A/N: Well, here is the first chapter I wrote after 4 months of pause just to get back into the groove. It might have a slightly different vibe, but I hope not.
Katie
Harry sat at the Gryffindor table and ate his lunch while Hermione was in the library to 'just quickly look something up'.
He was grinning in remembrance of the funny situation, which occurred when Sirius told them about his family's origins.
Life was good right now and getting better. At school, the Potions and Def… uh… Fighting classes were the best in his opinion. Who would have thought? About the Potions anyway. And Fighting didn't look so good at the beginning of this school year, either.
He sniggered in remembrance of Ron's exasperation about the pink lines he had to write in detention but sobered a little at the thought of the only dark spot in his life right now (except Voldemort). His friendship with the red-headed boy.
Ron was still suspended for the month, after calling Hermione the m-word. The boy would return to Hogwarts in October at some point.
He wondered how life was for Ron right now. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley had been rather angry with Ron when she collected him. Should he write to Ron? He was of two minds. Ron was his first friend, who was the same age as Harry and he had a hard time letting that go, on the other hand, the boy's jealousy and insecurities were exhausting and the way he treated Hermione was just unacceptable.
Hm. Maybe, I wait, until he writes to me? He called me 'Perfect Potter' and then ignored me when we saw each other again the following Monday morning until he verbally attacked Hermione, Harry mused.
Well, maybe Bill and the goblins could actually help Ron. One could hope. Let's wait for that, he decided.
Harry liked that the Gryffindor 5th-years were such a cohesive group by now. In earlier years, it had always been the Golden Trio, Dean&Seamus, Parvati&Lavender, and a lonely and quiet Neville. But not now.
Harry grinned at the thought of Neville and his parents. The goblins were awesome! It must have been so hard for Neville to have his parents physically present, but not aware of their surroundings and son. Horrible thought! And his grandmother didn't seem to be the nurturing kind at all. It sounded like a recipe for a lonely childhood.
It was so strange, Neville's life had been so similar and yet so totally different from mine, he mused.
One similarity was, that both their lives had taken a turn for the better now. Neville's with his parents and Harry's with his godfather and soon-to-be goduncle.
Harry beamed again at the thought and started wondering what this Ritual of Recall of Black Blood would bring next Saturday.
Next to him, someone sat down, and he looked to his right into the face of his former teammate Katie, who was biting her lip and busying herself with getting some sandwiches.
"Hi Kat, how are you?" Harry asked with interest.
"Gosh!" broke out of her, "I am so annoyed with Angie right now. She is just so stubborn! She now knows that you have good reasons for leaving each weekend! We all have told her repeatedly about the realities of our world! Even the twins sat her down and told her that they were just taking the mickey of the situation, really. But. She. Doesn't. Believe. Dumbledore. Could. Do. Wrong." She hit her hand on the table between each word and afterward slumped and sighed.
Harry patted her back and said, "It's okay, I still can fly and it's my OWL year anyway so I am not unhappy with the situation. Maybe next year when you are captain you could make me the reserve seeker, or something like that? Who is your Seeker now anyway?"
Katie huffed, "No one!"
"Huh?"
"Wie got McLaggen as a keeper. Blargh. But Angie thinks you will fold soon and that she then can dictate everything about your schedule."
"Uh, that is bad. As of now, I don't have time for training at all…" Harry looked apologetically at Katie.
"We knooooow!" Katie wailed.
"But I will stand by should you need me for the actual game, just in case her need to win is greater than her pride, ok?"
"Thanks! I think, by now, it's a matter of principle for her, and Angie always had a hard time admitting that she was in the wrong."
"Well, let's see what happens. The first game is at the beginning of November, right?"
Katie nodded dejectedly.
"So, that is in about six weeks…"
"Yeah. It's just much more miserable now, without you, but with Cormac…"
"Sorry, to hear."
"That idiot even tried to take George's beater bat and show him, how to do his job, while Alice and me scored goal after goal in a mock-up game!"
"Wow, sounds like an idiot, all right."
Katie snorted, "You can say that."
They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. When Katie asked, "Did you take a look at the message board today?"
"Huh? No. Anything of interest?"
"Yeah, McG scheduled a house meeting tomorrow evening at seven!"
"Woah, any idea why?"
"No. But she is different now, much more approachable, right?"
"Absolutely! She smiles! And she explains things in a way I understand now!"
"Yeah!"
They both sighed happily.
Since it wasn't common knowledge that Dumbledore had messed with their teacher's heads, Harry kept mum about that, but could not help but add, "All the Heads of Houses are better as teachers now, especially Snape and McG, right?"
Katie nodded emphatically.
"Well, let's hope, it's a meeting about something good!" Harry added.
Hermione's mind gets checked
That evening after dinner, Harry pulled Hermione into another empty classroom than the one they had used on Sunday evening and told her about the emotional manipulations Dumbledore had done on some adults.
Hermione was horrified and started to doubt all of her decisions at Hogwarts. And the idea that it might have left permanent scarring horrified her immensely.
So, it was half past six when they were knocking on Snape's office door.
"Enter."
The two rushed in and their teacher raised an eyebrow at the panting teens who had clearly been running to his office, but he had no chance to say anything, as Hermione started talking immediately, "Sir, please look at my mind at once! Oh god! There cannot be any damage there!"
"Good evening. Well as Mr. Potter was supposed to tell you that as you are underaged, I would prefer to have your parent's consent to do that, Miss Granger."
She deflated and said quickly, "Oh no! That would take days! I can absolutely assure you they will agree to your doing this and I mean, I am just a year away from being considered an adult in the wizarding world. I am sixteen after all!"
"You are?" Harry asked in surprise, "When was your birthday?"
"On the 9th."
"Oh no! Did I forg... no! I never asked you when your birthday was! Oh, I am the worst friend ever!" Harry looked devastated.
"No, you are not. It's not a big deal. The Granger family doesn't really do birthdays. Don't worry! No back to my question, Professor, could you check please!" she turned her huge, pleading, brown eyes onto him.
Their professor swallowed and then nodded, "But please have your parents send me a letter, giving their approval in retrospect."
Hermione nodded and took a seat looking big-eyed at the Potions Master expecting him to check right away.
Which he did.
It only took a minute, and he hummed in thought.
Hermione asked anxiously, "What did you find?"
"First and foremost, I can tell you all is well."
She slumped and exhaled, while Harry cheered.
"But it's unclear whether your mind has been tampered with in the past. Maybe the goblins can determine it, but I cannot, since there doesn't seem to be any scaring."
"Oh, what a relief! Thank you for checking, Professor! I would have worried so much for days!"
"Yes, I figured. That's why I checked right away. It would have been more detrimental to your emotions than checking without your parents' consent, I believe."
Hermione nodded enthusiastically, "Now only Ron needs to get checked over. Maybe the goblins could have a mandatory check for everyone who enters their bank? Like, for safety reasons?"
"Good idea, Hermione! That way most of the wizarding world could get help if needed? They could make Dumbledore pay for it, right?"
"Not a bad idea Miss Granger and Mr. Potter, I will share it with Professor Flitwick. Now, I believe we are done here or was there anything else?"
The teens shook their heads and thanked him, leaving much more relaxed than they had arrived, discussing Hermione's birthday nine days ago on their way up to the tower.
(Reestablished) Prefects
Tuesday evening, Minerva McGonagall stood in front of her entire house assembled in the Common Room and said, "Thank you all for coming. I scheduled this meeting to tell you about a few changes our house desperately needs.
"First and foremost, I will inform you about the safety procedures we have for emergencies."
And with that, she told them of the possible ways to get her to come quickly, how to use the floo to reach the Hospital Wing, what to do should a natural disaster hit, how to call for a Hogwarts house elf in an emergency, and so on.
The students listened attentively. Happy to receive that information as nearly all had been in situations they could have used that information. At the part about calling an elf they all eyed Hermione carefully expecting her to go into a full rant mode, but were happily surprised when she didn't.
Professor McGonagall then clenched her hands and squared her shoulders, "Now, that the most pressing information has been shared, I need to apologize to each and every one of you."
The students looked at her in shock.
"I failed you on so many occasions and levels as your head of house, as I always let the needs of my Gryffindors fall to the side, for the needs of all the students of this school as the deputy headmistress. And I was plainly overworked, so for example a letter filled with a harmful substance, that actually hurt one of you wasn't investigated, and I didn't notice that most of you had no idea why we change hedgehogs into pincushions for example."
Some students giggled and Harry blushed.
"This will change now. I have dropped the job as deputy and am merely your head of house and teacher from now on."
McGonagall was relieved to look into mostly happy faces. There were a few disinterested ones, but she could live with that. Better, than the outright anger, she had feared.
"Additionally, I will hold weekly classes about the wizarding world for muggle-born and muggle-raised students as I should have always done. That most of you do not know what public shunning is and that we have nobility for example. That many have no clue about our traditions is quite alarming and therefore I expect all, not entrenched in the intricacies of our world, to attend those classes regardless of blood status. People expect you to know these things when you leave school, so better be prepared for it. Understood?"
Here she looked a few of the more relaxed (meaning, hanging over furniture) students, but especially the frowning Angelina Johnson in the eyes until she got nods from them all.
"Please check the message board daily, I will post there when these classes will take place. Oh, and don't be afraid, to visit me during my office hours with every topic you need my input on or help with. As I said, if there is an emergency you can always call me. Thank you. – Now, if the 5th-years could meet with me next to the fireplace, I have one more topic to talk to you about."
With that most of the students dispersed and Harry and his classmates went to the fireplace to check what their head of house wanted.
"Well, you probably could guess why I called you."
"The 5th-year prefects, right?" asked Seamus.
"Exactly, Mr. Finnigan. So first and foremost, Mr. Weasley was declared unfit to be a prefect and therefore, I would ask you, Miss Granger, if you would take the badge back? I promise you will not be asked to take up the slack of your partner prefect again."
Hermione looked wide-eyed at her professor and teared up a little. With a small voice she said, "But I went against you, Professor!"
"Yes, and rightfully so. That was a very fine example of courageous and righteous behavior, Miss Granger. You were the very embodiment of a true Gryffindor that evening."
Hermione blushed bright red and Harry clasped her shoulder proudly.
"So, will you forgive this old woman and take the badge back? You earned it fair and square. I think all of your classmates agree with me about that."
Hermione looked at the others and only saw nodding and smiling faces and so she took a heart and answered, "I would love to!"
"Very well. Here is your badge back, Miss Granger."
Hermione took it and hefted it onto her robes proudly, beaming over her whole face at her cheering classmates.
"Now, who would be the male 5th-year prefect?"
Harry answered quickly, holding his hands in front of him, "Not me! I am drowning in things to learn already. No time!"
The rest chuckled and Professor McGonagall nodded, "I was thinking of Mr. Thomas, actually. What would you say, Miss Granger?"
Harry sighed in relief and Hermione nodded, "Yes, I think Dean would make a good prefect."
Dean smiled proudly and got handed the badge and a pamphlet with the rules and duties of a prefect.
"Very well, you are the first pair of muggle-born students becoming prefects in their year! Congratulations. Well, this concludes my business here. If none of you has anything else that needs my attention, I will be on my way."
When she got some happy 'Good night's she left the Gryffindor tower, feeling rather accomplished.
Meanwhile, the newly named prefects went to the other prefects to (re-)introduce themselves. They were welcomed quite happily.
