Back to School
Minerva shifts uncomfortably as her robes catch on the new contact points growing on her back. Dan and Emma closed their practice the other day as their changes became impossible to hide. Her own are probably only a month or so behind. A faint flash of light causes her to look up, Albus following suit beside her. She knows that he couldn't possibly have seen the flash, or the atmospheric shockwave that she's now following. It only takes seconds for the lander to drop below the horizon, so she turns towards Albus.
"Ye know I can do this meself?"
"Of that I have no doubt Minerva. However, both Mr Potter and Miss Granger have been absent from school for two and a half weeks. As the headmaster it is my duty to enquire after their health, as well as inform them of how they are going to be expected to keep up with their lessons."
Minerva's eyes sparkle as she punctures that particular bubble, "Why, Albus, didn't you know that they have both been keeping up with their wanded subjects? Why do you think I have been unavailable most evenings? I believe that you'll find they are well versed in what they missed. Additionally, we ran into Pandora Lovegood, and she was kind enough to tutor them in potion making. Alas they couldn't do anything about actual brewing due to a lack of ingredients. However, I have absolutely no doubt that their techniques is superlative."
Albus bristles at the use of his first name, "Regardless, they will need to do at least one evening lesson with each professor, except Binns."
"As you will."
Minerva turns to the forest as she hears the tell-tale whine of the lander. Not a few minutes later both Harry and Hermione come bounding, leaping, and sliding out of the forbidden forest. Coming to a halt in front of them, by performing an ariel somersault that would leave any gymnast green with envy, they both stand side by side in their respective Warframes.
"Mr Potter, Miss Granger. I am glad to see you have returned safely."
Harry chuckles, "Rightly it's Miss Potter at the moment. Technically Hermione would be the same as she's in the same clan. For the moment, just call me Harry."
Albus frowns, "I do not recall seeing any notifications about Miss Granger joining a clan."
Harry looks at Minerva with a questioning stance, "I didn't know that clans were a thing here too."
Minerva shrugs, "They're not really used anymore. I belong to clan McGonagall, though most treat it like a family name these days."
"How would I go about setting up Clan Potter?"
Albus goes to speak but Minerva talks over him, "The goblins should be able to help. They know the Ministry rules and regulations better than just about anyone else."
"Ok, thanks. Hey, Ironclaw, sorry to wake you. How's Ironjaw? Good good. Listen, what do you know about clans in the Ministry sense? Oh great, can you start the process of setting up clan Potter? Yep. Yep. Myself, Hermione, Luna, and Kitty. Granger. Lovegood. She doesn't actually have an identity here. Oh, you can? Great, could you get her a mundane identity too? She's going to be working with Hermione's family as a dental assistant while we're attending school. Cy's in orbit just ask him for any photos you need. Diamonds? Sure, how big? I'll get those done tonight or tomorrow. Thanks, bye."
Albus strokes his beard in a calming fashion while he is completely side-lined as Harry pretends to talk to a goblin at Gringotts. When Harry finishes talking, Albus angrily snaps, "Mr Potter, I do not appreciate being ignored so that you can pretend to have a conversation with Gringotts."
Hermione, shaking with mirth, calls Ironjaw, "Hello, sorry to bother you again, but could you send an owl to let a Mr Dumbledore know that we are actually talking to you. Oh, I'm Hermione. Yes, that Hermione. I'd imagine my name came up as TheFairyQueen, that's what I have my online presence set as. Yes we both have slates so you only need to send stuff that actually needs signing. You can include Minerva with that, I'll send you the details later. Thanks, sorry to bother you."
Minerva starts as she receives a message from Harry while Hermione's talking,
{Harry} Here's Ironjaw's contact details if you need them. I've just added the chat overlay to your systems, so you can send us a message whenever you want.
{NewUser1} How did you do that?
{Harry} I've been continuing to learn how to use my implants.
{NewUser1} Are you going to explain that?
{Harry} Maybe later, Hermione's about to wrap up.
"Miss Granger, Mr Potter, detention both of you tomorrow after school for disrespecting a senior staff member."
Minerva leans her head back and sighs before calling Ironclaw herself.
"Who is it this time?" Ironclaw's irritated voice says in her call panel.
"May the size of your gold only be equalled by the skulls of your enemies."
"May gold flow into your vault as freely as your enemies blood flows in the street. Now that the pleasantries are out the way, who am I talking to?"
"Minerva McGonagall."
"To what do I own the pleasure?"
"Albus is throwing a tantrum because he isn't the most important person currently standing around. I don't think he's quite realised that Harry and Hermione don't actually need to attend Hogwarts. Anyway, I was wondering if you would be kind enough to add my name to the letter you're about to send. As a person that is able to contact you 'magically'."
Ironclaw laughs, "Certainly, would you like me to take over your accounts as well?"
"Only if it isn't too much of a bother."
"Are you a Tenno?"
"No, more like Harry's mother, and becoming more so every day."
"I see, are there any others like you?"
"Hermione's parents."
"I will inform the director. Harry has brought us much profit in the last few months, we hope that those associated with him will increase that bounty."
"Thank you for the honour. I must go, Albus' eyes are about to go supernova. May your enemies fall before your blade like wheat before the scythe."
"May your enemies tremble at the sight of you. Expect the owl in the next minute or two."
Albus had never been so insulted by not just two students, but also his Deputy Head. Did they think he was born yesterday? "Minerva, I know you like your pranks. However, this has gone too far. You are undermining me in front of two students."
Minerva shakes her head, "Albus, if you truly believe that then you are going far more senile than I had imagined. However, you don't need to take our words for it, there should be an owl arriving soon, so we can wait right here."
"Minerva, what's happened to you?"
"I've seen Harry's home, I've spoken at length to his mother. And I've seen first hand what he has had to contend with." – She sweeps her hand at the land and castle – "This? This would mean absolutely nothing in the face of the things they face. They don't have magic in Harry's home, they don't need it. You ask what's happened to me? I've had the situations here put into perspective. We are so small, so very very small. You're protecting the stone from Voldemort, because he is looking for eternal life?" – She points at Harry and Hermione – "They already have it, they've also got eternal youth to go with it. It's not uncommon to find mundane people that have lived for hundreds of years there. All without an iota of magic. There used to be an entire society of immortals, they're hopefully all dead now."
An owl appears out of nowhere and takes a couple of wing beats before landing on Hermione's head and holding it's leg out towards Albus.
Seeing the owl, Minerva rises from the ground doing a slow pirouette, "I believe that letter is for you. Once you've read it, I believe you'll owe those two an apology. I'll be in my office when you wish to tender the one you owe me as well."
With that she flies up to the external bridge closest to her office.
Albus turns back to look at his students, Harry does a slow backflip in mid-air. At the same time Hermione sits in the air on nothing, while examining one of her butterflies that has perched on a finger. Hoping that the slight tremor he can feel in his fingers isn't visible, he reaches out and takes the letter from the owl. Carefully checking the seal, both visually and with magic, he opens the letter and slumps as he reads it. Not only does it confirm that they were in contact with Gringotts, it also lists chapter and verse the Ministry laws that state that without a current criminal conviction, business with Gringotts cannot be prevented or interrupted.
Albus grinds out, "My apologies for accusing you of not conducting business with Gringotts. Your punishment has been rescinded."
Harry waves him off, "It's no matter. Would you be able to let us know when we need to see the professors about our lessons?"
"I will ensure that Professor McGonagall has the details at breakfast. Please ensure that you leave your armour behind in future."
"I'm sorry Albus, we can't do that as Hermione still hasn't fully recovered from her injury. The 'Armour' is essentially acting as a life support device. As her clan leader, I am wearing my 'armour' in solidarity. I am also pre-empting another incident. Please note that we are wearing distinct 'armour', we will continue to wear the same 'armour' throughout the year to make it easy to identify us."
"I have to insist, we cannot allow students to walk around with such weapons."
Harry laughs, "Insist away, however we are less dangerous to your students wearing the 'armour' than not. I was not wearing my 'armour' when I shot Hermione. At least if we injure someone wearing the 'armour' the wound can be treated using conventional medicine. Professor McGonagall knows all the details, and we will of course inform Madam Pomphrey under patient healer confidentiality."
Albus puts his political blank face on, that of a kindly grandfather, "Very well, I will make an announcement at breakfast."
"Thank you sir, if you don't mind we need to get to our dorm rooms."
"Go ahead."
He watches as Hermione shrinks down to the size of a pixie, and her butterflies take off. She then flies up to the same bridge his deputy used. Harry, on the other hand, sends a golden fairy in the same direction before disappearing and reappearing on the bridge.
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Neville sits stroking Whisper's ears as he watches the common room. The two of them have become attached since Harry left him behind with no notice. On the table in front of him is a half-written letter to his gran. In the dorms things have been both better and worse than they were. His classmates are still jealous of him, especially with his connection to Harry's cat. However, the new prefects are being more proactive about things. He's managed to have two sessions with the twins, and Professor Snape only spent half the lesson breathing down his neck. On the other side of things, problems from the rest of the houses have gone up as the rumour mill went into overdrive. He's heard everything from the prefects killed Harry, which is why they're in disgrace now, to Harry eloped with Hermione. Completely ignoring the fact that she's only 11. Picking up his quill, he starts to write about the events of the last month. Suddenly there's a commotion by the portrait and two things clamber through and stand up in the face of wands drawn from all the upper years. He's about to duck below the table when Whisper jumps off and runs over to rub his head against the leg of one of them.
"Harry?" he whispers.
"Oh, hey Neville." The thing waves at him.
Professor McGonagall pushes her way in from behind them, "Wands down everyone."
It takes a few minutes, but eventually all of the drawn wands have been put away. The common room is also absolutely packed as everyone comes down from their dorms to gawk at what's going on.
Putting her wand to her throat Professor McGonagall looks at everyone. "Everyone, this is Hermione." – She indicates the thing with the butterflies – "The other one is Harry. Harry had a, condition, that meant she was a danger to those around her while she slept."
Alicia speaks up, "Isn't Harry a wizard?"
"While Hermione has been recovering enough to re-join the school, I have been visiting every night. In Harry's culture everyone wears a suit of 'armour' like this, as they are all survivors of a similar event. Much like our own culture, they are separate from the vast majority of humanity. I have been ensuring that Harry's English has been improving so it should be easier to converse with her. As such I will let her answer your question."
Harry nods to Professor McGonagall, "We have around 30 distinct designs of 'armour'. Because we can all wear any of the ones that we have built, we refer to each other using the sex of the 'armour'." – Harry floats over to the stairs of the girls dorm, and then up them – "As you can see, the difference is more than cosmetic. In English the name of this suit translates to 'wisp'. Hermione's translates to queen of the fairies, or Titania."
Katie Bell asks, "Is that from Shakespeare?"
Hermione nods, "It is, just like my own name comes from his plays."
Whisper finishes scenting Harry and bounds back over to Neville.
Professor McGonagall continues, "We have two of our lions back. I do not want to see a repeat of the circumstances that lead to Hermione's misadventure. If you feel that either of them are insulting or snubbing you, I urge you to talk to them first. This is something you should all be doing anyway, but it's especially important now where the differences in expectation are very different."
One of the boys calls, "Why do you keep referring them by their first names?"
Hermione places a taloned hand on Professor McGonagall's shoulder, "I'll take this one. Due to the injury I sustained I have chosen to join Harry's culture. One of the most striking things about his people is that every single one of them is an orphan. Apart from myself and Luna that is. For those who don't know, Luna is the daughter of the owner of the Quibbler. Because of this, none of them have a family name. Instead, they have a collective name, a name that they reclaimed after it was coined to refer to the incident. That name is Tenno. I am Tenno along with my brothers and sisters. The closest they have to a family name is the name of the clan they belong to. I am proud to say that Harry has invited me into his own clan. Clan Potter."
As the entire room is silent, Neville watches the professor leave unobtrusively. There's a flash of yellow light and Harry is floating next to him. Neville watches as he, no she, lifts up first one leg, and then the other and sits cross-legged in mid-air. Hermione also makes her way over.
"Hey Neville, sorry about missing our reading. If you'd like we can start doing that again."
"I think I'd like that. Er, Harry do you want Whisper back?"
Harry looks at her Kavat before shaking her head, "No, he seems taken with you, so go ahead."