A/N Thank you once again to Maria for taking the time to beta this.
For the next few chapters, the narrator for each segment is the first person whose full name is stated. A few segments are going to slightly overlap or be repetitions of parts of the same events, but from a different perspective. Hopefully, it won't be too hard to figure out.
If you are taking the time to read this please take just a second more to review.
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The experience was something that defied description. It wasn't that Albus Dumbledore couldn't tell what was going on, it was just different. The way he could see, hear, smell, feel - both physically and emotionally - it wasn't the same.
In some ways it was more, in others less, and paradoxically, in some ways it was both more and less.
His vision and his hearing were much more limited in range. Yet with his antennae, he could smell and, even just in the air, taste so much more than before. And feel; he could feel things as he never had before. The miniscule bristles running along his body were acutely aware of everything near him, and even the vibrations of those things approaching him. His emotions were both limited, allowing him to feel things less directly, and more true, more strong and primordial.
As the assortment of books he had felt approaching landed around him, he was able to both strongly feel and keep in check his panic as he dodged and weaved around the many, in this form, potentially fatal blows.
He couldn't really understand the words spoken at the time, but later he would be able to recognize the words Miss Bones spoke as she captured him in her hands.
"Tom, you knocked those books over on purpose! I saw you do it!"
The journey to the Headmaster's office was not exactly unusual, but he did experience it in an entirely different way.
*******************************************
#########################################
Armando Dippet looked from the girl to the beetle, to Mr. Riddle, back to the beetle, to Miss Bones, back to the beetle, to his Deputy, and then back to the beetle Master Kettleburn was examining. This was not at all expected. Things were beginning to happen far too early and not at all in the way he had Seen.
Master Kettleburn looked up from his examination of Master Dumbledore. "Well, he's a beetle."
Master Shackleton was the one to respond. "We already had that much figured out. We were hoping you could be a little more helpful."
Kettleburn shrugged. "What were you expecting?"
Shackleton frowned. "You are the Care of Magical Creatures Professor! At least tell us what kind of a beetle he is?"
Kettleburn guided Professor Dumbledore into a conjured jar. "He's…he's…I don't know, he's a beetle. I'm the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, not the Care of Beetles Who Seem to Have No Magical Ability Professor. For all I know, he isn't even really any known type of beetle."
Master Shackleton pulled out his wand. "Oh, forget this. Finite In-"
"No!" Dippet stopped him. "Not you. I want the girl to undo it. However, first we must understand the 'why.'
Dippet turned to those who had been present in hopes of further information. "Tell me exactly what happened?"
"Kitten-Professor-was-Dumbledore-tired-asked-and-that-Dumbledore-girl-wouldn't-to-leave-work-her-and-alone-she-he-turned-was-him-shaking-into-her-a-she-beetle-was-and-only-then-trying-Tom-to-tried-defend-to-herself-squish-"
"Enough!"
With the Head Boy and Girl talking over each other, Dippet couldn't make out a word either was saying. There were too many people in the room.
'Thank you, Miss Bones, for bringing this matter to my attention. You may go now."
"But sir, Headmaster, Tom tried to drop a stack of books on Professor Dumbledore. He tried to kill him!"
Shaken, Dippet looked to Mr. Riddle. "That cannot be true!"
Earnest looking as always, Mr. Riddle offered a plausible explanation.
"I was startled when it happened, sir. I stood up, rattling the desk, and accidentally knocked over some books. It was an accident, sir."
Dippet noticed the way that Master Kettleburn was looking at the Riddle boy. There was an unmistakable look of uncertainty in the young professor's eyes. It was there all the more when Miss Bones attempted to refute Mr. Riddle's statement.
"That isn't what happened. Tom is lying!"
Armando Dippet was not at leisure to have such doubts. He knew his faith had to be absolute. Even if Miss Bones's words were true, a child could have some failings, make some errors in judgment, and still in the end be penitent, and attempt to return to an earlier path. Our choices are our own, but even when the choice made was a poor one, there still existed a chance, a possibility that a later choice could restore a life path that was formerly discarded.
Not that it was even a consideration in this instance. What Miss Bones had seen was not necessarily what had happened. Actions observed were often neither what was intended by the one acting or even what actually occurred. So many different possible interpretations could be had of any one action. What Miss Bones has seen or thought she had seen was not, could not have been what had actually occurred. What had occurred was merely an accident.
"Thank you, Miss Bones, for bringing the matter to my attention. You may go now."
"Sir, I -"
"Thank you Miss Bones, I believe your next class is already in progress."
He watched Miss Bones eye the other people in the room, as if looking for an ally, before finally agreeing.
"Yes, sir."
Now that there was only one person speaking, the story was much easier to make out.
"Mr. Riddle, what happened?"
"Kitten was asleep and Dumbledore told her to wake up. When she didn't, he got mad and started shaking her. Sir, she was only defending herself."
Kettleburn did not seem at all content with Mr. Riddle's account. If pressed, Dippet would have to agree that like Miss Bones, Mr. Riddle's interpretation of events was not likely to be precisely what had occurred. Kettleburn approached the girl.
"Kitten, I want you to tell me what happened."
The girl had appeared incredibly drowsy since entering the room. She had nestled next to Mr. Riddle, declining a separate seat. Even her response to the Care of Magical Creatures Master lacked some, though not all, of her usual fervor.
"And I want you to show me the puffskeins!"
Kettleburn frowned at the girl, but Dippet motioned him back before he could say anything more.
Shackleton gave an adequate appraisal of the situation. "This is getting us nowhere."
Dippet addressed the girl. Her eyes remained closed the first time so he had Mr. Riddle nudge her. Once her eyes opened, he repeated his same statement a second time.
"I want you to turn Master Dumbledore back."
The girl motioned to the beetle on Dippet's desk.
"He said I could go back to sleep if I did it."
Dippet frowned. "Well, I say you need to turn him back."
The girl was growing quite agitated. "I want to go back to sleep! I already did what he wanted!"
There was a steely quality to her voice and expression that told Dippet there was no use in arguing. He conjured into his office a blanket, pillow and a sofa more than adequate in size for the girl to recline on.
"Fine, but when you wake up, you need to turn him back."
The girl did not consent, but nor did she disagree. It was Master Kettleburn who interrupted before the child could reach her makeshift bed.
"What are we supposed to feed him?"
Kettleburn frowned at the girl's indifferent shrug before continuing to speak. "When you have a pet, it is important to take care of it properly."
Dippet couldn't hide his disconcertion at Master Kettleburn describing his fellow professor as a 'pet.' Master Kettleburn merely shrugged.
The girl considered the possibilities for a moment before hesitantly asking - "Lettuce?"
When Kettleburn conjured a salad from the kitchens, the girl wandered over. She stuck a few pieces into the jar and Master Dumbledore began to nibble on one. The girl gave a delighted child-like squeal.
"He likes it!"
Dippet turned his attentions to his Deputy as the man began questioning his judgment.
"So you're just going to leave Dumbledore like that?"
Dippet tried to keep the uncertainty that he felt out of his voice. "Dumbledore himself said that no harmful, lasting effects were to be had from a transfiguration of a duration shorter than a few days. After the girl has rested a bit, she will be easier to reason with."
"Do you really think so?"
Dippet tried to look more certain than he felt. "Of course."
When Kettleburn joined them, Dippet looked to see what the girl was doing. She was already asleep, curled up like a cat on the sofa. After Mr. Riddle fitted the blanket over her curled form as best he could, Dippet dismissed the young man to attend his remaining classes.
Master Kettleburn was the one to temporarily break the silence. "You know, this situation isn't as bad as it could be."
Shackleton was not the only one to look at Kettleburn mystified, but he was the one to speak. "In what possible way could it be worse?"
"Well, he could be a dung beetle."
Dippet sighed as the other men sniggered.
*******************************************
A few hours later, Shackleton exclaimed excitedly, "I think I just saw her eyes open!"
Armando Dippet glanced at the girl, but sighed in disappointment to see such was not the case.
Shackleton again protested. "Armando, exactly how long are you going to let this go on?"
He was saved from having to again answer by another excited exclamation, this one from Kettleburn. "I saw it that time! She is just pretending to be asleep!"
Dippet approached and as he made an inquiry of her, sure enough, the girl's eyes opened.
"What are you doing?"
"I am lounging. I am still tired, so I am going to lounge for a while."
Dippet was flummoxed. "How long will that take?"
The girl shrugged impishly. "Probably all day. Cats are very fond of lounging."
Dippet sighed as the girl yawned. "Dumbledore is still a beetle. You need to change him back."
The girl gave a very feline like stretch while replying. "He wanted to be a beetle. He said for me to do it."
"Well, I am telling you to change him back!"
The girl looked right at him before defiantly replying. "It is what he wanted!" She again closed her eyes and snuggled into her pillow.
Dippet frowned and returned to the others to wait for the girl to finish 'lounging.' The longer it went on, the more infuriated he became. When Mr. Riddle returned after his last class of the day, he was immediately sent out to retrieve the Slytherin Head of House.
Binns looked guilty even before he could make an accusation. "Robert, the girl has been sleeping in my office for the better part of the day. Exactly how late are you allowing her to stay awake at night?"
Dippet watched as for some unbeknownst reason, Binns stood on the tips of his toes to answer.
"I assure you, I have been quite adamant at trying to enforce her bed time of eight o'clock! Perhaps if you would care to switch the hour of the daily sugar festival to earlier in the day, she would have a little more energy during the day and a bit less at night!"
Dippet flinched at the element of truth to the only slightly younger man's words. With a sigh, he waved his hand to dismiss him. Instead, Binns spoke.
"Armando, let me talk to the girl. I am, after all, her Head of House. Perhaps I can have some influence on the child?"
Exactly what Binns was seeking to accomplish, Dippet was not sure. That it was not a worthwhile endeavor went without saying as it involved Robert Binns. Were Dippet not aware that the man's life was at stake, he would not ever have allowed the girl to be housed under Binns's care.
It was, however, his hope that by spending time with the girl, by being around her, that Hogwart's own historian might be able to, for once, look beyond his own limited, even less than petty concerns. And in realizing what was going on around him, perhaps Binns would prevent an event from happening and with it, his own demise.
Though he had Foreseen many great and terrible things that the girl was to do much later in life, Binns was running out of time far more rapidly than the others. And so, with more than a bit of trepidation, Dippet allowed Binns's request.
He meant to keep an eye on Binns's conduct, but Mr. Riddle instead caught his attention. The young man had made his way over to the desk upon which the jar was set. He was tapping it. The action seemed to alarm Master Dumbledore who scurried about the jar.
"Mr. Riddle, I don't believe Dumbledore likes it when you do that."
Perhaps the boy was beginning to spend too much time with the girl; he continued with his tapping.
"Mr. Riddle, when I say I don't believe he likes it, that means I want the action stopped immediately!"
"Yes, sir."
The look Mr. Riddle gave him in return might conceivably have been contrite.
##########################################
Robert Binns took a moment to carefully consider the question of why the girl was so tired.
It wasn't so much that he was 'allowing', as it was that he wasn't disallowing the girl to sleep in the Common room with Riddle every night. Given that the other students insisted on remaining in the room, frolicking about until after midnight, the girl remained awake until then. The first of the early risers tended to pass through the Common room as early as seven in the morning and on their way out would either intentionally or unintentionally rouse the pair.
Binns knew it would not do to admit these things. He drew himself up to his full height as if indignant at the implied accusation.
"I assure you, I have been quite adamant at trying to enforce her bed time of eight o'clock!"
It was always a good idea to give suspicions an alternative place to fester, so he continued in a rather accusatory tone.
"Perhaps if you would care to switch the hour of the daily sugar festival to earlier in the day, she would have a little more energy during the day and a bit less at night!"
Seeing by the Headmaster's flinch that his words were having the desired effect, Binns tried not to ruin it with a smirk.
The Headmaster gave a sigh and waved a hand to dismiss him. Binns thought of a better idea.
"Armando, let me talk to the girl. I am after all her Head of House. Perhaps I can have some influence on her?"
He was sure Dippet would refuse, but after a long hesitation, Dippet nodded. Gleefully, Binns strode over to the girl.
The girl yawned and rubbed her eyes in place of a greeting. Binns didn't mind, he had more important considerations. Crouching down to eye level with the girl and keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard, he began.
"Ten points to Slytherin for a marvelous work."
The girl just stared at him with an uninterested look.
"I think you gave him just what he deserved. But I know someone else who deserves it even more."
Truthfully, Binns had no real issues with Dumbledore, but nor had the Transfiguration professor ever done anything to particularly endear himself to Binns. Shackleton on the other hand…
"You know Professor Shackleton?"
The girl made a displeased face that warmed Binns's heart. At last, she spoke.
"Your quills taste better than his."
Binns nodded. He knew where this was going. A small price to pay for the girl's assistance.
"You can have the whole box of quills in my desk, but in exchange, I want you to turn Shackleton into a beetle too."
The girl motioned towards the jar on Dippet's desk. Binns turned and watched Riddle tap the jar with his finger. Merrily, Binns thought of what he would do to Shackleton. He had plans to tap as well, but with his feet and not on a jar.
"He wanted to be a beetle. He asked me to do it. I gave him some lettuce and he's very happy there."
Binns offered his most genuine imitation sincere look to the girl.
"Shackleton wants to be a beetle too. He told me, he really did. Won't you be a good little girl and help him to be happy too?"
He left the girl to contemplate the matter and returned to the others.
"Well, I tried, but she simply won't listen to reason."
Knowing it would look a great deal less suspicious were he not to be present, he quickly excused himself.
"I should be getting back to my class. Do send for me if anything new develops."
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Even before Binns left, it didn't take any special abilities for Armando Dippet to foresee something very unpleasant was about to happen. The alleged reason for Binns's sudden departure was poorly chosen; Classes had already ended for the day.
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A/N Thank you for reviewing Laura Kay, LinZE, CEA, HMT, and Margo Wulfric
CEA What can I say, I had even more serious problems in the beginning. I finally gave up on the idea of naming the chapters. I've tried to shy away from answering the question of story length before because I would say your figure would be a too conservative estimate. I thought if I came right out and confessed that in the beginning I would scare everybody away.
Margo This series of flashbacks will be ending slightly before the end of the school year. Basically we are just going to get to the point where we learn the circumstances and fallout surrounding Binns's failure to make it to the hereafter. Then we will jump ahead a few years for a quick chapter, possibly two, and then go back to the present. Harry will react to what he saw and spend a few chapters gathering new questions and unlearning half the things he should have already figured out. Eventually he will say or do something to spur someone to relate a series of memories about McGonagall and we will get another set of flashbacks to answer the questions posed by Harry. Once answered, we will return to the Harry's present to see how his classes are going and the same process will repeat itself again and again.
I know this set of flashbacks has taken quite a bit of time, but I've tried to cut it as short as I can. Anything still in the story will have at least one or more relevant or corresponding scenes in the future, be it Harry's future or Minerva's. The problem is the clues, patterns, and character histories for all the rest of the story need to be put in now or the story won't make sense or will seem completely contrived later.
Anyways, most of the questions you listed off about Minerva should be answered within the next four chapters.
Laura What can I say, your idea is right on, but a few chapters early.
For the next few chapters, the narrator for each segment is the first person whose full name is stated. A few segments are going to slightly overlap or be repetitions of parts of the same events, but from a different perspective. Hopefully, it won't be too hard to figure out.
If you are taking the time to read this please take just a second more to review.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The experience was something that defied description. It wasn't that Albus Dumbledore couldn't tell what was going on, it was just different. The way he could see, hear, smell, feel - both physically and emotionally - it wasn't the same.
In some ways it was more, in others less, and paradoxically, in some ways it was both more and less.
His vision and his hearing were much more limited in range. Yet with his antennae, he could smell and, even just in the air, taste so much more than before. And feel; he could feel things as he never had before. The miniscule bristles running along his body were acutely aware of everything near him, and even the vibrations of those things approaching him. His emotions were both limited, allowing him to feel things less directly, and more true, more strong and primordial.
As the assortment of books he had felt approaching landed around him, he was able to both strongly feel and keep in check his panic as he dodged and weaved around the many, in this form, potentially fatal blows.
He couldn't really understand the words spoken at the time, but later he would be able to recognize the words Miss Bones spoke as she captured him in her hands.
"Tom, you knocked those books over on purpose! I saw you do it!"
The journey to the Headmaster's office was not exactly unusual, but he did experience it in an entirely different way.
*******************************************
#########################################
Armando Dippet looked from the girl to the beetle, to Mr. Riddle, back to the beetle, to Miss Bones, back to the beetle, to his Deputy, and then back to the beetle Master Kettleburn was examining. This was not at all expected. Things were beginning to happen far too early and not at all in the way he had Seen.
Master Kettleburn looked up from his examination of Master Dumbledore. "Well, he's a beetle."
Master Shackleton was the one to respond. "We already had that much figured out. We were hoping you could be a little more helpful."
Kettleburn shrugged. "What were you expecting?"
Shackleton frowned. "You are the Care of Magical Creatures Professor! At least tell us what kind of a beetle he is?"
Kettleburn guided Professor Dumbledore into a conjured jar. "He's…he's…I don't know, he's a beetle. I'm the Care of Magical Creatures Professor, not the Care of Beetles Who Seem to Have No Magical Ability Professor. For all I know, he isn't even really any known type of beetle."
Master Shackleton pulled out his wand. "Oh, forget this. Finite In-"
"No!" Dippet stopped him. "Not you. I want the girl to undo it. However, first we must understand the 'why.'
Dippet turned to those who had been present in hopes of further information. "Tell me exactly what happened?"
"Kitten-Professor-was-Dumbledore-tired-asked-and-that-Dumbledore-girl-wouldn't-to-leave-work-her-and-alone-she-he-turned-was-him-shaking-into-her-a-she-beetle-was-and-only-then-trying-Tom-to-tried-defend-to-herself-squish-"
"Enough!"
With the Head Boy and Girl talking over each other, Dippet couldn't make out a word either was saying. There were too many people in the room.
'Thank you, Miss Bones, for bringing this matter to my attention. You may go now."
"But sir, Headmaster, Tom tried to drop a stack of books on Professor Dumbledore. He tried to kill him!"
Shaken, Dippet looked to Mr. Riddle. "That cannot be true!"
Earnest looking as always, Mr. Riddle offered a plausible explanation.
"I was startled when it happened, sir. I stood up, rattling the desk, and accidentally knocked over some books. It was an accident, sir."
Dippet noticed the way that Master Kettleburn was looking at the Riddle boy. There was an unmistakable look of uncertainty in the young professor's eyes. It was there all the more when Miss Bones attempted to refute Mr. Riddle's statement.
"That isn't what happened. Tom is lying!"
Armando Dippet was not at leisure to have such doubts. He knew his faith had to be absolute. Even if Miss Bones's words were true, a child could have some failings, make some errors in judgment, and still in the end be penitent, and attempt to return to an earlier path. Our choices are our own, but even when the choice made was a poor one, there still existed a chance, a possibility that a later choice could restore a life path that was formerly discarded.
Not that it was even a consideration in this instance. What Miss Bones had seen was not necessarily what had happened. Actions observed were often neither what was intended by the one acting or even what actually occurred. So many different possible interpretations could be had of any one action. What Miss Bones has seen or thought she had seen was not, could not have been what had actually occurred. What had occurred was merely an accident.
"Thank you, Miss Bones, for bringing the matter to my attention. You may go now."
"Sir, I -"
"Thank you Miss Bones, I believe your next class is already in progress."
He watched Miss Bones eye the other people in the room, as if looking for an ally, before finally agreeing.
"Yes, sir."
Now that there was only one person speaking, the story was much easier to make out.
"Mr. Riddle, what happened?"
"Kitten was asleep and Dumbledore told her to wake up. When she didn't, he got mad and started shaking her. Sir, she was only defending herself."
Kettleburn did not seem at all content with Mr. Riddle's account. If pressed, Dippet would have to agree that like Miss Bones, Mr. Riddle's interpretation of events was not likely to be precisely what had occurred. Kettleburn approached the girl.
"Kitten, I want you to tell me what happened."
The girl had appeared incredibly drowsy since entering the room. She had nestled next to Mr. Riddle, declining a separate seat. Even her response to the Care of Magical Creatures Master lacked some, though not all, of her usual fervor.
"And I want you to show me the puffskeins!"
Kettleburn frowned at the girl, but Dippet motioned him back before he could say anything more.
Shackleton gave an adequate appraisal of the situation. "This is getting us nowhere."
Dippet addressed the girl. Her eyes remained closed the first time so he had Mr. Riddle nudge her. Once her eyes opened, he repeated his same statement a second time.
"I want you to turn Master Dumbledore back."
The girl motioned to the beetle on Dippet's desk.
"He said I could go back to sleep if I did it."
Dippet frowned. "Well, I say you need to turn him back."
The girl was growing quite agitated. "I want to go back to sleep! I already did what he wanted!"
There was a steely quality to her voice and expression that told Dippet there was no use in arguing. He conjured into his office a blanket, pillow and a sofa more than adequate in size for the girl to recline on.
"Fine, but when you wake up, you need to turn him back."
The girl did not consent, but nor did she disagree. It was Master Kettleburn who interrupted before the child could reach her makeshift bed.
"What are we supposed to feed him?"
Kettleburn frowned at the girl's indifferent shrug before continuing to speak. "When you have a pet, it is important to take care of it properly."
Dippet couldn't hide his disconcertion at Master Kettleburn describing his fellow professor as a 'pet.' Master Kettleburn merely shrugged.
The girl considered the possibilities for a moment before hesitantly asking - "Lettuce?"
When Kettleburn conjured a salad from the kitchens, the girl wandered over. She stuck a few pieces into the jar and Master Dumbledore began to nibble on one. The girl gave a delighted child-like squeal.
"He likes it!"
Dippet turned his attentions to his Deputy as the man began questioning his judgment.
"So you're just going to leave Dumbledore like that?"
Dippet tried to keep the uncertainty that he felt out of his voice. "Dumbledore himself said that no harmful, lasting effects were to be had from a transfiguration of a duration shorter than a few days. After the girl has rested a bit, she will be easier to reason with."
"Do you really think so?"
Dippet tried to look more certain than he felt. "Of course."
When Kettleburn joined them, Dippet looked to see what the girl was doing. She was already asleep, curled up like a cat on the sofa. After Mr. Riddle fitted the blanket over her curled form as best he could, Dippet dismissed the young man to attend his remaining classes.
Master Kettleburn was the one to temporarily break the silence. "You know, this situation isn't as bad as it could be."
Shackleton was not the only one to look at Kettleburn mystified, but he was the one to speak. "In what possible way could it be worse?"
"Well, he could be a dung beetle."
Dippet sighed as the other men sniggered.
*******************************************
A few hours later, Shackleton exclaimed excitedly, "I think I just saw her eyes open!"
Armando Dippet glanced at the girl, but sighed in disappointment to see such was not the case.
Shackleton again protested. "Armando, exactly how long are you going to let this go on?"
He was saved from having to again answer by another excited exclamation, this one from Kettleburn. "I saw it that time! She is just pretending to be asleep!"
Dippet approached and as he made an inquiry of her, sure enough, the girl's eyes opened.
"What are you doing?"
"I am lounging. I am still tired, so I am going to lounge for a while."
Dippet was flummoxed. "How long will that take?"
The girl shrugged impishly. "Probably all day. Cats are very fond of lounging."
Dippet sighed as the girl yawned. "Dumbledore is still a beetle. You need to change him back."
The girl gave a very feline like stretch while replying. "He wanted to be a beetle. He said for me to do it."
"Well, I am telling you to change him back!"
The girl looked right at him before defiantly replying. "It is what he wanted!" She again closed her eyes and snuggled into her pillow.
Dippet frowned and returned to the others to wait for the girl to finish 'lounging.' The longer it went on, the more infuriated he became. When Mr. Riddle returned after his last class of the day, he was immediately sent out to retrieve the Slytherin Head of House.
Binns looked guilty even before he could make an accusation. "Robert, the girl has been sleeping in my office for the better part of the day. Exactly how late are you allowing her to stay awake at night?"
Dippet watched as for some unbeknownst reason, Binns stood on the tips of his toes to answer.
"I assure you, I have been quite adamant at trying to enforce her bed time of eight o'clock! Perhaps if you would care to switch the hour of the daily sugar festival to earlier in the day, she would have a little more energy during the day and a bit less at night!"
Dippet flinched at the element of truth to the only slightly younger man's words. With a sigh, he waved his hand to dismiss him. Instead, Binns spoke.
"Armando, let me talk to the girl. I am, after all, her Head of House. Perhaps I can have some influence on the child?"
Exactly what Binns was seeking to accomplish, Dippet was not sure. That it was not a worthwhile endeavor went without saying as it involved Robert Binns. Were Dippet not aware that the man's life was at stake, he would not ever have allowed the girl to be housed under Binns's care.
It was, however, his hope that by spending time with the girl, by being around her, that Hogwart's own historian might be able to, for once, look beyond his own limited, even less than petty concerns. And in realizing what was going on around him, perhaps Binns would prevent an event from happening and with it, his own demise.
Though he had Foreseen many great and terrible things that the girl was to do much later in life, Binns was running out of time far more rapidly than the others. And so, with more than a bit of trepidation, Dippet allowed Binns's request.
He meant to keep an eye on Binns's conduct, but Mr. Riddle instead caught his attention. The young man had made his way over to the desk upon which the jar was set. He was tapping it. The action seemed to alarm Master Dumbledore who scurried about the jar.
"Mr. Riddle, I don't believe Dumbledore likes it when you do that."
Perhaps the boy was beginning to spend too much time with the girl; he continued with his tapping.
"Mr. Riddle, when I say I don't believe he likes it, that means I want the action stopped immediately!"
"Yes, sir."
The look Mr. Riddle gave him in return might conceivably have been contrite.
##########################################
Robert Binns took a moment to carefully consider the question of why the girl was so tired.
It wasn't so much that he was 'allowing', as it was that he wasn't disallowing the girl to sleep in the Common room with Riddle every night. Given that the other students insisted on remaining in the room, frolicking about until after midnight, the girl remained awake until then. The first of the early risers tended to pass through the Common room as early as seven in the morning and on their way out would either intentionally or unintentionally rouse the pair.
Binns knew it would not do to admit these things. He drew himself up to his full height as if indignant at the implied accusation.
"I assure you, I have been quite adamant at trying to enforce her bed time of eight o'clock!"
It was always a good idea to give suspicions an alternative place to fester, so he continued in a rather accusatory tone.
"Perhaps if you would care to switch the hour of the daily sugar festival to earlier in the day, she would have a little more energy during the day and a bit less at night!"
Seeing by the Headmaster's flinch that his words were having the desired effect, Binns tried not to ruin it with a smirk.
The Headmaster gave a sigh and waved a hand to dismiss him. Binns thought of a better idea.
"Armando, let me talk to the girl. I am after all her Head of House. Perhaps I can have some influence on her?"
He was sure Dippet would refuse, but after a long hesitation, Dippet nodded. Gleefully, Binns strode over to the girl.
The girl yawned and rubbed her eyes in place of a greeting. Binns didn't mind, he had more important considerations. Crouching down to eye level with the girl and keeping his voice low so as not to be overheard, he began.
"Ten points to Slytherin for a marvelous work."
The girl just stared at him with an uninterested look.
"I think you gave him just what he deserved. But I know someone else who deserves it even more."
Truthfully, Binns had no real issues with Dumbledore, but nor had the Transfiguration professor ever done anything to particularly endear himself to Binns. Shackleton on the other hand…
"You know Professor Shackleton?"
The girl made a displeased face that warmed Binns's heart. At last, she spoke.
"Your quills taste better than his."
Binns nodded. He knew where this was going. A small price to pay for the girl's assistance.
"You can have the whole box of quills in my desk, but in exchange, I want you to turn Shackleton into a beetle too."
The girl motioned towards the jar on Dippet's desk. Binns turned and watched Riddle tap the jar with his finger. Merrily, Binns thought of what he would do to Shackleton. He had plans to tap as well, but with his feet and not on a jar.
"He wanted to be a beetle. He asked me to do it. I gave him some lettuce and he's very happy there."
Binns offered his most genuine imitation sincere look to the girl.
"Shackleton wants to be a beetle too. He told me, he really did. Won't you be a good little girl and help him to be happy too?"
He left the girl to contemplate the matter and returned to the others.
"Well, I tried, but she simply won't listen to reason."
Knowing it would look a great deal less suspicious were he not to be present, he quickly excused himself.
"I should be getting back to my class. Do send for me if anything new develops."
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Even before Binns left, it didn't take any special abilities for Armando Dippet to foresee something very unpleasant was about to happen. The alleged reason for Binns's sudden departure was poorly chosen; Classes had already ended for the day.
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A/N Thank you for reviewing Laura Kay, LinZE, CEA, HMT, and Margo Wulfric
CEA What can I say, I had even more serious problems in the beginning. I finally gave up on the idea of naming the chapters. I've tried to shy away from answering the question of story length before because I would say your figure would be a too conservative estimate. I thought if I came right out and confessed that in the beginning I would scare everybody away.
Margo This series of flashbacks will be ending slightly before the end of the school year. Basically we are just going to get to the point where we learn the circumstances and fallout surrounding Binns's failure to make it to the hereafter. Then we will jump ahead a few years for a quick chapter, possibly two, and then go back to the present. Harry will react to what he saw and spend a few chapters gathering new questions and unlearning half the things he should have already figured out. Eventually he will say or do something to spur someone to relate a series of memories about McGonagall and we will get another set of flashbacks to answer the questions posed by Harry. Once answered, we will return to the Harry's present to see how his classes are going and the same process will repeat itself again and again.
I know this set of flashbacks has taken quite a bit of time, but I've tried to cut it as short as I can. Anything still in the story will have at least one or more relevant or corresponding scenes in the future, be it Harry's future or Minerva's. The problem is the clues, patterns, and character histories for all the rest of the story need to be put in now or the story won't make sense or will seem completely contrived later.
Anyways, most of the questions you listed off about Minerva should be answered within the next four chapters.
Laura What can I say, your idea is right on, but a few chapters early.