Harry McGonagall - Raised By Minerva

Chapter 6 - Conspiracies

As Harry was sitting at the completely empty Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall, he looked around. The four Weasleys were at the Gryffindor table, and there were a couple Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, but apparently not one Ravenclaw had elected to stay at Hogwarts for the break. The staff, including Aunt Minnie, was at the Head Table. Harry had arrived with her about an hour before, and they were waiting for the other vacationing students to arrive. He knew that they were due back any minute. Snape and Dumbledore were looking anywhere but at him.

The doors opened, drawing everyone's attention to the crowd of students that were entering the hall and separating into their houses. After about fifteen seconds, he heard a female voice call his name. After a few moments, he spotted the origin of that voice as his bushy-haired friend broke through the crowd and ran toward him.

"Hi, Hermione!" he said happily as she sat down next to him. "How was the train ride?"

"Great, except that Draco Malfoy had to visit us." She grinned, "He was awfully mad." She chuckled, "I guess he's even madder now."

Harry couldn't help smiling as she was laughing, even though he didn't know what happened. "Why was he mad?"

"You know that news about C.A.R.E. that I have?"

"Yeah."

"Mandy Brocklehurst showed her mum, who works at the Daily Prophet, all our pictures, including the one that clearly shows that Lucius Malfoy was the man beating his elf."

"So?"

She huffed impatiently, "So he doesn't want to ruin his reputation as a benevolent creep. She showed him the photos and got him to give clothes to that elf, Dobby, in exchange for keeping his name and picture out of the article she wrote about elves."

"That's great about Dobby! Mrs. Brocklehurst wrote an article in the Daily Prophet?" Harry asked wide-eyed.

"Yes! It was a really good one! It even mentioned C.A.R.E! She's gotten several people that want to get involved with it, at least to stop the physical abuse of elves. Of course, she got some negative responses as well."

"She didn't get in trouble at work, did she?" he asked, worried.

"No, no. Her editor feels that if there's a major response to something, it's a good thing. He even wants her to write a follow-up article every few months."

"That is great!"

"We got a few hundred more members - all adults! I had to order more badges for them!"

"That's great! Do you need some money to cover that?"

"No, enough sent the money in advance that I was able to take care of it!"

"Terrific!"

"Yeah, and Amelia Bones is drafting a bill to make House Elf abuse illegal. She's not sure if it will pass or not, but she's going to try. Neville Longbottom's grandmother has a seat on the Wizengamot, and she's actually joined C.A.R.E! A lot of the new members will be displaying our literature out in their places of business - Flourish and Blotts, The Leaky Cauldron, and even a bar called the Hogg's Head that's located in Hogsmeade!"

He smiled broadly. "That's wonderful!"

"Yes!" She then looked at him more closely. "You've got new glasses."

His ears turned pink. "Yeah, my dad had me get my eyes checked."

"I really like those gold frames. They match your hair, even your eyes, better than the black frames."

Whispering, he said, "Actually, the black frames match my original hair color."

Smiling and still whispering, she said, "I suppose, but I just have a hard time picturing you with dark hair. It doesn't seem right to me."