"Wollen Sie die neueste Ausgabe vom Strassenfeger kaufen?" the man asked. Minerva looked at him quite taken aback since she didn't speak any German. She hadn't expected anyone to talk to them on their way to the German wizarding school.
"I'm sorry, we don't speak German," the dark-haired witch said before she grabbed Hermione's sleeve to pull her away from the guy. Ron and Harry followed them quickly, taking a look back every once in a while.
"What in Merlin's name was that?" Ron asked. "I mean, that man certainly qualified for 'odd-looking' but I doubt it was what you had in mind, right?" He looked at his teacher who just nodded.
"I think he was homeless and trying to sell that newspaper thing." Hermione looked at her companions. She didn't speak any German either but then again it had been quite obvious, at least to her.
"Yes, Hermione, I think you're right. But nonetheless we should now be on our way to the school. It's already getting late." Minerva took a nervous glance at her watch before she urged the trio to go on.
It wasn't very far to the school, and within 5 minutes they arrived there. Minerva stated their names as well as her position at Hogwarts, and they were shown to the headmaster's office immediately.
"Good evening, headmaster Schulz," Minerva said, offering her hand to the elderly wizard in front of her. The man wore half-moon glasses, just as Albus, and was smoking a pipe. He smiled at his English colleague and her students.
"Good evening, professor McGonagall. It's nice to meet you again." The wizard sat down after conjuring some more chairs for his visitors and motioning for them to sit down.
"First of all, may I offer my condolences to you and your fellow staff members? It's a great loss for all of us, but especially for you." Schulz looked at Minerva gravely. Of course she had expected that, but nonetheless the sincerity took her by surprise. But she managed to compose herself and accept the condolences with grace and dignity.
"Thank you, headmaster. It's been a hard time for us, but we appreciate the sentiments and thoughtfulness of all of you." Minerva cleared her throat but her attention was drawn to Hermione when the girl let out a sob. Quickly, Minerva put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "Please, Hermione, calm down."
"I gather they are students of yours?" Headmaster Schulz looked at the trio and especially at the still tearing Hermione. His gaze held pity but also a certain amount of curiosity.
"Yes, they are. And we're… well, I have a project running with them, and part of that project is here in Germany. That's why we're here in the middle of the summer holidays," Minerva added with a wink. Of course she had anticipated a question like that. "But I thought we could check in with you first. And perhaps you can be of some assistance."
Schulz nodded pensively.
"Yes, of course. How may I be of assistance?" He looked at Minerva, now clearly curious.
"Well… we've come across some kind of… riddle. And the riddle mentions a place called… 'rotten tooth'. We already gathered that it could be some kind of sight here in Berlin." Minerva was a bit nervous but she tried not to show it. This was a crucial part of information, and if she could find out now what that meant, she was a bit closer to getting Albus back.
Headmaster Schulz started to chuckle.
"I guess what you call a 'rotten tooth' must be what people in Berlin call 'der hohle Zahn'. And then it would be the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche. It was nearly destroyed during World War II but wasn't rebuilt. And well… it kind of looks like a hollow tooth. So I guess the riddle wasn't translated properly."
Minerva had to refrain from rolling her eyes. Of course it would be like Albus to confuse the words and mess up the translation. But she let out a sigh of relief that they had been able to solve that problem so quickly. It had been a good idea to seek out the German headmaster after all.
"Oh, well, I guess that explains it. Thank you so much for your help." Minerva looked relieved indeed.
"My pleasure, my dear."
Minerva could have sworn Albus had just said that, but for now that was only wishful thinking.
Checking her watch again, Minerva decided that it was time to get going again. They should check in at their hotel, and then perhaps go out and find that church the headmaster had spoken of.
"Thank you. And I believe we've already taken up enough of your time. We should be leaving. So get up, children." Minerva rose from her chair and the trio followed suit. Ron frowned a bit at being called a child but he forgot so quickly when Hermione poked him with her elbow.
"What?" he whispered, rubbing his hurting ribs.
"Nothing. I just wanted you to stop frowning." Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron and went ahead to join Minerva and Harry who walked side by side with headmaster Schulz.
"Well, then I wish you good luck with your projects. If I can be of any further assistance, just let me know." Headmaster Schulz nodded his goodbyes and saw them out.
When they were back on the street, Minerva turned to Hermione who had already pulled out a map of the city and studied it intensely.
"I think we should go this way," the girl said, pointing out a street on the map. It led directly to the church which was not far from the school.
"Well, lead the way then. But pay attention, we don't want to run into another of these newspaper sellers." Minerva hadn't forgotten their little encounter with the homeless man, and though she pitied him she didn't want to meet him again… or someone like him. He had seemed a bit scary.
Hermione marched off, Ron next to her. Harry had waited for Minerva who had been lost in thought for a moment.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, putting his hand on Minerva's elbow as she joined him going after Ron and Hermione. The other two were deep in conversation but still Harry didn't want them to hear.
"Yes, yes, thank you, Harry. I was… I was just thinking." Minerva smiled a sad smile at the young man next to her. He understood perfectly what she went through at the moment. He had already lost his parents at a very young age, then he had lost Sirius… Voldemort had taken all of them, and now he had also taken Albus – something she had never believed would happen.
"Anything I can do for you?" Harry sensed that there was more to Minerva's behaviour than just thinking.
"No, I don't think so. I was just … pondering what had gotten into Severus that he has killed Albus. But… I don't know. It just feels strange. I can't really believe it. And knowing Albus, there was more to this." Minerva couldn't quite explain what she actually thought. She had known Albus for so long, and it seemed ridiculous that he should have been oblivious to Severus' betrayal.
"Yeah, there's something fishy about the whole thing." Harry agreed with her.
Minerva looked at the young man with a raised eyebrow. Could it be that it wasn't just her and her wishful thinking? And especially Harry… he had never liked Severus. But that was something she'd think about later, at the moment it was more important to concentrate on finding the horcrux.
Harry knew what Minerva was thinking, and he couldn't help but taking her hand and giving it a sympathetic squeeze. He let go quickly, so that Hermione, who had just turned around, wouldn't see it but the girl was much to excited to pay much attention to that kind of thing.
"There's the church!" she said, pointing ahead.
The German sentence at the beginning of this chapter means "Do you want to buy the newest edition of the Strassenfeger?"... Strassenfeger being the name of a newspaper made by homeless people.