1st September 1961
"Weasley Arthur," called out Minerva, hat in one hand and scroll in another.
The young boy walked up onto the platform and sat down on the stool positively green with worry. Minerva fought the urge to pat him reassuringly on the shoulder as his face went from various shades of green to red then very white making his ginger hair stand out even more. Instead, she waited until he was seated and placed the large hat onto his head the rim of the Hat covering half of his face. It only took a few moments for him to be sorted and Minerva couldn't help but smile at its decision.
"Gryffindor!" it yelled before becoming floppy in her hand once more and for the last time that year.
Picking up the hat and the stool Minerva made her way down the aisle and out of the Great Hall quite proud of the outcome of what was her first day as Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress at Hogwarts. She was excited to meet all of her new Gryffindors that evening as well as, of course, the older students whom she had previously taught.
Giving the stool and the Sorting Hat to Apollyon Pringle, Minerva hurriedly re-entered the Hall only moments later and took her usual seat next to Albus and Pomona the former on her right and the latter on her left.
"I have a few announcements to make before we may begin the delicious feast which has been prepared for us tonight," began Dumbledore, standing up and beaming down at the students gathered before him, "Firstly I would like to welcome the new students to Hogwarts. I hope you will all enjoy your time here as well as learn many new things," he said, opening his arms out wide allowing a few moments to pass for the older students to pat, congratulate and welcome the new additions to their House.
"Secondly I would like to congratulate Professor McGonagall who is now Head of Gryffindor as well as Deputy Headmistress," he gestured to Minerva who gave a small nod of the head as many of her students clapped. "I would also like to inform you that Hagrid will be gamekeeper here at Hogwarts along with Ogg," he continued.
"And finally," concluded Dumbledore, "Mr Pringle has asked me to inform you that if you value your possessions you will need to ensure that you do not use magical objects such as Fanged Frisbees in the corridors. Any such items will be confiscated; you may look at the list on his office door to see which items are banned here. Thank you," and, lifting up his arms once again, plates, bowls and jugs appeared on the long tables in the Hall and, like every year, all of the First Year's gawped and gaped at the monstrous amount of food which had appeared out of thin air before their very eyes.
"Apollyon and his lists," muttered Pomona, rolling her eyes as she served both herself and Minerva with potatoes and carrots.
"I'm sure it's getting larger every year," replied Minerva, the corner of her mouth lifting as she said so. Pomona snorted in her goblet and Minerva allowed herself a small smile.
"I wouldn't be surprised," said Pomona, taking a sip out of her goblet and discreetly looking up to watch Apollyon Pringle standing by the doors of the Great Hall. "I'm pretty sure he only stands there every evening just so that he can catch someone misbehaving and then have the right to punish them," whispered Pomona, giggling.
Minerva looked up as well and snorted, something which made a few of the older students sitting the closest to the teachers' table look up at her, eyebrows so high up their foreheads that some of them looked as though they didn't have any at all.
After a few moments, Pomona brushed away strands of her greying hair and swallowed her mouthful of food whilst all the while trying to stop giggling as both of the professors watched the caretaker patrol up and down alongside the house tables. "How were your holidays?" she finally asked, her expression sobering and her breathing rate becoming normal again.
"Good. I went to Caithness to see my mother, my father, Malcolm and Robert. Robert's just had a baby and Malcolm's wife is pregnant as well," said Minerva, a smile creeping up her face. "I stayed longer than I had expected but it was worth – ow! Pomona!" she exclaimed, rubbing the top of her arm which her friend had just punched.
"Goodness, Minerva! All that time we spent together before you left and you never once mentioned that both your brothers were expecting babies!" said Pomona, throwing her arms up in the air so as to show her exasperation. Ignoring her friend's unhappy expression, Pomona continued, "So, boy or girl?"
"Girl," replied Minerva, giving her arm one last pointed rub. "They decided to call her Minerva," she continued much more quietly, a little embarrassed.
Pomona gasped, "Oh how wonderful. Send him my congratulations please, oh isn't that wonderful news. You must be very proud," she beamed, again completely oblivious to Minerva's slight discomfort.
"Yes, it is and yes I am, very much so. Florence and Malcolm's baby is due in April; they've decided to name the baby Robert after my brother and my father if it's a boy and Isobel after my mother if it's a girl," answered Minerva, sipping from her goblet and smiling once more – the news of having a new niece or nephew was very exciting and every time she thought about it always brought a smile to her lips.
"Just what we need, some good news rather than all of the things the Daily Prophet have reported about," continued Pomona, her expression darkening as she thought of the most recent horrible event which had taken place only that very morning.
Minerva lowered her glass slowly, her expression also clouding at the thought of the poor boy who had gotten attacked in his home. "The Lupin's wasn't it?" she asked remembering the moving photograph of the Lupin family, which had been in the latest Daily Prophet edition.
"Yes, I think the boy was called Remus," said Pomona scrunching up her eyes as she tried to remember the details of the case.
"Is called Remus," corrected Minerva, "Awful business, just a child…" she trailed off her face turning very pale as she thought of the poor boy whose life would now never be the same again.
"Awful business…" agreed Pomona now staring into the distance, her eyes cloudy as she repeatedly shook her head up and down, slowly, too caught up in the details of case to do anything else apart from nodding solemnly.
"Do you think they'll catch him?"
Pomona jerked her head up at the sound of Minerva's voice, her eyes clearing quickly. Turning to face her friend she took a few minutes to think of her answer before speaking. "I don't know, Minerva. I hope they do but I don't know…" she trailed off again and became lost in thought once more.
"What do you think they'll do to him if he is caught?" asked Minerva, although she already knew what the answer was going to be.
"Azkaban," replied the Hufflepuff simply. "They'd have to whatever the Ministry think about the matter, Minerva. It may not be the werewolf's fault but Lyall would never allow Greyback to escape a prison sentence whether the transformation was controllable or not: everyone knows that Lyall hates werewolves and now his son is a werewolf thanks to Greyback. Not good, not good at all."
"No, no it isn't is it…"
Hope you enjoyed this even though it got a bit dark at the end! Have a good day and thanks for reading! :) Sorry it's a bit short I'll try to make the next one longer.
And thank you for the review. I am now correcting some of my mistakes in the previous chapters.:)