Disclaimer: Only made it as far as Menzelinsk today. Still it's closer than I was yesterday and I learned from another man that I met in Mamadysh that he too had seen one of the Greek Gods in Krasnoyarsk only he saw Hephaestus. I hope they're not pranking me. These characters are still not mine and I'm still poor you know?

A/N: Last chapter of the Sunday Blitz…better than last week's though. Including 'The Great Coffee Quest' this make four chapters.

At Hogwarts

Chapter One: Meeting the Headmistress

Chapter Summary: Hogwarts and McGonagall. Enough said.

Sherlock stared at the ruins before him in horror. He could tell that this had once been a proud castle but now there was nothing left of it except rubble. "I…" he paused not sure what to say to his companions. "Is this Hogwarts?" He asked John quietly.

"Mmhm," John nodded with a mysterious smile. "It's gorgeous isn't it?" He sighed in pleasure. "It looks just like I imagined it would."

Sherlock eyed the ruins again, positive that he was missing something. "Good Lord!" He yelped when a stern dark-haired woman appeared from thin air right in front of them.

"Harry, Luna," the woman ignored him and greeted his companions. She eyed John for a moment before dismissing his presence as easily as she had dismissed Sherlock's. "You came more quickly than I'd thought you would."

"Pardon, Professor?" Harry sounded confused. "You were expecting us?"

"Yes, Potter," the woman bit out. "Did you not receive my patronus message? I sent it not ten minutes ago."

Harry opened his mouth to tell her that they hadn't received any message when a light appeared and coalesced into a cat. "Potter, you are needed at Hogwarts as soon as possible," the cat said in the professor's voice before disappearing.

"I guess we missed each other," Harry snickered. "What did you need, Professor McGonagall?"

The stern looking woman looked at the spot where the cat had been and then to Harry and finally at John and Sherlock. "Come inside," she ordered. "Leave the Muggles."

Harry crossed his arms over his chest and didn't move when the woman turned around and disappeared again. "No." He said simply.

"Where did she go?" Sherlock asked. "She didn't make that popping sound when she disappeared."

"She didn't disappear," John said quietly. "She's walking down the path to the castle, Sherlock. Don't you see her?"

Sherlock scowled and glared at John. "No. You mean you can?" He shook his head as though to clear it. "What are we doing here? Lestrade needs us at the police station."

Harry grabbed Sherlock's hand with his own and led him towards where the woman had disappeared. He felt a tap on his head and suddenly remembered why they were there. "That was uncalled for, Professor," Harry called out. "You had no right to spell Sherlock."

The woman that Sherlock could now see turned around sharply. "I dinna have time to be given Muggles tours today, Mr. Potter! We have a situation and I must have your entire attention. Luna can take them home while you and I attend to this crisis."

Harry let go of Sherlock's hand and crossed his arms over his chest again. "I said no, Professor. We brought Sherlock and John for our own reasons and they will come with us."

The woman stalked towards them. "Did you not hear me, Mr. Potter? I am Headmistress of Hogwarts and I need your undivided attention."

"I am no longer a student, Professor," Harry said calmly. "I do not have to help you with whatever it is that has you so agitated."

Sparks of fury nearly shot from the woman's light green eyes. "You are quite correct, Mr. Potter," her voice was cold as ice. "You are no longer a student and as such I no longer have to allow you entrance."

"Actually, Professor," Luna interrupted. "You'll find that you do. The Hogwarts bylaws stated that 'no student, or family member of a student, of this institution shall be denied entrance for any reason, except criminals seeking sanctuary from their rightful sentence, no matter their blood status, place of origin or date of matriculation.' So you see, you must let us in."

The professor face became carved from stone. "That may be Miss Love—Mrs. Potter but I do not need to allow your Muggle friends inside the gates."

"Professor, allow me to introduce you to our Muggle friends," Harry's voice was still calm but there was a hint of steel beneath it. Sherlock had heard that same voice when Harry had been speaking to Hermione at the flat.

"I donna 'ave time, Mr. Potter!" The Professor nearly shouted. "There is a situation in the castle that requires our immediate attention. Come now, Potter!"

"No." Harry said stubbornly. "Meet Dr. John Watson," he waved a hand at the blonde man. "Remus' older brother and his Significant Other, Sherlock Holmes. Gentlemen, this is Professor McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now you have no right to bar them from the castle. Care to tell me where you suddenly found your blood prejudice?"

The woman spluttered and then drew a deep breath and visibly calmed herself. "It is not blood prejudice, Mr. Potter. I have simply had enough of Muggles and their incessant questions for one day. I apologize to both of you," she said to John and Sherlock. "Now will you please come help me?"

"Of course, Professor," Harry told her with a smile that belied the ice in his eyes. "You know I have no issues with assisting you and the castle when needed." He took Luna's hand in his own and took a few steps up the path. "Sherlock, John, you may follow us if you like or look around on your own. Beware of the poltergeist, Peeves, though. He loves to play pranks and they're not always harmless."

John swallowed and grabbed at Sherlock's arm. "We'll follow along with you if that's alright."

The professor sighed and rubbed at her temples. "Verra well, but keep your inane questions to yourselves."

"I have never asked an inane question in my entire life," Sherlock hissed, affronted and scowled at the woman. "Simply because someone is giving you a headache does not give you the right to demean us. You should try more catnip in your tea and scotch!"

"I beg your pardon, young man?" If it was possible, McGonagall's voice became colder than it had been before.

Sherlock stalked closer to her. "You are a lifetime educator and hope to live and die in this castle. You do not own a cat but you have cat hair on your clothes which means that you are most likely an animagus and your form is that of a tabby cat. You wanted to become Headmistress since you began teaching but now that you are you wish you could go back to the classroom. You are Scottish as evidenced by your brogue though you've lived in England since you were a young woman. Your brogue fades in and out with a London accent…near the Palace I should think. You have a headache from someone and not something and you added a bit of scotch to your tea to combat it at lunch. Now, what inane questions could I possibly have that would require you and not Harry or Luna or even John to answer?"

McGonagall blinked at him and then blinked again. "Now how did you be knowing all of that?" She asked startled.

John coughed to cover a laugh and Harry and Luna stared at Sherlock in astonishment. "Wow," Harry said. "I knew you could see more than most but that was bloody amazing."

Luna nodded from beside her husband. "It really was, Sherlock. No one ever notices the things you do."

McGonagall seemed to shake herself. "Never mind; it doesna matter. Come along, we've work to do."

They followed her when she stalked off towards the huge castle in front of them. Sherlock's eyes swept over it again and again trying to reconcile what he saw now with what he'd seen before the tap on his head. It made no sense but then he'd discovered that very few things made sense when magic was involved.

He watched closely as they approached the great doors at the end of the path. Harry had a small smile on his lips and his green eyes were lit with pleasure even as his shoulders tensed. Luna was ignoring the castle and the professor as she walked with her hand in Harry's. She seemed to be looking off at the forest to the side and smiling. John's head was whipping back and forth as he tried to take in everything at once and his grip of Sherlock's arm had not lessened.

John's grip suddenly tightened as he spotted something in the shadows of the forest. "Luna? Harry?" He asked softly so that McGonagall would not accuse him of asking inane questions. "What are those horse things?"

McGonagall stopped abruptly and looked over her shoulder at him. "You can see the Thestrals, Mr. Watson?"

Sherlock turned to look where John's stare was directed. "Of course we can. They're right there in plain sight. You do mean those black skeletal horse things with wings don't you?"

McGonagall frowned at him. "Only those with magic can see Thestrals, Mr. Holmes and then only if they've seen death."

"So which part disturbs you, Professor?" Sherlock drawled. "The part where we may have magic or the part where we may have seen death?"

McGonagall's frown grew fiercer. "Both, Mr. Holmes."

"Why would it bother you that we have magic?" John asked a bit hurt. "You taught my brother."

"Every child who has magic should have attended school here and yet neither of you did. As for the death…well, you were neither of you a part of our war so where would you have seen death unless you caused it or a family member died?"

John straightened his back. "Do you really believe that your war is the only one where someone died?"

McGonagall snorted. "You Muggles use bombs and long range weapons and never see the people you kill."

John set his jaw and glared at the taller woman. "I am an army doctor, ma'am, I have seen more death than any one person should and remain sane."

McGonagall only sniffed disparagingly . "I know nothing of Muggle healing." She told him and then turned her attention to Sherlock. "And you? Where have you seen death, Mr. Holmes?"

Sherlock lifted one eyebrow at her and grinned viciously. "I work for the police on their murder cases. Many murderers would rather die than go to prison, you know?" There was no way on Earth he was going to tell this woman about John and that cabbie he'd shot in Sherlock's defense, Hope.

McGonagall sniffed again and eyed him suspiciously but turned her head back to the front and strode up the stone stairs to the door. It opened easily at her touch and she disappeared into the darkness. Harry and Luna snickered behind her back and then followed. "Come on, gentlemen, you'll love this place," Harry called over his shoulder as his hand stroked the great door.

Sherlock thought the castle lightened and seemed to welcome them in as he followed Harry and Luna in.