At lunch, same day
"Mr. Potter, may I please speak with you in private?" McGonagall asked as she walked down to where Harry and his friends were sitting.
Harry looked at McGonagall and realized that this talk was probably long overdue. "Sure," he agreed easily. The two walked to McGonagall's office in relative silence. Once there, McGonagall put up privacy spells and then began to speak.
"Mr. Potter, is it true? Did Professor Umbridge use a blood quill on you?"
"I don't know if that's what it is called but yes. She made me write 'I must not tell lies.'"
McGonagall sighed deeply as she rubbed her forehead. "Mr. Potter, why didn't you tell me this? I could have helped you?"
Harry looked McGonagall right in the face and said, "Because I don't trust you. I know you aren't out to get me and you do not actively try to hurt me but you do so when you don't trust me or withhold information from me."
"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked, confused.
"I mean first year we told you someone was after the stone and you blew us off and told us we didn't know what we were talking about. Someone did go after it; they did so that night like we said they would.
"Second year, well none of the teachers really inspired any confidence that year, could you have made it any more obvious that you were just as scared as the rest of us? Instead of providing comfort in knowing that the teachers could protect us we were just even more frightened.
"Third year: Sirius Black. You knew he was 'after' me. And you didn't know that I already knew that and you didn't tell me right away. You waited until you felt obligated to tell me. And I know you knew he was my godfather. Why didn't you tell me he and my father were friends? Sure, it wouldn't have been easy to hear, but don't you think I had a right to know? What if Sirius really did want to kill me? If he had just thrown out that stuff about being my godfather I would have been totally distracted and he would have been able to kill me.
"Fourth year is a little different. I don't know what you could have done to make anything better, but I still feel as though you let me down when you didn't even try to help me get out of the tournament."
McGonagall's eyes were filled with unshed tears as she listened to Harry's explanation. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and said, "Mr. Potter, I don't know what to in response to that. In your first year, I know I let you down. I have no justification for my actions.
"Second year, I do not believe in lying to anyone, especially my students. I wanted everyone to know how dangerous it was and if I had pretended as though nothing was wrong I am afraid that some student would not be nearly as diligent as they were in keeping themselves safe.
"Third year, I knew that I should tell you about Sirius. But after you had been through so much, I could not bring myself to tell you that Sirius was after you. I wanted you to be safe, but I also wanted you to be happy. And how could I have told you about him being your godfather? Your father and Sirius were two of my favorite students. I had always had a difficult time believing that Sirius was capable of murdering his best friend, how could I have looked you in the eyes and told you that one of my favorite students was trying to kill you?
"Fourth year, I swear to you Mr. Potter, I did try to contest your placement in the tournament. I was overruled by Mr. Crouch and you were forced to participate. I wanted to help you but all teachers were strictly monitored to ensure that students did not receive unfair advantages over the others. I swear that I did everything I could with what limited resources I had available to try and help you."
Harry studied McGonagall for a moment before he seemed to approve of what he found in her eyes. "I believe you. I am very happy to finally understand why you were the way you were these past few years. I can't say that everything is all better now and that I trust you now, but I will be able to learn to trust you, I think, given time."
McGonagall nodded, "Very well. If that is what you want. I would like to ask though, What on earth are you planning?"
Harry, visibly thrown by the shift in topic, said, "Er, what?"
Rather than explain, McGonagall helped up that morning's Daily Prophet which displayed the headline Harry Potter Sues Prophet.
"Oh, that. That's just a little revenge. The Daily Prophet thinks it can get away with anything just because the Minister told them to do it. I intend to show them they can't They have violated essentially all libel and slander laws the Wizarding World has! I intend to take them to court for defamation of character and personal attacks on my character. I think they have been very unprofessional and its time they started being the reputable paper everyone claims it is."
McGonagall looked at him, unconvinced. "Mr. Potter, I taught the Marauders and while you may not realize it, you are quite a bit like your father. I know that this is not just about the paper. You have something else planned, something bigger. Will you tell me?"
Harry looked at McGonagall appraisingly, "I suppose. I am taking down Dumbledore and the Ministry." Harry paused briefly to enjoy the look of pure shock and incredulity on McGonagall's face, "Since I have been a part of this world I have been surrounded by shows of how incompetent or downright dangerous the Ministry and Dumbledore can be. The Minister is only concerned about his job and how he looks to the public and Dumbledore only cares about beating Voldemort. Think about it, Dumbledore moved a priceless artifact that every person in the world would want into a school full of children to lure Voldemort out into the open. Where was his concern for the students?
"Second year, Fawkes proved that he had the ability to get into the chamber, why did Dumbledore never try before? Voldemort found the chamber entrance in five years as a student, Dumbledore couldn't find it in the over fifty years he spent in the school? Even we found it and we were looking for less than a year. Are you trying to tell me that Dumbledore wasn't able to figure out everything that we did and then kill the snake himself? Why didn't he try to help?
"Third year he hired a werewolf. Now you know I loved Professor Lupin and he was an amazing teacher and as long as he took his potion, he was safe. He forgot to take his potion that night we caught Pettigrew. He obviously was not concerned enough with being safe around the students to ensure he always took his potion. I agree that he had every reason to be distracted, but Dumbledore would ultimately have been responsible if anyone had gotten hurt because Lupin should not have been around students if he could so easily forget his potion.
"Fourth year Dumbledore threw me to the wolves in that tournament. He wasn't the least bit helpful in any way and when I came back from the graveyard he abandoned me. If he 'realized at once' that he wasn't the real Alastor Moody why did it take almost until he killed me for you lot to show up? Even after all of that, he made me tell him everything, despite the fact that talking about what happened was the last thing I wanted to do, especially at that moment. Where was the concern for me?"
Harry and McGonagall looked at each other for a moment before McGonagall spoke up, "I will admit that the headmaster has had a particular focus on you for quite some time. He has always shown an unusual and, quite frankly, disturbing level of interest in you and what you do. I agree with you about the Minister's incompetence, but are you sure that you are prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions? If you 'bring down' the Minister and the Headmaster you will throw the Wizarding World into chaos."
Harry's eyes grew hard as he said, "So be it. It is time the public pulled their heads out of their arses and started to think for themselves. They can't just parrot what the Minister and Dumbledore say. It's time they learned to form their own opinions. And this world is so behind on the times. I am pulling the Wizarding World into the 20th century; I don't care about this 'tradition' thing. If Umbridge got anything right it's that old habits that are terribly outdated need to be abandoned. It's these practices that allowed a dark lord to rise in the first place. You all need a serious wakeup call and I intend to give it. Purebloods and even a lot of halfbloods are so out of touch with the Muggle world that I guarantee if you dropped them off in the middle of London they would never be able to find their way back. They would not know how the public transport system worked, they couldn't pay, they would never be able to find a job, with what little they know about anything."
"You—you…I always knew your father was trouble." McGonagall sighed heavily, looking at Harry's cheeky grin. "You really think you will be able to modernize the world? Do you have any idea how many people have tried? The Purebloods don't want things to change because things as they are now favor them greatly."
Harry grinned, a very predatory look upon his face, "That's the beauty of it. By the time I'm done, the Purebloods are going to be answering for each and every one of their crimes and then their so called traditions and blood purity won't be worth anything."
"Mr. Potter, you are going to be the death of me. I always knew it would be a Potter, just apparently not the one I was expecting. I believe our discussion is over. I feel I need some time to come to terms with what you have told me. If you don't mind, I will take my leave before you can start on about your plans to take over and run the world yourself." With that McGonagall rose and began to walk towards her private chambers.
Harry spoke up, "Funny you should mention that…" And Harry took off running out the door when McGonagall turned towards him, look of horror on her face.