Now they just had to wait and understand.

Chapter 12 - Hogwarts Letters

Hogwarts letters for Harry and Ginny had yet to arrive. They knew why but of course Dumbledore did not and it was driving him up the bend trying to contact them. One morning they were at the dining table eating breakfast while conversing with the portraits. They were heavily absorbed in Hogwarts electives. That when Ginny had a stroke of genius to their problem.

"Harry! Hogwarts letters!" Ginny suddenly exclaimed after a few quiet moments

"The wards!" Harry nodded in understanding after thinking for a moment.

"If you write to Professor Mcgnagall you could ask to meet her to discuss electives."

"You can come too and we can get the letters from her then!" Harry readily agreed happily.

"You are both prepared" William begun slowly distracting them both "You May take 1 extra hour on Sunday to meet with Professor Mcgnagall" he finished unfazed

"What do you mean prepared?" Ginny asked confused

"You know how to handle yourself being the upper class you are" William explained to which they nodded.

"Arrange during a break" Dorea said smiling "Now you have Arithmacy chop chop" then her portrait went still as she traveled to her portrait in the classroom they were using for Athrimacy.

Harry sent the letter during the break that evening requesting a meeting with the professor in her office.

That was how they both found themselves in Professor Mcgnagalls office on the Sunday.

"Mr.Potter, Miss.Weasley, what can I do for you?" Mcgnagall asked once they were all seated

"As you might know from Professor Dumbledore we left Hogwarts to recover a bit. You see the other day we got onto the discussion of Hogwarts electives."

"We were wondering if you might give us some more information on the topic"

"I see but why are you here Miss.Weasley?"

"I was equally interested in the topic and I wanted to see what it felt like…here…after last year" she said with many sharp inhales. Once she choked out her last words she quickly turned and buried herself in Harry's chest. She didn't see Professor Mcgnagalls sad smile and the lone tear sliding down her cheek as Harry calmed her down.

"I see." She said composing herself before picking up some basic course overviews before starting now Ginny had calmed. "Well Hogwarts electives are Alchemy, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, Muggle Studies and Study of Ancient Runes however since we haven't been able to employ a teacher for Alchemy in many years it has been dropped from the curriculum." She begun

"I understand Professor" Harry stated

"Professor my brothers say Divination is an easy class but does that mean it's good" Ginny asked, deep in thought.

"Oh stop with the Professor it's summer call me Minerva" Minerva said exasperated

"Then I must ask you to call us Harry and Ginny" Harry interrupted

"Very well" she said holding his gaze for a second before blinking "But yes Ginny while many believe Divination to be an easy pass. I see it as a fat load of tombuckery." Harry let a chuckle escape his lips and Ginny smiled ignoring them Minvera pressed on "There aren't any decent careers out there that would need divination" she said with a grin

"Would you please explain what the courses cover?" Harry asked her. Minerva had to blink back tears furiously since the look in his eyes was reminiscent of Lily's when she asked about the same information in her second year.

"Yes of course. Arithmancy is great for breaking down a spell into its various components. For now until owls would would focus on the theory of said spell. This course is heavy in coursework but not a lot of essays. Instead the Professor gets you to write research papers on a topic that you have drawn from random. Each has a month to two months worth of work as a deadline but what is expected is greater. If you chose to continue with the subject to N.E.W.Ts then you would use it to breakdown either a rather complex spell or one of your own kind. However it is not just breaking down spells. Lots of muggleborns and those educated in muggle mathematics say it is similar to that."

"What career could it be used for?" Ginny asked quickly once Mcgnagall finished

"There are many it could be used for Miss.Weasley. Your brother William requires it to be a curse breaker for example."

"Okay" she said in acceptance her mind thinking rapidly

"Now Care of Magical Creatures. This shows students how to handle potentially dangerous and harmless creatures. I have heard of the Mandrakes in herbology. This course is much more catered to magical and non magical creatures and not plants" she explained

"A mazzoologist would require a mastery this this course" Harry calmly said much to the shock of Professor Mcgnagall

"You are most correct Mr.Potter. May I ask how you know that"

"We recently discovered some of Harry's family history. It turned out they were rather fond of creatures each at least having a familiar plus I'm sure you remember Charlie" Ginny stated as she felt some emotion from Harry. So squeezed his hand under the table out of view from the Professor which dissipated his emotions quickly. Of course Mcgnagall didn't know about this

"Yes that's true." Mcgnagall said before pressing on "this course starts off with the gentler creatures next year progressively getting harder untill O.W.L.S. If you progressed into N.E.W.Ts it is much of the same execpt with a diary project of an animal you've been assigned. Basically you'd have to care for a creature like you would a baby and record important details about it each day and record it's growth or the entirety of 7th year." Mcgnagall puased "personally Harry if your like you Mum and Dad I'd think you wouldn't care for Care of Magical Creatures much. Especially from what I've seen in transfiguration you would most likely benefit better taking Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Runes."

"Why?"

She inhaled deeply before explaining "your father had a natural affinity towards Transfiguration." She had to laugh briefly "Of course some of the ways he demonstrated such prowess was mildly frustrating. In his 5th year he walked up to me square in the eye after getting caught and literally used it to escape punishment. In his 3rd he wondered back into the castle after curfew. Instead of getting caught he wondered lesurally as his stag form" she explained "before he died he was working with me to gain a mastery in Transfiguration. Your mother however was the brightest witch of her age, much like Hermione, and the only one to be able to control your father. Professor Flitwick and Professor Slughorn the potions Professor were literally singing praises for 7 years about her. I know before she died she was working for a mastery in charms and potions." Harry nodded as she finished the explanation "Acient Runes is what you'd use in a ritual. You learn Latin in this course as well." She explained.

Eventually they left the meeting feeling much more informed on the school courses. Professor Mcgnagall also gave them the letters that were frustrating Dumbledore. Harry now knew what electives he wanted to take thanks to a only mildly less biased source compared to the portraits. He did make sure to send an owl to Hermonie urging her not to take divination or muggle studies since he had a strong suspicion that she wanted to take them all. He knew Hermione would try to take on too much. Thankfully it took a week of constant reminders and a threat of a bat bogey from Ginny to finally get her down to three, Arthmacy, Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. So they could sleep easy

Now Hogwarts formalities had been done they headed back to the Castle before dinner was served since Ginny had requested a Vegatable Shepherds Pie as her mother used to make it for them soon after her brothers came home from Hogwarts using some of the early summer crop.