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Harry Potter and Love's Changes | ||||||
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Category: Pre-OotP Characters:Dumbledore, Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Minerva McGonagall, Ron Weasley Genres: Angst, Drama, General Warnings: Mental Abuse, Mild Language, Spouse/Adult/Child Abuse, Violence/Physical Abuse Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 46 Summary: After Harry is injured protecting the philosopher's stone, Minerva McGonnagall promises herself that she will do a better job looking after him. That promise will eventually lead to large changes in Harry's life. This will ultimately be Harry/Ginny, but since it starts at the end of Harry's first year, it will take a while for any romantic relationships to develop. This is my first fanfic and I have no idea how long it will be or how long it will take me to post. Hitcount: Story Total: 26099; Chapter Total: 2861 Awards: View Trophy Room Author's Notes: I have already had a couple of reviewers express concern regarding the timing of the Harry/Ginny relationship. I hope to bring them together after the chamber, but I am making this up as I go. I don't plan on having Harry or Ginny date anyone else before they get together, but the relationship will probably start more as a friendship since they are so young in the beginning of this story. I actually still haven't ruled out a soul bond to bring them together earlier, but I haven't made that decision yet. |
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Harry Potter was not happy to be heading home for the summer. Staring unseeing out the window of the Hogwart’s Express, Harry kept returning to the one question that Professor Dumbledore had told him to put out of his mind. He couldn’t just let it go; it was impossible not to wonder why Voldemort had tried to kill him all those years ago. Sighing, he knew that he had no way of finding out until Dumbledore deemed it appropriate to tell him. “Harry are you okay?” asked Hermione. She was really worried about her friend since he hadn’t been acting like himself since the incident with the stone. “I’m fine, Hermione.” Harry responded with a sigh. He had already explained that his mood was due to the fact that he didn’t want to return to his relatives, but he couldn’t bring himself to elaborate on what his life at home was really like. He had told them that his relatives didn’t like him and really hated magic so he didn’t feel the need to explain the physical results of the Dursleys' ire. He also didn’t want Hermione and Ron to know about the fact that he was clearly more than just an incidental target for Voldemort on that Halloween night so many years ago. Harry hated pity and his past experience told him that making others aware of his home life only served to make things worse for him. “Mate are you sure everything is okay?” Ron joined the conversation to ask. Ron was pretty thick sometimes, but even he could tell that his best friend wasn’t in a good mood. “Like I told you both before, I’m just not looking forward to spending time with my relatives. Other than that I am fine.” Harry didn’t notice the look of disbelief shared between Hermione and Ron because he had already turned to look back out the window. All too soon, the train had arrived and he was back on Privet drive. Weeks later on the morning of his birthday, Harry was once again disappointed by the lack of letters or cards from his friends. He was shocked that his friends had never bothered to write and was beginning to believe that what his aunt and uncle had always said about him was true. He was starting to believe that no one could possibly care for a freak like him. True, he had learned that his parents really did love him, but perhaps he didn’t deserve any more love after his mother had been killed because of him. At least his aunt and uncle had only made him work on chores so far this summer. They still seemed to be afraid to touch him and to Harry, a lack of physical contact was definitely a very good thing. “Boy! Get down here!” Uncle Vernon roared from the living room. Knowing it was better to respond quickly, Harry immediately ran down the stairs to meet his uncle. Harry then listened as his uncle went over the plans for his business dinner and Harry promised, once again, to be quiet and pretend that he didn’t exist. Upon returning to his room, Harry was shocked to see that his room was occupied by a very peculiar looking visitor. The very next morning, Harry groaned and winced as he sat up in his bed. If not for the residual aches and pains from the beating he had received from his uncle, he might have been able to convince himself that his entire experience with Dobby and the warning he received from the ministry for using magic had all been a nightmare. However, the evidence on his body was overwhelming as his uncle had relished in the fact that Harry couldn’t use magic to defend himself. Thankfully, Harry was pretty sure that the damage only consisted of some bruises and some swelling. He was glad that there didn’t seem to be any broken bones this time. Despite his disappointment that Dobby would not allow him to read them, Harry was extremely glad to know that his friends had bothered to write him over the last several weeks. He just hoped that they would forgive him for not writing back. That afternoon, as Harry watched the installation of the locks on his doors and the bars on his window, he began to wonder if he would ever again get back to Hogwarts. He knew that if Uncle Vernon had his way, Harry would never be allowed to leave Privet Drive again, but he wasn’t sure if his uncle would be able to accomplish that goal. After two weeks of being locked in his room with barely any food, Harry was beginning to worry he wouldn’t make it much longer. He felt weak and faint from the lack of food. He was giving half of his rations to Hedwig and even that was barely enough to keep the little owl healthy so it was nowhere near enough to sustain a 12 year old boy. Harry knew that it was now the middle of August and his only hope came from the fact that he believed someone might come looking for him if he didn’t make it to the Hogwarts Express on September 1st. While Harry was hoping September 1st would come sooner, Minerva McGonagall was doing everything in her power to get things prepared for the upcoming term. She had received the final numbers of students that would be attending as well as OWL results and was working on making class schedules for all of the students. Focusing on her work, she was surprised when an owl hooted to get her attention. Taking the letter from the owl, she noticed the wax seal indicated it was from the Ministry for Magic. Minerva’s brow furrowed in concern as she read the notice which told her that Harry Potter had been issued a warning for underage magic on July 31st. As Deputy Headmistress, it was standard for her to receive this type of notification from the Ministry, but the bureaucracy always caused her to receive notification well after the warning was issued. After considering her next steps for a few moments, Minerva got up and walked out of her office towards the office of the Headmaster. “Albus, are you aware of the warning Mr. Potter received this summer?” Minerva asked ignoring any pleasantries upon entering his office. Albus did not react outwardly, but he sighed internally at Minerva’s concern for the boy. Throughout the years he had constantly reassured her that Harry was safe and well protected at the Dursleys. Albus had put the blood wards up himself and took great pains to make sure that Harry was placed within the protection of those wards. Several of the devices in his office were specifically set to monitor those wards and he would be notified immediately if they were ever compromised. Yes, he was concerned about what Poppy had revealed to him after Harry’s most recent ordeal, but a quick legillimens spell on Harry revealed that the Dursleys had started to treat him better once the Hogwarts letter had arrived. Sure they were still verbally abusive, but Albus was comfortable allowing that to continue since the physical abuse had ended. He decided not to interfere with the Dursleys because it would put Harry at a great risk if he could not return to the protection born of his mother’s sacrifice, and Albus knew that it would be easy for Vernon and Petunia to decide the funds they were receiving for Harry’s care were no longer worth the trouble. Perhaps he should take another look at the amount being pulled out of the Potter vault each month and consider increasing the stipend being sent to Petunia. He decided he would worry about that next year. “Yes, I happened to be at the ministry for a Wizengamot meeting and Mafalda thought it prudent to make me aware of the situation when it occurred. I assure you that there have been no further incidents and the wards protecting Harry are still solidly in place.” “I’m glad to hear that he is safe, but what reason did Harry give for using magic? Did he feel - “ Albus cut off Minerva’s question and replied, “Harry was never questioned about the incident. As I have told you when I was explaining why it would be best for you not to visit Harry as a child, the Dursleys do not appreciate any wizarding interference in their lives so I explained to Mafalda that it would be best to just let the warning stand and skip any investigation since the intrusion would not be appreciated. Mafalda agreed on that course of action since Harry has obviously heeded the warning he received and has not used any more magic at home.” Minerva’s concern increased as she listened to Albus’s response. Surely now that Harry was in school the Dursleys would be expected to have some interaction with other wizards? However, after years of conversations regarding Harry’s wellbeing, Minerva knew that bringing up her doubts and concerns would be pointless. Albus was adamant that Harry needed the protection of the blood wards and was not willing to consider any alternatives. Learning from her failure to listen to Harry about the stone, Minerva decided that it was only right that Harry be allowed to explain himself. “I appreciate you making sure that he is alright. I should be getting back to work. I have some things to take care of at home over the next few weeks so while I will be here to work during the day, I may not always be in the castle in the evenings and at night. Thanks again for checking on Harry.” “You are very welcome, Minerva.” Albus’s blue eyes twinkled as he spoke, “It is the least I could do. Please let me know if you come across any problems in your work getting ready for the upcoming term.” “I will. Good evening, Albus.” Minerva then turned and walked out of the office and directly towards the front doors of the school. She had determined she would no longer ignore her concerns for Harry and decided that she would go check on him herself. It should be easy to have a look around in her animagus form without alerting either Harry or the Dursleys to her presence in the area. With that thought in mind, she apparated to Privet Drive as soon as she got past the wards around the school. It was already dark outside when she arrived in Surrey so Minerva transformed into her cat animagus and headed for number 4 Privet Drive. Despite the fact it had been nearly eleven years since she had been there, Minerva recognized the area and was easily able to find the house in which she knew Harry dwelled. Minerva circled the house trying to decide how she was going to go about her investigation of Harry Potter. She noticed that one of the house’s windows was outfitted with what looked like prison bars and with a sinking feeling she decided that it was likely that anomaly had something to do with Harry. Therefore, she decided to settle in the bushes under that window and use her powerful feline hearing to try to discern any noises that might come from the house. A couple hours into her vigil, Minerva found herself blinking and shaking her head to make sure she hadn’t accidentally fallen asleep. She thought maybe she was dreaming when she saw a car come flying through the sky and park itself beside the barred window. However, once she heard the voices of several of the Weasley boys she knew she was awake and witnessing the effects of Gryffindor courage mixed with childish decision making. Since she didn’t want anyone to know that she was there, Minerva knew she couldn’t intervene with the situation as much as the teacher in her was screaming for her to step in and put a stop to all this nonsense. Instead, Minerva sat very still and stained to hear every word that was being exchanged by the Weasleys and Harry Potter. After hearing Harry say that he didn’t do magic in front of muggles as well as his description of being locked in his room with his school things locked somewhere else in the house, Minerva felt her anger build at the unfairness of Harry’s situation. She also began to doubt whatever methods Albus was using to monitor Harry. In that moment, Minerva decided she had a lot of work to do if she was going to keep the promise she had made to take better care of Harry. After watching the car fly off in the distance, Minerva moved away from the house, transformed, and then apparated back to Hogwarts. |
| Reviews 46 |
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