First Impressions

Ding dong! Aunt Petunia hustled Harry up the stairs as she rushed to peer through the window. Harry frowned as he walked upstairs, wondering why Aunt Petunia had pushed him up instead of under the stairs. Then again, Aunt Petunia had been acting very strange since the letter that morning, cleaning more furiously than ever and stopping every five minutes to wring her hands and stare anxiously at the door.

Once he had gone up the stairs enough to be hidden from view, Harry stopped and peered down to watch Aunt Petunia's guest enter.

The woman entering was stern-looking and wearing rather old-fashioned clothes. Her black hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her the no-nonsense expression reminded Harry of Mrs Aldridge, the office lady at school. Every time Harry was sent to see the Headmaster, which was often, Mrs Alridge would tell him off for his "trouble-making ways" and forbid him from sitting on the orange couch outside the Headmaster's office.

"Would you like some tea, Professor McGonagall," offered Aunt Petunia in her best 'important guest' voice, motioning for the woman to sit. "Oh, where is that boy now? Harry darling," she called up the stairs. "The Professor's here to meet you."

Harry paused before walking down the stairs, not wanting to be seen eavesdropping. He had never in his life heard his aunt use the words Harry and darling in the same sentence and it made him feel extremely uneasy.

"Tsk, tsk. Oh dear." Aunt Petunia smiled apologetically at Professor McGonagall. "I did ask Harry to clean up before your visit, but you know how boys are."

"Indeed," said Professor McGonagall looking severely at Harry over her cup of tea.

Harry lifted his chin and looked squarely at the teacher. It was hardly his fault he had spent the morning weeding the rosebushes. He hadn't looked in the mirror since coming inside, but supposed he looked a mess, especially after his encounter with Piers and Malcolm earlier. Seeing that Dudley was away, Harry had fought back vigorously and not all the blood on his shirt was his own.

"Professor McGonagall is the Deputy Headmistress at your new school. She even taught your mother. Lily used to mention you in her letters."

Harry sucked in a breath, looking at Aunt Petunia in shock. Lily. Lily Potter. Aunt Petunia never mentioned about his parents but he had now been given two new pieces of information at once about his mother.

Aunt Petunia sniffed. "Poor dear, we don't speak much about Lily and James; it upsets him. We've tried to shelter him as much as possible. We've done our best, but sometimes I worry if it's enough. We've had such trouble."

"Oh?" queried Professor McGonagall. Harry ran his hands through his hair, trying to flatten it, but only succeeding in making it stick up even more.

"He's always getting into fights. The teachers at school are always complaining about him stirring up trouble. Why, last term he thought it would be a joke to climb on the roof of the school."

"I didn't climb up there," said Harry, despite knowing it was useless to argue at that stage.

"They complain about his lying too," said Aunt Petunia, looking very distressed.

Professor McGonagall looked sadly at Harry, as though measuring him up to something and finding him lacking.

"I have confidence in you, though Professor," said Aunt Petunia. "From what Lily wrote me, you were a good, strict teacher."

"Do not worry," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "We will keep Mr Potter in line."

As Professor McGonagall left, promising to return another day to assist Harry with acquiring his school supplies, only Harry saw the satisfied smirk on his aunt's face. It was after all, her usual expression after a successful Parent-Teacher Conference.