kbinnz - Harry's New Home

Snape quickly deposited the puppy on the ground as Harry frowned in concentration. A brief incantation later, and Sirius sat where the puppy had been.

"Merlin, that was weird!" Sirius gasped, leaping to his feet and patting himself all over, as if to reassure himself that he had been properly reconstituted. "I couldn't change or anything!"

"Well, of course not," McGonagall snapped before anyone else could. "You were under an external geas. You were, for all intents and purposes, a cocker spaniel, which is not a noticeably magical breed." She turned back to where Harry had been hoping to sidle away. "And how exactly did you learn that incantation, Mr Potter?"

"Uh, well, you did it," he pointed out hesitantly. "With the trollтАж And then I saw it in one of Da's books, and, erm, it seemed really cool, soтАж"

"And it was, Harry!" Sirius assured him hastily, then turned a baleful look at Snape. "Until somebody attacked me."

"What?" Snape demanded furiously. "You attacked me!" He brandished his ripped trouser leg. "Remember this?"

"You kicked me!"

"I pushed you away, you stupid mutt! And just why were you attacking my ankle anyway?"

"Me? I was a harmless, cute, little puppy!"

"Harmless? Ha! You were as big a menace as usual! Look! I'm bleeding!"

"That's just a scratch!" Sirius scoffed, then rubbed his backside and winced. "I'm likely black and blue from where you beat me!"

"Beat you? I'll show you тАУ"

"Enough!" McGonagall's voice cut through their escalating argument. "Both of you. Go see Poppy."

The two wizards blinked at her. "But тАУ"

"GO!"

With mutual glowers of antipathy and muttered exchanges of "This is all your fault", the men reluctantly moved off. "Er, I could go with them," Harry offered.

"Not quite yet, Mr Potter." McGonagall's glare nailed him to the spot. "This latest prank of yours had the capability to be quite dangerous, and my patience with all of you is running thin."

Harry bit his lip nervously. He hadn't seen Professor McGonagall this upset since the time that Ron and Draco had tried hexing each other's hedgehogs and managed to turn the entire class' supply into one giant pincushion. And what did she mean "all of you"? It was just him playing the pranks on Padfoot. "Sorry," he quickly supplied, hoping to mollify the witch.

"I will have Madame Pince send you a book on Transfiguration hazards, and I expect a 3 foot report on it by this time next week. If you are able to carry out such complex transfigurations, young man, then you had best be aware of what you are doing."

"Yes'm," Harry agreed quickly. She had a point, and a three foot essay wasn't that bad.

"And while I am still at the castle, we had best arrange for some additional lessons," she mused, as much to herself as Harry. "Better to find out exactly how far this talent stretches before there are other students to deal with as well." Her gaze sharpened as she refocused on him. "An early bedtime will not be amiss either, Mr Potter. You may enjoy the rest of your afternoon as you see fit, because after dinner, I expect you to go directly to your room and bed."

He opened his mouth to argue тАУ in bed by eight o'clock?! In the summer???!! It wasn't even like school was in session or she was still his Head of House! тАУ but he suddenly realized he was unexpectedly tired, and even the thought of protesting the punishment was rather too strenuous. Besides, it was pretty clear that the school calendar had little to do with anything. He nodded obediently. "Yes, Auntie Min. I really am sorry."

McGonagall sighed to herself. Well, at least it wasn't a Weasley. "Very well, Mr Potter. I'm glad we understand one another." At her gesture of dismissal, Harry trudged away, stifling a yawn. His dignity wouldn't allow him to take a nap тАУ not after being subjected to such an outrageously early bedtime тАУ but he thought that wandering down to Hagrid's hut might be a good idea. The giant was always happy to see him and he might be able to stay awake when he saw whatever creature Hagrid was nursing back to health this week. If not, and he ended up snoozing in the sun with Fang, Hagrid wouldn't mind one bit.

Minerva watched Harry's departure, then wasted no time marching to Remus' new quarters. She found him there, working on his lesson plans, and did not mince her words. "Young man, I am very disappointed in you!"

Remus blinked. What had he done now? He hadn't heard that tone from Minerva since she had accused him of complicity in James' and Sirius' graduation prank.

Happily, she wasn't waiting for him to respond and swept on. "What is wrong with you? Sitting there like a lump while chaos reigns around you! I expected better of my replacement тАУ temporary though you may be."

Light dawned. "Oh. You mean Harry and, ah, the pranks?"

"You are turning that boy into a prize brat, Remus, and I will not stand for it!"

"But Sirius doesn't really mind, and it's making Severus so happy тАУ " Remus protested.

McGonagall cut him off. " - And it is doubtless helping to assuage your conscience as well, but that is irrelevant. The three of you alleged adults are using an innocent child to work out your own grievances, and you are corrupting him in the process." She glared at him fiercely. "What do you imagine Lily would have to say if she knew that you were encouraging Harry to behave as badly as James at his worst? Hexing and ambushing someone like that?"

"Sirius doesn't really mind," Remus whined, then cringed at the lameness of his excuse.

"No, because he sees this as further proof that Harry is just like James, and how do you suppose it will make Harry feel when he realizes that? He will, you know. He's quite a clever child." Remus shifted uncomfortably. "And instead of helping Sirius to see the many differences between James and Harry and to come to appreciate Harry in his own right, you are encouraging this fantasy, because you feel that Sirius is finally getting punished a bit for making Severus so unhappy when you were all in school together and when you, as a prefect, should have stepped in but didn't. Allowing him to be pranked now does not make up for shirking your duty twenty years ago."

Remus was squirming in shame. "But тАУ"

McGonagall wasn't through with him yet. "And while I am disappointed in Severus as well, it would require superhuman restraint on his part not to enjoy seeing Sirius Black suffer a fraction of what he dished out. But we both know that if Harry is permitted to enjoy carte blanche in hexing adults, it will be a very easy step for him to start pranking his classmates and others when school resumes. How confusing do you think it will be for him if he is suddenly punished for doing what you have encouraged all summer long? You three have led him right to the top of this slippery slope and are poised to push him over the edge for the sake of your own demons. Is this how you are planning to carry out your duties as Head of House?"

"No, Professor," Remus said meekly, his face flaming.

"Then I expect you to handle this. I had high hopes that you would тАУ at last тАУ be a buffer between Severus and Sirius and enforce some peace between those two. Do not disappoint me again." She glared at him. "Go hex each other or punch each other or get drunk together or whatever it is that men do to sort things out, but I expect this nonsense to end. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Good." She swept out, managing just as dramatic an exit as if she had taken robe-swirling lessons from Snape. Behind her, Remus let out a long breath and mopped his forehead.

That evening, Harry managed тАУ barely тАУ not to nod off in the middle of dinner, but his da had to escort his stumbling feet down to the dungeons. "I dunno why I'm so tired," Harry protested, after yet another jaw-cracking yawn.