September 21
Dumbledore had once again tried Minerva's patience. It was just after the start of term, thankfully it was a Friday. Still, he had had the gall to cancel her classes for the day. He claimed that she, needed to go retrieve a young witch. One that had been missed when she first manifested magic and was raised in the muggle world, for the last eleven years. Minerva could not understand why a child of this age had not yet received her letter. There was only one thing that could have prevented this, and that was Dumbledore himself.
She knew he had a habit of flouting the law for his own personal gains, not that she could prove it to the aurors or before the wizengamot. Since Amendment Three-Hundred and Nighty-Four went into effect eleven years ago, all the staff had been fighting him tooth and nail to make changes in Hogwarts to help the children. They had been fighting for a common room for all students, one where new siblings could be in a safe space where they could study and work together, as well as friends from separate houses. Since he had not allowed this yet, several of the other heads had agreed to let other houses into each other's common room if they were visiting immediate family only. They had then agreed to having a weekly rotation of common study halls and groups that were supervised in various classrooms that went unused most of the time.
Dumbledore always argued that they had the library. He also argued that they also had study hall and were allowed to intermingle there should they wanted to. He claimed that it was always that way. However, everyone knew that the pressure to stay within one's house for protection, or even peer pressure, was far too great. So, students didn't do that too often, but at least they could sit together and make friends now should they wish to. It was finally Regulus Black that swayed Dumbledore with the memory of Sirius, and his son. He didn't want his adopted son, Pollux, to be away from some of his friends. Pollux was Sirius son, who had been rescued along with Harry after the Battle of Godric's Hollow and knowing that Harry would likely be a Gryffindor following in his parents' footsteps. If Dumbledore wanted Pollux to be embraced by his father's old house while being raised by Slytherins, he would likely need that opportunity.
Minerva thought it was cute, that when Regulus had blood adopted Sirius's son, Severus had agreed to adopt him as well with the two of them becoming a platonic couple. Although she could clearly see that Regulus was hopelessly besotted with Severus, who could not, and did not, reciprocate the feelings. Oh, she certainly believed that Severus thought of the younger man as a brother, and even perhaps loved him that way, but never as a potential lover. When they had adopted him, there wasn't a registered birth record for the child, and knowing Sirius, he had probably removed it from the Ministry's records, but Saint Mungo's usually had a copy, and in this case, there wasn't one even logged into their books as a magical birth. Because of this, they never knew what Sirius, or the mother had named him. So, they chose at the time to call him Pollux Tomi Black. Severus was essentially one of the fathers, but he wanted the Snape line to die out. Maybe rebirth the Prince line instead. Of course, it was likely a long way off for him to have children of his own.
Yet here she was, lost in thought as she approached a muggle household in Westminster. It looked to be a very nice townhouse. She could hear a violin playing a complicated melody coming from inside as she walked up to the door. She had knocked, and the music stopped. She noticed that there was a flow of magic from the song, it was soothing, and as it quieted a feeling of tension returned to the area.
A gentleman in his late forties opened the door. "Can I help you?" The woman in front of him was dressed quite professionally, even though he guessed her skirt suit to be at least ten years out of date.
"Yes, Doctor Granger, is it?" The man nodded. "My name is Minerva McGonagall; I am here to speak with you and your wife about your daughter's education. She has been selected to attend our private boarding school in Perthshire."
"Are you from Kilgraston?"
"No, but we are a neighboring school. We do have the girls attend Kilgraston twice weekly, as we are a school for arts." Minerva was trying to think quickly on her feet. She knew that she had to get the child away from the parents, and then replace their memories with a squib child. She would have obliviated them, but their memories were likely too deep for her. If she attempted that, she would need to have Severus come. "May I come in and discuss this with you and your wife?"
The man opened the door for her and ushered her inside. "I am afraid that Helena is already at the practice for the morning. But I assure you that we can come to terms quickly if you do offer the level of education we expect from our Mimi." His tone was polite, however there was an undercurrent that she could detect. He seemed almost perturbed that his morning routine was being disrupted by her. Honestly had she been in her late twenties or even early thirties, he would have been more than willing to spend copious amounts of time with her. But since she was not from Kilgraston and not some pretty little thing, with nothing in her head but air, he knew that he would tire of her quickly.
He took her to a sparsely decorated, but posh sitting room. She could have easily imagined that she was taking tea with the Malfoy's or Black's. "Hermione," the man said firmly, "go back to your practice. Stop wasting time." He had barked the order at his daughter in the next room. "I do apologize, you said your name was McGonagall?"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall, I am the deputy head for Hogwarts."
"Doctor Henry Granger, at your service." He was pleased to receive such a high-ranking individual personally recruiting his daughter. 'At least this shows how serious they are at getting their claws into that nuisance. She may not be someone who I can take my frustrations out on or with, depending on her feelings, still.'
The good doctor presented a commonsensical attitude, but she could easily see that he was likely hardheaded when it came to his child. "Thank you, Doctor Granger, as I said before we have your daughter's name down for acceptance in our school."
"We have had her name down for Mayfair, but Kilgraston is a top girl's school. So, if you are partnered with them, it would likely be acceptable to my wife and I."
Minerva transfigured a bit of parchment that she had in her purse into a brochure. She hoped Doctor Granger had not seen the slightly strange arm movement when she reached into the purse to pull it out. "Now then, here you are. As you can see, we offer a comprehensive, if somewhat eclectic, learning environment. We are a small school and as such we focus on the finer arts and allow Kilgraston to fill in the classes for girls. We are also partnered with Strathallan for the boys."
He was impressed, his placid demeanor shifted to one that Minerva felt like she needed a bath afterwards for. He gave her a cunning and shark toothed grin, "Those are both fine schools. Is the school one that holds to a strict routine? We have Mimi on a very strict regime for both music and education. We are looking for secondary school that will maintain this. We expect her to be the best."
"We will easily hold her to those standards if you wish Doctor," she sighed. 'Although, truth be told it will be up to her to maintain her schedule and schooling, I will not assign someone to babysit the child just based on his wants. If her new family decides this is necessary, then they can pay Hogwarts for the additional staff.' She stared at him hard. Wandless and wordlessly, she cast a compulsion charm.
"Thank you, Professor, let me just give my wife a call." He didn't know why he had the sudden need to call her and discuss this. Normally they would wait until evening to have any discussions like this. After all Professor McGonagall was not the first to come recruiting their daughter. She spoke briefly on the phone with his wife. As soon as she had heard Kilgraston was where part of her daughter's education would be, she had immediately told her husband to accept the offer. She had gone to Kilgraston herself and knew of the fine art students that would join them for some lessons. While Mayfair had been ideal, seeing her daughter educated with her alma mater, made her extremely proud.
Doctor Granger came back into the sitting room and looked at the professor, "my wife is a graduate of Kilgraston. She said she was familiar with students from your school and would be proud to have her daughter attend. In fact, she seemed to insist upon it. If you will come back after four this afternoon, she will be home, and you may speak with her then." He began trying to dismiss the woman, hopeful to get back to his normal morning routine.
"I was hoping to speak with your daughter now and get a feel for which program our school offers that would be best for her. We do have separate houses so that she can be with likeminded students. She will be able to associate with the other houses, but this way she can find assistance in the upperclassmen that have advanced in the same field. Perhaps if you don't mind, I could even take her shopping for some of her supplies and books."
He sighed, "I can be agreeable to that. Let me just get Mimi, and I can have some tea brought for you and her. Our maid Knôssia will fetch it for you, along with anything the two of you need." He stood and walked to another room.
"Ms., I mean Professor?" The young girl looked at Minerva as she entered a few minutes later, along with a beautiful Greek girl who was bearing tea.
"Ah yes my dear, you must be Hermione." The child was quite beautiful, deep dark brown hair, the color of dark chocolate, and dark eyes like the deep sea at night. She believed that Hermione had inherited most of her looks from her mother, as she did not see much of Doctor Granger in her. He was of fair hair, skin, and eyes. His daughter with burnished olive skin, chocolate colored hair, and deep dark eyes, was his opposite in every way. Minerva smiled at the girl, there was something about her that sang in her very soul. 'If I have the option, I may want to adopt the child myself.'
"Yes," the girl nodded, "but please call me Mimi. How can I help you today Ma'am?" Her voice was sweet and melodious.
"I am here to get to know you and inform you of our boarding school, Mimi." She didn't normally use such familiarity, but perhaps this time it was needed to set the girl at ease. She could always find out how demanding she could be when teaching.
"Oh," she said with a smile. "So, my parents have decided?"
"Yes, indeed they have." Minerva and Hermione spoke for hours, and even enjoyed a trip to Harrods for a lunch. Minerva wanted to get to know this girl as best she could. After their lunch they took a trip to one of the smaller magical spas that had popped up on in the district just outside of Diagon Alley. 'If Albus expects me to make a day of it, I might as well enjoy myself while I am out. Ms. Granger it seems could also use some time relaxing.'
~ooOoo~
The duo returned just before four and were engrossed in a discussion about genetics. Hermione knew quite a lot on different subjects, and they had flitted from topic to topic all day. Minerva had insisted that any shopping they had done was put on her account. As they walked up a Fiat pulled into the driveway, the woman who stepped out was an older version of Hermione. There were a few differences that Minerva could see between them, but she knew that this tall Greek goddess was what Hermione would look like as an adult.
The woman ran over to Hermione and gave her a hug. "Mimi, I am so proud of you." While still holding her daughter, she held out a hand to the professor, "Doctor Helena Laconice Granger." She smiled at Minerva as the woman was taken aback by her name.
"Doctor Laconice," she took the woman's hand. "As in Leonide Laconice?"
"Yes, that would be my great uncle."
"Oh, I see that would explain a lot. Minerva McGonagall." Minerva knew that the Laconice family was Greece's equivalent to the Black's or Malfoy. "Squib?" she tried to make it sound as offhand as possible.
"Quite."
"Did you know about the Law?"
"Which one?" Helena was perplexed she did not typically keep up with the goings on of the magical world. Though when back in Greece with her family she often went into the small magical communities there. She knew that Britain had their own community and that there was quite a large location here in central London, but she had never been. Her uncle had refused to visit her here, and always requested that she come to his home, and her native homeland Greece.
"Statute of Secrecy Amendment Three-Hundred and Ninety-Four." Minerva was concerned that the mother had not taken her into the Ministry at least for recognition if Helena thought she was a witch.
"Sadly no, I don't keep up on the latest news. Also, my family follows the Greek statute. Can we talk inside? This is a conversation that I would rather not have in public." Helena smiled and took Minerva into the home through the garage. "Mimi, go get tea."
Minerva could hear the loving tones in her mother's voice. This woman had far more compassion for her child than the father did, there was no bite or dismissal in her tone. Her request for tea was just that a request, and not a dismissal, or command.
"Yes, Mother." Hermione scampered off intent on gathering everything and making sure the presentation of sandwiches, and petit fours was perfect.
"Shall we chat in the library? It is Mimi, and my favorite room. Front parlors and sitting rooms are just too formal for my taste."
"Of course." Minerva followed to a large room soft white room, with free standing shelves and tables, several plush chairs, and several large French doors that could easily open into the garden if the weather was nice enough. The walls had shelves lining them, and they extended up to the second level on one side, with an open-air catwalk into the upstairs hall. Both took a seat in a small conversation nook. "I can understand why this is a favorite room, Doctor."
"Oh please, my name is Helena, you are welcome to use it. 'Doctor' is what my husband prefers."
"Very well Helena, you must call me Minerva."
"So, tell me about this 'Law' and in what way we are breaking it."
"As a magical child, Hermione should have been placed and blood adopted by a fully magical family. You would have been given a pureblood squib at birth to raise as your own."
"Oh, I see," Helena grew quite pensive, "so not only will she be able to attend Hogwarts, but will be taken from me."
"I am afraid so, although I know of an excellent legilimens who can alter your memories and give you a newborn to raise." Minerva sounded hopeful. She prayed that this would be acceptable, however knowing that Helena was a squib herself, the rest of the family would likely object to her memory being tampered with.
She took a fortifying breath, "I want to remember my daughter. I want to remain a part of her life." Helena was adamant, "I do not mind starting over at this age, but I want the memories of her to remain for me. Henry can be obliviated. Besides, Mimi is not his biological child anyway. My uncle put a suggestion in his mind so that he would think that she was though. Is staying in her life acceptable?"
"Y…yes, I believe so. Yours is an unusual case, given that this should never had occurred, you would have to go to Gringotts with us and the chosen family. I am sure the goblins know every loophole, and how far the spirit of the law can be bent." Minerva pondered things for a moment and took in the information that had been provided to her. "Does she know?"
"No." Helena shook her head sadly, "Mimi's father did not want to be involved. He said that he was never a good parent, and she should not suffer his wrath and loathing of children."
Hermione had entered the room and was now standing stunned at her mothers, and the Professors discussion. "Wha… What do you mean, Mother?" She almost dropped the tray that she had been carrying. Her face felt wet, and she realized that silent tears were running down her face.