Author's Note: AU - based on a vague head canon I had about trans students not needing to bind/enhance etc, and my lovely Crab suggested having a tutor in charge and the plot bunny was away. I did consider making it a multi chapter but I was tired and lazy.
Professor McGonagall smiled as she put away her preparations for the new school term. She always got excited at the beginning of term: meeting new students, seeing their reaction to everything that Hogwarts has to offer - it was just the best feeling. Especially now that had the absolute honour of being in charge of the one thing that blew her mind, answered her prayers and completely changed her life when she first started there.
She remembered her first day at Hogwarts. The night before, she had decided to finally admit to her parents what she had always known - she was female and even though they may not have noticed because she had been assigned male as a baby, but it wasn't right - it never had been for her. She had wanted to tell them for ages, but now she could do it and run away before she had to hear how they would react. She ended up telling them a few seconds before she boarded the Hogwart's Express.
As it happened, when she finally was able to have a proper discussion with her parents, they were extremely supportive, and helped her with her transition, but that wasn't what had stood out so distinctively in her mind. The thing that meant the most to her was the thing that had given her confidence and the courage to actually have a proper discussion with her parents - the first time she wore her Hogwarts robes
To most people, even those who had been students at Hogwarts that would sound silly, pathetic even. It's not like there was anything special about the robes, they were just clothes. That's where they were wrong. For those few students who struggled with gender dysphoria, their robes were a refuge, a life saver even. Minerva found this out the first time she put her robes on, and realised she no longer needed to put socks in her bra. Her robes had ensured that she had the physical features she had always known she should have had. It had been exactly what she needed; validation of her true self and when she spoke to the professor in charge of the robes, she realised that it wasn't just for her. Every student who had struggled with dysphoria was helped by their robes, which provided binding or enhancement where required and the best part was that the cis students would be none the wiser, meaning they wouldn't ever have to come out if they didn't want to.
Minerva smiled at the memory. Even though she had completed her medical transition and no longer needed that bit of magic, being able to share that with to a whole new generation made her almost as happy as that first time she realised what a gift she had been given, and just how amazing magic was. She sighed as she looked over at the various uniforms she had to distribute. This really was the best part of the school year.
