One Missed Traffic Light
a continuation of "One Traffic Light" by witowsmp and "A Missed Traffic Light" by coolhacker1025
This story is not written with that writers permission, nor the permission of J. K. Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, etc. who own the rights to Harry Potter.
"One Traffic Light" by witowsmp may be found at s/7058158/1/One-Traffic-Light on fanfiction. (After / paste/type the s etc)
Chapter 10
The Trio decided to take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes, because they looked interesting
Ron was a little hacked off that he wouldn't have anyone to help him (read as "cheat for him") in the classes that he was taking. He was taking what some considered to be 'soft options'—Care of Magical Creatures and Divination.
\\/
A couple of days after Easter, McGonagall called the Trio into her office.
"Have a biscuit and sit down," she said offering a tin. The trio declined.
"Don't be silly," she said thrusting the tin into their faces. They each took one. "I'm sure that your wondering why I called you here?"
They nodded.
"Have you been reading the paper?" she asked. The Trio nodded. "Then you must know that a man named Sirius Black has been released from prison. Now, have you been reading the entire articles?"
"Yes," said Ginny and Hermione. "No" said Harry at the same time.
"When you were born, Mr Potter, Mr Sirius Black was named your Godfather," McGonagall stated as she took out a biscuit. "He was the best friend of your father, so it was a logical choice. In Our world, there's not as much religion, so a Godparent is simply the guardian of a child if the parents are incapacitated, such as Mr Longbottom and yourself."
"Are Neville's parents dead?" asked Harry. "I know that he lives with his Gran."
"No, they are not dead," said McGonagall in a mournful tone. "It would be a lot more merciful if they were, for themselves and for their family. No, they were tortured into insanity by a number of Death Eaters, including You-Know-Who's Right-hand woman, Bellatrix Lestrange."
"Why isn't Neville with his Godparents, then?" asked Harry, almost hoping that his guess was incorrect.
"Because unfortunately, his Godparents died a week before his parents were tortured," said McGonagall, and everyone in the room could hear the sadness in her voice. "I'm sorry, Potter, but your parents were good friends of mine once your father left the school. Neville's mum was your godmother, and Lily was Neville's godmother."
She paused for a minute to collect herself, as she was uncharacteristically emotionally compromised.
"This means that we have a situation concerning your Housing at the end of Term," she continued. "The Headmaster, whom I've been informed will be returning shortly, wishes for you to go to the Dursley's for your own protection."
"Protection? Protection against what?" asked Harry. He nearly spat out the last word. "My own protection?! Do you know how those Muggles treated me?"
Ginny could tell that Harry was about to start a rant, and a rather loud one at that. Already, he was nearly shouting.
"I have never, I do not, nor will I ever, consider No. 4 Privet Drive, my home," he said. He kept ranting on about how the Muggles treated him before McGonagall tried to calm him down.
"I told him not to put you there," she said. It wasn't nearly loud enough at this point. "I told him not to put you there. THEY WERE THE WORST SORT OF MUGGLES I'D EVER LAID EYES ON, I TOLD HIM!" she said, her voice getting louder and louder and descending deeper and deeper into a Scottish accent.
Harry stopped his rant for a minute, "What did you say, Professor?"
McGonagall had slightly calmed down. "I told the Headmaster not to put you in that...place with those Muggles. I'm not usually prejudiced, but with your family, Mr Potter, I can make an exception."
"They aren't my family," said Harry. "That's rich of Dumbledore to ignore the advice of his deputy for His Greater Good."
"Mr Potter, for yelling at a teacher, I am going to have to take 5 points," McGonagall said. Ginny and Hermione were shocked. That is, until they heard the next sentence. "For having a good reason to shout at a Professor, I am returning those five points. Now, my preliminary finding is that, pending a couple more check-ups at St Mungos for Mr Black, you will be able to meet your Godfather and live with him this summer. I think that it is rather likely this will happen, as he has already attempted to seduce ten nurses at the Hospital. The nurses were completely willing to be seduced, of course, too."
"Why did you ask us here?" asked Hermione. "I have a feeling that it wasn't to reminisce."
"I wanted you here for two reasons." said the Professor. "First, I needed you here to possibly control Potter if I said something that he didn't like. Second, pending your parents permission, of course, Black has offered for you and your parents to stay at one of his residences."
Harry rushed towards McGonagall and hugged her. McGonagall looked to be slightly uncomfortable. Hermione and Ginny settled for the calmer, "Thank you, Professor."
"Your parents, were cubs of mine as well, Mr Potter, along with their friends Lupin and Black," McGonagall said as they walked out the door. After the door shut, McGonagall said, "The other one doesn't count any longer. He lost that status when he turned traitor and joined You-Know-Who."
\\/
The last Quidditch match of the season was finally here. It was Gryffindor v Ravenclaw, both teams having 2-0 records. The winner of the match would win the Championship. Unfortunately for the Gryffindor team, one of the Chasers, Katie Bell, was out with a cold, so Wood was forced to play Ginny again.
Naturally, she went in at Chaser, as she'd outplayed Harry in all chaser drills the last two years. Plus, Harry was, in Wood's opinion, a damned good Seeker.
"OK, guys," said Wood. He was quickly interrupted by the chasers, who all said as one, "and Girls"
"And girls," allowed Wood. "This is it. This is the big one. If we win, then we're the champions. We've got two great beaters"
"Yeah!" the team shouted.
"Two tested and True Chasers, and one who is very good,"
"Yeah!"
"And a Seeker who was never failed to win us a match" Wood finished, with a glare that said, "Win or else,"
"We also have a great Keeper" said the twins.
The team flew out onto the field to Jordan calling the line-ups. "For Gryffindor, we have in Goal, Oliver Wood! At Beater, we have Fred and George Weasley! At Chaser, we have Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet! And the late substitution, with her second ever start at eleven years of age, your Third Chaser, Ginny Weasley! And at Seeker, the Second-youngest player at Hogwarts, with his fifth start of his career, Harry Potter!"
Jordan then announced the Ravenclaw team, who had a very pretty Asian girl named Cho Chang as their Seeker. Harry and Ginny weren't thinking about that, though. They were thinking about trying to win their Gryffindor its Second Quidditch Cup in as many years.
Despite being the 'brainy' ones at the school, the Ravenclaws couldn't match the Quidditch prowess of the Mighty Gryffindors. It was a landslide win for the Gryffindors. Ginny managed to score ten goals and five assists, as the Gryffindors scored almost at will.
Harry put the Ravenclaws out of their misery at the 72 minute mark, when he caught the Snitch to end the game. The final score ended up being 500-20 to Gryffindor. The teams shook hands politely and McGonagall brought the trophy down and gave it to Wood, who handed it off to Harry, who handed it to Ginny.
\\/
The morning before the exams started, the Trio got a very welcome surprise. At breakfast, McGonagall banged her goblet, and said, "Could I have your attention for a minute, please?"
The hall quieted down, and McGonagall stood up from the Headmaster's chair. "As you all know, Headmaster Dumbledore was seriously injured in a battle with suspected Death Eaters at the ministry a couple of months ago. I am very pleased to announce that in approximately ten seconds, the Headmaster will be joining us again."
The doors flew open, and Dumbledore walked in wearing purple robes with stars on them. Harry immediately stood up and started to clap. The rest of the Gryffindors quickly followed, then the Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and a couple of the Slytherins. Harry knew that in the Muggle world, at least, to be given a standing ovation was quite an honour.
Ginny could tell that the Headmaster was a bit embarrassed at the Welcome he was getting. He waved his hands in a quieting motion, and the students sat down. "It warms my heart to see and hear the welcome you are giving me," he said. "I am very touched. I do think, however, that there is one more person who deserves applause: Deputy-Headmistress McGonagall for her outstanding work keeping this school running whilst I was injured."
Percy was up before Dumbledore had even finished the last word. He was followed by the other Prefects and the Head Students.
"I wish you well on your exams," said the Headmaster sitting at his customary spot at the Head Table. "Now, if you will excuse me, I need to eat my breakfast."
\\/
The next couple of weeks were hard for the Trio, as it was exam time. Ginny thought that she did pretty well, and she knew that Hermione and Harry thought the same of themselves, although, Hermione had her usual post-Exams jitters, questioning herself if she got question 16 B wrong or if she wrote down the wrong date for the Lithuanian Goblin Rebellion.
\\/
A couple of days before term ended, Harry and his girls were called to the Headmaster's Office.
"Professor McGonagall has informed me of your earlier conversation," he said. His tone was neutral. "I made a lot of mistakes concerning you, Harry. My only hope is that you can find it in yourself to forgive an old man for them. Yes, Minerva warned me about the Muggles. I made a mistake their, and while I make mistakes like the next man, mine tend to be correspondingly larger. I thought that being family, they would set aside their ways, and treat you like a normal Human being, instead of the conditions you were raised in. I am very glad that you are a good person: another person, raised in similar conditions, became our last Dark Lord."
"There's only a small bit to forgive, Headmaster." said Harry. "You had no idea that they'd treat me that way."
"I am sorry, Harry. I failed to check on your conditions during your time with the Dursleys, thinking that I would be placing a rather large target on your bag, exposing your location to those who would do you harm. In any case, I do not disagree with your decision to go live with Mr Sirius Black, who I'm sure you know is your Godfather."
\\/
Soon, the school year ended. Gryffindor won the House Cup for the second year in a row, and the next morning, they were on the Hogwarts Express on their way home.
When they got to the Platform, there was a man whom Harry knew that he knew. The man said, "Harry?" and came over to him.
"Sirius?"
"Yep. You know you look so much like your dad at that age. Except the eyes." remarked Sirius Black.
"Yeah, I've got my mum's eyes," responded Harry as he gave Black a hug. Harry then turned to the girls. The Trio gave each other hugs and kisses goodbye, with the promise that, as soon as things were ready, the girls would be invited over.
A/N:
You might have noticed that I say "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland". This is intentional. I don't mean "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". Muggle Ireland became independent from the UK in 1916/1919/1921 (Proclamation, Declaration, Anglo-Irish Treaty). Wizarding Ireland, however, doesn't have the religious and other problems that Muggle Ireland has, so it stayed a part of the (Magical) United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Book Two:
5000th word: 'Statute' ('violation of the Statute of Secrecy') Chap 3
7500th word: 'gets' ('Potter gets...') Chap 4
10000th word: 'he' (' The Gryffindors he was excited about') Chap 5
15000th word: 'that' ('Fudge knew that...') Chap 8
20000th word: 'they'd' ('you had no idea') Chap 10
Total for Book 2: 20,192 words
Overall:
20000th word (Bk II, Chap. 2): 'so' ('It feels so good to be around Harry again')
30000th word (Bk II, Chap 7): 'Hermione' ('Hermione get the Headmaster')
currently at 37,723 words
40000th word (Bk III)
50000th word (Bk III, unknown)
(these word counts are the number of words with the chapter titles, but without the (sometimes extensive) Author's Notes