Declaimer:I do not own Harry Potter characters

Author's Notes: Do review, if you like the starting of the story only then I will continue, do you think I should?

Waiting

Minerva Athena McGonagall was turning eleven tomorrow. Eleven years of her life had passed through pure hell. Now as she lay on her bed staring at her mother's diary, the only memento of her mother, she felt anger bubble through her. Her mother and father had died in a war leaving her to her father's only relatives, her uncle and aunt. Minerva's mother had been a witch and father a muggle making her a half blood. She always thought her uncle should have been the one to tell her when she was younger and had not finished the diary, but now that she had, she knew better.

Minerva's mother had fallen in love with her father at an early age of fifteen but had never regretted it ever in her life. Athena, her mother had always been a strong woman so she had told her boyfriend about her being a witch the moment she had realized he was going to tell her how he felt for her, never wanting to start the relation her heart yearned for with lies. Minerva's father though shocked at first had accepted her mother wholeheartedly and had even teased her sometimes saying he had always thought of her as a magical woman. Athena had always been a happy woman until the night, a group of wizards calling themselves the followers of Grindelwald had ordered her to join them taking her husband a hostage. Always a woman of values, she had bluntly refused. They had tortured her and even Minerva's father in front of Athena's eyes to make her concede but he had urged his wife on to keep her will which she had. The wizards had thrown Harold, Minerva's father from a cliff. Harold had miraculously survived long enough to name their new born daughter and hand her guardianship to his relatives till the time she came of age before passing away. Her mother had been killed soon after.

Minerva would never have found all this out if not for a whole lot of effort from her mother who had somehow connected herself so well to her diary that it not only recorded all her living moments but also was indestructible, the attempts at which had been innumerable, mostly from her uncle. At a very small age Minerva had the maturity and the thinking capability of an adult. Tall for her age, thick raven black hair cascaded down her back till a little above her knees, deep green eyes that were living proofs of her inner maturity and her mother's high cheek bones, she would have looked a beauty if allowed. Unable to cut her hair short which seemed to grow with every cut, her uncle had ordered she always keep it tied in a bun above her head and keep the smile off her face as much as she could. In his words he did not want another whore in the family referring the first to her mother whom her uncle insisted on calling that ever since he had learned she was a witch. He had never liked her and this new news gave him an opportunity to call her whatever he liked regardless in front of whom. This was in fact the reason of her present anger.

Minerva had prepared supper for the whole family singlehandedly as usual thanks to her keen sense of magic that allowed her to do it even wand less flawlessly. Just as they were finishing the lunch, her aunt had mentioned the shopping list for next day which had to contain some of her requirements as well at which her uncle had cursed like mad."If that whore had not married my brother, and if that fool of my brother had not handed down this little wimp to me it would have saved me my hard earned money" he had shouted at the top of his lungs till he had noticed the look on Minerva's face. Beautiful though she was, that look could have called a god to standstill live alone her uncle. Rest of supper had proceeded peacefully and Minerva had returned to the solitude of her rooms after cleaning up. Though she was angry, the thought of her upcoming birthday brought a tiny smile on her face. She knew the importance of this year. This year she could go off to the school her mother went to and return only when she had to. She would not have to live with these people for much longer. Having regained her composure fast, something that she was an expert at, Minerva turned through the pages of her diary unmindfully until she fell asleep on it.

The morning of 14th July dawned bright and sunny with puffs of cloud in the sky but for Minerva, there could never have ever been a more beautiful day even if it had been the dullest. Today she turned eleven and this was it. She would not have to endure this hell much longer. Hogwarts had always seemed alluring in her mother's diary. She wondered how it would feel to be there to have different classes and maybe friends. Minerva had always been a lonely child; the reason was not that she was not friendly, but rather that she was never allowed to meet children her age outside school. Even in school her teachers had been warned against allowing her with anybody. Her uncle and aunt had feared that her real nature would become known to others. They could not bear the thought of another witch related to their family. Although they never allowed Minerva to have what she wanted, however small it might be, they had discussed her going to Hogwarts and agreed more than cheerfully that she should go. As it is that would free them the reason to always worry about their friends getting to know her and her mother had written that once in Hogwarts, whatever expenses she had would be fulfilled from her account in a bank for wizards which meant her uncle would not have to spend another penny on her.

Minerva eagerly opened her mother's diary. On every of her birthday, new pages were added and these usually contained further instructions her mother had meant to give her or more details about her already told story. Today she opened it to first stumble upon a pocket in its side. Excitedly she put her hand inside to find a key. One look and she knew it was the key to her new vault in Gringots. The rest of that month and half of the next passed uneventfully reading her mother's diary and doing the usual house work until Minerva's letter from Hogwarts arrived. She eagerly read through it even though she knew the lines by heart having read them many times in her mother's diary. Suddenly the idea seemed to sink in; she was going to Hogwarts and that too within mere fifteen days. First day in all eleven years Minerva found it really tough to keep the smile off her face.

The next day her uncle reluctantly allowed her to go to London. Though others would have considered getting lost all alone, little Minerva was pretty used to this. She often went to markets and places to do odds and ends for her uncle and aunt. Although there was no mutual love among them, Minerva knew that they had kept her father's last wish, and did not treat her too badly either except well giving her to do all the work and screaming or isolating her. She actually understood their fear and in some aspects she felt bad for them. They knew how her parents had died also the immense power the wizards and witches hold over them, they would be a fool not to be scared. She knew and understood that all their neighbors would shun them if they found out about her or her mother. Her uncle and aunt belonged here with the muggles; they should not be isolated from their world. And as for herself, she understood that this was definitely not her world, she belonged elsewhere so it felt rather selfish to her to blame her relatives, though she could not help her temper at times.

All these thoughts going on through her mind, little Minerva made her way to her first view of the magical world- to Diagon-ally. The instructions had been very clear both in the letter as well as the diary. So she had no problem at all in finding her way there. Once inside the site in front of her was even more beautiful than she had dared to imagine after reading about the place she could only stare. Collecting herself quickly, she set out to get all her things. Within mid-day she had got everything on her list including except an owl and a wand. Though she had been longing to buy a cat as her mother's diary made that sound whenever agitated, being a practical person she had told herself that owls were more useful. So, she had decided to get herself an owl. Once in the owl emporium, she had fidgeted for quite some time before a small white owl with a few grey spots near its neck caught her fancy. She looked at it lovingly as it ate some kind of sweet given to her by another customer. "I will take her" she declared at long last to the owner of the shop. After paying for her new pet, she made her way to the only shop left on her list-Olivander.

Getting her wand was a different experience altogether. The shop owner Olivander had ranted on at first about her mother and her wand after that had gone on to measure her which had really irritated her very much. After the measurements were taken, Minerva was made to try wand after wand. Some the shopkeeper got out of her hand before even she had properly gripped it, others he told her to wave before taking them away. As they went on trying wand after wand, he did not seem to be satisfied with any of them. "Tricky customer, very tricky" he murmured happily as though it was the best thing in the world. Minerva on the other hand was far from happy. She had been looking forward to buying her wand and here she had tried almost every wand in the shop but none had chosen her. She felt both irritated as well as dejected. "Ah, why don't I try this one, why yes, this might just be it" exclaimed Olivander suddenly bringing out with him a sleek black wand. Minerva felt a pull towards it at once, it was so elegant. She wished fervently that it would choose her.

Looking at her and assessing her, Olivander handed her the wand gingerly. As soon as the wand touched her fingertips and the whole room filled with bright white hue so much so that one had to peer through the light. At this Mr. Olivander looked at her and said softly, "Curious, very curious" but then clapped heartily and gave her the wand. Overcome by her curiosity, Minerva looked at him blinking to see in the dim light after the bright white hue had filled the small shop. "Sorry, but what is so curious?" she asked tentatively. "The wand chooses the wizard Miss McGonagall and no wand ever gives off so much hue without any proper incantation. Over that this wand has been in my shop for eleven years now. After favoring a wizard a little the first year of its life, it never ever chose another wizard. I had stopped offering it at all since the last five years. It is curious that this wand must suddenly choose you after declining magical servitude so long." "Climber holy with phoenix tail feather core, 11 and three quarter inches nice and supple, unyielding. Fantastic for transfiguration work, very good with almost any curse or hex. If used in defense of loved ones almost no wand would give better results." Oddly after having bought her things Minerva could not get rid of the feelings in her heart that the wand had become a part of her and the bird felt more like a friend.

That night she found it very hard to sleep, her mind kept roaming back to her books and specially her wand and her owl whom she had named Eos. After tossing and turning for quite some time she decided to read through her mother's diary. Surprisingly she found two new pages. The first page congratulated her on being enrolled at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry the second part held the instructions and spells required to create a similar diary if ever she wanted one. On the other page were writings that had her crying first time in her life it read

My dearest child, I know this diary feels like a connection for you to me and all my heart and soul wanted to go on about every detail of my life. But dear, that is not to be. I want you to face your life as it comes, let the surprises about the school you cannot find in the books remain a surprise, I had my own experiences in my life, I do not want you to miss yours while they are in front of you and you are too immersed in this diary to see it. Remember I will always be there with you but this diary will not have new pages again. Only if you need my advice truly and immensely, something you cannot even tell the beautiful friends you will have made at school, open this diary and you will find a blank page to write your problems there. Your answers will be at hand my dear child. Till then I must say goodbye.
Your Loving mother,
Athena McGonagall.

It felt to little Minerva as though she had lost her mother all over again. The pain was excruciating. Unable to control herself, she fetched Eos and cried to the little bird till she fell asleep still holding her. When Minerva awoke next morning, her eyes were still sore from crying last night and she found herself almost clutching onto Eos who had fallen asleep sitting there. Gathering herself together, she understood that her mother's words though tough and hard to believe were very true and appropriate. It would not do for her to go on living in her mother's world and ignore hers when it was at the front of her nose. Shaking herself from her revere and grief she set to work on her usual cores.

The days after the fateful end of the diary had been rather interesting for little Minerva. Using her magic had always given her a great deal of free time to usually pursue studies in her muggle school or her mother's diary. These days though she had found other things to entertain herself. Always a diligent reader she had started with all her course books and had finished at a rate almost all of it. She knew almost everything in there now and had even received a few more books from flourish and bolts by owl order. Transfiguration had fast become her favorite book narrowly defeating the second favorite book of hers, Hogwarts, A History. Changing one thing to another was something that intrigued her no end and she was very much keen to understand and perform it properly. The wand maker Olivander had thought she would not have trouble with transfiguration, this thought seemed to lighten her mood for the whole day. Soon it was the last day of august, time had almost flown by.

After the strange but powerful wand had chosen her Minerva found to her amazement that her magic flowed more freely than ever before. The wand seemed to take untold instructions and even her wand less magic had become more powerful so much so that it was almost competition to wand based magic. Minerva felt a strange sense of responsibility come over her when she realized this. She had read in her mother's diary once, with great power comes greater responsibility. There was no doubt that her wand was powerful, too much so as it even increased her power. Hence, it also increased her powers and made it an additional responsibility for her. She would have to make sure that she never even unknowingly misused the huge power bestowed upon her and also make sure that her powers remained a secret as it would draw huge attention to her without a doubt.

Knocking on the door of the sitting room, Minerva entered to find her uncle and aunt seated in the sofa as though waiting for her."I will need to go to kings cross station tomorrow to board my train to Hogwarts. Will it be possible for you to take me there?" Minerva felt very awkward asking a favor, something she rarely did. "I thought you were pretty capable to go anywhere without needing an escort", the reply was almost the one she would have expected if her uncle were blind so she rolled her eyes and retorted "I have a heavy trunk and a cage in which to take Eos, what will the neighbors say? I know you fear our kind and it is only natural but I would not want you outraced from your society for me. I will only be under your care six more years. Then you will be free of this burden but till then it is better that you cooperate with me to keep the secret and your position in the society secure." She stomped out of the room before her uncle could make any palpable answer knowing he would cooperate.

The next day as expected Minerva found herself at kings cross station, delivered there by her uncle. She looked round the station in sheer joy. This was the place that would take her to her world permanently, her mother's world. Without hesitation she started to walk towards the barrier between the platforms nine and ten. Having read about it earlier in the diary, it did not scare her, but she felt rather thrilled and closed her eyes in anticipation when she reached the barrier. When she opened them again, her mouth fell open in amazement, her mother had been right, no amount of reading prepared a person for this, the huge red engine standing to take her away to her destiny was worth every second of the waiting of eleven years. Gathering herself together she smiled at the train then nodded at Eos, turning back one last time she made her way onto an empty compartment in the train, off at last.