Chapter 20

Dumbledore sighed once more and then turned to face McGonagall. "It seems that this old man has been proved wrong. I kept the boy alive, but the price may be higher than anyone could imagine..."

"Headmaster?" McGonagall asked in a half worried and half curious tone. Dumbledore would spend quite a while explaining why she would have to undo some of his mistakes, when she went to visit Harry. She was most certainly not amused by the whole situation.

XXX

Harry was not quite aware of the trouble and despair he had unleashed upon the old man, but needless to say, if he did, he would have been very pleased. He had spent his time in a very relaxed manner, trying to settle back into the normalcy of average humanity before somebody arrived to meet him. Since he knew for a fact that the letter was not a hoax, it would only be a matter of time before that happened. And he wanted to be a very normal and removed-from-the-magical-world type of person when they did. He wasn't trying to get them suspicious of anything after all, and he assumed that would have been his reaction if he had not discovered his inner ninja when he was seven.

In a way, the last few months had been troubled. The great Daniel Richards had passed away, at seventy seven, having been the victim of a heart attack. The veteran had passed away in his sleep. But before he had gone, he had endeavored and succeeded to turn Harry into a fine human being, one who was knowledgeable and intelligent, a literary warrior of his own caliber. And Harry liked to think that the old man had succeeded. It was sad, but it was a reality that was he would have to deal with. Death was the one thing that would be a constant in his life, and the sooner he began to deal with it the better.

But the one thing that Harry was quite amused at was the fact that Richards had given Harry a place in his will. While his son had gotten the cash, and the house, Harry had gotten most of the books, most of the war memorabilia, and a couple of Star Wars costumes, in Harry's size. Stormtrooper armor can be easily modified into battle armor when you have quite the knowledge of seals; and lots and lots of paint. It was also easier to pay your respects, with nobody to grumble at your presence at a funeral when you're dressed up as Darth Vader. He was simply dismissed as one of the old mans odd acquaintances. Harry was not inclined to hide there of all places. Besides, in its own way, this was more fun than messing with peoples heads with illusions.

Harry had been grateful to the old man, as he was quite frankly the only family Harry ever really had. This fact was perhaps affirmed by the fact that Harry spent every Sunday for a while after his death mediating (invisibly) on his grave. It was quite peaceful for his mind.

XXX

The 28th of July was a Sunday. Consequently, when the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts swooped down the driveway in an excellent imitation of Severus "the bat" Snape, nobody was really there to witness the odd apparition. Once she was at the door though, she composed herself. Whatever the annoyance she felt towards the headmaster, it was poor form to display it in front of her potential student. The 'potential' part of course was purely reflex. She never had any doubt that Harry would be accepting his invitation to learn at Hogwarts.

She rang the doorbell. It was an odd thing really, and she would much rather prefer a solid doorknocker over this muggle contraption any day. Then again, it was also wise to not display this disdain towards muggle devices openly. In the last 5 years, 12 muggleborns had refused to study at Hogwarts because the person who had been responsible for the visit had displayed a rather anti-muggle attitude and attempted to force the child with some rather heavy handed words. The subsequent obliviations(to preserve the statute of secrecy) had meant a very real loss to the magical community. It was an entirely different matter that ten of the twelve were visits conducted by Severus Snape. SHE would not be repeating the mistakes of certain others.

The door was opened by somebody that McGonagall knew and hated all too well, Vernon Dursley. The fact that he did not sneer/shout/sputter at her though was a welcome change from what Dumbledore described from his last visit here. But the slight stiffening that she noticed assured her that this was in fact the real Vernon Dursley. What really shocked her was the fact that he politely said "Good Day, what can I do for you?" McGonagall did not spend more than the tiniest of moments on contemplating what terrible head injury this man must have sustained. Instead she continued with what she had been assigned to do. "I'm here to see Harry Potter."

Vernon nodded and said, "Please, come in. I shall call for him momentarily."

McGonagall was very very surprised at this unusual behavior, so much so that she had to stop herself from looking for glassy eyes, checking for if somebody had imperiused this man. She sat in the offered chair quite dazed and more than a bit confused. She did however take the tea the man offered her.

Harry Potter had in the middle of this come down and seated himself. He looked quite normal, if slightly taller than the average eleven year old. He wore loose black clothing that looked more like those worn by the Egyptian desert nomads she had seen than what the average muggle wore. It looked quite odd, and frankly she was quite fascinated at the possible insights this abnormal clothing could offer. Harry himself was not quite ready to be stared at in this penetrating fashion and politely coughed.

McGonagall quickly roused herself from her thoughts and smiled a bit. There was more than the fair share of James Potter in this boys looks than she had imagined. So she began, in a more polite version of the curt Scottish tone she normally used.

"Mr Potter, my name is Minerva McGonagall. I am the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, the school that you...replied to in a quite severe fashion. I have been given to understand that you have many questions regarding magic. Is that true?"

Harry looked at her in a very skeptical manner and answered.

"Yes, that is it. I find myself quite unconvinced regarding this 'magic' business and cannot comprehend the purpose behind the letter that your 'school' has sent. I am at the moment under the distinct impression that this is some sort of elaborate hoax. While my aunt has mentioned that the letter is not, as I suspect a joke, due to our prior history I find myself not quite convinced. Perhaps you can elaborate further upon this matter?"

McGonagall felt the migraine rear its ugly head.. The Boy-who-lived was convinced that magic was a joke. She could already imagine what Severus would have done by now – bid good day and leave, probably with that billowing cloak of his no less. And why was Harry not informed about magic sooner? Dumbledore had told them that the Dursleys were supposed to tell him about his heritage, but it seemed that whatever head injury that had reformed the male Dursley had seemingly driven this matter clean out of his head. And she suspected that the jealousy that Petunia harbored towards her sister(from what Dumbledore had said about the past) had stopped her from doing anything either. And in the midst of it all she admired the very demeanor that this boy exhibited. It looked like this one was more Slytherin than Gryffindor. Then again, with that vocabulary, he might as well be Ravenclaw.

She cleared her throat. "Would you believe in magic if I were to demonstrate something for which magic is the only rational explanation?"

Harry thought for a second and then replied, "After ignoring the fact that magic is irrational, yes."

So she simply nodded...and turned into a cat. She then jumped onto Harry's lap, who promptly began conducting his own investigation on it, with respect to anatomy, and his own infantile medical jutsu that could right now let him vaguely get a "feel" for the chakra systems(which everything living had, weak as it was) of all living things. A minute later, she jumped into her chair and transformed back. Harry looked the slightest bit unnerved by the display. Good.

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