Written for The International Wizarding Schools Championship.
Round : Round 9 — In a Galaxy Far Away…
School : Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Year : Year Three
Theme : Andromeda—The Chained Maiden
Prompts : (Character) Professor Sinistra [Main]
(Object) Telescope [Additional]
(Dialogue) "If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I would be holding a galaxy." [Additional]
Word Count : 2151
I.
Aurora didn't know what to think, honestly, when she was told that Dolores Umbridge would be teaching DADA to the students of Hogwarts for the year. The woman dressed in pink gave off bad vibes, vibes that told her to steer clear of this woman. She, looking at everyone with what she must have thought that was a calculating gaze and smiling sweetly at all the members of staff, only made Aurora want to throw up. She didn't look much like a woman who could teach Defence to students, and one look at Minerva sitting beside Dumbledore at the staff table told her that she was not the only one who thought so.
She looked at the rest of her colleagues, all of whom, save Dumbledore, were as disinterested in Dolores's speech as she, although unlike her, they did try to listen to her droning on about how happy she was to get a chance to teach at Hogwarts. She had to keep herself from falling asleep when the speech ended—she wasn't even normally awake at this time, being an astronomer. Dumbledore and a few others around the table clapped politely when Umbridge's speech came to an end and Aurora found herself snapping out of her longing for her bed and finally getting ready for business. All the professors were called into Hogwarts mid July to discuss the books that the students would require for the next year, and if the curriculum required any change.
When, after Septima, the astronomy professor listed the books for the students that she had been using since she had begun teaching, she wasn't expecting to interrupted, and certainly not by Dolores Umbridge.
"Don't you think that A Beginners Guide to the Universe is a bit advanced for the first years, Aurora?" Umbridge asked her, and she looked at her with her eyebrows raised.
She exhaled a moment later and said in a voice much too offended for a teacher who taught preteens and teenagers, "No, Dolores, I do not."
"Oh, but what use is it teaching such young children Astronomy, let alone advanced astronomy, if they don't want to make a career out of it? It'd only wa—"
"Maybe we should get on with the meeting, Dolores," Minerva cut in, glancing at Aurora, who was clearly seething, "If Aurora wishes to teach her students Astronomy with the aid of A Beginners Guide to the Universe, we should let the decision rest with her. She is, after all, the astronomy professor, and has been teaching for a long time. I'm sure that if all her students score as highly as they do in Astronomy, she doesn't require anyone's assistance in selecting a course book."
Umbridge's smile melted into a scowl for a brief moment before it reappeared. Aurora felt Minerva's hand on her own, clearly signalling her to not burst out and tell Umbridge exactly what she thought of her ideas and to remind her that just because she had been so useless in Astronomy it wasn't a useless subject, but honestly, she wanted to do just that. Still, she watched as the witch bathed in pink gave a sickly sweet smile and said sorry. Aurora focused on breathing and not looking in Umbridge's direction for the next few minutes, because looking at her made her want to wipe her pink smirk right off her face. She had wished that she would be able to maintain cordial relations with her this year, unlike when she had had to teach her some forty years ago. Apparently, that was not likely to happen.
II.
Aurora had felt the trouble brewing before she had even set foot inside the staff room that evening and found out about Hogwarts' new High Inquisitor, and she cursed herself for ever getting out of her bed that morning and not paying heed to her gut. Out of all the professors, however, Minerva was perhaps the most disgruntled, and, by the unspeakable words flowing of of her mouth, the most vocal about it. She wondered absently what would happen if a student were to come across Professor McGonagall swearing in such a manner, just as she used to wonder ages ago what would happen if a teacher came across Prefect McGonagall swearing as she used to. They turned towards the astronomy tower, in which Aurora's office was located, and she ushered her long time friend into her chambers, smiling.
Minerva sank into the couch by the fireplace heavily and swore some more before taking the cup of butterbeer Aurora was handing out to her and finally exhaling loudly.
"This is exactly what I had told them the Ministry would do, you know. That woman is not a teacher, she is a spy for the ministry who can inform them of everything that Dumbledore, and now the members of the Order, does." She sipped her drink and sighed again, looking at Aurora getting ready for a class. "This new decree of hers is going to affect Hagrid the most, you know. It won't bother the other Order members as much, but Hagrid's classes have already been under so much scrutiny, and now that she wants to review us all, she'll try her best to get him sacked because he is half giant. You know how horribly she thinks of all half-wizards."
"Hmm." Aurora leaned back in her chair. "We'll have to help Rubeus make a lesson plan and stick to it. Something better than those lobster like things he got for them last year. Maybe we could ask for Wilhelmina's help?"
"Perhaps," Minerva grumbled "You'll have to make a specific lesson plan yourself, Aurora, she won't be too easy on you after the start of the year staff meeting. Besides, you're too close to both Albus and I."
"I'll keep that in mind, Minerva." Aurora nodded at her disgruntled friend. "Cheer up, Min, the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is cursed. She won't be here longer than a year, and anyway, if she tries something funny, we always have Dumbledore on our side, right? We'll live."
Minerva smiled. You always know what to say, don't you, Aurora? Honestly, if I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I'd be holding a galaxy."
Aurora smiled back.
III.
Aurora looked onto the spectacle in the great hall from the professors' table, not trying to mask the absolute horror she felt at Umbridge humiliating Sybill so publicly and at the fact that she was clearly enjoying it. She watched, frozen, as the 'high inquisitor' taunted Sybill yet again and how the Seer seemed to break down under Umbridge's beration completely today, unlike how she had ever seen her before. It was only when Sybill collapsed onto her trunk that she made to move towards her, weaving through the crowd of students gathered around until she reached the innermost circle where Minerva was standing and faltered again, looking at the sick scene unfolding before her. She saw Severus rushing to the scene with his wand drawn and stopping dead in his tracks out the corner of her eyes and heard a pair of Gryffindor girls cry before Minerva's voice jerked her out of her stupor, telling her to send a patronus to Dumbledore.
She silently vanished Sybill's bottle of Sherry before it could do any harm and watched as Minerva pacified Sybill, firmly patting her back and helping her gather herself, telling her to keep herself together.
"You don't have to leave Hogwarts, Sybill," she told her, not paying any heed to the pink clad witch standing a few feet off, who took a few steps towards her.
"And by what authority are you stating this, professor McGonagall?"
Minerva focused on steadying the Seer as she glared scathingly at Umbridge, a glare that would definitely have made anyone else feel ashamed.
"My authority, Dolores," Dumbledore said, from atop the staircase.
Aurora turned her gaze slowly back to her friends and colleague, who were both now glaring at each other, and thanked Merlin that it hadn't gone down to a duel between the two women.
IV.
Even weeks later, Aurora was focusing mainly on keeping both herself and all her students away from the horrible witch that called herself the high inquisitor and who had now assumed the position of 'headmistress' after Dumbledore had escaped. Being a member of the staff, she was supposed to cooperate with her, but the only form of cooperation any staff member was undertaking was making sure that the woman's tyranny did not harm the students of the school. They were all keeping a low profile, yes, but also all resisting in their own ways. Maybe some pranks were turning blind eyes, maybe some easily solvable problems were being left to the 'headmistress' to solve, and maybe some points were being awarded to students for speaking up for the truth, maybe the school was opposing her and opened itself only for the real successor of the headmaster, all under her nose. Aurora didn't love it, no, she would be very glad if Minerva could find out where Dumbledore was and bring him back, but this situation was tolerable, and admittedly a little fun.
V.
Aurora was in the Astronomy tower with the Examiners from the ministry, Professor Marchbanks and Professor Tofty overlooking the Astronomy practical exams for the fifth years who were all either bent over star charts or looking through telescopes a when a loud bang, followed by Miss Granger's yell jerked everyone's attention away from their exams and towards the grounds where Hagrid's hut was.
Professor Tofty's scandalized voice reprimanding Miss Granger's outburst was largely ignored as every child turned away from their telescope and looked out onto the grounds, where she could now see jets of red light flying. Rubeus' hut was open, throwing light out on the ground and now she could see six figures, one of them unmistakably Umbridge, all trying to Stun Hagrid. She watched in horror as not one, but six people all threw stunners at him, one of which hit Fang. The boar hound fell down on the ground, much to both hers and Hagrid's horror. Enraged, Hagrid howled and lifted the culprit from the ground and threw him down. The man fell some ten feet away and did not get up again. Several students gasped.
Aurora found herself rooted to her spot again, knowing that she should go down and help, but she somehow couldn't. Before she could force herself to move from the scene, there was a short shriek of "Look!" from a student and a tall lean figure in a tartan dressing gown charged in. Aurora rushed closer to the parapet to get a better look.
Minerva was rushing towards Hagrid's hut as fast as she could, screaming at Umbridge and the men Aurora assumed were aurors, "How dare you!" There was more screaming she couldn't make out, and Aurora only watched with a sick feeling of foreboding as her friend rushing in to Hagrid's rescue was hit with four stunners, four jets of red light colliding with her. She grew luminous for a moment, glowing red, and then was lifted off her feet into the air and landed hard on her back, her body going limp. The last thing Aurora heard was a collective scream from the three Gryffindor girls and from Professor Tofty before she was running off towards the grounds.
VI.
It was weeks later that Aurora was finally able to talk to Minerva. Weeks later that everyone at Hogwarts was finally assured that Minerva McGonagall, their fierce transfiguration professor, their knight in a tartan dressing gown, was going to be alright. Aurora was relieved when she heard the news, yes, but she was only able to convince herself truly when she saw her.
Minerva looked frail. Frail like she never had before, as if her age had caught up with her all at once. But she had the same fire burning in her eyes when she greeted her, "Hello, Aurora." She smiled.
"Hello Yourself." She sighed. "I don't know how you do it, Minerva. How do you possibly do it? I … I could only stand there when Umbridge … Sybill, then Hagrid …"
Minerva laid a hand atop hers. "I am able to do it only because it needs to be done. Neither Hagrid nor Sybil deserved to be treated that way, and certainly not by a despicable being like Dolores Umbridge. I couldn't possibly stand that sort of injustice." She smiled. "Cheer up, Aurora, the year's coming to an end. She won't be here much longer."
Aurora smiled back. "You're a true inspiration, you know that, Min? A true knight, dressed in just a dressing gown, ready to serve justice."
"If I had a star for every time you brightened my day," Minerva laughed, "I'd be holding an entire galaxy."
A/N: Thanks for reading :)