Declaimer: As usual, I do not own them
Author's Notes:Slenderpanda597 I tried to correct the spellings,thanks for your reviews
thank you for your reviews everyone 3
Minerva had returned happily to her home after a month of solitude at her uncle's place. Second year had begun with a lot more vigor. There was a new staff member Gilderoy Lockhart their new defense against dark arts professor who smiled at them as though he were trying very hard to show all his teeth. Minerva looked at him in disgust then she suddenly caught the eye of her favorite professor whose eyes seemed to twinkle at the sight of her outraged face. She could not help but smile back at him, her giddy feelings when looking at him had not taken their leave in the holidays it seemed. After a while she averted her gaze and joined her friends in the feast of the year.
When Minerva had thought the new professor disgusted her the first day, when she attended his first class, she felt pure loathing for him. He had caught her getting out of the library, clearly having heard about her from the rest of the staff, he had tried to make himself friendly in his words, get a bit too close in hers. He had insisted upon walking her to the classroom as it was his lesson. They had reached Lockhart's classroom and she headed for a seat at the very back of the class, where she busied herself with piling all seven of Lockhart's books in front of her, so that he could avoid looking at the real thing. The rest of the class came clattering in, and Rolanda and Poppy sat down on either side of Minerva. "You could've fried an egg on your face" said Rolanda smiling at her disconcerted friend.
"Shut up," snapped Minerva. The last thing she needed was for Lockhart to hear the idiot and come bounding up to give more attention than required. "If you have to know that stupid oaf tried to get a bit too familiar with me when I was getting out of the library. Calling me Minerva instead of Miss McGonagall, holding out his hand for me to take and insisting on walking me to his class all the while commenting on my transfigurations and how he would have made a much better teacher than Dumbledore. The hell he would have, he isn't worthy to wipe the grime off Dumbledore's shoes!" Rolanda stared dumbstruck at her friend; she was not one for insulting teachers. The new professor seemed to have made his way under her skin. Poppy stared at Minerva in reproach, "He is just friendly Min, ok I agree Dumbledore is the best transfiguration teacher we could have but he might not be too bad- or maybe he would" poppy backtracked seeing the killer look on her friend's face. Minerva scowled at her best friend and wondered what the girls found so attractive in this silly cow. Now she thought of it almost all of them were staring coyly at him.
When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Sally Grandwilight's copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking portrait on the front. "Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming-Smile Award—but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly. Minerva was close to throwing up. "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books—well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in—"
When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of the class and said, "You have thirty minutes—start—now!" Minerva rolled her eyes and looked down at her paper and read:
1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color? 2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition? 3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?
On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:
54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?
Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class.
"Tut, tut—hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully—I clearly state in Chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples—though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogden's Old Fire whisky!"
He gave them another roguish wink. Rolanda was now staring at Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on her face; Jeff Connors and Terry Boot, who were sitting in front, were shaking with silent laughter. Poppy, on the other hand, was listening to Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when he mentioned her name. "...but Miss Poppy Pomfrey knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions—good girl! In fact"—he flipped her paper over—"full marks! Where is Miss Poppy Pomfrey?" Poppy raised a trembling hand. "Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for Gryffindor! And so—to business—"
He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it. "Now—be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm." In spite of herself, Minerva leaned around her pile of books for a better look at the cage. Lockhart placed a hand on the cover. Jeff and Terry had stopped laughing now. Sally was cowering in her front row seat. "I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might provoke them." As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover. "Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies. " Jeff Connors couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.
"Yes?" He smiled at Jeff. "Well, they're not—they're not very—dangerous, are they?" Jeff choked. "Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at Jeff. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!" The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them. "Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" And he opened the cage. It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Sally by the ears and lifted her into the air. Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Sally was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling.
"Come on now—round them up, round them up, they're only pixies," Lockhart shouted. He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his wand and threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Sally, who fell a second later as the chandelier gave way. The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit. In the relative calm that followed, Lockhart straightened up, caught sight of Minerva, Rolanda, and Poppy, who were almost at the door, and said, "Well, I'll ask you three to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." He swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him. "Can you believe him?" roared Minerva as one of the remaining pixies bit Rolanda painfully on the ear. "He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Poppy, while Minerva ran about immobilizing all the pixies at once with a clever Freezing Charm and stuffing them back into their cage.
"Hands on? " said Minerva, who was trying to grab the last pixie dancing out of reach with its tongue out. "Poppy, he didn't have a clue what he was doing—" "Rubbish," said Poppy. "You've read his books—look at all those amazing things he's done—" "He says he's done," Rolanda muttered. Having caught the last pixie at last, the three of them made their way out of the room. Minerva and Rolanda were still muttering under their breath while Poppy tried in vain to pacify her irate friends. Turning round the corner they ran into a tall thin person again, not even looking up Minerva murmured "Sorry Professor Dumbledore". "Ah, I see I am still the only one lucky to bump into you pretty ladies so that you do not even have to look to know who you have crashed into to know my identity." He exclaimed with a smile.
Minerva returned his smile with a small wane one of her own as she looked up to his face and felt much better at once. They started to get away when professor Dumbledore called out "Miss McGonagall, a word please" the tone of his voice did not seem jovial as always, so Minerva made her way over to him while telling her friends to go on feeling rather uneasy. "Miss McGonagall, even though I appreciate your high regards for me, I would rather you did not tell people they are not worth wiping the grime off my feet you know, I prefer not to be the topic of gossip." He stated staring at her straight in the eye. Minerva blanched at the revelation that the word had reached Professor Lockhart's ears. She collected herself and replied evenly "I am sorry professor if I am being rude but I would rather Professor Lockhart did not insult you in front of the whole class and if he does even if you dock fifty points off me every time I do it I will do it again. You are the best transfiguration professor we could ever have and we are lucky you like to teach us, as for Professor Lockhart I could not care less as to what he thought." Professor Dumbledore tried to say something; he opened his mouth once then closed it again before saying "Thank you Miss McGonagall. It seems the unlucky Professor has already managed to get under your skin!" he laughed suddenly lighting the atmosphere. Minerva looked up at him with a smile then turned and made away to her next class her mood much better from the sudden encounter.
They had barely set foot in the cool entrance hall when a voice rang out, "There you are, McGonagall." Professor Slughorn was walking toward them, looking stern. "You will do your detentions this evening." "What for Professor?" said Rolanda, suddenly dumbfounded Minerva hardly ever lost house points let alone a detention? "You, McGonagall, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail, I know you told the truth I understand-" said Professor Slughorn even before she could retort "But he is kind of a touch me not so, well, we teachers can't help it. Although he said he would not dock points as you were showing loyalty to your professors, something he looks forward to earn as well", he smiled wanly at her knowing it was useless trying on Lockhart's part. "Oh no—Professor, can't I go and do whatever the caretaker punishes students in detention with?" said Minerva desperately. "Certainly not," said Professor Slughorn, raising his eyebrows. "Professor Lockhart requested you particularly do this detention, getting to know each other he said. Eight o'clock sharp."
Minerva slouched into the Great Hall in states of deepest gloom, Poppy and Rolanda behind her, wearing a shocked expression. Minerva didn't enjoy her dinner at all."I'd swap detention with the caretaker anytime," said Minerva hollowly. "You don't even know what it is! He usually hangs students by their wrists, not at all enjoyable Min" Ro tried in vain to calm her. Minerva seemed to have some gut instincts that told her this was not going to end well. Saturday afternoon seemed to melt away, and in what seemed like no time, it was five minutes to eight, and Minerva was dragging her feet along the second-floor corridor to Lockhart's office. She gritted her teeth and knocked. The door flew open at once. Lockhart beamed down at her.
"Ah, here's the beautiful lady!" he said. "Come in, Minerva, come in." Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another large pile lay on his desk. "You can address the envelopes!" Lockhart told Minerva, as though this was a huge treat. "This first ones to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her—huge fan of mine—" The minutes snailed by. Minerva let Lockhart's voice wash over her, occasionally saying, "Hmm" and "Right" and "Yeah."Now and then she caught a phrase like, "Fame's a fickle friend, Minerva," or "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that." The candles burned lower and lower, making the light dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart watching her. Minerva moved her aching hand over what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address.
It must be nearly time to leave, Minerva thought miserably, please let it be nearly time...And then she heard something—something quite apart from the spitting of the dying candles and Lockhart's prattle about his fans. Lockhart had gotten up from his desk and was now standing just behind Minerva. "Come... come to me... let me relax you." Saying he touched her shoulders and started to massage them. Minerva was up in a jiffy. "I think I have served my detentions Professor?" She asked in a voice barely audible forcing her voice to speak when she felt like she had lost it altogether. "Sorry?" said Lockhart, looking puzzled. "Great Scott—look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! I'd never have believed it—the time's flown, hasn't it?" Minerva didn't answer. She was straining to stay still and behave rather than slap the man in front of her. Feeling dazed, Minerva left not daring to breathe before she was out of the room.
First time after crying over the diary Minerva cried again, dashing through the corridors, she did not even look where she was going except that she wanted to get as far away from Lockhart as possible. She was running so blindly and so fast that she did not even notice the figure of Albus Dumbledore before she bumped bodily into him throwing both of them onto the floor one atop another. "Sor-ry Pro-fess-sir, very sor-ry" ,shuttered Minerva while trying to get up from over Dumbledore "Hush, don't Minerva it is all right. Here let me help you" Professor Dumbledore held out his hand and allowed Minerva to get up holding it. Then he pulled himself up from the floor and peered at her. "Minerva, what is the matter my dear? You seem devastated" Minerva would not have told what had happened to even her best friends, but standing there looking at Dumbledore's eyes that were looking at her so fondly and caringly, she told him everything that had passed in her detention.
When she looked up, she could hardly recognize the benign and loving professor she had come to know. On his face was such rage and he was emanating such power that it was very hard to keep looking at him. "He tried to molest you?" the voice in which he spoke was low but it made a shiver run down her spine. She nodded through her tears. Then not trusting herself she closed the gap between them and embraced Dumbledore, drawing comfort from the fact that he was moved to such rage because someone had harassed her. Dumbledore had stiffened at first feeling that the girl would shy away from the touch of any male person at the moment but when she had held onto him he had understood the deep trust she had for him. He held her to himself rubbing her back, soothing her all the time gaining a control over his own temper which had so uncharacteristically come to the surface, making him want to see the end of Lockhart at that very moment. The embrace was something both of them needed at the moment he thought, he to control his rage and she to get over what had passed.
Moments later, Minerva gained consciousness to the fact the she was clinging to her transfiguration professor on a corridor anyone could come by. She withdrew from the embrace at once and tried to apologize, though it was very hard given the fact she was the least bit sorry. The embrace had given her the support she had needed. "I am sorry-" but Dumbledore cut her off before she could say further, "my dear, we both needed it, you needed the comfort of the arms of someone you trusted with yourself and I needed to get my temper under control to not wreck havoc on our dearest professor" he smiled down and her" and I can cast a disillusionment charm strong enough to make us both invisible" he added smiling.
Minerva smiled back at him merrily remembering her first year. "Professor there is no need for you to tell Professor Lockhart anything at present. He already has qualms for me speaking up for you, we don't want it to get worse, as for more detentions-""You will have no more detentions with him my dear, I can at least promise you that." He finished before her. "Now, let me escort you back to your dormitory, I will remove the spell once we reach there. I am sure you do not want to draw more attention to yourself. By the way, I think it would help if you get whatever happened out of your system, talking to friends help." "Thank you professor but I have already spoken about it and I do not think I can speak to anyone else about it. Thank you sir, for everything" she smiled up at him feeling no burden at all. "The pleasure was all mine Miss McGonagall, good night!" he replied, returning her smile in greater measure before lifting the charm and departing.
The months after the detention seemed to pass swiftly. Since the disastrous episode of the pixies, Professor Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them, and sometimes reenacted some of the more dramatic bits. He usually picked Minerva to help him with these reconstructions; so far, Minerva had been forced to play along with Lockhart as he had gone about and had cured a person of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him. Minerva was hauled to the front of the class during their very next Defense against the Dark Arts lesson so that she would try to haul him off a man being played by Jeff and then he would show how he cured them both. After trying in vain to haul him off by his arms, Minerva understood his motive of being drawn back by his shoulders which would bring Minerva too much closer proximity. Unable to stand humiliation any longer she wiped out her wand and in a flash Lockhart was pulled off Jeff. The whole class was staring at Minerva. The girls looked at her as though she were insane not to try to get closer to Lockhart, the guys with awestruck and impressed expressions, Lockhart incredulously.
Then she saw his eyes snap back to focus, and knew what was coming. "I am sorry Miss McGonagall, but I have to give you detention. Eight O' clock again, my office, will it be convenient?" "It would not be convenient professor, why don't we serve detention in the staff room?" it was clear from the look on his face that he had not expected a reply, calculating he looked at her again and smiled. "I will spare this little for my favorite student. The staff room it is then." Minerva was too shocked to believe he had agreed she barely nodded. She could not fathom why he had agreed on the staffroom, she was pretty sure there were reasons she did not know. Rolanda and Poppy looked at her meekly. Not knowing what to say. They after all knew nothing about her first detention. After the class when she entered the transfiguration room, realization dawned on her. She stood at the door as though struck by lightning. Professor Dumbledore was not teaching the class; instead professor Binns their history of magic professor was giving out assignments left back by professor Dumbledore. He would not be at the staff room that night.
Minerva could hardly sit still the whole class and as soon as the bell rang she was the first person out of the door ignoring her friends shouting at her back. She dashed up to the common room and wrote a short letter to Professor Dumbledore, the only solution that had come to her. Then she made a copy of it. Holding the letters securely she ran to the owlery. She went there to meet Eos often but never to post letters. This time Eos was startled to see the mail, but held out her leg obligingly. She held out the letter for Dumbledore to her and then said "Please try to find him Eos, please", the bird blinked once as though in assertive, then nibbling her ear once lovingly, flew out of the owlery. Minerva stood there praying Eos found him in time. Turning she ran along to her next destination, Dumbledore's private office. The office was open to all, though the other rooms were guarded. She had heard as much from a senior year student. Rushing into his office, she tried to think where to put the letter so that he would find it as soon as he returned. Suddenly there was a musical cry.
Turning around Minerva found herself facing a beautiful red bird. She walked over to it and it dipped its head obligingly for her to pet. She ran her hand over the head of the roal bird talking to it, "Where do I put this letter for Professor Dumbledore to find? I need him here tonight you know, Professor Lockhart has given me another detention. God knows what he has in mind. And I did not even check to see if he is here before confirming today's date. Oh God! What will I do now?" Minerva felt like an idiot talking to a bird, but then a thought struck her. "Hey he will of course come and pet you once he returns, let me place the letter with you. Will you allow me please?" she looked up at the bird pleadingly, the bird moved a bit aside in its perch so that she could place her parchment there. Sighing at not knowing what would happen later that evening, Minerva petted the bird one last time before leaving the room. Here in Dumbledore's office, faux the phoenix stared at the parchment for a long time, then taking it in his beak, disappeared in a flash of flames.
Minerva was very much a bag of nerves that evening. Rolanda and Poppy had tried in vain to get her to talk to them but she would not. At last they gave up and attributed it to the fact that she had never ever received detention except during the start of the year and as the rest of the year had gone peacefully, this detention came as a shock to her, hence her over reaction. When the clock chimed five to eight, Minerva looked up with a look of sheer terror on her face. Closing her eyes she composed her features, gritted her teeth and made her way to the staffroom. Knocking once, she peered across the door into the room to find it entirely empty except for Lockhart. Her heart gave a wrench as her last hope vanished. Determined not to show her fears on her face, she walked in with as much show of confidence as she could muster. "Ah, my favorite student", he smiled coming forward to place his hands on her shoulders, when another voice responded from behind, "And mine as well" the sound of the voice made Minerva's heart jump with joy. He was back, either he had received her letter or had come back on his own, but she knew one thing, with Dumbledore, she would go to hell willingly. Turning back in a whirl she beamed at him, controlling herself with all her might from not embracing him again. Confidence now oozed from every orifice of Minerva McGonagall. Turning back when she faced Lockhart, she saw him blanch. The detention went uneventfully. Professor Dumbledore had joined them and even made conversations with Lockhart to spare her the oddity of hearing him speak to himself all the time.
When the detention was over, Dumbledore offered to walk her back to the dormitory. "You made the best decision in your life by sending me that letter Miss McGonagall." He smiled for the first time after his return; she smiled back "Eos found you? Or did you find the letter I left in your office with your bird?" "Oh Eos did not find me, she is your owl I presume?" Minerva nodded and he continued "Faux found me" answering her questioning look he said "Faux, is my phoenix, the bird as you called him, in my office. Though the thing I do not understand is this, how did you coax him to take the letter to me? He usually does not obey anyone other than me." Minerva looked up at her professor rather confused, "I did not tell him to take the letter to you sir, though I am grateful of course, but I just left the letter with him." "Faux took it on his own free will then. Do not be confused Minerva, if I may call you so?" when Minerva nodded with a smile, he continued, "He is a phoenix, a strange bird with a lot of his own mind. If you ask me he had taken a liking to you" he smiled at her his eyes twinkling. "Good night Minerva" saying thus he turned and left for his rooms.
Minerva awoke next morning feeling quite refreshed yet amused as she was being shaken awake by Ro who usually had to be pulled out of bed regularly. "Get up Min we have selection for the Quidditch team today, GET UP! GET UP!" she thundered about the dormitory. Minerva did not need much coaxing. Soon, she was out of bed and ready to head for the field. She had tried for a chaser and Ro for a seeker. Poppy who did not play Quidditch accompanied her friends to boost their confidence. Soon the whole team was up in the air playing and shouting comments. Minerva and Rolanda both made into the team as they were easily the best players. By the time the selection had ended, the team put together was pretty impressive and almost everyone seemed to think wining the match next Wednesday would be an easy task this year. Laughing and joking they made their way back into the castle.
Next few days were as uneventful as could be. Lockhart had done his best to cajole Minerva without grabbing attention to himself again, Jeff the Ravenclaw student a new member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, beater, was seen glaring at Minerva as often as possible and Poppy had read up all the books of Lockhart much to Ro and Minerva's amusement. Dumbledore had been very pleased with Ro and Minerva for getting selected in the team. "Congratulations Minerva, Ro" he had whispered at the dumbstruck girls at the end of one class winking at them and smiling gleefully. "If I did not know better I would think that man has taken after Lockhart" Ro exclaimed with a smile but then noticing the look on Minerva's face back tracked at once "No Min that's not what I meant. I meant he was cute congratulating us like we were his friends unlike Lockhart, whose intentions are pretty clear, no Min I am not saying this to pacify you but even a fool would trust Dumbledore with their life." The last statement had its desired effect as it brought back the smile on Minerva's face at once.
Minerva woke early on Wednesday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. She was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Dumbledore would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of facing another team the first time. She had never wanted to beat any team so badly. After half an hour of lying there with her insides churning, she got up, dressed, and went down to breakfast early, where she found Ro and the rest of the Gryffindor team huddled at the long, empty table, all looking uptight and not speaking much. As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. Poppy came hurrying over to wish Minerva and Ro good luck as they entered the locker rooms to get ready for the match. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, and then sat down to listen to the usual pre-match pep talk. "Ravenclaw are a strong team," began their captain. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms this year. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers—" he smiled at the rueful faces around him "and we're going to make them rue by the end of the day." Chest heaving with emotion, their captain turned to the new players. "It'll be down to you lot, to show them that a player has to have something more than a few years experience." "So no pressure, Min" said Ro, winking at her friend.
As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because except Ravenclaw and Slytherin, Hufflepuff was anxious for the Gryffindor as well. The Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard, too. Madam Jane, the Quidditch teacher, asked the two captains to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary. "On my whistle," said Madam Jane. "Three... two... one... With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Rolanda flew higher than any of them, squinting around for the Snitch. The Quaffle was immediately taken by Minerva then belted down the pitch before making a neat pass to Alicia Snippet another member of their team. Alicia made her way towards the goals when a budger made its way towards her she dove and was attacked at the same time by the Ravenclaw captain. Quaffle taken he made for the goals but Minerva made for a streak directly at him, giving up the Quaffle he jumped out of her way. Taking possession of the Quaffle again Minerva hit it straight at one of the loops and "GOAL!" half the crowd cheered themselves hoarse as the scoring continued. Minerva to her delight found she and Alicia made an almost unbeatable pair.
Way up above them, Rolanda was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of her and their captain's game plan."Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," their captain had stated. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be." Within minutes though something gold caught her eye and she swooped down after it like a hawk. Minerva glanced once at her friend and then when she turned and passed the Quaffle, she was hit squarely behind her head by a budge. Everything went black in front of her eyes. When she opened them she found herself lying in the hospital wing with Ro sitting on her side looking very nervous and Poppy, who seemed near tears.
Madam Bell hustled round her examining her head. Minerva felt almost alright except that her vision seemed to blur just a bit over the edges so that it looked as though she were looking at a oil painting. Thinking it was an after mirth of her accident she asked the mediwitch who shook her head in resignation. "Eye sight cannot be put right through magic, you will have to do with glasses" even before Minerva could digest the information, the nurse had conjured up a square set of glasses and placed it on her nose. Smiling in satisfaction, she made her way out. Minerva looked at her friends, Poppy it seemed had cried a lot, her eyes were puffy and she seemed ready to cry again. Rolanda looked angered as well as sad. "What happened to the match?" Minerva asked her friends. "We won I had almost caught the snitch when that idiot Jeff hit you with that budger thinking it would divert me. But I got it anyways. You should have seen Dumbledore's face when you fell looked like he was about to blast people out of his way. He managed to stall your fall without a wand even and then carried you here to the hospital wing. He is one of the people who have been very anxious for you." Rolanda smiled despite herself. "We will have to go now, classes" explained Poppy. So bidding her goodbye her friends made their way out of the infirmary.
Minerva was surprised when Professor Dumbledore made his way into the hospital wing at once. "I wanted to meet you my dear, but did not want to interrupt your friends" he smiled. "You played brilliantly. I am so proud of you" his eyes were twinkling with happiness. Minerva could not help beaming back like always "But well I got myself glasses thanks to the game" she added woefully. "Ah, you did seem more beautiful than usual if you will pardon me saying so, glasses do suit you magnificently. I must congratulate madam Bell on her sense of fashion on my way out" he chuckled. Minerva felt a lot better at once and smiled with warmth this time. "Minerva Mr. Connors would like to meet you. I know you two have not been very good correspondences, but he seems extremely frustrated by the result of his actions. Would you like to meet him?" Dumbledore asked Minerva staring at her from above his glasses. She nodded knowing he would want her to. Dumbledore smiled down at her and gave her a bocce then looked at her one last time before leaving.
Jeff seemed very awkward when he entered the room. "Hello Minerva", he started tentatively, "I really did not know this would happen. I have not behaved properly with you from the start of the term. To tell you the truth I was jealous. You were good at almost every subject without almost any effort, though you always work hard. I could not even get half the results after trying my very best. I know it was silly of me but I could not help it, please I am really sorry." Minerva had been getting more awkward with every passing moment. So, she interrupted at once "Hush please Jeff, apology accepted but please let this conversation rest. I understand your thinking in the way you did, though I can't very well appreciate it, but it was understandable really. The more you go on about this, the more you will embarrass the both of us. Anyways what happened cannot be reversed however much you try" she said pointing at her new glasses. Jeff's mouth fell open in shock "I don't know what to say Minerva, really I-""it's ok Jeff" Minerva interrupted before the flustered boy could continue any further, "I rather like them, even already got a compliment for them", she said blushing "just don't aim at someone's head when hitting a budger. Both of them smiled when madam Bell came rushing in to drive Jeff away.
Days after the accident passed even faster. Winter holidays came and went even before anyone could start to appreciate them properly. Soon it was Valentine's Day. The three friends made their way towards the great hall, Minerva and Ro scowling and Poppy doing her best not to giggle. Minerva had been asked to attend the Valentine's Day ball by Lockhart in a most pompous manner, when she had turned him down, he had turned red in the face and left in a hurry. Ro too had been put through the same experience though by a first year. It was all Poppy could do from not laughing out loud. "Oh, come off it you two, Ro the first year was rather cute and brave and Min, even though you dislike, sorry, loath professor Lockhart, you must admit most girls would kill for that offer" Poppy tried to get her friends smile. "Well I would rather be killed than be offered that" snapped back Minerva. At this even Ro could not help but laugh. Seeing her friend's face she explained before she could rue the day, "Min I am laughing because I remembered that idiot's face when you turned him down. That look was worth being asked to the ball" Minerva smiled at her friend suddenly seeing the funny side. With much better moods they progressed towards the great hall.
Upon entering the hall though they stared at each other, mouths hanging open. The great hall was covered in pink colored confetti all over the roof and floor. The house tables had been replaced by tables for twos, which a sign read would hold only two people of opposite sex, same sex people could not sit together. The three of them looked at each other aghast. Almost at once the first year that had asked Ro to the ball was beside them, "Ro please, you can at least have breakfast with me" he pleaded. Ro looked at the kid and smiled before joining him. Minerva smiled at this, the first year was really cute, Poppy had been right. Before she could think another word she saw Professor Lockhart making his way towards her. Not even thinking twice, she headed straight for the only person she could think of at the moment, Dumbledore, who had been standing where the head's table usually was. "Professor Dumbledore, will you please share a table with me?" she asked not even caring to articulate her speech enough to make him understand her real motive. But he seemed to have understood very well as he smiled down at her, his eyes dancing in merriment, "Ah, my dear I have been unable to fit myself into a table alone as well, I think the card suits both of us, my hunger and your get away." He chuckled at himself before holding out a chair for her to sit. Minerva sighed in relief and took the offered seat. Then looking around she found Lockhart glaring at Dumbledore behind his back and Poppy sitting with Jeff.
Breakfast had been rather enjoyable affair though the credit went to Lockhart. Minerva had found dining with Dumbledore highly amusing. He ate with a zest commenting about the food and its cuisine, which told about his immense knowledge even in that field. Throughout the meal he ate the unhealthiest meals so much so that Minerva had subtly asked, "would you like to have these fruits Professor?" Seeing through her subtlety, he grinned at her "As soon as I finish this last bite mother McGonagall!" Both of them had laughed heartily throughout the meal. After breakfast Minerva had thanked her Professor wholeheartedly before going off to her classes. The ball caused quite a stir in the school as it seemed Lockhart had put more of his imagination at work there, the details though were all sordid given the fact that almost everyone who returned from the ball were punch drunk.
The months after the disturbance passed very fast and soon it was exams. The day before the last exams, Minerva was making her way back to the dormitories, when she heard a high pitched shriek coming from the end of the corridor. She rushed in the direction without another thought to find Sally, the girl from her dormitory sprawled on the floor. Professor Lockhart was on her bodily and her dress was ripped in a huge vent. Removing her wand from its case, fast as a lightning Minerva had blasted Lockhart from the now whimpering girl. Then she kneeled over her friend and tried to console her before casting a quick repairing charm that sealed the front of her robes again. What she had failed to notice was that Lockhart had got to his feet while she had been consoling her crestfallen friend. He dove at them both, Minerva, having noticed him at the very last moment rolled over with her friend, her wand slipping out of her grip in the process. She got up at once, pulling Sally up with her and faced Lockhart. "Leave, at once, or I will tell the headmaster about your activities both now and in our detentions" she said glaring at him with her eyes flashing and lips thin in anger. "What will you tell Miss McGonagall, when I am done with you? Even though I might not be good at other charms like miss brains guessed early on, I do have a very good talent in a few which have come in very handy, otherwise how do you think I still have people believing I did all these great things?" Lockhart was smiling widely at the two of them.
Minerva could very well guess the charm he was hinting at but knew the only way out of this was to keep him talking and buy time. Closing her eyes to concentrate she murmured softly once "Faux, I need professor Dumbledore at once, please help me!" opening her eyes she started stalling, "After all that stuff you did in your books—" "Books can be misleading," said Lockhart delicately. "You wrote them!" Minerva shouted in hope someone would hear her voice. "My dear lady," said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Minerva. "Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. I mean, come on—" "So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?" said Minerva incredulously. "Minerva, Minerva," said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently, "it's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Minerva. It's not all book signings and publicity photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog."
He banged his hands on the walls before turning to face the girls again. "Let's see," he said. "I think that's everything you need to know. Yes. Only one thing left." He pulled out his wand and turned to them. "Awfully sorry, ladies, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place now can I? I'd never sell another book—" turning with a flourish, Lockhart pointed his wand at the two girls, "Now, who would like to go first? Ah you will have to Miss McGonagall, you are standing too protectively in front of your rather lovely friend", he winked at the two of them. Knowing what was coming, Minerva made her decision in a flash. As he raised his wand and muttered the incantations, Minerva raised her wand arm and concentrated with all her might. To her relief she saw a silver shield form in front of her from thin air, concentrating harder; she wrapped her shield into a silver sphere enclosing Lockhart and the memory charm all within it."MINERVA!" the voice of Dumbledore boomed onto her ear as she turned to see him running in her direction. With sally still clinging onto her as though holding for dear life, she looked up at his face tentatively. She saw his face filled with all kinds of emotions, relief was the foremost. Other emotions included sheer rage, disbelief and frustration. He took one look at the silver sphere before sending it sailing towards the headmaster's office.
Then turning to the girls he spoke in the most commanding voice Minerva had ever heard him use "Follow me to the hospital wing, Miss McGonagall if you will levitate Miss Grandwilight, she seems unable to walk and also to let go of you, here-"he said holding out her wand. Minerva pocketed her wand and said, "I will carry her professor, levitating might jerk her nerves to worse states." She bent down and pulled her friend bodily onto herself. Turning and nodding once at professor Dumbledore, she moved towards the hospital wing. Entering the Infirmary, she places Sally gingerly onto a bed. But, Sally it seemed was even now unable to let her go. She clung to Minerva with all her might, not knowing what to do at the moment, she looked upon the nurse for further instructions. "You saved her from some great mishap it seems?" seeing both her and Dumbledore nod in the affirmative she continued, "She seems to trust you and hence feels secure with you. You will have to sit on the bed holding her while I administer the calming draught and the dreamless sleep potion to her." she bustled out to the potions cupboard while Minerva pulled her friend onto her lap, waiting for the nurse to return. She glanced up a few times at Dumbledore while the mediwitch treated Sally wishing to catch his eye but he seemed to be in deep thought. When at last she fell asleep, Minerva untangled herself carefully from her and laid down her head with utmost care on the pillow. It was them that she felt Dumbledore's hand on her elbow. She turned at him questioningly, "we have to go to the headmaster Minerva, please forgive my lack of options." he said looking very crestfallen. Minerva looked at him and nodded before saying "Please professor, you do not need to apologize, whatever happened was not your fault." "Was it not my dear?" he asked. Knowing he did not want the answer Minerva kept quite feeling helpless, unable to console the person who was taking all the blame while deserving all the credit.
Minerva and a very subdued Dumbledore made their way to the headmaster's office. When they entered, Minerva felt herself going cold all of a sudden. This was the first time she had come to the headmaster's office. Although they saw professor Dippet regularly at meal times, being in his office was not comfortable at all. First time seeing the headmaster from close proximity, she took in his appearance, he was medium height, balding with a beard and although he was the post of ultimate power, he did not give off the aura as she had expected having quite got used to Dumbledore's aura. In one of the chairs was lying an unconscious Professor Lockhart, now free from his silver cage. "Did you conjure the cage Miss-?" "McGonagall" introduced Dumbledore before she could get out any word. "Well whatever. Did she?" asked the headmaster rather impatiently. Dumbledore nodded as the headmaster continued, "What charm was that Miss McGonagall?" "It was done wand less Armando, so you can rest assured no charm was involved. Lockhart had wrestled her wand away earlier. Faux led me to the commotion; it seemed the Professor was having a hard time keeping his hand off the female students. You already know of his escapades with Miss McGonagall, she was barely saved each time." Throughout his speech Dumbledore glared at the headmaster. The headmaster lowered his eyes unable to hold the fire that streaked from his eyes.
Minerva who had been gaping at her two professors this long suddenly found her voice. He was trying to rape Sally headmaster. When I got there her robes were slashed open all the way to her waist in the front." When she had said this, a look of utter agony passed over the face of Dumbledore but the headmaster remained stoic. "I will take the necessary actions. Thank you for your help Miss McGonagall but you could have spared yourself the trouble of wrapping your solid shield around Professor Lockhart along with the curse." He said, glancing once at Dumbledore who was glaring at his boss again. Minerva opened her mouth to reply but found her view blocked by Dumbledore. He nodded his head infinitesimally so that only Minerva could see it. Taking his instructions at once, she thanked the headmaster before leaving. Dumbledore astonishingly joined her. They walked silently to his office.
Reaching his office Dumbledore held open the door for her. Looking up at him once she walked in, and sat down on the chair he held out to her. "Minerva please let me apologize properly; I let you down in so many ways when you trusted me so blindly. I-"he started but Minerva had had enough. Why did he have to blame himself? If Sally was safe at the moment and she was not expelled, it was only because of this man and here he was apologizing for that rogue. "Professor," she interrupted, "really, this is enough. Why do you have to take the blame for every mishap under the sun? Oh, no you do not need to tell me your reasons, I already know them, I should have been there, I should have looked out for the safety of the students, I failed my duty as head of your house when you were under my protection, I let you go through so much this year saving you from the same mishap barely, please professor I do not need to hear those reasoning's. For the most intelligent wizard you can be pretty thick at times. You could not have looked out for all of the girls in the castle at the same time and these mishaps don't come with a warning. If you had not found me when you did he might even have broken through the shield and yes you could have been there earlier but that would have been pure chance. You are only human professor, you can't be omnipresent." She was glaring at her favorite professor daring him to contradict her and try to take some blame again. Instead he suddenly smiled, "it has been a long time since I faced a lecture. It seems I have lost my ability to a witty reply" he chuckled, "and point made. I will not take the blame but I can't help but feel bad for whatever happened tonight. I hardly think anyone could help feeling bad."
Minerva visibly relaxed when she realized he was not going to blame himself any more. So she just nodded her giving in to her mental exhaustion. "I am sorry my dear, I should not have tried to take the blame it is just as you said, I felt responsible for my Gryffindor. But, your point if taken; these mishaps do not come with warnings" he smiled meekly at her. Minerva smiled back this time "you are forgiven." She was glad she had stopped his brooding at last but she had other things on mind as well "Professor, if you do not mind, could I spend the night in the infirmary? I am fine," she added before Dumbledore could start worrying about her, "It's just, I thought if Sally found me beside her when she awoke, she might be more comfortable." "That is very kind of you my dear, of course you can spend the night in the infirmary" he said now smiling broadly, "but, first inform your other friends, they will be worried." Nodding her head in acknowledgement, Minerva greeted Dumbledore goodnight and left his office. Making her way to Gryffindor tower, she gave the password and was not the least surprised to find Ro and Poppy waiting for her. She beckoned them over whispered, "Sally has had an accident and is in the infirmary. I am fine really, so do not worry about me. What happened to her is not my secret to share, so I will not tell anything and it would also be a great help if you two did not mention this to anyone and did not ask questions when you met her." Ro and Poppy nodded at her. Wishing her friends goodnight, Minerva at last made her way to the infirmary, where informing Madam Bell that she had Dumbledore's permission, she flopped down into the bed next to Sally falling asleep almost instantly.
It had been very hard to control Sally when she woke up the next day and even harder to keep her from clutching at Minerva all the time. After a lot of reassuring words and a little encouragement from Minerva, she had calmed down at last. Sally had been very glad that almost no one except Minerva, Dumbledore and the headmaster knew her fate. The last exam had flown by and in no time it was time to leave Hogwarts. Minerva had found the last few days pretty amusing. Sally it seemed had attached herself like a little plaster to Minerva, and even after Minerva promising to help her whenever she needed it she always found the girl trailing wherever she went. Giving up at last Minerva accepted it with good grace; Sally was a harebrain, but not bad. Her exams had gone very well and she had developed a kind of friendship with Dumbledore which made her smile whenever she thought about it. At last all her thing packed and all last minute work done, she turned and departed her home for what was going to be a really long month.
