be grounds keeper, he couldn't exactly say no.

"Of course you need training, we'll make do with what little time we've got, a week though you'll just be working with first years but there are safety courses you needed to get through and we need you to get your license from the ministry.

"All in a week?"

"We are magic Harry, paperwork's not exactly a hurdle."

Harry's mind ticked over, working with first years, did that mean?

"Good thing you've got your experience captaining Quidditch, if Severus could umpire a match Merlin knows you can, it's the classes I'm worried about, giving jittery eleven year olds flying contraptions never ends well."

"So does that mean I'll be Flying Professor?"

"Of course, did you think I was going to make you grounds keeper? Please Harry we'd never get you good enough to replace Grawp, besides you're much too delicate."

Gaping Harry was barely able to stop himself from saying excuse me?

"Madam Hooch will be retired but she's come back for this week to help you get started, I expect you to use her time well and keep up, it's the difference between a student in the hospital wing and a student in Mungo's, do you understand?"

"Of course…Minerva?"

"Yes, just go back to calling me McGonagall, there's a good boy."

They'd turned into a corridor with only one set of double doors down it Harry believed was the professor's lounge, he had a plan to enter it, re-apply the featherweight charm to his luggage and take it to wherever McGonagall told him his new quarters would be.

However his head emptied of all plans as the doors opened pre-maturely by somebody exiting. Not just somebody but Draco Malfoy.

A series of absurd thoughts rushed through his mind; most prominent after he was there to kill him, was the notion that Malfoy was there to see him to thank him for the trials. The thought made him wonder how he should respond, he was already embarrassed before the blonde walked past swiftly as if nothing was unusual, Harry looked to McGonagall for support.

"What?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow, ignoring Harry's obvious confusion, she opened the professor's lounge for him and held the door so he could go inside.

It was brilliant; of course he didn't know why he hadn't expected it. They weren't in a tower but more of a wing, large open alcoves lined each side of the rooms, walled with bookshelves, in each were large leather couches and chairs surrounding identical polished coffee tables laden with tea sets, coffee and scones. The floors were burgundy and carpeted and on top of that there were rugs. Directly opposite Harry, continuously down the parade of seating areas was a glass wall looking out over the forbidden forest, it was however made of many windows, some tinted and conveying imagery of different magical races, the largest however was in the middle and was the symbol of the deathly hallows, it reminded him of an eye, looking back at him. As McGonagall walked into the room, toward the glass wall Harry noticed that at intervals there were stone steps descending to a lower floor or doors leading out. Also all around were floating lanterns made of stained green glass that were not yet lighted.

Passing the second alcove McGonagall stopped, already sitting in there, drinking steaming coffee was Madame Hooch. She placed her mug down and gave them a smile, they entered and took seats, McGonagall on the couch and Harry in a spindly armchair that was surprisingly comfortable.

The Prophet entered his line of sight and without thinking he looked the front page over. There he was! The picture was an outdated one so he was a few years younger, outside Florean Fortescue's ice cream parlor.

BOY WHO LIVED TWICE, IS HE ENGAGED?

Harry was holding a sundae in one hand and a card in the other which could have been anything. The photo's eyes were looking to the left of the photographer and he was speaking, pausing once in a while to listen. Without giving it much thought Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it at the paper.

"Confringo"

The paper erupted into a small fire that curled and smoldered away within seconds. It gave him a sense of calm to see the pile of ash and he almost smiled and would have had it not been for McGonagall's face, remembering where he was he began to panic.

"I didn't think." He told her.

The headmistress cleared her throat, throwing him a startled look.

"Best not do that again." She warned him, moving off to go to her office.

Madam Hooch gave the headmistress a look that revealed that she thought Harry was deranged.

Really there was nothing for Harry to do but smile sheepishly, shifting in the armchair.

"So what am I dealing with here? Harry, how much experience have you got?"

"With flying?"

"With teaching, try to keep up, flying is one thing I know you can do, it's keeping a group of magical eleven year olds alive that requires skill."

Harry shrugged, reaching for the tea.

"I don't have any really."

He took a sip whilst they waited for him to continue. "I suppose I'll learn…"

"Harry! Don't be so modest, you have the DA."

Harry was picking up that he needed to perhaps settle the ex-Flying professor's nerves on him replacing her.

"Oh yes, I taught some defense classes in fifth and sixth year, but there weren't any first years."

"That's very different Harry, I know about the DA but you were teaching a group of adolescents who wanted to learn and had motivation to do so. What you're dealing with now are young children, terrified, some didn't know what they were a year ago and there is always one who when on a broom will become a destructive weapon to both themselves and the others, understand me? ALWAYS ONE."

Harry couldn't help but think of Neville straight away, at that time in his first year Madame Hooch had been an experienced and accomplished professor and yet such a disaster had happened. How many seconds exactly had past until he and Malfoy had jumped on their brooms and shot up into the air, confident as Crumps. He was definitely not leaving his class alone.

"Ok I can see your starting to get this." Hooch commented and Harry realized some of his queasiness was probably showing on his face as he clutched the full teacup.

"Your first lesson is that one of your students will fall and when I say one I mean at least one. You just can't prevent that, whether you do your job properly will decide if the child survives and how badly they're injured."

"I understand." Harry replied, beginning to feel frightened.

"So how do I do that?"

"Firstly, eyes of a hawk, it will help with your umpiring, you need to watch their faces and pick out the ones that will give you trouble, they're the ones that look a bit guilty, secondly keep your own broom in hand, don't put it down or let it float away for anything, repeat this to me."

"Watch everything, don't lose my broom."

"…Close enough, thirdly never leave a student alone with a broom, not even if you have an injured student, if you need to take them to the hospital wing take the class with you, you can't trust the threat of expulsion to keep them grounded…apparently."

Harry thought he could allow for a guilty smile but judging by Hooch's sharp look he could not.

"Look I'm going to have to show you anyway we might as well head out if you're not going to finish that." She said nodding at his tea.

Harry put it down.

"That's all very good Rolanda but I must show Harry to his living quarters first." McGonagall informed and Hooch gave a stern nod.

"I'll go out ahead of you, we'll meet at the pitch."

"Yeah, alright then."

Hooch stood, gave each a small bow and stalked off out of the staff lounge. Harry made to stand up as well but McGonagall stopped him.

"Just rest for a moment."

"No I'm all right."

"I know what you think you are but I have orders from healers and in my experience it's best not to disobey healers."

Harry nodded; sinking back into the chair, in his experience it was best not to disobey McGonagall. The old headmistress grabbed a scone, pulling it open to release a curl of steam and applying a generous helping of thickened cream. Harry, not quite feeling hungry reached back for his tea and was pleasantly surprised to find it had re-warmed itself. They sat in silence, and Harry did feel himself relax, perhaps it was the tea's scent as he reached the dregs or the fact a light shower had begun outside, creating a glorious cascade down the glass wall. He just felt a certain glow of happiness and didn't even realize he wasn't thinking of the war, or Voldemort or the deaths or even Ginny, no Hedwig or Dobby or Snape rested on his conscience it was if it never happened. That was until the thought did occur to him that he hadn't thought about any of it and then it all fell on top of him like and ice-cold, crushing, avalanche. The empty teacup slipped from his fingers and he let his head drop down. A tentative hand patted him awkwardly on the shoulder; he looked up to see McGonagall pale and face drawn.

"You'll be okay Harry." Her voice was un-McGonagall, a little motherly. It reminded Harry of Isobel and the questions he'd wanted to ask about her aunt.

"Thanks." He said, giving a weak smile, it probably wasn't the time to go into histories. McGonagall stood and so did he, walking out of the alcove he saw that behind them, toward the entrance, his luggage had arrived. He followed McGonagall toward it, prepared to use featherweight but the headmistress beat him to it, transfiguring the pile into a pale pink silk shoulder bag. She past it to Harry and he hesitantly took it. He swore that the old witch was struggling to hide a smile as she past it to him before leading them back into the lounge, toward the glass wall. Eventually they past the alcove they'd been sitting in earlier and a few more along there was a dark stone door indented deep into the wall, it was strangely smooth. Harry had been sure the doors he'd seen were textured, blending into the rough castle walls.

"Hold your wand to it." McGonagall instructed. Reaching around the silk bag Harry managed to extract his wand and point it at the door.

"Touch the tip to the stone." She elaborated and Harry moved it closer. Like a tapestry unrolling a carving appeared of a wizard with a likeness of Harry on a broom, the carving moved a little way with the wizard's hair rustling as an intricate country side past by underneath. Harry smiled, Flying professor's quarters, of course.

"You can set the password using signus terato and the basic left to right zigzag motion then say the password you choose somewhere where the room can hear you."

McGonagall paused until Harry looked away from the door and gave her his attention.

"There's a doorbell that should appear after this, if you ring it a house elf will come to open the door."

"What for?"

"For when you forget the password." She said with a quirk of her lips.

"For now it's Pegasus."

The door didn't swing but slid, into the floor and created a threshold which Harry and McGonagall stepped across. Inside was a long corridor of a similar stone and a floor laden with an ivy-patterned carpet. The end of the corridor opened into an almost circular room, broken by two spiraling staircases on opposite sides. Between them was a stained glass window made of different colored diamonds that gave the room a warm glow and left a pattern on the cream carpet. Inset into the left of the room was a large marble fireplace with a huge bronze urn of Floo-powder above it, which was plain due to the word 'FLOO' being engraved on it. The right side had shelves carved into it, Harry assumed for books and other artifacts. On the floor was an oak table with four cushioned chairs; they were green corduroy and matched the settee and armchairs in front of the fire. There was also matching oak coffee tables and bookstalls with grey marble surfaces that matched the fire. Harry put down the pink bag and looked around, a little overwhelmed.

"Look around." McGonagall instructed him.

Bounding up the left set of stairs he found a bathroom tiled in pearl with peacock mosaics and a bath in the floor in the middle of the room. He ran back down the steps and then up the right ones. There was a king four-poster sheeted in indigo, a black rug on the stone floor under it, a large Oak wardrobe carved with wattle and two tapestries, one an intricate map of constellations and the other an action shot of the 1701 Quidditch world cup. Under the arched window was a desk with a self-filling inkwell and quill. It was simple and Harry liked it best of all, to be honest the bathroom was a little extravagant and pompous, he supposed it wouldn't matter if no one else saw it. Slower and with a grin on his face he made his way back to the main room where McGonagall was waiting.

"Do all the teachers live in luxury like this?" He asked her

"It's not exactly luxury Potter, though I agree it's one of the nicer ones."

She transfigured the bag back into Harry's luggage.

"You best unpack it so everything goes where you want."

Harry walked toward the trunks and made to open them.

"Harry!"

He looked up startled.

"I will remind you this once that you are a wizard."

"Eximo Expedio." He said abruptly, and with an unprecedented amount of force the trunks shot open, in a blink they were empty as numerous slams from around the apartment and up the stairs sounded and books teetered on the room's shelves.

"For Godric's sake Potter, promise me you'll never neglect your magic again?"

"Yes, sorry, I promise."

"Let's get going I daresay Rolanda has waited long enough."

Before they left the quarters McGonagall cast a quick tempest and to Harry's surprise cursed out loud.

"I actually have to be elsewhere." She informed him.

"You'll have to find your own way to the Quidditch pitch this time around. When you can write an address on some parchment and throw it in the fireplace with a bit of powder, it will connect you to it but you just wont be able to travel anywhere else besides Mungo's and the Ministry of course."

"Thanks."

"I'll see you in the Little Hall, just get someone to show you where it is."

She made to walk off but stopped to add.

"Mr. Malfoy's here also, every ounce of me believes you won't cross paths but should the inevitable happen as my ward I hold you entirely responsible for whatever mishaps may occur."

"Yes, no I have no-"

"Goodbye." And with that she was down the corridor and gone. Harry left the room after her and there was no sight of her.