Chapter 26
Minerva arrived in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place and looked about the room. She saw no one, but heard faint laughter coming from the upstairs. So she headed out and up the stairs to the Drawing room. What she found was three adults, and four teenagers sitting around the comfortable room laughing very hard and nearly crying.
"What might I ask are you all discussing to make you laugh so hard?" she asked. She walked in and set the intricate bowl on a coffee table that was surrounded by the sofas.
"I was just regaling them with the story about when we first met Hagrid's dog Fluffy," Harry said.
"That monster Cerberus animal?" Minerva asked with a shudder. Harry grinned and nodded.
"Well, perhaps a Pensive would be helpful," she added. Harry grinned.
"How do I take out memories?" he asked.
"The extraction spell is aufero memoria to remove a memory from your mind." She showed him the right way and he removed a few that had to do with the event in question. He also added the Troll memory since he knew his Professor wanted to see it.
"Well, now all we have to do is touch the surface with a body part, a finger will do, and we'll be sucked into the memory. Once the memories are through we will find ourselves back in this room. To remove yourself from a Pensive before the memory is done is subterlabor."
"Well, would you like to go first Professor?" he asked.
"Harry, right now, I'd prefer if you all just called me Minerva. The only ones still in school are Ginny and Hermione, but since I'm not a main Professor right now, I'd prefer to just be called by my first name. Alright?" He nodded and looked at the others. They all looked a little wary of calling the stern Professor by her first name, but they shrugged and let it be.
"Okay then…Minerva, if you insist. After you?" Harry said as he gestured to the bowl. She smiled and put a finger in the liquid and disappeared. The others quickly placed their fingers in also.
They arrived in the Great Hall as they a young boy open a small box.
"It's a Remembrall!" said a very young looking Neville. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all giggled. They knew what would happen soon.
The adults watched as Draco Malfoy snatched the small ball out of Neville's grasp and the younger Minerva walk up.
"What's going on?"
They watched the younger Malfoy scowl and drop the ball onto the table and storm off.
"Why did you choose this part to show as well, Harry?" asked Minerva.
"I wanted my parents to know the story of why I reacted to Malfoy later during the flying lesson," he explained. She nodded in recognition of what happened later that day.
The next memory started on the green lawn with twenty brooms laying in a row as the eleven year olds walked up.
"What are you all waiting for?" barked a woman with grey hair and yellow eyes.
"Is that Rolanda Hooch?" asked Lily.
"Yes, it is. I'm surprised you recognized her," said Minerva. "She's the flying coach now."
James and Sirius were watching Harry's younger self shout 'Up!' and have his broom shoot up and into his hand. They cheered loudly.
They all watched as poor little Neville rose and fell and the discussion with Draco Malfoy about the Remembrall. Young Hermione try and discourage him from flying and fail as he jumped onto the broom and sped off.
Lily gasped as she saw her baby boy fly for the first time. James was whooping loudly seeing the natural talent Harry showed. Sirius was cheering along with him. Ginny and Minerva who had never seen this were chuckling at the boys reactions.
"Give it here, or I'll knock you off that broom!" the younger Harry shouted.
"Oh yeah?" sneered the young Malfoy.
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," said Harry. Hermione and Ginny smiled at that comment. They could see the two lugs standing on the ground watching the flyers wondering what to do as they held onto their own brooms.
"Catch it if you can, then!" shouted Malfoy as he threw the little ball straight up in the air. James, Lily, Sirius, Ginny, and Minerva watched as Harry spun his broom around and sped off towards the little ball straight at the ground. Lily gasped remembering the night before and Harry's death plummet. James and Sirius gasped along with her but in surprise. Harry was a complete natural at flying. His first time on a broom and he performed an almost perfect Wronkski Feint with only a little tumble at the end. At most a grass stain on his trousers.
"HARRY POTTER!" shouted a voice from behind them all. James and Sirius spun around and groaned.
"Oh no, McGonagall caught you?" asked Sirius.
"Ahem?" asked the current Minerva from behind the animagus man. He turned sheepishly.
"Er, sorry, Minnie. Forgot you were here," he said with an awkward chuckle. She rolled her eyes and smiled while the others laughed.
"I may have caught him, but I didn't punish the poor boy. And don't call me Minnie." The others grinned.
"No, she made me Seeker for the team. No tryouts and I was the youngest seeker in a century," said Harry proudly.
"Best decision I ever made I think," she added with a smile.
The memory ended and switched to another one. Again they were in the great hall, this time the ceiling was dark and dessert was on the long tables.
"Having a last meal, Potter?" they watched the blonde boy walk up to the table and taunt Harry.
"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said the younger Harry calmly. James and Sirius grinned. Harry was kind of a snarky little brat if he wanted to be.
"I'll take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"
Minerva, James, Lily, and Sirius were watching appalled that the young Malfoy was so blatantly rude and mean. They all watched as Ron stood up and defended Harry and made himself the boys second. Malfoy chose his second and told them when and where to meet.
"Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."
The older Harry looked at Ron.
"How obvious was that? And how did we miss it?" he asked.
"No idea, mate. In defense of our younger selves, we were kind of young and naive."
"What are you idiots talking about?" asked Ginny as the scene changed to one of a dark Gryffindor common room.
"Well, it was all a joke. A plan to get the two of us expelled. You'll see," sad Ron. The adults looked confused.
"I got to hand it to Malfoy. It was a clever plan," said Harry conversationally as they followed the young Ron and Harry to the portrait hole.
"I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry," said a small voice behind them.
"You!" said the young Ron. They watched as young Hermione nagged and tried to stop them, following them out to the corridor. They watched as the students noticed the Fat Lady was gone, and finding Neville on the ground. They all walked down the hallways to the Trophy room.
"Wow, I was really annoying at that age," commented Hermione. Ron snorted.
"Maybe, but we wouldn't change you at all," he said lovingly.
"Mush," Ginny giggled.
"Hush your mouth, Ginny. You and Harry aren't really any better," said Ron. Ginny rolled her eyes and didn't comment. Harry took her hand and smiled at her.
"You know, I've been wondering. It's been what, a couple weeks of school for you first years. What exactly were you planning on doing to Malfoy. You can't have known many spells," Ginny asked. Harry looked at her.
"I never thought about it that way," he said. The adults laughed loudly. Minerva was chuckling still when young Ron spoke.
"He's late, maybe he's chickened out." The older Ron shook his head.
"How daft can you get?" he asked the room. Harry snorted.
"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner," said a chilling voice from the hallway.
"Oh no," muttered Sirius. He was so into the memory, for a moment he almost checked his pockets for the map and cloak to hide himself. James laughed and poked his friend.
"Lighten up, Padfoot. It's just a memory," he said. They followed the young Harry and company out of the room and watched as clumsy little Neville tripped over a suit of armor and Harry yell, "RUN!"
They all ran after the kids chuckling and wondering what was going on. Sirius and James both groaned loudly when the kids ran into Peeves.
"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."
"This isn't very good," muttered James. "Where is that cloak when you need it?" he asked the group.
"I didn't get the cloak until Christmas," the older Harry mentioned.
"STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"
"Ah cripes!" said Sirius. "How the bloody hell did you get out of this one?"
"Watch," said a grinning Harry. They all took off with the memory kids. They heard Peeves being questioned in the background.
"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please."
"All right – please?" asked Filch.
"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!"
"Ha, I think we taught him that one, Prongs!" said Sirius with a loud bark of a laugh.
"You taught him that? I ought to give you a post-graduating detention for that, Black. That little joke has caused so many problems in the past," said a frazzled Minerva. James and Sirius laughed.
"What?" they heard the young Harry shout. They all watched as Neville pointed to an area behind them. All twelve people both memory and current turned and gasped in unison.
"Oh my God!" said Lily and Minerva together. James and Sirius were gaping at the three headed dog who was still just waking up.
The current Harry, Ron, and Hermione all had gasped after seeing how large the dog really was. They all remembered the event, but over the years certain facts had been skewed and none of them remembered it being so large.
"Merlin, its toenails are as large as my head!" said Sirius from near the beast. All four of the memory kids turned and booked it out the door and down the hallway. The current people hadn't followed fast enough and they found the memory speeding up around them and they were deposited into the common room just in time to hear a last comment.
"I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." The current Hermione smiled, as did Ron and Harry.
"Jeez, Hermione. I'm really glad you sorted out your priorities since then," said Ginny with a sardonic grin. The adults all chuckled as the memory faded into another one.
"What…it looks like Halloween," said Lily as they looked around the Great Hall when they heard a sentence to chill the bones.
"Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know."
Latin translations: Remove memory: aufero memoria; Escape: subterlabor
a/n: it happens that many people are very looking forward to the Troll memory...sorry i didn't include it, i'm mean like that i guess...*evil grin* Review and i might be motivated to post faster! Thanks to the Lurkers who braved the Light and reviewed! You guys made my day! Keep it up!
Disclaimer: i used many quotes from the first harry potter book in this chapter, no copywrite infringement is intended. All Harry Potter belongs to the loverly JK Rowling. She is the best for letting us play in her sandbox like this! Again...not mine.
Becca: you just gave me a great idea! Thanks! Good idea for a memory!