Disclaimer: HEY! - Guess What, GUESS WHAT, GUESS WHAT! I STILL DON'T OWN ANY PART OF HARRY POTTER! Great news, huh? And by the way, 'Miss Parker' has nothing to do with Miss Parker from The Pretender (although I think she is a really cool character.)
Author's Notes: Sorry for taking so long on getting this chapter up and ready but I had to rework it a bit. So you can thank MEEPH for lighting the fire under my ass. Also I would like to thank meeph, kidarock, and Saint Potter for reviewing. I hope you all like this chapter. Love ya! Midnight'sGone — but I'm not.
Pastures New
Chapter 2: Exchanging Pleasantries
Professor McGonagall stared open mouthed for a few seconds at the empty space where Elizabeth Parker stood only a second ago. She regained her composure, disapparated, and then apparated right next to Miss Parker.
They were in a small office room on the second floor of the Leaky Caldron. Miss Parker had just asked how she took her tea. Elizabeth looked over at her new professor when she realized how quite she was.
"Professor, is there something wrong?" Elizabeth could tell that Professor McGonagall was angry, or maybe that was not a strong enough word for what she was. Her jaw was set, her lips were pursed (almost nonexistent), and her emerald green eyes that had once been welcoming were now like daggers cutting into Elizabeth. 'If looks could kill…' she thought.
"What is the meaning of this?" Her words cut through the air like an ax.
"Professor?" To say that Elizabeth was confused was an understatement. She had just met this woman five minutes ago and she was already in trouble.
"You apparated." It was not a question, but more of an accusation.
"Yes, Professor?" She was still confused.
"You are an underage witch and just because you were in the presence of a teacher and out of view of muggles does not give you the right to use magic. Do you realize that you have just disregarded the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery? More importantly you could have ended up anywhere or worse: you could have splinched yourself!" Professor McGonagall's nostrils were flared and her fists were clinched at her sides.
Elizabeth had tightened her jaw when Professor McGonagall had started to yell. 'This is not good.' She thought. "Professor, please, I can explain- " Elizabeth started but she was quickly interrupted.
"Well this had better be good." Professor McGonagall had crossed the room and took her place behind a large desk and sat down.
" Professor McGonagall," Elizabeth continued to stand in front of the dark maple desk, "I have been able to apparate for over a year now. I was allowed to do so because I was taking classes at Salem Western University as well as attending Milgram Thorton Academy. The two are over a thousand miles away from each other and on most days had classes at both schools. It took sometime but the Department of Magic in America allowed me to get my Apparating License early." She paused a moment to let her words sink in. Professor McGonagall had relaxed a little; her lips could now be seen on her face again. "This should all be in my transcripts, Professor," she said softly.
"Your transcripts have yet to be seen, Miss Parker." Now Elizabeth was angry, 'Figures,' she thought.
"I'm sorry Professor. I thought you knew. I was told that everything was taken care of. I thought saying something would be redundant," Elizabeth said reluctantly. 'Figures,' she thought again. 'Figures that –witch- would try one last time to get me. She always did have to have the last word.'
"Does the Ministry of Magic know that you were given permission by the Department of Magic to apparate?" Professor McGonagall asked in a gentle tone. She could tell how angry Miss Parker was now. "I'm going to assume they do, seeing that a Ministry owl hasn't swooped in with a warning."
"Yes, Professor. I took care of it myself yesterday morning. If I had thought that this would happen then I would have brought my transcripts with me as well." 'This is embarrassing,' she thought.
Professor McGonagall just studied Miss Parker for a moment; neither really new what to say now. Elizabeth stood straight but her eyes were lowered and focused somewhere on the large desk in front of her. Her jaw was set and her fists were balled at her sides.
"Miss Parker, I believe I owe you an apology- "
"No Professor. Your reaction was perfectly reasonable considering the situation. I should have said something. I'm sorry."
"Miss Parker," Professor McGonagall began, "you did nothing wrong. We were both assured that your transcripts would be here. The fact that they aren't is no fault of yours. When they are found they will be sent to Hogwarts. This was all just one big misunderstanding. No harm done," Professor McGonagall finished with a gentle but matter of fact tone.
"Now," Professor McGonagall continued in a more business-like voice, "perhaps we should figure out what classes you should be placed in." She indicated a chair in front of the desk and Elizabeth sat down. "You said that you were attending Salem Western University? That's in Washington, isn't it?" Elizabeth nodded. "What classes were you taking there?"
……………
They spent the next hour or more discussing Elizabeth's education in America. Professor McGonagall soon found out that gaining her Apparating License was not the only thing that Miss Parker had done early. Elizabeth explained that she had to start attending formal school when she was nine years old because she had already started to teach herself using her grandmother's wand. She had been placed in classes with first years but her teachers could see that she was getting board very easily with the simple spells she had already mastered. After spending most her first year being bounced around from year to year trying to find the appropriate place for her skill level, she came back her second year to Milgram Thorton Academy as a fourth year student. In the previous year Elizabeth had already taken all the NEWTs courses that Milgram Thorton had to offer. As for Salem Western, she had taken Transfiguration and Charms classes. On top of all this news there was one more bit of information that Professor McGonagall was not expecting to hear.
"You're an Animagus?" Professor McGonagall sat stunned for a moment after Elizabeth nodded the positive. "But you're only thirteen. The youngest I've ever heard anyone even attempting the transformation was at 16 years old. When did you register?"
"I registered around this time last year," Elizabeth said, "before school started. The Department of Magic thought I was joking until I transformed. I think the Ministry was under the same impression."
Professor McGonagall requested to see her animagus form and Elizabeth complied. A second later she had smoothly transformed into a black kitten with a small white diamond on her chest just over her heart. After she transformed back into her normal, average height, dark brown hair, blue eyed, thin self Professor McGonagall requested a few more spells. She found that Miss Parker was performing spells at NEWTs level and higher.
"To be honest, I guess I just don't understand why you aren't attending college full time. From what I've seen you should be learning at a university, if not teaching at one." It wasn't often that Professor Minerva McGonagall was stunned, but at the moment only seeing Grinderwald alive and well standing in front of her would have topped the surprise from this young girl that sat before her. "Why didn't you just continue at Salem Western University? Why would you want to spend another year taking classes that you don't need?"
"The Dean of Salem Western wouldn't allow me attend as a full time student because of my age. It also didn't help that my transcripts had not been made available to him." Elizabeth said with an irritated tone.
"So why did you choose to come to Hogwarts of all places? Why not just stay at Milgram Thorton Academy?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"I was told that I had to move to Britain at the end of last term. My parents thought that I was still too young to attend a university, so I decided that if I were able to, I would attend the best wizarding school in Europe." There was a small hopeful smile on Elizabeth's face that did not reach the look of sadness in her eyes.
"Well Miss Parker, Hogwarts is happy to have you." Professor McGonagall gave her a warm smile, something most students rarely ever saw.
