He noticed several people shooting him looks like he'd just been given a death sentence.
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*
Harry could still feel the adrenaline buzzing throughout his body as they landed outside the wards surrounding the Burrow. He was definitely shaking. Before he could say anything to Ginny, she pulled him into the orchard, looking over her shoulder, presumably for anyone at home.
"I–" Harry tried again, but she put a hand over his mouth.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt or anything?" Ginny asked, looking him up and down with her eyebrows knitted together. When Harry didn't answer right away, she looked at his face again and blushed slightly before dropping her hand.
Harry made a show of taking inventory of his body, checking his arms and legs before patting down his torso. Then he nodded, satisfied with his condition. "Yep, I'm all good."
That changed slightly when Ginny whacked him on the side of his head.
"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head like it hurt more than it actually did. Even when she was clearly trying to make a point, she couldn't really hurt him, and they both knew it.
"That was for scaring me," she responded before putting her hands on the sides of his head and pulling him down into a sound kiss that left his ears ringing. Pulling back, she smirked a little when Harry couldn't take his eyes off her lips. "And that was for beating his arse."
Harry nodded slowly, regaining his understanding of what had just happened. "I didn't really beat him."
Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. "I swear, if you say because you used your Invisibility Cloak–"
"Well it was kind of an unfair advantage," he said, thinking that wasn't an entirely unreasonable opinion to hold. Ginny evidently disagreed, and she raised her hand to whack his head again when he ducked.
"Okay, I take it back," he answered, grinning at her from under his raised hands.
"You better. Even if you did have to use the cloak, it wasn't like he was beating you before. Honestly, I think you might've won anyways."
Harry shook his head, a little flattered but feeling that she was mistaken. "I was running out of ideas. He was so fast. And did you see the way he was just transfiguring stuff that I was throwing at him? I've never seen anyone other than Dumbledore and Riddle do it like that."
"Well, it looked to me like you were keeping up with him just fine. And I don't think there was anything wrong with what you did. That was a real fight, not just a duel for show, and it was brilliant to use the cloak."
"I was hoping it would be just a demonstration like he said, but… it was obvious pretty quickly that it was more."
"I couldn't believe it when he started throwing desks," Ginny commented, shaking her head angrily.
"Yeah, I know. That was when… well I started taking it seriously then," he admitted, remembering how close the desk had been to hitting her. She sighed and smiled at him, running a thumb along his cheek.
"You did amazing," she assured him, and he nodded, leaning into her touch. "I still can't believe that happened though. Like what's McGonagall gonna do when she finds out?"
Harry's eyes shot open. "I didn't even think of that. You don't think she'll blame me, do you?"
Ginny shook her head without hesitation. "No way. Everyone in there saw what happened. He totally provoked you. It's not like you had another choice but to fight him."
"I hope you're right."
"I am. I'm more interested to find out what she does with Grimhall after how pissed off she was at him before."
"She'll probably kick me out of the class so there aren't any more problems."
Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know she's not gonna do that. You didn't do anything wrong, so quit acting like you did."
"I'm not–" he began until Ginny crossed her arms. "Fine," he sighed.
"Good." Ginny started to say something else, but then she caught herself, and her expression became more serious. "Harry… I stopped myself from saying anything after your panic attack because I was just so grateful that you were okay, and I still am, but… there's something I have to say."
He watched her carefully, unsure of what would come next, as her eyes darted towards the ground in thought before locking with his again. He listened closely as she said, "One of the things I love most about you is how brave you are. When you've had to risk your life, you've never hesitated, and it's amazing. But Harry… you can't keep risking yourself when you don't have to. I– I know you didn't want to give him the satisfaction of getting to you, but when the alternative is putting yourself in danger, you can't immediately go for the danger.
"I know you were in a tough spot today, and he probably wouldn't have let you walk out if you'd tried. But you could've turned around and told McGonagall about what he was having you do for your detention. I was so mad at you when I found out that you went there on your own because you didn't have to. And– and I probably should've spoken up before and maybe none of this would've happened, but I just– Harry, I love you so much, but I need you to take your own safety more seriously. You've scared me a lot this week, more than in a long time, and I can't keep worrying that you're going to do something reckless that could hurt you. I just– I need you to not put yourself in danger when you don't have to. Please."
Harry stared at her for several seconds. The overwhelming thought in his mind was that it had seemed so important to stand up to Grimhall, both today and with the detention, at the time. But seeing the effect it was having on her– he hadn't seen her this worried or distraught since shortly after the battle– changed things. He suddenly found it difficult to remember why he had been so desperate to go to the forest, just because Grimhall had told him to. Scaring Ginny, making her go through the worry she'd already dealt with, wasn't worth that.
He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "You're right," he said quietly, taking a second before continuing, "I– I don't want to– to scare you, Gin. I don't want to make you worry about me. I just want us to be happy, and I'm– I'm so sorry that I haven't been a good boyfriend to you with all of that."
Her expression relaxed, and she pressed her fingers to his cheek. "Harry, you're always an amazing boyfriend, so don't worry about that. I want us to be happy too, but I also want you to be here for us to be happy together. That's why I need you to be more careful. I– I can't… I can't lose you again."
His arms were around her as she pulled him closer. The only sounds in the orchard were their breathing and the tittering of a few birds. "You won't lose me," he whispered after a couple moments, thinking it was the only thing he could say. "I promise, I won't let myself get pulled into that again."
Ginny's eyes were shining when she pulled away to look at him again. "Thank you," she answered, just as quietly. Then, she smiled a bit. "You know, it really was sexy, seeing you beating him like that."
Harry snorted. "If you say so. I'll do my best to be sexy in other ways since you won't be seeing me like that again."
Her smile was bigger now, full of appreciation and love, which was exactly what he was feeling, looking at her. "Believe me, there's plenty of ways that you're already doing that. And I'd love to tell you all about them, but… we should probably get inside."
Harry groaned at her tantalising expression. She knew exactly what she was doing to him. "Yeah, I guess so. Just one more thing first," he replied.
"What?" Ginny asked. Harry answered her with another searing kiss. "Oh… good idea," she said, patting him gratefully on the shoulder before taking his hand and walking to the Burrow.
Molly was the only one home when they entered. She'd been in the living room knitting something she'd seen in Witch Weekly, but when they opened the door, she jumped up and began doting on them like there was nothing she'd rather be doing. She wanted to hear everything about what had been going on at Hogwarts, sitting them down with snacks at the kitchen table.
Ginny took the lead on discussing the past couple weeks, focusing on classes and Quidditch mostly. Harry was grateful that she didn't say anything about Grimhall or the panic attack that had landed him in the Hospital Wing. Molly was happy to learn that they were still spending a lot of time with Emily. She'd been deeply affected, hearing what had happened to Emily, and she was noticeably proud that Harry and Ginny had befriended her.
A few hours later, the rest of the family arrived for dinner, along with Andromeda and Teddy. As soon as Andromeda was through the door with Teddy, she offered him to Ginny, who eagerly accepted, taking him into the living room. Harry followed right behind her, just as excited to see his godson.
"Hi, Teddy," Harry said, and Teddy surprised them both by turning towards Harry like he recognised his name. He exchanged a curious look with Ginny, who then decided to test it out.
"Hi, Teddy," she repeated, and Teddy turned to her now, giggling a little as he reached up and batted her nose.
"Does he know his name?" Harry asked, tickling Teddy to make him giggle more.
"Maybe? We can ask Andi about that and find out what she thinks."
"Ask Andi about what?" Andi asked, joining them in the living room and smiling at them both as she sat on the chair opposite them.
"We were wondering if Teddy knows his name," Harry explained. As he spoke, Teddy turned to look at him, and his hair became black in the process.
"I think he does. He definitely recognises voices, so that could be it, but I like to think he knows his name," Andi answered.
"He's growing up so fast," Ginny said sadly.
Andi nodded. "He'll be at Hogwarts before you know it."
They all looked at Teddy in silence. Harry found it impossible to imagine that this baby would be at Hogwarts one day. He wouldn't be going for another ten years. By that point, what else could've changed in their lives? He caught Ginny's eye and noticed she was a little redder in the cheeks, and he wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was.
Andi surprised them by standing and exiting the living room, wiping her eyes. Harry couldn't blame her. He was sure she was thinking about Tonks. He was still impressed that she managed without breaking down most of the time.
They were joined in the living room moments later by Bill and Fleur. Harry knew he wasn't the most observant person in the world, but even he could see the way they were looking at him and Ginny holding Teddy. He imagined he usually looked something like that when he saw Ginny and Teddy together.
"Any more problems with that professor?" Bill asked moments later, reminding Harry that he had talked to the family before about Grimhall. He glanced over at Ginny, who shrugged to indicate that it was his decision.
He thought for a moment. "Let's go out to the porch," he finally said, obviously piquing Bill and Fleur's curiosity, and the five of them moved outside onto the porch, enjoying one of the last warmer evenings of the year before the weather turned cold.
Harry didn't really want to tell Molly and Arthur about it because he knew they'd worry. He would've talked to Ron and Hermione, but they were still in Australia, and he had no idea when they'd get back. He'd grown very close with Bill and Fleur over the summer though, and he trusted them enough to tell them about everything without thinking they'd be wracked with worry.
With three pairs of eyes on him– Teddy was currently infatuated with Fleur's hair as Ginny handed him to her– Harry tried to tell an abbreviated version of the story. "So a week ago, I got into a big argument in class with Grimhall because he was being disrespectful to the students who fought in the battle. He gave me detention, which was actually just him telling me to spend an hour in the Forbidden Forest."
Both of their eyes were wide, understanding the significance of that. Ginny looked torn between sad and furious at this retelling. "I ended up having a panic attack and I… well, I didn't wake up from it until the next morning."
"Are you okay now?" Bill asked, looking a little more wolf-like than Harry was used to seeing him.
"Yeah, I think so. I mean… it was bad. Really bad. But I'm doing much better."
"And 'ow are you 'andling eet?" Fleur asked Ginny, who was currently looking at her shoes. She took a moment before acknowledging the question.
"The only time I've been more scared was at the battle. It was absolutely terrifying," she answered quietly, hitting Harry with another pang of guilt, reminding him of the promise he'd made to her earlier. He sat next to her and took her hand. She squeezed it but didn't look up at him.
"Did McGonagall do anything? I can't imagine she'd be okay with this Grimhall bloke treating Harry like this."
"I know she gave him a pretty mean tongue-lashing and told Harry he didn't have to serve any more detentions for what happened. Not that it worked or anything," Ginny replied.
"How do you know it didn't work?" Bill asked.
"I'd assume that if it worked, Grimhall wouldn't have duelled Harry in front of the entire class today," Ginny shot back bitterly, very clearly still pissed off at Grimhall.
Fleur and Bill's jaws dropped, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. "He made you duel him?" Bill finally asked incredulously. Harry pressed his lips together and nodded grimly.
"What 'appened?" Fleur asked, clearly stunned by that news.
"He said he wanted to start practising duelling, and he wanted someone to help him demonstrate before we started practising with each other. When nobody volunteered, he asked me to duel him. I couldn't say no… not after what he did last week. And I don't think he would've let me say no anyways. I thought there was a chance it was still going to be a demonstration, but then he started and wasn't holding anything back."
"The classroom was pretty much destroyed. I saw duels in the war that were less intense than that," Ginny added.
Bill ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "What did McGonagall say about that?"
Harry and Ginny exchanged another look. "We actually left right as soon as it was over," Harry answered.
"I wonder if anybody lifted that curse on Grimhall or if he's still frozen on the floor of the classroom," Ginny mused aloud.
"Wait, you won?" Bill asked in a shocked voice.
"Don't sound too surprised," Ginny responded, acting like it was never in doubt.
Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I did. Still think I cheated a bit by–"
"You did not cheat!" Ginny practically scolded him before explaining to Bill and Fleur. "Harry was holding his own with Grimhall just fine, but he ended up ducking behind a desk and throwing his Invisibility Cloak on. Then when Grimhall was confused, Harry disarmed him and cast a Body-Bind Curse on him."
"Zat sounds fair to me," Fleur stated.
"Yeah, it sounds like Grimhall got what he deserved, picking a fight like that. Good for you, Harry," Bill said, clapping him on his shoulder. Harry smiled slightly and nodded.
"No idea what's gonna happen when we get back to Hogwarts though," Harry replied.
"That's a problem for another day," Ginny said. "I say we forget all about it and enjoy the rest of the weekend."
"Zat's a great plan!" Fleur exclaimed happily, standing with Teddy. "By ze way, I think you two did great with everything," she added before taking Teddy inside.
"She's right. I'm sorry it hasn't been the peaceful start to the term that you wanted, but I'm proud of both of you."
"Thanks, Bill," Harry responded, feeling his chest warming. "Um… can you not tell anyone else about this stuff though? I just don't want anyone else to worry."
Bill smiled and nodded. "We know. Anything you tell us is a secret," he promised, standing up and following his wife into the house.
"You know, our family is pretty great sometimes," Ginny said, leaning her head on Harry's shoulder. He nodded his agreement. Their family was pretty great all the time.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Weekends at home were absolutely brilliant. It had been an incredibly stressful week, and Ginny was honestly relieved for the relaxing break that being at home with the family had provided. She'd even let Harry talk her into forgetting about homework for the weekend so they could maximise their time with Teddy and the rest of the family.
Unfortunately, the weekend always felt far too short, and, before she knew it, it was Sunday morning, and she was lying in bed alone. Harry was probably making breakfast with Charlie right now, if the banging of pots and pans was anything to go off of. Ginny considered staying in bed, but she doubted that she'd get much more sleep now that she was awake. Besides, the longer she was awake, the more she could enjoy being at home.
When she entered the kitchen, she wasn't surprised at all to find Harry and Charlie in the kitchen. However, she was surprised to find the source of the noise– Harry and Charlie were shooting eggs into a pot. She supposed they'd charmed them to be indestructible and watched as they took turns backing up to farther and farther distances to shoot the eggs.
"Suck on that!" Charlie half-shouted, scoring from clear across the kitchen.
"Suck on what, exactly?" Ginny asked in her best impersonation of her mother, and they both visibly jumped, which made her laugh proudly. "Good to see you two are getting along with breakfast."
"This is more fun than breakfast," Charlie responded while Harry walked over to her and gave her a kiss that was probably as much for their pleasure as for Charlie's discomfort. Then Harry turned, keeping one arm around her, and tossed an egg effortlessly into the pot.
"Suck on that!"
"In front of my brother?" Ginny asked in the most innocent voice she could muster, very much enjoying the look of shock and subsequent reddening on both of their faces.
Charlie clenched and unclenched his fists several times before walking out of the kitchen, muttering something about needing fresh air. The second he closed the door, Ginny burst into laughter yet again.
"You should've seen your face," she practically squealed with delight.
Harry shook his head, still incredibly flushed. "Bloody hell, Gin. You're unbelievable."
She smirked. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to say that after, but I appreciate the compliment anyways." Then she took the other egg from Harry's hand and shot it into the pot while he tried to decipher her message.
Harry's face getting even redder told her he understood, and she decided to show him some mercy, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. "I'm only kidding. At least until we get back to our dormitory tonight…" she trailed off suggestively before pulling him into the kitchen to actually make breakfast. Whether it was safe for Harry to be handling hot pans while in a worked up daze was a question she probably should've considered, but he seemed to manage just fine, even if he watched her more than the food he was making.
Luckily, everything turned out edible, and she and Harry ate breakfast with her parents, Charlie, Percy, and George. Charlie seemed to have calmed down some, but he steadfastly refused to look at either of them, which was funnier to Ginny than it probably should've been. He did start telling them about his plans for the dragon reserve he was working on.
"I've finally got a house built up there, so I'm gonna be moving up to Wrexham next week to work more full-time on getting the reserve built as soon as possible. The Ministry's getting tired of having to deal with the Gringotts dragon still out in the wild, and Kingsley's helped me get more funding to make things go faster."
"I thought the dragon was contained?" Ginny asked.
Charlie answered while looking at something that was apparently above Ginny's head. "She is, but it's still taking several people to keep her like that. The idea with the reserve is that we can keep them contained without all that manpower."
"Are you going to need help moving?" Percy asked, but Charlie shook his head.
"Not like I've got much here. Didn't have much in Romania, either, and I just left it all there when I came back anyways."
The conversation was interrupted by an owl pecking at the window, carrying a rolled up newspaper. "Hermione didn't cancel her subscription?" Ginny asked, a little surprised at the oversight.
"It's my subscription," Percy answered, reaching into his pocket and paying the owl before looking at the paper. His eyes widened before he looked up at her and Harry.
"What's the deal, Perce?" George asked, leaning over to look at the paper. After a moment, George looked back up at them with a similar reaction. Percy slowly slid the paper over to their parents, who mirrored their reactions.
"Is there anything you'd like to tell us?" Ginny's mum asked.
They exchanged a look, not knowing what was in the paper and not wanting to confess to anything prematurely. "Er– I don't think so?" Harry offered.
Then Ginny's mum flipped the newspaper over so they could read it.
HARRY POTTER DUELS EX-AUROR AT HOGWARTS!
PROFESSOR ADRIAN GRIMHALL DEFEATED!
We apologise to our readers for the lack of coverage on Harry Potter's return to Hogwarts. School policies have made it difficult for our reporters to learn anything, but we were fortunate to receive an anonymous tip this weekend regarding Mr. Potter and the newly appointed Defence Against the Dark Arts professor and ex-Auror, Adrian Grimhall.
Our sources say that Mr. Potter has had a tense relationship with his new professor, with some describing their relationship as openly hostile. Mr. Potter has already received detention for arguing with Mr. Grimhall, supposedly about the Battle of Hogwarts, and on Friday, the second of October, he apparently reached his breaking point and challenged his professor to a duel.
Our sources have described the duel as 'terrifying to witness', 'a raw display of power', and even 'embarrassing for Professor Grimhall'. It is no surprise that Mr. Potter, The Saviour of the Wizarding World, triumphed in the duel; however, the question remains: why did he feel it necessary to take such measures? And will he do it again with the next professor he disagrees with? You can trust that our reporters at the Prophet will do everything we can to learn more about this shocking incident.
For more information about Mr. Potter's duelling success, see page 4.
For a summary of Mr. Grimhall's career and accomplishments, see page 12…
"Fucking hell," Ginny muttered, slamming her hand on the table.
"Is that true?" her mum asked.
Harry shook his head. "I didn't challenge him. He made me do it."
"You actually duelled a professor?" George asked. Harry nodded, but he didn't even crack a smile when George offered him a fist bump.
"What happened, Harry?" Ginny's dad asked, concern evident in his voice.
"He said we were going to start practising duelling, and he wanted a volunteer to help with a demonstration. When nobody volunteered, he asked me to help. Then he started attacking me, and it definitely didn't feel like a demonstration anymore."
"It wasn't. Grimhall started throwing desks at Harry and casting spells that… honestly, I don't know of many people that could've kept up with what he was doing. It– it honestly was like they were duelling to the death. Or, at least, Grimhall was," Ginny added.
"But you beat him?" Charlie asked, in as much disbelief as Bill had been.
Harry shrugged. "Yeah. He was frozen on the floor when we left."
"You left without talking to Professor McGonagall about it?" her mum almost scolded. "Without letting her know that he attacked you?"
"Er– yeah… I'm sure we'll talk to her about it tomorrow. Not like I can change what happened now," Harry replied.
"She needs to reevaluate his employment at the school. Honestly, for a professor to attack a student like that… it's unacceptable," her dad said, showing his protectiveness of Harry.
"I have half a mind to visit Professor McGonagall and demand he be sacked," her mum continued, working herself up now. "What if something worse had happened? If Harry hadn't been able to hold his own, or if he'd tried to fight someone else? That's it, I am going to that school right now!"
"It's okay!" Harry quickly said, reaching a hand out to her parents, both of whom were halfway out of their seats already. "It's okay. We'll talk to her about it when we get back."
"I'm as angry as you are," Ginny assured them. "And we probably should've stuck around, but at the time, leaving seemed like the best option. But we will talk to her and get this all sorted out. You don't need to go and do that for us."
Her parents exchanged a look, fiery anger mixed with a reluctant agreement to let them handle the adult matter themselves. Slowly, they sat back down.
"You have to promise me you'll speak to her about this when you go back. You don't want her to believe this story, and she cannot allow him to continue teaching," Ginny's mum pleaded, and they nodded, understanding what she meant.
"I just want to know how they found out," Ginny said.
"I mean, you know Hogwarts. Rumours fly," Charlie replied. Ginny nodded, still not thinking that was a satisfying enough explanation.
"It's fine. Not like it's the first time they've lied about me," Harry muttered, going back to eating his breakfast. Ginny gave him a sad look, thinking that people their age shouldn't know what it was like for public media to spread lies about them to sell papers.
Luckily, nothing else surprising happened the rest of the day, and after Andromeda came to the Burrow to get Teddy, Ginny and Harry were ready to return to Hogwarts.
"Try and stay out of trouble, dear," Ginny's mum told Harry before hugging him goodbye.
"I try. It's just trouble doesn't seem to care," he responded before hugging her dad.
"Keep taking care of each other," her mum told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek with the hug.
"We will," Ginny promised, thinking they'd already done even better at that than her parents knew.
After telling her dad goodbye, they disapparated and returned to just outside the Hogwarts gates. Ginny was about to walk to the castle when Harry stopped her. "Could we go under the cloak? I just don't want to deal with people talking about everything today."
"Good idea," Ginny agreed, and Harry pulled the cloak over both of them before they began walking along the path up to the castle. They made it to the Fat Lady's portrait without incident, but they had to wait for about twenty minutes before Nina, one of Ginny's roommates, opened the passageway, and they snuck in behind her, avoiding everyone in the common room on their way to their room.
They didn't take the cloak off until they were safely in their room. "Easy," Harry commented, falling back onto the bed.
Ginny snorted and jumped onto the bed next to him. "You know McGonagall's gonna talk to you tomorrow, right?"
He sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"On the bright side, we've still got tonight to ourselves…" she trailed off.
Harry rolled over and grinned. "Have I ever mentioned how much I love the way you think?"
"Maybe… doesn't hurt to hear it again though," she replied with a wide smile.
Harry answered by kissing the point where her shoulder and neck connected before tracing kisses up her neck and to her lips. "Ginny, I love the way you think," he whispered before kissing her again. She just thought she should have ideas like this even more often.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
"Should've used the cloak again," Harry whispered to Ginny when they walked into the Great Hall.
"Should've just gone down to the kitchens," she responded, and he rolled his eyes, thinking that would've been a much better idea than being goggled at by basically the entire school. It was safe to say that, between the Prophet article and the typical Hogwarts rumour mill, everyone had heard at least some version of what had happened with Grimhall.
Harry kept his head down until they sat with the other Gryffindor seventh years. "So everyone knows?" Ginny asked.
Mia snorted. "Everyone knew about five minutes after you two left on Friday. Good move by the way, leaving right after it. Absolute genius."
"Supposedly McGonagall lifted your curse on him about an hour after class. None of us wanted to do it because we figured he'd be pissed off," Dean added, answering a question Harry hadn't known how to ask without sounding prideful.
"Can't wait to get an earful from McGonagall about it," Harry said, mostly to himself, but both Mia and Dean looked at him like he was insane.
"What's she got to be upset at you for? He's the one that started it," Dean argued.
Harry shrugged. "She told me to avoid confrontation with him after the first day of classes."
"Remember when you thought disarming him was going to be the worst thing that happened this term?" Ginny asked, nudging him hopefully, and he nodded, smiling slightly.
"I was young and naive," Harry lamented, which got quite a bit of laughter from their group.
"Seriously though, Harry. McGonagall can ask any of us– we all saw what happened," Dean emphasised, and Harry nodded, feeling grateful that he had people willing to back him up if it came to it.
The first class of the day was Transfiguration, so after avoiding some lighthearted teasing from Demelza on the way out of the Great Hall, they went to Professor McGonagall's classroom. McGonagall didn't acknowledge them coming into the room, which honestly wasn't out of the ordinary. By the time class ended, Harry was starting to feel like maybe he'd gotten incredibly lucky and McGonagall didn't want to speak with him. But he should've known that his luck didn't work like that.
"Potter, I'd like to speak with you. Everyone else is dismissed," she said at the end of class. It seemed like his classmates couldn't get out of the room fast enough, and he noticed several people shooting him looks like he'd just been given a death sentence. He hoped they were wrong.
Ginny stuck around until McGonagall said, "Weasley, I'm sorry, but I'd like to speak to Potter alone. I'm sure he'll tell you everything as soon as we're done."
Ginny pressed her lips together in displeasure and glanced at him. He nodded reassuringly, even though he was sure his eyes betrayed the unease he felt. In a clearly unhappy mood, Ginny left the classroom, glancing over her shoulder at him one more time, as if to remember him in case he didn't make it out.
"Er– Professor, I have Charms right after this, so I can't really–"
"Professor Flitwick knows that you're with me, so it'll be fine, Potter. Now, tell me… why do I want to speak with you?"
Harry furrowed his brow, thinking that an odd way to start the conversation. "I guess because of what happened with Professor Grimhall on Friday," he answered.
"So what happened then?"
He exhaled slowly, getting tired of recounting this story to every person he knew. "Professor Grimhall said he wanted to start teaching practical duelling, and he wanted to give a demonstration before we all started practising. When nobody volunteered, he asked me to duel him. I didn't really want to, but after… everything with the forest, I wasn't gonna say no and look like a coward. So he started, and I was just casting shield charms while he cast offensive spells, but then he threw a desk at me and almost hit several students, including Ginny, so… I fought back."
"And?" McGonagall pressed.
"And we were pretty evenly matched. I dunno how long it lasted for. The classroom was sort of a mess when we were done."
"And?"
"And I guess I won," he said in an annoyed tone. "I didn't think I could keep up with him for much longer, so I ducked behind a desk, put the Invisibility Cloak on, and when he was distracted looking for me, I disarmed and incapacitated him."
McGonagall was silent for a moment. Then, she said, in a somewhat familiar way, "Have a seat, Potter." Harry blinked, a little surprised at how calmly she was reacting to his story, before obeying, pulling a chair up to sit across from her desk. Then, casually, McGonagall added, "The Daily Prophet says you challenged him to a duel."
Harry clenched his jaw. "And we both know how reliable the Prophet is. You can ask anybody who was in class with me, and they'll tell you the truth."
McGonagall nodded. "Believe me, I know. No less than five students gave me their version of the story this weekend. I've heard far more analysis of your duel with Professor Grimhall than I ever needed to, but every student I spoke to corroborated your story, which is why Professor Grimhall was relieved of his duties as soon as I lifted the Body-Bind Curse you placed on him, several hours after you'd left."
Harry's eyes widened, incredibly surprised with this turn of events. "You sacked him?"
"Yes. I told you that I take the safety of my students seriously. He seemed convinced of his wrongdoings a week ago, but… I suppose he changed his mind. He would have been sacked even if he hadn't already done everything else this term. I should've already done it, but I'd convinced myself that he'd be able to put his ridiculous pride aside. I was clearly mistaken, and I regret not doing it sooner. It is entirely inappropriate for a professor to actually duel a student. Truthfully, I'm grateful it was you that he was duelling and not someone who couldn't have kept up, but it still shouldn't have happened. What he did was dangerous and irresponsible, and I am truly sorry that you were forced to do that."
He wouldn't have thought it was possible for him to be more surprised, but hearing McGonagall apologise to him for the second time in two weeks proved him wrong. He was stunned. "Oh… that– that's alright, Professor. It's not like you were the one duelling me. Sorry you lost your Defence professor," he offered.
"Yes, about that… it's no secret we've had trouble finding professors to teach. That's the only reason I'm still teaching Transfiguration. Adrian actually rejected my offer this summer, and even when he changed his mind and decided to hear me out, it still took some convincing to get him to teach this year. Like I said, I did consider firing him after what happened with your detention, but I was holding out hope that he would change because I don't have any fully qualified witch or wizard who I can hire as a replacement."
"Wait, why are people still afraid of working at Hogwarts? Everything's back to normal now."
McGonagall frowned. "It is. But it was like this last time too. People celebrated when Riddle disappeared, but it took a year or more before people really believed it and began acting like everything was normal. It isn't surprising that there are still people who are timid about acting like things are safe now, even though there's much more proof to suggest that than there was seventeen years ago."
"I guess that makes sense," Harry reasoned aloud before stopping to think. "Have you asked anyone from the Order about teaching?"
McGonagall surprised him again with a slight smile. "Unfortunately, my top choice for the position is currently the Minister for Magic. Although, I have been thinking about possible replacements for Adrian since his first incident with you, and I do have an idea."
"Who is it?" Harry asked, hoping it was somebody he knew who wouldn't be as insane as Grimhall had been.
"Are you aware that, two years ago, more students scored passed the Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. than any other class in the last twenty years?" McGonagall asked.
"I guess my O helped with that," he joked, trying to understand what the relevance was to their discussion. It hit him as she began speaking again.
"And you taught those students."
He stared at her for a second, thinking it impossible that she was suggesting what it sounded like. "No. No way," he finally said, shaking his head firmly.
"Potter, I am completely out of options, and… it is technically your fault that I don't have a Defence professor anymore."
"You just apologised to me and acted like it was your fault!" Harry protested.
McGonagall looked at him sternly for a moment before sighing. "You're a gifted teacher, Potter. Nobody but a gifted teacher could've gotten O.W.L. results like that."
"Professor, I– I appreciate the compliment, but I was doing that because Umbridge wasn't teaching us anything. And it wasn't even really for the O.W.L.s that I was doing it either. People had to know how to defend themselves with Riddle coming back. That's why I did it."
"So you don't believe that there is still a need for Hogwarts students to be able to defend themselves now?"
"I– that's not what I'm saying. I'm not stupid enough to think that evil's gone for good. But… I can't possibly teach that many classes every week and do my own work as well. And I doubt many people will care to learn Defence from me anyways."
"People wanted to learn from you before. And you may not like to admit it, Potter, but your credibility has only grown since you were fifteen. I'm not asking for you to teach several classes. I was actually hoping that you'd just restart your Dumbledore's Army but make it public this time. Hold meetings in the Great Hall if you want, and I'll make sure it's available."
"You want me to teach everyone in the school at once?" Harry asked, even more dubious about this idea than before. It seemed impossible.
"You wouldn't be alone. I'm sure you have several friends– Weasley and Lovegood for example– who could help. I could even coordinate faculty oversight if necessary to assist you and make the job more manageable."
"Wouldn't this mess up the standard curriculum for each year though?"
"Potter, you taught many students to the point of scoring highly on their O.W.L.s without having any other Defence education for the entirety of fifth year. I'm not concerned about first years failing their exams because you taught them."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "I– I don't know, Professor. I still don't think this is a good idea."
She looked at him for a moment, planning what to say. "I understand your hesitation. Truly, I do. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't think this was something that you could do and didn't think that this would help the students. I fully believe you can do great things teaching the students here, and, if it doesn't work out, then I can try and find another alternative, even if I don't have any at the moment. And, frankly, Grimhall leaving his position will only reinforce the belief that the Defence job is cursed, even if we both know that isn't true anymore."
He sat silently for long enough that McGonagall added, "Just think about it. I can wait a few days before needing an answer."
Finally, he nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll think about it."
"Thank you. Now you'd better get to your next class, and be sure to tell Filius that you were with me."
Harry stood before giving her a puzzled look. "I thought you said he knew I was with you."
"Did I? I suppose you'll have to find out if he knew or not," McGonagall replied, eerily reminding him of Dumbledore for a moment.
"Right… I'll see you, Professor," Harry said, turning and exiting the classroom, thinking it mind boggling how much the thoughts swimming around in his head had changed since he'd entered the classroom.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
"Trust me. You'll want to hear what he has to say," Ginny was telling Michael Corner.
"I'm sure it'd be interesting, but I was really hoping we'd get to spend the whole day together. Just us, you know?" Michael said, taking her hand.
She smiled at him. "I know. But it shouldn't take more than an hour. Come on, we've already been through most of the shops. We can meet up with them and then do whatever else it is you've got planned."
He looked at her for a second, finally giving in when she made a pouting face. "I can't say no to that. Alright, let's go see what he's got to say."
They walked out of Honeydukes and almost immediately ran into Anthony Goldstein and Terry Boot coming out of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. "Hey Michael, Ginny. Where are you two heading?" Terry asked.
"There's some people meeting at The Hog's Head to talk with Harry about him teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts. We're going to hear what he's got to say," Ginny answered. The truth was that she was going to go, with or without Michael or his friends, but it wouldn't be the best move for her, as a girlfriend, to make that obvious.
"Sounds interesting," Terry said, and Anthony nodded.
"He'd have to be better than the toad teaching us right now," Anthony added.
"Come with us then," Michael invited, a little more eager now, and they walked together to The Hog's Head, where a rather large group was gathered. Eventually, they all filed into the pub, and their group took seats towards the back of the group. Michael paid for Ginny's butterbeer, while she watched the three at the front of the audience.
Harry looked positively shocked by how many people came in, and he seemed to be having some sort of argument with Hermione until she began addressing the group. Ginny listened as Hermione described the reason for them all meeting and couldn't help but smirk at the way Michael seemed to be getting more and more interested as the meeting went along.
Then Zacharias Smith began demanding that Harry give an explanation for what had happened with Cedric. She'd never interacted with him before, but she'd heard stories from other girls, and she'd never wanted to cast a Bat-Bogey Hex on someone she didn't know more than right now. What was he expecting anyway? It's not like Harry was lying about any of it, and it was horrible to ask him to relive it for entertainment purposes.
Of course, Harry handled things as well as he usually did, shutting down Zacharias before modestly downplaying his achievements. Ginny felt her stomach churn when Terry asked about Harry killing a basilisk. In the past several years, she'd done her best to distance herself from the Chamber of Secrets, and, thankfully, nobody had ever found out about it. And of course, Harry answered that question without the slightest indication that she was related to that story at all.
By the end of the meeting, Harry seemed much more assured and confident at the prospects of teaching the group that had gathered, which was good, considering he was the best hope for Defence education that they had this year. Ginny couldn't help but notice though that he kept glancing at Cho Chang, sitting just in front of her. She willed her cheeks to not redden. She was over Harry. She'd talked with Hermione about that. She was dating Michael Corner, and he was a great boyfriend, even though she didn't have anyone else to compare him to.
Ginny was pleased that Michael and his friends signed up with her, and she was just as glad when Terry and Anthony split up from them after leaving The Hog's Head.
"So what else are you wanting to do in Hogsmeade?" Ginny asked, hoping he had some idea.
Michael smiled at her. "Have you ever heard of Madam Puddifoot's?"
"Nope," Ginny answered. "What is it?"
"It's a tea shop. You'll love it, trust me," Michael promised.
"Did McGonagall say when she needed an answer?" Ginny asked.
"Just that she could give me a couple days to think about it."
"Well it's been a couple days," Ginny informed him as they walked back to the castle from their second Quidditch practice of the week. They'd danced around the topic but hadn't ever really discussed it since McGonagall had first proposed it three days ago.
"I know. I just don't know what I should do."
Ginny took his hand and pulled him off the path. It took about two seconds for Harry to understand where she was taking him and walk without being led. The sun was setting over the lake when they sat against their tree.
"Okay. Let's talk this out. Why do you think you shouldn't do it?" Ginny asked.
Harry rattled off several reasons right away. "I don't think people would want to be taught by me, and it's kind of insane to imagine teaching everyone at once. I don't know how to teach younger students, and I don't want it to make me enjoy my last year here less, especially after how Defence has already gone so far."
"So then why are you even considering it? There have to be reasons you think you should do it."
"Well… McGonagall asked me to do it, and she seems like she's in a bind about it. And she acted like I could teach the material well, and… she's probably right about that. And…" he trailed off after a moment.
Ginny looked at him curiously. "And?"
He sighed. "And I actually did like teaching in the D.A. It was cool seeing people learn the stuff I was teaching and get better at it. I dunno."
"That sounds like a pretty good reason to me," Ginny told him. Truthfully, Harry had been the best Defence teacher she'd ever had, and she was positive that he'd be brilliant at it if he decided to do it.
"But what about all the reasons to not do it?" Harry asked, still doubting himself.
"I think you're kidding yourself if you think younger students aren't going to want to learn from The Saviour of the Wizarding World." Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "And a lot of the older students were either in the original D.A. or the one last year, so I think they'd all be interested in learning from you too. I think you'd be great teaching the younger students. Honestly Harry, one of the most amazing things I've discovered about you since we got back together is how good you are with kids."
"Really?" he asked, a little surprised apparently, judging by the wide-eyed expression he was wearing.
"Really. And not just with Teddy, either. You make Emily feel so special, and every time her friends are around, you do a great job treating them like real people instead of little kids. That's amazing. So I think you'd be great with the younger students. And yeah… it'll probably be a lot, trying to teach everyone. But I can help. So can Luna, Dean, and Mia. I'm sure Justin would help, and Owen and Astoria would definitely help as Head Boy and Head Girl. There's plenty of people who can help you if you decide to do this," she assured him.
Harry nodded, staring out over the lake once more as the sun faded behind the mountains in the distance. Ginny reached down and took his hand, rubbing her thumb along the faded scars on the back of it. They sat like that for a while before Harry turned to her.
"Do you think I can do it?" he asked.
"I know you can do it," Ginny responded confidently.
Harry nodded. "Okay then. Let's go tell McGonagall." Ginny was surprised when Harry abruptly stood and extended a hand to help her up.
When she was standing next to him, she kissed his cheek. "I'm proud of you."
He grinned at her. "Makes it all worth it," he informed her as they walked to the castle. As usual, McGonagall's office was open, but she wasn't in it. Rather than wander around looking for her, they settled for going to Dumbledore's portrait.
"Ah– Harry and Ginny, it's wonderful to see you both," Dumbledore said, seemingly having just woken from a nap.
"It's good to see you too, Professor," Ginny replied.
"I presume you're here to accept Professor McGonagall's offer?" Dumbledore asked, smiling down at them from his portrait.
"It was your idea, wasn't it?" Harry asked. Dumbledore chuckled and put his hands in the air in mock surrender.
"I may have suggested that Minerva consider more… out of the box approaches to teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, seeing how the conventional method has failed so many times before. She did arrive at her own conclusions about what that meant though, and I agreed wholeheartedly with her choice."
Ginny jerked her head around, hearing a snide voice speaking. "Assuming Potter wasn't lying about the whole thing. It wouldn't be too shocking if he attacked his professor unprovoked."
Harry snorted. "If I could go six years without attacking you, I could've made it through his class without attacking him. He challenged me, and he lost."
"An admirable feat," Dumbledore interrupted. "Although I hope you don't make it a common practice," he added, even though he was still smiling.
"Definitely not, Professor," Harry promised.
"Now tell me, what is the latest in the Hogwarts rumour mill? I hear so little now that I'm confined to two dimensions."
Ginny almost laughed as Snape rolled his eyes at Dumbledore's request. Ginny and Harry did their best to fill Dumbledore in on what they knew after the first month of the term, and they were so engaged in conversation that they didn't hear McGonagall until she spoke.
"Potter. Weasley. Thank you for letting yourselves in," she said, walking over to her seat. Dumbledore gestured for them to sit across from her, so they left their spot in front of his portrait to take seats.
"I presume you've reached a decision on my offer?" McGonagall asked.
"Er– yeah… I've decided to give it a go," Harry answered.
McGonagall nodded as if she'd been expecting this. "Your meetings will take place in the Great Hall at three on Fridays, beginning tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? You knew he'd say yes?" Ginny asked incredulously.
McGonagall allowed a small smile to cross her face. "Albus told me that he'd request to be removed from the Chocolate Frog cards if Harry didn't accept my offer. I felt like it was a safe wager."
Their jaws dropped, staring above McGonagall's chair at Dumbledore's portrait. Dumbledore was making a show of cleaning his ears and gesturing that he couldn't hear. His eyes were twinkling mischievously though.
HGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHG
Harry was so stressed about the Defence class that he didn't even notice Eirwen landing next to him at breakfast. At least, he didn't notice until she started nipping his hand, which had been holding toast he'd accidentally dropped while being lost in thought. He jerked his head up and saw Ginny looking at him amusedly.
"You're gonna do great. Stop worrying about it."
"I think I said the same thing to you about being captain, and you still worried," Harry muttered while he opened the envelope that Eirwen had brought.
"You've taught Defence before; I'd never been captain," Ginny protested, but Harry barely heard her, grinning at the letter in front of him.
"What's that?" she asked, seeing his expression. Wordlessly, Harry passed it over to her, watching as her expression gradually mirrored his.
"They're back!" Ginny exclaimed giddily.
"Only took them like two months," Harry responded, surprising himself a little with how relieved he was to know that Ron and Hermione had made it back home from Australia.
"I'm so glad they're coming here for the Hogsmeade weekend," Ginny added, rereading the letter.
"We'll definitely have a lot to talk about," he said, and she nodded before folding the letter from Hermione and setting it back on the table.
"We definitely will. Starting with how you've been doing great at teaching Defence." Ginny declared confidently.
Just a few hours later, it was time for Harry to prove her right. He hadn't slept well the night before and had spent a lot of time trying to think of what to say and how he could possibly manage teaching this many students. He knew Ginny believed in him, and apparently McGonagall did too, but he was still worried when he met Professor McGonagall outside of the Great Hall. It didn't help his nerves that he could hear literally the entire school inside.
At least McGonagall didn't try to give him a pep talk. They waited in silence until exactly three before she gestured for him to follow her into the Great Hall. As usual, Harry felt so many eyes on him as the conversations quieted to whispers. He hated this feeling– it reminded him of the way everyone looked at him after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Like they hated him, which probably wasn't true. He just hated people staring at him, which wasn't a great feeling to have just before he stood in front of the entire school to try and teach them Defence.
The house tables had been replaced by desks that reminded him of when the O.W.L.s were held here, except that there were way more desks now. He was grateful that Ginny and his friends had taken seats at the front. It made him slightly less tense, at least until he looked out at everyone else staring at him.
McGonagall began speaking. "As you are all well aware, Professor Grimhall was relieved of his duties as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor last Friday. We do not have a permanent replacement for him yet, but we cannot allow your educational progress to stop. Instead of conventional lessons, everyone will meet here at this time every Friday for lessons led by Mister Potter. I expect him to be treated with the same respect you give all of your professors. Are there any questions?"
Surprisingly, no hands were raised, so McGonagall looked at Harry, gave him a nod, and exited the Great Hall. The second she left, about fifty hands shot in the air.
"Er– okay. Go ahead," Harry said, pointing to a young Slytherin boy.
"Is it true you challenged Professor Grimhall to a duel and then beat him? That's what it said in the Daily Prophet."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Not exactly. He challenged me to a duel, not the other way around."
"But did you win?" the boy asked while Harry was looking for the next person to call on.
He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I did. Next question," he said, ignoring the whispers in the hall.
"What makes you qualified to teach us?" a fourth or fifth year Ravenclaw girl asked, rather pompously.
"He's only Harry bloody Potter," Dean commented, making several people in the front few rows laugh.
"No, that's a good question. To be honest, I don't know how qualified I am to teach. I taught a bunch of people Defence in my fifth year and we all did good on our O.W.L.s, but I've never taught this many people before. I'll do my best and hope you all bear with me though," Harry answered.
"Do you think we're still in danger?" a first year Hufflepuff girl asked.
"Er– no, not really. I mean, the thing about Defence is it's important to know how to use it in case you need to, but we all sort of hope we never have to. I know it hasn't been that way for a while, but things aren't nearly as dangerous now as they were a year ago." Judging by the nods he was getting, that was a well-received statement.
"Did you get scared when you were fighting… him?"
Harry turned, surprised to see that Emily was the one who asked that question. He thought about his answer for a moment, remembering how fearful she'd seemed at the battle.
"Yeah. I did. I know what's in the papers sounds great and all, but it was all terrifying. And that's why it was important for me to know what I was doing. Defence became a part of me without even thinking about it. There were times when I got so scared that I couldn't possibly think, and I just did what was instinct. I want you all to be able to defend yourselves without thinking about it, and that's what I'm going to try and teach you."
Harry looked over the crowd again, feeling a little braver now. "So does anybody have any other pressing questions?" When no hands raised, he continued. "Alright then. To start out, we're gonna learn and practise the Disarming Charm."
"Expelliarmus? I thought we were supposed to be learning stuff, not practising basic spells like that," a Ravenclaw boy said in a slightly dismissive tone, very closely reminding Harry of a time when Zacharias Smith had expressed similar doubts at a D.A. meeting.
"I'll be planning more advanced lessons for older students eventually, but I really only agreed to do this whole thing last night, so I didn't have much time to prepare," Harry explained honestly. "Besides, that spell has saved my life more times than I can count. A witch or wizard can't do anything to you if they don't have a wand, so I think it's pretty useful for everyone to know.
The boy didn't voice any further concerns, and Harry thought it best not to add that it was also the spell he'd used to defeat Riddle. "So if I could have a volunteer to demonstrate…"
Several hands shot up right away, and he invited a second year Slytherin girl to help him. "So just stand there and point your wand at me like we're fighting," he instructed, and she followed his direction.
"All you do is flick your wand and say Expelliarmus," Harry explained to the intrigued audience. "If you do it right, their wand will fly out of their hand."
"Expelliarmus," he cast, and like he said, the girl's wand flew out of her hand and into his. He returned it to her and then continued speaking. "It can take some time to master, so don't be upset if you don't get it right away. It's worth it to practise until you've got it. So let's move the desks to the sides of the room, and everyone pair up and try to disarm your partner. I'll be walking around, so if you have any questions, let me know, and I'll try to help out."
He was a little surprised that pretty much everyone immediately stood and moved the furniture out of the way. He did notice that the Slytherin Head Girl, Astoria Greengrass, was keeping a close eye on some boys who were a few years younger than them, but other than that, everyone seemed pretty eager to give it a try.
Harry was encouraged by the results. He spent most of his time with the younger students who either didn't know the spell or hadn't mastered it yet. He also saw that several people like Ginny and Luna were helping older students who were struggling, which he really appreciated.
"Bend your arm a little, and be sure to speak clearly," he suggested to Steven Booth, a Gryffindor first year.
"Expelliarmus!" Steven cast on his partner, and Harry grinned, giving him a high five when the wand flew out of his partner's hand.
"Nice one!" Harry said before moving on to another younger student who was flicking her wand too much.
The hour passed very quickly, and Harry was a little surprised when he heard the bells signalling that the class period was over. He moved back to the front of the Great Hall and magnified his voice to get everyone's attention. Once the last of the flying wands had been caught, he returned his voice to normal.
"Right, that was a great start everyone! I think the next few lessons will probably be similar stuff, and then I'll work on branching out into some different topics for different ages. But yeah, that's it. I don't really have any homework to assign or anything like that. Thanks for… paying attention, I guess, and have a good weekend."
Slowly, the Great Hall emptied, and Harry met Ginny by the door. "How was it?" he asked, interested in her opinion.
"Well, it was rather boring learning such a basic spell," she began before laughing at Harry's eye roll. "It was brilliant, Harry. I knew you'd be great at it. You had everyone interested in what you were saying."
"I guess it didn't go too badly," Harry admitted, smiling a little to himself.
Ginny grinned. "That's an understatement. Now come on, Professor. I've got some homework that I could really use a professional's opinion on."
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A/N: And finally, after four chapters, we've finally reached the end of the first major guidepost plot point for ToG! I honestly wish I could say what came first in my mind, but when I was imagining the story of Harry and Ginny returning to Hogwarts, I very quickly came up with the idea of him duelling his Defence professor and it leading directly to him taking on the role himself. Even though he was doing it under bad circumstances, Harry leading the DA seemed to me like one of the happiest and most fulfilling things he'd done in his life, and I wanted for him to have a chance to do that in a more peaceful setting. The problem was that Harry was unwilling to continue the DA in HBP, even though Voldemort was still at large, so there needed to be a better reason for him to go back to teaching this year, and I think everything with Grimhall did accomplish that.
Another motivation for accepting the role is that there's just no other option. McGonagall still teaching Transfiguration was absolutely an allusion to it, and it's totally believable to me that people would still be reluctant to take a job for a couple reasons. The first is, like McGonagall mentions, the curse on the position isn't exactly a secret, as far as the rumours that exist, and Grimhall leaving the position doesn't help the argument against it. The other is that there's a reasonable fear that Voldemort might not be totally gone. It's unfounded for everyone who was at the battle, but the fact is that he already came back once, and, even though there's a lot of witnesses who confirm his death, I don't think it's crazy to imagine a large portion of the populace not wanting to take on a job as relatively prominent as a professorship at Hogwarts, particularly the Defence job. To me, it's also totally realistic that Harry's class would've scored better than pretty much any other class in recent memory, just based on the quality of Defence professors that Harry had.
And as a tiny aside regarding McGonagall, Dean mentions that the rumour is that McGonagall freed Grimhall about an hour after everything happened, but McGonagall tells Harry that it was several hours later. So I very much like to think that she intentionally let Grimhall stay frozen on the floor of the classroom for much longer than anyone else knew as part of a punishment for what he did.
Ginny's totally right for asking Harry to stop risking himself so often. It's honestly not too different to Hermione saying Harry has a 'saving people thing', but Ginny can obviously do it with more emotional awareness of him, and she's also much more focussed on the newer things that have happened. There weren't really any opportunities for Harry to be in real danger in SoR, but he's already had several in just the first month at Hogwarts. Really, her anger and worry is mostly coming from him going to the forest, but, like she said, she tried to push it down because of how happy she was that he was okay, and the fight in class was just another reminder of it. I really don't think there was a way out of the fight. (In fact, Harry going to the forest started a pretty much irreversible chain of events that included the fight, but that's a different story for a different time.) Anyways, it didn't help that Harry didn't try to find a way out of the fight, but Ginny's much less upset about that, especially when she knows how capable he is of handling himself in combat.
And with that, we've reached the end of Defensive (once again, gotta pat myself on the back a bit for the double meaning of the chapter title), and I'm very excited for us to see more of Harry teaching in a public, non-secretive-organisation type class, and that starts in the next chapter. And I'm not even going to bother burying the lede with the teaser for next chapter because you all have definitely waited long enough!
Coming Friday: Catching Up- Ginny and Harry were moments away from seeing their best friends for the first time in two months.
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Thanks to all of you, as always, for your encouraging comments! I'm glad I was able to surprise you all with an exciting fight scene in the last chapter that you all enjoyed!
Guest: I think you make a really good point about Ginny possibly stepping up to face Grimhall instead of Harry. I probably should've elaborated a bit more in the actual story about why she didn't. One of the main reasons was that there wasn't a chance in the world that Harry would've let her do it, which would've led to an argument between the two of them and a conflict that, at this point in the story, I'm not ready for them to deal with. I think Ginny would've recognised that and, as stubborn as she is, would also be aware that Harry is a better duellist than she is, which was definitely necessary in fighting Grimhall. There's also the question of, if Grimhall's entire motivation was to get at Harry, what would he have done if Ginny was the one facing him instead? Which might've been an interesting question to answer, but I think that might've also led to Harry being very tempted to use an Unforgivable, and that *definitely* is not something I'm prepared to explore yet lol.