Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and sorry for a few months delay in updating. I'm finally back and we are nearing the end now…
They hadn't noticed McGonagall move while they were watching. She had left her seat to move closer to Dumbledore and was now crouching on the floor beside his chair. She held one of his hands in hers and gently held it to her face, her green eyes looking fondly up at him. Dumbledore's eyes were wet and there were tear tracks down his cheeks. However, McGonagall's face was dry when she turned from him to answer their questions.
"You defeated Grindelwald?" an astonished Sirius demanded, "You never told us that before!"
"It's just as well we didn't," McGonagall said calmly, "Otherwise I'm sure Mr Pettigrew would have made sure you-know-who heard about it." She looked around the room, "And now we have the problem of the Ministry and that bloody woman looking for a way to discredit Albus, so you really must keep it to yourselves – all of you. Understood?"
They nodded, and there were a few murmurs of "Yes, Professor," from the younger occupants of the room. Whatever else they might have seen of her this evening, the formidable Professor McGonagall was very much still there.
Dumbledore smiled through his tears, one hand tenderly playing with her hair. "I can't pretend it's not a relief," he said calmly, "To finally share the truth with someone else. It has plagued my conscience for many years – taking the credit for Minerva's incredible achievements. Especially when her reward was Azkaban."
McGonagall shook her head dismissively, "You always give me too much credit," she said briskly. "Especially for the defeat of Grindelwald, which was no sort of concerted plan and really just sheer dumb luck. You were the one who turned up and engaged him and his followers in battle – your credit is not unearned. – And," she went on, ignoring Dumbledore's attempt to interrupt, "It has meant that you have been the one called upon to deal with the Ministry and the endless string of incompetent politicians, which, frankly, I am eternally grateful for."
Dumbledore laughed at that, "Yes, my dear, that's true. Had you shared my conversations with various Ministers I have no doubt the Ministry would be almost entirely populated by pincushions and ferrets."
"Which might be an improvement," McGonagall growled.
"Almost certainly," agreed Lupin.
They were all smiling now.
"However," said Dumbledore, "I'm afraid, I must ask you not to turn Dolores Umbridge into a pincushion, no matter how frustrating her actions."
"Although," chipped in Sirius, "If you did – I'd gladly stick a pin in her."
"You'd have to join the queue," said Fred and George together.
"How much does Voldemort know?" Harry asked suddenly.
McGonagall flinched slightly at the name, but answered calmly. "Only that I revived Albus and gave him a gift of my wandless magic. Which fortunately just adds to his fear of Albus's power. He doesn't know how Grindelwald was defeated, and he doesn't know that you can change the allegiance of a wand with a simple expelliarmus."
"And those are facts we would advise you to keep to yourselves," Dumbledore said solemnly. "Especially anything related to wand magic. I have reason to think that Voldemort may be very interested in wand magic. Please try to remember that Professor McGonagall sacrificed a great deal to keep this information from Voldemort and his followers."
They all nodded solemnly.
"How did you get out from Azkaban, Minerva?" asked Molly gently, "Did Albus manage to release you for Christmas?"
"No," Dumbledore answered heavily, "I had tried to convince certain contacts at the Ministry, particularly Edgar Marchbanks, that Minerva had not tried to kill me and had in fact revived me, but without being able to offer a convincing explanation of why she had uttered the killing curse, I was struggling. I believe Edgar wanted to help, but he needed more than my word alone."
"I had limited Albus's ability to argue for me." McGonagall said, "And unfortunately there were few other people who were willing to take the risk of supporting me."
"Did you break out?" asked Ron suddenly.
McGonagall smirked, "Yes, Mr Weasley, I've been a fugitive for over forty years, hiding out at Hogwarts."
Ron blushed.
McGonagall's smile softened, "In the end Edgar was convinced to speak on my behalf."
"How?"
"Brothers and sisters," McGonagall replied, "That's what it all came down to really."
"Indeed," smiled Dumbledore, and he poked at the pensieve.
