approbation: formal or official approval; also, praise.
McGonagall held back a sigh as she watched her students attempt to transform goblets into a string of ants. They were sixth years and this type of transfiguration was particularly tricky. It involved picturing the goblets as many different parts—groups of particles within the very material—and spelling each group into a different crawling creature.
The difficulty was well realized when viewing the students' attempts. Some of the goblets began crawling across the surface of the desks—one was unlucky enough to go unnoticed and smash into pieces on the stone floor. Others were gigantic ants while even more began overflowing with the creatures. The students had only transfigured the inner layer of the glass.
She shook her head ever so slightly as she walked with her normal strict etiquette. An interesting sight caught her attention.
A quiet Hufflepuff in the corner had a line of ants in front of her and was diligently squashing one ant every few. Professor McGonagall hurried over.
"Young woman, what in Merlin's name are you doing?"
The student looked up and paled, halting the line of ants with a quick spell.
"I transfigured them at the beginning of class and didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd experiment… I wanted to know if the glass would appear cracked or shattered if I killed some of the ants," the girl explained nervously. She shot glances around the classroom to check the progress of her peers.
Noting their utter lack of so-called progress, her eyes fluttered down and she would no longer meet the teacher's eyes. If she had, she would have found that the woman was looking down with a peculiar amusement in her eyes.
"And your conclusion was…?" McGonagall said with her regular shrill voice. There was a very slight undertone of careful amusement and—daresay—curiosity in her voice. She knew that if her voice became too kind or interested the other students would twirl around and wonder what had softened their prudent transfiguration teacher so.
"My conclusion has not been reached, but my hypothesis is that it will appear cracked…" The student's voice was still soft and unsure. McGonagall tapped her long finger gently on the tabletop. The Hufflepuff got the idea and lifted her eyes enough to mumble a counter spell to her previous pausing spell and then transfigure the long line of ants back into the goblet.
It was cracked all around the glass walls. Her base was slightly wobbly—a very small mistake in transfiguration in comparison to the skills she was displaying—but stayed up well enough.
"It appears that you have quite a skill with transfiguration, not to mention the sciences!" the Professor exclaimed quietly. Such approbation from McGonagall was rare—the student's eyes shot up as a smile spread across her light lips. It wasn't a very confident smile, but it was a start.
"Thank you, Professor McGonagall!" she cooed with a slight blush. "I like science."
"It likes you," the woman retorted quickly with her normal sharpness even as her eyes twinkled. "You are Ilana, correct?"
The girl nodded and beamed. Her features soon took on a shocked expression as McGonagall did the most uncharacteristic thing—she winked before walking back to the front of the room. The students didn't notice the shine in her eyes or that every once in a while the corner of her lips would twitch in what could certainly be a withheld smile.
"That's the end of your transfiguration lesson," she concluded as the students finished packing up. She, of course, would be left to clean up the giant ants, shattered glass, and colonies of ants now running rampant on the desks. The students were scowling as they stormed out of the classroom.
Ilana was slower, glancing at her goblet before gathering her load of books and walking towards the door.
"Ilana."
It came from McGonagall.
"You might have an interest in seeing Professor Sprout about science and experiments. It's a passion of hers as well. I'm sure she would adore knowing there could be some student interest in future procedures," she explained and at last did smile.
Ilana was so surprised by this that she stared on for a half a minute before blushing and answering. "Oh, yes, thank you!"
The Professor nodded once, the smile having jumped from her lips to her eyes. Once Ilana was out of the room the woman went on to spell the ants away, repair the shattered glasses, and transfigure the giant ants back into their proper goblet form. Her eyes stopped at the cracked goblet. What to do with that?
"My catgirl! Did you continue to amaze your attentive students?" an amused, playful voice called from the door. Minerva smiled fully and chuckled as she looked down at the tabletop.
"I'm afraid I didn't do the amazing today."
She felt a strong arm encircle her waist and a curious chin rest on her shoulder. Hooch grinned as she looked down at the cracked goblet.
"Transfiguration gone wrong?" she inquired. "I hope they didn't amaze you with a lack of skills…"
Minerva shook her head, smiling as her cheek brushed Hooch's. "It was intentional. A Hufflepuff—Ilana—managed to transfigure the goblet into a string of ants almost immediately, and went on to test whether the goblet would appear damaged if she killed some of the ants. This was her product."
The fair-haired professor next to her nodded and giggled against Minerva.
"Pommie would have enjoyed that."
"That's exactly where I sent her," Min replied as she picked up the goblet gently and walked gingerly towards the cupboard. She was meticulous in placing it on a cloth pad before walking to her desk to write up a little note. She scribbled down why she was keeping it, what the date was, what had occurred, and who the student was. The woman wanted to remember it for at least a short while.
"That important, eh?" Hooch was resting against one of the desks with her arms crossed over her chest and one leg slightly over the other at the ankle. "I don't see how it's that important—we can't even use it for a nice drink."
Minerva took her wand from her robes and spelled the doors locked before strutting over to the woman and straddling her legs.
"We'll find new goblets for that, love." She moved cloth with her fingertips and pressed her lips to the skin directly centered between her collarbones. "Though I must have missed some ants in my cleanup, for there appears to be something squirming in your trousers…"
Hooch threw her head back and laughed. Minerva kissed the woman under the chin before she sobered and looked down again with those piercing hawk eyes. McGonagall almost melted into that intellectual and kind amber, but managed to tear herself away and get herself off Hooch. She unlocked the doors with a mouthed spell and let her hips sway slightly as she walked back to her desk.
Later. They both knew they had classes. It was something to look forward to.