Author's notes at the end of the chapter
"Oh, for Merlin's beard!"
Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts, pursed her lips annoyed as wood splinters tickled her skin. Her magic had manifested itself during her sleep – again – and her bedroom was in shambles. She waved her hand to get rid of the remnants of her cracked headboard and stood carefully on barefoot to observe the overall damage.
There were shards of glass littering the floor in front of the windows, now reduced to its frames. The cold wind that blew through the room swept the torn pages of the books that had fallen from the shelves. Several vials had been shattered and its contents leaked down the potions cabinet forming a multicolored puddle on the floor.
"So it's getting worse", the witch mumbled to herself, still half-asleep. That wasn't the first time she had woken up in the middle of the night due to an involuntary burst of magic – that had been two weeks ago. Back then, the Headmistress had dismissed the issue as an annoyance, a result of being overworked and still in recovery from the war. However, none of the previous occurrences had been like that little explosion. She had been able to hide the effects of her wayward magic before, but the shattered windows were bound to draw attention. As expected, not three seconds later she heard frantic knocks on the door to her living room, followed by the concerned voice of her deputy.
"Minerva! Are you alright?"
"Yes, Filius, I am fine, just give me a second." She quickly rescued a robe from the mess and went for the door, which she opened just a few inches, enough to see the tip of a wand, and right behind that the short Charms professor. Also with her wand drawn was Rolanda, who was trying her best to look inside the quarters.
"We felt a shift in the wards coming from here and the portraits are talking about a tremor! What's happening?"
My magic has a mind of its own now and it's doing odd things in the night.
"I was brewing a potion and it went awry, I am sorry for disturbing you" – Minerva said with an impassible face, at what Rolanda expressed her suspicion with everything but words. Filius made no movement to lower his wand as he asked with a concerned voice and a meaningful look, "Are you sure you don't need any help?"
The Headmistress thought for a second and sighed, opening the door further so they could enter and check the bedroom. The war had ended months ago but some Death Eaters had managed to escape and the fear still lingered. It was better to put her colleagues at ease and show them she was not being attacked or kept hostage in any way.
A squeak alerted them to the arrival of Pomona, who stared wide eyed to the room in shambles.
"Minnie, what happened, dear?"
"She was just having a go at potion making" – Rolanda interrupted, her eyes never leaving Minerva. The flying instructor could be very inquisitive when she wanted to but the Headmistress kept the façade without a flinch.
"Oh, Minnie, you were never a good brewer anyway" – Pomona conceded, looking sympathetic.
After some more reassurances, the professors went back to their rooms. Minerva leaned against the closed door, looked at all the shards and glass in her bedroom and thought that her little annoyance had developed into a problem. She also thought that she really should brew some Sleeping Draught.
The next morning found a moody Minerva pushing food around her plate at breakfast. She hadn't gone back to sleep for fear of a reprise performance of her unruly magic and so the witch had spent the few hours until dawn repairing her bedroom and thinking of what could be the cause of her issues but nothing came to mind. The Headmistress gave up on her toast and reached for a cup of tea, but before she could grab it, her fingers started to tingle. Minerva looked at her right hand and a shiver of dread ran down her spine.
Not here, please.
The tingles intensified and spread to her forearm and Minerva could tell that her magic was reacting to something, but what? The wards had not been disturbed, could it be that an intruder had trespassed undetected?
She perused the Great Hall looking for something amiss but everything seemed to be in order. The professors were acting like their usual selves. The students, who had started the school year wary and mournful after the Battle of Hogwarts, were slowly warming up to the grounds again and were having animated conversations at their respective tables.
The Headmistress now felt as if an electrical current was coursing through her entire arm and decided it best to take her leave. As she stood up her eyes caught a dash of blue contrasting with the sea of red that was the Gryffindor table. Her brain subconsciously noticed that the young man donning the Ravenclaw scarf was a 7th year that had come back to finish his studies after the war. Her mind blatantly acknowledged that the Ravenclaw seemed to be having a very interesting talk with a brunette young woman. A brunette young woman with somewhat frizzy locks.
Miss Granger.
Minerva felt an acute pain course through her right side and the next thing she saw was the young man landing on the Slytherin table after being sent flying through the air by an invisible force.
The Headmistress was appalled. Her colleagues rushed to aid the 7th year but she remained rooted to the spot. Strangely enough, nobody seemed to notice that she was responsible for Mr. Anderson flight excursion. The pain in her arm had subsided but she didn't notice, for she had gone numb. The only thing the witch was able to feel was a pair of eyes boring through her. When she searched for the source of the stare, she found a dumbfounded Miss Granger looking straight at her, a clear question shining in the student's eyes.
She knows all right who caused this.
Filius came to her but his words were muffled by Minerva's spiraling thoughts, the loudest one being:
What is happening with me, for Merlin's sake?
Author's notes: Hello! This is my first MM/HG fic as well as my first multichapter fic, so let's see where this will go.
If you spot any grammar errors or misspelling just warn me and I'll fix it (I tried my best but I'm not a native English speaker).
Hope you enjoyed it; see you on the next chapter.