Minerva stared at the letter in complete disbelief. Eight NEWTs with outstandings in each one of them. What suprised her was the Level 1 Potions Mastery she apparently earned on top of her outstanding NEWT. She had never been exceptional at Potions in her past timeline. She had barely passed her NEWT. "I don't understand," she whispered confused as she passed the letter to her husband. "This is different from last time. I could barely brew a pepper up potion then."

Tom smiled widely as he read the letter. He pressed a loving kiss to his wife's lips. "Apparently helping Isobel with potions have left their mark on you this time around," he offered with a smirk. "These are wonderful scores my love. The Ministry shall be sending offers to you soon."

A pop of apparition sounded on the porch. Isobel appeared dressed and ready to go shopping with Minerva as previously planned. Minerva grabbed her letter from Tom's hand and rushed out to greet her mother. "Excited for our trip to Diagon Alley love," her mother asked with a smile as she hugged her daughter.

"I got my NEWTs letter," Minerva said as she handed the letter to her mother. Isobel took the offered letter and read it.

"Oh my goodness," Isobel said, her suprise evident. "You got a Potions Mastery!"

"It was a complete suprise to me," Minerva said. "Potions wasn't a strong point last time."

"Really," Isobel asked in suprise.

"I told her it was all of that potion making with you," Tom said as he joined the witches on the porch and kissed Isobel's cheek in greeting. "Your love for Potions has rubbed off on Min."

"Apparently," Isobel agreed. "You ready for our shopping trip? I reckon results like that deserve a trip to a bookstore."

"I'm never ever going to turn down a trip to a bookstore especially when someone else is buying," Minerva smiled and rushed inside to grab her cloak and bag. Isobel and Tom sharing a laugh at her statement.

Minerva walked into the Ministry of Magic confidently. Today was her first day of work with the Magical Law Enforcement office. Tom had been right, the job offers rushed in once the Daily Prophet learned of her NEWTs. She had been another front page story and Albus had even given a quote about her achieving her Level 2 and 3 Transfiguration masteries. He had taken delight in informing the Prophet she had decimated his accomplishments and did so before her graduation from Hogwarts which was the first time in recorded history. She thought Albus had probably leaked her NEWT results to the Prophet to begin with. The man was determined to make her professional achievements front page news.

"Hello McGonagall," Theseus Scamander said with a smile on his face. He walked with her to the Magical Law Enforcement office. "I have been waiting on you to arrive since you were 10 years old. I look forward to seeing what you can do. Word of warning, there are many bigoted wizards around here that will hassel you just because you're a witch. Stand your ground."

"Yes sir," Minerva said as she eyed the man. He was going to be her biggest supporter in the department it seemed.

"Smart move keeping your maiden name professionally," he commented in amusement. "The bigots can't say you are using your connection to Albus to get ahead. How does Tom feel about it?"

Minerva saw only honest curiosity so she answered him. "Tom would be lost if I wasn't a McGonagall. He thinks a Scottish warrior should have a Scottish surname to go with it."

Theseus laughed and nodded his head in approval. "Do not back down from a challenge if issued one," he reminded her. "You will be challenged to a duel by one of the idiots I'm sure. Don't hold back your skills. The superiors will be watching when it happens and you need to impress the hell out of them."

"Understood," Minerva said briskly as they made it to their destination.

On Minerva's second day in the Magical Law Enforcement office, she was harassed by a senior Auror, the same one from the incident with her mother's spare wand when she was 10 years old. She remembered Theseus' advice and gave as good as she got verbally. The man was quite thick and didn't know when to stop.

"You need to go back home and focus on having babies," he had yelled. "Maybe keep your husband satisfied."

All sound ceased in the office as the others took in the scene in shock. Minerva smirked at the wizard before her and allowed the Slythrein side she had apparently gotten from Tom to run free. "Maybe you should focus more on your own marriage than mine," she said as she gave him the once over. "Your uniform is slouchy and clearly not washed properly. A wife should take pride in her husband's appearance but apparently yours doesn't. Combine that with your hunched back, I would say your wife is clearly unsatisfied in her marriage and has you sleeping on the couch. She clearly wants to embarrass you so I wonder what you did to provoke her?"

"How dare you," he roared. "You know nothing about me or my marriage."

"Pure speculation on my part," Minerva agreed. "However you think just because I'm a witch I shouldn't be here. You in your bigotry mindset have already established that I, a mere witch, couldn't hold my own against you. You are the type to put others down to make yourself feel more adequate. You are the type that believes women should stay at home and have babies and slave away cleaning the house. Probably the reason your wife is upset at you at the moment. Well I have news for you, I belong here. I have more skill in my little pinky than you do in your entire body. I have been outsmarting you since I have been 10 years old."

"Big words," he snorted. He drew his wand and faced her. "Prove it."

Minerva inclined her head in acceptance and pulled her wand out. She waited as he fired a couple of spells before she transfiged a nearby desk into a giant snake silently. She commanded it to wrap around the Auror as she merely deflected his spells lazily. "Are you sure you are a senior Auror?" she taunted in a rather sassy tone. "I had accidental bouts of magic more effective than the spells you're using."

"You little bitch," he roared in anger.

Blinded by his anger, he missed the snake until it was too late. The snake had bitten his wand hand causing him to drop his wand and then curled around him tightly. The senior Auror was trapped and knew it by his facial expressions. She picked up his wand with a wave of her hand. "Didn't your mother ever tell you it wasn't nice to call a lady that," Minerva said with a sweet smile. "Just so you know, my husband supports me and my want to work. He is immensely proud of me and my achievements. He supports my use of my maiden name professionally and constantly pushes me to do my best while spoiling me with love and affection. Maybe you should try that with your wife. She would most likely be happier and you might get to sleep in her bed again."

Theseus chuckled at her audacity and clapped for her. "That folks is how you outsmart your enemy," he bellowed amused. "McGonagall remained calm and collected while causing her opponent to be blinded by his anger. She used her environment and allowed her opponent to tire while she lazily deflected his spells. She just used defensive spells besides the silent transformation of the snake. Her plan was simple, yet inventive and effective. Good job McGonagall!"