Daphne stared at her. Then nodded, once.
Together, they left the dorm room, strolled through the common room, and made their way down to breakfast, trying not to look too suspiciously comfortable in the optimal route they took.
Ten minutes later, she sat opposite Daphne at the end of the Slytherin table furthest away from the head table. She inspected the breakfast offering, frowned, grabbed a small slice of bacon, and lowering it into her snake filled pocket. She idly wondered if she could get the house elves to serve fruit muesli.
Harry entered the hall, fresh and bouncy. She had to stop her face from betraying her feelings. She wanted to speak with him so badly. To greet and be greeted. To feel that warm feeling she always got around him.
Harry walked past her and sat in the middle of the table. Students on all sides shuffled away as though he had the pox. He took no notice and reached for the toast.
She bit back a scowl.
"Miss Granger?"
She turned. It was Professor McGonagall.
"Yes, Professor?"
"Headmaster Dumbledore wishes to speak with you in his office. The password is jelly beans."
She adopted a carefully neutral expression.
"I'm sorry, Professor, but I have written instructions from my magical guardian that I may only speak with the headmaster in his presence."
McGonagall frowned. "Miss Granger, our records show the Headmaster is your magical guardian."
"Then I can only suppose the records haven't been updated since my parents appointed Lord Slytherin as my magical guardian." She tapped her first Slytherin vassal coat of arms that was still visible above the new, standard Slytherin arms.
The stern professor's eyes flustered from her robes, to her face, to Daphne, and back to her again. "May I see these written instructions?"
"Certainly." She reached into her bag and handed over an official looking parchment.
McGonagall read. "Well," the professor said, dropping the parchment to her side and looking around at nothing. "This is all… very unexpected." McGonagall's speech was breathy." Do you have any idea why your parents did this, Miss Granger? Have you noticed any strange changes in their behaviour? Perhaps subtle alterations like new interests or new habits. Has there been any-"
"-I hope, Professor," Daphne interrupted, "that you are not accusing my lord of foul play?"
McGonagall's lips thinned. "Miss Greengrass. It is most unusual for a…" the professor hesitated and glanced down the Slytherin table "… for a family in Miss Granger's situation to hand over responsibility of their child to a total stranger. I am only doing what is necessary."
She sighed, stood, turned and gave the now shocked professor a formal curtsey. "Professor, I am thankful for your concern and for the responsibility you are showing for my wellbeing. In this case, I hope I can put your mind at rest by saying that my lord has both mine and my parents full confidence, and that he has been nothing but straight with us in the time we have known him.
"Most of my lord's concern is in leaving those under his care in the lone presence of a political rival who is also the most powerful wizard in the world. Regardless of his reputation for fair dealing, you must see this is a legitimate concern. You will find that Heiress Greengrass has identical written instructions from her parents for the same reasons."
She glanced over at Daphne who nodded.
McGonagall seemed to consider this while fiddling with the bun of her hair. "Very well. If you'll excuse me, I need to inform the headmaster of this development." The transfiguration professor left.
She and Daphne shared a longer than normal look, before busying themselves, once again, with breakfast.
.....
Daphne studied the strange shape hidden by a silk drape on the large desk at the front of the classroom.
"Students!" called the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick. "You are now beginning your formal education of magic. Over the next seven years you will learn all the basics you need to be a proficient wand wielder."
The shape was twice as tall as the diminutive professor, stood as he was on a stack of books on his own desk.
"In this lesson, we're going to cover the basic magic theory, how magic flows, the units we use to measure it, and how some of the tools we use fit into this system. We'll finish by using our wands to measure your current magical capacity."
Granger was vibrating beside her, a look of total focus on her face.
"Let's start with a simple question. What is magic?"
....
Join my P*atreon right now and enjoy more than 60 advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/Divine_Quill (Remove the *)
FREE members get up to 2 chapters for FREE.