Harry Potter-McGonagall

Chapter 5 -Melted Fudge

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

Harry Potter-McGonagall – Chapter 5 –Melted Fudge

With eyes that reflected every bit of light in the dark corridors, the predator stalked the stone hallway. As its claws made a slight tapping sound on the floor, one of its companions, a dark brown cat, followed closely behind him. He could sense that a meal was nearby. Another companion, a tabby cat, was following the first very closely. He did his best to ignore the deliciously-smelling raven that was flying above them as he followed his senses to find the storehouse of food. Turning the corner, the ginger part-kneazle hit the jackpot. At least ten mice were together in the corner. Crookshanks clawed for the closest, but it managed to avoid being caught, but this cat wasn't about to give up. It struck again, this time securing its supper in its claws. After it took a bite, he looked at its companions, expecting that they'd caught a mouse as well. He knew that two of them had somehow achieved the great honor of becoming felines, so when he noticed them following him, he decided to show them what it was to be a cat, and there was nothing more natural than this. The black one, Harry, had a mouse caught in his claws, but wasn't eating it, while his closest companion, Hermione, merely had a mouse cornered. Crookshanks took another bite of his prey and hoped they'd get the hint. However, it was not meant to be. His human reverted back to her original form, probably because she hadn't eaten enough. He pitied her losing such a magnificent, attractive form, instead settling for only two legs, not nearly enough fur, without even whiskers to help her sense what was around her. A few seconds later, Harry lost his form as well. "I can't do it," declared Hermione. "I can't kill and eat a mouse." "Then I guess you couldn't survive as a cat," replied Harry with a smirk. "I hope that doesn't mean you'll try to hunt ravens instead," added Padma, who'd transformed back as well. "Ha ha," replied Hermione. "Why don't you try eating worms and see how you like it?" At about that time, they heard another mouse squeal in agony as Crookshanks caught it. "Anyway," Harry cut in, "Regardless of the results, I do think we learned a bit more about what it means to be a cat." "I wonder if I should start following the post owls," suggested Padma, "to learn more about being a bird." "Might not be a bad idea," Hermione commented after a few seconds. "What we really should be doing is spying on the Slytherins," stated Harry. "I'll bet that at least one of them knows what Voldemort is planning next. We've got a secret passage that leads to their common room, Animagus forms, and an invisibility cloak." "It does make sense," agreed Padma. Harry smirked as he stated, "I'll use my cloak to spy on the Slytherin girls' showers to see if any of them have Dark Marks," before being smacked upside the head by his girlfriend. "...or not," he added quickly.

--HPM--

"You have my word that I'll do my best to make sure you get more time to spend with your son, Mrs. Welsh," he promised with his winning smile. The witch he was speaking to was a secretary at the Ministry of Magic who had recently returned from maternity leave, but she was being forced to work too many hours – sixty per week. She thought that by appealing to the Minister of Magic himself, she could get results. Consequently, she caught him while he was leaving the Ministry building. "Thank you, Minister Fudge." "It's no problem at all. Good evening." He then pulled a small parchment notebook and ever-wet quill from his pocket and wrote, "Have Mrs. Welsh sacked," before returning it to its rightful place. He briskly walked to the floo exit and clearly requested, "Fudge Manor." Neither he nor anyone else noticed the small rat with a silver paw that jumped into the floo with him. The Minister's home may not have been as grand as Malfoy Manor, but it was impressive. It had three floors, all of which were uncommonly tall, marble floors and wooden walls. Expensive artwork could be found hanging on the walls throughout the mansion. Outside were several acres of a finely manicured lawn. All of this was maintained by one very hard-working house elf. Cornelius stepped out of his tall fireplace skillfully and walked in the direction of his dining room as he brushed the soot off his suit and bowler hat. "Dinky!" he shouted as he noticed something wrong. With a loud POP, a male elf wearing a tea cozy that had an ornate 'F' on it appeared, bowing low. "Yes, master?" "Why is there dust on the floor behind me?" "Because Master is leaving that behind as he..." "Clean it up, now, and be quick about it! I want my supper in five minutes! Is that clear?" Fudge yearned for the good old days when he could hit his elf for oversights like that. However, he couldn't imagine the embarrassment of being caught breaking one of the stupid elf-abuse laws, so he didn't think the elf was worth kicking. Dinky managed to clean the floor and still serve the meal on time, mainly because the meal had been ready before the master of the house had arrived, kept hot by a warming charm. Fudge sat down at the huge oak table and ate alone. His wife had left him years before, so he was used to this arrangement. After he'd finished his caviar, he retired to his family library, which was a large room with decorative wooden shelving that held hundreds of tomes, none of which had been read by the esteemed Minister of Magic. He merely liked to be able to claim that he spent an hour in his family library every night before bed. When he'd finished his relaxation in a room formerly dedicated to learning, he walked to the master bedroom and changed from his suit into a long sky blue nightshirt. Just after he lay down, he heard a small click.