It was only then Harry realized he'd already known what the truth was. He had never met her and never seen the girl in yellow before, so she couldn't have been at Hogwarts with them. This means she had to be in same year as Ginny and Colin, the year he had stopped the transfer to pay for. Looking at his girlfriend now it seemed obvious what Hermione was torn about was wanting to protect him from feeling guilty about not paying for Luna's schooling while at the same time thinking it'd be a nice thing for him to do, but didn't want to sway him into doing it by saying anything.
When he thought about it though, he already had a reason to help her out. If he could pay for Ginny's schooling in return for having a place to stay then he could easily pay for Luna so Ginny could have a friend. And while he might not be able to settle things between Molly and Mrs. Lovegood, he just might be able to get her to let Luna come back over if he asked. It's a much better solution than keeping her away from him like she was a prisoner in her own home. Besides, it was the right thing to do.
"I need to talk to Professor McGonagall," he said, scanning the thinning crowd for the woman in question.
"Harry," Hermione said tentatively. "You know you don't have to. It's not your responsibility to pay for everyone who can't afford to go on their own. There must be some sort of home schooling curriculum she could do."
"I know I don't have to," Harry said as he spotted McGonagall. "And I'm not doing this because I feel guilty or anything," he paused to get what he wanted to say down just right.
He told her about what Bill had said, how being the only girl in a house full of boys hadn't been easy on Ginny and then he went and made things worse. And while he did feel - regretful - for isolating her, at the time it felt like it was the only thing he could do. If he could undo it and make Ginny's life a bit better by getting her back in touch with an old friend then it's what he was going to do. It would certainly make her first year at Hogwarts better too. Strangely enough, Hermione seemed to accept that.
"It actually might be good for her too," she said with a concerned look on her face. "And her dad runs a magazine," Hermione smiled, her eyes starting to brighten as she worked through the problem, "so if we put it in terms of an investment into the company-"
"Then Barchoke and Lichfield might go along with it," Harry finished for her. "That's brilliant."
Lichfield had said they'd be pushing things to get the Ministry to go along with a rental agreement since he was younger than thirteen, but had liked the idea of putting people back on the land since it showed that he had his own ideas about how to run things. Since everything he's heard about grown-up stuff otherwise has been 'Account this' and 'Investment that' - like it or not, obviously this sort of thing was going to be a big part of his life after he graduated - so maybe they could squeeze this one in too since it was also for a good cause.
"Where's Lichfield?" he asked, thinking it would be a good idea to run this by the grizzled old bailiff.
"He went off with the creepy woman in green," Hermione said, taking his hand and pulling him towards McGonagall.
"Don't you think we should run this by my lawyer first?" Harry asked, careful not to step on her eagerness.
"Before we talk to Luna or Mr. Lovegood, absolutely," she agreed. "But as the only other available outside adult, it won't hurt to see what McGonagall thinks about it."
As it turned out, it didn't matter what McGonagall thought at all.
"A very kind and admirable idea," their professor said approvingly. "And were this during the school year, one I'd happily award points for, but Mister Lichfield has already beaten you to it."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, remembering the man putting himself forward yesterday to be the guardian-he's-never-had. The last thing he needed was to trade one old man spending his money without him knowing for another one, regardless of whether he later approved of it or not.
"It seems as though his family prepaid for a tuition quite some time ago and never had a chance to use it," McGonagall explained before continuing in a more moderate tone. "I'm surprised at what I haven't been hearing though. So far no one has said a thing about-," she seemed to struggle for a moment, "-your current legal issues with the Headmaster. I must admit, when I presented you the opportunity to meet with the Hopefuls I was somewhat concerned-"
"-That I'd rail against Professor Dumbledore, make the Hopefuls feel horrible for what he's done, and make them feel like they have to hate him on my behalf?" Harry finished for her.
"Well, yes," McGonagall said uncomfortably. "That was sort of the idea I had in mind."
Harry shrugged.
"Yeah, I had thought about doing that," he admitted.
He had particularly liked the idea of doing so just after she had brought up the meeting. He had even gone so far as to imagine himself coming up with some sort of grand speech against the old man that moved them all to righteous anger against him. Even in his imagination though words failed him and it just kind of boiled down to, "But you've got to believe me, Dumbledore's evil!" and that would've made them think of him as some loony kid who's gone off the deep end.
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