Harry McGonagall - Raised by Minerva McGonagall

Chapter 2 - Ready Or Not Hogwarts, Here We Come

As they walked onto the train, they noticed that most of the compartments were already filled. Through the windows on the doors, they saw a set of red-haired twins looking at what appeared to be a tarantula that their dark-skinned friend was holding in a box. They saw one compartment that seemed to be filled with first years, including a brown-haired boy who was holding a toad. They'd have gone inside, except that it only had room for one person.

"You can go in there, if you want, Harry," said Hermione, sadly. "I'm sure I'll find somewhere to sit."

Harry kept walking with her. "Hermione, I said we'd sit together, and that's what we'll do! I don't lie to my friends." He then smiled at her. "Besides, we need to do some planning for C.A.R.E."

"This compartment seems empty," the bushy-haired girl said with a grin.

"Good thing, too. It looks like the last one."

Without hesitation, Harry opened the door and allowed Hermione to go in before him. They put their stuff on the shelves above them and sat down together. "I was thinking," suggested Hermione, "that it would be better to wait about a week to start talking about house-elf rights. That way we might get to know people a bit before"

"Before we convince them we're nutters," he said chuckling. "Sure. The first Saturday after classes begin we'll set out the fliers in our common room to start with our house mates."

Hermione got a worried look on her face. "That's assuming that we're in the same house. I know your aunt is the head of Gryffindor. Do you think that's where you'll end up?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I'd like to think I'm brave enough for Gryffindor, smart enough for Ravenclaw, loyal enough for Hufflepuff, and sneaky enough for Slytherin. But I don't want to be in that house!"

"But Slytherin is supposed to be for ambitious people, not sneaky."

"It's the people who will step on anybody's toes to climb the ladder of success. According to Aunt Minnie, not all of them are dark, but it is the preferred house of dark wizards. Even the ones who aren't dark put their own ambitions above everything else. They just don't have an ambition to go dark. Aunt Minnie also warned me that the head of Slytherin completely favors his house unfairly, so be careful around him. He's the potions master here. His name is Snape."

"Don't you mean, Professor Snape?"

Harry whispered, "Don't tell anyone else this, but my aunt says he doesn't teach at all, so he shouldn't be called a professor. She's been trying to get him sacked for years, bringing the headmaster proof that he's a horrible teacher, but Dumbledore won't listen."

Hermione looked shocked. "But, but she's deputy headmistress. He's got to listen to her!"

"Apparently not. Just make sure not to aggravate Snape."

"That's what my brothers say," said a voice from the door. They turned to see yet another redhead who appeared to be their age. "About Snape, I mean. To hear Fred and George talk about him, he'll give you a detention for not wearing Slytherin robes, no matter what house you're in. I'm Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley."

"Harry McGonagall." He reached out and shook Ron's hand.

"Hermione Granger," she said, also shaking Ron's hand.

"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"That's fine," said Harry, so Ron sat across from them.

"This is Scabbers, by the way," he said, indicating the rat in a cage he was carrying.

"This is Hedwig," Harry said, pointing at the snowy owl in a cage that was on the seat next to Ron.