Chapter Eleven – "Another Talk with Minerva McGonagall"

A/N: Cliff-hanger in the last chapter, but since I am not Moffat, I'll let you have this one quickly.

Jim turned eyes wide. Behind him was the same woman who he had last met as an eleven-year-old. Although she definitely looked older—seventy to eighty, to be precise—the prim and stern face of the professor remained, and Jim could not help but gulp.

"Uh…Professor McGonagall?" Jim said uncertainly.

McGonagall shook her head. "Headmistress, Mr. Moriarty—you have been outdated. What are you doing with your cousin's take-home artifact?"

"He let me have it until Easter," Jim replied. "I want to have it forever, Headmistress. It shows me as a Hogwarts student—it looks so real, so tangible, so possible."

McGongall sighed, and took the man's arm. "This is going to be very uncomfortable, Mr. Moriarty," she warned. She took the mirror as well, and turned on her heel as soon as Jim was standing up, his arm in her hand.

Jim winced as he felt the pain of Apparition yet again. Side-along Apparition isn't any better! He closed his eyes to at least not see swirling images, and when he opened them, they were in an office—an office that looked like magic dominated every inch of it.

He had not seen the place at all, but he knew well where it was.

"I'm at Hogwarts," he whispered more to himself than to anyone else gleefully. "I'm at Hogwarts!"

"Well, my office in Hogwarts, Mr. Moriarty," McGonagall clarified. She then went to the door. "I shall be away for an hour or so, Mr. Moriarty—to activate the Anti-Apparition Charm again. This door is locked and can't be unlocked with magic. We'll talk later."

When Jim heard the door lock, and McGonagall's incantation that presumably made the door impossible to open with a simple 'Alohomora', he just sighed and pouted. He was indeed inside Hogwarts, but was confined only to the office of the Headmistress.

"Oh, hello, Jim. Didn't expect to see you after so many years."

Jim whipped his head to the right, and met the twinkling eyes of Albus Dumbledore—or, to be correct, a moving portrait of him. "Uh, sir…how come…"

"I killed him," said another person in another portrait. This time, he looked like he was a strict school teacher—but everyone was. "Severus Snape, former Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"James Moriarty," Jim introduced himself, nodding. He killed Albus Dumbledore, the so-called greatest wizard of all time…how?

The man Severus Snape smirked. "I killed him by a simple Killing Curse, Moriarty. I see you have secretly studied magic, eh? And that you have a spruce wand with a dragon heartstring core and a length of thirteen inches. An advanced potion-maker, and the only spells he hasn't bothered to perform are the Unforgiveable Curses and the Patronus charm."

This dumfounded Jim. "Sir?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Severus Snape is a skilled Legilimens—he can see a person's memories, and thoughts."

"But do not worry at the slightest, Mr. Moriarty," Snape said in a bored, drawling voice. "We will not trouble Minerva by telling her, now, will we, Albus?"

"There are indeed some things that need to be kept in secret, Severus," replied Dumbledore solemnly. "Now, since this will probably be your only encounter at Hogwarts, how about experiencing some of the thrill the first years have experienced? Try on the hat, and I won't say anything else for I'm sure your intelligent—however hard-headed—cousin would have told you enough knowledge to know about the Sorting.

Jim peered at the old, filthy hat and grimaced a bit before nodding. He remembered about Alexander telling him about the old hat telling them their houses. He tried on the hat, and, being already an adult, the thing didn't fall in front of his eyes like the first years have experienced.

I see you've tried me on more than a decade too late, eh, Mr. Moriarty?

Jim rolled his eyes.

You want to know your house had you been a Hogwarts student eh? Well, it's difficult. You are intelligent, no doubt, and equipped with a ready mind. You seek adventure and thrill in all of your endeavours. Oh, but there is no denying that you are extremely cunning, and worthy to be under the wing of…

"SLYTHERIN!"

It was a rather loud boom, but Jim smiled. Though he wasn't a Gryffindor like Alexander, he had at least known where he would've been. He saw Severus Snape smile a little, and grin at Dumbledore, as if taunting him that the man had gotten into his house.

When he heard the sound of a door opening, however, Jim immediately took off the hat and appeared to be innocently toying with it when McGonagall entered.

"No need to fool me, Mr. Moriarty—I know that hat sorted you into Slytherin," the old lady said. "That hat never learnt to be a bit quieter. Now, we need to talk."

"About what?" Jim asked.

Snape then unceremoniously butted in. "Well, I am just as curious, Minerva. How come you need to talk with the boy?"

"Because I found him with the Mirror of Erised in his hands when it should be his cousin who should be handling it," McGonagall replied to the portrait, sending to Snape a nasty look. She then looked at Jim again. "Mr. Moriarty, what you saw in the mirror—it can't happen. It is not tangible. It is not possible."

"It is if you let him attend Hogwarts as a first year despite his age," Snape sneered. "We've had that impossible late-bloomer Jeff Hope, who attended first year at the age of twenty-nine!"

"The images you've seen in the mirror are driving you mad—many unwary men have been—and while I have trusted your disciplined cousin to handle it without getting insane, I believe I can't say the same with you," McGonagall continued.

Jim looked disturbed at the words the Headmistress said. "But—"

"Mr. Moriarty, keep in mind that the worst thing about dreams is that they not always come true," McGonagall said, cutting him off. When she saw Jim nod—although he looked reluctant at doing so—she stood up, and signaled Jim to do so as well. "Now, we'll return to your place. Severus, will you be as kind as to deactivate the Anti-Apparition Charm?"

"Have done so ages ago, Minerva," Snape snapped in a bored tone. "I reckoned that you will need to Apparate again."

So Jim took the older witch's arm and once again Apparated, but this time into the warehouse he was in. When he was finally alone in his room, he smiled slightly.

I was in Hogwarts.

So, yeah, after a decade, Minerva McGonagall makes her reappearance. Jim's seen Hogwarts (or, a part of it), and spoke to talking portraits. Now, I need you guys to suggest what the next chapter should be, since this thing is basically twists and turns and I will drive myself into a ditch I don't get some help.

~MoJ