Harry Potter: Marauder at Howgarts

"And you didn't stop them?" Harry asked, curious. He handed her a tea-cup and she changed it back into a rock.

"I might have inadvertently forced them into breaking the Vow if I'd confronted them directly so, no." Professor McGonagall confirmed. "I did, however, tell your father that he could come to me for any advice or help on any transfiguration problem without fear of reprisal which he did over the next year or so. And when they all successfully completed the animagus transformation and joined Remus on the full moons, I would keep watch in my cat form to ensure if they ran into difficulties I was nearby to assist." She stopped and looked over at him gaping at her. "You're no doubt shocked I didn't take points and award them detention."

"Well, you did take all those points from us when we were first years and you caught us out after curfew." Harry pointed out.

"I'd already taken points from Slytherin's Mister Malfoy for the same reason." She pointed out. "It would have been favouritism not to take points from each of you just because you were in my House."

"I guess," sighed Harry, although he knew Snape in her position would have simply let his House members go with a detention.

"And while I realised after speaking with Hagrid that your rule-breaking was done in the same spirit of friendship that motivated your father's full moon affairs, at the time I thought you were playing a prank on Mister Malfoy." Professor McGonagall admitted with chagrin. "Which is also why I ignored your warning about the stone, I'm afraid. To some extent I was as guilty as others in seeing your father in you rather than you for yourself back then."

"You mean like Snape, I mean, Professor Snape?" Harry asked as she closed up the bag and motioned for them to go back up the stairs.

"And others." Professor McGonagall said firmly.

Their conversation paused while they focused on the steps and Harry went over her admission in his head with a frown. As soon as they were seated at the table in the sunroom and provided with refreshments by Dobby he blurted out his question.

"How come you didn't realise the Weasleys' pet rat was Peter if you knew he was animagus?"

Her eyebrows shot upwards. "The thought never occurred to me." She admitted ruefully.

"Not even when the rat lived for years and years?" Harry questioned, inching forward in his seat to lean on the table.

"I assumed the Weasleys were doing what most parents do when a short-lived animal is a pet." Professor McGonagall said.

Harry looked at her bemused.

"Buy a similar looking animal and pass it off as the same creature." She explained with a small smile. "I got a pet fish called Bubbles when I was five. I loved watching Bubbles swim around in her fish-bowl. My mother told me later in life that there were actually twenty different Bubbles until I was the one who found her dead one morning rather than my parents."

"Oh." Harry suddenly remembered the goldfish Dudley had won one year at the town fair. It had died rather quickly and his Aunt Petunia had replaced it with an identical looking goldfish. Obviously Dudley had gotten bored soon after and when that one had died, it hadn't been replaced.

"I'm not sure I would have recognised Mister Pettigrew even close-up," Professor McGonagall continued, "I watched from a considerable distance during the full moons as canines and felines don't mix too well in my experience."

Harry stifled a chuckle at the thought of Sirius and Remus chasing their former teacher in her cat form.

"And truthfully I thought Mister Pettigrew was dead. The idea that a rat could be him didn't enter my mind." Professor McGonagall said. "Just as it didn't enter my mind that Sirius could use his animagus form to escape from Azkaban as he told me this morning. I believed that the presence of the Dementors would have made transforming impossible."

"Is that why you didn't tell the Headmaster that Sirius could be getting into Hogwarts as Padfoot?" Harry asked, curious.

Her eyes widened. "I assumed the Headmaster knew. He did find your father and Sirius outside the Willow one full moon in their sixth year in an altercation with Severus."

Harry shook his head. "Sirius told me they were all in their human forms when the Headmaster showed up."

Professor McGonagall looked disconcerted. "Well, I'm still certain he knows." She took a sip of her pumpkin juice. "Shall we discuss the scholarship?"

Harry nodded and she reached into her bag and pulled out a folder filled with parchment.

"Now firstly how much do you know about how Hogwarts assigns places to muggleborns?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Not much." Harry said truthfully. Hermione probably knew; it was probably in Hogwarts: A History. "Actually, I'm not sure how Hogwarts assigns places generally."

"Well, it's a long story," Professor McGonagall enthused, "originally, the Founders made Hogwarts open to all. It was the first school of its kind. Unfortunately as you know there was a falling out over whether muggleborns would be welcome or not. Eventually, it was accepted that all magical children would be welcome and the Founders simply asked for donations from the families – as much as they could afford, if anything."

She picked up a chocolate digestive, dunked it in her tea, and ate it quickly before it disintegrated.

"Then our population grew and Hogwarts began to struggle financially despite the donations because of the sheer numbers." She cleared her throat. "Eventually, in order to keep the Ministry from assuming control and to retain independence, the Headmaster at the time made standard tuition fees mandatory with scholarships available for a small number of places. The Ministry had to settle for setting up an alternative school for those unable to afford Hogwarts. This all took place in the last century."

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