Pop. Minerva McGonagall found herself in the front yard of her parents' home. A bit unsteady on her feet after the Apparation, she walked up to the house, wondering what one earth could have caused her parents to summon her.
"Minerva." Her mother, pale and sickly-looking opened the door. Upon seeing her daughter, a few worry lines in her face disappeared.
"Hello, Mother," Minerva said smoothly, walking into the house. "Why did you call?"
"I – there's a problem," the woman's face began to etch lines again.
"What kind of problem?" Minerva asked, suspicious. Usually her mother did not overreact to difficulties.
"I – I – " she said helplessly.
Minerva raised an eyebrow "Yes?"
"Minerva," rumbled a voice from the doorway to the kitchen. Robert McGonagall, not looking well at all, stepped out and crushed his daughter into a hug.
"Father," Minerva greeted him after he released her, looking at him with renewed suspicion. "What is the problem?"
The old man suddenly looked down. "It's… your brother…Michael…" he said after a moment's hesitation.
"What about Michael?"
"He's…" Robert shared a look with his wife.
"Tell me," Minerva said, her voice becoming steely. "Tell me now."
"He's dead."
"What?" Minerva managed to get out.
"He's dead," Isobel McGonagall repeated. "He was killed this afternoon in a wand malfunction in the office."
"But he works in the…Department of Mysteries…" Minerva's protests died on her mouth. The Department of Mysteries was one of the most dangerous jobs one could have, and there were accidents sometimes.
"I'm sorry," Isobel said, tears welling up in her eyes. "We wanted to tell you right away, but you were at work, and…"
"You thought I wouldn't want to hear about my brother's death," Minerva said, her deafening sadness suddenly turning to anger at her parents.
"Of course not," Robert reassured her. "But we didn't want to bother you, and…"
"You think Michael's death is a bother?" Minerva said, voice raising an octave. "You two are his parents! You ought to be more upset than I am! And yet it is simply a bother?"
"Minerva, see reason," Isobel cried.
"I suppose that's why Gabriel isn't here either?" Minerva said, eyes flashing as she spoke of her other brother. "You didn't want to bother him with this?"
"Gabriel is still a student at Hogwarts," her mother began.
"And I am a teacher at Hogwarts!" Minerva exploded. "I see minimal differences!"
"We can't just take him out of school," Robert put in. He, as a Muggle, didn't understand all of Wizarding World policies, but he knew a thing or two about schooling.
"I could have brought him with me!" Minerva bit out scathingly. "And yet you keep him ignorant about his own brother's death!"
"Please, dear, calm down," her mother said. "We'll get you a nice cup of tea."
"I do not want a cup of tea," Minerva said. "I want Michael. But I suppose I can't have that, can I?"
With those parting words, Minerva stormed out of the house and into the yard, only to Disapparate back to the school.
It was only after she was back in her quarters in the castle that she realized she hadn't even cried.