Professor McGonagall finally had enough aspersions on her colleagues, it would seem. She stood. "I would like to know just who is experimenting and terrifying you..."
She decided to poke into the rumors about the students, not the faculty.
"If you did half your job, Professor, you'd already know," the Fat Lady said.
The room hushed completely. No one spoke to McGonagall like that. Not even a portrait.
"Yes, you're a major part of the problem. I open for you about three times a year. A Head of House only going into the common room a handful of times per year..."
"All students are welcome to my office..."
"You're as remote as that last Headmaster. A piece of work he was. I saw him when he was a student and I watched him when he was Head of Gryffindor. If he's your role model, you'd best look harder..."
"Why I... I will not listen... Albus Dumbledore was my mentor and my friend. This class is ended."
"It most certainly is not. Teaching you up a bit is part and parcel of this class, Professor. Listen or leave. I certainly intend to speak to Headmaster Flamel later this evening. I've had several good chats with him over the last year. Sensible fellow, though limited in how quickly he can restore the old traditions. He's someone you should learn from, though I understand he's soon to depart..."
"He's not quite to my...taste."
"Rather effective, isn't he? You like powerful and useless, like old Albus? Figures."
The students who hadn't come to this class were going to die of shame that they had missed this.
And McGonagall. What would she do? Yank the Fat Lady's portrait off the wall? Resign as Head of House? Transfigure the portrait into a kitty's litter box?
Harry wouldn't take bets on any of it.
"And any rule on the books that is there for a Professor's convenience and not a student's safety – I've no respect for them at all. If you're so stretched, hire more people. There's money enough. Just takes a good plan and a firm spine. Plus a full appointment to the office. Poor Professor Flamel is only the Acting Headmaster... No interest in a full-time appointment. He's made some use of the Hogwarts vault, though. A good start."
"What Hogwarts vault?" McGonagall asked.
The Fat Lady looked even more disappointed, if that were possible. "Perhaps you would do well talking to several of the portraits around the castle. The Hogwarts vault... The Founders never trusted a wild goblin back before all of the wizard-goblin wars. Gold's there, documents, the land deeds. All of it."
Apparently the Deputy Headmistress had known none of it. None of the students had, but that wasn't their job. This was another good bit of gossip to them.
"I have a lot to think about," McGonagall said.
"Then off you go. And I hope you make a good start of it. I'll keep these students a while longer. There's more to go over. We haven't talked about rules that have fallen away. Like for rudeness. Rudeness is a fool's business, children. If you make your enemy feel bad, he won't forget."
McGonagall got up and left.
The Fat Lady had won, for now. And she continued discussing the reasons behind the school rules and the traditions that had been forgotten.
Harry tried to think back to some of the mistakes he'd inevitably made. Was rudeness the reason why Draco Malfoy kept poking and poking at Harry? Some of the older Gryffindors had been joking that it was some crush. Yuck. But Harry admitted he had been rude to Malfoy on the Hogwarts Express, nearly as rude as Draco had been.
Perhaps it was fixable, but likely not. That was a person who remembered slights forever.
....
Ancient Runes was slightly smaller than it had been at the start of the year. Seamus and Ron had both left. Maybe a Ravenclaw or two as well. But it had been a great experience which was almost over for the year.
Professor Babbling looked to Harry. "Potter, your turn. Present, then let's see what we can do with your proposal."
"Yes, Professor." Harry had talked over some of it with the Professor. She had been a bit wary. Then Harry had gone through an ungodly number of books to hone in on his approach. Plus he'd talked to a number of older students in Gryffindor and more than one in Hufflepuff. They owed him for that stunt in Hogsmeade and a few had been willing to help.
Harry stood and unrolled some parchment. It wasn't as elegant as the flying sign boards Professor Babbling used during some of her lectures, but it was what he managed. He walked down to the well of the class so he could see everyone. Professor Babbling sat down in the front row as she had for everyone else who presented.
"I've developed what I think is a spirit repellant," Harry said.
"Spirit?" Professor Babbling asked. She had discussed this with Harry, so she had to be asking for the benefit of the class.
"Well, I left it general. It should include ghosts and poltergeists, possibly ghouls."
She nodded. "Continue."
He lifted the parchment and hoped the symbols he'd drawn were large enough for people to see in the back row. He talked through each rune individually, then how they fit together into a sentence that roughly translated to this: Spirits will not enter my sight nor make a noise I can hear.
Writing in Runes was very inefficient compared to English, Harry had discovered. He had nineteen Runes on his parchment to comprise that sentence.
"So it will do what?" she asked.
"Well, I think it will compel them away, repel them, from whatever I inscribe this rune set into. Or whatever you inscribe it into."
The professor smiled. As she would be doing the actual inscription.
"Will they know they're being repelled?" she asked.
Harry shrugged. "I wish I knew."
Professor Babbling stood up and took his roll of parchment and began to examine it. She looked at it and twisted her head to look at his work from a few different angles. "These aren't all the standard forms of these runes. Why did you change them and what references did you consult?"
So Harry had to explain all of that. He had his list of references written down at least. He handed that over.
Some of the items on the list the Professor nodded at, things she'd expected to see.
Then, as she had done for every other student, she took out a quill and changed some of his runes, or at suggested they should appear in a different orientation to each other.
"I'd be willing to try this," she said. "If you have something for me to carve this into?"
"I do. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it was what I could find in Hogsmeade." He produced a medallion in steel. He didn't care for the way silver tarnished nor for the glister of gold. He hadn't wanted to pay for the cost of platinum, either. He had a lot of gold, but this was an experiment. Who knew if it would work?
Professor Babbling took the medallion. It wasn't massive, but it was as large as Harry could find. He had known his rune set wasn't going to be just five runes.
She nodded. "This is fine. Give me a moment." Her wand did a most intricate set of movements and Harry could see fine etchings on his medallion.
He had thought the carving part was harder. Or maybe she just made everyone learn the chisel and stone method before she let them use a spell. Hard way first, easy way later?
"You remember how to power it?" she asked.