The Teacher's Son

Chapter 23

"Harry, this will take quite some time. You may not get it right away, that's why we are going to do it over the summer. There are some parts that take quite a long amount of time, understand?" McGonagall had the ingredients spread out on her desk.

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously, eyeing the things his mother had stacked up in front of him.

"You're going to make a very special potion. I'll help you along the way. There's quite a few steps, but hopefully you'll get it well enough." 

Harry cautiously dug through the things on the desk. "Is this a mandrake leaf?"

"Yes. Don't rip it, it needs to be whole for what we're using it for." His mother chided, picking the book off her desk.

"Alright." Harry put down the leaf and began to inspect the other ingredients, careful not to rip or break anything. "What is this all for, Mum?"

"This." Minerva held the open book in front of him, it's dusty pages open to the one she'd had open quite a few times.

It took Harry a few tries to read what it said, but when he deciphered the scrawled, spidery writing, his eyes widened.

"An Animagus? You're gonna help me become an animagus?" 

"Yes." Minerva smiled at him. "You seemed so excited about it, I figured you could try. Not all wizards and witches can do it, by the way. Some try for years and never succeed."

"I want to try." Harry grinned, excited. 

"And try you will. But it will take a while. We should get started as soon as possible." They read the instructions, though Minerva knew them by heart, and started to work.

Harry brought the cauldron to a boil and added the first ingredient, stirring it as the book said.

"Oh Harry, we'll be going to the beach again this summer as well." Minerva added as she watched him chop up a second ingredient, carefully so he wouldn't mess up.

"Cool." Harry said, his tongue sticking out from between his teeth a little as he concentrated.

Minerva chuckled at him, then looked up as she heard a knock at the door of her outer office.

"Stay here, keep working, call if you need me okay?" Harry nodded.

McGonagall opened the door to her outer office to find Dumbledore standing with a familiar face.

"Remus." She smiled at the man. "What a surprise."

"Hello, Professor." Remus Lupin smiled back at her.

"Please, you aren't a schoolboy any longer. You may call me Minerva." She smiled at him. 

"May we come in, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked.

"Of course, come in." She let them in and walked into her other office, grabbing a tea tray. "Harry, I have some company, Professor Dumbledore and someone else, if you need me I'll be in my other office."

"Okay." He was crushing the leaves of some plant and adding them pinch by pinch to the potion, which was bubbling a cheery yellow.

Minerva took the tray back into the other office and kicked the door closed with her foot. 

"So, Remus, what brings you here?" She waved her wand to make the tea and quickly poured it for her two guests and herself.

"Well, Headmaster Dumbledore asked me to take a teaching position. I agreed."

Minerva raised an eyebrow. "So soon? School's only been out for a week and a half."

"He'll be helpful, I feel." Dumbledore said serenely. "He can teach the boy as well."

"Albus if that is your only reason for having him here, I suggest you find one to tell others. Severus, for one, will be particularly unhappy with this."

"Severus? Severus Snape?" Remus asked, setting his tea down.

"He teaches Potions." Minerva explained. 

"Severus will not say anything, I shall make sure of it." Dumbledore answered her question. 

"You'd better. No offense to your mental strength, Remus, but having a werewolf teacher that gets bombarded with angry Howlers from parents every morning will not be good for the students to see."

Before either man could answer, Harry's voice piped through the door.

"Mum? Mum, can I come in?"

Without waiting for an answer, he shoved the door open and froze when he saw the unfamiliar face watching him.

"Uh..."

"What do you need Harry?" McGonagall asked, drawing her son's attention.

"I finished with the part from today, what should I do?"

"Leave it, I'll move it somewhere it can sit while it brews. Why don't you go find something to do."

"Okay!" Harry pulled the door closed, seeming delighted for a reason to leave the room and get away from the man with brown eyes who stared at him with a pained expression.

"Is he..." Remus trailed off, still looking at the door.

"Yes." McGonagall answered.

"And you..."

"Yes. He's safe, Remus."

[A/N I think I figured out how to get my wattpad to work with me, stand by for more details... and yes, Harry is going to learn how to become an animagus]