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Chapter 3: This Old House
Minerva was in her office, going over her lesson plans for the first term, when the door suddenly banged open and Albus came in. She had rarely seen him look so out of sorts, but didn't even have to ask before he began telling her what was on his mind.
"Of all the nerve!" he began forcefully. "Keep a child out of school for such a petty reason, I can't believe them. And Bagnold, don't even get me started on the new rules she wants to put in place. I have never had such a frustrating day of meetings!"
He was about to continue when Minerva stood up and stopped him. "Albus, calm down and start at the beginning. I have no idea what you're talking about," she said sternly as she came around the desk and guided him into a chair. "Now, what happened?"
Albus sighed and took a sherbet lemon out of his pocket before beginning his tale. "The governors want to deny the Lupin boy a place at school because he is a werewolf. I fought about it with them for almost an hour, every magical child should have the opportunity to study here if they want it. We have to figure out a way for him to attend Hogwarts without endangering the other students and they'll consider it.
"Then, I had a meeting with the Minister and for some reason she wants to impose a new batch of rules over the staff here. It seems someone decided that having an unmarried headmaster is a problem, especially with a female deputy who is also unmarried. They want to add to the by-laws that no staff member should ever become involved with a more senior member of staff. I think they're afraid we're going to take advantage of our employees, which is ridiculous. I can't tell them this, but we have two couples among the staff and this rule would apply to them."
Minerva cut in, "Who?"
"Well, Professor Brodie as head of Slytherin and a staff member for twenty years would be considered senior staff to Professor Connoly, who has only been here ten years. Then there is Madam Pince, who has been with us for almost forty years already and Professor Barnes who joined us only last year. Both couples are very happy and neither makes a show out of their relationships, I doubt most of the other staff know and the students surely don't. I can't allow a rule to be set down that would force them to either break off or stay together and risk their jobs," Albus explained.
"I had no idea," Minerva said slowly. "They really are very good at keeping their secrets. Well just tell the Minister that you see no reason to intrude into the private lives of your staff and any relationships in Hogwarts history have always remained discrete. Useless rules only serve to oppress people. And as to the Lupin boy...there must be something we can do. Keep him in the infirmary during the full moon?"
"I'm afraid he'll have to be more secluded than that," Albus said sadly.
"One of the dungeons that aren't used anymore? It sounds harsh, but it would be safe," Minerva tried.
"Perhaps, we'll have to give it some thought. What have you done today?" he wanted to change the subject.
She waved off the question, still deep in thought about how to accommodate a young werewolf in the school, "Just lesson plans." She sat with her elbow on the desk, head resting on her fist, staring out the window toward Hogsmeade. "Albus," she said suddenly, "what about that old deserted house in town? It's boarded up and far from everything, we could build a tunnel from the school grounds to the basement so there would be no way for a werewolf to get out."
He looked at her in surprise, "You know, that's not a bad idea. But how would we stop others from going down the tunnel? Where would it begin?"
"In the forest somewhere?" she suggested.
Albus sat for a few minutes, deep in thought. "Pomona has always wanted a whomping willow to study," he said slowly, trying to decide if his idea would work.
Minerva made the connection quickly, "You want to plant one over the tunnel opening? What if students get to close?"
"Better a whomping willow than a werewolf," he replied. "Besides, one good accident will teach them to stay away."
"I don't know...," she said slowly.
"We'll think about it for a few days, but send the letter to the Lupins please."
The next few weeks were busy ones for Albus and Minerva as the July heat waves gave way to the milder weather of August and the beginning of the school year grew closer. The Lupins were overjoyed that their only son Remus would be allowed to attend Hogwarts, they had been crushed when he didn't receive a letter and knew that it was because of the bite he had received a few years ago. They sent a very warm letter of thanks to Albus the moment the owl arrived with his acceptance letter and book list. It was decided that the shack in Hogsmeade with a tunnel leading from the school would be the best option and Minerva was excited to find that the school actually owned the decrepit old building.
She burst unceremoniously into Albus' office one afternoon waiving an ancient looking document. "Albus," Minerva gasped, grabbing the stitch in her side caused from running at a full tilt all the way from the library. "The shack. We own it!"
"What?" he asked, standing and walking around the desk toward her.
Minerva had finally caught her breath and she slowed down to explain how she had found the centuries old deed in her hand. "I knew that the original town records of Hogsmeade were housed here in the school because unlike most Muggle villages there was no church in which to place the documents. I began there hoping to gain some idea of when it was built and ended up spending several hours reading a most interesting history of the village I wasn't aware of before. You know of course that the village was built around the school several centuries after Hogwarts had come to be considered the center of the British magical community.
"Apparently, sometime in the seventeenth century an old and extremely eccentric wizard by the name of Archibald Phinneas moved to town. He was immediately identified as a recluse when he bought the plot of land situated on the hill far from the center of the small town. Archibald built the house entirely by himself, he hired no workers and used no magic, which explains the wooden structure in a time of stone masonry. For the remainder of his life he made no contact with the villagers and though they tired they could not uncover any unusual magic being conducted in his residence. He ran a completely self sufficient household, growing his own vegetables and apparently not eating any meat.
"When Archibald Phinneas died in sixteen-ninety-three he unexpectedly left a large fortune as well as the deed to his home and property to the school. No one knows why, they're not even sure if he studied at Hogwarts and if that was even his real name or not, but it is the name on the documents. The headmaster at the time had no use for the house and the papers were filed with the rest of the village historical documents in the library. I had expected it to take some time to secure use of the now decrepit shack, but we don't have to do a thing. We own it and as the property is in trust of Hogwarts each headmaster or mistress is free to use it for whatever purpose he or she sees fit."
Finishing her story, Minerva smiled at Albus and handed over the yellowed and decaying parchment proving that the odd ramshackle building sitting on a hill overlooking the village of Hogsmeade was essentially their personal property for the time being. He accepted the parchment, looking it over briefly before smiling back at her.
"Excellent work, my dear," he beamed. "I never would have dreamed that we held the title to the property. I'll begin construction of the tunnel immediately. A whomping willow is already on the way from the greenhouses in Eastern Europe." Albus held up a hand to stall her protests, "I know you fear for the students' safety, Minerva, but it is a far worse danger that would await anyone who unexpectedly traveled down that tunnel during a full moon."
She nodded her ascent and gave up. Albus Dumbledore had never yet hatched a plan that turned out badly and he did not wish to turn away a student during his very first year as Headmaster of Hogwarts. Minerva knew when to argue and when not to, because although he didn't seem the type to most Albus could be just as stubborn as herself at times.
Albus had Hagrid and Argus set to work on the tunnel, but he aided them with some magic to speed the process.The whomping willowhe hadorderedarrived and wasplaced over the tunnel entrance to keep unsuspecting students from wandering into it and ending up in the shack. By the week before the students were to arrive everything was ready and the school nurse Madam Pomfrey had been informed that it would be her duty to lead young Remus to the tunnel the evening before a full moon. She would also see him on the day after to treat any wounds he may give himself and to administer a sleeping draught if he needed the extra sleep. According to his parents, he often hurt himself during a transformation if there were no small animals around to attack and would always be very tired the next day.
Albus also convinced the Minister that there was no need for the new rules she wanted to impose upon the staff. He talked to her calmly about it and explained that he felt the new rules would reflect on his time as headmaster and that he didn't want his staff to feel as though he was the one who didn't trust them and wanted to oppress them with needless bureaucracy. He was very happy when he reported back to Minerva about that meeting, with a wide smile on his face caused by what he considered his first victory as headmaster of Hogwarts.
His many meetings finally abated as the summer wore on and, to both their relief, the owls slowed considerably. Minerva still couldn't believe the number that arrived each day, but Albus assured her that was the amount of mail he had been getting for decades. He no longer needed her help to sort and answer his correspondence, however, and for some reason he missed the friendly hours spent in his office pouring over the mail.
Albus and Minerva did not have time to take a deep breath until the night before the students were to arrive. Walking back from dinner in the Great Hall Minerva invited Albus into her rooms for a game of chess.
As usual the chess game became quite spirited after awhile, and Albus was losing terribly.
"What's wrong, Albus? Your age finally affecting your game?" Minerva taunted as she moved one step closer to winning.
"More like a school to run, the ministry to soothe, the governors to ignore, a werewolf student coming this year."
Minerva's gloating smile dropped off her face as she listened to Albus talk. Though he spoke in a jovial way she knew it was his way of telling her he was tired, and had quite a bit on his mind. So taking the hint Minerva whipped out her wand, and moved the chess game back onto the shelf from which she had retrieved it.
"It seems you need a night of pure relaxation before tomorrow arrives, so what would you like to do?"
Albus sat in his chair for a few moments lost in thought before an idea struck him. He cut his eyes at Minerva, and a sly grin appeared on his face. Getting up, Albus grabbed hold of Minerva's hand and led her out into the corridor and toward his office.
"Albus, where are we going?"
"You will see."
Before long they were in Albus' office, and he had still not released Minerva's hand.
"Fawkes will know where to find us should something happen at the school, but we will only be gone two hours at the most. I'm going to portkey us to Loch Lomond and we are going to catch lighting bugs!"
Minerva raised her eyebrow, and was about to protest but Albus had already activated the portkey. She had to admit upon arriving that the field they were in was very beautiful, and she could see many stars in the sky; however catching lighting bugs was not her idea of the perfect way to spend an evening. Glancing at Albus Minerva was about to protest for a second time until she got a good look at his face.
Albus had not been this happy all summer, and for once he looked really cheerful again.
"My dear the last time I checked using your hands and not your mouth was the most effective way to catch the bugs," Albus teased since her mouth was still open in preparation for speaking.
Minerva properly closed it, and followed Albus as he walked briskly through the field. She even caught a few bugs to go along with Albus, but it wasn't long before she had conjured a blanket and was lying on her back looking up at the stars.
"May an old man join you?"
"Why are you Albus Dumbledore? I'm such a huge fan! It would be an honor if you would share my blanket with me."
"Oh, very funny," Albus replied lying down next to her.
"I thought so," Minerva carried on in an attempt at a more airy voice. "So did you release the little boy that lives within you, or will I still be dragged into more escapades of this nature?"
"You'll be dragged into them. As my Deputy it is your job, so don't make me pull rank," Albus said lazily as he tucked his arms under his head.
"You wouldn't dare!" Minerva responded sitting up to look at him.
"Wouldn't I?" Albus tried to puff out his chest and look important, but when Minerva's hand hit him there the air was quickly driven from his lungs.
"You can't live without me, so I would disobey and still keep my job!"
Albus didn't answer Minerva's challenge, but instead pulled her back down on the blanket beside of him: his right arm draped over her shoulders.
It wasn't long before both Albus and Minerva fell asleep, but luckily for them Albus awoke an hour later to discover their little mishap. Carefully Albus rose to his feet with Minerva in his arms, and used the portkey to transport him and his deputy back to Hogwarts.
He was almost to her rooms when Minerva stirred, "Albus, why are you carrying me?"
"Just wanted to see what it felt like to hold you. I daresay your robes weigh more than you do."
In a warning tone Minerva ordered that he tell her the truth.
"Alright, we fell asleep and I just didn't wake you." Once at her door Albus set Minerva down, and bent to softly kiss her cheek.
"Thank you for coming with me. I do believe we will survive this year yet."
"Well if you don't I'll get to be Headmistress, but you will be missed," Minerva playfully replied giving his arm a squeeze. The two said their goodnights, and made for bed in their own rooms more content than the night before. Though neither thought much on it, every night spent with each other was another night where peaceful dreams and heavy sleep came easily.
In the recesses of Albus' mind he noted that he should have Minerva in his arms more often, but typical for his sex he staved off a deep reflection of how he felt and what he really meant.
