Harry McGonagall

Chapter 34 - Acclimating to France

Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry McGonagall – Chapter 34 – Acclimating to France

A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the French language to express the message I've written in English. As previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that language.

-HM-HM-HM-

"So, Harry, are you going to tell me how you suddenly went from barely knowing the French alphabet to being a fluent speaker?" asked Aunt Minnie. She and Harry were sitting alone at a table in the Great Hall (although they called it the Dining Chamber) of Beauxbatons waiting for dinner to begin in about fifteen minutes. "I know you can't master a language from one lesson per week during a year."

She was referring to Professor LaVelle's lessons of the previous year, which Harry had attended and learned a bit in. He'd also attended some lessons this year before the tournament. Although he certainly hadn't learned much of the language from those classes (hence the desperate need for his magical mind meld with Hermione), he had learned enough that he could apply his newly acquired knowledge immediately. Otherwise, he'd have taken weeks processing the information his girlfriend had given him. Therefore, he did not consider those lessons to be a waste. Looking at his aunt, he realized that he'd better answer her.

"Um, well," he began, switching back to his American accent, "Hermione had this idea, you see."

"Go on."

Although he didn't know why, he felt very uncomfortable talking about what they'd done. However, he knew Aunt Minnie would not accept anything less than the truth. "She, kind of, taught me through Legilimency." He said the last part as fast as he could. Minerva's eyes bulged out at that proclamation as her lips thinned.

"What? Do you realize how...dangerous that could be?"

"Dangerous?" he repeated, showing confusion on his face. "How? Our books didn't say it was dangerous."

"They said NOTHING about teaching through that manner at all. That means it hasn't been properly tested before, so anything could happen."

"I think most people just don't want to completely open their minds to another person like that," Harry countered, knowing that his girlfriend's idea had worked flawlessly. "It was rather...personal." He involuntarily blushed at that statement. "But the point is that it worked perfectly, and since I'd had a few French lessons before, I came out of it ready to speak the language fluently. For example, I now know that 'Beauxbatons' translated roughly means 'beautiful wands.' It was a bit overwhelming to learn the language, but I'm glad I did."

"I wasn't aware she spoke French so well."

"Oh, yeah. You know her parents have taken her to Paris several times. She learned the language as a little girl so she wouldn't be helpless if she ever got lost. Probably also so she could read French books. I know Hermione said she spoke a bit of French before joining the class, but that's just her modesty. I honestly don't know why she took the class at all, except maybe to review." He grinned. "I remember that she did want to sign up for Muggle Studies that year, too."

"Yes," replied Minerva with a small smile. "She never feels she knows anything well enough. Always trying to learn more."

With a far away look in his eyes and a grin on his face, Harry softly whispered, "Yeah."

Putting a hand on her nephew's shoulder, Headmistress McGonagall replied, "You'll see Hermione soon. Don't worry."

"I suppose." At about that time, the doors burst open, revealing a herd of French students, all wearing robes of fine silk. The girls' outfits were pale blue while the boys' were a slightly darker shade. One thing he noticed is that those school uniforms looked like they weren't as thick as the Hogwarts robes he was wearing. He'd slowly been realizing that it was much warmer at Beauxbatons than Hogwarts and he really needed to either start wearing different clothes or begin using cooling charms on himself.