Some Things Never Change
Minerva McGonagall was in dire need of a headache potion. Being headmistress of Hogwarts certainly had its ups and downs.
Teaching children how to use their magic, discovering their talents for a specific subject and watching them become productive members of society was definitely the upside. Dealing with teenage shenanigans, house rivalry and angry parents was, without a doubt, the downside.
Right now, she was dealing with the latter, angry parents. Only instead of yelling at her for punishing their children unfairly or scolding their children for something they did, they were yelling at each other, without even knowing exactly why. They were all talking over each other and she couldn't even understand them anymore; it was all just noise at this point. Forget the headache potion; after this meeting was over she was going straight for a large glass of Firewiskey.
Minerva should have known something like this would happen with this particular group of people. Even though they were all adults now and got along much better these days, there was still some animosity left for when they were students here. And what was worst was that they were fighting over nothing. Clearly, she should have sent the owls herself, instead of asking one of the new professors to write to these parents. All they knew was that their sons had been involved in an incident and that they needed to come to the Headmistress' office a.s.a.p. She was going to have a serious talk with this professor about being clearer when sending notes to parents, to avoid another situation just like this in the future.
There were four couples currently yelling at each other in the Headmistress office; Actually, only the man was yelling at each other, the women were trying to calm them down, without much success. The couples were Draco and Hermione Malfoy (nee Granger), Harry and Luna Potter (nee Lovegood), Ron and Astoria Weasley (nee Greengrass) and Adrian and Katie Pucey (nee Bell). They were here to discuss their children that were currently waiting to be called to the office, once their parents calmed down, obviously. The boys didn't need to see their fathers acting like children themselves.
The boys were Orion Severus Malfoy, James Sirius Potter, Henry Arthur Weasley, and Cassius Sebastian Pucey. They had all started Hogwarts a couple of months ago and even though they were put in different houses, Orion and Cassius were in Slytherin and James and Henry in Gryffindor, they all seemed to get along well. So far the boys haven't caused any problem inside or outside the classrooms. Until today, she had no reason to call their parents to her office, but that had changed after the incident at the lake.
To be fair, it was not their fault what happened and she was actually very impressed with how they handled the situation and had awarded 20 points each for their houses.
You see, the boys have been walking by the lake talking when they saw a commotion. Two third-year Ravenclaws were bullying a first-year Hufflepuff, pushing him around and calling him names. The boys were about to stand up for him when one of them pushed the small boy too hard and he fell inside the lake. That wouldn't have normally been a problem, but the boy in question didn't seem to know how to swim. Orion, James, Henry, and Cassius acted fast, it was almost like they had communicated with only their eyes and they each knew exactly what to do.
While Orion jumped in the lake to save the Hufflepuff boy, Cassius ran inside the castle to call Madame Pomfrey. Meanwhile, James and Henry used their wands on the two bullies, who had already begun running away. They used Petrificus Totalus to keep them there until a teacher arrived. McGonagall had been in the infirmary talking with Poppy when Cassius came running inside and between breaths told them what happened. When she and Poppy arrived at the lake, James and Henry still had their wands pointed at the two Ravenclaws, even though they were still paralyzed, and Orion was helping the Hufflepuff boy to sit down.
She immediately asked what happened, while Madam Pomfrey checked the poor first-year. Between the four boys and other students who had seen everything, she managed to get the whole story. McGonagall was very impressed with how fast they acted and asked them how they knew what to do without even talking to each other. Cassius explained that they have been friends since they were babies and knew each other very well, which included knowing who was better at what.
Orion was the better swimmer; his mother always joked that he was part Merperson, which how much he loved the water, so obviously he would be the one to get the other boy out of the lake.
Cassius was the fastest of them all; he loved to run with his parents to stay in shape for Quidditch, so he would run inside the castle to get help since he would get there faster.
And James and Henry were quicker in casting defensive spells; their fathers being Aurors, they learned some defensive spells, just in case. They decided on Petrificus Totalus since it wouldn't hurt them and they wouldn't be able to run away and escape punishment.
McGonagall was speechless for a second. It was amazing how the boys had worked so well together, without even having to talk with each other. And not only did they manage to save another child, but they also manage to apprehend the culprits. They were truly a credit to their parents and it was a wonderful show of house unity.
She checked how the boy, whose name was David, was and Madame Pomfrey said she would take him to the infirmary to rest and some Pepper-Up potion, but other than that he was fine. Minerva sent the boys to the infirmary to get checked out too and once they were cleared by the Mediwitch, they should go to her office, since she was certain their parents would wish to speak with them. She used Finite Incantate on the two third years, whose names were Harold and Joffrey, and in her most intimidating voice told them to march to her office for a nice little chat. After scalding them for their behavior, she took 30 points each, removed their Hogsmeade privileges until after the Christmas holiday and gave them detention for the next 2 months with Filch every night. Then she sent them back to their rooms to wait for their parents and to think about how their actions almost cost another student his life. She asked the new Astronomy professor to write to the Malfoys, the Potters, The Weasleys, and the Puceys and tell them to come to the school, while she informed David, Harold and Joffrey's parents.
The first parents to arrive were David's, they were very worried about their son, so McGonagall took them to the infirmary to see him. She left them there with their son and went to deal with Harold and Joffrey's parents, who were furious with their son's behavior. They completely agreed with the punishment they got and asked the Headmistress to apologize to David and his parents while they went to talk to their sons.
Everything seemed to have ended well. All she needed to do now was congratulate the Malfoys, the Potters, the Weasleys, and the Puceys about the bravery and quick thinking of their sons. Unfortunately, things got out of hand after they arrived at the office. Apparently, the Astronomy professor left a few details out in his messages and all the four couples knew were that their sons had been involved in an incident.
Of course, it didn't take long for the accusations to start. Before McGonagall could even open her mouth, Ron Weasley started yelling at Draco Malfoy about how his son was probably at fault for getting their sons in trouble, which prompted Draco to scream back how Weasel's kid was the one with an aptitude for finding trouble and dragging all the others with him. Then Harry and Adrian started on each other as well accusing the other's sons of being the real culprit and before long, all four were yelling at each other. All the while Hermione, Luna, Astoria, and Katie were trying to stop the fight while calling their husbands stupid. What a mess! Finally, McGonagall lost the little patient she still had and using a Sonorus charm she yelled:
- Silence!
Everyone's ears were now ringing since they were in such a close space, but at least they were finally quiet.
- Now, will you let me speak and explain exactly what happened or do you prefer to continue to act like children?
That seemed to have done the trick; they all looked ashamed and apologized for their behavior.
After they sat down, McGonagall was finally able to tell what the incident was. After hearing how their sons had worked together so well to help another student, the mothers were very proud and the fathers were very ashamed to have jumped to conclusions about each other's children.
After they apologized to each other and were told how ridiculous and immature they had been by McGonagall, especially for grown men, she summoned their sons inside the office. The boys recounted for their parents their adventure and added how David's parents had hugged them and thanked them in the infirmary. All the parents said how proud they were of them, which made the boys smile even bigger.
Of course, it didn't take long for the fathers to start bickering again, while the mothers rolled their eyes and the boys snickered, clearly very much used to this behavior from their fathers.
Minerva was definitely going to need a stock of Headache potion, and maybe a few bottles of Firewisky if she was going to have to deal with this crew for the next seven years, but I guess some things never change…
Author's note: Hey guys, this is my first story, so be kind, please. Also, English is not my first language, so I apologize for any grammar mistakes. I did check everything twice, so hopefully, everything's fine. I'm still learning how to upload the stories, so sorry if it's not perfect. Thanks for reading and I would love to hear what you think, it's how I can improve my writing. Thanks in advance!